Chapter 14
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: I'm Just That Good (2)
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Choi Soo-hyun, true to his word, didn't bother me for ten minutes.
The spacious house was momentarily engulfed in silence.
An alarm rang from the phone, signaling the end of the stopwatch.
Choi Soo-hyun, who had placed his phone face down, tapped the screen with his finger.
Choi Soo-hyun was a Hunter who had fallen into a space called the Dimensional Rift and experienced another dimension.
It meant the man he met served the god Soter, and upon returning to reality, he had been searching for that god.
‘None of this adds up.’
Because the epithet ‘Soter’ had only been created recently.
Choi Soo-hyun had nearly died in a dungeon and left his guild about two years ago.
‘He knew this name before it was even created?’
The system made it unlikely for epithets or divine names to overlap.
“I have a question.”
After cleaning up the pizza boxes, Choi Soo-hyun placed a bottle of soju on the table while holding Shongshong.
For someone who looked like such a dandy, drinking soju straight was truly an odd sight. Choi Soo-hyun didn't answer, but I ignored him and asked my question anyway.
“What was the name of the man you met? The one you said served the god Soter.”
“I don't know.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“I'm not kidding. I really don't know. I can't remember.”
Shongshong, sitting on Choi Soo-hyun's lap, barked at me.
Choi Soo-hyun soothed Shongshong as he poured soju into a glass cup.
“That's the mystery. I'm sure I heard his name. But I can't remember just that part, like it's been plucked right out.”
“What about his face? What did he look like?”
“Would you know him if I told you?”
I gave an awkward laugh at Choi Soo-hyun's retort.
Choi Soo-hyun pointed a finger at me.
“He looked about your age. His skills were solid, but he was young. I don't remember anything else. I gave you all the time you needed to think, so now it's my turn. What happened in there?”
I told Choi Soo-hyun what had happened.
‘Well, not everything.’
The story about falling into the Dimensional Rift was likely Choi Soo-hyun's secret.
Still, since I'd heard his secret, it was only polite to offer a corresponding answer.
I omitted the parts about the Tower of Trials and the fact that I had created the epithet Soter, spicing up the story where needed.
Choi Soo-hyun chewed on the squid he'd brought as a side dish.
As if he belatedly felt awkward drinking alone, he offered the soju bottle to me.
“Want a drink?”
“Are you telling me to chug it from the bottle?”
“Get a cup yourself. Who do you think you're ordering around? While you're at it, grab another bottle of soju. No, just bring three.”
With the bottle less than half full, I had no choice but to get up.
No matter how I looked at it, telling me to get a cup seemed like an excuse. I went into the kitchen and found a refrigerator that looked like it belonged in a restaurant.
As I hesitated, Choi Soo-hyun raised his voice from the sofa as if he'd expected it.
“The bottom, the bottom one!”
“You could've just gotten it yourself then!”
“You? Who gave you the right to talk to me like that? You got a death wish?”
Ignoring Choi Soo-hyun, I opened the lower refrigerator door.
“You've got to be kidding me.”
Seeing the inside of the fridge, I couldn't help but swear.
The refrigerator was literally filled with cases of soju.
In a house that looked like it should have a few bottles of Château wine, there was just soju.
I couldn't understand where a character like him had come from.
I returned with three bottles of soju in my arms and a glass cup.
“Don't you have any soju glasses?”
“Who drinks soju from a soju glass? Are you a kid? Oh, right, you are a kid.”
Choi Soo-hyun snorted, mocking me.
It seemed he had finished off the remaining soju while I was gone getting the bottles and cup.
“And you? Is your liver an alcohol sponge?”
Choi Soo-hyun poured just enough soju to cover the bottom of the glass cup.
I'd been worried for a moment that he would fill the glass to the brim, but his action put me at ease.
We lightly clinked our glasses, and after downing the soju, I immediately started coughing.
Once I'd swallowed the last of the burning alcohol, I continued my story.
I left out what needed to be left out and added what was appropriate.
“So, to summarize what you said, you fell into a Dimensional Rift, which was the entrance to some strange tower, and you were the sole survivor?”
“That's right.”
“And you met the god Soter and were granted his authority, right? What's his divine name?”
“Huh?”
“What do you mean, 'huh'? Soter is an epithet. I'm asking for his divine name.”
I caught my breath, took another sip of soju, and looked at Choi Soo-hyun.
“Do you take me for a fool?”
“No, it's not that... How did you know there was a separate divine name? It seemed like no one else knew.”
“That's just for the third-rate ones. If you're his proxy, you must be at the Guardian level. It wouldn't make sense for you not to know the divine name of the god you serve.”
“I can't tell you. Well, if you're thinking of serving the same god as me, I might reconsider.”
“Deal.”
“...What?”
Countless offers had been sent to Choi Soo-hyun after he left his affiliation. And even now, three years later, they were still coming.
‘It's not that I hadn't thought about recruiting Choi Soo-hyun.’
From the moment the name Soter came up, I was certain I had to get him on my side.
I never imagined he would agree so easily to a casually thrown offer.
If it were this easy for other gods to recruit Choi Soo-hyun, there would have been no reason for him to remain unaffiliated for three years.
In fact, it was so easy.
“So easy that you're probably wondering if it's some kind of trap, right?”
“Ahem.”
Was it that obvious?
At my cough, Choi Soo-hyun placed his empty glass on the table and leaned forward slightly.
“I'm not saying I'll just join for free. I'm just that good, you know.”
“I hate that I can't argue with that.”
“You're gonna say that to my face?”
“I can't beat you in a fight, so I might as well speak my mind.”
“There are just two things I want to know.”
Choi Soo-hyun continued, folding his fingers one by one.
“Like I asked before, his true name, not his epithet. And his purpose.”
“His purpose?”
“Yes. What does the god you serve want?”
“Is there a reason you need to know that?”
“Because this world has gone mad.”
Reaching out, Choi Soo-hyun opened a new bottle of soju and chugged it straight from the bottle.
It seemed he wasn't even trying to hide it anymore.
It didn't really matter to me if Choi Soo-hyun drank soju by the truckload.
There was nothing more ridiculous than hearing that an S-rank Hunter had died of alcohol poisoning.
“The gods want Contribution Points, and the more points Hunters offer, the more power they gain. You know at least that much, right?”
What Choi Soo-hyun was describing was the core of the proxy war to gain the ruler's authority.
The Hunters didn't know that this was all one giant 'game'.
“In the world I went to, even ordinary people had Contribution Points. Do you know what that means? Ordinary people had to offer their Contribution Points to the believers, and those who couldn't lived lives no different from livestock.”
“Uh...”
“Those called believers would stop at nothing to bring more Contribution Points to the god they served. The reason was quite a spectacle. Their god supposedly promised to save them all if he became number one. But I've seen this picture somewhere before.”
Choi Soo-hyun poured the soju into his mouth as if it were water.
‘Did something similar happen in another dimension?’
I couldn't quite grasp what was going on.
While I was pondering, Choi Soo-hyun continued.
“Servia. You probably know from searching online, but that was the god I served. Forgive me for not being able to say his divine name.”
A god's name held power, so mentioning it carried a high risk of drawing attention in some way.
Instead, I changed the subject.
“What happened?”
“Nothing much happened to me. The real incident was over there. The god who almost became number one was the one I served. I saw the answer when I watched him play with his followers until the very end before killing them miserably. Do you think ordering a child to strangle their own parents is something a god should do?”
At that point, Choi Soo-hyun said two new questions had formed in his mind.
Was the god he served the only one like this?
If so, what exactly was happening in the reality he lived in?
“The number of dungeons is actually increasing, and with it, the frequency of dungeon breaks is on the rise.”
“I think I've seen something about dungeons on the news.”
“On the other hand, the number of Hunters is decreasing. It's not that the number of Awakened Ones has dropped. It's the opposite. More people are awakening, but the number of Hunters dying early on has also increased. I'd bet all my remaining Contribution Points that half of them died at the hands of other people.”
Choi Soo-hyun sighed.
Coming from a Hunter who had experienced that other world and was currently working at the Association, his words had credibility.
Choi Soo-hyun said that after returning to reality, he met the god he used to serve again and became certain.
“Those bastards never cared about us from the start. This is just a game.”
Choi Soo-hyun had grasped the essence of the situation perfectly. Honestly, I hadn't expected him to understand it so completely.
Hunters would stop at nothing to gain even a few more Contribution Points.
The frequency and cruelty, rather than diminishing over time, were only increasing.
Korea's dungeon management was quite good compared to other countries. This also meant it had an environment suitable for building a sufficient database and conducting research.
Choi Soo-hyun, having become a public official, used his job as an excuse to investigate dungeons.
An S-rank Hunter entering a D-rank dungeon would be suspicious, but it wasn't strange for a public official to enter a D-rank dungeon.
“Not all dungeons are like this, but some of them are really strange. It feels like someone artificially created them.”
It was a similar feeling to what I'd felt in the goblin village. When you thought about it, the whole Contribution Point system itself wasn't normal.
“Some people, no, many people compare this to an online game. I can understand thinking of Contribution Points as experience points. What I'm trying to say is, games have developers. Even if they don't say 'Made by so-and-so,' there's at least a game company, right?”
To use the game analogy, Earth was one giant server.
This wasn't a game filled with dreams, hope, and adventure like an MMORPG. Crucially.
“We aren't the players in this game.”
NPCs in a game live their entire lives without knowing they're NPCs. It was a disgusting thought, but the principle was the same.
My actions, my life, all manipulated by someone else. The emptiness that came with that anger was indescribable.
Choi Soo-hyun clenched his fist.
An NPC in a game might just end as an NPC, but Choi Soo-hyun, at least, was not an NPC.
“The god I serve could be the same, you know.”
“That guy believed the god he served would truly save the world. Isn't that much better than gods who demand mass suicide as proof of faith? Besides, that guy told me to find Soter.”
“You can't remember his name or face, but you remember that?”
“Tell me about it.”
Choi Soo-hyun also seemed dumbfounded, muttering as he tipped back the soju bottle.
But who on earth was the person who met Choi Soo-hyun and told him to find the god Soter?
In any case, seeing as he even told Choi Soo-hyun to find Soter, I was sure he was someone who trusted me a great deal.
‘At this point, it'd be strange not to take this opportunity.’
It seemed less like a coincidence and more like fate.
“Alright. I'll tell you. But don't laugh.”
“Don't laugh?”
“I don't know. I've said my piece, so just know that.”
Leaving behind Choi Soo-hyun, whose face was flushed red from the alcohol, I took a sip of the soju he'd left unfinished and slowly opened my mouth.
“Ah...”
“Ah?”
“The God of Dark Destruction.”