Chapter 48
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Uninhabited Island Collapse (Paid Serialization Begins)
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A trembling voice spilled out along with a mouthful of blood.
“O, Omer-nim. Why······.”
“I was aiming to slice off your upper body, but you dodged. Sharp instincts.”
White light flashed from 'B's aggrieved eyes.
‘Eyes of the Flash Fairy?’
Upon closer inspection, they weren't human eyeballs.
‘They've implanted the eyes of the Flash Fairy that dwells on the 14th floor.’
The feel of the muscles he'd just sliced, the cross-sections of the organs—they were far removed from any normal human.
Yet it felt familiar, like something he'd carved up plenty of times before.
The hand-feel of a human weapon grafted with monster organs and flesh.
Their Mosaic Arms.
A few years from now, weapons developed by the Unique City 'Company' on the 30th floor.
“O, Omer-nim, I thought you'd understand if it was about killing Ju Gonghyeok···.”
“Yeah?”
The Liang Family Five Elements Extreme—Flowing Water Form.
His sword traced 'B's body, severing critical nerves and blood vessels.
“Now, let's have a little chat. Why are you telling me to kill Ju Gonghyeok?”
“T-That’s···. Laplace's Mad Dog, 'X'-nim is···.”
“And me?”
“You···. die to Ju Gonghyeok. And the only one who can kill him is you.”
“Yeah? But you···.”
Gonghyeok spun his sword as he asked.
“How do you know I'm Laplace's Mad Dog? That's a nickname from ten years from now.”
Splurt.
In the blink of an eye, blood sprayed.
Before 'B' could answer Gonghyeok's question, his body exploded.
Blood and chunks of flesh scattered, but Gonghyeok didn't so much as blink as he swung his sword.
“Guh!”
Half of the second body inside him was sliced away, but 'B' desperately charged forward.
Regenerating his spine at a furious pace, with a body reduced to little more than bones, 'B' had already fled hundreds of meters away.
He bellowed at the top of his lungs.
“Laplace's Mad Dog! Omer Ashk! Follow your own path! I'll kill Ju Gonghyeok!”
Gonghyeok wiped the blood from the corner of his eye and chuckled.
This was turning out to be quite amusing.
That guy was the 3001st hunter—the first he'd seen on the 3rd floor who was completely unfamiliar.
‘Catching up to him right now and wringing him out wouldn't be hard···. But time's a bit short.’
Gonghyeok cracked a rare smile as he began pondering with a sense of tension.
And soon, an entertaining idea came to him.
‘Well, if he's gunning for me anyway, there's only one path left ahead.’
The tale of the 3rd floor was drawing to a close.
The pirate who'd crashed the story had only one move left.
A supporting character who could inject even more tension into the story of Ju Gonghyeok and 'X'.
“Oppa. You okay now?”
“Better than okay. More importantly, time's tight.”
“Time's tight?”
No sooner had Yeonsi asked than the hideout shook.
Something massive thudded onto the camouflaged tent above.
Scooping up Ha Yeonsi, whose legs were still unsteady, he stepped out of the hideout.
Outside, what had been midday brightness moments ago was now pitch dark.
- This is it! This is why that succubus was so pissed!
Nathaniel, now awake, fluttered onto Gonghyeok's shoulder.
The sky they looked up at was no longer blue.
Fragments of the blue sky fell like shattered pottery onto the uninhabited island, and through the gaping void, two lights descended.
“Yeonsi-ya. Grab the pipe and tobacco from my inner pocket.”
“Okay···.”
After two months, Yeonsi carefully stuffed the pipe with layers of tobacco and placed it gently in Gonghyeok's mouth.
Gonghyeok side-eyed the little angel, who made a displeased face but sparked a holy flame onto the pipe.
“There. Now the 'gods' have come down to shatter this stage.”
Muttering that, Gonghyeok scooped up Yeonsi and headed for the great ark.
＊＊＊
The blue light that fell from the crumbling sky plunged into the uninhabited island's sea.
The blue light drew in vast amounts of water, forming a shape.
It was the form of a man.
A massive trident gripped in one hand, a face twisted in rage, a body covered in deep wounds.
‘Sea···. Power···.’
Before arriving on the 3rd floor, he had battled countless demons.
After that endless fight, he'd expended so much power that he could no longer sustain his existence.
To replenish his strength, he needed to absorb something.
Stumbling into a place with a sea that suited him perfectly had been a stroke of immense luck, but it still wasn't enough.
‘Like this, I can't fight the demons again.’
He scanned the entire ocean for anything useful.
Two underwater dungeons, and 91,142 marine monsters.
He hoisted an entire dungeon—right off the seafloor—into his mouth and swallowed it whole. A net woven of water hauled up tens of thousands of monsters.
They were crushed within him, turning into coins and power.
His energy was somewhat restored, but still insufficient.
Soon, the demons would come to seal him into the System.
‘Coins. I need more coins.’
He turned his gaze to the land.
Small as it was, he sensed plenty of coins and power there still.
And at the central volcano, he detected a monster that could restore a good deal of his strength.
‘If I devour that, I can fight a bit longer.’
His name was ‘Poseidon.’
One of the three main gods of the Olympus dimension, absorbed into Babel 900 years ago—the great being who ruled all seas.
He was among the ‘Rebels’ who resisted the demons without being absorbed into Babel.
‘I won't be a slave. I won't submit to you.’
Leading a massive storm, he set foot on the uninhabited island.
＊＊＊
“What the hell is that?”
“Damn. This is so absurd I can't even speak.”
The giant that made even the building-sized T-Rex look like a toy had come ashore.
Its height was easily several kilometers—like a mountain range.
A scene straight out of myth, utterly unreal.
He had landed on the southern beach.
Hunters who spotted the giant from afar abandoned all thought and fled to the northern edge.
It was beyond willpower or resolve—a supernatural disaster.
A few tried to launch the arks they'd secretly prepared, slipping through the chaos.
But the tiny arks rose mere seconds before the storm's fury smashed them back to the ground.
Right before the great ark, the 1,400 surviving hunters could only tremble at the sight.
As if that wasn't enough, the volcano erupted amid the storm, belching smoke.
The uninhabited island's final boss. The Lava Stone Tyrannosaurus had appeared.
“This situation's gone completely off the rails.”
“What the hell are we supposed to do now! What're the angels doing!”
Just as collective panic was about to drive everyone mad, someone stood up.
Ju Gonghyeok, who had left Yeonsi with Soma.
“I'll go fetch the Great Floatation Stone.”
“What!?”
“You! You've done jack shit so far—don't get cocky now! All talk and no action!”
Gonghyeok ignored the outburst and continued.
“Listen to me. I'll lure that dinosaur over to the giant and make them fight. From what I've seen, that giant indiscriminately absorbs everything around it, so it should work.”
“You really think that's possible?”
“Boss! No way in hell that's possible!”
Gonghyeok shook his head.
“Either way, if we can't launch this great ark, we're all dead.”
“Well, even if it's impossible, in this mess, we've got no choice but to try.”
“Yeah. Yeah.”
“All personnel, board the ark. And hold out until I get back.”
One group dropped to their knees.
“We'll pray for your safe return.”
Gonghyeok nodded, then spread his signature pristine white wings.
And hurled himself into the storm.
Nathaniel, perched on his shoulder, asked with a grim face.
- You get too close to Poseidon, and he might absorb you just for your coins. You still gonna try it?
Gonghyeok calmly closed his eyes, then opened them.
His eyes burned with clear resolve.
“Of course it's bullshit. You think I'd fall for that?”
- ···Huh?
“No time now. Busy. Got something more urgent anyway.”
- You really are the lowest scum of humanity···.
Gonghyeok had zero intention of dancing seduction in front of the T-Rex's head to deliver a Tyrannosaurus set meal to Poseidon.
Right now, something far more important took priority.
Something important enough to kick aside Azazel's reward and feed her a massive middle finger.
“Daannng iiiit!”
A succubus descended upon his head.
“You knew about this! How did you know! Huh!?”
“Ah, shut up. Just shut up. Don't interfere with my flight—move.”
“How am I supposed to stop it! To block that Poseidon—or whatever—takes five Celestial Knights! The angels are pretending it's not their problem, the 2nd-floor slacker demon Mastema clocked out ages ago! It's just me!”
“Lilianne. Then you know what that means.”
Gonghyeok and Lilianne's eyes met.
They shared a comedian's smirk and gesture.
“Just give up. It'll be easier.”
“······.”
“Honestly, it's not even your fault. Sure, you'll catch flak for a shoddy initial response when the ceiling shattered, but the Celestial Knights above you who let that guy slip will get barraged with abuse, pay cuts, floggings, demotions.
More openings? Isn't that great? For capable Lilianne.”
“In that scenario, I don't look capable at all? And don't casually shorten my name.”
“You're the one whose true colors are showing 'cause you're desperate, auntie.”
“······. With the Babel System in total chaos, you think anyone would notice if one more like you vanished?”
Gonghyeok lightly stroked the rear of Lilianne, who was flying beside him.
“Then our Lilianne would be in trouble. Your workload triples, and the whole 3rd floor gets wrecked.”
“Triples?”
“Actually, Poseidon wasn't the only one who fell. The ‘Rebels.’”
Lilianne's beautiful face drained to a deathly pallor.
“You, how did you—?”
“Lilianne, you were busy patching the cracks up on the ceiling, so you wouldn't know, but most folks saw two come down.
They just stayed quiet 'cause they didn't grasp what it meant.”
“Oh, Demon Lord-nim.”
As she despaired and called for her Demon Lord, Gonghyeok tsked with a grin.
“Don't go calling for that shut-in slob stuck on the 88th floor. I'm right here—I'll handle it.”
“How! ···are you gonna? If this keeps up, I'll wave goodbye to ever becoming a Celestial Knight and spend my life as a low-rank demon, cleaning up after them and handling night duties···.”
Gonghyeok halted abruptly mid-flight.
Lilianne slowed to a hover, turning back with a teary face.
“Lilianne. Listen well. Truth is, back on this 3rd floor, I kicked Azazel to the curb and basically chose you.”
“What are you talking about···.”
“Think about it. If I'd just taken Azazel's reward and hit the 4th floor in two weeks like a good boy, none of this would've happened, right?”
Lilianne blanked out for three seconds, then exploded in rage.
“Then it's totally your fault!”
“Listen up. No risk, no return. No crisis, no opportunity.”
“Right now it's all crisis, no opportunity! You damn human stud!”
His finger pointed at the shattered ceiling.
“No one can fully handle this situation.
But on the flip side, how capable would a demon look for preventing 90% of the original damage?”
“How are you gonna prevent···.”
Gonghyeok pressed his finger firmly to Lilianne's lips.
“Don't talk shit—listen. Today, you're gonna seal off 90% of the 3rd floor's damage and become the first succubus to receive the 1st-class Demon Lord medal—an elite female demon.”
Gonghyeok began explaining to Lilianne with his trademark sleazy grin.
Her expression shifted by the second, and three minutes later···.
She slapped Gonghyeok's rear.
“Hurry up! Hurry! Ddu-butt! No, ddu-ddu-butt!”
[Demon Lilianne's Prepaid Reward! Square Axel (4x Acceleration)!]
[Flight magic output increased 4x!]
“As expected of our capable Lilianne. Quick on the pivot.”
“I'm always a sunflower gazing only at Oppa.”
“Good. Don't ever change that.”
The regressor (13th time) who'd cooked the succubus raced toward the eastern rocky zone.
[Chapter 47 - Uninhabited Island Collapse (Paid Serialization Begins)] End