Ubermensch – Chapter 103

Chapter 103

Seo Yeonhee looked at Mason with a confused expression. As if she had braced herself for the worst condemnation, only to receive words of sympathy. Or as if she had expected words of comfort but was met with cold criticism.

Her eyes reflected a bewilderment that she herself couldn’t explain.

“Are you calling me a friend? Even in this situation?”

“Yes. You haven’t crossed the line yet. You’re just… about to.”

“You’re very generous, Mason.”

Her words were laced with both admiration and censure.

Along with self-deprecation…

“But now you have to choose. Let me go, or let innocent people get hurt.”

However, Mason shook his head.

“No. Seo Yeonhee. You’re the one who has to choose.”

“Choose what?”

Instead of answering, Mason countered with a question.

“I heard you’re on a journey to find the truth. Chasing the truth about the Titan Core. Perhaps this is all happening because… the CIA made a deal to give you the answers. Isn’t that right?”

“…Yes.”

“Seo Yeonhee.”

Mason looked at Seo Yeonhee with sad eyes.

“How long are you going to keep turning away from the truth?”

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“The answer about the Titan Core.”

Yekaterina spoke calmly.

“She already knows.”

“She knows? How?”

“Because she suspected everyone else. Because she tracked down everyone else.”

Yekaterina wore a bitter expression.

“She accused me because there were things about me that didn’t add up. Because I have power and authority that’s hard to believe for a mere player. But that means… conversely, she made a judgment based solely on the fact that there were things that didn’t add up.”

“Why?”

“Because if she didn’t… she would have to suspect the one person she never doubted. The one person she didn’t want to suspect the most.”

Yekaterina spoke in a calm voice.

“Her lover. Sebastian.”

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Seo Yeonhee gritted her teeth.

“Stop!”

She glared at Mason. Seo Yeonhee, who was always calm, now had the eyes of a wounded, and therefore even more dangerous, beast.

“Do you even know what you’re saying?”

“I do.”

“No. You don’t, Mason.”

Seo Yeonhee growled.

“You have no idea what the words you’re uttering mean to me.”

“I know. The life you’ve lived. The things you’ve done.”

Mason closed his eyes.

~~~~

“We’ve been here before.”

Looking at the old observatory, Seo Yeonhee spoke quietly.

“It was so simple, but it was so enjoyable.”

“Why?”

“It was Sebas’s first time. Experiencing all of this. It was so much fun watching him enjoy himself.”

~~~~

When talking about Sebastian, Seo Yeonhee was both happy and pained. Just the memory of him brought happiness, but the realization that he was gone brought pain.

To think a person could love someone this much.

Mason was inwardly impressed and inwardly heartbroken.

To Seo Yeonhee, Sebastian was her soulmate. Her other half, her life partner.

A torn half. A lost soulmate. With no way to recover him, a life consumed by revenge.

Mason had witnessed Seo Yeonhee like this.

Unable to help or stop her, he could only watch.

That’s why he knew.

That the words he was speaking now… were brutally butchering the half of Seo Yeonhee that was barely holding on.

“Sebastian stole the Titan Core.”

Mason’s words ripped through Seo Yeonhee’s insides.

Her vision went yellow. She couldn’t breathe.

Seo Yeonhee tried to speak multiple times, but no sound came out. She just gasped like a fish out of water, suffocating.

She knew it best. Because she had thoroughly searched everyone except Sebastian, there was no one left but him.

But she had to avoid that possibility.

If Sebastian stole the Titan Core… then he wouldn’t be the ‘Sebas’ she knew.

That’s why Seo Yeonhee could only let all the words she wanted to say dissipate in her mouth.

She could have questioned him, refuted him.

But she was too afraid of the words that would follow, so she couldn’t bring herself to speak.

“…Why?”

The words she finally managed to utter resembled a sigh.

Mason clenched his jaw.

Every word he spoke felt like he was beating Seo Yeonhee with his bare hands. Crushing her flesh, breaking her bones, yet continuing to inflict violence.

Her appearance was too pitiful. He didn’t want to see it anymore.

But he had to. He had to face Seo Yeonhee and tell her.

Gritting his teeth, Mason said,

“Because Sebastian… wanted to run away from you.”

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Rain was falling.

Deroa, holding an umbrella, stood before Sebastian’s grave in her hometown’s family cemetery.

It was her first visit since his death.

“Damn brother. Is… heaven alright?”

Deroa looked down at the tombstone with a bitter expression.

“If it’s alright… if you’re watching us from heaven…”

The relationship between Sebastian and Seo Yeonhee was twisted.

They grew up as childhood friends and naturally became each other’s first love. And naturally, they became a couple.

Seo Yeonhee, caring and intelligent, and Sebastian, the lively all-around sportsman. They were the ideal couple.

If it were a normal world, that would have been enough. They would have lived happily ever after, from lovers to spouses.

But then the monster outbreak happened.

Both possessing the talent to become players, they became the first players and were thrown onto the battlefield.

The Player System, a civilian defense model created because the military’s system proved too rigid.

Korea’s first civilian attack team, Eliminate Empire, was tasked with not only establishing the Player System but also creating tactical manuals to train all players.

The tragedy began there.

There was too much to do. The man and woman who had been casually playing games until recently had to create and improve countless things while fighting monsters for their lives.

The ‘difference in talent’ that would never have been felt if it weren’t for this world, this situation.

The things Seo Yeonhee accomplished effortlessly, Sebastian managed to do with gasps and great effort.

“Please… if you’re watching from above… release Seo Yeonhee…”

Perhaps it was the illusion of first love that blinded Seo Yeonhee to this. Because she believed without a doubt that the Sebastian she loved was perfect.

~~~~

“Not me… but my brother used to go to Itaewon with his friends sometimes. I wondered why he’d dress up like a punk and go there, but now I understand.”

~~~~

Sebastian was just an ordinary person. He was just an ordinary young man who got distracted, made mistakes, and had limitations.

But Seo Yeonhee’s expectations constantly pushed Sebastian higher, to more difficult heights.

“Seo Yeonhee… just loved my brother too much…”

Seo Yeonhee took Sebastian’s best efforts for granted and believed he could do even better.

Because she could do it, she naturally pushed him, believing he could too.

“She just thought he was the most amazing person in the world…”

The ‘Sebas’ in Seo Yeonhee’s mind was so perfect that the real Sebastian couldn’t even compare.

The expectations that couldn’t be met no matter how hard he tried gradually wore Sebastian down.

“So now… please forgive her…”

Until finally, Sebastian broke.

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Her breathing was ragged. It was unsettling just to watch.

Seo Yeonhee was crumbling.

She heard what she shouldn’t have, thought what she shouldn’t have. She lost what she shouldn’t have lost and was being shattered, crushed, and broken.

He wanted to tell her it was a lie. Her appearance was so pitiful that he wanted to lie and say that all of this was a lie, that her lover hadn’t deceived her.

But the truth was the truth. No matter how cruel, no matter how cold, the truth was the truth.

Mason stood there, speechless.

How much time had passed?

After a considerable amount of time, a voice as low as the rustling wind reached his ears.

“…Go.”

Seo Yeonhee moved only her fingertips to release the detonator. The special case containing Hope rolled towards Mason’s feet.

Mason picked up Hope’s case.

The screaming in his mind that had been tormenting him subsided.

Hope was awake inside the case.

She must have awakened due to the stress.

Mason looked at Seo Yeonhee.

With her head bowed, she was slumped over, lifeless.

Seo Yeonhee whispered like a final will.

“Please… just go…”

“…”

Mason slowly turned and walked out.

Yekaterina was standing at the corner of the alley, as if she had been there all along.

Mason asked quietly,

“Will she… be alright?”

“No. She won’t be alright.”

Yekaterina wore a sad expression.

“How can someone who has lost what they shouldn’t have lost ever be the same?”

“…”

Mason handed Hope’s case to Yekaterina.

“Take good care of her. I’m going back to the scene.”

“Yes.”

Ake was approaching Mason.

To help him escape back to the scene, back to the monsters.

“Mason.”

Yekaterina spoke, looking at Mason’s back.

“If there’s something you need to say to someone… never keep it bottled up inside.”

“…”

Mason teleported away.

He and the Revengers successfully slaughtered the Chilling Turtle.

After the dismantling and cleanup was finished, Mason returned to his home.

“Welcome back.”

Jeong Ryeogyeong, who had been waiting outside the door, greeted Mason cautiously and respectfully.

Mason slowly approached her and, with his body still carrying the scent of monsters and ruins, embraced Jeong Ryeogyeong.

Jeong Ryeogyeong’s body stiffened with tension.

“Mason…?”

“Jeong Ryeogyeong.”

The boy who had witnessed the most tragic end of a lover spoke earnestly.

“Let’s talk. We need to talk.”

“I…”

“Please. Jeong Ryeogyeong. Anything will do… let’s just talk.”

His voice resonated deeply. It wasn’t the invincible superhuman leading a million people, but a wounded and frightened man.

“…”

Jeong Ryeogyeong, facing her husband for the first time, buried her face in Mason’s chest.

“You smell of blood…”