Chapter 143: Mental Illness
Chapter 143: Mental Illness
The bat kept a precarious distance, always just out of reach, and I, too, swung my sword with the utmost care to avoid getting hurt again. This ridiculous chase continued for a short while before ending the moment we reached a certain spot. I stared blankly as the bat flapped away into the air in a panic. I felt a strange sense of embarrassment.
In any case, the bat was gone, which meant I had roughly arrived at the place where those bastards were setting their trap. Should I charge in? Have they set a trap? Or do they have some other plan? With a sense of anticipation, I waited for them to appear.
“……”
Rustle. Shhh-shhh.
A cold wind rustled through the bushes and leaves several times. Minutes passed, but they didn't show themselves. I wanted to immediately activate my Sensing or Third Eye, but I barely managed to hold back. Just as I was about to frown, wondering what the hell was going on…
“……!”
“Hah… hah…”
A faint moan rode the wind to my ears. It sounded like a cry, yet it was a strangely heated moan. The sound of someone breathing raggedly. Drawn by the sound, I slowly began to walk. Pushing through the dense bushes, I saw a small clearing up ahead.
The clearing was surrounded by large rocks and tall trees. I scanned my surroundings, slowly memorizing the terrain. Their plan was idiotic, but they seemed to have a basic understanding of ambushes. I took a calm, deep breath and closed the distance to the clearing. And what appeared before my eyes was…
“Aaaahng! N-No! Nooo!”
“Hah, hah, hah, hah!”
“Stop… it…. Pleeease… stop! F-forgive… me, please!”
“Hah, hah! Shut your mouth! Hah, hah!”
I stared at the scene unfolding before me, at a loss for words. I felt a strange, hot wind wash over my entire body. In the clearing, a male User was in the middle of thoroughly violating a female User.
The female User was on all fours, her hands and knees on the ground. But her head was forced up, as the male User had her by the hair. Pitiful tears streamed from her eyes and she endlessly begged for forgiveness, but the male User behind her showed no mercy, relentlessly slamming his hips into her.
“Ahng! Aaaahng! N-No! St-stop! Mmph!”
Slap. Slap. The lewd sound of flesh hitting flesh filled the clearing. Annoyed by the woman’s moans, the man clamped his free hand over her mouth. He pulled his hips way back before thrusting forward powerfully once more. The female User’s desperate screams escaped through the gaps between his fingers.
After moving his hips wildly for some time with beast-like pants, the man seemed to reach his climax, pressing his waist tightly against the woman's rear. And in that position, his whole body began to tremble.
“Hahh… That was good.”
“Ugh… Ugh… Nngh… Sob…”
Each time the man’s body shuddered, the woman’s body also twitched intermittently. After enjoying the afterglow of his climax for a moment, the man let go of her hair and stood up from his crouched position. The moment he did, the woman's body collapsed. Between her slightly parted thighs, her reddened entrance was visible, and a few streams of milky white fluid that had trickled out dripped onto the ground. It was a miserable sight.
After watching them quietly, I took a step forward.
“Who’s there?!”
I deliberately revealed my presence, and the man, who had been grinning, whipped his head around and shouted sharply. It didn't matter anymore, so I immediately activated my Third Eye.
Player Status
1. Name: Kim Seungbeom (Year 4 User)
2. Class: Swordsman (Normal, Swordsman, Expert)
3. Nation: Barbara
4. Clan: Middle Way Clan
5. True Name · Nationality: One Who Cannot Stand Anywhere · Republic of Korea
6. Sex: Male (27)
7. Height · Weight: 175.2cm · 67.7kg
8. Alignment: Chaos · Evil
Stats
[Strength 86] [Durability 64] [Agility 76] [Stamina 68] [Magic Power 52] [Luck 30]
Player Status
1. Name: Choi Joohyun (Year 3 User)
2. Class: Swordswoman (Normal, Swordswoman, Runner)
3. Nation: Barbara
4. Clan: Middle Way Clan
5. True Name · Nationality: The Wrong Path, Corruption from Within · Republic of Korea
6. Sex: Female (22)
7. Height · Weight: 161.2cm · 47.3kg
8. Alignment: Chance · Chaos
Stats
[Strength 60] [Durability 55] [Agility 84] [Stamina 58] [Magic Power 63] [Luck 68]
“You. How long have you been there?”
“Since near the end. By the way, this situation is…”
After quickly scanning their information, I raised my sword. As I sent them a wary glare, Kim Seungbeom immediately raised both hands and shook his head.
“Whoa, whoa. Friend. Calm down and hear me out. First, put the sword down.”
“I have nothing to hear from a rapist.”
“Ah, seriously. It’s a misunderstanding. What happened was…”
“Run away! This man is a Vagabond!”
Just as Kim Seungbeom was about to continue, Choi Joohyun, who had been lying there as if dead, screamed loudly. She shot her head up and spoke again.
“Don’t listen to him! He’s not alone! His comrades are nearby… Aaaagh!”
“You crazy bitch. Can’t you shut your mouth?”
Kim Seungbeom immediately kicked out, and Choi Joohyun took the blow straight to her face. As she screamed and covered her face, he pressed his foot down on her and growled in a low voice.
“Ah, fuck… It’s ruined. Ptooey.”
I was curious what his reaction would be if I just said, “Okay. I'll run away then. See ya,” and turned my back. But I couldn't do that, so I aimed my sword with an even more tense expression.
“So you are Vagabonds. Shameless bastards.”
“Hmph. Fine. I admit it. I’m a Vagabond. But I have no intention of fighting you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
I narrowed my eyes slightly and questioned him, and I could see the man swallow hard. I figured I might as well hear what kind of bullshit he was going to spew.
“You. Aren’t you one of the Users who left Mule a few days ago?”
“H-how did you know that?”
When I widened my eyes and acted flustered, Kim Seungbeom tapped the foot that was pinning Choi Joohyun down, a look of confirmation on his face.
“To cut to the chase, you guys were being tailed. By this bitch and her group.”
“Tailed?”
“Yeah. Eight Users formed a caravan and were secretly following your party. And we weren't after you; we followed and ambushed this bitch’s group. You don’t need me to tell you why they were following you, right? In a way, you could say we're your party's saviors.”
“S-so that woman’s caravan was planning to attack us?”
“Could be, or maybe they were planning to backstab you after you excavated the ruins.”
After Kim Seungbeom finished speaking, I looked at the woman with eyes full of disbelief. She avoided my gaze with a flustered expression, and I bit my lip hard. Seeing my reaction, Kim Seungbeom continued in an even smoother voice.
“Well, given the relationship between Users and Vagabonds, I won’t talk about owing favors. But let’s avoid a pointless fight. To be honest, we didn’t get away completely unscathed taking these people down. We achieved our goal, and you get to deal with your tail without dirtying your hands. If you want a fight, I won’t stop you. But walking away is better for both of us, isn’t it? So let’s leave it at that.”
“Hmm.”
I let out a low hum and slightly lowered my sword. Kim Seungbeom grinned and nodded, while Choi Joohyun looked at me with conflicted eyes. Soon, I saw her lips slowly begin to part.
“Don’t be fooled! The Vagabonds with this man, they weren't badly hurt. At most, one or two. We were taken down in an instant, it was almost completely one-sided. Go back and don’t let your guard down… Ugh!”
Choi Joohyun couldn't finish her sentence, because Kim Seungbeom had kicked her again. As she curled up into a ball, he spat out a string of curses. She looked so pitiful and wretched that I decided to play along at this point. I felt that dragging this out any longer would be nothing more than a comedy sketch.
“That’s enough, Vagabond.”
Clink!
I raised the sword I had lowered and aimed it forcefully. Kim Seungbeom, who had been kicking her with gusto (and for the record, he wasn't faking the kicks; it seemed he held some personal grudge against Choi Joohyun), turned to look at me with hollow eyes.
“What’s with the sword? Didn’t we agree to settle this peacefully?”
“They said at the User Academy. Never compromise with a Vagabond.”
“Ha. This is why Year 0 rookies are hopeless. No flexibility. None at all.”
There was the slip-up. He had no reason to mention that I was a Year 0 User. With that, I could erase the last trace of doubt from my mind. I had even less reason to hold back now.
“Like you said, I don’t exactly look kindly on that User. But in any case… you are definitely the enemy.”
“Well, if you insist on inviting trouble, I won’t stop you. Just don’t regret it… Ugh?!”
Kim Seungbeom shrugged and bent over. It seemed he was about to pick up the clothes and equipment he had taken off. Just as his hand was about to touch a thin sword, his body tilted sideways.
“This fucking bitch?!”
The moment she saw me aim my sword again, Choi Joohyun quickly shot out her arms and grabbed Kim Seungbeom’s leg. He overacted, tumbling to the ground with a loud thud, and Choi Joohyun used the opening to quickly snatch a weapon and scatter his equipment.
“…Haaah.”
I let out a quiet sigh. The fact that he fell so dramatically from a simple leg grab, and that the sword she picked up was extremely thin for a weapon used by a male User. At this point, it was easier not to think about it at all.
Choi Joohyun staggered but stood up resolutely, and I responded in kind by slowly closing the distance between myself and the man. Kim Seungbeom scrambled to his feet with nimble movements and quickly leaped backward. The sight of his private parts dangling about was an extremely unpleasant one.
A quiet silence fell between me, Choi Joohyun, and Kim Seungbeom. We were armed, while Kim Seungbeom was not only unarmed but also naked. Finally, he ground his teeth and, after leaving the cliché line, “Damn it. You'll regret this!” he disappeared into the bushes. I feigned a move to chase after him and immediately felt a hand grab my collar.
“Don’t go! That could be a trap, too. He must have run to where his comrades are.”
“…Hmph.”
At her cry, I hesitated, relaxing the posture I had taken to dash forward. If I went in now, it would certainly be according to their plan, so why did she stop me? Sensing some other scheme, I cautiously turned around. I looked at Choi Joohyun, who was covering her body with an anxious expression, and sneered.
“Tsk, tsk. You must be so heartbroken. Why did you have to follow us in the first place…?”
I stared at her with narrowed eyes. Choi Joohyun opened and closed her mouth, at a loss for words. Then her expression turned genuinely remorseful, and tears began rolling down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry… I’m so, so sorry…”
Finally, she all but collapsed to the ground, repeatedly apologizing to me while covering her mouth with one hand, sobbing. And without me even asking, she started rambling on about what she had done from the very beginning. For a woman who had just been raped, her attitude was certainly… plausible.
A life of hardship, day after day. Then she saw a new User enter Mule, and seeing my equipment improve by the day, she had gotten greedy. While secretly tailing us, her group was attacked by a band of Vagabonds who had been following them. All her other comrades were killed, and she alone survived, only to become a tool for the Vagabonds’ sexual gratification.
Listening to Choi Joohyun’s story, I was a little impressed. It was obvious that the one who lured me here and the one who came up with this plan were two different people. I could say that with confidence. Otherwise, there was no way the plan could have been this well-crafted.
It seemed that, just as Ko Yeonju had said, there was a fairly cautious person among them. They didn't attack us directly, likely hoping to also score any potential rewards (like from the ruins). That’s probably why they tried to subtly insert Choi Joohyun into our group as a contingency. Of course, I could just abandon her here, but that was tantamount to leaving her for dead. So they were banking on the compassion of a Year 0 User. And the moment I abandoned her, I would surely be ambushed on my way back.
They mixed truth in with the lies, and lies in with the truth. I wanted to praise them for a fairly well-written script, but there were a few things they had overlooked. Namely, that their opponent was me, and that their actors were terrible. In other words, it was a mistake.
I was a Year 10 User who had been through land, sea, air, and urban warfare. On top of that, having operated in the criminal underworld, I could see through most cheap tricks at a glance. But if I were truly a Year 0 User, or if it had been the others here instead of me, the outcome might have been very different.
“I was too blinded by money and equipment. Sob… But all my comrades are dead, and the only equipment left is… Waaah…”
She couldn't finish her sentence and wept pitifully. I watched the sorrowfully crying Choi Joohyun for a moment, then slowly approached her with a softened expression.