Chapter 26

"S-Sung JiHan?!"

'Wh-what? Why's he here? How could someone who was at the bottom of the tower be here already…?'

"First, let's start with you dying."

BOOM!

As JiHan's hands wrapped around Gyu-hyuk's head, it burst like a balloon.

It would've been a gruesome sight if it wasn't a game.

JiHan bowed toward Massid.

"Thanks for stopping him."

Massid just shrugged his shoulders.

Tap, tap.

JiHan walked toward where Gyu-hyuk would resurrect.

"This dumb game! How could a Bronze get here so fast...?!"

As soon as he resurrected, Gyu-hyuk was already cursing. 

Despite having just died, he was still in high spirits.

After all, he wouldn't receive a penalty like his level going down or losing a skill that time.

'Even if I beg him, he won't let me off the hook, and it seems like I won't be able to complete the quest now, so I might as well keep cursing him to get some donations.'

Reaching that conclusion, Gyu-hyuk opened his mouth.

"Hey! You son of a—"

He was about to curse again without hesitation, but…

"Ugh?!

JiHan's left hand covered his mouth.

"You probably aren't afraid since this is a game," JiHan calmly murmured. "Pain is mostly filtered out through the Battle Net connector, and even if you die, you only drop a level. Well, that's what most people would think."

"Ugh! Ub!"

JiHan's right hand clenched Gyu-hyuk's shoulder tightly.

"I'll show you a world you don't know."

Whoosh.

Gyu-hyuk felt an unknown energy entering and spreading through his body. It was a sensation similar to when a Mage used the Magic Power from their heart, but it was a completely different energy from Gyu-hyuk's energy. It was cold and sharp.

"U... Ugh..."

The energy spreading through Gyu-hyuk's body tore his muscles apart and twisted his bones.

It was a technique called 'Disjoint' that only a few martial artists could use.

Gyu-Hyuk sweated nervously after he saw his body twist on its own.

'I'm glad I bought an expensive Battle Net connector.'

It was the moment when the Korean characteristic of wanting the best possible setup, even if their tier was low, came to shine.

'My body's hurting right now, but if it's this much...'

If he'd used a cheap connector, he would have gone mad from the pain already.

He couldn't believe how reliable his Battle Net connector, which reduced pain by 95%, was.

He needed to take damage and die as quickly as possible.

"Heal."

Gyu-hyuk, who was waiting for his death, was healed by JiHan.

His body healed, and his muscles began to twist again.

'Damn... What a ruthless bastard.'

Was he not going to let him die?

Sung JiHan kept using Heal.

"Heal."

"Heal."

Gyu-hyuk was able to stay alive thanks to the healing magic.

'What a son of a bitch. Do you think I'm going to lose... Huh?'

Gyu-hyuk was trying to endure the pain, but his eyes suddenly rolled back in agony. 

'Ugh... AGH!'

Maintaining his pride, he hadn't even groaned before that, but he suddenly couldn't resist the pain anymore.

'Wh-what? Why does it hurt so much?!'

Gyu-hyuk rolled on the floor and screamed.

The pain was on an entirely different level than before.

Every hair on his body was standing, and he even thought he'd rather die.

'Ugh... System check!'

[Beep - Normal.]

He thought his Battle Net connector might have broken for a moment, but the connector was working as intended.

"Heal."

Despite Gyu-hyuk rolling on the floor in agony, JiHan kept using Heal.

The sound of the Heal spell rang out again and again.

"AGH!"

Even while rolling on the floor in pain, Gyu-hyuk felt uneasy.

He felt as if something more painful was awaiting him.

More precisely, he thought there was no way JiHan would let it end like that, and sure enough…

After another Heal was used on him…

"Uh, uuh, ugh!"

Screaming like a beast, Gyu-hyuk turned into light and disappeared.

He had died despite receiving a Heal, and the cause of death was fainting due to unbearable pain.

Looking at where Gyu-hyuk had been, JiHan indifferently muttered, "To think he wouldn't be able to endure even this much."

JiHan waited for Gyu-hyuk to resurrect for a second time, and then…

Paf-

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I was wrong... Ugh!"

Gyu-hyuk resurrected, his body trembling, and JiHan covered his mouth again while giving him a blank look. 

* * *

- Scary...

- It suddenly became a horror movie.

- I… I cannot watch it anymore ㅠㅠ

The viewers on JiHan's channel were shaken.

Although Gyu-hyuk's appearance was grotesque, most people heard what he said, so they thought he deserved it.

Still, seeing Gyu-hyuk roll on the floor while he frothed at the mouth made them feel something beyond discomfort.

Gyu-hyuk looked like he was truly experiencing pain.

- But why's he having a seizure like that?

- You're right. The Battle Net connector reduces pain.

- Is he acting?

- It feels too real for it to be fake.

Most viewers weren't sure why Gyu-hyuk was acting like that, but the Battle Net experts, the scouts, began having a heated discussion as if they had a hunch. 

- Isn't... that the side effect of receiving Heal?

- Side effect? Isn't that a phenomenon that occasionally happens while treating continuous damage?

- If you think about it, it really seems to be a side effect. It looks like JiHan's technique is causing him continuous damage...

- Woah... So he's using it in such a way.

When you used healing magic on someone who was poisoned, a sudden burst of pain sometimes happened. The reason for it was unknown, but that phenomenon vanished if you used Great Heal, which was why most players weren't aware of it.

"Uh, uuh... AGH!"

Flash!

That time, JiHan had been more careful with Disjoint. 

Kim Gyu-hyuk, after enduring for longer than before, ended up succumbing to his pain and dying.

"Hmm, I need to be a bit gentler."

As JiHan waited at where Gyu-hyuk would resurrect, the viewers seemed tired.

- Again?

- Ruthless...

- It's the first time I'm feeling sorry for a troll.

"I… I was wrong! P-please, save me! No, just kill me cleanly!"

As soon as Gyu-hyuk resurrected, he cried loudly and begged while clinging to JiHan's leg.

His previous arrogant attitude was nowhere to be seen.

- Tsk, tsk. That's why you shouldn't talk too much.

- The education part is satisfying... but this seems like way too much.

- Isn't that why Battle Net is for mature audiences in the first place?

- That makes sense. Someone always ends up being blown up in every game.

 If it were a streaming site hosted on Earth, it would've been blocked long ago, but none of those things applied to Battle Net. It was a bloody combat game from the beginning, so there was nothing like a filter. 

"I'll go easy this time."

"Ah... Aah... Please!"

JiHan ignored Gyu-hyuk's pleas and extended his hand again.

He wanted to make a clear example of what happened when you talked too much out of him, but at that moment…

[Sae-ah0822 has donated 10,000 GP.]

[Uncle! That's enough. I'm fine! If you keep going on with this, you'll lose subscribers!]

JiHan's hands stopped after he read Sae-ah0822's donation.

August 22nd…

An ID with Sae-ah's birthday would unlikely be an impersonation of her.

'But... this wasn't enough.'

JiHan looked at Gyu-hyuk.

Based on his previous life's standards, that much was nothing, and he should've been harsher with him. 

'Alright, let's stop...'

They were still in a peaceful time, so the people's moral values were different compared to when most of the world had collapsed.

That much should be enough for the moment, but there was something he needed to know.

"Who asked you to do this?"

"S-save me. No, just kill me... Yes?"

"Who told you to break the crystal? Don't tell me you did it of your own volition."

Gyu-hyuk quickly replied after he saw JiHan's cold gaze.

"It… it was the Sword King Fan Club! If… if you look at my channel, there's a quest worth 55,000 GP!"

"The Sword King Fan Club put out so much GP as a reward?"

"Y-yes... Sword King FC 898! That bastard alone offered 50,000 GP! On top of that, who was it…? Ah, yes. Sword King luv124! That bastard donated and asked me to curse you!"

Gyu-hyuk recited the list of donors one by one. It seemed like his bones hurt a lot.

"Really? Okay."

Even if it were a Sword King fan, spending 55K USD to get back at him once?

'That's suspicious. I'll look into this.'

JiHan grabbed Gyu-hyuk by the collar.

"You should thank Sae-ah for stopping me."

"U-understood! Thanks. Ms. Yoon, thank you very much!"

"Then go."

Whish!

JiHan threw Gyu-hyuk off of the tower, who shouted a cheer as he fell.

Even though he was about to die, there was joy on his face. 

Paf!

[The Mage 'Kim Gyu-hyuk' has died.]

[Kim Gyu-hyuk has been eliminated from this game.]

JiHan looked at the message with a serene gaze.

He'd killed Gyu-hyuk eight times since regressing. 

He probably wouldn't see such a scrub again once he resumed the leveling-up spree that he'd put on pause for a few days.

'I was unable to clear the chain quest due to this pointless disturbance.'

He could easily achieve a thousand kills if he resumed killing zombies.

[Tower 7 is the 3rd to be eliminated.]

Three towers had already been eliminated, and it seemed like time was running out.

Should he be satisfied with having used the three elixir fields to awaken Nameless Divine Arts?

Sung JiHan was thinking that when…

[You've eliminated 1,000 zombies by yourself.]

[You've cleared the chain quest 'Zombies' Source (1)'.]

"...?"

An unexpected message window suddenly popped up before his eyes.