Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Coincidence for the Protagonist
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Click-clack, click-clack…
The sound of something climbing stairs echoed.
Click-clack, click-clack…
Was this what the footsteps of hell sounded like? With every step came the thick stench of blood and burning flesh.
‘…Ah.’
The moment the footsteps stopped, Dung Beetle instinctively knew it had reached the top.
『Awaken.』
Its voice rang out. Sweet yet familiar.
Dung Beetle slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing that entered his vision was a massive step pyramid.
‘…A prison?’
But as he looked up at the pyramid, Dung Beetle’s first thought was of a jail.
It wasn’t built from ordinary stone and dirt, but from iron bars and steel plates.
『Dung Beetle.』
While he was momentarily dazed.
A voice calling him came from the pyramid’s summit.
『At last, we meet face to face.』
Dung Beetle raised his head to look at the top. Atop the peak filled with iron bars, a darkness in human form gazed down at him.
It wore a dress that revealed a feminine silhouette like a noble lady’s shadow, striking a seductive pose as it claimed the pyramid’s apex.
Dung Beetle wanted to ask what the hell this was. But his mouth wouldn’t open.
He had no mouth.
As if that was the only thing permitted in this world, everything but his eyes, nose, and ears was shrouded in shadow.
‘This place… it’s a dream after all?’
The pyramid of iron bars, the thing dressed in temptation…
Everything was an imaginary shadow, a metaphor of memory that couldn’t exist in reality.
Yet even after realizing it was a dream, Dung Beetle couldn’t wake up.
Because this wasn’t his dream.
『You must have much to say. But I shall not permit it.』
It looked down at Dung Beetle and smiled silently.
The pyramid shook violently as if trying to block its laughter, but it didn’t budge an inch.
『For now, simply watch and listen. That is your duty today.』
The pyramid’s vibrations grew even more intense. Even Dung Beetle at the base felt his bones rattle.
But the next moment, as it drew something from beneath its feet, the pyramid fell silent as the dead.
『Do you know how long I’ve awaited this day? For an eternity, I’ve waited for you to offer tribute directly to me.』
What it drew out were two corpses. One with its tongue lolling out in slack-jawed death, the other with a crushed skull.
Dung Beetle swallowed hard at the sight. They were far too familiar.
How could he forget? They were the first people he’d ever killed.
『The first is unique and irreplaceable, so I shall commemorate this day with joy.』
It cried out gleefully and hurled the corpses down from the pyramid.
The bodies tumbled down the iron-bar and steel-plate stairs. Thud, thud. Metal groaned, and a long trail of blood stained the pyramid.
The moment the corpses hit the ground, they vanished into the pyramid’s base like shadows.
It was an incomprehensible scene. Dung Beetle racked his brains furiously to make sense of it.
How had this sealed entity pulled him into the dream? Why call the cleaners he’d killed tribute…?
Why was this happening?
『Oh, don’t play dumb. You’ve already guessed, haven’t you?』
It whispered as if reading his mind.
『How else could a decapitated corpse revive?』
『How could an ordinary human, not a superhuman, survive a gunshot unscathed? How could you drag a fainted man several kilometers to a warehouse in that state?』
『There is only one answer, Dung Beetle.』
The height difference between pyramid base and summit meant nothing; its voice rang as clear as if whispered right in his ear, shaking his eardrums.
『Me. I reached beyond the seal and revived you. I gave you a body immune to bullets, endless stamina as a gift.』
The dream world of pyramid and darkness trembled.
If its voice in reality had been a mere breeze, now it was a raging typhoon.
Dung Beetle fought the urge to clap his hands over his ears.
‘…Why? Wasn’t your goal to break the seal by killing me?’
The words wouldn’t come out. He couldn’t speak here at all.
But even with his mouth sealed, his eyes could move. Dung Beetle stared at it with eyes that screamed questions.
Why—me—why?
It gave no answer. Now was its turn to speak, not his.
『Wasn’t it fun?』
『Killing those cleaners who insulted your comrades.』
『Burning that director who sold you out.』
Dung Beetle recalled the revenge he’d exacted just yesterday. There had been no joy in it.
Revenge was an endless chain of pain. The agony of losing comrades, and the suffering of his enemies.
‘No, I didn’t revenge out of some petty emotion. I…’
『It was fun, wasn’t it?』
With that, it swung its arm demonstratively.
Darkness rippled in its wake, revealing what had been hidden at the pyramid’s base.
Whoosh!
A pile of burning corpses.
At the foot of the pyramid stairs, an immense mass of bodies blazed, belching smoke.
Dung Beetle examined them instinctively and widened his eyes at a familiar face.
The director… the repulsive man who’d sold him and his comrades was burning amid the flames.
Could it be that every corpse from the warehouse he’d burned last night was here in this dream?
A foreboding feeling gripped him as he turned back to the pyramid’s top. It had risen, arms spread wide, and shouted.
『Joy. That is the one thing I desire, the reason I chose you. Through you, I shall revel.』
『I shall share in everything you eat, drink, gain, and feel.』
『Everything you kill and destroy… I shall receive as tribute.』
With a voice brimming with delight, it extended a hand toward the base. The ground quaked, and shadows erupted from beneath the burning corpses.
The shadows began devouring everything around them like nightmare mud.
Nothing was spared. Corpses, flames, even the pyramid’s iron bars.
The shadows grew, swallowing every fire and body in reach.
Rumble!
Before long, the shadows had swelled massive enough to engulf the pyramid.
『Two cleaners, 987 corpses, and one soul that burned while cursing you….』
It swung its hand once more, and the chaotically expanding shadow obeyed.
It was overwhelming, dreamlike.
The massive shadow stretched like a serpent, coiling around the pyramid. The sight of it surging toward the summit felt utterly unreal.
Ziiing! Ziiing!
The pyramid shook frantically, resisting. But like prey caught in a snake’s grasp, it couldn’t hold back.
『With joy, I accept your first tribute.』
At its declaration, the shadow was sucked into its hand in an instant.
Kwaaa!
The shadow surged like a tsunami against a dam. The iron bars at the summit couldn’t hold; they snapped amid the groan of breaking steel, crumpling, shattering, and flying into the shadow.
Once it had absorbed it all, the pyramid’s peak was gouged like it had taken cannon fire.
『Ah, such sweet deaths.』
From the pyramid’s scarred summit, it spoke in satisfaction.
『Expect great things, my chosen. Unlike the petty gods of this world who only observe, I am different. For every tribute, I grant fitting recompense.』
Click-clack, click-clack.
It descended the pyramid stairs as leisurely as it had climbed.
Step by step… With each footfall, unimaginable power crushed down on Dung Beetle’s body.
When it finally stood before him.
Dung Beetle crumpled to his knees, unable to even lift his head.
He strained desperately to look up, but all he saw was the hem of its shadow dress.
『Dung Beetle, my chosen.』
It reached out and placed a hand on his head. The touch was gentle, but the gulf in their existences was vast.
Dung Beetle gritted his teeth against the pressure on his skull.
『As recompense for your tribute, I grant you what you need most.』
Immediately, something poured onto Dung Beetle’s head.
Shwaaa—
Like sudden rain, shadows cascaded down like a waterfall.
『Talent. A talent no human could dare touch. The talent to exact revenge and claim more lives.』
‘I don’t… need that… kind of talent!’
『Use the body and talent I’ve bestowed as weapons. Revenge to your heart’s content. Offer the lives of the Cleanup Guild, necromancers, and Players… to me.』
The voice’s end was a faint whisper. Was it whispering? No, no.
It was proof his mind, overwhelmed by the pressure, was waking from the dream.
『Oh, your time is short, yet I’ve tarried too long.』
It lowered the hand from his head to stroke his cheek.
『My chosen, lastly, I give you my name. Next time, call me not ‘it,’ but by name.』
Its touch became sticky darkness like melted sugar, trickling down his cheek.
『Mignium. That is the name you alone shall serve.』
With those words, Dung Beetle blacked out and awoke from the dream.
***
Midway up MacArthur Hill, overlooking Incheon’s city center.
Urk.
Dung Beetle woke with a retch. His empty stomach yielded only bile and air after a day without food.
“Haa… haa…”
Only after prolonged dry-heaving could he catch his breath.
His mind was still foggy.
He clung to the sensation of floating between reality and dream, groping his surroundings.
After fumbling a while, he found the water canteen placed some distance away.
With trembling hands, he unscrewed the lid and gulped it down. His throat burned like fire.
“…Tch.”
He drained the bottle in seconds, but his gut wouldn’t settle.
It wasn’t his body—it was his mind.
The truth he’d faced in the dream was that shocking. Tribute, chosen one, and…
Mignium.
Dung Beetle crushed the plastic bottle recalling what he’d seen and heard.
He couldn’t comprehend much.
That Mignium, who’d tried to kill him, had instead revived him—that alone shattered his understanding.
‘Why?’
Why had the calamity the Angel warned of… revived and chosen him?
Out of pity, or innate kindness? Impossible.
The Mignium devouring corpses and souls in the dream radiated not a shred of benevolence.
Mignium was pure evil. If that wasn’t evil, what was?
But… did that mean he should reject the power Mignium gave?
Weren’t there already plenty of evil forces overflowing on Earth?
The Player who’d driven him to death, the Earth corporations exploiting Alashar beyond the gates, corrupt politicians?
Could he swear that Mignium sealed within him was more wicked than them?
Maybe the Angel had lied to him…
‘…Enough.’
Sensing he’d crossed a line, Dung Beetle halted his thoughts. This tail-chasing was pointless.
‘No point brooding alone… It won’t yield answers.’
It wasn’t about faith—it was about capability.
No matter how much he doubted, he couldn’t uncover the Angel’s true intentions or why Mignium chose him.
So Dung Beetle shoved all confusion to the back of his mind and focused on one unshakeable truth.
Revenge.
He craved it against everything that had driven his family-like comrades to death.
Mignium or Angel be damned. The burning vengeance in his heart was his alone.
The Cleanup Guild that sold out his comrades, the Player swinging a blade for levels, the necromancer and Korean government the director revealed before dying.
Until he avenged them, the Angel’s plea and Mignium’s temptation were secondary.
‘This is just the beginning.’
With that thought, Dung Beetle slapped his cheeks and looked aside.
“Right, brothers?”
Right beside where he’d lain were nine graves in a row.
Over the past day, he’d carried his comrades’ bodies one by one up the mountainside to build them.
Even for a normal person, hauling one body this far would be tough; he’d transported nine, dug the graves, and piled the mounds himself.
No funeral, no tombstones, no spirit tablets.
Graves known and remembered only by Dung Beetle in this world.
At least they had a prime spot overlooking the city.
Dung Beetle gazed at them a moment, then stood. If he didn’t leave now, he never would.
He bit his lower lip, swallowing the surge within.
“I’ll… definitely come back after revenge.”
Grief lingered long, but resolve was brief.
Dung Beetle bowed deeply to the graves and turned to descend the mountain.
He looked back several times on the way down, but nothing held him.
Under the coldly shining moonlight, the nine graves cast long shadows behind his retreating back.
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