Episode 6: Mafia Game / Chapter 106: A New Start
TL: emptycube / ED: Obelisk
TL/N: This chapter is more graphic than usual.
“What about the Berserkers? Are they still not here yet?”
“No. They said that they aren’t coming to back us up at all!”
“What?”
Clan Leader Lee Jungmin ended up shouting.
“What are they thinking by not sending backup? Are they just going to watch Chu Youngjin cross over to Dragonic?”
“That is… It seems they are at least planning on stopping him from going to Dragonic. That’s why the Berserkers, who were on their way here as back up, changed directions and returned to lock down the portal.”
“Ha!”
Lee Jungmin ground his teeth.
“So they don’t care if we live or die?”
It felt like his insides were surging with flames. Yet he had no choice. The situation was progressing completely differently from their expectations. The reason was simple. Chu Youngjin was just too strong.
“Guaack!”
Lee Jungmin saw a warrior flying away with a smashed arm. He was an expert who had come over from Macau. He was a famous figure known for his powerful strength. He wasn’t someone who should have flown away like that.
There wasn’t an expert who could endure a single strike from Chu Youngjin. They couldn’t block his attack even if they could see it either. Rumble! Whenever they heard a thunderous roar, there would always be a casualty or someone who had been fatally wounded. It was impossible to use hit-and-run tactics. The moment they ‘hit’ would be the moment they died.
“Block him! He’s only one guy! There’s a limit to his stamina!”
The clan leaders tried to encourage them, but their clan members were busy hastily backing away. They were gradually becoming more and more passive.
They couldn’t help it. Chu Youngjin was simply trying to get to Dragonic. As long as they didn’t attack him first or block his path, he wouldn’t attack them.
The clan members grumbled,
“The Berserkers are locking down the gate… Then why do we have to act?”
There wasn’t much benefit relative to the risk. Their clan leaders’ aspirations were insufficient in persuading them. Chu Youngjin charged forward like a lion while the clans dispersed like lambs.
Then, at some point, the tables had totally turned. While Chu Youngjin was running down the street in front of the National Assembly building, the clan experts slowly retreated, and eventually, turned their backs and fled.
Whoosh.
Hundreds of people ran. They fled as fast as they could. Some stepped on building walls and jumped onto the roof, while more urgent people shattered windows and hid inside. The somewhat slower individuals didn’t even think to retreat into the side streets and instead continued to run straight down the street as fast as possible.
Chu Youngjin followed the empty street and headed towards Yeouido Park. He was now a short distance away from the portal. He saw the tense expressions of the Berserkers blocking the portal.
“Hu… Hu… Huhuhu.”
The clan leaders couldn’t help but laugh at this absurd scene. This wasn’t their original plan. They were going to secure Chu Youngjin’s whereabouts, and after having forcefully investigated him, they planned on using him to get an apology from the Berserkers. They hoped to get their capability acknowledged through this.
However, everything went awry.
The main character was presently not the minor clans but Chu Youngjin.
He was dazzling. Currently, in this moment, the guilty Chu Youngjin was shining brightly, while the minor clans looked like unsightly villains.
Then, suddenly, the main character changed.
Baaang!
Something fell from the dark sky and slammed on the ground. Dust clouds reached the top of the surrounding buildings, and shattered asphalt collided and smashed into the walls of the surrounding buildings.
There were even minor clan experts who were in pain after unluckily being hit by a stray flying piece of asphalt on their heads or legs.
Even Chu Youngjin, who had completely lost all sense of reasoning, flinched in surprise at the force and stopped in his tracks.
Choi Hyuk walked out, making his way through the dust cloud. He laughed when he saw Chu Youngjin.
“Chu hyung, why do you look like that?”
Chu Youngjin’s clothes were ripped, and his entire body was caked in blood. His eyes went beyond being red and formed blood tears.
Chu Youngjin raised ‘Chu Youngjin’s Protection’. He was completely different from before when he charged forward recklessly. A tension that could cut one’s flesh hung in the air.
Choi Hyuk opened his mouth wide.
It had been a long time since his heart pounded like this before a fight. The Chu Youngjin in front of him didn’t look trivial. He also wasn’t so weak as to quickly die in a fight.
Choi Hyuk didn’t unsheathe his sword.
Fist clenched, he placed a lot of strength into his right shoulder.
“This will bring you to your senses.”
Bang!
No one knew who moved first as they shot towards each other. Rumble! With a thunderous sound, Chu Youngjin’s figure became blurred like an oncoming storm. However-
Bang!
The terrifying sound smacked the hearts of the masses.
“Keu… Kuuu…”
They heard Chu Youngjin wheezing as air escaped him. Chu Youngjin’s sword didn’t reach Choi Hyuk. Chu Youngjin’s gut took the full impact of Choi Hyuk’s short jab. As Choi Hyuk cut his attack short, Chu Youngjin wasn’t blasted away. Only, his insides were in a mess.
Baaang!
Before the lingering aftereffect of his first strike could disappear, Choi Hyuk displayed his explosive strength. His fists relentlessly rained down on Chu Youngjin. They weren’t piercing punches but ones that gradually piled on.
Crack. Bang! Riip!
Chu Youngjin’s Endurance, which was at the 4-star level, was useless. His ribs broke and stabbed his lungs, his eyeball popped and dribbled down, and he received a concussion. Even his insides burst at the sudden pressure.
Yet, Chu Youngjin didn’t stop. Even though he was hit countless times, his karma heart continued to beat explosively. His sword continuously targeted Choi Hyuk.
Rumble! Boom!
Every time a thunderous roar sounded out, a nearby building would explode. The karma blade that extended from Chu Youngjin’s sword sliced through the ground like tofu.
The more Chu Youngjin raged, the higher his karma surged. His karma surged to the point where his Recovery stat was close to reaching the 5-star level. The moment his eyeball exploded, a new eyeball would regenerate, and when his shinbone broke, it would immediately snap back into place and adhere together. When he spat his mushed insides out, new ones would regenerate within his body.
It looked like he was invulnerable.
Did Chu Youngjin recognize Choi Hyuk in his unconscious state?
Or, did he instinctively know that he couldn’t head towards Dragonic without beating Choi Hyuk?
Chu Youngjin didn’t back down at all.
Boooom!
Lightning struck. Seemingly in correspondence to their intense fight, rain began to fall from the sky. The escaping experts and even the Berserkers, who were locking down the portal, blankly watched their fight. The drizzling rain soaked their clothes. A shivering cold lingered in the air as they got goosebumps.
Bang! Baang!
Every time Choi Hyuk punched, raindrops drew lines in the air. Choi Hyuk continuously punched Chu Youngjin as if he were trying to nail him into the sky.
“Keeuck!”
Chu Youngjin desperately shouted.
“Kuaaaah!”
And a resounding roar followed after.
Baang!
Blood splattered. Blood surged against the flow of raindrops. Blood began to gradually dye the building windows red. Choi Hyuk’s left shoulder was inflicted with a deep cut, dying it red. It was the first effective attack by Chu Youngjin. On top of that, it was quite deep.
However, Choi Hyuk smiled more furiously.
He ignored his wound and smashed Chu Youngjin’s face with his right first. A cloud of blood burst from his face as his teeth flew away. Like slow motion, Chu Youngjin’s body slowly tilted backwards before flying backwards, as if he had fallen from a tall cliff, and was nailed into the building behind him.
“Kuaah… Haah…”
Legs trembling, Chu Youngjin walked out from the pile of concrete rubble. He spat a broken tooth out. A new tooth grew out from his mouth, foaming with blood. Chu Youngjin’s blood-caked face smiled. However-
Thud.
The tooth that was growing fell out as well.
Thud, thud.
It happened again. It seemed like it would stop this time, but it fell out a third time with a thud. It only stopped at the fourth time. This was because Choi Hyuk’s karma, which had invaded his body, had obstructed his recovery. It was also because Chu Youngjin’s recovery was slowly weakening due to him having exhausted his karma to the extreme.
“It’s finally kicking in.”
Choi Hyuk said as he rotated his arm. His attitude showed he was still at ease. However, his wound hadn’t yet closed. A lot of blood was still dripping from his deeply wounded shoulder. This was because Choi Hyuk’s Recovery was a chronic weakness of his and he had consumed a lot of stamina. It was also a large wound. Choi Hyuk had almost never been inflicted with a wound of this magnitude.
If he had instead tried to kill Chu Youngjin, then it might have been easy. Choi Hyuk’s Weapon of Vow was a deadly sword, and as it was rare for even middle-ranked warriors, who have reached the 5-star level, to block his slash, there was no way for Chu Youngjin, who was only a low-ranked warrior, to block it. However, this act of beating him up so that he couldn’t fight anymore wasn’t easy for Choi Hyuk. Choi Hyuk’s Endurance (100 – 3 ★) and Recovery (371 – 3★) were very low, and each of Chu Youngjin’s attacks had been reinforced, matching middle-ranked warriors. To avoid each of his attacks while pummelling an explosive Chu Youngjin into dough required incredible concentration and stamina.
So…
Choi Hyuk enjoyed this fight.
“Chu hyung, I’m coming!”
With a swish, the distance between Choi Hyuk and Chu Youngjin became non-existent. The rain that had been falling within that distance was swept up and scattered in every direction.
Chu Youngjin raised his sword and blocked Choi Hyuk’s punch.
Gong!
‘Chu Youngjin’s Protection’ quivered. Below his blade, Chu Youngjin’s eyes were noticeably less red.
“Are you back to your senses?”
Choi Hyuk asked. At the same time, Choi Hyuk’s left foot struck at Chu Youngjin’s right thigh.
“Keuk!”
An extreme pain gripped his entire body. However, Chu Youngjin endured this pain and instead shot forward, pushing against Choi Hyuk. Choi Hyuk used Chu Youngjin’s strength to throw him over his shoulders. It was a clean throw, and by Choi Hyuk’s standards, it was clean starting from the head.
Chu Youngjin was slammed upside down onto the ground. Choi Hyuk kicked Chu Youngjin’s back. His spine looked like it would snap. It was the critical blow. Chu Youngjin’s body folded completely in half. Then shot out and slammed into a building. From then on, the situation proceeded one-sidedly.
Choi Hyuk pummeled Chu Youngjin as he expressed his victory, while Chu Youngjin’s counterattacks became duller than before. It seemed the effects of Berserker and Explosive Blood were ending as Chu Youngjin’s combat strength was dropping.
Thud. It slowly took longer for Chu Youngjin to stand back up.
“Chu hyung. It’s still far from over.”
It looked like Chu Youngjin had finally regained his senses. His red eyes had returned to normal, and his shattered and ripped wounds didn’t stanch easily.
Even in this situation, Chu Youngjin continued to stand up, albeit unsteadily.
He didn’t even utter a single excuse.
Punch! Punch! Punch!
From then on, instead of a fight, it was a one-sided beating. Choi Hyuk would hit him, and Chu Youngjin would silently take the hit. Chu Youngjin resolutely stood back up, and Choi Hyuk resolutely beat him down.
Thud.
After falling, Chu Youngjin was no longer able to stand back up as he squirmed on the ground. His face was embedded into the ground as his hands kept slipping from the rain. He swallowed rainwater.
Choi Hyuk motionlessly looked down at him before raising his hand. Lee Jinhee, who had been watching this unfold with mixed emotions from afar, threw him an identification device. A fist-sized sphere fell onto Choi Hyuk’s hand. Choi Hyuk placed the device next to Chu Youngjin’s head and activated it.
Zzzing.
The light emitting from the device pushed its way through Chu Youngjin’s worn-out karma and searched every nook and cranny. Even before the results were out, Choi Hyuk was staring at something next to Chu Youngjin’s head.
Whoong!
The light emitting from the device shook. It turned red and created a shape next to Chu Youngjin. It was the doppelganger queen, who was crying next to Chu Youngjin, holding his body which couldn’t stand anymore.
“Ah… As expected…”
“That’s the doppelganger queen…”
“It looks like a real person? Makes sense to be fooled by it.”
Although they had guessed it, the feeling they felt after finally confirming it was different. Chu Youngjin’s sins were fully displayed to the entire world.
Chu Youngjin, who had gotten up after falling multiple times, gave up at this moment. He vacantly looked at the doppelganger queen that looked like Lee Hyejin. As if he couldn’t hear the murmurs of the people around him or see Choi Hyuk approaching, he passionately gazed at the queen.
However, Choi Hyuk said with indifference,
“You know it, right? That it’s only a monster.”
Blaze.
Soon, the flames that bloomed in his hand wrapped around the doppelganger queen. The doppelganger queen, who had yet to awaken, was still kind as ever. As it looked at the flames wrapping around it, it smiled brightly, seemingly thinking that this was for the best. As it gazed into Chu Youngjin’s eyes, it smiled, trying to put him at ease.
It smiled-
“Aaaaah!”
Then screamed. Choi Hyuk’s scarlet flames could cause terrifying pain even to spirit forms. An intense heat spread everywhere as it evaporated the falling rain. Even the mist was burnt up by the flames and disappeared.
“Aaaaack!”
The more disfigured Lee Hyejin’s appearance became, the more fiercely the doppelganger queen screamed. Just then, black energy surged out from within its body. It was the queen’s core. The flames even spread to that core.
{Aaaack! Aaaaaah! I hate you! I haaate yooouuu!}
After completely ridding itself of its imitation of Lee Hyejin, the queen let out a terrifying scream. Then it burnt up cleanly, not leaving a single speck of ash.
The flames died down, and the rain fell once more.
Thud.
After having watched the entire scene, Chu Youngjin’s face dropped. His forehead fell into a puddle of water. His face was completely soaked with rain.
Choi Hyuk bitterly looked back at him before turning away.
He declared to the surrounding experts of the minor clans and Berserkers.
“Effective immediately, Director Chu Youngjin is stripped of his position. He hid the doppelganger queen and committed an inerasable sin against humanity. While capital punishment is a suitable punishment for his sin, taking his contributions up until now into consideration, I will not kill him. Instead, he will be forever exiled from Earth.”
Exiled from Earth. Everyone murmured at the unexpected judgment.
“All his Mission Points gathered until now will be confiscated, and he will be sent to a war zone beyond the Laniakea Supercluster with no connection to Earth. He will never again be able to step forth on Earth and will not be able to hear any news about Earth.”
Things would progress according to his declaration. No one could question it.
Then Choi Hyuk looked at the minor clan experts just standing there. He passed judgment to them as well.
“The clans under the Berserkers have contributed by noticing Chu Youngjin’s abnormality. However, they did wrong by not reporting his abnormality to the Berserkers and by trying to resolve it themselves. The price for which is the following.”
As he said this, Choi Hyuk grinned. It was clearly a mocking smirk.
“The wounded or dead will be compensated from a moral standpoint. Do not overstep your bounds and interfere with Berserker matters. If you are confident in your skills, we will always welcome your application.”
With that, Choi Hyuk turned his back. Rain endlessly fell onto the heads of the experts standing there foolishly.
**
That was how the curtains fell on the doppelganger queen incident.
It wasn’t only an incident that revealed the external conflict between the Berserkers and the minor clans, but also one that revealed the problems with the internal communications between the Berserkers.
Using this incident as an opportunity, Choi Hyuk changed the organization of the Berserkers. He gave Baek Seoin the position of vice-overseer and gave him clear-cut authority. For symbolic reasons, he left Baek Seoin to deal with Lee Jinhee, who didn’t report the exclusion of Chu Youngjin from the investigation teams. Baek Seoin concluded by giving Lee Jinhee 3 months of active military service as punishment.
Not only that, but the relationship between the Berserkers and its subordinate clans became clear. A public announcement declared, ‘The only military organization acknowledged within Overseer Choi Hyuk’s territories are the Berserkers.’ Then they sought policies to absorb their subordinate clan experts into the Berserkers.
Chu Youngjin had to leave without witnessing these changes.
Only Choi Hyuk, Baek Seoin, and Lee Jinhee saw him off when he rode the 1-person spaceship Naro prepared for him and left Earth.
Unexpectedly, Chu Youngjin had a carefree expression.
“Thank you.”
Although it was a doppelganger queen, Chu Youngjin had seen Lee Hyejin die twice. He could no longer live on Earth, which made him recall his memories of her.
“Be happier in your next life.”
Choi Hyuk joked as Chu Youngjin was leaving.
“Whatever you do is fine, just don’t die. We need to see each other again.”
At Choi Hyuk’s words, Chu Youngjin smiled bitterly and shook his head.
That was how he left Earth forever. Like ending one life, he left Earth.
For the first time, Choi Hyuk was able to send a human beyond the Laniakea Supercluster.
Whatever convention he used, he had sent one of the people he trusted the most to the heart of his enemy.
Author’s Note: Mafia Game is finally complete 
ED Note: Possibly my favourite chapter yet.