RE: Player again

291

[Chapter 094] [What Could Not Be Found (5)]

"...I...I was wrong...!"

Number 23 spoke rapidly only after someone's head fell in front of him.

By then, the situation had already entered a lull.

The voice of the man whose legs gave out and fell on his bottom midway no longer contained any arrogance.

"So...so please just don't lay a hand on me...!"

Number 23 hurriedly knelt down, not minding his white suit getting soaked in the blood wetting the floor.

Surely if Eun-ha had been right in front of him, he would have grabbed his pant leg.

"...People are supposed to be consistent..."

Eun-ha wiped the blood dripping down his mask with the back of his hand.

There was nowhere blood hadn't splattered.

Most of it was blood the opponent had shed, but some was his own.

It seems they weren't normal Players, as the guys were specialized in dealing with people.

As a result, he ended up seeing blood.

I almost got caught.

Fortunately Uncle Bruno was here.

To think these bastards would even use poison...

He couldn't say using Virulent Venom was cowardly.

But the guys had used a deadly poison that stubbornly resisted even the principle of Virulent Venom.

Thanks to that, the principle of Virulent Venom writhed violently to destroy the deadly poison that had infiltrated his body.

He had to endure the sensation of being poisoned and slowly withering away, and the sensation of his body exploding.

Meanwhile, Bruno had to deal with the guys while protecting Eun-ha.

"How's your body?"

"...It doesn't hurt anymore, but I think I'll need to drink a potion later." "Alright."

Of course, there was something gained too.

The principle of Virulent Venom was more useful than expected.

Even if he had accepted the skill stone, he couldn't perfectly understand the principle sleeping in the skill stone.

So Eun-ha had only understood Virulent Venom as magic that coated mana containing deadly poison on the blade to deliver sword strikes.

Even if he wanted to research other applications, the principle he had accepted was too small a fragment.

Therefore, Eun-ha hadn't thought that the principle could not only destroy toxins positioned below Virulent Venom, but could also destroy toxins ranked higher than Virulent Venom.

...It means I won't have to worry about being poisoned from now on.

The principle of Virulent Venom didn't allow any other poison besides itself.

It violently writhed treating poison that infiltrated the body as a foreign substance.

Even if it was a poison stronger than itself.

The principle of the 3rd tier overrank Lizard King clearly showed the dignity of a king.

So it was a bit regrettable.

He thought if he had raised the Lizard King to adulthood and then recovered the skill stone, he could have utilized the principle more diversely.

No, if I had left the Lizard King alone, it would have grown to a level I couldn't handle alone.

Eun-ha soon shook his head at the thought that occurred to him.

He resolved not to have regrets.

And hadn't he already obtained the power and people to become sufficiently stronger than before the regression?

He decided to deal with the man begging with a terrified face first.

"I was wrong. Please spare my life just once, if you spare me I'll do anything you order!"

It was words he had heard countless times before the regression.

Eun-ha looked down at the man crying snot and tears without even realizing he was wetting his pants.

Before the regression, and now too.

He had no intention of sparing people who pointed blades at him.

He imbued mana into Black Thorn.

The man who recognized the mana gathering on the blade raised his voice almost wailing.

"...Mo-money...! I have a lot of money! If you just let me out, I'll give you as much money as you want! You must have spent a lot of money already! My money will surely be helpful!"

He snorted inside his mask. He didn't want to leave any trouble in a place like this.

Originally, inconsistent people would change their stance anytime.

Would this man really give his wealth if he went outside the underground market?

There was no way.

Surely the man who would receive society's protection would seek revenge persistently without knowing his place.

"...Vice Minister of Justice!"

"...!"

He couldn't be persuaded with money either.

The man who instinctively thought so suddenly shouted with his eyes tightly shut.

Eun-ha quietly looked at the man.

The man who confirmed he was safe slowly opened his eyelids.

Then he moved his trembling lips.

"I...I'm a Vice Minister in the Ministry of Justice. If you don't believe me, I'll show you my ID!"

"......"

"If...if you kill me, you'll have to deal with the consequences. But if you spare me now, that much..." "So what?"

Eun-ha cut off the man's words because it was absurd.

A public official holding the position of Vice Minister in the Ministry of Justice using the underground market.

A chilling blade edge settled in Eun-ha's gaze looking down at the man.

The man's face turned pale.

"...Don't come! Do you think you bastards can survive safely if you lay a hand on me!?"

Something was wrong.

Number 23 who sensed that now tried to threaten with power.

Then when Eun-ha raised his sword, he went back to rubbing his hands together saying he was wrong.

"I was planning to clean all of you up anyway."

"...What...!"

Whether it was the Ministry of Justice or the judiciary.

Whether it was the Prosecutor's Office or the courts.

He was determined to replace all the bastards who make and enforce that damned law in this country.

So killing a Vice Minister here or not was just carrying out what he would do in the future in advance.

Eun-ha sliced the man's shoulder and swung his blade diagonally to cut the man's heart.

The man who directly witnessed his shoulder falling off for the first time couldn't believe reality, and only bulged his eyes when his heart was pierced.

That was the end.

The man died just like that.

By then, Bruno had finished dealing with the Players collapsed on the floor clinging to life.

"What are you going to do with that person?"

"We should kill him."

Bruno pointed to the old man sitting on the floor with his hands and feet bound in chains.

Eun-ha also looked at him.

The old man closed his eyes without trying to resist, as if sensing his death.

Eun-ha also had no intention of sparing the old man from the start.

Though they were wearing masks, they shouldn't make mistakes that could reveal their identities.

The old man was originally a slave.

Even if the old man survived alone, he would just return to the underground market and be put up for auction again.

In some sense, it might be the right choice for the old man to give up his life here now.

So as painlessly as possible.

Eun-ha was about to grant death to the old man with Black Thorn.

"─Wait. I have something to ask."

That's when it happened.

Yoo Do-joon who had been with crossed the sea of blood and stood in front of Eun-ha.

Do-joon who smiled brightly even in this situation asked for Eun-ha's understanding and turned towards the old man.

"Grandpa, what's your name?"

"......"

Yoo Do-joon speaking to the old man casually as if talking to a friend.

The old man who had been quietly waiting for his death slowly opened his eyelids.

The old man's eyes on the verge of death were calm like a still water surface.

"...My name is Kim Gab-su."

"I see. What about your family?"

"My wife passed away last year... I have a son and daughter-in-law and two granddaughters below."

"Then will you go back home?"

"......"

The old man didn't answer.

There was no way the old man had a home to return to.

After a while, the old man shook his head instead of answering.

"If you don't have anywhere to return to, how about working under me? I was looking for a reliable person."

Yoo Do-joon knelt on one knee and met the old man's gaze.

Seeing that, Eun-ha eventually put away Black Thorn.

He had no intention of protesting his decision.

This is the kind of kid he was.

The reason Yoo Do-joon was able to become the 2nd generation chairman of Eternal Group in his previous life wasn't just because of his excellent strategy and luck.

For some reason, people with deep loyalty followed Yoo Do-joon.

Because they steadfastly assisted him, Yoo Do-joon was able to take the throne.

It was the same for Eun-ha too.

Yoo Do-joon spared no support for Eun-ha who was rumored to be crazy at the academy.

At the same time, he instilled the belief that he would never betray him.

So he could trust people Yoo Do-joon reached out to.

Coincidentally, Yoo Do-joon at this time needed people to assist him.

Because almost all the people planted around Yoo Do-joon were no different from pawns of other successors.

But there was one uneasy part remaining for the old man.

He's reliable.

But he's weak to family affection.

That could be seen from the fact that the old man was quietly "put up for sale" in the underground market.

The old man is weak to family affection.

And people weak to affection will surely hold back Yoo Do-joon's feet when he tries to do things.

Yoo Do-joon must know that too.

Nevertheless, his intention for trying to employ the old man wasn't clear.

"...My daughter-in-law is very sick. Even if I return to that house, I'll only burden my son and daughter-in-law. So if you take me in, I'll work with my life."

"Just don't betray me. I'm sick of being betrayed right in front of me now."

"I understand."

"From the moment we leave here, you can't use that name anymore, Grandpa. You have to live with a new name, a new identity."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"And you absolutely must never meet your family again."

"...I'm already a dead person. I would only be a burden to them."

The old man understood his situation well.

Because falling into s*****y in the underground market meant he was treated as missing or dead outside.

The old man who would have been treated as dead wasn't allowed to meet his blood-related family.

The old man was a non-existent person.

"Good. Then I'll somehow take care of your daughter-in-law's medical expenses for you, Grandpa. And you'll receive enough money each month to live without problems."

"...Thank you."

An exceptional compensation.

For a moment, the old man's eyes wavered.

He who grasped Yoo Do-joon's outstretched hand bowed his head and said thank you several times.

But Yoo Do-joon hadn't finished speaking yet.

"There's nothing to thank me for. It's a debt. If you ever betray me, I won't leave your family alone then."

Yoo Do-joon patting the old man's back.

Eun-ha looked at Yoo Do-joon's back and made an expression like he knew it under his mask.

There was no way Yoo Do-joon would employ the old man without any countermeasures.

Knowing he was weak to family affection, he took the old man's family hostage.

So the old man would never betray him.

Depending on the situation, he could immediately end his life at just one word from him.

"...Thank you. Thank you."

Nevertheless, the old man didn't stop saying thank you.

Yoo Do-joon said hostage, but the old man thought of it as grace.

And the steadfast old man will never forget that grace until the day he dies.

...Still amateurish.

Eun-ha deployed his detection net.

One gaze that had been watching this side for a while.

Surely Bruno must be sensing it too.

Eun-ha who confirmed that told Yoo Do-joon who was helping the old man up.

"I need to deal with these guys, so you go back to the room for now."

"Can't I go with you?"

"I have separate business. Don't be annoying and just wait in the room. Uncle will escort you."

Eun-ha signaled Bruno with his eyes.

Bruno asked in a low voice if it was really okay.

Eun-ha chuckled.

He could handle one person on his own.

Disposing of the corpses was a problem, but if Bruno returned a little later, he could somehow resolve it.

Eun-ha sent Bruno, Yoo Do-joon, the old man and ahead like that.

Thousand Steps

Just then, the presence caught in the detection net tried to quickly flee.

It was the movement of an ordinary person, not a Player.

Eun-ha who used Thousand Steps to chase after the man soon knocked him down to the floor.

"...Pl...please spare me!"

A middle-aged man.

The man collapsed on the floor with one arm twisted behind his back shouted.

He said he was just passing by and happened to witness it, that he was an ordinary person with no connection.

He even hurriedly took off his mask with the hand that had been gripping dirt.

"So what?"

He had no intention of sparing witnesses.

Moreover, Eun-ha found the man's mask quite familiar.

It didn't take long to recall the memory.

The man was the person the old man had been constantly looking at in the small theater.

"What? You were that grandpa's son?"

"...Please spare me, please spare me, I beg you! I have children at home, I have a sick wife. If you just spare my life, I'll repay your kindness somehow."

The same repertoire again.

Eun-ha carefully looked down at the man collapsed on the floor.

Pondering how to deal with him.

"...I'll give you as much money as you want! There are tens of millions of won in that bag right now...!"

The man's words trying to persuade didn't enter his ears at all.

Whatever circumstances the man had.

Whatever the man's family situation was.

It didn't matter to him at all.

He had no empathy for the man and only thought about what would be more beneficial to himself.

Yoo Do-joon is still amateurish.

If it was Yoo Do-joon who became chairman of Eternal Group in his previous life, besides creating debt for the old man's family members, he would have taken definite measures so they wouldn't interfere with him.

Dealing with them quietly.

Or sending the family members far away.

But 14-year-old Yoo Do-joon stopped at creating debt for the old man's family members.

Of course, it could be that Yoo Do-joon didn't mention other plans out of consideration for the old man.

Either way, the man in front of him had to be dealt with somehow.

The man knew too much, and had even witnessed them.

Moreover, the man was someone who could sell even his own father for his wife's sake.

In the extreme, the man could sell information about his father to opposing forces for his wife's sake.

If that happened, it would be the end for Yoo Do-joon.

Everything that happened in the underground market had to be dealt with in the underground market.

If the dark side was dragged into the light, Yoo Do-joon's position would crumble.

Stygian Eye

So Eun-ha chose to subdue the man's mind.

He gradually instilled fear while breaking down the man's mana resistance.

And when the man's eyes clouded over, he approached the man's subconscious.

The principle of Stygian Eye implanted an illusion in the man to make him perceive his father as a dead person.

At the same time, it made the man unable to recall anything about his father.

"...It's done."

Laying multiple layers of suggestions was a very difficult task.

Finally, he laid a suggestion for the man's mind to immediately collapse the moment he uttered words about his father.

Even

Even with the providence of the Stygian child, the spirit that had once collapsed could never be restored.

Only after finishing that did Eunha break away from the man.

You should drink a potion on your way back.

You've consumed too much mana in your body.

Eunha leaned her back against the wall and waited blankly for Bruno to return.

Complaining about Yoo Do-jun's complacency.

While doing so, the thought suddenly crossed his mind that he would have killed the man if he had been before his regression.

He also retreated.

“Still, somehow it ended.”

The galaxy muttered in the darkness.

There was someone I desperately wanted to find.

So I got my hands on it.