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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Tick, tick-tock, tick.
Hollow eyes that looked like they hadn’t slept for days, a body that had withered as if it hadn’t eaten.
Cheol Taemin, one of the supervisors at the Hwasan Guild’s monster carcass disposal site, looked no different from the slaves he had cruelly tormented.
Tick, tick, tick.
He was nervously gnawing at his fingernails, restlessly scanning his surroundings.
It was from that day.
That gaze that flashed in his mind.
“Ugh, ughhh.”
That guy, who was just a slave, his gaze had been overwhelming him every moment.
‘That wasn’t a human’s gaze…’
Even before, Cheol Taemin was a dropout who had stopped leveling up because he was afraid of monsters.
Fortunately, thanks to a relative in a key position in the Hwasan Guild, he had reached the minimum level of 5 and became a supervisor at the carcass disposal site, spending the happiest time of his life bossing around slaves.
But that day.
“L, Lee Rowoon…”
After seeing the eyes of that guy who had changed somehow, he had completely gone insane.
Thud.
The sensation he felt on his shoulder.
“Hiiiik!”
Cheol Taemin, with goosebumps rising all over his body, quickly moved to grab his whip.
“You’ve gone completely crazy.”
The man who had placed his hand on his shoulder spoke in a low, heavy voice.
“Cheol Taemin, get a hold of yourself. Lee Rowoon…”
The man said, looking straight into Cheol Taemin’s eyes.
“Is dead.”
“N, no… no, no…”
“Can’t you even recognize me now?”
The man turned away, clicking his tongue.
Thud!
Before him, like a shadow, a figure appeared and knelt down.
“Reporting in. Based on what the laborers said, Lee Rowoon headed to the Abyss immediately after the confrontation with Cheol Taemin.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. It seems that Cheol Taemin was already using the laborers to look for Lee Rowoon. We confirmed that his traces led to the Abyss, and we could not find him near the entrance to the Abyss either.”
The Abyss was a slang term referring to the deepest part of the Hwasan Guild’s carcass disposal site.
A place that the laborers, the supervisors, and even the guild members of the Hwasan Guild avoided.
But above all…
‘That.’
Inside it was the carcass of the Corpse Dragon.
The poison of the Corpse Dragon that would even melt a ranker.
If Lee Rowoon had entered such a place, it was obvious.
“He must be dead.”
Otherwise, there was no way the slave seal would have been broken.
But even so, the man could not shake off his unease.
‘Lee Rowoon, Lee Rowoon…’
That tiresome and hateful name.
“What happened that day?”
At the man’s words, another thud! sound was heard, and another shadow appeared in front of him.
Thump!
What fell roughly at the shadow’s hand was one of the laborers that the shadow had brought.
“Report everything you saw and heard in detail to the Company Commander.”
“Hi, hiik.”
The laborer, terrified, couldn’t continue speaking.
Whack!
What was given to him was a whip.
A whip that caused excruciating pain as it reacted to the slave seal.
“I, I’ll tell you! Stop! Please stop!”
The laborer said, terrified and in pain, with his head buried in the ground.
“He was just dozing off… Supervisor Cheol Taemin approached him to punish him, but…”
The laborer said.
“He just grabbed his fist with a ‘pop’ and dodged with a ‘whoosh’! And that’s all, after glancing at him for a moment, he went to the Abyss!”
A slave without any power.
So there was a limit to what they could see.
‘It’s…possible enough.’
It was that Lee Rowoon.
Even if he had lost his player power, if he had been biding his time and hiding even just a little something, he could dodge a fist from Cheol Tae-min, who was only level 5.
But there was something else that bothered him.
“He glanced at him?”
“Yes! Yes! That’s right!”
That he had made eye contact with Cheol Taemin, and Cheol Taemin had fallen as if he had been frightened.
‘And then went crazy.’
Something came to mind.
‘Intent to kill.’
The exclusive property of martial artists, a force like magic that controlled consciousness and the mind.
That was why martial artists were frightening.
Even if they were martial artists of the same level, the gap between those who could use the intent to kill and those who could not was something that endangered lives in actual combat.
But also because of that, it didn’t make sense.
‘That guy is not a martial artist.’
There was no way a human from Earth could wield the power of a martial artist.
Especially since he was a guy who had even lost his player power.
“Please! I’ve told you everything I know! Please… just let me live…”
The laborer grabbed the man’s ankle and begged, trembling.
Swish!
A bright red line was drawn across that laborer’s neck.
Thud.
The laborer’s body, his head and body separated in an instant, lost its balance and fell.
“What a mess. Like a slave.”
This was the reality of the laborers at the carcass disposal site.
Beings who did not even receive proper human treatment, and whose dignity of life was not even protected.
‘You’re the same, Lee Rowoon.’
And Lee Rowoon also should have lived in such a place and received such treatment.
“It seems he’s definitely dead.”
It was a shame that he had already died.
“Should we search the Abyss?”
At the shadow’s words, the man shook his head.
“Don’t bother. It’s not a poison you can handle. Your whole body would melt in less than three hours.”
“……If that’s the case.”
“Let’s go back.”
The man turned away as if he had finished his business.
Cheol Taemin was trembling.
The terrible and dirty smell of the carcass disposal site.
It was a place he would never have set foot in, and a space he did not want to stay in even for a moment, if it had not been to confirm Lee Rowoon’s death.
“I’ll follow you, Raid leader.”
Just as the man’s group was about to move.
Thud!
The sound of something piercing and embedding itself into flesh.
Boom!
Soon after, the sound of fireworks exploding was heard.
“……”
Cheol Taemin, with only his torso remaining, was slowly collapsing.
The man quietly turned his head.
There.
“……!”
Someone who shouldn’t be there was standing.
“It’s been a while.”
That couldn’t be.
“Kim Shin-hong.”
“Lee Rowoon-!”
Lee Rowan was standing there.
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He had kept the possibility in mind.
‘But to think I would run into him like this.’
He had broken the slave seal while undergoing Rebirth, and naturally, the signal would have gone to the caster who had embedded the slave seal, according to the magic of the shackles.
‘Considering his personality, I thought he would move himself.’
Because he was such a suspicious guy, he wouldn’t believe it unless he saw it with his own eyes.
So it was obvious that he would take his precious time and come to the carcass disposal site himself to confirm it.
But he didn’t know that the timing would be so perfect.
“It’s been a while, Kim Shin-hong.”
The guy who had been his one and only friend.
One of the members of the small elite guild they had formed after becoming players, Dank.
And…
“Lee Rowoon-!”
One of the betrayers who had thrown him into this hell.
He had thought that he would meet him, but he didn’t know that he would meet him this soon.
“How are you alive?”
“Well, I guess you could say I was lucky.”
Crack!
A blood vessel bulged in Kim Shin-hong’s temple.
‘Is it real?’
Even now, Kim Shin-hong was doubting everything.
The slave seal that he had placed on Lee Rowoon had certainly disappeared.
“Really… is it really Lee Rowoon?”
Moreover, the place he had headed to was the Abyss, a place where even his direct guards, the Shadows, could not last for even an hour, and he himself did not have the confidence to last a day.
Could it really make sense that a guy without player power could survive and come back from such a place?
Also, there were more things to doubt.
“Who are you? Who are you, impersonating Lee Rowoon?”
The last time he had received a report and seen that guy, he had a body that was emaciated from long years of slavery, a hunched back, and dry hair.
But the Lee Rowan he could see now was too robust.
Even more so than the figure of the past, when he had only been able to see his back from behind.
He seemed to have grown taller, and his physique had also become larger.
‘Red eyes.’
Moreover, the eyes of the one presumed to be Lee Rowoon right now had a red glow.
That guy’s eyes were black.
There was a most certain way to be sure at times like this.
Kim Shin-hong muttered the name of a skill in a small voice.
“Information Search.”
A skill that a player of a lower level than himself could never evade.
A blue window appeared in front of Kim Shin-hong’s eyes.
“……!”
On the status window that appeared.
Suddenly, noise started to interfere.
“Kuh!”
Soon after, Kim Shin-hong was struck with a headache.
When he opened his eyes again, the status window had turned red and was continuously distorting.
“What is this…!”
He had never heard of or seen such a phenomenon.
“Kim Shin-hong, have you forgotten already?”
Lee Rowoon’s voice was heard by Kim Shin-hong, who was in a state of panic.
“I’m disappointed that you can’t recognize me just because my appearance has changed a bit. It’s me, the me you know. I heard you sold me out and became a Raid leader of the Hwasan Guild, but it seems you’ve become more of a coward.”
“Shut up!”
Amidst the confusion, there was only one thing that Kim Shin-hong could do.
“Kill that guy!”
Whoosh!
The Shadows rushed toward Lee Rowoon as soon as Kim Shin-hong’s order was given.
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Shadows.
Their accurate name was Black Plum Blossoms.
They were direct escorts given only to executives of Raid leader rank or higher in the Hwasan Guild, and they were assassins who would not hesitate to risk their lives if ordered.
Their level was generally above level 90 according to player standards, with a skill level close to that of a ranker.
Whoosh.
The figures of the Shadows, who were approaching Lee Rowoon, disappeared.
‘Invisibility.’
It was clear that they were using the invisibility and rapid movement that was characteristic of assassins.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Indeed, as expected of the Black Plums of the Hwasan Guild, they were not even letting their guard down against him, who was presumed to be a slave, circling around and watching for an opening.
If he showed an opening, even for a single moment, a Black Plum’s dagger would pierce his neck.
Due to their nature as assassins, even if their opponent was of a higher level, they were capable of taking their life in a single blow.
‘Assassins are extremely troublesome.’
But that was a statement that only applied to the old him.
‘Disciple, but they are only troublesome when you’re incredibly weak.’
The teaching of his teacher, the Martial King.
“Those flying insects that are only fast, you just have to crush them to death with your palm.”
Lee Rowoon raised one hand.
His open palm began to clench into a fist.
The Black Plums, as if they had sensed something, tried to quickly soar into the air…
“Too late.”
Lee Rowoon clenched his fist at that moment.
Thwang!
They saw a black bead, the size of a fingernail, pop out.
A speed that couldn’t even be compared to a bullet, the Black Plums quickly twisted their bodies in mid-air and dodged the bead.
A cold sweat ran down their backs at the dizzying sensation.
It was only the size of a grain of millet, but at that speed, it would have pierced through a barrier, and the thought of what would have happened if they had been hit in a vital spot was terrifying.
But what was important was the fact that they had avoided it.
‘I can’t let my guard down.’
Just as the Black Plums were looking at each other and exchanging glances, trying to readjust their postures.
Whoooosh!
A thunderous roar rang out.
What had happened?
The Black Plums had no time to think.
Thump, thud.
They collapsed on the ground in a terrible mess, just like the laborer who had been thrown before.
The densely packed black beads that were embedded in the back of their heads.
This was the third stage of the Blood Demon Divine Art.
‘Black Blood.’
The Black Blood Sphere would split and spread out like buckshot.
And if those embedded themselves in the body, they would suck up the opponent’s inner energy and magic…
Boom!
They would explode.
“You became a Raid leader of the Hwasan Guild, but you’re the same now as you were then,” Lee Rowoon said as he walked toward Kim Shin-hong, leaving the Black Plums’ corpses behind.
“Hiding behind others, as always.”
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