REAPER SCANS
Legendary Returner’s Survival Guide
[Translator – TinTin ]
[Proofreader – Harley ]
Chapter 5
Episode 2
“This place deserves its name,” Shi-hu commented.
Bin gave a faint smile.
The deliciousness was a given. The restaurant was literally called “Damn Good Kimchi Stew”, after all. A Cheongju City institution, it had been serving only kimchi stew for over forty years. Despite this, it was always packed.
If the stew weren’t delicious, they wouldn’t have lasted four years, let alone forty.
It ranked high on Bin’s list of top hole-in-the-wall places. There was no way it wouldn’t be delicious.
Having finished his meal already, Bin asked, “You’re not planning on holing up here for days, are you?”
“I don’t know. Why? Are you against it?”
“…With all due respect, I don’t swing that way. I have zero interest in spending days cooped up with another man.”
“Really? That’s a surprise.”
“…Hey man, let’s not play games. What is it that you want from me?”
Shi-hu was ready to get down to business. He wasn’t interested in men either, nor did he want to bunk with one for days for no reason.
His motives were simple.
“I want to know where a certain person lives,” said Shi-hu.
“Are you saying you need an address?”
“Yes. You’re a police officer, aren’t you?”
“Well, yes. But it’s difficult to access people’s information without a good reason.”
“What kind of police officer are you, then?”
“…The police in TV and real life are completely different. Besides, Gate Safety Management isn't normal police. We’re more like…Semi-Police.”
“Semi-Police? The heck is that?”
“Think of it as being a police officer without the typical police work.”
Shi-hu shrugged at Bin’s answer. He didn’t understand the specifics, but the world had certainly changed.
“By difficult, you mean that it is technically possible, right?”
“There are risks, but… Haah… So? Who is it? Whose address do you need? Wait… It’s not who I’m thinking, right?”
“Nah. It probably is.”
‘This is insanity,’ Bin thought, rubbing his face.
He already knew where Jin Shi-hu, the novelist, lived. It had popped up earlier when he scanned the fingerprints of the Jin Shi-hu sitting right in front of him.
Bin had seen it, but the Shi-hu in front of him hadn’t. That was the dilemma.
‘Okay. Let’s break this down,’ Bin started racking his head.
Whether the Shi-hu in front of him was real or fake didn’t matter at this point. So Bin decided to presume that he was the real deal.
That meant the Shi-hu currently out there, the author and streamer, was a fake—which was a much bigger problem.
And who was Shi-hu’s big sister?
Jin Song-yi, one of the Seven Stars.
The fact that she was one of the Seven Stars made the matter more sensitive.
Before the Great Calamity, there weren’t many countries considered superpowers.
At most, there was the United States, China, and Russia—which had become something of a paper tiger after the war in Ukraine—and the United Kingdom.
You could stretch it and add a few more to the list: Germany, Japan, South Korea, and France.
However, in the present world, the measure of a ‘superpower’ was determined by the presence of a Unique Awakener.
Currently, there was one Unique Awakener in each of the following countries: the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, South Korea, and Japan.
A total sum of seven.
Jin Song-yi’s existence allowed South Korea to stand tall among superpowers in the present day.
But the fact that even Jin Song-yi hadn’t noticed anything different meant it was serious—dangerously serious.
‘What do I say?’ Bin pondered. ‘I feel like I shouldn’t meddle in this.’
His intuition was saying that if he wanted to have a normal life, he should stay out of it. He didn’t want to ignore his gut feeling.
Shi-hu asked, “What’s wrong? Scared of getting involved?”
Bin gulped hard.
‘This guy’s way too sharp,’ Bin noted to himself.
“You seem terrified, so much so that you’re speechless.”
“…That’s not it.”
“It looks like it is.”
‘I guess I’ll admit it. Honesty is the best policy,’ resolved Bin.
“I don’t want to get involved,” he told Shi-hu.
“Because this feels like above your pay grade?”
“Yes. Miss Jin Song-yi is a far more important person than you think. To think that the younger brother of such a person not only went missing but was replaced… Yet she didn’t even notice? And you said it was a total of two hundred people earlier, right?”
“Two hundred, including me.”
“…An ordinary guy like me can’t handle something like this.”
Shi-hu chuckled and said, “You’re an interesting one.”
“Me? No way.”
Shi-hu genuinely meant his comment despite Bin’s denial.
“There’s nothing more foolish than letting talent go to waste.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“Just saying,” Shi-hu said while standing up.
He didn’t want to drag Bin into this mess unnecessarily. It was time to cut to the chase.
“Just tell me one thing,” a sly smile spread across his face. “Where does that bastard who’s impersonating me live?”
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator – TinTin ]
[Proofreader – Harley ]
Join our discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/reapercomics
* * *
Unexpected events always seemed to happen all at once.
He stepped outside, dressed impeccably in a suit. But despite being in a suit, his muscular physique was very visible.
He wasn’t particularly tall, but his broad shoulders and naturally well-proportioned body made for a striking figure.
He stopped at a cafe near his apartment, a regular routine he followed, and ordered his usual Americano.
As he strolled leisurely, people recognized him, requesting autographs and snapping pictures. It was the price of fame—or rather, the reflected glory of his big sister, Jin Song-yi.
Even though he worked as a streamer, it wasn’t like he was particularly articulate, nor was he a gifted writer. He had published a few books, and those books had sold decently well. The reviews, however, told a different story.
It was simple, really. They sold because of his sister’s fame. The people who claimed to enjoy his books were all fans of his sister, not him. That was the reality of his existence.
Despite all that, he strolled along leisurely and confidently.
Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks.
He had an indescribable feeling. An instinct of sorts.
He slowly turned his head to see a man.
The man was perched on a granite bollard, but the people and cars passing by seemed oblivious to his presence. It was as if the man was completely separate from the world.
The man was just… there. Like a masterpiece that declared everything else mere background noise. The only subject that mattered.
“Interesting. So you’re ‘me’?” the man asked.
They were a fair distance apart, but the man’s words cut through the air with crystal clarity. However, he pretended he hadn’t heard the man.
No. It was more that he had to act like he didn’t understand.
‘Why is that man here?’ he wondered. ‘How is he alive? How is this even possible?’
He felt worked up, but he tried to keep his composure, turn around, and walk away.
“You have two choices,” the man said.
He ignored him and took a step. Then another step.
“The moment you take another step, you will forfeit your right to choose, and you will die. Right here. Right now. I’ll gouge your eyes out and rip you limb from limb. So, keep on going if you think you can handle all that”
He froze and a strange silence descended.
“Ready to listen, Mr. Bestselling Author?”
As soon as he nodded, the voice resumed.
“I went through hell and back. The kind of hell a lowly worm like you couldn’t even fathom.”
“……”
“It’s not right to always be the one suffering, right? I want to rest now, but the Earth I worked so hard to get back to is apparently a mess. And I think you’re somehow connected to it. It’s okay. Don’t be scared. I swear that it’s okay.”
The ‘Jin Shi-hu’ known to the world was a Non-Awakener. He shouldn’t have anything to do with gates or matters like this.
‘Jin Shi-hu’ continued speaking to ‘Jin Shi-hu’.
“I heard my sister is some kind of hero now. I couldn’t believe it. How could that airhead be a hero? But then again, I guess she could be called that. She’s always been amazing at helping others. Don’t you agree?”
“……”
“Let’s cut to the chase. Choice one. Like I said, I want to rest. So, I’ll let this slide. Get out of my sight and scram. But I don’t mean just scram. I mean get away to a place where I can’t see you, hear you, or detect you in any way with any senses. Like none of this ever happened.”
‘Shi-hu’ responded to the man speaking imposingly from a distance, “And what’s my second choice?”
Despite being known as a ‘Non-Awakener’, his voice was laced with ‘Mana’. It traveled a bit of distance, and like the imposing man’s voice, went unnoticed by the rest of the world.
Even though there was a tense stand-off, the people around them continued on their merry way, not sparing the two men a single glance. They had vanished from everyone’s perception. It was like they were simultaneously existing and not existing.
It was a bizarre phenomenon, one that not just anyone could create.
“Choice two. It’s simple, really. Since I’ve already gone through so much, what’s a little more? It seems like there are 200 ‘Doppelgängers’ of the people that were sent to Titan in 2024. I don’t know about the others, but you are going to die by my hand. And…”
“And?”
“The bastard who orchestrated all of this will die by my hand, too. And I’m not letting him off easy. I’m going to make him beg for the sweet mercy of death, and I am going to continue to pound and pummel him. I won’t stop until there is nothing left of him. You get me?”
A doppelganger and the man the doppelganger was copying.
Those who knew them called them by the same name.
Jin Shi-hu.
In a sense, it was a funny situation.
“Can you give me a day to think about it?” the doppelganger pleaded to the real Shi-hu.
“What about this requires thinking for you?”
“I need some time to prepare.”
Shi-hu chuckled, “Not a day. That’s too long. I’ll give you three hours.”
“…I understand.”
“You can go now.”
The world sprang back into motion. People recognized the doppelganger—the one known in the world as the novelist Jin Shi-hu—and swarmed him. They peppered him with questions, such as how his sister was doing.
The doppelganger didn’t answer.
It was too loud. So he glared, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.
Those who met his eyes flinched.
He turned and walked away.
“What the hell? Why’d he ignore us?” the crowd wondered.
That was how people were. People couldn’t normally stand someone who benefited from their family name without any talent of their own. It made them easily despicable. So, if one were to be glared at by a nepobaby, it was a natural reaction to swear back.
“…Look at his eyes. It looks like he’s about to kill someone.”
“He’s a third-rate author. What makes think he can ignore us?”
“He thinks he’s all high and mighty because his sister is Miss Song-yi.”
The real Shi-hu watched the situation unfold from afar.
***
Bin approached Shi-hu, who had his hat pulled low over his face.
“…Mr. Shi-hu.”
“What’s up?” Shi-hu turned to look at him.
“…What was that just now?” Bin asked.
“What do you mean?”
“…Didn’t something just happen?”
Shi-hu smiled faintly.
‘I told him already, but I should tell him again. There is nothing more foolish than letting talent go to waste.’
“You said you were a Rank 5 Awakener, right?” Shi-hu asked.
“Yes.”
“What does B rank roughly translate to here?”
“…Have you heard of the term NAR5?”
NAR5. Short for "National Average Rank 5". It was a kind of internet meme in Korea that said the average intelligence of a Korean citizen was Rank 5, the median score of the College Scholastic Ability Test’s math section. Rank 1 was the top rank while Rank 9 was the worst.
“A B rank Awakener is basically being NAR5.”
“So, average?”
“Yes.”
“It’s easier to understand when you put it in terms of ranks. Even if your Awakener Rank is 5, the talent I sensed from you is at least Rank 2. Depending on the circumstances, it could even become Rank 1.”
“…Excuse me?”
“I’m purely talking about your talent with Mana. It’s up to you how you develop it and attune it, so I won’t say anything more. But good job.”
Bin’s expression shifted.
‘Why am I being praised? You’re not even my superior.’
“Aren’t you curious about what happened?”
“Yes, I’m very curious.”
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