Chapter 159
Chapter 159
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 159
Chapter Title: Chapter 30: Perception (2)
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From within the bushes, something rustled up—a woman with her hair pulled back tightly into a bun. It was Joo Woo-ryeong.
Despair clouded Yolta's eyes as he spotted the symbol floating above her head.
“What’s this? Where the hell did you crawl out from?”
“Uwaaak!”
Letting out a scream that bordered on a wail, Yolta bolted into the forest.
“Ha… he’s trying, really trying.”
Joo Woo-ryeong, who had been watching him go, clicked her tongue as she hastily pulled up her pants.
By then, Yolta had fled the spot with everything he had.
But all his efforts came to nothing the moment Joo Woo-ryeong kicked off the ground.
She closed the distance in a flash and swung her hand, smacking the back of Yolta’s head.
Something cracked with a dull *thud*, and Yolta went flying before collapsing limply.
Fortunately, he wasn’t dead—his chest rose and fell faintly.
Confirming as much, Joo Woo-ryeong spat on the ground and muttered.
“Tch, what a pain. Interrupted mid-shit like this.”
She then grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him back the way she’d come.
All the while, she started cursing out the guard on watch—who was basically the root cause of all this.
“What the hell were you doing, not noticing something like this crawling out?”
The meat was supposed to be locked up tight, with bronze-badge players taking shifts to watch it.
‘Coming this way means it slipped out of the cage at the very end.’
If she had to classify where she’d been, it was the back exit—the hole tucked away in the farthest corner.
The players working together had an unspoken agreement to handle their business there.
You couldn’t just go shitting everywhere, after all.
That meant foot traffic in and out of her spot wasn’t heavy.
On top of that, this exit was pretty far from where they kept the meat penned up.
There was one direct connection, sure.
But that had only a single door that opened and shut.
So just how badly were they slacking on guard duty to miss the meat breaking out?
She’d smack that idiot around when she got back.
Grumbling under her breath, Joo Woo-ryeong returned to the cave—still clutching Yolta’s ankle.
Every step she took dragged a heavy slab of flesh along with a *srrk, srrk*.
It left a long trail of bloodstains on the cave floor, but she paid it no mind.
Retracing the desperate path Yolta had taken through the cave was child’s play for her.
She soon reached her destination, wrinkling her nose and waving a hand in front of her face.
“Ugh, booze stench.”
The player who was supposed to be guarding the cage lay passed out, reeking of alcohol.
She clicked her tongue at the sight.
But after checking the cage, Joo Woo-ryeong tilted her head. The exit was shut tight.
Glancing back and forth between the unconscious Yolta and the wooden-barred cage, she figured that if she crumpled him up enough, he’d squeeze right through the gap.
“Damn… so that’s how the bastard got out.”
Letting out a shallow sigh, Joo Woo-ryeong snapped Yolta’s leg clean in two.
If his small frame had let him slip through the gap, shattering his leg would make sure he never tried running again.
‘As long as what’s inside stays intact, anyway.’
She booted Yolta—who had woken screaming from the pain—back into unconsciousness.
Only then did she shove him into the cage.
“Eek!”
The other huddled meat inside spasmed in terror.
But Joo Woo-ryeong ignored them, heading straight for the player dozing in front of the prison.
She smashed a fist down on his head with a *thud*.
“Ow! Wh-who the fuck?!”
The man bolted awake yelling—then froze solid at the sight of her face.
“Fuck? You calling *me* a fuck?”
“S-sis, I didn’t m—gurk!”
His screw-up had forced her to cut her shit short and chase down the meat.
It hadn’t been hard, but the sticky, unfinished feeling left her in a foul mood.
So she figured she’d take it out on him until she felt better.
Punches. Kicks. Insults meant to humiliate. And slaps designed to sting.
After laying into him for a good while, her mood lifted just a touch.
“Don’t slack off. Guard it properly.”
“Y-yes!”
She finally turned away after smacking the back of his deeply bowed head a couple more times.
But the path she took wasn’t back to that hole—it led deeper into the cave.
The further in she went, the wider the cave opened up. And the noisier it got.
“P-please, spare me…!”
“Let me out of here!”
“N-no! Not my kid! Give him back!”
Cages far larger than the prison she’d just seen lined the walls.
The wails of those trapped inside echoed through the sealed cave.
But that was all. Their cries never leaked outside.
The cave ran too deep for that.
Everything that happened down here would stay buried.
Joo Woo-ryeong wandered through the familiar racket with a bored look.
Then, out of nowhere, she halted—and glanced back over her shoulder.
“…”
Screams begging for mercy. Shadows of hands reaching through the bars.
And the bronze-badge players staring right back at them, impassive.
It was the same scene as always in Joo Woo-ryeong’s eyes.
But why?
‘Something feels off.’
She’d sensed a nagging presence.
Hesitating amid the utterly normal sight, Joo Woo-ryeong cast a detection spell.
Naturally, she sensed no unusual mana beyond what met the eye.
She could’ve shrugged it off then and there, but instead, she rolled her eyes thoughtfully.
‘Detection spells are pretty much useless against silver badges and up.’
Lately, silver-badge players like her had been popping up left and right.
More players gaining cores. More able to wield mana.
So running one more check wouldn’t hurt.
“Everyone bear the pain for a sec.”
“Huh?”
The bronze-badge guards guarding the prison shot her puzzled looks, but she offered no explanation.
‘Wind Whip.’
Every swing of her arm sent an invisible whip lashing through the cave’s interior.
“Urk!”
Struck bronze-badge players cried out in pain or crumpled unceremoniously.
“Hmm…”
But doubt—not regret—clouded Joo Woo-ryeong’s face.
‘My imagination?’
She could’ve sworn she’d felt something creeping along after her.
Shrugging it off at last, she shook away the unease.
Resuming her stride, she soon reached a space toward the cave’s center.
Roughly hewn chairs and tables nailed together sat there.
The players called it the break room, for convenience.
Non-guard players had gathered there, deep into a card game.
Joo Woo-ryeong herself had been killing time there right up until she’d stepped out to handle her business.
“Took you long enough. Got constipation or what?”
A teammate who’d raked in a nice pot while she was gone called out in friendly fashion.
“Some dipshit got blackout drunk on duty, so an escapee happened. Had to catch the bastard and stuff him back.”
She slid in beside him without missing a beat, taking her next hand.
Joining the game proper flowed naturally.
It was her daily routine most days, barring hunt outings.
A fresh round kicked off soon enough, bets piling onto the table.
A fistful of gold coins *clinking*.
A bundle of gems *thumping*.
A cascade of flashy jewelry *rattling*.
The players crammed into the break room threw themselves into the gambling with one mind.
Rounds piled up, stakes swelled, and the banter grew cruder by the minute.
“Shit, Jang Ryeon’s shown up at the main gate.”
The whisper hadn’t even faded before every player in the room shot to their feet.
As if on cue, they filed out and lined up in formation.
They stood frozen like statues in place for several minutes.
From the direction opposite the cages came a man in his mid-to-late twenties, strolling in.
The lined-up players bowed at the waist in unison, shouting.
“You’re here, boss!
“Yeah.”
The man puffing away on his cigarette was Jang Ryeon.
He ran the logging operation underway near Bicheta.
Joo Woo-ryeong bowed alongside the rest, sneaking a glance up at his feet.
‘Word is he’s some whore kept by a bigwig in the Gongcheon Party.’
Having to bow to a non-pureblood whore didn’t sit right with her.
But she had zero plans to flip the situation on its head.
Truth be told, she was pretty content with life as it was.
She’d torn apart all the thugs who used to push her around.
She was raking in cash that made her old Earth days of scraping by look like a joke.
Sure, there were a few gripes here and there. But nothing worth walking away from.
She’d never once considered shaking up the status quo.
And she sure as hell didn’t want anything to do with Jang Ryeon, presumed bedwarmer to some exec.
So why the hell had Jang Ryeon stopped dead right in front of *her*?
‘Shit.’
Just as her mind raced with what-ifs—like him dragging her off to bed—
“Looks like some bug crawled in.”
A heavy voice rumbled from directly overhead.
At the same instant, air *whooshed*.
“Eek!”
An over-the-top yelp echoed from within her shadow.
Jang Ryeon’s foot stepped forward next.
*Thud, crunch*. The abrupt noise tangled with a groan.
“Guh…!”
Caught flat-footed, Joo Woo-ryeong could only stiffly crane her neck around while still bowed.
‘…Who the hell?’
A total stranger stood there.
His hair was bleached platinum, black roots grown out at the scalp, and his strikingly pretty face—enough to steal the eye—was twisted in agony.
All thanks to the brutal grip Jang Ryeon had on the intruder’s throat.
“Where’d you come from? Cough it up nice and clean, and I’ll end you quick and painless.”
Jang Ryeon’s voice chilled the air, but the stranger just yanked his lips into a smirk.
He even *tapped* Jang Ryeon’s arm. Like he was saying, *let go if you want answers*.
Perhaps loosening up, Jang Ryeon let the pressure ease—and the intruder spoke.
“Cough, cough! Hah, you really need to know? Wouldn’t change a damn thing.”
Joo Woo-ryeong found herself gaping like an idiot without realizing it.
The stranger, oblivious or uncaring, kept spewing his nonsense.
“And seriously, jumping me out of nowhere like that? You scared the shit outta me!”
The sheer gall of an intruder.
Evidently, Jang Ryeon was just as unimpressed.
He let out a disbelieving bark of laughter.
“Green punk who doesn’t know the meaning of fear. The fuck are you?”
“Can’t you tell by looking? I’m a spy!”
The guy could yap like that even with his neck in a vise.
Either some kinda talent—or balls of brass.
Jang Ryeon’s face grew even more murderous at the brazen comeback.
The intruder pressed on regardless.
“Sorry to cut the chat short, but I think it’s goodbye time. Boss wants me back.”
“Who the hell’s letting you go?”
“Cut me some slack. He’s more overprotective than I thought… might get chewed out if I don’t head back soon.”
“Funny shit. You ain’t going nowhere.”
The intruder grinned cheekily despite the icy warning, voice bright and chipper.
“Wasn’t thrilled to meet ya, and I ain’t wishing you peace in the afterlife. Be a better person next time!
“You little—!”
“Catch ya later!”
The instant Jang Ryeon raised his now-empty hand, the intruder’s form scattered like smoke.