Chapter 188
Chapter 188
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 188
Chapter Title: Chapter 35: The Traitor (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
There’s this thing in China called the Communist Youth League, run by the Communist Party.
‘Its official name is the Communist Youth League of China.’
It’s an organization for youths between 14 and 28 years old, seemingly functioning as a talent pool.
And that guy, Jang Cheon-yu, was a member of it.
‘Her parents are in politics too.’
Basically, Jang Cheon-yu was part of China’s elite.
Thanks to that—or because of it—digging into her background had been a breeze.
Her name was well-known in various places.
She even had a personal SNS boasting about her lavish lifestyle.
‘No wonder she committed crimes without even hiding her real identity.’
She probably thought any trouble could be swept under the rug with her background and influence.
That explained why she was still living it up in Beijing as usual, even after the raid in Europe.
I was looking down from the rooftop of the tallest building nearby, cloaked in invisibility.
Just then, Jang Cheon-yu stepped out of a supercar known for its exorbitant price and entered the building.
The building was so tall that everything on the ground looked smaller than ants.
Yet, a thick, fishy stench of blood assaulted my senses relentlessly.
It was the effect of my title, Massacre.
‘This is even thicker than the guys I gutted at the scene.’
Massacre doesn’t react to monster blood.
Which meant this woman had killed humans herself. A staggering number of them.
‘But why?’
Why wasn’t there a bounty mission on her in the hidden mission window?
I double-checked the mission list just in case, but there was no target matching her location.
‘I figured since there were two in Beijing, one had to be Jang Cheon-yu.’
No.
‘She couldn’t have only killed civilians.’
It didn’t make sense that she hadn’t clashed with other players while playing the game.
She must have run into the players dispatched from Europe just two weeks ago.
‘Did she not participate in any fights?’
I stared at the spot where Jang Cheon-yu had disappeared for a while.
But I shook off the stray thoughts before they could pull me into deep rumination.
What mattered now was capturing Jang Cheon-yu.
‘At least she doesn’t seem like some pampered rich kid.’
If so, I needed to pick the right hunting ground to take her down.
Jang Cheon-yu was the type who didn’t care if civilians were around or not.
Most ordinary players could never do that.
They were just used to killing monsters.
‘They’re not desensitized to murder like me or her.’
After weighing the options, an external ambush was out.
‘Better to dig a trap and lie in wait.’
With my mind made up, I lightly kicked off from the rooftop.
* * *
A brand-new officetel in Beijing’s Chaoyang District.
A supercar barreled into the underground parking lot at high speed, echoing with a deafening screech.
Screeech—thud!
The problematic supercar finally stopped after smashing into a parked foreign luxury car.
The one who stepped out from the vehicle that hadn’t even stayed within the lines was a woman in her early twenties.
Jang Cheon-yu, the eldest daughter of Jang Yang, a sitting Central Committee member.
‘Damn it all.’
Unable to contain the rage bubbling inside her, she slammed the door shut with a bang.
The car door crumpled pathetically as a result.
“Eek.”
A resident of the officetel, who had come down to the underground parking for an outing, froze at the sight.
But Jang Cheon-yu ignored his gaze and slammed her foot into her own car again with another bang.
It had been a month since her business in Bihar had completely collapsed.
Once the Player Association confirmed her identity, they had mobilized governments worldwide to pressure the Chinese government.
But the government hadn’t simply handed her over.
After all, Jang Cheon-yu had been China’s most prized player over the past year.
Of course, that didn’t make her immune to official reprimands.
Today, she’d even been vented on by Jang Yang, enduring his insulting words.
It was only natural that violence accompanied the outburst.
After realizing that hitting her with his bare hands only hurt him, he’d resorted to a golf club.
‘That bastard really thinks I’m still under him.’
Jang Cheon-yu ground her teeth, recalling the golf club crumpling the moment it touched her body.
It seemed her father needed some proper re-education.
‘You think I won’t snap your limbs until you come to your senses?’
She mulled over murderous thoughts as she pictured Jang Yang’s face, the man who had dared lay hands on her.
She wanted nothing more than to turn back right now and crush every bone in his body.
‘Not now.’
The atmosphere in the government was sour.
With the business in ruins, China had become a public enemy in the game.
World leaders who knew about the game were itching to use this as an excuse to strike at China.
Above all, all her funding lines had been cut off.
If she targeted Jang Yang, who wasn’t even a player, in this situation, other politicians would grow wary of her.
‘For now, I need to show some deference to those in power.’
She had to gauge the mood around her for the time being.
‘Gates are hard to use anyway.’
Just hold out a little longer.
She swallowed her anger, grinding her teeth, and stepped into the elevator.
“Damn it!”
Unable to hold it in after all, Jang Cheon-yu vented with curses, seething.
The elevator crumpled with a thud the moment she kicked it, fueling her rage even more as she stared at it.
Recalling her father Jang Yang and the politicians who couldn’t even play the game made it impossible to contain her fury.
‘Pathetic worms who aren’t even players.’
Jang Cheon-yu was a being who could shatter buildings with a gesture or split the earth with a kick.
Yet here she was, stressed out because of those insignificant fools.
‘I miscalculated.’
She had planned to expand the business, secure funds first, then fully seize control of the Chinese government.
Thanks to Jang Yang, connecting with the regime had been easy, so she’d steadily fed them bribes in preparation for her grand coup later.
But with the business derailed, everyone was turning their backs on her amid attacks from all sides.
At this rate, she might not finish preparations by the appointed day.
‘No choice now.’
She’d have to forcibly usurp the regime and proceed.
Grinding her teeth repeatedly with a crunch, Jang Cheon-yu took long, heavy breaths.
‘Don’t get hasty.’
She still had opportunities.
‘First, reclaim the slaves held in Bihar.’
Negotiations were underway with South American players, so a counterattack should start soon.
Once she got her slaves back, she’d reorganize her forces and strike the government.
‘Most are trash underlings, but enough to kill civilians.’
They were bound by grudges and resentments from family ties anyway, so they wouldn’t last long.
Better to use them as cannon fodder and discard them this time.
‘Promote the few who’ve been reporting via chat as managers, and clean up the rest.’
No need to worry about filling their spots.
There were plenty of newly selected players.
With the government mobilizing public security police for searches, recruiting manpower wouldn’t be hard.
The elevator reached the top floor just as she finished those headache-inducing thoughts.
The moment she entered the officetel, she headed straight for the storage cabinet in the living room.
Opening the top drawer revealed dozens of small ziplock bags stacked inside.
Cretol, which she’d been rapidly expanding distribution for lately.
She’d had all she took with her confiscated by Jang Yang, so she hadn’t dosed on the way back.
With desperate hands, Jang Cheon-yu opened a ziplock and inhaled deeply.
“Haa.”
The moment the black powder entered her, her perfectly sculpted golden body reacted.
Her pupils dilated, and black veins began bulging from her neck and wrists.
While every cell in her body awakened, her consciousness grew foggy like it was shrouded in mist.
Jang Cheon-yu buried her nose straight into the ziplock.
Then, staring at the empty bag, she tilted her head.
‘Why am I here again?’
Oh, right. She’d been summoned by Jang Yang and had just returned home.
Grabbing a new ziplock from the cabinet, she flopped onto the sofa behind her.
“Ah, what a shitty life.”
Her hazy mind wandered in disjointed streams.
Why did she have to endure this stress?
It was all because of those bastards who got in her way.
‘Especially that K punk.’
First thing when she returned to Bihar: kill him.
All that talk of dignity, benevolence, justice.
Time to deal with the Player Association too, spouting their meaningless drivel.
Then gut the holy knights who killed her subordinates and rebuild the business site.
Hospitals across China craved the organs she supplied.
With demand assured, she could rise again anytime if she rebounded.
“Yeah.”
Just start over.
Muttering softly, Jang Cheon-yu sprawled on the sofa and gazed out the window.
The glittering city nightscape filled her view, but it stirred no emotion.
Just boredom.
Letting out a long sigh, she opened another ziplock and murmured.
“Wish a night guest like last time would show up.”
Then she could play with the ones begging for their lives all night.
She smacked her lips in regret.
“If I’d known you’d wait this long, I would’ve come sooner.”
Jang Cheon-yu sprang up from the sofa.
Whipping around, she saw a human shadow slither out from the dark wall.
“What’re you doing? It’s the night guest you’ve been waiting for. At least pretend to be happy?”
The unfamiliar voice had barely finished when the surrounding mana surged.
The spear in the night guest’s hand thrust toward her.
Jang Cheon-yu, swept in ecstasy, grinned widely and drew her twin swords from the storage.
The moment she gripped them, she crossed them in front of her chest to block.
Because the opponent’s first move was a thrust, not a slash.
And not with a sword, but a spear.
The tip, smaller than a finger joint, closed in at a speed too fast for the eye to track.
An ordinary person would have felt terror seeing the approaching spear.
But Jang Cheon-yu felt a thrill racing from her waist up her spine to the back of her head at that sinister strike.
The instant her crossed twin swords blocked the spear tip—
Boom—!
An explosive sound rang out, as if a bomb had detonated.
A fierce gust followed, sending the furniture around the sofa she’d been on flying in a crash.
After the bone-chilling clash came a test of strength.
“Hngh!”
Jang Cheon-yu gritted her teeth, resisting the force pushing her back.
Veins bulged on her temples, and her muscles swelled across her body.
It was the first time since becoming gold that she’d pushed her body like this.
That’s why, unlike usual when beating or fighting someone—always thinking of the next spot to hit—
Today, she couldn’t think of anything but blocking the spear shoved right in her face.
It was the moment an instinctual warning light flashed in an area even she wasn’t aware of.
Right then, crunch.
Sparks flew as the mana coating the opponent’s spear tip and her twin swords ground against each other.
Jang Cheon-yu was being pushed back.
Crack, crackle.
Cracks began forming over the red mana on her blades, honed smooth as glass.
“Hoo.”
A low exclamation escaped the man.
“I swung to break them, but they’re holding?”
The intruder’s eyes gleamed with interest as he tugged his lips into a smirk.
“Wonder if this’ll hold too?”
Before his words finished, sparks erupted from the hand gripping the spear shaft.
Like spiderwebs or snakes, they raced up the shaft—and before they could reach—
Jang Cheon-yu flicked her twin swords upward, batting the spear away.
She took a step back, grinding her teeth.
The intruder’s demeanor was like he was appraising her combat prowess.
His unshakable confidence in his superiority twisted Jang Cheon-yu’s lips.
Ignoring the instinctual crisis alert that had just flashed.
“You cocky bastard, let’s see how long you can keep acting superior!”
Enveloping her swords in attribute mana, Jang Cheon-yu kicked the officetel floor hard enough to crack it with a crunch.
Shing—!
Despite wielding a long spear, the intruder allowed her approach.
As he leaned back to dodge the sword, the officetel wall behind him melted.
The result of Jang Cheon-yu channeling her attribute mana, magma, into her blade.
Thud—!
Seeing it, the intruder willingly thrust his spear shaft forward to block the follow-up slash.
The magma flowing along the shaft was repelled by the sparks.
Instead, it flowed back along the clashing blades, wrapping around Jang Cheon-yu.
“Grk!”
It was her first clash with an attribute mana of higher rank than hers.
Her insides twisted, blood surging up from within.
Blood trickled from her clenched teeth, but she endured.
The floor cracked under the evenly matched forces pushing from both sides.
They pressed to bisect each other, then briefly retreated before clashing again with a boom.
Repeated impacts split the table in two, and walls that should have blocked the view cracked open, exposing everything.
The more they exchanged blows, the more Jang Cheon-yu’s fierce expression hardened.
By all accounts so far, she had the advantage.
Aside from the first move, the intruder hadn’t launched any real attacks—just blocked and dodged hers.
So she should definitely be in a superior position...
‘Why?’
Why couldn’t her sword reach him?
Damn System