Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Chapter 6: Player (2)
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‘Mana?’
I examined the ring closely.
But I couldn’t feel a thing.
Still, it felt wrong to just ignore that description and sell it off.
‘The tone feels like it’s ordering me around, and I don’t like that.’
For now, I decided to keep it.
If it became unnecessary or caused me trouble later, I could always sell it then.
“Let’s take this one out.”
“Y-Yes? P-Pardon?”
“Remove this, and this too. Recalculate.”
The items I excluded were the ring and one gold coin.
After hearing it was likely usable as currency, I decided to keep one just in case.
I released Choi Sung-woo’s wrist, which I’d been gripping the whole time, and pushed the bag of cash toward him.
Pretending to pocket the ring and gold coin, I stored them in my inventory.
Choi Sung-woo fumbled with the calculator on his desk, tapping away clumsily.
Even with a cracked collarbone in one shoulder, he forced himself to crunch the numbers.
“One gold... plus the gem and weight from the ring...”
After muttering to himself, he set aside one bundle of 50,000-won bills and 3.5 million in loose ones.
A whopping 8.5 million won. It stung.
But I couldn’t very well sell it back, so I calmly gathered up the cash he hadn’t taken.
Right after, I held out my hand.
“Hand over your phone.”
“......P-Pardon?”
His dumbfounded response made my brows furrow on instinct.
“I’ll give you a heads-up next time before I come.”
At the very least, we needed a way to coordinate for the next deal—I couldn’t exactly share my number.
‘In this day and age, you can’t just hand out personal info like candy.’
Taking his phone outright would solve everything easily, like contacting Ha Kwon-chan from earlier.
But Choi Sung-woo’s reaction was sluggish again.
With a short click of my tongue, I grabbed his good shoulder.
“If you don’t want to, I can just drop by unannounced like today...”
“I-I’ll give it! Here you go!”
He only moved after I said one more word.
I took the phone he offered, went into settings, and unlocked it first.
Then I left only Ha Kwon-chan’s contact and showed him the screen.
“I’ll reach out through this next time.”
The reason I shut off the phone right in front of his eyes was simple.
‘Even if they try tracking it, it won’t matter.’
Whether he got the hint or not, Choi Sung-woo nodded vigorously.
“Y-Yes, of course.”
“Let’s keep doing business, President Choi. I trust you’ll cover the phone bill.”
Otherwise, I’d have to show up out of the blue again like today.
As I added that, his lips stiffened.
Still, when I offered a handshake, he forced an awkward smile and clasped my hand.
His cheeks trembled from the pain, which might’ve seemed pitiful to some, but I felt nothing.
‘Some might call me a ruthless villain for this, but pity? Not a chance.’
I’d spent days surveilling him already and confirmed he wasn’t a good person.
He was a clear-cut villain. Not someone deserving of sympathy or mercy.
I had no intention of personally punishing him, but I wasn’t looking to build a deep relationship either.
Our interests just aligned for now, so I was using him.
I brought the valuables, he paid the price.
That was the extent of it.
As a final warning, I squeezed his hand hard enough to hurt before letting go.
Once Choi Sung-woo turned his back on me, I slipped into a CCTV blind spot.
“See you next time.”
After my parting words, I activated invisibility.
One minute passed, then two...
Finally, Choi Sung-woo, who’d been frozen staring straight ahead, glanced back furtively.
I was right there, but invisible to his eyes.
He shot to his feet, groaning as he clutched his shoulder.
Then he frantically worked the computer, pulling up the CCTV footage.
His eyes darted between the monitor and my direction, shaking uncontrollably.
The footage would show me heading into the blind spot.
But I wasn’t there now, which must’ve freaked him out.
“G-Gu, Kwon-chan! Ha Kwon-chan!”
After a brief silence, pale-faced Choi Sung-woo bolted from the office.
Only then did I leisurely slip out through the open door.
* * *
It was after leaving Choi Sung-woo’s office and traveling a good distance.
In a deserted alley, I dropped invisibility.
I immediately pulled the ring from my inventory.
‘Contains mana, huh...’
I fiddled with it, turning it this way and that for a moment.
On a whim, I tried manifesting my mana.
The ring showed no reaction.
So I tried attribute mana next.
This time, it sucked in the mana with a tiny slurp, then began vibrating in my hand.
‘W-What?’
I swallowed hard and gripped it tight, bracing for what came next.
“Gasp!”
An icy chill surged from the ring as frigid mana rushed out.
White frost settled over the narrow alley.
Tension locked my muscles tight.
And then? Nothing.
“Ha.”
A baffled laugh escaped me.
The ring’s vibration had stopped too.
‘What was that?’
I had no idea what had just happened.
With lingering curiosity, I channeled attribute mana again.
The ring just absorbed it, nothing more.
No other unusual reactions.
I toyed with it a while longer, injecting attribute mana repeatedly.
‘Should I just leave it in my inventory forever?’
The band seemed too loose to wear comfortably.
Wondering if it might fit my thumb, I slipped it on.
“Oh.”
The loose band tightened perfectly to my finger.
Same when I tried it on my index.
“Nice.”
At least I knew it wasn’t ordinary jewelry. That was enough for now.
Someday, keeping it would reveal its secrets.
I kept pouring attribute mana into it until I was depleted.
Only then did I check the other spoil I hadn’t sold.
[Lost Spear]
A sturdy spear undamaged despite long abandonment without its owner.
Ready for immediate combat use.
So far, four items confirmed.
All with just two-line descriptions.
That last line kept grating on me.
The other items I’d sold, and even this spear.
‘Sell for good money, better to keep, usable in battle right away...’
It felt like instructions. Telling me exactly how to use them.
‘Creepy.’
I glared at the item description for a while.
But staring wouldn’t reveal anything.
With a sigh, I stored the spear in my inventory.
Then I headed for a bus stop to reach my next destination.
While waiting, my gaze turned westward.
Toward Gwanak-gu.
Headlines I’d seen plastered across the news the past few days cluttered my mind.
「Pigeon Carcasses Found in Gwanak-gu: Accident or Murder?」
「Crossing the Line: Is This Animal Abuse Okay?」
「Slap on the Wrist for Animal Abuser? Limits of Korean Law.」
It started with pigeon bodies near a studio apartment district.
Four stuck to flypaper like the kind for summer flies and mosquitoes, stabbed with a knife.
Then stray dogs and rats caught in traps.
‘All stabbed to death with a knife.’
News on animal abuse or roadkill cropped up occasionally.
But the same incidents in the same area, day after day? Suspicious.
The first article dropped three days ago.
‘The day after the new players’ tutorials ended.’
That’s why I’d been commuting to Gwanak-gu invisibly for days.
If this tied to players...
‘It could be an opportunity.’
A chance to gauge the Korean government’s response.
I’d heard about the UK and US via Ethan, but Korea mattered most to me.
‘My nationality’s Korean, and when this game surfaces, I can’t escape government scrutiny.’
Yet I knew nothing about their stance.
Did they even know about this insane game? How would they handle it? Nothing.
I’d scoured news sites top to bottom—no red flags.
So here I was, investigating personally.
If the government knew about the game and the perp was a player, they’d likely pull strings to protect them, even post-arrest. Probation at worst.
‘Might let me check their position without exposing myself.’
A chance too good to pass up.
Without invisibility, I wouldn’t risk it.
If things went south and my identity leaked, disaster.
No guarantee Korea lacked a maniac like David.
But with invisibility in hand, a little risk was worth it.
The bus arrived soon; I boarded, pulling my cap lower.
* * *
All the animal carcasses turned up in Gwanak-gu.
I headed to the studio district where the dog bodies were found.
The pigeon and rat sites weren’t adjacent, but this area bordered both.
‘Short-sighted, or laying a decoy to throw off the cops?’
This was the only spot linking all three locations.
So I wandered invisibly around it.
That’s when the pending update patch finished.
「Progress: 100%」
「Patch complete.」
「Player Interaction Program (Community & Party) updated.」
「Code names introduced in community.」
「Friends feature added.」
「Chat feature added.」
「Gifting feature added.」
「Total comment count displayed on posts.」
‘Code names now? Why bother?’
The doubt lasted a second. I quickly saw why.
With 10,000 players, guaranteeing anonymity?
Trouble was obvious.
After first-wave players finished tutorials, the community exploded: impersonations, mockery, personal attacks everywhere.
Anonymity turned some into keyboard warriors stirring chaos.
Comment sections devolved into flame wars routinely.
‘Pathetic as always.’
Dribbling out half-baked updates instead of doing it right once. Amateur game.
Would’ve tanked online instantly.
Why launch in reality to torment people?
With a tsk, I opened the community.
Time to check the update.
「Title: Finally Can Filter Out the Idiots (4) - Author: Adam」
The top post was seconds old.
All prior ones now showed authors.
‘Comments changed too.’
Scanning my memory for red flags in the new setup.
‘The post Ethan found me with? Deleted already. The new one to talk to him...’
Author visible, but without password, unreadable.
Even if accessed, all secret comments hid code names.
‘Still, better delete it.’
Chat made it obsolete.
I deleted the post, tapped Ethan’s code name, and sent a friend request.
Accepted instantly.
- Ethan Lembron: Chat’s great. Comments were a pain.
- K: Yeah. Why not do it sooner? What’s this crap.
- Ethan Lembron: System’s sloppy—first time? I expect nothing.
- K: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Same as me.
While trash-talking the system with Ethan, I dug up an old post I’d seen.
Thought it might be gone; it wasn’t.
The guy mentioning my race: code name John.
Recalling the black guy’s face from my promotion exam...
「Code name Leo sent friend request.」
「Code name Barista sent friend request.」
「Code name AI sent friend request.」
「Code name Blueberry sent friend request.」
“Huh?”
Friend requests started flooding in.