Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Terror Live
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[Cop Killer 'Dark Knight', Can't Rule Out Copycat...]
[K Telecom President Yang Jun-gu Found Dead at Home, Suicide Note Discovered on PC Notepad]
[Fake 'Dark Knight' Definitely Exists?]
I was sitting at my desk, scrolling through internet news articles.
I put a cigarette in my mouth and lit it.
Suck.
Exhale.
The tone of recent media reports had shifted a bit.
They'd been busy blindly trash-talking me before, but now they were starting to acknowledge the existence of a fake 'Dark Knight'.
It put my mind a little more at ease.
I wasn't hunting villains for the sake of fame, but it still sucked getting flak for stuff I didn't do. It ruined my whole day.
"Status Window."
------------[Status Window]------------
◈ Name
null
◈ Stats
[Strength 087 A]
[Agility 724 B]
[Intelligence 111 C]
[Luck 187 F]
[Overall C]
◈ Skills
[Inheritance 897 A]
[Dragon Heart --- A]
[Telekinesis 682 C]
[Magic Engraving --- B]
-----------------------------------
Thanks to hunting down several villains, including 'Medusa', my stats had gone up quite a bit.
The one to watch was the 'Inheritance' skill.
It was about to hit S-rank soon.
I was really looking forward to seeing how it would improve.
The room was thick with cigarette smoke.
I opened the window to air it out.
Knock knock.
Park Ha-yeon knocked on the door.
"Come in."
She came in, pinching her nose.
"Cough cough. What’s that smell?"
I stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray and apologized.
"Sorry. Did it reach the living room?"
"You smoke?"
"Ah, once in a while."
"...It's bad for you."
Park Ha-yeon picked up the cigarette pack on my desk.
"Confiscated!"
"Hey, hey. That's not cool."
I reached out to take it back.
She dodged my hand, and we ended up facing each other, flailing our arms.
Wobble.
In our light tussle, we lost our balance and fell.
I landed on top of Park Ha-yeon, who hit the floor first.
Somehow, I ended up straddling her.
"Eek!"
The soft sensation in my hands.
I'd accidentally grabbed her breasts when we fell.
'Whoa, why are my hands here...'
I quickly pulled them away and apologized.
"S-Sorry."
Awkward silence.
Hah.
Hah.
Our heavy breathing filled the room.
We stared into each other's eyes for a long moment.
Before things could escalate further, I got up first, figuring this could end badly.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to grab you when I fell."
"I-It's fine. It's not like it wears out or anything! I mean, not that—it was an accident!"
Blushing furiously, Park Ha-yeon hurried out of the room.
Left alone, I muttered to myself.
"Sigh. What a mess. Why'd she have to fall like that."
Going out to the living room now felt awkward.
I sat back down and checked the internet again.
Then, a breaking news alert popped up.
[Mass Hostage Crisis at Seongsan Bridge! Culprit is 'Dark Knight' Copycat, Demands: "Prepare 10 Billion Won Within 3 Hours and Have the Real 'Dark Knight' Deliver It Personally"]
I knew it instinctively.
That guy wanted me.
"I'll give him exactly what he wants."
What an annoying bastard.
Impersonating me and committing crimes.
Whatever he was after, things wouldn't go his way now that I was stepping in.
In the original story, there was no villain called 'Dark Knight', so no imposters either.
I had no clue where this guy came from or what his deal was.
But I wasn't worried.
I was a solid quasi-A-rank Awakener.
Plus, I had Laura's support now that she had a physical body.
There was no scenario where I lost.
I packed my gear and headed out.
Waiting outside the door was Laura, wearing just a T-shirt. No horns, wings, or tail in sight.
I pulled a robe from my bag and handed it to her.
"What happened to your wings and tail?"
"I can hide them if I want. It's a bit uncomfortable, though."
"I see. Let's head to Seongsan Bridge."
"This should be fun."
***
Seongsan Bridge.
Traffic was gridlocked, cars packed bumper to bumper.
A figure in a black robe appeared on top of a bus.
It was 'Darkness Jumper'.
She held a selfie stick in one hand.
A streaming camera was attached to the end.
Yoon Mi-so spoke in a distorted voice.
"Hello. I am Dark Knight."
She started a Black Streaming broadcast.
Title: [Seoul Terror Live Broadcast☆].
"From now on, I'm taking Seongsan Bridge—and everyone on it—hostage."
As soon as she finished speaking, a loud 'boom' echoed.
Explosions rocked both ends of the bridge.
The sections connecting it to the land were blown away, isolating the bridge over the river.
'Darkness Jumper' unleashed her henchmen.
They were all non-Awakeners and combat-inept Awakeners, lured in with money.
Dressed in black robes, they were armed with K2 rifles.
They dragged all the civilians trapped on the bridge out of their cars and herded them into one spot.
There wasn't much room amid the packed vehicles, but tossing a few cars into the river made space.
One of the henchmen had a 'Weight Adjustment' skill, making it possible.
At least a hundred people were gathered in one place.
Yoon Mi-so filmed them with the camera.
Terrified hostages trembling in fear.
"I've planted bombs all over the bridge. If anyone steps out of line, I'll blow it and collapse the whole thing. First demand: Black Streaming doesn't shut down my broadcast. Do that, and everyone dies."
Murmurs.
The hostages felt dread at the threat of mass murder.
"Quiet!"
Her henchmen shoved rifle barrels at the hostages, quelling the chaos.
Viewership was skyrocketing.
Black Streaming served a global audience.
Foreign viewers flooded in, hitting 5.3k watchers in an instant.
Top of the real-time trending broadcasts.
Fortunately, Black Streaming didn't ban her stream.
It was essentially risk-free viral marketing.
The chat was a nonstop flood of abuse.
[What the hell is this trash?]
[Fake Dark Knight lololol]
[150cm anchovy dude? Wanna be Dark Knight that bad?]
[Go die]
Yoon Mi-so tilted her head slightly.
'I didn't think it'd get exposed this fast. I figured the Association would pin it on Dark Knight... Guess not. More righteous than I thought?'
No point wearing the stuffy robe then.
She tossed it off.
"Okay, okay. Not Dark Knight! I'm Darkness Jumper! Ugh, this shitty concept was annoying anyway~ Glad that's over."
[What? Villain exposed kekeke]
[Black-haired decadent beauty ㄷㄷ]
[Fake Dark Knight busted for real. How do the deniers feel now?]
[Just wear a robe and boom, Dark Knight lol]
[Low-IQ idiots all shut up lol]
[B-rank Villain Darkness Jumper, the pleasure-killing psycho chick]
"Anyway, today's game: I'll post my account number in the announcement. Oh, government folks? Set the transaction limit to max and don't freeze the account. If you don't, it's no fun, so I'll kill everyone and bail. Your call."
"Eek."
The hostages shivered.
'Darkness Jumper' calmed them and continued.
"Anyway, we need to raise a total of 10 billion won in this account. You guys donate. Then withdraw it all in cash and bring it here."
Yoon Mi-so raised her index finger.
"But!"
A twisted smile.
Her face flushed with excitement as she emphasized.
"That money? Dark Knight himself brings it!"
'Darkness Jumper' pulled a pistol from her bosom and mimed shooting as she spoke.
"You get 3 hours total. Late or disobey, and all hostages die~"
The chat was full of skeptics.
[But how tf do we raise 10 billion?]
[Idk lol not donating anyway, broke af lol]
[10 Billion Is Doable If A Million People Send 10k Each]
[Korea's got 50 million people. No way not even a million donate?]
Yoon Mi-so didn't really care about getting the 10 billion.
All she wanted was 'Dark Knight'.
Blowing this up big was just to lure him here.
'Will you ignore me even now?'
If 'Dark Knight' really showed, she'd detonate the bombs the moment he handed over the money, collapsing the bridge.
Of course, teleporter her and A-rank Awakener 'Dark Knight' would survive.
She wanted to see his face twisted in despair as over a hundred innocents burned alive before his eyes.
Then she'd savor it fully before teleporting away.
That was her plan.