Chapter 120

The crystal had exactly five slots. Both Yu Junghyeok and I knew perfectly well what had to be fitted into them. Looking at me standing beside him, Yu Junghyeok said,

“You came.”

“Yeah. Unfortunately.”

“You can sit this one out.”

Those unexpected words made me turn to look at him. He kept speaking without looking at me.

“You seem to have a woman you love.”

“...What?”

“It'll make things harder.”

For a moment, it felt like I finally understood something that hadn't made sense. No way. Had he deliberately left me out not to exclude me, but because he was trying to be considerate? Ridiculous. Yu Junghyeok?

“This could be the last one.”

Then it hit me. This Yu Junghyeok was the very Yu Junghyeok who had lost Lee Seolhwa in the immediately previous round. The regressor Yu Junghyeok. When it came to losing someone you loved, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him the greatest authority in this world.

“We aren't like that. As if love even makes sense in a situation like this.”

Yu Junghyeok quietly stared at my face, then said,

“Then I guess you won't mind dying.”

“Watch your mouth, bastard. My feelings are hurt.”

“Don't forget. I still haven't paid you back for hitting me.”

“...Right. I was just about to forget, so thanks a whole lot for reminding me.”

Sometimes I really couldn't tell whether this bastard wanted me to live or die. I immediately relayed what I had to say to the others through the group chat.

―I'm going to go over the precautions now.

Using the group chat meant we had to keep this quiet. The others pretended to look elsewhere while focusing on what I was saying.

―The Warp Crystal sends people in two at a time. So like I told you before, we'll be moving in pairs.

―Shin Yuseong and I are team one. Huiwon-ssi and Hyeongseong-ssi are team two. Yu Sangah-ssi and Grandma 406 are team three. Gilyeong doesn't have a partner, so Jihye from Yu Junghyeok's group said she'll go with him. And Yu Junghyeok... well, that guy will manage on his own.

―If you move through the crystal, you might feel dizzy for a moment, but don't panic. The Scenario will probably appear as soon as you arrive. What you need to remember is that when the Scenario details appear...

I was firing the words off like a machine gun when the one who interrupted me was a dokkaebi that suddenly appeared above the Warp Crystal.

[Just a moment. I am very sorry, but there is an emergency notice.]

An emergency notice?

[I completely forgot, but the initial number of participants allowed from the Seoul Dome is not ten. It is eight.]

“What the hell are you talking about all of a sudden?”

To bring that up after all the participants had already been decided... Looking more closely, this guy was the one who had asked me about the Scenario update in the underworld a little while ago.

Was it dokkaebi Yeonggi?

[Well... part of the dimension twisted during the fifth Scenario, and some people ended up crossing over into the sixth Scenario.]

“...There are already people inside?”

[Yes. At present, two people from the Seoul Dome have already entered the Scenario.]

Come to think of it, Pildu Gong and Han Suyeong had already entered the Scenario. I had seen that screen in the underworld, but I'd forgotten about it for a moment.

Still, for part of the dimension to twist like that. That mid-grade dokkaebi must have interfered with the Scenario like crazy to try to kill me.

[They entered due to a Scenario error, but in the interest of fairness, we will subtract two people from the existing allotment.]

“What? Since when is that a thing?”

Oddly enough, the people who weren't even going were the ones making a bigger fuss. The others looked at me with troubled expressions. Even Yu Junghyeok was looking at me. His face plainly said it was up to me to decide. Damn it...

Unexpectedly, the first person to raise a hand was Yu Sangah.

“I'll step out.”

I was grateful that she had noticed I was in a difficult spot and chose to be considerate first. But even if Yu Sangah stepped out, I still had to take that grandma.

The next person to raise a hand was Jeong Huiwon.

“I'll step out too. There's a second allotment anyway, right?”

“Will you be okay with that?”

“You look a little out of it today, Dokja-ssi, so I am a bit worried... but you'll figure it out. Looks like that scary guy is on our side this time, too.”

If it was Jeong Huiwon and Yu Sangah, I could leave them behind without worrying.

Even if the second allotment turned into another competition, those two would have more than enough ability to make it through. In the end, the two of them stepped out, and Lee Hyeongseong agreed to take Grandma 406 instead. For some reason, Grandma looked pleased.

Just before leaving, I whispered to Yu Sangah.

“I forgot to say this earlier, but please tell the King of Wanderers to be careful of Jeon Ildo. I think she probably already knows.”

Yu Sangah nodded, then hesitated before whispering back,

“Don't die.”

I nodded. Jeong Huiwon cut in again.

“Why don't you get going already? At this rate, it won't be the constellations, it'll be me dying of frustration.”

Yu Sangah stepped back with an awkward smile, and the rest of us approached the Warp Crystal. I took out the Amulets I'd obtained from catching the Catastrophes.

'Imyuntar's Talisman'

'Parasite Amulet'

'Invargo Amulet'

Then Yu Junghyeok and Grandma 406 each took out one Amulet as well. They were the Amulets obtained from defeating the Catastrophes of Ice and Water.

[Insert the five Amulets.]

As the message flowed out from the Warp Crystal, we fitted the Amulets one by one into the crystal's slots.

Five Amulets.

They were proof that this world had been protected from the Catastrophes. Only those who had overcome the Catastrophes could gain the qualifications to go to another world.

[Your qualifications have been verified.]

[The Warp Crystal has activated.]

Light scattered from the Warp Crystal, and before long a blue dimensional gate formed, reminiscent of whirling sparks. We entered in pairs, one after another. Shin Yuseong and I also ran toward the gate with our hands clasped tightly together.

[The Main Scenario has been updated.]

* * *

When I opened my eyes again, Shin Yuseong and I were sprawled in a forest washed in green. When I staggered and braced myself against the ground, I could feel the rough texture of the dirt clearly against my palm. The dizziness was bad enough to make me want to throw up. I was the one who had told everyone not to panic if they got dizzy, and yet I was the one failing to get a grip on myself. It was absurd.

Beside me, Shin Yuseong was already dry-heaving over and over.

“Are you okay?”

“Uuugh....”

I patted Shin Yuseong's back and looked around. My head was a mess, but I couldn't stay disoriented forever. Front, side, back. No matter where I looked, all I could see was forest. It seemed we had landed right in the middle of a forest zone. For scenery from another world, it looked far too much like Earth.

[The Main Scenario, Abandoned World, has begun.]

At the same time as the Scenario message, I sensed movement from the nearby brush.

“Yuseong.”

Shin Yuseong, having come to her senses a little, raised her head and steadied her breathing. Rustling sounds came from every part of the bushes. This was one of the places where people entering a new Scenario got warped in. Assuming the worst, what was hidden in those bushes would be foreign Incarnations who had arrived ahead of us.

I tensed and finished preparing to activate [Bookmark]. The people warped into this world would be elite among elites. If I didn't go all out from the start, my head could go flying before I even had time to blink.

But what emerged from the bushes was something completely different from what we had expected.

[Tier-7 Monster, Steel Wolf, has appeared!]

At the words Tier-7 Monster, the same expression passed over both Shin Yuseong's face and mine. It was ridiculous. We were probably the only ones who would feel relieved by that message.

“They seem kind of small, ahjussi.”

Considering that higher-grade monster species were usually as large as houses, the Steel Wolves that had appeared now were monsters about the size of ordinary wolves.

There were roughly fifteen of them. It wasn't a difficult number to deal with.

[The Incarnation Shin Yuseong has activated Advanced Inter-Species Communication Lv.3.]

Shin Yuseong used [Advanced Inter-Species Communication] to make the monsters slaughter one another one by one. The ones Shin Yuseong couldn't tame, I personally activated [Blade of Faith] and killed them myself.

For creatures called Tier-7 Monsters, they were unbelievably weak.

It felt like their strength had shrunk along with their size.

“...Huh? They aren't giving us any coins.”

“That event is over.”

“They aren't dropping items either. No core, either.”

“That's because the difference in our stats is too big.”

“Are they really grade 7? No matter how I look at them, they seem more like grade 9....”

Maybe because the first monsters we ran into after all that tension turned out to be weak, Shin Yuseong looked a little deflated.

Come to think of it, the state of the forest was a little strange too. Trees large enough to form a massive forest should have towered far above our heads, but the trees here only reached a little above my head at most.

The Scenario details were still the same. Other than the title Abandoned World appearing, most of the categories were still filled with question marks.

[You have not fulfilled the activation conditions for the Scenario.]

I gave a small jump and took in the surrounding landscape. Because the trees were short, a light leap was enough to see the scenery of the entire surrounding zone.

“It isn't all forest. Let's head that way.”

Actually, I already knew what would be waiting for us once we got out of this zone. We ran along a narrow path through the woods. Before long, the forest ended and a wide-open plain appeared. And there, on that stretch of open ground...

“...Ahjussi?”

We came face to face with a troop formation.

“They've appeared! Just like the Scenario said!”

Someone shouted that at us. It should have been an alien language, yet it sounded as natural as Korean. Startled, Shin Yuseong edged back toward me. At least several hundred soldiers seemed to be filling one part of the broad plain.

Dozens of cavalry, hundreds of archers, and even hundreds of infantry.

There were enough people gathered there to wage a war, all of them waiting for us to appear.

“Everyone, prepare your skills!”

“Prepare to advance!”

Countless figures poured out killing intent as they leveled spears and lances at us. We hadn't done anything wrong, and yet somehow we had already become the enemy.

“Attack!”

Ordinarily, it would have been a sight more than enough to overwhelm us.

That is, if not for their size.

“Waaaaaaah!”

The troops charging across the plain toward us were all little people, each of them no taller than my fist. Shin Yuseong cried out in shock.

“They're really tiny!”

“They must be the inhabitants of this place.”

“Don't tell me we have to fight those people. We don't, right?”

Shin Yuseong backed away little by little from the little people rushing at us as she spoke.

“...They're so small, I feel bad for them.”

[You have encountered inhabitants of another world. Please check the Scenario details.]

That was when screams rose from somewhere in the distance.

“O-over there too, a Catastrophe has appeared!”

“Aaaaargh!”

“Everyone, everyone run away! Full retreat!”

The little people who had been charging at us suddenly broke formation and started running. With tiny ripping sounds, like hangnails being torn away, the little people burst apart. In the distance, someone was trampling the little people to death.

“This Scenario is laughable.”

I couldn't hear clearly, but it sounded like a foreign language being translated for us. There were three people there. A man with flashy dyed hair, a bald man holding an axe, and a short man carrying a katana.

“Aaaaargh!”

Watching the little people die mercilessly, the man with the katana shouted,

“Maruyama-ssi! Wait! Don't kill them recklessly. Did you forget everything Izumi-ssi said?”

“How long has it been since we lost contact with the first unit, and you're still going on about Izumi?”

“Michio. You must have received the Scenario too. This isn't the time to go on about useless morals. Remember clearly what we've become now.”

The bald man cackled and slammed his axe into the ground as if it were a joke. The little people were sliced apart like insects as they screamed. Right beside me, Shin Yuseong watched the scene unfold and spoke in a sickened voice.

“...Ahjussi? What kind of Scenario is this? What are we supposed to do?”

I knew why Yu Junghyeok hadn't wanted to bring Shin Yuseong here. Come to think of it, maybe he was more human than I was.

“The Star Stream isn't only running Scenarios on Earth.”

I pointed at the little people fleeing across the plain and went on.

“And this Scenario is one that they and we are sharing together.”

[A large number of constellations are hungry for blood and violence.]

[A large number of constellations are urging you to make a bold choice.]

[The Main Scenario is activating.]

<Main Scenario #6, Abandoned World>

Category: Main

Difficulty: S

Clear Conditions: Exterminate the ruling species of the planet peace land in Star System 9781.

Time limit: 40 days

Rewards: 200,000 coins and ???

Penalty for failure:...

In the sixth Scenario, we were no longer in the role of stopping Catastrophes.

[You have become the Catastrophe of the planet peace land.]

Here, we had to become the Catastrophe that destroyed this world.