Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: The Counterattack Card and the Shepherd Girl's Scream
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Dokgo Hyun had once tried using [Object Rewind] to bring back a thrown knife like a boomerang.
But this time, it was far more challenging: [Object Restoration].
Tsssss...!
The thin magazine slowly regenerated.
Since it rewound time itself, not only the text on the pages but even the wear and tear on the surface was perfectly restored.
'It works. As long as it's just thin paper, I can manage somehow.'
But it drained him completely.
His limbs trembled.
'Restoring something is definitely tough.'
Dokgo Hyun set the magazine aside and pulled out a Healing Potion, downing it preemptively.
Gulp gulp...!
Then he placed the card pieces on the table.
'It has to work this time. [Object Restoration]!!'
But it failed.
"Ugh."
It wasn't a stamina issue—the total amount of his Mana stat was still too low.
A common magazine page was easy enough to restore with [Time Distortion], but a game card was another story.
'But I've got the Mana Boosting Syringe for that.'
It was the mini-item he'd gotten from Baek Seonghui in exchange for the Berserker's Syringe.
Dokgo Hyun injected the Mana Boosting Syringe into his forearm, then calmly tried again.
"[Object Restoration]."
Finally, he succeeded in restoring the K card.
"Phew."
Thanks to the syringe's help, he didn't feel overly fatigued.
A deep breath and about ten seconds of rest restored his stamina and mana.
'It was tough, but worth it.'
He'd successfully regenerated the K card that Na Youngho had torn up and discarded.
"Now the counterattack card is complete."
He said it aloud and grinned.
No exaggeration—it truly was his card for striking back.
Back to the present.
The poker room.
'That's how it happened.'
There was no way he could tell anyone else how he'd done it.
It would amount to confessing outright that he'd secretly created a card to cheat.
"H-how...!"
Oh Sua, unaware of the truth, struggled to accept reality.
'I fell for a lie.'
Dokgo Hyun had declared that during the next Run Phase, he'd kill only her by force.
To show that "resolve," he'd gone all-in and openly threatened to kill her if he lost this round.
But it had all been a bluff.
In truth, he planned to kill her right here in this poker round.
Oh Sua understood up to that point.
"Why... why was the hint a lie...? W-wait a second!"
Oh Sua realized something and shouted.
"Wait, let me see that card deck!"
She demanded of the principal.
If another K turned up in the principal's deck, it would prove cheating in this round.
"Hm. I'll check."
The principal spread out all the cards.
Shuffle shuffle.
The principal laid out every card.
And instead of a K in the deck, it was confirmed that no 4s were present anywhere.
"Hm. There's a K in the deck. So there are two Ks total. But not a single 4 in sight. Looks like someone removed the 4 and slipped in a K?"
"Aha! Hahaha!! It was cheating after all!! Cheating!!!"
Oh Sua burst into laughter.
"Cheating detected!"
She pointed at Dokgo Hyun.
"This round is invalid!! Invalid!!! And penalty fine! Pay 20 chips!!"
Oh Sua shouted loudly.
But.
"Why... am I the cheater?"
Dokgo Hyun was utterly shameless.
Even the principal let out a "Hoo?" at his brazenness.
"Dokgo Hyun, player. We just checked the cards, right? Two Ks found, no 4s—doesn't that seem suspicious?"
"I already had a K in my hand, another comes from the deck, and there's no 4... Is that it? So?"
Dokgo Hyun spoke in a cryptic tone, shrugging his shoulders.
"So why does that make me the cheater? Isn't it the fault of whoever didn't prepare the cards properly?"
"Heh heh, my mistake, you say?"
"Don't casinos usually have the dealer spread all the cards to prove they're fine? You skipped that step, so it's fair to call it a dealer error."
Dokgo Hyun turned the blame back on the principal.
"Besides."
Dokgo Hyun pressed further.
"According to the rules, 'Additionally, cheating must be called out immediately. Objections after the Open Phase are invalid.' In other words..."
Dokgo Hyun pointed at the spread-out cards.
"Even if I did cheat—which I didn't—pointing it out after all cards are revealed is invalid by the rules. So, even if I had, finding evidence after the win is decided means nothing... let's leave it at that."
"That doesn't make any sense!!!"
Oh Sua stomped her feet in place.
"You'd have to catch them the moment they cheat! That's impossible!!"
"You never saw the classic flick Tazza?"
It was an adults-only movie, but Dokgo Hyun referenced it casually.
"In Tazza, you gotta call it right when they cheat: 'Freeze, bottom dealing?' Whining after the cards are down like, 'Hey, I think that guy bottom-dealt earlier'—who's gonna buy that?"
Dokgo Hyun looked at the judge as if even explaining this was pathetic.
"Principal. Yes, the two Ks and missing 4 benefited me, but that doesn't make the beneficiary a cheater. Now, rule on it. Strictly by the rules."
Oh Sua was dumbfounded, but judgment authority had already passed to the principal.
"The ruling is already made."
The principal said.
The principal was controlled by the Total Administrator's mask, but he retained traits from his days as Hanshin High School's principal.
The principal glanced back and forth between Oh Sua and Dokgo Hyun.
"I don't like either of you. So, death penalty for both."
"...!!"
Dokgo Hyun's expression hardened at the bolt-from-the-blue declaration.
"...That's what I'd like to rule."
The principal twisted at the last moment.
"But I can't kill at whim. Rules exist. Personally frustrating, though."
Shuffle shuffle!!
He pushed the pot chips toward Dokgo Hyun.
"Ah!"
"Dokgo Hyun, player, wins!!"
Oh Sua's chips hit zero.
Viiiing...!
Light particles began gathering around Oh Sua's body.
"Ah, aaah...!!"
Oh Sua opened her mouth wide to scream.
Her face flashed with the desire to protest more, to argue more.
But in the final moment.
Grind...!
She clenched her teeth and dashed to the window.
"Hm?!"
It looked like she was fleeing out the window.
Clunk!
She flung it open and yelled.
"Na Youngho sunbae! And all you spirits!! Listen to me!!!"
She screamed at the top of her lungs.
The spirits were all dead, but not completely—they lingered in a translucent, deactivated state somewhere in the school, ready to revive instantly at Run Phase.
So they heard Oh Sua's desperate cry.
"This is my final order!! Kill Dokgo Hyun by any means necessary! Then we're all saved!! Unite and kill Dokgo Hyun!! This is really not a lie!!!"
At that instant, the light particles engulfed her in white.
Boom!!!
Oh Sua detonated.
But in her dying moment, her final command echoed across the school, reaching everyone she'd brainwashed with her [Shepherd Girl] skill.
A cold message arrived for Dokgo Hyun.
Though killed indirectly through poker, the mission counted it as Dokgo Hyun killing Oh Sua.
"What an idiot."
Na Youngho, who had been silent, muttered.
"Lies unravel when the user dies."
That was true.
'Once activated, even the user can't deactivate the skill. It persists until the caster dies or the target dies.'
That was the core of the [Shepherd Girl] skill.
In other words, Na Youngho was now free of Oh Sua's brainwashing.
But.
"And yet you still want to believe her? Na Youngho."
Dokgo Hyun asked, and Na Youngho hesitated before nodding.
"Yeah. Weird feeling, huh."
"She brainwashed you, used you like a slave, then died. And you'll still follow her dying wish?"
"..."
Na Youngho didn't answer.
The principal chuckled.
"Well! Now it's down to one-on-one! Let's start the Run Phase right away!!"
The spirits were dazed.
"No way."
"We got fooled by a lie?"
With Oh Sua's death, the [Shepherd Girl] skill released, and the spirits realized the truth.
But.
"No way!"
"Right! We weren't fooled!"
"Kill Dokgo Hyun and we'll all revive!"
Even freed from brainwashing, the spirits chose to cling to the lie.
Abandoning it left them with nothing.
Better the hope of falsehood than the void of truth.
"Everyone, kill Dokgo Hyun together!!"
The players entered the Run Phase.
Dokgo Hyun checked his location and thought.
'Lucky. Starting in the Main Building.'
Both he and the Poker Room were in the Main Building.
Just head down the stairs—simple.
Na Youngho's sniping was most dangerous when crossing between buildings like the Main Building, Library, Annex, or cafeteria.
'Head straight to the Poker Room? Or risk it and take out Na Youngho?'
Na Youngho was weakened now.
With six Spirit's Brands, his stats were down 60%, leaving him at about 40% strength.
'The spirits are the problem.'
Oh Sua's parting gift of spirits worried him.
If they swarmed per her dying words...
'Better avoid fights and get to the Poker Room early.'
Dokgo Hyun paused, eyeing the broadcast equipment.
'Any way to use this?'
He considered luring the spirits.
'Like recording a taunt, delaying broadcast with [Time Distortion] instead of sending immediately. Then hide far away and let it play...'
A delayed broadcast to draw them out.
But no time to fiddle with the gear.
"Foun~d~ you~"
"Ah?!"
Through the broadcast room window, Han Se-kyung's ghostly face appeared.
Dokgo Hyun had locked the door beforehand, of course.
"[Space Tear]."
Han Se-kyung mimed ripping with her hand.
Riiiip!
The broadcast room wall tore like paper, and the gathered spirits poured in.
"Found you!"
"Gotcha!"
"Kill him!"
"Rip him apart, kill!"
The four spirits bellowed with unprecedented killing intent.
"Damn it all?"
Dokgo Hyun had to face all the spirits alone.