Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: That Guy
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#017_That Guy
#048
1.
Eiming exuded an overwhelming presence with his mere appearance.
He stood six shaku three cun tall.
A massive frame weighing two hundred thirty jin.
Thick forearms with sleeves rolled up.
Veins bulging like writhing angry snakes over rock-hard muscles.
A back like a mountain range and twitching glutes.
He was the very image of a Vajra guardian tearing demons apart with his bare hands.
Though his BMI was a bit high these days.
“Sit back and smoke a cig. I’ll sashimi those carp bastards first.”
Eiming’s unexpected arrival didn’t let me relax completely.
I owed not just Ceres Marmang a ton, but Eiming too.
Wow, I really lived like a total thug this round.
“Eiming Pavilion Master! There seems to be a misunderstanding here!”
“Misunderstanding?”
“We’re not harassing that guy without cause. This bastard stole a treasure from the Golden Carp Clan. The True Ancestor doll stored in the E Sector warehouse.”
One of the Golden Carp Clan’s assassins bellowed.
“The True Ancestor doll?”
Eiming’s back twitched to a halt.
“That’s right! It’s blatant theft. You must know the rules of Overnus Pharmaceuticals, Pavilion Master!”
He wasn’t wrong.
Something I’d realized while handling this and that as Little Bro.
In this lawless city, what Overnus Pharmaceuticals valued most was ‘pretext’.
Eiming had no pretext right now.
No matter the circumstances, his Little Bro had laid hands on a treasure strictly guarded by the Golden Carp Clan.
But even the Golden Carp Clan found it awkward to push this against Eiming.
“You didn’t know it was a ‘doll’ either, did you, Eiming Pavilion Master? If you back off now, we’ll cover for you out of respect. Just hand over that bastard, and we’re square, right?”
So, they were offering a compromise: hand over the perp—me—and save face all around.
“Or do you want to take it all the way?”
Shielding me here would kick that concession to the curb.
It’d violate the organization’s rules and amount to a declaration of all-out war with the Golden Carp Clan.
Even the Phantom Ghost Clan couldn’t back Eiming on that.
And what I’d done? Report omissions, embezzlement, breach of trust.
No reason for Eiming to cover for me.
“Rowen.”
“…Yes, Brother.”
“Is what he says true?”
Eiming asked without turning to look at me.
Ha….
I really had nothing to say.
“Sorry, Brother. There were circumstances I couldn’t tell you about.”
The Golden Carp Clan hitmen rose and gripped their weapons.
Sensing the matter was settled.
“Just step aside. We’ll handle it quick.”
“Gotta kill him?”
“You know how it is, Eiming Pavilion Master. Someone’s gotta take the fall. Or you wanna do it yourself? Looks like that fixer backstabbed you too.”
Eiming would back off.
Ah, this round ends here.
Only regret is start point updated—no deep kiss with Arbel.
Then.
“Rowen, a dog barks for the one who fills its bowl. That’s beast instinct.”
Eiming clenched his fist.
-Creeeak, creak.
His log-like forearm writhed like a massive bridge bending.
Steam rising from cracked pavement scattered futilely before the fierce heat pouring from him.
And that hostility was aimed not at me.
But at the Golden Carp Clan assassins.
“E-Eiming Pavilion Master…! Are you in your right mind?!”
Amid the assassins raising their gear in panic.
“Then! What does a man bleed for?! Answer me! Rowen!”
A man’s bold shout, laced with laughter, boomed.
“A real man dies!!! For the one person who saw him for who he is!!!”
The instant Eiming, low in stance, kicked off with his back foot.
-Thud-boom!
The 130kg behemoth shot forward near subsonic speed.
A pale shockwave bursting where he’d pushed off the ground.
Shockingly, the Golden Carp assassin reacted to the motion.
Swinging his blade fiercely at Eiming’s temple.
-Clang!
But what rang out was a clear metallic clash.
The blade sparked off his skin and bounced away, not even leaving a scratch.
“That all you got?”
“Wait….”
Diving into the disrupted stance was Eiming’s vertical straight punch.
-Dong!!!
A gong-like impact, and the assassin’s body burst like a water balloon.
Flesh and bone shards scattering like shotgun pellets.
All that remained in the air was blood mist dissipating.
“Y-You crazy bastard…!!!”
A late-reacting assassin swung his crescent blade at Eiming.
Fitting for a Golden Carp hitman.
Astonishing speed even in the chaos.
Just before the blade touched Eiming’s back.
Eiming’s log-like leg hooked the assassin’s jaw first.
-Kwang!
A clean crack like smacking a ball with an aluminum bat.
The assassin’s head spun off like a cola cap, soaring high.
Home run.
The headless torso stood dumbly, wobbling before collapsing.
“You punks dare threaten who?”
Eiming dusted off his disheveled changpao like he’d just taken a casual stroll.
No way, seriously.
Eiming, that guy, was this level?
A 2nd Rank Mage (Physical)…?
Knowing it and feeling it with your own eyes were worlds apart.
Eiming scratched his head sheepishly as our eyes met, my jaw on the floor.
“Dude, why the face? Didn’t know I was this badass?”
Eiming didn’t scold me or show any resentment about getting dragged in because of me.
He just grinned.
Fuck, my chest really hurts.
I was the idiot for thinking he was a fool all this time!
“No, Brother, why go this far for a worthless little brother like me!”
“Details later. For now, before they spot us, let’s blo—.”
That instant.
From puddles on the street, murky rainwater in gutters.
Golden carp phantoms poked their heads out, gleaming.
Eerie fish eyes watching us like surveillance.
“…Too late. Fuckin’ things.”
Eiming glanced at them and spat.
“What are those, Brother?”
“Golden Carp Clan Head’s sorcery, Murky Water Eye. Monitors the whole city with ’em. No time left. Can you run?”
“Of course, Brother!”
We bolted through twisting alleys.
Everywhere water pooled, carp heads popped up, tracking us.
“Golden Carp strike team’s coming soon.”
“Sorry, Brother, because of me needlessly….”
Eiming’s thick palm smacked my head.
“Don’t get sappy, man. Let’s figure out how to survive together.”
::: Challenge (NEW!) :::
- Become an extermination target of the Golden Carp Clan. +5pt
2.
This round was perilously close to failure.
Let the fake Ancestor slip.
Moved too black-like, and couldn’t explain properly because of the status window—got abandoned by Ceres Marmang.
Plus, now thoroughly marked by the Golden Carp Clan….
Clearing a route in the remaining days was near impossible.
Normally, even Sedric would aim for round 2.
But I couldn’t die so pointlessly.
“Rowen, we’re leaving Necropolis. Grab all the Universal Currency and head to Aden!”
“Yes! Brother!”
Eiming, that guy, bet everything to save me.
As his little brother, could I just give up spinelessly?!
And who knows.
Might clear if I play it right.
Power-ups matter, but if luck hits for a Premium Route clear chance, I’ll take it without hesitation.
This premium round, in my view.
Grinding resets to squeeze every bit could really fuck me over.
Shaking the tenaciously tailing goldfish surveillance, we escaped the butcher district.
“Whoa, fuck….”
Goosebumps everywhere.
The street always like rush hour was dead silent as a tomb.
Not a single citizen left.
Filling the void….
Black-skinned humans standing stiff with talismans on their foreheads.
I didn’t know everything about the Golden Carp Clan, but those were obvious.
Y’know, those from wuxia novels.
Jiangshi.
Hundreds of them.
They charged the moment they spotted us.
-Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling.
Bells on their bodies rang out cheerfully in unison.
Speed equivalent to an 8th-grade fixer with Augmentation Level 1.
Not Sandevistan level, but beyond human limits.
Hundreds of humanoids charging silently, just bells ringing….
Creepy didn’t cover it.
Eiming dashed ahead without hesitation.
“We’re punching through the front, Rowen! Stay behind me!”
“I’ll support too!”
I snapped to.
Formed mudras and spammed Death Verdict.
No need for precise aim.
So many, mindless charges—hit anywhere, you’d clip one.
Output matched an Augmentation Level 1 8th-grade fixer.
Movements simple too.
“Ugh! Why so tough!”
But fucking hard.
Death Verdict didn’t cleanly slice; they tanked a few hits.
Unless you decapitated, even bisecting the waist, they crawled on.
Meat shields incarnate.
Alone, I’d be overwhelmed and crushed in seconds.
::: Challenge (NEW!) :::
- Kill a Jiangshi. +1pt
While I barely hacked away at the Jiangshi.
“Whoa.”
Eiming was fighting a whole other battle.
He body-slammed into Jiangshi, and six or seven exploded in chunks.
Dozens more staggered back from the shockwave.
No special techniques.
Just a body slam, I said.
-Boom! Kwang! Thud-boom!
Eiming’s massacre continued.
Against endless Jiangshi waves.
One hand motion burst heads like watermelons.
One kick severed torsos from legs.
Not enough—he grabbed limbs, swung them like flails, and hurled.
Pure physique making that possible.
Saw it earlier, but his specs were on another level.
“Truly amazing, Brother!”
This power level—why fear an extermination order?
Even if up against the Golden Carp Clan, no help from Phantom Ghost Clan.
With Eiming, this round might not be over?
As I thought that.
-Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling.
Bell sounds started from all directions.
-Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling.
Under dimly glowing red lanterns.
-Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling.
In darkness alleys untouched by light, narrow gaps between buildings.
Undead emerging with bell tolls.
Numbers beyond counting.
“No easy days, huh….”
Infinite respawn?
Don’t need this infinite refill!
“Rowen, you shaking?”
Eiming sidled up, wiping blood from his cheek.
“Yes, shaking, Brother.”
“You rascal….”
“Shaking with excitement thinking of overcoming this with you and screwing the Golden Carp Clan.”
Eiming paused, then burst into laughter.
“Kuhaha! Right! A man needs that ambition! Straight to round 2?”
“Let’s go, Brother! I’ll cover round 2!”
“Euahaha!”
Yeah, fuck it.
Let’s go all the way!
The two men’s laughter rang louder than the bells.