Chapter 328: Sinner (2)

Translator: DreamscribeHe was falling!

He was dropping!

H-he was dying!

Han Mong-gyun fell from the railing of the building without even a chance to resist.

"AAAAAAAGH!"

He plunged down screaming, but the countless people passing along the street didn't so much as flinch; far from being startled, they didn't react at all, as if nothing were happening.

Of course, that might have been because of how fast he was falling.

After all, it would take time for them to hear the sound and be startled.

"AAAAAGH! GAAH!"

The instant his body was about to slam into the ground, it suddenly shot back up.

In a flash it soared far past the height of the building and burst through the clouds. He couldn't properly make sense of what was happening. He could only scream wildly, gripped by terror.

Han Mong-gyun plummeted downward again, pulled by gravity.

Falling at such speed, he stopped just before hitting the ground once more.

"Kk-hh! Hu-uk! Huaaaaah!"

Han Mong-gyun bawled his eyes out, suspended about two meters above the ground.

Had he died and fallen into the Underworld? After going through something that insane, it was a natural thing to think.

"S-somebody help me! C-call, call the police, please!"

He shouted at the people, but no one looked his way. They ignored him as though he were an invisible man. He screamed until his throat was raw, but the outcome didn't change.

"Cough, cough! P-please…."

Paralyzed with fear, Han Mong-gyun dribbled tears, snot, and even urine. Just then, his body slowly rose into the air once more and was carried up to the rooftop.

Collapsed on the floor, Han Mong-gyun patted himself all over, checking whether this was a dream or reality, whether he was alive or dead.

It was not a dream.

His whole body was damp with sweat, and a foul stench rose from his yellow-stained pants.

Sensations this vivid could not possibly be a dream.

"How was it? Pretty fun, right?"

"Gh-GAAAAH!"

"Want me to do it again? I could fling you all the way into outer space."

At the sound of Jinwoo's voice, Han Mong-gyun started to flee. He threw open the door leading downstairs and tore down the steps like a madman. When the ground-floor door came into view, he stepped outside in relief.

"Huh?"

In the instant he blinked, the outside scenery vanished like a mirage, and the rooftop spread out before him once more. In the middle of the rooftop, Jinwoo stood at ease, watching him.

Jinwoo shrugged, as if inviting him to try again.

"Gh-GAAAAH!"

No matter how many times he repeated it, the result was the same.

Soaked in sweat and filth, unable to control his trembling legs, he sank down onto the floor.

"W-what are you?! Are you, are you really Lee Jinwoo?!"

As Han Mong-gyun shrieked as if in desperation, Jinwoo approached with a smile.

"Oh dear, Mong-gyun. You look like a complete mess."

Jinwoo clicked his tongue.

It was truly laughable that Han Mong-gyun, whose self-love ran so deep he'd even published an autobiography, was reduced to this state.

He wanted to film it and post it on Arsilan Worlds, but since it might have a bad influence on the Heroes, he didn't.

"If you're going to die, just die quietly. Why do it on somebody else's building?"

This building belonged to FS Games, which made it as good as Jinwoo's own.

"Well, you were trying to die anyway, so it won't matter if you just disappear like this. For now, wait in the Underworld."

"Wh-what…."

An enormous pressure bore down on Han Mong-gyun.

He couldn't even bring himself to look at Jinwoo. He felt as though he'd become an insect.

When Jinwoo snapped his fingers, the sky darkened.

Dark clouds rolled in and blotted out the sunlight. The floor stained black, and bubbles came boiling up.

The rooftop floor became a swamp that seemed to hold all the malice in the world.

SHLLLLK!

A Black Coffin rose from the swamp.

On the surface of that Black Coffin, Han Mong-gyun's name was written.

Why was his name written there?

Han Mong-gyun gulped.

A red mouth appeared on the surface of the coffin and spread into a spine-chilling smile.

[Han Mong-gyun, Evil Karma Rank C. You are an evildoer. As of this moment, you are imprisoned in hell.]

"H-hell?!"

The door of the Black Coffin opened, revealing an interior filled with a horrific black liquid.

It was the spot where Han Mong-gyun was to go.

Seeing it, Han Mong-gyun screamed and tried to flee backward.

He was falling into hell.

He had the feeling that if he went in there, he would never return to this place again.

In the grip of ghastly terror, he forced his barely-moving body along and crawled desperately across the floor. But the more he did, the more he was swallowed into the black swamp.

"N-no! No!"

The sight was like watching an earthworm writhing atop black oil, struggling to survive.

SHRRING!

From the coffin, chains fitted with sharp blades shot out and drove into Han Mong-gyun's limbs. They pierced through bone and locked him firmly in place.

"GRAAAGH!"

At a maddening pain unlike anything he'd ever felt, Han Mong-gyun screamed and thrashed to break free. But the chains reeled in tighter and tighter, dragging him straight toward the coffin.

"P-please, s-spare me! I-I'm sorry, I was wrong."

He looked at Jinwoo and begged for mercy.

He didn't understand the situation, but he was certain that only Jinwoo could grant him mercy.

"What did you do wrong?"

"Huh? W-well, that's…, GAAAH!"

Even though he was given a moment, he couldn't come up with a proper answer.

Han Mong-gyun didn't even know what he'd done wrong. He was merely resenting Lee Jinwoo and FS Games for reducing him to this. Which was precisely why he was a Rank C evildoer.

"GRAAAGH!"

The moment Han Mong-gyun went into the Black Coffin, several spikes sprang out from inside and pinned his body firmly in place.

"G-glub! Glub! Guhk!"

THOOM!

The black liquid rose within the coffin and swallowed his body whole.

THOOM!

The Black Coffin sealed shut completely.

The Black Coffin sank as if seeping back into the floor and vanished, headed for the Underworld of Arsilan.

Now Han Mong-gyun's unsightly screams could no longer be heard.

"Not a bad bit of staging."

Since he'd thrown it together on the spot, it needed a little reinforcing, but he was fairly satisfied with it.

Jinwoo went on shoving everyone judged to be an evildoer into Black Coffins and sending them off to the Underworld.

After suffering there for about a day, they would become very obedient laborers.

"Hmm, this one…."

There was one who wasn't an evildoer but who caught his eye.

Park Jun-seong.

He was a figure who had been called a genius developer in the indie game scene. A solo-developed game he'd made in high school became famous worldwide and achieved good results in its own right.

There was a time when he was called the hope of Korean gaming, but after joining EL Soft he took a lot of flak.

At a young age he'd been lured in by big money and joined EL Soft. The moment he joined, he was gaslit by Han Mong-gyun. Whenever a storm of complaints poured down on EL Soft, Han Mong-gyun put Park Jun-seong up as the scapegoat. He'd even pulled various maneuvers to keep him from quitting.

It was in that situation that the legendary mobile game 'Rok' was born.

When people talked about the corruption of the game industry, the very first thing to come up was Rok.

Jinwoo cloaked himself and moved over to Park Jun-seong.

Park Jun-seong was sitting blankly on a bench.

He had a decent amount of money and his life was comfortable, but he couldn't develop the games he loved. In the past he would have started his own company, but now, with Arsilan Saga ruling the world, that would only be a waste of time.

Jinwoo looked into his soul.

[Skills Held]

[A] Efficiency

A talent specialized in developing things.

He can produce optimized results in a short amount of time. In fields related to games, that speed becomes even faster.

[B] Imagination Realization

A knack for realizing imagined things in programming languages.

He can even leverage critical bugs to produce miraculous results.

As befit a developer who'd been called a genius, he held excellent skills. Abilities reaching A-rank like this were rarely found.

'It'd probably be good to bring him along.'

Unless someone was an evildoer, he couldn't take them by force. On top of that, since the man was playing Arsilan Saga, he was a Hero who deserved protection.

"Haah."

Park Jun-seong's sigh, heavy with worry, drifted over.

Until the sunset faded, he didn't move from that spot. Like a person who had lost his dreams, his hopes, everything, he simply stared off into the distance with hollow eyes.

Listening to a Hero's troubles was one of the Lord God's duties.

To strike up a conversation, Jinwoo changed his appearance into that of an old man in a suit and approached.

When Jinwoo sat down beside Park Jun-seong, he glanced over at him, slightly startled.

"Oof, this is killing me. Heh heh."

Jinwoo shook his head and then looked to his side.

His eyes met Park Jun-seong's, who wore an awkward expression.

"You've got a face like a funeral, lad."

"Sorry?"

"Something troubling you? Sighing that heavily, you'll chase off whatever good fortune you've got."

Perhaps it was because he'd been sitting alone for such a long time?

Normally Park Jun-seong would have made awkward small talk and then simply gotten up to leave, but for some reason he felt an urge to talk.

"…It's just griping, really."

"Go on, tell me. As it happens, I've got plenty of time."

Jinwoo drew a bottle of fine whiskey from his coat and popped the cap. He took a swig and then handed it over. He hesitated for a moment, but when Jinwoo offered again, he nodded and took the whiskey bottle in hand.

GULP-GULP-GULP!

As if to wash away his frustration, he gulped the whiskey down.

"Kwah! Th-this is good stuff."

"It's expensive liquor, that."

"Really?"

"See that building over there? You couldn't buy it even if you sold that."

"Haha! You've got quite the sense of humor."

Though Park Jun-seong wasn't much of a drinker, he liked it. He thought it a beautiful flavor. As a pleasant buzz set in, his guard scattered.

"The truth is, I used to be a game developer, you know."

"Oh-ho? Games? You mean like that Arsilan Saga?"

"Compared to Arsilan Saga, it was garbage. Well, but it was fun at first. At first…."

Park Jun-seong recalled the days when he developed games in a studio apartment.

He'd been poor, but unlike now he'd overflowed with passion and his heart had been rich. Every single day had thrilled him.

He'd amassed enough money to last a lifetime, but he wasn't happy.

If others heard it, they'd point fingers and call it the whining of the well-fed.

Park Jun-seong told Jinwoo his whole story.

From indie game development, to joining EL Soft, to eventually retiring from the industry.

Enjoying Arsilan Saga had made his passion for game development burn even hotter, but he'd had no choice but to give it up.

EL Soft's villainy toward FS Games was already extremely well known across many communities. The person who took the most heat after Han Mong-gyun was none other than Park Jun-seong.

Han Mong-gyun pinned most of it on Park Jun-seong.

A recent audit had even turned up evidence that EL Soft's key developers had attempted to steal Soul Link's technology, so now there would be nothing to say even if a scarlet letter were branded on them forever.

Fortunately, Park Jun-seong was cleared of any wrongdoing.

"For a guy like me, just being allowed to play Arsilan Saga is a blessing."

When Jinwoo passed the whiskey over, he took a gulp.

"The me right now is just… like a tree standing still and slowly dying."

"Have you given up on developing games?"

"What nerve would I have to do that? Games are meant to bring joy, and all I did was squeeze money out of gamers."

It was something he'd done under coercion, but it was something he'd done all the same. Ashamed of it, Park Jun-seong had even donated a considerable portion of his assets anonymously.

After hearing his whole story, Jinwoo nodded.

"If you were given the chance to go back to the past, what would you do?"

"I'd smash every last one of that fucker's teeth and walk right out."

"Heh heh heh! You're tougher than I thought."

Jinwoo laughed heartily.

"Just as I thought, it'd be a shame to let you rot away like this."

"Sorry?"

"That thing you just said, care to prove it?"

He was offering a chance?

Park Jun-seong didn't understand what Jinwoo meant. But he couldn't ask whether it was a joke. It was because the air about Jinwoo felt so utterly divine.

His drunkenness snapped away in an instant.

Come to think of it, there wasn't a single person in this vast park.

Jinwoo held out his hand, offering a handshake.

"Take this hand, and your everyday life will change. Prove that you have changed. If you do, I'll give you the chance to pay for the sins you've piled up and to fulfill your dream."

A chill ran over him.

Park Jun-seong swallowed hard and looked at Jinwoo.

"Th-that is, s-sir, just who are you…."

"What will you do?"

Park Jun-seong reached out and took Jinwoo's hand.

Jinwoo conjured a Golden Key and placed it in his hand. Park Jun-seong stared blankly at the Golden Key that was somehow now resting in his hand.

"Put it to any door and open it."

Jinwoo patted his stiffened shoulder and then vanished from the spot.

"Gh-GAAH!?"

He was so startled that he cried out and nearly toppled over.

Wondering if it was a dream, he shook his head violently, but the Golden Key was still there in his hand.

Frozen in place with a look as if his soul had left him, Park Jun-seong swallowed hard and set off on trembling steps.

'C-couldn't it have just been my imagination?'

When he reached home, he recalled Jinwoo's words and tried fitting the Golden Key into the front door.

There was no way this would fit….

SHOOOK!

The tip of the Golden Key pierced through the door and slid inside.

"Hgh!"

The instant he pulled the Golden Key out, light burst forth and swallowed him up. When he came to, he was sitting at a desk that was all too familiar.

"Mr. Jun-seong, the CEO is asking for you."

"Huh? Ah…."

He answered on reflex, caught off guard.

An old-fashioned cell phone he'd used long ago was sitting on the desk. When he checked the date, it was a day he could never forget.

His first day on the job.

It was the day he'd been summoned by Han Mong-gyun and subjected to all manner of insults and coercion.

'That son of a bitch…!'

The years he'd spent being worked like a dog still turned up in his nightmares even now. Just yesterday, the man had even reached out, spouting nonsense about wanting help.

He clenched his fists tight.

Whether this was a dream or reality no longer mattered.

Park Jun-seong strode toward the CEO's office. When he entered the CEO's office, he saw Han Mong-gyun seated in an arrogant posture.

The office was full of writings documenting his achievements and award plaques he'd paid to receive.

"Now that you've joined, it's time you earned your keep, hm?"

Han Mong-gyun said it out of nowhere, with a smirk.

"Earn my keep. Right."

Park Jun-seong smiled and looked around the office. As it happened, there was something quite perfect.

An expensive golf club.

He picked up the golf club and looked at Han Mong-gyun.

"Thing is, I come a little pricey. I'll be collecting an advance."

"Wh-what are you doing? You…!"

Park Jun-seong swung it straight at Han Mong-gyun's mouth. His slightly protruding mouth caved inward and his teeth scattered out.

"Gh-GRAAAAGH!"

Han Mong-gyun clutched his face and rolled on the floor.

Park Jun-seong laughed with satisfaction and tossed the golf club aside. It felt as though all the bad feelings that had built up over the years were being released.

Park Jun-seong walked right out of the CEO's office.

At that, the entire building darkened and the employees vanished.

When he spotted a door wreathed in light at the end of the hall, he approached without hesitation.

There was no fear.

Instead, a pleasant thrill wrapped around him. He didn't know why, but he was happy.

It felt like a fresh sprout budding on a rotted tree.

The moment he grabbed the handle and opened it, there spread before him the world he had so longed for.

Warships soaring through the sky.

Golden fields.

And spirits.

"Arsilan…?"

Since he too had played Arsilan Saga before, he was able to recognize at once that this place was Arsilan.

*****

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