Chapter 123
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Facing the Street Rat
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Should I call it forced viewing?
For gamers blissfully unaware of their luck, peering at this world through a monitor, it was the kind of anomalous phenomenon they'd label a cutscene.
Jin had no idea why this was happening to him.
Suddenly, the past overlaid itself before his eyes, and then—quest complete.
What was this rushed nonsense?
What investigation had he even done?
Is this for real?
Even Jin had a conscience.
He knew better than anyone that he'd never conducted a proper investigation.
If he had to point to something, it was just exchanging a few words with Vargmar in the royal castle's underground.
And that had triggered it?
Jin let out a hollow chuckle.
He couldn't help but find it absurd—repeatedly tweaking his status window entries to grasp the "real" Jin, even while mounted on Apophis.
The fact that he could stumble this close to the truth with such a sloppy method was pure comedy.
Why was it being so ridiculously accommodating?
Ah, because this body was the product of customization?
A shoddy "player" combo born from picking an origin, traits, and constellations?
Maybe even the protagonist?
In the darkness, Jin flipped it the bird.
Fuck off.
If you needed a protagonist, you could've picked anyone else.
Not a sturdy-bodied panic disorder patient, but some unflappable, iron-willed human weapon stacked with cold-blooded perks.
If that's not your style, how about a vet with over 1,000 hours? His own college junior had sunk more than 3,000 into Project Neo.
So why me, of all people?
Skipping all those strategy guide writers and perfectly optimized characters—why pick me?
Jin's shout at the status window rippled through the void, sending concentric waves bouncing back.
The echoes lent the darkness a glossy sheen.
The next moment—
The smooth blackness reflected Jin's face like a mirror.
The same face, unmistakably.
But the aura it exuded was worlds apart.
Those ash-gray eyes evoked a wolf.
They said he could kill tomorrow for the sake of today.
Suddenly, Jin recalled the character from the life path selection screen.
A man clutching a blood-dripping fist, glaring at a horizon filled with gray skyscrapers.
He was a wolf baring fangs at Star Heaven, a fighter aiming beyond the tenth legend for the city's true pinnacle.
How long do you plan to keep that up?
The Street Rat wearing Jin's face spoke.
Of course, the voice was identical.
For the Jin listening, it was an unwelcome sight.
What is this—an IF version or something?
That doesn't matter. What matters is you're flailing in pointless self-pity.
Jin scowled fiercely.
What the hell are you saying, you bastard?
Handsome face, big dick—end of story.
The Street Rat spoke at the same time.
That's enough suffering. What do you plan to reclaim with your tattered heart? Go back? Back to what? Nothing changes. I guarantee it. The blood on your hands, everything you've endured—it all stays. So abandon any hope of peaceful rest there. No one understands you there either.
Somehow, a gun had appeared in the guy's hand.
Gravis.
Its muted barrel gleamed quietly in the dark.
Jin eyed the partner he'd never drawn himself, yet it fit perfectly in his grip.
The cold handle clung unusually to his palm.
He looked back at the Street Rat.
So what? What do you want me to do?
Shoot.
With that curt reply, the Street Rat pressed the muzzle to his temple.
Standing there with awkward, hesitant footing—you fit nowhere. Panic-ridden delusional patient. You're an outsider here and there. How long will you live in unrelenting agony?
At the same moment, Jin felt the cold touch against his skin.
Gravis had somehow kissed his temple.
Kill the wretched heart.
Then you can do it.
Reach the city's true pinnacle.
As those words followed, his index finger rested on the trigger.
Pull it.
The Street Rat squeezed.
Click.
A dry click instead of gunfire.
The Street Rat's expression hardened.
Jin, meanwhile, grinned savagely.
His defiant finger trembled atop the trigger, refusing submission.
Who said I wanted understanding?
You couldn't be more wrong.
Of course, the fear of being misunderstood lingered.
Two lives connected not by a period, but a comma.
Tales he couldn't share with anyone gnawed at his mind even now, scribbled in chaotic frenzy.
But far worse—hundreds of times worse—was losing himself.
The blood on his hands, sleepless nights, growing moments of happiness, deepening longing—
Even the rage he vented at the status window.
All mine.
That's how he'd lived until now.
And he would going forward.
So what do you mean, kill it?
Jin's hand trembled straight ahead.
The facing Street Rat couldn't mirror the motion.
He merely furrowed his brow slightly.
Staring down the barrel now aimed at him, he spoke.
Next time, you'll face it head-on.
Right then—
Bang! A deafening crack shattered the darkness before his eyes. The Street Rat fragmented and scattered.
Bright light welcomed Jin beyond the broken void.
Come at me if you dare.
I'll still be me then.
Jin stomped hard on the piled shards.
After several kicks reduced them to dust swept away by the wind, he watched silently for a moment.
Then slowly turned, striding toward the waiting world.
As always.
Rumble rumble rumble!!!
The ceiling collapsed, the ground flipped.
In an instant, the clay-like chaos molded into new shapes.
Surging from the earth: machine dwarves heavily armed with modern gear, golems.
And more golems.
Mockeries of the extinct greenskin race raised shields at the vanguard, machine dwarves emotionlessly aimed muzzles through the gaps, and colossal golems loomed at the rear, single eyes flashing.
A force that justified the term "army."
By comparison, the Law Enforcers' charge—mere twelve survivors from an original twenty-two—seemed pitiful.
Not one unscathed.
Several were critically wounded, body parts damaged beyond repair.
Yet their eyes burned fierce.
No one despaired.
"Incoming!"
Someone shouted.
Gunfire erupted immediately.
Rat-tat-tat!!
Bullets rained across a vast area.
Square shields meant nothing.
A curtain of fire blanketing the world.
The colonel reacted.
Hands gathered before his chest, enveloping the air.
At his will, compressed air exploded forward with his outstretched arms—like a lion's roar.
Whoosh───!!
A sonic boom edged in pristine white.
The expanding shockwave crushed incoming bullets like hail, then swept the enemy front.
Boom!
Golem-greenskins shattered shield and all. Hiding machine dwarves fared no better.
Heat rays pierced the flying debris.
That instant, Q snapped his fingers.
The chanted spell warped the air.
Gravity field.
Heat rays struck the distorted boundary, spiraling into heavy, skewed paths.
Directionless beams left red scars here and there before vanishing like lies.
The colonel followed with another air blast, decapitating golems.
Overwhelming power.
John Harrison.
Law Enforcers' commander, mid-third rank aerokinesis—by ability alone, general material.
No, overqualified.
He simply shunned promotion, his dependency issues providing perfect excuses for eternal colonelcy.
The government hadn't assigned him this reconnaissance lightly.
Cost-effective.
Unlike some demanding heavyweights, Harrison was occasionally unruly—but top-tier among immediate assets.
The same held for his adjutant.
Code name Q.
A second-rank sorcerer wielding gravity magic—famously harder for lesser bloodlines than awakening blood itself.
With the colonel, he elevated the Law Enforcers' fame as a young genius.
And now—
Boom!!
Twelve shattered the front line, charging.
With Apophis vanished elsewhere—
No need to mark endlessly resurrecting spirits; the living fortress couldn't halt the united Enforcers.
They were counters to the multifaceted one, one of nine legends, after all.
Indeed, Apophis split his power into three major streams—
Devoting the largest to the Law Enforcers.
"Brat's gone feral. How far ahead is he?"
Tracking faint traces of Jin's mana, the colonel recalibrated.
"...?"
His head snapped up.
A roar—and the ceiling exploded.
Beyond it, a massive bird emerged.
Body over 5 meters—its wingbeats rippled faces.
"...Miles?! Why's the Reaper Hawk here?"
Q scowled as someone yelled.
"There!"
Falling headfirst amid crumbling stone—silver-gray hair fluttering wildly identified her.
"Elina! Q—!"
"Got it!"
Q, mana already surging, snapped again.
Elina's terminal-velocity plunge visibly slowed.
Whoosh!!
The colonel rocketed upward like a shell, catching her safely midair.
His gaze met the slowly descending raptor.
"You behind this, birdbrain?"
The giant bird replied.
"No clue why I'm getting all the blame today. Look, she attacked first. Eyes rolled back—clear psychic rampage. Without me knocking her out, she'd have self-destructed."
"Hm."
The colonel shrugged after a frown.
"So what brings a Styx ghost here?"
"Working. Like you."
"Government never cleared it."
"We don't ask permission."
The colonel surveyed silently at the response.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Changes intensified everywhere.
Apophis's dispersed power reconverging naturally.
Sensing the overwhelming flow, the colonel spoke slowly.
"Lucky, Reaper Hawk. Otherwise, I'd cuff and drag you."
"Easy there. We need each other."
"Follow. Breakthrough together."
"Right."
Conversation ended.
Whoosh!!!
Ear-shattering boom.
Two third-rank superhumans accelerated, shockwaves pulverizing obstacles—the Enforcers followed the path.
"Pick up the pace!"
Behind their all-out sprint, the ground crumbled into darkness.
Footprints vanished into abyssal rifts.
All ignored it deliberately.
Racing through the monster's gut, senses lost in Apophis's chaotic innards.
Some agents collapsed from exhaustion.
Survivors shouldered them, gritting teeth.
Thus, for a while.
Even Q's team felt limits—
──────!!
Amid the monsters' thunderous clashes.
At last, beyond the endless space, new scenery emerged.
And all beheld it.
A throbbing colossal heart.
A man smashing its protective barrier barehanded.