Chapter 117

A Dangerous Invitation (4)

Paht!

The first hunter to return among those who went to a different dimension to receive the reward was Klaus of the U.S.

As soon as he showed himself, he spat out profanity.

“Damn it. As expected, the Koreans stole all the contribution rate! Because of the low rate, the items were…!”

His complaint didn’t see its end.

[Poison King’s Breath (Rank: SSS)]!

“K-argh!”

A pang of agony suddenly attacked him from within.

Amid the pain that made his entire body feel like it was covered in flames while being torn to shreds, Klaus collapsed.

“This…What the, argh–”

Trembling, he tried to shake his arms and legs. Within his fists that desperately clawed against the dirty ground, sounds of a bone breaking escaped out of his skin.

“Cough!”

The metallic taste of blood came up in his mouth. He vomited so much red fluid that ordinary people would have lost their lives at that point. His face, which had turned pale for a brief moment, became distorted and reddened again by the pain that returned.

“What the…!”

Ray Chen was looking at him in that state with a blank look.

He had an indescribably dreadful atmosphere unlike before.

The gaze that looked down at the crumpling Awakened emitted nothing but coldness.

As his consciousness slowly faded, Klaus realized that the Chinese men before him had done something to his body.

A word came up in his mind.

‘Trap–!’

Paht! Paht-paht!

Following him, Dmitri of Russia, and Chakrabati of India, also returned after receiving the compensation.

Right after their feet touched the ground, they both suffered from the same fate as U.S. hunter Klaus.

“Keup!”

“K-aaargh!”

They all collapsed due to unbearable agony, which felt like it was trying to grind their whole bodies. It was the extreme effect of the toxin that Ray Chen poisoned them with.

Ray Chen spoke while he looked down upon those struggling in pain.

He used a voice with minimal fluctuations.

“I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now. From this moment onwards, you all will be properties of the People’s Republic of China. Remain in that state for a little while longer. I don’t want to repeat myself over and over again as the others arrive. I’ll just explain it to you all after everyone has returned and has gathered together. I will be commanding you of what you should be doing from now on.”

Ray Chen had a faint smile worn on his lips.

The plan was on the verge of success. However, it was almost time for the Koreans to come back…

“…?”

Amid the minds of the Chinese soldiers, including the General himself, a question came up.

In most cases, it took less than a minute for a hunter, who went to receive compensation, to return. It’s random anyway. It would’ve only been a waste of time if one dragged on inside the compensation realm.

But a minute had passed, then three minutes… Soon, nine whole minutes had elapsed.

Nonetheless, the three people from Korea hadn’t returned yet.

Ray Chen muttered lowly as if he couldn’t believe what was happening.

“Could they have noticed it?”

*

Immediately after the dungeon clear, a system message came up in front of me.

– The user’s contribution to the dungeon Clear is ranked 1st (Contribution rate: 32%)!

I had deliberately adjusted my hunting pace when we roamed the dungeon so that Hibiki and Nate’s contributions exceeded 20% each. If my calculations and observations were correct, both would have succeeded.

Paht!

System messages came up one after another in quick succession.

– QUESTION COMPLETE!

– Quest Name: Verification of Qualification (1)

– Description: To climb the Tower of Choice, you must prove your qualification as a worthy Awakened. Successfully Clear an SS-Class dungeon in your world and secure more than 20% of the contribution rate.

– Rewards: 2.5 million Achievement Points are awarded to the user!

‘That’s quite a catch.’

The minimum compensation was 1 million, and I received a compensation 2.5 times that amount. It was the highest amount of points I had ever received from a single quest.

“I would like to receive the dungeon-Clear compensation.”

It was time to get my other reward.

Paht!

As the surrounding landscape changed, I moved to a place to choose additional rewards.

The darkness surrounded me.

‘This should be the perfect timing.’

I recited the spell right away.

[Complete cure (Rank: SSS)]!

The magic that I gave myself essentially restored my state to normal properties.

Thanks to Hibiki having gained the SSS-Rank Enchant mastery, I copied her acquired spells.

When magic was activated, I could feel the blood-colored Mana poison in my body vanishing neatly.

If the poison that could be seen in Ray Chen’s eyes disappeared out of nowhere, he would have noticed it. I had no choice but to leave it unattended, but there was no need for it anymore.

After invalidating the expedition leader’s unique skill, I looked at the fragments of light everywhere.

‘The given time is 10 minutes… That is enough time.’

I had deliberately ordered Hibiki and Nate to stay in the selection space for 10 minutes before returning.

‘Although this is an SS-Rank dungeon, the best reward would be SSS-Rank items or skills.’

The reward that could be obtained was within the next two levels from the difficulty of the dungeon, so it wouldn’t have been wrong to expect EX-Rated items. That was what was theoretically known.

However, in the other encounter, the ministry spirit clearly stated that it was prohibited to give items of that grade in the tutorial dimension due to their rules.

‘They’re not idiots, so if the system had built the dungeon, they’d have considered that. They would have extracted the EX-Class from the dungeon reward connected to the tutorial world.’

It was an obvious countermeasure, so I didn’t doubt it.

I looked carefully to see if there was an SSS-Class among the rewards. I didn’t expect an EX-class at all.

But…

“… Huh?”

I mumbled to myself without realizing it.

It’s been a long time since I had been so shocked.

‘No way!’

I rubbed my eyes and stared at the object of surprise again.

‘For real? Are they really stupid? If they can think… There would’ve been no way that they could do their job this messily!’

The thing that made me doubt [The Successor’s Eyes], which I had never doubted before, was right in front of me.

It had a clear Mana pattern that was distinct from other items.

And… The important thing was the vivid light.

The brilliance of the light was different from any SSS-Class rewards that I had seen so far. It went further beyond that.

Gulp.

I swallow hard.

‘It’s certain.’

I shouted internally.

‘It’s an EX-Class!’

I felt like my heart was going to pop out of my ribs because of the excitement and intoxication.

On the other hand, I couldn’t understand why the system, the dungeon architect, kept leaving such tremendous loopholes.

‘… One of the reasonings I can come up with is that the possibility of choosing such is very low anyway, so it was left unattended.’

But it wasn’t convincing.

‘Or is there a separation of dungeon compensation officers in the same way the ministry spirit isn’t in charge of unique skills? Alternatively, the algorithmic control that generates the reward list may not be under the group that manages the ‘rule.”

In most minds of the Awakened, systems were nothing more than that- a mysterious system that controlled all the events that had occurred since the tutorial began.

But it occurred to me that maybe the system was something much more diversified than we thought.

‘Anyway, that’s not the important thing right now!’

What should I have chosen in that situation?

There was nothing to contemplate about!

“I choose that as my reward!”

The crystal of light I chose approached me.

In the next order, it had to sprinkle light powder while exploding like firecrackers as usual. And the identity of the item should’ve been revealed in front of me, but…

– (##################)!

Invasive forces that induced cognitive impairment covered the system messages.

But soon, my unique skill cleared the fog in my head.

– (… Error! Error!)

– (It has been confirmed that there is a conflict between the ‘Compensation Determination System Based on Dungeon Clear Contribution Rate’ in Business Regulation No. 100-1-6888 and the ‘Dimensional Item Supply Criteria according to Quest Progress’ in Business Regulation No. 18-1-00921).

– (Decisions to correct this error are beyond the control personality’s autonomy. I request the summoning of the ministry spirit!)

Grin.

Unbeknownst to me, a smile was drawn on my face.

Paht!

The phenomenon that followed was the same as when the A-Class break was cleared, and I gained an 88% contribution rate in Gwacheon.

The pure-black space cracked, and the feminine bodied being, composed of blue Mana, appeared before me.

– My apologies that you had to wa–

Beyond the screen made of Mana, the expression of the spirit became distorted.

She stared at my face with a pause.

– Sigh…

She released a shallow sigh.

– Mr. Seo Jin-Wook, I see it’s you again.

*

Ray Chen applied extreme pain to the three SSS-Rank hunters as if providing shock therapy of some sort.

He thoroughly demonstrated that he could put them in hell at any given time for as long as the General wished it so and induced the imagination that more was possible if he willed it.

But then.

‘They might die if I continue to leave them like this.’

Because the Korean hunters’ return was taking longer than expected, Ray Chen changed the poison’s effect on the hunters’ bodies.

“Ugh…”

Toxin composed of Mana had been changed to a type that paralyzed their bodies instead of causing pain.

He took his eyes off them, who were droopy, and issued an order.

“Tie them up well.”

“Yes, sir!”

He contemplated, placing his fingers under his chin.

‘Even if they notice it, they can’t hold on in there forever. The poison won’t disappear even if I die. They’ll eventually have to return in a poisoned state!’

The amount of poison injected into the items was tremendous.

Every time he completed one, enormous power was consumed, to the point that he had to repeat draining all of his Mana to the maximum capacity and refilling it several times. There was a reason why he couldn’t attempt the same thing after discovering Hibiki and Nate’s skills.

Ray Chen anxiously stared at the spot that the Celestial Dragon Guild members had disappeared.

At that very moment…

Paht!

Among the three people of Korea, the first one to return was Seo Jin-Wook.

“Tsk!”

He showed an agitated look as if the reward wasn’t much. His face had cast with shadow.

Seeing that appearance, Ray Chen clicked his tongue.

‘Now you’ll have no time to care about that!’

[Poison King’s–]

As he was about to activate his skill reflexively…

“······!”

His glance became stained with shock.

“It’s gone?!”

He doubted his sight, but the reality didn’t change.

The red Mana that poisoned Seo Jin-Wook had disappeared without a trace.

“At last, you revealed your true colors.”

Seo Jin-Wook stared at the tied-down hunters with their bodies on the ground, barely maintaining their consciousness.

The Awakened Chinese soldiers that surrounded him hesitated, observing Ray Chen, as Seo Jin-Wook didn’t fall right away like the others. Ray Chen was on the verge of becoming enraged as well.

“How?!”

Instead of answering him, Seo Jin-Wook held up his sword.

Paht! Pa-paht!

At the same time, the promised 10 minutes had passed. Nate and Hibiki appeared in the space on either side of him.

Seo Jin-Wook murmured in a voice mixed with wrath.

“I feel like it makes it feel shitty… So, let’s get this over with quickly.”

Nate asked nonchalantly.

“We just have to kill them all, right?”

“Yes, kill everyone that is standing up right now. Ah! Wait. Among them, just one…”

Hibiki raised a question.

“Should we keep at least one of them alive?”

“No, kill one relatively neatly. All the others don’t matter, but only one corpse should be intact as much as possible. Above all else, you should never destroy his head.”

Ray Chen, who was listening to those words, muttered as if it was ridiculous.

“You crazy bastard!”

He didn’t know how Seo Jin-Wook avoided the poisoning, but there was already no chance of winning for them.

The current ratio of forces was 14:3.

Ray Chen gave his soldiers a brief command.

“Keep only Seo Jin-Wook alive and kill the rest of them!”

Seo Jin-Wook spoke as if to respond to those words.

“[Anti-magic Zone (Rank: SSS)].”

Boosh!

At that moment, every Awakened noticed that something had changed.

A sensation that the surrounding air’s density had been tampered with.

As if to shake off their bewilderment, the wizards began to recite the incantation to spells.

But soon, their faces wrinkled.

“Our magic–!”

The magic that Seo Jin-Wook had unleashed just then had applied ‘anti-magic’ properties on the nearby area around him.

From that point, the magic of below SSS-Rank had all become voided for a certain amount of time. Hibiki had learned it, but because she couldn’t invoke it due to its Mana requirement that went beyond the human limitations, Seo Jin-Wook had used it instead.

The only ones that knew SSS-Rank spells in that place at that moment were the Celestial Dragon hunters.

“… This is going to drive me insane!”

More than half of the Chinese soldiers dispatched in the dungeon were hunters specializing in magic since the optimal response skill for waves of multiple monsters rushing in was magic, no matter the situation.

Ray Chen, who was struggling with the [Scepter of Ishad] in one hand, was of the same case. He groaned a few times and gave up. Instead, he tried to rush towards the opponent after drawing a sword with his other hand.

“Damn it, charge!”

The battle, which began like that, seemed very intense at first.

Despite the overwhelming difference in numbers, the competition proved to be quite close-matched.

However, like the bank cracks, the victor gradually began to be noticeable.

“This… doesn’t make sense!”

Ray Chen, who could barely defend against Seo Jin-Wook’s sword energy, cried out in pain and fear.

Gradually, one by one, the Chinese hunters were slain.

On the other hand, the hunters of Celestial Dragon didn’t suffer from a single scratch.

“You bastards!”

Ray Chen roared.

“You were hiding your skills!”

He considered even their skills that he had seen before that battle as an overwhelming force that exceeded expectations.

But they hadn’t shown their fullest potential yet.

Swish.

Beyond the purple trajectory, Ray Chen’s left arm flew off.

Boosh!

His two legs, which were directly struck by a fire spell, were burned and deformed.

Ray Chen fell on the floor and rolled around.

“This… can’t… be!”

He saw a slanted world with one cheek buried in mud. As the number of survivors represented by the portal suddenly decreased, even the remaining subordinates in the first stage fought, but it was meaningless.

Before they knew it, only the three members of Celestial Dragon remained standing amid the battlefield.

All 23 of them, including himself, became unable to fight, except for the single Chinese soldier who remained in stage 1 to protect the portal.

Ray Chen felt chills crawl up his spine. The smell of death rose just below his throat.

However… He couldn’t send back Seo Jin-Wook that way.

“…!”

He captured the movement that he was waiting for with his eyes.

Behind Seo Jin-Wook’s back was a portal leading to the first stage.

And soon that would…

Paht!

“Gasp!”

Klaus, who was lying down poisoned, managed to make a sound with his frozen tongue.

He did so urgently in order to catch Seo Jin-Wook’s attention.

“Po… Porta–!”

A Chinese soldier, who remained in the first stage, pushed only part of his body into the portal to look at the situation in the second stage and quickly returned to the first stage and closed the portal.

Thanks to that, the doors used to connect in the first and second stage had disappeared, and it was only possible to reopen them through the first stage.

The paralyzed hunters and Celestial Dragon’s group were left in a dungeon where no returning stones could be used.

Ray Chen smiled, distorting his face covered with blood.

“…K-kk! Cough!”

After throwing up a large blood clot, he squeezed a voice full of hatred and anger with all his remaining strength.

“If my country can’t have you, I’ll destroy you here! You won the battle, but you lost the war!”

Seo Jin-Wook approached Ray Chen slowly, his expression remaining unchanged and unfazed.

“…?!”

Watching him, Ray Chen suddenly felt an ominous sense of foreboding.

Seo Jin-Wook’s expression while sternly walking was so calm.

He didn’t have a desperate face that depicted they had been attacked unexpectedly and fell into an inevitable trap.

“You…?”

Ray Chen’s thoughts became complicated in his head. His behavior was weird. No matter how capable they were, they were left stuck in the second stage of the dungeon. It was a clear fact.

But why?

‘No way.’

“It…. can’t be!”

That couldn’t be true.

Even though it couldn’t, Seo Jin-Wook’s expression was the evidence.

There’s a way for him to get out of that situation.

Ray Chen shouted like he had gone mad.

“What in the hell… are… you?!”

Puhk!

Ray Chen’s world darkened as the pain of his heart being pierced coursed through his veins.

Without realizing the secret of Seo Jin-Wook’s relaxed attitude, he died after his ominous premonition.