Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Sad Clown (3)
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"Arin!"
"Park Yun-jae!"
Digging deep into one well for a long time naturally leads to knowing a lot of people. Kim Arin, the number one ranked Pirate World player in Season Off Fantasy, was able to enter the Gwangjin-gu safe zone easily with the help of an acquaintance.
If he hadn't helped, she would have had to endure procedures equivalent to airport check-ins and security, plus long waiting times. For the impatient Kim Arin, that would have been more horrific than anything.
"You made it. Things are at a critical point right now anyway."
Yun-jae, known in his own right as a master Thief, guides Arin into the safe zone's command center. The players' command post set up in the apartment complex's open lot exuded a tense, battlefield-like atmosphere.
He asked her with a grave expression.
"You got my text, right?"
"The serial killings and Ferollen? Of course. That's why I came here."
"Ha, I'm going insane."
Yun-jae lifted the flap of one of the command center tents with a look of utter exhaustion and stepped inside. Following him, Arin caught sight of a new figure sitting at a desk, pounding away at a computer.
Green hair, two deer antlers sprouting from her head. And a pure white dress to top it off.
It was the quintessential Season Off Fantasy tank class outfit: Druid.
'A Druid...?'
Druids were infamous for their unbreakable defense and endless HP regeneration, making them an absolute nightmare to kill. Legend Guild Master Han Yeon-hwa was renowned for her strategic mastery of the class.
"Oh! Hello!"
"Hello!"
Noticing Arin enter the tent, the Druid woman greeted her warmly. Arin shook the offered hand firmly.
"I'm Kim Han-seul, the player representative for the Gwangjin-gu safe zone! You're Kim Arin, the top Pirate, right?! Yun-jae talks about you all the time!"
"Thank you!"
At the praise from the Druid named Kim Han-seul, Arin beamed and expressed her gratitude. Seeing them exchange names, the Thief Park Yun-jae pulled up a chair for Arin and gestured for her to sit.
"Whew..."
Once all three were seated in the tent, Yun-jae let out another sigh and clutched his head. Then he slowly began to speak.
"First off, thanks for coming. Having you here makes me feel a lot more secure."
"No big deal. How could I sit still with Ferollen showing up?"
In the midst of the chaos, Yun-jae thanked Arin for coming all the way to Gwangjin-gu. She waved it off like it was nothing.
Yun-jae nodded with a bitter smile before diving into a detailed explanation of the situation unfolding in the Gwangjin-gu safe zone.
"...You probably got the gist from the file I sent via text, but serial killings have been happening here for the past four days."
"Yeah, I saw. One per day. No evidence of the culprit anywhere, but the weapon seems to be a sickle, right?"
"Spot on. We threw every skill at it and still couldn't find a single speck of evidence. The guy's meticulous."
Yun-jae clenched his fists in frustration at the lack of clues. Han-seul picked up from there.
"That's why we're thinking it might be Ferollen. No evidence left behind at all, nothing on CCTV, and using a sickle as the weapon."
"Ferollen..."
"Yeah, perfect invisibility without a trace—that clown bastard's the only one who can pull that off."
"Can't argue there."
Arin nodded at Yun-jae's agreement with Han-seul. In her mind too, only Ferollen could commit such a flawless crime.
It was surprising for another stage boss to appear in the same country and region right after Selverion, but the world had no such thing as zero percent chance.
"What about the victims?"
"Oh, the victims."
At Arin's question, Han-seul turned her laptop screen toward her.
"All high schoolers from the apartment complex. All four who died had awakened as players, and uh, they were the notorious bad apples around here."
"Bad apples...?"
"Yeah, the typical delinquents, punks—you know the type. A few had records for school violence punishment, suspensions, forced transfers, theft, smoking, assault, etc. The kind who could end up in jail any day without it raising eyebrows."
"Ah."
The sort you saw everywhere in school, the starting point of human trash. Though she knew she shouldn't, Arin couldn't help feeling a twinge of satisfaction.
"SPR gave orders to overlook minor offenses or priors for new players at their discretion and assigned them to patrol the complex, but they weren't exactly likable kids."
"That's how those types are. Even if player numbers are desperate, feels like SPR pushed it a bit too far."
"Right? But with players—people—dying, and suspecting Ferollen as the culprit, we can't just sit idle..."
Han-seul gave a wry smile at Arin's words. Yun-jae cut in.
"...Anyway, that's why I have a favor to ask."
"A favor?"
"Yeah. We don't have a Scientist or Beast here who can detect Ferollen. So, could you bring some from another safe zone?"
"Me?"
"Yeah. Your pirate ship can get there faster and safer than anyone... Please. With a Scientist, we can take him down ourselves."
As the weakest stage boss, Yun-jae boasted confidently that they could handle Ferollen if they just unmasked him.
"Hmm..."
But Arin couldn't agree easily. With Selverion somewhere in the complex hunting Ferollen on her own, Arin couldn't dare leave her behind.
"Well, it's just..."
"Hey! Please. The closest is Jungnang-gu safe zone, and they say they've got both Scientists and Beasts!"
"Uh..."
As she pondered how to respond or if she should just make a quick trip, a deafening boom pierced the air from outside.
Boom!
"Wha...?!"
"What, what is it?!"
"...!!"
The three inside the command center jumped up simultaneously and rushed out of the tent. In the distance, across the apartment complex, a massive plume of dust rose into the sky.
"That’s...?!"
Kim Arin muttered blankly upon seeing it. Her gut told her it was related to the silver-haired girl she'd come with.
"Lady Selverion...?"
02.
Boom!
I slammed Ferollen into the ground, the impact shattering all four ice walls that had surrounded us. The road cracked open, forming a deep crater.
"Calm down a bit."
"Ugh..."
I spoke to Ferollen, wriggling in my grip by the throat. Pinned to the ground, he glared at me with resentful eyes.
"Who the hell are you to keep butting in like this? Showing up out of nowhere—what's your problem?! I didn't pick a fight with you!! What gives you the right to do this?!"
Maybe from the hard impact. His wild, rage-filled eyes had regained focus.
"True, I have no right to say that."
I nodded briefly at his words.
As he'd said, using Selverion's power and wiping out Ace Guild meant I had no grounds to judge Ferollen's actions.
I knew how hellish it was to be cast out and shunned by society. I understood the loneliness of not being able to tell anyone, and empathized with the human inside Ferollen's daily humiliations.
So I got why he sought revenge, and why it had to be serial killings. Once you gain power, no one just sits back and endures forever.
But he was Ferollen, the weakest stage boss. Forget revenge—within an hour, he'd likely be surrounded and killed by Gwangjin-gu players.
Even if he finished his revenge, all the guilds would hunt him down with fire in their eyes, making his death a foregone conclusion.
What was the point of revenge that ended in capture and death? Was killing his enemies and then himself real vengeance?
It might be meddling.
Pointless interference, as he said.
But the shared fate of becoming stage bosses, the common experience of hitting rock bottom, and his youthful appearance stirred an inexplicable sense of kinship and pity in me.
I didn't want to watch him waste his one life pointlessly.
Embracing a pathetic sentiment the real Selverion would never feel, I spoke to him.
"Cold truth: You're Ferollen, you've killed people. You're destined for subjugation. With how many Scientists Korea has, you think they can't find you?"
"Fuck, then what? Turn myself in to the cops?! Let those bastards who hounded me live it up?!"
His struggles intensified, so I pinned him harder to stop him. Ferollen knew his end was near but prioritized revenge like it was his sacred duty.
Revenge. I knew the feeling well. I'd love to beat to death the friend who betrayed me five years ago if I got the chance.
But I didn't want Ferollen to die. Even if it was greedy, I wanted him alive—someone to talk to about our similar plights.
"You don't know how I lived, what I went through, what I thought. You can't."
"......"
Ferollen glared at me with hate-filled eyes and began to speak.
"Ever had ramen broth spill on you and burn? And in lab class, had to call it your own mistake? Had your dad's keepsake stolen, thrown on the ground, and hear 'Sorry, it's broken'? Ever?! Had your gym clothes stolen and sit through first period in underwear, feeling that shame?!"
"...No."
"Of course not. And you know what those fuckers are doing now? Getting applause as players. The ones who skipped school, extorted money, chain-smoked—they're hiding their pasts and strutting like celebrities."
"Celebrities..."
"...So you don't get it. I'll kill every last one, even if it kills me. No matter what you say."
"......"
Ferollen ground his teeth in surging rage and vengeance. Leaving him be would let his revenge succeed, but he'd definitely be subjugated by SPR guilds after.
'What to do.'
My mind raced. Was there a way for Ferollen to complete his revenge without dying to SPR?
Give him another sickle? Or solid backing?
"Huh...?"
Suddenly, my red eyes widened.
"Backing...?"
At the same time, I recalled Kim Arin's offhand comment before arriving at the Gwangjin-gu safe zone.
— Ah, well, I've been looking into stuff for creating a guild...
"Guild..."
"Wh-what?!"
I stared down at the subdued Ferollen. He looked flustered by my sudden change in gaze, but my mind had no time for him—it spun wildly, like a novelist churning out ideas by the dozens, hundreds.
'If I form a guild with Ferollen...?'
'No, what if I gather all the stage bosses from around the world into a guild...?'
'Unite them under my command, establish a clear hierarchy, form a solid organization?'
"......"
Ace and their master Sol-sol believed they could take down Selverion because I was alone.
But what if all 12 stage bosses united, along with their followers and fans, forming a massive guild?
Even the rank-one guild 'Nighthead,' or any secretly dreaming of our downfall, wouldn't dare think twice.
Sure, there'd be worries about abusing that power, but players already embodied that risk.
Instead, if we organized and positioned ourselves as monitors of players, wouldn't that curb their abuses?
Monopolies jack up prices without competition.
But like Korea's separation of powers, what if we became the counterforce checking SPR and other players?
What if we judged the criminals they cover up, the released convicts, and those like Ferollen's tormentors—hiding pasts in this chaos to launder their lives?
"......"
The ideas flooded in so suddenly that my head couldn't sort them.
Stage bosses might not unite easily, and players would interfere for sure.
But creating a counter-group to check them felt like a seriously viable idea worth considering.
"Lady Selverion!!"
"Huh?"
...Right on cue, Kim Arin was sprinting toward us.
"Se-Selverion and Ferollen...?!"
"My god..."
"Is that Selverion...?"
Players and soldiers swarmed behind her—they'd heard our clash and rushed over.
...Perfect timing, actually.
"Bear with it, even if it's annoying."
"Wh-what are you—?! Mmph, mmph!!"
I bound Ferollen's body and mouth tight with Chains of Death and Frost. Wrapped in iron chains like a cocoon, he was helpless. I shouted to the approaching Kim Arin.
"Kim Arin! Summon your pirate ship!! We're getting out of here!"
"Pirate ship...?"
She skidded to a halt, stunned by my abrupt command. But only for a moment—she didn't need reasons for Selverion's requests. She drew her pirate cutlass and pointed it at the ground.
A massive black magic circle appeared on the apartment road, and from it emerged a menacing pirate ship.
"Pirate ship...?"
"A-Arin?! What are you—?!"
"Hold on, she's with Selverion..."
"Lady Selverion! Get aboard!"
As soon as the ship materialized, she grabbed the helm and yelled urgently. Confirming it ready, I hoisted the chained Ferollen, leaped high, and landed lightly on the deck.
"Anywhere. Just go."
"O-Okay!"
Explanation later—I ordered Arin to set sail. The sails billowed full, and the ship shot forward at high speed.
"Sh-ship...?"
"Kyaaah!!"
"Evade!!"
"Ngh..."
Kim Arin skillfully steered around roadside crowds, heading for the complex gate.
"What? Pirate ship...?"
"St-stop!!"
"Sorry!!"
The guarding soldiers tried to halt us, but Arin apologized brightly and blew past, exiting the Gwangjin-gu safe zone.
"Phew..."
"Mmph! Mmph!!"
"Quiet down."
Safely out, I sighed in relief. Beside me, the kidnapped Ferollen thrashed, but his strength couldn't break Selverion's Chains of Death and Frost.
"Lady Selverion! Where to?!"
"Anywhere quiet. Somewhere secluded where no one knows us, so we can talk at length."
"Got it!"
I wanted to discuss forming a guild with Ferollen and other stage bosses, so I asked Arin for a quiet spot first.
The ship accelerated, cool winds brushing my cheeks as we sped ahead.
Yeah, time to leave that comfy bed behind.