CH 230

2.

The sun had set in this world.

I went out to the sunset street with Ja Soo-jung.

Babylon, as a city founded by displaced people who had no nationality, was a mixture of various kinds of flavors.

There was the smell of Indian spices. And the smell of Chinese incense.

Every person who passed us had a different skin color and body odor.

“Where are we going?”

Ja Soo-jung asked.

“This one can send Mr. Gong-ja back to your original world at any time. You already received your reward. Are there still things you want to do in this world?”

“Just follow me.”

“Hmph.”

Ja Soo-jung snorted softly as she walked beside me.

“Guide me wherever you wish.”

The smells of the street were beginning to fade.

Do you know what Harlem smells like?

The smell of poverty which seemed to linger wherever you went. The smell of water. The smell of moisture. There was stagnant water accumulated in the shade on the side of the road because there was nowhere for it to drain away.

A plastic bottle was stuck head first in the muddy water.

It was as if it was measuring the water level of this poor pond.

“…”

We walked.

The more muddy water we stepped in, the more the smells of the street lost their nationalities, and the more prominent the smell of water became.

As the world’s sunset grew darker.

“…ah.”

I entered a familiar alley.

Ja Soo-jung noticed too, and her lips twitched.

“Mr. Gong-ja, this place-.”

“Shh.”

I murmured.

“Listen.”

Ja Soo-jung closed her mouth.

Then, a small noise drifted from afar.

“Si-, Sir Flame Emperor.”

A familiar voice.

“Why so suddenly…!”

“It would be pointless to call for help.”

A familiar sarcasm.

“There’s no one around here anyway.”

The Tower’s Number 1 Hunter, the Flame Emperor.

As if he had swallowed the sunset, Yoo Soo-ha’s voice was practically glowing.

“I never would’ve thought the hiding witch was so pretty. Aya. If I didn’t know already, I’d have been in trouble.”

“W-, with? What are you talking about…”

“Kah. Looking at you now, you’re really good at acting.”

In the dark alley.

Yoo Soo-ha stood with his head tilted, pressing the Saintess. (TL: For those who haven’t realized it yet, the Saintess is the one Kim Gong-ja saw the Flame Emperor kill in the beginning)

“Unlike your oldie granddaddy.”

The moment those words came out, the Saintess’ face hardened.

“Huh…?”

“Your grandpa. The Sword Saint of whatever. You were going to get revenge for that old man.”

“…”

“Did you think I didn’t know”

To be precise, he didn’t know.

However, Yoo Soo-ha had the [Returner’s Clockwork Watch].

A skill that sent him back a day when he died.

Thanks to that, Yoo Soo-ha knew [the future where he was attacked by the Saintess].

“How, that, how did you…”

Of course, the Saintess didn’t know about Yoo Soo-ha’s skill.

Just like she hadn’t known in my world. It was the same.

“I’m just that smart. I know everything.”

“Uht…!”

The Saintess moved her hand.

There was a brief flash of white in her palm that was probably her aura.

“Aigo. The granddaughter is so aggressive.”

However, the white aura disappeared before it could fully appear.

The Flame Emperor grabbed the Saintess by the neck.

“Kup!?”

“You got a knack for killing people. I wonder how your granddaddy would react if he saw his granddaughter’s face right now. Huh? He probably wouldn’t be able to forgive the murderer even if he is the same… Ah, our idioms probably don’t translate well, right?”

Groaning, the Saintess struggled.

Her shoes, which were floating in the air, swung back and forth in a vain search for purchase.

“I mean, I like bastards like you.”

In the past.

“No matter how much you kill, it won’t even leave a scratch on your heart.”

In the same place, with the same characters.

“And it’s annoying cause you act like nice people. Wow, fuck, is there anyone in the world who isn’t trash?”

At that time, I couldn’t do anything.

“It’s not true. If you peel back your shell, it’s all trash. However, it takes a lot of work to peel it back, doesn’t it? It’s really tiring. It’s like peeling a mandarin orange and getting the threads stuck in your fingernails.”

“Ugh, kuhp! Uhuk, up…!”

“But it’s comfortable to make a brat like you. Ah, I’m not tired at all. It’s as if the inside of my brain was washed with detergent. I feel alive because of you. Really. It’s thanks to you.”

I had no choice but to watch.

I was shocked, and did everything I could just to hold my breath without letting anything out.

“Thanks.”

However, not this time.

“Bye now. Saintess Isabelle.”

Just as flames were about to erupt from the Flame Emperor’s palm.

My aura rushed to the back of the Flame Emperor’s hand.

“…!?”

Taht!

The Flame Emperor reflexively let go of the Saintess’ neck and stepped back. Fwoosh! My aura cut through the air where the Flame Emperor’s arm had once been.

“Huk…!”

The Saintess sucked in a breath of air as she collapsed.

“What…”

The Flame Emperor looked towards me with a shocked expression.

Until now.

One breath.

“Salvation Sword.”

Without letting out my breath, I ran forward.

At my call, a skill that had already become one with me answered.

[The Salvation of a Torn Goddess answers.]

It was a skill that had once belonged to a man known as the Constellation Killer.

Just like nine golden cards made the Tower Master, two skills made the Constellation Killer.

One was the [Puppeteer’s Parade].

With the help of that, the Constellation Killer was able to return to a new body even if his old body was destroyed.

The other was [Salvation of a Torn Goddess].

With the help of that, the Constellation Killer could forget yesterday’s memories to obtain today’s victory.

When I was killed by the Constellation Killer, I was given the choice to choose between those two skills.

I chose…

“Part timer?! You, what did you-.”

“The coffee you order for our office doesn’t taste good at all, Guild Leader. Please change the delivery.”

I rushed into the Flame Emperor’s chest.

The sound of my words was made by compressing my aura and sending it out as sound waves.

At that moment, the astonished Flame Emperor’s eyes widened even more.

“I don’t want to remember the taste of the coffee I had today.”

I stated.

“So I’ll throw it away.”

Then clenched my fist.

[Invoked the Salvation of a Torn Goddess.]

A single blow.

Strengthen.

“…!”

My aura, as red as the Flame Emperor’s aura, struck his abdomen. Kuk! A sound leaked out of the Flame Emperor’s mouth. Unable to withstand the force of my blow, the Flame Emperor flew toward the alley wall like a stick.

Boom!

The wall broke in half.

“Huk, uhh… ah?”

Until now.

Two breaths.

“Uh, uh, you… Yoo Soo-ha Guild…?”

The Saintess seemed to regain some energy and looked up at me. She probably hadn’t been hurt at all, and there was only a slight burn mark on her neck where she’d been grabbed by the Flame Emperor. She looked confused.

I used to think the Saintess was purely a victim.

“I’m sorry, but please go to sleep.”

Now, I just considered her as a person.

I pointed at the Saintess’ forehead and sent my aura out.

“Ah…”

The Saintess collapsed with a groan. She’d fainted. This used to be an unimaginable exercise of force in the past, but now it was really simple.

Until now.

Three breaths.

“Mother, fucker!”

The Flame Emperor rose up from the collapsed wall.

Small pebbles fell from his long ponytail.

“This crazy bastard! Hey! What the hell are you doing?! No, are you really the part timer!?”

“That’s right.”

“Fuck, you must belong to that witch… no, no. That’s impossible. When that stupid terrorism happened…”

The Flame Emperor had trouble keeping up with the current situation.

That was natural. After all, from his perspective, I was just a frail F rank Hunter guild member.

“Are you curious? Guild Leader?”

The Saintess had no idea that the Flame Emperor had returned a day.

Likewise,

The Flame Emperor had no idea of what kind of being I was.

“If you want to know, you’ll have to beat me.”

“Ha…”

“I need to know if I am stronger than you.”

“I don’t know what you’re on about.”

The Flame Emperor’s eyes were burning.

“I’m going to beat you up a little bit.”

Blood coloured aura overflowed from my hands.

“I’m only going to beat you till you can’t move.”

And, I jumped at him.

By using everything I had.

“Bullshit! I am the Number 1 Hunter in the Tower…!”

“My infernal heavens will make you wail your dying wishes.”

Infernal Heavens Demonic Art.

First Form.

Sword of Starvation.

I threw my fist at the Flame Emperor. The Flame Emperor tried to block my aura with a face that seemed to say I wouldn’t let you hit me again. Right. I was basically a Swordsman, not a Fighter. Unlike the Flame Emperor, I wasn’t in the best position right now.

However, my Master had cut through an entire snowy mountain without a sword.

Therefore, even if I didn’t have a sword, I would pierce through this stream of fire.

+

[Infernal Heavens Demonic Art]

Rank: A+

Effect: The Demonic Cult. They hate the logic of the heavens. They curse it. And they did not stop at hating and cursing the heavens, but formed cults, eventually uniting under one doctrine. The Infernal Heavens Demonic Art is a martial art with the essence of that doctrine.

Those who awaken the Infernal Heavens Demonic Art can tear up the heavens and crush the tall mountains! However, you must deeply understand the hatred and curses contained in the basic movements of this skill.

The more you hate and curse the world, the more you overshadow the heavens. One who has mastered and reached the peak of the Infernal Heavens Demonic Art is the Heavenly Demon, the one who will overthrow the heavens. 

※However, it becomes difficult to maintain your sense of self if you use this new skill.

+

One blow.

A piece of my aura pierced the flames.

“-urp, uh?”

“Today.”

Yoo Soo-ha’s head turned to the side as my fist hit his chin. Slowly. With my sense of time being infinitely prolonged by aura, the Flame Emperor couldn’t hit me, and I was able to swing my arms a step ahead of him.

“I throw away the memories of the mud puddles I stepped in when walking in the alley.”

I roused my aura.

+

[Salvation of a Torn Goddess]

Rank: A+

Effect: There was once a goddess who was devoted to a certain warrior. Although the goddess was torn apart by the warrior, she still wished to stand beside him. The goddess fell and was sealed in this skill card.

The goddess replaces memories with abilities. You can strengthen your abilities and might by giving your memories to the goddess. The more important the memory is to you, the stronger the buff you receive.

※However, the strengthening effect does not last long.

+

The wind howled.

I swung my fist again, this time striking Yoo Soo-ha’s stomach.

“—.”

The Flame Emperor’s breath hitched.

Kuk, a groan escaped his mouth.

A few drops of gastric juice followed the groan, after which, Yoo Soo-ha collapsed to his knees.

“Urk, …kup, fu-! Huk….”

“Guild Leader.”

I quietly looked down at the Flame Emperor.

“I know you’re mad that the Manager and I died. But Guild Leader killed her grandfather too.”

“You, urk, what the… ”

“So you should apologize for killing her grandfather first.”

Until now.

I took five breaths.

“I had no choice but to kill him, the Sword Saint tried to kill me without talking to me first. Nevertheless, I’m sorry. Tell the Saintess that.”

Until now.

It took many days.

“You have to do it.”

“Why are you killing blindly?”

The smell of the alley.

The smell of poverty which was like water.

No matter how strong the sun was in the world, its light never touched the shade. The puddles in the shade did not have the chance to fully evaporate, and when night fell or rain fell, it would rise as much as it evaporated once again.

It was stagnant and rotten.

“Why?”

It took a lot of sun to evaporate my rotted muddy water.

“Why would you kill someone you don’t know?”

“Guild Leader is strong. You are the strongest person in the Tower. Unlike other people, you can even throw away your life if you want to. You have less to lose. So why do you kill people like that?”

I looked down at the man who burned my heart.

He was so strong that at that time, I had no way to defeat this man, so I just ran away, back in time, to the past, to 4,000 days before.

That’s right. I ran away.

I didn’t know what to say to persuade this person, I didn’t have the strength to convince this person, I didn’t know how to attract this person, I had no confidence to face this person, so I ran away, and killed him before he could become this person.

I killed Yoo Soo-ha, not the Flame Emperor.

“Don’t live like that.”

“…”

“You fucking bastard.”

I was now stronger than him.

Incomparably stronger.

I could do a little more now.

I didn’t have to hold my breath while watching the Saintess die, I didn’t need to try to run, I didn’t have to be scared of dying, I didn’t need to be afraid of being abandoned, I didn’t have to worry about meaning nothing to others.

I worked hard.

“…”

The Flame Emperor spat up some more gastric juices.

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he muttered.

“What bullshit, you motherfucker…”

“…”

“Why can’t I be a bit nicer? Why are you asking me something like that? Fuck. Look around. Where did you grow up that you could spout such bullshit…”

The Flame Emperor’s eyes were bloodshot.

“Soo-jung is the same. You are the same, too. Seriously. You two are not human. Whoever picked you up and raised you to be so good. Fuck. How is that possible?”

The words he spat were also bloody.

“How can you be so kind?”

The blood thickened.

“How can you be so— how can people be so good?”

The Flame Emperor glared at me.

“Soft hearted bastards. Get out of here. Ja Soo-jung, and you too, just go die. Just, just, die. Die. Get lost. Fuck, really…”

Right.

If that was his scream.

Then I— the Demonic Cult’s Young Master, the Moon of the Ivansia Duchy, the Ruler of the Hundred Ghosts, nodded.

0

“The world isn’t just made of bastards like you.”

“…”

“And I won’t let you become a bastard like you. I can do it, I will do it.”

I touched the Flame Emperor’s forehead.

“Because I’m stronger than you.”

And reversed the flow of my aura.

With a final curse, the Flame Emperor gently collapsed.

“Bull-, shit…”

Thud.

The Flame Emperor fell to the ground.

Silence descended upon the alley.

The sound of small footsteps came from behind me. Turning around, I saw Ja Soo-jung looking at me.

Her purple eyes seemed to be asking.

「What are you going to do now?」

I nodded.

“Hundred Ghosts Reincarnation.”

Under the night sky, my shadow spread across the dark alley. The shadow crawled like a slime, and a figure formed from it.

+

[Hundred Ghosts Reincarnation]

Rank: SSS

Effects: Summon those that you yourself killed. The dead cannot use their abilities from when they were living. But if you want, the dead will be able to keep their memories and their looks from when they were alive. If you don’t want it, they’ll just be summoned as monsters.

※ However, you can only summon them once a week.

+

“Wow. What the fuck is that?”

The figure rising from the shadows was exactly the same as the man collapsed on the ground.

“Where is this place? Why did you call me to such a dog-like place?”

Yoo Soo-ha, who was dressed as a part timer of the Planetarium Cafe, frowned.

In this world, I was a part timer, but in my world, he had become a part timer.

Feeling a strange cause and effect, I spoke to him.

“Yoo Soo-ha.”

“Huh? What the fuck? Who’s that guy collapsed there?”

“Don’t worry about that. Yoo Soo-ha.”

“What?”

“Do you think I’m like a dog because I killed you?”

Yoo Soo-ha looked at me as if he was wondering if I’d lost my mind.

“Did you eat some kind of medicine?”

“Answer me honestly.”

“Okay. Like a dog. If you were me, wouldn’t you think I’m like a dog? If you found a dog like bastard wandering around a hunting ground by himself and tried to smash the back of his head, then, after he kills you, he would summon you whenever he’s feeling bored and make you dance, fuck. Just talking about it pisses me off. You should just die. Fucker. Crazy bastard.”

“Right…”

I sighed.

“I’m also a bastard to some people…”

“What was that?”

“Just. My wife was really not wrong…”

It was done.

It was time to admit it.

“Sorry.”

Yoo Soo-ha froze.

“Hah?’’

“I’m sorry I killed you, fucker.” (TL: Best apology)

“…”

Yoo Soo-ha closed his mouth.

It would be great if he was silent because he was moved by my apology, and maybe a bit praiseworthy. But naturally, this guy would never do anything good or praiseworthy. Because he was a motherfucker. However, Yoo Soo-ha just looked at me like an idiot.

“You’re sorry for killing me?”

“Right.”

“Fuck, I thought my ears broke but it turns out that it’s this bastard’s head. Did you get shot? Ah, you wouldn’t die even if you get shot, would you? Then you really mean that. Wow. I’ve never heard [Sorry for killing you] before. Fuuuuuck. I’m probably the first person in history who heard such an apology. When did you come up with that, fucker?”

Ahh.

This dog like man.

If he didn’t swear when he opened his mouth, you would believe he’d get pimples on his lips. Even when people apologized to him.

“…”

I looked back at Ja Soo-jung.

Ja Soo-jung was looking at me with a bright smile.

“…are you pleased?”

“It’s really interesting, Mr. Gong-ja. It’s so much fun when everyone agrees and it’s not just this one’s opinion. Mr. Gong-ja, what kind of person would steal honey from all kinds of bees? The bees would buzz as they flocked over. Mr. Gong-ja, don’t worry about this one, continue talking to Mr. Yoo Soo-ha. By the way, do they sell popcorn in Harlem? Mr. Gong-ja, this one’s mouth is fervently demanding popcorn.”

Ahh.

This dog like woman…

Why is everyone around me crazy?

In this world where God, Devil and Man held hands, I held my head in my hands.

“Hey…”

“What?”

“I can’t make up for making you like this, but… No, I can. I’m sorry for what I did to you. And I’ll pay you back for it. I’ll keep paying you back in the future. Is that okay?”

“I’m scared because this this fucker isn’t taking like a bastard. What are you talking about? Say it so that a human can understand.”

“You’re lucky that I’m such a strong person…”

I.

Pull out the most recent piece of my life.

“Really, you should be glad I’m strong.”

A piece I stole from the Tower Master.

+

[The Earth Bone Dragon’s Skull]

Rank: SSS+

Effect: The ability to archive the memories of the living. Archived memories are placed in a ‘box’ that can only be destroyed by the user.

Unless the box is destroyed, the user can recreate the body of a person who will inherit the same memories over and over. The body can travel around the world, create new memories, and ‘update’ those experiences back to the box. Of course, if the user allows it!

Even if the body is completely destroyed, the box will not suffer any damage. Grant the privilege of immortality to those around you.

※However, the memories of a destroyed body cannot be updated to the box.

+

“Miss Ja Soo-jung.”

“Yes, Mr. Gong-ja.”

“That.”

I said.

“I’ll bring this child back to life.”

The Earth Bone Dragon’s Skull.

With the strongest card I’d ever picked, a skill that preserves the other person’s [memory] and gave them a [body], I declared.

“I’m gonna give this fucker back.”

I saved one human being.