Chapter 180
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 180
Chapter Title: 180. VS Ma Kyung-rok
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[Memory Erasure Potion]
- Classification: Consumable
- Grade: Legendary
- Effect: Reads the target's memories and deletes desired portions
- Usage Restriction: Master grade or higher
- Description: Reads the target's memories and erases desired parts. With enough focus, it can even turn them into a vegetable.
The reason Ryu Min was surprised was simple.
Memory Erasure Potions were items that dropped at an extremely low probability.
‘Even when I used Joo Seong-tak to take down the doppelganger before, only one ever dropped…….’
And yet, by some stroke of luck, one had appeared again this time.
Ryu Min pocketed the potion, his lips curling up in satisfaction.
‘There’ll be a use for it someday.’
Last time, he’d used it to erase Min Ju-ri’s memories after she learned Black Scythe’s true identity and freaked out.
‘Wonder what this one’s for.’
He’d have to figure out a use later.
“Master. Now that you’ve achieved your goal, shall we leave the labyrinth?”
“No. There’s still something I need to do.”
“Something? What…….”
“It’s not for you. It’s for me.”
Ryu Min dodged the question of exactly what, tilting his head to signal her to follow.
“Let’s go. You just watch from a distance.”
“Yes.”
* * *
As Ma Kyung-rok walked through the labyrinth, he asked Ahn Sang-chul,
“Still no trace of Black Scythe?”
“Yes……. Searching for others doesn’t work either, and area scans are useless. It seems this forest blocks external signals.”
“That’s the only explanation.”
With that, Ma Kyung-rok suddenly gave a bitter smile.
“Sorry, Manager Ahn. This is all because I insisted on chasing Black Scythe.”
“Oh, no. If anything, I’m the one who should apologize. I suggested getting Democracy’s buff for no good reason…….”
“We should’ve just tracked Democracy instead. We wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“No, Representative. Your judgment was sound. We were just unlucky.”
‘Unlucky…….’
Ma Kyung-rok wondered if he could really chalk up entering this labyrinth-like forest to mere bad luck.
‘Did the Prophet know? That I’d run into trouble following Black Scythe.’
He didn’t know the truth, but even if the Prophet had known, he couldn’t hold it against him.
The favors from the Prophet so far were worth more than money could buy. Getting mad over withheld future info?
That would be shooting himself in the foot unless he wanted to burn bridges.
‘Right now, the Prophet holds all the cards. Me and everyone else who listens to his prophecies are at his mercy.’
No way to verify the truth anyway.
The Prophet could just claim he hadn’t foreseen it.
Either way, one thing was clear: this was the result of his own choices.
“Hope Christine’s okay.”
“Worried?”
“Of course. She’s my fiancée.”
It was purely business, of course, but the concern was real enough.
“Let’s get out of this damn forest first. There’s got to be a way out eventually.”
“We’ve only had this one path so far…….”
“Can’t just sit here, can we? We heard an explosion a bit ago.”
An explosion in the silent forest meant someone was out there.
For them, adrift like ships at sea without a lighthouse, it was a huge relief.
“We’ve got time. Let’s keep going without giving up.”
“But Representative, what if we get out and there’s barely any time left?”
“No way it’ll take that long. As long as we don’t lose hope, we’ll find the exit.”
It was hopeful talk, but in reality, utterly baseless and vague.
Ma Kyung-rok couldn’t guarantee how many hours it would take to escape the forest.
“Might take the full 24 hours. Still, let’s go till the end. Nothing else to do, right?”
“Understood.”
“And once we’re out, if there’s even a few hours left, hunt down foreign players. Kill every one we see, nationality be damned.”
Kill on sight.
It was a Nazi-like order, but there was no choice.
Killing foreign players netted kill points and stripped them of their own.
Drain the enemy’s score while padding your own?
No reason not to.
“Other countries are probably thinking the same. Somewhere out there, players are slaughtering each other for points right now.”
Ahn Sang-chul nodded, finding the logic sound.
Killing was routine after Round 4, and he’d even helped Ma Kyung-rok’s hobbies before becoming a player.
Blood on their hands was no obstacle for either.
As they walked the straight path, having pledged a massacre—
“Hm?”
They both stopped in unison, as if on cue.
Someone stood in the distance, blocking the path.
‘A person?’
‘Someone’s here?’
The rare sight of another human lit up their faces.
How welcome it was.
Like spotting a lantern in the endless ocean, smiles broke out.
“Hey there! Nice to see you. Never thought I’d meet anyone else here…….”
Ahn Sang-chul approached with a grin.
But as he got close enough to make out the face, the smile vanished.
His expression hardened as he grabbed Ma Kyung-rok’s shoulder.
“Representative. Hold on.”
“Hm? What is it?”
Ahn Sang-chul’s face was deadly serious.
Rage flickered in his eyes.
“That bastard. It’s him.”
“Who? You know him?”
“Yes. Hwang Yong-min.”
At the name, Ma Kyung-rok’s face hardened too.
He’d never seen the guy, but Ahn Sang-chul had told him plenty.
“The punk who ambushed you and Actress Seo in Round 2?”
“Yes.”
“You sure? Didn’t you say he was dead?”
“That’s what Seo Ah-rin said. The Prophet confirmed it too.”
“So he really is undead, like you said?”
“Looks that way.”
He’d heard Seo Ah-rin ran into Hwang Yong-min.
And about the class that revives corpses.
‘Passed it off back then, but to run into him here of all places.’
Ma Kyung-rok stared again, incredulous.
Too clean for an undead, looked every bit human.
“Representative. Think Seo Ah-rin lied? He looks human to me…….”
“No idea. But one thing’s clear…….”
Ma Kyung-rok raised his sword, cloaked in dark aura.
“He didn’t show up to chat.”
Hwang Yong-min’s gaze was hostile, glaring with malice as he raised a fist.
“Coming at us bare-handed? Cocky bastard.”
Ma Kyung-rok smirked, resolve hardening.
He’d kill the guy and take the points.
Undead or zombie, didn’t matter—he was the enemy.
‘Strike first in situations like this.’
Thought brief, action swift.
“Devour him.”
The dark aura coiled around the blade morphed into a massive hand and shot forward.
Anyone caught would have their life force ripped out alive, fueling his black magic.
But Hwang Yong-min was faster than expected.
Whoosh-!
Dodging like a trained boxer, he closed the gap.
Ma Kyung-rok was closing in too, though.
‘Knew he’d dodge.’
He raised his sword overhead; the dark aura retracted, coating the blade.
‘Ruin Slash.’
The Dark Knight’s level 40 skill plummeted toward Hwang Yong-min.
Timing and angle perfect.
No escape.
His head would split open.
“……!?”
So he thought.
Until the guy dodged by a hair.
KABOOM-!
The explosion louder than any before.
The dodged spot cratered like a meteor strike.
‘Damn it. Poured a third of my black magic into that.’
Ruin Slash scaled with black magic input.
He’d dumped a third for a one-shot kill, but the bastard slipped away.
‘Lucky son of a bitch.’
No time for curses.
Hwang Yong-min’s fist was already closing in.
‘Dark Armor.’
Whirr-
Dark aura enveloped Ma Kyung-rok instantly, shielding him.
Weak to magic but top-tier against physical damage—or so he thought.
Until the fist connected.
Crack!
“Gah!”
“Representative!”
Something snapped, and Ma Kyung-rok flew back pathetically.
He scrambled up, but agony stabbed his ribs.
‘Ugh, Dark Armor that shrugged off minotaur hits…….’
Dark Armor absorbed up to 70% of incoming damage as black magic.
The massive chunk eaten from his mana pool meant it exceeded the cap.
‘That thing really just an undead? How strong is he?’
The damage was horrifying for an undead.
And he looked like an ordinary human.
“You bastard!”
Furious at Ma Kyung-rok’s injury, Ahn Sang-chul charged, swinging his sword.
But despite the momentum, he couldn’t touch Hwang Yong-min.
Smack-!
“Guh!”
Instead, a face punch sent him staggering.
“Urk, R-Representative. Get behind me! I’ll protect you.”
Even with his helmet dented and nose crushed, Ahn Sang-chul raised his shield.
Ziiing-
Shield skill ‘Knight’s Guard’ activated, forming a wide barrier centered on it.
“It slows me down, but blocks 80% of physical damage. Stay behind me and you’ll be sa——.”
Then.
Hwang Yong-min was suddenly in his face, fist flying.
BAM-!
“Gah!”
The unbreakable shield shuddered from one punch.
Crack-! Smack-!
“Guh, ack!”
Two, three hits, and Ahn Sang-chul spat blood.
Damage pierced through, hitting him full force.
Ma Kyung-rok couldn’t just watch his right-hand man take it; he seized the opening for a counter.
‘Ruin Slash.’
KABOOM-!
Half his remaining black magic.
Launched while Hwang Yong-min hammered the shield—no dodging this.
A sure hit, he was certain.
But.
‘……Monster.’
Hwang Yong-min dodged that too.
Incredible reflexes.
A miss stung, but Ma Kyung-rok had planned for this.
“Devour him.”
Dark aura spread like slime hunting prey, targeting Hwang Yong-min again.
Perfect timing—he couldn’t evade the net of darkness.
‘Got him!’
Caught for sure.
Time to drain his life force alive.
‘Hm?’
But then, something unbelievable happened.