Chapter 158: Determined Move

< Chapter 158: Determined Move (3) >

Rewinding time a bit,

July 28th.

The day before the siege of the Dragon’s Lair.

Before departing, Unknown briefly moved to the hideout of the savior of truth.

“Welcome. Boss.”

Maestro greeted Unknown.

“Are you alone?”

“Yes. I am alone.”

No other presence was felt inside the hideout.

Saint would be busy with the work at the cult, and Trickster and Lust had left to attend to their respective tasks.

And Hermit was monitoring all over Korea under the command of Unknown.

Unknown closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, checking where his power was distributed. Through this act, he could somewhat pinpoint the locations of those under the ‘Vow of Absolute Obedience’.

Trickster was in the UK.

Lust was in Brazil.

Hermit was in Korea.

Saint was at the cult.

Confirming that everyone was in their proper places, Unknown opened his eyes again.

Observing Unknown’s calm expression, Maestro thought to himself.

‘Hermit must still be in Korea.’

If Hermit had been in the US, Unknown would not have had such an expression.

‘In the first place, there’s no guarantee that what Lust said is true. It might be a scheme to gain benefits by causing strife between Hermit and me....’

“David.”

Called by Unknown, he snapped out of his thoughts.

“Yes, tell me.”

“How long have you been working under me?”

“12 years.”

“12 years, huh. It’s already been that long.”

Unknown scanned the empty space with a distant gaze.

“David. You’ve really done well over the past 12 years.”

With a faint smile, Unknown stared at Maestro.

“...Boss?”

Seeing the warm expression he had never seen before, Maestro’s eyes widened considerably.

“Saying that being able to obtain new experimental results as a virtual character called ‘Master’ is thanks to you, wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Thank you.”

Maestro’s expression turned to one emotion. It was the first time he saw Unknown express gratitude towards someone.

“I don’t know how to respond to such generous words.”

Maestro knelt down and bowed his head.

“David, do you remember when you asked what exactly my ability was a long time ago?”

“...Yes.”

Maestro smiled bitterly.

It was from the days when he was still quite naive. Without knowing any better, he had asked about Unknown’s ability.

It had been a curiosity born from admiration.

Wondering what the origin of Unknown’s vast abilities was. What kind of power they possess to be such a perfect supreme being? Just how much was their hidden power?

Such curiosity.

“I thought you were an audacious brat back then. I didn’t expect you to come this far.”

Unknown chuckled softly.

“...It’s my shameful past.”

Maestro smiled bitterly.

Looking at Maestro, whose face had slightly reddened, Unknown smiled again.

“My ability doesn’t have an official name. So, I gave it a name myself.”

“...Boss?”

Then, out of the blue, he brought up something.

“Predation. The ability to acquire the abilities of the target by consuming them... Such an ability.”

“Ah....”

Maestro nodded as if convinced. If that’s the ability, then it explains the vast range of Unknown’s abilities.

Unknown stared intently at his right hand.

“To be honest, calling it an ability is embarrassing; it’s more like a raggedy power.”

“What do you mean....”

Meeting Maestro’s trembling eyes filled with questions directly, Unknown let out a snicker.

“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand.”

Maestro looked at Unknown with eyes saying otherwise.

“Those eyes seem to be saying that you could understand sufficiently.”

“....”

“But, David, aside from whether you can understand it or not, it is ‘physically’ impossible.”

“I think it’s something I don’t know.”

Maestro, the embodiment of pride, slightly raised the tone of his voice.

“You’re right about that too. Well then, let’s see if you can understand.”

As Maestro raised one corner of his lips, he said this.

“□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□(There is no system for me)”

However, his voice didn’t reach Maestro.

No, it reached him but he couldn’t understand it.

“...What did you say just now?”

“As expected. You’re just the same.”

‘Maestro is dead.’

With that, everything fell into place.

‘Unlike in the original, he probably consumed Maestro to get rid of him after experiencing a significant failure.’

Given Unknown’s personality, it was entirely possible.

‘Damn it.’

In this case, the strategy to rush Unknown’s plans turned out to be a failure.

It was giving me a headache.

Whether it is the Dragon’s Lair or anywhere else, dungeons become harder the deeper you go.

And the more difficult it gets, the more gaps appear; it is a natural consequence.

‘If Unknown betrays us while fighting the boss of the Dragon’s Lair....’

Unknown VS me VS dungeon boss

Then it would turn into a three-way battle.

‘I wanted to avoid such a chaos as much as possible.’

That’s why they had devised a plan to use Maestro.

To make Unknown desperate, even a little, to bring forward the plan.

‘...My head really hurts.’

Of course, it wasn’t a fatal failure.

But it was undeniable that the odds of winning had slightly decreased.

I sighed without realizing it.

It was then.

“Your expression isn’t great.”

Master,

Unknown approached me with a blank face.

“Do you have some worries?”

“....”

You being alive is my worry, you know?

I held back the urge to respond with that.

“Just worried about the strategy, I guess.”

Master sat next to me.

“All the strategy information you provided was accurate. The information is reliable, why worry?”

“Because there could be unforeseen variables.”

“Hmm, seems like you’re the type to buy worries.”

“....”

Hit the nail on the head.

He’s taking it as a fact.

“Well, have you gotten a bit closer to the guild members?”

“Yes.”

They all seemed like good people.

“That’s good then.”

“....”

“Speak up if there’s a problem. I will help.”

“...Yes. Thank you.”

But why is this guy so friendly? The Master I heard of didn’t have this kind of personality.

“Oh, what’s the matter, boss? You started the conversation?”

“What? Caribma initiated the conversation? Is the sun going to rise from the west tomorrow?”

Tay and Susan approached with surprised faces. From their expressions, it seemed Master’s behavior was indeed unusual.

“I mean, he is the guild’s first mercenary. I just thought I’d take care of him in my own way.”

Susan widened her eyes.

“Wow~ boy. It seems our boss quite likes you.”

Susan, sitting next to me, nudged my side with her elbow.

“Susan. How’s the preparation going?”

“Ah, right. I came because of that. There was a little problem, it will be delayed by about 10 minutes.”

“I see. Then prepare as quickly as possible.”

“Okay. I will finish it quickly and come back. Let’s go, Tay.”

Susan and Tay hurriedly retraced their steps.

“....”

We were alone again.

It was awkward and scary.

I doubt he would suddenly attack me, but it’s scary nonetheless. Without the blessings of the Beast King and not using ancient relic, I would have no way to resist if he attacked now.

“Kang Seo-yul.”

Suddenly, Master called my name.

“Yes?”

Master stared at me intently.

It was the expression I saw 3 days ago.

A mysterious gaze mixed properly with anticipation and excitement.

With an incomprehensible gaze, he said this.

“There is no system for me.”

“...!”

An absurd statement that I couldn’t even imagine coming from Unknown.

“Do you understand what this means?”

It was as if he was testing me,

Such was his gaze.

< Chapter 158: Determined Move (3) > End