I Became the Final Boss in the Game

Chapter 73 : Chapter 73

Chapter 73. The Intangible Murderer (7)

"Ugh……."

Joseph opened his eyes.

It was because of the cold he felt on his cheek that he came to his senses.

And an unbelievable sight was unfolding before his eyes.

A snowy field.

The ground was covered in a layer of snow, and large snowflakes were pouring from the sky.

And it was cold.

It was really very cold.

Even though it was a season where it shouldn't be cold, the chill felt too strong.

Of course, he knew well that the Earth's climate had gone bad due to global warming.

But he had never seen abnormal climate of this magnitude.

A sight that lacked reality too much.

Joseph quickly reached a conclusion.

"Am I dead?"

I must have died and crossed over to the afterlife.

That was the conclusion Joseph reached.

"Surprising."

Is this the Hell of Ice spoken of in Buddhism?

Joseph felt a bit uncomfortable.

He had lived his whole life as an atheist based on materialism, but to confirm the existence of the afterlife right before his eyes.

The sight of the beliefs he had kept all his life being denied was not exactly pleasant.

By the way… it is definitely the afterlife, but…….

"…Why does my back hurt?"

A dagger was still stuck in his back.

No, if I died and came to the afterlife, shouldn't something like this be gone?

Step-

At that moment, someone approached him.

What caught Joseph's eyes were black leather walkers.

The owner of the walkers crouched down, lowered his body, and met Joseph's gaze.

Black hair tied back roughly, a man of a slender build.

It was Riman.

"Are you okay?"

"…Are you a Reaper?"

"Well, it is a similar job."

"So I am dead after all……."

"Dead? Who's dead, mister."

Riman quickly examined Joseph's condition.

Unlike his terrible appearance, it wasn't life-threatening, contrary to expectations.

It was thanks to his body being so sturdy, and above all, thanks to the knife still being stuck in his back.

If that knife had been pulled out, he would have died from excessive bleeding long ago.

Riman said while standing back up.

"For now, just don't die and wait a moment. I'll be back after finishing up the work."

* * *

Thus, the sixth escapee hunt ended.

Riman looked around the snowy field.

Fragmented human body parts were scattered here and there on the white snow.

They were pieces of Gong Jae-byeok's corpse.

The mass murderer Gong Jae-byeok met an end that suited him quite well.

Furthermore, it was a state where one could know for sure he was dead without needing to check for a pulse.

In fact, a human who could be alive in this state could not exist in the world.

No.

‘…Could they exist?’

For some reason, the absurd thought crossed his mind that the Mages of the Gnosion Magic Tower might be able to.

‘Eh, even those monstrosities wouldn't be able to survive in this state.’

Well anyway, putting aside distracting thoughts for a moment.

Now was the time to wrap up the hunt.

Riman gathered Gong Jae-byeok's scattered corpse.

And he fitted them together in one place like a puzzle.

After finishing the disk defragmentation like that.

Riman skillfully completed everything from blood collection, life sign scanning, to taking photos from the guy's corpse.

Because he had to do this to receive the bounty and completely finish the headhunting.

‘Come to think of it, this guy Gong Jae-byeok, wasn't his bounty 500 million?’

It was the highest bounty among the escapees Riman had caught so far.

It was a quite high amount, but considering that even a Sword Saint was mobilized to catch this guy and put him in Mugan, it wasn't that expensive.

Of course, the money deposited to Riman a short while later wasn't 500 million.

‘25 million Credits…….’

Even though it was because of the contract that he only received 5 percent, his stomach hurt every time he saw it.

My unreceived 475 million Won……!

‘…Sigh, let’s not talk about it.’

Anyway, he caught one more escapee, so he had something to say to Lancelot as well.

Meanwhile, Joseph was watching Riman's actions.

The appearance of gathering a dismembered corpse, fitting it together with care, and even leaving photos.

To a normal person, it looked exactly like a psychopath, but Joseph knew the meaning of that action.

‘A Headhunter…….’

It was an accurate assessment.

Riman, having finished his work, returned to Joseph.

At the same time, Saya, who was in the sky, came down and coiled smoothly around Riman's body.

Riman asked Joseph.

"Can you stand up?"

"That……."

"I'll hold you, so try getting up."

Riman supported Joseph and helped him up.

Joseph said.

"…Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

"By the way, what brings a Headhunter to a place like this……."

"I came to catch that guy. The culprit of today's incident."

Joseph asked while looking at the corpse Riman had just pieced together.

"…Don't tell me that guy is that invisible man?"

"Yes."

"You caught that thing?!"

"As you can see."

Joseph was at a loss for words for a moment.

"But the city center must have been blockaded……."

"A Headhunter goes anywhere as long as there is a wanted criminal."

"By the way, was that guy a wanted criminal?"

"Yes. A Mugan escapee."

"What?!"

Joseph's eyes wavered violently.

‘This crazy, I picked a fight against someone from Mugan……?!’

If he had known beforehand that the opponent was from Mugan, Joseph would not have accepted the request.

That was how much the power of those from Mugan was outside the norm.

Upon learning this fact, Joseph saw Riman in a new light.

Joseph said.

"I am called Joseph Han. For today's matter… I will definitely repay you."

"Oh, it's nothing."

Riman nodded.

Since he said he would repay him, there was no reason to stop him.

Joseph asked.

"By the way, how did you catch that guy? He wasn't detected at all……."

"I can't detect him either. That's why I just swept this whole area with snow."

"…Wait a minute, did you manipulate this weather?"

"Well, in a way… Ouch!"

Smack!

Saya began to slap Riman's head with her tail feathers.

"Okay! Of course, it's thanks to you doing well! So stop hitting me. Ouch!"

"……."

Joseph could not hide his astonishment inwardly.

‘To think he has the power to control the climate of a specific area…….’

It was an astonishing scale of power.

Of course, judging by what he said, the climate manipulation seemed to be the ability of that snake, but…….

‘Handling that Phantom Beast itself must also be that person's competence.’

It was a situation where it was essentially safe to say Riman had manipulated the climate.

Furthermore, Joseph was an ability user of the detection lineage.

Therefore, he could see much more regarding Riman.

Extremely refined mana, mana circulation flowing like water, and the strong bond with the Phantom Beast.

He could know how strong Riman was, much more keenly than others.

Joseph chuckled inwardly.

Naturally, that sneer was directed at himself, not Riman.

‘…One has to be at that level to catch an escapee of Mugan…….’

Joseph had lived thinking he was sufficiently strong.

Objectively, his skills were on the good side, and he had built up considerable name value in this city.

It was a background lacking nothing to call himself a strongman.

Of course, he vaguely thought there would be people stronger than himself.

Since the world was filthy wide.

But he had never realized it directly.

However, today was not the case.

He had faced an existence that far surpassed his own strength.

And that existence was right next to him.

‘…I still have a long way to go.’

The feeling one gets when meeting someone far stronger than oneself is ambivalent.

Because the despair that there is still a long way to go and the hope that there is room to become stronger are felt at the same time.

So Joseph gave a slight bitter smile and left the scene with Riman.

Shaaaa-

The snow stopped and the dark clouds cleared away.

The cold vanished, and the original cool air of early summer began to circulate again.

Weather changing rapidly in just a few seconds.

Joseph couldn't take his eyes off the sky even as he walked forward.

It wasn't just Joseph who was surprised by the change in weather.

"Hey, wasn't it snowing over there until just a moment ago……?"

"Is it possible for it to snow in this weather……?"

"But it's not snowing now?"

Citizens, police, and guards were all buzzing individually.

Because it was their first time seeing such a weather anomaly.

And a short while later.

Joseph and Riman reached the barricade where people were gathered.

"Oh! It's Joseph Han!"

"But who is that person next to him……?"

Riman handed Joseph over to the police.

The police were startled to see Joseph with a knife stuck in his back.

"A knife?!"

"Paramedics! Call the paramedics quickly!"

Riman approached those police officers and said.

"The situation is resolved. The culprit's body is left in front of Kensington Gun Shop, so please check it."

"You caught the culprit……?"

"Yes. I have claimed the bounty, so you won't be able to get it."

"What?"

Weooow-

A short while later, an ambulance arrived quickly.

It was an ambulance from the medical service provider, Medicolon.

Soon, a paramedic approached Joseph and said.

"Are you able to converse?"

"Yes."

"If you are conscious, you must unconditionally prepay the transfer fee. If you refuse, a 50 percent surcharge is added according to policy. Both card and cash are accepted."

Even with a knife stuck in the patient's back, payment came first.

Joseph held out a card with a face like he was chewing on something.

While the paramedic leisurely swiped the card, Riman said to Joseph.

"Then get treated well. I'm leaving."

"E, excuse me!"

"Yes?"

"Um… will I be able to see you again?"

"Tell Bart Sinel you are looking for Leman White. Since he is my exclusive broker, you can contact me through him."

Leaving the link to himself roughly to Bart.

Riman left the spot.

‘Considering Joseph's personality, a call will definitely come.’

Well, that's that…….

‘Once I get back, I need to sleep a bit.’

He had overworked his body physically too much during combat today.

So he had no thoughts other than wanting to lie down.

Vroom-

Riman started the motorcycle.

* * *

Beep beep beep-

A sunny afternoon.

Riman woke up from his sleep with the phone ringtone.

"…Bart?"

It was a call from Bart Sinel.

He wondered what call this was from the early morning, but checking the clock, it was 2 PM.

‘…I slept for a long time.’

Riman cleared his throat, locked from oversleeping, and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Mr. Leman, by any chance do you know someone named Joseph Han?"

Oh.

"I do."

"That person came to find me saying he wants to see Mr. Leman right now, so I was wondering if you could come out for a moment……."

"No reason I can't go. I'll go right now. Where should we meet?"

Like that, Joseph and Riman met again at a cafe.

With Bart as a bonus.

Riman asked Joseph.

"Is it okay to come out of the hospital in just one day like this? Since a knife was stuck in your back, the wound must be quite deep."

"One day?"

"Didn't you get hurt yesterday?"

"It was the day before yesterday……?"

"Yes?"

"Yes?"

Riman checked the date on his phone.

One more day had passed than Riman thought.

He had slept for over 24 hours.

Because of the fatigue accumulated during the battle.

No wonder the tiredness was gone to an excessive degree.

"…Anyway, so what brings you here?"

"I learned not to delay expressions of gratitude. First, thank you for saving me two days ago."

"No, it was nothing……."

"And."

Thud.

Joseph placed a large money bag on the table.

"Gratitude in words alone has no great meaning. Please accept this."

"What is this……."

"It is the remuneration I was supposed to receive for this incident. But since I wasn't much help in killing the culprit… the person who should receive it must receive it."

"……!"

"Open it."

Riman sneakily opened the bag and looked inside.

Piles of money were filling the inside of the bag without gaps.

"This is……!"

"You don't have to refu-."

"Thank you."

I don't turn down money given to me.

Riman took the money bag with a movement flowing like water.