SSS-Class Sui**de Hunter - Chapter 17

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 17. Trauma Penalty (2)
3
[Penalty initiated.]
[Generating the Trauma of monster Hellfire Maiden.]
An elegant Western-style Estate.
Before I knew it, I was there.
Or perhaps saying I “was” there would be strange. I wasn’t there at all. My consciousness alone drifted like a ghost, watching the landscape flowing past before my eyes from a third-person perspective.
‘What?’
I was bewildered.
‘What’s happening right now……?’
—Please, save me.
Then a voice reached my ears.
A child’s voice. A small boy stood in the corner of the Lobby on the first floor, his feet bound. At first I thought he was begging me for help, but that wasn’t it. The child was pleading with someone else.
—Please save me… I’m so hungry… food… please, I need food…….
—Mm.
A man dressed like a nobleman.
—You orphans are a plague upon this kingdom.
—Food…….
—If left alone, you rot society to the core. You don’t work. You wander from town to town spreading disease. I am the warden and guard charged with isolating the likes of you from this kingdom.
In an instant, multiple scenes crashed into my consciousness.
An era when the shortage of food created many wanderers.
The nobleman had gathered orphans and locked them away in the Estate. On the surface, it was an orphanage. In the eyes of the outside world, the nobleman was a kind-hearted wealthy man, a visionary entrepreneur, a learned intellectual of conscience.
—Others will treat you as rotten seed from the root. But I will not.
Yet within this vast Estate.
—I shall educate you.
The nobleman was merely a tyrant.
—A creature that mindlessly craves whatever food is before its eyes because it is hungry is a beast. Of course, you were born like beasts in the fields, but that does not mean you must grow up to become beasts.
—I’m hungry… I’m so…….
—Endure it. Bear the hunger. Endure and become human.
The nobleman smiled as he spoke. A gentle smile. He could laugh while looking down at a child whose ribs had withered to stark bone. Somewhere there must have been a world where such laughter was considered virtue, an age when such things were real.
—Repent!
One madman summoned another.
—Ahhhhhhh!
—Oh, children of witches! The poison of Zraku, the plague of our kingdom! Fear not. The Lord will never abandon his faithful servant. Just as he does not abandon his lambs, neither shall I!
—It hurts… I… it hurts… it hurts…….
A priest of some god raised a hammer high.
—Pray!
An age when madness was dressed up as virtue.
The screams in the Estate never stopped.
—I’m… hungry…….
Starvation.
—I don’t want this… please forgive me… why… please forgive me…….
Torture.
—Ah. Thank you… kind nobleman, gentle sir……. This pain, enduring it—a reward, a promise. Thank you. Thank you, kind sir…….
Brainwashing.
The orphans were dragged into the Estate like corpses and left it as corpses. It was merely that lives soon to end had finally ended, but the children could not have imagined such relentless suffering would stretch across those final moments.
Tens, hundreds, thousands of orphans were in the Estate.
And there were tens, hundreds, thousands of deaths.
‘…….’
My spirit was lost in the rapidly unfolding horrors before my eyes.
‘What is all this…….’
—Shit. What the hell is this?
I came back to myself thanks to someone.
‘You were watching too? I thought I was alone.’
—I’ve been here the whole time. It was you I didn’t notice. Couldn’t see you.
‘I see. It seems like both our consciousnesses are just adrift…….’
—I don’t care about that.
Bae Hueryeong spoke.
—Who the hell are these maniacs? Huh? Educating them into humans? What kind of inhuman bastards educate others into humanity?
‘…This must be the Original from the 10th Floor Boss Stage.’
A voice had told me just before consciousness returned: you were about to relive it.
[We will now recreate the Trauma of the enemy who killed you.]
If the enemy who killed me this time was that real doll hiding somewhere in the Hellfire Estate—then what we were seeing now was the Trauma it carried with it.
‘I had no idea.’
I whispered softly.
‘That monsters were once human beings…….’
-Not all monsters are like that. Mostly just the bosses. Boss Monsters are created based on real events that actually occurred in the other world, you see.
I heard Bae Hueryeong click his tongue.
-Creatures that lived in the other world, or heroes who were active there. Things like that. Once you get past the 11th floor of the Tower, that tendency becomes even stronger.
‘What? Why didn’t you tell me that until now?’
-You never asked.
‘…….’
He was so shameless I couldn’t even find the words to respond.
-But even I’ve never seen anything like this, tsk.
‘Like what?’
-This Original you mentioned. These scenes we’re seeing. I know that Boss Monsters draw from things in the other world, but how would I know what they actually experienced? I don’t even have the Mind Reading skill…….
Bae Hueryeong muttered.
-This feels absolutely terrible.
I couldn’t agree more.
‘…Same here.’
Somewhere in the world, things like this were always happening, and countless worse things were occurring, but thinking about it and seeing it directly were two different things.
They simply were.
Whether that was fortunate or unfortunate, I couldn’t say.
-F-fire!
[The Trauma] ended soon enough.
A servant had accidentally knocked over a candle. Unaware of what they’d done, the servant passed on. In the dark night, as people lay sleeping, the flames spread quietly. By the time someone noticed the fire, everything was already too late.
-Cough, hack. Cough!
-We have to get out…….’
The flames rose higher.
The ropes in the Basement burned. The iron chains burned. The shackles that had held the orphans suspended burned, and the orphans hanging from them burned. Brainwashed children, tortured children, starving children burned. The flames seemed ready to incinerate all the brainwashing and wounds and hunger.
-Ah…….
The children opened their mouths.
Red-hot iron chains bound their wrists and ankles. They couldn’t move, as if they were dolls. They could only scream.
And yet, I could hear them.
-I don’t want to die.
Resentment.
-I’m hungry.
-I want to live…….’
-Kind sir.
Resentment and grievance flowed directly into my consciousness.
-I did nothing wrong. I had no family. I was still okay with that. I just wanted to play a little more. But still…….’
-It’s not our fault. It’s unfair. I didn’t do anything.
-I’m hungry.
The Estate burned.
The first-floor Lobby with its chandeliers burned. The master bedroom burned. The gorgeous bed, the antique curtains, the deep Basement connected by stone stairs—everything burned.
-I don’t want to die.
Crackle.
Crackle-
Sparks flew into the empty air.
Now what could be seen was a single Estate, burning fiercely in the distance.
[Trauma Recreation Complete.]
[Penalty is hereby terminated.]
And I returned to the day before.
* * *
When I opened my eyes.
Bae Hueryeong and I said nothing. We both sat on the bed in silence.
It wasn’t so much shock as it was not knowing how to respond.
-Mm…….
After a long time, Bae Hueryeong scratched the back of his head.
-It’s a truly tragic and sorrowful tale, and we saw it clearly, but there isn’t much we can actually do about it, is there?
“Wow, and the first thing you say to me is that? You really are…….”
—Yeah, that’s right. My character is rotten to the core.
Bae Hueryeong’s face twisted into a scowl. Have you ever seen a gorilla get angry? His expression bore a striking genetic resemblance to one.
—But here’s the ugly truth! That Boss on the 10th Floor is nothing but a monster, and the originals it was based on are already dead somewhere in another world. It happened ages ago, which is why I’m telling you this. Zombie, what the hell can you do about it?
“…….”
—At worst, if it were something that happened inside this Tower, I could die four thousand times, five thousand times, die and die again and regress to the past. But that? It happened in a different world, a different era. Even if I were alive, I couldn’t resolve it! Not even a Sword God could fix something like that.
He was right.
—Find the real puppet and hunt it down. Kill it.
Bae Hueryeong spoke.
—And climb to the 11th Floor. The 20th, 30th, 40th, 50th—clear them all the same way. If you’ve decided to become a Hunter who stands at the very top, solve these problems yourself!
Again, he was right.
But.
“Yeom Je would’ve thought the same way.”
—Huh?
“Yeom Je. Yeom Byeong. Usu Ha. The first human I ever hunted.”
I sat up from the bed.
I tied the Sleeping Bag to the top of my Backpack. I slung the Backpack across my shoulders. I fastened the sword at my waist. In other words, I finished preparing to climb the Tower. As I left the lodging, I was equipped—crudely perhaps, but equipped nonetheless—as a Hunter.
“You know what? Usu Ha probably found the real puppet and crushed his skull. Trauma or no Trauma. Without a moment’s hesitation.”
—So what’s your point?
“I don’t want to become like that bastard Yeom Je.”
I climbed the Tower.
Just like last time, I deceived the Caretaker.
And once again I stood before the Estate’s front gate.
A Western aristocratic mansion, identical to the one I’d seen in the Trauma.
—Hey! You’re not a child. You’re not going to skip the Boss just because you don’t want to end up like him? What’s that supposed to accomplish? You can’t Clear the Stage without getting rid of the Boss, you zombie bastard!
“Who said that was the only way?”
—What?
I placed both hands against the gate.
And muttered.
“Damn it. I was being stupid.”
—What are you saying now?
“That I was being stupid! You were just as stupid, for that matter. We’re like men who don’t know the basics—that’s exactly what we are right now.”
Bae Hueryeong furrowed his brow.
—Is this zombie losing his mind? You being stupid is an eternal truth, but why am I stupid? I was called a prodigy since childhood.
“The Skill Card.”
I muttered irritably.
“That S-rank Skill Card we didn’t choose. Remember? The Hellfire Boundary. You insisted I absolutely had to pick that one, remember?”
—Right? Of course I remember.
“Tell me about it.”
—Ugh, this zombie thinks he can order me around… Fine, listen up.
Bae Hueryeong recited it with a furrowed brow, word for word. The story about being called a prodigy in childhood wasn’t entirely a lie. Bae Hueryeong recited every detail of the Card Skill without a single mistake.
+
[Hellfire Boundary]
Rank: S-
Effect: Resentment. Grievance. Longing unfulfilled. Your unresolved grudge, your voice that could not reach, your wishes that came to nothing. Burn them all. “It burns.” Does it burn? Turn the world into an inferno. “I think I’m dying.” Then kill. If only you will it, a hellfire of aura shall descend upon a 2km radius.
No one may leave this hell without your permission.
Not a single soul.
※However, you must always remain within the Boundary.
+
I listened quietly to the Skill description and asked.
“Doesn’t something strike you as odd, Sword God?”
—Wow, you’re frustrating me. So what exactly seems odd to you?
“The last part.”
[No one may leave this hell without your permission.]
[Not a single soul.]
I spoke.
“If the Boss Monster doesn’t grant permission, no one can escape the Hellfire Boundary. Not a single soul. But then how—by what means—have all the Hunters who challenged the 10th Floor so far managed to escape alive?”
—Huh?
Bae Hueryeong blinked.
—Wait… what? Damn, you’re right?
There exists a guild called the Black Dragon.
Ever since the Tower opened in this world, it has reigned supreme at the summit.
The Hunter commanding the Black Dragon, ranked second in the world—the Black Witch has challenged the 10th Floor dozens of times. Each attempt ended in failure. Yet despite her defeat, the ranked second Hunter brought back every single Hunter who participated in the assault alive.
They all came back alive.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
I pressed force into both my arms.
The great doors began to open slowly.
“Escape itself becomes impossible without the Boss’s permission. And to begin with, that’s the nature of the Skill itself—yet they escaped unharmed without even killing the Boss. And everyone too. It doesn’t add up.”
-Then… what actually happened?
“Yeom Je, the conclusion has to be obvious!”
Screeeeak.
The great doors swung open completely, as if spreading wide arms.
“The Boss allowed it! It told them to run!”
The Boss of the 10th Floor.
A Stage that humanity has yet to conquer.
A burning mansion of hellfire came into view.
[You have entered the Boss Stage.]
[The challenger is Hunter Kim Gongja. Solo.]
[May fortune favor you.]
“If you look at how it lets Hunters escape whenever they please, it’s clear—the Boss, these things, never opposed the Hunters from the start.”
-…….
[Commencing Boss Stage.]
“It simply wanted to play with the people who came visiting.”
Candles.
Candles lay overturned in every corner of the mansion. From where they lay, flames surged up.
-Cackle-cackle-cackle!
Dolls stood among the flames. As if bound somewhere, they could not move. They could only turn their heads with effort to look at me.
-Will you play with us?
The dolls opened their mouths.
-Will you play with us?
-Freeze tag? The Flower of Immortality has bloomed? Hide-and-seek?
-The ice has melted, the flowers are all torn. Let’s play hide-and-seek!
-Yes, let’s! Play with us! Play hide-and-seek with us!
-Cackle-cackle-cackle!
The flames roared higher.
The first-floor Lobby hung with the chandelier was burning. The master bedroom where the Estate’s owner had slept was burning. The ornate bed, the antique curtains, the deep Basement reached by stone stairs—all burned.
Within those flames, only the children, transformed into dolls, had not yet burned.
“…….”
I bit down on my teeth for a moment.
“Very well. I’ll play.”
[Activating Skill.]
A Skill I obtained from my last death. I cast the Flame Immunity Skill upon myself. The moment it activated, the heat that had burned across my entire body washed away. My breathing became easy. The landscape that had been obscured by the raging fire became clearer.
I could see the dolls’ faces.
-Huh?
-Mister, you’re not burning.
The dolls each had different faces. Though expressionless, I could tell them apart.
-Doesn’t it hurt?
-Weird mister.
-Can you play?
-Will you play with us?
I nodded again, firmly.
“Yes, hide-and-seek. Be careful. When this mister was young, I never once lost at hide-and-seek.”
-Cackle-cackle-cackle! Weird mister!
-Hide! Everyone hide!
The dolls laughed. They told everyone to hide, yet none of them moved. They were all fixed in place, unable to budge. Dozens, hundreds, thousands of children laughed.
-Hide well now, or your hair will show. Hide well now…….
The game of It had begun.
“…Found you.”
I wandered through the mansion. As I walked, I found the dolls one by one. When I stroked their heads, they would squeak and lift their faces. Each time, they would open their mouths and speak.
-Wrong! That’s not me!
The dolls vanished, smiling.
-It wasn’t me!
-It wasn’t me!
No matter which direction I walked through the Estate, there were dolls. So many dolls. I moved through the halls, reaching out to each one.
-…….
One child.
-Hey, this is…….
Then another.
-This is… Consoling Spirits, isn’t it.
Bae Hueryeong murmured.
Consoling Spirits.
To bring peace to the souls of the dead.
I moved through the Estate in silence. I saw the Shackles where the orphans had hung, the Iron Chains that had bound the children. Where the Shackles were fastened and the Chains lay, there was always a doll.
Flames roared to life.
-It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me!
-No! I didn’t… No. I… I… wasn’t… I…….
-I… wasn’t…….
Time passed.
Thump.
At some point, my footsteps had carried me to the Basement. Down the long, long stone stairs. Dolls were scattered here too, lying on the steps as if they had been crawling upward toward the surface in a desperate bid for escape before suddenly going still.
“…….”
After laying to rest every child on the stairs, I finally stood before the last doll.
The Basement.
-Will you play with us?
At the heart of the Estate, the doll leaned against the wall.
Around it lay a Hammer, an Awl, and a Wire Saw.
-…….
I walked forward slowly.
Then I reached out and touched the head of the hairless doll.
“Caught you.”
The head of the child who had created the Hellfire Boundary was small. Small enough to fit within the palm of one hand.
“…Now you’re It, little one.”
Silence fell.
The doll lifted its head slowly. Like all the others, this child too wore an expressionless face. With that blank visage, the doll opened its mouth.
-Kind mister.
What flowed from the doll’s lips was not merely a voice. Lips. Skin. Eyes. The doll’s body melted like candle wax. The flames consumed it in an instant, and even as it burned away, the doll murmured like a broken gramophone.
-Thank you.
And it dissolved.
-Thank you.
The doll burned. The Iron Chains melted and dripped away. The Shackles, the Hammer, the Awl, the Wire Saw—everything burned. The hunger, even the traces of hunger, all of it vanished as the spent flames ran down like melted wax.
Death left no mark.
I stood alone in the ruins of the Estate, burned without a trace.
“…….”
Years.
[Congratulations.]
A stage that no human has broken in years.
[Normal Stage Clear.]
[Hidden Stage Clear.]
[Boss Stage Clear.]
On this day, the 10th Floor of the Tower was cleared.
SSS-Ranked Hunter Who Must Die to Live (Serialized)
Author | Shin Noa
Publisher | Kim Ju-hyung
Publishing House | J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing | Han Jae-hyuk
Address | 204, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Daelung Post Tower 1st)
Email | [email protected]
Website | www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Shin Noa 2019
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder, and may not be reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the publisher and author.
Violation of this agreement may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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