The Gamer

[Lamech]

He hasn't really done anything particularly villainous. Other than maybe abuse of the souls of the dead. But that would make Jee-Han just as guilty since he's been grinding the things. And in all honesty the Black Summoner's method of soul using, gathering them and absorbing them into a large ball, seems significantly less cruel than Jee-Han's rampages. Hell, the souls of the dead respond by forming into an aggressive collective and try to kill Jee-Han.

So far he seems about as normal as Jee-Han's mom, and less villainous than the protagonist of the story.

[Olinser]

He hasn't really done anything particularly villainous. Other than maybe abuse of the souls of the dead. But that would make Jee-Han just as guilty since he's been grinding the things. And in all honesty the Black Summoner's method of soul using, gathering them and absorbing them into a large ball, seems significantly less cruel than Jee-Han's rampages. Hell, the souls of the dead respond by forming into an aggressive collective and try to kill Jee-Han.

So far he seems about as normal as Jee-Han's mom, and less villainous than the protagonist of the story.

Black Summoner isn't evil because of the zombies he's harvesting. His Obvious Evilness was established at his first appearance, where he threatened somebody he perceived as a totally harmless civilian (Jee-Han), just to try and provoke somebody to fight (Red-Haired Moron, whose name always escapes me for some reason), apparently just for his own entertainment. And then totally ignored his slime, which WOULD have killed Jee-Han if he were a normal person.

He was set up at the outset to be a villain. If the author tries to shift him to a 'misunderstood guy' because he has a sick kid he's going to great lengths to cure, it's a stupid cliche excuse, especially because it's not that likely the Chunbumoon would have interfered if they knew he was just trying to cure her, and to go around picking fights with other powerful ability users for no reason (Red-Hair and Sun-Il) isn't exactly the smartest thing to do when you're trying to get help for somebody.

[Ibrinar]

I don't think a normal person would have died. The slime only constrained him until he ripped himself free. So Red hair would probably just have dealt with the slime once she was finished with her enemy.

[lord_khaine]

Black Summoner isn't evil because of the zombies he's harvesting. His Obvious Evilness was established at his first appearance, where he threatened somebody he perceived as a totally harmless civilian (Jee-Han), just to try and provoke somebody to fight (Red-Haired Moron, whose name always escapes me for some reason), apparently just for his own entertainment. And then totally ignored his slime, which WOULD have killed Jee-Han if he were a normal person.

Except that he to start with would know there was something fishy going on with him being inside of an illusion barrier.

And as already mentioned, the only thing he actually did was to dangle Jee-Han in the air a bit, we have no way of knowing if he would have carried though with his threats.

And while he might not be a good guy, then we have not yet evidence of him being an evil person.

[Drakeburn]

Although it might be possible that whatever demon(s) the Black Summoner dealt with might become interested in the matter, reminding the Black Summoner about his side of the bargain, take control over his daughter, or simply have an offer to give to Jee-Han (maybe more power or new skills).

Although, this is just a theory of what might happen.

[Flickerdart]

Is Batoto the best site for translations of this? The new chapter isn't up there yet.

[Olinser]

Is Batoto the best site for translations of this? The new chapter isn't up there yet.

That's the site that the group that translates it posts it to first, so yes, that is the site that will have the translation first.

The actual translator site is http://bapscans.blogspot.com/#. (They also translate a couple other decent webcomics).

It looks like the translation is done, but they still have to typeset it before they release the chapter.

[Forrestfire]

Batoto is the best site for it, yes. I'm pretty sure the current chapter hasn't been translated yet.

[Aquillion]

Black Summoner isn't evil because of the zombies he's harvesting. His Obvious Evilness was established at his first appearance, where he threatened somebody he perceived as a totally harmless civilian (Jee-Han), just to try and provoke somebody to fight (Red-Haired Moron, whose name always escapes me for some reason), apparently just for his own entertainment. And then totally ignored his slime, which WOULD have killed Jee-Han if he were a normal person.

He was set up at the outset to be a villain. If the author tries to shift him to a 'misunderstood guy' because he has a sick kid he's going to great lengths to cure, it's a stupid cliche excuse, especially because it's not that likely the Chunbumoon would have interfered if they knew he was just trying to cure her, and to go around picking fights with other powerful ability users for no reason (Red-Hair and Sun-Il) isn't exactly the smartest thing to do when you're trying to get help for somebody.

That scene does sort of bother me in retrospect, in that it seems completely at odds with his characterization in every other scene since then. (Jee-Han's best friend even said outright that the Black Summoner is not a bad guy, which does seem at odds with threatening to arbitrarily kill a random civilian.)

All I can think of is that he wasn't really serious or that knew that she'd fight so it wouldn't come to that.

(He wasn't doing it for his own entertainment, though. He said he needed to gauge her strength to "prepare for what's going to happen.")

[Ibrinar]

Though characters can be ruthless and not very nice without being the main villain or even an enemy of the protagonists. One should never forget that there can be more than two neatly defined opposing sides.

[Olinser]

That scene does sort of bother me in retrospect, in that it seems completely at odds with his characterization in every other scene since then. (Jee-Han's best friend even said outright that the Black Summoner is not a bad guy, which does seem at odds with threatening to arbitrarily kill a random civilian.)

All I can think of is that he wasn't really serious or that knew that she'd fight so it wouldn't come to that.

(He wasn't doing it for his own entertainment, though. He said he needed to gauge her strength to "prepare for what's going to happen.")

Which still doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If all he's trying to do is cure his sick kid, it's not exactly smart to just go around antagonizing powerful ability users for no reason.

[Ibrinar]

I don't think it's all he wants to do, otherwise his stated intention for attacking her doesn't make sense. Except the healing somehow causes the demon to appear or something like that, and he wants to let others take care of it.^^

[boomwolf]

Well, we don't know how that fight STARTED, red-hair could have started it in a previous encounter, the two seem to know each other.

As for the slime, its entirely possible it was ordered not to be lethal, or not to even harm (as it seems that despite the huge level difference, it never lands a hit)


While his intentions are probably not pure, i wont label him as "obvious evil", probably just a dude that cares of his own, and not about others.

[Olinser]

Well, we don't know how that fight STARTED, red-hair could have started it in a previous encounter, the two seem to know each other.

As for the slime, its entirely possible it was ordered not to be lethal, or not to even harm (as it seems that despite the huge level difference, it never lands a hit)


While his intentions are probably not pure, i wont label him as "obvious evil", probably just a dude that cares of his own, and not about others.

I am referring to not just Red Hair, but Sun-Il and his brothers as well.

'Hey guys, I'm collecting souls to heal my sick kid' probably would have stopped a fight there as well.

And with regards to Red-Hair, sure, she may have started the fight - but who started the fight is pretty irrelevant. It was pretty clear that with the difference in power (not to mention his teleportation), Black Summoner could have ended the fight any time he chose. Instead he dragged Jee-Han into it, from his own mouth to keep Red Hair from just leaving.

[Olinser]

Translation is up http://www.batoto.net/read/_/226041/...5_by_bap-scans

[Math_Mage]

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noooooo it really is a villain excuse dammit dammit dammit

it's a bit weird for hwan sung-gon to be talking in game-like terms, 'freezing effect' and the like.

[Gez]

The real question here is whether he'll look at the protagonist as an alternate, probably safer, and less confrontational method to heal his daughter, or whether he'll stay stuck in his plans.

[Ibrinar]

Also if the protagonist can heal her, why didn't he go to someone who learned that technique normally, or maybe the crystals are the difference.

[Thrawn183]

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My guess is the freezing effect will be reapplied shortly.

[Gez]

Also if the protagonist can heal her, why didn't he go to someone who learned that technique normally, or maybe the crystals are the difference.

There's a big difference between normal mechanisms and the simplified abstractions used by games. These abstractions result in instantaneous effects for things which normally take a lot of time. It also increases their efficiency greatly. This has been shown both with the recovery technique and the skill books; in both cases the other characters (can we call them NPCs?) were astounded by the instantaneous nature of the effect.

Someone with a normal version of the technique may simply take too long to heal these effects.

[Aquillion]

noooooo it really is a villain excuse dammit dammit dammit

I don't think we're supposed to see him as a villain now anyway. He hasn't really done anything remotely villainous since his first appearance. Plus, he's the main character's teacher.

I don't think it's all he wants to do, otherwise his stated intention for attacking her doesn't make sense. Except the healing somehow causes the demon to appear or something like that, and he wants to let others take care of it.^^

I think that that probably makes the most sense -- his daughter is used to confine the demon, and 'healing' her will release it.

This explains a number of things. He needed to test the power of nearby ability users to be sure that they'll be able to handle it and won't get killed when the demon is released. It also explains why he didn't immediately ask the main character to remove Black Demon's Invasion -- removing that is not the hard part.

[lord_khaine]

Someone with a normal version of the technique may simply take too long to heal these effects.

I suspect the main difference where the use of the soul stone, it might not be something a normal user of the technique can use.

And if they are a component for augumenting a recovery technique, then we also have a motive for BS to hunt down zombies on his own.

I think that that probably makes the most sense -- his daughter is used to confine the demon, and 'healing' her will release it.

This explains a number of things. He needed to test the power of nearby ability users to be sure that they'll be able to handle it and won't get killed when the demon is released. It also explains why he didn't immediately ask the main character to remove Black Demon's Invasion -- removing that is not the hard part.

If she is used to contain it then i dont think it would be called an invasion by the darkness and deamon trait she were suffering from, something that also hints at it being more along the line of an elemental force and less of an actual demon.

And i think its more likely he did not ask the main character because he did not believe he could remove it. Something that were properly correct.

[Math_Mage]

I don't think we're supposed to see him as a villain now anyway. He hasn't really done anything remotely villainous since his first appearance. Plus, he's the main character's teacher.

He's the main character's teacher because everything important is at high school. That doesn't mean anything.

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The scene in the hospital with Sung-ah is all but dispositive.

[Lamech]

Spoiler: raws

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BOOM! He grinded his healing skill. There is a new (probable) ability user in the school. Level 10 green hair. Jee-Han's white haired friend is now level 31. Black Summoner the teacher is gone. The Black Demon Invader has gotten into class with Jee-Han. Red hair girl is slumped over and in a bad mood. I'm guessing the destruction of the illusion barriers didn't go as well as planned.

Oh and Jee-Han finally learned the life suck skill. Presumably to help the Black Demon Invader.

[Thrawn183]

Though characters can be ruthless and not very nice without being the main villain or even an enemy of the protagonists. One should never forget that there can be more than two neatly defined opposing sides.

Yeah, let's not forget how close Sun-il came to murder.

At a certain point, it stops being unreasonable to attack people that randomly appear in the middle of a battle.

[Aquillion]

He was set up at the outset to be a villain. If the author tries to shift him to a 'misunderstood guy' because he has a sick kid he's going to great lengths to cure, it's a stupid cliche excuse, especially because it's not that likely the Chunbumoon would have interfered if they knew he was just trying to cure her, and to go around picking fights with other powerful ability users for no reason (Red-Hair and Sun-Il) isn't exactly the smartest thing to do when you're trying to get help for somebody.

Belatedly, because I just noticed this:

He didn't pick a fight with Sun-Il. Sun-Il sought him out and picked a fight with him (solely because he was operating in Chunbumoon territory); after dealing with that without killing anyone, he sought out the Chunbumoon elders, explained the situation with them, and reached an understanding with them so it wouldn't happen again.

It is likely that the Black Summoner didn't realize Chunbumoon would react that way or he would have explained himself sooner.

[Thrawn183]

Belatedly, because I just noticed this:

He didn't pick a fight with Sun-Il. Sun-Il sought him out and picked a fight with him (solely because he was operating in Chunbumoon territory); after dealing with that without killing anyone, he sought out the Chunbumoon elders, explained the situation with them, and reached an understanding with them so it wouldn't happen again.

It is likely that the Black Summoner didn't realize Chunbumoon would react that way or he would have explained himself sooner.

On the other hand, it is heavily implied the Black Summoner is seeking out people strong enough to fight the Black Demon whenever he is able to pull it out of his daughter. That's what the whole first fight was about.

The main character's new ability makes me think of psionics what with Hostile Empathic Transfer.

[Olinser]

New raws.

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Red Hair chick is looking pissed at Black Summoner's daughter.

Jee-Han runs into another ??? ability user - it's a ........... woman??? with silverish hair and a suit that appears to be trying to recruit him. They have coffee and talk for a while.

[TheEmerged]

Interesting new chapter. I have to say he needs some kind of conflict or danger soon or this is going to get boring (which would be a pity, because I'm enjoying this).

[Math_Mage]

Oh, hey, context incoming!