Chapter 142

Chapter 142. Grudges, and More Grudges (5)

“A mid-grade potion!”

I mused, staring at the vial.

This recovery potion was one hundred times more expensive than a low-grade potion, requiring 1500 mana to obtain. It confirmed my belief that Yun Jihye was not intending to kill Lee Junmo.

‘If she wanted him dead, why would she keep this by his side?’

Perhaps she found killing too easy, I wondered.

‘Or maybe she intended to keep him alive for a lifelong vendetta,’ another thought crossed my mind.

I couldn’t know for sure since I hadn’t directly heard her intentions. However, I believed I understood Jihye’s primary goal for today.

Fiddling with the potion bottle for a moment, I soon redirected my steps towards Lee Junmo, lying beside him.

He was barely clinging to life, more dead than alive. Yun Jihye had severed his fingers and punctured one of his eyes.

Furthermore, the aftermath of a fire magic had left over half of his skin melted away.

“Ah, mercy… mercy…” he whimpered pitifully upon spotting me, begging for his life.

Hearing those words, anger surged from within me, threatening to bubble over.

‘Yang Jochul wouldn’t lie about things like this.’

There was no reason for him to lie.

The vicious obsession Jihye had displayed towards Junmo suggested their grudge was indeed real. Knowing that fueled my inner turmoil.

I was human; it was difficult to completely set aside my emotions.

The thought of a person who had trampled and killed someone else’s family begging for his own life was sickening.

Despite the growing, hateful disgust and anger, I couldn’t let personal feelings control me.

Coldly, I stared at Junmo and opened the potion bottle.

“Yes, even a bastard like you deserves to live!”

I said, pouring the potion all over him.

As the potion touched his wounds, Junmo’s injuries began to heal in real-time. However, it wasn’t true regeneration but mere healing of the injuries, exactly as Jihye wanted it to be.

‘The potion’s function is limited to recovery.’

It doesn’t deal with detoxification or regeneration. Just seeing how his burned skin didn’t fully recover, with indented scars still visible in places, made it clear.

No player would be unaware of such potion limitations. Realizing Jihye’s intentions was easy.

She likely wanted Junmo to continue living in his miserable state.

I had no intention of criticizing her for such a cruel wish.

‘I don’t even have that right.’

It was something I realized from answering a question I asked myself in the face of another’s tragedy.

If something like that had happened to Yeonwoo, I wouldn’t have stayed silent.

‘Perhaps I would’ve sought revenge, even more brutally than Jihye.’

Maybe that’s why I felt so filthy. If Junmo had been a villain I couldn’t possibly comprehend, it might have been easier.

I bit my lip in frustration, trying to banish my emotions, but resentment boiled over nonetheless.

Watching Junmo breathe more evenly after his injuries had been attended to, my anger only intensified.

Unable to completely suppress my emotions, I delivered a swift kick between his legs.

CRUNCH!

A sound of something breaking resonated through the air. Junmo fainted, his eyes rolling back, without a single scream.

‘Some guy, shaming all men like that.’

Though irritation still simmered within, I found I could manage my emotions a bit better after venting, however childish it might have been.

It was fortunate. Regardless of what I felt, the conclusion I had reached would not change.

Barely containing my emotions, I retrieved the padded jacket from my inventory and put it on. Then, slinging both Lee Junmo and Yun Jihye over my shoulder, I exited the barrier.

The first thing to catch my eye were three unfamiliar players.

“Hmm… seems like we came for nothing?”

“Yeah, looks that way, doesn’t it?”

The bronze-rank players who trailed me stood protectively over a man who was sprawled on the ground.

“Squad Leader Yang, it appears the situation here has been resolved… yes, yes, K… no, Mr. K. Yes, high-rank can also restrain mana. Yes, understood.”

One of them was reporting the situation to Yang Jochul, using a communication device, when our eyes met.

The man on the ground flinched but didn’t avoid my gaze. I continued to look at him steadily.

His severed hand had been restored. This meant the players had poured at least a mid-grade potion over him.

Did they help after hearing what he said to them?

-You demon!

Hearing his voice laced with bitterness, while I was rushing over, made me think of curses. As I pondered over his words repeatedly, my lips involuntarily curled upwards.

Curiously, the more my lips rose, the more the man’s head drooped downwards.

I wondered how long this tense standoff would last.

“K!”

Squad Leader Yang Jochul arrived, panting heavily.

I handed over the two people I had brought out from the barrier.

“Oh…”

His expression cracked upon seeing the state Lee Junmo was in.

“I thought he’d die if left like that, so I tried to save him!”

I said, drawing a line against any further debate over the issue.

Having saved a life on the brink of death, he should be content with that.

Yang Jochul, understanding my meaning, said nothing more.

Then the player, the only one carrying a radio, brought out a magic stone. Upon breaking it, thick blue chains the size of my forearm rose up.

They tightly wrapped around Yun Jihye and disappeared.

‘A high-rank binding magic.’

Unlike mid or low-rank binding stones which could only limit physical movement, this one restrained mana as well. Though it was, of course, a single-use item with a timer.

“It should hold until Team Leader Yang Hyewon arrives.”

The player who used the binding magic declared the situation settled for now. However, I still had business to address.

“I mean this as sincere advice.”

“Yes?!”

Yang Jochul immediately reacted as I began to speak, like he had been on alert for my words. Thanks to that, I didn’t have to delay and nodded toward the man slumped on the ground.

“That type of person will inevitably become a problem if left unchecked.”

He bore blatant malice towards players.

If he meets another high chaos level player and repeats what he said just earlier?

‘More people would want to kill him than endure him.’

Once one person dies, everyone will want to label players at fault, even though it was that man who riled things up first.

There’s no way Squad Leader Yang Jochul wouldn’t be aware of this when it was so glaringly obvious to me.

Why then was this guy enlisted for a player-related situation and dispatched to the scene?

Yang Jochul, along with Team Leader Han Seokjun, provided clarity on that question.

It was a predictable story starting with circumstances that were compelling enough.

The more Han Seokjun spoke, the more my smile turned sardonic.

“So, today’s occurrence was unforeseen by us… there was initially no plan to deploy on scene…”

Facing my deepening sneer, Han Seokjun hesitated.

“Listening to pointless nonsense. Is this woman Han Changshik?!”

I inquired, pointing at the unconscious Yun Jihye with my chin, but no answer came.

“If you want to exact revenge, it might be better to dig up Han Changshik’s corpse and desecrate it.”

While I didn’t intend to defend Yun Jihye’s vengeance, she at least targeted her revenge correctly.

Junmo’s family must have assisted in covering up his crimes, making them not entirely innocent.

‘They could be considered accomplices.’

However, the man was different from Yun Jihye. He chose to hate an innocent person for his grievances.

It would be hard to say Yun Jihye was a righteous person, but she was certainly unrelated to his wife’s death.

‘I never once pleaded to play this insane game.’

Most players simply fought to survive in a game that intruded into their lives without warning.

So why should they bear the blame from a man they have never even met before?

‘I’m not doing this for a pat on the back.’

Still, I am busy bolstering the earth under the pretense of defending it. Most players are destroying the messeo and wiping out Holes, are they not?

They get injured, they cry, they barely avert death.

‘Some even end up really dying.’

After all that struggle, is being called a demon by someone I’ve never seen the reward?

I cast a piercing gaze filled with disdain and fury at the man.

Despite my words, the man never looked back at me. For now, that satisfied me. I continued, cracking my neck to ease my tension.

“I’m saying this because I hope it doesn’t escalate into something bigger, so please take it seriously.”

“… We’ll keep it in mind.”

“Thank you. So, it seems everything is settled here, how do we proceed back?”

“… I’ll arrange a flight promptly.”

Meaning preparations hadn’t been made yet.

‘I suppose.’

In reality, everything wrapped up quickly once we got here. They couldn’t have predicted how things would unfold when they first set out.

It would have been strange to have the return flight ready with an indefinite timeline ahead.

“We’ll wait then.”

Agreeing to wait, I turned back to look.

The barrier still obscured the view of the burnt forest, yet the events within loomed heavy in my mind.

Choices made there weighed on me.

‘Still, upon reflection, this was right.’

Even if I understood Yun Jihye’s revenge, it was ultimately someone else’s tragedy.

It was not my own, and thus at the end, I could remain detached.

‘This incident is enough to classify players as a potential threat.’

By now, it’s likely that many world leaders are aware of this game.

In such a stage, an event that emphasizes caution against players is undesirable.

‘Player-on-player conflicts aren’t a problem.’

People don’t see two lions fighting and think they might die from it. They know they’re not involved in the conflict.

But if a lion is devouring a person?

‘They can imagine a much more tangible fear.’

Thus, civilians dying due to players is the worst outcome.

In a situation where many civilians had already died at Jihye’s hands, Junmo couldn’t be allowed to die too.

Especially considering the potential future foretold by Meferoseta’s power.

‘If the defenses truly fail to hold in Bihar.’

The standing for players on Earth needs to be solid.

‘That way, the shift to a wartime footing can occur with minimal turmoil.’

Thus, Lee Junmo cannot die here. I’d reached that conclusion even before encountering Yun Jihye.

I had deliberately filled the barrier with flames because of this.

Not being able to kill him, I opted to inflict burns.

This was my way of atonement for thwarting Yun Jihye’s vendetta for my own benefit.

I couldn’t hide the bitter sneer that followed the thought.

When I finally felt like breathing was becoming quite a chore, Yang Jochul spoke again.

“K, let’s move to the vehicle. The onsite crew should be getting in soon, so it’s best to clear the space.”

“… Yeah, alright.”

“I’ll guide you.”

Handing over site management to Team Leader Han Seokjun, commander Yang Jochul stepped forward, leading the way.

After following four steps behind him, the message window in my lower vision refreshed.

「Trait Capitalism has been activated.」

「System is transitioning to support mode. Support target: Player Kang Hyunwoo.」

Automatic halts to my steps and a frown shot up as I received the news.

“K?”

Yang Jochul turned, puzzled by my sudden pause.

But I had no space to spare attention to him.

The system, which had remained silent since server connection, was moving.

All my senses were glued to the message window.

‘Why now?’

With suspicion and vigilance, I sharpened my gaze at the message window, seeking answers.

The system seemed to respond to my scrutiny, delivering a new message a few seconds later.

「Initiating search mode.」

「Progress: 0.01%」

Damned System.