Chapter 17
Chapter 17
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Buer
-----------------------------------------------------------------
‘Ugh…’
I’m gonna die. How much booze do these crazy bastards chug?
‘The smell…’
The air was thick with the stench of booze and cigarettes everywhere.
“Urp…”
China’s yellow liquor, red liquor, and baijiu had tasted great, but I’d gone way overboard.
‘I feel like puking…’
Yi Xue Lian was already passed out drunk on the sofa like a corpse. Leaving her behind, I carefully got up from my seat.
‘Oh, right.’
Just in case, I tore off a piece of paper from the desk and scribbled down my contact info.
After jotting it down, I bolted out the door like I was escaping.
The mix of medicine, booze, and cigarette smells was driving me insane.
“Ugh…”
Suppressing the stomach acid that felt ready to surge up any second, I shuffled down the hallway.
‘What time is it now…’
I pulled out my phone to check. It was 6:31 a.m.—not late, but not exactly early either. An awkward in-between time.
Too early for a restaurant, too awkward to grab a motel room and crash…
‘Screw it.’
For now, I’d head up to the surface and hit a convenience store first.
My stomach had been churning non-stop. If I stayed still like this, I’d puke for real.
‘How much was that hangover cure again…’
I rode the elevator connected to the surface, finally escaping this damn underground hell.
Ding—
The cheerful arrival chime rang out as the doors slid open, and warm sunlight bathed me.
‘Ahh.’
Is this the power of vitamin D?
Just feeling the sun instantly lifted my mood.
Humming to myself, I strolled toward the nearest convenience store.
I stepped inside, grabbed a hangover relief drink off the shelf, and paid.
“That’ll be 4,500 won.”
‘…’
Damn, that’s pricey.
What the hell makes this crap worth 4,500 won?
“Thanks, come again.”
With the clerk’s farewell in my ears, I stepped out with the drink and chugged it down in gulps.
‘Ugh…’
It tastes awful.
I still can’t figure out how they make something this nasty.
Is my sense of taste broken? It’s bitter, astringent—just plain bad.
Despite the taste, I knew I had to drink it, so I forced it down while my brain reminded me of that fact.
Ding—!
Suddenly, my phone buzzed.
Looks like a text came in.
-Buer: Where are you right now?
A text from the most dangerous bitch in the world. Shit.
-Tree Tree: Home rn
-Buer: Your location says Daegu?
“Ah, fuck.”
I need to run. Right now.
-Buer: Don’t move. Stay put.
-Buer: I’m almost there. Wait for me.
-Tree Tree: No fuck off don’t come
-Buer: Nope.
“Ugh.”
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Thought Acceleration (A) ‘She said she’s almost here.’
I urgently activated Thought Acceleration, channeling mana into my legs, and bolted.
I dashed past the convenience store, through the park, beyond the shopping district—running as fast as I could.
I ran and ran and ran some more, finally reaching the outskirts of Daegu.
Thud—!
“Gahk—!”
Someone grabbed me by the throat.
And that someone slowly lifted me up by my neck.
‘Ah, ugh…’
“Hey, little one. Long time no see?”
“You damn Slav, why—ack—aren’t you playing around in Russia? Why the fuck come down to Korea, you bitch.”
A towering beauty with the classic Slavic golden blonde hair and blue eyes.
Not quite Yi Xue Lian’s size, but her chest was plenty captivating for any man, paired with long, sleek limbs.
This crazy bitch actually came to Korea.
“The mafia’s gotten boring lately.”
“So… what’s with suddenly choking me? What the hell?”
“Our little one’s grown up, huh?”
Buer smirked wickedly as she slowly tightened her grip on my throat.
The more force she put in, the harder it got to breathe.
“Let… fucking… go, or I’ll kill you?”
She must’ve gone through a gate or dunked someone—her body was splattered with sticky red blood.
And now she’s grabbing my neck with those blood-soaked hands, hoisting me up. Gross as fuck.
“Let go?”
“I said let go.”
Squeeze.
“Be a good little one, now?”
“Let… go.”
Squeeze—
This crazy fuck. This insane bitch.
Buer’s grip tightened even more.
Air wasn’t getting in at all now. Fuck.
“…I said let go.”
⚙ SYSTEM WARNING ⚙ Unique Authority, No Man’s Land (EX) is deploying— Pop.
“Just kidding, kidding.”
Only now, as I tried to deploy No Man’s Land, did Buer finally let go.
What kind of lunatic chokes someone as a joke?
Bad upbringing?
Orphan?
…
I’m the orphan here.
Fucking die.
“Haa, huu, haa…”
With my throat finally free, I could breathe again.
Keeping up the breaths to feed oxygen to my starved body, I finally felt alive.
I really thought I was done for back there.
“Haa, seriously, Buer. So why’d you come to Korea?”
“Hm? To see my little one?”
“Don’t call me little one.”
“You are little.”
…
“Don’t call me little one.”
“Hmm, Tree Tree, how many shots you got?”
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Weapon Transformation (A) [GLOCK 21 → AA-12]
Clack—
“I’m twenty-seven shots.”
I politely answered while holding the manners-injector, and Buer freaked out, waving her hands.
“Whoa, that’s brutal. The world’s too scary to live in? Life’s so harsh.”
Less brutal than you choking me out of nowhere, you psycho bitch.
I can’t believe it even now.
“So, Tree Tree, how many cm?”
“…”
“How many cm?”
“150 cm.”
“You’re not 150, little one.”
“Then you?”
“Me? 204 cm.”
Yeah, fuck, must be great being that tall.
So fucking great to be a goddamn lamppost!
“…So what? Yeah, I’m short. Super short. So what! I’m a sniper! Not some brute warrior charging in like you! I snipe heads from the shadows in secret!”
“Why’re you suddenly raging solo? Did I hit a nerve?”
Crack—
“Uh.”
My phone screen shattered.
Uh…
“Pay up.”
“Why me?”
“Pay up.”
“I said, why me? You couldn’t control your strength, little one.”
“Anyway, pay up.”
“Tch…”
Anyway, it’s your fault.
Absolutely Buer’s fault. That’s just how it is.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ We went to a nearby repair shop together, and a friendly uncle who looked like he could down three beers greeted us and swapped out the screen.
Of course, Buer footed the bill.
“So, now that you’ve seen me, you heading back to Russia?”
“Nah, not that.”
Walking side-by-side with Buer over 2m tall and me at 150 cm was uncomfortable in so many ways.
People kept staring, and to meet her eye level, I had to crane my neck up… my neck hurt.
“Want a piggyback, little one?”
“Shut up.”
And I had to endure her endless shitty mental jabs. Life’s rough.
“So what’re you doing in Korea? Sightseeing? Got a visa? Passport?”
“As if. Visa-free illegal entry, obviously.”
“You psycho.”
How’s an illegal immigrant so brazen?
Sigh, they should arrest types like her, but they don’t. Korea’s fucked.
“Honestly, no big reason. If I had to pick one, it’s North Korea-related, but that’s got nothing to do with you.”
“North Korea?”
North Korea out of nowhere?
“There’s movement to retake Kaesong from Pyongyang.”
“I see.”
North Korea, the commie country up north on the peninsula.
The only nation in the world that failed to suppress an early gate and lost the major city of Kaesong to monsters. A total failure of a state.
“But that’s for Pyongyang to handle. Would be nice if they succeed.”
Thanks to Kaesong getting devoured by monsters, Korea’s still conscripting every awakener—men and women alike—to block the beasts coming down from above.
Like Israel, they’re even drafting women on a limited basis. That’s why politics has been noisy about it lately.
“I’m skeptical, though.”
“Why?”
“You know how pathetic North Korea is. Even the US CIA doesn’t know what monster den Kaesong’s become or the dangers lurking there. Think those idiots can retake it?”
“Can’t they just nuke it a few times?”
“Nuke their own territory? Even North Korea wouldn’t.”
“Hm…”
Nuking your own land is retarded, sure.
But since it’s North Korea…
Feels like they actually might.
“Anyway, if they fuck up and the regime collapses, great for me. So I’m doing some groundwork, and plus?”
“No need for the plus. How about you get out of Korea right now?”
“Why’s my little one so vicious today?”
Because of you, you crazy bitch.
“Oh yeah, Tree. Ever thought about streaming?”
“? Streaming what all of a sudden?”
“You still haven’t cleared that system quest.”
“Yeah.”
It’s an unfriendly quest that doesn’t even specify how many kills needed, so I gave up on clearing it ages ago.
Decided to just kill one a month and call it a life.
“Hadal suggested killer streams targeting clients. Underground broadcast stuff.”
“Didn’t get that offer.”
“Europe and North America got first contact. Asia’ll probably hear tomorrow or the next day.”
“Hmm. So?”
Streaming—what’s in it for me?
“Stream kills via Hadal relay. Clients confirm targets drop live, killers get paid instantly. Hadal takes broadcast fees and footage for snuff films like porn. Same as legit streamers—donations, extra revenue, secondary video royalties.”
“…Murder vids for porn?”
“Why not? You know pervs with those fetishes are a dime a dozen.”
I want to argue, but can’t. Damn.
We were pounding drinks till we blacked out with a necrophile earlier. Guys getting off on killing itself? Sure, why not.
Obviously, fuckers.
“I’ll think about it.”
Streaming, streaming, streaming.
Yeah, real-time video proof beats posting to communities any day. Way more convenient.