Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Eyes in the Black Room
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"You must have had it rough."
Kim Dayeon jumped at the voice.
She had heard that voices inside the Black Room were distorted by magical effects.
"Do you... know who I am?"
But Go Yohan not only stared straight at this place—he seemed to see through the magical distortion as well.
—Kim Dayeon.
"……!"
—Head of the Investigation Department at the Republic of Korea Player Association, and a longtime friend of my older sister, Go Minji.
She trembled.
—We met once over the Black Crown incident, but this is our first time seeing each other again.
Kim Dayeon's entire body shook.
All she could do was struggle not to collapse.
'How?'
The Black Room was known to be impenetrable even to Emperor, the worst criminal in the past.
It was said that Emperor, gripped by terror in that darkness, later collapsed and wailed in a way unbecoming of his title.
—If you ask whether I can see you, the answer is yes.
"……!"
—And if you ask whether I can hear you properly, yes to that too.
How.
—Shall I give you the answer?
She trembled.
"N-No, that's fine."
—Speak comfortably. After all, you're my sister's friend.
Crazy. To say something like that.
The sheer unreality of it snapped Kim Dayeon back to her senses.
"You're not... going to ask?"
—Ask what?
"What happened. What's going on out there—those kinds of things."
After being confined and bound in the Black Room, all contact between Go Yohan and the outside world had been strictly prohibited.
She was the one who had overseen that surveillance, so she knew for certain.
So she had to ask.
"Aren't you curious?"
No, perhaps there was one more thing she wanted to find out.
—Are you wondering if I know what's happening outside?
She flinched.
—Russia has made its move, and the U.S. President has secretly demanded my release, even though there was no need to.
Her body shook uncontrollably.
—I also know that the Holy power is protecting Guild Master Choi Ji-o, and that before they announce they've secured testimony, they're pressuring the Association to declare my innocence.
She collapsed to the floor.
But the Association had a card of their own. The video recording device.
It was just as he said.
—In the footage from inside the Black Gate, I'm shown massacring the Biren Guild members and the Geo Guild members. Isn't that right?
"St-Stop..."
—Magic and items can't be fooled. The video recording device, classified as an item, must be real, while the words of a mere human like Choi Ji-o can't be trusted.
"Stop!"
—The Association has ruled that Go Yohan is...
"Stop... it."
—A mass murderer.
The video recording device hadn't been tampered with.
It was simply...
'It can't record demons.'
Ji-o and Biren had been devoured by the demon, but according to the records, they still appeared fully human.
Go Yohan was just a sudden murderer who attacked and took the lives of those people, and the Association had the evidence.
"Please... stop... talking."
Kim Dayeon said, on the verge of tears.
"Everything... is being recorded."
—It doesn't matter.
Go Yohan said.
—As always, I'm just issuing a warning.
"Warning...? What the hell are you warning about?"
If he was warning about demons, he shouldn't have caused such a scene.
He needed to give people time to understand and follow proper procedures.
So Kim Dayeon couldn't comprehend who—or what—Go Yohan was warning.
—Demons.
"……!"
—No matter what the likes of you do, it won't change your fates.
That was the warning.
—And one more thing.
Go Yohan took a step closer to the Black Room's wall as he spoke.
—To those who have joined hands with demons, those who seek to, and...
The air rippled.
—To all who would interfere with that.
And that was the end.
Kim Dayeon could no longer continue the conversation.
Her trembling wouldn't stop, and the fear wouldn't fade.
Go Yohan's unknowable, incomprehensible existence was crumbling her entire world.
—I'm hungry. Is there no food?
If not for those words, she might have wet herself in terror.
That was what Kim Dayeon thought.
*
*
*
Kim Dayeon left the Black Room control room.
Just as he had said.
Everything was crystal clear to Go Yohan.
It might be the Association's proudest maximum-security prison, but Go Yohan possessed power that surpassed it.
A power that pierced through essences and saw even what lay beneath.
'Divine Sight.'
And if he wished, he could twist it at any moment and step out of the Black Room.
The reason Go Yohan could communicate with the outside was simple as well.
A slender thread, unbreakable by any means.
—Captain.
It was the connection to the Apostles.
Yun Seungha's weary yet angry voice came through.
—China has made contact with the Republic of Korea government...
"Seungha."
Everything would be recorded and filmed, but this voice wouldn't be.
Because Go Yohan hadn't allowed it.
—Captain!
Finally, Yun Seungha's voice brimmed with vitality as she shouted.
Until now, while trapped in the Black Room, Go Yohan had only listened to Yun Seungha's voice without ever responding.
"Sorry. I was lost in thought for a bit."
—It's fine. I knew you were safe, but I was... worried.
"Liar."
Go Yohan said, leaning against the Black Room wall.
Normally, flames and currents that burned his flesh due to magic interference should have flowed over his skin.
"You don't trust me that much? You, Seungha?"
—Th-That's not it...
"I'm kidding."
He could feel Yun Seungha's fluster through the connection.
—...You seem different somehow.
After a long silence, Yun Seungha's voice returned.
"Is it just once or twice? I'm just coming to realizations."
When he closed his eyes, the last sight of those who had restrained him was vivid.
'Yohan!'
'Go Yohan!'
'Get out of the way right now!'
The faces of his blood kin, those he could call family.
"Why? Not good?"
—No. Any version of you is still the Captain.
"Boring."
—S-Sorry...
Yun Seungha's flustered voice at Go Yohan's words.
At that, Go Yohan curled his lips again.
"Feels kinda refreshing."
Go Yohan said.
—Because of the Holy power?
"Partly."
He had thought that when that day came, the Holy power would turn its back.
That due to their vested interests and power, they would inevitably close their eyes and look away.
'No, that's not it.'
If it had been just that, he would have been detached.
It was all too familiar, after all.
It was simply...
"I thought it'd only hurt."
He had thought Shin Sookyung wouldn't overcome it.
But the eyes and voice he saw that day.
'Yohan.'
She was tougher and stronger than he had imagined.
"Mother, huh..."
Of course, it wasn't over yet.
Similar things, or even worse, would happen again and again.
"She won't ever give up, right?"
—She seems strong enough for that.
"Then I have to protect her."
Go Yohan said.
"Stop everything Greed is doing right now. You too, Seungha."
—Understood.
The Apostles never questioned orders.
Even without Go Yohan, they inferred his will and acted accordingly.
Even if they were wrong, Go Yohan had no intention of correcting them, and the Apostles pushed forward with what they believed was right.
An unbreakable trust existed between them.
"...Necessary evil, I suppose."
Go Yohan said.
"I've already decided to do it."
And.
His face twisted.
"What about those damn things?"
—We took care of them all. But since we might need some, we've kept a few alive.
It must not have been easy, but they never failed expectations.
"Good work. And well done."
—......
"I'll tell you what to do with them, and..."
Go Yohan stroked the Black Room wall.
"Investigate the Association, the World Association. Everything related to them."
The Black Room, was it?
Over long years, the Apostles who extended their influence had reported on it multiple times.
'The Association.'
Their peculiarities, the parts that needed attention.
In particular, the Association had depths so profound and dark that even the Apostles' abilities struggled to penetrate.
"The Black Room. It's not of this world."
They had been doing it before, but it seemed time to move more aggressively.
*
*
*
The Black Room fundamentally lacked any conditions for human survival.
A space where even human rights were stripped away.
From the start, it was an otherworld where this world's laws didn't apply.
That was the World Association's explanation of the Black Room.
No toilet, no bed.
They said bodily waste was naturally vanished by the Black Room's power, but for those trapped inside, it was nothing short of hell.
"...How did you...?"
The sight that greeted Kim Dayeon's return was unbelievable.
—I figured I'd need it, so I made some adjustments. Didn't plan on staying forever.
The Black Room now took the form of a basic room.
A separate bathroom and shower, even a bed from who-knows-where.
'Inventory?'
No, impossible.
That place was an otherworld where magic didn't work.
Which meant...
'I heard the System doesn't work there either.'
She couldn't even imagine where those items had come from.
Was there another administrator she didn't know about? No.
Spies in the Association...
—Magic is a more boundless power than you think. Especially in a place made entirely of magic.
"……!"
—Creation may be the domain of gods alone, but imitation? That might be possible. Think of it as a kind of dream. You know the type?
Go Yohan sat on a chair he had made and spoke.
—A dream where whatever you imagine comes true. That's the kind.
What nonsense...
Then, suddenly, Kim Dayeon realized something far more important.
"...C-Can you hear me? I mean, can you hear me?"
She had just entered the control room.
She hadn't even pressed the microphone button connected to the Black Room yet.
—Yes. I told you to speak comfortably. And.
Go Yohan spoke as if he couldn't care less about her shock.
—Gukbap? Classic choice.
In Kim Dayeon's hand was the gukbap she had bought to give to Go Yohan.