Believer (5)
...No one could have predicted this turn of events. This was especially true for the audience watching from the stage.
More than anything, Lee Si-ah could not understand Seol Ha-woon's actions. When he killed the security chief, the entire hall had gasped in sheer disbelief. If there had been a live chat window, it would have been flooded with question marks.
"I mean, why...?"
Seol Ha-woon was shaking up the entire situation. Calling it "shaking up" was a polite understatement; he was practically sabotaging it.
Even if it was an individual match, did they have some sort of falling out? Was he thinking, If I'm not going to clear this, neither are you?
"...Someone said Seol Ha-woon was just a victim of evil editing. Guess he's just like that."
The murmurs from behind pricked Lee Si-ah's ears.
Just as they said, it was blatant trolling. He had felt like an outsider from the start, but now he had definitely crossed the line.
—Seol Ha-woon. Don't move.
In the end, Kate was the first to act. She warned Seol Ha-woon as she conjured a spear.
It was the power of a Destroyer, something Lee Si-ah was seeing in person for the first time.
Ranged classes usually used bows or firearms. While debate raged over which was superior depending on the user's skills and aptitude, a Destroyer who threw cold steel was universally recognized as possessing an overwhelmingly dominant talent.
To put it in perspective, the Destroyer path was one of the branches that led to becoming a Mage.
"Kate is insane."
"I've never seen anything like that."
"Shoot! Shoot!"
Before they knew it, Seol Ha-woon had become the villain, and Kate, cheered on by the stage, hurled her spear at him.
Swoooosh!
The long spear tore through the atmosphere. It swallowed a slender magic bullet whole and kept going, KABOOM!—completely blowing away the top of the building where Seol Ha-woon stood.
"Whoa, that was satisfying."
"Talk about instant karma."
"Whew~"
Most of the reactions were of sheer gratification. Lee Si-ah clenched her fists in silence.
She was deeply disappointed.
Looking back, maybe Seol Ha-woon was a character she shouldn't have even spared a glance for. A guy who had no intention of climbing out of 96th place to begin with...?
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Why? Why did it fail again?"
Was there another variable left? Lee Si-ah looked back at Seol Ha-woon's POV.
The situation had reset to the beginning.
—Fuck...
He massaged his stiff leg, a look of frustration on his face. But as if he had no time to waste, he headed back up to the rooftop.
Before long, an unexpected situation occurred.
The sixth attempt.
The labyrinth regressed ten minutes into the past.
The "situation" where the politician on the platform babbled his bullshit, and the needlessly massive crowd cheered loud enough to burst eardrums.
"Ah..."
Heat rushed to the crown of Lee Jun-ho's head. The back of his neck burned. He gnashed his teeth. A bizarre sensation of heat coursed down his spine.
He pressed his eyelids and loosened his neck muscles. Creak. Creak. A strange sound echoed from his joints.
He was just angry.
This guy, that guy—none of them knew how to do anything right, and no matter how many times they did this, it never ended.
What the fuck did they want him to do?
"...This is just pissing me off."
Five times, the exact same result. This was their last coin.
Of course, the actual time Lee Jun-ho had experienced was only fifty minutes. However, he was repeating the situation with every nerve in his body stretched taut.
It was by no means an easy battle.
And because it wasn't easy, a screw in his mind had already come loose.
High-temperature adrenaline surged down his back, and his facial muscles twitched in spasms. Hot steam, thick as blood, seemed to cling to his empty palms.
Right then.
—Lee Jun-ho.
Seol Ha-woon's voice drifted into his ear. Lee Jun-ho spat back a short reply.
"What, fucker?"
He didn't give a damn about the cameras anymore. The fatigue accumulated from the looping battles and the rage at the repetition itself were amplifying his inherent defect.
The urge to destroy.
—Calm down.
"Calm down." At those words, Lee Jun-ho grinned. His lips split into a wide, manic smile that nearly reached his ears.
"Calm?"
Instead, he drew his sword. His bloodshot eyes gleamed. A hazy shimmer of mana rose from his overheated body.
Lee Jun-ho staggered toward someone in the crowd.
"You."
A Labyrinthin with a sword at his waist.
"You look suspicious as fuck."
He swung his sword and severed the man's head. Blood erupted from the stump like a fountain.
"Aaaack!"
Screams erupted nearby. Lee Jun-ho turned his gaze toward the sound.
"Shut the fuck up."
He thrust his sword forward, tearing the screamer's mouth open.
They weren't human anyway. They were just byproducts of the labyrinth, constructs of mana. It didn't matter if he tore them to shreds or ground them to dust.
—Lee Jun-ho.
Once again, Seol Ha-woon called his name. Lee Jun-ho had absolutely no idea what the man wanted from him.
—Lee Jun-ho. Calm down.
Because he didn't know, he had no desire to obey.
—Lee Jun-ho!
—Jun-ho hyung, what are you doing?!
Kate and Kim Woo-hyun were also babbling something at him, but...
"Just shut up. I'll handle this myself."
He ripped out his earpiece and slammed it onto the pavement. Lee Jun-ho charged toward the Labyrinthin in the spiked armor. He cut down everyone standing in his path. Limbs flew through the air, and a crimson mist sprayed upward.
It was a blatant slaughter. An indiscriminate massacre.
"Lee Jun-ho!"
Kate's voice, trying to hold him back, scattered in the wind.
He was already completely out of control. Left with no choice, Kate prepared to subdue him by force.
Bang!
A silent magic bullet struck the ground right at Kate's feet.
—Leave him be.
It was Seol Ha-woon.
"...You really are something else, to the very end."
—People should go where they want to go. Especially a guy like him—he needs to go all the way to the end to get it out of his system.
"Bullshit."
Kate muttered an oath in her native tongue and tried to stop Lee Jun-ho anyway, but a volley of grenades rained down from the sky not far away.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The earth shook. The banners caught in the bombardment were shredded to pieces. The ground turned over, sending up a thick cloud of dust like smog.
The entire square descended into absolute chaos. The speech had already ground to a halt, and the Labyrinthins scattered in panic.
Even in the midst of this pandemonium, Lee Jun-ho did not stop.
I watched the scene unfold from the rooftop. My physical condition wasn't great. My left leg was the main issue. I had landed on it wrong while dodging the spear.
Calling it "landing wrong" was an understatement; it barely moved at all. It would probably be like this for a few days.
"Tsk..."
Anyway.
I had only one question regarding this square.
The car left, yet the stage didn't end.
The third run had been the most normal. We should have succeeded then. That was how things had played out before my regression.
But we failed, and my deduction naturally flowed from that point.
There was another threat.
Not in this square, but among the close associates accompanying the target.
If it failed even after the limousine departed, then no matter how hard it was to believe, I had to assume there was a problem inside the limousine.
In the fourth run, I guessed that the threat was the security chief. But that was the wrong answer. Now, only two options remained, but before I could choose between them, Kate had stopped me.
Ah, not that I blamed Kate.
It was the logical response from her perspective. My credibility had hit rock bottom during the fourth run.
Besides, this might actually turn out to be a good thing.
"...You're doing great."
I smiled as I watched Lee Jun-ho through my scope.
Right now, Lee Jun-ho was in a state of absolute frenzy. He was grinding down not just the hostile Labyrinthins, but every single Labyrinthin within his reach.
"Keep going."
I had partially induced this. Lee Jun-ho had a contrarian streak. Tell him to stay calm, and he'd do the opposite; tell him to cool down, and he'd boil over.
"Go all the way."
I tossed in some grenades to ensure Lee Jun-ho wouldn't be interrupted. Multiple explosions and countless killings blanketed the square.
Endless chaos.
But only within this chaos would the truth reveal itself.
In this uncontrollable madhouse, the one harboring an anomalous nature would be lurking somewhere in this square.
I scanned the area with my bare eyes.
Looking down at the completely ruined square where friend and foe could no longer be distinguished, suddenly...
I spotted someone.
"..."
I gritted my teeth. A sudden headache throbbed in my temples.
There was exactly one person.
In the midst of this utterly disjointed, hellish chaos, there was someone wearing a look of pure joy.
No, someone so delighted they couldn't even hide their laughter.
I was now certain of the final threat.
I shouldered my materialized sniper rifle, the AEM94. I aimed through the scope. A single figure filled my magnified field of vision.
Small.
Maybe six years old?
A daughter holding her father's hand, about to leave the square with him.
I aimed right between the child's eyes.
Click.
I pulled the trigger.
Bang.
The magic bullet flew true, striking the tiny head dead center. I watched the scene.
The most inhumane choice, grounded in the most rational logic.
Once a choice was made, it had to be faced. I could not avoid the consequences of my actions. I could not run away. I could only watch the other side, hoping my decision was correct...
"Stop right there!"
Someone suddenly shouted from behind me. It was Kim Du-gyeom. Arriving fashionably late, the bastard glared at me like some champion of justice, gripping his sword.
"Seol Ha-woon. If you don't stop, I will subdue you by force."
"I already shot."
I barely moved my lips.
You fucking idiot.
Bang.
"!"
Lee Si-ah's breath hitched. A heavy silence fell over the stage. Some let out short gasps. Many covered their eyes with both hands.
The square itself was already a disaster zone thanks to Lee Jun-ho, but a far more shocking scene was now being broadcast on the main monitor.
Seol Ha-woon had killed the target's daughter.
A small child. He had shot a little girl, who didn't even look old enough to be in elementary school, right between the eyes.
Why on earth?
—■■!
The politician screamed, catching the child.
—■■! ■■! No!
Lee Si-ah's breathing trembled at the tear-choked shriek. Some people even walked away, unable to watch any longer.
—Assemblyman! We must go, now!
The security chief rushed over and dragged the assemblyman away.
—Let me go! Let me go! ■■ is... ■■ is...!
The assemblyman thrashed, spit and blood flying from his face, but the security chief forced him into the limousine anyway.
"Ah..."
It was too horrific. Even if Labyrinth Exploration NaN claimed to simulate "real labyrinth raids"...
"Seriously, shouldn't they drag that guy out and throw him in prison?!"
"No wonder his leg is crippled..."
Just as the angry murmurs began to escalate in intensity—
Creeeeak.
The child's body, its head shattered, began to twitch.
Crack. Crack.
Sharp spikes seemed to slowly coalesce beneath the collarbone, and then—
SHRAAAK!
The tiny child's body tore completely open. Spikes erupted from within, weaving together to form a grotesque, monstrous shape.
"...Huh?"
"What... what is that?"
"Why is it... why is it doing that?"
As a self-proclaimed labyrinth expert, Lee Si-ah recognized this phenomenon.
She cried out without realizing it.
"A boss fight!"
In other words, Seol Ha-woon was right. Again.