Boothill

A modified human cowboy wandering the galaxy. Extremely optimistic and free-spirited.
As a member of the "Galaxy Ranger," he can do anything to punish evil—his bold actions are aimed at attracting the attention of his target for revenge, the "Starpiece Company."

Boothill is a tall and slender man, wearing a dark gray cowboy hat, with a star-shaped emblem on the right side of his chest. He has long white hair mixed with black bristles, and bangs that cover the left side of his face. His gray eyes are marked with a reticle in the pupils. He also has sharp, shark-like teeth. A bullet-shaped earring hangs from his left ear. Below the neck, he has a completely robotic body.

As a member of the Galaxy Ranger, his bounty is 720.5 million credits, which was later updated to 800 million credits. Whether it's due to the full-body modification or the use of synesthetic beacons is unclear, but his voice has a slight noise to it. His voice from childhood and from before his modification had a clear, angelic quality. Being a cyborg, he has a cylinder built into his arm, with the left arm (index and middle fingers) transforming into a muzzle. There is a refueling port around the lower back region.

During the modification process into a cyborg, his language was forcibly sanitized due to the synesthetic beacons. As a result, swear words or similar insulting remarks come out sanitized. Of course, his nature tends to be rough and he often spews curses, so he seems rather dissatisfied with this sanitization. According to his account, when he learned about this right after the modifications, he tried to let loose a torrent of curses, but naturally, even those words came out sanitized.

The filtering of curses by Boothill is as follows:
"새끼" = "베이비"
"좆 같은" = "혹 같은/주옥같은"
"빌어먹을" = "벌어먹을/뿌려먹을"
"씨발" = "족발"
"개새끼" = "게딱지"
"병신새끼" = "깜찍이"
"찌질이 (겁쟁이)" = "울보 유령"
"죽인다" = "귀여워하다"
In essence, the words themselves are praises, but if the intonation is strange, they act almost like double swears. Despite having a rough mouth, he is reckless enough to sometimes stage hostage situations, giving him a muscle-headed image, but he also possesses a degree of intellect. However, he is illiterate and uses voice recognition due to a lack of education.

Before harboring resentment against the Company, he was a pure cowboy boy who lived on the wide plains and had never killed anyone; if he judged his opponent to be evil, he did not hesitate to aim his gun, which remains unchanged to this day. And perhaps due to the memory of having raised an adopted daughter, he has a soft spot for children. Surprisingly, he claims to be relatively taciturn. If this is true, it could be an exaggeration stemming from his need for revenge.

Due to most of his body being modified except for his head, his taste is abnormal. He enjoys barbecues doused in hydrogen peroxide and relishes swallowing bullets. However, even he has a distaste for Himeko's coffee. He loves malt juice, which is very expensive in reality but can be consumed freely in the dream world. It is said that steeping a bullet in his drink enhances the flavor, but it seems only modified humans like Boothill can truly taste it.

He has a nemesis relationship with Starpiece Company, particularly obsessively pursuing a figure named Oswald Schneider, the head of the market development department. As a result, he sharpens his knives but also causes quite a bit of chaos, frequently landing himself on the bounty list of the Company.

The name Boothill refers to a common graveyard for cowboys, especially gunslingers. Given that the Galaxy Ranger had nearly lost their organization after losing many Rangers, it’s a strangely fitting name. Boothill himself jestingly remarks that it’s not a name suitable for the living, given his cyborg body.

While he strongly embodies the image of a western cowboy, there are times he also resembles a character from martial arts fiction, likely influenced by his following of the hunting culture of Aions. Indeed, there are claims that he harbors a fondness for the captain culture. Contrary to emphasizing the spirit of martial arts, he exhibits gambling traits. At the Levery Hotel, he acts up to the point of luring staff into awkward positions and threatening a hostage situation; despite claiming to be fair, he cheats by counting to three and then suddenly striking first, offering a gun to a Company guard and then killing him with the embedded muzzle in his finger.

"Gray, is that not a child in the snow?!" Gray and Nick cautiously approached, hugging the child who had a flushed face and was crying continuously. The child had a lovely name meaning 'loaded gun' in ancient tongue—"Aieragan-Eparsel." Boothill grew up happily alongside Gray and Nick's love, along with other siblings. They came from different places but were part of the vast continent "Aieragan-Eparsel." Gray taught Boothill about plants, birds, and rivers, while Nick taught how to tame horses and herd cattle and sheep. Young Boothill crossed a stream on a pony, heading with Nick under the sunlight towards the grassy ranch. Underneath the radiant clouds, Nick always sang aloud. Every time the distant sound of his singing reached Boothill, he kicked the pony’s belly, trying to run faster to follow. Their joyful laughter carried further and farther away. The children adopted by Gray and Nick grew bigger each day, and their waistlines bent more each day. Having become a cowboy, Boothill mastered all hunting skills. They galloped through the dusty plains, fought against bandits, dealt with caravan trade, and battled beasts for survival space. Boothill faced life-threatening crises, tasted the revenge against rival mobs, witnessed a friend lose his life to a bullet, and saw families collapse in an instant… He lost many people and gained many things. Ultimately, Boothill earned status and respect through his bravery. Now, having hardly any contact with his siblings, Boothill knew they were doing well. Late at night, as Boothill looked at the sky wondering about the larger world, the crying sound was particularly clear and vivid in the stillness of the night. Following the voice, he saw a baby with a flushed face, continuing to cry. Flustered, Boothill eventually took the child home, just as Gray had once done. Nick's rough voice echoed in his ears. "The water here tastes like fine wine, and the snow here is as cold as a blade. This is the best world."

The shadow of the spaceship covered the moonlight of the prairie. Boothill jumped off a passing train with a tremendous noise. When the thick smoke and dust cleared, Boothill had already returned to camp with loot in hand. He raised his head to glance at the intruders. A person dressed in a neat black outfit, flanked by fully armed guards, walked down the deck into the cowboy camp. Boothill received what the person called a synesthetic beacon. An unfamiliar yet grand word leaped into Boothill's mind. For the first time, Boothill learned that there were many brilliant worlds in the galaxy, beyond the plains, forests, rivers, and railroads. Ignoring the resistance of locals, a massive excavator appeared on the prairie horizon. Black minerals began to pour from the earth. The fully armed guards desecrated their beliefs, drove them from their homes, and slighted their dignity with meager compensation. As before, Boothill and his comrades delayed the footsteps of the person in black with guerrilla tactics. Yet, before overwhelming force, the cowboy's schemes and sharpshooting skills seemed primitive and laughable. As family members departed from this world one by one, Boothill realized that he could not resolve this issue eternally unless he found the root cause of all this. Donning stolen employee attire, Boothill snuck aboard the spaceship under the cover of night. Using instincts and agility honed from years of hunting, Boothill quietly took down the guards stationed on the way, bypassed layers of checkpoints, and arrived at the main cabin. He saw the back of a man who appeared to be telling something to his subordinates.
"...There are important strategic resources in Aieragan-Eparsel. He who takes it first gains an advantage in the competition of departments. If those barbaric and rude cowboys refuse to cooperate with the market development department, we have no choice but to manage this world on behalf of them. We can use force if needed as time is of the essence. Bring civilization to this world."
A horrifying thought flooded Boothill's mind. Boothill burst out running towards the exit. The surrounding staff were still chatting cheerfully. Boothill held his breath, suppressing his anger and tears. His family still needed him. He couldn't stop his footsteps.
Bombardment fell from the sky. When Boothill staggered back to the hellish ranch, the elderly Gray and Nick, and the comrades he had grown up with since childhood had lost their lives to the inferno. Boothill wished to find the figure of that small child there. She was not much older than a toddler, banging away on the little guitar Boothill made, giggling. But she was gone. Nothing was left. All that remained was the blackened earth. He did not even have time to erect a gravestone for them.
"Starpiece Company... Market Development Department..."
This nightmarish name and scene engraved deeply in his bones. Even if he were reborn, he would never forget it.
According to the planet record of "Aieragan-Eparsel," the nomadic tribe that had lived there for generations vanished due to an unknown disaster. The surviving old and young remained in an increasingly smaller habitat. Even now, that black mineral continues to be widely used in the production of high-output weapons, being loaded onto the Company’s cargo ships for transport to more planets.

"This path doesn't suit you, so hurry along. Find another job or… learn something new."
The short doctor set down a half-eaten sandwich and wiped his hands on his coat that was much larger than his size.
Even as the man silently removed his clothes to show the wounds on his body, the doctor continued his nagging without respite.
"Young people like you deserve a better future. This path is for those pushed into a dead-end, unable to start anew yet wanting to punish evil..."
A cold gun touched the doctor's forehead—or at least the area that could be considered his forehead.
"If you were going to attend classes, you would have gone to school," the man threatened.
"I’m sure you want to threaten me, but guns are no use to me... Just lie down, that's enough," the doctor resigned himself.
...
The lights of the operating table turned on.
Boothill felt like he had fallen into deep water. His enveloped flesh blended into the surroundings and gradually faded away, while only hollow thoughts remained behind, thrashing in place.
Strangely, feelings of fear, anxiety, loneliness, darkness, and anger did not vanish with the flesh but instead remained transformed into heavier forms.
A burning smell filled the air. Even the doctor's gentle breaths could be felt. Could she still breathe? It was a misplaced thought. The humming of electronic machinery buzzed in his ears, and the blue life blood refused to flow towards Boothill’s ravenous heart.
Boothill wished to sleep endlessly without waking up.
That raw singing voice, that gentle plea, memories of the past surfaced once more. The grudge that pierced his bones transformed into a faint light in the dark. He followed the light and walked to the end, pushing himself up with all his might to the surface.
...
"Congratulations. You’re quite hard to kill."
The doctor wiped his blood-drenched hands on his white coat and picked up another half-eaten sandwich.
"Did you think I would die?"
Boothill firmly closed his fists. Now his hands were cold as steel.
"Most die," the doctor said frankly. "But it's not due to my incompetence."
"I have good news. I was dead long before this."
"What’s your name?"
Boothill hesitated momentarily. The gentle voice in his ears, the rough voice had all vanished. Now, there was no one left to call that crisp and spirited name.
"Boothill. That’s the name given to gunslingers who died in our hometown."
Boothill turned around, laughing as he revealed his sharp teeth.
"But this is just the beginning, Doctor. It’s the lightest price I will pay for revenge."
He stumbled out, dragging his new body as he went through the main door.
"Then I hope it becomes a delightful ‘hunting’ for you, ‘Galaxy Ranger’ Boothill!"
The short doctor shouted after his retreating figure.
Outside the door was the deep night. Boothill unconsciously lifted his head. Amongst the spread stars, another star shone brightly.

Boothill returned to "Aieragan-Eparsel" multiple times to investigate the man who ordered the massacre then, only to find that his appearance was erased from historical records.
Boothill sought refuge in the garden of memories, trying to read the memory bubbles related to "Aieragan-Eparsel." A memory bubble on the display shelf rolled off. The remembering ones swarmed like bees, unable to spare any energy to stop Boothill from rescuing the rare memory.
As he was expelled from the garden of memories, he finally caught a glimpse of the man amidst the chaotic memory of "Aieragan-Eparsel."
"Oswald Schneider, Head of the Market Development Department at Starpiece Company..."
......
"Did you hear? Recently, a modified human of unknown identity attacked the Company’s fleet at the Pier Point Galactic Port..."
"The market development department's project has gone awry, so let’s just sit back and enjoy the show. Serves them right for flaunting around like that..."
"Enjoy? I’ll have to return to Pier Point tomorrow; I wouldn’t want a gun pointed at my head..."
A uniformed Company employee passed through the fountain square with coffee in hand, chatting with others.
Under the shade of the trees, a cowboy, hat pulled down, leisurely read a wanted notice in the newspaper while sipping single malt juice.
"Boothill. Place of birth unknown. Galaxy Ranger. Charges: Five counts of Pier Point assault, three counts of weapon depot assault at Starpiece Company's market development department, multiple counts of assault on Company employees, and various incidents under Company jurisdiction, including the disappearance of the Mary-Louin galaxy treasure and the Konger planet ring riot, and the massive explosion of Galileo Star."
"What a baby, writing like he’s a charming little darling who survived bullets raining down on him..."
Boothill threw the newspaper aside and glared at the Company fleet moving in and out of the branch. While the bounty on Boothill’s head continued to rise, he couldn’t find a trace of the slippery Oswald at all. He didn’t appear in official announcements, and even middle managers were unaware of his whereabouts.
The port bustled with low-grade intelligence machines transporting cargo efficiently, and modest cargo ships coming and going. When Boothill counted the cargo ships to 359, the staff at the harbor began to take off their hats and greet him. A magnificent spaceship, escorted by guard ships, left the harbor, heading towards the festive star. He shook his head at the excessively extravagant ship, continuing to wait for something.
Minutes later, a gray small ecological ship quietly departed the harbor alongside the commercial fleet.
—That was Boothill’s true objective.
"There’s no eternal stronghold. Even if I can’t find you, Oswald, wouldn't it be easy to find a lackey of the Company who dislikes you?"
"I can’t shake the feeling that those I previously dealt with, whom I took care of, are sneering at me from hell..."
Boothill tossed the empty bottle he was holding and revealed his sharp teeth.
"Doesn’t matter. We’re bound to meet soon."