Chapter 189
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 189
Chapter Title: Furious Ma Kyung-rok
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Players all wake up simultaneously at the same time when they return.
Because of that, their families have no choice but to wait anxiously.
Without knowing why their child won't open their eyes, why they're sleeping for a full 24 hours straight, utterly in the dark.
“Mm.”
“Y-You’re awake!”
Christine, who had slowly opened her eyes, turned her head and was startled.
Her father, looking utterly exhausted, was sitting by her bed like a caretaker.
“Father?”
“Thank goodness you’re safe.”
“W-What happened? Have you been waiting without sleeping this whole time?”
“Could you sleep in my position? With my daughter not waking up for a full 24 hours.”
Her father Nathan’s worry was only natural.
Especially since he’d heard she’d suffered a setback in Round 11, he couldn’t help but be anxious.
As Nathan wiped away the tears welling in his eyes, Christine was surprised.
It was the first time she’d ever seen her father cry.
“Are you... crying?”
“Don’t misunderstand. It’s just tears from being sleepy. Anyway, why did it take so long this time?”
“The time limit for this round was a particularly long 24 hours.”
Just then, the door opened and Jeffrey walked in.
“Ah! You’re alive! Christine.”
“Somehow.”
Christine’s response was curt.
She wasn’t even looking at him, clearly still furious about what happened last time.
Her ill feelings toward the Prophet had already vanished after being controlled by Yamtti, though.
“Daughter. So what happened? Did the attack really happen as prophesied?”
“......Yes.”
Christine recounted what had happened with a heavy heart.
The surprise attack by the Despair Church, the betrayal by the paladin she’d trusted, and even the appearance of their leader, the necromancer.
Jeffrey especially couldn’t contain his rage upon hearing that the paladin had tried to force himself on Christine.
“To think there’s such a beast of a man! Christine! That bastard’s definitely dead, right?”
“He’s dead. I saw it with my own eyes.”
“To think I let a Satan like that stay by your side. You can’t trust those followers who trail after you anymore.”
“There’s no need to trust or not. My roughly 100 companions were already wiped out in the Despair Church’s ambush.”
“......”
“......”
Hearing that, the two tactfully fell silent.
Christine’s expression looked utterly depressed.
“You don’t need to worry about me. I’ve decided to shake off the sadness and move on.”
“Is that so?”
“No matter what, I have to make it to Round 20. That’s the only way to ensure my companions’ deaths weren’t in vain, right?”
“That’s my girl.”
Christine had never had any particular wish before.
She’d survived this far just to avoid dying, nothing more.
But now her mindset had changed.
‘Black Scythe said it wasn’t my fault, but I can’t say I bear no responsibility at all. So... I’ll save them. For the sake of my dead companions.’
This incident had given her strong motivation.
She’d found a reason to push to Round 20.
Perhaps reading the change in his daughter’s eyes,
Nathan smiled more warmly than ever.
“As expected, my daughter is strong.”
“I got some advice.”
“Hm? Advice?”
“Don’t worry about it. More importantly, have you ever heard of the Despair Church?”
Nathan and Jeffrey both shook their heads.
“What kind of cult is that?”
“It seems like a religion made up entirely of players. They apparently have a base in the US, but no way to find it.”
“Leave finding those guys to us. Don’t get tangled up in danger again.”
“More importantly, Christine. Who was it that saved you?”
At Jeffrey’s question, Nathan chimed in curiously.
“Yeah, tell us. Who helped you escape that situation? Was it your fiancé after all?”
Christine shook her head.
“No. I didn’t even meet him.”
“Then who?”
“The one who saved me goes by the nickname Black Scythe.”
“Black Scythe?”
Nathan tilted his head as if hearing the name for the first time, but Jeffrey’s reaction was different.
“B-Black... Scythe?”
“What’s wrong, Jeffrey? You know him too?”
“Of course. He’s already famous in this industry. The strongest existing player who’s never lost the number one ranking spot.”
“Really? Is he American?”
“He’s Korean. To the general public, he’s known as the CPF’s vice-captain who eradicated the remaining IS forces in Nigeria.”
“Hoo? He’s a player who does good deeds.”
Nathan’s eyes gleamed.
He’d never met him, but Black Scythe had already passed the first impression test by saving Christine.
“I’ll have to go to Korea soon and properly thank him for saving my daughter.”
“But meeting him won’t be easy. He doesn’t contact anyone, wears a mask to hide his face—completely conceals his identity.”
“There’s got to be a way. How hard can it be to find one person in a small country like Korea.”
He spoke confidently, but Jeffrey looked skeptical.
If it were possible, the media would have exposed Black Scythe’s face long ago.
That’s when Christine cut in.
“I’ll go to Korea.”
“To Korea?”
“I’ll go meet the Prophet. He might know where Black Scythe is.”
“You even exchanged numbers this time—why not just call?”
“It’d be rude to ask something like that over the phone. I should at least show sincerity by visiting in person.”
“You know where he lives?”
“Have you forgotten? My fiancé is the closest person to the Prophet. I can ask him.”
* * *
Ma Kyung-rok, upon waking, immediately hurled the bedside lamp next to him.
“Arrrghhhh! You fucking shiiiit!!!”
He wanted to grab and throw anything in reach, but unfortunately, his neat personality meant there wasn’t much to grab.
“Hoo, haa.”
Ma Kyung-rok snorted like an enraged bull.
He was furious.
The reason? His points from Round 11 were 0.
He hadn’t escaped the Labyrinth Forest even after nearly 24 hours.
‘Manager Ahn’s probably screaming his head off right now too. His drive to get stronger was even higher than mine.’
Fortunately, thanks to Black Scythe, the Korean team had taken first place and avoided elimination, but that was it.
With no points, he couldn’t even use the special shop even if it opened.
It was the epitome of pie in the sky.
‘Me, born with a silver spoon, reduced to just looking at it because of a lack of points.’
He felt like a penniless beggar in an instant.
Even with billions in his account, it felt empty.
The greater his expectations for the special shop, the greater the sense of loss.
‘It’s so ironic. I ended up like this chasing Black Scythe, but I survived because of him.’
Even thinking about it now, it was impressive.
How had that guy amassed 20 million points all by himself?
‘No, more than that, how did he escape that damn forest?’
Ma Kyung-rok had come to after being knocked out by Hwang Yong-min.
Three hours left.
For one hour, he’d struggled to cut through tree trunks and escape the labyrinth with Ahn Sang-chul.
But two hours total wasn’t enough.
He’d spent the whole day in that maze-like forest, so of course his points were 0.
‘It’s ridiculous. 0 points. Me, always in the rankings, with 0 points......’
Beyond anger, he felt emptiness, when—beep—the door opened and Ahn Sang-chul entered.
Seeing the messy room, he looked startled for a moment, then composed himself as if understanding.
“Representative. I’m here.”
“Yeah.”
“Have you finished venting?”
“More or less. You?”
“Hoo, I couldn’t hold back and threw a few things too.”
“Does this even make sense? Us with 0 points.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Who do you think is to blame, Manager Ahn?”
“Hmm......”
The reason Ahn Sang-chul hesitated wasn’t anything else.
Honestly, Ma Kyung-rok insisting on following Black Scythe was the cause.
But no sane person badmouths their boss to his face.
“The primary cause is Black Scythe leading us into that weird forest, and secondarily, Hwang Yong-min who put us in this state.”
“Not Hwang Yong-min, though.”
“Ah, right. He was undead in the end. So technically, the one controlling Hwang Yong-min is the culprit.”
“No matter how I think about it, it’s weird. How could a mere undead have that kind of skill......”
Hwang Yong-min had toyed with them completely.
His skill was unbelievable for a mere summon.
He even looked too human for an undead—far too intact.
If the Prophet hadn’t said he was dead, they’d have sworn he was a player.
“The Prophet clearly said it then, right? Hwang Yong-min is dead.”
“Yes. I heard it clearly. He said there was a necromancer controlling him.”
“Then the Prophet will know. Who’s behind it.”
They hadn’t lost to Hwang Yong-min.
They’d lost to whoever was controlling him.
“Will you get revenge?”
“Of course. I’ll find that fucker, rip him limb from limb, and feed him to the dogs.”
“Shall we call the Prophet then?”
“Yeah. To check if he survived too, I’ll do it myself......”
Just then, Ma Kyung-rok’s phone rang.
The caller was Christine.
“Christine?”
-Hello. Ma Kyung-rok.
“You’re safe! Thank goodness. Do you know how worried I was?”
His delighted tone caught her off guard, apparently, as a brief silence followed on the line.
-Thank you for worrying.
“How could I not? We have a promised future together. Plus, this was the round with the bad prophecy.”
-That’s true.
“What happened? Did something really go down as prophesied?”
For the curious Ma Kyung-rok, Christine calmly explained the situation.
The listener couldn’t stay calm, though.
“You almost died to the Despair Church’s leader?”
-Yes. He was American, with the ability to command the dead. I heard he’s a necromancer.
‘Necromancer?’
Commanding the dead—it hit him like a bolt.
This guy was the root of all evil, the one he had to get revenge on.
“What was his name again?”
-John Delgado of the Despair Church. Do you know him?
“No. Not well, but I’ll look into it. He dared touch my fiancée—he’ll pay the price.”
-You don’t have to go that far......
“No. I couldn’t help you in there, so I have to at least do this.”
Ma Kyung-rok spoke as if making a show of it, but it was really personal revenge.
‘It’s confirmed. This guy’s the necromancer who controlled Hwang Yong-min.’
Timeline-wise, he’d probably screwed them over in the forest, then gone to kill Christine.
‘The only odd thing is why he didn’t kill us.’
He’d tried to kill Christine outright, so he didn’t hesitate at murder for his goals.
Yet he’d spared them and tied them to a tree?
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out why.
There was no reason for it.
‘I can just ask him in person.’
He vowed to find John Delgado of the Despair Church no matter what.
As he resolved that, Ma Kyung-rok suddenly remembered a question he’d forgotten.
“Oh, right. Who saved you, Christine?”
-Someone you know too, Ma Kyung-rok.
“I do?”
-The Korean player called Black Scythe. He saved me.
‘Black Scythe?’
Ma Kyung-rok’s expression soured.
His fiancée’s savior was none other than Black Scythe.
‘And because of that guy, I ended up like this.’
Logically it wasn’t his fault, but he couldn’t quell his rage without blaming someone.
-By the way, Ma Kyung-rok, I have a favor to ask.
“A favor?”
-My father wants to meet Black Scythe. So......
Christine hesitated over the line before saying,
-Could you arrange a meeting with the Prophet? He might know where Black Scythe is.
“That’s no problem.”
-Thank you. I’ll contact you again when I arrive in Korea.
“Yeah.”
The call ended, but Ma Kyung-rok’s expression remained uncomfortable.