Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Usa
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“...?”
A pair of black eyes blinked from within the hole of the mask.
The little kid who had been stomping the man into rags until he was a tattered mess now clutched his broken leg and rolled on the ground.
In front of him stood a man with his hood pulled low, and beside him was a woman wearing a mask.
At the sight, Biyeon unconsciously touched her own mask. In this city where sins outnumbered the righteous, those who hid their faces weren’t uncommon.
Hats like bamboo hats or hoods were typical for covering the head, while masks or cloth wraps covered the face. Some even used shape-shifting masks called skinface guards that completely altered one’s appearance.
There could be various reasons for wearing a mask, but most did it to hide their faces.
Biyeon was no different. Seven years ago, she had suffered burns over her entire body. The fire had scorched her voice as well, but her face had taken the worst of it.
She wore a mask to conceal that hideous face. The one Biyeon wore was a plain white mask without any patterns—a blank face.
“What’s that?”
But the mask on that woman was different. A fox mask, the kind a performer or clown might wear. It would excel at hiding one’s face, but it lacked the stealth typical of mask-wearers. Biyeon was momentarily taken aback by its bold, assertive design.
Soon, a clamor erupted. The broken-legged man’s gang burst out from deeper in the alley, surrounding the hooded man and the fox mask.
A barrage of crude curses poured out.
Biyeon hesitated for a moment.
In this city that aped the law of the jungle, gangs occupying alleys were all beyond the 3rd Tier. Of course, that wasn’t her concern. There was no reason to step in and save them.
But listening to that filthy language grated on her nerves. Wasn’t ‘irritation’ enough reason for someone as strong as her to act? With that thought, Biyeon leaned forward slightly.
Thud!
A dull impact cut the curses short. One of the approaching thugs was kicked in the leg and sent flying into the wall, rolling on the ground.
It was too fast. Even looking down from above, she only caught the afterimage. Biyeon hardened her expression beneath the mask and leaned further out the window.
A man drew a hand axe and lunged from the side. He seemed accustomed to street fights, and for someone around the 4th Tier, his movements were impressive.
But the hood’s counterattack was faster. A swinging kick twisted the man’s body.
And that was it. Though more of the gang remained untouched, they hesitated and backed away instead of charging. The hooded figure didn’t seem eager to continue fighting either. He helped the fallen kid to his feet, said something, and started walking off as if nothing had happened.
“Hoo.”
A voice came from right beside her. Geomyeong, who had been lurking in the shadows, was now at Biyeon’s side. He stroked his chin, eyes gleaming with interest.
“Indeed, this den of vice harbors its share of eccentrics.”
“...”
“How much did you see?”
“I caught the leg moving, but missed the footwork entirely.”
“With those oversized clothes, it’s hard to see from this angle. What if you’d been facing him head-on?”
Biyeon stared at the pair’s retreating backs and imagined it. If she had been in that spot fighting?
“If I hadn’t been consciously watching, I probably wouldn’t have seen it properly.”
She answered honestly.
“There’s the Full Moon Reveler on a broader scale, but experts in kicks and retreats are rare even in the Divine Cult.”
Geomyeong gazed in the same direction as Biyeon and continued. Full Moon Reveler. At the nickname, Biyeon’s brows furrowed. To a warrior of the Divine Cult, that name was inherently unpleasant.
“Not just kicks and retreats—his fist and palm techniques seem profound too.”
Beneath the sleeves swaying with each step, she glimpsed well-muscled forearms and sturdy, knobby fingers.
Scritch.
Her nails scraped the mask. Witnessing unexpectedly fine skill had ignited her competitive spirit. Without emitting internal energy, ending the fight purely with external arts and body techniques made his exact tier hard to gauge—but at least 4th Tier, she figured.
“Hm...”
They hadn’t gone far yet. She could catch up, politely request a spar, or pick a fight outright. If she wasn’t conscious of it, she wouldn’t see it properly. That’s what her imagination told her. Conversely, if she focused, she could definitely see it.
Would it hold true in reality?
‘A shame.’
Her hand dropped from the mask. Without the command tying her to the Withered Tree Crone, she might have moved to satisfy her fighting urge. But right now, Biyeon couldn’t act freely.
‘Maybe seek them out before leaving this cesspit.’
If she could kill the Withered Tree Crone without issue, then after that.
*
On the way to the slums outside the main streets.
“If you get caught, it means you lack talent, so no more pickpocketing.”
A low, muffled voice leaked from beneath the fox mask.
“Sigh, two years ago, you weren’t like this... How should I put it, Captain? After not seeing you for a while, you’ve got this...”
“What about me?”
“Unnecessary bravado in your speech... or a heavy gravitas? Your expressions look unnecessarily stern too.”
The self-made disguise technique was holding, so nothing felt off, but there was a minor side effect: slightly stiff expressions.
The disguise technique forcibly twisted facial bones and muscles to create another face. Yuri didn’t know about other versions, but his was like imagining meridian massages, Botox, or fillers—stimulating face acupoints and specific muscles.
That made stiff expressions an unavoidable side effect.
“I’m not trying to make these faces either.”
“Fine, the expressions aside—your speech is the issue. Did you barely talk to anyone for those two years?”
“There weren’t many chances for conversation.”
A wandering ronin anyway. No settling down, so no desire to form deep bonds.
“Plenty of provocations, plenty of backstabs too.”
“So. Did that pompous speech make them provoke you less or backstab you less?”
“Even just before coming here, I got royally backstabbed.”
For half a year, he’d dealt with a low-level Hawon Sect branch. They’d promised to introduce him to the Panterion outer district leader, so he’d faithfully paid up, took missions without pay. Yuri’s current penniless state traced back to that bastard.
The day came to receive the letter of introduction after all that dog work—and suddenly, the terms changed.
No money, no letter.
“Thought he was a nice guy.”
“Most Hawon Sect scum are bastards.”
Ha-ryeong clicked her tongue in response.
Yuri glanced sideways at her. The fox mask stood out way too much. Through the sullenly curved eyeholes, he saw emotionless pupils. Even under the mask, she wasn’t relaxing her face, apparently.
“Why pick that mask of all things?”
He’d chosen it because a simple cloth mask wouldn’t suffice, but he couldn’t fathom why that flashy one among so many.
“Because it’s a smiling face.”
An unexpected answer came back.
“You know I don’t have a face that smiles easily, Captain.”
“Just smile then.”
“It’s not that simple.”
Her face was hidden, but her eyes showed no desire to elaborate.
[Your martial arts resemble the Tang Clan’s Emotionless Killing Flow, but differ. You hide it well, but your emotions overflow.]
Words the Blood Fiend Ghost had spouted in Logos.
‘Tang Clan...’
He knew of them.
The game had the Black Dragon Society, Killing Gates, and the Tang Clan.
Reality differed.
The Killing Gate Sect leader and Tang Clan patriarch in the game was the Dark Emperor Tang Ji-ho, level 83. No matter the defenses, his virulent poisons inflicted status ailments and DoT damage; no matter the evasion, his hidden weapons chunked health. An NPC.
Seronis had no job classes. Invested stats, skills, and equipped weapons defined your role. Sword and sword arts made a swordsman; staff and spells made a mage.
There was romance to ‘thief’ or ‘assassin’ archetypes. No classes, but plenty in the community adopted those ‘concepts’.
‘Cat Panties’ was one.
That unknown she-or-he intensely fixated on USAUSAMI₍ᐢ.ˬ.ᐢ₎ in the community. They shared similarities, so Cat Panties obsessed more.
The nauseating cat-speak ending every sentence that Cat Panties used mimicked USAUSAMI₍ᐢ.ˬ.ᐢ₎’s USA.
But ‘self-inserts’ weren’t mimicry.
‘Self-char’ was short for self-created character.
USAUSAMI₍ᐢ.ˬ.ᐢ₎’s self-char was a bunny-eared beauty; Cat Panties’ was a bob-cut beauty with cat ears.
[That fucker’s playing self-char here too;;]
According to Ox God Head, a fellow community alum like Cat Panties, she-or-he had used that self-char from way back.
Cat Panties hadn’t copied USAUSAMI₍ᐢ.ˬ.ᐢ₎—they’d had their self-char before even meeting.
Cat Panties made their self-char affection a point of differentiation from USAUSAMI₍ᐢ.ˬ.ᐢ₎.
‘Commissions’ existed.
Paying illustrators for custom art, usually of favorite characters or self-chars.
Amateurs were cheap, but pros and big names cost more.
Surprisingly, Cat Panties dumped hundreds—maybe thousands—into commissions. From famous pros to SNS influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers, all for self-char art.
Every new Seronis character leveled.
Every new skill learned.
Every gear swap.
Every build change.
Every boss downed.
Cat Panties’ self-char quality rose. More commission art piled up. The meme-char grew like a living thing. The panty-clad cat beauty held a weapon next pic, donned armor the next, wielded sword arts, died, reborn.
[Cat Panties is the kunoichi village head nya!]
[Nin-nin! Fancy gear booze nya!]
Cat Panties settled on ‘ninja’ after drifting builds.
No hiding it: Lee Soo-hyuk’s Padrip Immunity had advised that build tirelessly. Essential agility, evasion skills for ninjas.
Thus, kunoichi Cat Panties’ initial build formed, refined by endless Tang Clan grinding for skills—birthing the kunoichi village head.
Seeing the perfected kunoichi village head Cat Panties char and illustrations mirroring game gear on the cat-eared self-char moved him somehow.
Even if completing it razed the Tang Clan dozens of times, killing hundreds of Tang NPCs. He wasn’t on payroll then.
‘Maybe?’
The current Killing Gate leader and Tang patriarch was Poison King Tang Yu-shin, Dark Emperor’s son.
The previous patriarch, Dark Emperor, had vanished into seclusion twenty years ago.
Raspeon Family massacre.
Orca’s alleged raid.
Timelines matched. If FS was behind Raspeon, maybe possessors behind Dark Emperor’s seclusion too.
Perhaps Cat Panties.
“Captain, little bro. What’re you thinking so hard about?”
Ha-ryeong interrupted his thoughts.
“Just some worries...”
Another possibility struck him.
Ha-ryeong hailed from the Tang Clan.
Judging by how that old coot treated her, likely direct lineage.
Lee Soo-hyuk unluckily possessed orphan Yuri, but not all possessors got orphans. Lucky ones might hit prestigious clans—maybe even Tang.
Ha-ryeong.
Exact age unknown, but twenties. She’d been 5th Tier for two years too.
Could Ha-ryeong be a possessor?
“Cat Panties?”
Through the mask’s eyeholes, Ha-ryeong’s pupils chilled coldly.
“I don’t quite follow what you’re saying.”
“My mistake.”
No way. Just probing. Good thing she wore the mask. Seeing her bare face react might’ve crushed him.
Separately, embarrassment burned his cheeks.
“What mistake makes ‘Cat Panties’ slip out?”
“We’re here.”
Yuri spat it out and quickened his pace.
Among similar ramshackle plank shacks, one looked relatively clean.
A mage lived there. Unknown name ‘outside’, but locally called Pointfire. Three years ago, entered Sector 4; nicknamed for pointing and incinerating newbie-hunting thugs.
Best match from Blockiron and mage’s name lists. Age unclear, but looked thirties, likely 5th Tier mage.
Whether a possessor? Unknown.
“What’s the plan?”
Ha-ryeong whispered.
“Ambush? Better against mages. Give them time, it gets messy.”
“Not here to fight.”
“What nonsense.”
“Talk first. You wait here, sis.”
Unavoidable, but ‘sis’ stuck in his throat.
Better than ‘big sis’ though. Yuri focused his eyes on the shack. As expected, it bristled with spells. But no private land, so no vast arrays like Elena’s estate.
Door and windows. Breachable? Tempting, but no. Talk first. Yuri approached slowly, not hiding his presence. Sneaking might alert anyway.
“Stop.”
The closed door cracked open.
Pointfire had long hair and a short beard, but unkempt. Reeked of booze, like he’d been drinking. Messy look obscured age, but well past thirties.
“Come no closer.”
Pointfire raised a finger. Drunk but 5th Tier mage. Sensed blatant presence and reacted instantly.
“New face. Business with me?”
“Pointfire?”
Yuri questioned carefully.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
Pointfire glared without easing vigilance. Mana gathered at his still-pointed fingertip.
“Came to talk.”
“No mood to chat with strangers.”
“That’s what talking’s for—getting to know each other.”
“Brat, cut the crap and scram. If it’s business, speak from there.”
Pointfire’s brows twisted. Mana surged wildly at his fingertip.
Yuri took a light breath. He’d steeled himself coming here, but actually doing it brought hesitation.
[Usa.]
“...?”
[I came from the Bunny Star to meet you, Usa.]
The Full Moon Reveler, a walking possessor detector.
Too famous. Yuri mimicking him here meant nothing.
But Yuri knew another detector.
USAUSAMI₍ᐢ.ˬ.ᐢ₎.
Community retard duo with Ox God Head.
That idiot speech and concept pierced nationality.
[Answer me, Usa. Don’t you recognize me, Usa?]
No loss even if not a possessor.
Face changed, name changed, arts unlike Thundercloud.
If not, fight for experience, move to next candidate. Stir enough, they’d come to him.
New guy rampaging draws eyes.
[If you don’t answer, I’ll go back to the Bunny Star...]
“Kraaaah!”
Pointfire suddenly roared, pointing at Yuri.
In that instant, Yuri saw terror spread across Pointfire’s face.
—Kwaaang!
A crimson line streaked the air, exploding in flames before Yuri.