Chapter 112 : Chapter 112

Chapter 112 - Extortion (2)

“...How did you do it?”

“Pardon?”

Seo Jin-seong threw that question at me as he looked at the blue jewel emitting a mysterious glow in my hand.

A highest-grade mana stone. I had torn it off after subduing the giant that had been running wildly all over the island just a moment ago.

It was a bit more troublesome than when I hunted Golems with Seo Ah-in on the 10th Floor, but its basic attack patterns were similar to those, as expected of a Golem. It wasn't that difficult.

“It didn’t even take half a day for you, Kim Gyu-sik, to... ‘subdue’ everyone who had a problem with you and to defeat the mobile-type enhanced giant that I had prepared. Don’t you think that’s too much?”

What a shameless thing to say for someone who prepared it in the first place.

I smirked and rolled the mana stone in my hand.

Should I give this to Leila later too? She must be busy carrying out my request right now.

Considering what she was making, the more materials, the better.

“Well, what you prepared was a form I’m a bit familiar with.”

“Familiar, you say?”

“I commissioned something similar from Leila.”

That was also why I was able to subdue something of this caliber so easily. The design itself was too similar to what I had given Leila.

The item I requested was a mobile-type enhanced giant using a mana stone... it was a little similar yet different. But the concept was somewhat similar.

‘Though the output will be worlds apart...’

It was an item that would be created by pouring in all the remaining six Dragon's Hearts, excluding the one I gave as a commission fee. It was worth looking forward to.

Even more so when you considered that each Dragon's Heart was an ultra-class mana core.

‘...Well.’

In the Third Ordeal, it would be a bit difficult to use anything less than that.

“What on earth are you planning to use something similar to that for?”

“...Are you saying that from the position of having made it?”

“I just asked for a ‘powerful weapon’, not a maniacal bipedal monster like that.”

Hey.

‘Cancel’ that statement.

How dare you say what about something that held the dreams and hopes of boys?

“However, that’s that. I can’t argue with what you’ve accomplished, Kim Gyu-sik.”

Seo Jin-seong said with a deep sigh.

“You definitely said you would give me a gift if I came in first in this tournament, right?”

Well.

In a flash, I

“That’s right. In the first place...”

He nodded at my answer, then turned his head to look at the other ‘participants’ gathered on the beach in a haggard state.

Every single one of them had faces that looked like they had aged 10 years because of the giant that had been chasing them just a moment ago.

“...Aside from you, Kim Gyu-sik, there are no surviving participants. There was even someone who had a seizure from feeling fear to the absolute limit.”

Oh dear.

How did they end up in such a situation. Tangled up with some awful person.

“...”

I giggled and averted my gaze as Seo Jin-seong stared at me with narrowed eyes. I turned my gaze towards Seo Hye-in, who was busy running around on the beach to clean up.

Next to her, a flustered Seo Ah-in was sticking close, trying to help out tactfully.

“...About those children.”

Seo Jin-seong quietly opened his mouth next to me.

“They were very close when they were young. They couldn't live without each other, and when they slept, they couldn't even sleep properly unless they were in a position where they could see each other.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes. Though at some point, Hye-in made it so that Ah-in couldn't even say a word to her.”

That would be right.

I recalled the setting related to them in my head.

There must have been a big accident when they were both young.

Seo Jin-seong, who was the most successful climber in South Korea, suddenly vanished and suspended all his activities.

The sisters, who had been so close, grew apart.

And it created the catalyst for everything, where Seo Hye-in, under Seo Jin-seong’s orders, started taking the heads of those who committed evil deeds.

“But recently, thanks to you, Kim Gyu-sik, Ah-in has been smiling a lot, and Hye-in has also become much softer than before. It seems they've even started talking to each other recently.”

Seo Jin-seong continued with a smile.

“...If my wife had seen this, she would have been happier than me.”

“Are you talking about Han Si-yeon?”

Seo Jin-seong stared into the air without any reply.

Han Si-yeon. The mother of the Seo sisters and this man’s wife.

Originally, she was Korea’s best support-type climber, but now, perhaps...

“She’s barely alive now, right? In a coma for several years.”

Perhaps, she was left in a state where no doctor could treat her due to a specific ‘curse’.

Even though Seo Jin-seong tried incredibly hard to cure her, he probably didn't see much effect.

In fact, that was a curse of a level that even a top-tier veteran like me would have trouble with. If you asked me to break it right now, even I couldn’t do it.

However.

“...”

“Regarding that. Seo Jin-seong, you-”

“Kim Gyu-sik.”

Seo Jin-seong looked at me with a grin.

His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were not. A menacing will, as if he would cut my throat if I crossed the line any further, was eerily visible.

“Let’s stop that story there.”

“...”

“I know you know a lot. You always come with mysterious information somehow. Still.”

A chilly energy enveloped my body.

Well. For this man, Han Si-yeon likely remained as a trauma on par with the Seo sisters.

Even more so when one recalled the process of how she became unconscious.

“...I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk about that. It’s for both my sake and yours, Kim Gyu-sik-”

No.

Hear the person out.

“I’m telling you I know a way to save her.”

“...”

Seo Jin-seong instantly shut his mouth.

***

Originally, a character’s ‘rank-up event’ was a kind of mandatory quest that could not be avoided.

No matter which main character you chose, being dragged into this island was a common branch.

And such mandatory events, combined with Conqueror’s characteristic of giving more rewards the deeper you delve and the better you do, always had a common trait.

That additional rewards would continue to be given depending on ‘how far the player clears’.

The place right in front of my eyes now was a prime example of that.

“What is this?”

Seo Jin-seong tilted his head as he looked at the giant ‘hole’.

The way it was dug deep into the ground looked like a meteor crater. Except the epicenter was so deep, like a bottomless pit, that the bottom was not visible.

It was the spot where the giant Leila made had broken through a moment ago. It was as eye-catching as its spectacular entrance, leaving a huge mark in the very center of the island.

Of course, Seo Jin-seong wouldn't have reacted like this to such an obvious phenomenon.

“...Is this a dimensional rift? Fortunately, it seems it’s right before it fully forms.”

Seo Jin-seong muttered as he looked at the black energy glowing with an ominous aura deep inside the hole.

The phenomenon of ‘Dimensional Beings’ spawning, which was only found near the Tower and in places like dungeons.

A case where one opened so suddenly without any warning had never been discovered before.

A dimensional rift was on a different level of danger from a gate where demonic beasts simply poured out.

Unlike a gate where you could at least distinguish its rank by color and mana density, here, you couldn't predict at all what would pop out from inside.

It meant you had to prepare without knowing whether an F-rank demonic beast or an EX-rank dimensional being would pop out.

Well, in reality, this was a place that would never open unless the player stuck their head in and found it themselves.

Although in the game, a message saying ‘Would you like to proceed with the additional stage?’ would pop up.

“...How on earth did you find something like this again? The Association’s observation department can’t even pinpoint its location, and people are getting ground down...”

“Well, that’s not important.”

Smirking, I slid down a little into the hole that was dug deep below.

I firmly fixed the rope I had prepared beforehand to the ground and descended little by little, as if rappelling.

“What we need to care about is that the item we can get inside here will be the first step to saving Han Si-yeon.”

“...I don’t know how you can always speak with such conviction.”

Seo Jin-seong let out another deep sigh and said so, but I just gave him a smirk.

Well, I was about to show him one of the proofs right now.

I took out a white spray can from my pocket and carefully painted here and there.

“More importantly, would you make me a promise?”

“Pardon?”

“I still haven't received the ‘gift’ you said you'd give me earlier, right?”

“...That is correct.”

I finished the white paint job and took out a different colored spray can, then sprayed it on another wall inside the hole.

Colors were laid out along the path I remembered precisely.

“If I definitely help Han Si-yeon. I'd like to ask for something by taking that gift in advance. Would you hear me out?”

“...Tell me first.”

That worked out well.

I continued my work and rattled off the details of my request.

Most of it was ‘instructions’ related to the Third Ordeal.

He was scheduled to be directly involved there for various reasons anyway. Among them, the probability of him joining our side as a ‘colleague’ was very high.

The Third Ordeal was the section that had the most direct influence on the ending among the main events, so it was the place that required the most delicate adjustments.

And among them, the one who had to play the most crucial role was this man.

“Will that be enough?”

Seo Jin-seong, who heard it, just tilted his head with a look that said, why are you asking for such a simple thing.

Well, he would find out when the time comes.

He’d be lucky if he didn't try to bite my head off to kill me.

I was, fundamentally, the type to work people hard.

And if an S-rank climber like Seo Jin-seong became a colleague, there was no need to say more.

“By the way, what on earth have you been doing since a while ago?”

“Ah, this?”

I scanned the colorful shapes painted inside the hole.

“A test, I guess.”

“A test?”

That is, I was running a simulation in advance to see to what extent I could ‘use’ you.

If your ‘synergy’ with me worked out better than expected, we could hit the jackpot in the Third Ordeal.

And.

-!

-!!

The one emerging from the dimensional rift that began to glow beneath my feet would surely be a perfect test subject.

‘Definitely...’

The first criterion for clearing the additional stage that opens in the rank-up event was ‘clear time’.

And if I remembered correctly, the recommended standard set appropriately in the game was ‘1 week’.

It meant it was a large-scale boss. A dangerous and powerful one.

However, since Seo Jin-seong was here this time, considering the maximum output that could be drawn from the synergy of a broken NPC and a top-tier veteran.

‘...Shall I kill it in 5 hits?’

There was no need to set a timer.

Because I was going to aim for the ‘minimum number of attacks’ as the standard.

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