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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Duty One Must Uphold
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"...Elder, don't make this a big deal."
The mastermind who had dragged in the Liberation Brigade to plot Rimon's death.
The PAB Director known as the Yama King of Players.
Kang Jeongsu stepped forward amid the PAB agents and spoke in a stiff voice.
He had considered revealing himself depending on the situation, but Rimon summoning him first was unexpected.
"If you didn't want a big fuss, you shouldn't have started it in the first place."
"This isn't something I wanted to do."
Even in this moment, he didn't forget his polite speech.
Was it that it didn't sound polite because there was no respect in it?
Or was it because of those resentful eyes?
Rimon brushed aside the pointless thoughts.
Instead, he gazed down quietly at Yuna Kyung's corpse cradled in one arm and spoke softly.
"I can guess the circumstances, but out of basic propriety, I'll ask you first."
If it had been anyone else.
He would have started what needed to be done right away.
But because of the connection spanning three generations that he had watched over, Rimon calmly posed the question.
"Why?"
Kang Jeongsu gritted his teeth.
From childhood, he had heard stories of Rimon so often from the family elders that his ears had calluses.
So he knew the meaning of this question.
But he had already made his choice.
There was no way to undo that decision.
No, even if he could, he had no intention of doing so.
He had simply made the best choice in the given situation—there was nothing wrong with that.
"...This is all a result of your own doing, Elder."
"My fault?"
"Yes. If you hadn't upset the Infinite Monarch, none of this would have happened."
"..."
"Did you really think you could touch the Infinite Monarch's brother-in-law and get away with it? Just because you're the National Savior Hero?"
Watching the silent Rimon, Kang Jeongsu spat out the words bitterly.
"Get your head straight, Elder. This isn't the age of heroes anymore!"
Kang Jeongsu knew full well.
What kind of existence Rimon had been in the past.
How great a hero he was, what achievements he had accomplished, and how much respect he commanded.
And how much of a reckless mad dog he had been.
"Back then, you could have gotten away with anything. This country needed you no matter what."
Before the Iron Age dawned.
Rimon had been an absolute being, no matter what anyone said.
It was an era when neighboring countries eyed their territory hungrily from outside, and insurgents plotted from within.
To maintain peace, overwhelming power was essential, and at the pinnacle of that power stood the Sword Master.
Thus, it was the Heroes Age.
A time when the world was protected by a handful of heroes, and all their actions were forgiven as heroic deeds.
"But Elder, now we have Players. And we have the Monarchs."
Yet the era had changed.
Players had transformed a world guarded by force and violence into one of wealth and abundance, bringing peace.
Above all, the emergence of Monarchs—another absolute existence—had naturally made people realize one fact.
The Sword Master was no longer irreplaceable.
"You're a hindrance to this country's growth."
If Rimon had been insignificant.
If he had adapted to the times and stepped aside quietly.
If he had even compromised with reality for personal gain.
He might have lost his status as an absolute, but he could have remained a hero in the history books.
"If the era has changed, why can't you change with it?"
But Rimon had not changed.
He had lost the power that surpassed even royal authority.
His wealth accumulated over centuries had been seized.
Even the honor of Humanity's Guardian Deity had been forgotten.
Despite falling to such a miserable, almost inexplicable low as a mere low-level civil servant.
This relic of a bygone era had clung to his damned sense of justice and chivalry, continuing his hero games to the end.
"How long are we supposed to keep sacrificing for you, who acts however you please just because you did a bit for the country back then?!"
Kang Jeongsu remembered.
No, he couldn't forget.
His grandfather had been a war hero worthy of praise.
But because of Rimon, he was mocked his whole life as a lucky survivor who owed his achievements to being saved.
His father had been a politician deserving respect.
But he wasted his political career trying to protect Rimon's position in the changing times.
And in the end, as the Sword Master fell, he withdrew from the presidential race and was ousted from politics.
Even so, he tried not to resent Rimon.
Despite the fact that his entry into politics was impossible solely because of their family's closeness to Rimon, and they suffered all sorts of disadvantages.
He recalled the tales of Rimon's feats his grandfather told him as a child and lived scrambling to clean up the messes Rimon caused, just like his father had.
"I'm tired of covering for you now. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for falling behind the times!"
But that too had reached its limit.
Now that Rimon had upset the Infinite Monarch.
Kang Jeongsu had no more room to choose.
Whether for the national interest.
Or for his family.
It was obvious which side to back: the fallen Sword Master or the new era's absolute, the Monarch.
And Rimon simply dismissed Kang Jeongsu's soul-baring shout.
"What the hell are you babbling about, you idiot?"
"...Pardon?"
"Hey, you bastard. When did I say I wanted to hear that crap?"
He had finally poured out his lifelong grudge.
But being completely ignored, Kang Jeongsu froze with a dumbfounded look as Rimon growled.
"Didn't I tell you when I was dealing with that bastard? If anyone asks later, just say it's all on me."
"That's..."
"So what are you going on about covering for me or letting things slide, you punk? Anyone would think I owed your family a debt."
Rimon sneered.
Kang Jeongsu ranted as if his family had sacrificed generation after generation to protect him.
But was that true?
His grandfather was mocked as lucky, but back then, the Sword Master was absolute.
Having his life saved by Rimon three times was plenty to boast about, and leveraging that connection allowed him to rise steadily in the military.
Kang Jeongsu's father was the same.
By supporting Rimon, he rode the wave of the old hero's popularity to gather voters.
Without flaunting his ties to Rimon, he couldn't have even become a congressman, let alone a presidential candidate.
And Kang Jeongsu himself?
He claimed he had only suffered disadvantages because of Rimon.
But without that connection to Rimon, could an ordinary man like Kang Jeongsu have ever become PAB Director?
"Whatever, I don't care about that stuff. I'm not even curious why you stabbed me in the back."
But Rimon didn't bother pointing it out one by one.
People always take credit for success themselves but blame their ancestors for failures.
Believing they could have lived better without him was Kang Jeongsu's freedom.
Above all, Rimon had no interest in Kang Jeongsu.
There was only one thing he wanted to hear.
"What I want to know is why you did this to Na-kyung."
Only then did he seem to notice Yuna Kyung's body in Rimon's arms.
Kang Jeongsu flinched for a moment.
And made an uncomfortable face.
"...It was Agent Yuna Kyung's choice."
"Forcing her to take hostages and self-destruct—that's a choice?"
"That wasn't me."
"But you allowed it."
"I protested too! But the Monarch wouldn't hear it—what more could I do?!"
Acting rashly might have cost not just Yuna Kyung but the hostages too.
Even if he refused, he would have been killed, and someone else would become Director and carry out the plan.
To the irritably shouting Kang Jeongsu, Rimon said quietly.
"You should have fought."
"...What?"
"You should have charged in like a mad dog to the end."
Storm the place with PAB agents and die.
Curse out the Infinite Monarch on broadcast and drop dead.
Or step up to sacrifice himself instead of Yuna Kyung.
Watching Rimon speak calmly about how he should have done something—anything—Kang Jeongsu wore an incredulous expression.
"A-Are you saying I should have died in Agent Yuna Kyung's place?!"
"Yes."
"...!"
"At least as PAB Director, instead of throwing your subordinate into the fire because of a Player's threat, you should have died yourself."
The PAB was an organization to control Players.
Its Director must not cower before a Player's power, said Rimon coldly.
As the former head of the institution that became the PAB's precursor and a hero of the past.
"If you lacked the courage to die, I understand. But then, you should have at least felt shame for surviving. That would be the proper way."
Not everyone in the world can be a hero.
Not anyone can risk death to do what's right.
So he could forgive the betrayal.
"But Jeong-su, in the end, you never bowed your head to me—or even to Na-kyung."
"...!"
Excuses, excuses, excuses.
Even with Yuna Kyung's body right there, he only shouted justifications and claimed righteousness.
Rimon knew why Kang Jeongsu never apologized in the end.
It was the way of those drunk on power.
Those who see people as tools feel no shame or regret.
In truth, Kang Jeongsu hadn't feared death.
He had simply discarded the outdated thread of the Sword Master to grasp the new one of the Monarch, betraying him and allowing Yuna Kyung's death.
And that was beyond what Rimon could tolerate.
"...Say whatever you want. Nothing changes now anyway."
As if giving up further excuses.
Rimon met the eyes glaring fiercely at him with indifference.
"You think so?"
"Is there any reason it shouldn't?"
"Yeah. Because I'm going to kill you."
"Ha!"
Kang Jeongsu laughed openly in his face.
Then he gestured to the forces surrounding them.
"Do you think you can break through them and kill me?"
Those encircling Rimon were no ordinary soldiers or Players.
Thirty elite PAB agents, the best in combat, all high-level Players.
Fifty members of the military's finest, the [909 Unit], armed with cutting-edge weapons and high-grade items designed to kill Players.
Forty members from the raiding parties of top domestic guilds, [Stardust] and [Cheonjong].
Fifty S-rank mercenaries from the infamous international private military company [Black Wolf], who would do anything for the right price.
Plus about thirty prisoners, criminals, and killers brought in through judicial deals and hefty rewards.
A total of over two hundred.
Every single one was a high-level Player above level 60 or equivalent in skill.
This was a force that could wipe out five or six cities in the blink of an eye—enough to wage a war.
So Kang Jeongsu was confident.
Even a Monarch couldn't handle this.
Much less an outdated relic like Rimon breaking through to reach him.
But to that question from Kang Jeongsu, Rimon gave no answer.
Like ants swarming sugar.
With his impassive golden eyes, he slowly scanned the two hundred, then quietly spoke.
"Before I answer that, one last question."
"What is it?"
Was it that strangely calm demeanor?
Despite their overwhelming advantage, a nagging unease welled up, making Kang Jeongsu snap irritably.
To him, Rimon asked softly.
"Is trying to kill me really your own choice?"
"Or is it the will of that one-eyed old hag giggling and gnawing at your skull right now?"
At that moment.
Kang Jeongsu flinched involuntarily.
Not just because of the baffling, out-of-nowhere question.
It was Rimon's eyes, staring intently as if seeing the unseen.
Or piercing the soul.
The jet-black gleam lurking in those eyes that should have been golden, like the night sky, sent chills down his spine.
"What nonsense is that?"
"If it's nonsense, does that mean this is purely your choice?"
"Yes!"
Was it shame from being overwhelmed by Rimon's gaze?
Defiantly, he answered firmly, and Rimon nodded slowly with impassive eyes.
"...Fine. If this was done of your own will, that's enough."
As if the confirmation was complete.
Rimon averted his gaze from him.
And turned to the two hundred humans surrounding him...
No—the bizarre shadows half-intermingled among them, sneering like hunters eyeing trapped prey.