The S-Rank Character Is My Alt

Chapter 104

* * *“Aaaaagh!!”

In a small house in Busan, the orange handcuffs locked around the man’s wrist tightened with a grinding sound.

The man screamed again at the sound of bones breaking. Kang Hana furrowed her brows.

“Is it a crime to just want to live a good life! Huh?! Life is hard enough as it is!! What did I do that was so wrong!”

“Yes, it is a crime. Life is hard for everyone. Do you think you're the only protagonist in this world?”

“I’ve lived such a difficult life! Hey! Tell the truth! You don't want to live with legs like that either! You want to go back to the way things were before!”

At those words, Kang Hana reflexively looked at Chris, even though she knew she shouldn't. The orange eyes of the boy, who wore prosthetic legs on both limbs, narrowed.

“Even if you act that way, it won’t return. You asked what you did that was so wrong.”

Just as the sound of teeth grinding could be heard, Chris began to yank the wrist connected to the man by the handcuffs with a low voice.

“Because you reincarnated through an illegal shortcut, the fates of 2.5 million people changed, 351 people died, and 35 million people lost the opportunities that should've been given to them. Because of you! That sin is so heavy that even your soul wouldn't be enough to pay for it!”

Chris applied pressure to the handcuffed wrist every time he paused between words. The man screamed again as his wrist twisted sideways. Taking advantage of the gap, Chris nodded toward Kang Hana.

When Kang Hana showed a slightly hesitant expression, he frowned and spoke.

“Senior, hurry up!”

Kang Hana sighed and stabbed a ritual dagger into the man’s shoulder. Ignoring his screams, she thrust her hand into the wound and searched through it.

“...I’m sorry! It’s going to hurt a lot! I’ll finish this quickly!”

[Trait :: ‘Guardian of Order who Upholds the Mandate of Heaven’ is activating!]

[Using the authority of the Constellation ‘Jade Emperor (Abbreviated Title)’!]

Her vision turned black as her hand touched a certain part inside the man’s wound.

[Confirmed to be the same Constellation from a different mythology!]

[The Constellation’s mythology is changing! Taoism -> Buddhism]

[Entering the Palace of Sakra!]

[The Constellation’s weapon is changing!]

Blink. She closed and opened her eyes, finding that the scenery before her had shifted instantly.

Inside the palace that managed the three realms, countless jade threads were weaving destiny. She landed softly among the threads and looked around.

Several jewels were arranged neatly between the threads.

“Heave-ho.”

After confirming that her fan had turned into a Vajra, Kang Hana stood up calmly. The Indra’s Net stretched out into the far distance.

Now, her task was to check if this net matched the one belonging to the person who committed the fraud.

Every person carries a world within them. The method of perceiving it differs, and the way one influences the world changes according to that perception.

Those who perceive their world as an ‘unending dream’ will rule the unconscious, and those who perceive it as ‘destiny’ will rule the world’s fate.

And she perceived her world as a ‘soul.’

“Is this the net of that person’s soul?”

The eternal, unending net within a human soul, the Indra’s Net. She called it the ‘Net of the Soul.’

The beads strung upon the Indra’s Net shine by reflecting the light of others. And those other beads shine by reflecting the light of yet another person.

The light of this net, which explains the relationship between soul and soul, never ends. If one is an ‘ordinary person,’ that is.

While moving quietly through the Indra’s Net, she suddenly discovered a strange flow.

“Hmm.... Look at this.”

She sat down after finding a cluster of pitch-black beads that received no light at all. These beads likely symbolized the connections he had ‘completely abandoned.’

No connection can be completely discarded by one’s own power alone. Therefore, it likely meant one thing.

“Is this the proof of reincarnation.”

Tap. She struck a bead once with the Vajra. A story unfolded within, one that was ordinary yet miserable.

He was born into a poor family and lived with his single mother. However, he lost his mother the moment he awakened and suffered through the betrayals of others.

It was the life of a man who climbed to a certain position after awakening but ultimately died due to a single mistake.

After dying in that manner, he met the current Constellation. Tempted by the offer of a ‘second chance,’ he moved into another person’s body to gain a second life. It was a predictable and tragic tale.

“If it’s like this, the offer from the Constellation must've been quite harsh.... Ah, see, there’s a toxic clause here after all.”

Kang Hana’s eyebrow twitched. Everything he achieved after death would belong to the Constellation, and the Incarnation’s name would vanish from the world entirely.

At the same time, the Incarnation would bear the full ‘karma’ of stealing another’s body.

It was an incredibly toxic clause. Of course, the Incarnation himself wouldn't understand it, but the content meant that any trace of his existence in the world would be erased.

Since the Incarnation would be treated as someone who failed to achieve spiritual growth, even if he underwent a true reincarnation later, he'd receive the karma of his past life without any cushion, making further misfortune highly likely.

This was a method used by new Constellations who wanted to achieve rapid growth by being part of the system, or low-ranking Constellations who felt they couldn't gain power within large mythologies.

“What should I do about this.”

Kang Hana looked around. Since clear evidence had appeared, she should've erased the soul entirely right now. And conveniently, that was Kang Hana’s specialty. However.

“...Sigh....”

She scratched the back of her head. Then, without a word, she returned to reality.

* * *

“What is it? Senior.”

As soon as she returned to reality, Chris was staring at her intently. A fierce orange energy swirled around the body of the man who had lost consciousness. It seemed Chris had applied his own version of a ‘rebound.’

He looked at Kang Hana with a strict expression.

[The Constellation ‘Jade Emperor (Abbr.)’ clicks his tongue, saying it must be true that the Guardians of the Boundary are exceptionally strict.]

‘...I guess so.’

Kang Hana let out an inward sigh. She toyed with her hair with an embarrassed expression and spoke.

“Well. It seems he didn't truly know the gravity of this matter. So I think it'd be better to delete his memories and let him flow back into the original reincarnation system.”

“Senior, this is a serious crime! It was clearly intentional to anyone who looks at it. He must be punished severely.”

“Hey, but it’s pitiful. It might be different if I tell him what happens next. I want to try talking to him first.”

“Senior.”

Chris sighed deeply and looked at Kang Hana. He toyed with his braided hair and continued in a voice full of dissatisfaction.

“Senior, you're the closest to an ordinary human among us, yet why do you know nothing?”

“What?”

“A second chance doesn't work for most humans. A person turning over a new leaf? Changing? That’s nothing but a delusion. Most live exactly the same way.”

Kang Hana clenched her fists. Chris wasn't wrong. She had also seen it many times and punished many people. People who lived exactly like their past lives even after regression or reincarnation.

Just as there's a saying that more people fail when retaking exams, the possibility of living a better life by repeating it was slim.

A person’s fundamental character doesn't change through something as simple as turning back time.

“This person will easily cross the boundaries again and violate order once more. The ‘Guardians’ are the beings who must know that most painfully and first of all. You know that our emotions are faint and we don't easily empathize with others so that this judgment doesn't waver.”

At Chris’s words, Kang Hana looked at her weapon, which had turned back into a fan. There was nothing wrong in what he said.

Guardians had to protect the system, and to do that, they had to thoroughly ignore the possibility of human reform. Based on her experience so far, it was highly likely that the man wouldn't change.

Even for her, who was quite an irregular existence among the Guardians, there was a point where she believed that human casualties for the sake of order were unavoidable, just like any other Guardian.

However, it was true that she felt guilty about punishing others if it wasn't truly the ‘best way.’ She didn't want to ignore human potential from the start. Even if that might bring about the worst results.

She wondered why she didn't think that way in the past. Chris was right, and she should've extinguished the soul right here and now.

As she thought that, she suddenly put her hand into her coat pocket. She felt a small piece of paper. After feeling it a bit more, Kang Hana realized the piece of paper was origami folded into the shape of a dog.

‘Mom!!’

‘A-Ah, auntie....’

The images of the two children flashed through her mind. Her daughter, her greatest treasure in the world. And the son she raised with her heart, who had become just as precious before she knew it.

Of course, they weren't actually siblings, and the two seemed to think of each other as childhood friends, but she thought of them as her own children.

Kang Hana let out a silent sigh. She was a Guardian, but at the same time, she was a protector of two children. Therefore, she had to believe in the possibility of humans changing. And above all.

‘This is a promise. You know, right?’

She had a promise with that man. She intended to fulfill it in the ‘best possible form.’ Therefore, she had to trust in humans.

Inhaling deeply, Kang Hana spoke to Chris in a cold voice.

“If your ‘rebound’ is finished, leave it to me. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Senior...!”

“As you said, I’m your senior. I’ve done this work a bit longer than you. And I’ve lived more years than you. So there’s no need to nag. I’m doing things my way.”

Chris looked at her while knitting his brows. He tried to let out another grumble, but he soon gave up and sighed deeply.

“Yes, I understand. Then I’ll hand the rest over to you, senior.”

“Right, thanks.”

“Whatever. I have plenty of work to do. Goodness, I feel like I’m the busiest among the Guardians.”

Chris sighed again and opened a warp portal. He looked at Kang Hana with an expression that still showed he wasn't pleased.

“...Senior. I’m sorry about today. I overstepped a bit.”

“No, it happens. I know I can be a bit frustrating.”

Kang Hana waved her hand toward Chris. Perhaps he was still a fourteen-year-old boy after all, because he looked away with his face slightly flushed from embarrassment. He cleared his throat and spoke to Kang Hana.

“Then I’ll see you again if we have a chance to collaborate. Senior. Don't get hurt.”

“Right, you too. Take care! Don't get hurt!”

As Kang Hana waved, Chris stepped into the warp portal. Kang Hana touched her chin and let out a low groan.

“Hmm....”

[The Constellation ‘Jade Emperor (Abbr.)’ asks what you're thinking.]

“No, just. I was thinking he's a pro.... Friends like that are the ones who survive as Guardians for a long, long time.”

Kang Hana laughed bitterly. She felt her Constellation comforting her. After letting out a sigh, she turned to the side.

Now she had to hear the circumstances from this man and make him withdraw from this body on his own. That was the best way.

The moment Kang Hana turned her body with that thought.

“Now! Then, shall we have a talk....”

Thud. She felt pain in her abdomen. The man’s face was right in front of her. She looked straight down.

The man was plunging a kitchen knife into her abdomen.