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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 35: Shooting, Star (10)
Five months ago.
As usual, Baek Ho and Frank were sprawled out drunk in a back alley.
They say once you pick up a bad habit late in life, you never know when to stop.
Lately, Baek Ho had been completely hooked on the thrill of drinking.
There was no one to stop him, and he could justify it to himself—it was just Agoni Drink, after all.
'Frank! Let’s hit round two!'
Baek Ho shouted at a refrigerator discarded by the roadside.
Next to it, Frank was doubled over, throwing up against a wall.
'…That’s not Frank, man.'
'Get up! You pig bastard!'
'Idiot…'
Shaking his head, Frank crawled to the mouth of the alley.
He collapsed with a thud on the main road.
Some people screamed and ran at the sight of his massive frame. Others, noticing his prosthetic arm, clicked their tongues in pity.
Several tried to approach—perhaps to steal the prosthetic—but backed off the moment they realized he was a Necroshell. It happened more than once.
Then, a sweet voice rang near Frank’s ear.
< Don’t worry~ We’re right here with you~♬ >
‘Huh…’
He turned his head the other way, scraping his lips on the ground.
Under a glowing neon sign stood four women, turned slightly with their fingers forming hearts.
I_Vu life-sized standees.
They weren’t holograms, but made of plastic, which somehow made them even more eye-catching.
‘Uh…’
Frank didn’t notice their faces as much as the words printed in bold across the center—
We’re with you.
We’ll help you.
Next to pink heart symbols was the phone number for the Widow Helper Welfare Center.
“Widow Helper…?”
Frank knew the organization.
After his father had been forcefully conscripted during an unexpected Awakening, the center had supported him and his mother.
Before he enrolled at the Superhuman Academy, they were the ones who helped them get by.
They were the ones who made possible those precious memories with his mom.
“Mom… Mom…”
Thinking of his late mother, Frank clung to the standee, sobbing and heaving.
From that day on, he naturally grew interested in I_Vu, who served as the promotional ambassadors for Widow Helper—and eventually became a fan.
Present Day
Through Naya’s voice and gestures, Frank had recovered lost memories—The longing for his mother, and the memories tied to that day. And with them, his once-burning fandom for I_Vu came rushing back.
“I love you, I_Vu!”
“Stay forever, I_Vu!”
I_Vu, who reminded him of a mother’s love.
I_Vu, who he wished could be eternal like those cherished memories.
And now, one of them had just been shot and fallen before his very eyes.
“Urgh…”
Frank sobbed thick, heavy tears and muttered to himself.
“I wanna punch Baek Ho… Punch him so hard…”
“What’s this lunatic rambling about?”
Baek Ho, now wearing surgical magnifying glasses over one eye, waved him off.
“You’re in the way. Get lost.”
“No… I’m staying… I’ll watch…”
Frank wiped his tears and stared ahead—at Naya, lying lifeless.
A white cloth had been draped over her face, with a perfectly round cutout revealing the bullet hole where bleeding had stopped.
“Urgh… Hrk…”
“You’re casting a shadow, dammit.”
Baek Ho scowled.
At his side, Seonhwa glared fiercely.
“Did you not hear the Young Master? Get lost, now!”
“…Fine, I get it.”
Frank took a step back.
Before leaving the stage, he glanced at Baek Ho once more.
On the wide white cloth laid across the floor, Naya lay serenely.
Baek Ho was seated cross-legged near her head, while Seonhwa knelt beside her.
Perhaps it was the usual operating table setup he was used to?
Or maybe it was the surgical tools beside Seonhwa?
The stage lights that had been illuminating Naya until just a moment ago now felt like the faint glow of the shadowless lights on the operating table.
“......”
After wiping his tears with his sleeve, Frank sent a message to Baek Ho.
–[Sorry for the misunderstanding earlier.]
[Yeah, you’re blocked.]
Baek Ho swiped the holographic message aside and looked down at Naya.
More specifically, at the faint glow coming from the vessel beneath her forehead, just below the bullet wound.
If it had been even slightly off, it would have shattered immediately.
“Your marksmanship is still top-notch.”
“Of course. I was always number one in shooting at school.”
“Then how did you know the vessel’s placement was different for this girl?”
“That’s…”
Baek Ho had been aware of it since the first time he met Naya in front of the office.
It was because of his innate ability to perceive magical auras.
And, aside from Frank, no one else knew that Baek Ho had this ability.
“How did I know? She told me.”
“Were you that close with her?”
“…I guess, roughly.”
“Then why did she change the location of the vessel? If it’s placed directly into the brain like this, the risks far outweigh the benefits.”
“Exactly. The motor functions won’t work properly, and if it damages the frontal lobe like this, personality disorders will follow.”
“Right. So, this girl, a Reaper who can’t use magic, and her personality being all over the place—this must be the reason.”
“It’s not impossible.”
Normally, life vessels are implanted between the nasal cavity and the brain.
This placement is done to seize control of the brain completely while minimizing external interference.
However, if the vessel is implanted incorrectly, various risks can arise.
It could result in losing control of the necromancer, or worse, the inability to use awakening abilities.
“How could they do something so foolish…”
“She probably tried to avoid Reaper scans. Her physical abilities are useless anyway, and her personality can just be controlled.”
“Aha… I am deeply impressed by your profound knowledge, Young Master.”
“What’s impressive about common sense?”
Baek Ho adjusted his surgical glasses.
He extended his left hand towards Seonhwa, and she handed him a sharp scalpel and thin tweezers from a leather bag she had laid nearby.
Since they had made a temporary servant contract, she handed him the necessary tools without needing to be told.
Screech—
Baek Ho drove the scalpel infused with dark mana into Naya’s forehead.
Her flesh and bone split smoothly, and the blood evaporated instantly.
Seonhwa clicked her tongue in admiration.
For an undead, she hadn’t replaced her forehead bone with some other metal?
She had taken a huge risk just to appear human.
“There’s a lot to modify.”
“That’s what I think too.”
Baek Ho slid the scalpel into the incision with a clink, then carefully began to extract something from inside using the tweezers.
A slender, shimmering gemstone about the size of two finger joints.
Both ends were sharp, and it contained murky dark mana inside.
“Huh…”
Seonhwa quietly marveled.
There were no remnants on the vessel’s exterior.
It was cleanly removed without a single scrap of flesh, indicating that Baek Ho’s surgical skills were better than those of the technicians residing in Grave.
“Do they teach transplantation in the academy these days?”
“They’re still just touching the basics. Necromancers wouldn’t waste their time with something as tedious as this.”
“Then this skill…?”
“I’m Baek Ho.”
“...Ah, right. I briefly forgot.”
Since leaving home and living as a fixer, Baek Ho had performed vessel surgeries on many undead.
To reduce mistakes, he practiced whenever he could.
Clink—
The vessel that had been removed was placed into a nearby bowl.
Immediately, Seonhwa looked back and shouted.
“Bring it over!”
The Pig Mask, waiting below the stage, quickly rushed over.
He handed a small box to Seonhwa.
When the lid was opened, a slightly smaller life vessel was inside.
It had the same pointed shape, but unlike the other one, it didn’t contain dark mana. Instead, it appeared as translucent amethyst.
“Hoho, for rats like you, you’ve really brought the best.”
“Hehe… It’s a gift from our leader...”
“Is that so? Go tell him. I’ll make sure to kill him without pain.”
Seonhwa took the vessel out and channeled mana into it.
She quickly sterilized the outside and inside with intense heat, then handed it to Baek Ho.
Baek Ho wrapped his right hand around the new vessel.
With his left hand, he lifted the original vessel.
From now on, he would have to extract the soul from the original vessel and transfer it into this new one.
Normally, this would be done with necromantic tools, but doing it with bare hands required a considerable amount of dark mana.
“Here...”
“Right here.”
Seonhwa took out a black cigarette from her surgical bag and handed it to Baek Ho.
With a slight flick of her finger, it automatically ignited.
Hiss—
Baek Ho closed his eyes and took a deep drag.
As he inhaled, dark mana began to seep from his heart.
It coursed down his arms and gathered in both hands.
“Urgh... Nana-nyang hates the smell of cigarettes...”
At the sound of Frank’s voice, Seonhwa shot him a sharp look.
Frank stood just below the stage, hands clasped like he was praying, lips drooping into a pout. It was a stark contrast to how indifferent he’d been toward Nana on the way here.
“Pathetic little—”
“I told you his memories would come back, didn’t I?”
“Yes, young master. I apologize. I doubted your judgment. But... did you really shoot her expecting it to trigger his memory?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then why take such a risk? It’s not like you to act without solid proof... Were you just hoping for a miracle?”
“No. This was the plan from the start. Giving Frank a jolt was just a bonus.”
“From the start? What do you mean?”
Baek Ho let the last of his dark mana consume the cigarette, burning it to ash.
As the final curl of smoke drifted away, Baek Ho spoke.
“This was the plan from the start. I wasn’t here to bring Frank’s memories back.”
“I... I don’t understand.”
“Didn’t I tell you? The reason I came out here was because of Nana’s request.”
“...A request?”
“She asked me to make her a dead person.”
Under the eyes of UnderHeaven, a bullet went clean through Nana’s forehead.
Anyone watching would’ve believed her vessel had been destroyed—and that her death was certain.
But because the vessel had been moved, the administrator might have realized she survived. Baek Ho didn’t care.
Someone with that much to lose wouldn’t risk exposing their own illegal tampering.
And knowing Nana, she wouldn’t have told anyone she’d changed the vessel’s location.
Besides, that administrator was already dead.
Which meant no one in UnderHeaven knew Nana was still alive.
“This should be a pretty good solution, don’t you think?”
“Ho... Truly impressive. You've become quite the fixer. Seems you've grown a lot since we last met.”
“Obviously. I’m about to get my B-rank license.”
...B-rank?
Seonhwa blinked, momentarily thrown off by the unfamiliar ranking—but she recovered quickly and changed the subject.
“Hoho... Her acting was something else too. Singing so calmly, even knowing she was about to get shot. That takes nerves of steel.”
At that, Baek Ho’s eyes—closed in thought—suddenly snapped open.
“Ah.”
He turned his head and looked at her.
A subtle flicker passed through his dark, deep-set eyes.
“I forgot to tell her that.”
“What do you mean?”
“I didn’t tell her I’d be shooting her in front of the camera.”
“......”
Seonhwa blinked her wide eyes.
The trio from the Liberation Army, all wearing animal masks, gasped in shock — one of them quickly covered another’s mouth.
Frank burst into tears and screamed.
“Baek Ho is a moron!! A total moron!!”
“You insolent fool! Who do you think you’re calling a moron! Even monkeys fall from trees sometimes!”
Baek Ho closed his eyes again and muttered to himself, dark mana seeping out with his breath.
“She must’ve been really shocked.”
“Not at all. Simply saving her life is already a tremendous favor…”
“Baek Ho is a moron monkey!! He got drunk last time and fell off a streetlight!! That’s when he turned into a moron!!”
“…Is that true?”
“No.”
“Hoho, of course our perfect young master wouldn’t do anything so embarrassing…”
“It wasn’t a streetlight. It was a traffic light.”
“Ah…”
—A short while later.
The operation was a complete success.
The soul had been transferred without issue, and the new vessel was implanted properly.
All the wounds from the surgery, including the gunshot, had been healed.
Not a scar remained—it was as if nothing had happened at all.
And now, unlike before, the vessel had been placed in its proper location.
From now on, Nana would be able to access an awakened one’s physical abilities, and her personality would no longer fluctuate—it would return to normal.
“You’ve worked hard.”
Seonhwa gently wiped the sweat from Baek Ho’s forehead.
All that was left was to inject dark mana into the vessel to bring her back—but Baek Ho hesitated.
“......”
The vessel had been completely replaced.
On top of that, the original administrator was now dead.
Which meant—if he wanted to bring her back, he had no choice but to accept her as his own Retainer—a formal, permanent subordinate.
This wasn’t a temporary measure.
And so he hesitated.
Baek Ho was unlike typical necromancers who swapped out subordinates at will.
He wasn’t like those others who gathered useless undead like secretaries, maids, or chauffeurs in tow.
Did he even have the right to rule over someone?
Even if it was for a greater cause, could he truly take responsibility for them until the end?
Unable to answer that question, he had chosen not to take on any retainers at all.
“Young master.”
“Huh… What…”
Sensing his hesitation, Seonhwa spoke up.
“Ho-ya.”
“…What’s with that all of a sudden?”
Smiling softly, Seonhwa took his hand in hers, looking at him as kindly as she had in their childhood days.
“This girl probably wants your guidance too.”
“…How would you know?”
“A teacher who once taught me at the Shrine of the Priestesses told me this—undead, too, can become something greater when they meet a good necromancer. Not just moving corpses, but beings more noble, more dignified.”
“......”
“And you, Ho-ya, are a righteous necromancer, aren’t you?”
“…Not even close.”
“Isn’t this very hesitation proof of that? Just like you did for Franklin—help this girl live not as a doll, but as something more. Give her a chance to become a hero.”
She gently squeezed his hand.
“If it’s you, Ho-ya... I think you can do it.”
When Baek Ho let out a small laugh, Seonhwa released his hand and bowed her head slightly.
“Forgive me. I may have overstepped.”
“You still talk like I’m a kid.”
“How could I? You’ve grown up so tall and fine.”
“Well... I am tall.”
“Hoho…”
Baek Ho looked down at Nana again.
‘Something greater than what she is now…’
This woman was an extraordinary and unique Awakened.
An undead who could wield divine power.
She had even used innate Awakening abilities while her vessel was improperly aligned.
If she were to awaken now as a proper Reaper, she would likely possess tremendous potential.
“…Yeah.”
Rather than risk her falling into the hands of another necromancer and being used for dangerous ends, it was better to take her in himself.
Baek Ho placed his hand on Nana’s forehead.
He closed his eyes and channeled dark mana into her.
Zzzzzz…
In an instant, black mist engulfed Nana.
As color returned to her skin, her nearly platinum-blonde hair began darkening into a deep black.
The illusion magic that had altered her appearance faded, revealing her true form.
Seonhwa’s eyes widened in shock.
Selena…
The moment the hair color changed to match the facial features she had already noticed, suspicion turned into certainty.
This woman was undeniably connected to Mother Selena.
But how?
That she would leave to discover for herself.
{Initiating mana synchronization with subordinate.}
“Hmm.”
It had been a while since Baek Ho had seen a system message like this, and a slight twitch crossed his brow.
A full subordination was fundamentally different from a temporary contract.
The Reaper’s mana would now resonate fully with the necromancer’s dark mana.
Their senses would become linked—enough that the subordinate could feel the stress and pain of the contractor.
The undead would become a literal extension of the necromancer’s body—his hands and feet.
{… Synchronization rate 37%… 38%… 39%…}
Fragments of Nana’s memories began to flow into Baek Ho’s mind, flickering by like scenes from a silent film.
He saw the moment she was sold off by the orphanage to a retired commander.
He felt her collapse from exhaustion during relentless divine power training—and the loneliness that drove her to sing, just to cope with the pain.
Then came the moment that changed her fate: when the commander caught her singing and decided to teach her how to perform, formally guiding her in both music and dance.
That same commander eventually became the CEO of an agency.
But the night before Nana’s debut as an idol, he was killed.
The Nana in those memories wasn’t a radiant star lighting up UnderHeaven.
She was more like a delicate neon sign—bright, yes, but confined behind glass, never truly free.
{89%… 90%… 91%…}
‘Is Nana seeing my memories too…?’
Of course, any restricted memories were off-limits.
But she would inevitably come to know a great deal.
{Synchronization complete.}
{Please assign a Command ID for the new subordinate.}
{This cannot be changed until the contract ends. Choose wisely.}
Each subordinate required a Command ID for system-level commands.
Frank had been assigned “Friend.”
What about Nana?
Baek Ho didn’t dwell on it long.
Combining what he had seen of her on-screen and what he’d experienced firsthand, only one term came to mind.
A woman who shone brightly.
{‘Luminous Maiden’ has been registered.}
“…Haa.”
Nana exhaled deeply and slowly opened her eyes.
Unaccustomed to the power now flooding her body, raw mana leaked uncontrollably from her.
It was like witnessing someone newly Awakened.
The only difference was that she was filled not with despair—but with joy.
Her clear eyes landed on Baek Ho.
As she stared at him, Baek Ho awkwardly opened his mouth.
“About earlier, I’m sorry for—”
He cut himself off.
Tears were silently rolling down Nana’s cheeks as she looked at him.
Was she that scared?
He tried to apologize again, but before he could, Nana reached out and gently stroked his cheek.
“How did you endure all this time… It must’ve been so hard for you…”
That was her reaction after glimpsing Baek Ho’s memories.
She reached out with her other hand to touch his face—but before she could, Frank suddenly sprang in and grabbed her wrist. He flailed dramatically and shouted—
“Nana-nyang! Are you okay? Are you really okay?!”
Nana turned her gaze toward Frank. Her soft lips parted.
“What is this half-finished reject?”
“…Huh?”
“Let go, unless you want your hand ripped off.”
Everyone except Nana was stunned.
Especially Frank—he gaped like a goldfish, as if he’d just seen a ghost. His grip loosened instantly.
“No… this isn’t Nana… This can’t be Nana…”
As Baek Ho felt Nana’s touch on his cheek, he thought to himself.
The calm, reserved Nana… and the one who had raged out of control. Even the glimpse of her past he'd seen through their sync. A girl who ruled over the other children at the orphanage flashed through his mind.
Wait—is this her true personality?
The quiet, subdued behavior must have been an error caused by the vessel…
No—more likely, the administrator had forcibly suppressed it.
“......”
Baek Ho tapped at his SmartCore and brought up the familiar necromancer interface.
{Bound Retainers List}
{1. 'Friend' — Franklin Bernstein}
{2. 'Luminous Maiden' — Edelin Nana}
He considered breaking the contract then and there…
But at that moment, he felt two contrasting sensations on his cheeks—one soft, one hard.
Nana was cupping his face with her pale hand and her cold prosthetic. She forced him to meet her gaze.
There was a sparkle in her clear eyes.
A clean, beautiful kind of madness.
“Looking forward to working with you, Master.”
“......”
When Baek Ho leaned slightly back, Nana leaned in even closer, her lips brushing just shy of his ear.
In a soft, swift murmur, she whispered.
“You said it yourself—true transcendence is when a small light dissolves into a greater one… From this moment forward, I surrender myself to that brilliance… O god, I’ve waited so long for this day.”
As Nana grinned wide, her eyes curving into crescent moons, Frank foamed at the mouth and collapsed backward. He flailed on the floor, arms and legs flopping wildly.
“No! That’s not Nana! Give her back!”
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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