Chapter 53

The Price of a Gamble (1)

Players generally had better instincts than normal people. Their senses got sharper as they leveled up and gained experience from Gates.

But sometimes, there were things they can sense even if they lacked level and experience.

Like now.

“……”

“……”

The eighteen players trembled like schoolchildren about to be punished by a teacher. Rodomir’s energy was so violent and wild that it gave them chills.

Goddamn, the rookie was able to fight back so I didn’t expect much… but he’s gonna kill us all. 

You’re telling me Seo Jun-ho fought one-on-one with this beast?

Hm… I wonder if we can take him down by taking turns distracting him with a pincer attack…

They fell deep in thought, and so did Cha Min-woo. There was an immeasurable gap from when he’d seen him from afar. Now, he was close enough to hear the tribe chief’s breaths.

Jun-ho-nim fought valiantly against him. 

They bit their lips. They were nervous, but they were also ashamed.

…Dammit, what kind of burden did we place on a three-month-old newbie?

Shit, I tried to give him some advice as a sunbae before. Fucking embarrassing. 

It’s obvious. Seo Jun-ho is going places. 

“Ten minutes.” A veteran player spoke, the same one who had realized what Seo Jun-ho had been doing earlier. “I don’t think any of us can defeat him. You guys know that, right?”

They nodded. It might’ve been different if the others weren’t busy fighting off the leftover dark elves, but they didn’t have any other choice.

“So let’s just survive the next ten minutes.”

“Is there any reason why it’s ten minutes?” Cha Min-woo asked.

“I heard from the back lines that Seo Jun-ho will recover in around ten minutes.”

The players looked determined. Defeating Rodomir on their own would be impossible, but holding out for ten minutes was much more doable.

Ten minutes… Cha Min-woo clenched his fist. He didn’t make the mistake of looking back: if he did, Seo Jun-ho would see the fear in his eyes. We can do it. If it’s just ten minutes, we can hold out… Cha Min-woo chanted the sentence under his breath.

“Dodge, you idiot!” A player next to him pulled him by his shoulder. As he spun, he felt the vibrations of the cave in his bones.

An attack!

Rodomir had made the first move. With a single strike of his sword, the wall formed by eighteen people was broken.

“Ugh.”

Somehow, no one was hurt. Cha Min-woo gripped his sword.

“Thank you for saving me! And I’m sorry!” He yelled.

“Get it together!”

“Roger!”

The eighteen players all moved in different directions, but they all had the same goal.

That ahjussi said we just need to hold out for ten minutes, but…

They were putting their lives on the line. It would be unfair if all their opponent lost was time.

He should gamble his life too. 

They had their pride as players. Nineteen figures twisted and fought, aiming for each others’ lives.

* * *

Rodomir was starting to feel uneasy.

– They were like ants before… 

When he’d assessed them before the battle, he hadn’t been worried. He’d been confident that he’d be able to kill them all in five minutes, if it even took that long.

But as soon as the battle started, things went in an unexpected direction.

– “You insects!”

His enemies were relentless. If he got rid of one, three would go and help; in that time, the rest of them would attack him.

– “Why…” Why are they fighting so hard?

Rodomir scowled and paused his attack, staring at the humans. When he saw the fierce look in their eyes, he realized that these disgraceful pests were trying to hunt him.

– “Ha… haha…?” Their level of effort makes a big difference. 

If they were smart, they’d run with their tail between their legs, but they were actually trying to kill him.

He felt disappointed in himself when he couldn’t kill them all immediately.

– Why do I feel so uneasy? He clenched and unclenched his fist. He hadn’t realized it, but he wasn’t using his full power. Rodomir looked past the players.

– …That human. The human that he’d first crossed swords with was still glaring at him from afar as he sat on the ground. It was because his injuries were starting to heal.

– “Fufu,” Rodomir laughed. It was funny. I am a fallen being and burned my own soul away… and I’m wary of that human? How could it not be funny?

His laughter didn’t last long. The amusement left his face, his eyes as cold as ice. He swung his sword at the players’ heads again. It was the same trajectory as before, so they reacted the same way, but the results were different.

“Ahhhh!” A player screamed as the attack cut through his shield and chest. Other players quickly sent him to the back as he gasped for breath, the healers attending to him.

“It was the same attack as before though?”

“…Is he finally starting to get serious?”

An alarm went off in the players’ heads. The battle had been going on for seven minutes.

There’s still three minutes left. 

We’ve survived thus far. We’ll survive for three minutes more, somehow…

That’s what they thought, but it took three seconds for them to realize they were wrong.

No one could block Rodomir’s strike when he attacked for real. He was the ruler of the battlefield, controlling it as he pleased. If he wanted to kill something, he killed. If he wanted to destroy something, he destroyed.

“Keep going… Keep going…” The veteran player whispered hoarsely as he stood back up. His arm was bent the wrong way and hung pitifully.

“Hoo, hoo.”

He was also a human who felt fear. He wasn’t some noble, self-sacrificing hero either. But he still wouldn’t lower his sword.

No one can defeat him except player Seo Jun-ho. He hadn’t thought that before the battle. Telling his teammates that they only had to survive for ten minutes was meant to be a morale boost. He’d thought that they’d be able to take on one guy if they joined with the rest of their forces. But that’s not true.

He wasn’t just ‘one guy’. The real hunt would start when the other dark elves were annihilated and he was the only one left. He was strong enough to be a one-man army.

If the Gate was a little older, he thought, Rodomir would be the boss monster of a 1-star Gate.

The Association grants a star to the Gate of a monster who has killed ten thousand players. The only reason this Gate hadn’t received one was because they were the first group to attempt to clear it. The veteran thought that Rodomir was more than strong enough to kill ten thousand players.

“Huff… huff.”

The only sounds were the players’ harsh breathing. They could sense the despair in the others’ breaths.

– “Is that all?”

Rodomir narrowed his eyes. He looked at them in disgust, as if they were insects. The look in his eyes only angered the players, making them use their weapons to prop themselves up.

– “So you still have some strength left.”

It didn’t really matter. Whether it took a hundred or a thousand times to force them to kneel, they would eventually stop getting up. But that time didn’t come.

– “……”

Rodomir’s pupils dilated, eyes fixed on a certain human walking toward him.

“You know what they say in movies at times like this?” Seo Jun-ho asked. He finished stretching, as if to show that his ribs were fine.

“A challenger approaches!”

“This isn’t the 2010s.”

“Cringe.”

“Jun-ho-nim, that’s a little…”

Seo Jun-ho’s face fell. “Wh-what are you saying? All the movies I’ve seen have lines like that.”

Was he behind the times? Did it sound like a dad joke?

Seo Jun-ho cleared his throat as his face started to turn red. “Forget it. Leave this guy to me and go support the main forces.”

“Can you really take him on alone?”

“He’s really strong…”

They seemed reluctant. Seo Jun-ho had basically told them to run away, but they wanted to protect their pride and honor.

“Let’s fight together.”

“That would be better. After crossing swords with him, I don’t think he’s a monster one person can fight alone.”

“It’ll be your fault if you die while fighting alone.”

Why are they like this? Seo Jun-ho’s frustration was starting to show on his face. While he was getting treated, he’d thought about how he could use his skills without arousing suspicion. The solution was obvious, but the others wouldn’t play long.

– “There’s no need to ponder.” Rodomir gave him his answer. He raised his sword high over his head.

– “…I’ll just kill you all at once.” He swung with all his strength. The force of his strike was like a small explosion.

Seo Jun-ho’s eyes glinted.

“Hey!”

“Player Seo Jun-ho!”

Right before Rodomir’s sword swung, Seo Jun-ho had stabbed him. A tremendous dark energy exploded between them.

– “Kuh!”

“Wh-what?”

The players had been thrown back and started to realize what happened. A black dome had formed in front of them; it spread across the area. Cha Min-woo banged on its surface.

“Jun-ho-nim! Are you alright?!”

A faint voice came from inside.

“This… The bastard used… not the one I did… trapped… quite…”

“Did he fall for the enemy’s trap?” Unable to hold back his frustration, Cha Min-woo attacked the dome several times to no avail.

“There’s nothing we can do.” The veteran player had approached Cha Min-woo and sat cross-legged on the ground. He stared at the dome bitterly. “I don’t know who will step out once it’s over… but all we can do now is believe and wait.”

“…You’re right.”

The players sat in front of the large dome and waited.

– “What is… this?” Rodomir was uncharacteristically disoriented. He looked around the pitch-black darkness that surrounded him.

“This is Curtain of Darkness.” Seo Jun-ho stroked the wall affectionately. “I usually make it cover a small area to have private conversations, but sometimes I have fights in here. Just like now.”

– “…So it’s your skill.”

“Correct.”

– “Were you hiding your true strength?” Rodomir growled. Seo Jun-ho shrugged.

The darkness around him had started to waver, and ice had started to form.

“Your anger makes me feel like I’m the boss monster,” Seo Jun-ho muttered as he unsheathed Black Dragon Fang. He tried to imagine it the other way around; if he’d landed a near-fatal wound on a boss monster and it retreated to recover, only to come back with two new skills…

“Man, that second phase would be a pain in the ass.”

Of course, that wasn’t the case for Seo Jun-ho because it wasn’t his situation.

“So this is how bosses feel? It’s fun,” he laughed gleefully.