Chapter 64
“Don't talk nonsense, Mr. Seo. If you fail, we're all headed to the afterlife. I don't know about anything else, but I can't go before my wife. I have to take care of her illness.”
“Don't worry.”
“……”
Professor Kim let out a sigh.
“……If it helps with the clear, I'll cooperate as much as I can.”
“It's fine.”
I spoke firmly.
“I'm already getting help.”
I etched the red threads, visible only in my world, back into my heart.
A few minutes later.
As people huddled together, trembling in anxiety, Mephistopheles returned.
《The stars have given their permission.》
He stood with his hands behind his back.
《You've all been waiting a long time. Let's get started without delay.》
Positive.
That meant the constellations were eager for this game within a game.
The risk of the Ruler playing dirty or bending the rules had decreased.
Games were best under fair rules.
The dopamine-starved constellations would act as vigilant referees to ensure it went smoothly.
Mephistopheles knew it too—his tone carried a hint of displeasure, though he tried to hide it.
Snap.
The Ruler snapped his fingers.
In an instant, I felt a floating sensation, as if I'd been lifted into the air. My feet were actually three inches off the ground.
A golden plate appeared in the gap between my soles and the floor—a massive dish as wide as I was tall.
The next moment, I landed on that golden plate.
Mephistopheles was the same.
At a distance, he too stood atop a golden plate.
The two plates hovered about two meters above the apartment hallway floor. It felt like riding a flying saucer. Our heads nearly brushed the ceiling.
Thus, we ascended to the stage. The people retreated en masse to the walls, as if isolating us.
The Ruler explained the rules.
《The stars say that a being's value isn't merely the worth of its life—it's its potential.》
Aha.
They'd measure how much entertainment we could provide the constellations.
A scale judged the subject's weight. What better way to visualize our value?
《Time limit: one minute.》
It was instantaneous.
Mephistopheles's face plunged downward.
In compensation, I shot up like a whack-a-mole.
I looked around. The scenery had turned ashen.
The apartment hallway was frozen. People were locked in expressions of shock.
In this stopped world, only the two of us moved.
Mephistopheles smirked.
《This game might end more blandly than I thought.》
58 seconds.
《Do you see it, Homo sapiens?》
I counted the numbers in my head.
《The gap between you and me is beyond comparison.》
“……”
I closed my eyes.
I twitched my index finger. The red thread extending from it grew taut.
Shh.
《Huh?》
Mephistopheles rose, and I sank by that same weight.
The value of Namgung Hyuni, Seoul branch manager of Bukgeukhae Corp.
Next, my middle finger.
《Th-this is……!》
The same phenomenon repeated.
I grew heavier, while Mephistopheles was yanked upward as if an invisible hand had grabbed his hair.
Ring finger.
《What trick is this……!》
Sparkle from the Greenbelt Gate, who nearly sent hunters to their deaths.
Thumb.
《Stars……! Something's wrong here……!》
Korea University Medical School premed.
The cradle producing this nation's top elites.
The weight of the life Professor Kim Yi-hak carried in this world.
“……”
In an instant, our eye levels matched.
No need to wait the full minute. In just over ten seconds, I'd forced a tie.
Only then did the frozen time stir.
An alarm blared noisily, signaling the fact.
Weeeeeoooong!
The fire suppression alarm.
Come to think of it, the entire apartment floor was ablaze. The system had activated to extinguish it.
Shwaaaaa.
Rain fell.
Sprinklers from the ceiling sprayed water. Our golden plates filled up.
《This can't be…… it can't……》
Mephistopheles muttered in bewilderment.
Then he jerked his head up, gazing toward the Milky Way.
His eyes asked what happened in a draw.
Wrong.
It wasn't a draw.
I activated the blessing from Baridegi.
【Authority of the Yellow Dragon】
- Ruler of the Center
Designate a target subjugated by subordinate as master's new subordinate.
Cooldown: 900 hours
A new red thread formed on my pinky finger.
It connected to the cooling corpse.
The corpse of the grotesque, fur-soaked monster.
Hemo darted forward like an arrow, plastering Blood Draw Stickers on Jangsanbeom.
It transfused my blood into the monster.
Then I activated the skill.
【Active】 Blood Qi
Lv.20 | Cost: ■
[Effect] Synchronize heartbeat with target for 10 seconds
[Application] Induce transitions to states like calm, excitement, fainting, etc.
※ Triple effect on eternal contract subordinates
Inspired by how the professor had revived me with a defibrillator.
I massaged the heart of the monster, now given form by my blood.
Thump!
Pull it up.
Thump!
The fur twitched.
Thump!
Jangsanbeom shook itself and rose.
Mephistopheles recoiled in horror at the same moment.
Clang.
Metallic sound.
Looking down, Mephistopheles's plate had touched the floor.
《No! This isn't right! Stars…… this must be some……!》
Too late.
[Sub Quest: Confrontation of Value]
《Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!》
Mephistopheles screamed.
Water from the sprinklers poured over the golden mask.
“……”
I looked down at his final struggle from higher than the Gate's Ruler.
Aaahhhhh!
My eardrums felt like they would burst.
Mephistopheles thrashed in the water. He couldn't escape the golden plate. His outstretched arms were blocked by invisible bars—like a birdcage without bars.
Meanwhile, the bound time unraveled. People's bodies began to move.
“Wh-what……?”
Shocked murmurs. Some were terrified.
And rightly so. To them, they'd just blinked once……
Kwaaaah!
And the Ruler was writhing.
Those already pressed against the walls retreated as if merging with the concrete. Water rose to mid-calf.
At that moment.
The sprinklers stopped abruptly, as if by magic.
A hollow voice followed.
[Punishment for the loser…….]
People clamped their ears. Blood trickled from earlobes, pooling at chins.
《Just once! One more chance!》
Mephistopheles's mask cracked in half.
Crack.
《……Please!》
Thick cracks spread across his entire face.
It didn't stop.
[Reward for the winner…….]
The voice continued mercilessly. It suddenly struck me: even stepping on a cockroach would feel more impactful.
To the constellations, Rulers were that insignificant. Even those who treated humans as lesser while wielding scales were mere consumables to the stars.
'Me…….'
My throat tightened.
As Mephistopheles's screams peaked.
I glanced sideways at the skyline. In the hazy darkness, the constellations' gazes twinkled.
'They've marked me…….'
I'd become a star's favorite.
In media, that'd guarantee a rosy future of endless triumphs.
'Not here.'
To them, I was just entertainment. They'd discard me the moment I grew boring.
Chill.
Felt like becoming an internet streamer. Except instead of sponsorships, a bomb collar around my neck…….
Still, starting off strong was somewhat encouraging.
Then.
[Punishment…….]
《……I, I did everything for your amusement!》
Desperate flailing.
[Punishment…….]
《I did anything to become a star……!》
[Accept it.]
The next instant.
《Ah.》
Boom.
With a final gasp, Mephistopheles exploded—literally.
Flesh sprayed everywhere. Even I, right in front of him, was splattered with bloody chunks.
Hemo swelled its body into a round barrier. It didn't stop there, swiftly devouring the scattered debris.
Clang.
Where the Ruler had evaporated, the golden mask rolled hollowly.
I stared at it blankly.
'……A cracked mask.'
Unconsciously, my hand went to my face, to the Surprise Texture Mask. Fortunately, it held firm.
A sigh of relief escaped me, in more ways than one.
[Winner.]
But before exhaustion could set in, a deep voice boomed.
[We propose to you…….]
Ominous.
[To become the executor…… of new rules…….]
Fuck.
'No.'
This was a kidnapping into employment.
I didn't even register the rest. The content wouldn't change anyway.
The people around me were still covering their ears, so only I heard.
Lucky, I guess.
If word got out that a Homo sapiens had received a Ruler proposal for the first time, hunter society would erupt in chaos.
[Your answer…….]
My facial muscles twitched involuntarily. The Surprise Texture Mask did its job again, hiding my shock.
'Didn't see this coming.'
Think calmly, Wonseok.
Do I have a choice?
'No.'
A flexible refusal?
〔……!!〕
You know the minds of higher monsters well.
Hemo, you're always right.
'Beings like constellations couldn't fail to see through truth from lies.'
They're watching everything clearly.
Even this conflict of mine.
This wasn't a conversation.
It was a one-sided decree. Because I was overwhelmingly outmatched. To even sit at the negotiation table, our statuses needed to be roughly equal.
[Your answer…….]
The urging continued.
The air pressure grew heavier.
Their impatience clawed at my heart through the atmosphere.
'Damn it.'
I had no intention of becoming some Ruler here. I had my purpose. I wanted to decide how to use this new life I'd been granted!
But.
'If I refuse here…….'
I glanced around.
People shivered, soaked to the skin in the water.
If their voices turned to coercion.
Mephistopheles had shown exactly what that meant with his body.
Their lives hung on my decision—no, on the constellations' whims.
Only my life had a high chance of survival.
They wouldn't discard a toy after one act of defiance.
〔……!! ……!!〕
……No.
I can't agree with that.
〔Throw it away.〕
Hemo whispered to me, angry on my behalf at their arrogant attitude.
'……I.'