Chapter 56
“But!”
But?
“It’s just going to take some time.”
How long?
“Probably around 20 minutes.”
Damn it.
In an Abyss, holding out for 20 minutes might as well be the same as just holing up and diving for cover that long.
But once the status window popped up, my thinking shifted in a more optimistic direction.
【3F: 3rd Penthouse】
Current Waiting Personnel
: 30 people
Mission Details
: The fiercest battle is overcoming yourself.
: This mission requires groups of 3 people.
: The clear condition is simple. Do not open the door. No matter what.
※ However, if you uncover the true identity of the inner whisper ○○○, you may open the door!
Upon learning ○○○'s true name, the abstract concept becomes physically detectable.
Now this I can handle.
In this , the golden die had landed on ‘1’.
My rewards multiplied tenfold, but all my stats dropped by 10 as a trade-off.
On top of that, I'd burned through too much blood on the 1st and 2nd floors to properly heat up my body now. Not just the reserves in Hemo—I’d even taken some bleeding myself.
Stat-wise and stamina-wise, I’m in a pinch.
A non-combat quest felt like a welcome break.
...As if.
This was the final stage of a ∅∅-grade gate.
No way that sly Ruler was grinning over something this comfy.
The key is figuring out ○○○’s name.
Smells like an exorcism ritual.
If only it’d spill its name like in the movies when someone yells, “What’s your name?!”
《Allow me to explain the rules!》
The follow-up explanation didn’t stray far from the status window.
Mephistopheles glanced sideways at me as he spoke, clearly mindful of how I’d thrown in that extra comment on the previous floor.
The others nodded mechanically, like soulless puppets.
Those still in their right minds, anyway.
Me, Namgung Hyuni, Uncle Choi.
And, surprisingly, Professor Kim.
Who’d have thought the professor was an Awakener...
After four years of academic clashes, I figured we’d at least built up some grudging familiarity.
But the professor turned out to be even more of a stranger than I’d imagined.
Clap.
Mephistopheles clapped his hands—an introductory applause signaling the main act.
《Alright, pair up based on contribution and enter one by one! Oh, and a guest will be visiting, but they’ll probably start from the fourth house, right?》
Look at him vaguely directing that at me.
No world numbers its houses with 4 as the starting point.
Mephistopheles shot me expectant glances.
A sleazy hope that I, who’d derailed his scenario before, would trip up this time.
...He’s probably oblivious himself while pretending to be perceptive.
Obsessing over the Ruler alone could botch the ending.
What if the stars decided to play a prank and bail?
A ∅∅-grade without rules is just a demon realm...
The locked down my facial muscles.
Mephistopheles muttered under his breath, stuffing his roar with suppressed fury.
《...Insolent fool.》
The Ruler was already in hot water with the stars.
His earlier tirade at thin air proved it.
In that case.
What if I delivered an unexpected twist to those unseen watchers observing us like bugs in a jar?
Time to win some favor.
I raised my hand.
“I’ll take House 4.”
The Ruler smirked as if he’d been waiting.
Now the parts of his golden mask not covered were clearly visible.
《As expected! A sapient who’s shattered norms twice in a row! Since you’ve boldly stepped up first, why not pick your partner too while you’re at it!》
...A hidden reward from the 2nd floor, and he’s taking credit for it.
Still, I’d spotted the hidden rewards on the lower floors and planned ahead.
I pretended to mull it over before speaking.
“My partner will be...”
As I called out names one by one.
One person in particular flinched.
* * *
The one I pointed out looked around several times.
He had no reason to. Then he jabbed a finger at his own chin.
“...Me?”
The professor sounded dumbfounded. The man who always insisted on crisp pronunciation.
And he’d stayed relatively calm even after entering this gate.
No, he’s not the type to freak out even if the world ended.
Seeing this unfamiliar side of him threw me off too.
Retirement must’ve changed his personality a lot...
It was awkward—uncomfortably so.
In my memories, the professor strutted around with his chin high, smug as could be.
Now he looked utterly cowed.
I wasn’t the only one discarded by the superhuman era.
No, he’d lost far more than me or my classmates. The higher the prestige, the harder the fall.
But one thing needed clarifying.
I wasn’t teaming up out of pity.
The professor is the first to invent the elixir.
I had to keep Gwang-san Corp from stealing his formula. If they got it, I’d lose any edge over them later.
His goals aligned with my interests.
I’d crossed from the future to the past, seething with venomous grudge.
Those who’d plunged my everything into the abyss.
I’ll uproot them.
Like yanking potato vines—grabbing every tuber my way wouldn’t cut it. I’d excise the rot and normalize the rest.
For the Millennium Gate in the future.
Revenge, and the Millennium Gate.
To catch both rabbits, I needed elixirs. Which meant winning the professor over. Even if our college days were rocky.
It’s been over 10 years for me, at least.
The past always gets romanticized, right? Especially after rolling in the gutter post-brother’s death. Our classroom shouting matches? Karaoke squabbles over one more song.
I hid my tangled thoughts behind the and spoke.
“Professor, you and Uncle Choi—come with me.”
“Works for me...”
Someone cut off Uncle Choi. The residents’ rep auntie.
“I-I’m iffy about that hooded guy, but me! Team up with me, yeah?!”
Starting with her, they all pitched themselves to me, shoving desperately.
“...”
The hallway turned into a flea market.
Even on the 1st floor, convincing them had been no picnic.
Now they were clamoring and elbowing to stick to me. A bitter taste filled my mouth.
Their reactions made sense, in a way. Under my lead, we’d cleared 1 and 2 without casualties and reached the final 3rd floor.
Just get through this, and they could step outside. Anxiety bared their true colors.
We came this far together cheering each other on, but in the end, your own neck’s the dearest.
Suddenly.
A gaze from a few steps away. Mephistopheles watched us curiously from afar.
《Haha. Just as I thought.》
Our eyes met for a split second. A slimy sneer slithered past my ear at the same time.
Damn, my nape prickled.
Like a snake’s tongue flicking or a spider crawling every inch of my skin. Pure distilled disgust.
And I wasn’t the only one who felt it.
The fibers of my outer coat bristled. Hemo, disguised, was reacting.
Everyone fixated on me.
To that demon, this spectacle was mere entertainment.
Calling us bugs...
I eased the tension from my clenched jaw.
Can’t show emotion.
Instead, borrowing the ’s power, I spoke in cool detachment.
“Hate to say it myself, but you all made it here thanks to me, right?”
With an icy poker face and shameless gall, their eyes wavered in confusion.
“Y-Yeah, true. Who here doesn’t know that?”
“Y-Yes, indeed. A bunch of civilians like us still have our heads because of you, young man...”
Emphasize it—they were ordinary folks swept into this Abyss gate out of nowhere.
If they’d been hunters, I wouldn’t have butted in.
Because they were innocents.
That’s why I’d rolled up my sleeves to ensure zero casualties.
We’d all weathered twists and turns to get here.
And we survived.
My credit was the biggest. Call it self-aggrandizing—I don’t care. It’s fact.
“So in a moment like this, I think I’ve earned the right to judge for myself.”
Or ‘authority,’ put differently.
“...We trust you, of course. But...”
“Don’t trust me too much. Honestly, once variables pop up, I can’t promise full survival anymore.”
“N-Now you say that...!”
Heat crept into someone’s voice.
“Pathetic, really.”
Then, unexpectedly, someone scoffed it away.
Namgung Hyuni.
“At least you’ve got some shame. To be blunt, that guy... that hunter...”
Subtly shifting his wording.
His single eye, glaring at me, cooled instantly. He scanned the residents and spat.
“Anyway, doesn’t that hunter hold power over life and death here?”
“...!!”
The hallway’s air grew heavy in an instant. Shoulders twitched. They’d felt it too.
Hunter or not, he was second only to me in this mess.
If they thought that, they were wrong. Pure combat-wise, I was a mosquito bite to Namgung Hyuni. He’d briefly matched R&Y’s two hunters—a monster, the North Ocean Guild master’s doppelganger.
The crowd backed away from him.
“Sure, but...! You’re a hunter, so you’ve got the edge over us!!”
The civilians pushed back. Everyone teetered on the brink of death. Even rats bite when cornered.
Protests spread. The gratitude from lower floors soured a bit. Death’s doorstep unleashes survival instincts—can’t block that.
“...Exactly! Look at him, all smug.”
“Jealous? Go be hunters yourselves.”
Some traits never fade—the doppelganger scratched nerves just like the original.
Though he glanced at me guiltily after speaking.
“...”
“...”
I stayed silent, so he shut his eyes, then opened them resolved. He bullied the civilians.
“Shut up and do what the hunter says.”