Chapter 178

The Demon King approached me and put a hand on my shoulder. I couldn't feel any body warmth. I could see that his hand was on my shoulder, but I couldn't feel it.

He whispered in my ear.

"I'll wait for you at Endless Sky."

I heard a notice. Those incomprehensible words weren't all.

[A gift has arrived.]

['Blacksmith's Red Jewel' acquired.]

The Demon King sent me a gift.

'What is it?'

[Blacksmith's Red Jewel]

-?

The Demon King disappeared. I was unable to move from my spot.

'He sent another gift.'

Just what in the world did the Demon King think about me? He didn't show me unconditional goodwill, but it was a definite fact that he was helping me a great deal. He was different from the Demon King I knew, though the overwhelming force and power he radiated did correspond with the Demon King.

'I can't… make heads or tails of him.'

Then, I heard another notice.

[The 'Night of Shooting Stars' is greatly satisfied by your qualifications.]

The Guardian evaluated my qualifications as a bowman rather highly, it seemed.

[Blackfire Bow has been reclaimed.]

He took the Blackfire Bow back. I was sorry to see it go—it was a really decent bow. If I had the chance later, I would try getting a good bow somewhere.

[The 'Night of Shooting Stars' promises a big sponsorship.]

Our big investor took the bait very nicely. A response was necessary.

"As thanks for your kind judgment of my inadequate vessel, I will do my best to prove my qualifications."

For now, I had to wring the Guardians as much as I could for the sake of my growth. There was no better gullible customer than the Night of Shooting Stars.

A groan from one corner pulled me back from my thoughts, reminding me of Vela's existence. He'd collapsed in one corner of the room like a crumpled wad of paper.

"Eurgh…"

Vela's resilience exceeded my imagination. His head was pretty busted up, but it took him less than three minutes to regain consciousness.

"That jerk. Where is he? I gotta beat the shit out of him."

"..."

Even though he knew he was no match, his 'fighting spirit' wasn't a pretense. He seemed to actually want to go toe to toe with the Demon King. This guy fully admitted defeat to me, but still wanted to fight the Demon King. He was really beyond comprehension.

That moment, his summary changed.

Summary: Fighter Burning with Fighting Spirit after meeting his Archrival

'Archrival? Fighting spirit?'

A fight between them would be over and done in one second. Even one second was generous. It would be 0.1 seconds. I wanted to tell him that if he had taken a proper hit from the Demon King, he would have died.

'In any case… his fighting spirit itself is nice to see.'

It was way better than him being depressed and moping around, at least. Vela recovered by downing dozens of potions.

"We're going to the 2nd floor," I said.

There should have been plenty of time to clear the scenario, but it hadn't been cleared yet. I suspected something happened on the 2nd floor.

[Move to the 2nd Floor?]

We ported to the 2nd floor via the escalator. Nothing 'big' had happened on the 2nd floor. The guild members of Wings were scattered on the ground.

'They're not human.'

Twelve Phantom Knights and two humans. What was the word for them? Summoned creatures? Dolls? I didn't know the exact term. Only two of the guild members were humans—one young man, and one young woman.

Name: Kim Donghyun

Name: Kim Ahyun

Judging by their names, they were probably brother and sister. They also looked alike. They were 19 and 18, respectively. The two were public figures I remembered.

The Steel Bulwark, Kim Donghyun. And the Steel Mage, Kim Ahyun. They would grow into Players skilled enough to warrant occasional comparisons to the 8 Heroes. In the case of Kim Ahyujn, despite possessing the moniker of Steel Mage, she wasn't a very conspicuous Player. Sometimes, people referred to her as a 'typical mage carried by Wings' halo'.

'That's what the world thought, but…'

In truth, there were only two 'real Players' in Wings.

"Hey, wake up."

They weren't in critical condition. Some kind of special power had put them to sleep. Without the coercion of that power, they would wake up on their own.

Darongi jumped down from my shoulder, went up to Kim Donghyun, and sniffed about.

[!!!]

Exclamation points popped up above his head.

"Oh. Found something?"

Darongi thumped his chest, as if saying, 'Just leave it to me!' He clambered onto Kim Donghyun's chest and burrowed in, almost like he was digging into the ground. The young man's clothes were ripped apart, and I was concerned that his chest would be wounded at this rate.

Just then, Darongi's face broke into a grin, clutching a big crystal.

'Ah.'

Kim Donghyun got the Clear Crystal, but he was unable to destroy it, leaving this place uncleared.

'Why… was he unable to finish the job after getting so far?'

I had a good idea why.

'The Demon King arranged it.'

Somehow, the Demon King I encountered gave off a very different feeling from the Demon King in my memories. If he was the Demon King I knew, Vela and I, much less Kim Donghyun and Kim Ahyun, would have been corpses by now. He might have even slaughtered all the people outside this dungeon. That was the kind of existence people, including me, thought the Demon King was.

'He went out of his way to knock them unconscious.'

And the Demon King knew that I had a pet named Darongi.

'There's no doubt that he arranged it so I could take the Clear Crystal and secure the clear, but…'

Why did he do it?

'How come the Demon King arranged things for my benefit?'

I didn't know the answer. For now, I decided to clear this place. I crushed the Clear Crystal, and this flash scenario came to an end.

* * *

[The scenario is in an overhauled state from a variable related to 'Justice'.]

[The D-Tower 2nd Floor has been cleared.]

[The clear requirements of the flash scenario have been fulfilled.]

The original clear conditions were 'survival for 24 hours' or 'the deaths of 38,122 people'. But I gained the rights of an 'Arbitrator', establishing new conditions and enabling a different clear method.

[Your 'Arbitrator' rights have been relinquished.]

[The 'Scenario Outline' returns to dust.]

Rewards were given out for the flash scenario clear.

[Calculating the flash scenario clear rewards.]

[3,000 Coins acquired.]

3,000 Coins was all I got as the clear rewards.

'Why is it so stingy?'

For a scenario that was supposed to have killed 30,000 people, the reward was too small.

'Is it because I got the Regeneration Serum?'

It might be that there was a set limit to the rewards that could be given to Players within a scenario. Basically, I carved away all the rewards that could be acquired by other Players by getting the 'treasure' called the Regeneration Serum.

'Well, it's fine.'

If not for me, 30,000 people would have really died. I didn't do all this to save them, but that was the result, and I got the treasure that was the Regeneration Serum. Additionally, I received a Blacksmith's Red Jewel from the Demon King, though I didn't know what it was for.

I heard another notice.

[As a reward for clearing the hidden scenario, you will be given 'information about the future'.]

[In 24 hours, the 'Gran Seoul Dungeon' will open.]

At long last, the Gran Seoul Dungeon, the dungeon all Players on the Korean server absolutely needed to clear in order to break into the intermediate period, was opening.

But the notices didn't stop there.

[Providing information about the Gran Seoul Dungeon's 'hidden piece'.]

The information lined up with what Vela told me.

'A Player from the far removed Italian server… had intel on a hidden piece in the Korean server.'

It wasn't just Italy's Vela. The UK's explorer, Jackson, was in Korea right now as well. Was something happening at this time period in Korea that I didn't know about?

'If the same thing happened in the past…'

If you took the puzzle piece that was 'me' out of everything that had happened so far, how would the situation progress?

"I've been given a piece of the Gran Seoul Dungeon Map," I said.

[Fragment of the Gran Seoul Dungeon Map]

A piece of a map bearing information about the Gran Seoul Dungeon's hidden piece. Only those with this map can activate the hidden piece. This map is divided into a total of two fragments, and both pieces are required for activation.

*The other fragment has been given to a Player from the Italian server.

The description was even kind enough to tell me which server the Player who had the other part of the map was from.

"Vela. I'm guessing you've got a fragment of the map."

"Yup. How did you know?"

"I just got one, too."

He flew here all the way from Italy, met me through the flash scenario, and the two of us completed the map. Vela handed his piece of the map to me.

"We need both pieces of the map to complete it, yeah? Here. Take this and do something with it."

"..."

I had no idea what drove this man to trust me and give me his piece of the map. Was he an actual idiot?

"I see you're a trusting guy."

"Naw, I don't just trust anyone, you know."

Anyone could see that wasn't the case.

"Whatever it looks like to you, I'm pretty gucci at doubting people."

"Did someone tell you that?"

"Yeah. My childhood friend."

His childhood friend, Pedro, a famous Master of Italy and a Youtuber, said it. For now, I agreed with him and took the map fragment.

Just then, Kim Ahyun hesitantly approached us and greeted me. She had regained consciousness.

"Thank you."

"It's nothing. I only did what had to be done."

She patted Kim Donghyun's back.

"Oppa. C'mon, get up."

"A-Ah…" Kim Donghyun also gave me a hesitant greeting. "Thank you."

It was a bad thing to get the Steel Bulwark and the Steel Mage indebted to me. They would definitely repay the favor one day. For example, in a place that required high defense and constitution, like the Sangam World Cup Stadium Dungeon.

"Why were you unconscious?" I asked.

"Well…" Kim Donghyun dithered, causing Kim Ahyun to step forward in frustration.

"We don't know exactly why, either. There was a flash, and then I don't remember anymore."

The two siblings appeared very different from the Kim Donghyun and Kim Ahyun I knew. Later, Kim Donghyun would handle most of the external matters, and Kim Ahyun became a mage Player almost shrouded in mystery. Looking at them now, Kim Ahyun was taking a much more active role than her brother.

'He seems to be completely at the mercy of his little sister.'

That was how it seemed, but amusingly, Kim Donghyun would later assume the frontman role. The other knights were quietly standing behind the two.

'There were rumors that they were all Players, but…'

I was getting addicted to the fun of uncovering the unknown. I thought I studied and memorized a great deal, but the world in my books and the world I was experiencing was very different.

[The flash scenario has come to a complete end.]

[The D-Tower Dungeon is reverting back to the 'Tutorial Building'.]

The scenario was cleared, and this place that had briefly become the D-Tower Dungeon went back to its original role, the Tutorial Building for beginners.

'Looks like it'll be hard to get more information about the Demon King from these two.'

This place was now back to being the Tutorial Building. I heard screams from all over. The 1st and 2nd floors were currently connected.

'More people… died than I thought.'

I showed them how to hunt the Fanged Moles, but even so, quite a lot of people had died. I did what I could. I even gave them sufficient warning while using Cognitive Dissonance. Their deaths were the price they paid for their actions, the price for not listening to my warning.

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