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CHAPTER 119 – The Last Time Reverser
The normal group’s quest was to escort the caravan to the destination.
The traitor group’s quest was to obstruct the escort to the destination.
Since they were completely opposed quests, only one group could survive.
‘It’s a fight between whether 1,201 people die… or I die.’
That’s what people would normally think.
But Ryu Min knew a way for both groups to survive.
A way for everyone to succeed in their quests so that no one would be erased.
‘It’s not a difficult method. If you exploit the system’s loophole, it’s simple.’
That was why Ryu Min wasn’t particularly worried.
He’d already cleared it using the same method many times before.
‘I can’t kill all 1,201 just to save myself.’
Among those 1,201 was, above all, Jo Yong-ho.
An Sang-cheol could die for all he cared, but Jo Yong-ho needed to become his strength later as the Mercenary King.
‘He’s talent that would be a waste to kill.’
So he planned to use the method where everyone survived.
‘No need to worry about being erased. The problem is whether I can get the Rune of Foresight.’
If everything went according to plan, getting the rune was a foregone conclusion.
But there were always variables.
‘There’s a chance the archbishop won’t acknowledge me.’
Unless he staged a situation so overwhelming the archbishop’s eyes practically popped out, he couldn’t earn his favor.
If he failed to earn his favor, a private meeting would be impossible, and then the reward would be out of reach.
‘For now, I’ll wait until the boss appears.’
Soon the caravan moved, and the escort quest began in earnest.
A massive force of 1,202 players walked while guarding the carriages.
Ryu Min took up position beside the carriage carrying the archbishop.
‘If possible, it’s better to stand out even now.’
Wouldn’t it help to fight near the archbishop so his face would become familiar?
As he walked thinking that, monsters appeared.
Countless gargoyles filled the sky.
“A-a flying monster?!”
“Fuck. How are we supposed to kill that?”
The players panicked from the very start, but soon, after watching Black Scythe fight, they understood.
Having wings didn’t mean they were impossible to kill.
“Kill them when they come down, like Black Scythe is doing!”
“Kill them! You bird bastards!”
They looked more like demons than birds, but the players didn’t have the presence of mind to care.
The gargoyles’ hit-and-run attacks were dizzying enough to scramble their senses.
“Th-these bastards are tougher than I thought!”
“They don’t die in one hit!”
Since they didn’t die in one hit, even when struck, they quickly fled.
“With wings, we can’t even chase them—this is driving me crazy!”
The fight dragged on longer than expected, but not everywhere.
Slash—!
A head dropped in a single blow, and with a follow-up strike, the gargoyle beside it split in two.
‘Night of Death.’
With the space plunged into darkness, Ryu Min moved with even faster attack speed, taking gargoyle heads as he went.
If he spotted one trying to escape, he used a skill without hesitation.
‘Moonlight Slaughter.’
With a flash of light, three gargoyles shattered into pieces.
It was an overwhelming display, hard to believe he had a stat debuff.
Black Scythe was putting on a true one-man show, and the players clicked their tongues.
“Damn, look at Black Scythe.”
“Crazy. He’s insanely strong.”
“How is it one hit every time he cuts?”
Some people were even staring in a daze.
And it wasn’t only players watching Ryu Min’s performance.
When he glanced over, the archbishop was looking this way through the carriage window.
Ryu Min couldn’t read his thoughts, but the way he couldn’t take his eyes off him suggested he’d drawn interest.
‘No matter what, I probably planted a strong first impression.’
After slaughtering all the gargoyles, a short rest followed, and then the second wave began immediately.
“What are these things now?”
“They look like trolls from fantasy.”
‘That’s right. Trolls.’
Ryu Min agreed inwardly as he lifted his scythe.
At 2.5 meters tall, trolls weren’t especially large for monsters, but they were known for rapid regeneration.
‘But they only regenerate light wounds. If you slice them in one blow, it’s not a problem.’
Of course, for other players, a troll’s skin was far too thick to cut in a single blow.
To Ryu Min, they were like soft tofu.
Slash— slash—!
When they saw Ryu Min chopping even trolls into pieces, players could only click their tongues harder.
“This is insane. Insane.”
“How is his damage that high?”
“He’s Rank 1 for a reason.”
After they somehow dealt with the trolls and walked a few steps, minotaurs appeared.
“Minotaurs? Is this for real?”
“How are we supposed to kill that monster?”
“There’s seriously no time to rest.”
The players had experienced firsthand in Round 6 just how strong minotaurs were.
That was why they were scared before even fighting.
Seeing that, Ryu Min shook his head.
‘No need to be scared. Shouldn’t you be glad? At least it’s a monster you’ve fought before.’
And compared to then, their levels now were over 10 higher.
It would be hard, but if several of them worked together, it was doable.
It didn’t take long for the players to realize that.
“Nice! We got it!”
“It’s easier than before!”
“This is doable, isn’t it?”
Watching the players gain confidence, Ryu Min also carved up the bull-headed monsters.
“Grrrrrraaaah!”
He butchered dozens, but no items dropped.
In Round 6, it had been a boss, so its drop rate was high—here, it was treated as a mere mob.
After that desperate hunting, four hours passed, and the 25th wave approached.
‘It’s finally time.’
As Ryu Min steeled himself, the boss monster he’d been waiting for appeared.
Thud— thud— thud—
“What is that?”
“What’s that sound?”
“The ground is shaking…”
The reason it shook was simple.
“Kwoooaaaargh!”
A monster of the strongest class on land, towering over six meters—an ogre.
The Round 8 boss monster had arrived.
Despite its massive size, it charged with speed and swung its hand as if swatting a fly.
Crunch—!
A player who failed to react in time died, turned into a mangled mess.
“K-kill it!”
Many players surrounded the ogre.
No—rather, the ogre let itself be surrounded.
For the ogre, it was better to kill them all at once than one by one.
Thud-thud-thud-thud—!
When it swung a club as thick as a human torso, players couldn’t even dodge and went down.
Boom— crunch— crack—!
It stomped on them, pulverized them with the club, and slapped heads clean off with its palm.
Every time the ogre attacked, players died pointlessly.
“Fuck! What is that thing?!”
“Ogres are that strong?!”
“Isn’t this a straight-up setting error?!”
One ogre had already created thirty corpses, and the number kept rising.
Maybe a thousand people rushing in could stop it—but there was no telling how many casualties would pile up first.
Then, darkness swallowed the area.
“Who is it?!”
“Black Scythe?”
As players looked around, they spotted Ryu Min with Death’s Side extended long.
He looked calm, as if he’d been waiting for this exact moment.
It was time to use the new skill he’d learned.
‘Crimson Moon.’
The instant it felt like Ryu Min’s eyes turned red, a flash of light blazed.
Startled by the sudden darkness, the ogre noticed a single streak of light.
Slash—!
“Kwoooaaaargh!”
The club was severed clean off, and a long gash appeared across the ogre’s chest.
A second streak of light followed, carving deeper into its chest.
“KWAAAAAARGH!”
The ogre raised a hand in pain, but the third light sliced its forearm off.
The fourth flash cut its neck, and the fifth flash cut the collapsing body once more.
Splat— thud!
“…….”
“…….”
It all happened within ten seconds, but the players saw it clearly.
Black Scythe was an opponent no thousands of players could ever defeat.
As the curtain of darkness lifted, Ryu Min turned his head.
The archbishop was staring this way with his mouth hanging half-open.
‘Just as calculated.’
Ryu Min had butchered the ogre after confirming the archbishop was watching.
No matter what, he’d left a definite impression.
‘You watched the show—how about a review?’
He was quietly waiting to be called, but the stares around him were burning hot.
- He uses that impossible skill five times in a row?
- Crazy. What kind of class even is that?
- Black Scythe is a real legend.
Reading their thoughts, it seemed he’d drawn the other players’ attention properly too.
Among them was An Sang-cheol.
- I was crazy. Thinking I could catch up to that monster…
‘You only realized now?’
This made An Sang-cheol finally understand his own place, even if late.
Ryu Min looked at the message that had appeared.
[You have defeated the ogre!]
[Experience 3x buff is active.]
[Title effect increases experience by 1.5x.]
[Experience +16.37%]
[Gold +12,000]
[Additional Gold +6,000]
[You have obtained ‘Ogre’s Gauntlet’.]
[You have obtained ‘Ogre’s Heart’.]
Since it was designated as a boss, items that wouldn’t normally drop appeared.
[Ogre’s Gauntlet]
-Category: Gloves
-Grade: Unique
-Defense: 180
-Effect: Strength +30, additional Strength +30 when fighting ground monsters
-Durability: 3,000/3,000
-Use Restriction: Expert grade or higher
-Description: Ogre’s Gauntlet, worn by the ogre known as the predator of ground monsters. Strength increases stupidly.
Seeing the gauntlet, Ryu Min let out a snort.
‘A Unique item drops, huh.’
It was Unique, but against ground monsters, it had insane options on a Legendary level.
Since it was better than the Shadow Gloves he was currently wearing, he equipped it immediately.
He also re-inserted the top-grade magic stone he’d previously socketed—this time into the Ogre’s Gauntlet.
[Ogre’s Heart]
-Category: Possession
-Description: A hard, dark crimson stone. Despite how it looks, it isn’t a real heart, so you can relax.
‘Ogre’s Heart is a Legendary-grade material item.’
This was another item Ryu Min needed.
He stored it safely in his inventory.
‘Later, I should combine some Legendary stuff.’
As he was thinking that, the escort captain approached.
“Greetings, warrior from another world. I watched your battle just now. To kill that terrifying ogre in an instant… I suppose that’s why people hire warriors from another world as escorts. Haha!”
‘You didn’t come all this way just to say something useless like that, did you?’
The words rose to his throat, but he held them back and spoke.
“What do you want?”
“Ah, my apologies—what am I thinking? It’s nothing else: the archbishop wishes to see you.”
“Me?”
“Yes. It seems he was deeply impressed by your battle.”
“Fine. Where do I go?”
“This way.”
Following the escort captain, Ryu Min stopped in front of the carriage the archbishop rode in.
“Go inside.”
When the door opened, the archbishop gestured for him to enter.
“Sit.”
Ryu Min sat across from him, and the carriage door closed.
After a brief silence, the archbishop spoke first.
“I’ll be direct. I called you because I want to make you an offer.”
“An offer?”
“Because I hold a high position, I’m harassed by all kinds of threats. I’m looking for a guard—a warrior to keep by my side for a long time.”
The archbishop spoke in an arrogant voice.
“Well? Will you become my guard? There is no opportunity like this anywhere.”
‘It’s true an opportunity like this isn’t common.’
In this world, an archbishop was on the same level as the pope.
Even within the Holy Empire, an archbishop’s influence was second to none.
‘A chance to refuse an offer from someone like that is… truly rare.’
Ryu Min answered quickly.
“I refuse.”
“Yes, of course you would—… what did you say?”
Shock spread across the archbishop’s face, as if he’d naturally assumed Ryu Min would accept.
“I’m grateful for the offer, but I’m not confident in protecting someone. I’m sorry.”
“…….”
Refusing when he should’ve been building a relationship.
Normally, Ryu Min wouldn’t have done this—but this time, he had to refuse.
Because to obtain the Rune of Foresight, he couldn’t let the perception form that he was “under” the archbishop.
“Heh heh. You’re different from the others. Everyone else is desperate to lick even the tip of my shoe.”
“…….”
“Come to think of it, I never heard your name.”
Instead of his name, Ryu Min switched his title to public.
[Last Time Reversal]
He showed the archbishop the title he had never revealed to anyone.
To obtain the Rune of Foresight.
‘Either way, the archbishop is a dead man.’
The archbishop’s eyes went wide.