Master of the Throne (3)

A short while later, I finished off another hundred Conches with ease, bringing my total hunt to five hundred.

In the time I had left, I ran Extraction on the Small Conches for byproducts. I needed the shells to raise my Extraction proficiency and skill level — and to cause absolute chaos at the Absolute Throne.

"Heh heh… I'll wreck this place in a way no one saw coming."

Every person gathered at Gwanghwamun, every Constellation, every Dokkaebi — I was going to serve them all a carefully prepared middle finger.

The Constellations' messages rang through my head. I ignored them all.

Ding!

I nodded at the system message floating before my eyes. Just as when I'd entered the Chamber of Conches, a blue light shimmered around my body, and the scenery around me began to shift.

"Huh? Conch Breathing?"

Scanning the system message log, I found myself staring at a skill I'd never heard of. I opened my Traits window and read the description for Conch Breathing.

"Conch Breathing… a skill that lets you hold your breath for up to thirty minutes on a single inhale…"

That was it…?

I stared blankly at the entry sitting in my Traits window.

"Uh, hello? I killed five hundred Rank-8 sea monsters and a Rank-6, and this is all I get?"

I scratched my head, thoroughly annoyed.

The chapters of ORV I read only went up to the 'Real Revolutionary' arc. I know nothing about the scenarios beyond that.

Would there be scenarios like the second Main Scenario, with contaminated zones like the 'Deadly Poison Fog,' or underwater combat? If so, Conch Breathing would be useful. If not, it was dead weight.

While I was scowling at empty air, additional system messages arrived.

"…This one should be worth looking forward to, right?"

Hoping the extra reward for killing a Hidden Boss wasn't garbage, I read the description of the Horn of Provocation.

Horn of Provocation. An item that, when used, drastically lowers an enemy's mental fortitude and gathers scattered foes into one place.

"Ohh! Now this is a solid drop!"

I held up the Horn of Provocation — crafted from Conch shell — and grinned.

Destroy the Absolute Throne, then blow this thing during the coin event and herd the monsters into a kill zone.

Sweep them all up with Flames of Destruction the moment they clustered, and I'd rake in an absurd amount of coins.

I carefully stowed the Horn of Provocation inside My Room, then looked around.

"Let's see… the place to insert the Sangpyeong Tongbo… ah, there it is."

A single bright light was shining precisely on a door. That was the entrance to another Hidden Dungeon — the Chamber of the Big Dipper.

I approached the door and slotted in all ten Sangpyeong Tongbo.

Fwaaat!

The moment the ten coins went in, a brilliant light bloomed from the door. Then, with a creaking, spine-crawling groan, the door slowly began to open.

I stepped through the open door. And the horrific scene before my eyes made me grimace.

Waaaaaah—!!

Kyaaaaagh!!

Kill them, kill them—!

S-save me…!!

It was like a realm of Asura. No — right now, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it was a realm of Asura.

Hundreds of people were tangled together, swinging weapons at one another, and beneath their feet lay countless corpses.

"……So this is the price of twisting the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠story."

I watched the scene in silence, then quickly scanned the surroundings. I needed to find Jung Minseob, Lee Seongguk, and the five temporary lackeys — plus Kim Dokja, Yoo Sangah, and Lee Gilyoung.

Praying they were all safe, I searched for a long while before finally spotting them.

"……Found you."

Fortunately, they weren't far. But their clothes were already torn in places, and blood was seeping through the gaps.

They were hurt, but thankfully no one was seriously injured or dead. It was a little surprising that Kim Dokja, Yoo Sangah, and Lee Gilyoung had taken damage at all — but in this hell of hundreds of people thrashing together, I should have been grateful they'd only gotten off with minor wounds.

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

I sprinted toward them to help.

"Gleipnir."

Charr-rr-rrk!

I flung Gleipnir to aid my party. The targets were the hostile fighters near them.

Gleipnir drank my mana and rapidly extended its chains, coiling around the bodies of the enemy group near my companions.

"Waaagh?!"

"W-what the hell are these chains?!"

The men panicked as the sudden iron chains bound their bodies.

"Is that Jinwoo's…?"

Kim Dokja stared at my Gleipnir with wide, startled eyes. Her face was set hard — she'd clearly been through a brutal fight.

I put everything I had into my legs, arrived at their side in moments, and spoke to the party staring at me in shock.

"Sorry I'm late. Leave the rest to me."

I generated a door to My Room right in the middle of the group, pointed at it, and continued.

"Go inside and rest for a bit. I'll wrap this up while you recover."

"But we can't just leave Jinwoo to fight alone…!"

"Sangah is right. We should fight with you…"

At Yoo Sangah and Kim Dokja's words, I let out a small sigh.

"You're all exhausted and injured."

"But still!"

Yoo Sangah turned out to be surprisingly stubborn, insisting she would keep fighting.

Faced with her obstinacy, I threw up my hands — then grabbed her.

Heave!

"Kyaah! J-Jinwoo?!"

I hoisted her over my shoulder, adjusted the My Room door, and gently tossed her onto the bed inside.

"Anyone else who wants to get thrown, raise your hand."

"……………."

Fortunately, Kim Dokja and Lee Gilyoung filed into My Room without any resistance. I turned to look at Jung Minseob, Lee Seongguk, and the five lackeys, who were staring at me with dazed expressions.

"Glad you're all still alive."

"Y-yes, yes! We cleared it easily with the guns you gave us, but…"

Mid-sentence, Jung Minseob glanced toward the battlefield where the Asura realm was unfolding.

I quietly eyed the white porcelain jar painted with a dragon that Jung Minseob was holding. So they'd successfully obtained the Dragon Jar.

"Anyway, I'm glad you're safe. Good work. Hand that jar over to Dokja, then go rest inside yourselves."

"Y-yes! Thank you!"

The seven of them stepped into My Room with faces gone pale blue.

Once I confirmed everyone had made it inside safely, I turned my gaze back to the battlefield drowning in madness.

I'd love to just wipe everything with Flames of Destruction, but…

Han Sooyoung's main body would be here. I had to keep her alive, so I carefully swept the battlefield with my eyes.

"Die!"

Whoosh.

I dodged a sword swing from an Incarnation behind me and kept calmly scanning the field. In the distance, I spotted a woman with short black hair.

That had to be Han Sooyoung.

Even in a place where hundreds of people were tangled together, she was a pretty girl whose looks didn't lose their shine — and she was wearing a black hoodie, black T-shirt, and black pants, exactly like her webtoon outfit. Two hundred percent Han Sooyoung. No — she had to be.

Thud-thud-thud!

I ran to save her. As I drew closer, I could hear her grumbling.

"Aargh! What kind of hell is this because of that lunatic?!"

Han Sooyoung was using her Avatar ability to slowly clear out the enemies around her.

Seeing no major wounds, I breathed an inward sigh of relief and spoke up.

"Sorry about that, lunatic here."

"Huh? You— you!"

She spotted me and stared in shock. Ignoring her reaction, I hoisted her onto my shoulder the same way I'd done ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with Yoo Sangah.

"Wh-what?! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Shut up and don't fight inside."

"What does that even meeeean!!"

I generated the My Room door again and tossed her inside just like Yoo Sangah.

"Rescue complete."

Han Sooyoung was safely extracted. Now all that remained was to stop this war of madness.

I was the one who'd twisted the story — so I was the one who had to fix it.

"Dokkaebi Bag. Purchase Megaphone, Area-Restricted."

I grinned at the Constellations' reactions. Originally, this stunt was meant for the Absolute Throne — but unfortunately, this place looked more urgent right now.

This megaphone was originally a consumable that dropped from the 'Main Scenario #8 Special Random Box' that Kim Dokja bought during the Strongest Sacrifice arc.

Luckily, the Dokkaebi Bag sold it as-is, so I bought it. I needed it for the chaos I was about to unleash.

Huuuuup——!!

I drew in the deepest breath I could with the Conch Breathing I'd just earned from the Chamber of Conches. Then I pressed the megaphone's button, powered it on, and activated another skill.

Preparations complete, I brought the megaphone to my lips, squeezed my eyes shut, and — with the solemn intent of rupturing every eardrum in the chamber — unleashed the breath I'd been holding in a single explosive blast of song.

For reference: I was so tone-deaf that my elementary school music teacher gave up on me. So did my middle school teacher. And my high school teacher.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!

Kyaaaaaaagh!!!!

Aaaaaaagh!!!!

At the sheer magnificence of my singing, every single person in the Chamber of the Big Dipper clutched their ears and screamed. And it wasn't just the people.

Having sung with the devout conviction of bursting every eardrum present, I slowly opened my eyes.

"Hah. As expected of me. Wiped out this many people again today, huh?"

Hundreds of people in the Chamber of the Big Dipper were all on their knees, both hands clamped over their ears. Looking at them, I let out an evil little cackle.

A fair number had fainted, but that wasn't my problem. Who the hell thought they could start a riot without me — the true King of Madness… no, the King of Elation?

"I just ended this war."

—Bihyung?

Bihyung suddenly spat curses at me over the Dokkaebi channel.

—Why, what now?

—Oh, for real?

I snickered at Bihyung's words. Originally this was planned for the Absolute Throne, but the situation here had been so dire that I'd been forced — absolutely forced — to cause chaos here instead.

Still, I'd achieved my goal of serving a massive middle finger to the people, Constellations, and Dokkaebis I'd originally planned for. Total satisfaction.

—To cause chaos.

Click.

The connection with Bihyung cut off abruptly. Just as well. If it'd stayed open, he would've only kept nagging.

I looked around the Chamber of the Big Dipper. Everyone gathered there wore vacant expressions, both hands still clamped over their ears, looking like they couldn't tell which way was up.

I walked through the crowd and approached the kings holding the Chamber's reward items — the Star Gems.

One from the King of Timidity, one from the Earth Dragon King, one from the Martial King, one from the Maitreya King, and the remaining three from three kings whose names I didn't know.

"Thanks for so purely handing over the stars for me."

I smiled at the kings as they so purely(?) surrendered their Star Gems.

I placed all seven Star Gems in my palm.

Tsztsztsztsz!

I successfully summoned the Sainchamsageom with the Star Gems as sacrifice, and — wanting to show it off — I opened the door to My Room and called out my companions' names.

Bang!

"Dokja, Sangah, Gilyoung, Jung Minseob, Lee Seongguk, five lackeys, and the short black-haired pretty girl! Check this out! I got an S-grade ite— huh?"

I stared blankly into My Room like someone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠who'd just seen something they shouldn't have.

Because every single person I'd just named was flat on the floor of My Room, both hands clamped over their ears, bodies trembling violently.

No — looking closer, Lee Gilyoung and the five lackeys had fainted with foam at their mouths.

"W-what? Why are you all like that?"

I stared at my half-dead party in panic. Then I looked around and noticed that a window in My Room was open.

"Ah……"

Grasping the situation, I quietly shut my mouth.

I should've told them to keep the windows tightly shut.

As long as the doors and windows of My Room were properly closed, any noise or roar — no matter how loud — was completely dampened.

That was how I'd been able to avoid the ancient Conch's sonic attack. But I'd forgotten to mention it to the party.

Looking at my companions sprawled on the floor, I felt a wave of awkwardness and scratched my head vigorously. And then—

"Tehe~?"

To erase the awkwardness, I lightly bonked myself on the head, winked, stuck my tongue out slightly, and hit my half-corpse party with a full tehe~.