Chapter 75: Ghost Busters (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 75: Ghost Busters (4)
I had several grounds for this suspicion.
"Hey, why aren't you saying anything?"
First of all, I had never revealed my identity to anyone. In other words, this person could only be making assumptions about me. They had none of the evidence needed to conclude I was an evil spirit.
"I told you. I come from America. We're like aliens here—shouldn't we stick together?"
This behavior was therefore clearly abnormal. Sure, a player could feel me out if they suspected I was one as well, but to be this obvious about it? It didn't make logical sense. I might actually be a local. What kind of guts would they have to have to be the first one to reveal their identity?
I mean, in a city where you receive the death penalty the moment you get caught as an evil spirit?
Well, maybe if they'd only been here a month, it would make sense for them to be naive. But he just said that it'd been over three years since he had arrived. It was ridiculous to think he could have survived for three years acting like that.
"We've created a sort of game association amongst ourselves. I'll tell you about it."
Above all else, however, the way he pronounced the noun "game" was awkward, like a Korean character in a foreign movie.
Plus, if he didn't intend to hide his identity from me, he would have just spoken to me in English.
Maybe if he had, it would've reduced the number of suspicions I had, but this bastard was beating around the bush instead of going about things the easiest way. That was why I reached a firm conclusion based on the evidence provided.
"Hey, can't you trust me now?"
This guy wasn't a player, but he was pretending to be one to feel me out. And I could only think of one reason why a local would take on the identity of an evil spirit.
He's here specifically to catch me.
Well, I guess I did see this coming, given that I was in a city where the existence of evil spirits was common knowledge. I couldn't find anything about it in any of the books in the library, but there must have been an institution that specialized in dealing exclusively with evil spirits.
He must still be unsure since there can't be any concrete evidence.
And so my mission was clear. I had to get him to cast aside all his doubts. He may have just been feeling me out right now, but one day, they could use magic to launch an investigation against me. I needed to nip this in the bud now so they would never even consider that option later on.
But, how?
What actions did I have to take to convince them that I was not an evil spirit? The answer to that question was really simple.
I took a big step forward.
"...Why are you coming toward me all of a sudden? That's too close—"
"I have a question for you."
My statement was met with silence. The guy paused for a moment, then smiled as if he was relieved and nodded. "Ah, yes, anything."
"Then I'll speak freely. Are you an evil spirit?"
"What do I have to hide? I am. Which is why—"
Okay, I had a definitive answer. "Enough. You don't have to say anything else."
"Pardon? What do you mean—"
"The chieftain told me that evil spirits need to be killed on the spot."
A face full of bewilderment blinked back at me. "S-Sorry...?"
I charged at him, shouting loudly so that the sound would reverberate through the square. "Behelahhh!"
Barbarians did not tolerate injustice. A fist landed right on his temple. Confusion, doubt, and fear appeared in the man's eyes, which had turned into kneaded dough, but there was no use looking at me. It was not like I was doing this because I had a personal grudge against him. And if you thought about it, he had been asking for it.
Smack!
The man had openly revealed his identity to me, but if I pretended not to know what he was talking about and ran away, he would only get more suspicious. That was something a local barbarian who was raised the right way would never do.
Bang!
Therefore, I grabbed the man's neck as he lost his balance and threw him to the ground in a combo move.
Smack! Smack! Punch! Punch! Punch!
In one smooth movement, I got on top of him and struck him with fists the size of watermelons over and over again. His physical resistance level seemed to be quite high, and his skin was hard, but all of that was useless in the face of my recently beefed-up strength stats.
"W-Wait...!" His face was bloodied in just a few punches, but I did not hesitate and did what I had to do. Of course, he shouted at me like this was unfair. "I-I'm not one of them! I'm not!"
Yeah, of course you're not an evil spirit. But what can I do? I have to live too.
"You're lying too? You must really be a wicked evil spirit."
"No, I mean—! Agh! Ahhh!"
How many more punches did I get in after that? A large crowd, as well as nearby guards, gathered around the sudden brawl—just as I wanted.
"Hey! What are you doing? How dare you use violence in the middle of the city?"
"Get him off!"
I stopped punching him immediately and got up. Was it because of my grade-two armor? Unlike when I had been framed and arrested by the guild before, the guards were hypervigilant and approached with caution. That wasn't necessary, though.
Thud!
I picked up the unconscious man, threw him at the guards, and shouted out loud for everyone around to hear. "This man is an evil spirit! He revealed that to me himself and tried to do something funny!"
"What? An evil spirit?" The guards, who had been approaching the unconscious man under the assumption that he was the victim, flinched at my words. The onlookers watching us also murmured. Of course, most of them were skeptical.
"Evil spirit? That barbarian must've misunderstood."
"...Misunderstanding or not, that fellow's going to have to pay a lot of money for turning a person into pulp like that."
It made sense. A barbarian's shouts wouldn't be considered all that trustworthy. But what about this? "I am Bjorn, son of Yandel! I swear on my honor as a warrior that I do not tell lies!"
Little Balkan, Bjorn, son of Yandel. Not to praise myself, but that was the hottest name in the city these days.
"Little Balkan?"
"...Come to think of it, I did hear that he wears a lithium breastplate."
"Then is that man really...?"
"If he is, it's worth believing..."
"An adventurer as well-known as that wouldn't beat up an innocent person and spout such nonsense."
A face full of bewilderment blinked back at me. "S-Sorry...?"
I charged at him, shouting loudly so that the sound would reverberate through the square. "Behelahhh!"
Barbarians did not tolerate injustice. A fist landed right on his temple. Confusion, doubt, and fear appeared in the man's eyes, which had turned into kneaded dough, but there was no use looking at me. It was not like I was doing this because I had a personal grudge against him. And if you thought about it, he had been asking for it.
Smack!
The man had openly revealed his identity to me, but if I pretended not to know what he was talking about and ran away, he would only get more suspicious. That was something a local barbarian who was raised the right way would never do.
Bang!
Therefore, I grabbed the man's neck as he lost his balance and threw him to the ground in a combo move.
Smack! Smack! Punch! Punch! Punch!
In one smooth movement, I got on top of him and struck him with fists the size of watermelons over and over again. His physical resistance level seemed to be quite high, and his skin was hard, but all of that was useless in the face of my recently beefed-up strength stats.
"W-Wait...!" His face was bloodied in just a few punches, but I did not hesitate and did what I had to do. Of course, he shouted at me like this was unfair. "I-I'm not one of them! I'm not!"
Yeah, of course you're not an evil spirit. But what can I do? I have to live too.
"You're lying too? You must really be a wicked evil spirit."
"No, I mean—! Agh! Ahhh!"
How many more punches did I get in after that? A large crowd, as well as nearby guards, gathered around the sudden brawl—just as I wanted.
"Hey! What are you doing? How dare you use violence in the middle of the city?"
"Get him off!"
I stopped punching him immediately and got up. Was it because of my grade-two armor? Unlike when I had been framed and arrested by the guild before, the guards were hypervigilant and approached with caution. That wasn't necessary, though.
Thud!
I picked up the unconscious man, threw him at the guards, and shouted out loud for everyone around to hear. "This man is an evil spirit! He revealed that to me himself and tried to do something funny!"
"What? An evil spirit?" The guards, who had been approaching the unconscious man under the assumption that he was the victim, flinched at my words. The onlookers watching us also murmured. Of course, most of them were skeptical.
"Evil spirit? That barbarian must've misunderstood."
"...Misunderstanding or not, that fellow's going to have to pay a lot of money for turning a person into pulp like that."
It made sense. A barbarian's shouts wouldn't be considered all that trustworthy. But what about this? "I am Bjorn, son of Yandel! I swear on my honor as a warrior that I do not tell lies!"
Little Balkan, Bjorn, son of Yandel. Not to praise myself, but that was the hottest name in the city these days.
"Little Balkan?"
"...Come to think of it, I did hear that he wears a lithium breastplate."
"Then is that man really...?"
"If he is, it's worth believing..."
"An adventurer as well-known as that wouldn't beat up an innocent person and spout such nonsense."
The murmurs continued and public opinion shifted. Even the guards realized who I was, and looked confounded about what they should do.
At that moment, a man who appeared to be the captain of the guards approached me. "May I check your papers?" It was the kind of polite request that would have been unimaginable in the past. As soon as I handed it to him, he gave me a strange look. "You really are him. First, let me say thank you. My brother has returned from the labyrinth thanks to you."
"Is your brother in the Dzarwi clan?"
"No, but he's one of the people who paid the protection fee and followed you."
Huh, there had to be fewer than ten of those people still alive. This could not be a more incredible coincidence. But this and that were two different things. "So, when are you going to kill that evil spirit? It's a pity he's still alive."
"That will be decided only after the investigation is over. It looks like you will have to accompany us to the authorities. Is that all right with you?"
"Hmm, I'm quite hungry, though..."
"We will provide you with a meal, of course. If what you say is true, you have just done us an outstanding service."
"An outstanding service, huh?" Unlike usual, I thought this over carefully. How would a barbarian answer that? As always, I didn't have to think for long. "What does that mean?" It was the kind of question that you couldn't come up with without tapping into a barbarian psyche.
The captain of the guard chuckled. "It means you did something great," he answered.
"Something great? Then will I get meat as a side dish?" Maybe that was going a bit too far, even for a barbarian. That thought came to mind, but a glance at the captain's eyes told me that didn't seem to be the case.
"...I will treat you with my own money if I have to, so I hope you'll come with us."
"In that case, well..." After that, I followed the guards out of the central plaza.
But for some reason, this was what I kept hearing behind me:
"Little Balkan slayed an evil spirit!"
"With this story, I won't have to pay for drinks today."
***
[Your Reputation has increased by +1.]
[Your Reputation has increased by +1.]
***
I was slightly anxious about this plan I had totally improvised on the spot, but everything went smoothly after that. When the guards searched the unconscious man's clothes, a badge came out.
"Oh, this is the stamp of an evil spirit hunter."
At first, there was an uproar in the Ministry of Security. It made sense, given that the person who had been brought in under suspicion of being an evil spirit had the stamp of an evil spirit hunter on him. Therefore, the Ministry of Security contacted their association, and soon, a person who seemed to be the man's superior arrived.
"Uh, so, this man... is an associate of ours..."
"This man revealed to me that he is an evil spirit with his own lips. How do you explain that?"
At first, he had a confused look on his face, but once he understood what was going on, he answered my question with dread in his tone. "That's... a customary measure that is usually taken against those who have achieved fame in a short period of time or who have accomplished an extraordinary feat."
"Stop. I can't understand if you make it so complicated."
"We were suspicious of you."
"What? Are you saying you suspected me of being an evil spirit? Who was it? Who was the one who suspected me? Was it you!?"
The murmurs continued and public opinion shifted. Even the guards realized who I was, and looked confounded about what they should do.
At that moment, a man who appeared to be the captain of the guards approached me. "May I check your papers?" It was the kind of polite request that would have been unimaginable in the past. As soon as I handed it to him, he gave me a strange look. "You really are him. First, let me say thank you. My brother has returned from the labyrinth thanks to you."
"Is your brother in the Dzarwi clan?"
"No, but he's one of the people who paid the protection fee and followed you."
Huh, there had to be fewer than ten of those people still alive. This could not be a more incredible coincidence. But this and that were two different things. "So, when are you going to kill that evil spirit? It's a pity he's still alive."
"That will be decided only after the investigation is over. It looks like you will have to accompany us to the authorities. Is that all right with you?"
"Hmm, I'm quite hungry, though..."
"We will provide you with a meal, of course. If what you say is true, you have just done us an outstanding service."
"An outstanding service, huh?" Unlike usual, I thought this over carefully. How would a barbarian answer that? As always, I didn't have to think for long. "What does that mean?" It was the kind of question that you couldn't come up with without tapping into a barbarian psyche.
The captain of the guard chuckled. "It means you did something great," he answered.
"Something great? Then will I get meat as a side dish?" Maybe that was going a bit too far, even for a barbarian. That thought came to mind, but a glance at the captain's eyes told me that didn't seem to be the case.
"...I will treat you with my own money if I have to, so I hope you'll come with us."
"In that case, well..." After that, I followed the guards out of the central plaza.
But for some reason, this was what I kept hearing behind me:
"Little Balkan slayed an evil spirit!"
"With this story, I won't have to pay for drinks today."
***
[Your Reputation has increased by +1.]
[Your Reputation has increased by +1.]
***
I was slightly anxious about this plan I had totally improvised on the spot, but everything went smoothly after that. When the guards searched the unconscious man's clothes, a badge came out.
"Oh, this is the stamp of an evil spirit hunter."
At first, there was an uproar in the Ministry of Security. It made sense, given that the person who had been brought in under suspicion of being an evil spirit had the stamp of an evil spirit hunter on him. Therefore, the Ministry of Security contacted their association, and soon, a person who seemed to be the man's superior arrived.
"Uh, so, this man... is an associate of ours..."
"This man revealed to me that he is an evil spirit with his own lips. How do you explain that?"
At first, he had a confused look on his face, but once he understood what was going on, he answered my question with dread in his tone. "That's... a customary measure that is usually taken against those who have achieved fame in a short period of time or who have accomplished an extraordinary feat."
"Stop. I can't understand if you make it so complicated."
"We were suspicious of you."
"What? Are you saying you suspected me of being an evil spirit? Who was it? Who was the one who suspected me? Was it you!?"
When I snorted furiously as if in offense, the superior began to sweat profusely. "As I said before, it is a customary measure—"
"Speak plainly! Are you joking with me!?"
"What is certain is this will never happen again! So please, lower your voice..."
I was beginning to understand why barbarians lived like this. It was easy. The baffled reactions you got were also quite amusing. "Hmm, then what will happen to me? If he's not an evil spirit, shouldn't I be punished?"
"O-Of course not."
"That's a relief. I'm tired, so I'm going to leave."
"S-Sorry? Ah yes... go ahead..."
As soon as there was an opportunity to dip, I left the building and headed back to the inn. I had acted assertively in front of those people, but inwardly, I had wanted nothing more than to leave.
Fuck...
To be honest, I was tired, just as much as I had been after getting chased by the Lord of the Floor.
I had no idea they would have such detailed information.
America, Europe, and everything else. He had even mentioned the game, and the way he spoke was natural enough for anyone to assume he was from Earth. Well, I could see through it because of his terrible Korean pronunciation, but still. What kind of difficulty was this?
Yeah. Not all of the bastards here are stupid...
It was no wonder that Tarikan Riyen had been dragged off to the guillotine.
"America? Taiwan? Europe? Where did you come from?"
"Wow, you almost fooled me. You're really good at acting. Aren't you just three months in?"
"Ah, there's no need to keep your guard up. I'm from America. I shouldn't have even touched this damned game."
In a strange city with no one to turn to, if someone suddenly came up to you and said something like that, it was only natural that you'd feel tempted.
Damn it all...
The more I thought about it, the more fucked up this world was. It was depressing enough to be suddenly dragged here and treated as an evil spirit, but now these assholes were even throwing in some bait? Monsters could just be beaten to death, but it wasn't like I could do the same with these guys, which made them worse.
"Whew..."
I breathed out the sigh of relief I had been holding back.
But I think I've passed for now.
Of course, I didn't know if the evil spirit hunters or whoever the hell had really stopped suspecting me, but I had done everything I could right now, so there was nothing more for me to do but wait patiently.
From now on, I have to act more like a barbarian.
After revising my future course of action, I entered my room. Then I lay down on the bed in my clothes. But... what now? There was an envelope on the bed. When I opened it and scanned the contents, I found a letter and a pill the size of a thumbnail.
What is this? Did Missha write me a letter? No, she wouldn't have had time.
As soon as I read the letter, I stiffened.
This is a random letter sent to an adventurer thought to be a player. If you can read this...
It was a letter written in English. I almost panicked and tossed it, but when I remembered there was no one else there, I got under the blanket and read it carefully. When roughly translated, the contents were as follows:
This is a random letter sent to an adventurer thought to be a player. If you can read this, never reveal to anyone that you are a player. Oh, and I ask that you do not translate the contents of this letter even if you are caught by an evil spirit hunter. Anyway, what I want to say is this: we have a completely anonymous community, and you can join us by taking the enclosed pill. If you do not wish to join, please throw away the pill. I sincerely hope for your survival.
The more I read it, the more scrambled my mind got. Was this the work of those same bastards?
Fuck, but it's too believable to be from them...
The fact that the letter only used simple words? Perhaps they were being considerate of non-English speakers. This game only supported English, after all. They would've assumed that I could understand this much.
If it were me, I would have used this exact method to identify and invite players.
This was different from the evil spirit hunters, who could only imitate us. This letter was thoroughly written from a player's point of view.
GHOST BUSTERS
Just look at the community name at the top. Wasn't it too witty to have been written by an evil spirit on the verge of death in the interrogation room?
But could those assholes write something like this?
Of course, it could be like a delayed attack, pretending to be sloppy and then taking you down when you got careless. Therefore, I hoped that the sender of this letter was a player. I didn't really need a community, but... If this really was a letter from the evil spirit hunters, I wasn't confident I could survive in this city.
P.S. Rafdonia's king, Motherfucker!
After all, how could you beat a bunch of bastards dedicated to hunting evil spirits?
When I snorted furiously as if in offense, the superior began to sweat profusely. "As I said before, it is a customary measure—"
"Speak plainly! Are you joking with me!?"
"What is certain is this will never happen again! So please, lower your voice..."
I was beginning to understand why barbarians lived like this. It was easy. The baffled reactions you got were also quite amusing. "Hmm, then what will happen to me? If he's not an evil spirit, shouldn't I be punished?"
"O-Of course not."
"That's a relief. I'm tired, so I'm going to leave."
"S-Sorry? Ah yes... go ahead..."
As soon as there was an opportunity to dip, I left the building and headed back to the inn. I had acted assertively in front of those people, but inwardly, I had wanted nothing more than to leave.
Fuck...
To be honest, I was tired, just as much as I had been after getting chased by the Lord of the Floor.
I had no idea they would have such detailed information.
America, Europe, and everything else. He had even mentioned the game, and the way he spoke was natural enough for anyone to assume he was from Earth. Well, I could see through it because of his terrible Korean pronunciation, but still. What kind of difficulty was this?
Yeah. Not all of the bastards here are stupid...
It was no wonder that Tarikan Riyen had been dragged off to the guillotine.
"America? Taiwan? Europe? Where did you come from?"
"Wow, you almost fooled me. You're really good at acting. Aren't you just three months in?"
"Ah, there's no need to keep your guard up. I'm from America. I shouldn't have even touched this damned game."
In a strange city with no one to turn to, if someone suddenly came up to you and said something like that, it was only natural that you'd feel tempted.
Damn it all...
The more I thought about it, the more fucked up this world was. It was depressing enough to be suddenly dragged here and treated as an evil spirit, but now these assholes were even throwing in some bait? Monsters could just be beaten to death, but it wasn't like I could do the same with these guys, which made them worse.
"Whew..."
I breathed out the sigh of relief I had been holding back.
But I think I've passed for now.
Of course, I didn't know if the evil spirit hunters or whoever the hell had really stopped suspecting me, but I had done everything I could right now, so there was nothing more for me to do but wait patiently.
From now on, I have to act more like a barbarian.
After revising my future course of action, I entered my room. Then I lay down on the bed in my clothes. But... what now? There was an envelope on the bed. When I opened it and scanned the contents, I found a letter and a pill the size of a thumbnail.
What is this? Did Missha write me a letter? No, she wouldn't have had time.
As soon as I read the letter, I stiffened.
This is a random letter sent to an adventurer thought to be a player. If you can read this...
It was a letter written in English. I almost panicked and tossed it, but when I remembered there was no one else there, I got under the blanket and read it carefully. When roughly translated, the contents were as follows:
This is a random letter sent to an adventurer thought to be a player. If you can read this, never reveal to anyone that you are a player. Oh, and I ask that you do not translate the contents of this letter even if you are caught by an evil spirit hunter. Anyway, what I want to say is this: we have a completely anonymous community, and you can join us by taking the enclosed pill. If you do not wish to join, please throw away the pill. I sincerely hope for your survival.
The more I read it, the more scrambled my mind got. Was this the work of those same bastards?
Fuck, but it's too believable to be from them...
The fact that the letter only used simple words? Perhaps they were being considerate of non-English speakers. This game only supported English, after all. They would've assumed that I could understand this much.
If it were me, I would have used this exact method to identify and invite players.
This was different from the evil spirit hunters, who could only imitate us. This letter was thoroughly written from a player's point of view.
GHOST BUSTERS
Just look at the community name at the top. Wasn't it too witty to have been written by an evil spirit on the verge of death in the interrogation room?
But could those assholes write something like this?
Of course, it could be like a delayed attack, pretending to be sloppy and then taking you down when you got careless. Therefore, I hoped that the sender of this letter was a player. I didn't really need a community, but... If this really was a letter from the evil spirit hunters, I wasn't confident I could survive in this city.
P.S. Rafdonia's king, Motherfucker!
After all, how could you beat a bunch of bastards dedicated to hunting evil spirits?