Chapter 54

Namgung Hyuni's lips parted.

……This is.

He alternated his gaze between the zombies being swallowed by the darkness and Seo Wonseok.

Seo Wonseok unleashed heat without respite.

The sudden blast of warm air created by the flames struck the zombies.

It was less a gale and more a gentle breeze.

Yet the zombies struck by it couldn't resist.

They thrashed about, trying to move with creaking joints, but the tiles beneath their feet collapsed.

Like whack-a-moles struck by a hammer, their forms sank straight into the floor.

Kiiiaaa……!!

Screams of death agony echoed from below, growing distant before vanishing entirely.

Those who had secured safe spots in advance huddled, trembling.

The fates of the living and the dead stood in stark contrast.

The vast majority of the zombies had become ghosts of the departed.

They were literally imaginary numbers.

Beings that didn't truly participate in the competition, just there to pad the numbers.

Hundreds of zombies plummeted.

Crashing into the abyss below.

And still, Seo Wonseok blazed fiercely.

A fire mage?

Not quite—there were no telltale signs.

Like incantations, for instance.

Mages chanted activation words before casting spells.

Seo Wonseok hadn't uttered a single word.

Flames of this magnitude without even an activation phrase……!

This alone was enough to stun anyone.

What shook Namgung Hyuni even more was Seo Wonseok's reaction to it all.

Whoosh.

Flames so hot they made the hairs on his skin curl just from proximity.

Yet Seo Wonseok stood unfazed, clad in them.

Wasn't burning pain the worst agony a human could feel?

These weren't ordinary flames either. Zombies hit by the wind they generated had all crumpled.

This guy's awakening ability, maybe…….

An unheard-of power.

Miraculous flames and the even more miraculous wind they whipped up.

The flood of information overwhelmed him, freezing Namgung Hyuni's thoughts.

At the Greenbelt Gate, the R&Y hunters were suspiciously compliant with this guy.

Han Biyeol and Jeong Hamin were elite hunters known for their arrogance.

Yet at Seo Wonseok's single word, they'd drawn weapons on North Ocean Corp. members without complaint.

Not just the ability, but that cool-headed judgment in any situation.

Expressionless.

His piercing gaze sent chills up the spine.

What the hell is this guy?

And then, that monster suddenly turned his eyes toward Namgung Hyuni.

"Hurry and grab a spot. There aren't many left around here."

"Ah, uh…… yes……."

"……Just use casual speech."

"It's fine."

Namgung Hyuni said no more. He swallowed dryly, like gulping down a pebble, and stepped forward.

He placed his weight on a safe tile marked with a black sticker—the only one still floating amid the vanished surroundings.

With a mix of tension and doubt, he stood still for a moment.

…….

Not a single civilian, Namgung Hyuni included, fell. They'd somehow secured their spots from the surface.

Drip, drip—only bits of debris trickled from the tile edges, amid suffocating silence.

The Ruler let out a sigh before declaring solemnly.

"R-Really?!"

"We survived?"

"Wooooah!!"

The people were on the verge of hugging each other.

They were too spread out to do so, but in their minds, they were already hoisting Seo Wonseok on their shoulders.

《Haa……》

The Ruler sighed repeatedly, clearly displeased.

What could it do?

It had to act within the ∅∅-grade rules.

They hadn't broken a single one.

No issues there.

The problem was that bland-looking human.

《What trickery…… never mind……》

Somehow, with him at the lead, they'd achieved the absurd result of full survival.

Mephistopheles's animosity toward Seo Wonseok deepened.

《Rules are rules……》

Mephistopheles snapped its fingers.

The gaps in the floor vanished in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, it reverted to a normal lobby.

Those seeing such phenomena for the first time nearly gasped, but fearing they'd offend the golden-masked one, they bit their lips to stifle the sound.

The Ruler, who had loomed over them from above, turned its back.

=Follow me up.=

Mephistopheles waggled a long, spider-like index finger. Its tone had shifted from the initial politeness to something insolent.

We followed behind the Ruler, keeping a set distance from the surviving zombies.

"Young man…… thank you so much. If not for you, we'd have been done for……."

"Sorry I couldn't help more…… I've never been in a place like this…… sniff, how did it come to this."

Led by the auntie, the residents offered their thanks.

Seo Wonseok inputted a kind smile onto the Surprise Texture Mask.

"No need. If the hunters had arrived sooner, this wouldn't have happened."

"……Aigoo, don't say that. Anyway, it's rare to meet ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a hunter as nice in personality as he is handsome. Got an activity name?"

He's called Seo something.

"Not yet……."

"Tell me when we get out. I'm the residents' rep, you know? I never pulled strings for my own son, but I'll do it for you."

"I appreciate the offer."

Suddenly, a gaze brushed his cheek.

"……."

Professor Kim was looking at him with slightly narrowed eyes. When their gazes met, he quickly turned away.

"We have to get out……."

"Just trust my little bro! We'll make it! Who knows! This is a gate too. Grab mana stones and you're rich!"

"Oh! Right, right!"

Choi Kangshik, the mood maker, rallied the group.

If that's an awakening ability, it counts as one.

Even at Hangju Bridge, his charisma had made people cooperative with us.

But.

The joy was short-lived.

Being on 1F meant even greater anomalies awaited above.

Everyone's pupils trembled with anxiety.

"I-It'll be okay, right……?"

Choi Kangshik whispered.

Seo Wonseok replied with a pale smile.

"I told you. We'll all get out alive."

"If my little bro says so…… Still, don't try to do everything alone. Need help, just say the word!"

"Reliable as ever."

"Then loosen up that face when you say it. Can't have our active hunter looking all stiff."

Ah.

They're misunderstanding because I wear the Surprise Texture Mask all the time…….

To ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Seo Wonseok, the mask meant battle mode engaged.

When he'd left his back to Choi Kangshik while slaughtering goblins, he hadn't had it yet.

Choi Kangshik lightly nudged Seo Wonseok's shoulder.

"Don't shoulder it all alone. I called you in. If you hog everything, I lose face."

"Got it. If I need ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠help, I'll use you as a meat shield, so no worries."

"Ha, haha……."

"Joking."

"Don't joke with that face!"

The tense air eased a bit.

With Seo Wonseok and Choi Kangshik's banter, people's deathly pallor softened to mere grimaces.

Namgung Hyuni was the only one still ashen-faced.

He trailed at the rear, deep in thought.

Whether intentional or not, his position at the back prevented any zombie ambushes.

Maybe things are going smoothly.

This naive thought shattered the moment they ascended the streamlined stairs.

A hallway……?

Wider than a standard corridor and stretching endlessly out of sight.

On a scale grand enough to reduce the 64 Building's hallways to single lanes.

They'd come up from the lobby via stairs, yet here was a hallway.

Most suffered spatial disorientation and cognitive dissonance. They huddled close to Seo Wonseok.

The Ruler now stood at what looked like a tunnel exit. Above hung a banner in a parabolic arc.

"……."

Not a fitting combo for (Caution) and (Congrats) at all.

《I had a different event planned, but 100% human survival rate was an unexpected variable!》

The Ruler's voice was chilling.

《I've switched to something hotter! Oh, rest assured. My discretion bends the rules once. From the upper floors, it'll strictly follow the original plan!》

Invisible under the black crayon-smeared face, but…….

Seo Wonseok could sense laugh lines creasing Mephistopheles's mouth.

The devil's sneer.

And the mission's content was just as vicious.

Damn.

He'd inwardly worried about such a primitive quest popping up.

Given it was a rules-based gate, he'd hoped it wouldn't.

Seo Wonseok glared at Mephistopheles with wide eyes.

Things got messy, so it forced a slaughter royale.

He recalled the golden goblin's final death throes in the COEX Gate.

《Please! Stars! Pleeease!》

Stars.

Shylock, Mephistopheles.

They all persistently mentioned 'stars'.

It had nagged at him, but now a thread connected.

Rulers watch the stars' reactions.

∅∅-grade gates were bound tightly by rules. Even the enforcer Rulers submitted unflinchingly.

This rule twist probably has star involvement.

For the spectators, this was unexpected.

So it instructed the Ruler to drag things into fratricide.

《Now, shall we split the factions for a better show?》

Snap.

With the finger snap, the clustered zombies teleported to our front and rear.

This was a hallway.

Surrounded on both sides, escape was impossible.

"Z-Zombies on both sides!"

"We're thirty total, but they look like over sixty!"

They'd clawed through 1:10 odds on the first floor. From about a thousand down to a hundred.

To split those survivors so transparently. My desperately low Luck stat had been working overtime.

Shit.

Seo Wonseok scanned the ceiling and walls, just in case.

No good.

He currently had a '1' on the Golden Die. Acquisition yield up 10x, but all stats down 10.

Too sturdy—steel finishes everywhere. Without Seo Boseok, breaking out was impossible.

Plus, in a rules-based gate, the Ruler might not allow exploits.

In the end, the main method…….

……Maybe Mephistopheles's whim stemmed from my plummeting Luck…….

《Simple! Just slaughter with your own hands!》

"……!!"

Faces paled in real time.

These were civilians with bare awakenings.

Already heart-stoppingly dragged into the Abyss, now fight zombies?

If only given pickaxes.

All bare-handed.

And injury from a zombie…….

Turned them into zombies too.

《No need to harm other races!》

Minds reeled.

《Killing your own kind might be best! Mephistopheles humbly suggests!》

Sobs erupted.

"Can't even squash bugs bare-handed, how slaughter……!"

"Is the Abyss always this inhumane!?"

"Zombies infect on graze, so it's telling us to fight each other?"

"And if bitten! Fuck."

Guess they were civilians. Preaching ethics in the Abyss. Admirable.

Seo Wonseok stepped forward from the group and shot at the smirking Mephistopheles in the distance.

"It's not slaughtering ourselves—just getting involved in the slaughter, right?"

《H-How would you kn……》

Good, it bit.

《……A slight communication issue. As you say. Involvement alone counts.》

Mephistopheles's sneer deepened. Unseen, but felt.

《Doesn't change much. Weaponless weaklings against graze-infecting zombies……》

The Ruler couldn't finish.

Seo Wonseok struck first.

Thud.

He stomped the floor. Hemo spread wide and shallow across the hallway walls. In seconds, it became a blood-red tunnel.

Ugh.

Anemic throbbing hammered his head. Too much blood used.

Expanding Hemo's range cost that much blood…….

The Eternal Blessing forces a attrition war just like this.

All stats down 10 too.

That's why this blood cost sufficed to claim the hallway. Otherwise, he'd be a mummy by now.

Seo Wonseok pressed his forehead with one hand, extending the other forward.

↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑

The vine mines sprang up. From the Greenbelt Gate, multiplied beyond the Golden Die haul.

Uh, eeeek?!

Lively reaction for zombies. The ones that had pinned the living now bound themselves. As they bent to tear free.

Hemo injected pre-attached Blood Collection Stickers into the vine mines.

With blood.

Vines surged like footage fast-forwarded 100x, piercing to the zombies' vitals.

Choked groans leaked through the vines.

Not enough.

Using the Blood Collection Sticker that grew the vines, now for blood drain.

The plants withered brittlely. Lush green vines turned brown hay in seconds.

The people jumped in shock.

Namgung Hyuni's face was the most priceless.

The hunter who should shine most, just gaping.

Under the stares, Seo Wonseok pulled another vine mine from Hemo.

Repeated the process, drying it to hay. He tore it into pieces, distributing to everyone.

Those who took them glanced between Seo Wonseok and the hay.

Zombies frozen, hacking in place.

The Ruler seemed dumbfounded by the spectacle.

《What are you……?》

Ignored.

Seo Wonseok instructed the group.

"Uh, hold them upright like candles?"

"O-Okay."

"Anyone got a lighter?"

Flame control was immature still.

As Seo Wonseok looked around, Professor Kim handed one over.

"Here."

A quality lighter with a nice click. He'd seen it often in college.

"Thanks."

"Make sure to return it."

"Of course."

Click……!

Seo Wonseok lit the hay in each person's hand one by one.

"On three, throw together."

"……? Burn the zombies with this?"

"But will it catch that easily……."

"Ah! The hay binding them—it's tinder now!!"

"Yeah!!!"

Choi Kangshik stuck out his tongue in awe.

"Little bro, you're something else…… How'd you think of this?"

The fairies' campfire with live humans was pretty memorable.

"Got some inspiration from the Greenbelt Gate last time."

Seo Wonseok said casually, a bit sheepish.

"Three, throw on three."

Wait, nooo!

"Three!"