Translator: HH
“Sword Saint…?”
The Crusader frowned her forehead.
“What are you doing here?”
She probably didn’t expect to meet him in this small alley. It was an unexpected place and person. It didn’t seem to be a coincidence.
“A young lady is already having problems with hearing.”
The old man was exuding a murderous intent towards me.
“I’m sure I said to move. I have something to do with the guy over there.”
“Are you saying that you want to speak alone with the Kim Gong-ja hunter?”
“Huh. I’m not interested in his name.”
“······.”
The atmosphere of the alley changed.
The Crusader didn’t frown anymore. She was expressionlessly glared at the Sword Saint. Her guard was definitely up.
“Move.”
Sword Saint spoke.
“I already said to move 3 times.”
“What doesn’t make sense three times wouldn’t make sense even after 30 times. Sword Saint. Did you lose your sense with your age?”
The Crusader grabbed her sword.
“Kim Gong-ja hunter already joined the five guilds, along with the Civil Militia. I don’t know what you’re thinking but…don’t think that the Civil Militia will stay still.”
“Ha!”
The Sword Saint snorted.
“I knew it. The guilds were all working together. I knew it.”
“…working together. I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”
The atmosphere became worse as time passed.
“Sword Saint. I know because it was already reported that you hunt humans. Of course, if it’s something according to your morals, I won’t say much. But it’s different if you’re planning to do that right in front of me.”
“Different?”
“I’ll stop it with my life.”
“Are you confident you can do that?”
“No.”
The Crusader looked at the Sword Saint expressionlessly.
“I’m going to fight with all my strength, and die. And the moment I die, you’ll be someone who killed an innocent player. Sword Saint. If you want to live the rest of your life as a murderer, be my guest.”
“······.”
“The life that you don’t have long to live. I’ll show you.”
The Sword Saint’s old face crumpled.
It was already evening. The sun set quickly in the alley. I could feel people walking her and there along the alley, but no one was here except for us. It was silent.
‘Yeah.’
I brought the Crusader here to make this kind of silence.
‘Sword Saint is weak to innocent people.’
And Crusader was probably the only innocent people of the large guilds.
When the Sword Saint tried to kill me in the last regression, the Crusader got in between Sword Saint and me.
-Ms.Crusader.
-You’re the only person here who hasn’t hurt anyone. Fine. I’ll trust you.
It was what he said in passing.
That meant.
‘The kill count of the Crusader is [0].’
Even the Sword Saint had violent morals…no. Because he had those standards, the Crusader would seem like an even better person.
‘The Sword Saint won’t ever be able to hurt Crusader.’
To evil people, he was a murderer, but to good people, he was a harmless old man.
And…
‘It’s not just the Crusader.’
Someone walked next to us. It was the pharmacist. At the appearance of the Sword Saint and Crusader, she was hesitating, and she spread her arms out.
“E, excuse me.”
The pharmacist spoke. Even her chin was trembling probably because she was so nervous. She bit her lips several times and finally managed to speak.
“I don’t know what it’s about…but the c, customer here! He’s my savior!”
The future Lord of Alchemy spoke as fiercely as she could.
“It’s not like there’s laws in Babylon like the outside world but…protecting a customer is o, obvious…and even though you’re the Sword Saint! I can’t forgive you if you touch a customer here!”
“······.”
“A few days ago gangsters made a mess and I was in trouble! Sorry, but please leave from here!”
The pharmacist shouted. If she went against the Sword Saint, she would’ve died in a second. But he was still weak to her.
It was for the same reason.
‘Saintess. Crusader. Lord of Alchemy Castle.’
These three hunters were famous for being kind.
‘Even when the Flame Emperor was in the slums, the Lord of Alchemy Castle arrived first.’
Kind people.
They were always on the short side, and received more stress than other people.
But the only people who could stop Sword Saint were…kind people like them.
“What are you going to do?”
The Crusader spoke.
“If you want to make a mess, go ahead.”
“······.”
The Sword Saint hesitated. If I was right, the result was already decided.
And, I was right.
Not too long after, the old sword user pulled his sword back.
“…Today’s not the day.”
The Sword Saint took his murderous aura back.
Even when he was walking back, he was glaring at me.
“I hope we don’t meet again. If he didn’t have anything to do with you, his head would be on the floor.”
Good.
Stage 2 clear.
With this, the Sword Saint wouldn’t swing his sword at me anytime. Even if he killed me, I would have the opportunity to speak.
“Sword Saint!”
Before the old man completely turned away, I shouted.
“I’ll be waiting in the empty field tomorrow morning!”
“······.”
“You can come if you want to. I’ll be waiting. Really! If you want to know what kind of human I am, come tomorrow morning!”
The old man turned his head around to glare at me. He examined my face with his blue eyes. But that was it. Without any particular response, he headed back out of the alley.
Once his heavy footsteps couldn’t be heard anymore, the Crusader sighed.
“Whew! That was close. To meet a murderer tonight.”
Murderer.
“..is the Sword Saint famous for being a murderer?”
“Not famous. But the five Guild Masters know well.”
The Crusader shook her head.
“I heard he lost his daughter to a murderer outside of the tower.”
“······.”
“Because of that, the Sword Saint doesn’t let go of murderers. He’s ridiculously tough. Well, we didn’t have any evidence, so we were just watching…mm. And this is obviously a secret.”
Bae Hu-ryeong got in front of me.
-Yeah. Grandpops Marcus told me that once before. His daughter and son in law were killed by a serial killer. His grandchildren barely survived.
‘Why are you saying that now?’
-Huh? What are you talking about? You didn’t ask.
Bae Hu-ryeong spoke shamelessly.
Yeah. He was always like this.
“Well. It’s not like I don’t understand the Sword Saint.”
The Crusader looked around bitterly.
In the empathy alley, the evening set cast shadows of the buildings.
“Working at the Civil Militia, you met murderers. Sometimes, there’s times when you think that it was okay for them to kill…even I’m tempted sometimes as well.”
The Crusader mumbled.
“All the guild masters have a behind story. Kim Gong-ja. Since you’re with us not, you’ll see that there are disgusting bits about us. How you’ll react…mm.”
She shook her head. Was it because she thought she said too many things to an outsider?
“We got off subject.”
She intentionally spoke in a brighter voice.
“So, how much is the potion here? The Civil Militia is also not funded well so it’s a bit tricky if it’s too expensive but…”
4.
The next day.
I looked at my phone by myself in the empty field.
There was really not a single soul here. It was obvious. The hunters of Babylon were all in the square having a festival.
It was similar to the last regression.
‘But there’s something that’s different.’
I looked at the news popping up on my phone.
-[Breaking] 11th floor, guild attack? Black Dragon gathering all their members.
-Guilds creating teams to clear…
-Heretic Questioner interview! “You have to have a team for the 11th floor.”
-Source of the information is a puzzle…
That was right.
The world had changed a little.
Because of me.
“······.”
And it was going to change again.
“Hmm.”
Sword Saint walked in from the other side. The sky behind him looked extra blue. People were shouting from the direction of the city.
[00:01:31]
The clock of light was floating up in the air.
A blue sky, people’s voices, and clock of light.
Sword Saint was walking towards me with all that behind him.
“You’re really alone.”
Sword Saint stopped.
“Is this the confidence to be able to stand against me by yourself? Well, I guess if you’re a murderer that did all that, you would be confident.”
His eyes when he was looking at me felt completely new. It was completely different to last time.
It was because there was acknowledgement and respect in his life last time.
But right now, there was none of that.
Enmity. Hostility.
It was like he was looking at a murderer.
-Zombie?
‘······.’
-Are you alright?
I nodded inwardly.
‘I’m good.’
I was just a bit hurt.
“Sword Saint.”
I folded my thoughts.
“I have something I want to say to you.”
“Go ahead. If it’s your will, I’ll listen to it.”
“I know why you’re being like this.”
The Sword Saint lifted a corner of his mouth.
“I see. You know your own fault.”
“It’s because of the skill you have.”
“······.”
The Sword Saint’s face hardened.
“How do you…?”
“Please believe what I’m going to say.”
I thought of how hard it was to get someone’s trust as I said that.
Everyone had their stubbornness. For the Sword Saint, it was his [Detective’s Insight] skill. The skill that showed someone’s kill count. The Sword Saint looked down at you if his skill said so.
That was why it was his stubbornness.
He lived according to that stubbornness.
The moment he threw away that stubbornness, he would throw away his lifestyle.
‘You have to convince people like that.’
And I had to make him trust me.
I needed to make him ignore the lifestyle that he lived until now.
Thinking about it now, I realized how hard it was.
‘But..I can do it.’
I clenched my fist.
‘I can just put my life on the line as well.’
I opened my mouth.
“Sword Saint-nim. I’m a prophet.”
“What?”
“I have a skill that’s similar to prophesying things. That’s how I know you have that skill. If I stay like this, you’ll kill me, and I’ll ask why you had to kill me.”
“······.”
“Then, you said that you have a skill called [Detective’s Insight], and there’s a number called [4093] above my head.”
It was a small lie.
But I needed to convince him even by lying.
[00:00:00]
The clock in the sky was turning to zero. Fireworks exploded. I could hear cheers.
The old man and me.
We just looked at each other.
After a silence, the Sword Saint spoke.
“-guess.”
“What?”
“I’m hiding my left hand behind my back. And I have my finger’s held. Tell me how many fingers I’m holding up. “
Okay.
So that’s how he was coming out.
I expected this.
“If you can’t guess, I’ll know that you’re ly…”
The Sword Saint was probably getting ready to attack.
But he didn’t expect something like this.
Before the Sword Saint could speak, I got out a dagger. Without any hesitation, I cut my throat.
“What?!”
The Sword Saint’s eyes widened.
He had only attacked others his entire life. He wouldn’t have expected that I would cut my neck. Because of that 1 second, I was able to kill myself.
And.
[You have died.]
[You are regressing to 24 hours ago.]
1 second was enough for me.
Again, I started my day.
I went down from the 10th floor stage and met the large guild members. The Crusader and I walked into the alley. We met the Sword Saint.
[00:00:00]
And time was in this moment again.
“-guess.”
It was the same test as my last regression.
But my reaction wasn’t the same as last time. Instead, I spoke like I had expected it before.
“You’re trying to hide your self hand behind your back again.”
“······.”
“You’re trying to ask me how many fingers you’re lifting up. It’s easy to kill me here. But you can’t clear the 12th floor stage like this. A lot of people will lose their lives.”
“…wait.”
The Sword Saint spoke.
“This isn’t enough. You could have another skill…”
Fine.
Once wasn’t enough.
I had already expected this.
[You have died.]
[You are being regressed to 24 hours ago.]
Of course it wouldn’t be easy to convince someone.
“That’s not enough evidence. It could be…”
“You’re thinking it could be another skill like clairvoyance or something else.”
But it was okay.
If he wanted to test me, he could continue to do so.
[You have died.]
[You are regressing to 24 hours ago.]
He could suspect me as much as he wanted.
[You have died.]
[You are regressing to 24 hours ago.]
It didn’t matter if it took a week or a month.
[You have died.]
[You are regressing to 24 hours ago.]
I was confident I could convince him.
My death is longer than your life.
“······.”
Then, the Sword Saint closed his mouth.
All his suspicions had been answered.
I spoke calmly.
“Sword Saint-nim. Please trust me.”
“······.”
“You can’t kill me here. Countless innocent people will die on the 12th floor stage. Really. I’m not telling you I’m innocent, and I’m not telling you to save me forever.”
“…Then?”
“5 days.”
I lifted my fingers.
“Please don’t just kill me for the next few days. Following me, you can judge with your own two eyes if I deserve to die.”
The Sword Saint was silent.
I knew that he was hesitating.
The last final blow was needed.
And I knew what the ‘last blow’ was.
“You still don’t believe me.”
“······.”
“You say something to me in the future. You know that I’m really a prophet if I say this.”
“…what’s that?”
I answered.
“Sword Emperor.”
The old man’s eyes widened.
I continued to speak, regardless.
“I don’t know who that is, but you said you would believe me if I said that.”
“······.”
It was silent.
Cheers were still coming from the city far away. I could even see the image of the goddess descending.
When the goddess slowly began to fade away, the old Sword Saint spoke.
“5 days. Youngster.”
“Yes.”
“Fine.”
The Sword Saint looked into my eyes.
“I’m going to follow you for 5 days. I’ll be observing you say and do without missing anything. After that, I’ll decide whether you’re a prophet or not.”
“······.”
“Is this good?”
Very.
“…Yes. Good. That’s enough.”
I bowed my head.
“Thank you, truly.”
All the conditions were cleared.
First, getting the promise from the Guild Masters.
Second, stopping the Sword Saint from killing me right away.
Third, having the Sword Saint trust me for a while.
‘Finally.’
Now, finally, even if we climbed up to the 12h floor, the Sword Saint and the Guild Masters wouldn’t clash.
Nor would the innocent hunters die.
“Then, Sword Saint. See you on the next stage.”
I barely managed to speak through my tight throat.
The Sword Saint was looking at me strangely, but I couldn’t worry about that right now. I had to do what I had to do.
“Transmit.”
White light surrounded me.
Feeling my heart beat faster, I thought to myself.
‘Now all that’s left is to hunt the Devil King.’
The world changed.
‘Wait. Devil King.’
And it was going to change a bit more.