WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 5: Choosing

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Rimon blinked for a moment at the sight of a human head suddenly turning into a cow's head.

Without realizing it, he looked back at Kang Jeong-su and Yoo Na-gyeong.

"Hey, is this one of his skills too?"

"Pardon?"

"This. Can't you see it?"

"What do you mean by 'this,' Team Leader?"

Rimon made an odd expression as he watched the two stare at him in confusion.

Their eyes scanned the surroundings, making it clear that they could not see Seo Yong-chan's cow head.

'Can I really see it alone?'

If this had happened in the old days, Rimon would have drawn his sword first.

Back then, common sense said that whenever something bizarre happened, a priest's or witch's magic was probably behind it.

But not now.

Common sense had changed.

'Hmm. It does seem like some kind of skill, though.'

He might not be a player, but Rimon was still a PAB agent.

He knew there were plenty of skills capable of changing a person's body.

That was why he was so thrown off.

'...

Why would a transformation skill activate out of nowhere?'

Skills were activated by their owner's will.

That was basic common sense.

But Seo Yong-chan had been unconscious for quite some time already.

Seeing the cow head's eyes still rolled back, Rimon could only feel uneasy.

"Hey, are there skills that activate when someone gets knocked out?"

"What kind of dog-eats-grass nonsense is that?"

Smack!

"Ah! You hit me again!"

"What do you mean, dog-eats-grass nonsense? Your superior asks you a question, and you call it dog-eats-grass nonsense?"

"Ask a question that makes sense! What skill in the world activates when you get knocked out?"

"So it doesn't make sense, right?"

"Of course it doesn't!"

Rimon shifted his gaze slightly.

Then he nodded upon seeing Kang Jeong-su's expression, which seemed to ask what kind of idiotic question that had been.

'Well, if there were cases like that, people would have heard about them.'

Rumors of constellations that wanted living sacrifices.

Of elixirs that could revive even the dead.

Of players who had made contracts with multiple constellations.

All kinds of absurd stories circulated through the world of players like ghost stories.

But Rimon had never even heard a rumor of a player who could use skills while unconscious.

That was how impossible it was.

'...

The problem is that this impossible thing is actually happening.'

Rimon sank into thought.

Why had this happened?

But no matter how deeply he searched his memory, nothing came to mind.

"Why did you even ask something like that?"

"Well, that is..."

Rimon suddenly fell silent.

He looked at Yoo Na-gyeong and Kang Jeong-su's puzzled faces and considered it.

If he told them Seo Yong-chan looked like he had a cow's head, would they be surprised and impressed?

Or would they think he had gone mad and look at him suspiciously?

Judging by their reactions just now, regrettably, it would probably be the latter.

"Never mind."

Rimon ultimately gave up on asking for advice.

Instead, he poked Seo Yong-chan's cow head with a finger.

'At least it doesn't seem to be an illusion...'

From the horns growing from his head to the feel of the fur covering his face, Rimon repeatedly confirmed Seo Yong-chan's cow head by touch.

Then he made a strange expression.

He was a Sword Master.

He was no inexperienced brat who could not distinguish a trivial illusion.

And if this was not an illusion, it meant one thing.

'This bastard, was he originally cow-headed and using a skill to hide it?'

Logically, that was the most plausible conclusion.

If Seo Yong-chan had been concealing his head with a skill, it made sense that his true appearance would be revealed when he lost consciousness.

Of course, that meant accepting the shocking truth that Seo Yong-chan had always had a cow's head.

But that was easy enough.

From the Demon God War that had erupted in Europe, to the Spirit Cataclysm that had swept across the Americas, to the Seven Dragons Society's rampage that had turned Asia upside down.

As a Sword Master, Rimon had fought in every major war and seen countless monsters and freaks.

One more cow-headed man was hardly something to surprise him now.

'The problem is why I'm the only one who can see it...'

Maybe it was because he had beaten Seo Yong-chan unconscious.

Or maybe it was simply because he was a Sword Master.

It was clear that only he could see Seo Yong-chan's cow head.

And no matter how loudly he insisted on it, neither Yoo Na-gyeong nor Kang Jeong-su, nor anyone else, would believe him.

In other words, if he killed Seo Yong-chan like this, it would undeniably be murder.

'So, what do I do?'

Rimon stared steadily at the cow-headed Seo Yong-chan.

He had been debating whether to kill him from the start.

Now the fact that Seo Yong-chan was actually cow-headed had simply added more weight to the scale.

And from the beginning, the choice between killing him and letting him live had already been decided.

"Jeong-su."

"Yes?"

"If anyone questions it later, say it was all my responsibility."

"If it wasn't your responsibility, sir, whose would it be?"

Kang Jeong-su was briefly dumbfounded by that response.

Then Kang Jeong-su's eyes widened when they saw Rimon place a foot on Seo Yong-chan's body.

Before they knew it, Kang Jeong-su tried to stop him.

"Sir, wait...!"

But he was too late.

Before Kang Jeong-su could even finish speaking, Rimon had already delivered the final blow to Seo Yong-chan.

* * *

The Infinite Art Museum.

Though famous for housing many world-renowned masterpieces, it had few visitors compared with its reputation.

That was because the Infinite Art Museum had been established for only one person.

"I have something to report."

"What is it?"

"Young Master Seo Yong-chan was involved in an incident at PAB headquarters."

Neatly slicked-back hair.

A pristine white suit without a speck of dust.

Rimless glasses and an especially impassive expression.

All of it gave the man an unusually calm air. Yet even upon hearing that sudden report, he did not turn his gaze away.

He merely kept his eyes fixed on a painting and calmly asked a question.

"Is he dead?"

"They say his life is not in danger."

"That makes it sound as though everything except his life is a problem."

"...

According to the healers, he is nearly half-dead. They said it is a miracle that he is still alive."

"My brother-in-law must have gone through quite an ordeal."

"Yes. The common opinion is that his function as a man will be difficult to restore unless we borrow the Divine Sovereign's power."

High-level healers could reattach even severed limbs.

If even such healers declared themselves helpless, then what?

Rather than an injured man, he would be better described as a living corpse.

"That is regrettable."

Yet the man showed neither surprise nor agitation at the terrible news.

He merely muttered quietly.

"I told him again and again to drink less and stop making a nuisance of himself. It seems my advice was insufficient."

His tone sounded genuinely sorrowful.

But unlike his calm voice, the man's expression was utterly cold.

Park Hyeon-gun could not see the man's face, but could easily imagine that expression.

If the man truly pitied Seo Yong-chan, he would have sought a way to have the Divine Sovereign treat him instead of merely expressing regret.

Just as Park Hyeon-gun expected, the man asked about something else rather than Seo Yong-chan.

"Let me confirm something. Who was with my brother-in-law when the incident occurred?"

"Rimon Aspelder."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes. The PAB director has already acknowledged Rimon Aspelder's unilateral actions and placed him under suspension."

It was only natural.

No matter who Rimon was, he could not turn someone into a living corpse and simply get away with it.

Considering that the victim was Seo Yong-chan, it was an extraordinarily lenient punishment.

Lenient enough to be irritating.

"Rimon Aspelder."

The man repeated the name.

Then, checking the title of the oil painting before him, he continued softly.

"The last Sword Master, humanity's guardian deity and a hero who saved the nation. He is truly someone deserving of respect."

The title of the painting was Hero of Dawn.

It was a world-famous masterpiece depicting a great swordsman who had saved the world by standing against a Demon God descended upon the earth.

It was worth tens of billions at minimum.

If it went to auction, it would easily sell for over a hundred billion. Reaching out toward the painting, the man spoke coldly.

"It would have been preferable if that illustrious name had remained only in textbooks."

Riiip!

It happened in the blink of an eye.

That was all the time it took for a cultural treasure praised around the world to become scraps of paper.

Yet neither the man who committed that atrocity nor Park Hyeon-gun, who watched it happen, expressed any regret.

Park Hyeon-gun simply answered as if they had been waiting for it.

"I will handle it."

What exactly he intended to do.

Though his words offered no explanation, the man did not ask for details.

It was not because he trusted Park Hyeon-gun.

He simply no longer cared.

The age when Sword Masters reigned supreme was in the past.

It belonged to an era when the outcome of war was decided by knights' duels, and skill with a blade alone could make someone a hero.

Just as knights and martial artists had declined with the invention of firearms.

In this age of skills and constellations, Rimon, who was not even a player, was too insignificant and worthless for him to concern himself with personally.

Instead, the man turned his attention to someone worth caring about.

"More importantly, what happened to her?"

It was a vague question.

But Park Hyeon-gun immediately understood its meaning.

There was only one woman important enough for this man to ask about personally.

"We have confirmed that she entered the country, but we are still tracking her movements after that."

"Even with the guild's best tracker assigned to her, you have not found so much as a lead?"

"...

I have nothing to say."

Park Hyeon-gun trembled.

They knew that if the man found their failure to track her displeasing, they would be finished too.

"I have no intention of reprimanding you. She was never an opponent who would be easy to find so quickly."

The man did not blame Park Hyeon-gun.

He merely added one calm sentence.

"You may spend as much money as necessary. Hire additional top-level trackers."

"Will it be all right if that causes friction with other guilds?"

"It does not matter. Results are what matter."

Park Hyeon-gun could guess what that meant.

That it did not matter as long as the results were good.

Conversely, that generous consideration was effectively an ultimatum: even after receiving this much support, failure to produce results would not be forgiven.

"...

I will keep that in mind."

Even so, Park Hyeon-gun bowed his head.

No, they had no choice but to bow.

Before Park Hyeon-gun stood someone who tolerated no flaw.

Among the ten Monarchs at the peak of all players, he was the most thorough of them all.

Lee Cheon-gi, the Infinite Monarch.

"Then I look forward to good results."

Leaving Park Hyeon-gun bowed behind him, Lee Cheon-gi walked on.

Already having completely forgotten the last Sword Master, who would soon disappear into the far side of history.

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