WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 87
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-Breaking: S-rank No. 1 Bitna attacks active-duty police officer at riverside park late at night.
-Police Officer Park Eun-yeong of East District No. 7 Substation confirmed as special-class villain Eun-yeong, sparking controversy.
-Hero Association: “We are determining the circumstances... Bitna is currently unconscious and scheduled for detention.”
-Wait... so Kang Jin-ho worked at the same substation as Eun-yeong?
-You think all they did was work? I heard they live together.
-No... does that mean Kang Jin-ho had a special-class villain under his thumb? LOL
-They say Bitna attacked first and still lost... what happens now? Is Kang Jin-ho getting arrested?
-How are they going to arrest Kang Jin-ho when Bitna lost? Who would arrest someone living with Eun-yeong? LOL
-Don’t talk to Kang Jin-ho.
Thanks to all sorts of superpowers and advanced technology, what had happened that night spread throughout Light City.
As a result, the awful thing Bitna had done was caught clearly on camera, and Eun-yeong’s identity could no longer be hidden either. With light and darkness exploding across the sky above the city, there was no way to deny it.
The unconscious Bitna was loaded into a Hero Association vehicle, wrapped tightly in shadow. Eun-yeong did not release the shadow binding her until the very end, and apparently Bitna would likely be imprisoned just like that.
Even as everything moved so frantically, Eun-yeong and Kang Jin-ho, the people at the center of the incident, remained in the park.
“...No one’s coming.”
“Yeah.”
Police officers, firefighters, and reporters were all rushing around nearby. Yet no one approached them, as though a barrier had spread out around the two of them.
Whenever someone happened to meet their eyes, they hurriedly lowered their head and passed by. It seemed they had been thoroughly misunderstood.
‘...I think they’re more afraid of me.’
A man who had made the strongest hero kneel with a few words. A man who had tamed the strongest villain and kept her by his side. Kang Jin-ho was now being treated like a complete monster, but he did not have the energy to explain himself.
Then, as the sky slowly began to brighten...
“...”
At some point, an elderly figure was standing before them.
A thin elderly figure draped in tattered sacking. They had appeared as though they had been standing there from the very beginning.
Eun-yeong lowered the corners of her mouth slightly.
“...It’s been a while.”
Only then did Kang Jin-ho realize the person before him was Hermit.
Unconcerned, the elderly figure slowly opened their mouth.
“I will speak with him.”
“...”
“Step aside.”
Eun-yeong did not move. Instead, she stepped half a pace in front of Kang Jin-ho.
“I told you he was mine.”
“I heard.”
“...Will you hurt him?”
“No.”
Eun-yeong stared at Hermit for a moment, then shrugged once.
“Okay.”
She vanished into the shadows with a Whoosh. Oh, but she did not forget to add one last thing to Kang Jin-ho before leaving.
“If you scream, I’ll come. Okay?”
* * *
Hermit and Kang Jin-ho sat side by side on a half-burned bench.
People were rushing about busily, but no one looked their way. As though they could not be seen.
After a brief silence, Hermit spoke first.
“How much have you repaid?”
“Pardon?”
“Karma.”
“...”
Kang Jin-ho froze.
Karma. The status window. They were secrets he had never told anyone, yet Hermit was openly mentioning them now.
“How do you know about that?”
“I placed it upon you.”
“...What?”
“Karma. It is my ability.”
Hermit was the reason he had come here? Kang Jin-ho opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally gathering himself enough to ask.
“What... happened?”
Hermit answered in a low voice.
“You are an ability user.”
“...No, I’m not. I don’t have an ability. Just now, Bitna...”
“You do.”
Kang Jin-ho tried to argue, then realized he could not. This was someone counted among the three strongest ability users in Light City. What could Kang Jin-ho possibly say in response?
“You likely did not know either. The place you came from had little ether. Even if you had talent, you would have had no chance to use it.”
Hermit continued in short, clipped sentences.
“But the game you enjoyed. That became the problem.”
“HiCiSi?”
“Each time you started it, a world was created. Your thoughts met the ether drifting through dimensional space, and that happened.”
“...Are you saying that every time I played the game, a world like this was actually created?”
“Yes. It is sealed by my power now. But once you have cleared all your karma, you will be able to use that ability again. Ether is plentiful here.”
Kang Jin-ho had no idea how to take this.
Every time he pressed New Game in HiCiSi, a world had truly been created... and when people died in that city, real people had died somewhere in another dimension?
“I was the first to realize this principle.”
Hermit continued explaining in a flat voice.
“My power punishes those who cross the line. I decided to punish you with my ability.”
“...”
“So I used it on you.”
If that was true... then Hermit was the reason Kang Jin-ho had fallen into the world of the game.
In a trembling voice, Kang Jin-ho murmured, “Status window.” He looked at the karma value, which still had nearly four hundred million remaining.
Honestly, he had thought it was completely unfair. He had only killed a few NPCs in a game, yet he was being treated like a murderer who had killed around five hundred million people. It upset him.
But those... had all been people? Had he unknowingly created and destroyed worlds over and over again?
“I... I didn’t know.”
“I know. That does not erase what you did.”
Of course, he had done it all without realizing. It was not intentional, and Kang Jin-ho had not even known he was an ability user.
Still, the weight of a number in the hundreds of millions was immense. Hundreds of millions of people had died because of him. His stomach churned, but he barely held it down.
Yet even then, his thoughts continued on their own.
That was why Bitna had said she could not read Kang Jin-ho.
Why Lethe had gone mad after reading his memories.
Why Kang Jin-ho remembered every incident that had happened in Light City with such strange clarity. Why, when he occasionally acted on instinct, it somehow turned out to be the right answer.
Since he had created this world, it was only natural.
People called Kang Jin-ho the strongest ability user in history, a monster. Perhaps that had not been an exaggeration after all.
“...It really wasn’t intentional.”
In the end, Kang Jin-ho could only repeat the excuse he had already made.
“I thought it was a game. Really, it was just a game...”
“I hated you.”
Hermit cut off the tiresome excuse.
“But I do not now.”
For the first time, Hermit looked directly at Kang Jin-ho.
“I now know that you are not such an evil person.”
“...Thank you.”
“That does not mean your karma will disappear.”
Kang Jin-ho slowly nodded.
“...I know.”
“I also have no way to send you back. You must live in the world you created.”
“...I don’t mind.”
This time, there was a little more strength in his voice.
“I did things, and I have to take responsibility for them. And...”
Kang Jin-ho looked at the shadow on the ground as he spoke.
“I like it here better now.”
“...”
Hermit silently rose from the bench.
“I will watch.”
The next moment, Kang Jin-ho was sitting alone on the bench.
* * *
After some time had passed...
“The conversation went well, right? Have you figured out what you wanted to say to me?”
Eun-yeong appeared from somewhere and plopped down beside Kang Jin-ho with a casual air.
“...Yes.”
“Then go ahead. I won’t cover my ears this time.”
Kang Jin-ho took a long breath. He had just learned an overwhelming amount of information against his will, so it took considerable resolve to tell Eun-yeong.
“Senior.”
“Yeah.”
“I actually came from another world.”
“Yeah.”
“I played a game there. A game with this city in it. That’s why I knew everything. The incidents that happened in this city, and who you were, Senior. I knew it all from the beginning.”
“I see.”
“But it turns out it wasn’t actually a game. Every time I played it, a world really appeared somewhere in another dimension, and every time a city was destroyed, real people died.”
“...”
“Almost five hundred million people. They died because of me.”
Saying it aloud made his throat feel tight. Kang Jin-ho could not bring himself to look to the side and only fidgeted with his hands.
“You were probably in those worlds too, Senior. That means you died again and again because of me.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Maybe even the current you, I...”
“Created?”
“Yes.”
“So what?”
Kang Jin-ho slowly raised his head. Eun-yeong, sitting beside him, was smiling. Just as she always did, like a playful cat.
“I’m the one smiling right now, HiCiSi.”
“...”
“What does it matter if you made me? I’m here now, and you’re mine. That’s enough, isn’t it?”
“...Thank you.”
Kang Jin-ho bit his lower lip and could not speak for a long while.
After that, they talked about all sorts of things.
What Light City in the game had been like. How frightened Kang Jin-ho had been when he first saw Eun-yeong at the substation. What karma was, and what Hermit had said.
Eun-yeong sometimes chimed in, sometimes laughed, and sometimes nodded.
“Want me to tell you something too?”
“What?”
“Why I acted as a villain.”
Eun-yeong rested her chin on her hand and watched the people bustling about.
“I can’t stand things that bother me. Especially bad people. When I saw them, it twisted me up inside, so I just went around destroying everything. Then people started calling me a villain.”
“...”
“But watching what you did, my thoughts started changing lately. Maybe it wasn’t necessary to solve everything with power... something like that.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. It was fun, so I kept watching... and the more I watched, the more attached I got.”
Kang Jin-ho let out a small laugh. After laughing, the heavy feeling in his chest seemed to lighten a little.
“But, Senior.”
“Yeah?”
“You said I was yours earlier. Does that mean I belong to you?”
“Who else would you belong to?”
“...”
“How many times do you think you would have died without me? Your life already belongs to me. Got it?”
A shadow that had somehow risen from the ground gently stroked Kang Jin-ho’s neck. He stiffened for a moment, just as he had when they first met, then spoke in a quiet voice.
“Senior. I like you.”
“I know.”
“...”
“Me too.”
After saying that, Eun-yeong naturally leaned her head against Kang Jin-ho’s shoulder.
Kang Jin-ho carefully took Eun-yeong’s hand as well. For the hand of the worst villain, it was warm and soft.
He was happy. Happy enough to wish time would stop just like this.
“...Senior.”
“Yeah.”
“I might die because of karma.”
Light City had been growing more peaceful lately. Villains were retiring or fleeing, and even the number of petty criminals was falling. The remaining cases could be handled by ordinary heroes and police officers without Kang Jin-ho needing to step in.
At this rate, could he clear the roughly four hundred million karma he had left before he died?
On top of that, Eun-yeong’s identity had been exposed to the entire world. It was uncertain whether Kang Jin-ho could work as he had before. At the very least, unless something was truly urgent, no one in Light City would want to assign a case to him.
At this rate... would he simply die naturally, as though suffocating in a peaceful era? The thought occurred to him.
“So, Senior...”
Bzzzz!
Before Kang Jin-ho could finish, the phone in his pocket began vibrating wildly.
When he checked it, the signal had returned, and a flood of accumulated messages came pouring in.
Director: Jin-ho, I got a cake ready, but I think it’s going to melt. Did your confession go well? I’ll put it in the fridge.
Tienrang: Is there anything I can do? That fight right now is related to you, isn’t it?
Tienrang: Never mind. Turns out you’re a crazy bastard.
Trace: I just saw it. What is Coordinate Three?
Among the messages from people worried about Kang Jin-ho’s safety was one that had just arrived.
Jeong Do-man: Senior! The Association just made an emergency announcement! They say the ether source was stimulated by the aftermath of last night’s battle and has grown several times larger! It looks like ether concentrations will rise not just in Light City but around the world, and the number of awakened people will skyrocket!
“Wait...”
Kang Jin-ho stared at the screen in confusion, and Eun-yeong beside him took a glance at his phone as well.
Having reached the same thought, the two looked at each other. Then, without either moving first, they burst out laughing.
“...Looks like there’ll be plenty of chances to pay back my karma.”
“You’ll be busy, HiCiSi. But can you figure out things happening outside Light City too?”
“I’m not sure. If what Hermit said is true... I think my intuition will guide me somehow.”
“That sounds fun. You’ll take me with you too, right?”
“Of course.”
The morning sun was rising through the towering Light Tower.
Still holding Eun-yeong’s hand, Kang Jin-ho rose from the bench. A mountain of karma remained to be repaid, and even more misunderstandings had to be resolved.
But well... he could handle them one at a time.
“Let’s go, Senior.”
“Where?”
“Where else?”
Kang Jin-ho grinned.
“We have to go to work. We’re police officers.”
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