Damned System

Chapter 32. Murderer (7)

I neither affirmed nor denied it.

However, my actions had already been an answer.

Undoubtedly, I was superior in overall ability.

Yet, there was a drawback that negated all those advantages.

The fact that I had never killed before.

“Damn.”

There had been opportunities to target his neck and heart.

But right before delivering the final blow, my movements froze.

Naturally, and inevitably, from an unconscious realm.

Han Changshik never missed the opportunity and escaped every time.

And when such situations repeated twice, he realized what was happening.

‘To think it would be like this.’

I had known that I was more sensitive to death than the average person.

Perhaps it was due to the trauma I experienced when my parents passed away.

Rather than overcoming it, I had merely buried it as I had to bite the bullet to stand up again.

I also reacted sensitively when John tried to kill Ethan.

It felt unpleasant when I realized people were dying through the community.

I had moved spontaneously when I thought Namkyu might die as he faced the muzzle of a gun.

The bounty mission had shaken me as well.

And when I arrived here, seeing the corpse had knitted my brows; it was all because I was sensitive to death.

‘If only it had been a monster, this wouldn’t have happened.’

It seemed like only ‘human death’ had an influence on me.

In situations where I had to kill to survive, the death of a monster didn’t move me much.

At most, it was just vigilance against something unfamiliar.

In fact, I hadn’t hesitated when I slaughtered those monster bastards.

But Han Changshik was different. No matter how evil and murderous he was, he was undoubtedly human.

That fact was unconsciously restraining me.

My mood was becoming complicated.

At that moment, Han Changshik, who had precisely identified my weakness, charged at me first.

“Tsk.”

I immediately thrust my spear to ward him off.

But Han Changshik twisted his body, avoiding the spear aimed at his chest.

Using the design of my spear to my advantage, I hooked its left blade onto his neck and pulled.

It was a perfect chance to slice through Han Changshik’s neck with the spear blade, as if reaping rice with a sickle.

But again, my hand stiffened.

Han Changshik swiftly bent his waist and backed away.

As I gritted my teeth, Han Changshik approached close.

Thwack, thwack-thwack.

In the span of a single breath, seven exchanges occurred.

As my weapon switched to a dagger, we exchanged close-ranged blows while targeting each other’s vital spots.

To an ordinary person’s eyes, it would have been a blur as to how we exchanged blows.

As the close-quarters combat became more intense, my expression grew more strained.

“Damn it.”

Han Changshik’s reaction speed had gotten faster than when we first clashed.

It meant he was adapting to his body.

I couldn’t give him a chance to further realize that potential.

Gritting my teeth, I reversed my grip on the dagger and slashed it.

A red line appeared on Han Changshik’s chin, who had leaned back his waist.

Simultaneously, yet another skill stone shattered in his hand.

Not knowing what skill he would use, I decided to withdraw for now.

“This!”

However, as vines grew from my feet and grabbed my ankle, retreating to create distance became meaningless.

Even jumping back to widen the gap was futile.

The vines grew faster than I could react, ensnaring my legs and climbing up my body.

In an instant, my limbs were bound completely.

Right after using the skill stone, Han Changshik was already upon me, swinging his sword.

So many things happened simultaneously in a heartbeat, undetectable to an average person.

「Sense Expansion activating.」

The descending sword, aiming to cleave me, slowed down.

The muscles of my body, caught in the vine, tensed and swelled.

As sparks shot out from my body, a barrier, which I had practiced forming just before arriving here, surrounded me.

Thud!

With a resounding crash, Han Changshik’s sword stopped at the barrier.

“Argh!”

He convulsed as if electrocuted, trembling all over.

Thanks to channeling all of the remaining attribute mana into the barrier creation mana.

Using attribute mana at spots maintaining the barrier overlayed my attribute, lightning, onto the semi-transparent wall.

It was a method conceived while pondering how to utilize this technique.

Thus, I managed to simultaneously defend and attack.

‘I can’t use this often, though.’

I didn’t have enough mana and attribute mana to use this skill freely.

‘With full mana, I can do it three times at most.’

This was only possible by minimizing the barrier area to save mana.

Using it with other skills would reduce that number further.

I had already used a fair amount of mana during the battle.

Creating the barrier just now had drained my attribute mana completely.

‘I’ve got to finish it.’

Forcefully opening my arms, the vine burned by the lightning broke, falling away bit by bit.

I took a step forward before Han Changshik recovered his body posture.

Thud!

The longsword, scraping along the ground, started to ascend along a diagonal line.

Almost out of habit, my body nearly froze before the sword could reach Han Changshik.

‘Don’t hesitate.’

In the slowed-down perception realm, I recalled the corpses strewn at Han Changshik’s feet.

Stopping here meant that those corpses could turn out to be my cherished ones.

With a whip-like drive, I resolutely pushed myself forward.

‘Don’t become weak, Kang Hyunwoo!’

For the first time since this game began, I was able to drench myself in crimson blood.

* * *

Before the man with a mask appeared, Han Changshik, who had been massacring the members, met a pitiful end.

From his left shoulder to his head, Han Changshik’s body was sliced open, drifting through the air before falling to the ground with a thud.

The space, once filled with noise, fell into silence.

All the happenings were broadcast live in the control room through the body cams of the team members.

“Target, t-target elimination complete, situation… is terminated.”

Lieutenant Yu Minhun, the most senior among the survivors, reported in a tightly constrained voice.

He was trying hard to straighten the trembling gun barrel.

‘I… I couldn’t see it.’

He couldn’t see the sword swung by the masked man moments ago.

It wasn’t just this once.

The two men, referred to as players, continually displayed movements that were hard to consider human.

Yu Minhun had lost sight of them several times during their clash.

Their speed was inexplicable by human standards.

Moreover, following the fire and ice, came the threatening spark.

The faces of comrades, who had died engulfed by a massive ball of fire, flashed in his mind.

Just then, the masked man who killed Han Changshik stumbled.

“Huh.”

Amid faintly heard groans, Yu Minhun lowered his gun slightly and observed the man.

The man was trembling, seemingly suppressing pain.

But soon after, he breathed heavily as if the pain had dissipated, straightening his body.

The man, covered with Han Changshik’s blood, gazed at the surviving members.

The sound of someone gulping down saliva echoed like thunder.

Following that was the plain voice of the unfamiliar man.

“Can you connect me to Director Yang Jochul?”

Yu Minhun responded swiftly.

“Yes, I am currently connected to the control room.”

With nervousness evident in his reply, the man gestured slightly.

Yu Minhun wet his parched lips and approached the man.

He handed over the earphones and microphone attached inside his bulletproof vest that he had been wearing.

The man, receiving them, sighed deeply and spoke.

“Did you see what kind of guys players are?”

An answer came from the opposite earphone, which wasn’t handed to the man.

『… Yes.』

It was Squad Leader Yang Jochul, the person in charge of this operation.

“Do you acknowledge that these people’s lives were saved because of my intervention?”

『… Yes.』

“Sigh.”

The man, who wore a blood-soaked mask, sighed, his voice slightly fading.

“Then, considering it as compensation for saving these lives, let’s cover up the Gwanak District incident. There weren’t any casualties, were there? It was just a kid who got clueless and wanted to survive.”

『… I will take care of it. Thank you for saving our men.』

“Thank you. And what I’m going to say now is not a request but a warning.”

A heavy silence followed from the earphone.

“What you’ve witnessed just now is at the level of a player who has only cleared level 1 or 2 missions. Are you aware of how many levels of missions exist?”

『I’ve heard there’s a basic 10, plus additional missions of unmeasured levels.』

“Glad I don’t need to explain. Don’t think of getting directly involved in incidents related to players from now on.”

The added warning that you’d only face pointless deaths was chilling.

“In this insane game, your role is simple.”

The man calmly addressed Yang Jochul, who remained silent.

“To monitor the players with public power so they don’t cause havoc in society, and to request cooperation so they don’t deviate from existing social order; that’s all.”

『…….』

“Unless you’re going to drop a bomb, contact me through the community when something like this happens again.”

『… I will remember. Who should we reach out to in the community?』

After a brief pause, the man responded.

“K, that’s my codename.”

『Ah… I’ll keep that in mind.』

“I’m friends with the kid who caused the trouble in Gwanak District, so it’ll be easy to contact me through him.”

A heavy exhale felt burdensome.

“His name is Im Namkyu, twelve years old, a fifth-grader in class 3 of Bongum Elementary School, address in Gwanak District….”

The voice reciting the child’s residence was overly plain.

The deliberately artificial feeling was chilling for some reason, making Yu Minhun gulp dryly.

“He is currently at Hanyul Motel in the Guro District. I’ll tell him to wait outside, so take him.”

『Yes, I’ll send agents immediately.』

“And.”

The man lightly closed and opened his chilling eyes.

“Let’s not pry into my background. Otherwise, you’ll witness me going berserk like that bastard who just died.”

After speaking, the man tore off the earphone and microphone, his silhouette fading.

* * *

Buying the barrier had been a brilliant move.

Without it, I would have died the moment the vines caught me.

But I hadn’t died, and Han Changshik died by my hand.

My best efforts and endeavors were rewarded again this time.

Yet, unlike the first time I caught a monster in the Level 2 mission, there was no thrill.

Instead, my body felt sluggish.

I had no memory after warning Yang Jochul about the players and leaving the scene.

By the time I came to my senses, I found myself blankly staring at the entrance door of my house.

I didn’t know how I had come here.

Subconsciously lowering my gaze, I saw my hands soaked in red.

Han Changshik’s blood stubbornly left its traces behind.

I wondered if I had wandered through the center of Seoul looking like this, and my heart sank, but fortunately, I noticed the mana cloaked around me.

I had been using Invisibility.

‘Even in this situation, I kept it up.’

I chuckled, albeit awkwardly, trying to shake off the mixed feelings, but it didn’t help.

It backfired, in fact.

“Damn….”

As I stared at the dried blood, my hands started trembling.

I couldn’t help but recall the moment Han Changshik’s head rolled on the ground.

The sensation at my fingertips when the sword cleaved through human flesh.

The sound of slicing through what should be solid bone.

The direction the blood splattered when the weighty shoulder and head of Han Changshik fell to the ground.

Everything was vivid to the point of being excessive.

In turn, my breathing grew erratic, and my body began losing sensation.

“Heok, huk.”

I knew what this meant.

I had experienced it already when my parents passed away.

My heart raced at the sight of cars, plagued by illusions of cars driving along the road colliding and exploding, just like back then.

The PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) diagnosed by Seo Jonghun, who had privately examined me at the time.

Then, the mixture of loss, despair, and shock left me struggling to face even the shadows of cars.

The vehicle, as a medium, triggered memories of my parents’ accident and absence.

Now, the medium had become human blood.

This blood was digging up the memories I wanted to forget.

‘It says I have killed a person.’

I desperately inhaled, feeling the sensation of a constricting throat.

‘Enough.’

There’s nothing to be changed even if I am shocked now.

Killing Han Changshik was the best I could do. Even if I go back to that moment, I would choose to kill him again.

I would rather become a murderer than let my cherished people die being caught in this game.

Repeatedly chanting those words like a spell, I found my breath easing a bit.

Afterward, I managed to stagger out of the villa building.

Hoo, hoo.

Consciously, I exhaled deeply.

As I slipped into a narrow alley and removed my mask, my movements were rough.

The dried blood turned to powder, falling off in bits.

After putting the mask into the inventory, I took out my phone from my pocket.

The dial tone went through, and before long, the other party picked up.

『What?』

It was Jaehyuk.

“Where are you?”

My voice trembled slightly as it came out, an uncontrollable reaction.

『… At home, of course. What about you? It’s quite late.』

“And Ahjussi?”

『He left on an emergency call earlier. Something happened to you…?』

“Then let me borrow some clothes.”

『Huh?』

I didn’t have the luxury to explain everything to him right now.

“I’ll be at your place in about 20 minutes.”

I uttered only what was necessary and then hung up the phone.

Damned System