​Chapter 142

The concept of an “association” typically involves shirking responsibility while taking all the privileges. However, the Player Association is competent, unlike others. This could be because being a “player” is a prerequisite to becoming a senior official, or maybe it’s thanks to the “Intelligence” stat on their status window.

Yet, the Reaper has remained uncaptured to this day, despite countless security experts and white-hat hackers working tirelessly to track them down.

The reason is simple: Anzai Yuuki, the Reaper, is far more cunning than one would expect from a middle schooler.

[The reason we couldn’t catch the Reaper before is because that kid only used other people’s devices.]

Whenever the Reaper operated online, they left no trace. They used victims’ smartphones to take pictures, avoided leaving physical evidence at crime scenes, and uploaded photos through VPNs.

With no traces left online, the only way to catch them was to track their movements in the real world. However, despite traveling between countries, the Reaper managed to leave no trail. Moreover, they had the strength to eliminate even top-ranking players, making their title “Reaper” well-deserved.

That is, until today when they started a live stream.

[It was an emotional decision. False rumors of his death were spreading, and his identity was being challenged. He must have started the live stream in anger—on the most crowded platform he could find.]

Even though the Reaper impulsively started the live stream, he still took precautions: wearing a mask, voice modulation, using a VPN, and streaming from a warehouse in Russia using someone else’s phone.

Confidently, the Reaper launched his live broadcast. Using a corpse as their backdrop, he declared that he had only ever killed the wicked, claimed to be a protector of justice, and justified his actions as a means to suppress crime.

At first, everything went according to plan. People who thought of the Reaper as a simple villain began to listen to his words. They were even shocked to learn that the dead Russian player had been such a heinous person.

But unlike the dark web, YouTube requires an account to post…

[The account… He used an ID similar to his usual one, only changing the numbers at the end. Because of this, his activities as the Reaper were traced back to his personal blog.]

“…”

[Their name is Anzai Yuuki. They reside in Shimane Prefecture, Japan, and are in the third year of middle school.]

The Reaper, who had meticulously erased all traces of himaaelf, made an absurdly careless mistake. Despite his attention to details that others wouldn’t even think of, his slip-up in such an obvious area was, indeed, very much like a middle schooler.

“So… did the association uncover the Reaper’s identity?”

[That’s where the problem lies. It wasn’t the association.]

While it was true the association had tried to provoke the Reaper into reacting, it wasn’t them who uncovered his identity. Instead, it was a user from an anonymous Japanese online community. What’s the difference between the two?

[Too many people saw the Reaper’s identity.]

The Reaper’s identity had become public knowledge.

*****

Two days passed.

It took only a single day for Anzai Yuuki, who called himself the Reaper, to have his life torn apart.

Numerous news articles had already been published, and “Anzai Yuuki” trended on Twitter.

Someone claiming to be an old classmate uploaded their elementary school graduation photo. Yuuki’s father’s workplace was flooded with calls, his sister had to throw away her phone, and his mother withdrew from the neighborhood association.

Weren’t people afraid of the Reaper’s revenge? Initially, they were hesitant, testing the waters with cautious insults. But public opinion shifted in an instant.

-When you killed so many people, you should’ve been prepared for this.

-Wow, acting all normal at school while brutally murdering people? Disgusting.

-You’re a beast. It’s a disgrace that you even exist in Japan.

-Leave Japan.

The end of vigilante justice often looks like this. The logic that “criminals deserve to die horribly” was now being applied to the Reaper. People don’t hesitate to throw stones at sinners—they believe themselves morally superior.

Moreover, players had always been the target of subtle resentment from ordinary people, as the media often portrayed players as heroes. And due to various reasons, criminal players in Japan rarely had their identities exposed. This was the first time such a high-profile individual was caught.

As a result, the entire world’s attention was focused on Anzai Yuuki. The flood of insults was indescribable.

If even novel authors struggle to maintain their composure when facing hateful comments, how could a mere middle schooler endure being the target of global hatred?

The Reaper, a dark hero fueled by responsibility and a sense of justice, was gone. In his place was a terrified middle schooler, Yuuki, who fled home. He didn’t know how to solve problems without resorting to violence. And now, the only solution he could think of was to annihilate all of Japan.

His family was branded as the relatives of a criminal. His father, an employee at a large corporation, left a suicide note saying he would pay the price for failing to raise his children properly before jumping off a building. His sister and mother vanished without a trace.

“…This isn’t right.”

I’m not trying to defend the Reaper, who caused countless innocent deaths. But… but this isn’t right.

Should murderers die horrible deaths?

Then what about their families? Do they deserve to die too? Is it a crime not to control their family member?

“Ji-Won.”

Even though the weight of it all made me want to retch, my resolve this time was firm.

“Let’s regress. And let’s go meet him ourselves.”

After clearing the 11th floor, I’ll personally track down Anzai Yuuki. Then I’ll decide how to handle this.

No matter how much of a trash human being he might be, this isn’t the ending he deserves.

If he’s to die… then I’ll be the one to kill him.

***

To minimize variables, I cleared the 11th floor using the same strategy as before. The only notable differences this time were that Choi Ji-Won’s proficiency with Heart of the Thunder had improved and that I shamelessly grabbed a few more items from the dwarves’ fortress.

I used the same tactics to scare people, but I added a little flair this time, saying things like, “Heh heh… Evil must be punished…” and, “Die, you insect.” These were things the Reaper would probably say. If Anzai Yuuki was the kind of person who could be rehabilitated, this might help.

Next on the agenda: catching a flight to Japan.

I’m sitting on a cool 2 billion won in cash. And since everything resets when I regress, there’s absolutely no need to be frugal. So, I booked a comfortable flight and headed straight to Japan.

****

“The address we’re looking for is…”

Anzai Yuuki’s home address had been widely circulated before I regressed, so finding it wasn’t difficult.

Boldly, we approached and rang the doorbell. The door opened to reveal the Reaper’s mother. Choi Ji-Won greeted her with a bright smile.

“Hello, how can I help you?”

“Oh, we’re staff members from XX Middle School…”

Surprisingly, this entire conversation was in Japanese. While players benefit from the status window’s automatic language translation, regular conversations with non-players don’t have this functionality. So how was this possible?

“May we come in for a moment?”

“Of course. Yuuki! You have visitors!”

It was because Choi Ji-Won spoke Japanese fluently. Thanks to her father’s frequent interactions with Japanese kendo masters, she’d learned Japanese to near-native proficiency.

And so, without any resistance, we made our way to Yuuki’s room. It wasn’t the stereotypical two-story house you see in anime but rather a modest apartment.

“You’re from the school? Why on a weekend…?”

Anzai Yuuki, with dark, messy hair, scratched his head as he came out of his room. The dark circles under his eyes suggested he hadn’t been getting enough sleep—probably typical for someone his age staying up late.

As he lazily stretched and yawned, his gaze landed on Choi Ji-Won. His jaw dropped mid-yawn, and he froze.

“Choi Ji-Won…?”

His gaze, which had been fixed on Ji-Won, shifted to his mother, who was smiling from behind us. It was as if he were scolding her silently, asking, How could you not recognize Choi Ji-Won?!

Finally, his eyes landed on me. But no matter how hard he stared, there was no way he would know who I was.

“And… Kim Jun-Ho.”

“…?”

Anzai Yuuki said my name as he stared at me. Startled, I instinctively stepped back.

It made sense that he’d know Ji-Won’s name—she’s a global celebrity, on par with the likes of Park Ji-Sung, Kim Yuna, Psy, Bong Joon-Ho, and Son Heung-Min.

But my name… How does he know my name?

Has he somehow awakened the “Shinigami’s Eyes” from Death Note, and now my name and lifespan are visible above my head?

As I stood frozen, utterly baffled by the situation, Yuuki spoke again.

“You look like you’re wondering how I know your name.”

And the next thing he said… was far more shocking than anything I could’ve imagined.

“You’re… quite famous on the deep web.”

“…Me?”

Something… something is seriously wrong here.​​

– – End of Chapter – –

 

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