Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Queen Bee
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A day had passed.
Hae-jin, who had returned from the tenth Trials' Arena the previous day, got up early in the morning and washed up.
The reason was simple.
He planned to go to her school with So-hye.
To see the transfer student Player who had beaten up Kim So-hye the day before.
When So-hye came out in her school uniform, Hae-jin asked,
"Shall we go now, So-hye?"
"Yes!"
"Let's head straight there. Give me your hand."
"Yes!"
Hae-jin held out his hand, and So-hye grabbed it.
The two of them didn't have any particular mode of transportation.
No, to be precise, their mode of transportation was different from the norm.
It was using the Player Park Hae-jin as their ride.
As soon as So-hye took his hand, Hae-jin activated Shadow Blink.
To her school.
Whoooosh-!
Right after the teleport, So-hye exclaimed in admiration,
"Wow, what is this......"
Manager Kim had frequently teleported with Hae-jin to meet Representative Kim Min-su, but his daughter So-hye was experiencing Hae-jin's Shadow Blink for the first time.
So it was only natural that she was amazed.
Because 'teleportation' wasn't something ordinary people could do.
Anyway.
When they arrived at the school athletic field, Hae-jin sensed something there.
"They're over there."
"Pardon?"
So-hye was puzzled when Hae-jin suddenly stared at the school building as if something was there.
But regardless of her reaction, Hae-jin used Shadow Blink once more.
Whoooosh-!
Hae-jin teleported again with Shadow Blink.
His destination was none other than behind the school.
Behind the school, numerous female students were smoking cigarettes.
At least twenty of them, looking like a gang of delinquents.
Their faces practically screamed 'delinquent.'
At the center of the group were three girls, with the other two flanking one central girl.
The girl in the middle spoke.
"Alright, has everyone collected the money from their classes?"
"Yes, sis!"
"Hey."
The central girl mentioned collections to the girls in front of her, then called out to the girl on her left behind her.
The girl responded.
"Yeah, Leader?"
"Go collect it."
"Got it!"
At the central girl's order, the girl who had just replied moved to gather money from the group.
At that moment.
Whoooosh-!
"What...... what is that?!"
The girls jumped in surprise.
They had no choice but to be startled.
A shadow had suddenly surged up.
And from the surging shadow, the leader of the group that had just ordered the collection reacted.
"Kim So-hye?"
The girl immediately recognized So-hye.
It was only natural.
She was the transfer student who had beaten up Kim So-hye the day before.
So-hye flinched at the transfer student's reaction.
Seeing that, Hae-jin realized,
'That's the one.'
Hae-jin gauged the girl's strength.
And he could tell,
'She's grown more than expected. The other two survived the tenth Trials' Arena too, so they're not weak, but anyone could see she's stronger than both combined.'
There, Hae-jin considered,
'Should I use Odin's Eye?'
Odin's Eye.
A Sage-like ability that could read an opponent's information.
If so, learning the girl's info wouldn't be hard.
But Hae-jin didn't have the time for that.
From the girl who recognized So-hye just now, to the ones on either side of her, they all belatedly recognized Hae-jin.
"P-Park...... Park Hae-jin?!"
"W-Why is Massacre at our school......?"
"Oh my god! Hae-jin oppa!"
The girls on either side called Hae-jin "Park Hae-jin" or "Massacre," but the central girl suddenly called him "oppa."
Hae-jin tilted his head at the reaction.
'Oppa?'
Hae-jin looked at the girl.
Was she someone he had met before?
No.
He had never seen her.
But she was familiar from memory.
'Queen Bee.'
Alias: Queen Bee.
She hadn't appeared from the mid-to-late Trials' Arena onward, but up to the midpoint, she existed in Joo-hyuk's memories.
Queen Bee, a Player who survived the tenth Trials' Arena and beyond as a close-combat class—not a ranged one—in the body of an underage girl.
Queen Bee referred to a queen bee, a term not used positively, as usual.
Ruling over groups of boys like a queen while mocking people.
That was a queen bee.
But Queen Bee's meaning was different.
'Not just a simple queen bee, but like a queen hornet, hence the name Queen Bee.'
Queen hornet.
Named so because she was the largest and strongest among hornets, like their queen.
She was also called Queen Hornet, but Queen Bee herself preferred Queen Bee and settled on that alias.
Moreover, through Joo-hyuk's memories, Hae-jin knew her real name too.
'Ji Su-jeong.'
Queen Bee Ji Su-jeong.
That was the name of the transfer student who had beaten up Kim So-hye.
Recognizing her, Hae-jin thought,
'Yeah, setting aside the Player stuff, So-hye never stood a chance.'
The reason Ji Su-jeong was like a queen hornet was because her fists were vicious.
Originally, before becoming a Player, Ji Su-jeong was a high school girl who was a rookie queen in women's boxing with outstanding looks.
So even though So-hye had learned some self-defense techniques from Manager Kim, she couldn't match Ji Su-jeong.
Recalling that, Hae-jin said,
"Doing boxing and being a delinquent? What's the world coming to......"
At Hae-jin's words, Ji Su-jeong perked up her ears.
"Huh?! Oppa! You know about me?"
Ji Su-jeong quickly approached when Hae-jin mentioned something about her.
Not even using the footwork typical of boxers.
She closed the distance to Hae-jin in a single step.
So fast that someone might mistake it for shrinking steps.
Seeing that, Hae-jin said,
"A little?"
"Oh my god! Oppa's my fan!"
Ji Su-jeong suddenly declared Hae-jin as her fan.
Hae-jin made a face like he had no idea what she was talking about.
"......?"
"Huh? You're not a fan?"
Ji Su-jeong had assumed that since he knew she was a former boxer, he must be a fan.
But from Hae-jin's reaction, it seemed he wasn't.
Since Ji Su-jeong was mistaken, Hae-jin brushed it off vaguely.
"I just follow boxing a bit, so I think I've seen you. You're the rookie queen, right?"
"That's right!"
"Well, that's not the point. You're the one who hit our So-hye, aren't you?"
"'Our' So-hye?"
Ji Su-jeong reacted when Hae-jin spoke as if he and So-hye were close.
Hae-jin nodded at her response.
"Yeah, our So-hye."
"Are you perhaps So-hye's big brother? No, different last names?"
Park Hae-jin's last name was Park, Kim So-hye's was Kim.
So Ji Su-jeong found it odd.
Their last names were different, so they couldn't be siblings.
To Ji Su-jeong's question, Hae-jin answered,
"She's a friend's daughter. Like a niece, in a way."
"Oh no! So-hye, I'm sorry! Did it hurt a lot yesterday? I'm so sorry! I had no idea she was connected to you like that, and So-hye blocked my path, so I got angry without thinking and......"
When Hae-jin introduced So-hye as his niece, Ji Su-jeong apologized for yesterday's incident.
And she made excuses to Hae-jin about beating up Kim So-hye.
Hae-jin had a question about that.
"Isn't it wrong for someone who does martial arts to play delinquent at school?"
"Well, that'd be true if I kept being a boxer."
"Hm? Oh!"
Hae-jin wondered what she meant.
But he quickly realized what Ji Su-jeong was getting at.
Before Hae-jin could comment, Ji Su-jeong explained.
"You know, right? Ever since the Survival Game started, sports have basically collapsed."
She was right.
After the Trials' Arena began, most sports events had no choice but to be suspended indefinitely.
Many athletes who became Players didn't survive and never returned to reality, while those who did were complete irregularities to ordinary people.
To the point where competing against normal athletes was impossible.
So Player athletes were headaches for sports associations everywhere.
Should they compete only with non-Players?
But it was hard to even tell who was a Player, and including Players created too vast a gap with normal athletes.
There had even been talk of creating Player-only leagues.
But that was impossible too.
Even if they gathered Players for a league, most would vanish within a month.
As a result, sports associations were currently racking their brains with events on indefinite hold.
In any case, Hae-jin was aware of the situation.
He had just momentarily forgotten because he came for So-hye's revenge and safety.
To Ji Su-jeong's words, Hae-jin asked,
"So since you can't be a boxer anymore, you're becoming a delinquent?"
"Well, it's the best way to graduate school comfortably, right? And I lost my job, so I have to make a living somehow."
"I see."
"Yeah. Now that I've secured my position, I won't go around hitting kids recklessly anymore."
Ji Su-jeong said she chose this path for her livelihood.
And now that she ruled the school, she wouldn't resort to violence anymore.
On that note, Hae-jin posed one question to Ji Su-jeong.
"But do you know what position I'm in, Miss Ji Su-jeong?"
"What position?"
"Yes."
"The world's strongest Player?"
That was correct.
The world's strongest Player.
But the position Hae-jin meant wasn't that.
"No."
"Then what?"
Ji Su-jeong asked, not understanding what position Hae-jin was referring to.
Hae-jin clarified the position he meant.
"Do you know about the Villain Crime Task Force?"
Villain Crime Task Force.
It was the name for Hae-jin's "Villain Crime Dedicated Unit" that had stirred up the world for a while.
Ji Su-jeong knew about it too.
"Oh! The Villain Crime Task Force where you're the Leader, Hae-jin oppa?"
"That's right."
"But why bring that up...... Am I being treated as a villain now?"
Ji Su-jeong pointed to her own face with her index finger.
Wondering if Hae-jin was classifying her as a villain.
Naturally, Hae-jin said he could.
"School violence is a crime too. Plus, high schoolers aren't protected juveniles anymore. Well, Players aren't classified as such from the start anyway."
Protected juveniles.
What a shitty system.
But one of the things Hae-jin had negotiated with the nation while running the Villain Crime Task Force was exactly that.
They couldn't stop it for ordinary protected juveniles, but Players were excluded from protected juvenile status.
That way, criminal Players could be treated as villains and punished regardless of age.
At Hae-jin's explanation, Ji Su-jeong asked with a quite serious expression,
"......So, are you judging me as a villain and here to arrest me now?"