Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: Chapter 30: Perception (1)
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……I have confirmed that they are engaged in human trafficking. The number of foreigners involved is estimated to be at least fifty. However, for some unknown reason, corpses without organs or eyes keep appearing.
“Hoo…….”
Medicine in Bihar tends to rely heavily on potions and herbs.
Which means they lack the technology to perform organ transplant surgeries.
So, from Radriol’s perspective, there was no way he could understand what corpses missing organs signified.
On the other hand, I immediately grasped the situation just from reading those brief lines.
‘Some players are conducting human trafficking against the people of Bihar, along with organ trafficking.’
It was enough to drive me insane.
How long had it been since the drug-related issues exploded?
At this rate, I might end up shuddering with genuine hatred for humanity.
I squeezed my eyes shut, gritted my teeth, and swallowed down the boiling rage inside me.
After suppressing my emotions like that and sending Riban back.
I checked the list of hidden missions in the Bounty Hunter icon.
‘None.’
The missions on the Bihar tab numbered only two, and the targets they indicated were 1 and 3.
There was no mission involving over fifty players.
Thanks to that, the conditions for Bounty Hunter missions, which I had been unsure about, became roughly visible.
‘The first condition relates to player-on-player murder.’
Killing another player gets you listed on the bounty list.
Fortunately, it seemed killing those who had already murdered players wasn’t an issue.
Since Kim Yul, who had a record of killing PK offenders, hadn’t received a bounty mission.
The system probably takes issue only with indiscriminately killing innocent players.
‘The next condition involves holes and monsters.’
It doesn’t tolerate any situations where those are used to cause trouble on Earth.
Of course, it seems to overlook warnings to governments or research up to a point.
Given that people like me and Maxim, who brought monsters and handed them over to the government, were excluded, that seemed likely.
‘Finally, the condition on the scope of living beings players can kill.’
Monsters, animals and plants, and even civilians from Earth and Bihar.
The system doesn’t care which of those you kill.
What’s the difference between that and an order to kill all living beings except players to absorb mana?
That was the moment I realized the definition of ‘kin’ mentioned in the Bounty Hunter missions.
‘The system defines a player’s kin as players alone.’
Faced with that far from pleasant conclusion, I clenched my fists tightly.
“What a fucking…….”
Part of me wanted to grab the system by the collar and chew it out right then.
Who the hell did it think it was, deciding my identity?
The resentment rising from my chest to my throat was intense.
Did it think it could barge into my life, impose its shitty rules and justice, and I’d just obediently follow?
If so, the system had misjudged me.
I had never agreed to its absurd justice, nor would I ever.
But no matter what I said, this damn system wasn’t going to change its definition of kin.
So instead of wasting time on something inefficient, I decided to focus on more productive matters.
‘First, deal with the troublemakers.’
The large-scale human trafficking involving over fifty people.
A headache, but somewhat anticipated.
I didn’t know the exact scale or type, but I had expected something like this to blow up eventually.
And it wasn’t just my guess.
It stemmed from a single tip-off from the past.
‘The tipster’s code name is Rabbit Foot.’
Our first contact was a comment he left on a post reporting on various governments’ situations.
Additionally, in the early days, the way the Chinese government treated players was frequently mentioned on the community forums.
That led to quite a few instances of Chinese players killing each other.
It was a clash between those complying with the government’s policies and those resisting.
The winners were those aligned with the government.
‘That’s given the association headaches too.’
I opened the chat window with Rabbit Foot.
- Rabbit Foot: These bastards are all crazy. Fucking lunatics. They don’t see people as people.
With those words, Rabbit Foot died.
Of course, players dying isn’t rare.
But the circumstances leading up to his death were too suspicious.
‘It’s safe to assume he was murdered.’
Those who moved not for player rights, but solely for their nation.
Leaving them be was problematic in many ways.
It was better to clean them up before things escalated further, before they affected relations between Bihar and Earth.
But while the conclusion was clear, my mind was in turmoil.
Because the system hadn’t issued any mission related to this.
By the system’s standards, the ones I was about to kill were ‘innocent players.’
What happens if a Bounty Hunter kills another player without a mission?
‘Will it overlook it again, treating me specially?’
Or will it make me a target for another bounty mission?
‘That would be interesting.’
It could lead to the absurd situation where those I personally recruited as Bounty Hunters come after me.
If that really happened? Could I still step in for this?
“Haha…….”
The answer to the question I posed myself came surprisingly easily.
Perhaps my choice was set the moment I received Radriol’s letter.
That conviction solidified further after moving to Bicheta and meeting Radriol.
“Ughhh!”
Despite warnings that it wouldn’t be a pretty sight, Kim Yul, who insisted on coming along, bent over and retched bile.
Yang Tae-ho, patting his back, looked just as pale.
Even Radriol, who had guided us, had turned his head and covered his mouth with his hand.
Even for someone seasoned in the underworld, this scene was evidently nauseating.
Ignoring the overt reactions around me, I stepped forward a couple of paces.
‘About 5 or 6 meters deep…….’
As I approached the fairly deep pit and crouched down, the inside became clearer.
What was piled up like a heap of trash were corpses.
Ones that once moved and lived like me, now reduced to mere naked chunks of meat discarded.
‘They said they drag in monsters once the pit fills up to a certain point…….’
Feeding those corpses to monsters.
In other words, using monsters to dispose of the evidence as well.
Most of the corpses had hollowed-out eye sockets and split-open bellies.
‘This is new.’
I thought I’d seen every gruesome sight wandering recent battlefields.
Pieces of corpses abandoned after monsters fed. The despairing faces of those torn apart alive.
I’d witnessed the fleeting end of lives so often it had grown numbing.
But corpses from combat and those slaughtered out of greed felt different.
It was a horrific scene devoid of even the barest respect for life.
Gazing into it, something else inside me seemed to crumble.
Yet strangely, my mind felt clearer than before.
The thoughts flowing smoothly as always proved I was maintaining my usual level of rationality.
‘And I’m fine after seeing this…….’
It was as if my heart and head were detached—a bizarre sensation.
“And so…….”
For a brief moment lost in that sensation, I snapped back at the voice from beside me.
“In your world, there’s a technology called organ transplants, where you remove organs from one person and attach them to another? And that’s why they took only the organs?”
It was Ahel. Like me, he crouched low and peered into the horrific pit.
But though we saw the same thing, we felt differently.
“Then, is it possible for someone who’s gone blind to regain sight, or for someone dying from a weak heart since birth to become healthy?”
That’s why he could ask such questions so casually.
……It’s not all-powerful. It’s surgery possible only when there’s medical chance of recovery, and it’s extremely difficult.
“Hoo, but there’s at least a possibility. Impressive. How many can benefit from that technology? Is it only for the privileged class? Or is the opportunity open to everyone?”
Ahel was genuinely admiring Earth’s medical technology with pure curiosity.
To him, this tragedy held no particular meaning.
In a way, he was closer to those dead down there than I was.
Was it because he seemed so unbothered?
Somehow, all my subsequent thoughts and decisions became easier.
‘There’s no reason to let them live.’
These bastards offered no help toward the future I envisioned.
With that fact clear, the lack of system approval no longer mattered.
Having made up my mind, I stood and my eyes gleamed.
‘If we’re doing this, let’s do it thoroughly.’
* * *
“Hahk, heok, heok…….”
A dark cave devoid of even a faint beam of light.
Harsh, ragged breathing and stumbling footsteps echoed through.
At the source was a grubby-looking boy.
His name was Yolta, his frame so small even compared to an adult woman it felt puny.
Today marked the second day since he was kidnapped by back-alley thugs for failing to repay money borrowed to care for his sick parents.
Originally, he’d been confined to a basement-like place.
But at dawn today, he was suddenly moved to this cave.
Since then, every moment had been spent in anxiety and tension.
He recalled being thrown into the prison.
A cart full of corpses.
All had split bellies and gouged eyes.
Those empty sockets wouldn’t fade from Yolta’s mind.
“Hnng, hngh…….”
Sniffling through tears, Yolta pressed forward diligently.
He had to get as far away as possible, and as fast as he could.
Otherwise, he might end up like those corpses dumped from the cart.
His body shuddered at the memory of the split bellies and hollowed eyes.
‘N-no, I don’t want to die like that.’
Each time his bare feet hit sharp rocks, blood flowed.
But like one numb to pain, he kept running.
Clutching only the desperate will not to die, he groped through the unseen cave.
Was that determination rewarded?
Far ahead, at the cave’s end, light began to appear.
Joy lit Yolta’s face.
His feet nearly skinned raw, knees and hands bleeding from constant falls.
But clinging to the mere possibility of survival, he urged his trembling legs onward.
And when he finally emerged into the light-filled world, Yolta faced a lush forest.
The sunset sky seemed to welcome his return to life.
Tears streamed down at the miraculous sight.
‘I survived.’
In that instant, the simple, clear word became his everything.
“Hm?”
A rustle came from the bushes right beside him.
Goddamned System