The God of Control's One-Coin Clear: Street of Murder (8)

In Residential District A-15 Sector.

Taeyang stared at the door radiating golden light and broke into a wide grin.

“Phew. Found it.”

Taeyang glanced at the chat window and caught himself smiling. The moment he realized it, he slapped his own cheek.

No. I can’t let myself get sucked into that.

“Yeah, I know.”

Taeyang slipped his hand into his inner pocket.

The Greatest Machinery.

The gothic pocket watch was both a spear that could triple his combat power in an instant and a shield that could heal any wound.

“It’s stupidly good.”

Thanks to it, snagging the rest of the achievements had been easy.

Doping Addict was exactly what it sounded like—downing an insane amount of doping reagents. That one had been the simplest.

There was no way any idiot player would dare challenge Taeyang after he had soloed the three strongest beastmen players known as the kings of the Street of Murder.

The moment Taeyang stepped into a building, every supply inside became his.

Occasionally some clueless newbie who had just entered the stage would show up, but there was no chance they could stand against Taeyang when he already held overwhelming achievements and perfect farming.

Tracker was earned by killing ten or more players including your target. Herbivore (Elephant) came from turning the tables on players who had marked you as their target and killing them instead.

He had been worried no one would come at him, but the moment he showed a tiny opening, players came rushing in with blood in their eyes.

Well, it wasn’t like he had only cleared one or two buildings.

As for Clock Thief, that achievement came automatically the moment he obtained the artifact.

“Anyway, I need to rest a bit.”

Taeyang collapsed in front of the three doors like a puppet with its strings cut.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The mental fatigue piled on Taeyang far exceeded the predictions he and Hyeonhye had made before the game started.

It was obvious, but doing anything with your life on the line consumed stamina and mental strength far beyond imagination.

He had expected the pain of flesh being torn and bones snapping to be terrible, but it had been even worse than that.

“I set the standard at competition level, but this is beyond it.”

Still, the positive was that despite these issues surfacing, he had cleared the stage safely.

As long as he was alive, he could fix any mistakes.

At Hyeonhye’s worried tone, Taeyang deliberately puffed out his chest.

“Hey, I used to be a pro ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gamer. I know how to manage my condition.”

“Hey, you turn off the stream too. Go eat. It’s been a while since you last ate, right?”

“And wash your hair! What, you’re sitting there with that greasy mop tied up with chopsticks, wearing glasses and staring at the monitor, aren’t you?”

Hyeonhye, who had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠picking up kimbap with chopsticks while her unwashed hair was twisted into a messy bun, flinched.

How did he know?

“There’s oil buildup at the roots?”

“Sure~ Your hair’s practically dripping oil. If you scratched it, there’d be black gunk under your nails. Gross~.”

“Sure~ Just talking about your scalp~.”

The stream switched to private. Taeyang lay down in front of the door.

It was the safe zone he hadn’t seen in dozens of hours.

“…Do you have a hobby of sleeping on bare ground?”

Andromalius appeared late and looked down at Taeyang with a bewildered expression.

“I have something to tell you. Just listen to this and…”

“Zzz.”

Even in virtual reality, sleeping was possible.

Unfortunately, Taeyang had already fallen into a deep sleep before Andromalius even showed up.

Andromalius nudged Taeyang lightly with his toe.

Taeyang didn’t budge.

“…He really fell asleep.”

Andromalius let out a helpless chuckle despite himself.

Only the pet snake wrapped around his arm seemed to understand how its master felt, flicking its forked tongue with a hiss.

Taeyang opened his eyes quite some time later.

Checking the streaming system, he saw roughly eight hours had passed since the broadcast went private.

Eight hours. Just the right amount.

Taeyang stood up without hesitation.

The floor right before the door to the next stage was literally bare ground.

If his physical condition had been affected, he needed to recover before moving on.

Then Taeyang’s eyes widened.

This is…!

After quickly checking his body, he found nothing wrong.

What surprised him was something else.

Taeyang’s mind spun.

A skill card? When? Who? And why me?

This situation hadn’t been in any of the explanations Hyeonhye had given him.

If he had listened to Andromalius’s explanation, he might have understood, but the Demon King was neither idle nor kind enough to wait for a sleeping player.

Taeyang soon stopped worrying about it.

He didn’t know the circumstances, but the skill card had come to him.

A clear gain.

Besides, this was the Dimensional Labyrinth.

There was no need to fret over whether he should return a randomly found wallet to the police like in 21st-century South Korea or whether he would face legal punishment.

Taeyang examined the skill card.

Poison, agility, and bloodsucker synergy.

Hyeonhye appeared at just the right moment.

“I have no idea either. It was just there when I woke up.”

Hyeonhye looked equally bewildered.

The two of them immediately began discussing the uses of the Artifact Search skill.

“Like what?”

“Then is Artifact Search really a skill that guides you to an actual artifact?”

If it was a card or an Artifact, just obtaining it would be incredible.

“And it even has additional synergy for agility and bloodsucker.”

“There’s still an open card slot. Might as well put it in for now.”

After checking his status window, Taeyang, who had been about to head to the next floor, suddenly asked.

“Did you turn the stream back on?”

“Yeah. Just now.”

Taeyang froze when he saw the chat.

Now that he thought about it, Hyeonhye had basically abandoned her main job because of him.

“Hyeonhye.”

“Would it be okay… to turn the cam on?”

“You’re not able to do your own stream because of me. It’s been bothering me.”

Hyeonhye snorted.

“Ahem. Well, I’m saying it because I don’t think it’ll be just a day or two.”

Ever since the Dantalion incident began and Taeyang logged into the game, Hyeonhye had completely stopped her regular broadcasts and video uploads.

Taeyang could compensate her financially as much as she wanted, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but the viewers and subscribers lost from taking a break wouldn’t come back the moment she turned her stream on again.

“Good things are good things. You get donations, more viewers, and then more useful advice in chat.”

“They add up and feel nice, right?”

Taeyang nodded.

“I know. Seventy-thirty split. You take seventy, I take thirty. How about it?”

It’s good, isn’t it? You make money, take care of your viewers and subscribers, and I… make a little too.

Taeyang didn’t voice the thought and simply sniffed once, pretending it was nothing.

“If you don’t want to, fine.”

Taeyang headed toward the next floor.

Of course, the door he chose was the yellow one. The gold coin door.

A small boy trembled as he entered the cave.

“They said a tiger lives here. Didn’t they tell you not to come?”

Tiger.

More precisely, the White Tiger beastman Paka growled in a low voice.

The boy, not even properly armed, muttered timidly with a face as white as a sheet of paper.

“S-spare…”

“Don’t get your hopes up. If you came here to die, then die.”

The small boy finally started hiccupping.

Paka asked.

“Flag. What color was it?”

“I… I don’t have one.”

Every player received a randomly colored flag at the start.

Not having a flag meant it had been taken by someone else.

“Tsk.”

Paka instantly understood the situation.

The boy had clearly been robbed by the surrounding players and then used as a disposable scout to check whether Paka had moved on to the next floor.

“Vicious bastards.”

Plundering, killing, and using their own kind without hesitation.

The White Tiger beastman brought his fist down without mercy.

Thud.

“Guhk.”

The boy’s chest was pierced straight through.

Paka pulled his hand back out.

The still-twitching heart fluttered weakly in Paka’s palm.

He brought the chunk of meat to his mouth and muttered.

“They’re late. Did they split up?”

Even if they cleared the same stage, entering through different doors could lead to completely different stages.

Paka had chosen the Enhancement door. If any of those following him had been injured and chosen the Recovery door instead, they might never meet again.

“Well, they should be fine.”

Compared to always being chased in Eden, the Dimensional Labyrinth was a paradise for beastmen.

A paradise for revenge and for survival.

In truth, no one had been more obsessed with hunting humans than Paka.

He had been so obsessed that he had climbed far ahead of the other three.

“I was going to wait, but this is too boring.”

Time to move on.

Tigers were creatures that stood proudly alone by nature.

The White Tiger beastman Paka was the same.

He could meet his comrades when the opportunity came.

There would be plenty of opportunities.

After clearing the sixth floor, a second resting area would be waiting for him.

If they didn’t show up after he waited there a while, then the seventh floor, the eighth.

It might be an uncertain reunion, but given the structure of the labyrinth, they would meet again someday.

Enjoy meetings, but do not regret partings.

However, repay news of death with bloody revenge.

Paka hummed the proverb passed down among the White Tiger tribe and left the cave.