ReLife Player

Unlocked chapter (5/11)

[A Windless Day (7)]

There were 71 people living in the underground canal at Uijeongbu Station.

They had been hiding from the monsters for years, through three different tides, and were all malnourished.

The reclamation team treated the people coming out of the tunnels and distributed supplies.

They were people, too.

Even players who were more inclined to be driven by desire and emotion couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the people living in the tunnels.

Of course, they needed to make sure they weren’t in league with the monsters.

The backbone of divisions E and F began to capture the chiefs of the villages, from the village to the bar.

«You-u, what are you doing!»

The village chief, the eldest of the chiefs, shouted in a stammering tone.

All of the chiefs were raising their voices, saying that this was ridiculous.

We shouldn’t believe them.

Seoyoung Shin decided to take the center stage so the others wouldn’t be swayed.

«I asked the children,» she said, «and they said there was a ritual of being a good child?»

It was a bluff.

She hadn’t asked the children, just spouted off the information Eunha had given her.

But the nuance of knowing was enough to change the look on the chiefs’ faces.

«Who told you?»

The village chief spoke up in a nervous tone.

«Changhae Clan Sublord. What do you mean, a ‘Good Child Ritual’?»

Guyeounsu opened his slender eyes and glared at the chiefs.

The Damaul village chief, who met his gaze, was so surprised that he staggered backward with his butt.

«From what I’ve heard from the children…, it’s a strange ritual.»

Shin Seoyoung explained the information she had heard from Eunha by saying that she had heard it from the children.

Children can’t walk on the ground without undergoing the Good Child Ritual.

The only people who could gather food from the earth were those who had undergone the Good Child Ritual.

So what is the Good Child Ritual?

Almost every player who heard the story frowned.

It sounded like a myth.

«So… Does it mean that children who receive the Good Child Ritual are recognized as good children if they return from the river, and bad children if they don’t?»

Dangun Clan lord’s Jang Bong-jeon, asked if what he had heard was correct.

«Wait a minute, Seo-young. So, if a child gets lost in the river and can’t come back, does that mean they’re automatically considered a bad child? That’s too….»

Guyeounsu stuttered.

It’s too weird.

Even if the canal is a complex structure, a child born and raised in an underground canal might not be able to return.

Placing his hand on Lamel, he turned to the chiefs, demanding an explanation.

«…The master is here.»

«The master?»

The village chief hadn’t been surprised by the aura of the players.

His eyes widened and he spoke like an apostle trying to spread the faith.

«A great master. In the dark waterways, he judges whether the child receiving the ritual is good or bad.»

«Well, that’s some nonsense, aren’t you sure it’s not the monsters you follow?»

«Monsters!»

The village chief shouted with wide eyes.

Shin Seo-young raised her shoulders in a triumphant manner.

«You don’t mean to tell me that you’ve been sacrificing children to monsters as a form of ritual?»

«Young lady, be careful with your words…»

Just then, the village chief crawled forward.

He opened his mouth in a stuttering voice and glanced at each of them, as if to remind them of his words.

«The master is a great…a great being. If you harbor ill intentions, you will return to our master.»

«…….»

«You, too, remember…. I don’t know what it’s like outside, but…. This land… belongs to the master, so you can…receive the good child ritual…too.»

With a bubbling voice filled with fervor, the village chief, with a face smeared in filth from living in the underground sewer, chuckled as if he found something incredibly delightful.

His appearance, with a missing front tooth, smiling, was grotesque beyond imagination.

«Master is everywhere, and now that we’re not having the Good Boy Ritual, he’s probably mixing in among us to see who has a bad heart and who has a good heart.»

«So be careful. If you behave like this, you will not survive the Good Child Ritual.»

«My master is a great man. Lies don’t work in his presence, and he always hears our voices.»

The Clan Lords decided to imprison them for their insane ramblings.

«So this monster called Master…, how do we find him?»

As soon as Clan Lord Dangun Jang Bong-jeon entered the conference room, he immediately sighed deeply.

He suggested forming a party of moderately skilled players to explore the ritual waterway.

Conversely, Guyeounsu raised the possibility that monsters might be lurking among the people through the stories of the village chiefs.

What should they do?

Throughout the meeting, Shin Seoyoung was at a loss.

Divisions E and F had succeeded in keeping the villagers alert.

Now it was time to find the monsters that the residents obeyed.

‘Noona. You won’t find it.’

Eunha advised against finding the 3rd-tier Overrank Hundred Face monster.

There’s no way to find it among the people.

Even if you’re a very perceptive player, you won’t be able to find it.

«Well, but…. If it’s a monster that can transform into a human, like you said, does that mean… it could be hiding amongst us, not just the residents?»

Someone’s words sent a chill through the room.

Everyone fell silent. People of different complexions looked at each other.

‘Never touch it.’

The Hundred Face was a monster that caused distrust and suspicion among humans, creating chaos.

The meeting eventually stalled and ended.

In the end, the conclusion reached was to form parties to explore the waterways and to detect the residents’ mana.

☆

Gyeonggi Northern Government Center.

Division D had to spend a considerable amount of time traveling to the Northern Government Center, which had been transformed into a redoubt.

The road was rough. Monsters were coming out in droves, so it was inevitable that it would take time to move forward.

In the end, Division D, led by Shin Myung-hwan, didn’t arrive until late in the day when the reclamation began.

In the meantime, D received news from the other divisions.

The news that Division A had recaptured Uijeongbu City Hall was like sweet rain for Division D, who had been traveling hard.

When they heard that Division C had joined Division A to clear the neighborhood, they were eager to start farming as well.

When they heard that Divisio E had found residents at Uijeongbu Station, their ears perked up.

Division E sent word that they would investigate the possibility that they might be in league with the monsters.

So far, so good.

The problem was that the Oh Geonhoo player was missing.

«Is he…is he alive?»

«I don’t know. But he’s not one to die easily.»

The disappearance of Oh Geonhoo, who was the eye of the reclamation, also meant that the reclamation had lost sight of him.

It’s not that they don’t have good navigators and telepaths.

But Oh Geonhoo’s ability to be both navigator and telepath allowed him to observe from great distances, and his ain form allowed him to see at night.

As well as scanning the night.

«I hope he’s alive.»

«He should be alive.»

Sublord Kang Ye-hee eased Shin Myung-hwan’s anxiety.

Fixing her butterfly glasses, she knew he’d been worried ever since he’d heard the news of Oh Geonhoo.

«What about the exploration team?»

«They haven’t come out of the dungeon.»

Shin Myung-hwan bit his lip at the news from Kang Ye-hee.

It was already the second time.

When the explorers didn’t show any signs of coming out after a while, a second expedition team was dispatched.

However, the second expedition had also not returned after the allotted time.

The implications were clear.

The expedition was wiped out, and Gyeonggi Northern Government Center was a dangerous dungeon.

Player Shin Seo-young said.

‘If the exploration team doesn’t show up, give up.’

Shin Myung-hwan remembered Shin Seo-young’s words before they left Hoeryong Station.

It was as if she knew what was going to happen. She had apologized repeatedly for Changhae Clan’s behavior and asked them to be careful about attacking the Gyeonggi Northern Government Center.

As soon as the explorers didn’t show up, she told them to stop.

What does he know?

Shin Myung-hwan wondered if Changhae Clan had realized the identity of the Gyeonggi Northern Government Center and asked to switch sides midway through.

Changhae Clan had controlled Uijeongbu until a few years ago.

The suspicion was hard to erase.

«…There’s something I don’t know.»

And she does know something.

He put his hand over his mouth and thought.

Should he continue to attack the red dungeon, or should he abandon the attack and wait for reinforcements from Division F?

His deliberation didn’t last long.

«─We will enter the dungeon now! Approach it with the thought that it is the most dangerous of all the Red Dungeons!»

☆

Lee Seung-hwan wandered around the ruined Uijeongbu station.

It was the eighth day.

The mood in the E and F divisions was serious.

More and more people were suspecting each other of being monsters.

The reclamation team had checked the mana in the residents’ bodies, but found nothing abnormal.

Even in the waterways where the rituals were held, they couldn’t find the monsters the villagers were talking about.

Eventually, after a period of uneasiness and suspicion, Division F decided to focus on their mission.

Today, they were on their way to install the cocoon at the Arts Hall.

In a few minutes, they will leave Uijeongbu Station and head to the Gyeonggi North Office.

Lee Seung-hwan looked around Uijeongbu Station before leaving for the Gyeonggi North Office.

Before leaving for the Gyeonggi North Office, Lee took a look around Uijeongbu Station.

In one corner, children were receiving their lunch rations.

A wry smile crossed his face.

He didn’t hate the kids.

In fact, he liked them.

They reminded him of the day he lost his family and wandered away.

They reminded him of his hyung, who had offered him a saving hand.

Hmm?

Then Lee Seung-hwan noticed a child watching the children receiving their lunch rations from a distance.

It was a boy. He poked his head out of the manhole and looked at them.

It was as if he was envious of the kids who were chatting with the players.

He couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

Even in his own clan, he was known for his individualism, and he was interested in the kid.

«Hi.»

Lee Seung-hwan approached the child.

The surprised child made eye contact with him.

«Do you want to eat this?»

He knelt down to make eye contact and held out the chocolate bar.

Just like his hyung, who had offered him a piece of bread.

The child looked back and forth between him and the chocolate bar, then nodded and snatched it up with one hand.

The way he gobbled it up reminded him of a hamster shoveling food into its cheeks.

«I’m Lee Seung-hwan. What’s your name?»

That’s what his hyung said back then.

Seung-hwan looked at the kid who had finished the chocolate bar and asked, «What’s your name?

The kid shook his head.

«I don’t have a name. Only good kids can get… a name.»

Living in a land overrun by monsters, children never know when they will die.

The survivors, who had organized themselves into villages, treated them as adults, not according to age, but according to their own rules.

The same goes for names.

You don’t get it at birth, you get it by the rules. Through the ritual of the good child.

Even the names were the same, such as family, village, and town, all of them were similar.

«…….»

Lee Seung-hwan felt sorry for the child in front of him.

He remembered of himself wandering around the city without a family, and of his hyung, offering him a piece of bread.

Yes, pity.

Something he should be wary of as a player.

«…Well, I’ll give you a name.»

«A name?»

«Yes, a name. Your name is…, In hoo, Yoo In hoo.»

The wind from the ruins caressed his hair.

He felt as if his dead hyung was stroking his hair.

So he gave the child his hyung’s name.

The name of the hyung he admired and followed.

☆

‘So, Eunha, let’s say there’s a monster named Hundred Face there, like you said, then….’

‘I’m not saying there might be, I’m saying there is, and I’m asking you to believe it, even if it’s hard to believe.’

‘I want to believe your story, but it’s too hard to believe.’

‘…Phew, okay, so, why?’

‘How do you think we should find it?’

At that, Eunha frowned.

‘You think you’re going to take it down?’

Give it up. How are you going to find it when it’s blending in with the crowd?’

‘So you want me to let the monster blend in with the people?’

‘Leave it alone. You’re not going to take back Uijeongbu anyway, so at least keep the residents on guard.’

‘You say we will keep failing, failing and failing, but you don’t know if we’re really going to fail or not.

Even if you tell me that there’s no way to find it, you won’t know for sure.’

Eunha sighed in frustration.

‘It is not there. I don’t know either.’

Actually, he did.

How to spot the Hundred Face in a crowd.

During the Second Reclamation of Uijeongbu, the reclamation forces fought fiercely over how to spot out the Hundred Face.

Some argued for an inhumane approach, suggesting that they should kill everyone, including residents, to eliminate any potential threats, given the tragedy of the First Uijeongbu Recapture Battle. Others advocated for a humane approach, emphasizing the need to protect the residents and find a way to identify Hundred Face without harming innocent people.

The argument had divided them without any resolution in sight.

The person who dismissed the debate was the Mist Flower Party’s Caster Bae Subin.

‘Well, why not just kill them all? What’s the point of this? Leader, I’ll take care of it.’

The Mistflower Party was authorized to act independently in the Second Reclamation of Uijeongbu.

They were authorized to do so by Fairy Im Gaeul.

Moreover, no one wanted to include the ruthless Mist Flower Party, which acted independently and showed no mercy, in their divisions, apart from the Blaze Clan.

This was possible due to the trust in the newly appointed Fairy Habaekryeon.

‘…This is insane.’

‘Were they even human? I can’t say they weren’t.’

‘No matter what, this is….’

‘The Mist Flower Party has opened the gate! Find the Hundred Face quickly!’

At that moment, Baek Subin, the <Witch of Slaughter> rushed out of the meeting room and indiscriminately slaughtered the captured villagers.

As she giggled and unleashed her magic against one by one, she was on the verge of madness.

Bae Subin.

She was called the <Witch of Slaughter> because she would not withdraw her hand of death until she saw the Hundred Face, even in front of people begging for their lives.

But Shin Seo-young will never be as cruel as Bae Subin.

Living and dying with honor, Shin Seo-young was a woman of principle.

She loves children and dreams of a better future, and she will not kill those who have not yet committed any crime.