The Soul-Harvesting Puppeteer - Chapter 18

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 18
Gangnam Club, Farewell, Carefree Girl, Custom Equipment
Chapter 1
“Young master has returned safely. Yes. Yes. That’s correct. I’ll compile the detailed report and submit it later. Yes. Right away.”
Click.
The moment Lee Jae-in finished speaking, the phone went dead.
Lee Jae-in folded the phone he’d been holding respectfully with both hands and slipped it into his pocket. Then he removed his horn-rimmed glasses and polished the lenses with the silk lining of his necktie.
“Phew. Thank goodness young master returned safely. My heart was pounding the whole time.”
Lee Jae-in let out a breath in the sealed car.
Meanwhile, his autonomous vehicle had turned into Jangchung-dong.
In Jangchung-dong, which nestled against Namsan, there stood several hotels reimagined in a modern architectural style.
Lee Jae-in pulled into a private facility spun off from the Shinsung Hotel among them.
The building appeared from the outside to be a modern structure with no signage whatsoever.
But step inside and you’d find a complex of member-only accommodations, luxury saunas, fine dining, and a bar all housed within a compact building.
Lee Jae-in descended into the basement with practiced ease.
Alongside the staircase with its sleek metal structure stood a nameless bar where fine spirits lined the shelves in neat rows, and two bartenders were polishing glasses with soft cloths.
The dimly lit hall was empty of customers.
Lee Jae-in walked with heavy steps into the private room deeper within.
“The usual.”
Lee Jae-in ordered as he passed.
The elderly bartender in a bow tie simply nodded slightly without a word.
Moments later, a cocktail arrived in the private room.
Light appetizers came with it.
Lee Jae-in lifted the glass with his long fingers and swallowed a sip of the cocktail.
Then a man entered the private room.
His face was strangely indistinct.
“Care for a drink?”
“No. I need to get back right away.”
The man shook his head at Lee Jae-in’s offer.
The man pulled a brown envelope from his pocket and handed it to Lee Jae-in.
Lee Jae-in took another sip of his cocktail before accepting the envelope.
The man rose immediately.
Lee Jae-in spoke to the man as he left the room.
“Let’s grab a drink together next time. We’re the same cohort, and you’ve been so distant lately.”
“…… You son of a bitch.”
The man glared at Lee Jae-in in silence before spitting out the curse in a tight, suppressed voice.
Lee Jae-in shrugged.
“My goodness. How did you find out I’m a son of a bitch? Looking forward to working together in the future, buddy.”
“You son of a bitch.”
The man cursed one more time and vanished.
“Well, well. Something.”
Left alone, Lee Jae-in pushed his glasses up with spread fingers, then opened the brown envelope and withdrew the documents.
[Employee #330895 Performance Evaluation Report]
That was the title on the document.
Tap-tap-tap-tap.
Han-eol pressed numbers on the kiosk.
330895.
Once he entered the six-digit employee number, the Simulator’s lid rose open.
It looked just like watching the gull-wing door of a high-end sports car open.
‘Oh. That’s slick.’
Han-eol boarded the Simulator in light athletic wear.
The lid came down automatically and closed with a thunk, and the Simulator emitted mechanical sounds as it activated.
Han-eol had taken an Ability Stats test during his internship before awakening his Awakened Ability. It was a total of nine events, including dragging a tire and sprinting.
Afterward, Han-eol’s Ability Stats changes before and after awakening had been checked.
This was a process all Ability Users went through, not just Han-eol.
However, the senior members of Group 1 Division didn’t undergo the same primitive test as Han-eol.
Such a low-level test couldn’t properly measure the Ability Stats of senior Ability Users.
Take Defense Power, for example.
Could you really gauge a high-ranking Ability User’s Defense Power through only a test of withstanding tennis balls thrown at the bare body?
What about Fire Resistance?
A simple test of passing through blazing flames was insufficient to quantify the Resistance of a high-ranking Ability User.
Among Ability Users famous for fire-type powers, there were those who enjoyed swimming in boiling lava.
Testing the Resistance of such superhuman Ability Users in the real world was never easy.
That was why the major cities of Midland had developed a device called the Simulator.
Chapter 2
When an Ability User entered this Simulator—which resembled a capsule-shaped massage chair—fine needles emerged and pierced various points across their body.
These needles were sensors that monitored the Ability User’s physical responses.
Once the Simulator was activated in this state, that was all.
The moment the Simulator began operating, the Ability User fell into the illusion of entering Highland and fighting a powerful Demon Beast.
Immediately, the sensors attached across the Ability User’s entire body detected their reaction speed and muscular changes with precision, extracting various Ability Stats.
Of course, the Simulator was far from perfect.
Those who ruled a city or approached such overwhelming strength could not have their Ability Stats extracted by any Simulator.
In such cases, the Simulator was pre-programmed to display the subject’s Ability Stats as ‘MAX’.
Conversely, what would happen if an ordinary person used the Simulator?
In that case, the Simulator printed the character ‘MIN’ instead of a number for their Ability Stats.
Since an ordinary person’s Ability Stats ranged between 1 and 10, MIN on the Simulator meant anything below 10.
An Attack Power of 10 showed MIN, an Attack Power of 5 showed MIN, and an Attack Power of 1 equally received MIN.
From the Simulator’s perspective, the Attack Power of Old Earth’s greatest fighter (10) and the Attack Power of a newborn (1) were one and the same.
‘Have I really grown enough to use the Simulator? What if most of my results come back as MIN?’
Han-eol was quietly anxious about this.
But he soon shook his head, brushing away the needless worry.
‘Trust Baekpi. When you wear Baekpi, your Defense Power and Resistance increase dramatically.’
That was right.
Han-eol was currently wearing the Baekpi of the Three-Tailed Eight-Tailed Demon Beast.
When Han-eol had returned to Midland Seoul not long ago, he had submitted everything to the group—the Watch and Backpack, along with various Demon Essence Stones, medicinal herbs, new materials he had collected in Highland, and even a male giraffe’s Demon Spirit Stone.
Moreover, Han-eol had laid bare everything he experienced in Highland before the investigator.
Of course, Han-eol’s account contained a careful mixture of truth and falsehood.
The investigator had no choice but to believe him completely.
First, Han-eol’s explanation was so specific that it did not sound false at all.
Furthermore, the value of the Demon Spirit Stones Han-eol had collected was enough to cause Group 1 Division to stir, so the investigator was favorably disposed toward him.
At that time, Han-eol had made no mention whatsoever of Baekpi.
He had naturally hidden the Pyros Ring as well.
According to the knowledge Han-eol had awakened to in Highland, Baekpi and the Pyros Ring were relics that were so difficult for even the most keenly-sensed Demon Beasts to perceive.
‘So Shinsung Group won’t be able to find them even if they investigate.’
Han-eol carried this thought as his trump card.
The result was naturally a success.
All Ability Users returning from Highland had to pass through a two-stage search checkpoint with their belts undone and shoes removed.
Yet the checkpoint’s cutting-edge machinery—which did not miss a single speck of fine dust brought back from Highland—failed to detect Han-eol’s Baekpi or Pyros Ring.
It was only yesterday that Han-eol had successfully passed through all procedures and returned to Group 1 Division.
And today, Han-eol had entered the Simulator with Baekpi draped over his tracksuit and the Pyros Ring on his finger.
Soon the test began.
And just twenty minutes later, the test was over.
Ding!
As the Simulator’s cover opened with a bright chime, Han-eol stepped out and checked the results displayed on the monitor.
The contents were as follows.
Han-eol (Employee ID: 330895)
Category
Previous Score
Current Score
Rate of Increase
Stamina/Endurance
6
MIN
0%
Speed/Agility
8
108
+1,250%
Vitality
24
24
0%
Attack Power
3
MIN
0%
Defense Power
15
65
+333%
Flame Resistance
6
46
+667%
Frost Resistance
10
50
+400%
Poison Resistance
13
53
+308%
Lightning Resistance
6
46
+667%
Mental Power
40
50
+25%
Stamina and Attack Power both showed MIN.
It meant Han-eol’s Ability Stats in those categories were below 10.
By contrast, his Speed and Agility had surged by a staggering 1,250 percent to reach 108.
‘Wow! The Pyros Ring really does work!’
Han-eol’s eyes widened.
His heart pounded in his chest.
‘And the increase is massive.’
A Speed and Agility stat exceeding 100 was a threshold that only mid-tier or higher Ability Users in the assassin category could achieve.
Hardly able to believe it, Han-eol kept his gaze fixed on the Speed and Agility figures for a long moment.
Then he lowered his eyes to examine his Defense Power.
Defense Power had increased by 333 percent from before.
Park Pi had raised Han-eol’s Defense Power by a full 50 points, it seemed.
Moreover, Han-eol’s Flame Resistance, Frost Resistance, Poison Resistance, and Lightning Resistance had each climbed by 40 points.
The percentage increases varied by category, but the absolute gain was uniform—+40 across the board.
Chapter 3
* Defense Power increased by 50.
* All elemental resistances increased by 40.
These were clearly options attached to Park Pi.
‘Excellent, though I’d have liked a bit more.’
Han-eol smacked his lips with a wry smile.
Of course, he knew this was greedy of him.
‘Armor that boosts both Defense Power and Resistance is practically impossible to find. And even if something that extraordinary existed, would the Shinsung Group owner’s family use it themselves? Not a chance they’d hand it to a rookie like me.’
In other words, Park Pi was far too precious a relic for him to possess—he had to be grateful for it. Han-eol steadied his mind so as not to lose sight of his humble beginnings.
Next, he turned to the final item on the test results.
‘What about Mental Power?’
Han-eol’s Mental Power had increased by 25 percent compared to the last measurement.
Neither Park Pi nor the Pyros Ring carried any mental-related options.
Therefore, his Mental Power boost seemed to have arisen from the ordeal he’d endured while fighting the Three-Tailed Eight-Tailed Demon Beast—the crisis he’d nearly died facing.
That was his assessment.
‘Overall, not bad at all. The Highland expedition had its dangers, but in return the gains were quite substantial. Heh heh.’
Han-eol rubbed his palms together with satisfaction.
“Hum-hum, hum-hum-hum-hum~. Hum-hum~.”
Pleased with how things had turned out, he found himself humming a tune he couldn’t quite identify. Han-eol headed toward his room, still cheerfully humming the mysterious melody.
‘First, a shower.’
After a quick wash, he planned to head down to the buffet restaurant in the basement of Group 1 Division and have a proper breakfast.
Having gone without decent meals for a full two months, Han-eol suddenly felt his appetite surge. His pink tongue flicked briefly across his lips.
The Puppeteer Who Harvests Souls
Author |
Junon
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
Editor-in-Chief |
Editorial Department
Published by |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. — Dreambooks
Address |
7th Floor, Gwangseong Building, 28 Bongeunsaro 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260703071
Blog |
blog.naver.com/dreambookss
Twitter (X) |
@dreambookss
Submissions |
[email protected]
No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without written permission from Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. — Dreambooks.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————