Chapter 63
I’ll translate the chapter into polished HTML, keeping the scene flow and styling any in-universe system text if it appears. First I’m checking the chapter structure and then I’ll render the full translation in the required format.CHAPTER_TITLE: Chapter 63
Cases caused by superhumans who went berserk due to a poor Synchronization Rate appeared more often than one might expect, year after year.
That alone meant that berserk incidents were common enough among superhumans—and that modern society survived only by balancing on a knife’s edge.
Even incidents caused by low-ranked individuals losing control were dangerous. Superhumans were like that by nature.
After all, they were beings who had already surpassed the standard definition of human beings. It was only natural.
Still, if those who abused their power to commit crimes were called villains, then these people were, in a sense, closer to victims.
No, calling them victims felt a little strange. More like they had no choice in the matter, perhaps?
Well.
Even that was ambiguous. There was no established law on what to do with a berserk superhuman.
And there was a reason for that.
Because a berserk superhuman ultimately…
It always ended in death.
A berserk superhuman died.
That was what the statistics said. All of them, to date.
“Hnngh… ngh… Why am I… why am I here…!”
Fwoooosh—!!! Sand swirled around the superhuman who appeared to be a man named Kim Hyunyoon. The force of it made the surrounding area seem to tremble.
“I was… I was definitely… in the Kingdom of Polka… trying to protect His Majesty… But where is His Majesty? Where is His Majesty…!”
“Yep. He’s berserk, all right.”
Ye Jiram clicked her tongue at the sand. At her words, Kim Hyunyoon turned to look at her.
“Who are you…! Are you the one? You’re the one who locked me away in this place…! The rebels… yes, you must be the rebels.”
“Get ready. Looks like subduing him’s gonna be a pain.”
Ye Jiram said it without a trace of emotion. She seemed strangely practiced at this. Had she dealt with berserk superhumans before?
...Jimin O too.
O Jimin was already holding a shield. Seeing that, I drew out the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword as well.
“I will not forgive you. You rebel bastards…! You who invaded our land…! You who harmed His Majesty…!”
Whooooom—!!! The sand on the floor rose up into the air.
“I will erase you all, once and for all!”
Kwaaaaah—!!! With his roar, the sand came crashing down over us. O Jimin moved first, and the sand that pierced toward us was stopped by the membrane that spread from his body.
Wuuung—! The invisible barrier wrapped around us.
KWAAA—!!! The attack slammed into the transparent wall and was blocked. In that opening, Ye Jiram brought her whip down hard against the floor.
Crack—!!
Thud-thud-thud—!!!!! Black thorns burst up from the ground where the whip struck. They shot straight toward Kim Hyunyoon, but—
“You pathetic little—!!”
With a sweeping motion of his hand, the sand blocked the black thorns outright.
“Tch.”
Ye Jiram clicked her tongue and wrapped herself in black energy.
...He should still be A-class.
And yet, as I watched Kim Hyunyoon, I thought that maybe the rumors were right. They said a superhuman who went berserk could draw out power beyond what they’d originally possessed.
Something about the Synchronization Rate with their past life surging rapidly.
More power than they should have been able to output.
An immense, overwhelming power.
And that power had now become—
Seems like S-class.
It felt similar to the force I’d faced when I met Jin Yeonhui.
Blocking the sand, Ye Jiram spoke.
“Hey, mister. Calm down, will you? I’m not some rebel or whatever.”
“Shut up!!”
It didn’t seem like words could reach him. Kim Hyunyoon kept hurling attacks at us.
“Haa. This is why I hate knight work.”
He wasn’t listening no matter what we said. That was the state Kim Hyunyoon was in, and while Ye Jiram continued to block his attacks, she asked O Jimin a question.
“How long did you say he’s been berserk?”
“From what I heard, three hours.”
“Then we’ve got a little under an hour left.”
A berserk superhuman’s mind collapsed after four hours, and they ended up taking their own life. That was the statistical result registered with the academy.
“Looks like he’s the type who’ll cause more damage the longer we drag this out… Baby.”
“...Yes?”
“Can you cut him down?”
Ye Jiram asked.
...
I couldn’t answer right away. Cut him down? At that, I looked at Kim Hyunyoon.
“...I’ll kill you… I’ll kill you.”
He was glaring this way with tortured eyes. Bloodshot, dry eyes overflowed with tears, and for some reason those tears felt like blood to me.
“...I’m not sure. I’ll try.”
I tightened my grip on my sword and said it. If we left him like this, he’d die anyway. For now, I had to make sure there were no further casualties.
“Hmm.”
At my words, Ye Jiram responded at once and I saw her tighten her hold on the whip.
“Fine, then. I’ll make an opening, so finish it.”
“...”
Before I could answer, Ye Jiram shot forward. Rushing ahead as if she were tearing through the sand itself, she unleashed dozens of black thorn shafts, as though she meant to keep her promise.
KWA-GAGA-KAK—!!! The attack was blocked by the sand once more, but there were so many thorns that, just as she’d said, a gap really did open up.
“Jinwoo!”
O Jimin shouted. At the same time, a membrane spread over my body.
It sounded like he wanted me to charge.
I surged forward and poured strength into my sword.
The power of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword is activated.
Be mindful of the duration.
As the power activated, flames licked along the blade.
Heavenly Demon’s Endless Slash.
The enhanced power from before was just about to burst from the sword when—
“...I… I…”
Seeing the man before me, my body faltered.
Hero's Super-sensory is activated.
My hyperdeveloped senses began reading Kim Hyunyoon’s emotions.
Rage, misery, betrayal, sorrow, desperation, wretchedness.
A whirlpool of emotions surged into me, and—
“...Ghk.”
Clenching my teeth, I changed the sword’s course at the last instant.
KWAAAAAAA---!!!
The flames that had passed by Kim Hyunyoon shot straight toward the other side of the room. The sword strike launched into the air, then exploded high above us.
KWAAAANG—!!
Flame swallowed my field of view. It was a failure. Because I hesitated, I couldn’t land the blow.
The operation had failed. My heart began to pound at the realization, but—
“It’s fine.”
Ye Jiram’s voice came from beside me.
“I figured you’d do that.”
Whirrrr—!!!
Into the huge opening created by the flames, her whip extended.
Whirrrr—!!!
It wrapped itself all the way around Kim Hyunyoon’s body.
“Kuhk!!!”
Bound in place, Kim Hyunyoon sank to his knees.
“Let go of me…! You despicable rebels…!!”
Even while tied up, he tried to lash out in fury, but O Jimin rushed in toward him and swung the shield he held with all his strength, smashing it into Kim Hyunyoon’s face.
CRACK—!!
“Ugh!”
Blood sprayed as his jaw snapped upward. With the impact, Kim Hyunyoon lost consciousness on the spot.
At once, the sand floating in the air sank back to the floor.
Wooooooong—!!!
The tremors that had been shaking the building gradually faded away as well.
“...Phew.”
Ye Jiram let out a sigh of relief.
“It’s over.”
We had successfully subdued the berserk superhuman. I stared blankly at the collapsed Kim Hyunyoon.
“What are you doing?”
Ye Jiram said as she looked at me like that.
“If it’s all done, then let’s head down. Come on. You just planning to stand there and stare?”
“...Ah, yes. No… sir….”
Only after her rebuke did I snap out of it and move. I lifted Kim Hyunyoon’s body. His nose was bleeding from the impact of the blow to the face.
“Let’s go down.”
Ye Jiram turned first, and O Jimin followed her lead.
They looked far too accustomed to this.
That sense of dissonance dug into me with an odd, unsettling depth.
* * *
“We’ve confirmed the identity of the berserk superhuman. Thank you for your assistance.”
The police bowed their heads to us.
“It’s fine. There won’t be any further casualties, right? Though it does look like the building might collapse.”
“...As far as we’ve confirmed for now, yes. We’ll handle the aftermath without issue.”
“Good, then. Has the Association still not arrived?”
“...Uh. We’ve just received word that they’re about to arrive—”
“Hah. We’re already done with everything, and only now they’re arriving? They’re useless at this kind of work, honestly.”
“...”
Even though she herself was a knight under the Association, Ye Jiram still fired off those cutting words. The police officer, apparently unsure how to react, gave an awkward smile.
I could only stare at the scene in a daze.
I still remembered it clearly.
That despicable…!
The face of that superhuman, twisted with despair.
Why?
Why hadn’t I been able to strike back then?
From the moment I was told to work as a knight, I had been prepared for it.
Someday.
I thought something like this would certainly happen. I’d even believed it would happen soon.
So why.
Why couldn’t I do it then?
I had no problem in Gwangju.
I killed Yoon Yeon without hesitation, so why had I faltered just now? I couldn’t understand it. I was biting my lip because I hadn’t done my job properly when—
“What kind of funeral face are you making?”
Ye Jiram came up to me and spoke.
There was a smile on her lips.
“What, maybe because you couldn’t do the job properly? Hah. Yeah, that was pretty funny.”
“Ye Jiram… ssi.”
I started to react, thinking she was just teasing me, but her whip brushed my cheek.
“...!”
“Mind your address. I’m the deputy leader now, you know? You gonna keep calling your superior like that?”
“...I’m sorry.”
Fair point.
“Deputy Leader…”
“That’s better. So, you’re making that face because you blew the job?”
She continued with a snort of laughter.
“I told you it was fine, didn’t I? I figured it’d end up that way anyway.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“You think killing a person’s easy?”
“...Pardon?”
“A berserk superhuman dies in the end. That’s common knowledge. But actually killing someone with your own hands is a different matter. This isn’t a gate, after all.”
“...”
“Our captain, who’s all sly and foxlike, looked like she wanted to give you a good experience, though. She’s a bit of a psycho if you ask me. What, does she think everyone’s the same as her? That people can just kill when told to?”
She was openly taking a jab at Irene.
“I’m not saying you should get used to it. Just don’t dwell on it too much. Everyone’s like that the first time.”
“...The first time, huh. Deputy Leader, you look pretty used to it.”
“Of course I am. Do you have any idea how many years it’s been since I awakened?”
I didn’t know. I wasn’t particularly curious.
“I didn’t become a knight because I liked the job, but I’ve done plenty of other things besides this, you know? You little brat who hasn’t even lost the baby fat yet.”
“...”
“Pull yourself together. You became a knight—did you think there’d never be another situation like this?”
And that, too, was true.
...I was being complacent.
My mind cleared a little. Becoming a knight meant this sort of thing.
It wasn’t just about catching terrorists and the like.
...It meant dealing with things caused by superhumans.
I finally understood that it wasn’t only about going in and out of gates.
“Remember this. Berserk ones die anyway. If you want to make things even a little easier for them, what you need to choose in the end is not hesitation.”
“...Understood.”
Just as I nodded at Ye Jiram’s words—
“...Oh no!”
A loud cry rang out from far away.
“The berserk superhuman has died…!”
“Huh?”
Ye Jiram reacted to that as well. He’d died?
“What is it? Didn’t they say there was still time?”
The situation was different from the time they’d estimated.
Where my gaze landed—
Fssssss—!!
Kim Hyunyoon, who had been bound, was gradually turning to dust and disappearing.
...That’s...
My eyes widened. I’d heard of this before.
...Mugwha.
The end of a berserk superhuman. The phenomenon where, once a certain amount of time passed, they were reduced to ashes and vanished.
As I watched Kim Hyunyoon disappear like that—
The Illusion of Korka manifests.
Eye of Enlightenment detects something invisible.
Huh?
Something came into view. A portion of the scattering ash that had been Kim Hyunyoon.
...This is...
It was drifting through the air, as if taking another route entirely. The end of the slowly moving ash was—
...O Jimin?
Surprisingly, it was heading toward O Jimin, who was standing beside us.