Chapter 404
Chapter 404
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 404
Chapter Title: The Traitor's End
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The moment Lee Soo-hyuk's eyes met Kim Il-su's, who was laughing like a madman, a memory from long ago flashed through his mind.
The first time he got close to Kim Il-su, overlooking the city from the rooftop together, laughing and chatting.
He couldn't remember what they talked about.
Just pointless, trivial gossip. Like all their conversations always were.
Kim Il-su back then was different from now. At least then, he wasn't wearing a mask like he was today.
As time passed and things changed, around the time he announced he was leaving the guild.
Soo-hyuk recalled another thing he had said.
"I have to do the things you can't."
It was his answer to Soo-hyuk's question about why he had to leave the guild.
Back then, he couldn't understand what it meant. And even now, he still couldn't.
But in this moment, with the mask completely stripped away, Soo-hyuk could glimpse what lay inside Kim Il-su.
"Was your anxiety me too?"
Kim Il-su's eyes wavered.
"Is that what you wanted to become?"
He had thought about this since the fight with Jin Do-ha ended.
The anxiety of the man who had been revered as the Murim Alliance Leader for so long—it was Lee Soo-hyuk himself.
The fear that everything he had done, and everything he would do in the future, might all amount to nothing.
Perhaps Kim Il-su harbored a similar anxiety.
And sure enough.
"You... you must have killed everyone at some point."
For the first time, Kim Il-su spat out what was truly inside him.
"Because you're too outstanding on your own. Because you think you're the protagonist. You charge ahead without looking back, oblivious to who's dying along the way."
"I charged ahead alone?"
"Why? Can't admit it? Look at what happened in the end. Everyone nearly died because of your overconfidence. Half of them actually did. Because you never looked back!"
Once the dam broke, the rotten water gushed out.
"If it had been me, that wouldn't have happened. If you hadn't been there, no one would have died, and we'd all still be together."
"Hey, that's—!"
Unable to listen anymore, Ye-ryeong started to shout in anger, but Soo-hyuk grabbed her shoulder.
Ye-ryeong glared at Kim Il-su while calming down. Soo-hyuk said nothing, as if telling him to keep talking.
Amused by their reactions, Kim Il-su chuckled.
"Yeah, you'd think it's because of me. Fine, I admit it. I betrayed you all."
"You want to say it was bound to happen someday?"
"Can you say it wasn't? Even insisting otherwise..."
"You're right."
Kim Il-su's eyelids trembled at Soo-hyuk's response.
"It might have happened anyway."
"What?"
"Even if we'd beaten the Hydra there, there would have been the next one, and the one after that. Just like you said, something similar might have happened eventually."
He had imagined it sometimes.
Was Lee Soo-hyuk truly perfect? Strong enough to take responsibility for everyone? Or at least cautious enough?
These were obvious questions now. But back then, he hadn't paid them any mind.
"We'd grown too accustomed to victories and successes without sacrifice. We were addicted to it."
What you learn from success and what you learn from failure are different.
The value of those lessons isn't higher or lower. Like light and shadow, they have entirely different natures.
Up until the Hydra raid, Soo-hyuk had experienced dozens of successes. But he had never learned anything from failure.
Maybe that was his greatest weakness.
"I'm not going to thank you for teaching me that. The price was too high. But one thing I can be sure of."
Just as his opponent had struck at his weakness, Soo-hyuk fired back in kind.
"If you live that pathetically, you'll never become like me—you won't even reach my toes in your lifetime."
He could see the anger flare on his face.
And sure enough, Kim Il-su screamed hysterically.
"Who the hell wants to become someone like you!"
"Your actions speak louder than your words. You tried to use me to take my place, but failed and stayed stuck in the same spot. Isn't that right?"
Kim Il-su couldn't say a word.
To the silent man, Soo-hyuk said,
"More than anything..."
In that instant, Kim Il-su suddenly swung his hand.
Whoosh—.
Poisonous smoke sprayed out in a surprise attack, cutting him off.
But that was it.
Crackle... The lightning Soo-hyuk unleashed burned away the poison smoke. The opportunity he'd been waiting for didn't land even slightly.
"...You weren't trying to teach me that anyway, were you? You just wanted to be the protagonist."
"Lee Soo-hyuk!"
Kim Il-su shot to his feet.
Even knowing it was futile, he couldn't stop his frenzy.
"Let's have a one-on-one, you bastard."
"Really... Look who's talking."
Soo-hyuk nodded, and Si-woo and Ye-ryeong stepped back.
Though he'd requested a fair one-on-one, Kim Il-su wasn't honorable.
The moment the two retreated, he charged at Soo-hyuk in a surprise assault.
It was hard to believe this was a man with punctured lungs and broken ribs.
Swirling his sword in a幻-like frenzy, Kim Il-su retrieved the second blade embedded in the ceiling. Gripping both swords, he moved without even breathing.
Soo-hyuk didn't counterattack, merely dodging the two blades. They came close, but never touched.
Then.
Flash—.
A light flashed for an instant.
Thud.
One arm fell limply to the floor.
Pausing briefly, Kim Il-su glanced at his empty left arm, then resumed moving.
"Raaaargh!"
Even with one sword, even missing an arm, he thrashed wildly.
He couldn't match a healthy Soo-hyuk, let alone in his battered state.
Kim Il-su's breathing grew ragged quickly. He'd lost a lot of blood, and his pierced lungs made it hard to breathe properly.
His reckless swings lasted only a moment.
Crackle...
Lightning spheres that had formed around him bound his body.
A sword strike slid over them.
Splatter!
His remaining arm was severed, and his chest was sliced open in several long gashes. Blood sprayed like a fountain, splattering the ceiling.
The severed arm spun in the air. Kim Il-su's gaze turned to it.
In that moment, Soo-hyuk didn't miss the look in his eyes.
Looking at his severed arm, it wasn't despair. It was the glint of someone still seeking a final chance.
And sure enough.
Swell—.
The severed arm ballooned like a balloon. The next instant, it exploded like a bomb.
Boom!
Black poisonous smoke spread everywhere. It was too fast and wide-ranging to dodge.
"Aaaargh!"
"G-Guild leader! We were here too..."
The rankers caught in the poison screamed and collapsed.
Their bodies melted black, screaming from the Hydra's venom. Sizzle—the walls and ceiling melted, and the building collapsed in an instant.
People nearby screamed and fled from the crumbling structure. Some skilled players gathered.
Amid the smoke rising from the ruins.
A man with both arms severed and his body in tatters emerged first.
"I-It’s Kim Il-su!"
"What happened to him?"
"No way..."
Those who knew the situation immediately realized who he had fought.
His enemy, the only one who could reduce him to this state.
Crackle...
The curtain of lightning parted. From within, Soo-hyuk and the other three appeared.
Si-woo, Ye-ryeong, and even Hyo-min. He had successfully protected all three.
"What am I supposed to do if you kill the ones we were going to kill?"
He had planned to clean up the rest after Kim Il-su. But the poison had wiped them all out.
Sizzle...
Si-woo and Hyo-min had rescued the other guild members from the guild house.
Si-woo spread ice widely to block as much poison as possible, while Hyo-min's divine beasts enveloped the guild members and evacuated them far away.
'He was going to drag everyone else away except me.'
Having fought once before, he knew the poison wouldn't affect Soo-hyuk.
That last attack had probably targeted the other three, not him.
Only when his final strike failed did true despair finally appear in Kim Il-su's eyes.
Soo-hyuk approached him. Armless and bleeding profusely, Kim Il-su's face was deathly pale.
"You'll die even if I leave you like this."
But he had no intention of doing so.
"Any last words?"
Soo-hyuk's sword tip pointed at his throat. Kim Il-su took in the sight of his reflection in the blade one final time.
Last words?
He grinned, baring bloodstained red teeth, and said,
"You will again..."
Slash.
His final words never came. The words stopped first, and Kim Il-su's head fell at Soo-hyuk's feet.
"Kicks away even the chance to apologize."
He nudged the head at his feet with his toe.
The severed head tumbled down into the building's debris.
"Pathetic bastard."
Soo-hyuk picked up the Hydra's poison fang from the floor.
It was an item Blue Eyes would have claimed originally. Naturally, taking it brought no pangs of conscience.
He set aside his thoughts on revenge for now.
Soo-hyuk turned to the three.
"Let's go."
He had a place to be right now, saving these feelings for later.
Blue Zone had collapsed.
People who heard the news didn't find it particularly surprising.
Most had thought, once they realized Lee Soo-hyuk was real, that this would happen someday.
But it had come sooner than expected.
Right after killing Kim Il-su, the four moved to a new location.
Not back to the guild house. They were at the graves.
On the way, they bought easy-to-eat foods and alcohol. All favorites of their friends from life.
Su-hun, Min-jae, Ji-young.
The three graves were together, but Gyu-seong's had always been separate. But Soo-hyuk had made a new grave next to theirs.
For Gyu-seong.
"Sorry it took so long to bring you."
Soo-hyuk said in front of the completed grave.
"But this is partly your fault, so understand."
"Understand? After all the trouble he caused us."
"Told him not to fall behind, but he was so stubborn. If he'd just stayed in front..."
Ye-ryeong and Si-woo chimed in from behind. Hyo-min beside them had red eyes, holding back tears.
Soo-hyuk continued.
"Still, I think we can clear up the misunderstandings. Everyone knows I'm real now."
For the past year, Gyu-seong had been colluding with demons to bring down Blue Eyes.
There were even rumors that there might be more than one traitor in the guild, leading to whispers that the dead comrades could be suspects.
But now, those misunderstandings were mostly resolved.
The moment Soo-hyuk was acknowledged as real, all arrows pointed to Kim Il-su.
Pour...
Si-woo poured alcohol in front of the grave. Hyo-min suddenly burst into tears, and Ye-ryeong's sobs joined in.
"Revenge is done. Murim, Blue Zone, that bastard Kim Il-su's neck... all of it."
There was no lingering bitterness about revenge.
Relief? It didn't feel quite like that.
"It feels like the clock is starting to tick again. We can finally move on from there, right?"
They had been bound to that day, that place.
Revenge for those who died first. Longing for them. The gravity of it had been too strong to escape.
But now, everything from that day was over.
"Perfect—four here, four there. You won't be bored. Have fun."
Soo-hyuk decided to leave that place behind.
The four poured alcohol on the graves together. As the fragrant aroma spread, the sound of glasses clinking with the four inside echoed.
"We have to head up now."