The Soul-Harvesting Puppeteer - Chapter 20

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 20
The woman then drove Jung Min-jun’s head down onto a bottle of liquor on the table.
A sound like an explosion erupted. Fragments of the shattered bottle lodged into Jung Min-jun’s neck, the back of his skull, and his back.
Jung Min-jun was Han-eol’s peer and the most skilled swordsman among them. Naturally, his hand-to-hand combat ability was equally exceptional.
Yet here he was, unable to escape the tall woman’s grip, being wielded around like a toy.
The tall woman pinned Jung Min-jun’s neck to the table, then methodically grabbed bottles from around the room and smashed them against his face without mercy.
Even Kim Hyu-in couldn’t make a sound against such overwhelming violence.
The Espers from the 1st Corps, who had been swaggering moments before, now pressed themselves flat against the walls, frozen with terror.
‘What a spectacle.’
Han-eol clicked his tongue silently.
Then women with sharp eyes filed into the private room one after another.
“Haven’t you finished cleaning up yet? The Commander will be here soon—we need to hurry.”
A petite woman wearing glasses spoke while snapping her gum.
“The Commander?”
Kim Hyu-in reacted to the word. Then he noticed the bow-shaped badges pinned to the lapels of these terrifying women, and his face drained of color.
“Oh no. The Artemis Knights.”
“What? For real?”
Before Kim Hyu-in had even finished speaking, the faces of the 1st Corps Espers turned pitch black.
The Artemis Knights were the Seongsang Group’s most powerful military unit.
This organization, under direct command of the chairman, was notable for being composed entirely of women.
Moreover, the Artemis Knights were famous for being deployed strategically by the group whenever individual corps of the pioneering expedition encountered powerful Demonic Beasts and found themselves struggling.
Thus, the epithet attached to the Artemis Knights was “Demonic Beast Slayers.”
In terms of individual combat prowess alone, within the Seongsang Group there were no Espers who could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Artemis Knights save the “Silent Assassins” of the Red Team.
This was classified information, but in truth, the Artemis Knights had been established by Lee Cheol, the group’s founder and patriarch, to protect his younger sister, Lee Hyun.
As the Master of Spirits, Lee Hyun was a natural predator of the Demonic Beasts in Highland, yet she had vulnerabilities against Espers from other cities.
Convinced that “the Seongsang Group can only prosper if Hyun is protected,” Lee Cheol had gathered only the strongest female Espers and founded the Artemis Knights.
After Lee Hyun disappeared, the Artemis Knights’ mission was reassigned, and they became the central force for eliminating Demonic Beasts in Highland.
“Stop. You’ll kill the kid.”
A petite woman, barely reaching 155 centimeters, pinched the bridge of her glasses between her thumb and index finger, pushing them up slightly, and gestured to the tall woman to stand down.
The tall woman, who had been brutally pummeling Jung Min-jun, immediately withdrew her hands.
“My apologies. I’ll have this room cleaned immediately.”
The tall woman deferred to the smaller woman.
The short woman with glasses removed and replaced her glasses several times, then shook her head.
“These look like 1st Corps kids—like they’d know how to clean anything. I already told the club staff, so don’t worry about the cleanup. Just get these brats out of here.”
“Yes, Vice-Commander.”
The petite woman with glasses was the Vice-Commander of the Artemis Knights.
Kim Hyu-in swallowed hard.
Then a loud voice came from behind them.
“The Commander is arriving.”
“Already?”
Before anyone could respond, the female knights standing in the doorway split sharply to both sides.
The Vice-Commander’s expression turned stern as she looked toward Kim Hyu-in.
“Get out, now. Don’t put the Commander in a bad mood. Move.”
At the Vice-Commander’s low, threatening growl, Kim Hyu-in and the other 1st Corps Espers bolted out like they were running for their lives.
Jung Min-jun, covered in blood, stumbled after them.
They fled through the emergency stairs at the back, rather than the main staircase where the Artemis Commander was ascending.
Han-eol moved with his seniors, caught up in the crowd.
Then his gaze locked onto a woman.
Chapter 6
She was a stunning beauty with long, straight hair, dressed in pure white casual wear. Surrounded by female knights as she climbed the club stairs, this elegant woman appeared to be the Artemis Commander.
To be frank, the Commander’s beauty was breathtaking.
Even the 1st Corps seniors, who had been frantically scrambling to leave, momentarily lost all composure and stared at the Commander.
Han-eol himself was captivated, unable to tear his eyes away from the Artemis Commander.
It was not, however, because he had been entranced by her brilliant appearance.
Since childhood, Han-eol had been able to see the souls of others, and as a result, he tended to focus more on their souls than on their faces.
Now, too, Han-eol was not captivated by the Artemis Commander’s beauty, but by something else entirely.
‘Wait. She has two Spiritual Images?’
Han-eol’s pupils dilated slightly.
Within the pure white soul reflected in his pupils, two Spiritual Images were slowly rotating.
The first of these Spiritual Images was a whale that radiated a sacred golden light.
Her second Spiritual Image was a vortex tinted in pale blue.
Among all the people Han-eol had encountered so far, none possessed more than two Spiritual Images. Excluding Han-eol himself, who remarkably held four, Lee Byul-ha was an exceptional case.
‘To be honest, I can’t even say I fully possess all four of my Spiritual Images.’
The Full-spectrum Hand, the first Spiritual Image to manifest in Han-eol, had by now taken on a rather convincing hue.
Thanks to that, perhaps, Han-eol could actually employ the Full-spectrum Hand.
But the remaining three Spiritual Images were not only dull in color but also utterly opaque in how to use them.
‘So really, I still only have a single active Spiritual Image.’
Lee Byul-ha, by contrast, possessed both the whale and the vortex—two Spiritual Images, and both held color. Though the vortex’s hue was faint, it appeared to have completed its activation.
From that perspective, the Artemis Knights commander was certainly superior to Han-eol in his current state.
‘Damn. I’m still just a frog in a well.’
Han-eol was sinking into a mood of discouragement, weighed down by Lee Byul-ha’s talent.
Whoosh—
A hand suddenly flew at him from the side, snatching at his hair.
‘What—?’
Han-eol reflexively dodged his head away.
Thanks to the Pyros Ring’s effect, Han-eol’s agility had climbed past one hundred. At this level, his reflexes exceeded those of ordinary Espers.
Unfortunately, the Tall Woman Knight targeting his head was far beyond an ordinary Esper.
“You dodged that?”
The tall woman looked startled, then twisted her hand’s trajectory twice in succession through the air, continuing her assault.
Snap-snap-snap!
Her hand came at him like a whip.
In the end, Han-eol surrendered his head to her.
Grabbed roughly by the hair, Han-eol quickly offered an apology.
“Ugh. My apologies.”
The tall woman seized a fistful of his hair and yanked hard, then pressed her mouth to his ear and growled low.
“You crazy bastard. How dare you stare at the commander with those filthy eyes? Should I rip them right out of your head?”
“Ugh. I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
Han-eol bowed his head repeatedly.
Thankfully, the Vice-Commander stepped in at the right moment.
“Hey, hey. Don’t disturb the commander’s mood—just let him go.”
“But Vice-Commander—”
As the Tall Woman Knight began to protest, the Vice-Commander shot a sharp glare over the rim of her glasses.
“I said let him go. The commander just glanced over here a moment ago.”
“Really? She did?”
Startled at the news that Lee Byul-ha had been watching, the Tall Woman Knight released Han-eol’s hair. Instead, she shoved his chest hard with her palm.
“You’re lucky, kid.”
“Ugh.”
“Why are you still standing here?”
“Ugh, yes, okay.”
Han-eol fled without another word, leaving his position.
As Han-eol hurried down to the first floor and was about to slip out of the Club, another strand of fate stopped him in his tracks at the entrance.
A girl stood directly in his path. She was delinquent in appearance, with a silver ring piercing her lower lip, and her presence struck Han-eol with sudden impact.
Chapter 7
The girl looked remarkably young.
Could she only be in her first year of high school?
Yet because of the piercing on her lip and the tattoos on her arms and collarbone, the innocence typical of a young girl was nowhere to be found—she radiated a rough, delinquent air.
When the girl saw Han-eol staring blankly at her, she raised her eyebrows.
“What are you looking at? Creepy.”
The girl’s sharp response froze Han-eol in place.
“I, uh… I’m sorry.”
Han-eol gave a small bow and slipped past the girl as if merely grazing her.
But not long after, Han-eol looked back.
The girl, at precisely that moment, turned her head to check on him, and her frown deepened.
‘Oh no.’
Han-eol, now embarrassed, rushed out of the Club.
The reason Han-eol couldn’t take his eyes off the girl just now was not because she appealed to him, but because of her soul.
Among all the humans Han-eol had encountered so far, none had a protective barrier around their soul.
Some exceptional Espers had manifested a Spiritual Image inside their soul, but even they remained undefended on the outside.
Han-eol was no exception.
He too possessed four Spiritual Images inside his soul, but had nothing at all shielding the outside.
The Demonic Beasts of Highland, however, were different.
They built formidable fortresses around their souls.
On the outer walls of these fortresses, they positioned defensive techniques suited to their individual characteristics.
The Demonic Beast’s soul then took root in the safest center of the fortress, like putting down anchors.
‘But that girl just now—she didn’t look like a human. She seemed to perceive a Demonic Beast’s soul. Unlike some Espers in Midland Seoul who construct Spiritual Images inside their souls, the Piercing Girl appeared to be a case of building a dual-purpose fortress on the outside of her soul—protecting her spiritual essence while attacking enemies. Hmm~.’
Han-eol found himself curious about where this difference originated.
He wanted to learn more about the two connections he’d stumbled upon today by chance: the Artemis Knights’ commander Lee Byul-ha, and the Piercing Girl from moments ago.
But that would be far too dangerous.
‘I could probably tear out both of their souls the same way I do Demonic Beasts’ souls… but if I caused an accident of that magnitude in Midland, the aftermath would be a nightmare.’
Han-eol suppressed the unnecessary curiosity.
Two days later, on August 14th.
At last, the settlement of Han-eol’s accomplishments was complete.
The Seongsang Group had meticulously appraised the Magical Crystal Stones, medicinal materials, and various novel substances that Han-eol brought back from Highland, and set the incentive accordingly.
Additionally, the Seongsang Group conducted a special appraisal of the Spiritual Beast Stone extracted from the male Giritt’s chest, adding a supplementary incentive.
As a result, the total compensation details that appeared in Han-eol’s intranet today were as follows.
1. Cash Reward
Payment Details:
― 4.3 billion won (pre-tax)
Payment Method:
― Included in next month’s salary
― Full bonus amount tax-exempt
2. Bonus Rewards
Payment Details:
― 3 bottles of Grade A Recovery Potion
― 1 Custom Weapon (commissioned)
Payment Method:
― Full weapon manufacturing cost covered by the Group
― Spiritual Beast Stone insertion into weapon (from the Spiritual Beast Stone brought from Highland by the contributor on May 22, 2056)
Han-eol had submitted one Spiritual Beast Stone to the Seongsang Group on May 22, 2056.
It was a triangular Spiritual Beast Stone extracted from the throat area of the male Giritt.
Subsequently, when Han-eol completed his third Highland expedition on August 9, 2056—just recently—he submitted an additional Spiritual Beast Stone to the Group upon his return.
This Spiritual Beast Stone came from the male Giritt’s chest, and while its shape was the same triangular form as the one submitted after the second expedition, its size was noticeably larger.
A Spiritual Beast Stone the size of two adult fists combined—this would rank among the top achievements the 1st Corps has brought in this year.
The Soul Harvesting Puppetry Master
Author |
Juurnon
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
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Editorial Department
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books
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G720:N+A063-20260703071
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Submissions |
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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. – Dream Books.

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