WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 86
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Hermit.
Even Kang Jin-ho, who had played HiCiSi for a long time, did not know much about that name.
- Didn’t they just plan to add it in an update, then never do it?
- Is it even real?
- I don’t really know either lol.
- Eun-yeong and Bitna alone felt a little thin, so they probably added Hermit as a third character. Just dummy data.
Some players claimed Hermit was merely a MacGuffin, something that did not actually exist... but Kang Jin-ho had seen Hermit in the game.
What playthrough had that been? With nothing else to do, he had searched every corner of the map and found a deeply suspicious place. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary house, but if he moved the camera through a wall and lowered it, an old chamber appeared.
The chamber itself was nothing special. It was just an old basement with a few unusual objects.
But the name displayed in the game’s UI was Hermit’s Hideout... and Kang Jin-ho had memorized its coordinates so he could brag about finding it someday when he quit the game.
‘This is real, unlike everything else so far.’
Everything he had thrown out until now had been stupid crap meant to confuse Bitna, but these coordinates were real.
And from Bitna’s perspective, now that she considered Kang Jin-ho the worst monster in history, this would seem far more meaningful. If things went as intended, it would look as though he was allied with Hermit.
“...”
There was no more time. It was time to make his move.
When he checked his phone, it was exactly 10:10. Kang Jin-ho immediately lifted it to his ear.
“Yes, this is him.”
Holding a phone that still did not produce even a ringing tone, Kang Jin-ho spoke as casually as ever.
“It’s time. I’ll give you Coordinate Three.”
In case Bitna misheard, he clearly read out each number one at a time. Down to the third decimal place, just to be safe.
“...You’re still there, right?”
He paused for a moment, as though listening to something.
“Yes, then that settles it.”
Kang Jin-ho immediately ended the call.
The palm holding his phone was slightly damp.
* * *
“Coordinates.”
Bitna had listened to the call from beginning to end.
Coordinate Three. Kang Jin-ho had clearly read out the coordinates he mentioned earlier.
But Kang Jin-ho must have known Bitna was listening. Had he said it for her to hear, or was he simply confident enough not to care even if she did?
Should she check it, or let it go? As Bitna considered that...
“...Huh?”
Eun-yeong, who had also been listening to Kang Jin-ho, widened her eyes in surprise for the first time.
The woman who had expressionlessly blocked attacks carrying enough energy to destroy the entire city was suddenly surprised? That was also because Eun-yeong knew where Hermit lived.
Having seen Eun-yeong’s reaction, Bitna did not hesitate. She sent light toward the coordinates Kang Jin-ho had given.
They led to an old residential neighborhood that had not been redeveloped because of the high property prices. The place lay underground.
‘...Does this place mean something?’
Though suspicious, Bitna bounced beams of light around and extended her sight beneath the ground. Normally, it was a place she would have had no reason to investigate, and even if she did, there would be nothing to find.
“...!”
This time... their eyes met. A pair of eyes staring directly at her from inside a run-down underground chamber, seated cross-legged.
‘...Hermit.’
There was no mistaking it. Bitna could never mistake those eyes.
It had not been Kang Jin-ho’s intention for Hermit to be staying at their hideout, nor for Hermit to meet Bitna. But at this moment, it all felt like part of an enormous plan.
The information she had gathered until now began to fit together, piece by piece, like a puzzle.
Communication through something other than radio waves. The five-minute interval. Coordinate Three. And the confirmation, “You’re still there, right?”
‘They’re working together.’
There was a reason Kang Jin-ho had been so confident. He had joined hands with Hermit.
She did not know how he had persuaded the first ability user, that elder who always invoked rules and never seemed to act. But now that things had come to this... Bitna’s plans had to change too.
If Hermit was targeting Bitna... she could not continue fighting like this. Bitna at night would honestly struggle to face both of them at once. It was not that she lacked confidence in winning, but there were simply too many variables.
Put bluntly, there was no guarantee Kang Jin-ho’s plan ended here.
That left only one choice. Retreat for now.
She could leave Light City at the speed of light, hide somewhere in the world, then return when the sun rose over Light City. There was practically no one in the world capable of catching Bitna.
‘...’
But there was a problem with that too.
The city where ability users became strongest was Light City itself. Elsewhere, the ether concentration was too low, so power replenished far too slowly and abilities could not be fully used. The moment she left the city, Bitna would become much weaker than she was now.
‘But what if Kang Jin-ho finds out where I’m hiding?’
Bitna could attack the whole Earth from Light City. If Bitna could do that, could Eun-yeong not?
Eun-yeong would remain in Light City, freely spending her power, while Bitna would be unable to replenish her ether outside the city. She might instead be driving herself into a checkmate.
She could not fight, and she could not run.
Only then did Bitna feel the exact same emotions the other villains who had faced Kang Jin-ho had felt. This was... perfect checkmate.
Of course, it was all Bitna’s misunderstanding. Kang Jin-ho had never exchanged a single word with Hermit, and having Coordinate Three did not mean Coordinates One or Two existed.
Kang Jin-ho had merely exploited the fact that Bitna thought of him as a monster. Once he saw through that, this psychological battle had been unwinnable from the beginning.
“...Haa.”
Bitna let out a long sigh.
She had made a mistake. She had waited too long to get rid of that man. It would have been better if she had dealt with him when his influence was still small, when he had been no more than a rookie police officer. Or at least, she could have won if she had attacked during the day. Had she underestimated him too much?
Yet once she admitted it, her mind seemed clearer.
“Stop.”
“?”
The light surrounding Bitna’s body gradually died down. She descended to the ground and stopped about twenty paces away from Kang Jin-ho.
Eun-yeong also landed in front of Kang Jin-ho, blocking his path.
“I made a mistake. This is my defeat.”
Bitna spoke in an even voice.
“Let’s negotiate.”
“Yes?”
“Tell me what you want. I’ll grant it. I acknowledge that I underestimated you, and I mean to withdraw.”
“...”
Kang Jin-ho blinked. He had hoped his bluff would work, but he had not expected it to work this well.
“Before that, let me ask you one thing.”
Bitna looked directly at Kang Jin-ho.
“Can I beat you?”
“...”
Kang Jin-ho kept his mouth shut and thought for a moment.
He could bluff once more here. He could smile meaningfully, or say, “Well,” and trail off.
But for some reason, he did not want to. It was not a strategy based on Bitna realizing he was lying... it was an action that came purely from his heart.
He had come too far. He had made it this far. Now, he wanted to be honest.
“Yes, you can.”
“...What?”
“I actually do not have any abilities. I’m not an ability user, and I’m not even pre-awakened. I just know a few things.”
Kang Jin-ho calmly finished what he had to say.
“If you shoot me with light right now, I’ll die.”
“...”
“...”
Silence passed between them. Every trace of expression vanished from Bitna’s face.
“Don’t lie to me.”
For the first time, emotion entered her normally languid voice.
“Lethe. Body Snatcher. Blackflame. Director Baek. And now Hermit. Are you saying that was all coincidence?”
“...”
“Are you saying someone with no abilities could do all that? I said I lost. I said I was defeated and was the first to bow my head for negotiations. And you still want to toy with me?”
Kang Jin-ho understood Bitna’s reaction. Honestly, after everything he had accomplished, there was no way claiming to be powerless would sound convincing.
Then the solution was simple. He only had to tell her the truth...
The reason Bitna had attacked Kang Jin-ho was her aversion to the unknown. If he removed that aversion, would she not lose her reason to target him as well?
“I’ll tell you.”
“...What?”
“What I am. Where I came from, what I know, and why I’m doing this. I’ll tell you everything.”
But... this was something he had originally intended to tell Eun-yeong first. He had wanted to tell her when they were alone together. To think he would say it in a situation like this.
Once that thought crossed his mind, Kang Jin-ho spoke to Eun-yeong.
“Senior.”
“Yeah.”
“This is what I meant to say earlier. Could you cover your ears for a moment?”
“...”
Eun-yeong turned her head and stared at Kang Jin-ho. Then she let out a deep sigh.
“...Okay.”
She truly raised both hands and tightly covered her ears.
Only then did Kang Jin-ho take a breath and turn back toward Bitna.
Bitna did not move a muscle.
The city, once noisy from the clash between the two superhumans, had fallen silent. Despite its title as the world’s largest megacity, only the quiet sound of wind could be heard.
Bitna even withdrew the curtain of light she had kept around herself for protection and focused on Kang Jin-ho’s lips.
She had lived by erasing whatever she did not know and disposing of whatever annoyed her. That was how Bitna had lived until now, but...
At this moment, she was curious about the words that would come from that man’s mouth. What had happened to him, what kind of story did he have, that he claimed to possess no abilities?
“I...”
Just as Bitna focused on Kang Jin-ho’s voice and swallowed hard.
SHWAAANG!!!
A shadow suddenly surged up behind Bitna and engulfed her from behind!
“?!”
Bitna had focused so completely on Kang Jin-ho that she could not react in time and was swept away by the shadow.
“...Ah?”
Kang Jin-ho could only stand there, frozen with his mouth open.
“You haven’t said it yet, right? I’m taking my hands off, okay?”
Eun-yeong finally lowered her hands from her ears and walked toward Kang Jin-ho in small steps. The shadow on the ground had wrapped the unconscious Bitna like a blanket and set her aside.
“She seemed off guard, so I caught her. I did well, right?”
“...No, Senior.”
“Yeah?”
“Of all times...”
“No, that won’t do.”
Eun-yeong pouted.
“I don’t want anyone hearing your secret before I do.”
“...Is that so?”
Kang Jin-ho could not find anything to say. He could only let out a small laugh.
“The mood is all wrong right now... I’ll tell you later.”
“Okay, then.”
At last, the sounds of fire engines and news helicopters reached them. Kang Jin-ho looked over Light City as its sounds returned, then quietly took Eun-yeong’s hand.
Eun-yeong did not let go of it. As though there were no one else in the world but the two of them.
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