Chapter 374
Chapter 374
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 374
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
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Crunch-!
Thanks to the massive bird named Kupa turning everything into chaos, the main street soon became a scene of utter pandemonium.
“Kyaaah!”
“Bird! A bird!”
“Do something about it!”
Karuna had collided directly with Kupa and been flung far away, unable to get back up.
Kupa’s sudden appearance had been that shocking.
Even Jamad could only respond defensively to Kupa’s onslaught, unable to mount any clear offense of his own.
“Urk….”
Was he actually going to lose?
‘Those guys are beating Jamad?’
Grind…
In that instant, Jamad’s body swelled up.
[Jamad uses Meteor Fist.]
……
In response, the man named Jilliac clashed fists with him.
[Jilliac uses Dark Fist.]
……
KABOOM-!
The impact was like a massive bomb exploding in the middle of the city.
“Kraaagh!”
“Groooan….”
Both Jilliac and Jamad staggered back simultaneously.
The surroundings were a total mess, practically reduced to rubble.
“Yurin….”
“Seol-ah… We have to run.”
Even if they fled now, it didn’t seem like they could shake off Jamad and Karuna’s pursuit. They’d probably get caught right away.
‘Going back means hell.’
For a kid, just enduring the murderous workload at the docks was a gamble with their life.
Especially after a failed escape—they’d be tortured too. They might even die from the whippings.
“Those guys have to win. Otherwise….”
“Seol-ah, you’re wrong. Jamad’s stronger.”
“…….”
Yurin had a special power.
The ability to capture split-second movements.
Her words probably weren’t off the mark.
‘I need to think. So how do we get out of this?’
Crunch-!
“Damn it… He’s as strong as they say.”
“The barrier’s weaker than expected. All talk, huh.”
“Hahaha! Keep laughing while you can!”
Yurin shook her head as she eavesdropped on their conversation.
“They’ll pull back soon. I can feel it in their movements. We….”
“Yurin, listen.”
“…What?”
“To get out of here, we….”
I quickly explained my plan to Yurin. It was absurd, full of holes, but at least it was far more hopeful than heading back to the docks.
“…You trust me?”
“They’ve got to be better than Jamad.”
“No, I mean me.”
She was scared.
“I trust you.”
“…I’ll do it.”
KABOOM-!
KABOOOM-!
The fistfight was fierce.
At this rate, someone would collapse soon.
To stop that, Kupa swooped in.
At tremendous speed.
Screeeeech-!
Yurin’s eyes gleamed.
And I stood at a crossroads.
Yurin could see this moment, but I could see everything.
Karuna shoved past the bystanders and approached us. The plan was already half-failed.
‘Damn it….’
I spun around and threw myself away.
At that instant.
Whoosh-!
Kupa rocketed past the battlefield.
Carrying two humans.
“Hahaha! Jamad! You live up to the rumors! Not today, so next time… Huh? Who’s this guy? How’d he latch on?”
“We did it! Seol-ah! We succeeded… Seol-ah?”
“Kiri! There’s a kid here….”
“Don’t know, reinforcements showed up so let’s call off the recon.”
Whoosh-!
Kupa took even Kiri and soared into the sky. Yurin grew distant.
Winged creatures were beautiful in themselves.
Because they were free.
Meanwhile, I had to prepare to be thrown into hell.
“I’ll show you hell….”
Karuna whispered in my ear.
“Goodbye! Goodbye, Yurin!”
“Seol-ah!”
“Fly away! And never come back!”
“That kid… she’s smiling.”
“…Mission’s over. Now we just tail whoever Jamad contacts.”
“……Damn it.”
“We can’t save everyone.”
And with that, Kupa vanished.
Step…
Step…
Jamad approached with a friendly smile and whispered softly to me.
“Get ready.”
People might think he was checking on my safety, but the truth was entirely different.
Just like that, Yurin and my fates flipped.
I headed to a deeper hell, while Yurin headed to paradise.
* * *
Sizzle-!
Sizzzzzle-!
I’d escaped slave status at the docks. Instead, I’d been secretly transported to Jamad’s villa, blindfolded.
“Good work.”
“Yes.”
Jamad didn’t do anything particularly bad to me.
Sizzle-!
Sizzzzzle-!
An old man standing beside him tried to restrain him.
“I-If you plan to kill him….”
“Ah, oops. Got too carried away. Can’t have him broken.”
“Y-Yes… So, leave him to me.”
“Hmm, yeah. Getting mad at a kid is pretty pathetic anyway.”
He didn’t do anything particularly bad.
At least compared to what I’d expected.
Hell unfolded, but there was solid ground to stand on. Lucky for me, Jamad wasn’t one for grudges.
He didn’t vent his anger personally.
He seemed experienced in handling things like this.
Instead, an old man named Golun tortured me.
Zap…
Zzzap…
Mmph!
Mmmph!
I could endure it.
My frail body wouldn’t have lasted two days under Jamad’s direct torture, but this old man was skilled.
Nails would grow back.
Toenails too.
The gouged flesh would scar but heal over time.
I lost track of how much time passed.
Scant meals, torture, sleep.
Wake up, eat, torture, then sleep.
Now, I felt uneasy without the torture. It’d mean I’d been forgotten and discarded.
Golun, the old man, toyed easily with people’s minds. He never once smiled at me.
He engraved info about me, then used it when needed.
“Right, today’s your ninth birthday. Happy birthday.”
Zzzap…
Zap…
Mmmmmmph!
My screams, raw enough to tear my vocal cords, couldn’t escape. My childhood was spent with sharp blades and brutal tongs.
And so…
[Unbearable agony cultivates superhuman endurance.]
[Epiphany! Awakening a new ability.]
[Endurance: Awakening Pain Resistance.]
I welcomed my eleventh winter.
Another birthday would come soon.
I wondered what gift he’d prepared.
It probably wouldn’t end unscathed this time.
“Morning, poison spawn.”
“Heehee….”
Golun no longer gagged me. No need anymore.
I didn’t scream now.
When I stared at Golun’s impassive face during torture, he looked at me like I was something horrific.
Now, we even chatted while I endured.
“Old man, old man, why do you work under Jamad?”
“Used to roam the main roads. Got caught by Jamad right before retirement, been half-dead ever since.”
“Pffft… Sloppy work suits you, old man.”
“…Shut your mouth, it’ll hurt.”
Crunch…
“Urk… It does hurt.”
“Seol.”
“…….”
“The friend who abandoned you is probably spending a happy winter somewhere. Snuggled by the fireplace, sweet dreams and all. No regrets about that day?”
Smirk…
“…None. Not a single moment.”
“Never met anyone like you. Plenty talk big, though.”
“Am I even human, stuck in hell….”
“…….”
I grew up in a dark room, gaining no knowledge or wisdom. Without light, plants wither and die.
Humans too.
“…That’s enough for today. See you tomorrow.”
“Later.”
Even Golun didn’t seem thrilled about coming to see me.
Jamad hadn’t visited the villa once since I turned nine. He wandered the continent, managing businesses everywhere.
Even the villain who’d thrown me into hell had forgotten me. I wasn’t worth revenge.
Just an annoying pest.
“You die today.”
“……What?”
A biting winter.
Golun’s words on the birthday he hadn’t forgotten.
I could escape hell now. But whether that was better, I couldn’t say.
I didn’t want to die.
“Shh… Jamad’s man is still in the mansion. Listen to what I say and keep replies minimal. Never raise your voice. No—when I signal, raise it loud.”
“What’s….”
“If you get it, just nod. You’re quick on the uptake; you’ll figure it out soon.”
Nod…
Golun kept talking.
“It’s been well over two years since you got here. Jamad’s order: dispose after two years.”
“…….”
“You have to die. How long can you hold your breath?”
“…Five minutes.”
“Little monster.”
“Got bored, so I practiced.”
My entertainment here was beating breath-holding records or passing out from mistakes.
“Today, an overseer comes to confirm your disposal. Probably arriving at the mansion soon.”
“You have to die. Remember my words.”
Clank…
Golun doused me in prepared blood and wrapped me in a sack.
“He’s coming. Hold your breath from now. At least you roll that penstand; you’ve got a shot.”
Hah…
I held my breath from then.
Soon, someone opened the door.
Creak…
“Ugh… Blood smell.”
“…Obviously. So, what’re you here to check?”
“The kid who was here. Orders to confirm disposal. Hm? Where is he?”
“Right here. Where else?”
“This sack? Whoa… So much blood.”
“Done checking? Get lost.”
“Wait, gotta make sure the job’s done.”
“Don’t untie it; special cloth, hard to retie….”
“Untie wha—.”
Puuk…
‘Mmmph!’
A knife plunged into my thigh.
“…No scream means he’s definitely dead.”
“See? Just leaking blood.”
“Hahaha! Sorry about that. I’ll report it handled.”
“Get out already.”
Creeeak…
The pain in my thigh was severe.
Not just agony—without a tourniquet, it was dangerous.
“Hmph….”
I felt Golun hoist the sack and carry it somewhere.
“Well, thanks.”
“No problem.”
“Hold on, let’s talk a bit before moving. Buy some time.”
“…Finish quick. Staying long is risky.”
“Got it.”
Rip…
I felt the sack tear open.
“You alive?”
“Phaaa… Didn’t I have to die?”
“…You held your breath that whole time?”
“Nine minutes. New record.”
“…Crazy bastard.”
“Old man, tell me. After the whole act, where are you taking me?”
“…Not taking you. You’re leaving.”
“Me? Leaving?”
Golun said,
“Yeah, you’re getting on a slave ship. Not a bad place for slaves—pull yourself together there.”
“…Why are you doing this for me?”
Swish…
“Take this. Hemostatic.”
“Tell me. I….”
“Birthday gift.”
“……What?”
“Happy eleventh, Kang Seol.”
A real birthday gift.
I could endure any pain, but not the turmoil in my heart.
Tears streamed down.
“…….”
“Proud of surviving two years with me. Now go.”
“Why… why….”
“Don’t know. Old age got me stubborn, or maybe I want that thing I couldn’t steal from Jamad back then.”
“Then… take care of yourself.”
Clop…
Clop…
The carriage started moving.
I caught Golun muttering.
“Still sloppy at this.”
I could picture Golun’s face.
He was smiling.
The first real face of Golun he’d shown me.
From him, I received both hell and heaven. Contradictory, but he was the second person after Jamad to change my fate.
* * *
A battered me was loaded onto a slave ship.
Dozens of kids crammed into a filthier-than-chicken-coop hold.
Couldn’t even twitch.
“Sob… Hic….”
“Who’s crying, huh? Shut up!”
“B-But….”
“Shut it and go.”
Some kids had adapted to their lot, others hadn’t.
‘Kinda comfy?’
Compared to the villa tortures, this was paradise.
‘Can’t move? Then don’t.’
Twisted positivity only hell could forge.
Rumble…
The slave ship set off.
No clue where to.
Start was smooth.
But.
Exactly three days later, the slave ship grew rowdy.
“Bail the water!”
“Damn it! Haul it up!”
The slave ship had hit a storm.
Urp…
Bleurgh…
The hold soon became another sea of vomit.
‘Correction: this is hell too.’
My first seasickness wasn’t something even perfected endurance could shrug off.
Figured it’d calm soon.
But maybe I’d underestimated fate.
Crunch-!
Shock climbing from the keel up through the hull.
‘This….’
Soon, the ship was in total uproar, worse than before.
“Problem in the cargo hold!”
“Patch it! Block the hole!”
“Water’s rising too fast!”
“The slaves….”
“Handle that first!”
“There… lights there… ship… ship incoming!”
“Pirates! It’s pirates!”
Sob… Sob…
The kid who’d told others to shut up started crying.
Even this chaos was too much, huh.
‘This ship… sinking?’
If it sank, even twenty hours of breath-holding wouldn’t save me. Felt a bit sorry for Golun who’d busted me out.
Crunch-!
“Gaaah! What the—!”
The ship tilted.
‘Can’t… swim.’
Right then, someone kicked open the slaves’ hold door.
KABOOOM-!
“Ugh… Stench.”
Even he seemed overwhelmed by the floor’s smell. I couldn’t move, just listened to his voice.
Who was it.
The captain?
“Don’t give up, little lambs! Uwahahahaha!”
Unfamiliar voice.
He announced himself.
“Great Pirate Santos has arrived! Here to steal you slaves from the storm!”
“Santos, dangerous! We gotta go!”
“Tons of slaves here! Let’s take ’em!”
“You’re just rescuing them!”
“What? These are all money!”
“Damn it… excuses… Fine!”
With the storm, a new path of fate opened.