REAPER SCANS
Five-Time Regressor Walks the King’s Path
[Translator – Anwen]
[Proofreader – Valirius]
Chapter 43
The Constellation had no intention of telling him anything.
Tsk, it wasn’t my hobby to keep on inferring like this.
Should I look for skills that are more useful for clearing Floors like Apsara?
‘When Emperor was still alive, there were other guys who would fill in those parts.’
I only focused on combat skills since I had to rise up through the Floors alone and as fast as possible. But with Ha Il-Sung’s appearance, him superior to me, I had to look for a different approach to overtake him. Geez.
“No. 4, where are the other numbers?”
“The three I was with each went to kill Coman, Shebelle, and Nariya. Except for No.1, the rest are investigating the bloodline.”
“Then where is No. 1?”
“Well, No. 1 is the one who killed the second of the emperor’s two sons. We only know that they’re staying near the nobles right now. No.1 is the type who keeps to themselves and moves alone.”
Oho, if they could kill the emperor’s son without being caught, they wouldn’t be any ordinary person.
If, like these minions said, No. 1 was able to assassinate the empire’s prince, then they must be a pretty strong figure on this Floor.
“Oh, from what I heard, it’s also likely that the emperor is already dead.”
“That’s what I assumed. Anyone who came across the information I did would’ve guessed the same.”
The reason why the Information Guild did not bother to say that the emperor was dead was probably because they were being hushed from higher up.
If the news of the death of the emperor and his immediate family spread to neighboring countries, it’d be a great threat to the empire.
“Alright, No. 4. You continue to keep in touch with the rest of the group. Tell No. 1 there has been an attack as well. Do you guys have enemies?”
“Ah, yes. There’s the assassination groups from other countries, and we’ve run into the Mercenary Guild a few times.”
“Then give a rough explanation about them being the attackers. That’s not too hard, right?”
“Yes, it’s never too hard.”
Smiling at me, No. 4 nodded vigorously.
“The rest shall continue what you’ve been doing. If you come across anyone else looking for the bloodline, tell me. Ah, but like this you guys are technically my underlings. I’m sure you won’t like working for free, right?”
I took out platinum coins and threw one to each of them.
“Think of this as the price for future employment. I will pay you more each time the term gets renewed. What, it’s not too little, is it?”
Those who received the coins looked dumbfounded for a moment, but soon noticed their response was too slow. Their heads quickly bowed.
“No. It’s never too little.”
Although they didn’t show it outwardly, I could see that they were quite happy on the inside, so I let it slide.
A vertical relationship where the one holding greater standing suppresses those beneath them with people is doomed to failure.
However, if you add the power of money, one can draw out deeper loyalty than one might think.
I knew that well.
I turned away from the guys who were now my subordinates.
‘First, let’s go back to Rush.’
I decided to go back to the guy having the best night of his life. After telling the Number guys to contact me on their own, I returned to the underground bar.
When I went down, it was still crowded even though quite some time had passed. I searched for Rush among the crowd.
I didn’t think he’d have gotten along with a girl yet.
I looked around a few times only to realize Rush wasn’t around.
I tilted my head and covered my body with aura, lightly dispersing it around the building.
I remembered Rush’s aura.
Each person has a different aura flowing from their body.
When I slowly spread my aura out further, I found Rush.
Rush was surrounded by many people.
‘No way.’
If the aristocrats requested assassinations from more than just those Number guys…
I ran up the stairs, hurrying to Rush.
Maybe it would’ve been better to stay by Rush’s side the moment I realized he could be an assassination target.
Biting my lip in regret, I arrived at a back alley where Rush was splayed on the ground and surrounded by men.
Their appearance suggested they were back alley regulars, and they were beating up Rush.
“What the… This guy really doesn’t have any money.”
“How is the guy who spent so much money broke?”
“Was wondering who the upstart was. Tsk.”
They went after him because of the money spent at the bar.
I approached them with a sigh, and before they could even notice the presence of a stranger, I struck each of them hard.
I crouched down next to Rush, who was in the fetal position, tapping his head twice with my pointer finger.
Rush came to senses when he realized nobody was beating him, slowly raising his head in wonder.
He made eye contact with me and hastily looked around while shouting.
“Chun-Sung! You can’t be here! There’s…”
His words were stopped short when he saw the men lying around him.
Even after being beat up to this point, he was trying to keep me away from danger instead of shouting for help.
Although he was a little stupid and a bit of a loser, I didn’t think he was a bad guy.
“What happened? Did you… did you do this?”
“Of course I did it, who else could’ve done it? How did you even get dragged out here by these guys? If you spent as much money as you did, whoever was in the bar should’ve protected you from these bums.”
A guy who spent that much money was likely to spend more next time.
Therefore, in order to protect those types of customers, the bar should’ve put some people at his side for protection to avoid incidents like this.
“Oh, things went well with this woman, and she said she wanted to talk to me alone. They must’ve followed behind us when we left, but thankfully, the woman got away safe and sound. I was the only one who got beaten to a pulp… What is it?”
“No, it’s nothing. I was just thinking that the woman was probably working with these punks. She must be watching from somewhere.”
“If you talk like that, what more is there to dream about and hope for in this world?”
“Why would you dream about and hope for something when you’re going into the army tomorrow?”
Rush was brought down by recalling his future. He looked at the clothes that were tattered and ruined, sighing.
“I won’t make any progress with these clothes. I think we’ve been here long enough.”
It was already three in the morning.
I thought I could get him into a relationship, but looks like that would be difficult.
Although he recovered thanks to the potion, he still looked tired from the assault.
Not to mention the danger of assassination.
Considering that, keeping him here wasn’t the smartest choice.
“Let’s go back. I have to get ready to leave tomorrow anyway.”
Rush proposed it first.
I nodded in agreement and stood up, heading home with Rush.
We talked a little at his house. I took a nap and when I woke up, it was a new day.
I slept in an empty room at his house in case of assassination. I woke up to the sound of rustling and opened the door to see Rush dressed in his usual attire.
I stared at his back, which looked a little dejected. A characteristic of someone heading off to the army.
At this moment, why was I recalling the song, ‘The Private’s Letter’, by Kim Kwang Seok?
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator – Anwen]
[Proofreader – Valirius]
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* * *
“Rush.”
“Oh, you’re awake, Chun-Sung. I’m sorry, I tried to leave quietly so that I wouldn’t wake you up.”
“You said it’s a long way to the training center, right?”
That was why he got up so early in the morning.
“Yeah, you don’t have to come, Chun-Sung.”
“Stop pretending you’re looking out for me, you idiot. It’s not like I haven’t seen people all dejected, looking like they’ve given up on everything the day they say they have to leave for the army. Let’s go, I’ll buy you something tasty on the way. Eat it, and then remember it from time to time.”
“You’re a true friend, Chun-Sung.”
In reality, we’ve only known each other for less than a day, but seeing the guy heading off to the army reminded me of the old days. I felt sorry for him.
We were walking down the street when I started talking.
“There’s no good places to eat near the training center, so let’s eat before we get there. If we ate in front of the training center, you’d lose your appetite anyway.”
“You said the same thing yesterday. It feels like you have been to the military before.”
I went and came back.
No, to be exact, I haven’t been able to get out of it for 20 years.
‘Fuck. If I fail this round, I’ll go back to being a soldier again. I’m never going back to that look.’
The problem was that I made this same resolution the past four regressions.
I chatted with Rush and bought him a dish he wanted to eat, accompanying him to the front of the training center.
It was 2:30 in the afternoon. We were a bit early, but there were a few others scattered around.
Most of the men had depressed looks on their faces and their parents had mixed emotions.
Those with girlfriends were hugging and saying how they would write each other letters and would wait for them.
“There’s a lot of people.”
“They’re all your colleagues. Just think of them all as someone who would be discharged on the same day as you.”
“Haha, it was my mistake to be born in this country. But since I’ve come this far, I will come back after protecting our country.”
Why was everyone saying that right before entering the army? Even though their mindset was going to change the very next day.
Half an hour passed like that, and a person who seemed to be a soldier was telling the military recruits to gather up somewhere.
“I’m going, Chun-Sung. They said I can write letters, so I’ll write to you often. I’ll see you when I’m on leave.”
“Yeah, bye.”
With those words, Rush left to mingle with the other military recruits.
I watched as one soldier spoke in front of the recruits, and then turned around to bow his head to the families.
“Thank you for entrusting us with your children. For the next ten years, we will take the responsibility of raising them into great soldiers.”
What a load of bullshit.
“All military recruits, atten-hut! Salute to your parents who've raised you until now!”
With those words being said, everyone gave untidy salutes.
Some raised their left hand and some put their hands in the wrong place.
I was thinking they were in serious need of some formal training when the recruits entered the training center. The parents who came to see them off began to leave one by one.
While watching that unfold, I warmed up and moved to a secluded area.
“No. 9.”
“Yes.”
No. 9 appeared with one knee to the ground as soon as I called.
While Rush was asleep last night, I called for No. 9 and asked him for a few favors.
I glanced at him and reached out. No. 9 handed me the clothes right away.
It was the uniform of the Gritia Empire. I took my clothes off and changed into the uniform on the spot.
I cut my hair so it was only to my shoulders, and hid the rest under the hat.
“Um, Ms. Ha Chun-Sung.”
“What?”
I was putting on my army boots when No. 9 carefully called out to me.
When I turned to look at him, No. 9 glimpsed at my chest.
“I think the chest area is a little too obvious.”
I clicked my tongue after looking down to see what he meant.
The hair was annoying enough, but this time it was the body.
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