Chapter 46
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: The Fourth Round of Death
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'A, a walking... target?'
Hwang Yong-min looked around.
The eyes of the other players were all focused on him.
Hwang Yong-min shuddered at their gazes, which felt like predators staring at toothless prey.
Seeing this, Ryu Min let out a smirk.
"Don't worry too much. I called you a target, but there probably won't be many people actually after you."
"What? They won't be after me?"
"You of all people should know what happens to the district representatives, right?"
Jo Joong-sik was betrayed and killed by Hwang Yong-min, someone he trusted.
Hwang Yong-min received a stat reduction penalty and became insignificant.
The position of district representative had brought nothing but bad results.
"People have realized it by now. That being the district representative isn't all it's cracked up to be."
"Ah..."
"Besides, with more players changing their classes, the scope of the Command authority has shrunk, hasn't it? The truth is, the merits don't outweigh the risks of being a representative."
Ryu Min was right.
The position of district representative had become something no one wanted, even if it was offered to them.
Even Hwang Yong-min himself wanted to pass the authority to someone else if he could.
'Not that there's much authority left...'
Hwang Yong-min looked around again.
The players were turning their heads away as if they had lost interest.
'Were they just staring because I was talking to the Black Scythe?'
He thought they were targeting him, but it was just his own delusion.
In fact, they were even avoiding his gaze as if they didn't want to get involved.
It seemed they truly had no interest in the representative position.
'Somehow, this feels unfair...'
Just as Hwang Yong-min was looking dejected, someone approached.
It was Seo Ah-rin and Ahn Sang-chul.
'Why are they here?'
His surprise was brief; Hwang Yong-min flinched and stepped back.
He was wary, thinking they might be after his representative position.
But the two of them just gave Hwang Yong-min a strange look.
After all, their business was with Ryu Min.
"Ah, hello, Sir Black Scythe."
Seo Ah-rin and Ahn Sang-chul bowed their heads deeply.
"Good day. You remember us, right?"
"Of course. But what is it?"
Ahn Sang-chul glanced warily at Hwang Yong-min.
"Well, you saved us from that punk before, right? We just wanted to thank you again."
"What? Punk?"
Hwang Yong-min flared up but couldn't step forward.
The Black Scythe stood between them like a wall.
"One thank you is enough. There's no need to do it again."
"We're truly grateful. Our company's CEO also said to thank you for saving her. Oh! Speaking of our CEO..."
"That's enough. I'm not interested."
As Ryu Min was about to turn away.
"Excuse me!"
Seo Ah-rin quickly stepped forward.
"S-Sir Black Scythe. Th-this is a token of my gratitude for saving us. P-please take it."
The item Seo Ah-rin held out was a lowest-grade purple Mana Stone.
'This is an unexpected prize.'
Ryu Min's eyes sparkled.
"I thought it would be better to offer something like this rather than just thank you with words..."
"A fine sentiment. I'll take it."
Ryu Min quickly stored the Mana Stone in his inventory.
'No reason to refuse such a good item.'
Besides, combining two Mana Stones of the same grade and color could create a higher-grade Mana Stone.
'I'll make a low-grade Mana Stone and socket it when I return later. Too many eyes here.'
He didn't want to give away unnecessary information.
In any case, he was strong enough without socketing a Mana Stone, so there was no rush.
'Still, it's nice of her to give me this.'
As he thought this and looked at Seo Ah-rin, her thoughts inevitably flowed into his mind.
-I-is he pleased? I can't tell. I hope he's not upset that I gave him what looks like a useless pebble.
Hearing her thoughts, it seemed she didn't know the value of the Mana Stone.
'She wouldn't have given it to me if she knew.'
Ryu Min's gaze shifted, and he happened to read Hwang Yong-min's thoughts.
-I have something similar to that.
'Hm?'
A peculiar light gleamed in Ryu Min's eyes.
'He has a Mana Stone, too?'
He focused on Hwang Yong-min and read his deeper thoughts.
But the guy didn't have a Mana Stone.
He had something even better.
'He has a [Black Adamantite]?'
Black Adamantite.
A material item with an extremely low drop rate from monsters, it looked similar to a Mana Stone.
'It's actually a rarer item than a Mana Stone.'
After the 10th round, you could find them often, but in the current round, getting one was like plucking a star from the sky.
'To let me find out he has such a rare item. Is he lucky or unlucky...?'
Ryu Min barely suppressed the corners of his mouth from turning up.
With Black Adamantite, he could craft a unique item in the next round, Round 5.
"Um... Sir Black Scythe? Do you happen to need a shield barrier?"
Ryu Min asked in response to Seo Ah-rin's words.
"A shield barrier?"
"I just changed my class to Summoner."
'A Summoner? Seo Ah-rin?'
It wasn't a unique class like Dark Knight, but it was a decent one.
'It's hard to level up in the beginning, but there was a player who made a name for themselves as a Summoner.'
Of course, that player wasn't Seo Ah-rin.
"I can summon a fairy to cast a shield on you, if you need it..."
"I appreciate the thought, but I'll pass. I don't think I'll need it."
"Ah... I understand."
Seo Ah-rin looked somewhat disappointed.
"Well, we'll be on our way then. Good luck this round..."
"Good luck to you too."
After a quick bow, Seo Ah-rin and Ahn Sang-chul left.
Having no more business there, Hwang Yong-min was also about to slip away.
"Wait."
"Yes?"
"You'll regret it if you leave like this."
"What do you mean...?"
"I told you, didn't I? You're a walking target."
"But isn't it true that no one's targeting me anymore?"
"I said there wouldn't be *many*, not that there would be *none*. The advantages of being a district representative haven't completely disappeared."
"What?"
"Most people have probably hit level 10 and gotten a class, but there are definitely still some who haven't. That means there are still targets for the Command authority."
"Ah..."
That was certainly true.
Even Hwang Yong-min himself was level 10 but hadn't obtained a class.
That was because his class change item hadn't dropped yet.
"Think about it. Among over a thousand people, do you really think not a single one would target you? No matter how great the risks of the position?"
"..."
"In fact, the players without a class might desperately try to kill you. They'd rather kill you and take the Command authority for themselves than let that weapon, which threatens them, fall into someone else's hands."
His words made sense, and Hwang Yong-min's expression grew anxious once more.
"Th-then what should I do?"
"I'll help you so you won't be a target anymore."
"R-really? Thank..."
"I never said it was free. In exchange for my help, you saw that stone Seo Ah-rin gave me just now, right? If you have a stone like that, hand it over."
"Ah... I do have a stone like that."
Hwang Yong-min took an item out of his inventory.
[Black Adamantite]
-Classification: Possessions
-Description: A hard, black stone. Its surface is smooth and glossy.
From the description alone, there was no way to know its use.
Grin—
But for Ryu Min, who knew its value, he couldn't help but feel even better than when he received the Mana Stone.
"Good. Do you have any other items?"
"N-no, I don't. Th-this is all I can give you."
Seeing Hwang Yong-min cover his body, as if afraid Ryu Min would take the very gear he was wearing, was almost laughable.
"Don't worry. I wouldn't take that stuff even if you gave it to me."
If it were gear bought from the shop, he could have sold it for gold, but since it wasn't, he couldn't even sell it.
"I've given you the item, so will you help me now?"
"Yes. I keep my promises."
Hwang Yong-min's face brightened at Ryu Min's heavy words.
-He wouldn't go back on his word, would he?
Inwardly, though, he was worried Ryu Min might not keep his promise.
Just then, the angel, Olive, appeared in the sky with a flash of light.
[Kee-hee-hee! Humans, you've gathered again today without fail, haven't you? Though your numbers have dwindled again.]
"The numbers have dwindled?"
"Did people fight in the real world again?"
[The current number of summoned participants is 1,042. The number of survivors from Round 3 was 1,225.]
The players were bewildered, but for Ryu Min, this was nothing new.
'It would be stranger if players *didn't* cause trouble during the month they spent in the real world.'
He had never seen the number of survivors remain the same from one round to the next, so it wasn't surprising.
[Well then, since everyone seems to be here, shall we announce the quest for Round 4?]
Fwip—!
With a flap of the angel's wings, a message appeared.
◀ ROUND 4 ▶
└Kill each other for 3 hours
[All Districts]
└Participants: 181,906,418
└Completed: 0/90,953,209
[Current District ESKS45-5]
└Participants: 1,042
└Completed: 0/521
The players were stunned when they saw the quest.
"What is this?"
"Kill each other?"
[Kee-hee-hee, you humans are so flustered. It's exactly as it says, everyone.]
The angel wore a bright smile that didn't fit the mood.
[You just have to stab and kill the player next to you. It's very simple, isn't it?]
"K-kill them?"
"Another player...?"
The players glanced at each other, sizing one another up.
A sudden PK round.
They had expected to hunt monsters as usual, so they couldn't help but be shocked.
[To elaborate, the goal of this round is to reduce the number of players by having you kill each other. Unlike the last round, no monsters will appear at all.]
"No monsters will appear...?"
"I need to level up and get stronger quickly..."
[Lower-level players will be disappointed. You'll have to wait for the next round to grow stronger.]
"Angel! Since only half can survive, does that mean each person just has to kill one other person?"
[That's a secret. It wouldn't be fun if I told you.]
At those words, Ryu Min scoffed inwardly.
'Fun, my ass. They were probably instructed from above not to mention it.'
The angels were merely guides; the organizers were someone else.
If a specific rule was being hidden, it must be because the organizers ordered it.
An NPC angel wouldn't have the authority to reveal the rules as they pleased.
'People will probably think the angels are behind all this.'
While the players were flustered by the word "secret," the angel continued its explanation.
[Simply killing a player won't make you a completer. Only the 521 who make it into the rankings can survive. The criteria for the rankings is a secret. For your reference, killing someone quickly doesn't guarantee you first place. Kee-hee-hee.]
"..."
[Well! That's the end of the explanation. I have nothing more to say, so I'm leaving! Now, start killing each other!]
After the angel disappeared, a message appeared.
[Time remaining until the end of the round: 02:59:59]
The players looked at each other with troubled expressions.
-Wh-what do we do now?
-D-do we just kill them?
-K-kill them? Another person...?
-But we don't have any grudges against each other.
-Isn't this round completely insane?
Looking around, he could sense the thoughts of the hesitant players.
He turned his head and read Hwang Yong-min's thoughts as well.
-Kill other players? Hehehe, this is perfect. There was a bastard I wanted to kill anyway.
A vicious smile crept onto Hwang Yong-min's lips.
'As expected, he's planning to kill his old bully friends.'
Ryu Min grinned and approached Hwang Yong-min.
Hwang Yong-min was lost in thought, unaware of Ryu Min's approach.
'Wait, now that I think about it, if players are reluctant to kill me, isn't that a good thing? It means I'm invincible, right?'
He even let out a chuckle.
'Those sons of bitches, I don't know where they are, but I'll kill them all...'
Belatedly noticing Ryu Min's approach, Hwang Yong-min flinched in surprise and backed away.
"Ah, you startled me! I-it's you, Sir Black Scythe. Do you need something from me...?"
"I told you before that I'd help you so you wouldn't be a target, didn't I?"
"You did."
Ryu Min slowly raised his scythe.
"I'm here to keep that promise."
"What?"
Slice—!
With a gruesome sound, Hwang Yong-min's vision tilted.
Before he could even process what was happening.
Thud— Roll—
Hwang Yong-min's head fell to the ground.
The bewildered expression he wore in life still on his face.