Chapter 157
Chapter 157
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: The Researcher's Journal
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Lee Si-woo returned to the starting point with Luktator.
Adrian followed behind Lee Si-woo with long strides, his expression dark and pensive the entire time.
When they reached the bus stop, a bus from the base city was already waiting.
With the chapter cleared, the roads that had been sealed off during the chapter’s open period were now accessible.
Then, a system message appeared before Lee Si-woo once again.
[Secret Chapter 1 Clear Grade: A]
[Main Weapon ‘Poison Dagger’ will be provided.]
*Tiri-ring!*
[Secret Chapter 1.5 Clear Grade: A]
[Suit ‘Frog’ will be provided.]
[A set item has been discovered. A special option will be activated when both items are equipped.]
*Tiri-ring!*
[Hidden Quest Clear Grade: B]
[‘Small Village’s Research Journal’ will be provided.]
Lee Si-woo carefully picked up the golden bag that had fallen before him.
He already had a rough idea of its contents from the system messages, so he decided there was no need to open it in front of Adrian and slung the bag over his shoulder.
Adrian, who had been glancing at him from the side, seemed to notice Si-woo’s wariness and silently picked up the green bag that had dropped at his own feet.
His action seemed to say, *Relax, I’m only interested in my own reward.*
“Oh, I received a reward as well.”
Beside them, Luktator’s eyes sparkled as he held up a blue bag that had appeared in front of him.
Green, blue, and gold?
It seemed the colors varied according to the reward grade.
For instance, C-grade might be green, B-grade blue, and A-grade gold.
After securing his bag, Lee Si-woo spoke to Luktator.
“Sir, I’m sorry, but we’ll have to head straight to the next chapter instead of returning to the base city.”
“What?! That’s not what we agreed on! You promised me a can of beer and a plate of squid!”
As Luktator jumped up and down, openly displaying his displeasure, Lee Si-woo wore a troubled, apologetic expression.
“I was planning to rest as well, but… I’ve grown curious about Chapter 2. Besides, we can just catch some sleep on the bus, can’t we? I hear Chapter 2 is quite far from here.”
“…But you can’t have a beer on the bus!”
Perhaps his mind had grown younger along with his body. Lee Si-woo chuckled at Luktator, who was grumbling like a child who couldn’t get candy.
“Now, now, don’t be like that. Let’s go to Chapter 2 and see if we can find some beer there.”
Just then, Adrian, who had unintentionally overheard their conversation, spoke up.
“You’ll die if you go to Chapter 2 without a club.”
Unsure if it was advice or a jab, Lee Si-woo replied to Adrian’s comment.
“That’s our business.”
“You can get guns starting in Chapter 2. Do you know what that means?”
“That it’s dangerous enough to need them, I suppose?”
“You catch on quick. And yet, you newbies who just cleared Chapter 1 are going to jump right into Chapter 2? That's impossible. You'll die a pointless death, no matter how good that suit of yours is. Besides, that suit… it might have been useful here, but its grade is so pathetic it won’t be of much use in Chapter 2.”
Being part of a club, Adrian was knowledgeable about suits.
And also about the Let Suit’s low grade.
But Lee Si-woo just scratched his chin and answered half-heartedly.
“Hmm, thanks for the advice, but whatever risks we take don’t seem to have anything to do with you… or am I wrong?”
“This chapter’s difficulty was absurd. It was on a level that defied common sense. To have survived, you must be quite skilled. It would be a waste for you to die for nothing. Join our club. I’ll give you a recommendation.”
Lee Si-woo was dumbfounded by Adrian’s recruitment offer.
Did this heir of a vampire family have any idea who on earth he was trying to recruit?
*He’d flip out if he knew I was Lee Si-woo, Adrian.*
Lee Si-woo shook his head and said.
“I appreciate the offer, but no thanks. Being part of an organization doesn’t really suit me.”
“Is that so? A pity. Fine, then I’ll at least go with you to Chapter 2. I was planning on heading there right away myself.”
Surprised by Adrian’s decision, Lee Si-woo asked.
“Didn’t you just say it was dangerous?”
“I was just planning to warm up in Chapter 1 and join up in Chapter 2 right after. Compared to Chapter 2, Chapter 1 was child’s play. I just didn’t expect to go through such hell. Besides…”
Adrian swallowed the words that he had something to confirm in Chapter 2.
Looking at the young Si-woo, he had a strange suspicion.
It might have been a pure coincidence, but the fact that the young Si-woo had the same name as the Lee Si-woo he knew was nagging at him.
And that wasn’t all.
Having familiarized himself with the original story of Chapter 1 through his club, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of dissonance from the existence of the young Si-woo.
The child was an NPC who had never appeared before, as if he had just fallen from the sky.
*It might just be my imagination, but I feel like I might be able to meet that child again in Chapter 2.*
Adrian thought as he boarded the bus.
*But… what are the chances that the Lee Si-woo I know and that young Si-woo are the same person…*
Soon, Adrian let out a small laugh, deciding he was having a ridiculous delusion.
Lee Si-woo and Ha-yun were from a planet called Earth, in another dimension.
This place, on the other hand, was the Trial World.
And they were the same person?
Deciding he was just overly tired and getting paranoid, Adrian boarded the bus, silently took a seat, and closed his eyes.
He intended to relieve his fatigue by getting even a little bit of sleep.
Following Adrian onto the bus, Lee Si-woo spoke to the driver.
“I’m sorry. Eric didn’t make it back.”
The bus driver, who had been worried about Lee Si-woo and Eric, felt his eyes tremble.
His heart sank at the news that Eric, one of his few friends, had not returned.
As the driver silently gripped the steering wheel, Lee Si-woo watched him for a moment before pulling a plastic grocery bag from his backpack.
As if he had gone grocery shopping at a large mart, Lee Si-woo handed the bag filled with preserved foods and canned goods to the driver.
“This is what Eric earned with his life. I couldn’t bring myself to keep it after he helped me.”
Instead of offering a few words of condolence, something he wasn’t accustomed to, Lee Si-woo handed over the supplies he had gathered during the chapter.
In a way, Eric wouldn’t have died if it hadn’t been for Lee Si-woo.
As the one who had opened the secret chapter, he couldn’t escape responsibility for the sudden spike in the chapter’s difficulty.
That was why he had given away all the food he had.
If a gift like this could ease his unsettled mind, he was willing to give up such meager rations anytime.
The bus driver took Lee Si-woo’s gift and bowed his head.
Leaving the driver to gaze down at the bag with sad eyes, Lee Si-woo let out a sigh.
No matter how many times he went through it, he could never get used to this kind of atmosphere.
“We’re all going to Chapter 2. We’d appreciate it if you could drop us at the transfer station.”
The bus driver nodded at his words, and Lee Si-woo sat in a back seat with Luktator.
It had been a long day.
* * *
The master of Dawn, one of the three major clubs in the base city, alongside Black Night and Labyrinth.
Rios sat on a sofa, listening to a report from a club member.
“New NPCs have appeared in Chapter 2.”
Rios, a handsome man with red hair and blue eyes, spoke.
“The butterfly effect from the secret chapter opening?”
“It seems so. What should we do? Should we make a move?”
“We must. The secret chapter opening means the Red Butterfly has been updated in the reward list.”
The Red Butterfly.
The great treasure of the Graves family, said to be given only to those who see the ending of the Trial World.
However, only Dawn knew the true nature of the Red Butterfly.
“From now on, gather all of Dawn’s strength and dispatch our members to every chapter. And stop any potential clearing of the secret chapters. Interfere so that no one can clear them.”
“…There will be strong opposition from other clubs.”
“It doesn’t matter. Even if no one recognizes our efforts… no, even if they throw stones at us, we know for certain that we are doing the right thing.”
“But Master, the ones who aren’t originally from Dawn will be a problem. Those from the Trial World won’t know why we’re interfering with other clubs.”
“Let go of all who do not understand.”
“Master… then…”
“Do not force those who are unwilling. There is nothing more worthless than a sacrifice without a sense of duty.”
“Then what about telling them the truth?”
Rios shook his head firmly, his blue eyes flashing.
“No. No club member who isn’t from Dawn must know what the Red Butterfly is. If information about it were to spread, we could not handle the consequences.”
“…I understand. Then we will use all available forces, but let go of those who are unwilling. But Master, we won’t be able to maintain the club for long this way.”
“We cannot turn our backs on the duty before us out of fear for a future that has not yet come. Everything will flow as it should. The important thing is that as long as our Dawn exists, no one will be able to get their hands on the Red Butterfly.”
The club member wanted to speak his mind to Rios.
He wanted to ask if, with the secret chapter now open, the clearing of the Trial World wasn’t the natural course of things.
But seeing Rios’s attitude—devoid of any regret or hesitation in the face of their grand and distant mission—the club member couldn’t bring himself to speak further.
He knew that no matter what he said, he couldn’t break the will of Rios, the master of Nine, one of Dawn’s Solo Numbers.
The club member spoke in a resigned tone.
“I will follow your command.”
* * *
Having transferred to a bus for Chapter 2 at the transfer station, Lee Si-woo took out the research journal from the golden bag.
He gently stroked the cover of the old notebook with his palm before turning the page.
Research Journal, Year X, Month X, Day X
The Tongue Spider is quite an interesting creature.
It lacks infectivity, but its physical abilities are far superior to the original prototype. While it’s somewhat vulnerable to guns, it possesses a considerably high resistance to general impact.
Moreover, though the level varies between individuals, they possess the intelligence of a four- to five-year-old child, showing no issues with group behavior.
The problem, however, is their ridiculously small population.
Since they aren’t infectious, there have been difficulties in increasing their numbers.
As I was pondering what to do, Yellow Eyes offered an idea.
If you can’t infect them, then just breed them.
She truly is an interesting woman. And that’s what made her fun to play with.
Research Journal, Year X, Month X, Day X
The Mother is complete.
But it has a fatal flaw.
For the Mother to implant a ‘Breeding Egg,’ it must prey on a child or a boy under the age of fourteen.
I tried to improve this aspect, but I failed.
There was some progress, but it was not satisfactory.
It was impossible to bring down a mighty knightly order with such pathetic junk.
It seems I’ll have to dispose of these after the final experiment in this village.
I was not satisfied.
Research Journal, Year X, Month X, Day X
It was astonishing.
I have seen many resources, but never one like this.
When he survived the orphanage, I thought nothing of it.
Special resources like this appeared from time to time.
But when he survived the church, and even single-handedly destroyed the breeding ground, a thrill ran down my spine.
A thought occurred to me.
The thought that this child was the very being I had been searching for.
I wanted to have him, to study him, to dissect him.
So… I took him.
Having read the entire research journal, Lee Si-woo closed the notebook.
In the end, the young Si-woo had fallen into the hands of the Ancestor Devil.
What happened after that?
The answer, he suspected, probably lay within one of his Talents.
‘Survivor.’
*Lee Si-woo survived. And probably… escaped. So maybe… I might meet him again in this chapter. No, I definitely will.*
The bus came to a stop.
Chapter 2.
The city where ‘The Vigilantes’ began.
They had arrived in Normal Town.