Chapter 17
Chapter 17
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: The Sickly Demon
-----------------------------------------------------------------
*BANG!*
Gray smoke billowed as a blue mana bullet shot toward Jeoji.
Jeoji twisted his body lightly, letting the mana bullet from the Hawk fly past him, then shouted at Lee Si-woo.
“Burning the World Tree… Are you trying to get us all killed?!”
Lee Si-woo pulled the trigger again and sneered.
“That sounds fine by me. After Martin spilled his guts about everything, dying alone would be a bit lonely.”
*BOOM!*
The mana bullet collided with Jeoji’s bladed claws and exploded in a cloud of smoke.
However, aside from some slightly singed fur on the back of his hand, Jeoji was unharmed. He bared his fangs and growled.
“You brain-dead son of a bitch! Martin and I just had a little chat; he didn't say a single word about you. So why the hell are you overreacting like this?!”
*BANG, BANG!*
Lee Si-woo fired twice, halting Jeoji’s arrow-like charge, and said.
“Maybe it's because you look like a son of a bitch, but your lies are top-notch. But I guess you didn't know this. I'm actually quite skilled in mind-reading.”
The mention of mind-reading made Jeoji flinch, and he cursed.
“Shit! For real?!”
Lee Si-woo smirked and pulled the trigger once more.
Now, only one mana bullet remained in the magazine, and with his meager mana reserves, he could only create one more at best.
That meant he had two shots left.
“So Martin did spill everything? I was sure of it, but I have to thank you for confirming it for me.”
It was worth burning the World Tree while assuming the worst.
If they had found out he only had one artifact and decided to act boldly, he might have been taken down without even having time to formulate a plan.
Realizing he'd been tricked by Lee Si-woo, Jeoji’s jaw dropped as he roared.
“Goddammit! It was a lie?”
Enraged that he had been overly cautious of Lee Si-woo because of the shadow cast by mages, Jeoji stomped his foot violently.
His constant awareness of mages had led him to overestimate Lee Si-woo more than necessary.
“Well, I’m usually not one for lying… but for some reason, my tongue is quite nimble today.”
Despite his relaxed tone, Lee Si-woo was retreating with all his might.
A quick glance back revealed the barrier was slowly fading; it seemed it would completely collapse soon.
*BANG!*
Delaying Jeoji’s advance with another mana bullet, Lee Si-woo gave a bitter smile.
Only one shot left.
Once he used it, he would have no way to handle Jeoji.
‘Two options.’
The first was to escape by accessing Barathrum, the absolute safe house.
With the energy he’d gained from Ogong and Will, he could easily last a week while connected, making it a decent alternative.
The problem was, while it would save him for now, it offered no future.
Although they couldn’t focus on him at the moment with the barrier collapsing, the World Tree was made from elf corpses, so it would only be a matter of time before they restored it.
‘The second is… the Labyrinth’s Master.’
Death-Ground Fortune.
A message that guides the master of Barathrum, who is fated to die, to an escape route.
『A greedy wolf. A hunted fox. Starving rabbits. A sick demon. Do not forget, a cornered fox cannot survive unless it borrows the might of a tiger.』
If his interpretation was correct, he was the hunted fox, and he could only survive this pit by borrowing the might of a tiger.
And based on all the circumstances, the sick demon, who was almost certainly the tiger, was likely the Labyrinth’s Master.
‘Of course, I can’t be sure. I don't know why the Labyrinth’s Master is inviting me, but if it stems from malice, I’ll be like a moth caught in a spider's web. But… a gambler who hesitates when it’s time to make a move will never escape poverty.’
Besides, he had Barathrum.
Even if the worst-case scenario he imagined came to pass, as long as he had a moment to connect to Barathrum, he could save his life for the time being.
*BANG!*
The muzzle flashed once more.
With that, both the Hawk’s magazine and the mana to create more bullets were completely depleted.
Lee Si-woo tossed the Hawk aside without a second thought.
Every bit of mobility mattered now, so there was no need to cling to an empty pistol.
And then, the barrier began to crumble.
*Rumble!*
The labyrinth trembled with a deafening roar.
It was as intense and deadly as a dam bursting.
*Swish.*
As if they had been waiting for the barrier to fall, countless tentacles surged forward.
Faced with that wave of tentacles, Jeoji didn’t dare think of chasing Lee Si-woo.
Not only him, but the elves and beastmen inside the barrier, as well as the remaining monsters and human survivors, all had to focus their efforts on defending against the tentacles.
Watching Jeoji frantically swatting away tentacles with his bladed claws, Lee Si-woo spoke.
“Let me give you a warning.”
“A warning, my ass! You bastard! You just wait right there. Once I deal with these tentacles… Yikes!”
Jeoji, who had nearly been impaled in the back by a tentacle, leaped like a rabbit and sliced it apart with his claws.
But something was strange.
While he was struggling so much, Lee Si-woo seemed completely at ease.
“What the…?”
The floor of the labyrinth opened, and a massive tentacle, formed by dozens of smaller ones woven together, shot up.
The giant tentacle gently wrapped itself around Lee Si-woo’s body.
Its movements were as deferential as a snake serving a noble guest, leaving Jeoji dumbfounded with his mouth agape.
“Crazy, why is the tentacle acting like… no, it’s not supposed to do that.”
Lee Si-woo’s voice was now much more composed.
“Burning the World Tree was my decision alone. So please, do not hold the survivors of the Pure Tribe responsible for my sins. If, by any chance, I return and find that Boss Rei and the survivors have been harmed…”
Even as he was slowly being guided into the labyrinth’s floor by the tentacle, Lee Si-woo didn’t forget to finish his sentence.
“Then I will not only revoke my promise to take you to the surface, but I will also use any means necessary to turn this place into your tomb.”
Kindness for kindness, malice for malice.
He had responded to Martin’s malice with malice, but he had to pay a fair price for Rei’s kindness.
Of course, whether Rei would like that price was another matter, but that was none of his concern.
It was Lee Si-woo who decided what the price would be, not Rei.
“Don’t forget. I have crossed the line, but you have not yet. In other words, since I am the perpetrator, there is still room for us to talk.”
Despite being the one who had caused this whole mess by burning the World Tree to the ground, Lee Si-woo was nonchalantly threatening them not to touch a single hair on the Pure Tribe survivors.
Just as Jeoji, enraged by his audacity, was about to unleash a torrent of curses, Lee Si-woo vanished into the floor of the labyrinth.
***
The tentacle led Lee Si-woo to the heart of the labyrinth.
At the center of a grand hall covered in all sorts of magic circles.
A young man with a youthful appearance sat atop a large coffin.
“Hey, bro.”
Pure white hair, long and shimmering like silk woven from snow, swayed at his waist.
White eyes and white eyebrows that drew one’s gaze like a magnet.
Lips as red as cherries buried in snow.
The meeting of the young man, with his dreamlike atmosphere as if he’d stepped out of a fairytale, and the black-haired Lee Si-woo was as striking as the meeting of winter and night.
The young man smiled brightly and said.
“Nice to meet you, bro. I’m Jin.”
“A pleasure. My name is Lee Si-woo.”
The young man, sitting cross-legged on the coffin, excitedly kicked his legs like a child meeting a friend for the first time in a while.
It was strange. Although it was Lee Si-woo’s first time seeing this young man named Jin, an unexplainable sense of familiarity tickled a corner of his heart.
It felt akin to the pull of an unknown bloodline, but Lee Si-woo tried to deny the feeling.
Lee Si-woo spoke in a calm and composed tone.
“Jin, you are the master of this labyrinth, correct?”
“Yep.”
“Why did you summon me here?”
“Because I was waiting for you?”
Momentarily taken aback, Lee Si-woo barely managed to stop himself from misspeaking.
“…Pardon?”
Trying not to get swept up in the young man’s unique, my-pace way of speaking, Lee Si-woo replied.
“As far as I know, this is our first time meeting.”
“Probably.”
“Then why would you, Mr. Jin, be waiting for someone you’ve never seen or heard of before?”
“Because you’re my brother? Oh, and drop the formalities. It feels weird with you using polite speech when I’m the younger brother.”
“My apologies. It’s just not in my nature to drop formalities so easily… Besides, we don’t even know each other’s ages, do we?”
At the mention of age, Jin averted his gaze slightly and scratched his chin.
“C’mon~ Who decides who’s the older or younger brother by age these days? If you wanna be brothers, you just become brothers.”
Lee Si-woo had much to say, but he held his tongue to avoid upsetting Jin.
“Well, I suppose that’s one way to look at it.”
Jin giggled and said.
“That’s my bro for you. You get it, right? Oh, by the way, bro. I’ve been thinking really hard about something.”
“What have you been thinking about…?”
“Well, you’re a super suspicious and difficult person. So I was thinking about how to get you to accept and trust me!”
At this point, Lee Si-woo was starting to get a headache.
The more they talked, the more he felt himself being drawn into the pace of this man, Jin, the master of the labyrinth.
And what was this about accepting and trusting a complete stranger on the spot?
Not only was the conversation strangely disjointed, but for someone with Lee Si-woo’s personality, it was an impossible request.
“Accepting a stranger as a younger brother upon first meeting, especially the master of a labyrinth… isn’t that a bit… unreasonable?”
“Hmm… I guess so? That’s why I thought about it. You’re the type of incredibly rigid person who believes that if you receive something, you must give something back, and if you give something, you must receive something in return, right?”
That was true.
“…I suppose so.”
“So I decided to just give you something first. Look at this! It’s something I prepared for you.”
Jin took out an elegant glass bottle from his pocket.
The emerald liquid sloshing inside caught Lee Si-woo’s attention.
“What is that…?”
“A Circle Potion.”
At the words “Circle Potion,” Lee Si-woo’s expression changed drastically.
And for good reason—a Circle Potion was an elixir that created a Circle in the heart.
In other words, it was a life-changing miracle drug that could turn an ordinary person into a mage.
The appearance of one of this world’s most famous and expensive elixirs made Lee Si-woo let out a dry laugh.
“Are you saying you’re going to give that to me now? With no strings attached?”
“Yep. If you accept me as your little brother and hold my hand as we leave this place together, this is yours.”
Lee Si-woo massaged his neck, feeling the stress slowly creeping up his spine.
If they were leaving, they were leaving. Why did they have to hold hands?
But the strange thing was, no matter how much he thought about it, he was certain that this man named Jin was his complete opposite, with not a single thing in common, yet because of that peculiar sense of familiarity, he felt no aversion.
It was truly, incredibly strange.
“…Is that really all you want?”
“Yeah. It’d be even better if we could talk casually and you showed me some attention.”
“I don’t know the details, but I do know that a Circle Potion is a treasure that can’t be bought with money. Yet you’re offering such a precious item and all you want in return is to get a little closer to me… Frankly, it’s hard to believe.”
“You’re right. It probably is. But think about it, bro. I’m the master of this labyrinth. That means there’s no one in this place right now that I can’t handle, right? So if someone like me held ill will towards you, would I really need to go through the trouble of tricking you with such a precious elixir?”
“That… is true.”
Jin spoke in a bitter tone.
“But you still can’t trust me, right? After all, there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.”
“That is also true.”
“Then how about you think of it as an investment?”
“An investment?”
“Yep. A bold investment in a promising prospect who is the owner of a Black Ticket and one of the Corporeal Seeds, who might one day become a god.”
Lee Si-woo’s face hardened.
He had thought that the only person in this world who knew he was the owner of the Black Ticket was Harman.
Well, until just a moment ago.
Seeing Lee Si-woo’s uncomfortable silence, Jin gave a sad smile.
“You know what? This is why I didn’t want to say it. I don’t like it when you’re wary of me, and I don’t like it when you’re uncomfortable. But don’t be. The only reason I waited for you here was because I wanted to see you, not to use you for something. After all…”
Jin coughed. A dry cough escaped his lips, and a trickle of red blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
Perhaps because of his exceptionally pale skin, the color red was particularly vivid.
“I don’t have much longer to live.”
Lee Si-woo raised an eyebrow.
‘A sick demon.’
The Death-Ground Fortune had called Jin a sick demon, so his words about not having long to live were likely not a lie.
Still, there was something that bothered him.
Why did the Death-Ground Fortune call Jin a demon?
“You must be curious how I knew you would come here, why I waited for you here, and who I am. Fine, I’ll tell you everything. But promise me something first.”
Jin wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and smiled brightly.
“That you’ll accept me as your little brother.”
Lee Si-woo gave a bitter smile.
Normally, he was the type to be suspicious of such unconditional kindness.
But strangely, he didn’t feel that way about Jin.
It was as if his internal alarm system had broken down.
Lee Si-woo tried to compose his unsettled mind and opened his mouth.
“I accept.”
Nevertheless, the important thing was that there was no reason not to accept.
Jin was suspicious, but judging from the dense mana emanating from the Circle Potion, there was a more than seventy percent chance it was real.
When it came to discerning the authenticity of mana-related items, no race was better than the elves, and Lee Si-woo, having received the blessing of mana, possessed that ability as well.
According to Lee Si-woo’s common sense, no one in this world was foolish enough to waste a Circle Potion just to set a trap.
A Circle Potion, an elixir that could forcibly turn even someone without talent into a mage, was a treasure comparable to the fabled herb of immortality.
‘Jin must have some other ulterior motive. But it’s probably not about doing something to me right now. So it would be foolish to turn down a chance to become a mage for free just because I’m suspicious. I can figure out his true intentions later.’
At Lee Si-woo’s acceptance, Jin smiled brightly and said.
“I knew you’d accept, bro. Oh, but before that. There’s something I forgot to mention, is it okay if I say it?”
“Yes.”
“I’m a demon.”
“…Pardon?”
As if embarrassed by Lee Si-woo’s incredulous stare, Jin fidgeted and said.
“Hey, don’t look at me like that. It’s embarrassing.”
“So… the demon you’re talking about is the demon I’m thinking of, right? The very evil, insidious kind…”
Jin puffed out his chest with pride and said.
“Yep, that’s right. I’m an incredibly evil and insidious archdemon! Oh, and I’m cruel, too. It’s one of my many strengths!”
“And I just agreed to have that kind of demon as my little brother?”
“That’s right. So you can be proud. I don’t usually say this, but… you’ve gained an amazing little brother. You won’t regret it.”
Lee Si-woo’s expression turned serious.
“No. I’m already regretting it.”
Jin asked with the face of a puppy looking at its owner.
“So… you’re taking it back?”
Lee Si-woo pressed his thumb firmly against his brow as if he had a headache and said.
“Let me think about it.”
Jin whined with a gloomy face.
“That’s so mean. There’s nothing cheaper than giving something and taking it back!”
“Sigh… let’s just hear it first. Starting with how you, a demon, knew I would come here, and why you were waiting for me.”
At Lee Si-woo’s stern voice, Jin’s eyes darted around nervously.
Seeing Jin’s attitude, Lee Si-woo let out a deep sigh and thought.
It seemed he had just met the most bewildering connection of his life.