Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 193
Chapter Title: Mark of Sin
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This feels like a ploy designed to provoke my rage, doesn't it?
'Is there some massive conspiracy at play?'
That was when the thought crossed my mind.
[Sin]
A mechanical voice of judgment.
[shall be branded upon you.]
descended upon me.
Sizzle!
A sudden burning pain flared on my cheek. Considering my superhuman body wouldn't even flinch from a branding iron searing my skin, this was utterly impossible.
"Jaeyeon?"
"What the...?"
As F·D panicked, I summoned Cheda into the air and activated mirror mode.
And there it was. The tattoo etched on my cheek.
The [Brand of Sin].
"You crazy... "
It depicted a man hanged by the neck, dead. No need for words—it was a perfect likeness of my father, who had taken his own life.
"Brand of... Sin!"
"The great sin of kin-slaying...!"
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. It was that monumental an event. The Brand of Sin was something people had only heard about in tales; it never appeared in the city, movies, or dramas. Yet here it was, stamped on a celebrity transcendent like me.
I scowled.
'This... now, of all times?'
It made no sense. It was impossible.
No similar mark had ever appeared before, and this was over twenty years later for it to suddenly become [sin]. It didn't align with my understanding of justice's standards.
'Has something gone wrong with the Justice God? Unless a god from another dimension invaded, this shouldn't happen.'
The Three Gods of Justice—the Justice God, Truth God, and Honor God—held mid-tier divinity, but their actual authority rivaled upper-tier gods. They had amplified their powers by restricting their force into a sort of 'system.'
"Stop! What do you think you're doing? You aren't planning to arrest Jaeyeon, are you?"
Love's sharp voice halted the guards approaching me, leaving them with awkward expressions.
"But ma'am. A [sinner] must at least be detained. We won't treat him roughly..."
The guards trying to persuade Love already held pistols, longswords, and mirrors in their hands.
These were the identity of Justice God clerics, stronger than most top-grade magic tools.
'Justice Armaments. Justice Weapons.'
Love clicked her tongue at their sight.
"Don't do anything foolish. You think wielding Justice Weapons means you can arrest Jaeyeon?"
"That statement... is far too dangerous, ma'am. Refusing arrest will only make the sin worse."
"Man... Sitting here quietly must make us look like total pushovers, huh? We knew 34th Earth treated transcendents lightly, but this takes the cake."
"I'm actually curious. Even if all five of us went on a rampage... would we really get arrested? Without the Game Master stepping in personally?"
F·D growled, blocking the Justice God clerics' path. Even the famously stubborn clerics had to halt. And these weren't prosecutors from the Attorney General's Office—they were just lab security.
But Love, knowing a fight would escalate things badly, stepped forward to restrain them.
"Calm down, everyone. And you all—don't act rashly just because an opportunity arose. Can't you see how suspicious this situation is?"
"But..."
"I'm not saying defy justice—I'm saying we need to grasp the facts first! Look at this brand! It's called a great sin, but it's not even that big! It couldn't possibly grow to antagonize a transcendent!"
That was when she was convincing the guards.
Whoooosh—!
Mana rippled outside the lab. An emergency teleport.
'Ah, did the Attorney General's Office actually mobilize?'
As I scowled at the rapidly changing situation, the staff cafeteria door opened, revealing a massive figure... no, a massive polar bear.
"It's Chief Cheon Hyunil!"
"He here for the brand?"
"No, for a brand issue, it'd be the Attorney General, not the Mercenary Bureau Chief..."
As the researchers buzzed in confusion, Chief Cheon Hyunil spoke.
"Under Article 5, Section 3 of the Mercenary Management Act, Han Jaeyeon, cosmic mercenary, is now under emergency management. Details will be posted on the Mercenary Management Bureau website—please check there."
With that, Chief Cheon Hyunil approached me.
"And who the hell are you?"
Ruby scowled, blocking his path.
The middle-school-sized Ruby and the burly polar bear physique showed a massive size gap, but their auras matched evenly.
"You're F·D. I enjoy your music."
"I keep up with your variety shows and docs too."
The petite girl and giant polar bear faced off. Then.
Clap!
Hand met paw, and Ruby stepped aside.
Hyunil spoke.
"Let's go. No point lingering here."
"...Right."
Chief Cheon Hyunil pulled out his iridescent Mercenary ID.
I drew my black one too.
Flash!
We crossed space. Suddenly, I was in Hyunil's office from my registration visit.
"So this is the famed Mercenary Management Bureau."
"Talk about remote... nothing but mountains around."
"Whoa! Isn't that a cosmic monster corpse?"
But it wasn't just me and Hyunil who moved.
F·D members surrounded me. Astonishingly, they'd hitched a ride on our teleport.
"Your magic prowess exceeds the rumors."
"Can't deny a proven fact."
Sapphire chuckled 'hehe.' Flower, glancing around, asked gravely.
"So, what's the deal with this mess? The renowned Justice God's system hands down an absurd verdict."
Flower eyed my face—or rather, the brand on it.
"Hoo... Fortunately, I have a hunch."
Hyunil gestured in the air, summoning a hologram ahead.
It showed a massive ship landing, disgorging hordes of people.
"This is..."
"A super-large immigrant fleet. Eden-3. Transporting survivors from civilizations destroyed or fleeing monster outbreaks."
34th Earth maintained its peace, but that was an exception. Countless civilizations suffered from monster crises.
Many faced extinction.
"Mercenaries are rescuing them right now. Many brought here. Massive influx of new immigrants."
Something clicked at Hyunil's words.
"Wait. Don't tell me the number of new immigrants..."
"2.3 billion so far."
"Whoa. For one planet, that's huge."
"34th Earth's capacity is impressive."
While F·D marveled, I grasped the issue.
"You... watered it down."
"Yeah."
The Justice God's verdict didn't stem from some hidden mega-legal code. If so, 34th Earth couldn't stay this peaceful.
The Justice God's standard was simple.
The gaze of [others].
All intelligent beings incorporated into 34th Earth, veiled by the [Veil of Ignorance] in a spirit realm or sanctuary—blinded to gender, religion, etc.—judged each other's sins. Only if a majority deemed it sinful did the [brand] appear.
Commonly called the Justice God's judgment...
But humans issued and received the verdicts.
Because it was [others'] sins, they judged impartially, ignoring gains.
Because it could be [mine], they avoided harsh standards.
This near-perfect system gave 34th Earth cosmic rarity: top-tier security and trust.
But no system is flawless. The [Judgment of Ignorance] had a weakness.
It hinged on human perception.
'The new immigrants... are skewing judgments harshly.'
Someone drinks and crashes into a streetlight.
They'd face fines in the tens or hundreds of millions of won.
Legal punishment.
But someone might claim:
'Drunk driving is attempted murder! Punish as such—he's a would-be killer!'
Subjective standard. That someone might want the driver's life ruined.
'And there are more such people than you'd think.'
Not inherently wrong—such views exist.
But if that person drunk-drives?
'It was a one-time mistake!'
'No victims, right?'
'Circumstances forced it!'
Not because they're evil.
Humans are selfish by nature.
Harsh on others, lenient on self. Certain it's not them? Punishments turn brutally endless.
Wishing death on a bad parker—that's human.
"...So I'm not the only one branded."
"Right. 'Punishment zealots' polluting the Justice God are turning non-sins into sins."
Like new 34th Earth immigrants judging my knocking out my father as sin, pushing other near-majorities over into brands.
Black Yao clicked her tongue at Hyunil.
"What the? Then the Mercenary Bureau bears big blame for this crisis, no? Blindly rescuing immigrants caused it."
"In defense, it's not just immigrants. 34th Earth's population grew from hundreds of millions to 11 billion... through repeated large waves."
Other issues at play.
Especially my documentary—too coincidental for chance.
"Someone's malice intervened?"
"Yeah. Prepared over a long time... One sec."
Hyunil tapped a flying manta ray's belly before him.
"...As expected. Evidence they showed Jaeyeon's doc to recent immigrants. Immigrant Council did it."
"Immigrant Council...?"
Flower's question got Hyunil's reply.
"Group of prior immigrants. So many they got jobs managing them, but why pull terrorist-level crap..."
Hyunil's bemused face hardened.
"What is it?"
He silently pointed at the wall. It turned into a display, showing news channels.
[Shocking Massacre!]
[32,000 Victims!]
[Righteous Slaughter!?]
"What? Massacre?"
"Did enemies invade?"
F·D puzzled, but as a 34th Earther, I grasped it instantly like Hyunil.
"...Trouble."
When my sin brand appeared.
Even mere security clerics of the Justice God showed me hostility. Against a transcendent like me—what about others?
'Justice God clerics... raise their priest rank by enforcing justice. And there's a fast track.'
Namely.
'Killing [villains].'
* * *
Time passed.
A hectic week later, 34th Earth's chaos raged on. Endless debates and arguments on Saba, countless protests and lawsuits.
[Awaken, Justice God!]
[Apologize publicly for wrongful punishments!]
[Immigrants' Grievous Deaths!]
[Attorney General, stop shielding priests!]
[Life for a life!]
[Guarantee immigrants' rights!]
A massive impromptu crowd at Gwanghwamun Square screamed themselves hoarse.
Their signs read:
-Who judges justice?