WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Max-Level Swordsman of Fusionpunk ◈
Chapter 17
──────
[......]
After a long silence, Kim Ryushin spoke.
[If we pay, does that mean you won’t act against Cheongmyeong?]
“That’s right.”
Kang Doseok answered without hesitation.
“Once the fifty-eight billion comes in, this is over. Unless you come after me first, I won’t come looking for you.”
Fifty-eight billion relic.
An ordinary person would never see that much money in a lifetime.
But considering how much a player’s services were worth, it was a different story.
Given enough work, Kang Doseok alone could complete several jobs worth billions in a single day. Other players might not earn as much as he did, but they could still make a considerable fortune.
And Cheongmyeong was a first-generation guild with hundreds of players.
Fifty-eight billion wasn’t more than a guild could afford. If anything, it was a reasonable amount.
[...Very well.]
Kim Ryushin’s voice dropped.
[I’ll arrange the payment. First, let’s confirm the terms.]
He continued.
[Cheongmyeong Guild admits to ordering surveillance and tracking of Kang Doseok, and to hiring Kim Hanrim to kill him. We will pay fifty-eight billion relic as compensation for the resulting damages.]
He paused briefly, then added,
[Effective immediately, we will cease all hostile actions against you, including surveillance, tracking, and commissioned attacks. We won’t make the first move against you in the future, either. In return, I’d like you to refrain from acting against Cheongmyeong. If you agree to consider all grievances from before today settled, I’ll transfer the money right now.]
“Fine.”
Kang Doseok answered without hesitation.
[Good. That’s how a man should act, Kang Doseok. I’ll transfer it now.]
A moment later, the terminal inside his coat vibrated briefly.
Kang Doseok checked the payment record and put it away.
“The money’s here.”
[You’ve confirmed it? Let’s stop snarling at each other and get al-]
At that moment.
Ka-ka-ka-boom!
A deafening roar erupted all around them. The entire underground parking garage shook violently. The lights hanging from the ceiling flickered together, and concrete dust showered down between the severed pillars.
Bzzzzzzzt!
Blue sparks spat from the metal component embedded in the Team 5 leader’s right eye.
[Kang Do...seok...com...muni...]
Bzzzzzt!
Kim Ryushin’s voice became badly distorted. A moment later, the connection cut out.
Kang Doseok looked up.
The wires running along the ceiling flashed irregularly. Car alarms sounded throughout the parking garage, and the already dead electronic signs blazed white.
It was an electromagnetic storm. Shabel’s Storm was squeezing out the last of its strength.
“You’re lucky.”
Kang Doseok took his hand away from the Team 5 leader’s right eye.
“If that electromagnetic storm had come thirty seconds earlier, you’d be dead.”
He had just confirmed that the deputy guild leader had paid the amount demanded.
Without that confirmation, Kang Doseok would have killed everyone here.
He stood up.
The Team 5 member lying on the floor groaned, clutching his thigh. The Team 5 leader looked down at their severed wrist and ankle, then gritted their teeth.
“Fuck... I’m practically dead here... and you got fifty-eight billion from the guild? This is insane.”
Kang Doseok flicked the blood off his sword.
“Jealous?”
The Team 5 leader bit their lip without answering.
Kang Doseok jerked his chin.
“Get lost. Unless you want to die.”
The young team member staggered to his feet. Blood ran down his thigh, but he had to move if he wanted to survive.
He approached the Team 5 leader and pulled one of the leader’s arms over his shoulder.
“Team Leader, get up.”
“I can’t put any weight on my foot...”
“I’ll carry you. Get on my back.”
Gritting his teeth, the man lifted the Team 5 leader onto his back.
They stumbled several times on their way to the stairs. Neither looked back as they passed between the sliced-apart vehicles and scattered corpses.
Kang Doseok watched until they disappeared beyond the stairs.
Rrrrrrooom!
Another roar rang out.
The vibration felt as though the entire city were shaking. Kang Doseok slid his sword into its sheath.
Click.
“Now that’s one vicious storm.”
He brushed off the concrete dust falling from the ceiling and walked toward the stairs.
* * *
The moment he reached the shopping floor, Kang Doseok stopped.
People stood frozen in the middle of the passage.
Those who had been sitting in the food court, the workers carrying goods, and the shopkeepers closing their stores were all the same. Hundreds of eyes were fixed on a huge screen covering one wall.
Red warnings flashed wildly around its edges.
[This is an emergency disaster broadcast.]
[The appearance of the mutant Darkblood Warpsight, one of the Twelve Baleful Stars, has been confirmed in District 43 of Sector F.]
The image changed.
It showed footage from a Public Security Bureau drone flying between high-rise buildings. Black smoke rose from several places along the outer walls of an enormous megabuilding.
Countless figures pressed against the insides of its windows, shouting at the tops of their lungs.
[A large-scale outbreak is underway inside Megabuilding 7 in District 43.]
[More than 3,000 infections have been confirmed so far. Including those not yet counted, the actual number is believed to be higher.]
Red captions scrolled rapidly across the bottom of the screen.
[District 43 disaster response level raised to “Severe.”]
[All movement into and out of neighboring districts prohibited.]
[Citizens, do not leave your buildings.]
Everyone’s terminal was dead.
The electromagnetic storm had crippled the entire wireless communications network. Personal terminals, commercial networks, and private broadcasts had all gone down.
Only the direct municipal network, buried deep underground, was still working.
That was why everyone’s eyes were fixed on the screen.
[Darkblood Warpsight can transmit an infectious agent by biting people on the neck. Mutants infected by Darkblood Warpsight display extreme aggression and spread the infection by biting others.]
The entrance to the megabuilding appeared on the screen.
Hundreds of infected people poured through the fire doors, trampling one another. The security forces blocking the entrance opened fire together.
The image shook.
Screams mingled with gunfire.
[The NCPD Tactical Response Unit and the Disaster Suppression Force, which reports directly to the city government, have been deployed to the scene.]
[Temporary containment lines are being established throughout District 43.]
Kang Doseok watched the screen for a moment.
“What a shitshow.”
District 43 was right next door.
Kang Doseok was in District 42.
Their numbers differed by just one, but that didn’t mean they were close. A single district in Netron City was a vast urban area housing millions.
District 42 alone could fit an entire administrative district of Seoul inside it and still have room to spare.
That meant traveling from the edge of District 42 to the center of District 43 would take quite a while, even by car.
It was easy to underestimate just how enormous Netron City was.
“Darkblood Warpsight...”
Kang Doseok looked away from the screen. Whatever was happening, it had nothing to do with him. No matter how many people the creature tore into over in District 43, he couldn’t make his way there through the storm right now.
He turned toward the elevators.
“By now...”
Perhaps the Nightmare Cicada Aberration clinging to his window had flown away.
Kang Doseok walked toward the elevators.
The emergency broadcast continued behind him.
[Shabel’s Storm is currently passing through all of Sector F. Powerful electromagnetic interference and acid rain continue. All citizens should remain indoors.]
The elevator doors opened.
Kang Doseok stepped inside and pressed the button for the penthouse floor.
Just before the doors closed, the anchor’s urgent voice came from the screen.
[The number of infected inside Megabuilding 7 in District 43 continues to rise. The current estimate is 5,000. As the Netron City Disaster Response Committee issues an emergency statement...]
The elevator rose.
The information display on the wall blinked off and on repeatedly, unable to withstand the electromagnetic interference. Even the numbers showing the floor became too distorted to read.
Ding.
After a long while, the doors opened.
Kang Doseok entered the penthouse and checked the window first.
Dark red rain lashed the outer wall.
Beyond it, blue currents flashed across the sky like lightning.
The Nightmare Cicada Aberration that had been clinging to the window was nowhere to be seen.
“Gone.”
Kang Doseok walked to the sofa and tossed off his coat.
Then he thought about the stars he had absorbed after the battle.
Killing a player didn’t mean he could take every Skill Star they possessed. Nor did killing them cause their stars to appear in his hands as physical objects.
Any stars not absorbed immediately after the kill would regenerate at random somewhere in the world.
Also, across all players, the average number of Skill Stars owned per person was only 0.3 to 0.4.
Having even two Skill Stars put a player among those with plenty. Anyone with three or more was recognized as powerful.
Kim Hanrim and Park Jinwoo had been such players. Kim Hanrim had three stars, while Park Jinwoo had four.
But killing them didn’t mean Kang Doseok could simply absorb whatever he wanted.
He could absorb no more than one star from any one person.
And apart from sword Skill Stars, the only stars Kang Doseok could take in were common Skill Stars.
Blood Tracking belonged to the blood family, but it was a common Skill Star within that category.
The same was true of Camouflage. It was a common Skill Star in the stealth family. That meant anyone could learn it.
And Kang Doseok had managed to gain two stars from the people he had killed this time.
The first was Phantom Sword Dance.
It was the sword skill Park Jinwoo had used at the end.
A technique that multiplied a single sword strike into dozens, covering the area ahead.
The second was...
“Hmm.”
Kang Doseok looked at his palm.
Then it happened.
Skrrrk.
Flesh-colored protrusions pushed through his skin. They were tiny, sharp spines, so small he had to squint to make them out.
Kang Doseok stood up and pressed his palm against the wall.
Chk.
His hand stuck to the surface.
“A mobility skill?”
A common Skill Star in the mobility family.
“Adhesion. Something like that, probably.”
Kang Doseok flexed his arm, and both feet lifted off the floor. Even with his entire body hanging from one hand, his palm didn’t slip.
It was the ability that had belonged to the marksman accompanying Park Jinwoo.
The skill was probably used to take up positions on the outer walls of tall buildings or on ceilings.
Kang Doseok deactivated Adhesion.
The flesh-colored protrusions withdrew into his skin, and his palm came away from the wall.
Used well, it could be quite useful.
He sat back down on the sofa.
Outside, Shabel’s Storm was still battering the city.
Dark red rain ran down the glass, and blue currents writhed like enormous veins among the black clouds.
Beyond them, he could see a megabuilding in District 43.
From the outside, it looked fine.
Thousands of windows shone in neat rows, and the enormous building stood without the slightest movement in the storm.
But inside, thousands of mutants would already be filling the corridors and stairways, tearing into people.
Behind that peaceful exterior, a scene of hell would be unfolding.
Just as that thought crossed his mind...
Bzzt!
The living room screen switched on by itself.
Electromagnetic interference distorted the image several times. Then an emergency broadcast appeared, accompanied by a red warning.
It was the direct municipal network.
A wired communications network that forcibly activated screens inside buildings during disasters, whether the citizens wanted it or not.
Kang Doseok picked up the remote and turned up the volume.
[The NCPD Tactical Response Unit and the Disaster Suppression Force, which reports directly to the city government, have established a defensive line outside Megabuilding 7.]
The screen showed the same megabuilding he had just been looking at through the window.
Its exterior still looked undamaged.
Only the armored vehicles and thousands of troops surrounding its entrances hinted at what was happening inside.
[The number of infected inside the megabuilding is now estimated at more than 8,000.]
[Survivors trapped on the upper floors continue to request rescue, but with internal communications down, their exact numbers remain unknown.]
The image changed.
Troops in fire-resistant suits were firing flamethrowers in front of the entrance.
The infected pushed through the flames in an endless stream. When those in front fell, those behind trampled their bodies and climbed over them.
[The operation to kill Darkblood Warpsight has been delayed.]
[Two battalions of the Disaster Suppression Force have withdrawn after suffering heavy losses. Darkblood Warpsight’s exact current location remains unknown.]
Kang Doseok leaned back against the sofa.
The anchor spoke faster and faster.
[As the risk of infected individuals escaping the megabuilding increases, the city government has closed all aboveground and underground passages in District 43. The highest level of movement restrictions has been imposed on neighboring District 42, District 44, and District 45.]
Then the screen flashed red.
Beeeeeeep!
A piercing warning tone rang through the penthouse.
[We have breaking news.]
The anchor took a document that had just arrived.
As they read down the page, their face stiffened.
[The city government’s Disaster Response Committee has just reached its final decision.]
A new caption appeared at the bottom of the screen.
[Disaster response level raised to “Code Black.”]
[All of District 43 under immediate lockdown.]
The anchor swallowed.
[With the operation to kill Darkblood Warpsight delayed, and the number of infected inside Megabuilding 437 continuing to rise...]
Unable to read the next sentence, they fell silent for a moment.
[The city government has decided that Megabuilding 437, where infections have been confirmed...]
Their expression rigid, the anchor announced,
[Will be struck with a small tactical nuclear bomb.]
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