WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 230: Hatred (3)
──────
2.
The sunset faded from the world.
I went out with Jaa Soo-Jeong onto the sunset-lit streets.
Babylon, a city founded by stateless refugees, was a melange of different scents.
The smell of Indian spices wafted through the air. The scent of Chinese incense followed.
Every passerby had a different skin color and a unique body odor.
“Where are you heading?”
Jaa Soo-Jeong inquired.
“I can send you back to your original world anytime now. You've collected your reward. Is there still something you need to do in this world?”
“Just follow me.”
“Hmm.”
Jaa Soo-Jeong smiled faintly as she walked beside me.
“Lead the way.”
The street fragrances gradually faded.
Do you know the smell of Harlem?
Poverty always exudes the same scent. The smell of stagnant water, of humidity. Water that couldn't find its way out, pooling in the shadows, not rotting under the sun.
A plastic drink bottle with its head buried in muddy water.
Measuring the depth of this impoverished pond.
"......."
We walked.
As the muddy water under our feet increased.
As the street fragrances lost their nationalities, subsumed into mere water scent.
As the world's twilight grew darker.
“...Ah.”
I turned into a familiar alley.
Jaa Soo-Jeong seemed to notice it too, and her lips parted.
“Mr. Gong-Ja. This place is----."
“Shh.”
I murmured.
“I can hear it.”
Jaa Soo-Jeong closed her mouth.
Then, faint noises started coming from afar.
“Hey, Flame Emperor.”
A familiar voice.
“Why suddenly to me...!”
“There's no use in seeking help.”
A familiar sneer.
“Nobody's around here anyway.”
The top-ranked Hunter, the Flame Emperor.
As if the sunset had been swallowed entirely by his throat, Yoo Soo-Ha's voice was particularly red.
“Never thought the witch had hidden such a beauty. Wow. Would've been a big problem if I hadn't known.”
“Witch? What are you talking about...?"
“Haha. Your acting skills are remarkable too.”
Deep inside the dark alley.
Yoo Soo-Ha had cornered the Saintess, tilting his head cockily.
“Unlike your stuffy old grandpa, that is.”
As he said that, the Saintess’s expression hardened.
“Yeah?”
“Your grandfather, the Sword Saint or whatever he was. You entered the Tower to avenge him, didn’t you?”
"......."
“You thought I wouldn't know?”
To be precise, he didn’t know.
But Yoo Soo-Ha had [Returner’s Winding Clock].
A skill that lets him die and begin that day again.
Thanks to that, Yoo Soo-Ha knew about [the future where the Saintess attacks him].
“How do you... How could you know that?”
Of course, the Saintess didn’t know about Yoo Soo-Ha’s skill.
Just like she didn't in my world. Exactly the same.
“Because I’m a damn smart bastard. There’s nothing I don’t know."
"Ugh...!"
The Saintess moved her hand.
Probably the brief white flash from her right hand was her Aura.
“Oh, dear. Our granddaughter is quite fierce.”
But the white Aura was cut off before it could fully manifest.
The Flame Emperor had grabbed the Saintess’s neck.
“Krgh!?”
“Those are the hands of someone who’s killed a few people. How would your grandfather react if he could see his granddaughter now? Huh? He’d probably say he could never forgive a murderer and, with tears in his eyes, make the painful but righteous choice to kill even you... Ah, idioms from our side don’t translate well for you people, do they?”
The Saintess struggled, choking.
Her feet, lifted off the ground, desperately sought support in vain.
“I really fucking love people like you.”
Back then.
“No matter how many I kill, it doesn’t leave a single scratch on my heart.”
In the same place, with the same people present.
“Hanging out with goody-two-shoes pisses me off. Wow, fuck, are there really non-trash humans in this world?”
Back then, I couldn't do anything.
“Seems impossible. Just a peel away and everyone's trash. But peeling off is troublesome, right? Even peeling an orange leaves fiber under your nails.”
“Ugh, hrk! Ugh...!”
“All the better when I meet someone like you. Ah, it's not tiring. Just like my brain’s been rinsed with cleaner. I live because of you, really. All thanks to you.”
I could only watch.
Panicked, struggling hard just to keep my breathing silent.
“Thanks.”
But now it is different.
“Farewell, Saintess Isabelle.”
Just as the Flame Emperor’s grip was about to ignite,
My Aura surged towards the back of his hand.
“...!?"
Thud!
The Flame Emperor reflexively released the Saintess’s neck and stepped back. His footwork was nimble. Slash! My Aura cut through the empty air where he had withdrawn his hand.
“Huk...!”
The Saintess collapsed, gasping for air as her windpipe was freed.
“What…"
The Flame Emperor turned towards us with a shocked face.
That was it.
One breath.
“Salvation Sword.”
Without giving him a chance to breathe, I lunged forward immediately.
Responding to my call, a skill that had become one with me answered.
[The Torn Goddess's Salvation responds.]
It was a technique previously possessed by the Constellation Killer.
Just as nine golden skills made up the Tower Lord, two skills constituted the Constellation Killer.
One was [Puppeteer's Parade].
Thanks to this, the Constellation Killer had returned with a new body even after his original one was destroyed.
The other was [The Torn Goddess's Salvation].
Thanks to this, the Constellation Killer discarded yesterday's memories for today's victory.
When I was killed by the Constellation Killer, I could choose one of these two skills.
And I chose.
“Part-timer!? You, what are you----"
“The coffee from our office’s cafe is terribly tasteless. Please change the delivery service, Guild Master.”
I rushed into the Flame Emperor's embrace.
Compressing my voice with Aura, I shot it as telepathy.
His already shocked face grew even more astonished.
“I don’t want to remember the taste of today's coffee.”
I declared.
“Let's discard it.”
Then I swung my fist.
[The Torn Goddess's Salvation activates.]
A single strike.
Enhancement.
"......!"
My Aura, as red as the Flame Emperor’s, struck his abdomen. Kuhk! A grunt escaped Yoo Soo-Ha's lips. Unable to counter the impact, he flew like a stick towards the alley wall.
Half the wall collapsed.
“Huk, ugh... Ah?”
That was it.
Two breaths.
“You, you’re from Yoo Soo-Ha’s guild...?”
The Saintess, regaining some strength, looked up at me. She had a red burn on her neck where the Flame Emperor had grabbed her, showing she was not completely unharmed. Confusion was evident in her eyes.
I used to think of the Saintess as a pure victim.
"I'm sorry, but please rest for a while.”
Now, I simply see her as human, like anyone else.
I pressed my hand against the Saintess's forehead, reversing the flow of Aura.
“Ah......."
She let out a groan and collapsed, unconscious. What once seemed an unimaginable show of force was now so easily done.
That was it.
Three breaths.
“Damn, fuck!”
The Flame Emperor rose from the ruined wall.
Rubble slid off his long ponytail.
“What the hell are you doing! Hey! You! Are you really just a part-timer!?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Fuck, were you also raised by the witch... No, no, that can’t be. When the terror attack happened...."
The Flame Emperor couldn't keep up with the situation.
Naturally. To him, I was still nothing more than a frail F-rank Hunter and member of his guild.
“Curious, Guild Master?”
The Saintess didn’t know that the Flame Emperor had regressed a day.
Similarly.
The Flame Emperor had no idea who I really was.
“If you want to know, try defeating me.”
“Ha...."
“I need to know that I'm stronger than you.”
“I don’t know what blessing you’ve received, but.”
The Flame Emperor's eyes ignited.
“You're about to get a severe beating.”
My hand glowed with blood-red Aura.
“I'll beat you just enough not to kill you.”
Then, I charged.
Drawing on every life I had lived.
“Bullshit! I’m the top-ranked Hunter in this Tower...!”
“My demonic heaven cries out its last testament upon the snowfield.”
Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven.
The First Form.
Sword of Starving Death.
I lunged a fist at the Flame Emperor. He tried to block it, his face saying, "You got me once, won't happen again." Yes, fundamentally, I was a swordsman, not a boxer. Unlike the Flame Emperor, I wasn't in my best form right now.
But my master split a snowy mountain without so much as a single sword.
So without a sword, I, too, could pierce through a mere flame.
+
[Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven]
Rank: A+
Effect: The Demonic Cult. They hate and curse the principles of heaven. They not only hate and curse but formed a sect and ultimately established a doctrine. Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven is a martial art containing the essence of this doctrine.
Those who comprehend the Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven can tear apart the heavens and crush mountains! However, one must deeply understand the hatred and curses contained in the techniques of the art.
The more you hate and curse the world, the more colorless the heavens will become. The one who attains the ultimate state of Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven, that person will be the true Heavenly Demon, capable of overturning the heavens.
*However, using the art makes it difficult to maintain one's self.
+
One strike.
A fragment of my life penetrated the flame.
“----Eh, what?”
“Today.”
My fist met Yoo Soo-Ha's jaw, and his head turned. Slowly. In the time dilated by Aura, the Flame Emperor couldn't strike back, and I was a step ahead, swinging my arm.
“I discard the memory of stepping into the mud puddle as I entered this alley.”
I unleashed the Aura.
+
[The Torn Goddess's Salvation]
Rank: A+
Effect: There was a goddess who dedicated herself to a hero. Although torn apart by the hero, the goddess still wanted to stand by the hero's side. She fell from heaven and sealed herself within a skill card.
The goddess converts memories into power. By offering memories to the goddess, you can enhance your abilities and strength. The more important the memory you offer, the more amplified the enhancement effect.
*However, the enhancement effect does not last long.
+
A storm howled.
My fist, once again, squarely struck Yoo Soo-Ha's abdomen.
"------"
His breath twisted.
A groan slipped from his open mouth.
Along with the groan, a few drops of gastric acid fell, and then, Yoo Soo-Ha staggered and knelt.
“Ugh, ……fuck...!"
“Guild Master.”
I quietly looked down at the Flame Emperor.
“I know you’re pissed because Manager and I died. But in any case, you really did kill her grandfather, didn’t you?”
“You, ugh, fuck, what...”
“Then you should start by apologizing for killing her grandfather.”
That was it.
It took five breaths.
“Explain why you had to kill, that the Sword Saint tried to kill you first. Even then, apologize to the Saintess.”
That was it.
It took many days.
“You should do that.”
“.......”
“Why are you trying to kill her without a second thought?”
Do you know the smell of an alley?
In poverty, there was always the smell of water.
No matter how strong the sun, where the shadows fall, the light does not shine. The puddles in the shadows, unable to evaporate in time, swell again with the nightfall and rain.
Decaying in stagnation.
“Why."
It had taken so many suns for me to return to my own rotten muddy water.
“Why do you kill people you don’t know?”
“You’re strong, Guild Master. You’re the strongest person in this Tower. Unlike everyone else, you can afford to throw away even one of your lives. You have less to lose. So why do you kill people as if it means nothing?”
I looked down at the man who once burned my heart.
He had been so strong that once, unable to find any way to defeat him, I simply fled into the past, more than four thousand days back.
That's right. I fled.
I did not know what words could persuade him, lacked the strength to make him listen, did not know how to bring him over to my side, and lacked the courage to face him. So I fled, and I killed him before he became this man.
I killed Yoo Soo-Ha, not the Flame Emperor.
“Stop living like that.”
"......."
“You fucking bastard.”
Now I'm stronger than him.
Uncomparably stronger.
I could do so much more.
Watching the Saintess die while holding my breath, running to flee, fearing death, fearing being abandoned, worrying about being meaningless to others, none of that was necessary anymore.
I lived diligently.
"......."
The Flame Emperor vomited again.
He wiped his mouth with his hand and muttered, “fuck."
"Stop spouting bullshit, you fucking bastard...."
"...."
“You’re asking why I can’t live a little more kindly? Why the fuck are you asking me that? Look around you. Where the hell did you grow up to spout bullshit like that...?”
The Flame Emperor's eyes were bloodshot.
"Jaa Soo-Jeong and you too. Oh, really. You're not humans, you're like stray dogs. Someone picks you up and raises you, and you wag your tails like happy little puppies. Fuck. How can you…"
The words he vomited were also blood.
"How can you like people so much?"
The concentration of his blood intensified.
"How can you---like people so much?"
The Flame Emperor glared at me.
"Fools. Go die. Jaa Soo-Jeong and you, just go and die. Just, die. Die already. Get lost. Fuck, bastard, really, what......"
Yes.
Then that is your scream.
I---the Vice-lord of the Demonic Cult, the Moon of the Ivansia Ducal Family, the Lord of the Ghouls, quietly nodded.
"There aren't only bastards like you in this world."
"......."
"And I will make sure you aren't a bastard either. I can do that, and I will."
I pressed my hand on the Flame Emperor's forehead.
"I am stronger than you."
And I reversed the flow of Aura.
The Flame Emperor, leaving his last curse, slipped down smoothly.
"Shit....."
Thud.
The unconscious Flame Emperor collapsed to the ground.
Silence descended in the alley.
Small footsteps approached from behind me. Turning around, I saw Jaa Soo-Jeong looking up at me.
Her purple eyes quietly inquired.
「What will you do now?」
I nodded.
“Ghoul Reincarnation.”
My shadow spread through the alleyway shadowed by the night sky. The shadow wriggled like slime, and from that writhing, a person's form emerged.
+
[Ghoul Reincarnation]
Rank: SSS
Effect: You summon those you've personally killed. The deceased do not inherit their abilities from life. However, if you wish, they can inherit their memories and appearances from when they were alive. If you do not wish it, they will only be summoned as monsters.
*However, you can only summon once a week.
+
“Whoa. What the hell?”
The figure that rose from the shadows looked exactly like the man who had just fallen.
“Where the hell is this? What kind of shitty place did you summon me to?”
Yoo Soo-Ha, dressed in his Planetarium Café part-timer outfit, scowled.
In this world, I was a part-timer, but in my world, he had become one.
Feeling the strange fate, I asked him.
“Yoo Soo-Ha.”
“Huh? Wait, fuck! Who's the guy lying there?”
“Never mind that. Yoo Soo-Ha.”
“What?"
“Do you feel like a dog, being dead and summoned by me?”
Yoo Soo-Ha looked at me as if I were a complete idiot.
“Are you on drugs?”
“Just answer honestly.”
“Yeah. I feel like shit. Wouldn’t you feel the same in my place? I thought some worthless bastard had died alone in a hunting ground, but he goes and smacks people in the back of the head. Even after killing me, he summons me whenever he’s bored, orders me to dance, and orders me to teach someone how to swear. Fuck. Saying it out loud pisses me off all over again. Just die, you fucking lunatic.”
“Right......"
I sighed.
“I guess I'm a bastard to someone too......"
“What?”
“Nothing. Just that my wife was right about everything...”
Enough.
Time to accept it.
“I'm sorry.”
Yoo Soo-Ha flinched.
“Huh?’’
“I'm sorry for killing you, you fucker.”
"......."
Yoo Soo-Ha shut his mouth.
It would be great if he was moved by my apology, even admirable, but of course, Yoo Soo-Ha never does anything to make others happy, let alone admirable things. He's a bastard, after all. He just looked at me as if I were an idiot.
“You’re sorry for killing me?”
“Yes.”
“Fuck, I thought my ears were broken, but it turns out the broken thing was this bastard’s head. Did you get shot? Ah, you don’t die even if you do, right? Then get shot some more. Wow. I never thought I’d live to receive an apology like ‘sorry I killed you.’ Fuuuck, I must be the first person in human history to hear an apology like this, you motherfucker. Even when you apologize to someone, you become the first bastard in the history of the universe to do it that way. When are you going to go die, you motherfucker?”
Ah, such a dog-like man...
Does he get pimples on his lips if he doesn’t swear when he opens his mouth? Even when someone is apologizing...
"......."
I turned to look at Jaa Soo-Jeong.
Jaa Soo-Jeong was smiling broadly at me.
“…Are you enjoying this?”
“It's fucking fascinating, Mr. Gong-Ja. It's not just my personal opinion, even the entire population would agree it's super fun. Mr. Gong-Ja. It's like bees buzzing ‘Oh my, who stole the honey I stored away? Ah, here it is?’ It's that level of fun, Mr. Gong-Ja. But don't mind me, please continue your conversation with Yoo Soo-Ha, Mr. Gong-Ja. By the way, do they sell popcorn in the Harlem district? My mouth is urgently requesting some right now, Mr. Gong-Ja.”
Ah, such a dog-like woman...
Why are there only crazies around me?
In this crazy world where gods, devils, and humans all hold hands together, I embraced my head for a while, then spoke again after a long pause.
“Hey..."
“What?”
“I can’t undo what I did by feeling sorry now... No, I can make amends. I wronged you. I’ll repay that debt, and I’ll keep repaying it from now on. Will that do?”
“This fucker, can't talk like a normal person. Speak so humans can understand, you bastard.”
“Be glad I'm such a strong person..."
I…
I took out the most recent piece I had acquired in my life.
“Really, be glad I'm strong.”
The piece I had stolen from the Tower Master.
+
[Earth Bone Dragon's Skull]
Rank: SSS+
Effect: Stores the memories of the living. Stored memories are kept in a 'box.' This box can only be destroyed by the owner of this skill.
As long as the box remains intact, you can repeatedly produce bodies of individuals inheriting the same memories. The bodies can roam the world, accumulating new experiences, which can then be 'updated' into the box. Of course, only if you permit it!
Even if the body of the individual is destroyed, the box remains unharmed. Bestow the privilege of immortality on those around you.
*However, memories of a destroyed body cannot be updated into the box.
+
“Jaa Soo-Jeong.”
“Yes, Mr. Gong-Ja.”
“I…"
I said.
“I'll resurrect this bastard.”
Earth Bone Dragon's Skull.
A skill that stores [memories] and gives [bodies], I declared holding the strongest card I had drawn.
“I'll return the body to this son of a bitch.”
To resurrect one human being.
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