Chapter 98
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Betrayal
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Ryu Min immediately ran toward the sound of the scream.
But what awaited him there was a shocking sight.
'M-Min Ju-ri?'
Min Ju-ri was collapsed on the ground, clutching her stomach.
The floor was soaked with blood.
Ryu Min, uncharacteristically agitated, rushed to her side.
"M-Minjujuui! What happened?!"
"B-Black Scythe... No, Min... Help me."
Ryu Min was stunned.
'She knows my true identity?'
How?
He hadn't sensed anything like this when he'd read her mind.
As his pupils trembled, Min Ju-ri continued.
"Min... Ryu Min. You're Ryu Min, aren't you? Right...?"
"My identity... How did you?"
"Of course... I know. How could I not? You're... my first love... It was obvious, no matter how hard you tried to hide it..."
"So you knew all this time and just pretended not to?"
Min Ju-ri managed a weak nod.
"I knew... It was hard pretending not to know all this time..."
"N-never mind that, what about your stomach? What happened? Who did this?"
A single glance told him the injury was severe.
At this rate, she could die at any moment.
'Ah, Emergency Treatment!'
He had been so flustered he'd forgotten to use it immediately, like an idiot.
Shaaaaa—
As he belatedly cast the skill, the wound began to mend, and a look of relief washed over Min Ju-ri's face.
"Thank you, Min."
"Who was it? Who stabbed you?"
"Ahn Sang-chul... He did it."
"What?"
Flames ignited in Ryu Min's eyes.
A blazing fury was directed at Ahn Sang-chul.
"Where is that son of a bitch?"
"Right here."
A voice from behind made Ryu Min's head whip around.
Ahn Sang-chul was smirking like a classic villain.
Beside him, Seo Ah-rin's lips were twisted into a villainous smirk.
That alone was enough to tell him the two had conspired to kill Min Ju-ri.
"You goddamn bastards."
"Whoa, such harsh language, Mr. Prophet?"
"..."
Ryu Min's contorted expression subtly shifted.
His anger subsided, replaced by a cold calm.
"You knew I was the Prophet?"
"No. I found out you were the Prophet by torturing that bitch Min Ju-ri over there. I had no idea until just a moment ago."
"I-I'm sorry, Min. It was so painful, I couldn't help it..."
Ryu Min had no intention of blaming her.
He glared at Ahn Sang-chul with a murderous expression.
"Heh heh, don't look at me like that. Do you have any idea how surprised I was when I found out your identity? To think that weakling Prophet was actually the Black Scythe. Who would have ever imagined? Hehe."
"Let's hear your excuse before I rip that mouth of yours apart. Why did you attack Min Ju-ri?"
"Well, she seemed to have a close relationship with you, so I thought I'd ambush her to get some information. But the harvest was bigger than I thought, wasn't it? The Prophet being the Black Scythe, hahahaha! The Representative will be thrilled when he finds out!"
Ignoring Ahn Sang-chul's laughter, Ryu Min summoned his Death Scythe.
"Do you really think you'll get out of here alive to tell him?"
"Whoa, whoa, stop right there. Don't come any closer. Or I'll detonate the bomb hidden in Min Ju-ri's body."
"What?"
Just then, Heo Tae-seok stepped out from behind Ahn Sang-chul.
"Hehe, this friend here gave us a little help."
Ryu Min instantly grasped the situation.
"You bastard, don't tell me..."
"I apologize, Lord Black Scythe."
"Did you plant a Black Seed in Min Ju-ri's body?"
Heo Tae-seok nodded silently.
That simple gesture struck Ryu Min like a physical blow.
Indeed, Warlocks learned a skill called [Black Seed] at level 40.
It was a skill that, when planted in the ground, could be activated to summon a random demonic familiar.
What would happen if such a skill were planted inside a human body?
The body would explode like a firecracker, and a summon would burst out.
In the best light, it was a creative application of a skill. In the worst, it was a brutal act.
For Ryu Min, it was clearly the latter.
"You son of a bitch... When did you reach level 40?"
"Did you think I was just sitting around? I hunted diligently because I wanted to become as strong as you, Lord Black Scythe."
"NoPainNoGay. Dispel the seed. Now."
"I refuse."
The refusal, devoid of any hesitation, made Ryu Min's eyebrow twitch.
"Are you insane? You dare defy me? Didn't you secretly admire me?"
"Of course, Lord Black Scythe, you are like a god to me. But that's only if you can handle this situation properly. If you're not perfect, then there's no reason for me to follow you anymore, is there?"
"..."
He had been thoroughly backstabbed.
Ahn Sang-chul, Seo Ah-rin, and even Heo Tae-seok, who had revered him as a god.
The shock of being betrayed by those he trusted was immense.
"What do you want?"
"Hehe, she must be pretty important to you, huh? Seeing as you're completely frozen?"
"Shut up and tell me. And promise me. If I do what you want, you won't kill Min Ju-ri."
"Khahahahahaha!"
Ahn Sang-chul laughed until it looked like his mouth would tear.
"Alright. Heh heh."
"You promised."
"I did. That is, if you do what I want."
"So, what is it you want? Information about the next round? The location of a hidden piece?"
"I don't care about that crap."
"..."
"It's just ridiculous that someone like you dared to deceive us and try to manipulate Representative Ma."
Ahn Sang-chul, who had been grinning, suddenly adopted a stern expression.
"Kill yourself."
"..."
"Kill yourself right here in front of us. Then we'll let the woman live."
"Fine. Keep your promise."
Without hesitation, Ryu Min brought the scythe to his own neck.
Sschk—
His severed head dropped with a thud and rolled across the floor.
He thought he heard Min Ju-ri scream, but there was no time to worry about that.
'If I can save Min Ju-ri... that's all that matters.'
His vision blurred.
The mocking faces before him faded away into the distance.
[There is a hidden sub-quest!]
'A message?'
Crackle— Crackle—
Suddenly, cracks appeared in everything he saw.
As if the world he was seeing wasn't the real one.
'What's happening... Ah!'
As more messages appeared, Ryu Min finally came to his senses.
└Commit suicide without hesitation.
└Upon success ▶ ?? ??? ? will be awarded.
[You have completed the sub-quest!]
[The reward is given to only one person per zone.]
[The reward will be distributed upon final tally!]
At some point, his body was restored.
His severed neck was reattached, and the blood that had pooled on the floor was gone.
Ahn Sang-chul, Seo Ah-rin, Heo Tae-seok, and Min Ju-ri.
They all vanished before his eyes like a mirage.
The scenery Ryu Min was now looking at was none other than the place where he had started.
The meadow.
[Player 'Black Scythe' has escaped the illusion.]
[You have completed the main quest 'Escape the illusion within 2 hours'!]
[You have completed the sub-quest 'Commit suicide without hesitation'!]
"This... was an illusion."
The moment he saw the messages, he finally understood.
What he had just witnessed was an illusion, a materialization of his inner anxieties.
There was no way Ryu Min, who had gone through 99 regressions, wouldn't have known this.
And yet, the system had prevented him from realizing it.
'No, not the system. I made myself not realize it.'
Ryu Min checked the information for his temporary skill, Dominion.
[Temporary Skill – Dominion]
- Opportunities remaining: 9
- Target of use: Black Scythe
Dominion had been used once.
And the target was the Black Scythe, himself.
'I knew it.'
All his memories came flooding back.
'I used Dominion on myself, placing a restriction to prevent myself from recognizing the illusion.'
As soon as he entered the 7th round, Ryu Min had used Dominion while looking at his own reflection in an item.
'It doesn't work on players with a higher level, but it works on those at the same level.'
The command he gave himself was simple.
-Do not entertain the thought that this is an illusion until you complete the sub-quest.
The main quest of the 7th round was to escape the illusion.
But if you already knew it was an illusion, the illusion wouldn't take hold.
In other words, you would be stuck at the very beginning of the quest.
'In that case, you'd eventually be excluded from the quest and be eliminated.'
How did he know?
Because he had been eliminated once before.
He had tried to proceed through the 7th round while aware it was an illusion, received a warning message, and then was simply erased.
'That was a pretty empty way to go. Just like what happened in the 20th round's boss room.'
This was why Ryu Min hadn't revealed that it was an illusion when he gave his prophecy.
If they knew beforehand, they would be eliminated without mercy.
'I tried using mind control on myself, but it was no use. If you're aware it's an illusion deep down, you're bound to remember it at some point without even realizing it.'
To eliminate that risk, the method he devised was Dominion.
If he used Dominion to erase the memory itself, there would be no problem.
'That's also when I learned you could use Dominion on yourself.'
But the real problem was clearing the round.
He could participate in the round, but clearing it wasn't easy.
'The sub-quest was especially difficult.'
Committing suicide without hesitation is no simple task.
It was even harder for Ryu Min, who prioritized survival above all else.
'Besides, since I don't know it's an illusion, I can't intentionally kill myself.'
So, he went through the 7th round dozens of times, trying to devise a method.
Eventually, he found the answer.
The method was both simple and not simple at all.
'I just had to brainwash myself before even coming to this world. I had to believe that I must save Min Ju-ri, even if it meant sacrificing my own life. That I loved Min Ju-ri.'
The 7th round shows you an illusion based on your inner anxieties.
In Ryu Min's case, he was anxious about his identity being revealed and his trusted allies betraying him.
The system used this to create an illusion and guide him into a situation where he had to commit suicide, as per the sub-quest's objective.
'So, what if I tricked the system into thinking I was in love with Min Ju-ri?'
The system would then craft a story around that.
And it would guide him toward suicide.
His prediction was spot on.
'As a result, I killed myself without hesitation.'
It was possible because he had pre-conditioned himself, brainwashing himself into thinking he loved Min Ju-ri.
"Thank goodness. It went according to plan."
If he hadn't prepared his mind that way, he surely would have hesitated when told to kill himself.
'I failed the sub-quest countless times in the past. I hesitated for a moment when they told me to commit suicide.'
That was before he met Min Ju-ri, so someone else had been taken hostage.
'My little brother, that is.'
After finishing the 7th round quest, he returned to a cliché story where Ryu Won was being held hostage by kidnappers.
At that time, Ryu Min had hesitated slightly at the kidnapper's demand to kill himself.
'That's why I always failed the sub-quest in every regression.'
Without using Dominion to make himself unaware that it was an illusion, there was no other way to handle it.
'That's why I came up with the idea of using mind control before the round.'
If a situation arose where he had to save Ryu Won, he would sacrifice his life without a second thought.
By repeating this to himself hundreds of times before entering the 7th round, he was able to commit suicide without hesitation.
This time, the target had simply changed to Min Ju-ri.
'Thankfully, the brainwashing worked, and the sub-quest was a success.'
As Ryu Min was smiling to himself, Seo Ah-rin suddenly appeared.
"Oh, Lord Black Scythe. Did you pass the 7th round quest?"
"I did. You too?"
"Yes... I escaped the illusion as well."
Smiling shyly, she glanced furtively at Ryu Min.
She even looked around to make sure no one else was there.
"The others... It seems they haven't escaped the illusion yet."
"Looks that way."
"Uhm, Lord Black Scythe."
Suddenly adopting a serious tone, Seo Ah-rin's face reddened as she spoke.
"You might be surprised by me saying this all of a sudden, but..."
She hesitated, struggling to find the words, before finally continuing.
"The truth is... I really like you, Lord Black Scythe."
"Don't joke around."
"Haha... It's too sudden, isn't it? I know. I know it sounds like a joke. But I'm not joking, I'm serious."
"..."
"I'm only mustering the courage because we're alone like this."
"..."
Ryu Min's reaction was indifferent.
If anything, he was gripping his scythe tighter, as if waiting for something.
Unaware of the strange atmosphere, Seo Ah-rin mustered her courage once more.
"Uhm, Lord Black Scythe. Will you go out with..."
Sschk—!
With a sickening sound, Seo Ah-rin's head flew through the air.
Thud—
Ryu Min stared coolly at the system and muttered.
"Enough with these pathetic tricks."
As if in response, Seo Ah-rin's body vanished, and a message appeared.
[You have completed the main quest 'Escape the temptation within 2 hours'!]