'I got him!'
…At least, that was what Jeon Choong-Jae thought.
He had not failed to notice Chang-Sun swaying after finishing off the Plague Spider. As such, even as the Dungeon started closing, Choong-Jae forced his slaves to attack. They whined about not wanting to go, but they could not defy him. All Choong-Jae had to do was blow apart the head of the person who protested the loudest. The slaves knew they would die either way, so they had no choice but to run toward Chang-Sun.
Choong-Jae believed that, as Chang-Sun was not a fool, he would most likely find himself busy fighting them, or otherwise use up more stamina while trying to capture the slaves alive to save them. No matter how things turned out, the fact that Chang-Sun had to use every bit of his strength would not change.
However, Chang-Sun grinned.
'Is he smiling?'
Choong-Jae thought he was mistaken for a moment. A smile had spread across Chang-Sun's face.
[The Celestial '### ### ###' bursts into maniacal laughter, saying that she feels as though she is going to see an interesting spectacle!]
Just then, the sound of a mechanism engaging entered Choong-Jae's ears.
Click!
[The Player 'Jeon Choong-Jae' and his group have fallen into the trap!]
"What?"
"Trap?"
'Did the system just say 'trap'? What does that mean?' Choong-Jae thought, unable to understand. Were they the ones who had fallen into the trap instead of Chang-Sun?
"What are you talking…?!" he began, trying to demand an explanation from the system about the meaning of the message. However…
"Nothing much."
Chang-Sun's voice entered Choong-Jae's ears first. It was coming from a substantial distance away, but it was somehow completely clear, as if he were whispering directly to Choong-Jae.
"It means you're fucked."
The previous sight of the exhausted Chang-Sun seemed like a mirage. He smiled widely, showing his canines, looking directly at Choong-Jae. Then, gripping [Tiamat's Snaggletooth] tightly, he leaped toward Choong-Jae.
Bam!
Clash―!
"S-Stop him!" Choong-Jae stuttered, finally realizing something had gone wrong. From the looks of it, the situation was unfolding in a way that was entirely beyond his wildest expectations.
Before anyone knew it, the Dungeon's closure stopped as if it had never begun in the first place. The air also changed abruptly, becoming heavy and sticky. As the uncomfortable sensation descended on him, Choong-Jae felt his heart ache as if someone had begun to grip it tightly. Having spent his whole life in peace, he did not recognize it for what it was—the air of the battlefield.
[A Sudden Quest (Escape the Trap) has been created!]
The quest's title was not 'Install the Trap'; it was 'Escape the Trap'. It seemed that Chang-Sun had been the one to set the trap.
Had the goddess not known that this would happen? Choong-Jae desperately called out for the goddess who had led him here. Soon, he did feel the goddess' presence, but…
[The Celestial '### ### ###' has begun watching the Sudden Quest with interest.]
Strangely, the goddess seemed to be interested in what was going on. However, it was not Choong-Jae that she was interested in, but rather someone else. She was watching Lee Chang-Sun.
[The Celestial '### ### ###' has stopped thinking about her subordinate.]
As the goddess' subordinate, Choong-Jae was informed that she no longer took any interest in him. She had no interest or concern remaining for him. Unlike before, she no longer pressured or rushed Choong-Jae. As if she were merely watching a pebble rolling across a road, she thought nothing of him.
'No way…!'
Choong-Jae finally realized what he was to the goddess: A toy.
From the start, the goddess had been interested in Chang-Sun, not Choong-Jae. Choong-Jae had been used to spice the tutorial up; he was simply a pawn on the deities' chessboard.
Slash―!
With a single stroke, Chang-Sun severed the head of the player who had attacked him first. His attack was so cruel that it made the others wonder how he could kill a human without any hesitation. Still, the attack was indisputably effective. No one else dared to try to stop Chang-Sun after a couple of players who had sworn their loyalty to Choong-Jae, just as Han Shin-Gu had, were killed instantly by his counterattacks.
"Stop him!" Choong-Jae yelled.
However, no matter how loudly he shouted, no matter how many times he tried to force them to act using the slave mark, the brand had limits. In the end, Chang-Sun quickly broke through the slaves' attack.
Besides that, there was a bigger problem…
[The cursed Player 'Woo Jong-Woon' has died.]
[Due to the 'Stigma Brand', their remaining life force now belongs to you!]
[The transaction has been canceled.]
[For an unknown reason, their life force now belongs to someone else.]
'...What?' Choong-Jae thought to himself.
The problem was that the brand that had rapidly made Choong-Jae stronger no longer worked properly.
Had the goddess taken the skill away? No, that was unlikely. Although she had become indifferent toward him, his status as a subordinate remained unchanged. The Sudden Quest was still active as well. Rather, there was something else, something that had forced its way into the brand to receive the incoming life force.
[There are currently two hosts for the 'brand'.]
As he tried to figure out the cause, Choong-Jae suddenly noticed Chang-Sun approaching. His eyes were drawn to Chang-Sun's shoulder, which was covered in blood. He could not see them clearly through the blood, but there seemed to be some strange characters tattooed on Chang-Sun's shoulder. Choong-Jae did not know what they meant, but they emanated the same demonic energy that coursed through his body.
Chang-Sun was the other host!
[The Celestial '### ### ###' is extremely curious about how Chang-Sun was able to steal her magic!]
Claaash!
Choong-Jae managed to stop Chang Sun's strike with great difficulty. The gap in strength was so great that Chang-Sun's blade had almost reached Choong-Jae's face.
Gritting his teeth, Choong-Jae forced himself to speak. "How… did you…?"
After stopping Chang-Sun's attack, Choong-Jae's shaking hands hurt so much that it felt as if they were about to fall off. Still, he endured by using every bit of the strength that he had absorbed so far.
One thing was certain: He never wanted to seem weak in front of Chang-Sun. He had been humiliated enough in the past.
"Jeon Choong-Jae, Jeon Choong-Jae… The name was on the tip of my tongue. I finally remember now."
After watching Jeon Choong-Jae with an emotionless gaze, Chang-Sun's lips twisted into a sharp smirk. It looked as if he had forcibly dug up a memory that he had buried somewhere deep.
"There was this one bastard who complained to me about being fired from the club. It was really pathetic when he complained nonstop… Don't tell me it was you?"
Choong-Jae's face contorted, filled with mixed emotions. The painful memories of that day flashed vividly before his eyes as if they had happened yesterday. He wanted to protest the fact that Chang-Sun had summed up that day using only the word 'pathetic.'
"And after all these years, you're still pathetic," Chang-Sun said mockingly.
It seemed he had no intention of listening to Choong-Jae's protests. His eyes were as sharp as that of a lion with its prey right in front of it. The 'Tyrant' who could overwhelm his opponents with his gaze alone had appeared once again.
Bang!
Choong-Jae had to retreat as far as he could, unable to withstand Chang-Sun's attacks any longer. [Tiamat's Snaggletooth] buried itself deeply into the ground where Choong-Jae had been standing.
As if it had been hit by a missile, the ground exploded. Dust and stone fragments flew into the air. Chang-Sun broke through in an instant and began closely pursuing Choong-Jae, who had begun running away.
Zoom, zoom―!
Clash, clash!
Like a rushing storm, Chang-Sun continuously attacked using [Tiamat's Snaggletooth].
It was impossible for an ordinary Player like Choong Jae to deflect Chang-Sun's blade. After all, Chang-Sun had cultivated his sword skills by wandering across countless battlefields.
[The skill activation has been canceled!]
[The skill activation has been canceled!]
Choong-Jae tried to activate the skill he had received from the goddess by any means possible, but [Tiamat's Snaggletooth] stopped it from being activated. The repeated cancellations even began to cause a magic backlash.
With great difficulty, Choong-Jae swallowed the blood that had risen into his throat, but his head was already spinning. He was at his limit—his left arm had been severed, and blood poured out of the stump. He was certain to die from the excessive bleeding.
'No! This can't happen!'
Choong-Jae flailed like a drowning person treading the surface of the water. Thinking to himself that he could not die just like that, he struggled with all he had. However, he had no way left to resist.
[Stamina has reached 0!]
[Magic has reached 0!]
[Warning! You have fallen into the 'Near Death' state. You are advised to take a break after moving to a safe place.]
...
[Warning! You are bleeding excessively. There is a danger of dying from excessive bleeding. You are advised to take a break.]ViiSiit n𝒐velb𝒊/n(.)c/(𝒐)m for l𝒂test 𝒏𝒐vels
'Dear goddess, please hear my words…!'
Choong-Jae desperately called out to the being who had given him power, but he received no answer.
Clash!
At that moment, a strong strike came from below, tearing Choong-Jae's hand apart. He lost his grip on his sword, which flew into the air. As the blade spun in midair, it reflected the sight of the blood-soaked Choong-Jae into his own blurry eyes. The emotion on his face was difficult to discern—it was either despair or frustration.
One thing was clear, however: Choong-Jae could see that he looked like a loser. That was what he had called the people who fell after stupidly becoming slaves to the brand, but he had never expected that he would see their pathetic fates in himself.
[The Celestial '### ### ###' looks at her pathetic subordinate with an emotionless gaze.]
Snik!
Chang-Sun buried [Tiamat's Snaggletooth] deep in Choong-Jae's throat.
Like a goldfish, Choong-Jae opened and closed his mouth wordlessly. He wanted to say 'No!', and to ask why Chang-Sun had been able to do what he could not. His question remained unanswered, however, as he was unable to even voice it.
Slash―!
Choong-Jae felt as if he had just heard something fall. His head fell, rolling across the ground with his final look of desperation frozen on it.
Thud!
[Failed to complete the Sudden Quest (Escape the Trap)!]
[A penalty will now be given.]
[Penalty: Death.]
* * *
[The cursed Player 'Jeon Choong-Jae' has died.]
"…!"
"…!"
"…!"
The people who had been watching the fight between Chang-Sun and Chong-Jae all trembled. Choong-Jae had filled them with fear to begin with, and now Chang-Sun had overwhelmed Choong-Jae. They were truly unable to think of Chang-Sun as a human being, and that gave them all the more reason to be afraid. Their fates were entirely in Chang-Sun's hands.
However, even though that was what they all thought, Chang-Sun paid no attention to them.
Pzzz―!
He was concentrating on absorbing the life force from Choong-Jae.
[Due to the 'Stigma Brand', the remaining life force now belongs to the host indefinitely!]
[The amount of life force present is plentiful.]
[It will require a significant amount of time to absorb.]
...
[The Celestial 'World-Encircling Serpent' advises you to slowly absorb the magic, as it is very different from what you currently have.]
[The Celestial 'World-Encircling Serpent' says that too much greed is not good, however. He advises you to give up part of it if necessary.]
[The Celestial 'World-Encircling Serpent' marvels at your knowledge, for you to have been able to hijack such a high-level brand.]
The reason why Chang-Sun had been able to acquire the brand was very simple—he had just snatched it. By 'modifying' Woo Hye-Bin's brand, Chang-Sun had promoted her to the rank of host, the same level as Choong-Jae. As such, Hye-Bin could intercept and take the life force generated whenever someone with the brand died.
In addition to Hye-Bin's brand, Chang-Sun had engraved an additional rune that activated automatically, known as a 'Transference Rune'.
[The Celestial 'World-Encircling Serpent' compliments you for the excellent idea of using a host as a conduit for life force.]
The Transference Rune transmitted all the life forceHye-Bin absorbed to Chang-Sun. Of course, there were some losses during the transmission, but there was such a vast amount of life force that the losses seemed negligible in comparison. Choong-Jae had been extracting a massive amount of life force from his victims.
'Although the quality is pretty poor, I feel as if I've eaten a hundred-year-old elixir,' Chang-Sun thought.
As Jörmungandr had advised him, mana that contained so many impurities was not good to absorb in large quantities. It carried the risk of side-effects, such as Demonization Syndrome or an uncontrolled outbreak of mana.
However, Chang-Sun did not care. It was necessary for him to increase the raw quantity of his mana. In any event, he had a way of purifying the tainted mana—he had the Eight Trigrams Brazier, which he would be able to light soon.
[The Celestial '### ### ###' is observing you with interest, due to your having snatched the brand's energy.]
[The Celestial '### ### ###' congratulates you, saying that their expectations of you were proven correct and that the 'Tutorial' was very interesting.]
'They were indeed testing me.'
Chang-Sun glared at the message sent by the deity who had pretended to be 'Twilight-Piercing Owl' to Choong-Jae and the civilians. From the start, he had thought it was strange for a deity to show interest in Choong-Jae, who did not have any talent. However, it seemed that an unknown deity had shoved Choong-Jae around to spice the Tutorial up.
'Who is this deity?'
Chang-Sun was sure that the deity was a great devil, but he could not guess their name. Considering the way they were wily and liked to devise plots, several names crossed his mind. Strangely, however, Chang-Sun had a strong feeling that it was none of those deities.
[The Celestial '### ### ###' ponders which gift to bestow on you for providing such entertainment.]
[The Celestial has decided what gift to bestow on you. Opening the surprise gift in five seconds.]
[5…]
[4…]
When he saw the countdown, Chang-Sun looked up resolutely. He was not done absorbing the magic, but he had to stop the process no matter what. He said, "I'm going to decline this unnecessary gift. I have zero intention of joining the evil camp."
The surprise gift from the unknown great devil was the lives of the branded slaves.