Chapter 192
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 192
Chapter Title: Bait
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Yawn. This is boring.”
Endless yawns escaped the lips of Go Nam-cheol, the tough Busan guy.
Ever since Ryu Min and Ma Kyung-rok had cleaned house among the old PleSeBa members, crimes committed by players had dropped off sharply.
With only upright, clean-cut players left, it was fair to say there were basically no criminal players anymore.
That was why Go Nam-cheol was slacking off.
“No news is good news, sure, but this is just too damn dull.”
Incidents popped up maybe once every two weeks, if that.
It was a string of idle days.
With less work than expected, showing up every day felt like pure gravy.
“If only I could see the deputy commander's face again.”
Go Nam-cheol suddenly recalled his first encounter with the Black Scythe.
After losing a duel to him by an overwhelming margin, he'd fixed his dialect and learned a ton as a squad member.
‘To think I charged in like some clueless pup. What a pathetic fool I was.’
It was cringe-worthy in hindsight, enough to kick the blankets, but it had been a good experience.
When else would he get a shot at dueling the Black Scythe?
“What a guy. How the hell did he rack up twenty million points in Round 11?”
Being in the same squad made him swell with pride for no reason.
He'd been too busy lately to meet up, but even just seeing his face would be nice.
“What are you doing for three hours?”
Go Nam-cheol was checking the remaining time, yawning lazily, on the verge of drifting off.
Weeeeng—
A clear alarm blared.
His eyes snapped open as he snatched the radio.
*Incident reported, incident reported, Code Zero-One, Code Zero-One. Emergency player bell activated at GS24 convenience store in Gwangjin-gu. Respond immediately. Over.*
“One-eight.”
Go Nam-cheol bolted out of the makeshift Seoul Gwangjin Police Station after logging the report.
The scene was close enough that running beat driving.
It had been nearly two weeks since the last incident, so he felt a twinge of tension.
‘Some psycho pulling a robbery? That’d make ’em a real idiot.’
It had been two months since the CPF unit was formed.
Korea’s public safety was stable enough to call it secure.
Turn on the TV, and it was all Seo Ah-rin in CPF PSAs, so every Korean knew the drill.
Commit a crime here, and you wouldn’t escape death.
‘And yet they still pull it off.’
Had to be a foreign player, or someone clueless about the CPF.
‘This the place?’
Go Nam-cheol arrived at the report site and shoved open the convenience store door.
Ding—
The sight was gruesome.
A man in his forties, probably the owner, lay dead with his throat slit.
The deja vu of his first real combat made Go Nam-cheol’s eyes twitch.
‘Crazy convenience store robber bastard. If I catch you, you’re dead meat—chant it!’
He scanned the surroundings with his search skill per protocol, checking for movement.
Red dots appeared, but they were all civilians upon closer inspection.
‘That one maybe?’
One dot was moving fast, practically running.
Suspecting the perp, he gave immediate chase.
Thud thud thud—
The distance closed quickly.
He’d bought speed-boosting shoes from the special shop just for times like this.
“Hey! Stop right there!”
He yelled at the fleeing figure, but it kept running.
Suspicion turned to certainty.
“Stop, damn it!”
Go Nam-cheol smirked as he saw it head into a dead-end alley.
‘Gotcha.’
He halted upon entering the alley.
He’d chased one, but two stood waiting.
The way they seemed to expect him sent a chill down his spine.
He whipped around at a noise—two more had appeared behind.
Suddenly surrounded by four.
‘What the hell? Foreign players?’
Judging by their faces and clothes, definitely foreigners.
Trapped front and back, Go Nam-cheol swallowed hard.
“Who the hell are you?”
No answer to his Korean.
They just smirked, like the situation amused them.
“Heh heh, look at this punk. Shitting his pants already.”
“Chased one, and suddenly it’s four. Gotta be a shock.”
“Language barrier? Enough chit-chat—let’s get to work.”
“Yeah. Take him down first. Gotta use him as bait.”
As all four drew weapons, Go Nam-cheol grasped the gravity.
‘Fuck, we’re screwed. No wonder I was yawning all day...’
He couldn’t take four, but hell, he was a Busan tough guy, right?
“Fuck this. Come at me. I’ll take at least two with me.”
He buffed his blade with Blade Master skills: Fighting Spirit and Swift Blade.
Blue light rimmed the long edge, boosting attack and speed.
His murderous glare holding the sword made the approaching foes hesitate in surprise.
“This bastard’s got some fire in his eyes. He’s no pushover.”
“No fear. We’re four.”
“Who’s scared? Me, Brazil Zone rank one? No way I flinch from this ragtag shit.”
“Then you go first.”
“Ha, watch this. I’ll flatten him in a minute.”
Brazil ranker [Bricks] closed the gap in a flash.
Startled by the speed, Go Nam-cheol swung—but.
Clang—!
His steel fist, from the monk class, blocked it cold.
And that was just the start.
Clang—clang—clang—
Exchanges flew, but every slash got parried by Bricks’ fists.
“Think that pigsticker can beat me? Heh heh.”
The monk skill Steel Fist turned fists to iron lumps—a counter to all melee jobs.
‘Fuck, why do his fists sound like metal?’
Panicking, Go Nam-cheol decided to use his blade’s reach and create distance.
But the foreigner stuck like glue.
“Huh?”
Bricks slapped a palm to his gut and yelled.
“Boom!”
KABOOM—!
“Gahhh!”
A massive blast hurled Go Nam-cheol back.
He smashed into a wall ten meters away and crumpled.
“Urgh...”
Even in armor, his guts churned; the shock lingered.
“What? Total wimp. Didn’t even take a minute.”
Bricks sneered arrogantly.
“Don’t waste energy watching. I’ll handle this punk.”
“Can’t hog all the fun. I wanna play too.”
“Give it up. Don’t wanna kill him by accident.”
“Yeah. Leave it to Bricks.”
The three snickered, arms crossed.
They were fully hands-off, and Go Nam-cheol saw it.
‘These fuckers...’
Rage boiled at being dismissed, but reality was he couldn’t beat that steel fist.
‘Why am I... up against these assholes...’
They were rank-one apostles from their countries, but Go Nam-cheol had no clue.
“I’ll... kill you.”
“What’s that? Fuckin’ weirdo.”
Go Nam-cheol vanished in a blink.
Bricks startled, but he hadn’t really disappeared.
Just closed in crazy fast.
Surprised by the speed, but Bricks smirked.
No issue blocking with Steel Fist.
He tracked the blade and met it with his fist.
Should’ve been clang—but a different sound rang out.
Slash—!
‘Huh?’
The blade veered, slicing Bricks’ wrist.
Steel Fist blocked blades when fisted, but wrists were soft.
“Arghhh!”
Seeing his wrist severed from complacency, snickers erupted behind.
“Knew it, Bricks.”
“Why go solo?”
“Brazil rank two’s gonna cry foul.”
He allowed one, but not two.
Clang—clang—
Blocking slashes with one fist, Bricks opened his palm again.
“Wind!”
Fwooom—!
“Cugh!”
Cannon-like gust slammed Go Nam-cheol into the wall anew.
“Bricks, need backup?”
“Shut up! I’ll kill this mangy dog.”
“Hey, no killing. Forgot? We use him to lure the Black Scythe?”
“We got other bait! Other teams’ll snag some!”
“That’s why we test if he works—talk to him first.”
Fair point; Bricks cooled off.
“Fine. Let’s chat.”
He stanched his wrist with emergency heal and approached.
“Hey. You tight with your deputy commander?”
“Huh?”
“Your boss. Boss. Dark Scythe.”
Even English-illiterate Go Nam-cheol caught “boss” and “Dark Scythe.”
“You mean our deputy commander?”
“What’s he saying? Thinks he gets it?”
“Looks like.”
“Hey, phone number. Your boss’s number? Call him here.”
Go Nam-cheol’s face twisted as comprehension dawned.
“Fuck off.”
“What?”
“Fuck you, asshole.”
“Fuck you? Holy shit, the balls. Guys, what now?”
As Bricks turned to his crew—
“Watch out!”
Go Nam-cheol’s blade thrust for his throat.
But Bricks had baited the gap, twisting aside to flank him.
“Think I’m a pushover?”
Steel Fist smashed his side.
Crack—
“Gaaack!”
Ribs snapped; Go Nam-cheol howled, collapsing.
Crunch—!
“Arrrgh!”
Stepping on his wrist dropped the blade.
“See? He’s feral—no way he spills the number.”
“Yep.”
“Cool? My turn to play?”
“Yeah, do you. But don’t drag it out. Time’s short.”
“Got it.”
Bricks leered down like a demon.
“Wrong guy to mess with. Dare maim my hand? I’ll pulverize every bone like dough, make you suffer till the end.”
“Grrgh...”
As Bricks’ rage-fueled fist rose—
“Man, four bodies ripe for the taking.”
A robed man strolled into the alley.
Joo Seong-tak, sent by the Black Scythe.
“Who’s this punk?”
Bricks glared murderously—but that was a mistake.
It gave Joo Seong-tak his Fear Curse shot.
“Aaah...”
Bricks shuddered like he’d seen a ghost; his crew stared oddly.
Joo Seong-tak closed in, dagger plunging into his throat.
Stab—!
Easily felled Bricks’ corpse, tossed toward the group.
“Corpse Explosion.”
BOOM BOOM BOOM—!
The lax three apostles sprang back like coiled springs.
Soul-stored enhanced blast—devastating power.
“Guuuuh...”
“Urghhh...”
“Hnggg...”
Legless Twelve Apostles groaned into death.
“Tch. Can’t even beat me, yet targeting who?”
Joo Seong-tak spat on the corpses, stored their souls, and turned to Go Nam-cheol.
“You okay?”
Guts shaken, ribs and wrist smashed, but Go Nam-cheol stood quick.
“Th-thanks for the save. How’d you...?”
“Just passing by, heard noise.”
Per his master’s orders, no Black Scythe talk.
Truth was, monitoring squad members let him time it perfectly.
“Gotta go.”
“W-wait!”
Ignoring Go Nam-cheol’s call, Joo Seong-tak left the alley and dialed.
“Master. As predicted, hostiles approached the squad.”
*Yeah? How many?*
“Four. No necromancer you mentioned.”
*Split into three teams, huh. Handled?*
“All dead.”
*Good work. Tail other squad members. Spot the necromancer? Don’t kill.*
“As you command.”
* * *
Ryu Min pocketed his phone and donned his coat after the call.
‘Moving faster than expected.’
Good call assigning monitors.
‘Guess I move too.’
The Twelve Apostles would hit squad members simultaneously.
To bait him out as deputy.
‘Joo Seong-tak blocked one casualty, but others?’
Someone might be dead already.
Or betrayed.
Speak of the devil.
Riiiing—riiiing—
A call from a squad member.
“Hello?”
*D-deputy? N-need to talk. C-come here?*
“Sure. Where?”
Ryu Min smirked after the location and hung up.
‘Traitors in this loop too.’
Spot on.