Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: Hunting the Betrayer
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Inside the massive screen.
Cha Min-woo, a dagger embedded in his heart, was plummeting powerlessly downward.
The audience erupted in cheers.
They grew even more feverish at the sight of Cha Min-woo, who had shown such promise right from the start, being helplessly defeated.
Of course.
Even amid the excitement, some couldn't focus on the match.
"Should we just run away quick?"
Even now, Cheongryang's mind was entirely consumed by Uncheon-geuk.
"No, we already tried running, right? If that guy really wanted to, he could catch us no problem..."
Uncheon-geuk's sudden appearance.
Because of him, Cheongryang couldn't concentrate at all.
"At this point, maybe we should just throw down with that guy..."
Mid-sentence, Cheongryang realized she'd been talking to herself the whole time.
Was he so shocked he couldn't even respond?
She sneaked a glance at Unhyang, but contrary to her expectations, Unhyang's eyes were sparkling with excitement.
"Whoa..."
"Huh?"
What Unhyang was watching was, naturally, the screen of the tournament match.
Among the countless participants in the preliminaries, the observer camera highlighted the most thrilling scenes.
And there had been one such fight on screen for a while now.
It was the battle between Lee Soo-hyuk and Cha Min-woo.
"It ended quicker than I thought."
"Is Cha Min-woo weak?"
"Didn't you see him slicing through everyone alone from the start? He's definitely not weak."
"Then maybe he ran out of stamina in between..."
"No way. Lee Soo-hyuk's just that good."
Conversations about the fight between Lee Soo-hyuk and Cha Min-woo were buzzing around the spectator seats.
It seemed she was the only one among all these spectators who had missed that scene.
"Did you see it? You saw it, right?"
Cheongryang answered inwardly to Unhyang's question.
No. She hadn't.
"How does he fight like that? Using the wall's contours to deceive distance and direction, and then faking a firepower push before landing the finishing blow..."
"Hey, you..."
Cheongryang stopped herself from asking if Unhyang had completely forgotten about Uncheon-geuk.
It would be wrong to fan the flames when the girl was already trembling with anxiety.
'Guess I should be relieved.'
She'd worried Unhyang might be shaking in fear, but fortunately, the girl was holding strong. Whether she was faking it or had truly overcome it, Cheongryang couldn't tell.
Yeah. For now, just put it aside.
Like Unhyang, she just needed to focus on cheering for Lee Soo-hyuk.
Cheongryang turned her gaze back to the screen.
That instant.
Kurrr-.
Small but unmistakable.
The spectator seats where Cheongryang and Unhyang sat shook as if an earthquake had struck.
And on top of that.
Craaaack-.
A sky-blue sword strike resembling the color of the heavens flew in from somewhere, splitting the arena's massive screen in half.
Kwaaang-!
An explosion rang in their ears. Thick black smoke billowed up into the sky, sending the spectator seats into an uproar.
"W-what's going on?"
"A fight broke out?"
"Which crazy bastard dares to-."
Kugugugu-.
The arena shook once more. Cheongryang gasped, the suffocating pressure squeezing the air from her lungs.
Unhyang's gaze was fixed on the black smoke rising above the arena amid the explosion.
"What are you even looking at right now..."
Thud-!
Something flew in from the VIP room in the spectator seats. Too fast to make out its shape, it hurtled into the center of the arena and crashed.
Revealed amid the thick smoke, it was unmistakably human in form.
Could a person survive that? No, what kind of skill could send a person flying at that speed?
Those questions vanished like a mirage the moment she identified it.
"Un... cheon-geuk?"
Uncheon-geuk, Lord of Shinryeon Castle.
Her father had crashed into the center of the arena, one arm dangling limply.
'What the hell happened?'
Uncheon-geuk was at the center of this sudden commotion. He wasn't the type to pick pointless fights anywhere.
Which meant.
"Don't worry. Not right now. I just came to see your face for a bit today."
It was true. He hadn't come for Unhyang from the start. She just happened to be at the place where he had business, so he'd dropped by just to catch a glimpse. Should she consider this fortunate? Cheongryang placed a hand on Unhyang's shoulder and whispered softly.
"Looks like it really isn't about you...?"
Cheongryang wore a puzzled expression. Come to think of it, Unhyang's gaze had been fixed in a strange direction for a while. From before Uncheon-geuk flew in until now, she'd been staring somewhere else entirely. Toward the thick black smoke billowing up. Toward the VIP seats.
Woooong-.
A lion's roar filled the vast arena and the spectator seats packed with tens of thousands.
Cheongryang jumped at the voice.
"Jindo-ha?"
A voice she'd heard only once. Thick and gravelly, like a typhoon stirring violent waves.
Unforgettable. Not just the voice, but that brief encounter long ago when he'd visited Shinryeon Castle.
And it wasn't just the voice that made her think of Jindo-ha.
The power carried in that voice just now—profound mana, called 'inner energy' in the murim world—was a cut above Uncheon-geuk's.
Step-.
As if to prove his presence, Jindo-ha lightly stepped up beside Uncheon-geuk.
Not even running, yet at an astonishing speed. Through the blue sword in his hand, Cheongryang realized it was his strike that had split the arena screen.
"Why is the former Murim Alliance Lord here..."
And the Heavenly Net, no less.
This formation, meaning "the net of heaven and earth," required an absurdly massive number of personnel, making it ridiculously inefficient.
True to its name, a perfect encirclement with no escape in heaven or on earth.
It wasn't deployed often, even in the long history of the murim world.
"With Jindo-ha here, do they really need the Heavenly Net too?"
"It's because of that guy."
Unhyang finally spoke after a long silence.
Cheongryang, distracted by Jindo-ha and Uncheon-geuk, now looked in the same direction as Unhyang.
Thick black smoke billowing up.
At first, she thought it was a fire, but up close, it wasn't.
It felt like peering into an abyss or the depths of hell.
A savage energy twisting and devouring everything around it rose like smoke.
That wasn't mere smoke.
"...Demonic tribe?"
No, it was demonic energy.
The demonic tribe.
Monsters more monstrous than monsters, who had driven countless players to death.
The ominous power they wielded emanated from there.
If so, it made sense.
Uncheon-geuk coming all the way here despite his heavy presence. The former Murim Alliance Lord, said to be retired, ordering the Heavenly Net.
One existence explained it all.
"The Demon King?"
Cheongryang assumed it had to be the Demon King. Nothing less would justify this situation.
But.
"No."
The one spewing that sinister, overwhelming demonic energy was neither Demon King nor demon.
As if to prove it.
Jindo-ha strode into view before the audience, raising his sword high and shouting.
"From now on, we hunt the traitor Hwang Gyu-seong!"
Shwaaa-.
Kurung-!
Rain poured down. Thunder and lightning cracked noisily overhead, as if about to crash right down.
Cha Min-woo, heart pierced, hit the ground.
He didn't die instantly. His heart writhed, spurting blood like a fountain, but the dagger through it wasn't that large.
Splash-.
Lee Soo-hyuk approached, stepping through the rain puddle.
In his hand was another dagger identical to the one embedded in Cha Min-woo's heart.
A hollow laugh escaped him.
Lee Soo-hyuk had prepared for the chance he might block or dodge.
"This way... it's not... disappointing..."
There was no way he could win this fight.
If there had been even a sliver of an opening, maybe, but losing so perfectly left no regrets or bitterness.
"Satisfied?"
"Did you... come to... ask that?"
"We had a deal."
He seemed worried Cha Min-woo might not keep his word.
Why was everyone so desperate to meet him?
Cha Min-woo nodded weakly.
The result wasn't what he'd hoped, but the process exceeded expectations.
'It really felt like fighting the real deal.'
If Lee Soo-hyuk returned alive and they met in the tournament, would it feel like this?
Wall-climbing combat, ghostly movements, lightning mastery mixed with daggers—pure ingenuity.
As a longtime fan, he kept thinking the real Lee Soo-hyuk would fight exactly like that.
"It was... the best."
A smile formed on Cha Min-woo's lips.
He'd lost, but felt good. The world would compare him to Lee Soo-hyuk again, but even that seemed fine. An honor, really.
His vision blurred.
He'd keep the promise. He had one with him, and he was curious too.
How would Hwang Gyu-seong feel meeting Lee Soo-hyuk?
Cha Min-woo's breath stopped.
He'd been eliminated faster than expected. By his skill, he might have made it to the main round without forcing the issue.
Yet he didn't look regretful.
He liked him far more than expected.
'The bet ends here.'
Soo-hyuk looked up at the towering spire in the map's center.
'Body still feels light.'
Odin's arrangements worked better than imagined. His base physical abilities were ridiculously improved.
Mana and stamina were still plentiful.
His mana practically clamored to keep pouring out after that one fight.
He'd completed the first mission of this tournament.
Now, just fulfill the viewers' missions safely and advance to the main round.
But.
While exchanging final words with Cha Min-woo, the chat had exploded.
Familiar names stood out amid the frenzy.
'Jindo-ha? Uncheon-geuk?'
Both were quite provocative names. Uncheon-geuk, Unhyang's father, being here was surprising enough, but the supposedly retired Jindo-ha was even more unexpected.
Above all, Jindo-ha was someone he had to meet someday, alongside Kim Il-su.
He'd wondered where the retired man was hiding, but here he was at the tournament.
"A fight?"
There weren't many who could make two giants of the murim world step up together. Especially not during a major event like the tournament—this was unprecedented.
But if it was the Demon King, it made sense.
Demons had been players' archenemies for ages.
Yet why?
A strange unease began to creep in.
Of all places, those two were at this tournament, and of all times, the Demon King shows up. No way it was coincidence.
Kim Il-su. Jindo-ha. Uncheon-geuk. Hwang Gyu-seong...
The names lined up in his mind.
As the anxiety swelled.
The ominous feeling was sealed.