Chapter 99
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: Round 7 Results
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The main quest of Round 7 was not to escape the illusion.
‘The real quest was to escape temptation.’
First was the sub-quest: commit suicide.
Second was the main quest: escape temptation.
Round 7 was structured as a two-layered illusion.
Most people probably felt relieved, thinking they had escaped the illusion after the first stage, but they were wrong.
‘It’s not over till it’s over.’
In other words, Seo Ah-rin confessing to him, and even the message that popped up saying the illusion was over, were all
lies.
This was why Ryu Min had prophesied not to be swayed by temptation.
‘If they had remembered my words and resisted temptation, they would have easily passed the main quest.’
Of course, he hadn't said a word about the sub-quest, as he had to claim that reward for himself.
The ‘Rune,’ a reward only one person could receive, was essential for dealing with Yamtti.
*Crackle— Crackle—*
Seo Ah-rin’s form vanished, and he looked at the message that appeared.
[You have completed the main quest ‘Escape Temptation within 2 Hours’!]
[You will now truly escape the illusion.]
The illusion lifted.
Seo Ah-rin, the meadow, everything disappeared.
The scene that emerged was a plain, colorless white space.
This was the true space, free from the illusion.
[Huh? What? There’s a human who woke up at this hour?]
Having seen Ryu Min move, Priscilla flew over from a distance.
[I wonder who the first human to wake up will be… Hah!]
As she drew closer, her eyes widened.
[Black Scythe?]
‘Why is she so surprised?’
Ryu Min tilted his head.
She was too far away for him to read her thoughts.
A smile slowly spread across the surprised Priscilla’s face.
[Kekeke, kekekekeke.]
‘What’s with her? So annoying.’
Ignoring Ryu Min’s stern expression, Priscilla laughed for a long while.
Unable to watch any longer, Ryu Min asked.
“Excuse me, Angel? What is this situation?”
[Ah, ahem. This is no time for that. Heh. Black Scythe. You were the first to escape the illusion of temptation.
Congratulations.]
“Illusion? Ah, was that it?”
He feigned ignorance, just in case the angel grew suspicious.
[Please wait until the time limit is over. Rewards will be distributed after the results are tallied.]
A pillar of light descended and bound Ryu Min.
*Thump—*
Sitting down on the floor to wait comfortably, Ryu Min looked around.
In the colorless space, countless people stood with their eyes closed.
They were the ones still seeing the illusion.
‘They must have moved us after casting the illusion.’
The meadow he saw at the beginning probably wasn't an illusion.
If he had known it was an illusion, it would have dissipated before the round even began.
‘The system casts the illusion after the time limit starts.’
Before that, even if you know it’s an illusion, it won’t disappear.
That was why Ryu Min had been able to use Dominion on himself.
‘Most of them are probably experiencing the second illusion by now.’
The first illusion, committing suicide, was for the sub-quest.
Even if you couldn’t bring yourself to do it without hesitation, you wouldn't be removed from the list of survivors.
You would only lose the chance to get the reward.
‘The important thing is the main quest. Escaping temptation.’
The second illusion, temptation, followed immediately.
Just like the first, the system cast a temptation based on the player’s internal data.
The methods of temptation were varied.
Material temptations, temptations of the opposite sex, the temptation to escape pain, and so on.
The temptation each person faced was different.
‘In my case, it was Seo Ah-rin confessing that she wanted to date me.’
What happens if you fail to escape the temptation and the time limit runs out?
Naturally, you are eliminated.
On the other hand, if you do escape the temptation?
Your rank is determined by how quickly you escaped.
‘The faster you escape, the better. Like me.’
However, if he had killed Seo Ah-rin the moment he saw her, it wouldn’t have counted.
The timer only starts after you’ve received the temptation and rejected it.
This was why Ryu Min had waited for Seo Ah-rin’s confession.
‘To kill her the moment the temptation began.’
He didn't know for sure, but he must have gotten out in about a second.
It had been the same in his past life.
Ryu Min rested his chin on his hand, passing the time in boredom.
[Time remaining until the end of the round: 01:30:51]
‘Still an hour and thirty minutes left.’
If only he could watch everyone else’s illusions, he wouldn’t be so bored.
As he waited with that thought, a few people began to wake from their illusions.
“Hah! W-What is this!?”
“Wh-Where is this?”
“What happened?”
“Don’t come any closer! Huh?”
“Tempting me is useless! I have someone I love… Ah?”
The angel explained the simple truth.
The people who realized what had happened awkwardly scratched the back of their heads.
As time passed, more and more people were surrounded by pillars of light.
Finally, the time limit expired, and everyone woke from the illusion.
*Clap— Clap—!*
Priscilla clapped her hands with a smile.
[Now, now, snap out of it, humans? As you all know, what you just saw was an illusion. You probably know the quest
details, but I’ll reveal them once more.]
A message window appeared, displaying the quest details.
└Escape Temptation within 2 hours
└Commit suicide without hesitation
└Upon success ▶ ?? ??? ? will be granted
[As you can see, escaping the temptation of the illusion was the main quest. The hidden sub-quest was to commit
suicide without hesitation.]
“What? Committing suicide was a sub-quest?”
“Ah, you mean that situation at the beginning?”
“Damn it, how are we supposed to kill ourselves in a fucked-up situation like that?”
“This quest is insane. Who in their right mind would commit suicide without hesitation?”
Having taken a severe mental blow, the players all voiced their complaints.
[Hah, I see a few humans here who want their heads to explode, do I?]
“……”
As Priscilla’s expression hardened, the crowd fell silent as if doused with cold water.
[But don’t worry. I won’t kill you. Because I’m in a very good mood right now.]
Priscilla smiled brightly and flapped her wings.
A result tally window appeared before everyone’s eyes.
★ Round 7 Result Tally ★
[All Zones]
└1st. Black Scythe (Lv54 Reaper) 00:00:01
└2nd. Chrissy (Lv27 Priest) 00:00:05
└3rd. Cheonma (Lv29 Dark Knight) 00:00:06
[Current Zone C2-ESKA003]
└1st. Black Scythe (Lv54 Reaper) 00:00:01
└2nd. Ahn Sang-chul (Lv34 Knight) 00:00:18
└3rd. Seo Ah-rin (Lv34 Summoner) 00:00:24
Everyone who saw the results window looked disgusted.
“Black Scythe is first place?”
“Again?”
“But this was a quest about escaping an illusion…”
“So his mental fortitude is flawless too?”
“Look at that, he resisted temptation in one second.”
“He’s not human.”
“Hahaha.”
Unlike the players who were shaking their heads as if sick and tired of it all.
[Kihihihit.]
Priscilla was grinning from ear to ear as she looked at the results.
‘I won! I won the bet thanks to Black Scythe!’
Was it due to the joy of claiming the throne?
Priscilla had forgotten to give out the rewards.
“Angel? The first-place reward hasn’t come through.”
[Ah! Right. My apologies, Black Scythe.]
The angel, who rarely apologized to a human, flapped her wings, and a reward message appeared.
[Congratulations! You have completed the quest as the 1st place player in this zone!]
[Congratulations! You have completed the quest as the 1st place player in all zones!]
[Your current rank is 1st in all zones and 1st in this zone.]
[As the 1st place reward for this zone, you will receive a ‘Random Draw Selection Ticket’!]
[As the 1st place reward for all zones, you will receive a ‘Special Reward Selection Box’!]
The messages scrolled up, but that wasn’t the end of the rewards.
[As the sub-quest reward, you will receive the ‘Rune of Mental Barrier’!]
[The acquired rune will be automatically engraved onto the player’s body!]
‘I’ve finally got it.’
As soon as he obtained the rune he wanted, an information window popped up.
[Rune of Mental Barrier]
-Effect: Immunity to all mental-type attacks.
‘I finally have a way to stand against Yamtti.’
Now, he could dominate PleSeBa whenever he chose.
‘With this, I won’t fall for any more fucked-up illusions either.’
This was why the system had granted the rune reward last.
If it had been given in the middle, he wouldn’t have even been able to attempt the second illusion, the temptation
test.
Ryu Min looked over the rewards he had received earlier.
Until now, the 1st place reward for the zone had been a piece of equipment, but this time it was a draw selection
ticket.
[You may choose one of the following random draws.]
[Please touch your desired reward.]
└ 1. Random Gold Pouch
└ 2. Intermediate Mana Stone Draw Ticket
└ 3. Surprise Potion Box
‘There aren’t many options.’
He already had the highest-grade mana stones, and he was overflowing with gold.
There was only one thing to choose.
‘Number 3. I choose the Surprise Potion Box.’
Although they were scheduled to appear in Round 8, there was a consumable item called a potion.
Like in a game, drinking one could heal wounds or grant various buff effects.
The types were diverse.
‘So diverse that there’s even a gacha box for them, which says it all.’
There were three ways to obtain these potions.
Obtain the unique Alchemist class, defeat boss-level monsters that appear after Round 8.
And finally.
‘NPCs. Or should I call them otherworlders?’
You could also buy or obtain them from otherworlders.
The round where these otherworlders began to appear was Round 8.
‘The players will probably be flustered. After only seeing monsters that can’t speak, they’ll see otherworlders they
can converse with.’
Ryu Min remembered being very flustered himself when he first learned of the otherworlders’ existence.
What was particularly confusing was that he couldn’t tell if they were really people or NPCs.
‘That’s something I still don’t know to this day.’
In any case, since otherworlders would appear from Round 8 onwards, he could make use of his titles.
He also had to obtain the two runes he was aiming for.
‘The Rune of Foresight and the Rune of Durability.’
Moreover, Round 8 was also good for leveling up.
There would probably even be people who reached level 40.
‘Though I’ll be hitting level 60.’
Ryu Min’s gaze turned to the last remaining item, the Special Reward Selection Box.
[You may choose one of the following special rewards.]
[Please touch your desired reward.]
└ 1. 3x EXP Boost Buff (Round 8 only)
└ 2. 20,000 Gold
└ 3. Information about Round 8
He chose number 1 without a second thought.
The next round was a good one for gaining experience.
[Now, everyone has checked their rewards, right? Then we shall have the time of annihilation. The humans who didn’t
make it into the rankings and the humans who couldn’t escape temptation within the time limit. Farewell to you all.]
“W-Wait!”
“No!”
*Fwoosh—*
Without even a moment to plead their case, half of the players turned to dust and vanished.
[And as I mentioned before, the player who cleared the round the fastest would be designated as the Zone
Representative, right? As you all know, the 통합 Zone Representative is this person.]
[Player ‘Black Scythe’ has become the new Zone Representative of C2-ESKA003.]
People nodded at the message announcing the representative.
It was a fair result, beyond any dispute.
[To Black Scythe, who has become the Zone Representative, I will grant the promised reward.]
A moment later, the message Ryu Min had been waiting for appeared before his eyes.
[The authority of the temporary skill ‘Dominion’ will be changed.]
[From now on, you may use Dominion once in the real world.]
[This authority will be immediately revoked if you are stripped of your Zone Representative position.]