Chapter 2518 – 2518. The Devil’S Game
I stared blankly at Hyun Ji-chan. His limbs were severed, and a knife was lodged in his solar plexus. The floor was covered with blood that had flowed from Hyun Ji-chan’s body.
No human could survive that. They shouldn’t be able to survive. But Hyun Ji-chan was alive. He was breathing normally, and his body was twitching.
Hyun Ji-chan, who had closed his eyes as if accepting death, slowly opened them. Then, bewildered, he asked me,
“…Why am I not dying? What did you do?”
“Ask the devil inside you.”
Honestly, I was tense. In game terms, this was the point where the devil possessing Hyun Ji-chan would reveal itself and start the second round.
“Devil? You’re saying there’s a devil inside me?”
“That’s why you’re not dead.”
Just then, Hyun Ji-chan’s left eye swirled and turned gold. His pupil split vertically like a lizard’s.
“No. Participant Hyun Ji-chan died at this point. If he had committed suicide with a holy weapon before dying… he would have been the victor.”
A cracking voice. It wasn’t Hyun Ji-chan’s voice. I gripped my sword hilt for no reason.
“Are you a devil?”
“Yes. I am. It’s the first time I’ve seen you like this, Participant Sung Yu-jin. Personally… I’m a fan of Participant Sung Yu-jin. You’re so unlike a human in many ways. As the game organizer, I was a little worried about the game balance… but that’s how star players are, isn’t it? I’ve enjoyed it thanks to you, Participant Sung Yu-jin.”
I twisted the hilt of my sword with all my might.
“Ugh!”
It was Hyun Ji-chan who was suffering. The devil’s eyes just looked at me with amusement. The devil showed no sign of doing anything.
“Aren’t you going to fight?”
“Haha. Why would I fight a participant? This game is about finding and killing the devil, not fighting and defeating the devil. It doesn’t seem like you’re going to kill me right away… Do you have any questions? I’m in a pretty good mood right now, so I’ll answer them.”
I didn’t really have any.
‘Should I just ignore him and go help the other team members?’
But the devil bothered me. I didn’t know what it would do while out of my sight. The devil might use some strange power to escape.
“Why do you play the devil’s game? Do you get any benefit from it?”
“What is the purpose of a game? To have fun. Yes. The devil’s game is purely organized for my enjoyment.”
“You find this fun? I could understand if you stepped in yourself. But all you do is… make rules and watch.”
“There are people in the world who prefer watching gamers play rather than playing the game themselves. That’s me. Though I’m not a person. To put it simply… it’s a preference. Please respect it.”
I was secretly relieved. I didn’t have to fight a super strong devil.
“I heard that the winner of the Grand Game gets a reasonable wish granted. What is the scope of that reasonableness?”
“Ah. That’s up to me. If I wanted to, I could make Participant Sung Yu-jin the ruler of the world. But I won’t. That’s not fun. The wishes of Participant Sung Yu-jin and his team members will be granted. If you kill me with Ascalon, that is.”
“Hyun Ji-chan has been quiet since a while ago. Is he dead?”
“No. He’s alive. He’s in a state of mental confusion from the pain. Well, it’s Hyun Ji-chan’s fate, so there’s nothing to be done. If you kill me now, Mr. Hyun Ji-chan will be freed from his pain.”
Of course, I had no intention of killing the devil right now. Whether Hyun Ji-chan suffered or not was none of my business.
Soon, the team members returned.
The first one captured was Park Tae-san. Jo Na-young and Bae Hyun-soo had caught Park Tae-san. Seeing Park Tae-san’s messed-up face, it looked like he had been beaten up. When I asked how they caught him, Jo Na-young said she had quietly approached him using invisibility and subdued him.
“Yu, Yu-jin. We’re friends. I think I was… a bit harsh with my words before. I apologize. You’ll accept it, right?”
“Of course, I have to accept it since we’re friends.”
Park Tae-san smiled obsequiously. I didn’t feel particularly disappointed. No matter what Park Tae-san did, my decision wouldn’t change.
I approached Park Tae-san and kicked him in the abdomen.
“Cough!”
I stomped on the fallen guy with all my might.
“Since we’re friends, I won’t kill you right away and will keep you alive as much as possible. And let’s get some hits in first.”
“Aaaagh!”
While I was beating up Park Tae-san, Yu Jin-myung returned with Peng Cheon-soo. Peng Cheon-soo was in worse shape than Park Tae-san. He was bleeding all over. There was a bullet hole in his right arm. He was somehow still alive, but it looked like he would die soon.
Shin Do-hyun was visible behind them. She was sweating profusely and was limping. I could see her thigh, which had been given first aid. The white bandage was stained with blood. There was no way Shin Do-hyun would have hurt herself… I immediately understood the situation. A surge of anger rose to the top of my head.
“That fucking… Peng Cheon-soo bastard…!”
I approached Peng Cheon-soo and grabbed his limbs, twisting his joints and destroying them.
“Aaaagh!”
Even hearing his screams didn’t relieve my anger. I almost killed him, but I held back. Killing Peng Cheon-soo like this was too easy.
I tried to calm my anger and approached Shin Do-hyun, who was sitting leaning against a pillar.
“Do-hyun. Were you shot?”
“…I did first aid, so I can hold on. It’s nothing.”
She was sweating too much for it to be nothing. I picked up Ascalon.
“Should I kill the devil bastard now?”
If I killed the devil now and ended the Grand Game, Shin Do-hyun’s injuries would also disappear.
“Don’t. I said it’s nothing. Do it as planned.”
“……”
“Yu-jin. Here’s a recovery potion that Peng Cheon-soo had. Do-hyun said she wouldn’t drink it.”
Yu Jin-myung handed me a small potion. A red potion that wasn’t even a mouthful. I belatedly realized that Peng Cheon-soo’s game tool was a recovery potion that could only be used in the game.
“I don’t need it. I can hold on this much. It’s not like a bullet is stuck in my thigh. Use the recovery potion when it’s really dangerous.”
“Now is the time to use it.”
“Eugh?!”
I forcibly grabbed Shin Do-hyun’s cheeks and put the potion in her mouth.
“You know you’ll just waste the potion if you spit it out, right? Drink it all.”
“……”
Shin Do-hyun, whose cheeks were grabbed, glared at me as if she would kill me. It had been quite a while since I had received this cold gaze from her. It felt strangely good.
Gulp.
Shin Do-hyun, whose complexion had improved, got up from her seat as if nothing had happened. Her injuries had healed instantly.
“Peng Cheon-soo. You bastard. Don’t you die.”
“……”
Peng Cheon-soo tried to commit suicide by slamming his head, the only part of his body that could move, into the ground, but Yu Jin-myung rushed over and stopped him. Yu Jin-myung carefully gave first aid to Peng Cheon-soo’s injuries.
And time passed.
We decided to hold out as much as possible as planned. That way, the other participants would die. The team members took turns keeping watch, and if any participants approached, they shot them dead.
Yu Jin-myung interrogated the devil possessing Hyun Ji-chan. The devil never lied even once.
“Are you really a devil?”
“Well, it depends on what you call me. Most people call me a devil.”
“If I consider you a god, are you a god?”
“If you want a god, I’ll be a god. But I won’t give you anything else.”
In fact, they weren’t getting any meaningful information from the devil.
I beat up Park Tae-san whenever I was bored. And when I had time, I would cuddle with Shin Do-hyun in a corner. I could feel Jo Na-young’s gaze, but… Shin Do-hyun was my official girlfriend.
In the middle, Peng Cheon-soo faced a near-death experience. This was despite the first aid he had received.
「Demonic Ion Drink
Completely restores stamina.
30 GP.」
I gave the ion drink to Peng Cheon-soo. I didn’t think I would need it in the future anyway, and I didn’t want to kill Peng Cheon-soo easily. It didn’t heal Peng Cheon-soo’s injuries, but it helped him overcome the near-death experience.
Before midnight, I asked the Advisor.
‘How many Grand Game participants are left?’
〈There are 27 participants left.〉
Excluding the 7 of us here, there were 20 left. Quite a few were left. We decided to hold out for a few more days.
At midnight, a recovery potion appeared in Peng Cheon-soo’s possession. I gave it to Peng Cheon-soo. Peng Cheon-soo couldn’t resist because Yu Jin-myung and Shin Do-hyun were aiming their guns at him. I broke Peng Cheon-soo’s limbs again.
Since the sandbag Park Tae-san looked like he was about to die, I finished him off myself. I kicked his belly with all my might.
“I, I curse you. Sung Yu-jin…! You’ll fall into hell! You bastard!!”
It was funny that Park Tae-san mentioned hell. At the same time, I was also curious.
“Advisor. Does hell exist?”
〈Hell does not exist.〉
“There is none. Just die.”
Park Tae-san was kicked to death.
Next, I tormented Peng Cheon-soo. Since Peng Cheon-soo had a recovery potion, I tormented him a little more severely. Was it called dismemberment? I sliced Peng Cheon-soo’s limbs with a knife. I had suffered a bit because of this bastard, so I couldn’t kill him easily.
Above all, what I couldn’t forgive was that he had shot Do-hyun.
Yu Jin-myung interrogated Peng Cheon-soo.
“I would like you to tell me about the business you have. And also about the dark side of South Korea. You don’t want to? Yu-jin. Please.”
“I asked the devil, and he said that if you give him a recovery potion before his brain completely dies, he can live even if his heart is torn out. Shall we see what Peng Cheon-soo’s organs look like?”
“…I’ve told you everything I know. Please kill me. Please.”
“Uh. No.”
Even Jo Na-young and Bae Hyun-soo, who were considered to have weaker mentalities among the team members, didn’t feel sorry for Peng Cheon-soo. Peng Cheon-soo was a guy who had committed all sorts of heinous crimes, from drugs to human trafficking.
〈There are 6 participants left.〉
Three more days passed, and 6 participants were left.
I executed Peng Cheon-soo. The only ones left were the five of us.
I picked up Ascalon in front of everyone and approached the devil. The devil smiled.
“You have won. You are truly cruel. Congratulations on your victory.”
“Just make sure you grant our wishes well.”
I struck the devil’s neck with Ascalon.
The devil’s head floated into the air.
“Yes. Your wishes will be granted.”
With the devil’s last words, we returned to reality.
And our wishes were granted.
