The Devil's Trap

The ‘Anomaly Detector’ featured several types of intruder-class anomalies, among which were a handful of so-called ‘gimmick-type’ phenomena.

These anomalies pulled every dirty trick imaginable to avoid being corrected.

Clear rate: 0.001 percent.

One of the players who had conquered the hellish ‘Reality’ difficulty, a self-proclaimed genius hacker.

The IQ 180 otokonoko virtual YouTuber Hexa Pasocon had successfully cleared every theme in ‘Anomaly Detector’ on Reality difficulty.

Proving the superiority of his mind, he had corrected and cleared most anomalies with ease. Yet there was one single anomaly he could never overcome.

The ‘Devil’ anomaly that appeared in the attic of the cabin theme.

The highest-difficulty anomaly in the cabin theme wasn’t a matter of detailed props changing. It was the ‘Devil’ anomaly, which possessed a special gimmick.

The ‘special gimmick’ had appeared frequently in the monitor version of the anomaly game. It would block the player’s vision, prevent inputs, and other such mechanics.

If you didn’t already know the gimmick in advance, you were bound to get screwed. It was that malicious.

Once those gimmicks transitioned from monitor to virtual reality, something changed.

To resolve the anomaly, one now needed physical ability far beyond the ordinary.

In the cases of the ‘Grizzly’ that Myeong-yun had encountered or the monster that suddenly attacked from the ceiling, the only option was to dodge with pure physical ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠prowess and then proceed with the correction.

Hexa Pasocon had an outstanding brain, but his physical ability was abysmal.

No matter how many gimmicks he memorized or how many counter-strategies he learned, if his body couldn’t keep up, the gimmick was unbeatable.

One such example was the cabin’s ‘Devil’ gimmick.

Every time the Devil anomaly appeared, Hexa Pasocon would calmly give up and restart the game.

He knew all too well that clearing it with his physical stats was impossible.

And so Hexa Pasocon had left behind a famous quote regarding that Devil anomaly.

And the very anomaly Myeong-yun now faced was that same ‘Devil.’

A bizarre special-gimmick anomaly whose difficulty scaled alongside the game’s own difficulty.

“Hmm.”

The tablet meant for correcting the anomaly had been stolen.

It now floated lazily above the summoned devil’s head at the center of the magic circle, showing no intention of returning.

And then—

“What an amusing little trick.”

The path leading to the devil stretched out endlessly.

The attic on the second floor had originally been rather small, yet the distance between Myeong-yun and the devil had suddenly expanded to nearly a hundred meters.

At the same time, countless traps erupted from the walls, ceiling, and floor.

Giant blades swung with lethal whooshes, spikes shot up intermittently, and orbs of fire floated menacingly near the devil.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

A countdown reading ‘1:00’ appeared before Myeong-yun’s eyes.

They had the gall to add a one-minute countdown on top of forcing physical ability into a horror game.

Anyone lacking confidence in their reflexes would have been cursing up a storm.

“One minute, you say.”

The viewers flooded the chat with complaints about how little time there was.

How were you supposed to cross over a hundred meters of traps in just one minute?

Yet the words that followed from Myeong-yun drove the viewers absolutely insane.

“Isn’t this a bit too generous? One whole minute? Hmm. Let us wait a moment before we set off.”

The timer began to tick.

From 1:00 to 59 seconds.

Then 58 seconds.

Yet Myeong-yun truly seemed intent on waiting. He clasped his hands behind his back and began chatting leisurely.

“When this seat was young, I once entered a place called the Demon-Reining Cavern. It was a training cave prepared for cultivating martial arts…”

As if he really planned to wait until almost no time remained, he even began telling old stories.

He couldn’t speak for long since time was short, but the viewers burst into laughter at the short anecdote and loved it.

Then, with roughly fifteen seconds left, Myeong-yun took a step forward and spoke.

“Then let us set off.”

Still with his hands clasped behind his back, Myeong-yun took his first step.

His pace had been slow, so the viewers wondered when he would reach the devil. But in the next instant, his body accelerated in a flash.

In what seemed like a single stride, Myeong-yun arrived at the first trap section.

He leaped over the iron spikes shooting up from the floor before they could even fully emerge. He used the falling guillotine as a stepping stone, timing his movement perfectly with its descent.

And all the while, his hands remained clasped behind his back.

He displayed supreme balance.

With both hands sealed, he bounded lightly over traps and spun his body to evade them.

He slipped through the gaps between falling iron bars and even deflected the fireballs hurled by the devil.

How could someone show such grace while running?

Could even a gymnast display such perfect balance?

There was no trap that could stop Myeong-yun.

While the viewers sat stunned, unable to type a single comment as they watched his play—

He had already reached the devil.

The devil stretched out a hand toward Myeong-yun, who had closed in to point-blank range, but he had already entered its space.

Myeong-yun, who had kept his hands behind his back the entire time, extended his right hand, brushed aside the devil’s attack, and seized it by the throat.

A sickening crunch echoed.

It was the sound of the devil’s neck bones being brutally snapped.

“Return to hell.”

Myeong-yun had set off with fifteen seconds remaining. It took him only ten seconds to reach the devil.

Ten seconds. That was all the time he needed to avoid every trap and snap the devil’s neck.

After breaking the devil’s neck, he used the tablet to complete the ‘correction.’ The entire room was covered in mosaic, and everything returned to normal.

“And with that, it is finished.”

“What is this, nothing more than a warm-up?”

To Myeong-yun, the traps had not even reached the level of a light stretch.

Compared to what he had experienced in the Demon-Reining Cavern as a child, this was less than dessert.

The Heavenly Demon Cult’s ruthless training ground, meant to raise only the survivors as heir candidates rather than heirs themselves.

The one who had survived that place was none other than the Heavenly Demon, Myeong-yun.

Yet Myeong-yun’s sincere words only sounded like pure gaslighting to the viewers.

As the chat filled with resentful messages, Myeong-yun smiled and gave a small shrug. At that moment, a message appeared before his eyes.

It was a report card stating that he had passed the Reality difficulty of Anomaly Detector with an outstanding score.

If this had been a real company, he could have immediately demanded a raise and a bonus.

After checking the achievements that popped up one after another, it was time for the settlement.

He had confidently bet a large sum thinking he would win this time, but unfortunately it was he who got cleaned out.

The people who always bet money on Myeong-yun’s stream claiming “this time I’m right” met the same fate every single time.

“BuyMeOneChickenPlease. What a peculiar name. Judging by the name, you seem like a beggar from the Open Sect, yet you appear to have quite a bit of money. In that case, this seat thanks you for your contribution to the cult’s funds.”

A few donations came in to celebrate the clear.

Since the basic donation amount for the Heavenly Demon’s stream was 500,000 won, Myeong-yun felt a strange emotion every time he received an ultra-chat.

Was it truly acceptable to earn money this easily?

Anyway.

“Hmm, I thought it would take a little longer, but the game ended sooner than expected. Had I known, I should have prepared one more title.”

Even Myeong-yun felt it would be a shame to end the stream here.

Whether it was because he had received so many ultra-chats or not, he felt he ought to give them their money’s worth.

Though he himself had not yet realized it, Myeong-yun was slowly beginning to develop a sense of ‘professionalism.’

The viewers’ donations were not something to be taken lightly.

They were customers, and Myeong-yun was the service provider.

Although he had begun streaming for his own purposes, he now possessed a million subscribers.

The more sincerely he treated his viewers, the more people would follow him.

While Myeong-yun was pondering what to do, Sang-hyun sent him a private message that the viewers could not see.

-Chief Strategist of the Heavenly Demon Cult: If you have nothing else planned, how about a second round of Dead by Deadmoonlight? This time play as a survivor lol

As expected of Sang-hyun, the broadcasting planning genius.

Myeong-yun nodded at his advice and spoke.

“Very well. Let us try our first-ever Part 2 broadcast today. The game for Part 2 shall be Dead by Deadmoonlight. This seat will play as a survivor this time.”

But that alone would not be very entertaining.

What was so difficult about toying with a single killer?

At that moment, a brilliant idea flashed through Myeong-yun’s mind.

“However, a normal game would be rather dull. This seat shall play in Overdrive mode.”