Chapter 145
Chapter 145
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: Chapter 27 Bounty Hunter (3)
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In Afghanistan, players presumed to be resistance fighters were using monsters to massacre not only the Taliban but also civilians in the areas they had occupied.
Listening to them attach all sorts of justifications to their actions was utterly exasperating.
Even mixing words with them or grappling felt unpleasant, so I killed them as quickly as possible.
Next, in New Delhi, India, some cult player was using monsters to attack devotees, packaging it as Allah's divine punishment or some such nonsense to rake in money.
In the third stop, Kenya, the only change was that the guy profiting off monsters had switched from religious leader to circus ringmaster.
Even after several circus performers had already been devoured, he refused to kill the monster and kept using it to make money.
And fourth, in Greece, a guy presumed to be a social misfit was raising a monster like a pet, of all things?
Naturally, the monster pet's feed consisted of people kidnapped by players.
I tossed the player's corpse in as its final meal.
After dealing with the monster being treated like a pet and crossing into Italy.
“Arghhh!”
That was when I truly understood what it meant to lose all affection for humanity.
This stage was an underground arena operated by the Italian mafia.
What was on display there was a duel between a monster and an ordinary person. The outcome was predictable.
“Save meee!”
I looked up midway through watching the person being eaten alive by the monster.
Even after averting my gaze, I couldn't fully escape the horror.
The cheers erupted from those thrilled by witnessing someone's death.
Cheers from creatures who had abandoned their humanity, lost to drugs and blood.
In that brief moment absorbing the dim underground lighting, my scant remaining humanity began vanishing in real time.
‘I’ve always leaned a bit toward misanthropy.’
Even so, the thought of having to kill people stirred complex emotions in me.
But after coming this far and seeing it all, I realized just how foolish that was.
‘I wasted my time.’
I didn’t have the right to judge anyone.
But did I really need to feel guilt over killing guys who did such things without a second thought?
‘This might just be rationalization to protect myself.’
I could be treading the same path as those players in Afghanistan, justifying their means for some end.
But even if that were true, it didn’t matter.
With no grudge against him, I set down one burden I’d been carrying. My hand drawing the short spear from storage felt lighter than before.
In that state, I stood and stared straight at the location of the confirmed player target.
Among the shadowy figures faintly visible in what appeared to be VIP box seats at the top of the domed underground arena, one was my mark.
‘Mana Detection registers mana over 100,000.’
That implied two major things.
‘He’s Silver rank, yet he hasn’t sealed his mana in the core.’
Among players, mana scale equated to combat power.
You could gauge an opponent’s awakening stages and track record from their mana reserves.
Yet in this situation, he wasn’t concealing his mana—he was flaunting it openly?
‘It’s not that he won’t; he can’t.’
That was the limit of his skill.
For me, who had pushed forward relentlessly, dividing days into minutes and seconds without rest, catching him was inevitable.
‘The fishy smell means water attribute.’
Without accumulated magic artifacts, he couldn’t deploy an earth-attribute barrier.
From my invisible state, I reversed my grip on the short spear and stepped forward with one foot.
Habitually coiling my waist, I drew back my arm.
The blade shattered the thick glass pane and pierced the man’s skull, yet no sound reached me.
It was far too insignificant compared to the roars echoing from below.
Without the familiar message, I might have believed nothing had happened.
「Congratulations! HIDDEN MISSION - Bounty Hunt (Italy-01) succeeded.」
「Fame +10 as success reward.」
「Random Box (×1) provided as success reward.」
「Title: Bounty Hunter effect activates.」
「Absorbing Magic: Water Whip.」
Checking my status window, a new magic called Water Whip had been added to the magic category.
Its description: 2nd-grade water attribute magic.
‘Water again…’
Over the past four days, I’d cleared five hidden missions in total—one involving three targets.
‘The Bounty Hunter trait applies per target count.’
Meaning I’d absorbed seven skills altogether.
Five of them were water-attribute magic.
‘Is this a coincidence?’
As I eyed the message window with a strange feeling, people came pouring out from what I assumed was the box seat area.
I watched the scene and only moved once the place stood empty.
Those roaring in a frenzy of blood and drugs paid no mind to whatever happened above.
Thanks to them, I entered the space undisturbed, where only a single corpse lay abandoned.
The short spear embedded in the wall, skewering an unfamiliar player.
It resembled a painting hung on display.
I took in the hollow, chilling scene before reaching out.
As I yanked the short spear free from the wall, sticky blood and brain matter clung and dripped from the blade.
Ignoring the revolting sensation, I fully extracted it. The body, with a hole bored through its head, slid down to the floor with a slither.
Instead of glancing at the corpse, I flicked the blood from the spear.
“Woooaaah!”
“Kill! Kill!”
“Do it quick—rip him apart!”
The cheers suddenly surged louder, so I peered beyond the gaping hole in the glass.
They were shoving yet another person into the arena to die by the monster’s jaws.
Gazing down at the sight, I slowly raised my hand.
Another spear throw followed, and the monster toppled limply.
Chaos engulfed the lower level, but I turned away without a flicker of expression.
How much time passed after retrieving my spear and exiting the arena?
At the most unexpected moment, I halted and stared down at my hand.
Red and black stains mottled my palm and fingertips evenly—likely from recovering the spear.
Yet no sensation lingered in that hand.
‘When I killed Han Chang-sik, it haunted me for ages.’
The feel of slicing through flesh and bone had tormented me by refusing to fade.
But this time, nothing remained.
‘I might have grown accustomed to killing.’
Over the past half year, I’d slain a truly countless number of monsters.
The mana figure in my status window hinted at the sheer scale.
Of course, monsters weren’t the only ones.
‘I’ve killed plenty of people too.’
Earthlings and Bihar Indians alike—no exceptions.
PKers who’d targeted me, Biharans fried by my lightning-attribute mana.
Not one left a deeper mark than Han Chang-sik.
On top of that, the blood scent clinging to my hands today felt somehow fainter.
‘Maybe because it was a spear throw?’
Staring at the hand that held nothing now, my mouth suddenly went bone-dry.
I grew afraid—afraid I might become desensitized to murder.
“Huu.”
But I couldn’t deny the necessity of this process, and that tormented me.
Clearly, I’d have to kill more people ahead.
Each time, to protect myself, I’d need to grow numb.
That was why I turned a blind eye to the changes in myself despite noticing them.
Right now, pressing forward was the only answer.
Advance without stopping, and someday—if the very thing today’s me feared came to pass…
‘Cross that bridge when we get there.’
I couldn’t crumble over worries that hadn’t happened yet.
‘Move.’
After a few internal pep talks, my stiffened legs began to move again.
As I departed, I checked the bounty mission list.
HIDDEN MISSION [Bounty Hunt (UK-01)]
My next destination: the UK, Ethan’s homeland.
* * *
“Out after two months, and we’re jumping right back into it. Feels like a shame.”
Ethan, gazing at the London skyline from Primrose Hill, turned and said.
“How about tea nearby?”
“If that’s what Ethan wants.”
The MI5 agent assigned for surveillance and protection nodded agreeably to his suggestion.
As they headed to a nearby cafe strip together, Ethan swallowed a chuckle.
The idea of a mere ordinary human surveilling and protecting him was laughable in itself.
Attaching escorts like this every time he went out was absurd.
He could kill the agent and slip away anytime he pleased.
‘Haven’t tested it, but swimming across to France seems feasible.’
With territories so close in places, the sea distance was short.
Borders held no meaning for players anymore.
Yet they stubbornly deployed surveillance personnel.
‘It’s not incomprehensible.’
Still, he couldn’t help finding it pathetic.
Of course, voicing it would be idiotic.
It was precisely because of this that he could go out, even conditionally—no need to point out the companion’s pointlessness.
‘With bounty missions in play, I need to watch my words and actions even more. Refusing surveillance might make them suspicious for no reason.’
Recalling the message from K a few days prior, Ethan swallowed a sigh.
‘Lucky I learned of it before David’s side.’
His steps away from Primrose Hill were rougher than usual.
In a sense, it was only natural.
Ethan had put in tremendous effort to prove players weren’t a threat.
Now some idiot stirring trouble somewhere threatened to render all that effort and time for naught. How could he not be furious?
‘Of all times.’
In the UK right now, political infighting had erupted among those in the know about the game.
Selena sinking her teeth into David—you could say full-blown political strife had ignited.
By the current score, Selena held the advantage.
She rode the ever-explosive issue of human rights.
But if word got out about a player importing monsters and causing havoc?
‘David would gain the upper hand.’
That wasn’t what Ethan wanted.
Players needed to be reliable allies, not threats.
Only then could they avoid having their freedoms stripped solely for being players.
‘I need to resolve this incident cleanly and swiftly.’
Ethan quickened his pace to his destination.
A familiar street he’d visited once before, a familiar cafe.
Seeing again the sights he’d enjoyed in peaceful times stirred his heart.
Everything before Ethan’s eyes now was part of the freedom his past self had abruptly lost.
‘I’ll reclaim it all.’
He would regain that day of strolling his hometown freely, without any surveillance.
Clenching his fist tightly before releasing it, Ethan took a seat at a suitable spot.
Checking his phone, he still had time before the appointment.
He’d just finished ordering tea to sip while waiting when—
- K: Your expression looks way too menacing, no?
A chat message arrived from the person he was waiting for.
The content felt like it came from someone watching him.
‘Already?’
Startled inwardly but feigning calm outwardly, Ethan slowly turned his head.
To the eyes of the oblivious, it would look like he was casually eyeing the cafe across the way.
But Ethan wasn’t looking at the cafe—he was looking at the person.
An Asian with black hair and dark brown eyes.
Someone he’d seen for just one day, barely ten-odd minutes up close, yet unforgettable.
- Ethan Lembron: K, long time no see.
There sat K alone by the window of the opposite cafe, without any magic artifacts.