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Chapter 139 – Eating Out After a Long Time
[Temporary Skill – Sasin-hwa]
-Effect: All stats, damage, attack speed, and movement speed increase by 44%, and all damage received from enemies is reduced by 44%.
Additionally, the probability that enemies recognize you decreases by 44%.
It lasts for 4 minutes, and if you kill an enemy, the duration resets.
You can cancel it by reusing it, and it has a 44-minute cooldown.
A ridiculously overpowered skill that increases all attributes by 44% and reduces incoming damage by nearly half.
‘Since I’ve equipped it, should I try using it once?’
On that note, Ryu Min spoke the activation word.
‘Sasin-hwa.’
In that instant, Ryu Min’s body turned semi-transparent, and a dark aura began to seep out.
[You have entered the Sasin-hwa state.]
[All stats, damage, attack speed, and movement speed increase by 44%.]
[All damage received from enemies decreases by 44%.]
[The probability that enemies recognize you decreases by 44%.]
It was 44 everywhere.
In Korea, 4 is commonly associated with death, so it seemed it had been set to 4 because of that.
‘Still, the effect is incredible. And as a bonus, it can hide my face too.’
To others, Ryu Min currently looked like nothing more than a dim shadow.
His body was covered in black energy that rose like smoke, and it applied to his equipment as well.
‘From head to toe, I’ll look like a black silhouette. Even the scythe.’
If he used a scythe, they could guess he was Black Scythe, but they wouldn’t be able to see his face.
‘It lasts 4 minutes, but if I kill an enemy, the duration resets.’
Meaning, if you keep killing something within four minutes, you could maintain it indefinitely.
That was why, when it seemed like a battle would drag on, using Sasin-hwa could keep it going for quite a while.
‘It’s especially useful on a battlefield.’
On a battlefield where people were killing and being killed in a bloody melee, Sasin-hwa would stay active until the war ended.
It was the perfect skill to use in that situation.
‘The cooldown is longer than I expected, so it’s not a skill I can spam.’
A 44-minute cooldown, not 4 minutes, was a bit heavy.
So even Ryu Min didn’t plan on using Sasin-hwa unless it really mattered.
Knock, knock—
“Hyung?”
At that moment, Ryu Min’s door opened and his younger brother came in.
“You were in your room?”
“Yeah.”
Having noticed him early through Presence Detection and already canceled Sasin-hwa, Ryu Min was smiling in ordinary clothes.
“It was so quiet I thought you went out somewhere again.”
“What is it?”
“It’s almost time for dinner. I was thinking… since it’s been a while, what if we eat out together, Hyung….”
“We can’t eat out. You know how dangerous things are outside these days.”
“I know. But staying at home all the time is suffocating.”
Fair enough.
For a full eight months, Ryu Min had told his younger brother to avoid going out.
His brother had listened, stayed home, and lived off delivery food without complaining.
‘We did eat out occasionally, but not many times.’
And even when they did, it was only once or twice before players started running rampant.
‘From Won’s perspective, it must feel suffocating.’
He’d basically locked his brother inside, while he himself went out here and there for work, so his brother probably felt sulky.
Sure enough—
Reading his thoughts, he was quite hurt by his Hyung.
It was like his Hyung had locked him in a cage because it was dangerous outside, while the owner went around freely.
‘I made him avoid going out because of that kidnapping incident before… but maybe I only thought about myself.’
At this point, he should help his brother feel better.
It was still dangerous to let him go out freely, but with fewer players around these days, it should be okay.
More than anything, wasn’t Ryu Min right here with him?
“You’ve been stuck at home for too long, huh? Alright. Let’s eat out tonight.”
“Really? Oyeeeee!”
Rather than being happy about eating something delicious, Ryu Won was happy to breathe outside air, cheering like a little kid.
‘Is he that happy?’
Seeing him like this, it seemed like eating out once a week might be a good idea.
Then an idea came to Ryu Min—something that would cheer his brother up.
‘If I call that person, my brother will like it, right?’
Thinking he should at least call and invite them to eat together, Ryu Min made a plan with his brother.
Tonight, they’d go out to eat for the first time in a while.
Dinner time.
“With the world like this, there are still a lot of people here?”
“It’s probably because it’s such a famous restaurant.”
At a famous charcoal-grilled galbi place, the brothers sat down and grilled meat.
Ssssssssizzle—
Just the sound alone made your mouth water.
“It feels so good to come out like this with you after so long, Hyung.”
“Me too.”
After hesitating for a moment, Ryu Won gathered his courage.
“Honestly… I was a bit hurt, Hyung. You told me to stay home, but you went around outside freely….”
“I’m a player. You’re a regular person. And you know how dangerous it is outside—you can tell just by watching the news.”
“I know. I do… but still, being hurt is being hurt.”
If his brother—someone who usually endured quietly—was saying this, it meant it had been hard on him.
Ryu Min genuinely felt sorry.
‘The reason I’m clawing my way to survive is for me and my brother. To go back to our normal life. But if I chase that goal and neglect the present, that’s the stupidest thing I could do.’
Ryu Min decided to take better care of his brother.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t pay enough attention to you, did I? Hang in there just a little longer. Once this month passes, there won’t be many Korean players left, so public order will be maintained to some extent. It means this era where criminals run rampant like now will end.”
“Oh, really? Then starting next month, I can go around outside?”
“Yeah. You can trust your Hyung—I’m a Prophet.”
Ryu Min was telling the truth.
Right now, Korea had only around three thousand players left.
After Round 10, only about 700 of them would remain.
‘Because only a quarter will survive Round 10.’
Even if there were criminal players among those 700, how many could there really be?
Even if they existed, they’d be a small, elite group whose identities were known, and they wouldn’t do something that exposed their faces.
‘In the end, even if they want to commit crimes, they won’t be able to be active in public.’
More than anything, once Black Scythe’s fame grew, there wouldn’t be mindless looting like now.
Of course, that came with the prerequisite that he had to be appointed commander of the Anti-Player Corps.
‘I already gave Yamtti instructions, so when the time comes, I’ll get a call.’
Either way, a month from now, he wouldn’t have to worry about public safety in the Republic of Korea.
‘The problem is that the crazy bastards aren’t only in Korea.’
If you widened it to the entire world, there was no shortage of trash that needed to be killed.
And if that trash came into Korea, that became a separate problem.
‘That’s why I need to raise Korea’s standing and firmly establish Black Scythe’s position.’
Controlling players with power on the level of a head of state.
That was the best way to pull humanity away from the road to dystopia.
“Alright, it’s done. Eat a lot.”
“Yeah, you eat a lot too, Hyung!”
Ryu Min and Ryu Won each picked up meat and placed it onto lettuce wraps.
On top, they added garlic, ssamjang, chili peppers, and seasoned scallion salad one by one, carefully wrapping it all up.
And just as they opened their mouths wide to eat—
Bam—!
A loud crash came from the table across from them.
“F*ck, where’s the owner! Owner, get out here!”
His voice was so loud that people around them stopped grilling meat and looked over.
Ryu Min and Ryu Won also turned their heads while chewing.
“W-what seems to be the problem, sir?”
“Look at this! There’s a hair in the meat! You expect people to eat this crap you’re selling, huh?!”
At the man’s bellowing, the owner kept bowing his head over and over.
He had no choice.
Just one look and you could tell the guy was in his twenties.
A player—someone beyond the category of a normal person.
‘He’s probably drunk and causing trouble.’
Though whether players could even get drunk was another question.
“I’m sorry, sir. It seems one of our staff’s hairs got in by mistake. We’ll bring you new meat immediately.”
If you just bowed and apologized, it was something that would pass quietly.
Normally, that was.
Normally.
Crash—! Clatter—!
The table shattered, and the dishes on top spilled to the floor in a heap.
The customer smashed the table like he couldn’t calm down.
“You f*cking bastard. You think this gets solved just because you bring out a new plate of meat? What about my mood that’s already ruined? What about the appetite I lost because of it? You have to take responsibility for all of it, don’t you?!”
“S-sir, even so, if you destroy property like this…”
“This bastard is talking back? Hah, what kind of restaurant owner dares talk back to a customer? And a lowly ordinary human bastard at that!”
As if a medieval noble were scolding a peasant, the man changed his equipment.
Sssshhk—
The moment a bluish axe appeared in his hand, the owner finally realized how serious this was.
This customer wasn’t just an ordinary nuisance.
As if he truly were a commoner, the owner rubbed his hands together and pleaded.
“I’m sorry, sir. I’m truly sorry for upsetting you.”
“Sorry is all you’ve got? There should be compensation, shouldn’t there? Compensation!”
“W-what kind of compensation would you like…?”
The man immediately formed a circle with his thumb and index finger.
“Hand over the money. Everything you’ve got.”
“H-how much, specifically…”
Crash—!
With a single kick, another table on the floor shattered again.
“F*ck, didn’t I tell you? Everything you have.”
“Y-yes. Understood.”
While the owner went to get cash, the man held his axe and glared at the people around him.
“What the f*ck are you looking at, you bastards! Is it a show?”
Only after he barked at them did the gawking customers slowly look away.
Most people in the restaurant were ordinary civilians in their thirties and older.
They didn’t have the guts or the strength to stand up to a player.
-Crazy, what is that guy? A player?
-They said all players are potential criminals… guess that was true.
-Holy shit, I should hurry up and eat and leave before it spreads to me.
While Ryu Min was reading the customers’ thoughts, his brother spoke in a worried voice.
“Hyung. What’s wrong with that guy?”
“What do you mean why. He’s causing trouble on purpose so he can legally extort some money.”
“No, why are players like that? Can’t he just work and earn money?”
“He doesn’t have time for that, that’s why. This month might be his last birthday for all he knows—who’s going to do some part-time job to earn money? He can just loot.”
That was why players robbed street vendors.
Because they were cornered.
Because it was easy money.
“But it seemed like it was getting better after the Anti-Player Act came out… but I guess not. Look how shamelessly he’s acting. The Anti-Player Corps needs to get fully active, seriously…”
As he said that, Ryu Min’s right hand was pretty busy.
“Hyung, what are you doing?”
“Just messing with the system.”
Touching the air with his fingers, Ryu Min set up his equipment window with gear two tiers lower, at Regular grade, and spoke the equip activation word.
Sssshhk—
“Why are you suddenly putting on equipment?”
“Looks like I’m the only player among the customers. I can’t just sit here and watch, can I?”
As Ryu Min stood up, his younger brother panicked and tried to stop him.
“H-Hyung! It’s dangerous, just stay still.”
“Leaving a guy like that alone is more dangerous.”
Adding, ‘I’ll be right back,’ Ryu Min walked toward the man.
He’d changed his gear to ordinary Regular grade, so there was nothing that would raise suspicion.
In the meantime, the owner returned with a bundle of cash.
“Owner. Why did it take so long to bring such a small amount of money? Don’t tell me you called the cops.”
“O-of course not. How could I… Anyway, here…”
“What is this?”
Holding the cash, the man raised an eyebrow.
“This is everything you’ve got?”
The cash the owner brought was only about 200,000 won.
It wasn’t what you’d expect from a booming restaurant that probably made at least a million won in sales a day.
“F*ck, are you messing with me? Who am I supposed to stick 200,000 won up to!”
“T-these days most payments are by card, so we don’t have much cash. It’s true!”
“Then I’ll give you my account. Transfer ten million won.”
“W-what? T-ten million won?”
“Why are you acting surprised? Ten million is cheap for emotional damages. What, is it too little? Should I raise it for you?”
“N-no.”
“Then do what I say while I’m still asking nicely. You’ve got a phone, right? Transfer it right in front of me.”
“I-I don’t have money in my bank account, so that’s diffi…”
“This bastard—if I let it slide once, now you’re lying too? You think I’m a pushover? You think I’m joking? Huh?”
Just as he raised his axe threateningly—
Grab—!
Ryu Min’s hand seized the man’s wrist.
“That’s enough.”
“This little f*cking bastard… who the hell are you?”
Ryu Min tightened his grip.
“A customer who was quietly grilling meat in the corner.”
“……!”
Did he feel the incredible strength in the wrist that was being held?
The man’s expression instantly tightened with tension.
Even though Ryu Min was controlling his strength so it wouldn’t actually break.
“You shouldn’t make a scene like this where people are eating. It’s so loud I’m going to get indigestion.”
“Y-you, let go of my hand, you bastard!”
“If I let go, are you going to stop being a nuisance?”
“Yeah, okay! I said okay, so let go already!”
With pressure applied like it might break at any second, the man’s face turned urgent.
Of course, Ryu Min had no intention of actually breaking his wrist.
He only meant to threaten him just enough and kick him out.
But that was only what Ryu Min wanted.
Reading his thoughts, the man had no intention of leaving quietly.
“Let go, you f*cking bastard!”
“So even if I let go, you’re not going to back down?”
“So what if I’m not! What are you going to do about it!”
“We’ll just wait until the police get here, I guess.”
“What? The cops? You want to die, you bastard?!”
Was he trying to run before the police arrived?
In an instant, the man’s other hand grabbed another axe.
Turns out he was a gladiator who wielded twin axes.
“I’ll just kill you, you f*cking piece of shit!”
As he swung the axe as if to split Ryu Min’s head—
‘Huh? A barrier?’
Ryu Min stared at the barrier that unfolded in front of him.
Clang—!
The axe bounced off the barrier.
Ryu Min released the man’s wrist and turned his head.
A familiar woman appeared, leading a fairy.
It was Seo Arin.