WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 69: Fame Is Often Exaggerated (6)

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The first day after Kang Jin-ho settled into the gym.

"Oh... It looks like Officer Kang Jin-ho just ordered jajangmyeon. The delivery driver is heading inside."

"Why jajangmyeon of all things?"

"Well... if we start by considering the origin of the word jajangmyeon..."

Public interest was through the roof, to the point that the delivery driver who brought the jajangmyeon was even interviewed. Some people used their abilities to peek inside the gym, while others watched through telescopes from high-rise buildings.

"...What's he doing?"

"I'm not sure. It looks like ordinary paperwork..."

"That can't be right. Look again."

"Yes!"

And so, the first day passed in the blink of an eye.

On the second day, quite a few visitors came by.

"Hoho, are you Officer Kang Jin-ho?"

A few Korean politicians hovered near the entrance, hoping to get at least one photo with him.

"Hey, Officer Kang! I heard you're doing something interesting?"

Tienrang, the S-rank hero, also stopped by for a while. Incidentally, a photo taken with him was uploaded to social media soon afterward.

But the person who stayed the longest on the second day was Trace, the A-rank hero.

"Hmm... Jin-ho, what's your real intention here? Can you tell me?"

She searched the gym thoroughly, trying to figure out Kang Jin-ho's intentions, but left empty-handed without finding any useful information.

Kang Jin-ho wanted to tell her something, if only because he felt bad... but there was nothing he could tell her. All he could say was, "Please wait a little longer."

Then, on the third day, the people from Precinct 7 came by.

"Senior! Have you been well?"

His junior, Jeong Do-man, brought an expensive lunchbox and confidently held it out to Kang Jin-ho.

"Wow, Jin-ho. You're staying alone in a place this big?"

"It's more livable than I expected."

"And the work you're doing? Is it in that room over there?"

"That's right. Please don't go inside."

"Okay, got it."

His seniors from the precinct repeatedly patted Kang Jin-ho on the shoulder and back, telling him to hang in there before they left.

"Ah, Jin-ho. There's something I wanted to ask."

"Yes, go ahead."

"The reporters outside are really curious whether your 'plan' is going well. What should we tell them?"

"Hmm..."

After thinking for a moment, Kang Jin-ho said,

"Tell them it's progressing very well, exactly as planned."

"So we can tell the reporters that?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Okay."

His seniors excitedly chatted away to the reporters. The reporters wrote down every word they said.

Then came the long-awaited fourth day.

"Nothing happened today either, right?"

"Yeah. It looks like he hasn't done anything besides order food."

"Hmm... Is he really doing nothing?"

"Come on, no way."

The public's excitement slowly began to cool.

For four straight days, Kang Jin-ho had only repeated that things were "progressing well" without showing any results. The citizens hoping for some thrilling news grew tired, and those observing Kang Jin-ho through telescopes or abilities began to doubt him.

How could they not? He kept saying things were going well, but he didn't look like he was doing anything. Whenever they observed him with their abilities, he only seemed to be flipping through documents. If fiddling with paperwork was enough to catch Body Snatcher, the villain would have been caught long ago.

"There haven't been any unfamiliar visitors or abilities, right?"

"None at all. Ether readings have been zero for all four days."

"What about equipment being brought in? Anything being assembled..."

"Nothing has entered except jajangmyeon bowls."

"Tch..."

There was not even the slightest sign that he was doing anything. Even so, no one had completely given up hope. Kang Jin-ho's declared deadline was five days, after all.

Had the past four days been one grand bluff, or part of a genius's master plan?

"We'll know tomorrow. Pack up and meet again in the morning."

"Yes..."

Most reporters packed their equipment and went home. The spectators watching through telescopes and the ability users lying in wait also left one by one. The real game was tomorrow, so they decided to rest for the night.

"..."

Once night had fallen, a shadow silently climbed over the gym's wall.

'...No guards. No detection devices. No barrier either.'

Body Snatcher sharpened every sense and scanned the area. Drawing on decades of experience, he kept watch in every direction... but he could sense nothing.

No, was there really nothing? Could he be sure? Wouldn't the deadliest trap activate the moment he let his guard down?

Yet all he could see was a rundown gym.

'That can't be right.'

Without relaxing for even a second, Body Snatcher slipped through one of the gym's high windows and silently landed on the floor.

Then he came face-to-face with someone.

"You're here."

At the very center of the empty gym, beneath moonlight shining through the windows, a man sat quietly in a chair.

Kang Jin-ho.

As if he had been waiting from the start, he sat there calmly, waiting for Body Snatcher.

"..."

A chill ran down Body Snatcher's spine. He knew. Kang Jin-ho knew he would come today, a day early.

He instinctively looked around. The ceiling, floor, blind spots, corners. There was no ambush. There was no sign of S-rank heroes, including Tienrang. It really looked as though Kang Jin-ho was alone.

'There's something here. This is definitely a trap.'

The fact that he was waiting alone was suspicious enough. That monster would never face a 1-rank villain alone without any preparation.

'...But.'

It didn't matter.

No matter what trap Kang Jin-ho had prepared, no matter what trick he had hidden... it was all meaningless before the ritual. This was not something that could be stopped by force or avoided through strategy.

Kang Jin-ho must have had his own plan. But he had made one mistake. Standing here and facing Body Snatcher one-on-one. That alone was a mistake.

"You must have made your own preparations."

Body Snatcher muttered in a cracked voice.

"But this... you won't be able to stop it!!!"

He pulled something resembling a pitch-black stone from inside his clothes and raised it high overhead.

"Watch closely!"

If the path a person had walked through life could be called their "life," then Body Snatcher's life was contained within that black stone. Everything he had experienced and built up over decades had condensed into the pitch-black stone.

It was the result of steadily gathering and compressing part of the ether naturally produced by his body each day. Then, in a single instant, it melted away.

"I designate the target! The target is Kang Jin-ho! I will take his body!!!"

The moment those words left his mouth, the black stone shattered, and ink-black ether burst out in every direction.

It spread through the gym like crashing waves. The torrent was so wide and violent that there was nowhere to escape.

"...!"

Kang Jin-ho failed to get away in time and was swallowed by the black waves of ether.

-Crraaack... Rumble!

At the same time, the old gym could not withstand the enormous torrent of ether and collapsed. The roof caved in, the walls fell, and clouds of dust shot high into the air.

When the dust cloud finally settled...

"..."

A figure rose from the rubble.

"...Heh heh, hehehe..."

The figure wore Kang Jin-ho's face, but his eyes belonged to an ancient monster.

"Finally..."

Body Snatcher flexed Kang Jin-ho's hands and laughed darkly.

Finally, he had obtained it. That monster's body was now his...!

A great deal had been sacrificed for this one strike. The wealth, ether, and even the "selves" of others that Body Snatcher had gathered throughout his lifetime. To complete the ritual within five days, he had expended far too much.

Still, it was fine. He had taken Kang Jin-ho's body. Now all he needed to do was slowly grow accustomed to it and absorb its memories. The body of Light City's most successful young ability user belonged to him.

"...Hm?"

Something was wrong.

An indescribably ominous sensation crawled up Body Snatcher's spine.

Something felt fundamentally wrong. It felt as though he had to do something immediately. Like a bird sensing an earthquake before it struck, like a mouse catching the scent of a cat, Body Snatcher's body trembled.

Body Snatcher had stubbornly survived in Light City's underworld by switching from one body to another. He was the most experienced of all the villains. Yet at this moment, he did not know what to do.

When a typhoon or earthquake came, there was nothing a small creature could do. All it could do was pray for luck. Body Snatcher was no different. He desperately prayed that nothing would happen.

-Ding!

A series of message windows appeared before Body Snatcher's eyes a moment later.

-Remaining quota for this month: 2,000

-Failure to reduce karma by the required monthly quota will result in a severe penalty.

-One month has expired.

-You failed to keep your promise.

-A severe penalty will be imposed.

"...Huh?"

Body Snatcher stared blankly, his mouth hanging open.

Footnotes:

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