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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 62
The dream world was rapidly collapsing.
In the overturned world, fireflies fluttered around, unsure of where to go.
The rising flames reached the fallen leaves on the ground and spread even faster.
I dispersed the heat ray I had prepared.
"Ha."
The fireballs floating above my shoulders disappeared.
I could instinctively tell that attacking any further was pointless.
This dream world was no longer intact enough to manifest attacks and damage.
The Ghost Swordsman poured mana into his gauntlet.
The level attached to the bottom of the gauntlet glowed once more, and the overturned world returned to its original state.
I twisted my body in mid-air, landed on the ground with my hand, and stabilized myself.
"You said I did your work for you?"
I dusted off my hands and asked casually.
Killing him would have been the best option if I could, but if I couldn't, I had to get some information at least.
The Ghost Swordsman nodded.
"Yes. We were so grateful."
The Ghost Swordsman said, covering his scarred leather mask with his left hand.
"Don't be ashamed of that fact. You are our idol, our hero, our sun."
His words made me frown.
My idol, my hero, my sun.
It was an idiom that had become a worldwide trend after Cheong Siyeol used it a few times on broadcasts.
To use words meant to praise and worship me to curse me instead.
It felt disgusting.
The Ghost Swordsman took a step closer.
"Oh, beloved and respected Doom."
He placed his right hand over his heart and bowed respectfully, as if he truly respected me.
I raised my chin and laughed at him genuinely.
"Weren't you trying to kill me just now? That's quite the attitude change. Don't you think you're being inconsistent?"
"...."
I hadn't expected an answer.
There was no need to listen to what the Black Star Cluster had to say.
They were completely out of their minds, driven mad by the whispers of the evil constellations.
There was once a thesis published on why high-ranking Awakened individuals are inevitably arrogant.
Just hearing that you've been chosen by some transcendental being makes you feel proud, and then that being sponsors only you, tells stories only you can hear.
It gives you a heteromorphic halo so that everyone in the world knows you've been chosen, and even provides various support during battles.
It's impossible not to feel like you've become a god.
You can't help but listen to whatever that being demands or suggests.
You start to think that whatever that transcendental being says must be right.
If you can't believe that humans have their own system, you're forced to live by the constellation's system in a human body.
But in the end, humans have to live as humans, and constellations as constellations.
...That's what the thesis said.
The point is this.
There's no need to pay attention to what that guy says.
It's far more important to find out if he's really a regressor, if he's been in contact with any of the regressors, or if he's just bluffing.
"I have a question."
"Don't expect an answer."
The Ghost Swordsman raised his head.
"This world is doomed anyway. Even if it wasn't by your hand."
"By yours?"
"Even if not by ours, even if not by yours, this world is doomed anyway."
"...."
"So, if the end is inevitable, I'd rather it be ruined by your hand. That would make it a little less unfair, you know? Who would say anything if you, who protected the world, were to destroy it?"
I felt a genuine madness in the Ghost Swordsman's voice, a kind common in this field.
The green glow under the brim of his hat flickered eerily.
It was a gaze filled with sorrow.
As if he knew me personally.
I firmly shook my head, erasing that thought from my mind.
"No. I don't have that right. I have the right to be treated well everywhere, the right to enjoy privileges, but not the right to destroy. That's a right no one in this world can have."
"You can have it. You are the one and only exception in this world."
"I know better than anyone how capable I am. Destroying the world would be very easy for me. I could do it anytime."
The Ghost Swordsman wasn't the first to say such things to me.
And he wouldn't be the last.
But my answer would always be similar.
"Things that can be done anytime aren't very impressive. I'm going to do impressive things. I'm going to stabilize the country, take care of the people I cherish, and reach the top of the Tower."
For a while, we were silent.
In the burning forest, under the pale moon.
We stood there, looking at each other.
Then the Ghost Swordsman spoke.
"I wish that could have been possible."
His voice was filled with bitter resignation.
It was an emotion far removed from me.
"I will never let it be destroyed."
"How?"
"Because I'm going to erase all those who try to destroy it."
I drew upon my mana.
【Law of Light】
Fwaaaaaaat!
The entire forest was torn to shreds.
Even the moon, casting its pale light, shattered like glass.
"...Ha."
And so, I woke up from the dream.
* * *
A few days later.
"...That happened?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me? No, more importantly, why did you let the curse into your mind?"
In the backseat of Ryu Haneul's sedan.
The two were sitting side by side, heading towards the Tower.
"I told you, didn't I? I was planning to lure it in and kill it. You know I have good synergy with things like ghosts and curses."
Ryu Haneul's eyebrows shot up in surprise as he listened to Baekya's explanation.
"Wait, you said you met that Ghost Swordsman at the Ghost Princess' Castle?"
"Uh? Yeah."
Then, he glared at Baekya with a look filled with a different kind of ghostly energy.
"Wasn't it that Ghost Swordsman who gave you the scepter?"
"Well, that's..."
"You said you didn't meet anyone back then?"
"So..."
"A-are you lying to me right now?"
"No, that's not it..."
"How could you do that!"
Ryu Haneul screamed, tearing at his hair.
The driver in the front seat looked like he was seeing a hallucination, and Baekya shook his head.
Baekya covered Ryu Haneul's mouth with his left hand, restrained his arms with his right, and pressed down on him.
Baekya leaned back against the door and looked down at Haneul, who had frozen.
"That's enough. You're being unsightly. Didn't I teach you to maintain the dignity of the chosen one?"
When he spoke, his white teeth, even his canines, were bared.
Ryu Haneul trembled with his purple pupils and nodded in a trance.
A strong scent of orchids wafted up.
"Yes..."
"I'll send you the confirmed D-DAY, so check it out. I don't know if that bastard is really a regressor, but something's going to happen that day."
Baekya released Ryu Haneul, and Ryu Haneul tried to say something but shook his head.
"...."
"Why?"
"I didn't think he was a real regressor, but I'm not sure."
"Don't you know all eight of them except yourself?"
"You said he was wearing a voice modulation mask and a bondage uniform. That has body modification mana on it too, right?"
"Indeed. I couldn't even tell if he was a man or a woman."
"Still, I think it's highly likely he's not a real regressor. If he wanted to destroy the world, there would be no need to regress. It's already been destroyed."
Baekya groaned.
"...Was the future that bad?"
"The population didn't decrease significantly right away. It was because civilization collapsed."
"That's crazy."
"Anyway, I'll keep all possibilities open."
"Okay."
"We need to prepare too. I hope we hear from Fengyun-hyung soon."
"Right."
"And let's secure more power."
"Power?"
Ryu Haneul smiled with boyish charm.
"Ahjussi, please turn the car around."
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see when we get there."
Baekya couldn't believe where Ryu Haneul had brought them.
"This is the Administration's detention center, isn't it?"
'No way, right?'
For a moment, he even suspected that Ryu Haneul was trying to hand him over to the Re-allocation department.
'You lied to me? I'm so disappointed!'
'Ugh!'
Ryu Haneul left Baekya in the car and entered the building.
"Please wait a moment."
When he came back out, Ryu Haneul was accompanied by the most famous A-rank Hunter in Korea.
A captivatingly handsome man with re-tied dreadlocks, a Versace shirt, and designer sunglasses.
Baekya once again couldn't believe his eyes.
"Choi Gimin?"
Ryu Haneul spread his arms in an exaggerated gesture and said—
"Ta-da?! What do you think, senior? Isn't he a great asset?"
* * *
A few dozen minutes earlier.
Ryu Haneul entered the detention center.
He had double and triple-checked that the Re-allocation department head was away on a business trip.
From the entrance, he could hear the noise of mana suppression artifacts operating.
To generate enough output to neutralize a Ranker, they had to shovel mana stones into it like coal into a steam locomotive.
Just keeping them locked up was a drain on taxes.
That was the reason why they imposed hefty fines but didn't give out prison sentences.
"You've arrived?"
"Yes. Shall we go down right away?"
Ryu Haneul descended underground with the Administration officials.
Choi Gimin was sitting inside a cell.
"What brings the Heavenly Demon to such a humble place? Don't tell me you got caught?"
Choi Gimin sneered, and Ryu Haneul clicked his tongue.
"Don't you want to get out?"
"...."
A Ranker could be released immediately if another Ranker vouched for their management responsibility.
Choi Gimin clicked his tongue, and Ryu Haneul, like the Heavenly Demon he was, raised his head.
"I'll give you a chance to learn from the greatness of my senior by his side."
Choi Gimin scratched his ear.
"Ah. The greatness of Doom?"
"Don't be sarcastic. He's someone who knows how to find values worth pursuing, even though we have to live within the system."
"Because he's good at making money?"
"Quit if you don't like it. I came here because I thought you'd want to get out."
"Ah. How long do you think I'll be stuck here?"
"Not long. But you'll still have to stay for a few months procedurally, right? Do you want that?"
Ryu Haneul turned his back as if to leave.
Choi Gimin jumped to his feet.
"What I'm really curious about is..."
"Yes."
"Aren't you the same as me? Don't you ultimately want to kill him too?"
It was as he expected that Ryu Haneul would stop, but the hardening of his expression was not something he had anticipated.
Choi Gimin, a pro at being a rascal, could tell Ryu Haneul's expression just by looking at the back of his head.
"That's your core keyword, isn't it? Heaven Shattering. Don't you ultimately have to break your own Heaven?"
Ryu Haneul answered with his back still turned.
"Heaven Shattering isn't about destruction, it's about transcendence."
"What's the difference?"
"Transcendence is only possible when you fully understand the existing laws. Because it's about becoming better. True transcendence naturally breaks down the previous laws."
"See! That's what I'm saying..."
"In other words, if the previous laws haven't crumbled, it means you haven't transcended yet. I still have a lot to learn."
Ryu Haneul turned around and walked towards the cell.
An official opened the door, and Ryu Haneul kicked Choi Gimin's knee with his toe.
Thwack!
"Ouch! You little brat!"
"Don't call me a brat! I've lived hundreds of years longer than you!"
Ryu Haneul grabbed Choi Gimin by the hair.
"Show some respect, you vulgar thing. I'm giving you a chance to learn how to give meaning to your life."
He pulled a green and black mixed bead out of his pocket and forced it into Choi Gimin's mouth.
The bead wriggled as it went down his throat.
"...That's how it happened."
Ryu Haneul smiled brightly.
Baekya looked at Choi Gimin.
"You fed him 'Loneliness'?"
Loneliness was a representative biological artifact from the martial arts-themed floors.
It came in a pair of Yin and Yang, and the one with Yin could control the one who was fed Yang.
Naturally, it was illegal under modern law, but the Sun-Moon Divine Guild used it anyway.
[TL/N: Sect → Guild]
Because they were the Sun-Moon Divine Guild.
Choi Gimin stood with his legs crossed and nodded.
"That's how it is. Shit."
Ryu Haneul continued—
"He's a Ranker, so he won't die even without an antidote, but he'll suffer quite a bit if 'Loneliness' acts up. Wouldn't that be enough of a safety measure?"
Baekya was about to say something to Ryu Haneul but gave up.
'Whatever I say, it'll just be spitting in my own face.'
Whether he hadn't taught him properly or had taught him this way, both were his fault.
"...Do as you please."
Baekya concluded the matter and relayed the phone call he received while Ryu Haneul was in the detention center.
"Fengyun contacted me. He said the Irregular Polyhedron is ready."
Ryu Haneul gestured to the driver to start the car.
"Already? That's great. Let's go right away."
"But there's a minor issue, we have to go and get it ourselves."
"Where is it?"
"Sinpo City."
Ryu Haneul tilted his head.
It was a place he hadn't heard of before.
Choi Gimin's expression soured.
"That's North Korea! Shit!"
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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