Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: This World Must Perish, Loss of Humanity (6)
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9.
“Bro, is your wish really that impressive?”
“What?”
Jeong Cheol tilted his head provocatively at my question.
“Is it worth killing tens of millions of people? That impressive?”
“You right now…….”
“Look at yourself! Ever glanced in a mirror?”
I pointed at the crumbling city and the undead devouring the living.
“You’re a total zombie! No different from those crawling things over there!”
I had desperately hoped.
Deep down, I might have silently prayed.
That Jeong Cheol…… wasn’t in his right mind.
If he wasn’t…… then even if he did all this, I could just call him [insane] and be done with it.
But the Jeong Cheol right now.
Was perfectly sane. Just…… devoid of humanity.
“You think I’ve lost it?”
“Then──”
“──You’re the insane ones! I’m the one who can’t understand you and Park Hyun-su. Why the hell did you even come here?”
“……?”
“Wasn’t it a desperate wish? You call that a wish?”
“…………!”
“How can it be a wish if you didn’t crave it that badly? A wish is something you’d pay any price for, you idiot!”
As Jeong Cheol bellowed.
His voice carried an overwhelming malice that slammed into me like a shockwave, engulfing my entire body.
“I must look like the bad guy to you. Wrong. You’re the hypocrites.”
“Why?”
“What’s wrong with wanting to fulfill your wish no matter what?”
His words refused to connect logically.
“Who said it’s wrong? But your method makes no sense!”
“Why doesn’t it?”
“Bro, you know better than anyone how many people live in this world!”
“…….”
“You’re gonna kill them all? That’s how you’ll save your mom? That’s the crazy part!”
At those words, I saw Jeong Cheol flinch for a split second.
“Shin Tae-yeop.”
Jeong Cheol lifted the visor of his helmet and gazed powerlessly at the night sky.
“You know there’s a power at play in this battle royale that you can’t even imagine?”
“Outer Universe?”
Jeong Cheol twitched one eyebrow at that.
“Where’d you hear that?”
“From Mr. Park Hyun-su.”
“Park Hyun-su…… Whatever. Do you know why I’m telling you this?”
Jeong Cheol rubbed his eyes with a weary expression.
“Even if I gave up my wish, this world’s fate is still destruction.”
“……!”
“There are four elite players besides me…… No, Hunter’s dead to Richard Jr.”
That pervert bastard’s dead?
Come to think of it…… Livione had left some words for me.
“There are three more. Unlike that trash Hunter, each has an absolute god from the Outer Universe as their sponsor.”
Jeong Cheol looked like he might collapse.
His eyes lacked any spark…… like a doll.
“That’s the situation…… My struggling alone means nothing.”
“Bro…….”
“A world doomed to destruction anyway…… Is it really so wrong for me…… to claim the reward……?”
Realism.
Everyone’s doing it anyway.
One more won’t hurt, right?
Nothing changes if I step up.
Jeong Cheol was spouting the standard line of realists. Just like most people.
“You’re…… the ultimate pro, bro. You could change things.”
“Impossible. This is reality.”
“Livione…… Remember her?”
“…….”
“She saved me and died…… When the elite hunter backstabbed! She asked me to pass on her loyalty to you.”
“………….”
“And Alfred? You know Alfred──he did it for you──”
“──Shut up! It’s impossible, saving this world! That’s why.”
He was different from the Jeong Cheol I knew.
Completely different from the one I admired as a human being.
“This world must perish!”
It was an instant.
A fleeting moment, like a flash.
Memories of time spent with Jeong Cheol flashed through my mind like a montage.
- The sea breeze in this port city is so…… warm.
- The sound of ships crossing the ocean…… the rowers’ shanties…… waves crashing on the sandy shore.
- I’ll find a way someday. A way to reach a happy ending.
Jeong Cheol.
As I said before.
The Jeong Cheol in my memories was that kind of person.
“So quit the hypocrisy!”
Right before my eyes.
Not some monster spewing suffocating malice.
“If you keep getting in my way…….”
Ah…… Dad…….
What was I supposed to do?
“I’ll kill you too.”
Dad.
Did I need to become like that too?
Abandon my humanity for Dad…… and turn into a monster?
“Yeah? Then try it! Go ahead, stomp my heart to death!”
“……!”
“《Third Fire Dragon Gate》!”
As I retreated.
I completed the magic calculation in my mind and manifested it, altering the laws of reality.
──Roarrrrrrrrrr!
In an instant, flames erupted from the ground.
The blaze formed a gate, and three fire dragons coiled around its pillars spewed flames.
“Take a good look at reality.”
My target was one.
Elite sorcerer, Edel Weiss.
“Powers like this are nothing. To those beings from the Outer Universe.”
The moment the flames were about to engulf Jeong Cheol.
“Devour────!”
The fiercely swirling flames, like a storm……
“────Sharholin!”
……suddenly got sucked into the tip of Jeong Cheol’s extended blade.
《Form Absorption》……?!
The signature ability of the holy sword Sharilion.
Absorbs miracles and magic like monstrous forces, then explodes them at 40 times the power after 8 seconds.
That’s why it’s called the mage killer.
But this…… is impossible.
“N…… No way! Th-this is 7th-circle magic! A h…… holy sword can’t absorb that?!”
Michelle’s shocked voice from afar.
Just as she said…… 7th-circle or higher couldn’t be absorbed.
Insane……?
Even this was a huge stretch.
I wiped the sweat beading on my forehead and stinging my eyes. Then started the next calculation.
“One…… one more……!”
Calculate. Aggregate results. Construct. Alter.
A high-circle magic circle for 《Flame Lightning》 appeared in my palm, and I clenched my fist.
Rumble rumble rumble────
It streaked across the blood-red night sky.
A flaming bolt crashed down on Jeong Cheol’s head and exploded.
───KABOOOOOM!
I learned this fighting Richard Jr.’s successor.
No optimism. Mage PVP basics: maintain distance.
Sharilion’s strength and weakness is the 8-second delay explosion.
Dodge for 8 seconds.
And the advantage swings back to me.
I immediately widened the gap.
Visualizing the next spell’s formula in my mind…… But then.
No way.
What…… the hell?
[Player, Edel Weiss casts ???, 《Dark Worm》!]
The flame explosion that hit Jeong Cheol.
No, should’ve hit.
Was vanishing.
No, not vanishing.
It was being devoured by invisible worms…… the concept itself erasing.
“Urgh…….”
Just then, Jeong Cheol clutched his chest in agony.
A power with risks?
Then it’s an opening! The moment I thought that.
“Watch this closely…… Shin Tae-yeop, and Michelle.”
From afar, Jeong Cheol swung his greatsword toward us.
Its blade blazing with fire.
[Holy Sword: Sharilion] changes form based on the absorbed mana.
“What you’re up against…….”
That instant.
A retina-searing flash flickered blood-red.
[Demonic Holy Sword, Sharholin casts signature ability, 《Form Absorption》!]
- Absorbed 7th-circle magic, 《Third Fire Dragon Gate》.
- Power of 7th-circle magic, 《Third Fire Dragon Gate》, increased by 4000%.
The torrent of flames rose like a tsunami……
Rumble rumble rumble rumble────!
……and came roaring toward us with blistering heat that could char flesh.
No way.
[Holy Sword: Sharilion] explodes after 8 seconds.
Not when the player wants.
Fixed at 8 seconds! So how……?
I’d have been reduced to charcoal.
If Michelle hadn’t used Elder Sign then.
[Player, Michelle casts Elder Sign, 《Song of the Heavens》!]
An ancient magic circle rose like a barrier right in front of me.
Flickering in ethereal purple, it clashed with the flame torrent.
Humm…… humm…… humm…… humm……!
Blocked by the circle, the flames split both ways, swirling like a storm.
Even the aftermath was immense.
In seconds, half my hair burned off, skin scorched.
“Sis!”
“F…… Focus!”
The moment I nodded, Michelle began her incantation.
“El Arba, Beligiyejiyr, Louen, Bel Tarwhirone, Aneila!”
The storyteller class’s ultimate combat technique, Elder Sign.
The moment the chant ended.
Five ancient magic circles appeared around Jeong Cheol.
Shrrrrrrrrrack────!
Dazzling chains burst from them, binding his limbs tight.
Next spell, drop to 4th circle.
Don’t kill him.
Persuade him. Yeah, let’s try persuasion.
Take him down first…… there’s gotta be a way.
“Michelle…… you too…….”
Jeong Cheol said with a sigh.
In that instant.
Again. The light chains began vanishing. Eaten away by formless worms.
“I’m truly disappointed…….”
No way……?
The Outer Universe power Valerian mentioned?
Then Jeong Cheol’s become like Richard Jr.’s successor?
……Kikikikikikikik……
The chains screamed like they’d snap. Michelle shouted.
“Hurry, do it quick!”
No need to say it; I’d already been calculating the spell in my head.
But that was it.
The moment I derived the result, everything ended.
“Firebird───”
An instant.
Ching, the light chains shattered.
Leaping through the fragments of light, Jeong Cheol lunged at me.
────KABAM!
My vision went black for a second.
My throat, my throat felt like it’d shatter.
“No matter what you heard, it’s all pointless.”
Lifted into the air, gripped in Jeong Cheol’s hand. I flailed helplessly.
“Look at this sword.”
“……?!”
“A power that absorbs even 7th-circle magic. No 8-second explosion limit.”
“Sha…… Sharilion……?”
Jeong Cheol shook his head like my question was ridiculous.
“This isn’t holy sword Sharilion. It’s demonic holy sword Sharholin.”
“Sha…… rholin……?”
“Normal you’d never heard of it. It’s the executor’s sword fused with Sharilion.”
Executor……?
Different from that Shalluan…… the battle royale admin?
“Now you get the reality you need to see?”
Why…….
Why am I thinking of that now.
The letter I wrote to Dad a month before he took his own life.
“Did you forget? You have to destroy this world to see your father again, Shin Tae-yeop!”
Dad…… you know.
I met this bro in a VR game.
“There’s no chance resisting! No hope! You gain nothing!”
He’s super kind and gentle even to game characters.
So, Dad.
Let’s play the game together sometime.
You and bro Cheol would get along great.
“Say just one thing. Like before, you’ll see the ending with me. Straight to the bad end route!”
So, Dad.
Play with me sometime.
Come meet that bro.
“Speak!”
You’ve been struggling lately, Dad.
Talk to bro.
Go on an adventure together…… share…… stories…….
“Speak…… you fucking──!”
You two are alike.
By sharing pains.
You might heal each other’s wounds.
“After all…… you’re…… a fake…….”
So Dad.
Someday, together…… let’s game. Go meet him.
“I……”
Together.
Together, let’s go on a trip.
“The Iron Brother…… I knew…….”
It hurts.
Hurts so much.
My neck bones grinding in agony.
“Even when…… this world was…… fake…… I never…… carelessly killed…… anyone…….”
Is it the pain?
Or heartbreak.
Hot tears spilled from my eyes.
“……That your conclusion?”
Jeong Cheol’s cold voice.
In that instant, steel gauntlet fingers dug deep into my throat.
Deeper, deeper, deeper……
“Then…… you’re too dangerous to let live.”
I couldn’t understand.
Moonlight illuminated the inside of Jeong Cheol’s visor…… his eyes glistening with moisture.
“Shin Tae-yeop…….”
Crocodile tears?
Or…… the last shred…… of Jeong Cheol’s humanity…….
“Never forgive me…….”