[AT: Hey guys, I got cliffed so hard that I decided to shell out an extra 1.5-2x the budget for today’s chapters… with the higher budget we got ourselves 8 chapters. ripdinner duelistchaptersfordinnerammirite … They’ll all be at the normal Community Unlock rate.]
Chapter 293 Form Is Emptiness (4)
[A ranker from the Tower has died.]
One of the rankers was dead.
—We are fine. How about you, Brother?
Fortunately, it was not Cheon-ma or Lee Su-yeon. Yoon-seok didn’t think it was the Heavenly Buddha or Henigus either. So who died?
‘Since there are ten Rankers, is it one of the five I don’t know yet?’
He hoped the healing specialist was okay. Come to think of it; the healing specialist was out of the question. Lee Su-yeon said they weren’t from the duels.
[A new rule has been added.]
[A mark will appear above the ranker’s head.]
He looked up, but there wasn’t any sign. Was it only visible to other people?
[When a ranker dies, the awakened monsters become three times stronger.]
A penalty was added.
[You will get a special reward when you kill a ranker.]
Was this an advantage or not? At this point, Yoon-seok was even confused about whether to play Defense or Battle Royale. The more rankers dead, the stronger the enemies become. But, killing a ranker gave a special reward? Wouldn’t that incite conflict?
‘Anyway, is this the end for now?’
No new rules were added after waiting a while longer.
‘Let’s move.’
Yoon-seok asked Yongyong where Cheon-ma was and then decided to move in the opposite direction.
‘…Was this District 12?’
Coincidentally, they returned to where he was at the beginning.
“Khieeeeeeeeek”
Monsters poured down like rain from the smashed ceiling. Although it avoided being cratered like other areas, District 12 had already been devastated by monsters.
‘Since I’ve come this far, I’ll have to test it out.’
How strong were the monsters, and how much time did they spit out? However, when he looked through the monsters-
Bam-!
Something was smashed in the distance. Of course, there was nothing unusual about that fact alone since the monsters were smashing things at random, however…
‘…People?’
As he widened his sense, Yoon-seok could feel the presence of people. Four of them. Based solely on mana in their bodies, each was as powerful as Giovan Trosian, one of the few Exploration rankers on Earth.
Baang-!
As he snuck up on the dome, hiding his presence, he saw the four challengers formed up and cutting down monsters.
“It’s said to be three times stronger than before, but it’s worth more than I expected!”
“Yeah! If we keep doing this, we’ll save 10 million hours in no time.”
None of them showed signs of exhaustion. They were slaughtering the monsters rushing in with a pleasant look.
It was obvious. From their point of view, it would feel like sweeping gold from the ground. With ten million hours, they could purchase several unique skills that couldn’t be obtained otherwise by normal means.
‘Anyway, that one must be a ranker.’
Yoon-seok fixed his eyes on one of them. He could have guessed by looking at their unusual amount of mana, but something like a gold seal floated above his head. Maybe that was the ranker mark or whatever it was.
Yoon-seok chewed on the fragments of the waiting room wall that he kept in his bag.
[You took A75447.]
[For 1 hour, A75447’s unique characteristic Observation is applied at the 1st stage.]
[If you look deeply into the Challenger, you can discover additional information.]
Of course, the only things that could be seen were their name, floor number, stats, and abilities, but…
‘Eltas… it’s a nickname I don’t know.’
This man wasn’t a high ranker. But even so, a ranker was still a ranker. Yoon-seok, who was reading the information window, suddenly stiffened.
“…”
The ranker stopped moving at some point and was staring intently at him. His lips were rattling even though no sound was heard, telling his colleagues something. It was impossible to eavesdrop on them, however.
“Hey! If you don’t mind, let’s talk for a second.”
Then he shouted to Yoon-seok. Not knowing what their intentions were, Yoon-seok pondered for a moment. Should he respond? Or should he just catch one or two monsters and do something else? Otherwise…
‘It won’t hurt if we talk for a while.’
Judging that their power wasn’t dangerous, Yoon-seok landed in front of them. At this, the man who called Yoon-seok startled but quickly recovered and smiled.
“Haha! It seems that you are full of confidence in your skills to come right away. I’m so envious.”
He says he’s envious, but even though Yoon-seok approached, he didn’t have a serious look. He must be confident in his abilities, too. Plus the good teammates by his side.
“Erian.”
“Treaty Zone.”
When the man called out, the woman beside him deployed a shield. As a result, the monsters were pushed away, creating an environment to talk without interruption.
“I am Terun. What should I call you?”
He introduced himself first politely, but according to the information Yoon-seok checked earlier, it was neither his real name nor his nickname. He was making eye contact so he couldn’t lie, but how could this be?
“Is that your real name?”
“No, it’s a nickname.”
Yoon-seok laughed silently. He didn’t know how they counteracted the effect of the Executor’s Eye, but he couldn’t count on them being honest.
“Call me the Masked Ball.”
Terun made a strange expression when Yoon-seok gave him his fake nickname.
“Hmm, you’re more cautious than I thought.”
As soon as he was called, Yoon-seok didn’t hesitate to run over, but now he was unsure.
Yoon-seok went straight to the point.
“So why did you call me?”
“Hey, I can’t stay still while a ranker is watching me, can I?”
That’s right. Even if it were Yoon-seok, he would have asked them to come if there was a ranker he didn’t know watching him. However, he had the intuition that it wasn’t just for that reason this time.
“…Are you here to buy time?”
The man asked while glancing at the time written on Yoon-seok’s wrist. Yoon-seok, who didn’t feel the need to talk about this situation, just nodded.
“Then how about hunting together?”
“…?”
“You don’t have to be too wary. I feel bad if you go somewhere else because of us, and we don’t have any other intentions, after all.”
Any other intentions? Among those who said similar things in front of Yoon-seok, no one was still in good shape. Rather, most of them died on the spot.
“Of course, it’s just a suggestion, and if you’re uncomfortable with us, you can hunt alone from a little distance.”
To be honest, if it were Yoon-seok, he would have told them to go away if a ranker approached him while hunting. But why was this man showing such a favor?
Slowly he understood why.
[You will get a special reward when you kill a ranker.]
It’s the special reward from a place that casually sells unique skills and knowledge. The man must think it was something incredible, and just in time, a solo ranker appeared.
‘If he wants me to hunt next to them, does it mean he’ll decide after watching?’
Yoon-seok smirked. Their thoughts are similar. The intention of coming to chat was a little different, though.
‘What should I do about him?’
No matter how many rewards he got when he killed a Ranker, for Yoon-seok, a ranker wasn’t something to just kill. Even if the healing specialist joined as his teammate, there were still four vacant seats. If they had a useful ability, he was willing to recruit them.
Although the ranking was low… still, he was a ranker, and above all else, he had a staff in his hand, which was a rare weapon!
‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen a wizard from the duels.’
“Good. It’s fate to meet like this, so let’s fight together.”
Yoon-seok nodded. As long as this man was up to something, he wouldn’t be able to show his real combat power by dealing with monsters somewhere else. Besides, it would be easier to conclude if he watched closely.
“Great.”
As soon as Yoon-seok accepted his offer, the man pulled a piece of paper from his bag. It was something very familiar to Yoon-seok.
“Ah, this is called a Mutual Agreement, and if we have this, you and I can feel more at ease…”
“I know what this is.”
“Oh, then it will be fast.”
The man finished the draft with a different word.
{Mutual Agreement}
You could even write a contract under a pseudonym. Realizing this new fact, Yoon-seok looked through the contract, and the man added an explanation. The intentional in Point 2 prevented death from accidents due to injury from debris or the like. The man also asked for understanding because there was only one contract, so he couldn’t even write the names of his colleagues.
“Still, these aren’t rankers.”
Yoon-seok wanted to say that maybe it would be the same even if they were involved, but he kept it silent, and he asked out of sheer curiosity.
“What if I’m of a different mind?”
“I just believe you won’t. After all, there’s no benefit to harming them, right?”
Of course, their Retention Time could be stolen, but… it hadn’t even been a day since the hunting started. That much time was something he could get with ease.
“How is it?”
“Great. Instead, I would like to change the last part a little.”
“Are you talking about Point 4?”
“Yes. How about the penalty is that the body disappears? Even if you die, you will come back to life if you can resurrect.”
“…I see. Then let’s do that.”
Yoon-seok revised Point 4 without remorse.
A Mutual Agreement was an item that costs 500 LPs. But this man brought it up to hunt with someone he had never seen before. What kind of idiot wastes points like that?
[The contract has been established.]
When the contract burned into ash and dissipated, the man shouted like a good senior in charge of the group project.
“I don’t know how long it’ll be, but let’s work together!”
Was it because his voice was so nice?
‘…Have I misunderstood?’
Yoon-seok wondered if this was all a misunderstanding and the world was more beautiful than he thought. He thought it couldn’t be, but…
“Command Armor.”
When the man recited the command, bone armor was wrapped over his colleagues’ bodies and his own. Yoon-seok, who was completely excluded, smiled bitterly.
Were they already showing off because he was a recruit?
“Erian, Chiul, Cavezin.”
Probably, that was why.
He saw the colleagues whom the man called glance at each other, then they pulled out their weapons and aimed at Yoon-seok.
“I’m sorry, but you have to die.”
Yoon-seok looked around, stunned. He was exquisitely blocked in all directions.
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