Chapter 143 – What, That. I Don’t Know. Scared (4)
When a favor continues, people know that it is a right.
At first, you express your sincere gratitude for the unexpected kindness, but as it repeats itself, you come to take it for granted that you receive help for nothing.
Why is kindness so kind? It’s because it’s a good act to help others without anything in return. So why is it a good deed to help someone without getting paid? Because there are few people who just want to help someone in trouble without expecting anything in return, that person is classified as a good person by people’s standards. In other words, he is a Hogu kid who is capable and easy to use.
So don’t forget what a great blessing it is to be paid for anything, or to be kind without a price.
I gave power to the people of Landfill only if they wished. The strength to overcome the fate of an incurable disease and live again, the opportunity to rise again and walk with or in front of those who have been left behind due to physical conditions that make them fall behind others, and A reason to continue living for those who live a hopeless life because they can’t die.
What I gave them was great, but I didn’t get much in return. It’s a miracle to them, but it’s not too difficult for me.
So, this happened.
Selfish people who didn’t appreciate my kindness and put others in trouble with whom they lived for their own greater good.
Living witnesses that prove the logic that the strong are evil and the weak are good is wrong. With enough strength and opportunity, they could commit any number of evil deeds, but because they didn’t have the strength and opportunity to do so, they were just holding their breath, so they seemed to be good weaklings on the outside.
When I gave them strength, they didn’t even know the subject and believed it was an opportunity and showed their true colors. .
That the kindness and opportunity they received was not for granted, but that there was a price for it, so that they would never think of betraying me again.
The price is really small, but the moment they violate it, they can fall back into an endless abyss.
It’s not a scene you would show to a high-ranking official from outside, but there was no choice. To those who believed in and followed the organization they belonged to all their lives, I am an unknown person who suddenly appeared one day and reached the top of the organization, and since I have almost no loyalty to me, dissatisfied people will continue to appear. At best, in order to prevent the unified organization from shaking from the inside, the shaking is minimized by squeezing it from above with a huge stone called fear that cannot be matched. Of course, don’t forget to control the structure itself so that it doesn’t get crushed by the excessive weight of the stone.
And if I hadn’t put my hands on it, Karun, socially and mentally cornered, would have really gone to work. The moment she pulls the trigger, a dignitary from outside her is killed, ending Landfill’s trade. Since Land Phil did not yet have the economic ability to stand on its own, cutting trade with the outside world was no different from kicking the chair he was standing on with his neck hanging on a rope.
Even if the hostages are shocked by this scene, they can manage it somehow. I have no regrets about my decision, at least it guaranteed the hostage’s life.
Of course, the ghastly sight of people screaming in pain and twisting into hideous monsters right in front of them was a bit harsh. Still, in this lawless landfill, the weak have no choice but to get their hands dirty in order to survive, so I did it thinking that they would be somewhat resistant to this sort of thing. It looks like Well, the sight of artificially accelerating ‘erosion’ would make them see me as possessing the ominous ability to instantly transform a person into a monster without lifting a finger.
And it must have added to the latent fear that such a ghastly sight might not be completely irrelevant to him, and that he might end up in such a terrifying state if he did something wrong. The moment when he has a headache over how to deal with this incident, the moment he tries to take a step closer to her, thinking that he must first deal with Karun, the instigator of this incident.
The owner of the Red Lantern Festival, Madam Yang, approached me and bowed her head.
I am the new power in this landfill, and she was one of the previous highest powers. If I obey her words here, the country may have people who doubt the power of the new power. However, I have already shown the side of a cruel monarch by showing what kind of terrible power I have in front of many people, so here by showing the appearance of accepting her request, I am not a cruel and tyrannical monarch who is filled with anger only by seeing blood unconditionally. Depending on the situation, it wouldn’t be bad to show a merciful side that can wisely accept the opinions of people below you.
“Are you going to take responsibility?”
“Yes. It’s my fault for not teaching that child properly. Please punish me instead.”
“Hmm… The case she committed is never something that can be overlooked.”
At one word I said, the faces of the members of the Red Lantern Society turned white. As someone who had seen how I brutally punished a traitor who had been a member of their gang a while ago, they feared that even Madame Yang, the boss they trusted and followed, would suffer the same misery just because she offended me.
“But, if you, Madame Yang, and not anyone else, ask for that kind of favor… It’s not like there’s no room for mercy.”
My purpose is to reign, but not to rule. For me, Landfeel is the place where I can act most freely, and the first base I need to lay the foundation for in earnest in this world in the future. So, since I shouldn’t thread the wrong button from the beginning, I needed to act carefully.
“Originally, it was planned to be publicly executed in the plaza in the central district so that traitors would never appear again.”
‘Execution’
At that word, some people trembled.
“Looking at your face, Madam Yang, I will reduce the punishment a little. First, I will banish the traitor Karun from this landfill permanently after recovering my abilities. And, Madame Yang, I will separately apologize to you for not properly managing your subordinates. I’ll ask you to take responsibility. Are you satisfied with this?”
“Yes, I am astonished at that merciful decision.”
“Okay then… Vine”
“Yes, sir.”
“Let’s clean up the place with Madame Yang.”
“All right.”
The troublesome clean-up was left to the subordinates, and the top boss, who gave fear and intimidation just by existing, decided to leave the scene of the problem. That would be better for them. Oh, and I forgot to retrieve the ability-activating seeds from Karune before I left.
The ability of 8 extra lives is useful, but if that ability is my enemy, it won’t be more troublesome than that. No matter how groundless you are, the fact that you have to kill eight more times is a headache. Well, but… Just the appearance of a person who has awakened such an ability wasn’t a big loss as it helped me to improve my strength.
Stares pouring towards me from here and there. There were more eyes than usual, plus a lot of fear that hadn’t been there until yesterday, but I didn’t care. I was used to the fear and hostility of many people in the first place.
Receiving gazes pouring from all directions, I returned to my residence in the southern section.
*
Where the hell did I go wrong?
To beg the elders at a still young age right after the coming-of-age ceremony and get permission to leave for Metaverse City?
Buying a cheap airship seat with a cheaper ticket, even if it’s a little insecure, to save a small fortune?
…It’s a meaningless rumination. What she went through at that time was just an unfortunate accident that there was nothing she could do about it. Her sins, yes. It was a betrayal.
Whether he wanted it or not, he became a resident of this city and swore allegiance to the existence of ‘Sensei’ who had been kind to him, and obtained useful powers. Because of that selfish desire that stems from past lingering feelings of wanting to live a proper life in a wider and more splendid place than rotting away in the city, he threw away everything that had supported him.
Her life was a kind of building block. A game to reach a destination of a certain height by slowly stacking blocks one by one from the bottom. When the slave seal was stamped, someone else kicked the blocks she had accumulated so far, and the tower of blocks collapsed. The blocks are stacked up one by one.
The power given by the existence of the teacher was a large block. A huge block the same size as all the blocks she had accumulated so far. With that one block, she reached her goal, which was far and far away, in one breath, and with just one more small block, she could reach her goal. However, the new block was too far away, and distracted by the thought that she would soon reach her destination, she foolishly pulled out the bottom one of her tower of blocks to fill the empty space. .
With that action, the tower she had built collapsed in its entirety.
“Madam Yang… Sister…”
“Karun.”
Her benefactor who lifted her out of her hellish place and did her best to help her live her life, not her worst. Madam Yang is one of the few people she respects, trusts and follows. Karun did not know that a selfish act of her own would bring her to the end of repaying her kindness to her benefactor who had done her good will. She said that if she had known it was going to be like this, she would never have made such a stupid choice of her own. But it’s already spilled water. Life was C (hoice) between B (irth) and D (eath), a series of choices, and she only made the wrong choice.
Blinded to see only what was in front of her, unable to properly see who was around her and making her own irreversible choices, there was nothing she could do. It would be better if Madame Yang and her older sister looked at her with emotions of anger, disappointment, or contempt, but the gaze she sends to Karun is just the sad gaze of her parents who can do nothing for their child who made the wrong choice. It was only
“All I could do was prevent your death. If I had hoped for more, it would be seen as daring to step into his territory, and Karune would not have survived. But… Because of your choice, you will no longer be able to stay in Landfill.”
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, sister. Because of me…”
“I’m fine. I’m just worried about you.”
Landfill is an abandoned city. It is the last city where the abandoned from all other countries and cities gather. Being abandoned even in such a landfill means that it cannot be accepted anywhere.
“Your life is going to get even more difficult in the future. It can be so painful that you might be better off dead. But do your best.”
“…”
I already felt the pain that Madame Yang had said, ‘to the extent that I wonder if it would be better to die’. As soon as her body was grotesquely twisted by the man, Karun was tempted to think that it would be easier if she died, but she showed her hostility toward her teacher until the end. For the figure of her teacher, who seemed to be trying to control herself, was superimposed on the figure of the thieves who had attacked the airship that had put her slave seal on her own ship and made her life go to hell.
However, even the blade of her intense hatred that cut off even her urge to die, her teeth fell out in front of the tears shed by her benefactor who had helped and cared for her.
“Hello, Karune.”
“…Thank you for helping me. Goodbye… Stay.”
And three days later, with her farewells, Karune left the underground city of Landfill. She boarded the airship and left the abandoned city she had longed to leave, but she was not at all happy. What she wanted was a golden homecoming, not an outcast with nowhere to go. Besides, the moment she got on the airship and left the city, memories of the city she thought she was most tired of had passed through her head.
When she first came to her landfill, Madam Sheep took care of her and took care of her. Her older sister’s soft and warm embrace.
The day she became a member of the Red Light Society and visited and wiped out those who dared to intimidate powerless women into prostitution without their permission.
The building where she had her first experience with her colleague who happened to meet her eyes while she was excited and hot under the influence of a gang fight with another organization.
The life in the city where she lived with the thought that she would one day become like Madame Yang, whom she respects, and who came to live without wanting to, but eventually adapted to it. Recalling her memories of living there…
“…Huh, huh. Heh heh…”
Karune buried her face between her knees, crying softly in case those around her heard.
And, before I knew it, I had said goodbye to the city I had been fond of.
*
“…”
Her former gang member Kurin’s betrayal failed, and as punishment, she had her powers re-confiscated and at the same time she was completely banished from Landfill. And the residents of Landfill felt that in this city where the heads of the five organizations were fighting each other, finally someone with the power to lead them all and run Landfill as one city appeared here.
The one who put an end to the strife of organizations, breathed new strength into the hopeless, and brought out those who rejected them from the city.
The news was known not only to the residents of Landfill, but also to others.
Landfill is a very unsafe place, but the eastern area where the airship dock is located was a place where tacit peace was maintained. Everyone knows that Landfill was a poor city where people could not live without outside help, and that it was a place with poor security, but this was the first major incident that openly threatened the safety of outsiders. However, that was not what cities outside of Landfill paid attention to.
From those who stopped by Landfill for some purpose, or from those who stayed in Landfill while traveling for a while, those who made a name for themselves in each city heard information about a man.
The news that a king who rules the abandoned city of Landfill has appeared.
