Chapter 9: Rank Ascender (9)

[It is now daytime.]

The turbulent night ended a second before Jun-guk caught up to me.

Only then was I able to close my eyes.

The day was my best escape.

*

Maybe it was because I had ascended to the second floor, but I didn't feel the intense pangs of hunger that I normally felt whenever I woke up.

Therefore I didn't have to gorge on food.

I was reminded of the immense heat from the fire Jeon Jun-guk had unleashed.

Even though I had felt it from a distance, it had still been hot enough to cause me pain.

[Search - Jeon Jun-guk.]

I took out my phone and typed in his name.

Since I was uninterested in politics, I did know any of the assemblymen.

"Ha!"

An assemblyman with the name Jeon Jun-guk really did exist.

He was a sharp-looking man with a high nose and piercing eyes.

Strangely, I could see resemblances between his face and the monster's face.

He was a second-term member of the National Assembly and a part of the Bright Future Party.

"Is this for real?"

There was a possibility that somebody else, other than myself, existed in the Dungeon.

Moreover, he was actively looking for the Mobius Superstring.

It was no longer about growing and ascending ranks.

I needed to learn his intentions.

Only then could I be safe and find out the truth about the dungeon.

"Whoo!"

For now, though, I would try to celebrate the fact that I had managed to enter the second floor and survived.

[Current Superiority Points: 100 points.]

"Yes!"

With the success of the Mirror Quest, I was able to earn 100 Superiority Points.

I knew where to use them today.

However, I would have to go to class and study before that.

Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to be at 0 points today.

But it would be nice to see Yeo-jin.

Creak.

I opened the door to see Dong-jun's silhouette, walking down the street in front of me.

Before calling out to him, I opened social media.

As I had expected, the bastards that had bullied my little brother Jun-soo had posted a picture of themselves and geotagged them.

"Hmm."

I would be able to go to class with 0 points, I thought.

I changed the direction in which I was walking.

[Current Superiority Points: 100 points.]

Three troublemakers had messed with my brother.

I was sure that there were more who helped or stood by idly while my brother was being tortured, but I decided to punish these three, who were undoubtedly the leaders.

"I'd like this, please."

I purchased a black hat and a mask on the way.

They could retaliate against Jun-soo if they found out I was his brother.

Of course, I also needed to hide my identity for my safety.

After putting on the mask and the cap, I went to a PC cafe and opened Jun-soo's school website.

I downloaded forms for transferring schools and filled them in as best as I could.

I wasn't going to order those three brats to kill themselves.

I would take extremely humane steps towards improving their education.

"Phew."

The thought of seeing their faces angered me again.

The pace of my footsteps increased.

Instead of using physical force, I could order them around with using my Power Trip ability.

The desire to punish them strengthened.

"Haha! I'm for real, bro! She was digging me!"

"Are you mad? Are you in heat or something?"

"I'm just that good. You asshole! Hey, hand me a cigarette."

"Yo, they patrol around here."

"Whatever, we can just make a run for it!"

I found the three of them not long after I had left the PC cafe.

I was lucky they were in an alley they had uploaded and tagged recently.

They were smoking cigarettes and hocking loogies on the ground.

"Hah, yo. Are we planning on skipping all of our classes?"

"I don't know. We could go if we feel like it."

"Do you want to take another 'loan' from Jun-soo?"

I heard them utter Jun-soo's name and was even more sure that these were the kids I had to punish. In different ways.

"Huh? Who're you?"

The bastards stood up when they saw me get closer.

"Don't move. Shut your mouth."

[Activate Power Trip: 9 Superiority Point spent.]

I pushed the three assholes, who had been rendered silent, deeper into the alley. Their lesson had only begun.

*

I couldn't recall the last time I had hit anybody.

"Ugh!"

I hit the three wannabe gangsters while they were petrified like statues.

They couldn't even cry out in pain.

All they could do was get hit as I beat them.

"Eek!"

Muffled moans escaped through their jaws that were clamped shut.

Their eyes blinked as if they were possessed.

"Eik!"

I wasn't punishing them for what they had done to my brother.

This was just me hitting out of anger.

"Pheeeew."

I stopped because I was out of breath.

I looked at the sky while I caught my breath.

I slowly looked over the three gangsters.

They were red all over, and two of them were bleeding.

When getting hit, most people recoil to lessen the force and the pain but because I had ordered them to stay still, they were forced to take each hit completely.

"Oi, you three."

Maybe it was because of the time I had spent in the dungeon, but I had become a more vicious person.

And anyway, I had something to test out.

"Write down all of your wrongdoings and turn yourselves into the police. Then apply for a transfer."

[Insufficient Superiority Points.]

As I had expected, any orders that were too complicated were a little difficult to get done with only 91 points.

"Be nice from now on."

[Insufficient Superiority Points.]

It was the same for abstract or mental commands as well.

After asking a few more questions, I came to a couple of temporary decisions.

At the moment, I could only give short and immediately achievable orders.

If I had more points in the future, I would be able to give much higher, more absolute orders.

"Stay still."

[Activate Power Trip: 6 Superiority Point spent.]

About twenty minutes had passed, so I froze the three again, just in case.

"Uff!"

The three gangsters' expressions continued to change.

They looked flustered and then angry at being hit.

Lastly, they showed a sense of helplessness at not being able to move for twenty minutes.

Now, as I approached them again, fear flashed across their faces.

"You first. Tell me the worst thing you did at school."

I didn't give them a psychological order.

I was only subjecting them to a light interrogation.

"I never studied well!"

This selfish asshole.

I had asked him to tell me the worst thing he did, but he didn't even mention Jun-soo.

Apparently, being bad at studying was worse than bullying my brother.

"You, what about you."

"I messed with a girl from the next class and hit her!"

"And you?"

"I threatened my homeroom teacher, who was nice to me!"

"Haaa. Is that so?"

All three of them gave very unsatisfactory answers.

I had spent nine points on this interrogation.

Bullying Jun-soo should have been the worst thing that they had done.

"Ha, I have never seen such assholes!"

My words inspired fear in the bastards' eyes.

The marks left by permanent markers disappear over time and bruises heal.

But burn marks and the scars of the heart remain forever.

Crack.

I picked up a brick that was lying in the corner.

"If you're right-handed, smash in your left hand. Do the opposite if you're left-handed."

I tried to maintain my composure, but my hands were trembling.

I couldn't forgive these gangster wannabes.

I decided to give them something that would last all their lives.

As a mercy, I allowed them to spare their dominant hands and make them injure the hand they did not use a lot.

CRACK! CRACK!

"UH! UGH!"

The bastards tried to resist but couldn't help but crush their hands with the brick I handed them.

[Activate Power Trip: 9 Superiority Point spent.]

Their eyes opened wide as their bodies trembled.

"Again. Harder."

CRAAAACCK!

[Activate Power Trip: 9 Superiority Point spent.]

Even at a glance, I knew.

They would never be able to use those hands ever again.

"Phew..."

When I saw their fingers were all bent unnaturally, I came back to reality.

I couldn't believe what I had done with my ability.

I almost regretted it for a moment, but I felt my heart grow cold again when I thought about Jun-soo's back.

This was not just punishment.

This was payback for all of the pain and misery that my brother Jun-soo had to go through all this time.

"Stand up. Put your hands in your pockets."

[Activate Power Trip: 3 Superiority Point spent.]

I made the gangsters hide their injured hands.

I didn't care whether they were in pain or not.

Then I visited each of their houses.

It just looked like three high school students following me.

"Go in and bring out a certified copy of the register and these documents."

I had the punks get me the necessary documents one by one.

After that, I made them sign each document.

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It was an affidavit stating their crimes and the school transfer forms.

"Ha. You guys did a lot."

When I read through their affidavits, it was appalling.

Jun-soo had only been the most recent victim among the string of people they had victimized.

There were so many more.

I now felt no remorse about what I had done to their hands.

"Go and submit these to your school. And come right back to me, even if someone tries to stop you."

[Activate Power Trip: 9 Superiority Point spent.]

My points had clearly decreased. But I still had plenty to spare.

"Sob."

The punks began crying.

I had finally broken through their tough and horrifying exteriors.

They looked like flustered teenagers.

But I had no intention of stopping here.

"Go give these affidavits to the police."

The thugs went into the police stations and turned in their written confessions their own hands.

They had each put their seals and their thumbprints and written down all of their information, so they would not be able to overturn this confession later.

"Well, well. Now we're making progress, aren't we?"

At my words, the three opened and closed their eyes.

Fat tears rolled down their cheeks.

I had no sympathy for them.

"Go home and don't come out for two days."

Their behaviors at home would be their own to make.

They could go to the bathroom or drink water.

They could make and eat ramen noodles if they wanted to.

[Current Superiority Points: 0 points.]

"Haa!"

I watched the three punks walking away and let out a long sigh.

I did not feel relieved and neither did I feel a sense of accomplishment.

I felt dirty, like how I would after feasting on the creatures in the dungeon.

I also didn't feel any regret.

"Hmm."

I had missed a class at the prep school.

I decided to focus on studying to calm my excited mind.

[Present Superiority Points: 0 points.]

I had spent all 100 of Superiority Points teaching these punks a lesson.

I began to shuffle in the direction of the prep school.

"Gahaha. What a great show! Now. Get in the car and don't say a thing," Without any warning I heard somebody order me from behind.

I could only blink as I got into the passenger seat of a black sedan.

Someone had used the Power Trip ability on me.

*

The car was an expensive imported car.

The person who had given me the order was a young man in his mid-twenties wearing a fancy suit with his slick hair pushed back.

He had Western features and pale skin.

"You can talk again. That was really interesting. Stay in the car."

"Who are you?"

I turned my head and looked at the man.

I made a point not to act rashly or attack him.

I had just found out that there were others who could use the Power Trip ability.

And among them, this man was ranked higher than I.

"I'm someone like you. Except, I'm just much more qualified than you to wield this special ability!"

Was there more than one Mobius Superstring?

Or were there people who could use this ability without it?

"Where are you taking me?"

"You don't need to know that yet. Speak with your eyes closed."

At his command, my eyes shut automatically.

I could still speak.

"If it were me, I would have told them to swallow some poison or slit their own throats!

It looked like you were doing a lot of work for not much. Was it a personal grievance?"

"That's right."

"Well, it wasn't bad. I'm guessing that you didn't have that many points?"

The man was strangely praising my actions.

The man acted as if I had done nothing wrong.

Maybe it was because he had powers like me.

"I understand it was because your rank is low, but I still didn't like it. How could you use this amazing ability in such a pathetic way? Hehehe! School transfer? Is that the best you can think of? HAHA!"

The man cackled maliciously.

I could tell he wasn't taking me along just because I had the same abilities as he did.

I prepared myself for the worst.

I was not resigning myself to certain death, but more like preparing myself to do anything to escape.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Would I have ordered you to close your eyes if I was going to tell you? I ask the questions. Stay still until we get to our destination. Just know that I have been watching you with great interest."

Now that I think about it, someone had been watching me when I received the million won reward from Mobius Superstring.

Was it this guy?

I was completely clueless.

I had absolutely no information on this man.

Well, I'd have to wait and see.

It didn't seem like my life was in any immediate danger.

He could have and would have, killed me already if he had wanted to.

"Oh! By the way... Do you know the difference between telling someone to commit suicide and telling someone to slit their throat?"

"It's the difference between a psychological order and a simple action."

"That's right! Kekeke. That's why I love ordering people to kill themselves. Telling somebody to slit their throats is like me murdering them with their hands! But, telling them to commit suicide is like really convincing them to die. How great is that? Heehee!"

I felt a chill run down my spine.

I had thought about it too, but it had only been a fleeting thought while I was in a fit of rage.

I never had the foggiest intention of actually doing it.

But the way this man spoke indicated that he had already done so and was proud of it.

"No way."

"Yes, way! And not even once or twice. Unlike you, I'm very high ranked and have plenty of points. We all have our place in life. Don't you think?"

"Yes..." I stayed still and waited till we arrived at the destination.

I heard the car pass through a security checkpoint.

"Okay. Open your eyes and follow me. Be quiet as we walk."

I followed the man out of the car.

We had arrived at a luxurious mansion.

Looking at the surrounding scenery, I could tell that we were in a quaint suburb outside the city.

The man hummed as he led me inside the mansion.

Then, he poured ice and liquor into a glass and handed it to me.

"Bottoms up."

"Ugh."

I wasn't very good with liquor, but my body reacted to his order against my will.

The man was very familiar with and skilled at using the Power Trip.

"Well then, you may speak again. Do you know why I brought you here?"

"No."

"Well, you know about Hunters, right?"

"Yes,"

I decided to respond to him obediently, for now.

I knew this man could kill me without lifting a finger.

Horribly, and in a million different ways.

There were only the two of us in this big mansion.

"Those lowlifes are like beasts. Animals! All they have is their idiotic strength. But we're different. We're a more sophisticated type of Awakeners. We can rule the world depending on our Ranks!"

"Well, it seems evident that it wasn't just me."

"Heeheehee! Of course, you dimwit! Listen carefully. The world looks like the Hunters are running it, right? But below the surface, there's a much nobler society holding the reins! Do you get it?"

"Yes."

My insides were burning from the alcohol.

I didn't usually drink very much.

How high was the proof?

"I'm going to be your guide to this world... But you're too pathetic and weak to be useful yet. You're just a prep student with no money or skills and a low level of Power Trip. You're almost useless."

"Then let me go."

"Oh, no. I can't do that. Shouldn't I tell you a little more about your Guide?"

"Guide? I don't know about that."

"Think about it. We are all half-man-half-gods. Living and dying according to the grand hierarchy. Shouldn't we have our own system and organization? Teehee."

The man laughed strangely as if he were high on drugs.

Had the people who possessed the same abilities as I formed a secret coalition?

Then this man's words would make more sense.

They had formed an organization to use their abilities more effectively as a group.

It looked like I didn't have to worry about dying any time soon.

But I was horrified to learn that there were people who had this ability and were hiding in the shadows.

"Well, whatever! I'll explain the rest later. First, let's enjoy some of my work. I was so disappointed earlier. Even when you made them crush their hands, I merely thought you liked to work slowly. I didn't realize you were soft."

"Do you mean I should've killed them?"

The man narrowed his eyes into slits like a snake and began to howl with laughter.

"Yes! Duh! Cleaning up filth like them is one of our goals! We're just enjoying the process a little along the way. And you're free to take a little liberty in the way you go about your 'cleaning.' Look."

Beep.

The man pressed a button, and a giant screen appeared on the wall.

A projector started to play a video.

Although I had prepared myself, I felt bile rise in my throat.

It wasn't because of the alcohol.

"Swallow it. Don't throw up here."

At his command, I couldn't throw up, even though the bile was bubbling in my throat.

The video showed a middle-aged man.

He climbed onto the roof of a high building, completely naked, and began to do a series of bizarre things before hanging himself off the ledge of the building.

I could tell who had made him do those things.

"What do you think? Isn't it a work of art? Hehe. He was the president of a small company getting in the way of our business. They didn't even play this video on the news, saying it would cause social unrest. Humph! What a shame."

The man took out a bottle of powder from his suit pocket and inhaled it.

He actually was on drugs.

"I have a few more masterpieces. Watch carefully."

I closed my eyes and turned my head because I thought I would go crazy.

"Open your eyes. Concentrate on the screen. I will allow you to puke, though."

The man grabbed the ice bucket and emptied it on the floor before handing it to me.

"Ueeeeeeeeek!"

I was forced to watch a few more videos.

What I did to the punks earlier was child's play compared to the evil I was shown.

The man would chime in now and then proudly.

I continued to throw up.

I puked until I had nothing more left to throw up anymore.

"Look! Don't you see why I was so disappointed? Transfer? That's it? My god! Do better next time. I didn't even film it. It was so boring. Now, look at me."

At his command, I looked straight at his face.

It was the face of a devil high on drugs and sadistic pleasure.

"You'll remember everything except for my face. Now. Close your eyes."

Tears streamed down my face at his words and I closed my eyes.

Beeeeeeeep-

My ears began to ring, and a headache began.

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