Chapter 2 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

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Translated by Jinmu

Read more at hivetoons.org

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A grotesque crime where the victims' severed heads were decorated with ribbons.

No less than three deceased.

'This is driving me crazy.'

A public wanted poster had also been issued.

The suspect's appearance was clearly captured on the CCTV screen.

'That's not John Cossack's face, though.......'

Since he was an assassin, there was a high possibility he had disguised himself.

Or it could be a completely different person... or it could just be a coincidence.

But there was no way there were two killers who tied ribbon knots on people's heads.

'Did I summon a demon? Because he is a ghost, is he an evil spirit, something like that?'

After finishing the morning TV news.

Bong Joo-hyuk searched on the internet.

The Smile Cash murder case.

However, the general public's view of the incident was surprising.

The atmosphere in community comment sections was mostly saying they deserved to die.

- Should we call him the Ribbon Killer?

- What do you mean killer! He is the Righteous Ribbon Man.

- I heard these guys were running an illegal business disguised as a legal one?

- I feel so refreshed. How much damage must they have caused? I heard someone even got their organs removed.

- I borrowed one million won, and I was barely freed after paying back five million won.

- That's nothing. My friend borrowed eight million won, and the interest alone is ten million won while the principal remains the same.

- Who could have killed them?

- Well, it's obviously going to be one of the victims.

- Bastards, whoever killed them, isn't this practically self-defense.

Joo-hyuk let out a deep sigh and turned off his laptop.

'I thought it was absolute obedience?'

He had never given an order to kill.

Aside from just telling him to watch TV.

But why?

Joo-hyuk brought up his status window and reviewed the catalog entry.

- Name : John Cossack

- Rank : SR (Super Rare)

- Type : Assassin (Human)

- Manifestation Duration : 6 hours

- Satisfaction Rating : None

- Resummon Cooldown : 3 hours (Currently available for designated summoning)

He could be summoned.

Should I call him and ask?

Did he really kill those people? If he killed them, why did he do it?

However.

'It's scary.'

What if he caused harm to his own summoner?

'...No. It didn't seem like he would do that.'

He might have even done it to protect him.

He made a decision.

Let's call him.

"...John Cossack, designated summoning!"

It was then.

Ding!

A hologram image appeared before Joo-hyuk's eyes.

Depicting five uncolored stars.

[Before designated summoning, please leave a satisfaction rating for John Cossack.]

[Please drag your finger to rate with stars.]

Ah! He remembered there was a satisfaction rating on the catalog.

'A star rating, huh.'

He probably had to yield one.......

How many points should he give?

Joo-hyuk was the type to unconditionally give 5 stars if he had the opportunity to leave a rating.

Because his mother worked as a rental water purifier coordinator, he knew very well how heartbreaking it was if a satisfaction rating was low.

Even so, he couldn't exactly give 5 stars to a murder suspect.

Then.......

Tap!

[John Cossack's satisfaction rating has been recorded as 3 stars.]

An ambiguous score of 3 points that was neither here nor there.

He had complaints, but there was no 1 point.

This was exactly a timid man's star rating evaluation.

In that instant!

Whoosh! Paf!

[John Cossack has been designated summoned.]

"Loyalty! Nice to meet you again, sir! Thank you for the 3 points, sir! I'll work even harder, sir."

"...Yes."

Such an innocent expression.

This kind of person killed three people?

No way! That couldn't be true!

"I gathered you because I have something to ask."

"Yes, sir! Ask as much as you'd like."

"Perhaps those people who came to my house yesterday, ...did you kill them, Mr. Cossack?"

"That is correct, sir. I took care of them last night, sir. Right before I was unsummoned, sir."

"......."

Ah!

As expected, this person was the culprit.

He was currently facing a murderer.

All the fine hairs on his body stood on end.

He needed to gather his courage.

Gulp.

He swallowed his saliva once out of fear he might hiccup.

"...H-How? You wouldn't have even known where their office was."

"When those bastards barged into Summoner Bong's house, I planted a tracking mark, sir. I know everything about where they are, sir."

A tracking mark?

It was probably something like a skill.

"W-Why? Why go that far?"

"Because they are threat factors, sir. It is better to deal with them in advance, sir."

"Umm, I didn't order you to."

"...Th-That's because of Article 3 of the Three Principles, sir."

If it was the Three Principles?

Article 1 instructed him to prioritize the summoner's life.

Article 2 ordered absolute obedience to commands.

Article 3 was.......

"The clause stating that if Article 1 and Article 2 conflict with each other, Article 1 is set as the highest priority value is exactly Article 3, sir."

"Ah!"

He thought he knew what it meant.

For instance, if he ordered Cossack to kill him, it meant he would disobey.

Because Article 1 took priority.

"But there was no actual threat. Isn't that an arbitrary judgment?"

"That is true, sir. However, Article 3 can be interpreted broadly, sir. If we leave those bastards alone, they would surely threaten the summoner's life someday, sir."

"......."

This was driving him crazy.

An assumption that the illegal debt collectors might kill him.

He probably thought he couldn't protect him while out of his summoned state, so he concluded that killing them was the best course of action.

"Wow! You really are insa... Ah! I'm sorry."

"It's fine, sir. I've heard that a lot, sir."

A sudden action based on an arbitrary judgment.

It was ambiguous.

How was he supposed to accept this?

'...I shouldn't feel grateful for this, this is extremely dangerous.'

It was essentially a ticking time bomb.

Controlling him might be difficult.

For example, let's assume Joo-hyuk was walking down a crowded street with John Cossack.

He accidentally bumped shoulders with someone who seemed like a thug.

The person who got bumped in the shoulder would probably say this.

- Do you want to die? Do you want me to pluck out your eyeballs!

Then John Cossack would feel that the person had threatened his life.

As a result, there could be another severed head adorned with a butterfly ribbon.

This wouldn't do.

He didn't know if he would continue to summon this person in the future, but.

"Murder wasn't for my sake. It could put me in a difficult situation because of it."

"...Uh, no one will know, sir."

Even so, when Joo-hyuk continued to frown, John Cossack quietly bent his knees and knelt down.

"I was wrong, sir."

"...Don't kneel."

"Yes, sir!"

"You're never going to do that again, right?"

"I-I can't guarantee that, sir."

The way he rolled his eyes around made him untrustworthy.

Still, it seemed he didn't tell lies.

"I wouldn't know if my life was truly on the line, but killing someone just based on an assumption is......."

"Yes, sir! I will judge situations properly, sir."

His response was energetic.

"Understood. Please go back for now."

"B-But are you not going to climb the tower, sir?"

Climbing the tower.

Since the topic was brought up, he should be honest.

It was embarrassing, but.

"I haven't decided yet. ...Because I'm a coward, I'm scared. I don't want to die either."

"Aha! I understand, sir. In my experience, summoners who call us out should rightfully be like that, sir."

Huh? A summoner should be a coward.

And in his experience?

"Perhaps there was another summoner? I mean someone who summoned you like me, Mr. Cossack."

"There was, sir."

There was?

You're saying there's another person like me?

"...A person from this Earth?"

"No, sir. It was a world similar to Earth's civilization, but a different world, sir. There are quite a few worlds like that, sir."

"Hmm."

To think there was a world similar to Earth's civilization.

Is it a parallel universe?

"Then they could summon you from that side as well, Mr. Cossack."

"They won't be able to, sir."

"Why not?"

John Cossack replied with a sullen and sorrowful expression.

"They passed away, sir."

"Ah!"

"That world was also destroyed, sir."

The atmosphere turned solemn.

"They were a truly brave person, sir."

"I see."

"They dashed out and hunted monsters ahead of me, sir. They were a truly strong summoner......."

"You must miss them a lot."

"I wouldn't know, sir. I don't even remember them now, sir."

He began to feel strange.

A slight sense of humiliation, a face flushed with embarrassment.

He was told another summoner was brave, so why was he such a coward?

"You're comparing us, and I look pathetic, don't I?"

"Pardon, sir?"

"Because I'm a coward entirely terrified of entering the tower."

John Cossack frantically waved his hands in dismay.

"No, sir! Absolutely not, sir! This is actually better, sir. I truly like this, sir!"

"...Eh?"

What did this mean?

"Summoners have to be like that, sir. Bravery is a poison, sir. Cowardice is the greatest virtue, sir."

"Uh-huh......."

"Brave summoners are dangerous, sir. You never know when they might die, sir. If you pass away, sir, we wouldn't be able to come outside either, sir."

Was it connected like that?

"Summoner Bong, sir, please keep playing it safe and live a long, long life. I will handle all the dirty work, sir. "

"Yes, well, about that."

It was easy.

Even if he was told not to, he would do exactly that.

"Anyway, I'll think about climbing the tower."

"Please take your time deciding, sir. There's no problem even if you don't do it, sir."

"Then I'll get going......."

"Yes, sir! Please call for me again next time, sir!"

Joo-hyuk used the unsummon skill.

Whoosh! John Cossack disappeared.

'He's gone.'

His mind went blank.

There had only been overwhelmingly impactful events happening yesterday and today.

Now it was back to his daily routine.

It was time to go to work.

Joo-hyuk was working two jobs.

A part-time job at a convenience store during the day.

A part-time job at a barbecue restaurant at night.

He had many places he needed to spend money on.

His father was far from a full recovery, and his mother was a water purifier company coordinator.

He had to contribute whatever he could to the household finances.

That was why working two part-time jobs was much better than getting a job at one specific place.

With money he earned, he sent some home, saved some, and paid off his debts.

'...Do I not have to pay my debt anymore?'

Well, the people who would collect the debt had disappeared, after all.

He was going to be late.

He needed to head out quickly.

* * *

The convenience store where Joo-hyuk worked.

Even though he was working his morning shift, he couldn't concentrate on his work at all.

An awakening rate of 0.01%.

And a player with the Summoning trait.

No matter how good his trait was, it was unquestionably dangerous.

Would it just be easy because it was Summoning?

'It's better not to do it.'

However, Joo-hyuk was also a youth in his prime.

He felt a desire to challenge it at least once.

'Fuck! Why couldn't I do it?'

There was also his uncertain future.

He couldn't possibly live his entire life doing only part-time jobs.

Should I do it, or not.

He wavered back and forth.

Typical trait of a timid man!

Indecisiveness, inability to make choices.

His awakening might get revoked at this rate.

If you did not start climbing the tower within three months of awakening, you would lose your qualifications as a player.

Even existing players had their qualifications revoked if they didn't work.

'It's a waste to just let it get revoked.......'

But thinking about it another way, letting it pass by without anything happening seemed fine too.

'Should I at least take a look at what it's like?'

If you became a player, the nation stepped forward to provide full support.

From legal counsel, honoring requests for identity protection, buying rewards obtained from climbing the tower at high prices, and the other benefits were practically endless.

In the early days, they hid the fact that they were players, but nowadays, a large number of players operated while voluntarily revealing their identities.

They were practically identical to entertainer celebrities.

Some players even brought video recording devices when entering the tower to record and broadcast their clearing process.

If he searched for them, there were quite a few available.

'Are there any clearing videos by a Summoning trait player?'

There was one.

A video recorded by a player who possessed the trait of summoning golems.

'...Wow!'

The swarming monsters.

The Summoning trait player gesturing towards those bastards.

Thump, thump, thump, thump!

A golem that seemed to be around 3 meters tall tore the monsters to pieces.

Because the numbers were so large they got pushed back slightly, but.......

'This trait is an easier carry than I thought.'

The summoner looked like he wasn't doing anything.

It seemed doable.

'Should I give it a try?'

But then he saw the comments attached to the video.

- What is a level 30 doing on the 21st floor? Climb the 31st floor.

- He probably got scared after trying it once. There's a trap zone there and a ton of monsters spawn.

- You should just fuck off back to the 1st floor instead.

- Are you saying you can make a living if you repeatedly clear the 21st floor?

- Cowardly bastard.

- Hey hey, don't be too harsh. If you die in the tower, they can't even find your corpse, so we should understand.

Players who no longer climbed higher.

There were quite a few.

It was natural that the higher the floor, the harder it got.

It would be fortunate if it was only difficult.

With one wrong step, you died.

That was why they parked on an easy floor and solely siphoned the rewards.

Because the missions for each floor could be repeated multiple times.

'He's a person I like.'

It was actually better.

What was wrong with getting an easy carry on an easy floor?

This changed the story entirely.

In a corner of Joo-hyuk's mind, a thought started to gently bloom: should I try doing it once?