Chapter 17: It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 17: It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
The white-robed man was the high-level mage who had caused a stir in the waiting room by incinerating a giant stone statue. He went by the name Escrow—a name Seo-un knew all too well.
Escrow was the progenitor of mages, the man who had practically invented magic itself. Having stepped onto the path of a mage himself, there was no way Seo-un could be ignorant of the man whose name was embedded in almost every standard spell.
The second man was an archer who fired bizarre, unpredictable arrows. He was an opponent Seo-un wasn't even sure he could close the distance with.
But the most bothersome of all was the man with the long, flowing silver hair.
More than the fact that he was supposedly the king of a nation, what unsettled Seo-un most was that the other two were subtly wary of him.
“So, you must be Jin Seo-un,” the mage said.
Seo-un nodded slowly. “Yeah. I’m Jin Seo-un. From the looks of it, you three were summoned from the same world.”
None of them answered.
Tsk. Are these bastards really going to gang up on me?
“Since you are the one who defeated Nam Sa-gwang, please do not blame us for being cowards.”
As the mage finished speaking, he thrust his staff forward, and the archer drew his bow. Seo-un felt a surge of despair. He couldn't guarantee victory against any of them in a one-on-one fight, but a three-on-one? He saw no path to victory at all.
I’m taking at least one of you with me!
No matter how much he complained, the situation wouldn't change. With that grim resolve, Seo-un scanned the three, gauging whom to strike first.
My magic resistance is high, so that mage should be—
As his gaze swept across them, it landed on the man called the king. The man, who had looked bored throughout the entire encounter, was now twitching the corner of his mouth as he watched the mage concentrate on his spell.
They aren't working together!
The moment that realization struck, Seo-un’s form blurred as he lunged toward the mage.
“Escrow Squad's Blade Storm!”
He approached with terrifying speed, getting right in the mage’s face, but that was as far as he got. A whirlwind of blades erupted from all directions, instantly shredding his clothes to ribbons.
[Ding! The Cloak of Stealth has been damaged and has lost its functionality.]
The ruined cloak wasn't the problem. The problem was the blood spraying from his body as he suffered dozens of deep lacerations. However, he had already prepared himself for this. Gritting his teeth, he boiled his internal power.
Thwack!
Just as he was about to break through the wind of blades, an arrow pierced the back of his thigh.
“Gah!”
A groan escaped his lips involuntarily. Even so, Seo-un forced strength into his legs and lunged forward. He didn't care about the blade storm pushing him back.
Just as Seo-un’s blurred form began to move within the storm, the mage thrust his staff forward once more.
“Escrow Squad's Holding!”
The ground in front of him began to heave and churn. The earth surged toward Seo-un like a tidal wave.
Now!
At that moment, he pushed the Muryeong Phantom Step to its absolute limit. He even diverted the internal power protecting his body from the blades to focus entirely on the technique.
The lacerations across his body deepened instantly, drenching him in crimson, but he ignored the pain and focused. The storm engulfing the area turned red with his blood.
A moment later, Seo-un rose sharply in front of the mage. The mage flinched at the murderous intent radiating from Seo-un, who reached out with a fist, his eyes flashing through a mask of blood.
Whoosh!
With a sharp whistle, a rapier belonging to the silver-haired man pierced through Seo-un’s back and tore a massive hole through the mage’s chest. It was a level of destructive power hard to believe from such a slender blade.
The mage collapsed with a gaping hole in his torso, as if he had been impaled by a massive pillar. His eyes were filled with pure disbelief.
“I look forward to killing you on the battlefield soon,” the man said.
The mage’s lips quivered for a moment, but he died before he could utter a single word.
“Senrurk! You coward…!”
The archer’s eyes were filled with contempt as he shouted the man’s name. But the long-haired man simply shrugged.
“I never said I would cooperate with you in the first place.”
“The rumors were true—you really are a Madman of the Battlefield who knows no honor!”
Senrurk, the King of Kurena—better known by his nickname 'Madman of the Battlefield'—didn't particularly dislike the title.
“On a battlefield where you die if you don't kill, honor is for the dogs.”
As he finished speaking, he prepared to dash toward the archer, but his expression suddenly froze.
“Ugh!”
Feeling the presence of an enemy behind him—one he was certain he had run through and killed—was not a pleasant sensation.
Boom!
The man, who had been about to spin around and thrust his rapier, was sent flying by a thunderous impact, rolling across the ground. The armor where the punch had landed was caved in and riddled with cracks, but the man managed to roll and spring back to his feet.
Even as blood trickled from his mouth, the man couldn't easily charge at Seo-un. He was caught in a pincer movement, with Seo-un in front and the archer behind him. He couldn't afford to act rashly.
“I clearly ran you through…”
“Cough! That’s… what you think.”
Seo-un’s face contorted as he snapped the arrow in his thigh and pulled it out. The moment the arrow was removed, blood spurted out. He pressed on his pressure points to stop the bleeding, but the flow showed no sign of stopping.
Come to think of it, I’ve never actually practiced stanching blood with pressure points.
There was a significant gap between knowing the theory and actually knowing how to stop blood geysering out of his body. His head spun, and he felt like he might faint at any moment. Seo-un barely managed to keep his eyes open. The heavy sensation in his eyelids made him feel like he could find peace just by closing them.
The moment he pulled a scroll out of his subspace, the long-haired man thrust his rapier toward him. Despite the distance, a sharp aura flew from the tip of the blade toward Seo-un.
Shattering Joint!
Boom!
The moment Seo-un blocked the attack with a strike, his shoulder dislocated with a sickening sound. Nevertheless, Seo-un gripped the scroll in his teeth, tore it open, and glared at the man with bloodshot eyes.
The man tried to follow up with another attack, but he was forced to deflect three arrows flying at him from behind.
“Damn it! Jurokuana! Is this how it’s going to be?!”
“You were the one who broke the alliance first.”
Jurokuana fired arrows in all directions with divine speed, while the Madman of the Battlefield deflected the curving projectiles with his single slender rapier.
Amidst their exchange, Seo-un tore his last remaining Intermediate Recovery Scroll. After using two scrolls, the bleeding stopped to some extent, but his dislocated shoulder and the lacerations all over his body remained.
Still pale, Seo-un glared at the long-haired man and lunged. The man spun around and thrust his rapier at Seo-un, who was flying toward him like a streak of light.
“I won’t fall for it twice!”
Two arrows struck the Madman’s back, piercing his armor, but his focus remained entirely on Seo-un.
Whoooooosh!
With a sound impossible to believe came from a rapier thrust, the blade passed right through Seo-un’s form. However, the man’s expression soured.
There’s no sensation.
At that moment, eight versions of Seo-un appeared, surrounding the man. All eight lunged their fists toward him simultaneously.
“Damn it.”
The man pierced four of the Seo-uns with incredible speed, but none of them were the real body.
Crunch!
With a sickening sound, the head of the long-haired man was crushed. Seo-un slumped to the ground, staring at the sticky blood and brain matter on his fist.
“Haah… haah…”
Watching the afterimages vanish, Jurokuana notched an arrow and spoke. “I offer my respect to your valiant struggle.”
“Haah… haah… Does that… damn honor… put food on the table?”
Thwack!
With those final words, an arrow pierced Seo-un’s head, and he fell forward.
[Tiriririring! Cloyd Survival has ended.]
[Pa-pa-pa-pa-bam! Congratulations on being one of the final two survivors!
You have earned the right to participate in the next game.
You will receive the second-largest reward for this game.]
Just as he felt a sting in his head and the world began to turn black, a sudden sound made him open his eyes. He saw his own corpse lying face down with an arrow in its head.
“Damn it!”
Floating in the air like a ghost and looking down at his own body was not a pleasant experience.
[Ding! You have obtained 120 Reward Coins. Kill Bonus! You have obtained an additional 20 coins.]
“Coins?”
[Martial Arts Manuals]
* Black Star Finger Technique (10 coins)
* Naehaseong Mental Method (30 coins)
* Boundless Fist (30 coins)
* Heavenly River Divine Palm (100 coins)
* Demon-Subduing Water-Fire Palm (90 coins)
* Nine Yin Fire Poison Palm (110 coins)
* Muryeong Phantom Step (130 coins)
[Magic Books]
* Wind Ball (5 coins)
* Carmen's Eye (50 coins)
[Accessories]
* Ring of Strength (20 coins)
* Subspace Ring (30 coins)
* Askro's Necklace (1 coin)
* Dual Spelling (20 coins)
* Oath Bracelet (20 coins)
* Kaiser's Ring (60 coins)
* Dreaminger's Ring (60 coins)
* Gailen's Ring (60 coins)
* Toka's Ring (60 coins)
* Cameron's Necklace (3 coins)
[Miscellaneous]
* Cheong-un Pill (50 coins)
* Beginner Circle Stone (15 coins)
* High-grade Orichalcum Breastplate (65 coins)
* Cloak of Stealth (100 coins)
* Longsword (1 coin)
* Mana Stone (2 coins)
* Recovery Scroll (5 coins)
* Intermediate Recovery Scroll (8 coins)
* Shield Scroll (3 coins)
* Mana Explosion Scroll (5 coins)
* Awakening Potion (10 coins)
* Kria's Boots (13 coins)
* Refined Troll Blood (2 coins)
* Burikail's Wine (1 coin)
* Burikail's Ham (1 coin)
“Wow… I really picked up a lot of stuff.”
Seeing it all listed out made him realize just how many items he had scavenged.
“I get that the system lets me buy items with reward coins to take with me… but why is everything so expensive?”
Looking at the prices, Seo-un felt a surge of irritation. He had suffered like hell to reach 2nd place out of 100 people. In the final battle, his body had been shredded, and he had ultimately taken an arrow to the head. Yet he only had 140 reward coins, while the item prices were set incredibly high.
In particular, the named rings that had been so helpful to him were priced at nearly half of his total coins each.
“If I buy two rings, that’s it! And I couldn't even afford that footwork technique if it weren't for the kill bonus!”
As Seo-un grumbled, a voice rang out as if someone were listening.
[Tiririring! A lottery ticket is awarded to the final five survivors.]
“Huh? A lottery ticket?”
As soon as he asked, a roulette wheel appeared, listing all the items he had obtained.
[Player, you may spin twice.]
“Oh… jackpot…”
If he could get just two named rings from that wheel, it would be like doubling his rewards.
If I can just get a named ring and the Muryeong Phantom Step… it’ll be worth more than the coin reward.
As if possessed, Seo-un spun the wheel with all his might.
[Click-clack-click-clack... Ding! You have obtained Askro's Necklace. Congratulations.]
“Aaaaagh!!!”
Of all the items, it had to land on the 1-coin necklace.
“Of course, that’s my luck…”
Self-deprecating, Seo-un glared at the wheel before closing his eyes tight and spinning it again. Unable to bring himself to look, he listened to the sound of the wheel spinning until the notification rang out again.
[Click-clack-click-clack... Ding! You have obtained Muryeong Phantom Step. Congratulations.]
“JACKPOT!!!”
Seo-un screamed at the top of his lungs, realizing for the first time just how loud his voice could be. After celebrating wildly, he finally managed to calm down.
"Whew."
He quietly scanned the list and began to carefully select the items he wanted.
[You have selected Boundless Fist, Subspace Ring, Cheong-un Pill, Burikail's Wine, Refined Troll Blood, Ring of Strength, and Cameron's Necklace. A total of 136 coins have been used. Remaining coins will accumulate. Would you like to finish your item selection?]
[O] / [X]
The moment Seo-un pressed the O button without hesitation, his vision was filled with a light so bright he couldn't see an inch in front of him.
[Good work. Good luck in the next game. Obtained items can be retrieved from your subspace.]
At the same time, he gasped as a cityscape came into view.
“Wh-what? Am I back?!!”