Chapter 141

Reaper.

It’s a nickname that could be considered cool or incredibly cringe-worthy.

But if someone goes around calling themselves the Reaper… well, that’s just plain embarrassing.

Nicknames are meant to be given by others, not self-proclaimed—at least in martial arts stories.

[In the past, when I worked at ‘the Company’… I often encountered criminal profilers. They all had one thing in common to say.]

“What was it?”

[They said the scariest thing isn’t just a madman. It’s a madman with a conviction.]

And this Reaper wasn’t your run-of-the-mill lunatic. To call oneself the Reaper takes a special kind of crazy.

[The Reaper is currently a high-priority criminal under observation by the Player Association. His first crime occurred about a month and a half ago. It all began when a body was found with the Chinese character for ‘death’ (死) engraved on its forehead.]

Murder is an act that every rational being instinctively abhors unless driven to it under the most desperate circumstances. Online arguments might escalate into threats of killing or stabbing, with some even fantasizing about unspeakable violence—but when it comes to actually carrying it out, few can do so without hesitation. Without the Tower, I doubt I’d have ever killed anyone in my lifetime.

[After his first murder, the Reaper started posting photos of his ‘work’ on the deep web. It’s a textbook case of a serial killer.]

Serial killers crave recognition. Unable to fulfill their self-esteem through normal means, they resort to twisted ways of saying, “Look how much I’ve tormented others,” or, “Look how much people fear me.”

[But… the Reaper is different. While he may have some narcissistic tendencies, his actions are driven by a warped sense of ‘justice.’]

“Justice?”

[Yes. He sees his actions as vigilantism.]

But the Reaper wasn’t a mere pleasure killer.

[For starters, he only kills those he deems evil. And he doesn’t just kill them—he tortures them slowly, painfully, brutally. Like skinning their flesh layer by layer…]

There was Japan’s Player, who murdered seven prostitutes for fun. India’s Riya, who kidnapped handsome men, killed them, and decorated her room with their skin. And China’s Zhang Lei, who committed a slew of crimes—drug trafficking, human trafficking, rape, murder—and even live-streamed the atrocities.

The common thread? They were all well-known players who had evaded justice until their deaths.

When a superhuman chooses to hide their crimes, modern law enforcement simply can’t keep up.

[The Reaper hunts these people down and broadcasts their crimes online. According to our profilers, it seems like he’s driven by a sense of duty—like something out of a comic book, such as Death Note.]

Killing criminals, displaying their corpses online, and suppressing crime in the process—this seemed to be the Reaper’s ultimate goal. While it wasn’t yet widely known that he only targeted criminals, it was only a matter of time.

“He sounds like a protagonist from a web novel.”

The faint scent of catharsis lingered in the air. Honestly, how many people in this world deserve to die? It was overly optimistic to think there wouldn’t be thugs abusing their newfound powers.

[The problem is… the Reaper is rather careless.]

His accuracy was abysmal.

[He seems to rely on information from the deep web, so he often makes mistakes. About 30 percent of the time, to be precise.]

His first victim, for instance, was an innocent civilian. A gruff-looking middle-aged man who lived alone and had a harmless hobby of insect taxidermy.

And while some of his targets, like the aforementioned players, truly deserved to die, there were others whose crimes were questionable.

A drunkard who beat up a dozen people.

A petty thief who robbed several shops.

A student who accidentally injured a classmate during a prank.

Yes, they were undeniably criminals. But did they deserve to be tortured and killed in agony? That was a different matter.

[Anyway… we plan to go public with this Reaper next week. Up until now, we were cautious about the backlash due to his targeting of criminals, but we’ve decided that capturing him takes precedence.]

“I see…”

It seemed the Association had decided to issue a full-scale bounty on the Reaper. Letting a criminal of this magnitude run free wasn’t an option.

But as I listened to Yoon Jung-hyun’s explanation, a strange unease crept over me. It was like an itch at the back of my mind—like I was missing something important.

“…Junho.”

Choi Ji-won must have felt something similar. She tapped me on the shoulder, gesturing for me to hang up.

“One moment. Something’s come up. I’ll call you back later.”

[Ah, understood.]

***

After setting my phone aside, I turned to Ji-won.

“What’s wrong?”

“Junho, don’t you think… people might mistake you for the Reaper?”

“…Ah.”

That was it. The source of my unease. My actions on the 11th floor were eerily similar to the Reaper’s.

I flayed my enemies. Toyed with the dead until the end. While I lacked the Reaper’s principle of “only targeting criminals,” the Association wasn’t likely to publicize such nuances.

If they started broadcasting details about the Reaper…

“The people from the 11th floor will… probably tell everyone I’m dead?”

The likelihood of being mistaken for the Reaper had just skyrocketed.

“Hmm…”

Another crossroads had appeared.

I’d resolved the 11th-floor incident, with Zhang Lei as the only remaining issue—but he was long dead, killed by none other than the Reaper himself.

What should I do? Track the Reaper down and kill him? Capture him? Try to guide him to the right path?

And what about my actions on the 11th floor? Should I change my approach, or continue with this Reaper-like persona? Which would be more advantageous for me?

Then there was my “cold.” Should I use an elixir now, or save it? With Ji-won’s successful 4th-floor clear, we had two elixirs—but they were precious. What if I used one now and got stuck in a critical moment later without it?

“Ugh, my head hurts.”

​The Regressor’s Dilemma

This is the dilemma of a regressor. Ultimately, the decision to move on to the next round rests solely on me.

What if I make the wrong choice here, and that choice snowballs into an enormous catastrophe later? What if I kill the Reaper now, only to find out his abilities are essential to defeating the final boss on the 66th floor? Or what if I spare him, only for that lunatic to murder a crucial figure and doom the Earth to destruction?

Right now, I might be holding the button that decides the fate of humanity…

“Ugh, ugh… ughhh…”

My head was spinning. A wave of dizziness overwhelmed me, tightening my stomach and triggering relentless dry heaves.

“Junho! Junho!”

“Hold on, just… just a second…”

The fact that I haven’t regressed yet means this dizziness is purely psychological. It’s the price of realizing that the weight of an unfathomable responsibility is resting on my shoulders.

“…Junho.”

Choi Ji-won spoke softly, patting my back with a calming rhythm.

“For now, let’s take a break. Let’s wait and see how things unfold.”

“…But.”

“If you rest once, you’ll want to rest again, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“That’s true. But from what I can see, your mental fatigue has reached a dangerous level.”

“…”

“Look, you’re going to regress anyway, right? When you regress, you’ll return to the moment you first entered the 11th floor. You won’t waste any time by waiting. Let’s see how the ‘Reaper’ reacts first. That much should be fine.”

Under Ji-won’s insistence—not quite forceful, but not optional either—I was compelled to take a break.

And just like that, a week passed in the blink of an eye.

***

Exactly one week later, news about the Reaper swept across the globe. Naturally, the part about him only killing criminals was conveniently omitted, painting him as nothing more than a sadistic serial killer.

For the record, the Player Association was aware of the “Madman” from the 11th floor who had died.

After a thorough investigation, they concluded that the murderer from the 11th floor wasn’t the Reaper. The two killers had enough differences in their methods to draw that line.

Despite this, the Player Association made a bold decision.

Breaking News Headlines:

Player Association announces, “The Reaper was killed on the 11th floor by Hero Choi Ji-won.”

The Reaper is dead! Citizens, rest assured.

At first glance, this declaration seemed nonsensical, but it turned out to be a masterstroke by the Association.

“Junho?”

“What’s going on?”

“Are you watching the news? It’s probably about the Reaper.”

“Yeah, I saw it.”

“He just went live on YouTube a little while ago. The Reaper, I mean. He’s… a 15-year-old Japanese high school student.”

“…What?”

–– – End of Chapter – –

 

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