Chapter 2483 – 2483. The Devil’S Game
The A-Plan Legion decided to temporarily halt their attacks and focus on maintenance and training.
This was because the volcanic ash from the volcanic island was affecting even the uncaptured areas. Forcing an attack would only lead to enormous damage.
Yuria, Elena, and I spent time at the Baldert mansion. With Yuria and Mireyeong helping Elena, she had more free time. The four of us spent time together, and it passed quickly. Everything was going smoothly.
30 days passed in the blink of an eye.
[Yuria Grace is being reverse summoned.]
[Mireyeong is being reverse summoned.]
Elena leaned back in her chair.
“It’s become less noisy now that they’re gone. It’s a little disappointing.”
“I’m surprised to hear you say that, considering your distrust of humans.”
“The reason I distrust humans is because it’s difficult to know their true intentions. Even if I can guess, I can’t be certain.”
“You don’t know Yuria and Mireyeong’s intentions either.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m on equal footing with them. Our goals are the same. There’s no reason for them to betray me, and even if they did, it wouldn’t mean anything. That’s why I can trust them, and why we can be friends.”
“Yuria and Mireyeong aren’t nobles, though?”
“You know better than anyone that noble status is meaningless.”
Elena chuckled and said.
She was right. Status didn’t matter to them. What mattered was that they were my women.
“What do you think will happen in the future?”
I asked Elena. Her ability to assess the world’s situation was several times better than mine. Her advice was like gold.
“The atmosphere is definitely not good. It’s like a cold war? No, it’s a bit more brutal than that. ‘The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.’ There’s a reason that saying exists. Be as careful as possible. The Emperor is looking for a plausible target to divert the people’s anger and despair.”
Diverting internal problems to the outside. It was a common occurrence.
‘The Cheonma Church should stay quiet for a while.’
Especially since it was known that Cheonma was a member of Helten, which was in conflict with the Emperor. In times like these, it was best to stay quiet.
‘I guess I’ll just let it run on autopilot for now.’
[The game is ending.]
• • •
[Sung Yujin
Level: 95
Strength: 140 Stamina: 140 Agility: 140 Intelligence: 140 Vitality: 150 Mana: 150]
[Available Points: 7,499]
I had earned fewer points than I expected this time.
I sat on the sofa, tapping the armrest as I pondered. To increase a stat from 140, it cost 2,000 points. At most, I could only raise three stats. And I didn’t have enough points to invest in traits or skills.
‘Random draws can always get you your money’s worth. But the problem is that it might not be the money’s worth I want.’
Even if I used all 7,000 points on random draws, I wasn’t confident I’d get a trait or skill. Especially today, my gut feeling wasn’t good.
‘I want to raise my stats.’
My reputation was growing in the real world. And I knew that reputation didn’t always bring good things. I wanted to get my physical abilities to the level of an S-class hunter.
‘I won’t use them this time. I’ll save them.’
• • •
I was bored.
Hunting monsters in dungeons, watching creations at home, even causing chaos in other worlds was getting tiresome.
‘It’s like… there’s no thrill. I’ve become too strong, I guess.’
Of course, having sex with beautiful women never got old. But what I needed now was a different kind of stimulation.
The game life app could make that possible.
There were six game world slots. All of them were full. But there was a way to go to other game worlds.
[The refresh activation time is 21 days away.]
Quests.
I couldn’t choose a quest because 50 days hadn’t passed since I completed the last one.
[Spend 500 points to instantly refresh the quest?]
‘Why should I endure boredom when I have the game life app? Of course, I’ll do it.’
500 points.
It wasn’t a small amount. But from my experience, the quest rewards were usually at least 10 times that.
‘If I set my mind to it, I can get points, skills, and traits from quest rewards.’
If my goal was simply to get stronger, it would be more efficient to actively use quests.
[Refreshing the quest.]
Three quests were updated.
[Consistent Training. Consistent training for 30 days. Reward: 7,000 points]
[Entrance Exam War. A life-or-death study to get into a prestigious university. Reward: 3,000 points, Ergonomic Study Chair.]
[Becoming a VTuber Today. Aim to be the best VTuber. Reward: 3,000 points, VTuber Avatar.]
‘I’m screwed.’
There wasn’t a single one I liked.
Consistent training? I was already doing that in the real world. But the training the quest suggested required more than 5 hours a day.
‘Train for 5 hours every day for 30 days? The reward is bad, and it’s a boring, trash quest.’
It would be more beneficial to enter another game world.
‘Entrance Exam War. That was a pretty famous makjang drama.’
I had to study.
That alone was a deal-breaker. The reward, the ergonomic study chair, had the effect of increasing learning ability when sitting on it. It wasn’t appealing.
‘VTuber? Honestly, I don’t know much about it.’
I knew what a VTuber was. I knew they were pretty popular these days. But I didn’t watch live streams, so I didn’t know much about it.
The reward, the VTuber avatar, would change my body into a VTuber avatar. It could even change my gender.
‘If Madoka knew, she’d be begging me for it.’
But what could I do? I had no intention of becoming a VTuber.
[Refreshing the quest.]
‘Oh?’
Luckily, a quest I liked appeared this time.
[The Devil’s Game
You have received a game invitation.
Participate in this game and get what you want. The stake for participating in the game is your life.
Unfortunately, you cannot refuse this invitation.
Quest Success Condition: Survive until the end of the game
Quest Success Reward: 3,000 points
※You can adjust the reward by setting penalties.]
‘This is like the death game genre novel I read when I was a kid.’
It was quite shocking when I was younger. It was a novel divided into two parts, so it wasn’t very long. It was okay in terms of entertainment.
‘The quest reward is so bad it makes me sigh.’
What caught my attention was that I could set penalties.
‘The quest reward is based on the penalties.’
It was perfect for a one-time thrill.
I set the penalties.
[Penalty 1. Ordinary Physical Abilities]
[Physical abilities will be adjusted. Mana cannot be used.]
[Penalty 2. Only One Trait.]
[All skills and traits except one cannot be used. The selected trait is Shooting (Lv. Master).]
[Penalty 3. Remnants of Experience]
[Memories and experiences related to the game life app will be sealed. Some remnants will remain.]
[The game will automatically end every 30 days.]
[Setting penalties.]
[Rewards and advantages will be given based on the penalty settings.]
[Acquiring the limited trait ‘Concentration (Lv. Master)’.]
[Concentration Lv. Master
Concentration increases.
‣Super Concentration
Concentration increases to the extreme for a short time. Consumes mental power.]
[Quest Success Reward: 10,000 points, Future Information.]
[Future Information
Acquire future information randomly.
Future information provides only information that will definitely help you.
Price: 200,000 points
※Caution
It is up to you to determine the true value of future information.]
“This is going to be fun.”
The reward wasn’t bad at this level.
Wasn’t removing memories and experiences too much? But if I proceeded with the quest with my memories and experiences intact, I wouldn’t get the stimulation I wanted. It would be too boring.
What fun would a level 100 character have killing a level 1 monster?
‘The thrill and fun of doing something for the first time is different from doing it the second time.’
And this was already familiar.
In the [Dark Moon] world, I could feel fun, stimulation, and experience even without memories. When I closed my eyes and thought of myself in the [Dark Moon] world, the experiences and stimulation from that time came back vividly.
‘This is also a game.’
[Starting the game.]
‣ ‣ ‣
I lay in bed to sleep.
Before closing my eyes, I looked at the ceiling. I saw a stained ceiling. Looking at that ceiling, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
‘No, is this even déjà vu?’
It was like I had become a new me.
Somehow, the current situation felt very unfamiliar. I was a little less sleepy. I thought about my current situation.
23 years old. High school graduate. Unserved in the military. Debtor. No family.
Two years ago, my parents died in an accident, and I invested the insurance money and assets they left behind in Bitcoin, and lost it all.
A year ago, I heard that Bitcoin was going up again, so I took out a loan and invested all my assets in Bitcoin again.
‘I’m screwed.’
My debt was over 100 million.
I clearly borrowed about 30 million… but when I came to my senses, my debt was over 100 million.
‘The loan sharks were threatening to sell my organs if I didn’t pay them back.’
I still had messages from the loan sharks saved on my smartphone. It wasn’t like I hadn’t thought about reporting them….
‘I saw what happened to a debtor who reported them to the police. Those bastards were in cahoots with the police….’
There wasn’t a single person I could trust in this country.
‘It’s all because of Park Tae-san that I ended up like this….’
Park Tae-san.
A friend who wasn’t close enough to be called a best friend, but was too close to be called a stranger.
The bastard who made a fortune with Bitcoin. I was blinded by his words that I could make money with Bitcoin, and I poured all my assets into it.
‘He said money was being copied. That bastard made billions with Bitcoin.’
I watched in real-time as my friend made billions from hundreds of millions. But what about me? I was nothing. I was stuck. It felt like I would be left behind forever, so I followed Park Tae-san and poured all my assets into Bitcoin.
It crashed immediately after.
Park Tae-san? It turned out he had already pulled out.
‘Damn it. How can 30% disappear overnight?’
I kept thinking it would go up, but even what was left disappeared.
Tears welled up in my eyes.
The loan sharks were a mess, and the future was not just bleak, but hellish. I was born with a great dick… but I couldn’t even use it.
‘Should I kill the loan sharks and run to America? Chase the American dream. A future where I make money and live by slapping the asses of busty blonde beauties…. Isn’t that possible?’
But I didn’t even know English.
I continued my delusions and closed my eyes.
I had to sleep now if I wanted to work the night shift at the factory. If I didn’t sleep now, I wouldn’t be able to handle it because I’d be too tired.
‘No matter how I think about it, the only way to change my life right now is to rob someone…. If I kidnap and confine Park Tae-san, cut off his limbs, and steal his assets, wouldn’t that be a life reversal?’
Suddenly, I realized that I was different from usual.
I usually didn’t think like this. I was so anxious that I couldn’t sleep properly. But now? I didn’t feel any anxiety. All I felt was annoyance.
‘Park Tae-san…. That bastard. I wonder how well he’s doing?’
I went to Park Tae-san’s social media.
Park Tae-san, like a Bitcoin nouveau riche, liked to show off his wealth. His posts were filled with pictures of the best apartment in Korea and supercars that cost a fortune. Most of all, his girlfriend was gorgeous. Her face was so beautiful that she could be a celebrity, and her chest was huge.
‘That damn bastard…. When I asked him to lend me some money, he told me to get lost. You bastard…. How should I kill him? It’ll be hard to sneak into his apartment…. I should kill him when he’s with his girlfriend. That way, I can bang his girlfriend.’
As I was making a plan, I was shocked.
Was I making a murder plan? And a plan to kill a friend?
‘…He’s not really a friend, though. I haven’t seen him since that day.’
I squeezed my eyes shut.
‘Something feels strange today. I should just go to sleep.’
• • •
Knock knock knock!!
I woke up to the sound of someone banging on the front door.
“Hey, Sung Yujin! I know you’re in there! Open the door right now, you bastard!!”
It was the voice of a thug under the loan sharks. I hadn’t missed any payments. This was just to scare me. To warn me that if I ran away, they would find me and kill me, that they were watching me.
Usually, I would have been terrified, but now it was different.
“…Damn it.”
Annoyance surged.
How dare they come and disturb me while I was sleeping? Some thug?
I got up and went to the kitchen. I grabbed a kitchen knife and headed to the front door, which was still being banged on.
When I opened the door, there was a muscular man. He had short blonde hair, and his arms were covered in tattoos.
“You bastard. I told you to open the door right away when I came.”
The thug stopped talking. It was because he saw the knife in my right hand. The thug’s eyes instantly turned fierce.
I realized I had made a mistake. I should have stabbed him with the knife as soon as I opened the door. Why did I give the thug time?
The thug’s hand reached for the hand holding the knife. He was trying to grab my wrist. I took a step back and dodged.
“Oh, you little…?”
Next came a kick.
It was slow.
It was like time was flowing slowly.
If I couldn’t dodge this, I was an idiot.
I dodged to the side and stabbed the thug’s neck with the kitchen knife. Then I pulled out the knife and stabbed his neck again.
Stab stab stab!
After stabbing his neck for a while, I confirmed that the thug was dead and stepped back.
“I, I committed murder…!”
How did this happen?
No, what was important now was to dispose of the body. I had heard that if a body wasn’t found, it wasn’t murder, but a disappearance.
Think, Sung Yujin. How can you hide this body? Chop it up and put it in the trash? Bury it in the mountains or throw it in the sea? But that was….
‘Too much of a hassle.’
Let’s just run.
‘I don’t have time to dispose of the body. The loan sharks will think something is wrong and send another thug. And then I’ll really die.’
Cold sweat ran down my neck. Maybe I would suffer more than death. I could be dragged to some remote place with my organs harvested and become a slave.
‘Now that it’s come to this, I should kill Park Tae-san and bang his girlfriend. After that… I’ll kill myself before the police catch me.’
It was better to die than to go to prison.
‘Those thugs said they had friends in prison. It’ll be even more terrible if I go to prison. It’s better to just die. I have a feeling that if I die, it won’t be the end, and there will be a next life.’
I changed into clean clothes and went out the front door.
I was going up the stairs from the basement to the ground floor when I stopped. There was a black envelope on the stairs.
-To Sung Yujin.
‘Is it a threatening letter? Who sent it?’
I felt curious and opened the envelope.
