Chapter 4. Log Out
He didn't know whether he'd collided because his body tilted, or whether someone had slammed into him from the other side. Sensation was already leaving his body.
"Has this bastard lost his mind?"
A rough curse rang out. It was that voice from a moment ago. Machil? That was what he thought at first.
Thud, thud-thud.
In an instant, three or four blows landed on Sosam's abdomen.
"Ugh!"
It hurt. It hurt like he was dying.
Only after tasting the fist did Sosam realize it wasn't Machil. Machil's punches couldn't be this vicious—like his gut was about to split open.
Drool streamed from his mouth, and tears burst from his eyes. Not because he was sad. Because it hurt.
He'd thought he was used to getting beaten by now, but this was too painful—way too painful.
If there was any silver lining, it was that the blurred vision from the pain was recovering, if only a little.
"Huh ... ngh. Keo-eo ... ngh ... "
He couldn't breathe properly, so he panted and dropped to his knees. Even like that, he lifted his head with all the strength he had.
An unfamiliar-yet-familiar face came into view. He didn't know the name, but it was one of the warriors of the Danri Family.
Thud. Another impact crashed into Sosam's face.
"S-spare....."
A kick infused with internal energy struck him, and Sosam couldn't even finish the words "spare me."
Why? Why? Why...? Why the hell are you doing this...? What did I do wrong?
Am I not even allowed to live like a bug, holding my breath and keeping my head down?
But the answer in his head was painfully clear.
This situation was the answer, and Murim was originally that kind of place. It wasn't a world gentle enough for a bottom-feeding herbivorous insect like him to survive.
"What the hell is this bastard babbling about? Speak clearly, you horse-shit trash."
With the curse came endless kicks.
And yet Sosam couldn't feel any pain anymore. He was dying. He even realized he had one foot halfway into the underworld.
It was unfair. He'd only wanted to live somehow, any way he could, but he couldn't understand why the world was doing this to him.
He wanted to kill Machil, the one who'd provided the spark that led to all this. He wanted to kill the warrior bastard stomping on him right now. He wanted to kill every single person from the Danri Family who had ignored him, looked down on him, and toyed with him.
Just.
He wanted to kill them all. He wanted to smash the world to pieces.
But.
The words that came out of his mouth were different.
"...... Sp ... are ... me .... "
What spilled from his mouth could only be that, after all.
Thud.
Those were the last words he spoke in this world.
Even though it was a hellish world, he wanted to survive to the very end.
And so Sosam—the owner of soul number 3789028376 in the 112th dimensional world—brought his wretched life to an end.
And...…..
***
Thunk.
With a soulless scream, the "Neighborhood Thug—Elite" died.
Dong Bong-su's spear didn't stop there. Every time he swung it once, a neighborhood thug—whether elite or normal—fell and lay on the ground. Of course, no matter how many he killed, the number of neighborhood thugs didn't decrease. As many as fell, that many spawned again. Not only him, but other people here were also slaughtering the neighborhood thugs indiscriminately, yet the neighborhood thugs were regenerating infinitely.
And that wasn't all.
He'd been using his body for so long, yet he wasn't even getting tired.
He hadn't even been logged in for that long, but Dong Bong-su had already lost interest in "Murim Online."
Is this really the kind of game that people claim has increased murders as a side effect?
Completely below expectations. I thought I'd found a new hunting ground ...…
This wasn't a hunting ground. It was a playground.
The blood the Neighborhood Thugs spilled was only similar to real blood in color. It didn't have the same heat and moistness as real blood, nor that unique, stimulating stickiness. He couldn't feel anything at all.
There was no heavy "hand-feel" on his hands—none of it. Players who got counterattacked by the neighborhood thugs and died even had smiles on their faces.
Dying wasn't truly dying. Killing wasn't truly killing. In this place, killing and being killed was nothing more than a prank, not slaughter.
More than anything, what dulled Dong Bong-su's interest was the fact that there wasn't a single "carnivore" here. The animals here were either toys, or else herbivorous insects.
He hadn't placed huge expectations on this virtual reality game called "Murim" from the very start. No matter how similar they made it to reality, how could it possibly have the same hand-feel as reality?
Even so, this was far below what he'd expected.
Even if it wasn't a hobby, he'd thought it might at least be like a fishing spot where he could occasionally feel that "hand-feel."
But this wasn't it.
After crushing the head of yet another neighborhood thug charging at him, Dong Bong-su reached a conclusion.
This can't become a hobby at all. Of course, his level was still low, and he didn't know anything about the rules of the game yet—but even if he kept leveling up, would the texture of blood really change, and would carnivores that don't exist now suddenly appear here?
A fake was only a fake. It couldn't become real.
Dong Bong-su turned away without hesitation. Back to reality, overflowing with real prey.
"Log out."
Dong Bong-su's low, precise voice.
At the same time, his game character vanished from the virtual reality game Murim, and Dong Bong-su's consciousness also shut off.
In Korea. No, on Earth. No—within the dimensional world that Earth belonged to.
That moment.
It was the exact moment Belteruk's soul grafting succeeded.
And so Dong Bong-su, the owner of soul number 3789028376 in the 111th dimensional world, "logged in" to the 112th dimensional world.
***
"Mmm...….."
The instant he regained consciousness, Dong Bong-su felt extreme pain in his chest. It was so painful he could barely breathe.
Not only that—every bone in his body felt like it had shattered, leaving him limp, and his muscles were screaming like they were about to die.
Even his eyes were swollen, barely able to open.
'What is this? Did the police finally catch me?'
Dong Bong-su thought his past deeds had finally been caught in the net.
332 murders.
He'd thought it was perfect, but maybe it hadn't been perfect after all.
Heh.
A light chuckle escaped.
Yeah, it really was a dangerous hobby. He'd thought it would end someday, but it ended like this. He didn't regret it that much. As long as he didn't die, he could do this hobby anywhere.
Isn't the Republic of Korea basically a country without the death penalty? Unless they made some special law because of him, even if they demanded a death sentence for a murderer, it wouldn't actually be carried out.
A human-rights nation, South Korea was the best hunting ground for a predator like Dong Bong-su.
But even setting all that aside.....
Something was off.
Just as he'd thought, South Korea was a country where human rights were guaranteed. No matter how many as 332 people someone had murdered, they couldn't torture or beat a criminal recklessly without a trial.
Even if they secretly assaulted him to get information, they wouldn't do it this severely.
Judging from the sensations in his body, the injuries he had would take at least several months of lying completely still just to maybe recover. If things had gone slightly wrong, he might have died.
Not for interrogation, and they beat an unconscious suspect to this extent?
If all of Dong Bong-su's charges weren't proven, this would become enormous pressure on the police. If the media and human-rights zealots raised a stink, the ones getting a headache would be the police.
From Dong Bong-su's perspective, it would've been welcome—but unless the police were idiots, there was no way they'd handle things like this.
This ...…..
Isn't this far too strange?
Thinking that far, Dong Bong-su forced his eyes open. A stabbing pain shot through his swollen eyes. They were so swollen that he could only see about one-fifth of what he normally could. Everything around him was a dead angle.
All he could confirm was a very limited part of the surroundings.
Still, faint moonlight seeped in from somewhere, telling him it was evening. The light was blinding, but the fact itself suggested several things to Dong Bong-su.
'Moonlight.'
Naturally, this wasn't his room.
Because there was a window. Every light in his room came from lamps.
Dong Bong-su slowly examined the environment where he was lying.
A clattering, creaking neck.
It restricted his already-limited movement even further. Still, he endured the pain and, using his neck as little as possible, rolled his eyes to look around.
Because he could only squint, they weren't doing their job properly—but it was enough.
The first thing that caught his eye was a set of fairly large animals with long faces. He'd never seen them in person, but he'd seen them countless times on TV.
'A stable?'
They were horses.
A stifling stench of horse manure and the animal's own rank odor filled the air. Even if someone secretly brought horses into his room, that smell wouldn't soak in within a day or two.
This place had originally been a stable, and it was reasonable to assume he'd been moved here.
His eyes swept faster across the scene, and his brain began to writhe. Thrown into an unpredictable situation, his predator's instincts and intuition were being unleashed without restraint.
And then.
Something incredibly strange ... grotesque came into Dong Bong-su's sight.
'This is!?'
Some translucent letters overlapped the horse's face. He turned his head. The horse's face stayed where it was, but the letters followed his gaze.
After repeating that a few times, Dong Bong-su realized the letters were always within his field of view—right in the center.
And he also realized they weren't the flat, two-dimensional look you'd normally see. They had a three-dimensional, solid form.
'A hologram window?'
He'd seen something like that just recently.
The virtual reality game, Murim Online.
When he first connected, the welcome message had floated in front of his eyes in that exact form for a long time.
[Welcome to Murim Online, the world of true strong ones.]