Chapter 593

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Chapter 593: The Great Exploration (1)

A hypocrite.

Someone who is evil in essence, but pretends to be good.

Thus, while fundamentally close to evil, if that hypocrisy ultimately produces a good outcome… can that too be called good?

‘Obviously it’s good, isn’t it? You performed a good act in the end. At the moment you acted hypocritically, you were being good.’

Sensing that the Hypocrite Catalog was beginning to activate, Yeongwoo stepped into the ash-gray portal.

Swaaap!

The portal’s characteristic sense of distortion swept across his entire body, and soon Kejen’s hideout filled his vision.

He could see Kejen, who had arrived first and sat collapsed on the floor.

Shiiik!

As Yeongwoo fully stepped out of the portal, Kejen looked at him with a thoroughly exhausted expression.

—This is the first time I’ve ever been this tired. Even when I stole the royal seal, it wasn’t this bad.

Confirming that Jeonggu, Amana, and the Golden Goblin were coming in behind him, Yeongwoo slid his mythic sword Bastard into his belt.

“We’re only halfway done. Still, seems like we’ve passed most of the big hurdles.”

—Halfway?

“Yeah. If possible, we still have to sell the Selulite, and we still have to escape, right?”

He had plenty of Katangdal ingots remaining, but he’d already made two enemies since arriving here, so it was best to leave quickly.

And Katangdal ingots could be used later to modify or build ships.

—True. That tracker bastard wouldn’t have gone back quietly. He’s probably requested additional support from the royal family.

“Still, the city’s huge. The odds of getting caught aren’t that high, right?”

—Inside the city, yes… but the zones where you can board a ship to depart are limited. If we waste too much time, we’ll have problems.

In other words, the sooner they left, the lower the chances of complications.

Ziiiiing…!

Meanwhile, the Hypocrite Catalog emitted a strange activation hum as if preparing something.

“Oh, here it comes.”

—What is?

The moment Kejen tilted his head, a golden light spread across the center of Yeongwoo’s vision.

Fwaaaah!

[Collection Effect: 5]

| Damage to Evildoers +20%.

“What?”

Yeongwoo’s jaw dropped as he witnessed the first true ability of the Hypocrite Catalog.

“Isn’t this straight-up broken?”

—Wh-what is it?

“The Hypocrite Catalog. I unlocked the first stage—damage to evildoers increases by 20%.”

—20%…?

Hearing this, Kejen also opened his mouth wide in shock.

Then Jeonggu cut in.

“So it’s not damage reduction but damage increase? For the Hypocrite Catalog? Its first ability is offensive?”

“Oh, right. That is weird.”

Yeongwoo looked again at the Catalog’s first collection effect.

Until now, the Catalog’s intrinsic ability had always been damage reduction.

Specifically, damage reduction against the family or clan of the target toward whom the Catalog’s owner had acted hypocritically.

In other words, as befits a Catalog aligned with ‘good’ at least superficially, its abilities were defensive.

But the moment he unlocked the Catalog’s full function—it gave offensive power instead.

“Why? Why did it suddenly become an attack-type Catalog?”

As Yeongwoo muttered, Jeonggu spoke carelessly.

“Maybe because, in this universe, hypocrisy basically means… beating up evildoers?”

“What?”

“You know—fake goodness or not, when you act it out, you inevitably end up fighting evildoers.”

So the Catalog increased offensive capability so its owner could continue performing hypocrisy against evildoers—this was Jeonggu’s theory.

“In a sense, it’s still defensive. Most preemptive attacks come from evildoers anyway.”

“…Is that so?”

It sounded like nonsense, yet it wasn’t entirely wrong.

Most importantly—

“Well, it benefits me, so it’s automatically correct.”

This ability was effectively a damage increase against almost every enemy he’d ever face.

Yeongwoo wasn’t a “good-deed doer,” but he had always clashed with evildoers.

It was almost certain that 80% of the enemies he’d fight in the future would also be evildoers.

‘And I already have evildoer damage reduction too.’

Shff.

Yeongwoo pulled out the milky-white coin he always kept in his pocket.

「Emblem of Relief」 – Mythic Currency

【Light’s Mantle】

| Damage taken from evildoers −20%.

【Chorus of Virtue】

| By using this token as collateral, you may borrow each of the following planets’ ultimate weapons once:

— Doatel, Delmir, Shuaarel

【Protection of the Shelbir Royal Family】

| This emblem substitutes for the royal seal.

This ridiculous item was a token King Teroph had given him, claiming it would help with charitable operations.

It was a symbol proving that this “villain” was in fact working for Doatel and the Shelbir royal family.

‘If this emblem gives 20% damage reduction, then a damage increase on the Catalog shouldn’t be surprising.’

Having both damage increase and decrease was simply ideal.

And clearly, when it came to morality-aligned abilities, the Catalog surpassed all others—except mythic Codices with outside-standard privileges.

‘In pure offense, weapon codices are probably stronger… but still.’

As Yeongwoo pondered, Jeonggu stroked his chin and added:

“If Stage 1 already gives +20% damage… what happens at Stage 2?”

“Exactly. Usually abilities get way stronger as you go up.”

The next collection milestone for the Hypocrite Catalog was collection value 10.

[Translator - Night]

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Meaning five more acts of hypocrisy remained.

‘It used to announce the remaining number each time, but now it’s silent.’

Perhaps because the first ability had already been unlocked.

Even after waiting, there was no notification of remaining hypocrisy count.

Yeongwoo turned away from the Catalog and looked toward the group.

“All right, let's summarize.”

“What?”

“How much… no, how much I earned.”

“……”

“I currently have 40.4 billion won in cash.”

“Hurk?”

An involuntary gasp at the number.

“But 15 billion goes to Koatu.”

“Then you keep 25.4 billion.”

“And we have 13 Katangdal ingots.”

These were insane stolen goods looted practically under Mohir’s nose.

“You gonna sell those too? At current rates, that’s about 1.5 billion each…”

Roughly 19.5 billion.

But Yeongwoo shook his head.

“I’m not desperate for quick cash, and we can’t just sit here dealing forever. We’ll take them back with us.”

—Katangdal ingots are always useful. No need to rush selling them.

Kejen—desperate to leave the Kardal royal family’s reach—spoke with pleading eyes.

“Still, that’s a decent haul. Though we risked our lives for it…”

As Jeonggu said this, Yeongwoo stared at the high-value bills in his hand.

“But after laundering the money, it won’t be that much. Still not enough.”

And separate from the money—there was the possibility that the Catalog could activate again during laundering.

After all, giving stolen wealth to an interstellar relief organization was arguably a form of hypocrisy.

‘But since I planned this from the start, the Catalog might not count it.’

If it did count, he would effectively secure six acts of hypocrisy.

“So all that remains now is… selling the Selulite?”

Jeonggu folded his fingers one by one.

Yeongwoo nodded while glancing at Amana.

“Yeah—if a buyer appears. If no one wants it after waiting a bit, we just go home.”

Amana opened her beak.

—And what is that ‘bit’ of waiting?

“What else? Until the famed bandit who owes me his life brings out something valuable to buy it.”

—……

So essentially—he wouldn’t wait at all.

—But I must sell this. Absolutely.

“Isn’t surviving enough?”

—My planet’s debt issue is as important as my life.

“……”

Yeongwoo finally realized Amana’s face was full of stubbornness.

“If you’d sell it for half price, I could buy it now.”

—You are truly rude.

“Then forget it.”

Shrugging, Yeongwoo looked back at Kejen.

“Now it’s time to settle your life-debt. I’m very curious what your most precious item is.”

At that, Kejen flinched and trembled.

Still, he didn’t seem intent on stealing his own life-payment—he raised two fingers.

—I’ll give you a choice.

“A choice?”

—Pick one of two.

“What two?”

—The most expensive thing. And the most precious thing.

“Expensive versus precious? Smells fishy.”

Presenting options out of nowhere clearly implied ulterior motives.

But Yeongwoo didn’t hesitate.

“Give me the precious one.”

—…Why?

“Because when you were desperate, the one you swore to give me was the ‘precious’ one.”

Yeongwoo repeated Kejen’s earlier plea word for word:

—P-please think again. You don’t know what else is in my hideout! If you spare me, I’ll give you the most precious thing I’ve hidden!

That life-payment had been the “most precious” item.

“Now you suddenly want to give the expensive one instead? Means you changed your mind after surviving.”

As Yeongwoo pierced through him, Kejen pressed his ears flat.

—But… the expensive one is a good option too. You like money.

“Money is just quantified value. Stop talking and hand over your most precious item.”

And Yeongwoo cut off any possible escape route:

“If you say something rodent-like such as ‘my life is my most precious thing,’ I’ll cut your head off immediately.”

—…!

Feeling the sincerity in his tone, Kejen involuntarily stepped back.

—You really are a bandit…

“If you only realized that now, no wonder your lifespan was short.”

When Yeongwoo rested his hand on Bastard, Kejen rolled his eyes anxiously.

—Fine. Don’t regret it. It’s not what you think at all.

“Just spit it out. I won’t regret it—hand it over.”

Cornered, Kejen finally placed a hand on one of the many safes along the wall.

Thud!

—…A map.

“A map? A map for what?”

Yeongwoo slightly drew his mythic sword, and Kejen glanced nervously at its crimson aura.

—A map. A map for finding myths.

[Translator - Night]

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