Translator: Wan ED/PR: N/A (it was checked by ghosts!)
3. Unknown Supernova (4)
In the dark gym. The modified voice of a student was heard through an ominous sound of a demonic beast clashing with a barrier in the background.
The faces were pixelated, but because only the eyes were obscured, the people who watched recent news would know who that student was straight away.
He was a middle schooler who became a rising star ‘Little hero’ lately.
That little hero covered himself up with an injured student who couldn’t move and aimed an item card on him.
— It’s different if there is living, moving bait. Won’t that Jin and their family member be satisfied if three people die? Baits.
— You want to use ▉▉▉ as a bait? ▉▉▉ got injured while saving you, you ungrateful bastard!
— Ungrateful? Get real. Are we playing middle school? You too trampled over other people’s grades to get here.
Little hero used an item card, and the other student was left tied up.
***
The Hwang Myeong Foundation’s directors decided to release a video after suffering from public attack.
Hwang Myeong Foundation stance was as follows.
‘They were too late to realize the hideous act of the student in question. They decided to reject paying for medical bills and other aids, and released a video to resolve the public misunderstanding.’
Too late to realize, they say.
‘What a clean twist from someone who knew everything, and planned to move on, but then changed their stance on the subject.’
Hwang Myeong Foundation video-processed the faces in advance.
In the video, our faces around the eyes were pixelated and the parts where our names were called were erased.
Moreover, whether they wanted to avoid another controversy, or it was Hwang Myeong-ho giving me some consideration, the scene when I used my hand on Son Mingi was cut out.
Hwang Myeong Foundation’s released video turned public opinion upside down.
Each news-media released it on air with their anchors’ commentary and captions.
Later, the video was released on a certain media video-channel, and gathered 10 million hits in the instant.
Little hero Son Mingi became the ‘Son Meatjig’. [1]
The articles about Son Mingi flooded with comments condemning the Son Meatjig.
[Little hero? Lol Isn’t it just Son Meatjig?]
[Son Min gi Son Meat jig]
[You yell to help and then say to use the injured kid as bait?? Today 1 demon was lost. 1 satanist was gained. Players blessed by Satan remain alert~~~]
[Complete fucking goosebumps;;; even the Enemy couldn’t be such a bastard!]
[Hwang Myeong Foundation-nims… Please, don’t pay any of that bastard hospital bills. Please. It’s okay to use that money for an expensive lawyer… I’m so angry…]
Son Mingi’s side responded immediately.
They didn’t appear on the TV broadcasts or in major newspapers, but occasional articles supporting Son Mingi started to come out.
[Tears of ‘Little hero’: ‘I was scared, I’m sorry to my friends’]
[Hwang Myeong Foundation’s loophole in security pierced. Young elites cornered]
[Video released without consent of involved ‘Little hero’. Warning about defamation charges.]
But the public had already turned their backs a long time ago.
He almost killed someone to live.
This fact may easily buy sympathy tickets.
Because of that, all knives could even turn towards Hwang Myeong Foundation.
However, people couldn’t forgive Son Mingi for daring to deceive them, and pretend to be a hero.
[The shameless one continues being shameless]
[Translation: Give me money!]
[School’s protection duty?? Defamation??? Pppffft. The school’s side kindly pixelated, changed the voice and did it all before releasing, also in the agreement before you enter the exam it is written that the school holds no responsibility for injuries. LOL. You were the ones who spilled out personal details themselves during interviews, retards. Hahaha.]
[I saw and weed out the name of a journalist who came up with the news with an interview about a complaint leak. Journalist-nim, how much did you get this time?]
[Take a good look at the article. It’s not ‘accusation’, it’s ‘charges’ and it’s not ‘reporting’, it’s ‘warning’. Are you putting on airs because you’re scared?]
And the next day.
On one of the web communities, a post about Son Mingi appeared.
It was about the school’s ‘academic support’ of manipulating grades to send Son Mingi to Eungwang School.
The person who wrote the post revealed that they were better in a few subjects than Son Mingi, but when they checked the academic ranking, their position was switched with Son Mingi.
Some people suspected another fabrication here.
However, when doubts of fabrication arose, the poster immediately published their student’s ID and the screenshot of a message with Son Mingi’s confession.
Maybe Son Mingi was overconfident in his backing, because he threatened them with ‘If this fact is revealed, I’ll make sure you won’t be able to go to highschool.’
‘I expected that if Son Mingi starts to fall, the mentioned by him ‘trampled’ people will certainly shoot support fire, but…’
I didn’t expect it to be to this degree.
[The post by a student from the same school as Son Meatjig who got a disadvantageous score because of him. Three lines summary: 1. Son Meatjig backing + school grades manipulation 2. Son Meatjig’s confession, blackmail 3. Son Meatjig is a bastard]
[Isn’t that all a crime? A murder attempt, grade manipulation robbery, even blackmail! I wish you go to prison by all means!]
[Those are the actions of a 16 year old. How many people would be sacrificed if he wasn’t caught, and grew up as an elite of the most prestigious highschool in Korea? Horrible.]
With this much, the news supporting Son Mingi no longer appeared.
And the public wasn’t cursing only Son Mingi.
The ones who exposed their faces in the media, and took part in Son Mingi’s deceitful play – his parents were also implicated.
[For those curious about faces of that f*** Son Meatjig’s parents, I recommend turning on the news again. ^^]
[I worked in Son Meatjig’s father’s company for a month and quit to tell the story.]
[I post the link to Son Meatjig’s company website ~~~ Whatever for schadenfreude or cursing ~~~ Tut! Tut! ~~~ SPIT!]
[By the way, most things here are handled through interns, so it’s ruined regardless of what the actual staff think. I cannot share a detailed story, but… um… It’s ‘You reap what you sow’, for real.]
Son Mingi’s parents were players who made business from selling usable consumables to Player’s Association and professional player teams.
When the company name was leaked, the protests poured on the Player’s Association and professional teams homepages, asking them to sever business ties with Son Mingi’s parents company.
And, before anyone noticed, the leaders of the fund-raisers to support Son Mingi evaporated, leaving the fund-raisers in shambles.
The participants also turned their anger towards Son Mingi’s family.
[Spit back donations, you scum bastards of family.]
[I got fooled good by Son Meatjig, so I wrote a lot of comments… Even donated. It’s going to be so embarrassing later.]
[↑ Yeah. Me too ㅠㅠ ]
[Son Meatjig’s supporting pushovers are good at self-killing. Isn’t Han River cold in December? Jump first and let me know.]
[↑ Don’t you know that player teams live around Han River? It’s Hell suicide difficulty.]
[I set up a cafe to get back donations from Son Meatjig’s fraud. We’re discussing the future response… Please join the cafe.]
About a week after the release of the video…
Son Mingi’s finances drove him into a corner without a chance to escape.
Adding up all settlement money, hospital bills, lawyer consultation fees and entertainment expenses for media managers amounted to a few dozens of billions.
In addition, the boycott broke out at the company, and it was unknown whether the new year supply contract will be renewed.
Naturally, there was no spare money for a limbs regeneration surgery.
And of course the Eungwang School, and every highschool Son Mingi applied to, rejected him.
Son Mingi became a disabled middle school graduate with only debt remaining.
He completely crumbled at the end of December.
At the time, when his topic subsided, the attention’s focus changed a bit.
[The highest contributor Jo-ssi? Ju-ssi? Why didn’t you say anything? My educated guess — it’s because of Son Meatjig’s blackmail.]
[I see. Blackmailed by Son Meatjig. Yuck.]
[It’s very strange now that I think about it. Why was he so hurt alone while the other kids were fine? Why is the highest contributor selected by PlayerSAT-K treated like air?]
[How did this punk get hurt in the end? Heh. It seems he spit out those threats like a fool.]
[The highest contributor is in our class! I’m from Jin School[2] Grade 3 Class. He doesn’t come to school. It seems that day was very hard ㅜㅜ; ]
[Weren’t they protecting him out of trust? At the beginning of the video when he threw his body for Son Meatjig it was amazing.]
Our scheme hit Son Mingi again, but he couldn’t use media play as we reached a ‘happy agreement’.
Since he had to grit his teeth, because if agreement details were disclosed, the penalty was equal to 3 times the settlement money.
I monitored the comments and articles while the situation progressed and then closed the hologram with a satisfied expression.
As planned.
No, it went better than planned.
***
“Nowadays my daily routine is to read comments under the news. I take screenshots of all the impressive posts I read. When I’ll have a hard time in the future, I’m gonna read them again.”
In Yu Sang-hun’s room, Yu Sang-hui was showing us, who came to play, a hologram screen with a gentle smile.
“He calls every day. At first it was very satisfying, but it’s annoying now. He said he wants to apologize, and also take a picture of the four of you getting along to put on SNS…? Why does he act like it was not limbs, but the brain which was chopped?”
As Yu Sang-hui flipped back her long hair, bathed in sunlight, she truly looked as pure as a priest of the healing goddess.
But her words were bloody.
Jang Namuk didn’t have a particular reaction to those words and drank the apple juice Yu Sang-hui brought him.
I guess he got used to her by now.
“I didn’t tell him your contact information. So don’t worry, I’m just playing with him, pretending to hesitate.”
Yu Sang-hui put down all the juice cups and snacks, and approached my side with a refreshing smile.
“Thanks Uisin. It’s all thanks to you. I didn’t believe you at first, so I’m sorry. I’ll pay you back by all means.”
“No. I actually didn’t do anything.”
“How humble. Don’t even refuse. Now I’m also Uisin’s senior, so feel free to call me Sang-hui noona.”
Yu Sang-hui gave me a bright smile.
Yu Sang-hun, who saw it from the side, made a face as if he saw a demonic beast.
“Yuck, Sang-hui noona?”
Bang!
Yu Sang-hui’s hand struck Yu Sang-hun’s back.
He didn’t show any painful reaction, but his complexion turned slightly blue.
…Yu Sang-hui Vital points strike was level 3.
Won’t the injuries sustained last time worsen?
“Then have fun. Say if you need anything.”
After Yu Sang-hui left, I sat down comfortably on the floor.
The basketball, which was rolling in Yu Sang-hun’s room, landed on my back when I flopped down.
I habitually tapped the ever-traveling basketball with my fingers while I spoke.
“By the way, why are we meeting today? Is it a vacation celebration?”
We exchanged messages at the group chat, but it was the first offline meeting after signing the agreement.
I was skipping school, but the two of them were going to school diligently, so there was no time to meet.
“To congratulate you. ‘Unknown Supernova’-nim.”
Where did that come from?
“I saw it on the Association’s official website. You were registered as a player who subjugated the wanted Enemy.”
Yu Sang-hun added as he saw my face, and seemed to read my thoughts.
While Son Mingi was ruining himself and his family, I was going in and out of the Player’s Association.
It was said that problems occurred because a 16 years old, ordinary citizen, who wasn’t registered in PlayerSAT-K, subjugated the wanted Enemy, which wasn’t a case ever before.
I didn’t like the idea of leaving my real name, so I decided to receive a player nickname ahead of time, which was arbitrarily chosen by PlayerSAT-K according to my performance.
The result was the Unknown Supernova.
In Hong Gyubin’s words…
‘You’re a young middle school student who is just an ordinary person, unable to use Gwangrim, but you played the main role. It suits you.’
I didn’t like crafty Hong Gyubin, but the nickname on it’s own wasn’t bad.
For now, I was Unknown Supernova reserve player, but the next day, when I turn 17, I’ll automatically become a full-fledged Player.
“Yes, thank you. Is there really a need to congratulate though, if you and Jang Namuk will become official players in a day?”
“It’s also vacation, so both.”
“So you called with congratulations in mind?”
“Let’s play a game.”
“Hey.”
Me and Yu Sang-hun continued to talk nonsense.
While we were taking out controllers for a fighting game, Jang Namuk suddenly dropped a bomb.
“I decided I won’t go to the Eungwang School. I’ll go to the player military special highschool, and become a soldier.”
“What?”
“What!”
It was such an unexpected development that me and Yu Sang-hun opened our mouths wide.
Jang Namuk’s eyes behind glasses shined with determination.
“From the beginning I had grades to go to the Eungwang School, so I signed in, but I never planned to go there.”
Are you saying you tried to get into Korea’s most prestigious highschool, because you had grades for it?
If 2 millions of highschool students in Korea heard it, Jang Namuk would’ve become targets of assassinations and bounties for his head.
However, Jang Namuk’s voice was serious, and sounded somewhat solemn.
“I don’t have Sang-hun’s courage to throw my own body, nor can I think of a strategy like Uisin. I could do nothing but move according to the plan, and shout to run.”
“In this world, there are some bastards who can’t do even that.”
“Son Mingi case was like that too. I couldn’t even think of a plan similar to Uisin or trust him like Sang-hun.”
“Jang Namuk…”
Yu Sang-hun’s face showed he wanted to stop Jang Namuk.
However, Jang Namuk shook his head and spoke firmly.
“I applied to Eungwang School just because of my good grades and abilities. Others sign in hopes of joining professional player teams in the future, but I don’t have any future hopes or goals.”
“Where is a middle schooler with the proper future hopes? If anyone asks, I roughly reply I want to be a president.”
“And you still want to become a player at the Eungwang School. I’m not like that.”
Yu Sang-hun didn’t seem to come up with anything more to say, as he closed his mouth.
“I don’t match well with the Eungwang School’s tradition, which values freedom. Like this, even if I go to the Eungwang School now, I’ll only hold your ankle.”
Jang Namuk was a frighteningly honest guy.
His words continued.
“But I’m also someone who wishes to become a person who can defend and help other people. I think it’s better to go to the military school, and become a soldier to learn that.”
To speak so much, he likely thought about it every day after that incident.
What should I tell him?
An advice out of my experience of life in the army?
An analysis and comparison of pros and cons of Eungwang School and military school each?
If there was possibly even a bit of hesitation in Jang Namuk’s eyes, I would’ve said something.
“Okay. I understand.”
What Jang Namuk needed now wasn’t any of that information.
“Contact me anytime, if anything happens. Even if I can’t do anything, I’ll at least listen.”
Jang Namuk didn’t tell us this because he wanted us to stop him or inform him about what he didn’t know.
He just wanted to talk to his ‘friends,’ and to be heard.
“Like uncle.”
“Uncle?”
My extremely serious attitude was immediately broken by the two middle schoolers.
Soon my and Yu Sang-hun’s incoherent chatter followed.
Even the tension disappeared from Jang Namuk’s face with nonsensical ramblings and he cut in with nagging attacks.
***
Winter days are short.
We decided to disband before the sunset, after eating a bit early dinner at Yu Sang-hun’s house.
His family felt sorry, so they asked us to stay for a sleepover, and then go.
However, Jang Namuk’s parents came in person to Yu Sang-hun’s home to pick him up, and I also declined.
There were three means of public-transportation to my home.
Subway, ground bus and automatic airbus.
Because the fees for automatic airbus were expensive, and there was no air-bus stop at the hill slum where I lived, I decided to go by ground bus.
While I waited at the bus stop with Yu Sang-hun, who came to send me off…
“Jang Namuk didn’t seem to notice, but there was something on my mind.”
“What?”
There was no one on the road.
At the side road, only the buzz of passing cars sounded.
“At that time, it was suspicious that you had thrown your item at Son Mingi. You knew it was better to throw it at the barrier to increase the status effects.”
It was the first time I saw Yu Sang-hun talk for so long.
He didn’t even talk that much when he was smacked in the back of the head, and on the verge of dying.
He had to doubt it for a long time.
“Were you thinking about it from that time?”
He didn’t answer.
From the moment the Power of Fate activated, I assumed the worst scenario and thought about the next move.
‘Any gamer who played until the last chapter of this game will assume and move like this.’
I left a few ways out.
If he stopped considering Yu Sang-hun as a bait or he didn’t snatch a ball with the media play.
If he apologized to Yu Sang-hun sincerely at least once, this wouldn’t go this far.
However, Son Mingi played only the worst moves.
“I got the bounty. I’m going to buy you a meal next time.”
Yu Sang-hun stared at me, who spoke straightforwardly.
I gave up on getting an answer from him.
“I got settlement. I’ll buy. And call Jang Namuk.”
Now that I thought about it, the settlement money was much bigger than the bounty.
I felt defeated.
Although me and Jang Namuk received a split part from settlement money we increased on the condition of keeping our mouths shut.
We displayed holograms to decide where to go beforehand, and started searching this and that.
Browser engine’s AI recommended two places.
‘Snow and Air’ [3] sky hotel’s special winter buffet with a view on the Han River.
Limited dinner course in commemoration of the visit of a famous French patisserie player to Korea.
Both looked good.
As I was seriously considering between the hotel buffet and the dinner course…
“Thanks, Jo Uisin.”
Yu Sang-hun suddenly thanked me.
I pretended I didn’t hear that.
***
And the next day, January 1st.
I, the Unknown Supernova Jo Uisin, turned 17 and became an official player.
The moment the second hand of the analog watch passed zero.
I heard the system notification.
⟨Usage of Gwangrim became possible.⟩
*~*~*
[1] Son Meatjig – In raws it’s ‘Son Bait’. It’s a word play with his name 손민기 → 손미끼. I tried my best to preserve the joke. I also imagine if this translator ever finds themselves in hell, they will be given wordplays to translate… and comments. A lot of comments.
[2] Jin School – It’s shortened to JS in raws (taking two first letters of syllables), but it seemed weird in English to me so I went with Jin School. It has nothing to do with Jin people. It’s just a stylistic choice on my part.
[3] ‘Snow and Air’ sky hotel – Name translation in progress. It’s especially about the Air part. Until I find anything related (or remember that) to this hotel, we’re stuck with it.
Translator’s note: *translator after ending the comments section* I”M FREEE! I”M ALIVE! I ESCAPED HELL! — Let us assure you that they’re completely alright. If you see a crazy person running around the neighborhood, that is not them. They. Are. Not. That. Crazy. Person.
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