Chapter 28
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Their Own Stories (4)
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[I suppose so.]
I hadn't asked because I thought Yoo Ji-han had any experience with murder.
Killing monsters and killing people were two entirely different matters.
Yoo Ji-han turned his gaze past the window.
I followed his lead and looked out the window as well.
The day beyond the glass was beautiful.
A cloudless sky, the morning sun shining down on the school grounds—it was quite a striking scene.
‘Now that I think about it.’
I couldn't recall ever properly looking out the window when I was in school.
All I remembered was studying with my head down, the wooden desk my only view.
It's not like I was some kind of loser, though.
I had friends, you know?
Though I can't remember their names.
If I hadn't been summoned back then, I might have been enjoying a fun and happy college life.
If I'd known this would happen, who would've studied so hard?
Perhaps it was because of Yoo Ji-han, but I too found myself lost in a brief moment of reminiscence.
Yoo Ji-han turned his head from the window back toward the blackboard where I was sitting.
“What do I have to do?”
[Killing a person is completely different from killing a monster. You have to be prepared for that.]
“Is there a way to get to the top without killing anyone?”
[I doubt it.]
“Then that’s that. I was already prepared.”
Yoo Ji-han clenched his fist.
In his trembling eyes, I could read a look that said, *what had to come has come*.
[Are you really going to be okay?]
At my question, Yoo Ji-han, who was resting his arm on the desk, lowered his head and ruffled his hair in frustration.
“And what if I’m not okay?”
[Why are you getting so worked up again?]
“It’s not that I’m worked up… Damn it, I’m not okay. I’m not okay, but just say I am and let’s move on.”
His mind seemed so jumbled that he looked confused about what he was even saying.
Yoo Ji-han clenched his fist and placed it on the desk.
“I always knew I’d have to do it someday. I was just surprised that it came sooner than I expected.”
It seemed Ji-han had already guessed that the challengers in the lobby hadn't gotten used to killing people for no reason.
[Don’t think too deeply about the dead.]
“…”
[Just think about surviving. You said you wanted to live, right?]
“I know. Enough with the nagging. Just explain it to me already.”
Yoo Ji-han scowled as if he didn't want to hear any more.
Once Ji-han had calmed down, I began to explain the 3rd floor to him.
* * *
This is my story, the story of Yoo Ji-han.
[Moving to the 3rd floor.]
[Assassination]
Floor: 3
You, who were planning to visit the capital, receive another request from the Mercenary Guild. The regional master tells you to board the train and order a ‘Blue Lagoon’ at the bar in the second-class car.
Grumbling about how you never knew when they started taking requests this way, you boarded the train bound for the capital.
Reward: 5,000 Contribution Points
I read the entire status window before me.
The murmuring of people could be heard in the darkness.
I came to my senses and opened my eyes.
Sunlight poured down from a high, domed ceiling.
I was standing in the middle of an outdoor train station.
The train, a hulking mass of iron, let out a loud whistle.
‘He never said it would be this kind of train station.’
I had gotten information about the 3rd floor from the god Soter.
Since I was in a position where I couldn't get information in the lobby, it was a stroke of luck in an unlucky situation that I could at least hear about it this way.
I couldn't say that the information he gave me was a perfect match for the actual floor.
Hearing an explanation is different from seeing it with your own eyes.
In fact, even he seemed to get annoyed mid-explanation sometimes, often skipping over details by saying I’d find out when I got there.
I don't know why the god I serve has to be like this.
Could it be that the gods the others serve are just as eccentric?
When he said ‘train,’ I’d naturally pictured something like Seoul Station, a KTX, or a Mugunghwa express train.
‘It feels like I’ve traveled back in time.’
Should I say it feels like being in a museum?
Do steam locomotives like that even run these days?
From the train to the design of the station, the whole place exuded a 19th-century atmosphere.
The clothes I was wearing were also quite different from modern attire.
In a world where gods existed and challengers climbed a tower, I suppose there was no reason something like this couldn't happen.
My clothes had been changed. A brown coat, a beret, and in my hand was a bag that wasn't mine.
I didn't know if the outfit suited me, but thanks to it, I was able to blend in naturally amidst the bustling train station.
My weapon was gone.
‘Where did it go?’
I hurriedly opened my item window.
It seemed the weapons and items I had been carrying were automatically placed inside.
In a corner of the item window was an object that looked like a bundle.
[Set of Clothes]
It appeared to be the clothes I was originally wearing.
Honestly, I didn't care about the clothes. What was important was my weapon.
[Sword of ????]
Grade: Unknown.
The Sword of ???? didn't even have the one-line description that was essential for other items.
Its grade was also listed as unknown, making it a very unhelpful sword.
Fortunately, the blade itself was extremely sharp, so I had been using it without issue so far.
I breathed a silent sigh of relief after confirming the sword was there.
I moved its position so I could retrieve it as quickly as possible if needed, then closed the item window.
I glanced around to see if anyone found my behavior strange.
Fortunately, no one did.
I realized there was something in my hand besides the bag.
It was a piece of paper with several fold marks.
The script was one I had never seen before.
When I blinked, the letters on the paper changed into familiar Korean.
Bardir Line K808, 18th, 10:00 AM, J17.
[An announcement for passengers on the platform. The Bardir Line K808 train to the capital is now departing. Any passengers who have not yet boarded, please do so immediately.]
This is it!
I rushed onto the train.
A conductor spoke to me.
“Sir, may I see your identification?”
“Um… just a moment.”
The word ‘identification’ caught me off guard for a second, but I calmly began to rummage through the bag I was holding.
The bag contained clothes and other belongings.
A black notebook fell out of the front pocket.
The conductor picked up the notebook that had fallen on the floor.
“Here it is.”
“Ah, haha. Yes.”
I clutched the bag to my chest and laughed awkwardly.
The conductor signed one side of the notebook and handed it back.
“You know where your seat is, correct?”
“Of course.”
He gestured for me to head inside.
No sooner had I entered the passenger car than the train began to shake.
I turned my head and saw the train station receding in the distance through the window.
‘So many people.’
Having only seen monsters inside the tower, the people on the train felt unfamiliar.
They all looked like perfectly ordinary travelers.
There was much I wanted to know, but I decided to focus on the task at hand.
—*Don’t get distracted. Don’t try to find out more than you need to.*
Soter’s words suddenly came to mind.
I didn't know what other gods were like, but he was a bit peculiar.
How should I put it?
When I talked to him, he felt less like a god and more like a regular person.
Like I was on the phone with someone?
The analogy was a bit strange, but that was the general feeling.
In any case, I was grateful to him.
If it hadn't been for the god Soter, I would have ended up as a corpse on the 1st floor.
Car J was the third-class car.
After passing through a long corridor, I finally reached Car J.
The third-class car was so packed with people there was hardly room to stand.
I managed to find seat J17 and sat down.
The train gradually picked up speed.
A vast grassland came into view.
I was a little disappointed that I had been too distracted to see us leaving the city.
Two men were sitting next to me.
‘Something’s…’
My clothes, which hadn't seemed out of place when I passed through the second-class car, now stood out starkly in third class.
The clothes of the people here were that much shabbier.
*Get a grip.*
That wasn't what was important right now.
As time passed, the atmosphere inside the train calmed down.
I quietly stood up, bag in hand.
After leaving the passenger car, I looked around.
It took me a while to find the dining car.
A man with a slightly different air than the conductors stood at the entrance.
At the man’s hip were a gun and a riot baton.
He looked like a police officer or a guard.
From his posture, he seemed closer to a soldier than a cop.
I glanced at the gun on his hip.
If trains existed, there was no reason guns couldn't.
Just in case, I kept my item window open as I headed for the dining car.
The man didn't pay me much mind.
At that moment, a voice came from behind.
“You can’t go in.”
Wondering if he was talking to me, I turned my head.
“What? Why not? That guy just went in.”
“Food distribution for the third-class car is in two hours. Please return to your seat.”
“Damn it.”
The man reluctantly turned away.
“Tsk, this is why they’re savages.”
The guard clicked his tongue as he watched the man retreat to the third-class car.
My eyes met the guard’s.
He gestured for me to go inside as if to say I should pay it no mind.
‘What was that?’
I thought it might be because of my clothes, but surprisingly, there wasn't much difference between my outfit and that of the man who was turned away.
In fact, the man who was kicked out was dressed much better.
‘I don’t understand the criteria.’
And what was that about savages?
I couldn't understand how this world worked at all.
There were quite a few people in the dining car.
It wasn't crowded or uncomfortable like the third-class car.
I sat at the bar in the center. The bartender spoke to me.
“What can I get for you?”
“Blue Lagoon.”
At my short reply, the bartender nodded and began to make the cocktail.
“Your Blue Lagoon.”
The cocktail he served me was, as its name suggested, truly blue.
It resembled the color of a soda I had drunk a long time ago.
On the rim of the champagne glass, an orange slice, a lemon slice, and a cherry were skewered in order on something like a toothpick.
Maybe ‘toothpick’ is the wrong word.
It probably has a proper name.
Holding the cocktail, I glanced around.
The dining car was bustling with lunch service.
I decided that continuing to look around might arouse suspicion.
I carefully brought the cocktail to my lips.
It definitely tasted of alcohol.
“Delicious, isn’t it? When I drink it, I feel like I’m at the ocean. This happens to be my favorite cocktail. Ah, I’ll have the same.”
As I set my glass down, I turned my head toward the source of the voice.
It was a man who had been sitting in a corner across the room.
I had thought he was just a customer.
A neatly dressed middle-aged man casually approached and sat down next to me.
“Major Dechant. You can just call me Dead here.”
Dead, of all names.
It sounded unlucky in more ways than one.
Unsure if it had a different meaning than the one I knew, Dead chuckled heartily and drank his Blue Lagoon.
“I heard you grumbled to the master. My apologies. It was a matter I couldn't discuss until we met face to face.”
He glanced at me and whispered quietly.
I hadn't actually grumbled, but since he said so, I just went along with it.
“So, what is the request?”
I had no intention of sitting around drinking buddy-buddy with a man whose name sounded like he was about to die any second.
At my words, he discreetly slid a piece of paper toward me.
I flipped over the paper, which was slightly smaller than my palm.
On the thick paper was a drawing of a young girl.
Dead snapped his fingers under the table.
Instantly, the sound of the train and the voices of the people around us vanished.
‘A skill?’
While I tried my best to maintain a poker face and not show my surprise, Dead spoke.
“Ria Angelina. The person in this picture is the one you must kill.”
The person in the picture was, by all accounts, a young girl.