Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Even the Total Administrator Has a Weakness
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Dokgo Hyun unlocked the door with the completed key.
Kkiiik.
Beyond the door lay a cluttered space behind the stage.
Monitors were mounted all over the walls here and there, probably doubling as a monitoring room.
The moment Dokgo Hyun took a step through the door...
"Congratulations. You've cleared all the missions in Phase 1 of the preliminaries."
The TV Girl was waiting there.
"Can I go home now?"
"Not yet."
"Hm? Are there more missions left?"
"No. You have to wait until everyone else's missions are finished."
"Everyone else."
Dokgo Hyun had killed Kang Serim.
The real Jang Eun-seok had killed Mu Saeng-hwa.
However, Mu Saeng-hwa had become a new fake Jang Eun-seok, and that Jang Eun-seok was slowly dying from Dokgo Hyun's poison.
"Do I have to wait until Jang Eun-seok dies?"
"It shouldn't take much longer. Want to watch on the monitor?"
Dokgo Hyun glanced at the monitor and was surprised.
"That woman hasn't died yet...!"
Kang Serim was still alive.
"Ugh."
Kang Serim staggered to her feet.
Thanks to her artifact.
Dokgo Hyun hadn't found any artifact around Kang Serim's body and had just left, but in fact, her artifact was implanted inside her clothes.
'Implantable artifact. Second Life.'
It was a sharp microchip-shaped artifact that permanently synchronized once implanted in the body.
The power of Second Life was hard to activate at the user's will.
It triggered automatically upon the user's death, reviving them on the spot after a random time between 1 and 30 minutes.
This ability only occurred once per day.
"Haa, haa... That was rough..."
Kang Serim staggered along.
Even after revival, she didn't come back at 100% health—only around 50%.
"Ha... But I can still make it."
Leaning on the wall, Kang Serim followed Dokgo Hyun's footprints.
When Dokgo Hyun had stabbed her multiple times to kill her, the blood that flowed had splattered onto his left hand and shoes.
By just following the traces where he'd braced against the wall, she could reach the exit.
Along the way, she found Mu Saeng-hwa's body.
It was a corpse with its head blown open.
'Dokgo Hyun didn't kill this one.'
He killed with a knife.
She rummaged through it.
Kang Serim checked Mu Saeng-hwa's body but found no key.
If anything, it gave her hope.
It meant someone had killed Mu Saeng-hwa and taken half the key.
In other words, if she chased that someone down and killed them to steal the key, she could escape.
Kang Serim quickened her pace.
'Dokgo Hyun already took my half of the key and completed it, right? If my guess is correct, then the remaining one is...'
"Ugh... ughhh..."
The groans of the dying Jang Eun-seok reached her ears.
'Ah! Jackpot. Just as I thought.'
It was even better than expected.
Jang Eun-seok was dying from poison.
"S-save... me..."
"You have the key, right?"
"Ah...!"
"Die."
Tutututututang!!
She gunned him down with the [Infinite Magazine Submachine Gun].
It was too sudden, and he hadn't met the activation conditions for [Mind Possession], so Jang Eun-seok died pathetically.
Kang Serim found the key on his body.
"I did it!"
Jang Eun-seok had both his own half of the key and the half Mu Saeng-hwa had held.
To be precise, this Jang Eun-seok was a new one who had possessed the original Mu Saeng-hwa, but Kang Serim didn't know or need to know the details.
"I'm alive..."
Kang Serim set off in search of the exit.
"So that's what happened."
Dokgo Hyun muttered.
Bloody Kang Serim managed a strained smile.
"Hey, little bro~ Don't hate me too much~"
"Hm?"
The red-haired Kang Serim sidled up to Dokgo Hyun with a strangely seductive sway.
Dokgo Hyun tilted his head.
"You know, I might actually like you?"
"I stabbed you to death, and now you like me?"
"Yup!"
Kang Serim caressed the spots on her body where she'd been stabbed.
"Ahh, to be pierced so mercilessly! Hehe! I really thought I was done for!"
"..."
Dokgo Hyun kept his distance and thought.
'She's totally insane.'
The TV Girl chuckled softly.
"Congratulations once again. As a little bonus, how about one question privilege each?"
"Not bad."
As Dokgo Hyun pondered his question, Kang Serim rested her chin on his shoulder.
"Whoa."
"Hehe. Little bro? You can use one of mine if you want~"
"Hm...?"
"Your big sis here really likes you, it seems. Oo-hoo-hoo..."
"No, but why? Because I really stabbed you?"
Kang Serim leaned in and whispered seriously into Dokgo Hyun's ear.
"Rational reason or emotional reason—which one do you want to hear?"
"Both."
"Alright. Rational reason first. You're strong. So if I stick with you, I can survive a good while. In short, make me your subordinate girlfriend."
"Not interested in a girlfriend or a subordinate."
"Hehe. Knew you'd say that. Guess I'll have to prove my worth there. For now, let's just be little bro and big sis. Exactly that."
Kang Serim stepped back from behind him.
"And the emotional reason?"
"Your face is totally my type. Ahh!"
"..."
Dokgo Hyun figured it was best to just let it slide.
"Anyway, about that question privilege."
"Yup! I'll ask whatever you're curious about!"
"If you're so eager to help, I'll accept."
Dokgo Hyun decided to ask the TV Girl first.
"My question."
"Go ahead."
"What is a 'gate' in this Apocalypse Game?"
"Hm..."
The TV Girl had no expression, but she seemed flustered.
"That's a sharp question."
"Answer it."
"A gate is a door to the New World."
"New World?"
"I don't know the details myself. 'New World' is just what I've heard—probably not the exact name. But what's certain is that it's a place even the Administrative Bureau doesn't know about, beyond the reach of their power..."
"...!!"
It felt like he'd just heard something monumental.
'A place untouched by the absolute authority of the Administrative Bureau that decides life and death. That's the New World!'
And the door leading there was called a gate.
"Where are the gates? Where is this New World?"
"I don't know. Haven't you already used your question privilege?"
"Oops."
"Hehe. Now, shall we hear Kang Serim's question?"
Kang Serim looked at Dokgo Hyun.
"What should I ask?"
"Hm, give me a sec."
Dokgo Hyun had a lot he wanted to ask.
Broadly speaking, three main things.
First, about Phase 2 of the next preliminaries.
Second, about Dokgo Hyun's brother Dokgo Cheol's location—and solid confirmation if he was really alive.
Third, how to further strengthen skills or easily expand artifact slots.
And plenty more besides.
'Can't drag this out too long.'
After organizing his thoughts, Dokgo Hyun blurted out a question without thinking.
"About the Total Administrator's weakness."
Kang Serim looked stunned.
"You can ask that?"
"Why not? Aren't you curious too?"
"Fair point."
Kang Serim turned to the TV Girl.
At that moment.
Chijijik.
The TV Girl suddenly slumped like a puppet with cut strings.
"Huh?"
Then only her TV-shaped head lifted.
The screen lit up, and the Total Administrator appeared.
"Hohoho. This is fun. Who's trying to find my weakness?"
Squirm.
The Total Administrator crawled right out of the TV Girl's face, just like Sadako from that classic horror flick The Ring.
"You heard all that?"
Dokgo Hyun asked incredulously, and the Total Administrator laughed.
"Whenever someone badmouths me or digs for weaknesses, an alarm goes off automatically."
"..."
"I'd instantly kill any incompetent fool trying to probe my weaknesses, but I acknowledge your strength, Dokgo Hyun. You're a real prospect. Oh, listen up too, Kang Serim."
"H-hiiik."
Kang Serim trembled at the sight of the Total Administrator.
'What's with her?'
Dokgo Hyun was puzzled but soon realized.
'The Total Administrator's radiating way more killing intent than usual.'
Dokgo Hyun had a constitution that didn't scare easily, plus his high stats made him unfazed.
"You want to know my weakness?"
The Total Administrator eyed Dokgo Hyun, who nodded.
"Yes. Tell me."
"Very well. The Total Administrator's weakness is...!"
He paused dramatically instead of answering right away.
Dokgo Hyun and Kang Serim watched tensely, gauging his mood.
'Why isn't he answering? Is that the one thing he can't reveal?'
Then, the Total Administrator spoke a bit annoyedly.
"Tch, I'll just pop it up as a system message for you two."
"Got it?"
"Hm. So the mask is the weakness. And not just the mask—artifact and skill powers work on the body too..."
Dokgo Hyun recalled killing the principal during the tutorial.
When he and Na Youngho ambushed him together, the mask was intact, but the principal died from the fatal wound.
The main body soon appeared and revived him.
'The reason the principal—a clone of the Total Administrator—died then was because of the artifact Venom Knife and Na Youngho's skill. A regular knife or bow and arrows wouldn't have worked.'
Dokgo Hyun found the situation surprisingly encouraging.
'At least it's confirmed: skills and artifacts can kill the Total Administrator. That's hugely motivating.'
"Hehe. That scary scheming look on your face. You seem keen on taking my life, Dokgo Hyun, but unless it's the main body's mask, it's pointless no matter how much you try..."
[Time Stop]
Duration: 3 seconds
Paat!
Dokgo Hyun stopped time for 3 seconds.
Tsupat!!
In the frozen time, he stabbed at the Total Administrator's mask with the Venom Knife.
But the Total Administrator's ever-active [Cloak of Gravity] partially functioned even in stopped time, catching the blade.
'[Instant Acceleration]! Max mana!!'
He poured in maximum mana at once and broke through.
Kwajik!!
A solid hit.
Pakakak!!
The Total Administrator's mask shattered.
'Got it. I destroyed the main body's mask!'
Dokgo Hyun was convinced the one before him was the 'main body.'
The Total Administrator was arrogant and willful.
Seemingly free-spirited yet authoritarian.
Given his personality, for something like his weakness, he'd handle it personally rather than send a clone.
That was Dokgo Hyun's judgment.
Kwajajak!
[Time Stop] ended.
"Kuh, keuhek."
The Total Administrator clutched his face and staggered back.
"Ugh... That was close."
Hudududuk.
The mask was destroyed, fragments falling.
But.
"What...!!"
The Total Administrator was wearing two masks layered together.
Dokgo Hyun had only broken the outer one.
He hadn't reached the inner one.