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Chapter 129 – Advice
Gulp—
In the tense situation, Gu Yeonseung swallowed his dry saliva.
‘X-fuck, what the hell is this situation?’
They were actors he’d been killing cleanly without any issues.
Luring them using Hong Seonah had been as easy as eating cold porridge, and stealing their items and killing them had been even easier.
With Trace Erasure, he could neatly erase evidence too.
If they matched their stories, slipping past a police investigation wouldn’t be difficult.
Like that, he fed on fellow celebrity players, growing his items and raising his own “value.”
Gu Yeonseung was the type who prided himself on being a pro at laying traps and cleaning up—his criminal intelligence was high enough that he’d boast of it.
He wasn’t someone who made mistakes.
And yet—
‘Where did it go wrong? From where, damn it!’
In the course of killing thirty-two people, he’d never faced a crisis like this.
Of course not—there was no “merchant” in front of a mob beating.
But Black Scythe?
The monster who had held Rank 1 in the entire zone ranking throughout Round 8—and who had hit level 80 this time—had appeared?
Gu Yeonseung couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.
It was like tossing bait to catch a fish and dragging up a shark instead.
‘No—was it even Black Scythe to begin with? Just because someone’s holding a scythe doesn’t mean they’re Black Scythe.’
Suspicion rose, but only briefly.
Looking at the two actors’ corpses with their heads cleanly severed, Gu Yeonseung thought—
The man before him might truly be Black Scythe.
‘I didn’t even see him swing. I didn’t even hear the sound of their heads getting cut.’
That meant his agility stat was so high that his attack couldn’t be seen, and his damage output was overwhelmingly higher.
It had been just one swing, but it was enough to feel the gap.
‘It’s the difference between heaven and earth. I can’t even measure it.’
Once he grasped the opponent’s strength, Gu Yeonseung’s brain spun rapidly.
Thud—
He immediately dropped to his knees and activated the acting he prided himself on.
“P-please spare me. I didn’t do anything!”
Gu Yeonseung pointed at the other actors.
“Those guys! I did it because they made me!”
At the sudden attempt to sow discord, Hong Seonah and the four male actors stared with slack-jawed faces.
“W-what are you talking about, Gu sunbae?”
“Why are you doing this to us?!”
“You’re the one who told us to do it!”
“Black Scythe-nim! Don’t believe that bastard! We did it because he ordered us—he’s the instigator!”
At that, Gu Yeonseung flared up and sprang to his feet.
“What? What did you just say? Bastard? Is that something a hoobae says to a sunbae, you f*cking bastard?”
The junior glared back as if he wouldn’t lose.
“And you? Selling out your hoobaes just to live—does that make you a sunbae, you X-fucking bastard?”
“What? You wanna die?!”
Gu Yeonseung raised his staff as if he were about to cast magic.
The other juniors also lifted their weapons, as if ready to respond.
Actors glaring at each other like they wanted to kill.
It was a total dumpster fire of a scene.
But all of it was exactly what Gu Yeonseung intended.
‘Good! Now it’ll look like a real internal conflict broke out, right?’
If so, a third party watching would inevitably let their guard down.
He flicked his eyes slightly and saw Black Scythe shaking his head as if the snarling was pathetic.
‘Now!’
Gu Yeonseung raised his staff as if he were about to attack the hoobae.
“X-fuck, you really wanna die?”
And then, in a sneak attack, he twisted direction, aimed for Black Scythe’s face, and used a skill.
‘Black Arrow!’
Normally, the standard was to restrain the opponent with Black Chains first, then fire Black Arrow.
But since it was a surprise attack, there was no time to bind him.
‘No matter how much you’re Black Scythe, if you get hit in the head, you have to die!’
The black arrow, infused with mana, flew straight for the head.
Wham—!
‘Got him! That went in perfectly—!’
Gu Yeonseung’s expression, drenched in joy, stiffened in an instant.
The arrow he thought had hit missed by a hair and slammed into the wall.
‘He dodged that moment—less than a second?’
It was insane reflexes.
The actors watching rolled their eyes around, not understanding what had happened.
Inside the mask, Ryu Min smiled viciously.
“Cut the pathetic acting. Did you think I’d let my guard down if you pretended to fight your teammates?”
Awkwardness flashed across Gu Yeonseung’s face.
The hoobaes widened their eyes like they hadn’t known.
They had genuinely thought Gu Yeonseung was selling them out, and they’d been furious.
“I told you, didn’t I? Don’t try to get clever.”
“Y-you X-fucking bastard!”
Gu Yeonseung pointed his staff openly now.
At this point, there was no room to back down.
Rattle-rattle-rattle—
Black chains shot out to bind Black Scythe, and then he planned to run.
But Ryu Min, who could read thoughts and see seven seconds into the future, had no reason to just take it.
Whoosh—
He had already slipped out of the chains’ range, and moved like a ghost behind Gu Yeonseung.
“You did spin your head well, but…”
With one scythe swing, Gu Yeonseung’s staff fell along with his forearm.
“Aaaaaaaagh!”
“You picked the wrong opponent.”
To a mage, a staff was like the sight of a gun.
Even if he tried to use Black Arrow now, he wouldn’t be able to aim properly.
“F-fucking… kill him!”
Sensing danger, the male actors charged at Black Scythe at the same time.
But there was no way they could match Ryu Min.
Chop-chop-chop-chop—
In a single strike, four heads lifted into the air, and their bodies slammed to the floor like dolls with cut strings.
Thud—
As if surrendering to that overwhelming power, Gu Yeonseung collapsed onto the ground.
With his arm already ruined, resistance wasn’t even a dream.
“……”
Ryu Min calmly looked around.
He saw Gu Yeonseung trembling and groaning, and Seo Arin with stunned eyes.
One person wasn’t visible, but that wasn’t a problem.
He could already feel her with Detection.
Thud—!
Ryu Min stabbed the air with his scythe, and a sharp scream burst out.
Invisibility automatically broke, and Hong Seonah appeared, her legs shaking.
Ryu Min’s scythe was lodged into her thigh like a fork.
Rip—!
With force, blood sprayed, and both thighs were severed cleanly.
Boom—!
“Kkhiiieeuh….”
Hong Seonah rolled her eyes back and trembled like a worm.
Gu Yeonseung couldn’t even bear to look at her suffering.
“Seo Arin.”
“Yes?”
“In reality, this is our first time meeting.”
“Ah…”
Seo Arin flinched, then rounded her eyes.
“Yes. It’s good to see you, Black Scythe-nim.”
“……”
Gu Yeonseung stared at her with an incredulous face.
Hong Seonah, as if nothing had happened, stopped groaning and glared at Seo Arin.
‘S-Seo Arin and Black Scythe knew each other?’
‘How the hell does that bitch know Black Scythe? Don’t tell me…?’
A shared assumption rose in both of their minds.
‘Don’t tell me that bitch called Black Scythe for help?’
‘Then the ones who fell into the trap… were us…?’
Ryu Min knew they were misunderstanding, but he didn’t care.
They were going to die soon anyway.
‘Of course, not by my hand.’
Ryu Min intended to leave their judgment to Seo Arin.
That would satisfy Seo Arin more, too.
“Seo Arin. I’ll give you the chance to kill the two of them.”
“……”
“If you want to let them live, I won’t stop you. So decide. Whether they live or die.”
At the unexpected words, Seo Arin’s eyes widened.
Gu Yeonseung and Hong Seonah were the same.
Realizing their lives hung on Seo Arin’s tongue, the two began speaking quickly.
“A-Arin—no, Arin-ssi! Please spare me. I’m Gu Yeonseung. We worked together on projects, remember? Think of the bond from back then and just let me live this once—”
“Gu sunbae, shut up! If we’re talking about working together, I filmed way more with Arin! Arin! It’s me! Your lifelong friend, Seonah! Think of our memories. Huh? Please let me live. I don’t want to die yet, sob…”
“That crazy bitch—look at her whining. Arin-ssi, don’t be fooled. That bitch is trash. Do you know how much she talked shit about you behind your back?”
“When did I ever?! Don’t believe Gu sunbae! It’s all lies!”
“Wow, you’re shameless as hell. Acting like you’re her friend. If anything, I’m better than you.”
“Ha, I’m speechless. Who was the animal bastard who was wagging his hips, thinking about what he’d do when Arin showed up?”
“I-I never! Don’t make shit up, you X-fucking bitch!”
The two raised their voices.
Seo Arin, who had suddenly been handed the power of life and death, hesitated.
But the hesitation didn’t last long.
They were trash not worth thinking about.
“Both of you are disgusting.”
“…What?”
“I’ve decided.”
“R-really? You’ll let us live, right?”
“Huh? Arin, we were close, remember? Huh?”
The two looked at her desperately, but Seo Arin’s eyes were cold.
And the cooldown had come back around.
Seo Arin summoned fairies.
“Kill them both.”
“W-wait!”
“Arin!”
At their master’s order, the fairies fired beams.
Tssssssss—!
“Aaaaaaaagh!”
“Kyaaaaaaagh!”
They had already lost their combat ability, and had no strength left to resist.
The beams aimed at their heads charred them so black their faces could no longer be made out.
Watching that, Ryu Min felt a certain satisfaction.
‘At first, she worried about the lives of the men who tried to rape her. She’s changed a lot.’
This was the second time he’d saved Seo Arin—after the first time she’d nearly been taken by Hwang Yong-min’s group.
Seo Arin seemed to know it too, and she bowed to Ryu Min.
“Thank you, Black Scythe-nim. Before, and now again, you saved me. I’ve received a debt I can’t put into words. Truly, thank you.”
“You believe I’m Black Scythe?”
“Of course. Do you think I wouldn’t recognize the weapon Black Scythe-nim uses? Your outfit and your voice are different, but…”
Aside from that, your aura and build were similar to Black Scythe.
More than anything, the overwhelming force was proof.
That was why Seo Arin believed, without doubt, that he was Black Scythe.
At her reaction, Ryu Min felt relieved.
‘Good thing I transformed. If it were my original build, she might’ve suspected.’
Ryu Min wore a mask while transformed into a Lost Yak.
So unlike before, he had a tall, muscular frame.
It was a measure taken in case being short made her suspect he was the Prophet.
“I want to repay you, but… is there anything you want? I’ve kept thinking about it, but I don’t think I have much I can give you.”
“I didn’t do it expecting payment, so don’t worry about it.”
“Still… this might be shameless to ask, but how did you know to come here? I’m genuinely curious, so please don’t misunderstand.”
It made sense she was curious.
He had appeared as if he’d been waiting at the moment of crisis—and that person was none other than Black Scythe.
Ryu Min, who had already prepared an excuse, answered without hesitation.
“Coincidence.”
“Yes?”
“I happened to see you passing by, and I followed you because I was glad to see you. Then I learned about this club.”
“Ah…”
“From the looks of it, they were trash who preyed on fellow players.”
“Yes… and I didn’t even know, I…”
Seo Arin lowered her head and looked at the corpses.
As if telling her to drop the gloomy thoughts, Ryu Min used Trace Erasure and cleared the bodies away.
The scene, where nine corpses had been, became clean again as if nothing had happened.
“Forget what’s past. Look forward and move on. Think only of yourself. Don’t mind other people.”
“……”
“While we’re at it, I’ll give you a few more pieces of advice—be careful of people. Enemies aren’t far away. They’re close. Don’t let your guard down. Always watch your surroundings and suspect.”
It wasn’t something someone trying to earn her trust should say, but Ryu Min was confident.
If he advised her like this, she would suspect others—not him.
Sure enough, Seo Arin’s mind went to two people.
An Sang-cheol and Ma Kyung-rok.
“Thank you for advice that becomes bone and flesh. I keep only receiving help from Black Scythe-nim. I don’t know how I’m supposed to repay this…”
“Like I said earlier, you don’t need to repay it. If I wanted something from you, I would’ve demanded it from the first time I saved you.”
“……”
Seo Arin’s eyebrows twitched.
I want nothing from you.
That line, instead, pricked Seo Arin’s pride.
‘That should be enough. I’ve achieved my purpose.’
As if it were time, Ryu Min turned his body.
Then, casually, he left a parting line.
“If we leave together, you might be suspected, so come out in five minutes. There’s no evidence, so there’s no need to report anything to the police.”
“Ah—wait, Black Scythe—”
With that, Ryu Min left the room.
“…nim.”
Seo Arin stood blankly, staring in the direction Black Scythe disappeared.
She intended to wait five minutes, exactly as he instructed.
During that time, Seo Arin chewed over Black Scythe’s advice.
‘Black Scythe-nim is right. Until now, I trusted the bodyguard and the CEO too much.’
She already had bad feelings toward Ma Kyung-rok.
He’d once tried to use her as an escort girl, after all.
‘And if that CEO’s loyal employee—the bodyguard-nim…’
He might move without hesitation even on immoral orders.
Which meant she could be stabbed in the back at any time.
He had been assigned as her watcher in the first place, so it was plausible.
‘I was too nice, just trusting the people around me.’
Was it because she had nearly been betrayed by actor colleagues she trusted?
Or because of Black Scythe’s advice?
Wariness and suspicion began to bloom in Seo Arin’s heart.
At the same time, because of this incident, she became certain of something.
Thump-thump-thump—
Her feelings toward Black Scythe.