SSS-Class Revival Hunter
Chapter 230: Hatred (3)

Chapter 230: Hatred (3)

Now that the sun had set, Amethyst and I went out into the street under the red and orange sky.

Since the city of Babylon was founded by people who had lost their nationalities, the air was a mixture of all kinds of scents, such as Indian spices and Chinese incense. Each person that passed us by had a different skin color and air about them.

“Where are you going?” Amethyst asked. “I can send you back to your world at any time. You also have your reward. Is there still anything left for you to do in this world?”

“Just follow me.”

Amethyst continued walking by my side with a soft smile. “Hmm. Guide me as you wish.”

The scent of the streets thinned out. Poverty had the same smell no matter where you were. It was the smell of murky and stale water after rotting under the sunlight.

In an alley, some water that had pooled up was now in the shade. A plastic bottle with its head stuck in this muddy pool showed the level of poverty in this area.

We kept on walking. The more muddy water we splashed around, the less scents we felt from the crowded scents as the stench of murky, stale water became too intense to be ignored. Now that the sun was tucked behind the horizon, it became darker and darker.

Finally, we entered a familiar alley. Amethyst seemed to recognize it.

“Ah. Mr. Gong-Ja. This is—”

“Shhh. They’ll hear us.”

Amethyst shut her mouth. That way, we could hear a distant, familiar conversation.

“M-Mr. Fire Emperor, why are you doing—”

“It’s useless. No one is around.”

The Ranked 1 Hunter of the Tower was the Fire Emperor. Yoo Soo-Ha sounded as if he had swallowed up the sunset and cast the veil of the night over the city.

“I never thought that the witch was hiding a pretty girl like you. Wow, if I hadn’t known about it, it would have been a really big problem.”

“W-Witch? What in the world are you talking about...?”

“Gosh, you’re also a great actress.”

In the dark alley, the Fire Emperor tilted his head, cornering the Saintess to a wall.

“You’re different from your boomer grandpa.”

The Saintess’ expression darkened. “What?”

“Your grandfather. The Sword Star or something. You came to the Tower to get revenge for him. Did you really think I didn’t know?”

In truth, he hadn’t, but he had Returner’s Clockwork. The Skill allowed him to go back a day by dying. Thanks to it, Yoo Soo-Ha knew the Saintess would attack him.

“How? How do you know that?”

Of course, the Saintess didn’t know he had this Skill, just like she didn’t in my world.

“That’s because I’m awesome. There’s nothing I don’t know.”

“Urgh!”

The Saintess’ hand briefly sparkled white, probably because she was trying to shoot out her aura. However, the spark was extinguished before it could become any brighter when the Fire Emperor grabbed the Saintess by the neck.

“Man, you’re aggressive, ain’tcha?”

“Aaaaah!”

“You definitely have a considerable body count of your own. I wonder how your grandfather would have reacted if he saw you right now. Hmm. Maybe he would have cried like when Zhuge Liang killed Ma Su,[1] but would probably still kill you... Oh, the Tower can’t properly translate a saying like this, can it?”

The Saintess gasped and struggled. She tried kicking at the Fire Emperor as he lifted her up, but it was all in vain.

“You know, I fucking love people like you. No matter how many of you I kill, it won’t leave a scratch on my heart.”

It was just like before.

“It gets annoying when I live with good guys because it makes me wonder, ‘Wow, is it really possible that there are people in this world who aren’t scumbags?’”

Back then, I couldn’t do anything.

“That can’t be possible. Under a single layer, everyone is trash, but it takes a lot of work to peel that layer, right? It’s freaking tiring. Even when you peel a tangerine, you end up with a bunch of pith under your fingernails.”

The Saintess kept struggling to breathe.

“I feel very comfortable when I meet people like you. It’s not tiring at all. I just feel refreshed, as if I poured detergent into my brain. Thanks to you guys, I can live on. Really, it’s all thanks to you guys.”

In the past, I had no choice but to watch. I had been at a loss for words, so it was difficult just to hold my breath with all my might.

“Thank you.”

But not anymore.

“Goodbye, Saintess Isabel.”

The moment the Fire Emperor was about to shoot fire from his hand, I launched my aura. He reflexively released the Saintess’ neck and nimbly took a step back as the Saintess collapsed down on the floor.

The Fire Emperor looked back at me with shock. “What?”

In one breath, I got to him, determined not to let him catch a break. “Salvation.”

In response, a Skill that had already become one with me answered.

[A Torn Goddess’s Salvation answers you.]

It was the Skill that the Constellation Murderer possessed. Just like the Tower master’s nine golden Skills, two Skills made up who the Constellation Murderer was.

One was Puppet Master’s Parade. Thanks to this, the Constellation Murderer came back with a new body even when his old one was destroyed.

The other one was A Torn Goddess’s Salvation. With it, the Constellation Murderer discarded yesterday’s memories to achieve today’s victory.

When he killed me, I could choose one of these Skills.

“Part-Timer?! What are you—”

“The cafe we ​​order from during our work hours is freaking horrible. Guild Leader, it’s about time we change the cafe we frequent.”

Using Aura Transmission, I compressed my aura and fired it, rushing into the Fire Emperor’s arms. His eyes became comically large.

“I don’t really want to remember the taste of the coffee I drank today,” I said as I swung my fist. “I’ll throw those memories away.”

[A Torn Goddess’ Salvation is active, enhancing your physical attack.]

My aura, as red as the Fire Emperor’s, struck him in the abdomen, making him groan. The Fire Emperor flew like a stick toward the alley wall, unable to negate the shock I inflicted. Upon contact, the wall crumbled.

“Huff, huff... Urgh... Ah?”

After my second breath, I got to the Saintess, who had regained some strength and looked up at me in confusion. “Uh, uh, aren’t you... from Guild Yoo Soo-Ha?”

It seemed she wasn’t totally unscathed. There were red burns on her neck where the Fire Emperor had grabbed her.

“I’m sorry, but please get some sleep,” I said.

In the past, I used to think the Saintess was an innocent victim. Now that I thought of her, she was just another human.

I touched her forehead and reversed the flow of her aura. The Saintess let out a groan and fainted. It would have been unimaginable for me to do this before, but now I could do it very easily.

After my third breath, I made it to the Fire Emperor, who just got up from the collapsed wall. Pebbles slipped out from his long ponytail.

“What. The. Fuck?! Are you nuts? Hey, you! What are you doing? Are you really my part-timer?”

“I am,” I answered.

“Fuck, are you the witch’s... No, you can’t be. When the terror attack broke out, you—”

The Fire Emperor had a hard time figuring out what was going on. Of course he did. In his eyes, I was just a weak Class E Hunter who was working for him.

“You want to know what’s going on, don’t you, Guild Leader?” I asked.

Just like how the Saintess had no idea that the Fire Emperor had regressed one day, he also had no idea what kind of person I was.

“If you want to know, beat me. I need to know that I’m stronger than you.”

The Fire Emperor scoffed, his eyes burning. “I don’t know what could have made you this strong overnight. But I’m going to beat the shit out of you first.”

My bloody red aura hovered around my hand. I lunged at him with all my strength. “I will beat you just enough to keep you alive.”

“Don’t fuck with me! I’m the Ranked 1 Hunter of this Tower!”

“My Demonic Heaven is the will of the person who stood in a snowfield in anguish.”

Demonic Heaven Arts.

First Form:

Starvation Death.

I threw a punch toward the Fire Emperor. Determined not to be caught off guard twice, he tried to block my fist. Well, yeah, I was a swordsman, not a boxer. Unlike him, I wasn’t fighting on my terms.

However, Teacher had sliced through the snowy mountain without a single sword. To follow in her footsteps, I should be able to pierce through a blaze of fire at least.

Demonic Heaven Arts

Class: A+

Effect: The Heavenly Demon Cult curses the laws of nature. Instead of stopping at loathing, they created a cult and formed doctrines of their own. The Demonic Heaven Art contains the essence of the doctrines.

Those who learn the Demonic Heaven Art can tear apart the heavens and crush Mount Tai! However, they must fully comprehend the hatred and curses contained in the forms of the arts. The greater their hatred of the world, the less the heavens will hold sway over them.

The one who masters the Demonic Heaven Arts will soon overthrow the heavens, becoming the Heavenly Demon.

※However, it becomes difficult to maintain your rationality when using the Demonic Heaven Arts.

A piece of my life made it through the blaze, piercing it.

“Huh?”

Yoo Soo-Ha’s jaw gave out at my punch. Time seemed to slow around me, so the Fire Emperor was unable to hit me as I was one step ahead of him.

“I give up the memories of the puddle I stepped on when I entered the alley.”

I unleashed my aura.

A Torn Goddess’s Salvation

Class: A+

Effect: There was a goddess who devoted herself to a certain hero. Even though the hero tore her apart, she still wanted to stand by his side. During her fall, she sealed herself in a Skill Card.

The goddess’s ability is to convert memories into power. You can enhance your abilities and combat prowess by offering memories to her. The more the offered memories matter to you, the more powerful the buff will be.

※However, the buff doesn’t last for a long time.

The wind howled. My fist struck the Fire Emperor right in the abdomen again.

He gagged, groaning as a few drops of gastric juice dripped from his mouth, then stumbled a bit before he fell to his knees.

“Ugh... Ah, fuck! Ugh...”

“Guild Leader, I know you’re upset that the manager and I got killed. Still, it’s true that you killed her grandfather.”

“The fuck? What?”

“You should apologize for killing her grandfather.”

It took me five breaths to get here.

“You have to explain why you were left with no choice but to kill him. The Sword Star tried to kill you without listening to your reason. Still, you’re sorry. That is what you should tell the Saintess—that you’re sorry.”

It took many days to get here.

“That is what you should do. Why are you just trying to kill her?”

The alley reeked, the smell of poverty matching that of stale water. No matter how strong the sun was, light never reached the shadows, so the puddle in the shade would never evaporate. When night fell and it rained again, the puddle would overflow, its excess being the only one capable of evaporating. Other than that, it remained a pool of stale, murky water.

It took a lot of sunlight to get back to my stale puddle.

“Why? Why would you kill someone you don’t know? You’re strong, Guild Leader, the strongest person in this Tower. Unlike others, you can let them kill you once. You have so little to lose, so why would you kill people without hesitation?”

I looked down at the man who had set ablaze the anger in my heart. He was so strong that, way back then, I had to defeat him by going back over four thousand days in the past.

Yes, I had run away. I hadn’t known what to say, nor had the strength to persuade him. How to get him on my side was a problem I hadn’t been able to figure out. I didn’t even have the confidence to face him, so I had instead run away and killed him before he could become who he was. I had killed Yoo Soo-Ha, not the Fire Emperor.

“For god’s sake, stop living like that, you fucking son of a bitch.”

He was silent.

I was stronger than him now, incomparably stronger, so now I could fight him. I didn’t have to hold my breath and try to flee after the Saintess was killed. There was no reason to fear death or someone abandoning me. I didn’t need to worry about meaning nothing to other people.

I now did my hardest to live.

The Fire Emperor continued spitting out gastric juice. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and muttered, “Don’t give me that crap, you shithead. Why can’t I live a nicer life, you say? Why would you ask me that shit? Fuck, look around you. Where the hell did you grow up to say that bullshit to my face?”

The Fire Emperor’s eyes were bloodshot.

“Su-Jeong lectures me, and now you’re doing it too. Seriously, you guys aren’t humans. You’re more like stray dogs, little shits who pant happily because someone nice picked you up and raised you. Fuck. How...”

He was now spitting blood.

“How do you like others so much?”

The blood became thicker.

“How can you like other people?” the Fire Emperor asked, glaring at me. “You pushovers. Go kill yourselves. Both Ja Su-Jeong and you. Both of you, just die. Die! Get lost. Fuck, seriously, what the hell?”

Yes, this was his scream.

I—the Young Heaven of the Heavenly Demon Cult, the Moon of Ivansia, and the master of the monster legion—simply nodded. “Not all the people in the world are assholes like you. And I’m going to make sure you won’t be an asshole for much longer. I can, and I will. I’m stronger than you.”

I touched the Fire Emperor’s forehead, reversing his aura flow. He slid down the wall, leaving behind a final curse.

“Fuck... you...”

The Fire Emperor lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

The alley was silent, save for some small footsteps from behind me. When I turned around, I saw Amethyst looking up at me, her purple eyes silently asking me what I was going to do.

I nodded. “Monster Legion Reincarnation.”

My shadow spread into the dark alley in the night sky, moving like slime until it took the form of a person.

Monster Legion Reincarnation

Class: SSS

Effects: You are able to summon those you killed as monsters. The deceased won’t have their original abilities. However, if you wish, the deceased will retain their memory and appearance. If not, they are summoned as monsters like goblins, orcs, zombies, and skeletons.

※You can summon your legion only once a week.

The figure emerging from the shadows looked identical to the man who had just fallen to the ground.

“What? What the fuck?” Where is this? What kind of fucked-up place did you call me again?”

Yoo Soo-Ha, dressed as a part-time worker at Cafe Planetarium, scowled at me. In this world, I was a part-time worker, but in my world, that was his job, not mine.

“Yoo Soo-Ha.”

“Huh? What the shit! Who is that guy on the floor?”

“Pay attention, Yoo Soo-ha.”

“What?”

“Do you feel shitty because I killed you?”

Yoo Soo-Ha looked at me as if I was an idiot. “Are you high?”

“Answer me.”

“Yeah, I feel shitty. Don’t you think you would feel the same if I were you? Some random fuck looked like he was going to die alone in the hunting ground, but he suddenly attacked me from behind. Even after I died, you call me whenever you’re bored. I’m supposed to dance or teach others how to swear. Damn it. Talking about it pisses me off again. Just die, you crazy son of a bitch.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I’m also an asshole...”

“What?”

“It’s just that my spouse is always right...”

It was time to admit it.

“Sorry,” I said.

Yoo Soo-Ha stared at me. “Huh?”

“I’m sorry that I killed you, you son of a bitch.”

Yoo Soo-Ha closed his mouth. It would be nice and commendable if he did that because he was touched by my apology. But, of course, he never did anything that would please others, let alone do anything commendable. After all, he was a son of a bitch. Instead, he looked at me like I was the biggest idiot of this century.

“You’re sorry that you killed me?” Yoo Soo-Ha asked again in disbelief.

“Yeah.”

“Fuck, I first thought my ears were malfunctioning, but it’s actually your brain. Did someone threaten to shoot you in the head if you didn’t apologize to me? Oh, yeah. You don’t stay dead even if you get shot, right? Then, I hope someone hits you with as many bullets as they can. Wowza, I never knew someone would apologize for killing me.

“Fuuuuuuuck, I’m probably the first person in human history to hear an apology like this, you sick fuck. Even when you apologize, you fucked up bastard manage to become the first in history of the universe at doing something. When are you going to go ahead and kill yourself, you motherfucker?”

Ah.... He’s also an asshole...

If this guy didn’t swear when he opened his mouth, did he get pimples on his lips? I was trying to apologize, jeez.

I looked back at Amethyst, who had a wide smile on her face, and asked her, “Are you having fun?”

“You bet I do, Mr. Gong-Ja. I’m sure it’s not just me. Everyone in the universe would agree if they witnessed this. It’s so fun that all the corn in the universe would know that this is the time to turn into popcorn[2]. Do they sell popcorn in the slums? I’m craving it like crazy, Mr. Gong-Ja. Well, don’t mind me. Please keep talking to Mr. Yoo Soo-Ha.”

Ah... She’s also an asshole...

Why was it that I was surrounded by only fucked-up wackos? Gods, demons, and humans were all harmoniously crazy. I held my head in my hands, pondering on the meaning of this world.

“Hey,” I said.

“What?”

“I can’t make up for what I did... Actually, I can. I’m sorry, and I’ll make it up to you. I’ll continue paying you back. Would that be good enough?”

“Do you dumb fuck really have to prove that you’re fucked up in the head? What the fuck are you talking about? Talk in a way I can understand you.”

“Consider yourself lucky that I’m really strong. I’m serious. You’re very lucky.”

I pulled out the most recent piece of my life, the one I had taken from the Tower master.

Earthbone Dragon’s Skull

Class: SSS+

Effect: You can store memories of the living in a Box.

This Box can only be destroyed by you, the person who possesses the Skill. As long as the Box is not destroyed, you can create a vessel carrying the same memories over and over again.

This new vessel can travel around the universe, form new memories, and update those in the Box. Of course, they need your permission to do so. Even if the vessel perishes, the Box will not take any damage.

Grant the privilege of immortality to those around you.

※The memories of the perished being cannot be updated in the Box.

“Tower master.”

“Yes, Mr. Gong-Ja?”

“I’ll revive that bastard.”

And I would do it with the Earthbone Dragon’s Skull, the Skill that stored one’s memories and gave them a vessel.

“I’ll give his body back.”

With the strongest card I could have possibly drawn, I declared that I was going to save a single human.

1. The raw is 읍참마속. It’s a four-letter idiom that refers to the time when Zhuge Liang had to kill Masu for disobeying his order. The idiom means that even the closest people to you should be treated strictly to enforce the rules. ☜

2. This is wordplay on the Korean expression "꿀잼(Literal: It's honey fun.) It means it's really fun. Some adjustments have been made. ☜