Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 001
Chapter Title: The Heir of the Underworld is a Cheat Player
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The first game in human history!
The greatest game in human history!
Finally born from advanced technology, the virtual reality game Sanctuary was a monumental title laden with countless accolades.
The main goal of the game was to carve out a massive legacy on the continent of Sanctuary by discovering your fate amid a randomly assigned life.
If that were all, it would have just been a well-crafted pioneering VR game. But Sanctuary was different.
-Three lives granted!
Sanctuary gave players three lives.
Players carried forward the legacies they left in each life to the next, growing and evolving under their influence.
In other words...
-The Reincarnation System.
Complete with reincarnation perks earned through past lives.
Sanctuary captured the undivided attention and love of countless players.
Of course, it wasn't without its problems.
-Fuck! Is this difficulty level even sane?!
-How...
The biggest issue plaguing Sanctuary.
-Ten years since Sanctuary launched, and no one's cleared it? Does that make any sense?!
No one had cleared the game due to its hellish difficulty.
Even if you became a hero and defeated the Demon King. Even if you became a saint and saved the world from evil.
Even if you ascended to become the emperor of an empire, the ending credits never appeared.
The developers stated:
-The ending credits definitely exist.
Sanctuary has an ending.
And then, on a certain day in the 13th year since Sanctuary's launch.
-What?! You see that?
-Sanctuary!
A single piece of news captivated hundreds of millions of gamers worldwide.
-The first Sanctuary clear has been achieved!
It was such a monumental event that it broke as breaking news.
But the follow-up reports from game YouTubers left countless gamers deeply disappointed.
-We confirm that the first Sanctuary clear was not achieved through legitimate gameplay.
In other words.
-A cheat player cleared the game.
It was news that brought only cold stares and massive disappointment.
-The cheat player will pay the appropriate price.
The Sanctuary developers also issued a stern warning to the cheat player.
*
*
*
"This is too much!"
A shout echoed through the back alley.
"The punishment's way too harsh for what he did!"
The furious roar, bordering on rage, prompted the alley residents to quietly close their windows.
No one here would come to help.
"It was just...!"
Thud!
In that instant, a flying kick slammed into the shouting man's face.
"Ugh... Ack!"
The man let out a pained groan, stifled by agony.
"Just?"
The man standing before him glared down with a cold voice.
"You said 'just'? Right now?"
"Y-Yeah... Just!"
"You're fucking insane."
The man didn't stop kicking the fallen guy.
"Hoo."
After several minutes, the kicking finally ceased.
"Here you go, boss."
Another man approached and handed him a handkerchief.
That same man dragged over a piece of furniture scattered haphazardly and placed it in front of him.
Plop.
The man sat down.
In the dark night, under the brilliantly shining moonlight, his face came into view.
Pale white hair as if drained of color, sky-blue eyes.
His enigmatic and beautiful features could draw anyone's gaze.
"Say it again. 'Just'?"
"Ugh..."
Despite the man's words, the fallen guy could only groan in response, unable to reply.
"I told you not to fuck around in my turf."
"Th-That was..."
"Keep talking."
At the man's pointing finger, his underlings hauled the fallen man to his feet.
"I-I just asked for Rose!"
Rose was a top-tier girl, famous in the brothel.
"But they sent out some granny flower instead!"
Pfft.
His underlings turned their heads and stifled small laughs.
"You think this is funny?"
But at the man's following voice, they hurriedly bowed their heads.
"Sorry, boss."
"I'll deal with you later."
"......"
Their faces turned ashen.
"Granny flower or whatever, if you call her out, you pay up. Right?"
"Fuck! What bullshit!"
Boom!
The seated man kicked the barely upright guy again.
"You use her and then curse? After getting what you wanted?"
"Urk..."
"You pay for what you use. Is that simple rule too hard? You're the shameless prick who thought a few silver coins could get you Rose when you couldn't even afford it."
"S-Sorry..."
"This is your last warning."
The man stood up.
"Get caught pulling this shit again, and I'll make sure you never touch Rose or any granny flower ever again."
White hair and sky-blue eyes.
His noble, believable beauty clashed with his roughness.
His fierce demeanor only amplified his wild aura.
The man.
He was.
"Take care, boss."
"Go through that guy's stuff and grab whatever money's left."
"Got it, boss."
Chichiron's Mad Dog, Sein.
*
*
*
He had splendidly finished today's business and was on his way back.
"That fucker Bor is even crazier than me."
The man mentioning Chichiron's brothel Full Moon's owner, Bor.
It was Sein.
"Even I'd flip out if I called for Rose and they sent some granny flower."
No, flipping out might be putting it mildly.
He'd half-kill Bor and burn the brothel to the ground.
But what could he do.
"This is my life."
The underworld.
That's where he'd been born and raised.
He wasn't even allowed to leave these narrow alleys.
To eat and survive, he'd do anything, even lick the brothel owner's ass to stay alive. That was Sein's life.
Through grit and grind.
Over years, he'd climbed up and claimed his own turf.
"Guess that counts as success."
Heh.
Sein twisted one corner of his mouth in a smirk.
What a twisted life.
Who was there to blame.
It was his fault for being born this way, his fault for living this way.
No matter the regrets, reality was harsh and long-standing.
"Life I thought I'd never get used to."
Sein, with his wolfish, rugged impression.
But now, he looked somewhat distant, like a remorseful criminal.
"Anyway..."
Chichiron's back alleys.
Quiet as death by day, rowdy as hell by night.
Yet it was already late into the night.
"This is too damn quiet."
Sein stopped and scanned his surroundings.
Since when? Not a soul, not even a rat in sight.
Anyone would find it suspicious, but Sein remained utterly calm.
"Hic... sob..."
A crying sound drifted from somewhere.
"Who the hell's crying their ass off on a fine night like this?"
At Sein's voice, shadows slowly began creeping into the alley.
"It's me... you fucker!"
"You're that guy from earlier?"
The prick who'd thrown a fit because it wasn't Rose but a granny flower.
The one who'd gotten thoroughly beaten and robbed of anything valuable, now appearing wrapped only in a blanket.
The problem was.
"Ha."
He wasn't alone.
"You with the Lamefoot crew?"
"Heh heh."
The giggling shadows numbered plenty at a glance.
Even a careful look showed the alley packed with them.
Lamefoot, Thomas's nickname—the guy who split these narrow Chichiron alleys with Sein.
"No wonder. Even a bastard like Bor wouldn't pull that shit."
"Figured it out now?"
"I knew Bor owed you, but didn't think he'd stab me in the back like this."
The shadows finally revealed themselves.
A blond man with a prosthetic leg.
"Long time no see, Mad Dog."
"Forget Mad Dog—I've got a good name like Sein. What about you, Lamefoot?"
"...Tch."
Before he knew it, Sein was completely surrounded.
Lamefoot had clashed with Sein constantly ever since he'd claimed his turf.
"Wanna start a war?"
"War? Nah."
Heh.
Lamefoot grinned slyly under the moonlight.
"This is a hunt."
Sein looked for an escape, but there was none.
'They've been planning this for a while.'
Over a year since he'd taken his turf—maybe it was inevitable.
He reached into his pocket for something, but.
"Won't help. Your underlings are long gone."
"Y-Yeah! They took off like bats out of hell when we mentioned your hidden cash."
The guy who'd been bawling after the beating now shouted louder with his backup.
"Ha. Money, money—look at the side effects."
He'd meant to grab his whistle, but pulled something else instead.
Shing.
A sharply gleaming dagger.
A high-end piece for a dump like this back alley.
"You've been strutting too much, Mad Dog."
No choice.
'Six in front, seven behind... five on each side? They came prepared.'
No matter how careful, time dulled you inevitably.
"I'll kill you here today and take over Chichiron's back alleys."
Lamefoot's right hand slowly rose.
And as it finally swung down.
"Kill him!"
Lamefoot's men charged.
Clang! Clang!
Sparks flew off.
Outnumbered or not, Sein was the boss of one of Chichiron's back alley districts.
Countless fights since childhood.
"Eek!"
His strikes were too sharp for a back alley thug.
His movements more agile than anyone's.
"Why's this fucker so good?!"
It was supposed to be an inescapable trap.
"Ugh!"
But Sein had already cut down over seven foes.
"What're you waiting for? Come on."
Drenched in Lamefoot goons' blood, waving them on—Sein embodied.
"......"
The Mad Dog itself.
"What the hell are you doing?! Kill him! Kill!"
Even under Lamefoot's orders, his men hesitated to advance.
"Useless fucks...!"
Frustrated at his prepared numbers failing to take down one Mad Dog, Lamefoot finally moved.
No.
"Sorry, but you'll have to step in."
More precisely, the shadow beside him.
"You know my blade doesn't come cheap, right?"
"Of course!"
A man with a luxurious sword that didn't fit the alley.
Looks like Lamefoot had prepared thoroughly for the Mad Dog hunt.