novelraw Chapter 33 : Cyber Psycho (2)
Chapter 33 : Cyber Psycho (2)
Chapter 33: Cyber Psycho (2)
The sunset of the Bottommost District had fallen.
It was a sentence that carried a certain contradiction.
How could the sun set when there had never been a day touched by sunlight?
Thus, in other words, this was a metaphor.
It was meant to express the present moment, where warmth had begun to circulate in the abyss of the surface world where darkness had always pooled.
“Hmm-hmm-hmm.”
The owner of the lighthearted hum and carefree stride was Ban. He was the believer who had repented after receiving the very first corrective punch from Lee Taebaek.
His shadow became Ban’s companion and walked him all the way home. Perhaps because of that, the walk back felt especially pleasant.
Step, step.
Even though the real sky was always pitch-black, his chest was being dyed. With a warm vermilion hue.
The steel pipe he had always carried for intimidation was gone. That was because he no longer needed it.
It had been right after he joined the Baekbaek Order.
‘Everyone, take them out.’
Together with the subordinates who followed Ban, he had folded them like taffy beneath an overpass and disposed of them.
‘Breaking them feels surprisingly refreshing……?’
‘Yeah… makes you wonder why we were so obsessed.’
‘All these thoughts are thanks to the Gaepa Investigator.’
‘Baek… Baek…….’
‘Hahaha, even the boss!’
‘You said you didn’t want to say that at first because it was embarrassing!’
‘Shut it, you punks. Go make some rice balls!’
The corners of his mouth, etched with scars, curled upward. But soon, his expression tightened into a triangle.
All of a sudden, the days when he survived off robbery brushed past his mind.
He had tried desperately to masquerade as strong. He had threatened passersby heading into the red-light district. It had been a repetition of that kind of daily life.
To be honest, back then, it had felt like the inside of him had been completely cleared out, as if layers of old grease had been scrubbed away.
Why? Because his mother had been a sex worker.
A prostitute, as people commonly said. Ban and the other kids had been born with a congenital immunity to slur-filled insults about parents.
Anyway.
Most of the people who came here were customers of the red-light district, and there was a high chance they were his mother’s customers.
He gathered peers who shared the wish that, at the very least, those people would not approach their families. Under Ban’s leadership, the boys formed a fairly large group. In short, it was a vigilante group.
After that, they armed themselves with steel pipes gathered by the dozen from an abandoned factory. The boys sought to offset their individual powerlessness through collective force.
However, as time passed, the nature of that group deteriorated from a vigilante unit into a violent gang.
As a result, their original sense of collective purpose became tainted to the point that they even received scouting offers from actual gangs.
Of course, Ban himself had been tempted many times. Each time he had shaken it off, but in the end, he had seriously contemplated that path as his future.
‘Anyway. Since I was born here, I’m destined to become a gang member.’
The moment those agonizing thoughts took hold, Ban shook his head. As a way to clear his mind, he looked up.
The belch spewed from a factory smokestack layered itself over the breath of the sky. A fusion of murky black and ash-gray.
It reminded him of a bed in the red-light district.
Gloomy and decadent colors.
“…That day.”
If he had not met Lee Taebaek, the Gaepa Investigator, he would never have felt emotions like this—or rather, never learned them.
In an environment where even basic self-care was impossible, primal desires inevitably crushed moral standards.
Thud.
Ban lowered his head.
The warmth of the rice ball still had not fully faded from his hand. He clenched it tightly, as if he refused to let go.
That’s right.
What had gently melted the frozen heart of a boy trapped in a merciless reality was…….
…nothing more than a rice ball that fit in one hand, a small bit of concern, or a slightly(?) stinging flick to the forehead.
Lost in these random thoughts, he reached home in no time. A smile formed at the corner of Ban’s lips.
“Today, Mom’s off for once—.”
It was the instant just before he finished speaking. A desperate plea pierced his ear like an arrow.
Ban’s complexion turned pale.
It was his mother’s voice.
And the fact that she had screamed meant that that damn bastard had come home.
“Damn it!”
Ban immediately rushed forward. With a single kick, he flung the entrance open as if tearing his chest apart.
Ban panted for breath. At the same time, he widened his eyes. The inside was a complete wreck.
“Y-you… bas…tard.”
A stifling stench of alcohol greeted him first. The source of the foul smell slowly turned its head.
The man looked startled for a moment, then relaxed considerably once he recognized Ban’s face.
“W-what… Ban?”
The man’s entire face was flushed red as he spoke. He was a human being too disgusting to be called a father.
“……”
At the man’s feet, his mother was crouched down, trembling like a bird soaked in rain. Her cheek had swollen into a purplish bruise, and her nose had spilled a bowlful of blood. Ban ground his molars until they felt like they would shatter.
“Oh?”
The man staggered closer.
“Looks like you’ve grown taller?”
“……”
“Hey, you bitch, just how much did you spread your legs for this brat to get so big?!”
The man furrowed his brow and snapped at his mother. Then he slapped Ban across the cheek.
Smack!
Stars burst in his vision. It felt like his jawbone would dislocate. Whatever the man had been stuffing into his mouth all this time, his slap carried weight.
But more than that, his head rang with rage. Dizziness washed over him. Killing intent surged all the way to the crown of his head.
In terms of build, Ban was no less than a grown adult.
‘One blackout-drunk bastard, at least.’
He could beat him half to death with his bare hands.
Ban looked up with bloodshot eyes. His fist twitched in small spasms at his thigh.
“Heh heh heh heh, would you look at this little shit. Those eyes—planning to take a swing? Yeah. Go on. Hit me.”
The man jeered, craning his neck forward. He pushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, puffing it out.
“You’re destined to be a gang member like me anyway, so I’ll call this early education. Ban, you’ve always wanted to smash this father’s jaw since you’re a heaven-sent unfilial bastard, right?”
“…….”
“Here, what perfect timing. I just pulled off a big job and was going to replace my molars with cybernetic ones, so this works out.”
“I…….”
Ban closed his eyes, then opened them halfway. He stared at the man with a steadfast gaze and spat out his words.
“…I’m different.”
“What?”
“I’m not trash like you.”
He subtly loosened the strength in his fist. Instead, he spread his ribcage wide. Pride could be felt from his broad shoulders.
Lee Taebaek’s advice suddenly came to mind.
Do not raise your fist first.
Only then did Ban feel as if he finally understood the deep meaning behind the Gaepa Investigator’s words.
“The moment I hit you…….”
Ban continued, letting out a faint chuckle.
“I’ll become the same kind of person as you.”
“Y-you little shit! Now you’ve really asked for it!”
“Go ahead. Hit me as much as you want.”
As he said that, Ban turned his gaze toward his mother. A moment later, he withdrew his sorrowful eyes.
“I’ve been beaten by you so much that it doesn’t even hurt anymore.”
The sound of skin splitting rang out repeatedly. Solar plexus, thigh, shoulder, calf. He struck everywhere without discrimination.
“S-stop! Hit me instead!”
“You damn woman! Let go of me, will you?!”
The man irritably shook off his mother’s hands as she clung to his pant leg, begging him.
And just like that, the direction of the violence was aimed squarely at Ban. Despite being subjected to a merciless beating, Ban did not budge an inch, remaining on his feet.
“Y-you bastard……!”
Instead, the man throwing the punches began to break out in a cold sweat.
“…Baekbaekbaekuiui jeokjeokjeok gameung gameung…….”
Ban muttered as he absorbed the violence with his body. Strangely enough, it did not hurt. Like magic.
[＃1.7 Mid-to-Small Scale] 1.7.8 Patch Notes
This patch is announced as an emergency patch note triggered by a 「Special Event」.
「＃1.7 Mid-to-Small Scale Patch」 has an effect approximately 4.725 times greater in numerical terms than that of the 「＃1 Small-Scale Patch」.
The update contents will evaporate simultaneously with the player’s awakening and will be completely erased from memory.
◈ Main Patch
• The faith of 「Ban Lionheart」 toward the operator has grown far more steadfast.
• When the conditions are met, not only 「Ban Lionheart」’s ability scores but even his narrative weight will be buffed.
• 「Ban Lionheart」’s exploits will affect Operator Points.
• In proportion to the ripple effect of the Baekbaek Order, momentum will be applied toward unlocking 「＃2 Medium Scale」.
• However, as interference from causality is severe, the probability of bug occurrence will increase. Please exercise caution.
〉〉 Auto Save…………
〉〉 Applying patch
The next day, Ban was nowhere to be seen. Still, Lee Taebaek did not think much of his absence.
Just because it was a religious gathering did not mean attendance was mandatory. It was a gathering where people were told to come eat, after all.
From its founding stage, the Baekbaek Order had always been light on religious color. This was not something a Gaepa Investigator should say, but it was questionable whether it even qualified as a religion.
That was why Lee Taebaek planned to dissolve it once its intended purpose was achieved.
To begin with, he himself was unqualified to be a cult leader.
Because diligence, sincerity, madness, and so on. The virtues demanded were many, and Lee Taebaek satisfied not a single one of them.
He had been maintaining it one way or another through the expedients called nerfs and buffs, but it was starting to strain him. It did not suit his nature.
In any case, despite the absence of Ban, who was effectively the youth division leader, the first day passed smoothly without any particular difficulties. He brushed it off, thinking maybe something had come up at home.
But even after two days, three days, four days passed, there was not even a glimpse of him.
“Something’s off.”
He ended up committing the possessor’s taboo of talking to himself. That was how much it bothered him.
His first meeting with the kid was hard to call good, even as a courtesy. Still, affection grew out of familiarity.
Ban looked like the type who could casually bench 500 for three reps, yet in many ways he possessed a girl-like sensitivity.
Volunteering to form rice balls, smiling as he handed out meals—his 모습 strongly resembled that of a missionary.
‘He must have a high Faith stat.’
Ban stepped forward in almost everything and took care of his fellow believers. If there had been no buffs or nerfs, the cult leader’s seat would have belonged to Ban Lionheart.
If push came to shove, Lee Taebaek planned to dump the cult leader position onto Ban. Declaring dissolution would not make everything magically disappear.
Yet Ban had been missing for a solid four days. Anxiety rose like breath among the younger believers.
In the Bottommost District, several days of disappearance carried extremely bad implications. At best, it meant minor injuries; second worst, serious injuries; and at worst—too horrifying to even voice.
‘This is worrying.’
Lee Taebaek rested his cheek on the handle of his umbrella, sinking into thought. Just then, Ban’s right-hand man, Bisil, caught his eye.
Bisil gnawed at his fingernails as if anxious.
He was just about to wave Bisil over.
“Um… Gaepa Investigator.”
Bisil spoke first and sought him out.
“I have something urgent to tell you.”
“It’s about Ban, isn’t it.”
“Huhk!”
Bisil gasped in an exaggerated, theatrical tone.
“H-h-how did you know?! Are you truly able to use mind-reading as well, Gaepa Investigator?!!”
“…….”
“Baekbaek!!”
“…….”
“Baek-! Baek-!”
Behold, the harmful effects of brainwashing.
This was exactly why he could not play the role of cult leader. Every little thing made them put on those holy-moly expressions, and it was suffocating.
“…Rest.”
“Baekbaek.”
“How long are you going to keep up that concept?”
“Until the day we ascend to Valhalla, the heaven and afterlife of the Baekbaek Order, it shall continue.”
The fusion of a Korea-born cult and Norse mythology. The long-desired stage of religious harmony humanity had yearned for had arrived right here, at the threshold of the ‘red-light district’.
“Enough. What happened to Ban?”
“Ah, well…….”
Bisil summarized what had happened to Ban. After worrying for several days, he had gone to Ban’s house.
There, Ban’s mother explained everything to him. That his friend had fallen into a coma.
“Ban’s father—no, that is…….”
Bisil struggled to calm his agitation.
“Ban was beaten every day by that son of a bitch who was nothing more than his biological father. The reason he tried so hard to bulk up was to endure even one more beating from that bastard. When he didn’t show up for a while, we thought he’d died somewhere, but…….”
“He could have resisted.”
Lee Taebaek asked back in a dry tone.
“That’s… that son of a bitch is a member of the Monterey Gang. One of the pillars of the gang alliance.”
“So a big shot showed up.”
“Of course, being a cripple, he doesn’t hold an important post—just a lackey—but Monterey’s sense of belonging is especially…….”
Bisil bit his lower lip as if flicking it.
“So even a cripple takes care of his own kid.”
“And he’s a real vicious type.”
“Vicious?”
“Most likely, the reason that bastard came back was because Ban rejected the scouting offer. He probably took the auntie hostage to try to force Ban into submission.”
“…….”
Hissss.
Lee Taebaek brought the mask to his mouth. Hydraulic pressure filled it, and it fitted snugly over his lower face.
“G-Gaepa Investigator?”
Bisil—Eric—froze in place. Lee Taebaek shook the mask to check its seal, then stood up.
“I’m going to the restroom.”
“So suddenly?”
“Does the urge give advance notice?”
There was no time to stop him. Lee Taebaek left Bisil behind and moved off with quick steps.
A pitch-dark alleyway.
He stopped near a fairly large building. Stepping over people sprawled about in a half-dead state, he approached the entrance. Beyond it was a raucous atmosphere.
Two guards standing at attention on either side of the entrance were snickering among themselves. Their faces were packed with vicious-looking tattoos. Anyone could tell they were gang members at a glance.
As he drew closer, they noticed Lee Taebaek’s presence. One guard glanced him up and down, then let out a sneer.
“What, a new baron’s concubine?”
“Calling him a baron means we’ve come to the right place. Is Homo Baron inside, busy robbing people?”
“You little shit—! How dare you, in whose territory—!”
The umbrella opened and closed.
A flash of sword light.
The Adam’s apple split with a wet rip.
He twisted the blade and pulled it out.
“K-kugh…….”
The man whose carotid artery had been severed scratched at the bloodline carved across his throat. Then his hand fell limp. Instant death.
“You bastard!”
The man standing beside him was just about to lower his hand. At that moment, Lee Taebaek’s blade moved like lightning.
Thud.
The wrist slid off like a lizard’s tail. Before the guard could even register the pain of loss.
“I almost missed an experience event.”
Lee Taebaek bit down and crushed a bead. It was a spiritual medicine. He had tucked it between his molars on the way over.
Crunch!