WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Max-Level Swordsman of Fusionpunk ◈
Chapter 3
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Kang Doseok gave a faint chuckle. Selna added,
“Yeah. What I want is revenge. Revenge for leaving me like this. Go kill that bitch as brutally as you can.”
“So I just need to kill her?”
“Yeah. I already have a replacement body ready, so don’t worry about my original body. Just kill her.”
“Got it.”
“I attached the information. Take a look.”
Kang Doseok took out his terminal and checked the payment record. He also checked the detailed information attached to it, including the target’s location.
Once he was done, he turned around. With a target and a location, there was nothing more he needed to hear.
“I’ll be back.”
* * *
District F, Sector 45. A penthouse at the top of the Red Security Building.
The home was quiet. Expensive liquor bottles, the smell of perfume, thin clothes scattered across the floor. Old-fashioned red lamps cast a dim light from the walls.
In the middle of the spacious living room sat a woman.
She wore only a thin robe over her naked body.
Snow-white skin. Black hair that looked wet. She was beautiful. Slowly, she raised her head.
“You. Who are you? How did you get in here?”
Her eyes were bloodshot as she questioned him. Red from burst blood vessels, they fixed on Kang Doseok’s face.
“My name is Kang Doseok.”
“Kang... what?”
“Kang Doseok. I’m a fixer. Pay me, and I’ll do anything from blackmail and intimidation to debt collection and contract killing.”
“...I wasn’t asking you to introduce yourself. How did you get in here?”
“For the record, I don’t deal with junkies.”
Sinkella stared at Kang Doseok, apparently at a loss for words, then gave a hollow laugh.
“You don’t listen to a word anyone says. You just keep going until you’ve said your piece. Clearly, you’re not someone I can have a conversation with. Understood, Kang Doseok.”
Sinkella looked him over with bloodshot eyes, then lowered her gaze to the sword at his waist.
“In short, you’re a swordsman who’ll kill people for money.”
“Right.”
Kang Doseok nodded. After a brief silence, she continued.
“You said you specialize in blackmail, debt collection, and contract killing. Then let me ask you something. Are you here to threaten me?”
“No.”
“Then are you here to collect money?”
“No.”
“Then it must be a contract killing. Hmm.”
Sinkella tapped the arm of the sofa with her fingertips. After a short silence, she spoke.
“Did Selna send you?”
“You catch on fast.”
“I have children. A great many children. More than a few of the little bastards have sent assassins to kill me.”
Sinkella rose to her feet. Her see-through robe swayed, revealing her curves.
“Kang Doseok. Kang Doseok... Now that I think about it, I believe I’ve heard that name before. Yes. You stormed Atomic Generation’s headquarters with a single sword and killed their chairman, didn’t you? I believe that Player’s name was Kang Doseok.”
“Oh, I remember that. A four-billion job.”
“If I remember correctly, that company had three hundred private soldiers stationed there. The confidence it took to storm their headquarters and go on a sword-swinging rampage tells me you’re a very skilled swordsman.”
“Then sit still and stick your neck out. I’ll make it painless.”
“...How vulgar.”
Sinkella clicked her tongue.
“Selna is my son, but he never keeps his promises. Whatever he offered you, he won’t honor it.”
Bzzzt. Just then, Kang Doseok’s terminal vibrated once. He took it out, checked it, and answered flatly.
“I already got five hundred million up front. He just sent me a message. Says he’ll give me another fifty million if I cut your head off nice and clean and bring it back. Something about wanting to see your face in person.”
“...Were you listening to me at all? I’m telling you, Selna will never pay you the balance.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Kang Doseok tightened his grip on his sword.
“How many people do you think have tried to cheat me out of my money? There’s a reason blackmail and intimidation are among my specialties. I’ve had plenty of practice.”
“...I see. You’re a swordsman with a very strong work ethic.”
“More or less.”
“But Kang Doseok, didn’t you just say you’d do anything for money? Then how about this? I’ll pay you twice what Selna promised you. Go kill Selna.”
“Hmm. That’s certainly a tempting offer.”
“So what’s your answer?”
“No.”
“Why? What’s the reason? Isn’t money all you want?”
“Yeah. It is, but...”
Kang Doseok’s gaze moved to the syringes and white powder on Sinkella’s table.
“I don’t deal with junkies.”
“...I see. Is that so?”
As she spoke, Sinkella’s expression turned vicious. She raised a hand.
“Then die!”
A ball of fire rose above her palm. The flames compressed in midair, leaving red afterimages. Orange light rippled across every window in the penthouse, and heat spread through the living room in an instant.
Fwoooosh!
The next moment, the fireball shot toward Kang Doseok.
Kang Doseok didn’t dodge.
Instead, he stepped forward and swung his sword.
Shick. The fireball split in half. The divided flames brushed past either side of him and slammed into the wall.
Whoomph, crackle!
Kabooooom!
The explosion swallowed the living room behind him. Glass and flames scattered everywhere. At that very moment, Kang Doseok’s body blurred.
Sinkella’s vision shook briefly. Red flames spread along the walls, and broken glass rained down in shards. Kang Doseok emerged through it all. He was exactly three steps away.
Shunk! His sword tip sank into Sinkella’s forearm. As her eyes widened, Kang Doseok dragged the embedded blade downward. Slaaash! Her forearm split lengthwise, exposing the bone and nerves beneath her white skin.
“Aaaaargh!”
Kang Doseok took exactly one more step and pulled his sword free. Immediately afterward, the blade traced a semicircle. Sinkella instinctively formed a fireball in her remaining hand and swung it at him, but his blade had already reached her thigh.
Shick! Sinkella’s left leg came off. The severed limb spun across the living room and slammed into the far wall. Blood sprayed in every direction with the sound of tearing flesh.
Thwack!
Kang Doseok kicked Sinkella as she toppled. The heavy blow sent her body flying into the wall.
Bang! Crash!
“Ugh, aaagh...”
Fragments of broken lamps fell to the floor. Her bloodied lips trembling, Sinkella hurriedly raised her hand.
“W-w-wait.”
“What?”
Blood dripped from the tip of Kang Doseok’s sword onto the floor. Splash. He stepped in the blood as he approached her.
“Spare me. Please, spare me. All I did was take a body. That’s not such a terrible crime!”
Kang Doseok thought about that for a moment. Wasn’t it a terrible crime? Granted, this was a world where people could change bodies whenever they wanted. Walk into a hospital with enough money, and they could replace everything from your face to your organs.
But did that make it a minor offense to steal the body of your own child, who had been living just fine, and stick their brain in a vat? He wasn’t so sure.
“I’ll never get used to the morals of people here.”
“Selna stole a city government project that was supposed to be ours. Red Security spent months preparing and won that contract. On the final day, he kidnapped the official in charge and forced them to sign it under his company’s name. He shouldn’t have done that!”
Sinkella’s bloodshot eyes trembled. She shouted,
“As his mother, I was only trying to teach him some manners! That ungrateful piece of trash! Hiring a swordsman to kill his own parent!”
“What kind of crazy mother steals her kid’s body to teach him manners?”
“I didn’t steal it. I only took back what was mine to begin with.”
“...”
“You, Kang Doseok. You were just wondering how I could possibly think someone else’s body belonged to me, weren’t you? This is why children never understand their parents!”
“Yeah. I am curious.”
Kang Doseok really was curious. What kind of thinking led someone to believe that another person’s body belonged to them? Curious enough to stop cutting her up for a moment and ask.
“Why does Selna’s body belong to you?”
“Because I gave birth to him!”
Tears gathered in Sinkella’s eyes.
“I gave birth to him, so of course he’s mine! He’s my child! I let him be born, so he should listen to me and obediently do as he’s told! Do you have any idea how much it costs to rent a gestation incubator for ten months?”
“...Tsk.”
He took a step closer with his sword tip lowered. Sinkella pushed against the floor with her remaining hand, trying to crawl away. Her back was already against the wall.
“I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die! Please? There’s no bad blood between us! Spare me! I’m begging you!”
Instead of answering, Kang Doseok swung his sword.
Slash!
The blade cut halfway through Sinkella’s neck. Blood sprayed in a long streak across the wall, and her eyes shook wildly.
Shick. With another swing, her head dropped to the floor with a thud.
Sinkella’s head rolled across the floor and came to a stop among the fragments of broken lamps. Kang Doseok gave his bloodied sword a light flick, then grabbed her hair and lifted the head.
* * *
Kang Doseok set Sinkella’s head in front of the brain in a vat, Selna. Drops of blood spread across the table.
“You really did kill her and bring her here.”
“What, was I supposed to pretend to kill her?”
The lens connected to the front of the tank went Whirrr as it adjusted its focus. Selna’s brain twitched ever so slightly.
“How long has it been... since I last saw this face? Mother... Mom.”
Selna murmured. Kang Doseok watched the quivering brain for a moment, then spoke.
“Done taking it in?”
“...Yeah. Fuck. Killing her did make me feel better.”
“Burning through 1.35 billion to kill your own mother. You really are one hell of an ungrateful son.”
The wires connected to the surface of the brain trembled faintly.
“So what? What have you ever done for my family?”
“Nothing. I just need to get paid.”
Selna’s voice sounded a little choked. After a short silence, the speaker sounded again.
“Take it. I sent the money.”
At that same moment, Kang Doseok’s terminal chimed. He checked the message confirming payment for the job and nodded.
“I’m off, then.”
“Wait.”
The culture fluid inside the tank swayed slowly. Selna kept the lens turned toward Kang Doseok and said nothing for a moment.
“What?”
“I looked into you some more while you were handling the job. Kang Doseok. An unaffiliated Player with three hundred and twenty-seven officially confirmed jobs alone.”
“And?”
“They say almost all Players come from an ethnic group called Koreans. Koreans are known for being hardworking, but even among them, there’s no one who works as hard as you. I’m curious why.”
The lens in front of the tank moved slowly. Selna looked once at Sinkella’s head on the table, then back at Kang Doseok. Doseok answered.
“For the money, obviously.”
“‘I did it for the money’ is what whores say when they’re fishing for sympathy. I’m asking for a more fundamental reason.”
The piece of brain that was Selna twitched inside the tank. As though waiting for an answer, the camera lens focused on Kang Doseok’s face.
“Kang Doseok. Why are you so obsessed with money? Is there something you want to buy?”
“Yeah.”
“What is it?”
After a brief wait, he answered.
“Skill Stars.”
At Kang Doseok’s answer, the lens in front of the tank slowly turned toward him.
Skill Stars.
Chrome Blade Saga featured a unique form of character growth through its star system.
That was what set CBS, Chrome Blade Saga, apart from ordinary online games. Characters needed stars to grow stronger.
Among them, a Skill Star was, as the name suggested, a star that granted a “skill.” In other words, it was the fastest, most reliable way for a Player to become stronger.
“Ah, I think I’ve heard of those. They say Players are crazy about collecting them.”
“The Players who weren’t crazy about them are already in coffins.”
“So in the end, it’s to get stronger. That was the underlying reason. But Kang Doseok, aren’t you strong enough already? Why do you want to become even stronger?”
“Why I want to get stronger, huh.”
At Selna’s question, faces flashed through Kang Doseok’s mind.
Faces he could no longer see.
Scruffy faces covered in black grime.
His younger siblings, who had followed him since childhood and ended up in this shitty world with him.
And who were now dead, reduced to handfuls of ash.
“Hmm...”
Kang Doseok scratched his chin and fell silent. On the outside, he looked just as calm as he had a moment earlier.
But in that brief silence, Selna sensed a slight change in Kang Doseok’s mood.
After a short pause, Kang Doseok spoke.
“I made a promise at a grave without thinking it through.”
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