Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: The Plaza Massacre
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At his words, an awkward silence flowed between the man called the Sword King and the man who had come to the lodging.
This quiet silence was broken when the man finally spoke.
"Doesn't it not matter anymore if you're exposed?"
"Even if you keep denying it, people will see you as the Sword King. It's practically already out in the open."
The man stared straight at him. The Sword King unleashed his presence as he spoke.
"What mischief have you been up to today?"
The aura emanating from his body was overwhelmingly superior, incomparable to others.
Theoretically, in the Transcendence World structured so that two rankers rarely appeared in the same dimension...
The gap between ordinary people and top-tier rankers was immense.
But the man showed no intimidation in the face of the Sword King's aura.
On the contrary, his expression slowly changed, turning intense and imposing.
That imposing demeanor was both the weapon that upheld the Sword King and his own immense authority.
"...I know well that things aren't the same between us as they were at first."
"But isn't it a bit late to step down from that position now? Don't you think?"
As the man displayed the very imposing presence that had tamed countless people,
the Sword King, as if refusing further communication,
walked back to the window and gazed at the sky again.
The man relaxed his stiffened expression at the sight and gave a wry smile as he spoke.
"To protect your goals, ignore the conflicts within the dimension. It'll be better for your mental health."
"Any issues to discuss... I'll handle them myself."
The man left those final words as he exited the room.
"Don't forget—I'm the only one who always helps you." "I'm leaving."
The door closed with a sound, but the Sword King did not move.
He could not deny the man's words, feeling it deep in his bones, so he could only continue staring at the sky.
I headed to the fortune teller's house.
Unlike Dimension 34, the fortune teller's in Dimension 64 looked like an ordinary mansion.
However, inside was an NPC incapable of conversation.
But things were different now. At level 38, I met the qualifications.
I opened the door right away and stepped inside.
The interior was filled with the same dark, mystical atmosphere as before.
Crystal orb, tarot cards, parchment with indecipherable runes engraved on them.
And in the center stood an NPC in a red robe, back turned.
Sensing my approach, he slowly turned around.
His face was covered in wrinkles, but his eyes gleamed sharply.
This NPC seemed to have been gazing into the glass orb in his hand. Nothing reflected in it to my eyes, though.
I got straight to the point.
"I want to talk."
The NPC nodded at my words.
But then, an unexpected system message appeared before my eyes.
What?
I furrowed my brow at the message.
But my surprise was brief; I began speculating about this new restriction.
I recalled past information I'd obtained.
The announcement about the top 1000 ranking limit.
The content stating that at the point when Zone 5 opens, the village automatically expands into a city.
So, does that mean this guy is linked to something only possible in a city, or that his abilities are too powerful for this stage, hence the restriction?
Either way, it was clear I couldn't talk to this NPC right now.
Pushing aside my regret, I left the fortune teller's without hesitation.
Then I stopped on my way and thought for a moment.
Zone 5 opening.
One more goal added to my list.
Needing to open Zone 5 right after Zone 4...
Still, Zone 5 would open eventually anyway. I could come back then.
He now headed toward the meadow for training.
The plaza still had a few people even in the late evening.
Most were newcomers who had arrived just days ago.
They hadn't fully adapted to this dimension's rules yet, eyeing each other awkwardly.
At that moment, Oheon was crossing the village plaza toward the meadow.
At the same time, two people were talking on the outskirts of the plaza.
One was a senior who joined on day 15, the other a newbie from two days ago.
The senior glanced at Oheon walking by.
'Haven't seen that guy before?'
"Hey, you. Isn't that the guy?"
At his words, the junior shook his head with a slightly frightened expression.
"Um... I don't know."
"If you don't know either... then he's a newbie, I guess."
The relatively senior one had memorized those higher than him over the past few days,
so he naturally concluded Oheon was a newbie.
The casual chat seemed about to end, but the senior smirked. Then he pointed at Oheon and shouted.
"Hey!! Come here!"
Oheon turned at the shout, drawing all eyes in the plaza to them.
The senior man scanned Oheon up and down.
His eyes openly filled with contempt and the thrill of finding a new target for establishing hierarchy.
Oheon immediately ignored the call and continued on his way.
Offended by the attitude, the apparent senior strode over.
'This bastard ignoring me?'
Sensing him approach, Oheon finally stopped.
There were a few others in the plaza besides them.
Most seemed lower in hierarchy than the one who spoke; they watched with expressions pitying the newbie for picking the wrong fight.
The approaching man reached out to grab Oheon's shoulder.
One watcher,
the only true senior in the plaza ahead of the troublemaker, felt a slight unease about the unlucky one.
After thinking a bit more, he realized the gravity and tried to shout urgently.
"Stop! That person is...!"
But it was already too late.
His cry was drowned by a horrific bursting sound.
BOOM!!!
With the thunderous roar, the senior's upper body exploded in an instant.
Blood and flesh sprayed everywhere, and the remaining lower half toppled over, gushing blood.
The newbie standing beside him, splattered with hot blood on his face,
froze in place, unable to even scream.
The plaza instantly filled with screams.
"Kwaaaagh!!"
"A, a person...!"
Some collapsed in terror, others reflexively drew weapons from their inventories.
The rest began fleeing on instinct.
Oheon stood amid the chaos, pondering briefly.
He murmured softly, but loud enough for all to hear.
"Domain."
With that single word, the entire plaza was enveloped in an invisible pressure.
The air turned sticky like jelly, and all sounds ceased.
Just before the domain fully deployed, one person bolted madly from the plaza.
Within the domain.
A man dashed to the frozen newbie's side, knelt, and desperately bowed his head. The one who had realized who Oheon was moments ago.
"Please spare me! I beg you!"
A couple others followed suit, kneeling and begging forgiveness.
But most lost their reason and charged at him.
"You crazy murderer bastard!"
"Everyone together! He might beat us one-on-one, but if we all rush...!"
Their cries were desperate, but to Oheon, they were mere empty echoes.
Ignoring their struggles, Oheon unleashed the domain's power.
BOOM!!!!!
In that instant.
Everything trapped in the domain was crushed by an invisible force and burst apart.
Chargers, beggars, runners alike.
All turned to a bloody mist in a single moment.
A familiar remnant to Oheon after a slaughter.
Thus, Oheon withdrew the domain and gazed in the direction the sole escapee had fled.
At the time Oheon was massacring the plaza.
The sole survivor ran madly, screaming, toward the lodging where seniors gathered.
He ran like a madman.
Though his breath reached his throat, he couldn't stop.
The seniors' lodging.
He believed someone there could resolve this nightmare.
Finally nearing the lodging, he spotted Rabupan walking from afar.
Squeezing out his last strength, he shouted.
"Rabupan sir!!"
Rabupan stopped at the desperate cry and looked at him puzzled.
"What happened?"
The escapee gasped as he explained the plaza tragedy.
"In the plaza... huff... people died...!!"
Before his words finished, Rabupan's face hardened coldly.
And all nearby faces filled with shock.
Rabupan immediately yelled to another manager beside him.
"You, hurry and inform Siron of this!"
"The rest, follow me!"
He led his subordinates without hesitation toward the village plaza.
When they arrived, they were met with a hellish scene.
The ground soaked in blood and flesh, and at the center stood a man with emotionless eyes.
Oheon.
Seeing him, Rabupan felt all blood in his body turn ice-cold.
His trailing subordinates forgot to breathe, overwhelmed by the carnage and Oheon's crushing presence.
'Damn...'
Rabupan gritted his teeth.
Memories of that day when Dwin and many others were massacred flooded back.
Back then, Siron's orders let them survive just by standing still.
But now was different.
He was a manager. He had a duty to handle this.
Otherwise, death by Oheon before him or by superior Siron.
Rabupan desperately shouted to his men.
"Everyone, stay right there! Don't make a sound!"
At his cry, the subordinates instinctively froze.
They couldn't understand why Rabupan wasn't attacking the killer but restraining them instead.
But hierarchy's absolute rule was ingrained; they obeyed senior orders.
The one who informed Rabupan also sensed something wrong from his urgent tone and froze in place.
They didn't know. Like Siron's shout back then.
This single command from Rabupan had saved their lives.
Rabupan advanced to Oheon with trembling steps.
And bowed deeply.
"May I ask what happened?"
Oheon looked down at him briefly, then answered shortly.
"Bugs swarmed."
With that one phrase, Rabupan grasped the situation.
To him, human lives were no different from bugs.
Oheon looked on coldly and said.
"Your management has been negligent."
At those words, Rabupan felt extreme terror.
Oheon was pinning the blame for this tragedy on the managers.
The moment Rabupan tried to make an excuse.
Siron arrived at the plaza, breathing heavily.
"Oheon sir!"
Siron momentarily lost words at the scene but soon grasped it and rushed to Oheon.
To Rabupan, Siron felt like a savior.
Ignoring Rabupan, Siron continued.
"What... what is this?"
His face showed bewilderment and the responsibility to somehow resolve it.
In truth, Siron thought Oheon's slaughter method had changed.
The calculated massacre in Zone 3 days ago.
He had no doubt that would be the future pattern.
But this scene overturned all predictions—an indiscriminate slaughter.
Oheon didn't answer Siron's question.
Instead, he spoke in an even colder voice.
"From today, assign one manager to always accompany me when I walk the village. So this annoyance never happens again."
"I'm sorry, Oheon sir. It's my fault."
Siron grasped the situation.
Yet he took all blame upon himself.
That was the only best he could do here.
Oheon showed no reaction to the apology.
Siron asked Oheon.
"Where are you headed?"
But Oheon turned wordlessly toward the meadow.
Siron stared blankly at his back.
He'd thought they'd grown closer.
That he'd earned some trust, at least a minimal bond.
But no.
To him, they were still disposable tools.
The calculated slaughter was just one of many methods to Oheon.
Before his absolute free will, they could do nothing.
Siron realized.
How foolish his attempts to predict and somewhat control Oheon's actions had been.
The ones fretting over slaughters weren't Oheon, but the managers.
And cleaning up future slaughters would forever be the managers' role.
Only now did he grasp that was their true duty.
A rising terror that Oheon's whims could erase him and everyone anytime gripped Siron.
An emotion he'd forgotten until now.
Crushed by that immense fear and helplessness, he couldn't move from the plaza's center for a while.