RE: Player again

275

[Chapter 092] [Evil for Evil (4)]

The Slayers' plan was simple.

To gradually pick off the academy students from the rear.

After learning the academy students' schedule through the Telepathist's information network, they waited for fog to roll in.

And finally.

The students stepped into the fog, and that's when the real comprehensive ability evaluation began.

The Slayers aimed for the moment when the academy instructor deployed illusion magic, and separated the students at the rear from those at the front.

First Class 10.

Then Class 9, and Class 8.

The Slayers planned to isolate each class like that.

But a problem occurred.

"The crows were unavoidable... but to kill a red crow of all things."

The Class 8 instructor in charge died.

This was unexpected.

The Slayers who were about to extend their claws to the Class 7 students were unfortunately discovered by the Class 8 instructor.

And after a long battle, the Slayers ended up killing the Class 8 instructor.

Kwon Ji-na couldn't hide her deep sigh upon receiving the report from Slayers who failed to isolate Class 7 and returned.

We had to hide in the foothills of Seoraksan for a while from the moment we planned this anyway.

It was an operation to kidnap 300 middle school academy students.

They could expect some sanctions to come down from the Mana Management Organization.

They also assumed they couldn't avoid battles with Players if they were going to kidnap them.

Even casualties.

But that should have been Players, not academy officials.

"Then what should we do? That bastard came at us spouting nonsense about guts, could we have not killed him?" "That's right. You must have expected this much too."

Kwon Ji-na chewed her lip.

The water was already spilled.

The Slayers hiding on Seoraksan had that much pent-up desire.

There was no way they could restrain themselves.

If they could restrain themselves, would they truly have become Slayers?

In fact, she too had expected the plan would go awry to some extent.

That's why she had instructed them to take minimal measures in case things went wrong.

"How did you dispose of the corpse?" "We made it look like monsters got him. But those guys aren't fools so they'll figure it out soon." "So Hee-yeon is controlling the fog to buy time. We took control of the illusion magic by implanting suggestions in them." "Then the fog is under our control now. Good, well done. We need to leave this place before they realize."

"Then what should we do with these guys?"

Kwon Ji-na looked around at the disarmed students.

The students kneeling and huddled together screamed or trembled as soon as they made eye contact with her.

They seemed terrified.

Understandably so.

Not only did the Slayers who appeared from the fog use force on them, they killed the Players escorting them right before their eyes.

Or made them submit.

"We take them to the village as planned. It would be troublesome if information leaked if we left them here."

"Well, it would be a problem for us even if the brats accidentally died. We should take them to the village and use them to buy time."

"Hey, then what should we do with these? Kill them here? Or not?"

Just then, one Slayer pointed at the stripped Players while snickering.

The Slayers didn't show any mercy to them.

If they made a mistake, it wouldn't be them who got hurt, but themselves.

They couldn't give them any leeway.

So the Slayers took away the Players' equipment and potions, and searched their entire bodies to check if they were hiding any tools.

And they killed those judged dangerous on the spot.

The rest had their deaths postponed to clean up the scene.

Or to fulfill other desires if they had use value.

"...Throw those who can't walk to the monsters and disguise the situation."

"Okay! Then we take these to the village? We'll finally have some fun..."

"This is really something. To think we'd capture S-rank Players." "And not just any S-rank, man. They say she received S-rank from Dangun Clan. Not just S-rank but SSS-rank!"

"...Isn't that dangerous then? If we mess with that b***h, we might..."

"It's fine, man! You think Dangun Clan will care about that b***h!? They'll probably just pretend not to know rather than tarnish the clan's image. They'll just announce she died in a dungeon. Right?"

"......"

The man juggling several daggers asked Chae Su-jin the Caster who was crying, while snickering.

She said nothing.

But her silence answered for her.

The color of desire began to swirl on the Slayers' faces.

"But why are there only 29?"

That's when it happened.

Kwon Ji-na who counted the Class 8 students realized one was missing.

Just earlier, there were 30 students.

But while she was away, the number had decreased to 29.

She called the man who was juggling, asking what happened.

"Oh, that?"

The man, Nam Ki-han, answered as if it was no big deal.

"Some wolf cub kept resisting, so I got annoyed and threw him." "...What?" "I threw him. Down there."

Nam Ki-han pointed down below with a nonchalant tone.

It was a sheer cliff.

Kwon Ji-na's face turned deathly pale.

"...You crazy... bastard..."

The worst case scenario occurred.

Kwon Ji-na spewed curses she couldn't hold back at Nam Ki-han.

Nevertheless, Nam Ki-han snickered.

"...Parang oppa..."

Meanwhile, the students who could only helplessly watch their classmate fall off the cliff were gripped by deep fear.

Among the students.

A girl who buried her face between her legs shed dry tears, then shed new tears again.

☆

One of the Slayers' villages.

The village with a barrier blocking human approach only had a few old, shabby houses.

And wooden cages located in the center of the square.

The cages usually used to confine beasts living in the mountains now held captured students.

"...They came again."

The Class 10 students who were captured first by the Slayers looked at the new students entering the village, as if somewhat adapted.

Eun-hyeok who grasped the wooden bars and stuck his face out as much as possible groaned and muttered.

Since Class 9 was brought in just earlier, the students coming in now must be Class 8.

That meant 90 academy students had already been brought to the village.

It couldn't help but be an anxious situation.

Though they desperately hoped for rescue, the situation only worsened as time passed.

"...It's okay."

Nevertheless, Eun-hyeok soothed his heart trying not to be scared.

Even though he actually wanted to tremble in fear like the other students.

Seo-na was in the same cage.

He couldn't make her anxious.

Didn't the captain say before?

'Fear is the easiest thing to spread. The moment one person is infected with fear, it spreads to those around them.'

'......'

'Fear is over the moment it spreads. It robs you of the ability to make correct judgments, and makes you lose the will to fight. If the person infected with fear has influence within the group, fear spreads even faster. But do you know what's interesting?'

'What is it, captain?'

'If even one person doesn't catch fear, fear hesitates. If the entire group is infected with fear, that group is finished, but if even one person isn't infected with fear, the group can recover.'

'......'

'That's what fear is like. If everyone is afraid, it grows uncontrollably, but if even one person isn't afraid, it can become infinitely small.'

So he mustn't be afraid.

If even he became infected with fear, that would be the end of everything.

'─So don't be afraid of fear. As long as you Choi Eun-hyeok aren't afraid, the game isn't over yet.'

The game wasn't over yet.

Eun-hyeok who recalled the memory soothed the students in the cage with a bright face.

Seo-na also comforted the crying students following him.

"Eun-hyeok, if it's Class 8... Parang oppa and Su-bin must be somewhere there too, right?"

"...Probably. I hope nothing happened to Parang hyung..."

Eun-hyeok watched the Class 8 students being forcibly put into cages by some Slayer.

Knowing Jin Parang's personality, Eun-hyeok prayed nothing happened to Parang.

Hoping he wasn't hurt from resisting them needlessly.

At least it's fortunate that... the Slayers aren't touching the cages.

Parang hyung and Su-bin should be okay too.

He didn't know the reason.

But they weren't trying to touch the students.

They killed the Players but didn't kill them.

Because we're weak? No, that can't be it.

Eun-hyeok denied the thought that flashed by.

He who wasn't infected by fear could calmly look at the situation.

The reason they bothered to reveal their village and bring them here to confine in cages must be because they had some purpose.

So they won't kill us.

We have some value to them.

Eun-hyeok who reached that conclusion soon checked the Class 8 students entering the cage.

He saw a familiar face among them.

It was Bae Su-bin.

"Su-bin!"

Bae Su-bin whose arm was grabbed and dragged by a Slayer fell to her knees as soon as she entered the cage, unable to stand anymore.

Seo-na who rushed over hurriedly hugged her.

"...Seo-na, Seo-na, what do we do...!"

Su-bin didn't know who hugged her at first.

Then after confirming Seo-na's face, she burst into tears with her already reddened eyes.

With a face caked with dirt as if she had rolled on the ground on the way to the village.

She wailed telling them Parang fell off a cliff.

"...What?"

Only crying sounds were heard.

Eun-hyeok asked again in disbelief at the intermittent sobbing sounds.

The answer that came back was the same.

The students' mood sank.

...No way.

Parang hyung fell?

The Slayers can't touch the students.

That's what he had been thinking.

So he couldn't believe the story that Parang fell off a cliff because of the Slayers.

But Parang wasn't here.

"...No way."

Seo-na muttered.

Fear thicker than before was spreading among the students again.

He had to get rid of this fear somehow.

But Eun-hyeok couldn't give any answer.

He didn't know what words to use to soothe the students.

He just felt cold in his hands and feet.

It felt like strength was draining from his body.

"These brats are really noisy. Hey, did you come here to play? Can't you assess the situation yet?" "Just leave them be. They're just 1st years, they're civilians not Players right?"

"What? 1st years?"

The Slayers who brought the Class 8 students sat down in the village.

The Slayers whose numbers increased snickered while looking at the students confined in cages.

Then the man juggling daggers gleamed his eyes.

"If they're 1st year middle school academy... right, they probably haven't properly killed monsters yet?"

The Slayer showed a bright expression as if he thought of something fun.

He who got up dusting off his butt approached the cage Eun-hyeok was in.

Then he threw a knife into the cage and opened his mouth.

"It must be boring being confined all the time, shall we have a lesson?" "......"

"Kill a monster with that."

There was a small mana stone in the man's hand that he took out of his pocket.

Soon the mana stone that fell imbued with mana drew in surrounding mana and caused a distortion.

"...Crazy bastard."

Some Slayer spat out.

The man took that as a compliment and shrugged his shoulders.

"Will you be able to properly kill later if you just kill monsters in class? Let this hyung tell you as a current practitioner, life is practical training."

The Slayers had been bored.

So they looked at Eun-hyeok holding the sword with faces filled with vulgar interest.

...I mustn't be afraid.

The moment I lose, it's over.

Eun-hyeok who came out of the cage looked at the monster with a hardened face.

Soon the Slayers gathered and whistled at the fierce dogfight.

☆

Large and small waterfalls form streams of water winding through mountain paths all over Seoraksan.

Just in the vicinity of Osaek-ri, there are Oncheon Falls, Dokju Falls, Seorak Falls, Small Falls, and Yeoshim Falls.

Swoosh

The water streams falling with a fierce sound intersect with other streams to form a huge stream.

Afterwards, mana dissolves into the terrain and transforms the providence of the world.

Even waterfalls that run parallel to the water veins don't lose their unique characteristics reflected in nature infused with mana.

For example, like how the water passing through Osaek-ri helps circulate internal mana.

The waterfall waters with different properties mix and blend at intersection points to encompass the properties of mana circulating in the surrounding area.

And there was something floating there─

─It hurts.

My body feels like it's breaking.

Jin Parang who was tossed about by the currents drifted to a gravel beach.

He who hit his head on a fallen log looked up at the sky while floating on the water surface.

Why am I here?

His mind was hazy.

Thinking was bothersome.

Just like this.

He wanted to entrust his body to the water and sleep leisurely like this.

...I'll sleep.

An Ein's recovery ability was far superior to ordinary people.

Jin Parang's body was steadily recovering damage even in a situation where he fell from a cliff and luckily got caught in the currents.

...It's cold.

So cold.

Eventually his senses returned to normal.

No, his senses became more sensitive.

Strangely, strength welled up.

His internal mana manifested just from lifting his hand submerged in water.

Why was I here again?

...Right, those bastards.

His mind became clearer.

Memories right before falling from the cliff crowded in.

The more he ruminated on those memories, the more irritation welled up.

Right, irritation.

It was just frustrating to be treated like this.

And when Jin Parang felt frustrated, he couldn't let it go without resolving it.

"Those bastards..."

How had he lived in the slums in the past?

Parang who climbed onto the gravel beach with difficulty growled and glared.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

If he was hit, he paid back as much as he was hit.

Then would such a person remain like this after being treated this way by those guys?

He absolutely could not.

"...I won't let this slide."

Strangely, strength overflowed.

His senses became keen.

His internal mana moved according to his will just by thinking.

─I'll kill them all.

Before he knew it, internal mana was enveloping his body.

A sensation that was unfamiliar yet becoming more familiar.

As if it should have been like this from the beginning.

His body enveloped in internal mana was gradually changing to resemble the shape of a wolf.

These sons of bitches.

It didn't matter.

Whatever happened to his body.

Whatever overflowing power he had.

Whether they were Players or Slayers.

He would just kill with these hands.

Just tear them apart.

"─I'll kill them."

He wasn't the only one pushed by the currents.

He fished out the backpack sinking in the water.

He pulled out all the contents inside.

There was only one thing he was looking for.

"─Found it."

Eventually he equipped the Claw imbued with killing intent and lifted the corners of his mouth.

It was done.