141 – Trained by the Returner (2)
Reaper.
It is a nickname that can be seen as either cool or a bit cringy.
However, if you go around calling yourself an envoy… I think that’s a bit of a lie. In martial arts, aren’t nicknames given by others?
[In the past, when I was working at a ‘company’… I often met criminal profilers. However, there is something they all say in common.]
“… “What is it?”
[I’m afraid of crazy people, but what’s even more scary is… He is a crazy person with beliefs.]
And now, this bastard called Shinigami was not an ordinary crazy bastard as he called himself a shinigami.
[Reaper is a vicious criminal that the Players Association is currently paying attention to. The first crime occurred a month and a half ago. It all started with the discovery of a corpse with the word death engraved on its head.]
‘Murder’ is an act that all intellectuals are reluctant to do unless it is truly unavoidable. When a fight breaks out online, people say things like saying they will kill someone, stabbing them with a knife, or other unspeakable acts… It is not common for someone to take action without hesitation when given such an opportunity. If there wasn’t a tower, I would never have killed anyone in my life.
[Even after the first murder, the Reaper continued to upload photos to the deep web, showing off his ‘results’. This is the typical behavior of a serial killer.]
Serial killers want to be recognized for themselves. Since they are interested people who cannot satisfy their self-esteem through normal means, they satisfy their ego needs in a distorted way, saying, ‘I have caused others so much pain’ and ‘Other people are so afraid of me.’
[But… The Reaper is a little different. There may be an influence of ego desire, but he acts with a twisted ‘sense of justice’.]
“… A sense of justice?”
[Yes. He perceives his actions as ‘Vigilante’ activities.]
However, the Shinigami is different. He is not just a pleasure killer.
[First of all… The Shinigami kills only those whom he believes to be evil. It’s not just killing them either. He kills very slowly, painfully and cruelly. Like slowly opening the skin… ]
Japanese take. He is a psychopath who killed seven prostitutes for fun.
Riya of India. She was a crazy b*tch who kidnapped and murdered handsome men to decorate his skin.
China’s Zhang Lei. She committed various crimes, including drug distribution, human trafficking, rape, murder, and even broadcasting the process in real time.
What they all have in common is that they were all good players. And thanks to that, his criminal activities were not discovered until just before his death. If a superhuman decided to hide a crime, there would be no way to catch him through modern security administration.
[But the Reaper kills them and posts their crimes on the web. According to our profiler’s analysis… They say he seems to be driven by a ‘sense of duty.’ Just like in the cartoon ‘Death Note’.]
They select evildoers, kill them, and display their bodies on the Internet. And through this entire process, crime is suppressed. This was the result that the Shinigami was ultimately aiming for. Of course, it’s not widely known that he only deals with criminals yet… This is only a matter of time.
“… “He looks a bit like the main character in a web novel.”
There was a strong scent of cider. To be honest, there are one or two people in this world who would rather die than die. The prediction that there will be no robbers in the world who suddenly gain special abilities is too hopeful.
[If there is a problem… The point is that the Reaper is quite irresponsible.]
The problem is… The reaper’s batting average is quite low.
[Maybe because this friend gets his information from the deep web, he sometimes makes mistakes. In terms of percentage, it is about 30 percent.]
Typically, the first victim was really just a good civilian who had done nothing wrong. He was just a middle-aged man who looked a bit rough and lived alone in the corner of his room, enjoying his hobby of stuffing insects.
And while truly evil people like the players mentioned above deserve to die, there were many ambiguously evil people who suffered as well.
Like drinking and hitting a dozen people, robbing several stores, or accidentally tearing off a classmate’s arm while playing pranks…
These are clearly evil people. However, there will be a question mark attached to the question, ‘Does it deserve to be tortured so cruelly and die in pain and despair?’
[Anyway… We plan to announce this ‘Reaper’ globally next week. Until now, we had considered that there would be a backlash due to his actions of hunting down evildoers, but we decided that catching this guy was the priority.]
“Hmm… “
In the end, did the association decide to put a wanted person on the Shinigami? Actually, it doesn’t make sense to leave a criminal like that alone.
However, apart from the viciousness of the messenger, as I listened to Yoon Jung-hyeon’s story… Something is cheap. This feeling of a slight tingling in the back of my head. This feeling of missing something, something important…
“… “It’s Junho.”
Choi Ji-won must have felt something similar to me, and tapped his shoulder while gesturing for him to hang up the phone.
“Well, wait a minute. Because I have work to do. “I will contact you again later.”
[Ah, yes. All right.]
After putting the cell phone away, I shifted my gaze to Choi Ji-won.
“What’s wrong?”
“Junho. As for other people… “Won’t people on the 11th floor misunderstand that you are a Shinigami?”
“… Ah.”
That’s right. The essence of the sense of discomfort I felt was that the actions I showed on the 11th floor were too similar to those of the Shinigami.
I enjoy peeling off people’s skin. They tease a dead person until the end and then kill him. The Shinigami identity of ‘only killing evildoers’ is missing, but it seemed unlikely that the association would even mention such a thing in the first place.
Therefore… What if the association starts talking all over the place about the ‘Reaper’?
“The people on the 11th floor… “Are you going to go around saying he’s dead?”
If I die on the 11th floor, the possibility of being mistaken for a Shinigami is very, very high.
“Uhm… “
Once again, it is time to choose.
The problem on the 11th floor was roughly solved. All that was left was one bastard named Jang-lae, but he was already dead a long time ago. The person who killed it is ‘Reaper’, a crazy killer who only selects and kills evil people.
What choice should I make here? Shall we find the Shinigami and kill him? Or should I just hold on? Should I meet him in person and guide him on the right path? How should we treat the Shinigami?
And what happened on the 11th floor. Should we come up with a slightly different concept on the 11th floor? Or should we keep the concept similar to Shinigami? Which of the two is more beneficial to me?
This is not all. My ‘cold energy’ is also at a crossroads of choice. Should I just drink the elixir? Or should I save it? Choi Ji-won also succeeded in completely clearing the 4th floor, so he has two elixirs. However, it is an ‘elixir’. Is it correct to write this here? What if I write it now and end up stuck in time forever because I don’t have the elixir at a critical moment?
“Ha, my head hurts.”
This is the regressor’s dilemma. In the end, moving on to the next episode is entirely up to my choice.
What if I choose the wrong option here, and it later turns into a huge snowball and comes back? What if you kill the Reaper and the Reaper’s abilities are essential to kill the final boss on the 66th floor? What if you keep the Shinigami alive and the Earth is destroyed because that bastard kills key talent?
I may be holding the button that can decide the fate of humanity…
“Uh, uhm… “Wow.”
My head is spinning. A strong feeling of dizziness covers my whole body, and my stomach tightens, making me nauseous again and again.
“Junho, Junho!”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute…” “
Considering that it does not return, this is dizziness caused entirely by psychological factors. It is the price of realizing that a huge responsibility is placed on our shoulders that no mere human can bear.
“… “It’s Junho.”
Choi Ji-won speaks while gently patting my back.
“First, let’s get some rest. And let’s wait for the results to come out.”
“… But.”
“Once you rest, you want to rest more?”
From Noble mtl dot com
“… Huh.”
“That is also true. But in my opinion, your mental fatigue has reached a dangerous level now.”
“… “
“Isn’t it going to go back anyway? When you go back, you go back to the moment you entered the 11th floor, so there is no wasted time. Let’s wait and see how the ‘Reaper’ reacts. “That’s okay.”
I was forced to take a break by Choi Ji-won’s force, not force.
The week went by so quickly.
**
Exactly one week later. News about the ‘Reaper’ covered the whole world. Naturally, the content that the Shinigami only kills evil people was omitted, and it was depicted as a simple pleasure killer.
For reference, the Players Association was also aware of the ‘Skeleton Killer’ who died on the 11th floor.
After careful examination, it was concluded that the killer who died on the 11th floor was not the Reaper. This is because there were quite a few differences in details between the two killers.
Nevertheless, the Players Association made a bold decision.
-The Players Association officially revealed that ‘Reaper died on the 11th floor at the hands of hero Choi Ji-won.’
-The Shinigami is already dead! Citizens, please rest assured.
That’s right, people were going around the neighborhood saying that the messenger had died.
At first glance, it was an incomprehensible action, but it turned out to be a good move for the association.
[Junho.]
“Why are you doing that?”
[Are you watching the news right now? There is probably talk of a reaper.]
“Right?”
[That guy turned on the YouTube live broadcast a little while ago. The envoy was a 15-year-old Japanese student.]
“… ?”