Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Old Spider and Atonement (2)
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I propped myself up on my upper body, my face hollow and drawn.
As soon as Yoon saw me sit up, he rose to his feet. He was dressed in a light windbreaker and joggers, just like always. It looked like he was about to head out for his morning workout.
His appearance was utterly ordinary, no different from usual.
I lifted my heavy eyelids and forced out a voice thick with sleep.
“Yoon.”
“By the way, those two kept prying, so I handled it myself.”
Yoon spoke in a flat tone, as if he were just running down the day’s schedule.
Then he added in the same even cadence,
“That you were the party leader.”
“What?”
What?
My disbelief cleared the fog from my throat in an instant.
Sleep vanished completely. I widened my puffy eyelids as far as they would go.
“What the hell? Party what...? You mean a political party? Why would I have been the leader of one?”
“I needed a reason for you to be acquainted with a big-shot informant.”
Yoon looked down at me with an expression that said it was the most obvious thing in the world.
His cool eyes held no particular emotion today, either.
“Just remember it roughly. Before you lost your memory, you were the leader of a party that no longer exists. Everyone in your party is dead, and that’s why you’re having flashbacks and threw up in the bathroom.”
“Out of all the jobs in the world, why a political party?”
“Were you a lawyer or a doctor?”
“What about the game I came from?”
“I covered that in the same vein. Said it was something your party members bestowed upon you.”
“Did they buy that?”
“Of course not. But what are they gonna do if they don’t believe it.”
My master pointed out coolly.
I started to retort, then closed my mouth. He was right. What could they do if they didn’t believe it...? The old spider wasn’t going to let slip any more info, and there were no more leads to chase down anyway.
It was connected to Colton. That dangerous bad apple would have undoubtedly eliminated everyone who knew about it.
Walker must suspect me for sure, so he’d conduct his own investigation, but no matter how brilliant a fixer he was, he wouldn’t dig up anything. Uncovering something the elders had deliberately buried was next to impossible.
I let out a heavy sigh.
Once again, I’d slipped through a crisis with some absurd excuse. The lie had snowballed, but there was no other way.
When it came to the elders and Titan, it was better to let the truth lie buried.
It was a bit disorienting since I’d never have thought of such an excuse, but...
If the two seniors asked separately, I’d have to stick to the story with a straight face.
Having resolved myself to that, I set aside the issue of the seniors for the moment.
Then I lowered my gaze and reflected on what I’d learned yesterday.
A wave of self-loathing surged up.
“I figured there must’ve been a reason for the betrayal all this time.”
Keeping my eyes downcast, I muttered bitterly under my breath.
“But to think the leader cast out his own people.... No matter the reason, it doesn’t justify the sin he committed.”
“Hand over the game first.”
Yoon ignored my gloomy mumbling and held out his palm.
This guy, really...
I snapped my head up and stared at my master sullenly.
“Comfort your deputy handler sinking into despair, would you?”
“Why?”
Yoon’s eyes widened.
Bewilderment filled his enlarged eyes. Seeing the doubt in them, I parted my lips slightly.
Good lord.
This man seriously doesn’t get it.
I looked at my wide-eyed master with horrified eyes.
“No.... It turns out I was total trash.”
“Why you?”
“I was the boss, but I betrayed my own people. Instead of protecting them with my life.”
“How’d you betray them?”
...Good question.
I lost my words for a moment and stupidly stammered,
“I don’t know the exact details.”
“Then why are you whining about something you don’t even know for sure.”
“Either way, it’s clear I sided with the humans. I handed a sword directly to them and told them to kill Ray. It’s like when Ye-hyeon sold out his Black Badger subordinates.”
“Do you remember who started the war first?”
Yoon asked in an objective tone.
I plopped down on the cabin floor and blankly looked up at my master.
I combed through my memories carefully, but the core details still eluded me. Just fragments from the decaying subway car. The eyes of Kyle and my people, filled with betrayal—that was all that kept surfacing.
I stopped rummaging through my memories and shook my head.
“I don’t remember.”
“Then you don’t know who was at fault. Quit moping and get up.”
My master didn’t withdraw his outstretched palm.
A thick-knuckled hand. A long scar ran diagonally across the palm.
I could tell at a glance it was from a deep knife slash. A battlefield wound? Or from somewhere else? Either way, it was nothing like Colton Wise’s smooth, elegant hands.
Why did I ever join hands with Colton Wise...?
As I started to sink into thought, Yoon’s voice dropped from above.
“Keep this up, and I’ll hand you over to Richard.”
I shot to my feet.
Now eye-level with my master, who had one eyebrow cocked crookedly.
Looking at his well-formed face, I flashed a bright smile.
“That game’s right here in my pocket, esteemed senior.”
“Is it? Hand it over.”
“Could I finish it first before giving it to you?”
With a smile plastered on my face, I fumbled around wildly.
I quickly snagged the cigar box from the nightstand. I snatched it up and placed it neatly in Yoon’s outstretched palm.
“These are premium cigars from Spitfire, senior. They’re pretty good—light one up.”
“Did you smoke cigars too?”
Yoon glanced indifferently at the cigar box.
“Worse quality than cigarettes.”
“If you don’t smoke them often, they’re not bad.”
“What’s the point of playing it all the way through.”
My master pulled a cigar from the box as he asked.
I took back the box he offered and blinked. Yesterday, with so much happening, I remembered the game I’d encountered at Shu’s place.
From E.
From E.
I set the cigar box back on the nightstand.
“I thought maybe playing it would reveal something.”
I fiddled idly with the game chip in my pocket.
“Something.... The title makes it seem like a letter someone left behind...”
“Fine, then. Finish it and hand it over.”
He agreed more easily than I expected.
I widened my eyes at my master, who shot back a look that said what was I so surprised about.
“I’m not interested in beating games. I just want to dissect the structure. You done moping?”
“...Yeah, I guess.... But come on, can’t you think your cute deputy handler is wrapped in sorrow for perfectly valid reasons? I wasn’t even asking for comfort.”
“A guy your age isn’t cute.”
Yoon cut off my whining with a voice like a biting winter gale.
He even drove in a fastball with a tone devoid of any warmth.
“It was all your choice, wasn’t it?”
My master’s eyes were sharp as pale meth.
Eyes that knew no innate warmth. Over a life that wasn’t short by any means, I’d encountered several people with similar gazes. Colton was one of them. Kyle had instantly sensed his chill and come to loathe and despise him.
So he never could’ve imagined I’d join hands with him.
People who maintained an eerie calm even on the battlefield, the kind you didn’t want to get close to.
I gave a wry smile at the man who evoked machinery.
“You’re right.”
“Then accept it. No one’s gonna pat you on the back for wallowing in guilt now, and nothing’s gonna change.”
My master spoke in a dry tone, then pocketed the cigar.
“What do you want? Atonement?”
“If I could atone, I’d shave off my soul to do it. But it’s not a sin worth that. Could it ever be forgiven? What I did.”
“Then there’s no reason to keep wallowing.”
The man with his refined features stood crookedly, hands still in his pockets. A sight I always saw when he headed out for his morning workout.
My empathy-lacking master stood there and delivered his cold verdict.
“If I were you, once it came to this, I’d carve out every last trace of the past. You drew your sword to side with humans, didn’t you? Once you draw it, you slice through everything you meant to cut.”
Good lord.
I have a memory of saying something just like that to Colton.
I couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.
“You’re saying the exact same thing as Falcon!”
“You’re crossing the line.”
Yoon replied with a blank expression.
“But I’m still better than that bastard.”
“Yeah, true. At least you don’t kill people.”
Colton brutally murdered anyone who got in his way as he climbed higher...
...But why no response?
Silence settled over the cabin.
Perfect stillness.
The smile on my face slowly faded.
No.... Hang on.
“You kill people too?”
“What the hell are you on about.”
Yoon slowly curved his lips into a smile.
The lazy smile was chilling. I stared at my master standing before me, mouth agape.
“If you’d killed innocent humans, Ye-hyeon would’ve let you live?”
I wasn’t so dense I couldn’t read between the lines.
I looked at him in astonishment.
Then blurted out my true feelings.
“I miss Ye-hyeon.”
“Cut the crap.”
“The old me must’ve sided with humans because of people like Ye-hyeon or Ami. If I’d only met types like you or Falcon, I would’ve pushed for wiping out all humanity.”
“You’re back to being a dumb rookie. Let’s go work out.”
This lunatic seemed oblivious to the impact of his words as he jerked his thumb toward the door behind him.
Yoon turned lazily and even added,
“After the track, swing by the house and grab some pumpkins. They’re piling up. Take them all and eat them, or I’ll hand you over to Richard.”
“If you’d been designated as my master back then, I never would’ve become a traitor.”
I replied glumly as I staggered after him.
“I would’ve led the charge in exterminating humanity myself.”
Time to roll under Yoon’s guidance once more.
In the end, I got stuck processing pumpkins.
***
Walker and Shu didn’t come looking for me right away.
I did get one message from Shu. I had no idea what to reply to my rainbow-haired senior, so I clutched my phone and groaned for a while.
Because this was Shu’s message.
[Shu Diamond: Were you in politics?]
Party leader, what the hell is a party leader...
I vaguely remembered meeting all sorts of politicians back then, and eating with them often, but fundamentally, I’d had no interest in politics.
I didn’t think becoming leader had anything to do with politics, either.
Though I couldn’t recall exactly how I’d become Titan’s leader. Maybe I was subconsciously suppressing the memory out of fear it’d make me wallow in guilt again...
Either way, I stared at the screen, pondering, then sent this reply.
[They say I was, but I don’t really rememberㅠ]
Thankfully, Shu didn’t pry further.
Instead, she told me to play the game and share a review. That was my plan anyway.
Even if I gleaned something tied to my past, I’d have to choose my words carefully in the review. Giving a bland one wouldn’t be hard. I could just rattle off the story, music, runtime, difficulty, and so on.
I still hadn’t mustered the courage to start the game, though.
That game scared me.
Even after bragging to Yoon like that, I couldn’t bring myself to boot it up for weeks.
“You puked your guts out from guilt.”
Two weeks after getting the game. As I finished training and headed to meet Hessi and Tom, Yoon approached and said.
My master continued with a face so expressionless it was creepy.
“You said playing it might reveal something. Said you’d shave off your soul to atone if you could, old timer. How long are you gonna put off playing it.”
“...Why are you doing this to me.”
Terrified by Yoon’s bizarre speech pattern, I backed away.
I was genuinely scared.
“Are you drunk?”
“If you don’t start it tomorrow, I’ll crack you open myself.”
He switched back to his normal tone abruptly.
After his curt reply, he pulled something from his pocket. I recognized it immediately—it was what I’d seen in Harlem with Shu and Walker.
A transparent syringe filled with green liquid.
Green Dream.
“We use this when cutting into Enhanced Bodies.”
My master dangled the syringe in front of my eyes, shaking it this way and that.
“Even booked the operating table.”