Chapter 73. Return to Earth
The situation was quickly brought under control.
It was too big an incident to be quietly buried, but since no residents were killed or seriously injured, the city guards closed the case as a conflict between players.
Shin Juha was released without any penalties.
Contrary to the expectations of other players who thought a complicated investigation would follow since he wasn’t a clearly registered resident, the case was settled lightly.
Considering he was at the center of everything, the investigation was surprisingly lenient.
Naturally, the fact that everything he had killed were villains that had been eating away at the City of Beginnings played a huge role in proving his innocence.
Proving they were villains wasn’t difficult either.
There was undeniable evidence showing they had infiltrated the hospital and brutally massacred all the patients.
Furthermore, Shin Juha had the backing of none other than Braimoon, the captain of the city guard, which made things even smoother.
Braimoon held great favor toward Shin Juha, and he felt guilty because the incident had occurred in the very hospital room he had recommended and due to the letter of recommendation he had provided as compensation.
Thanks to that, Shin Juha was able to walk out of the guard investigation room before lunchtime.
Of course, there were some facts that even the city guard or the hospital couldn’t cover up.
The appearance of a *Mine.
The fact that a *Mine had appeared couldn’t be contained—rumors spread rapidly.
To both players and residents, the existence of a Mine was extremely serious.
There was a reason they were universally rejected.
Even thinking simply and objectively, they were more vicious and brutal than even the villains.
Unpredictable beings, who would kill and offer up even their own kind for the sake of demons or the demonic race.
And now, a Mine had infiltrated such a low-stage zone and stirred up chaos?
It was an unthinkable event.
In simple terms, it was no different from the demons declaring war on Stage-0 and Stage-1—areas that players from other dimensions had painstakingly conquered and turned into safe zones where people now lived.
“Goddamn it, are villains showing up even in the safe zones like Stage 0 and 1 now?”
“How are we supposed to live like this? What if they start summoning demons or devils they serve and curse entire cities or perform human sacrifices?”
“Shit, and it wasn’t even some player or resident from another dimension—it was a demonized mine who used to be a Hunter from South Korea.”
“Insane. Didn’t Dangun Genius clean out all the Mines before? I guess some still remain. Cockroach-like bastards.”
“There’s talk the recent Association bombing was also the work of the Mines. If the Association Chairman hadn’t had that new item—what was it, the Restraint Stone?—it would’ve exploded from a dungeon outbreak. The Chairman even issued a kill-on-sight warning.”
Naturally, the players were not happy about the situation.
Especially those whose comrades had been killed by Mines or their villain underlings—they were enraged.
They looked like they would tear the bodies apart if they could even find the corpses.
Still, it was a tricky situation for the hospital or Teraium City to offer compensation.
Because technically, this was a conflict between players.
And both the hospital and the city guard had carried out their duties—at least in name.
The real issue was that all their defenses had been completely breached.
On top of that, the residents had suffered damage, and the hospital was so wrecked it would have to shut down for weeks.
So in a way, it felt like they were the ones who deserved to be demanding compensation.
While it was the villains who violated the unspoken rule of not touching residents, to the victims, they all looked like just another batch of government forces.
Sure, the city guard offered minor apologies and consolation.
But that was it.
No one wanted to take responsibility for the deaths.
Even if someone did, who would they even compensate?
Comrades were just comrades—how could you hand over compensation to someone random?
What if someone not even related tried to snatch up the rewards?
The even bigger issue was elsewhere.
“Hmph, what if those guys start attacking us next?”
“Yeah, exactly! They already act like they’re above us, only taking the profitable quests. How can we trust them?”
“Shouldn’t the city guard be kicking them all out?”
“This is why we need a town leader. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened if we had one?”
“Whatever it is, I can’t sleep at night now. Who knows when they might suddenly turn on us!”
Tensions between players and residents deepened.
Players already had a reputation for ignoring the common quests given by residents, brushing them off as boring and not worth the time.
And now, the emotional rift was only growing.
Except—there was one player who stood apart from the rest.
* * *
“I’m sorry. I fought a bit aggressively. Please use this to help with the building repairs.”
“Oh no, no, it’s alright! And with this many coins, we could build an entirely new hospital! It’s too much!”
“It’s really nothing for me. Please accept it. I feel bad since this whole thing happened because of me, and the city’s in disarray now.”
To the hospital director, who kept refusing, I tossed over a staggering 100,000 Navy Coins.
At roughly 8–9,000 won each, that was close to 900 million won ($656K) in total.
But to me, it was like scooping a single bucket of water out of the ocean and handing it over.
It meant nothing.
As they say—money solves everything.
I even handed out small compensation to the hospital staff who had been attacked.
Their eyes looked at me like I was some kind of savior.
It was so overwhelming I had to escape.
“Oh, Juha! Are you okay? I heard you were at the hospital during the attack! You even dealt with the Mine, they say!”
“Fuuu~*kkkl! Damn Mine—hiccup! Those filthy bugs crawled in all the way here!”
“You’re not hurt, right? We were all so worried.”
* * *
I embraced Nikki as she ran to me without saying a word and calmed the worried residents with my gaze.
Did Captain Braimoon give them a heads-up?
They knew everything—that I had taken down the Mine and the villains.
They welcomed me warmly and even treated me to lunch.
Surrounded by the warmth of people for the first time in a while,
I finished my meal at ease and walked around the city with Nikki for a bit of a stroll.
Overall, the atmosphere wasn’t great.
The players had their own complaints, and so did the residents.
Tensions between the two sides were expected, but the appearance of a Mine was enough to make both groups uneasy.
Receiving wary glances from both sides, I strolled through the wide city, taking a rare moment of leisure.
“I’ll be going to Earth for a while. There are some things I need to do. Something I want to give my sister too. I think it’ll take more than a month.”
“Yeah, a lot has happened. You deserve a break. Travel safely. I’d see you off, but I think I’m about to get very busy. Hahaha.”
After exchanging farewells with the coolly smiling Braimoon, and pacifying Nikki with candy since she wouldn’t let go of me, I returned to Earth.
* * *
South Korea, Seoul.
In a mansion located in what could be called the outskirts of the capital, a man woke up.
“Huff! Huff! Huff!”
Nam Woo-yi, drenched in cold sweat, frowned as he washed his face with cold water in the bathroom after a grim and disturbing dream.
His dream was no ordinary dream.
Unique Ability: Incomplete Lucid Dream [Unique-SS].
His dreams revealed situations or truths he didn’t know.
Though incomplete, most of the information he saw was of little value or distorted.
It wasn’t even a prediction of the future, but merely a view into the present or past, making it less useful.
Still, it wasn’t worthless.
After all, without help from his awakened older brother who became a Mine, he wouldn’t have become a nouveau riche with several buildings in Seoul.
But for him, that was never enough. He had to live like his brother.
Given his love for pleasure and indulgence, he envied his brother’s freedom from the law as a Mine.
Power! The overwhelming power gained through a pact with a demon! The possibility to grow even stronger!
What he envied most, having awakened a non-combat unique ability, was exactly that.
No amount of wealth could grant him full freedom from the law.
Unless he became one of the major conglomerates in South Korea.
Of course, he knew exactly the limits of his own unique ability.
Conglomerate? That was impossible.
In fact, the wealth he had now was already the result of using his ability to its limits.
So he turned his gaze elsewhere.
Power! He needed strength to elevate himself to greater heights.
But even with his wealth, it wasn’t enough to buy high-grade skills and runes.
Buying several of those worth billions would require selling off all his assets—and even that wouldn’t be enough.
Sure, maybe he could get one or two. But that wouldn’t be enough.
He was practically estranged from his brother Nam Woo-won, who was a Mine, and thus couldn’t use him for backing.
“Shit. Why did I dream of my brother dying?”
He had seen it.
A brilliantly glowing spear blowing his brother away.
And then a man approaching and cutting his brother’s throat while he barely clung to life with the effect of his unique ability: Boundary of Death [Unique-SSS].
“Did he really die?”
After becoming a Mine, they naturally grew distant.
Their estrangement stemmed from that.
Still, blood ties aren’t so easily severed.
Especially when they had survived hardship together in a runaway family after losing their parents.
Then it happened.
Nam Woo-yi backed away in fright as he saw a black figure appear in the mirror.
It looked like a black haze, like some living creature, and his eyes trembled as it appeared.
Terrifying. Horrifying. Disgusting. Ominous.
The moment he saw that black thing, waves of negativity began to devour his mind.
But the moment the black haze spoke, those thoughts vanished as if wiped away.
—Nam Woo-won, my contractor. Your kin is dead.
The black haze—no, the demon who had made a pact with his brother—calmly informed him that the dream was real.
—According to his final condition, I shall contract with you. No—I shall make you my avatar! In return, you must kill that bastard who broke my toy!
[Hidden Quest: Eliminate the Slayer of Your Kin!
Type: Unique
Rank: SSS-
Description: The mid-tier demon Deriax, who contracted with your brother Nam Woo-won, has decided to form a contract with you as per the final condition.
Deriax will not forgive the player, Shin Juha, who dared ruin his toy.
Deriax intends to grant you the greatest power to kill him!
Accept his power and slay the player, Shin Juha, who murdered your brother!
Upon Acceptance: Become the Avatar of the Mid-tier Demon, Deriax the Creeping Worm of the Pit
Objective: Eliminate the player Shin Juha (0/1)
Success: Recommendation for High Apostle of the Ten Thousand Demons Palace (6th-rank), greater power from Deriax
Failure: Physical death, soul obliteration]
“I accept.”
Nam Woo-yi quickly processed the situation and realized—this was the moment he could finally obtain the power he had longed for his entire life!
A path to rise even higher than his once-envied brother!
—Wise decision. My avatar.
‘I’ll avenge you.’
With that thought, Nam Woo-yi curled a fishy smile as he felt the black demonic energy being absorbed into him.
**{‘Mine’ (마인) /‘the corrupted’ / ‘Demonkin’ are the humans who has been corrupted by demonic forces. Unlike demons, Mines are traitorous former humans who kill their own for power.}
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