Chapter 48
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Massacre
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The onlookers doubted their own eyes.
There was no way a person could survive decapitation.
But the evidence before them was too clear to deny.
Hwang Yong-min was turning his head from side to side.
‘Hwang Yong-min isn’t dead.’
Ryu Min already knew.
He knew Hwang Yong-min would be resurrected.
‘This is the hidden rule of this round. If you die, you revive after ten minutes.’
The dead coming back to life?
It was absurd, but in a world with resurrection skills, it wasn't all that strange.
"Haaah. Huh?"
Hwang Yong-min, who had been yawning languidly as if just waking up, flinched as he looked around.
‘What? Why is everyone staring at me?’
And they weren't just looking.
They were staring as if they were seeing a zombie.
Hwang Yong-min couldn't help but be bewildered.
He wasn't even aware that he had died.
His head had been sliced off in an instant.
‘But this is weird. I was definitely talking to Black Scythe, so what is this situation…?’
He felt like he’d blacked out while drinking.
Unaware that Black Scythe had killed him, Hwang Yong-min looked around.
The players flinched in surprise and started spouting nonsense.
"A person… he came back to life!"
"He resurrected like Jesus!"
"Ha-hallelujah! Hallelujah!"
"What's with the hallelujahs in a situation like this! It looks like the system revived him!"
"Does this mean you can revive even if you're killed in this round?"
"Then does that mean we can kill freely…?"
The players looked at each other.
A murderous glint spread in their eyes.
"If they come back to life even if we kill them…"
"Maybe it doesn't matter who we kill…"
One by one, they drew their weapons.
The fact that the dead could be resurrected eased their guilt about murder.
"Everyone, calm down! We're not even sure if they revive or not, so acting rashly is… Agh!"
A woman, stabbed in the back, staggered.
Before she could even process the surprise attack.
*Stab—!*
A sword plunged from behind pierced through her stomach.
"You die first, you bitch! Die!!!"
*Stab— Stab— Stab—!*
The man who had been arguing with the woman just moments before stabbed her repeatedly, as if possessed by madness.
"Hah, hah."
The pure white floor was now stained red.
The man's nickname also turned red.
"Hurry up and come back to life! We have to fight again!"
He had killed her, thinking she would revive, but the woman didn't move an inch.
"What? Why isn't she reviving?"
The question was answered by another player.
"I guess they don't revive right away."
"Looks like there's a cooldown."
"Come to think of it, it took that guy ten minutes to revive!"
"How about we all wait and see if that woman revives?"
The players, having reached an unspoken agreement, waited in silence.
Once it was confirmed that the dead could be resurrected, they felt they could kill without hesitation.
Time passed, and exactly ten minutes went by.
This time, the people could witness the resurrection process in detail.
As if time were rewinding, the blood was absorbed back into her body and her wounds healed.
The limp woman rose stiffly, like a zombie, returning to her original state.
"Huuuaaah."
The woman, yawning just like Hwang Yong-min, snapped to her senses as a memory surfaced.
"Fuck, which bastard was it?! Who attacked me from behind?"
As the woman whipped her head around, her eyes fell on a man grinning at her.
"It was me, bitch."
*Slice—!*
This time, the man cackled as he killed her in one blow by slicing her neck.
"Everyone! Did you see that? It's certain now, they revive after ten minutes."
"You're right. Now we can kill with peace of mind!"
Even though the resurrection ability had been proven, people were still hesitant to act.
It was true that killing still felt unsettling.
But.
‘People are bound to get swept up in the atmosphere.’
When a few players started killing, the others, spurred by a sense of competition, began swinging their blades at each other.
*Slice— Slice—!*
"Gah!"
"Die!"
"Aaaargh!"
There were no specific targets.
They just launched into a random stabbing spree against anyone they saw.
"Hey, you son of a bitch! That hurts!"
"Sorry! Nothing personal!"
"You get a taste of it too!"
"Agh! Stop! Stop resisting and just die! You'll revive anyway!"
"Then you die, you fucker!"
Like paint on a canvas, the pure white space was instantly stained with blood.
The number of fluorescent nicknames steadily decreased.
The sight of nearly a thousand players entangled in a brawl was reminiscent of a war.
‘The time has come. Time to move.’
Ryu Min raised his scythe and began to move slowly.
"Huh? It's Black Scyth—"
*Slice—!*
He instantly ended the life of a passing player.
It was his own way of showing consideration, by not letting them feel any pain.
*Slice— Slice— Slice—!*
He mingled with the crowd of players and began his slaughter.
Sometimes, four heads would fall with a single swing of his scythe.
Amidst the chaos, most failed to notice Ryu Min's actions.
Needless to say, the players he killed were oblivious.
That didn't mean he went completely unnoticed.
A few players approached him from behind like alley cats.
Stealthily.
The players, who had approached Ryu Min's back without him noticing, swung their swords.
‘Now! Di—!’
A flash of light, and the upper bodies of the three players slid to the floor.
*Thud— Thud— Thud—!*
All of them died with their eyes wide in shock.
Their faces seemed to ask how he had noticed.
‘As long as I have Presence Detection, a surprise attack won't work on me.’
Ryu Min let out a smirk.
He could read the presence of those around him even with his eyes closed, so there was no fear of being ambushed.
About ten minutes passed, and the dead players slowly came back to life.
It was the same whether they died twice or three times.
There was no limit to the number of resurrections.
Only a ten-minute cooldown.
"Heeheehee! Die! Just die!"
Among the players, one killer stood out.
It was [Black Flame Dragon in the Right Hand].
‘Right, he was here.’
It was no exaggeration to say that the stage for the fourth round was set for Black Flame Dragon.
‘For someone with the [Rune of Absorption], this situation is nothing short of a feast.’
Black Flame Dragon in the Right Hand was someone Ryu Min had dealings with in reality.
Thus, he knew just how dangerous the man's rune was.
Ryu Min narrowed his eyes as he looked at Black Flame Dragon's nickname.
‘The color has gotten quite deep. Did he kill about ten people?’
It was a similar record to his own.
The more you killed, the deeper the color of your nickname became.
‘I'll need to retire that one a few times.’
Ryu Min moved to eliminate his competitor.
***
"Heeheehee! Hahahaha!"
Black Flame Dragon in the Right Hand was intoxicated with murder.
In fact, the [Rune of Absorption] he possessed was egging him on.
‘I get stacks even for killing players. Isn't this a fucking gold mine?’
The Rune of Absorption granted a certain number of stacks upon killing an opponent.
When the stacks were maxed out, it would grant one random stat point.
‘I knew it worked on monsters, but I never thought it would work on players too.’
Black Flame Dragon swung his axe, sinking it into the shoulder of a complete stranger.
"Guh-heok…!"
"Die! Die! Just die!"
He hacked down multiple times, as if chopping firewood, turning the man into a lump of meat.
‘Phew, he must have been high-level. The stacks went up quite a bit.’
Not all players gave the same number of stacks.
Depending on the opponent's level, some gave a lot, while others gave very little.
‘He was probably around my level, so if he gives this many stacks…’
Black Flame Dragon imagined for a moment.
How many stacks would he get if he killed Black Scythe, the highest-level player in the zone?
‘Wouldn't I max out my stacks and get a stat point right away?’
It was a strong possibility, but he shook his head, dismissing the thought.
The chances of him killing Black Scythe were slim.
‘Forget it. Why would I poke a giant and invite disaster? I'll just stick to hunting these scrubs and getting stronger.’
*Thwack—!*
He smashed the back of some player's head, whose face he didn't even know.
‘Sorry about this. No hard feelings.’
*Thwack— Thwack—!*
He struck a few more times to make sure the job was done.
Black Flame Dragon's axe swings were filled with emotion.
‘Heehee, this is a great stress reliever.’
He had been under an immense amount of stress lately.
In the last round alone, he had been controlled by Jo Joong-sik's command authority, forced to play the role of a useless bodyguard.
‘Because of that gangster bastard, I couldn't even hunt properly.’
Black Flame Dragon was skilled enough to have ranked third in the zone.
He still seethed with anger thinking about how he missed out on the ranking rewards because of Jo Joong-sik.
‘Still, it’s a relief. This round is made for me.’
Others gained nothing from killing players, but not him.
He could stack stats and become stronger.
‘I’ll use this chance to make up for the growth I lost last round.’
He was level 10 and had the Warrior class, but that wasn't enough.
‘You think I’ll fall behind just like this? I have my pride as the 3rd ranker in this zone.’
Killing people bothered him, but what did it matter?
It wasn't like they were really dying.
‘They keep reviving anyway, right? It’s easy if I just think of it as a game.’
Black Flame Dragon didn't think of this as murder.
‘This is just a well-made virtual reality game, and the things in front of me are just bits of data.’
Once he shifted his perspective, the act of killing people strangely no longer felt so unsettling.
The unpleasant sensation from his first kill a moment ago also seemed to dull.
‘How many have I killed so far? I’ll have to kill as many as possible to get into the rankings, right?’
Black Flame Dragon grinned.
His prey kept reviving.
What better environment could there be for him?
He scanned the area, searching for his next target.
He could see players fighting chaotically, splattering blood everywhere.
‘Should I head over there this time? Hehe.’
Compared to his skill, they were nothing but pathetic prey.
As he was about to take a step, Black Flame Dragon froze.
He had come face to face with a beast.
A reaper holding a massive scythe.
‘Huh? Black Scythe?’
In that moment.
*Vwoom—*
His vision went dark.
"What? What's happening?"
"Why did it suddenly go black?"
He could hear panicked voices around him, but no one was more panicked than Black Flame Dragon himself.
Because Black Scythe's massive scythe had momentarily appeared faint.
‘Wh-what? The scythe became translucent?’
But something even more bewildering happened.
The reaper was lunging toward him with explosive speed.
"Huk, wh-what!"
Is this what it feels like when a lion suddenly charges on the savanna?
His entire body froze at the unimaginable speed.
Realizing he was the target, he tried to counter with his axe, but.
‘Huh?’
The world was suddenly spinning.
He could see his own headless body.
‘Ah, I’m dead.’
Was it because the weapon had become translucent?
He hadn't even seen when it was swung.
‘I should have… avoided Black Scythe at all costs…’
With that final thought.
*Thud—*
Black Flame Dragon's head fell to the floor.
***
"Die!"
"You die, you son of a bitch!"
Amidst the bloody battle filled with shouts and screams, Hwang Yong-min still couldn't shake off his dazed feeling.
‘People really are reviving.’
A moment ago, he had clearly witnessed the woman who was stabbed come back to life.
‘Do you really revive after just ten minutes?’
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed it.
Not that he had realized he himself had died once.
‘Hehe, this is great, just great. It’s my chance to get revenge on those sons of bitches who turned their backs on me.’
With the stage set for them to kill each other, Hwang Yong-min pushed through the crowd, looking around.
‘Where are you, Kim Seung-han! Where are you!’
Finding his friend among a thousand people was a difficult task, but.
‘There he is, kekeke.’
It wasn't entirely impossible either.
Hwang Yong-min shouted with a pleased look on his face.
"Seung-han!"
He even waved his hand, but his friend didn't seem to notice, his voice drowned out by the surrounding noise.
He was too busy cautiously scanning his surroundings with anxious eyes.
‘Hehe, what a loser. Look at him, all scared just because he got a little stat penalty.’
Planning to give him a surprise, he approached his friend from behind.
"Hey! Kim Seung-han!"
Called from up close, his friend jumped in surprise and turned around.
"Good to see you, you son of a bitch!"
He immediately slammed his fist into his face.
"Keok!"
He landed a series of straight punches on the staggering man, sending blood flying.
Once he finally knocked him down, he mounted his body and pinned him.
"Kim Seung-han, you bastard. Didn't you say you'd kill me on sight?"
*Pow—!*
"Knghh."
"Go on, try and kill me. Huh?"
He raised his fists like hammers and focused his blows solely on his friend's face.
*Pow—! Pow—!*
He beat him until he was a bloody pulp.
‘My fists might not be Tyson's nuke-like fists because of the penalty, but I can kill a scrub like this without any problem.’
He stopped punching only after landing more than twenty blows.
His face was mangled and he had stopped moving; he was definitely dead.
"Hah, I feel a bit better now."
Hwang Yong-min got up and looked around.
‘Where could the other bastards be?’
There were still many friends left to kill.