Chapter 46: 46
46. Round 4 of Death
'A w-walking... target?'
Hwang Yongmin looked around.
All the players' attention was focused here.
Hwang Yongmin shuddered at the gazes looking at him like prey with its teeth pulled out.
Seeing this, Ryumin let out a snicker.
"Don't worry too much. You're just a target in name, not many people will actually aim for you."
"What? They won't aim for me?"
"You should know well what happens to players who become Area Representatives, right?"
Jo Jung-sik was betrayed and killed by Hwang Yongmin, whom he trusted.
Hwang Yongmin received a stat reduction penalty and became an insignificant being.
Despite the Area Representative position, he only got bad results.
"People have realized now. That the Area Representative position isn't all good."
"Ah..."
"Moreover, as more players changed classes, the range to use Command Authority has greatly decreased, right? The truth is, the risks of being Representative outweigh the merits."
It was as Ryumin said.
Now the Area Representative position became one that no one would take even if given.
Even Hwang Yongmin wanted to hand over the authority to someone else if possible.
'Though there's no real authority left now...'
Hwang Yongmin looked around again.
The players were turning their heads away as if they'd lost interest.
'Did they just look because I was talking to Black Scythe?'
He thought they were aiming for him, but it was just his own delusion.
Rather, they even avoid eye contact as if they don't want to get involved.
They really seem uninterested in the Representative position.
'This feels somehow unfair...'
As Hwang Yongmin was making a gloomy expression, someone approached.
It was Seo Arin and An Sang-cheol.
'Why are those guys here?'
After being surprised for a moment, Hwang Yongmin stepped back hesitantly.
He was on guard, wondering if they might be after the Representative position.
However, the two just looked at Hwang Yongmin strangely.
Their business was with Ryumin from the start.
"Ah, hello, Black Scythe sir."
Seo Arin and An Sang-cheol bowed their heads.
"Hello, do you remember us?"
"Of course. But what's the matter?"
An Sang-cheol glanced at Hwang Yongmin.
"Well, you saved us from that thug before, right? We wanted to thank you again."
"What? Thug?"
Hwang Yongmin bristled but couldn't step forward.
Because Black Scythe was standing like a wall between them.
"You only need to thank me once. No need to thank me again."
"But we're grateful. Our company's CEO also says thank you for saving him. Oh! Speaking of our CEO..."
"That's enough. I'm not interested."
As Ryumin was about to turn away.
"Um!"
Seo Arin hurriedly stepped forward.
"B-Black Scythe sir. Th-this is my sincerity for saving us. P-please accept it."
The item Seo Arin held out was a lowest grade purple magic stone.
'This is an unexpected harvest.'
Ryumin's eyes sparkled.
"I thought giving something like this would be better than just expressing gratitude in words..."
"That's a good attitude. I'll gladly accept."
Ryumin quickly put the magic stone in his inventory.
'There's no reason to refuse when given such a good item.'
Moreover, combining two magic stones of the same grade and color can create a higher grade magic stone.
'I should make a low grade magic stone and embed it when I return later. There are too many people watching here.'
He didn't want to give unnecessary information.
There's no rush since he's strong enough even without embedding magic stones.
'Anyway, to give something like this, I'm grateful.'
With that thought, he looked at Seo Arin and inevitably her thoughts came through.
-D-does he like it? I'm not sure. He's not upset that I gave him a seemingly useless stone, right?
Hearing her thoughts, it seems she gave the magic stone without knowing its value.
'She wouldn't have given it if she knew.'
Ryumin shifted his gaze and happened to read Hwang Yongmin's thoughts.
-I have something similar to that too.
'Huh?'
A strange light entered Ryumin's eyes.
'Does he have a magic stone too?'
He stared at Hwang Yongmin and read deeper into his inner thoughts.
However, he didn't have a magic stone.
Rather, he had an even better item.
'He has [Black Diamond]?'
Black Diamond.
It's a material item that drops with an extremely low probability when killing monsters, and looks similar to magic stones.
'It's an item even harder to obtain than magic stones.'
Though it can be encountered frequently after Round 10, obtaining it in the current round is like picking stars from the sky.
'To think he has such a rare item and I found out... Is this good luck or bad luck...'
Ryumin barely suppressed the corners of his mouth from rising.
If he has Black Diamond, he could make a unique item in the next Round 5.
"Um... Black Scythe sir? Do you perhaps need a protective barrier?"
Ryumin asked back at Seo Arin's words.
"Protective barrier?"
"I changed class to Summoner this time."
'Summoner? Seo Arin?'
Though not a unique job like Dark Knight, it's not a bad job.
'It's hard to raise at first, but there was a player who made a name as a Summoner.'
Of course, that player wasn't Seo Arin.
"I can summon a fairy to cast a protective barrier, so if you need it..."
"I appreciate the intention, but I'll decline. I don't think I need it."
"Ah... I see."
Seo Arin looked somewhat disappointed.
"Then we'll be going now. Good luck this round too..."
"I wish you luck."
Seo Arin and An Sang-cheol bowed and left.
Hwang Yongmin, who had no more business, was about to quietly leave when.
"Wait."
"Yes?"
"You'll regret it if you leave like this."
"What do you mean..."
"I told you, didn't I? You're a walking target."
"But aren't there no people aiming for me now?"
"I said there weren't many, not that there were none. The advantages of being Area Representative haven't completely disappeared yet."
"What?"
"Most will have reached level 10 and gotten jobs, but there are surely some who haven't changed classes. There are still targets to use Command Authority on."
"Ah..."
That was certainly true.
Even Hwang Yongmin himself was level 10 but hadn't obtained a job.
It's because he hadn't gotten a class change item yet.
"Think about it. Out of over a thousand people, does it seem like not a single person would aim for you? Even if the risks of the Representative position are high?"
"..."
"Rather, non-class changed players might desperately try to kill you. It would be better for them to kill you and take it than let the Command Authority, a weapon that threatens them, be given to someone else."
At those reasonable words, Hwang Yongmin's expression became anxious again.
"Th-then what should I do?"
"I'll help you so you're no longer targeted."
"R-really? Thank y..."
"I didn't say it was free. In exchange for my help, you saw that stone Seo Arin gave earlier, right? If you have a stone like that, hand it over to me."
"Ah... I do have a stone like that."
Hwang Yongmin took out an item from his inventory.
[Black Diamond]
-Category: Possession
-Description: A hard black stone. The surface is smooth and shiny.
Just looking at the description, there was no way to know what it's used for.
Grin-
Knowing its value, Ryumin couldn't help but feel better than when receiving the magic stone.
"Good. Do you have any other items?"
"N-no. Th-this is all I can give you."
Seeing Hwang Yongmin cover his body as if afraid his equipped items might be taken, Ryumin could only laugh.
"Don't worry. I won't take things like that even if you give them."
If it was equipment bought from the shop, he would have resold it for gold, but since it wasn't, he couldn't sell it.
"Now that I've given you the item, will you help me from now on?"
"Yes. I keep my promises."
Hwang Yongmin's face brightened at Ryumin's weighty words.
-Surely a man won't go back on his word?
Though inwardly he was worried the promise might not be kept.
Just then, the angel Olive appeared with light from the sky.
[Kihihihi! Humans, you've gathered without fail today too? Though your numbers have decreased again.]
"The numbers decreased?"
"Did people fight in reality again?"
[The current number gathered is 1,042. There were 1,225 survivors from Round 3.]
The players were flustered, but it wasn't anything new to Ryumin.
'Rather, it would be stranger if players didn't cause accidents during the month staying in reality.'
He wasn't surprised since he had never seen survivors from each round gather intact.
[Well then, now that everyone seems to be here, shall we announce the Round 4 quest?]
Flap-!
A message appeared along with the angel's wing flap.
◀ ROUND 4 ▶
<Main Quest>
└Kill each other for 3 hours
[All Areas]
└Participants: 181,906,418
└Achievers: 0/90,953,209
[This Area ESKS45-5]
└Participants: 1,042
└Achievers: 0/521
The players were flustered seeing the quest.
"What is this?"
"Kill each other?"
[Kihihi, humans are flustered. It's exactly as it says, everyone.]
The angel smiled brightly, not matching the atmosphere.
[Just stab and kill the player next to you. Very simple, right?]
"K-kill?"
"Players...?"
The players glanced at each other nervously.
Sudden PK.
They couldn't help but be flustered, having thought they would just kill monsters like usual.
[To add explanation, the purpose of this round is to reduce numbers by players killing each other. Unlike the last round, no monsters will appear at all.]
"No monsters appearing..."
"We need to level up and get stronger quickly..."
[Players with low levels will be disappointed. You'll have to wait for the next round to grow.]
"Angel! Then can we just kill one person each since only half can survive?"
[That's a secret. It wouldn't be fun if I told you.]
At those words, Ryumin inwardly sneered.
'What fun. There must have been instructions from above not to mention it.'
Angels are just guides, there's a separate host.
If certain rules are hidden, it's because orders came from the host.
NPC angels wouldn't have the authority to freely reveal rules.
'People will think all of this was instigated by the angels.'
As players were flustered at the word "secret", the angel continued explaining.
[You can't become an achiever just by killing players. Only the 521 who enter the rankings can survive. The order of rankings is a secret. By the way, killing quickly doesn't make you 1st place. Kihihi.]
"..."
[That's all for the explanation. I have nothing more to say, so I'm leaving! Now then, start killing each other!]
After the angel disappeared, a message popped up.
[Time remaining until round end: 02:59:59]
The players looked at each other with troubled expressions.
-Wh-what do we do now?
-D-do we just kill?
-K-kill? Other people...?
-We have no grudges though?
-Isn't this round really crazy?
Looking around, the thoughts of hesitating players came through.
He turned his head to read Hwang Yongmin's thoughts too.
-Kill players? Hehehe, this works out well. There were some bastards I wanted to kill.
A vicious smile hung on Hwang Yongmin's lips.
'As expected, he's thinking of killing his delinquent friends.'
Ryumin grinned and approached Hwang Yongmin.
Hwang Yongmin was lost in thought, not noticing Ryumin approaching.
'Wait, come to think of it, if players are reluctant to kill me, isn't that good? It means I'm invincible, right?'
He even lets out a chuckle.
'You bastards, I don't know where you are but I'll kill you all...'
Hwang Yongmin belatedly noticed Ryumin's approach and stepped back with a start.
"Ah, you startled me! B-Black Scythe sir. Do you have some business with me..."
"I said earlier I'd help you not be targeted, right?"
"You did."
Ryumin slowly raised his scythe.
"I've come to keep that promise."
"What?"
Slash-!
With an eerie sound, Hwang Yongmin's vision tilted.
Before he could grasp the situation.
Thud- Roll-
Hwang Yongmin's head fell to the ground.
With the same bewildered expression as when he was alive.
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