Even at the peak of tension, humans are prone to making mistakes. It is perhaps inevitable that once a battle is deemed over, one's guard drops and a momentary lapse in judgment occurs.

  Jihyeon was no different.

  Having concluded the desperate struggle, he believed the immediate threat had passed. It was, perhaps, an arrogant oversight.

  Under the grip of his telekinesis, the two targets dangled helplessly, no longer appearing to be a threat. In a situation without external interference, it wasn't strange to assume the incident was nearly over.

  Who wouldn't think so?

  In the case of the werewolf, while it still radiated hostility, no one would consider a dog bound by steel chains a true threat. As for the sniper, they were completely unconscious. Having sustained severe injuries, they needed to be moved to a hospital, and since no ordinary person could handle such a situation, there was a need for haste; however, this also meant the sniper posed no danger to Jihyeon.

  Furthermore, even if the sniper regained consciousness, Jihyeon had placed them behind a wall to prevent an immediate attack. One cannot strike what one cannot see.

  After taking these precautions, Jihyeon prepared for the Tool removal process. Once the Tools were extracted, both would be nothing more than injured civilians, and the rest could be handled by the police.

  Thus, Jihyeon allowed himself to relax his shoulders slightly. It wasn't as if anyone else would show up now. He had even scanned the surroundings multiple times to ensure no other meddlers were lurking.

  Still, just in case, he maintained a minimal barrier around his body. While its power was incomparable to a full-strength deployment, it was still enough to withstand shots from a modern sniper rifle.

  Jihyeon believed there was nothing left to worry about. It wasn't as if the werewolf would suddenly transform again and pounce on him.

  With that thought, Jihyeon attempted to connect his consciousness with the werewolf. This was necessary to extract the Tool while their minds were linked.

  But that was a mistake. Perhaps he had grown complacent from doing this so many times. He should have checked for any potential traps, but he didn't. Or perhaps it was an unavoidable error born from a lack of experience; no one had ever set a trap like this before.

  Regardless of the reason, a mistake was a mistake. He realized it the moment his consciousness made contact.

  "Tsk!"

  Jihyeon clicked his tongue—an expression of regret for his blunder. But it was already too late.

  Boom!

  An explosion, followed by a shockwave and a deafening roar, shook the entire area. Caught in the unexpected blast, Jihyeon was sent flying backward.

  Fortunately, he didn't fall to the ground below, but he had to take the full force of the explosion with his body. It was a relief that he had maintained his barrier; it had prevented his body from being shredded. While the barrier hadn't completely negated the blast, it had done its job.

  Had it not been for the barrier, he wouldn't have been able to pick himself up immediately.

  However, the unprecedented impact left Jihyeon momentarily dazed. The unforeseen explosion and shockwave were dangers he had never faced before. Like any human, falling into a panic in such a situation was unavoidable.

  But soon, the metallic scent of blood and the smell of charred flesh jolted Jihyeon back to reality. He gritted his teeth at the sight before him.

  A booby trap.

  It was a snare designed to exploit a person's blind spot. This trap, which utilized everything possible to draw the target's attention, was a grim example of how far malice can go when it abandons humanity. Jihyeon was deeply shaken, having never dreamed he would encounter such ultimate malice outside of a literal battlefield.

  But as he regained his senses, all that remained was pure rage.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

  The werewolf was not someone who deserved to die like this. Granted, he had killed many people while being controlled by the Tool against his will. However, anyone who knew the man's original identity wouldn't be able to simply condemn him.

  The same went for Jihyeon.

  What the man—who had been completely twisted by external forces—needed was salvation, not judgment.

  But now, there was no one left to save.

  Instead, what lay before him was a tragedy too gruesome to behold. The Tool had been designed to react if anyone attempted to dismantle it—a possibility Jihyeon had never considered. Had he weighed even the worst-case scenarios, he might have had a chance to save the man.

  Of course, Jihyeon knew well that this was only in the realm of "what ifs." Yet, he couldn't help but feel furious at his own complacency and mistake. If only he had considered more possibilities, perhaps this tragedy could have been averted.

  But the milk was already spilled.

  The man, who should never have died so miserably, now left behind remains that would be difficult even to recover. Anyone attempting to do so later would surely suffer immense psychological trauma.

  "Ah... this isn't the time."

  There was still one person alive. Jihyeon hurried to find the sniper. Since the sniper wasn't dead yet, they needed immediate treatment. However, Jihyeon couldn't be sure if they had escaped the influence of the explosion. Striving to ignore the pool of blood on the floor, Jihyeon located the sniper behind the wall.

  Fortunately, the sniper was alive. However, because Jihyeon had lost his telekinetic grip due to the blast, the sniper had fallen to the ground. Their injuries were already critical because Jihyeon had swung the werewolf like a mace to strike them.

  Knowing he couldn't take them to a hospital while they still possessed a Tool, and driven by the feeling that he couldn't let another person die, Jihyeon once again cautiously linked his consciousness to the sniper.

  This time, he was as careful as possible, wary of any potential booby traps. Fortunately, there were no such dangers this time.

  But time was running out.

  The sound of the explosion was enough to draw people's attention. Jihyeon had to finish everything and recover the body before then. Yet, rushing out of urgency would be worse than not doing it at all. Concentrating his mind to the limit, Jihyeon slowly pulled everything out from the depths of the target's consciousness, one by one.

  "Whew... It's over."

  Fortunately, the extraction of the Tool was successful. Jihyeon immediately contacted Seok-young. Even while on the phone, his heart felt heavy. Guilt over his mistake and rage toward the person who orchestrated this pushed him into a deep gloom.

  The Loan Shark couldn't help but burst into laughter as he watched the breaking news about the explosion. It meant that the final trap he had laid as a precaution had succeeded.

  The Loan Shark knew. He knew that the hooded brat interfering with their business—specifically, the Loan Shark's business—had the ability to dismantle Tools implanted in human bodies.

  To such a person, a booby trap would have been a very effective gift. Who would have imagined that it would go bang just as they approached to dismantle it?

  The werewolf would have exploded eventually anyway once it reached the end of its lifespan. In the first place, using a "Booster" meant the user's life was practically over the moment it was activated. It was only natural, considering it used one's life force as fuel to push abilities to their limit. Since a life was used as gunpowder, the power was bound to be sufficient.

  Of course, he didn't think that damn brat would be dead. Even if the explosion was strong, someone with such a persistent hold on life wouldn't die that easily. He had already expected as much when he heard that the brat had blocked the previous sniper shot. He would have to watch the news later, but that guy would surely show up in front of the Loan Shark again, shamelessly wearing that hood.

  But that was a problem for later. For now, the Loan Shark decided to be satisfied with the fact that it had detonated and that his gift had worked properly. Still, it was a bit of a waste.

  "A lot of money went into that," the Loan Shark muttered regretfully.

  He had invested a significant amount of money to obtain the Booster from So-young. How much had he pleaded with her when she originally said she couldn't give it to him because it was an extremely unstable item?

  Yet, compared to the cost of the investment, the Loan Shark felt the results were lacking. Actually, the true purpose of purchasing the Booster was to show off its power through a proper fight with Jihyeon. If things were going to turn out like this, it might have been better to sell Tools specifically for self-destruction instead. "Self-destruct Tools, great for assassinations!"—something like that.

  "Even the sniper got caught, so there's not much profit this time," the Loan Shark muttered in disappointment.

  The sniper was also a disposable asset. He was just a teenager who had borrowed money from the Loan Shark and was used once as a test subject for the Tool.

  Still, he had confirmed the power to some extent. Now he just had to do business based on these results. Surprisingly, there were many people in the world who wished to deal with others through force rather than the law. There were plenty of such people in this city alone. Selling Tools to them would be quite lucrative. It was obvious, seeing as people had already started responding after he posted on the internet.

  However, he would have to be careful. So-young had told him:

  - If you aren't careful, the man in the hood will surely find you. -

  The Loan Shark did not take her words lightly. So-young's advice was an invaluable tip. If she said so, he would have to prepare some countermeasures accordingly.

  But there was no need to rush. It would be impossible to find this place immediately anyway. The Loan Shark had made his own preparations before starting this business.

  "Well, see you again... Now, what should I do to make some money..."

  The Loan Shark muttered as he looked at his subordinates. His men, whose individual wills had vanished, simply followed his orders faithfully.

  Looking forward to the future, the Loan Shark stood up. Leaving everyone behind, he walked out.