Chapter 168
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 168
Chapter Title: Seeing You Again?
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Pretending to head to the bathroom, Ryu Min immediately transformed into Hwang Yong-min's appearance.
He covered himself with low-level gear.
No one would ever suspect Ryu Min.
‘That bastard Joo Seong-tak... the moment he sees me, he'll lose it, toss his crutches, and charge, right?’
Once prepared, Ryu Min loitered outside the main gate.
Then, his eyes met Joo Seong-tak's.
"You, you fucking bastard!"
Joo Seong-tak's face twisted in rage as he came charging like he wanted to kill.
It was as expected, but he didn't toss his crutches.
"You fucking prick, you finally showed up! I could grind you to dust and it still wouldn't be enough!"
As he charged, equipping his gear, Joo Seong-tak hurled his crutch.
But Ryu Min had already foreseen the future with his Foresight rune.
‘After dodging the crutch, he'll thrust his dagger while casting Curse of Fear at the same time.’
The plan was to paralyze him with fear and pierce his throat.
‘Not a bad strategy, but I have no intention of falling for it.’
Ryu Min didn't dodge the flying crutch but lightly swatted it away.
Thwack-!
Instead, it blocked Joo Seong-tak's vision, and Ryu Min closed the distance, slamming a fist into his face.
Crack-!
"Gah!"
A few teeth shattered as he toppled, and Ryu Min lightly kicked his side.
Crunch-!
"Argh!"
Grabbing the hair of the writhing man now collapsed in agony, Ryu Min smashed his head into the ground.
Once, twice, three times.
His forehead split open, blood flowing, and seeing him unable to come to his senses made Ryu Min lose the desire to keep beating him.
"Hey. Joo Seong-tak."
"Urgh..."
"Get it together, asshole. Or I'll smash your head more."
-Urgh, fucking bastard.
‘He can think, so he's come around.’
Ryu Min smirked inwardly and pinned his head to block his line of sight, preventing the Curse of Fear.
"You fucking bastard, I went out of my way to knock some sense into you by crippling your limbs, and you come charging at me like you want to die? You trying to get yourself killed for real? Still haven't learned, huh?"
"......"
"Exactly. You don't have the skills, so why charge in? Next time you try, you thought you'd win? Huh? Got knocked down without even using a single skill."
"......"
"You think charging in recklessly like that will magically give you power? Know your place, you cripple. Or did you miss getting beat by me so much you came back for more? Fine, I'll grant your wish. What should I cut off this time? How about digging out an eyeball?"
He didn't need to read thoughts to see the rage trembling through him.
‘It must be humiliating. The guy with sky-high pride.’
A little more prodding, and he'd chase him off as intended.
"Hey, say something. How should I do it? Should I just start however I want?"
"......"
"Not even talking? Boring. Just fuck off, you beggar bastard."
At the dismissal, Joo Seong-tak silently rose, leaning on his crutch.
Thud- thud- thud-
"Tsk tsk, look at you scurrying off the second I tell you to leave. Guess you wanna live, huh?"
Ryu Min mocked him openly to his back, but Joo Seong-tak didn't turn.
He just limped away like a defeated soldier.
"You fucking bastard, if you show up in front of me again, I'll really kill you next time. Got it?"
Pretending not to hear, Joo Seong-tak exited the gate and soon vanished from sight.
‘After humiliating him in front of everyone like this, even his pride should keep him away for a while.’
Ryu Min snorted and suddenly turned his head.
The piercing gazes of the Reaper Church members were fixed on him.
"Ahem, sorry for the sudden fight in your sacred church. As you saw, that bastard came at me with a knife first."
"Ah, do you know him?"
Ryu Min vaguely nodded at Eom Jun-seok's question.
"Yeah, I know him, but don't worry about it. He's just a lunatic."
Then Ryu Min's eyes met Seo Ah-rin's.
Seeing the sudden fury in her gaze, Ryu Min realized his mistake.
‘Oh right, I'm Hwang Yong-min right now?’
Hwang Yong-min had ambushed Seo Ah-rin early on, so they weren't on good terms.
‘Can't stick around long in this form.’
He hadn't planned to anyway, so he grumbled and turned away.
"Everyone, carry on. Sorry for the nuisance."
"Weren't you here to join our church?"
"Yeah, but I'll do it next time."
Leaving those words for Eom Jun-seok, Ryu Min slipped away where no eyes could reach him.
He immediately reverted to his true form.
unequipped his gear, activated invisibility, sneaked back in, and tapped Min Ju-ri's shoulder from behind.
"Eek! You scared me! When did you get here?"
"Just now."
"Where were you?"
"Watching the fight over there."
"You saw it too? Those two fighting."
"It was too one-sided to call it a fight."
"True. One side just beat the crap out of the other. Hitting a guy whose limbs aren't even working properly... I was seriously debating whether to help or not."
‘Yeah, to outsiders who don't know the situation, it must look like I was brutally beating an innocent cripple.’
But some would understand.
As they saw, the guy flipped out first and came swinging a knife.
Ryu Min glanced at Seo Ah-rin.
She looked conflicted because of Hwang Yong-min earlier.
‘She's debating whether to chase Hwang Yong-min down for revenge.’
Summoners shine in the mid-to-late game when they have lots of summons.
Seo Ah-rin now could handle anyone without issue.
Revenge on Hwang Yong-min would be a joke.
That is, if Hwang Yong-min were still alive.
‘Speaking of which, that Joo Seong-tak punk... something tells me he's gonna cause trouble.’
He'd successfully chased him out of the church, but the bomb hadn't been defused.
He could control his anger in front of the strong, but in front of the weak, he'd bully without fail.
‘Given Joo Seong-tak's nature, he'll do it.’
As Ryu Min thought it dangerous to leave him be, Heo Tae-seok led the group inside.
"Alright, show's over. Come on in. We'll finish the talk we were having."
Ryu Min followed, glancing back.
The ticking time bomb of a man left him uneasy.
* * *
Thud- thud- thud-
Joo Seong-tak limped home in pathetic shape.
Beep beep beep- click-
Living on the top floor of a four-story multi-household building, he tossed aside his crutch.
"Fuck, you fucking fuck!"
Panting in rage, a sharp pain suddenly hit his ribs.
He'd used emergency treatment on the way, but reconnecting bones was tough.
His head throbbed, jaw ached—traces of the beating tormented him everywhere.
"Fuck."
Grabbing a beer from the fridge, Joo Seong-tak slumped in a chair.
Pssh- thud!
He chugged one can right there, then tossed it lazily aside.
"Ugh, that motherfucker... I'll pay back today's humiliation for sure."
Of course, he had no intention of backing down.
It wasn't in his nature to let slights go unavenged.
From the moment he stabbed his parents to death, Joo Seong-tak had resolved to be reborn.
To shed the boredom and live unbound.
‘But I shouldn't have charged in so recklessly...’
Unlike him, he'd been too rash.
Even with a plan, victory wasn't guaranteed, yet he'd lunged with a dagger blindly.
‘Should've made a corpse like last time and lured him into a trap...’
Seeing the guy had hyped him up.
The last four months of hell flashed back.
Living like a robot with fake limbs, pouring all his living expenses into it, reduced to beggar life.
At least PlePle Market let him sell otherworld items for quick cash.
‘But being a cripple never changed.’
Turning into a cripple overnight, unable to control his own body.
His mind constantly boiled with rage.
He'd endured day by day solely on thoughts of finding and killing that nameless bastard.
And luckily, he'd met him today.
Joo Seong-tak, who fantasized daily about ripping him apart, had no room for reason.
That's why his eyes rolled back, and he charged without thinking.
"Fucking hell, the more I think, the madder I get."
Boom-!
Punching the wall left a dent.
Even without proper limbs, he was a transcendent player.
He was confident he could win.
There was a clear chance.
‘If only I'd gotten my skill off, it'd be over...!’
The plan was to close in, cast Curse of Fear, then stab with the dagger.
But the bastard struck his face first, a beat quicker.
After that, he couldn't even attempt a skill before getting pummeled.
‘This confirmed it. Getting close to that guy is dangerous.’
He seemed like a beefed-up warrior class, while Joo Seong-tak was more mage-like.
Common knowledge: mages keep distance against warriors.
‘Thinking I could just fear and stab like against monsters was the problem.’
Last time too, Curse of Fear had been resisted.
Now he realized Corpse Explosion offered better odds than Fear.
‘Next time, I won't lose. I'll prepare thoroughly and kill him.’
He didn't know the name or nickname, just the face, but he had ways to find him.
Knowing he was interested in the Reaper Church, he could just go back and ask for details.
‘Once I get his real name, [Track] will find him.’
If the church head refused for privacy?
‘I’ll torture the bastard till he spills.’
Giggling at the thought, the doorbell rang.
Ding-dong- ding-dong-
Suddenly insistent.
Ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong-!
"Ah, fuck, who the hell? Ring it normally, damn it."
Limping to the door, Joo Seong-tak opened it.
A 40-something muscular tattooed pig stared with an annoyed look.
"What?"
"Look at this punk? First word out his mouth is 'what.' This real life?"
"What's your problem."
"Hah, look at this young punk's short mouth."
The 40s gangster Kim Jong-sun wanted to punch him but held back.
‘Kids these days got rank, rank.’
Players acted like they owned the world.
This cripple-lookin' guy was probably a player too.
‘Fucking crip.’
A sneer tugged his lips, but provoking meant trouble for him.
Everyone knew normals couldn't match players.
So he swallowed his temper.
"What's the issue?"
"Sigh, I'm from downstairs. Heard something like wall-banging earlier. Keep it down, yeah? Was napping and you woke me up."
"What? Napping?"
Joo Seong-tak stared in disbelief, but Kim Jong-sun turned away like he'd said his piece.
"Anyway, be careful."
Joo Seong-tak stood frozen at the open door until the downstairs door shut.
Utter absurdity.
"Hah, fuck, that pig bastard smirked at me earlier, right?"
Now even non-players, regular folk, looked down on him.
Slam-
Closing the door, Joo Seong-tak returned to the living room and sighed in disbelief again.
"What? Napping interrupted? Do I gotta care about your fucking nap time? You prick."
Fuming, he grabbed his crutch from the entrance.
"Fine, since you're awake, I'll wake you more."
Then he stomped the floor repeatedly.
Boom boom boom boom boom! Boom boom boom boom boom!
"How's that, you fuck? Wake up enough? Huh?"
Boom boom boom boom boom! Boom boom boom boom boom!
Deliberately causing noise between floors, Joo Seong-tak irritably tossed his crutch.
Then.
Ding-dong!
"That dog-fuck coming up again?"
The doorbell rang again, pushing his rage to the top.
"Think I'm easy 'cause I'm crippled? Fine, time to gut your intestines."
Equipping gear, dagger in hand, he limped to the door and flung it open.
But the ringer wasn't from downstairs.
"Hi? Seeing you again?"
The guy who'd given him unforgettable humiliation at the church smiled and waved.