Chapter 27 – Ticket (2)

Hansoo shook his head.

You need to handle your own problems.

This guy's suggestion was that two other people had to die.

Since the ticket needed for four people was six.

He was asking Hansoo to kill two for him because he didn't have the ability to do so himself.

It wasn't that he didn't but rather these things were something he had to do himself.

They were precious family to Gyucheol but in Hansoo's eyes, the other two were of equal value as them.

Gyucheol grinded his teeth after seeing Hansoo shake his head

But he realized quickly that it wasn't the time to do so.

Gyucheol, who had seen Hanchul charging at him, clenched down his teeth as he striked down on the neck of his daughter.

Smack

The daughter fell unconscious without even being able to scream.

Gyucheol, after lifting his daughter up, took her ticket as well as his dazed wife's ticket and got on the boat.

It didn't even take a second because the boat was next to them.

As Gyucheol grasped the three tickets the boat floated up in the air whilst making strange sound.

And Gyucheol's wife watched this scene in a daze as she mumbled.

"…honey?"

"I am sorry. But I should at least protect our daughter"

If they go as three then they would all die.

Since his wife and daughter would die if they get separated.

But if he went instead then he could at least protect his daughter to some degree.

"You! Are you crazy!?"

The wife, who was in shock, regained her senses and then spat out in rage.

But that at moment something aggressively landed on the top of the boat.

Booom!

"Hey uncle. Stop"

"…Damnit"

Gyucheol made a expression of despair as he looked at Hanchul who was holding a blade onto his daughter's neck whom he was holding.

The boat immediately stopped working as somebody who wasn't part of the boat as well as his ticket got on the boat.

And then everyone realized.

Then you couldn't leave this damned place with just some good luck.

Only people who can protect their boats can leave this place safely.

Hansoo mumbled inwardly.

'It isn't the time to sit around and idle'

He wanted to to stick around and then take some runes after killing a few people but if he dragged his time like that and then got caught by his ankles by others to drag him down then it would be over just like that.

He had to leave as soon as he collected the tickets.

"You should get off with your daughter"

Hanchul, who had taken the tickets in Gyucheol's hands, kicked off Gyucheol and his daughter onto the ground.

He didn't like it but it was a bit too much to kill the dad and his daughter together.

And if he tried to kill them then they would charge at him in a crazy manner which would drag him down.

"You beast! How could you do this!"

As Gyucheol cried out in despair whilst holding his daughter, Hanchul moved his blade closer as he smirked.

"So if you had fought in the front like others then you wouldn't be in such a situation. Uncle knows that you were around the same level as me when you came here right?"

"…"

Gyucheol grinded his teeth at those words but could not say anything.

Since these were all truths.

If he had fought in the front non-stop and ate runes then he probably wouldn't have lost the boat this easily now.

Gyucheol finally realized why Hansoo didn't care or interfere no matter how much they fought in front of him.

'…you were the most ruthless one'

He didn't whip others nor encourage others.

He just left them alone.

So they could choose and deal with the problems themselves.

And the fact that he had hidden in the fact with an excuse of defending his family had came back to him in conclusion.

Hanchul, who had been smirking at the dazed and despair filled Gyucheol next to his crying wife, turned his head and then spoke to Hansoo whilst looking at him.

"Hansoo. Let's go together"

"Hmm?"

"I wish for you to be with us. I can gather the tickets for you if you need them"

He hadn't said anything but Hanchul felt as if steam were rising off from his ears.

A wife and daughter who did not do anything.

And Gyuchul who had stayed in the back to defend such people.

A guy who had the strength to fight but only relied on his heals and took runes.

An extremely strong but crazy woman.

And two who were fighting properly but did not catch the eyes.

But because the others in the front were getting trampled by the eyes, the last two was actually rather dependable.

And at the same time, he thought of a game he used to enjoy in the past

A game where you had to make a team with five people.

In order to beat the enemy, they had to do whatever the team did no matter how much you hated it.

It was the same here.

Even if there were a lot of of the nine who were performing useless actions, they had to endure and follow

No, this was actually harder than the game

Since a game would be over just like that if you gave up but here you would just die.

An extremely serious situation.

He had to take useful people but there were nobody who caught his eyes.

No, it actually made his insides twist and turn at the thoughts of these people becoming a person who would be like a family to him after sharing the Symbol.

And Hansoo was naturally an existence that would catch his eyes in such a situation.

He wasn't a superhero or something like that.

'Well. We had originally started at the same place so there's no way he could be like that'

He wasn't an existence like a Deus Ex Machina which could solve the current situation by slashing apart the fairy and then returning them back to their original world.

Since the current Hansoo was also receiving injuries.

But he was very tough.

He was at least much stronger than them and the attitude of how he fought showed that he could trust and leave things to Hansoo.

He felt like a veteran that had lived through decades of battles.

'And if his character's like that then it's not that bad'

He followed the thing he needed to and didn't fall back, he also didn't take more than he earned.

This was why such decisions were made.

'We need people like him'

Someone like him was the type of people he needed to him and Hyunjin.

That was the only way to go through this world in this damnable world.

"Come with us. I believed that you have psychic powers since I've also seen it before"

And then Hanchul showed the back of his hand.

Ooong

A small shining symbol.

A symbol that couldn't be seen until now was shining on the back of Hanchul's hand.

As Hansoo showed a conspicuous color, Hanchul continued talking after believing that he had caught his interest.

"This is a psychic power that was manifested by my friend"

And then Hanchul told Hansoo the fact that he had found out, which was rather lacking informatively because the time they had it for wasn't that long, that Hansoo already knew.

"If I gain the permission of my friend then I can give you this Symbol to you too. And my friend would definitely agree to you"

The talk had already been completed already

If this guy was that trustable then let's give him the symbol first.

It didn't matter what his plans that he had in his mind were.

Since if they receive the symbol, they would become a trustable companion.

"Be with us. We are different from those mediocre people over there. And once you get this we can trust each other completely."

'I know well'

He knew too well.

How could he not.

Hansoo, who had thought of Eres and his other friends, just shook his head.

He could not go beneath a Lord this time.

"I'll refuse"

"Hmm?"

Hanchul spoke out in surprise as if he didn't expect the refusal.

'Why would he refuse this?'

It wasn't that they were tying him down with a contract.

The Symbol was connecting them with credit and connection.

And it was more trustable than a contract because of this and it also shone during times of crisis.

It wasn't a relationship made of understanding, which was like a sandcastle, which would collapse at a slight touch.

It was a psychic power that made a Lord.

He had looked at Hansoo as if his explanation wasn't enough but that was not it.

It wasn't that he was pondering but rather a direct refusal.

'Does he have a reason?'

Hanchul wanted to try a bit more but realized that this wasn't the time to be doing so.

Since others were approaching him after realizing that he had three tickets.

He definitely needed three tickets.

Since he agreed to meet in the <Central Island> above with Hyunjin.

"Damn. Then there's nothing I can do"

The boat was not rising as if it didn't work if there was more than three tickets.

Hanchul threw a ticket at Hansoo and then spoke as the boat rised up.

"You will probably survive and rise up. Let's see each other again if our destiny meets"

And then Hanchul disappeared quickly with the boat.

"Damn! This is mine!"

"No! I'm the one who's going to take this!"

As Hansoo left the ticket on the ground, everybody was making a huge commotion as they charged at the ticket.

But even within that chaos, Hansoo just continued to stand firmly.

He could interfere and then distribute three tickets at a time.

But if he did that then somebody who had the ability to collect three will lose their lives.

And it wouldn't mean much to save them to raise them up.

Since weaklings who can't even protect their own ticket will just die above.

Since it got harder and harder as things went on.

'In the end, you must take care of yourself'

The fight for the ticket continued after Hanchul had left.

The boats departed one by one.

The strongest people leisurely collected tickets and then rode on the boat alone to go where they wanted.

The people who weren't at that level looked around and then made an alliance as they got on the boat in duos.

And the weakest ones decided that going as a group of three was better grouped up and then rose in the boats as threes.

Soon there were only two boats left.

And somebody approached Hansoo while he was looking at the boats.

"Why did you refuse Hanchul's offer earlier?"

When Hansoo turned around he saw Jimin.

Jimin was rather laid back as if she had already collected three tickets.

Hansoo opened his mouth after staring at Jimin for a while.

"I have my own reasons. For what reason did you come to me?"

Jimin laughed as she spoke.

"I wanted to give you an offer as well. Let's go together"

And then Jimin showed him the black symbol on her hand.

A clear evidence that she was connected to a Lord.

But Hansoo shook his head.

A Deny.

'Well. It's as I expected'

Jimin shrugged her shoulders.

She knew that her offer would be refused he he had already refused Hanchul's offer.

Hansoo was a necessity to her sister but if not then there was nothing she could do.

'But why is he still around here'

Hansoo was just quietly standing in the corner without stealing tickets from others.

'Is he doing this because he feels bad stealing tickets from the others?'

Then there wasn't a failure like this guy.

'I knew as soon as you brought that Gyucheol or whatever guy behind you'

Jimin tutted her tongue.

And if it was really like that then Hansoo was not needed to them.

They didn't need people who weren't determined.

'Well. He wouldn't die at least'

As long as he protected his ticket then the last boat will remain.

So there will not be a case that the boat will leave as long as he held his ticket in his hand.

He would probably go up after gathering the remaining tickets right before the island fell completely.

'Well I'm not interested anymore'

Jimin, who had lost interest in Hansoo, got on a boat and then left the island.

And now there was one boat, three tickets and tens of people left.

The people who had been running away and throwing their tickets because they were afraid of the people on the boats.

In one aspect it was a clear choice.

Since the people who had left were  the people who wouldn't only take their tickets but also take their runes.

As the situation got dire, the people who had charged at them died just like that.

The people who had been zealously fighting and gathering runes were not an opponent for people who did not.

But it was right before the island would collapse.

It wasn't the time to hide around anymore.

They needed three tickets to activate the boat and the tickets in their hands would be meaningless without the ticket in Hansoo's hands.

And soon the people who had been hiding the tickets started to run crazily at Hansoo.

That guy was actually much much stronger than them.

Since the people who knew he had a ticket had all been crushed after trying to take him on.

Wasn't the fact that he stayed meant that he would take the last two with him.

Which meant the two people Hansoo chose would go with him.

But the others wouldn't just stay to watch this scene.

The people started to charge at the people running towards Hansoo.

"Damnit! This is mine!"

"You crazy bastard! There's no such thing as yours and mine!"

"Dammit! Please take this and take me too! You have to survive too!"

And Gyucheol was naturally part of this

"Hansoo! Please for the sake of the friendship we had so far! Please! At least take my daughter!"

Hansoo made a sad expression as he looked at them.

Their expectations were wrong.

He hadn't stayed to take two more people.

'…I am sorry.'

These guys weren't cards that were abandoned.

These were people that he had come back to save.

But he could not save everyone.

He could at most only save a few tens more no matter how he struggled within the tutorial area where the influence of the fairy was too strong.

There were too many things he needed to do and he could clearly see how many people would die if he failed to do so.

If he were to be pushed around because of his emotions here then billions of people will die.

He needed three tickets.

Since he needed to go to the <Central Island>

The only reason why he had stayed was because he had something he still needed to do.

'I will act according to my plans'

He needed to focus on his main mission.

Eres had told him that he was going back to save humanity but that was just the result.

He hadn't come back to save every single human.

He had come back to win.

Becoming strong in the tutorial was just a part of this plans as well as a part of his methods, without this method then he would fail to reach his goals and failing to reach the preliminaries meant failing to see the goal.

If humanity lost again because he took a step back then he had to just kill himself by smashing his head on a boulder.

"I'm Sorry"

"…what?"

The people spoke in confusion from Hansoo's abrupt speech.

Hansoo's expression, which had sadness, started to turn cold.

The reason why he hadn't killed or stolen so far was to stop the stories from spreading.

And he couldn't kill everyone who had seen this just to shut their mouthes.

Eres disagreed until the end.

<Are you crazy?! What are you doing?! You're going to do such things when you're going to save them?! What did they do wrong?!>

But Keldian kept pushing him back until the end

<Those guys have already been weeded out. They would die eventually even if they go up>

And he added something else.

<And Eres. You know that this place isn't the place where you die if you do something wrong. It's a place where you die if you are weak.>

<…>

These were people who would fall along with the island.

The people here aren't the people who he would choose from.

These were people who had already been weeded out in this damnable round of game.

And this is where Keldian's suggestion came out.

<If they were going to die anyway let's just use them as fertilizer according to our original plans>

They had finally reached a consensus after arguing for a while.

He would not purposely kill them.

He didn't feel like it and if he did do that then the people with the Lord's marks would know that he had done it.

And that would be troublesome.

But he was going to devour everybody who had been left behind until the end before he left.

Since these guys were going to fall with the island anyway.

And down below was an ordinary looking but harsh ocean.

If they fall then they would die in extreme pain.

Slowly, bit by bit.

The fairies watched this in extreme amusement.

'I'll at least send you off comfortably'

Kiiiiik!

Hansoo grasped the needle in his hand so hard to the point it crumpled.

The rune eater snake that was around his wrist shouted in glee as if it expected predation.

Then Hansoo charged towards the people making a commotion with a cold look on his face.