The Soul-Harvesting Puppeteer - Chapter 51

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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 51
Acknowledgment II
Chapter 1
Lee Gang-hyun and Lee Myung-woo cast aside their usual severity and fell into animated chatter, practically vibrating with excitement.
“Ahem, ahem. I see. So even I recalled the memory of that aunt?”
“You did, Chairman? I had no idea. Chairman, I believe Han Eol resembles his great-aunt in that he too possesses the ability to control Demon Spirits.”
“Hmm. Is that so? What I witnessed myself suggested something rather different…….”
Lee Gang-hyun recalled the raw destructive force Han Eol had demonstrated and found himself shuddering involuntarily before quickly changing the subject.
“Speaking of which, I received a report about the Demon Beast mass offensive that occurred at the 1st Division Base Camp some time ago. Did you hear of it?”
“It fell outside my purview, so I didn’t receive an official briefing. But I’m aware of the general situation.”
“Han Eol was apparently there at the time. Surely you would have known about it?”
Lee Gang-hyun’s eyes bore into his counterpart with an intensity sharp as an awl.
Lee Myung-woo answered without hesitation.
“Naturally, I’m kept apprised of everything concerning Han Eol.”
“As I thought. But when I looked into it afterward, my hypothesis wasn’t far off the mark. It appears Han Eol slaughtered an enormous number of Demon Beasts that day. And if the ability is of that variety, it’s almost certainly Demon Spirit Control.”
With Lee Gang-hyun leaning toward confirmation, Lee Myung-woo swiftly pressed his agenda.
“Chairman, that’s precisely what troubles me.”
“What troubles you?”
“From now on, we’ll need to be careful that Han Eol’s exceptional ability doesn’t leak to outsiders, and meanwhile, I foresee elements within the Group attempting to keep him in check. I fear he may follow the same path as his great-aunt.”
Lee Myung-woo had deployed his cunning with some skill.
‘Since Han Eol’s ability appears similar to the legendary Lee Hyun’s, please establish this boy’s position firmly, Chairman. Otherwise, he may suffer the same spiritual wounds and abandon the Shinseong Group as she did.’
It was a threat, delivered with practiced gentleness and indirection.
Lee Gang-hyun found it absurd.
‘Good grief. Here I am, a father, and I don’t even recognize my own son’s temperament. What? Someone gets wounded by internal interference? Han Eol? Ha. Impossible.’
In Lee Gang-hyun’s assessment, anyone foolish enough to move against Han Eol would end up trampled into pulp.
‘My concern isn’t Han Eol at all—it’s Sung-woo’s children. Min-cheol and Min-seo. Or worse, Sung-woo himself might die by Han Eol’s hand. That’s what I’m worried about.’
Lee Gang-hyun suddenly crossed his arms.
“Listen to me.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m going to tell you what happened that day, and I want you to hear me clearly.”
Lee Gang-hyun’s demeanor turned grave.
“I’m listening.”
Lee Myung-woo straightened himself and swallowed hard.
In truth, he had never learned the details of what occurred that day at Shubyeok Garden.
The man who was there—Lee Gang-hyun—had kept his silence.
After a time, Lee Gang-hyun finished his weighty account.
“Chairman, is that really true?”
Lee Myung-woo’s pupils trembled visibly.
Lee Gang-hyun gave a short, firm nod.
“Why would I lie to you? It’s all fact. That boy Han Eol—despite his gentle appearance, his nature follows mine. He has that iron-blooded temperament. His ability resembles his great-aunt’s. Do you understand what that means?”
“That is…….”
Lee Myung-woo couldn’t immediately answer.
Lee Gang-hyun then furrowed his brow in exasperation and brought his fist down sharply on the table where the teacup sat, letting it clatter.
“Like I said, Han Eol needs a fence around him. But that fence isn’t to protect the boy—it’s to keep Min-cheol, Min-seo, and Sung-woo alive should they be foolish enough to provoke him.”
“Ah!”
Lee Myung-woo finally grasped his father’s meaning.
Lee Gang-hyun, the Chairman of Shinseong Group whose veins might as well have carried molten steel instead of blood, was, it seemed, simply a father.
Chapter 2
The sky on November 4th hung heavy and gray.
Lee Gang-hyun, Chairman of Shinseong Group, had summoned his immediate family to Shubyeok Garden early that morning.
Lee Gang-hyun’s eldest son had died long ago.
The roster of those summoned was therefore as follows:
First, his second son, Lee Myung-woo, who headed the Strategic Planning Division, was in attendance.
His third son, Lee Sung-woo, who commanded the Pioneer Division, naturally answered the Chairman’s summons.
Finally, Lee Byul-ha, commander of the Artemis Knights, appeared.
Beyond these, Lee Gang-hyun had also summoned his grandchildren, Lee Sung-woo’s two children, Min-cheol and Min-seo.
The direct family members called before the Chairman were shown to the Second Office at Shubyeok Garden and seated on sturdy leather sofas facing one another.
Viewed from the head seat, Lee Myung-woo and Lee Byul-ha occupied the left side, while Lee Sung-woo and his children took the right.
“Uncle, Aunt, good morning.”
Before taking his seat, Lee Min-cheol first offered his respects to Lee Myung-woo and Lee Byul-ha.
“Hello there.”
Lee Min-seo then rose halfway from her seat and mimicked her brother’s gesture in an awkward posture.
“You two doing all right?”
“It’s good to see my niece and nephew’s faces, even like this.”
Lee Myung-woo and Lee Byul-ha offered brief replies, and soon silence settled over the room. Lee Myung-woo and Lee Sung-woo exchanged only glances, speaking nothing.
After a moment, Lee Gang-hyun entered the Second Office in modern hanbok.
At once, everyone sitting on the sofa rose abruptly and bowed to him.
“Chairman, did you sleep well?”
“Chairman, good morning.”
“You’ve all come. Sit down.”
Lee Gang-hyun raised his hand slightly to receive his family’s greetings.
Once Lee Gang-hyun took his seat at the head, the others settled into their respective places.
Lee Gang-hyun surveyed his children and grandchildren briefly, then brought forth the day’s agenda.
“You all know by now that the Strategic Planning Division head recently found his son.”
The moment Han Eol was mentioned from Lee Gang-hyun’s lips, they all wore expressions of recognition.
‘So that’s what this is about.’
‘But why wasn’t the person himself called in?’
‘Could there be some flaw with him? Perhaps he’s a common person who hasn’t awakened his Supernatural Ability, or maybe there’s some other problem.’
None of them held Han Eol in high regard.
But the words that followed from Lee Gang-hyun struck them with shock.
“I intend to reorganize our Shinseong Group around that boy in due time.”
“Chairman!”
Lee Byul-ha’s eyes widened in surprise as she turned to her father.
“That’s absurd.”
Lee Min-seo found herself uttering something disrespectful before Lee Gang-hyun without thinking.
‘Min-seo, please.’
Lee Min-cheol hastily covered his sister’s mouth.
“Mmph.”
Lee Min-seo squirmed.
While his children created a small commotion, Pioneer Division Commander Lee Sung-woo said nothing.
Yet from the way he stared quietly at Lee Gang-hyun seated at the head, his eyes shot through with red, one could easily read what lay in his heart.
The tendons in Lee Sung-woo’s fist, which he’d lowered beneath the table in haste, stood out sharply.
But Lee Sung-woo did not let emotion overtake him.
‘Breathe…’
Lee Sung-woo steadied his breathing inwardly, then spoke with composure.
“I believe there must be sound reasons for such a resolution, Chairman. If I may ask, would you be willing to share them with us?”
“There’s no need to spell it out in words. I’ll show you something instead.”
Lee Gang-hyun picked up the remote and pressed a button.
At that, a hologram unfolded across the flat surface of the square table between the sofas, and a video began to play.
“Oh?”
Lee Byul-ha reacted first.
This shocking footage was naturally recognized by her first, having been shot by the Artemis Knights at Base Camp No. 1 on Highland Continent 8.
The landscape in the video was, quite literally, a hellscape.
From the right edge of the horizon to the left, the vast ground was carpeted entirely with the corpses of Demon Beasts called Pyorb族.
Not only the younger Lee Min-cheol and Lee Min-seo, but even Lee Sung-woo, who had considerable Highland experience, was seeing this many Demon Beast corpses for the first time.
“Ugh, ugh… I-I’m sorry.”
Lee Min-seo heaved at the horrific scene in the footage, then quickly covered her mouth with her hand and begged forgiveness.
The color drained from Lee Min-cheol’s face as well.
“Where was this footage taken?”
Lee Sung-woo’s voice trembled slightly as he asked.
Lee Sung-woo, Commander of the Pioneer Division of Shinseong Group, was still an active field commander who beat down Demon Beasts with his own two fists.
Precisely because of this, he understood well what those Pyorb族 corpses—their eyes wide open, not a drop of blood on them—signified.
Lee Gang-hyun turned his gaze toward Lee Byul-ha.
“Commander. That footage is from Artemis Knights, is it not? If they filmed something like that but didn’t share it with other organizations in the group, particularly the Pioneer Division, there must have been good reason. I’d like you to explain that.”
“Father……”
At her father’s accusation, Lee Byul-ha bit her lip in distress.
Chapter 3
Lee Sung-woo spun around sharply to face Lee Byul-ha.
“You’re saying that’s footage shot by the Artemis Knights? Then was the Artemis Knights’ control of the Mine Area Near Base Camp No. 1 all because of this?”
Lee Byul-ha hesitated for a moment, then let out a heavy sigh.
“Yes, that’s right. I controlled it. And I’m also the one who ordered that footage not to be reported to the higher-ups.”
Lee Byul-ha emphasized her own responsibility, worried the Artemis Knights might face blowback.
Lee Sung-woo’s expression darkened noticeably.
“Why did you do that? At the very least, you should have reported it to the Chairman and shared it with our Pioneer Division. This is overstepping your authority.”
Lee Byul-ha glanced nervously at her father, then squeezed her eyes shut and laid bare what was in her heart.
“I’m sorry. But I had no choice. I thought that was her trace.”
“Her? Who are you talking about? Wait—don’t tell me—”
Lee Sung-woo, who had been pressing his sister, suddenly widened his eyes.
A name flashed through his mind like lightning, filling his entire consciousness.
“Could it be—Grandmother—”
He was so startled that he even stammered.
Lee Byul-ha’s choked voice reached his ears.
“You know, don’t you? How much I revere her. How desperately I’ve searched for any sign of her. And then I found that scene. Was I supposed to report it to the higher-ups? Share it? And what if she vanishes like smoke again? What was I supposed to do then? How was I supposed to live?”
As Lee Byul-ha spoke, her emotions rose higher and higher, until by the end she was nearly shrieking with the force of her feelings.
At Lee Byul-ha’s tearful confession, Lee Gang-hyun’s face went pale.
In truth, Lee Byul-ha’s words were a dagger to her father’s heart.
Though Lee Byul-ha hadn’t explicitly said “It’s all because of the Chairman that she became disillusioned with Shinseong Group and vanished like smoke,” what she was really saying—”I was afraid that if I reported it upward, she would leave”—amounted to the same accusation.
So Lee Byul-ha’s cry was unmistakably aimed at Lee Gang-hyun.
“Captain Lee Byul-ha.”
“Byul-ha.”
Lee Myung-woo and Lee Sung-woo, startled, tried to restrain her at the same time.
But Lee Byul-ha, overcome with emotion, bit her lip until blood came, glaring at her father. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Huff, huff.”
Lee Gang-hyun drew sharp breaths through his nose.
Lee Gang-hyun was in pain. Though he tried not to show it outwardly, the truth was that his chest felt as though it were being torn apart.
Lee Gang-hyun was not a good man, and he had committed many harsh deeds in secret over the years, but toward his aunt—toward Lee Hyun—he carried an immeasurable burden of guilt.
Now his only daughter, Lee Byul-ha, was picking at that open wound without hesitation. Lee Gang-hyun clenched his fists tightly and spoke in measured tones.
“Your judgment was wrong, Captain. That’s not the trace of the person you’re looking for.”
At Lee Gang-hyun’s decisive words, Lee Byul-ha’s pupils trembled.
“What do you—”
“It’s not the work of my aunt, Lee Hyun. It was Han Eol who did this.”
Bang!
Everyone was shocked at Lee Gang-hyun’s bombshell revelation.
“Ch-Chairman. Whose work? Han Eol? Who is that? Wait—could you mean that child the Strategic Planning Division head, or rather, my brother Myung-woo found?”
Lee Sung-woo asked in astonishment.
Lee Byul-ha was equally startled.
“So that Han Eol was Han Eol? What on earth—”
Lee Byul-ha was the very person who had discovered the mass death of Demon Beasts at the scene near Base Camp No. 1 at Highland and spirited Han Eol away to Chiang Mai.
Even Lee Byul-ha had never dreamed that the Han Eol from back then was the same person as her second brother’s son, Han Eol.
“This doesn’t make sense. How could that be?”
As Lee Byul-ha murmured in confusion, Lee Sung-woo pieced together what had happened.
“So what you’re saying, Chairman, is that the son my brother Myung-woo recently found has Awakened a legendary Supernatural Ability? The Demon Spirit Reversal that Grandmother possessed?”
As Lee Sung-woo spoke, his hands trembled faintly.
Not just his hands—his entire body shook.
Lee Gang-hyun nodded slowly.
“I’m more than ninety percent certain.”
Ninety percent.
When a man like Lee Gang-hyun said ninety percent, it might as well be a hundred.
Lee Sung-woo couldn’t bear the surge of emotion and trembled for a while, then closed his eyes tightly and fell silent.
Lee Gang-hyun quietly waited for his third son to compose himself.
“Father.”
“Dad.”
Lee Min-cheol and Lee Min-seo looked at their father with complicated expressions.
The Puppeteer Who Harvests Souls
Author |
Junon
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
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Editorial Department
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The contents of this book may not be used in any form or by any means without the written permission of (주) Samyang C&C – 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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