episode_0024

Toong-

“Oh, this guy is more useful than I thought! He’s much better at it than I expected!”

Xiao Zhan pulled the trigger lightly, looked at the gun with a bright smile, and then checked the condition of the prey in the distance.

A man who was walking normally and spitting on the street just a moment ago.

He was now lying on the floor with a huge hole in his head, staining the floor red.

‘Well, that was a clean hit.’

Xiao Zhan looked at him and enjoyed the slight aftertaste.

If it were normal circumstances, even Xiao Zhan, who held a high position in the Black Guild, would not have been able to afford this kind of leisure.

Because the man suddenly collapsed, it was obvious that there would be a commotion and the police or heroes would come running.

‘But not here.’

Xiao Zhan smiled and looked at the street.

It was said to be dark because of the dark clouds that looked like it might rain at any moment, but a person’s head exploded on the street.

Yet not a single one of them looked surprised.

It was natural.

Because the death of one person in Cheongdo wasn’t even considered a big deal.

‘No, if we really have to be specific, it’s more like an event than a commotion?’

Knock knock-

“Huh? What is this garbage?”

“Well? But doesn’t this coat look pretty useful?”

“Yeah. Hmm, and it looks fresh because it died not long ago?”

“Should I take it to the black market and sell it? The old man has been complaining about the lack of fresh organs lately.”

“That would be nice. If I’m lucky, I might be able to get enough money for a few drinks.”

People walking down the street naturally search through the bodies of the fallen people and plan to sell their bodies.

Xiao Zhan watched the scene from afar and chuckled.

“Ah, this city is the best. It’s the best place to test the performance of my work.”

Xiao Zhan was mumbling and humming like that, but in fact, to him, checking the performance of the work was more like an excuse.

Because his position would have allowed him to command dozens of people with a nod.

However, there is only one reason why Xiao Zhan came out like this.

Because this was his hobby.

It’s like how ancient nobles would let their slaves loose in the forest and enjoy hunting games.

He was enjoying an exciting hunting game with the people of this city.

‘Oh my, it’s already this late. I guess it’s time to go back now.’

Xiao Zhan checked the time, packed his bags, walked for a while, and then entered a shabby building.

On the outside, it looked like an old warehouse, but it was actually a checkpoint that Xiao Zhan had created using all of his technical skills.

A place that boasts such strict security that even if you enter the correct password, if it’s someone other than Xiao Zhan, it will immediately turn you into a cube steak.

Wheeeing-

Xiao Zhan manipulated the device to open the door to the passage hidden in the floor and entered.

Then, before long, a room reminiscent of a luxury hotel appeared.

“Okay, so let’s go back from being a street-hopping charisma hunter to a genius idea-producing researcher?”

A playful, humming tone, as if performing a play.

Then, Xiao Zhan took off everything he had used to hide his identity, and even removed all the artifacts he had been wearing on his body.

Xiao Zhan had separate artifacts for research and for hunting.

There was no difference in performance between the two artifacts.

The reason Xiao Zhan replaced artifacts in this way was to ensure that no one would ever find out about his hobby.

If Xiao Zhan’s hobby was known to anyone, there would be more than a few guys who would rush at him with glaring eyes.

So it couldn’t help but be funny.

In the end, it was because of his thoroughgoing personality that he ended up dying.

Iron griddle-

The moment you unwrap all your artifacts to change them.

Shh …

Taking advantage of that brief gap, his shadow had been wriggling slightly.

At that moment, the shadow moved as if sucking up the light, tightly binding Xiao Zhan’s entire body like a spider catching its prey.

In an instant, Xiao Zhan’s eyes grew wide as his limbs were restrained.

And before his eyes could even open.

Phew-!

Someone hiding behind him in the shadows stabbed Xiao Zhan in the heart without a moment’s hesitation with the dagger he was holding in his hand.

“Cough!”

Xiao Zhan is a researcher, so his fighting ability is poor.

But he is also a superhuman who can control magical powers.

Although he wasn’t so weak that he would die instantly if his heart was stabbed.

Phew-! Phew-! Phew-!

The unidentified man moved his dagger repeatedly as if he had even expected that.

A surprise attack at an unexpected moment and in an unexpected place.

There are more and more fatal blows to vital points added to it.

Xiao Zhan had no choice but to continue to allow the attacks without even being able to scream properly.

‘Wh, what! This is my secret space that no one knows about… …!’

Should I say it is my instinct as a researcher?

Or maybe the dagger had stabbed him in a strange place on his head?

Even at the moment when his death was confirmed with daggers stabbed into his heart, head, neck, and lungs, Xiao Zhan still wondered how his secret had been revealed and how the other party had known and used him.

But he was never able to resolve his doubts.

Because in the last moment, all he saw was a black doll standing quietly, looking down at him.

‘No, am I really seeing a person?’

But why can’t I feel anything?

Could it be that he is the grim reaper who has come to judge me?

Xiao Zhan shivered as his body grew colder, harboring both such doubts and fears of the unknown.

It was an incredibly shabby and vain end for the head of the Cheongdo branch of the Black Dragon Society that ruled Cheongdo Field City, but it was a fitting end for a villain who had committed countless evil deeds up until then.

◎ ◎ ◎

[… … ]

System messages rang incessantly in Do Yu-jin’s ears.

But strangely, nothing reached my ears.

Looking at Xiao Zhan’s appearance with all five senses collapsed, and the sight of him wetting the floor with red drops of blood, I was tied up and couldn’t think of leaving.

Suddenly strength entered my hands.

When I looked down, I saw that his hand, which had turned white from exerting too much force, was trembling as he held the dagger.

I tried to spread him out, but it didn’t go as planned.

I couldn’t tell if it was the cramps or the blood that was clammy and soaking my hands, but it was painful.

“Ah… … ”

As I was quietly watching him, a lukewarm thought suddenly occurred to me.

‘I really did it.’

You will have to risk your life.

You will have to kill people.

Both of these are things I had already expected and prepared for when I first fell into this world.

Because the Hell difficulty isn’t that easy, you can clear it just by killing monsters.

‘That’s why I kept making up my mind… … but it seems I was a bit clumsy after all.’

He recalls the feeling of the moment when his hand had stabbed him without permission just a moment ago.

The blood rushing through my body feels as hot as lava, as if my heart is on fire.

Something in my head is broken, my eyes are recalling memories and my ears are spitting out tinnitus.

To put it simply… …I felt like I was going to throw up.

I felt like I would feel much more comfortable if I just poured out everything that was inside me.

Kkadak-

But I gritted my teeth and suppressed him.

Although it was an unavoidable situation, in the end the choice was mine.

I didn’t want to whine about it unnecessarily.

Phew-

‘It’s just like the first time I risked my life in the auditorium.’

It is a problem to be adapted to and accepted, not avoided or rejected.

Because it wasn’t something that could be finished just this once.

“… … Okay, it’s okay.”

I’m suffering from the shock of having crossed the line.

But to put it another way, at best it’s just a pain.

Even that suffering did not come from the guilt of killing a person, but rather resembled the feeling of anxiety a child feels when he or she breaks a promise to his or her parents.

“So it’s okay, there’s no problem.”

Do Yu-jin continued to mutter, then lowered her eyes that had been raised upwards again.

Xiao Zhan’s corpse came into view again, and my heart, which had calmed down a little, began to beat again.

But Do Yu-jin didn’t turn a blind eye to it.

Instead, I tried to accept it fully.

As she did so, Do Yu-jin was able to clearly realize what kind of person she was.

‘You’re neither kind nor strong. Are you just simply selfish?’

He did not kill Xiao Zhan for some grand reason, such as for the sake of the world.

They only moved to live a comfortable life for themselves, trampling on the lives of others.

‘This time, the target happened to be this kind of trash, but I think I could have killed anyone else just because it was necessary.’

The fact that I am thinking like this right now is proof of that.

Kook- Kook-

Continuing her thoughts in that manner, Do Yu-jin repeatedly clenched and unclenched her frozen hands.

How much time has passed like that?

“Okay.”

The red color of blood soaking the floor.

The pungent smell of blood that filled the room.

The stickiness of blood that flowed down to the palm of my hand as I dug into the dagger.

Now I’m used to it enough that it doesn’t bother me much.

Looking at him, a bitter smile came to my face once again.

“I’m not the main character after all.”

It was a new realization that came to me when I first fell into this world.