Chapter 183
Chapter 183
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 183
Chapter Title: Chapter 34 Fishing (2)
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His voice was serene. Like the still waters of a deep mountain lake.
“I-I don’t know anything. I swear!”
As he listened quietly, the voice of the man talking to him sounded familiar.
‘It’s Changyoung.’
He was a mid-level manager at this workshop, a guy who committed all sorts of atrocities under the protection of high-ranking government officials, unlike himself who was little more than a slave.
Realizing this, the scene that had been invisible until now came into view.
Kneeling pathetically in front of the man wasn’t just Changyoung.
The organization’s manager-level Players were all gathered together, half-dead.
The same bastards who casually killed off powerless Copper-rank Players were now trembling on their knees.
It was such a ridiculous sight that just looking at it drew a scoff.
But that lasted only a moment. Lawian gritted his teeth, still lying on the frigid floor.
‘To die being treated the same as scum like them.’
He hadn’t expected his end to be this pathetic.
It was miserable and heartbreaking, but not unfair.
He had always thought something like this could happen someday.
‘How many months has it been already…?’
Ever since his identity as a Player was discovered by a high-ranking politician.
Lawian hadn’t spent a single day in peace.
Every time he committed unspeakable atrocities unfit for a human, his nightmares grew darker, and a foul stench rose from his blood-soaked hands.
But with his twelve-year-old son, wife, and both sets of parents held hostage.
If it meant keeping them safe, what wouldn’t he do?
‘I don’t dare hope for forgiveness.’
What worried him was the safety of his family left on Earth if he died here.
There was no way the politician who enslaved him would take care of them.
It was more likely they’d be quietly disposed of to silence them.
‘It’s all because of me.’
It was all because he got caught up in this game.
Fear of a future that hadn’t yet come reddened his eyes.
But he didn’t know what more he could do now.
The man holding the spear there was a grim reaper he could never defeat.
‘Status window…’
Player Lawian (1st Selection) - Copper
Code Name: Balloon
Mana: 2566 (Attribute Mana: 20)
Chaos Value: 27.33%
Affiliation: Earth, Senoa Church
Race: Human (Player)
Nationality: China
Rank: Gamma
A black shadow fell over Lawian’s eyes.
He had once reached Silver rank, but that was just past glory.
The mana number on his status window now was barely mid-2000s.
Despite being a 1st Selection Player, Lawian remained stuck at Copper due to mana exploitation.
In this situation, was there any way to escape the clutches of that monster-like Player?
‘No.’
No matter how hard he racked his brain, no solution came to mind.
All that was left for him now was death.
‘Ah, God.’
Was it because of the intense helplessness?
A church he didn’t often visit came to mind, and the prayers he’d only mumbled during his parents’ nagging became clear.
As Lawian sank into despair, unable even to resist the approaching death.
His eyes met the man’s, who had glanced down briefly.
Lawian froze, breath caught.
The man, confirming he was alive, seemed ready to charge with his spear at any moment.
Of course, it was Lawian’s misconception.
Instead of coming to kill him, the man simply opened his mouth again in a leisurely manner.
“Well, you might not know.”
Lawian stared at the man in bewilderment.
‘Why…?’
He saw I was alive, so why not kill me?
He could do it with a flick of a finger?
“It’s not a big deal, so don’t worry too much.”
The man’s voice was flat, without inflection, as he reached out toward Changyoung, who was kneeling and drooling blood from his mouth.
So when his hand smoothly snapped Changyoung’s neck with a crack, Lawian couldn’t process it for a moment.
“Just get rid of the ones who don’t know.”
Right after, as the limp body of Changyoung was shoved aside, a single sheet of paper fell from the man’s hand.
The paper landed on the floor pooled with red blood.
Drawn on it was the face of Changyoung, who had just died.
‘A sketch…?’
That was proof that the previously captured ones had provided information to them.
Was the info they spilled limited to just the managers?
‘No way.’
They probably spilled everything about the organization too.
The man was just interrogating these managers for final confirmation.
And once the interrogation was over…
‘He’ll wipe this place clean.’
Without leaving a single loose end.
It was obvious from the Player corpses littered around.
Realizing this, Lawian’s eyes darkened.
He completely abandoned any hope of escaping alive.
At that moment, the man, flipping through other papers in his hand, curled his lip and said.
“There’s got to be at least one among you who knows something. I only need that one.”
So if you truly know nothing, raise your hand now.
Continuing in a refreshingly light tone, the man kicked the corpse of Jangyoung at his feet.
“So if you know anything, spill it, whatever it is.”
A vivid blue glow flashed from the man’s eyes, shrouded in darkness.
“I’ll let you live if you know something I don’t.”
No sooner had the chilling voice ended.
“The meat was supplied by a guy named Tamaron!”
“Senoa introduced him! Payment only in gold! We brought gold from Earth and bought it!”
“We did a lot of bartering with war spoils too!”
“Jang Cheonyu! She’s the one who started this organization!”
“She’s with the Youth League! Lives in Beijing!”
“I heard the Central Political Bureau is backing her!”
“This is the last hideout!”
“There are still living Bihar people underground!”
They all shouted out whatever information they knew.
The desperate heat of their struggle to survive, clawing for a chance to catch the man’s eye, was palpable.
Watching their frenzy, Lawian was dumbfounded.
Even he, a mere slave, had accepted death and let everything go.
What made these bastards think they could brazenly cling to life?
‘Idiots.’
Did they think this grim reaper-like man would show mercy?
Lying on the stone floor, having given up everything, Lawian looked at the managers with pitiful eyes.
“Kh.”
Then, suddenly, an incongruous laugh rang out.
The managers, who had been yelling over each other, fell silent at once.
But Lawian wasn’t surprised.
As if he already knew who laughed, he simply turned his gaze to the man naturally gripping his spear.
Sure enough, the man was covering his mouth with one hand, shoulders shaking.
After a brief muffled chuckle, chuckle.
He removed his hand and smirked with one corner of his mouth.
“Stuff I already knew.”
The managers in front of him wore blank expressions.
“I forgot to mention earlier, but I already mapped out your whole organization chart. Of course, I know that bitch Jang Cheonyu’s age, birthday, blood type, school, SNS ID, home address, parents’ names and jobs too. I’ve got the skills for that.”
He’d interrogated just in case, but as expected.
“No one knows more than me.”
Murmuring softly, the man stood up.
“From the looks of it, you all want to live.”
“Y-Yes, yessir…”
Someone reflexively answered his words.
Chuckling again, the man looked up.
“Just checking, in case.”
Gripping his spear firmly, he said flatly.
“Hands up if any of you ever spared someone who begged for their life.”
Confused, as if not understanding the situation, the managers all stared up at him blankly.
With a scoff, the man raised his spear and muttered.
“Knew there wouldn’t be.”
And with a crackle.
Sparks flew from the spear tip, followed by a whoosh of wind.
He hadn’t even seen the man move properly, but the spear was already swung.
Immediately after, blood spurted from the bodies of the managers in front of him as their heads flew off.
Lawian watched with empty eyes before closing them.
‘My turn now.’
He’d probably ignored me earlier because he was busy interrogating the managers.
Now that it was done, he’d kill him too.
That’s what he thought, so why wasn’t the blade piercing his flesh?
‘Does trash like me not even warrant a personal kill?’
He just wanted a quick, clean death—no false hopes, as fast as possible.
As he bit his lip wondering how much longer, wondering.
“We left one Copper alive over there, so take him in.”
Lawian’s eyes snapped open.
Meeting the gaze of the man staring straight at him.
‘Left alive…?’
Not a coincidence—he’d deliberately singled him out and spared him?
‘Because I’m Copper?’
Failing to reach Silver in this organization was proof of mana exploitation.
Did he know that and spare the Copper me on purpose?
Even in his daze, Lawian’s heart began pounding wildly.
Completely different from moments ago, when he’d thought death inevitable.
The thin hope that he might live made emotions surge, his body trembling.
Whether sensing Lawian’s turmoil or not.
“Let’s start making the roster of the ones we secured today.”
The man conversed calmly with the holy knights.
“Yes, understood. That said, you haven’t rested once in days—shall we handle the prisoner transfer so you can at least take a short break…?”
He seemed to ponder, not answering right away.
After a brief pause, wiping his bloodied hands on his clothes, the man nodded readily.
“That might be best. I’ll review the roster and site report tomorrow.”
“Yes, leave it to us. See you at headquarters tomorrow.”
The man exchanged a few more words with the holy knights before leaving first.
* * *
Tracking down the organization members involved in human trafficking had been ridiculously easy.
‘I have the map.’
In the heart of contaminated zones, just find clusters of red and blue dots.
Even if Silvers conserved mana, Coppers and Bihar couldn’t hide theirs, exposing them easily.
After a few raids, they got clever, hiding underground or erecting barriers.
But the map catches underground mana too, even if 3D rendering is lacking.
And barriers made their hideouts even easier to spot.
All mana in a barrier zone vanishes.
Even those without maps could find them via basic mana detection.
Thanks to that, rooting out human trafficking rings in Bihar was no trouble.
‘The problem is time.’
It took a month to round up the ones in Bihar and dismantle their organizations.
‘Faster than planned, but…’
Not satisfactory.
Considering the incident two weeks ago, he should’ve hurried more.
But the scale was huge—this was the limit.
I clicked my tongue inwardly and strode away.
The place with the massive iron door I’d seen entering the underground hideout.
Pulling a thick stack of papers from thin air, I confirmed one symbol matched the one on the iron door and muttered.
“As expected…”
The space used by remnants of the human trafficking ring active across the north had an oddly familiar vibe.
Similar structure to the underground bunker I’d found near Bicheta Castle once.
Back then, I hadn’t been sure of its purpose, but now I was.
‘A shelter built by Kairot Kingdom’s noble faction.’
This was a hideout funded by nobles who didn’t trust the royal family.
I’d uncovered the truth by finding an employee from the merchant group that secretly supplied materials during construction.
I already had a rough list of participating nobles from his testimony.
From now on, whenever advancing, I’d thoroughly search their territories.
To find any possible survivors.
‘Low chance they’re alive, though.’
Swallowing a bitter smile, I shook my head and kept walking.
After exiting the underground bunker, I headed to the temple in Somali Castle.
From there, I portaled to the temple in Robole.
Approaching the World Tree shrine, holy knights demanded my status window.
‘They’re doing well.’
After revealing only my nationality, standing before the World Tree brought up a plain system window.
[Return to Earth]
A stark contrast to the old days when a map would pop up.
Damn system