REAPER SCANS
Legendary Returner’s Survival Guide
[Translator – TinTin ]
[Proofreader – Harley ]
Chapter 32
The fourth floor was the top floor of this building—if you excluded the rooftop.
Mr. National Guild, was it? I heard about them from Youngsu. Something about having A Rank Awakeners and operating in the shadows… Looks like his words were true.
At least forty people stood before me. There were 12 A Rank Awakeners and 2 S Ranks. The rest were B or C Rank.
Mentioning them almost feels pointless. Honestly, it was laughable to even mention such peons.
“Jin Shi-hu,” a man standing furthest out called out. “Just what in the world are you?”
He was built like a tank and had a buzzcut. An old scar, seemingly from a blade, marred his forehead.
I ignored the man and glanced at my watch.
010-2222-7777. I dialed the ridiculous number.
The man with the scar’s watch began to vibrate.
Bzzzt.
Good enough.
I started walking towards him.
“H-Hold on! Stop right there!”
“Stop?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. He still didn’t seem to understand the position he was in.
Two of the men directly in front charged at me. One held a sword in his right hand, the other an axe in his left.
I ducked. The sword and axe whooshed past my head. My left hand shot out, grabbing the swordsman by the back of his head and throwing him at the axeman.
Splat! Smash—!
Both men crumpled into the wall, their skulls caved in.
The wall didn’t fare much better, painted with blood and bits of brain. Shards of glass from the shattered window stuck out of their lifeless, headless bodies.
Blood pooled on the floor as I continued walking, my shoes making a wet squelch as they sank into the gore.
Droplets of blood sprayed upwards. I tilted his head as the spray almost grazed my cheek.
It was magic. Some sort of blood manipulation, by the looks of it. I had no clue what it was called, nor did I care.
Standing still, I scanned the room. Among the stunned faces, one man stood out. He was staring at me, hands outstretched.
I shifted my weight…
Whoosh—
I vanished from the spot, reappearing in front of the hemomancer. None of them had even registered my movement.
I reached out, my hand clamping around the man’s throat. Without hesitation, I snapped his neck.
Crack
I tossed the body aside like trash and turned around.
Bzzzt.
The insistent buzzing of the watch. The terrified faces.
“Jeong Gil-tae, was it?” I asked.
“…Y-Yes, Mr. Jin Shi-hu. I believe there’s been a misunderstanding. Perhaps we can resolve this with a peaceful talk?”
“We already tried that.”
“Excuse me?”
“Calling me a lil’ shit creditor and whatnot. Or did I mishear all that?”
“A-about that… I apologize. I may have gotten a bit carried away. Please, we can forget about the debt. I’m truly sorry.”
Forget about it?
“Is it really that easy? Didn’t you say it was a joint and several guarantee?”
“Well… there’s a bit of paperwork involved. I’m just the vice president, so I need approval from the president. But I assure you, I’ll take care of it personally.”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it.”
“E-excuse me?”
I glanced behind him. There were still plenty of pests. I looked at them and flicked my finger.
Snap.
The heads of every single goon exploded simultaneously, blood splattering everywhere.
“If you’re going to start something, you better be ready to finish it. Don’t you agree?” I asked nonchalantly.
Gil-tae gulped. His hands, which had been trembling uncontrollably, stilled. His eyes burned with a newfound intensity. Rage? Hatred? Who knows.
Whatever he was feeling, it wasn’t worth my time. It’d be like watching an ant cry out in fury. Only a lunatic would care about that.
“Shi-hu… I don’t know if you were hiding your power or if you suddenly got stronger, but I see that you’re definitely powerful. But do you really think you can handle the consequences?”
His sudden change in attitude was almost comical.
“Consequences? Like what?”
“…This is South Korea. Mr. National Guild is affiliated with the Conqueror Guild. The president and guild master of Mr. National is the third son of Lee Seongjae, the guild master of the Conqueror Guild. I suggest you stop here. I’ll figure out a way to erase the debt. Even if I can’t erase it completely, I’ll negotiate the best I can to reduce it.”
I scratched my chin. “That sounds like too much of a hassle.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to just kill everyone?”
“......”
“Kill you, kill your president… Speaking of which, is this Conqueror Guild really that big of a deal?”
“Duh—I mean, yes, they are. Who in South Korea hasn’t heard of the Conqueror Guild? They have thousands of Awakeners under their command, both domestically and internationally.”
In that case…
“Then I’ll just kill all those thousands, too. Kill the guy at the top, his son, everyone. Problem solved, right?”
Gil-tae gaped at him like a fish out of water. “Y-You… You’re insane.”
I slowly extended out my hand.
“You know what I’ve learned from living a long life? It’s easier to just kill annoying pests.”
“......”
“A hundred come at me, I kill a thousand. A thousand come at me, I kill ten thousand. Ten thousand? Kill a hundred thousand. A hundred thousand? Kill a million. Eventually, they all learn to stay down.”
Gil-tae began to tremble, his face ashen. Did he finally realize I was serious? Or did he understand I had in fact killed over a million people?
Didn’t really matter. My hand was already on his head.
“P-please spare me…!” he begged.
I smiled.
“Don’t wanna.”
Splat—!
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator – TinTin ]
[Proofreader – Harley ]
Join our discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/reapercomics
* * *
The Salvation Guild was massive. It was more than just a simple private military company (PMC). It was a full-fledged corporation with its hands in numerous businesses. The Salvation Guild was also the Salvation Group. The Chief Executive Officer was Jin Song-yi, and the Chief Operating Officer was Yoon Youngsu.
Youngsu, however, was normally referred to as Chief Secretary. Not that he refused the COO position, he simply preferred to be called Chief Secretary, so that’s what everyone called him. He was in fact both the COO and Chief Secretary.
No one dared to underestimate Youngsu. He was a man more than capable of backing up his title.
Suddenly, a thought struck him.
‘No. I should have never sent him alone.’
With the number of incidents paired with a mountain of work, he had made a slip-up.
Youngsu immediately dispatched one of his secretariat staff to Shi-hu’s location.
His name was Shin Jong-gil.
It had been a year since he joined the Salvation Guild, but with no one hired after him, he was still referred to as ‘rookie’.
His resume was impressive. A+ Rank Awakener. Salutatorian from the University of Korea with a degree in business administration. A licensed CPA (Certified Public Accountant). All this, by the age of twenty-five.
Jong-gil hurried towards Mr. National Capital.
There, he saw it all. Shi-hu, in the middle of a massacre. He even witnessed him casually walking out after eradicating every living being inside.
“You have a similar presence,” Shi-hu said. “Did the Chief Secretary send you, by any chance?”
Jong-gil flinched involuntarily. Rumors had been spreading like wildfire within the company. Rumors that the Shi-hu of today was not the Shi-hu of the past.
Swallowing his nervousness, Jong-gil replied, “Yes, sir. I’m Shin Jong-gil from the secretariat department. The Chief Secretary ordered me to handle the clean up.”
“Is that so? I was about to head over to the Conqueror Guild. Want to join me?”
“The Conqueror Guild…?”
“Yeah. You know where it is, right?”
“Yes, sir. I do. But…” Jong-gil hesitated. Was this really a good idea?
The incident at Mr. National Capital was already enough to send shockwaves throughout the country.
This wasn’t the chaotic early days of the Great Calamity. This was a full-blown massacre in the heart of the city.
The thought of the cleanup effort alone gave him a headache.
“Would it be alright if I made a quick call to the Chief Secretary?”
“Go ahead. And no need to be so nervous.”
Jong-gil immediately dialed Youngsu. When he reported that Shi-hu was planning to head towards the Conqueror Guild, the call ended abruptly.
Immediately after, Shi-hu’s watch vibrated.
“Hey Chief Secretary, you sure are going to have a busy day today,” Shi-hu said, answering the call with a playful remark.
He went back and forth with Youngsu on the phone, chuckling.
“You sure it’s okay if I do that?”
“…”
“You know, Chief, I may not have told you this before, but it pains me to see you work so hard. Alright. You’ve done so much for me, it’d be cruel to refuse your request.”
“…”
“Come to the hotel when you have time. Let’s have a nice breakfast together.”
Shi-hu ended the call and turned to Jong-gil.
“He wants me to hold off on the Conqueror Guild for now. Says they’re still useful.”
“…I see.”
“So, how are you going to clean this up?”
“First, I’ll secure all the security footage. Then, I’ll collect all the dash cam footage from the vicinity. Fortunately, Mr. National Capital has a lot of enemies. I’m sure we can handle this smoothly.”
Shi-hu listened quietly, a strange smile playing on his lips. He slowly approached Jong-gil and patted him on the shoulder.
“Jong-gil, was it?”
“Yes, sir. Shin Jong-gil.”
“Don’t take this personally, alright? Just a word of advice. But I sense a bit of… greed in you.”
“Greed, sir?”
“It’s faint, but it’s there. It’s good to be confident in your work. But if you ever face a situation where you have to cross a line, think real long and hard about it. Ask yourself, is this the right thing to do?”
To Jong-gil, this seemed like a very random piece of advice.
“Good luck on your work. I’m off.”
Shi-hu waved as he got into a taxi and left.
Shaking his head clear of the encounter, Jong-gil began collecting the security footage. He moved to delete all the original files, but hesitated.
‘…Is it really okay to delete all of this?’
Doubt gnawed at him.
Jong-gil’s family was drowning in debt. Debts that needed to be repaid. He was making good money at Salvation Guild, but it was a pittance compared to what he owed.
But what he held in his hands right now… This security footage… If he played his cards right, it could be his ticket to clearing all of his debts. Maybe even more.
It wasn’t a far-fetched idea. Who was behind Mr. National Capital? The Conqueror Guild, led by South Korea’s very own SSS Rank Awakener, Lee Seongjae.
Jong-gil, completely forgetting Shi-hu's advice, made a separate copy of the original footage before erasing all data. He deleted all the backup servers. Every single file, gone. He even crushed the watches found on the bodies into fine dust.
The Salvation Guild’s secretariat department was the top department within the guild. Though the job title was secretary, the job of a secretariat staff in Korea was closer to that of an administrative assistant. You wouldn’t last a day in Salvation Guild’s elite department without being the best of the best, let alone become a part of it in the first place.
Soon, all the dash cam footage was erased, along with any other evidence he might have missed.
Hiding the fact that he had a copy of the original footage safely tucked away in his Inventory, Jong-gil sent a message to Youngsu.
[Cleanup complete, Chief.]
Ding
[Good work. Return to the office.]
Only time would tell how this would all play out.
It was 5:00 PM, May 8th. That was the time of the incident.
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