49. Round 4 Results Tally
"Haa, haa."
Seo Arin breathed heavily.
"Ms. Arin, are you tired?"
"Haa, I-I'm fine. Actually, more than physically, it's mentally..."
An Sang-cheol nodded as if understanding.
The scene of people slashing each other and splattering blood was beyond awful, to the point of being hard to watch.
It felt like this might be what hell is like.
The pure white space made it look even more stimulating.
This wasn't a scene from a B-grade gore movie.
It was reality unfolding before their eyes.
Well, he could endure it to some extent, but the problem was Seo Arin.
'With an hour left until it ends, I wonder if she can hold out.'
An Sang-cheol was worried about Seo Arin's mental state.
She was Ma Gyeong-rok's business item and asset.
If her mental state wasn't sound and it affected the business, he wouldn't be able to face the CEO.
"Die!!!"
"Not so fast."
An Sang-cheol swung his sword at a thug targeting Seo Arin.
Clang-!
After deflecting the guy's weapon, he slashed his shoulder.
The guy's upper body was completely exposed.
"Ms. Arin!"
At his urgent call, Seo Arin bit her lip hard and thrust her sword.
Stab-!
The sword pierced the heart precisely.
The thug who had been trembling collapsed.
An Sang-cheol looked at the sight with satisfaction.
'She does well when told what to do.'
He had instructed Seo Arin to finish off opponents he incapacitated.
'Seo Arin with no combat ability won't be able to survive unless she does this much.'
It was like spoon-feeding her.
Still, it wasn't completely free help since her summon cast protective barriers.
"Ugh."
While Seo Arin was pulling out her sword with a horrified face.
"Yaaah!"
Another thug appeared from the side.
Clang clang-!
After exchanging a few blows, An Sang-cheol slashed the wrist while withdrawing his sword.
"Aak!"
Seizing the moment, he slashed the forearm and then cut the opponent's neck.
'I can't just keep giving. I need to build my own record to survive.'
His movements were smooth and natural.
The Sword Rune received upon changing to Knight class had made An Sang-cheol a skilled swordsman.
Seo Arin, who had struggled to pull out her sword, asked with a pale face.
"Mr. Bodyguard... how long do we have to fight like this...?"
"We probably have to fight for another hour."
"I'm dying just from watching... I don't understand why everyone is killing and being killed like this."
Though Seo Arin looked clearly exhausted, An Sang-cheol felt no sympathy.
'She's weak, so weak. Is this because she's a greenhouse flower?'
He just felt it was pathetic.
An Sang-cheol hid his inner thoughts and said.
"If you're tired, rest now. Haven't you killed about 50 people?"
"I guess so..."
"That should be enough to rank. Leave the rest to me."
"Thank you... really."
'Thanks for what.'
Rather, he was more grateful.
It was a chance to build up the record he couldn't while spoon-feeding her.
An Sang-cheol kept watch in all directions while holding his sword.
Even if he just stood still, people crazed with madness would rush at him on their own.
"Come."
An Sang-cheol's sword drew an elegant curve.
* * *
[Time remaining until round end: 00:10:21]
'It's about time for it to end.'
Ryumin, who was looking at the progress window, swung his scythe widely.
Slash-!
The body of a player approaching from behind was cut cleanly in half.
'There's only 10 minutes left, but it's not over until it's over.'
He needed to build up his record as much as possible to rank 1st across all areas.
But he couldn't just kill anyone indiscriminately.
'The rankings aren't simply determined by how many you killed.'
No, killing many was correct.
But he needed to kill as diverse a range of people as possible.
Killing the same person repeatedly only counted as 1.
That was the hidden ranking measurement method for this round.
'It means I shouldn't kill like that guy.'
Ryumin's gaze was directed at none other than Hwang Yongmin.
"Die! Die, you bastards!"
He was beating to death with his bare fists the delinquents who were once his friends.
And doing it right after they revived.
'The round is almost over but he's still doing that in the same spot. I wonder how many times he's killed the same people.'
Cunningly, Hwang Yongmin had lured his delinquent friends to one spot to kill them.
Taking advantage of the fact that they revive in the same place they died, he had essentially designated their grave site.
'To think he's just beating to death five delinquent friends in that spot over and over.'
Most likely, those delinquent guys will have a hard time surviving this round.
If they die right after reviving like that, they won't even have a chance to build up a record.
'Hwang Yongmin who only killed the same people might fail due to a low record too, but...'
He wasn't worried about that.
Hwang Yongmin's nickname color was darker than expected.
It meant he had killed several others besides his friends.
'It seems he killed other players while waiting for revivals.'
To show that much ability with an unclassed body that even has penalties.
'Well, he did survive until Round 5 in previous regressions.'
It looks like he's killed about 30 people, so he should pass this round without much difficulty.
'Not to mention me.'
Ryumin walked while holding his scythe.
He looked over the players with eyes like searching for prey.
All the nicknames were red.
No matter how he looked, he couldn't find any fluorescent colors.
All of the thousand players had committed murder without exception.
'Is it right to call it murder? Everyone revives without exception after 10 minutes.'
People were able to kill so freely because of the fact that they revive.
'The atmosphere of madness played a part too.'
Ryumin also joined the atmosphere and cut down people.
They were people he had never met, but that's why he could cut them down.
'If I stay still, I'll die.'
If I don't build up a record, I'll be eliminated.
But I don't want to miss out on the 1st place reward either.
I need to grow stronger somehow to reach Round 20.
'I don't know how strong the final boss is. So I need to get as strong as possible.'
The reason for killing wasn't simply because of revival.
Survival.
People were fighting for survival.
It was familiar to modern people living in a competitive society.
'From this round on, players will lose their aversion to killing.'
They are players who have already experienced dozens of murders, even if virtual.
Would they feel aversion to really killing in reality?
'They'll act even more uninhibitedly from now on. The lawless zone will accelerate.'
They point swords at each other and kill ordinary people to prove their superiority.
That is the future of players.
'Not everyone will be like that though.'
Players who haven't lost their humanity will feel guilt and remorse for murder.
Ryumin wasn't without such feelings either.
'That's why I'm killing them as painlessly as possible now.'
But he killed without mercy those players who rushed at him first.
'There's no mercy for those who attack first.'
And he never killed a player he had killed once before.
There was no point in killing them more than twice anyway.
'In other words, it means I remembered the nicknames of all the players I killed.'
Remembering the nicknames of hundreds of players?
It was difficult, but not impossible.
'If you just remember the key keywords of nicknames simply and clearly, you can memorize them.'
It was also possible because of his high Intelligence stat.
'I killed that one, and that one too.'
He rolled his eyes busily as he passed by players.
Ryumin's targets were players he had never killed before.
But most were ones he had already killed.
'I don't remember that one. It's the first time.'
As soon as he found a player he hadn't killed before, he immediately swung his scythe.
After splitting their head in two, he left without looking back to search for the next target.
'There's not much time left. I need to build up my record as much as possible.'
As he was slaughtering while searching for prey with his eyes lit up to take 1st place across all areas.
A pillar of light descended from the sky and sealed his movements.
Time was up.
[Kihihihi! Did you all enjoy murdering?]
The players each trapped in pillars gave cold gazes towards the angel.
How could it be enjoyable to kill the same people?
Some even looked at the angel who gave such a disgusting quest with resentful eyes.
Though the angel was just a guide.
[Oh my, look at all that filthy blood. The clean space has become a complete mess, hasn't it?]
"..."
[Anyway, good job killing each other. Before we look at the tally results, let me revive the dead humans.]
Even before the angel spoke, the system was already reviving the dead.
'She's talking as if she's reviving them herself. When she doesn't even have that ability.'
As Ryumin was sneering at the angel, the players revived and were trapped in pillars without exception.
Even Hwang Yongmin's friends who had been killed for 3 hours straight could breathe alive at this moment.
"Hwang Yongmin, you bastard!"
"You damn bastard! I'll kill you!"
"You worm worse than Jo Jung-sik!"
Though they were busy hurling insults at Hwang Yongmin from inside the light pillars.
[Quiet quiet! I'll burst the heads of any humans who make noise now.]
"..."
[Now it's a bit quieter. Well, now that everyone's revived, shall we look at the results? Ah! Before that, we should see what the sub-quest for this round was, right?]
"Sub-quest?"
"There was one this time too?"
[Of course there was. Did you think there wasn't? Are you stupid? Keke.]
"..."
The angel who teased the humans proudly displayed the quest window.
└Kill the Area Representative within the time limit
└Reward upon success ▶ Lowest Grade Magic Stone Drawing Ticket
"K-kill the Area Representative?"
"This was the sub-quest?"
[That's right, you stupid humans. By the way, only one human in our area achieved the sub-quest. It was Black Scythe.]
"B-Black Scythe?"
"Come to think of it..."
"He killed Hwang Yongmin and took the Area Representative position not long after it started, right?"
"Ah, that's right."
The people who had criticized Black Scythe for killing Hwang Yongmin clicked their tongues regretfully.
'If I had known, I would have killed Hwang Yongmin myself...'
'Damn. To think becoming Area Representative was actually beneficial this round.'
However, Hwang Yongmin who had actually died was hearing this news for the first time.
'I-I died? To Black Scythe?'
Could this be why he blacked out at the start?
Hwang Yongmin, who realized he had died and revived, hurriedly checked his skill window.
'It's gone. The Command Authority that was there as a temporary skill is gone.'
Though he had used up all the chances, the Command Authority skill had clearly remained in his skill window.
But now it was completely gone.
'Did the Area Representative authority really transfer? To Black Scythe?'
Was this what he meant by helping so he wouldn't be targeted?
That he would take the Representative tag for himself?
Hwang Yongmin looked at Ryumin as if dumbfounded.
Though Ryumin didn't give him a single glance, as if uninterested.
[Now, shall we look at the tally results? Ah, before that, you're curious about what criteria was used for the rankings, right?]
The angel revealed the rules that had been hidden until now.
[The ranking method is based on the order of killing diverse humans. Even if you kill the same human multiple times, it only counts as 1.]
"It was diverse humans?"
"Wasn't it just killing a lot?"
[How could it be that simple? Kihihi, let's see the results right away.]
A results window appeared at the angel's wing flap.
★ Round 4 Results Tally ★
[All Areas]
└1st. Black Scythe (Lv30 Reaper) 722 kills
└2nd. Stupid Idiots (Lv13 Shaman) 521 kills
└3rd. Sky Horse (Lv13 Dark Knight) 433 kills
[This Area ESKS45-5]
└1st. Black Scythe (Lv30 Reaper) 722 kills
└2nd. Cute Baby Bird (Lv11 Warrior) 211 kills
└3rd. An Sang-cheol (Lv11 Knight) 209 kills
[Black Scythe took 1st place this time too, huh?]
'That's a relief.'
While Ryumin sighed in relief at the relatively comfortable 1st place.
The players were looking at Ryumin with somewhat disgusted expressions.
"To think he killed over 700 people..."
"How is that even possible?"
"Weren't there about 1000 of us?"
"Then he killed 70% by himself?"
"He's crazy, insane."
Like the people shaking their heads, the angel also couldn't help but admire.
[Wow! You killed 722 people by yourself? That's amazing. By the way, the 521st place record in our area is 30 kills. Anyone below that is eliminated.]
"Ah..."
"Ah...!"
Sighs of regret flowed from the mouths of half the players.
They were players who hadn't even killed 30 people.
"N-no. I don't want to be eliminated!"
"Are we really dying this time?"
"Haa... I should have killed more diligently."
While half the players let out sighs of regret.
Ryumin was looking at the reward message.
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