Chapter 129
Chapter 129
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Crossroads of Revenge (7)
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***
"Ah, right. Youngest, you know about that?"
"What?"
"Deokbae Uncle got shot down again."
"...Again?"
The smell of trash and disinfectant. The smell of our family.
"This time I really thought he'd get married... Wasn't the vibe good?"
"It was."
"And last time, he even gave her... that super expensive bag."
"What's a bag? The moment he said his job, she turned tail and left without looking back."
"...Ah."
"Where else are you gonna find a guy like Deokbae Uncle... Being a cleaner is the crime. The whole crime."
A troubled face, fiddling with the broom.
"...Anyway, Youngest."
"What now."
"Don't you wanna do something besides cleaning?"
"Uh... um, no. Nothing."
"Really? Not even one thing?"
"Yeah, I think cleaning's my true calling."
"A guy who didn't even serve in the army talking about his true calling..."
"What's wrong with it? Body gets sore, but the money rolls in steady, and seeing it all clean gives you a sense of accomplishment..."
"...Can't even date."
"Dating? Just don't do it."
Arching eyebrows, stopped vacuum cleaner.
"Kid, with that face, not dating is a sin against women."
"...Bro, quit dodging and get back to work. I gotta watch a docu tonight."
"That damn docu, shit! Don't you think about the Foreman at all?"
"Why's the Foreman coming up again?"
"We're already done for, but you gotta show him a grandkid."
"..."
"Don't worry about money. Just bring home a nice girl. We'll handle the wedding. Foreman'll sort the newlywed home."
"What the..."
"You know? The Foreman's surprisingly loaded."
"...Why would I use that money? Save it for his daughter."
"Kid, a son raised with love beats a runaway daughter any day."
Crumpling brow, small realization.
"...Bro."
"Yeah."
"That's not your idea, is it?"
"......That obvious?"
"Guy who only ever talks cars suddenly says that? Obviously."
Chunsik Brother sighs.
"Truth is, Big Bro told me to."
"...Big Bro? Why?"
"Some fortune teller who came by said to Big Bro, you've got the face of a guy tormented by women his whole life, better marry quick."
"..."
"Something about inheriting Yang Soyu's physiognomy?"
"Who the hell's Yang Soyu? Cut the bullshit and finish work..."
James Brother's voice follows.
"Hey! Youngest and Chunsik! You guys still not done over there?!"
"A bit left!"
"Finish quick! Foreman says up to here today, then off to Yarikkiri!"
Yarikkiri? Iron Shit Roller grips the broom tighter right away.
***
Yeomyeong relaxed his grip on the sword.
His breath had finally caught up to his jaw. His legs trembled, tinnitus rang in his ears.
Hoo—
He took deep breaths, quietly surveying the scene he'd created.
Player's corpse sprawled in a pool of blood.
The body reenacted every atrocity the guy had committed against the cleaners, one by one.
Deokbae Uncle with his chest split open, Chunsik Brother with an arm severed, James Brother bisected, Foreman stomped to mush, and... Iron Shit Roller with his throat slit.
Amusingly, there was no trace of the revenge's futility the sages and saints spoke of. He even felt a small sense of accomplishment.
Were the sages wrong? Or maybe because the revenge wasn't over yet.
No, definitely that. He'd only just killed the Player.
He had so many more to kill ahead. To reclaim the dignity of the cleaners who could never return...
"...Ah."
At that thought, Yeomyeong shed tears without realizing.
Tears heavy with joy and sorrow, blood and ashes, slid down his cheeks.
Just like the tears he'd shed building the cleaners' graves back then.
'Not the time for this.'
Yeomyeong comforted himself, rubbing his nose and eyes. He turned toward the dimensional gate.
Or tried to.
But the moment he turned, and his fallen tear dropped into the Player's blood pool.
Fwaaah—!
Blinding light filled his vision.
He reflexively raised a hand to shield his eyes, squinting, but saw nothing.
Just in case, he drew up mana, tensing his skin fully for a moment.
As his pupils adjusted, Yeomyeong vaguely made out the source of the sudden light.
A small, dazzling orb.
A familiar orb. The one Mignium had shown him in his dream before heading to North Manchuria.
Back then, Mignium had waxed poetic about fate with that orb. He hadn't understood then, but now he got it somewhat.
'...The Player's fate, maybe.'
He couldn't be sure, but no better interpretation came to mind.
Yeomyeong cautiously examined the orb. It floated silently in midair, unchanged, as if awaiting its owner.
Inevitably, or instinctively, he reached out. The moment his hand closed around it.
Crack—
The orb turned to powder.
Yeomyeong swung his hand reflexively, but the powder flew through the air and poured onto him first.
Some final Player trick? Yeomyeong drew mana to block the powder.
But it passed through the mana like a ghost, sucked into his chest.
'What the...?'
Yeomyeong unbuttoned his uniform to check his chest, circulating mana through every vein.
But no matter how thoroughly he scanned, nothing had changed since the powder entered. As if the powder he'd seen was a lie.
'Just an illusion? No, no. Then am I the second Player? Or...'
Before his worries could deepen, the dimensional gate allowed no more time.
Kugugung...!
A heavy vibration shook the altar and the entire sewer.
Yeomyeong refastened his uniform and headed for the dimensional gate atop the altar.
As he neared via the stone stairs, mana rippled, fluttering his hair and uniform.
The phenomenon of a mana-distorted gate closing.
The gate right before him looked like a black hole tearing through empty air. Beyond it, only pitch darkness.
Yeomyeong spread mana to peer inside, then bit his lip slightly.
'As expected, everything that guy said was true.'
As the Player had said, the moment the gate closed, the sewer barrier inside would shatter.
Considering the boiling mana there... the Academy outside the barrier wouldn't escape unscathed either.
Of course, Yeomyeong hadn't rejected the guy's offer out of hand without thought.
The Golden Imperial Seal.
A magic tool that opened all locks and seals in this world.
For reasons unknown, it felt like this seal could reopen the closing gate.
Opening doors and undoing locks are one and the same... Yeomyeong felt the seal whispering that to him.
And the moment he drew it from his inner pocket and infused mana.
The whisper became reality.
A golden magic circle burst from the seal, enveloping the gate and surroundings, reversing the inflowing mana.
But not everything went as Yeomyeong expected.
The mana required to open the gate far exceeded his imagination.
Kwaaaah—!
Not even a minute after the seal's circle activated, blood trickled from Yeomyeong's mouth.
***
Boom!!
The moment Seti's hammer smashed the sewer floor, zombies in the area burst apart.
The Saintess and Iron Wire following behind were left speechless at the destructive power.
A few Finders survived and lunged at Seti, but the Saintess's bullets pierced their heads.
"...No end to them."
Seti ground her teeth at the footsteps echoing from the sewer depths.
It'd been over 20 minutes since tracking the dimensional gate sound, but a sudden zombie and Finder horde had them pinned right at the threshold.
Given the party's strength, just a matter of time, but... an odd unease lingered.
"Iron Wire. Can you do area magic?"
"Area magic? Yes, possible, but..."
"Then prep it. Big one, one shot, then punch through."
A risky plan that could lead to encirclement, but no objections.
As Seti drew on the power of Hongdan Byeokryeok (????) with tacit approval.
Iron Wire, watching afar, raised a hand to stop her.
"Hold on, no need."
"...What?"
Before Seti could ask what that meant, the charging zombies and Finders froze, bodies shuddering.
What? The moment Seti narrowed her eyes to check.
With a sound like water bags bursting, the zombies' and Finders' bodies exploded simultaneously.
Seti watched them collapse, spewing indescribable filth, speechless for a moment.
Iron Wire frowned.
"This... we should just run."
"Run?"
"Right now!"
Iron Wire bolted toward the sewer depths after speaking.
Sudden sprint, but Saintess and Seti followed wordlessly.
Stepping on corpses, blood splashing, all three ignored it and accelerated.
How long did they run?
As the sewer's blood stench grew familiar, twisted mana clung to their skin, nearing the gate.
Dazzling golden mana entered their view.
"The Golden Imperial Seal?!"
Seti recognized it instantly. Before Saintess could ask what it was, Seti unleashed Flying Leg Art at full speed, overtaking the group.
Paat!
Flying like an arrowhead, she reached the seal's source in seconds.
A bomb-site clearing in the middle, sinister piled stone altar... and the black dimensional gate rippling atop it.
Yeomyeong was there. Right before the gate, clutching the Golden Imperial Seal.
No need for explanations or deliberations. Seti leaped onto the altar, landing beside him.
"Yeom..."
About to call his name, Seti froze upon seeing his state.
Eyes closed, gripping the seal—blood poured from his mouth, eyes, and ears.
Blood vessels bursting from mana outflow overload.
Seti overlaid her hand on his, infusing mana.
Next instant, dizzying mana surged into the seal en masse.
Yeomyeong, sensing her at last, tilted his head slightly.
"Seti? How'd you..."
"With all this chaos, of course we'd come."
"...Yeah, true."
Yeomyeong feigned casualness, smiling in reply. A smile looking like he endured pain from blood-streaked tears.
"...Seti, don't stay here. Go back a bit. I'll call when it's done."
Words full of consideration, reminding her of her sister. Seti suppressed her swelling emotions, pouring more mana into the seal as she replied.
"Nope."
"..."
"I'll counter-offer. Die together, or live together... Which?"
As Yeomyeong moved to answer.
A cheeky voice interrupted.
"Obviously live together. What kinda talk is that?"
The Saintess, who'd dragged Jeon Yunseong up to the altar.
She glanced between Yeomyeong and Seti, placed her hand on the seal, adding,
"But dying with Seti doesn't sound bad..."
"..."
"..."
"Kidding. Why so serious?"
Atop the seal's magic circle, the Saintess's pure mana joined, widening the closing gate further.
And next... Iron Wire placed her wand on the seal.
"I think living together's best. Still young, dying'd be a waste."
"..."
"Yeomyeong?"
Despite blood tears blinding him, Yeomyeong felt like he met all three girls' eyes at once.
Maybe that's why. He swallowed his honest reply unwittingly, picking the safest one.
"...No comment."
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