Chapter 167: The Three Despairs (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 167: The Three Despairs (1)
"What do you mean, thank you?"
Moyong Su asked back, looking utterly bewildered.
Well, it was understandable that he couldn't grasp it.
After all, he was the one who had just grasped a massive stroke of luck, enough to overturn all the despair they had faced so far.
And he was also the one who could now escape through the Gate.
Since Jinhyuk remained completely unfazed despite everything going exactly according to Moyong Su's plan, it was only natural for him to feel uneasy.
Jinhyuk shrugged.
Now that things in the labyrinth were wrapping up, he figured he would be kind enough to explain the grand finale.
In the short version, of course, not the long one.
"I'll give you a hint. Think about the theme of this labyrinth."
"The... theme of the labyrinth...?"
Moyong Su muttered, chewing over Jinhyuk's words with a frown.
Then, a sudden realization struck him.
The guardians protecting the Valley of the Kings.
The various traps designed to punish grave robbers...
Indeed.
This labyrinth existed to protect the noble rest of the kings from all intruders.
"No way!"
"The fourth call of the horn doesn't bring good luck."
Rather, it was meant to thoroughly punish the stubborn intruders who managed to survive the first three despairs.
"I don't know what dusty old text you dug up to read about this place," Jinhyuk said, "but your information is completely wrong."
"There is no gold here for grave robbers."
With those final words...
...the air shifted violently.
[The 4th Luck (Despair): Retribution]
Those who disturb the peace of this place.
The price shall be washed away with the blood of the place they belong to.
The fourth call forcibly teleports all the despairs summoned so far to the homeland of the one who blew the horn.
That is the final punishment inflicted upon those who trespass in this tomb.
"You wouldn't know since you only read about it in books. A lot of the texts in the Tower of Trials are actually fabricated. Especially for a labyrinth designed for protection like this one."
"How... how do you know such a thing?!"
How did he know?
Because he had experienced it all firsthand.
In the past, it hadn't mattered much because all the other players had already quit.
Besides, the Three Great Despairs would be reverse-summoned back to their original location after a week, so it hadn't posed a major issue for his gameplay afterward.
Of course, that was back when it was just a game.
[The Gate has been activated.]
[An Outbreak has occurred in Beijing, China.]
[The Three Great Calamities manifest!]
[A 'Mark' has been engraved upon the players of the Zhonghua Guild.]
[Those branded with the 'Mark' will become the targets of the Three Great Calamities. If more than 50% of the players belonging to the Zhonghua Guild perish, the entirety of China will become the target.]
Red status windows flashed in rapid succession.
"T-this is..."
Liaoyu's eyes widened in shock.
Monsters they hadn't even dared to fight were about to appear right in the middle of the Zhonghua Guild.
It was nothing short of a natural disaster.
Moyong Su was equally flustered.
He thought he had learned everything there was to know about the Horn of Despair through the ancient texts.
What on earth was happening?
The massive discrepancy between his knowledge and reality made his head spin.
"It looks like you just picked up some random scrap of information, but a lot of the records in the Tower of Trials are actually incorrect."
It was the trashiest of trash games.
Because of that, the information within the Tower of Trials often stabbed players in the back.
Just like right now.
"A-are you claiming the texts in the archives of the Murim Alliance are lies?! Do you even comprehend the sheer blasphemy spewing from your tongue right now?!"
Moyong Su's veins bulged on his neck.
Wow. He was practically flopping around like a freshly caught fish.
If I told him right now that the Moyong Clan is the weakest of the Five Great Clans, he'd probably collapse from high blood pressure, wouldn't he?
"I don't care to argue about how great the Murim Alliance's information network is. More importantly, shouldn't you be worrying about how to stop the Three Great Despairs?"
For now, the targets would be the marked players of the Zhonghua Guild.
But if more than 50% of the guild members died, the target area would expand to include ordinary citizens.
This was no longer a matter of preserving the guild's reputation; they had to fight for the fate of all of China.
However...
"...Stop talking nonsense. How are we supposed to protect China against monsters like those?"
Moyong Su drew the line, dismissing the thought instantly.
As expected.
He had anticipated this, but it was still a cold response.
Like a lizard severing its useless tail, there wasn't a shred of hesitation in his decision.
"Do you feel the same way?"
Jinhyuk turned his gaze to Liaoyu.
Moyong Su could easily wash his hands of it since it didn't happen in the Murim, but Liaoyu's own backyard was about to be reduced to ashes.
To save his guild, he had to step through that Gate.
Liaoyu hesitated for a moment before speaking slowly.
"If I'm marked... does that mean I will also become a target if I go through the Gate?"
"Yeah. You'll look like a delicious snack to them."
"Then I won't go either."
"You're abandoning your comrades? Just like that?"
"You might not understand... No, actually, you of all people should understand. Only the strong and useful can climb the Tower. I learned the exact same lesson from Lord Namgung Cheon."
He was saying he would cut ties with anything and anyone to survive.
Well, these were the same people who thought nothing of raiding a peaceful Elf village for profit.
Perhaps acting this way was the most realistic choice for them.
After all, Namgung Cheon and the rest of the Zhonghua Guild's leadership were already in the process of being absorbed into the Murim rather than remaining tied to China.
Why risk losing everything to protect a gutter-like reality when there was a vast world of endless possibilities waiting for them?
I get it.
I understand.
But seeing him say it so casually...
...was utterly nauseating.
"Yeah, I really don't think we'll ever get along."
Even trash has tiers, but this was practically food waste.
No, at this point, I'd have to hear out food waste's side of the story first.
"Don't act like a hypocrite. Aren't you just going to stand by and watch, same as us?"
A subtle smirk played on Liaoyu's lips.
"I'm different from you guys. At the very least, I don't abandon my people."
Jinhyuk shook his head quietly.
Seeing his calm demeanor, Moyong Su chimed in.
"Surely you aren't planning to enter the Gate?"
"There's no need for dogs with their tails between their legs to know that, is there? You guys will just focus on fighting for hegemony in the middle floors anyway, regardless of who dies."
So, do me a favor and get lost.
The Gate created by the warning bell didn't have a very long duration to begin with.
Time was tight, and he wouldn't waste it stabbing them in the back when they were already scurrying away like cockroaches, so they could rest easy.
"A futile sense of heroism, is it? Amusing."
Moyong Su let out a final smirk.
Then, he turned around without a shred of regret.
"We are returning to the Murim. Abandoning the Zhonghua Guild so soon wasn't part of the plan, but it can't be helped now. You've already pulled out the guild's core forces, right?"
"Yes. As you instructed, I sent them all to the 'training grounds' before coming here. But are you really going to leave those guys be?"
"They can't do anything anyway."
He admitted he had been wrong about the horn's effect.
However, the terrifying strength of the Three Great Despairs was very real.
Having faced them firsthand, Moyong Su was absolutely certain.
No matter how much of an outstanding genius Jinhyuk was among players, he could never change the outcome.
I don't know what scheme he has in mind by trying to help China, but thanks to this, I can get rid of a major headache without lifting a finger.
That was more than enough.
There was no need to prolong the conversation or probe each other's intentions any further.
Because in a short while, anyone who crossed that Gate would become a cold corpse.
With that, Moyong Su and Liaoyu vanished from the tomb.
* * *
[Gate Duration: 0h:1m:13s]
The status window flashed even faster.
The trembling of the Gate indicated that time was truly running out.
"Are you really going to fight them? There's more to lose than to gain."
Alice, who had slipped up beside him, chimed in.
To anyone, it looked like a reckless battle, so her confusion was completely natural.
Of course, he didn't have some grand, noble reason like saving poor civilians.
And he certainly had no desire to rescue the Zhonghua Guild.
I hope it recorded well.
Jinhyuk glanced at the recording function of the 'Broadcasting System'.
Normally, broadcasting or recording was disabled during the Masquerade, but because the Murim had forcefully interfered with the system, a loophole had opened up.
A sort of bug, so to speak.
Thanks to that, those idiots had run wild and dug their own graves.
Once this conversation was made public, how would the rest of the world view the Zhonghua Guild...?
There would be no need for any lengthy explanations.
Furthermore, the benefits of doing this weren't limited to just screwing over the Zhonghua Guild and the Murim.
If he could hunt down the Three Great Despairs, he could monopolize all the massive experience points and items they dropped.
It's a way to catch two rabbits at once: fame and leveling up. Ah, and since factions that value justification will absolutely eat this up, all the contribution points will flood to me as well.
With the stage set so perfectly, there was no way he could pass this up.
Jinhyuk clapped his hands together.
Now, it was time to select the members who would enter the Gate.
"Since the Chinese side took one slot, there are two slots left. Naturally, one of them is mine."
That left only one slot.
Jinhyuk's eyes sparkled.
Expecting a flood of eager volunteers.
But as was only natural, nobody stepped forward.
"Tsk, tsk."
Cheon Yu-seong clicked his tongue, as if telling him to stop dreaming.
"Hmm-hmm~"
Alice whistled, looking away and pretending to be busy.
"..."
Even Teresa was hesitating.
Seriously, even if the others didn't, shouldn't the Saintess step up voluntarily out of basic decency?
She was supposed to be the hero of Europe who stopped the Outbreak in Amsterdam, after all.
Wait, come to think of it...
No way.
Sensing a deep sense of incongruity, Jinhyuk froze.
Something's off.
The real Teresa was the epitome of altruism.
No matter how difficult the situation was, and even if the targets were enemies they had been fighting just moments ago, her compassion should have remained unwavering.
Yet she was staying silent now?
That made absolutely no sense.
His suspicion was turning into certainty, but there was only one way to get concrete proof.
[Lv9 'Gluttony's Eye' perceives the target!]
Jinhyuk quickly gathered mana into his eyes.
In that instant, every single doubt was resolved in a flash.
Ho.
Jinhyuk let out a soft exclamation of admiration.
Things were getting interesting.
An unexpected, highly intriguing variable had just popped up.