Those Who Crush Living Beings
The act of crushing a living being.
Not many people can do that without hesitation.
Things would change a little later on, but the players at this current stage were no different. There were even those who hesitated against monsters, never mind people.
That was why Yujin regarded anyone who could stop seeing living beings as living beings as something special.
Of course, indiscriminate pleasure killings like those of the Ten Evils were the exception. He could respect their decisiveness, but their very existence was evil. Those bastards were pests who contributed nothing whatsoever to clearing the Tower.
Park Ji-hoo, on the other hand, was different. He had a perfect justification. There would certainly be people who insisted that assault was still a crime, but at least Yujin didn't see it that way. To leave no future trouble behind, the boy had severed mercy from his own fingertips.
Well, killing them outright would have been the most certain solution, but expecting that much from a minor was a bit much. Even this alone was enough for Park Ji-hoo to earn recognition.
As expected, there was a reason they called him the Fighting Demon.
It meant he wasn't simply some guy who was crazy for a fight.
Before he realized it, Yujin had raised his hand and ruffled the boy's hair.
"What? Why the sudden change in attitude?"
Only Lee Sia failed to understand the scene, her eyes going round.
"You don't need to know."
Yujin deliberately told her nothing. If the Fighting Demon was the fist that crushed enemies without hesitation, the Sword Empress was a noble blade. Lee Sia only needed to polish her edge alone and loftily. The dirty blood and flesh could be what Park Ji-hoo ate and grew on.
Either way, both of them looked like they would play their parts well in the fight against the end times—if they just kept growing like this.
"Hey, but what am I supposed to do? I don't know a single person outside either."
They came back around to Park Ji-hoo's worry. Someone who could look after his little sister…
Honestly, money wasn't the issue. If Lee Ki-seok just handled his end well, money could be spent freely. The real problem was needing someone trustworthy.
"Should we leave her at my house?"
That was when Lee Sia suddenly spoke up.
"What?"
"My house. Anyway, I'm going back into the Tower in six days, so it'll be empty. Ji-hoo's sister can use it. And if it's my mom and dad, we can trust them too."
Lee Sia had clearly said it without much thought. Of course it was an idea that hadn't been discussed with her parents at all. Even so, Park Ji-hoo's eyes lit up. It wasn't just anyone—if it was Lee Sia's parents, he somehow felt like he could trust them.
Yujin thought it wasn't a bad method either. No—to be honest, he didn't particularly care either way. He simply liked the thought that things would get a little less annoying.
"Sounds good. Do that, then."
With that, Yujin put distance between himself and the two of them.
"Where are you going mid-conversation?"
Lee Sia caught him.
"Is there more to say? That guy's problem is solved, isn't it?"
"No, but still, shouldn't the oldest adult step up and wrap things up?"
"…Adult?"
Who? Me?
Yujin blinked.
"What are you talking about? How big of an age gap do you think there even is?"
"So how old are you, Mister?"
"Twenty-three."
"Whoa, you're younger than I thought?"
Lee Sia looked startled.
"Just how old did you take me for? Do I look that old?"
"No, it's not that…"
Objectively speaking, Yujin had a young face. In fact, he had the kind of clean skin and features that could pass for twenty. Even so, Lee Sia had assumed he was at least in his late twenties. She had even guessed he might be in his thirties. Not because of his looks—because of the atmosphere.
But twenty-three? It felt like he alone had been living in a completely different time zone.
"What the hell. I treated you like an adult for nothing. I took a loss."
"Loss my ass."
Yujin snorted and turned his head again.
"Anyway, handle your own business yourselves."
"Ah, where are you going?"
"I've still got stuff to do."
It was a lie. At this point, there wasn't particularly anything left for Yujin to do outside. He simply didn't want to get tangled up in something that had nothing to do with him and that he had no interest in.
"Then enjoy the rest of your vacation. See you in six days."
With that, Yujin disappeared beyond the control line he had somehow already reached. People were still gathered and staring, but he moved without the slightest hesitation, as if he didn't care at all.
"…Should we go for now too?"
"Yes, Nuna."
When Lee Sia, who had been blankly watching Yujin's back, spoke, Park Ji-hoo nodded. Unlike Yujin, the two of them quietly slipped out of people's sight.
"You don't stick your nose into other people's family affairs."
The most important, annoying, and difficult work had just ended. From here on, things were in Lee Ki-seok's hands, so there wouldn't particularly be anything more for Yujin to step into. The details and timing had shifted a little, but ultimately it would flow in a similar current as the first timeline.
Was there any reason, then, to take interest in something that sounded like pure headache even at a glance?
"Better to wash my feet and sleep in that time."
Rest was important for Yujin too. Only the fifth floor. There were a full ninety-five floors left, weren't there? Going fast was necessary, but being only fast wouldn't cut it. It had to be perfect. And for that, rest was an absolute requirement.
"The problem is I have nowhere to rest."
He'd been kicked out of the goshiwon he'd been staying in. Meaning he had nowhere to lay this single body of his right now.
"Should I go to a jjimjilbang or a motel?"
The money left in his pocket was about a million won. To some people that was pocket change that wouldn't even cover a night of drinks, but it was more than enough to get through a mere six days.
"Alright. A motel's better."
After thinking for a moment, Yujin nodded. Rather than a place like a jjimjilbang where random crowds gathered, a place where he could rest alone in peace—even if it cost a little more—seemed better.
"A motel nearby…"
In the old days he would have searched on his phone, but unfortunately the battery was dead right now.
"No choice."
He would have to find one on foot. If he headed toward Myeongdong, there would be a few. If not, he could just grab a hotel. Putting the worry behind him, Yujin started descending the mountain.
That was when it happened.
"Hey, you there!"
Someone shouted loudly. Yujin ignored it. He didn't think it was directed at him. Of course, even if he had known, he would have done the same.
"Your ears plugged or what. Hey, the punk in the tracksuit! You—yeah, you!"
Yujin still tried to ignore the voice. Unfortunately, he couldn't. Four guys with smashed-up faces had blocked his path.
"Hmm?"
Yujin tilted his head and looked at them. They scrunched their faces and took a step closer.
"This guy's funny. Can you hear now?"
A threatening attitude. As proof, the people around them were already edging away. Yujin's gaze swept over the four of them in an instant.
What is this?
Their act was pure neighborhood thug. Their looks too. But their bodies and movements were completely different from what they appeared to be.
Their strides are even, and their muscles are cycling through tension and relaxation at just the right intervals.
The optimal state—if something happened, they could react in less than a second. Their gazes, while seeming to loaf around, were locked on Yujin's hands and feet.
These guys are trained.
Not players. There was no way anyone had already climbed to the fifth floor. Besides, their movements felt less like players and more like…
Aha.
He roughly got it.
Soldiers.
And not the ragtag bunch who'd gotten the shit beaten out of them by Yujin yesterday—properly trained elites.
Doesn't seem like the Korean side.
If they were ROK, they wouldn't approach like this. They would have set up a meeting inside the facility. That would have been far faster and more certain for a conversation. Which meant the odds were high they were special forces from another country, or intelligence operatives.
Which one is it.
As he was briefly lost in thought—
"Boss, isn't this bastard a little slow?"
When Yujin just stood there without answering, one of the four let out a hollow laugh.
"Hey, let me ask you one thing. If you answer that properly, I won't hit you even once and I'll just send you off. How about it?"
The bald man they called Boss smirked as he spoke.
"That's what I want to say."
"…What?"
But Yujin was not someone who did as he was told. Rather the opposite.
"I'll be the one asking, so you answer. If you answer well without any bullshit, I'll let you live too. Okay?"
"This bastard's really fucking crazy."
The guy who had been picking the fight raised his hand as if he couldn't take it anymore.
Whoosh—!
The sound of his palm cutting the air was fairly heavy. It carried enough force that most people might lose consciousness from a single hit. Yujin sighed inwardly. Something like that—even if he took a hundred hits, a thousand—he wouldn't feel the slightest impact. No matter how trained a soldier he was, that guy was still an ordinary human. Far too weak to give a shock to a player, and one over level thirty at that.
Yujin raised a finger toward the hand that was so slow it almost made him yawn. No mana needed. Just a tiny amount of force, and he poked the exact center of the palm.
Pook—!
The result was horrific.
"Aaaaaaargh!"
The man screamed. He had no choice. Yujin's finger had pierced straight through his hand. The pain was one thing, but the more shocking part was the completely unrealistic sight he had never once imagined in his life. In the terror that rose in an instant, he unconsciously screamed and stumbled backward.
"Where do you think you're going."
Yujin didn't allow it. He bent his finger into a hook and hooked it right through the man's hand.
"Y-you!"
The man's eyes, stained with pain and terror, trembled. He looked like he wanted to shake the finger off and run that very second, but he couldn't. The red blood pouring from his own palm had frozen his entire body solid.
"Ugh."
"Fuck, what the hell is that."
The other three, including the bald one, stared in shock. Seeing them reflexively bring their hands to their waists, it seemed they had guns too. Guns—on South Korean soil.
"From now on I'll ask questions, so listen well."
Yujin wiggled the finger that had pierced the palm and spoke toward the pale-faced men.
"Where are you from? I roughly get why you came. But I don't really know where. China? Japan? America? Russia?"
As he asked, he watched their reactions. Breathing. Muscle tension. Pupil size. Even the finest tremors. He took every detail in with his eyes. And he knew.
"America, then."
A voice full of certainty. Their faces hardened rigidly. The neighborhood-thug atmosphere vanished in an instant, replaced by a sharp edge that felt like it could cut flesh.
"That's right."
Yujin grinned.