Chapter 163 – End of Round 10
“A person who received an oracle?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
At the angel’s question, the Players looked bewildered.
Not only did they not understand the intent behind it, they also looked like they were learning for the first time that receiving an oracle was even possible.
[Ahem. No, never mind. If there isn’t one, then fine.]
The angel backtracked as if he’d asked for nothing, but watching him, Ryu Min became certain.
‘Looks like even they don’t know who killed Remiel.’
No—maybe they didn’t even think he was dead, and instead thought he’d gone missing.
After all, Remiel’s corpse, as well as the other angels’ bodies, hadn’t been found.
‘But they’ll know it was a Player’s doing.’
A distress signal had been sent, and a large number of angels had mobilized, so at the very least they must’ve heard there was a Player who took on angels.
They just didn’t know who, and since the place the battle angels were dispatched to was the Oracle Altar, that was why he’d asked like that.
‘And to ask so blatantly. Did he think the culprit would raise a hand and confess?’
It was a stupid question, but even he must have noticed by now.
That to deal with battle angels, it would have to be a Player with strength on that level.
And that the most likely suspect would be none other than Black Scythe.
Sure enough—
He could feel the angel’s gaze flicking this way as he stole glances.
He seemed too scared to stare openly.
‘Well, if there’s a crazy Player out there massacring angels, I guess you’d be scared.’
They always looked down on humans as bugs, but they were 9th-Rank angels—the lowest of the low.
Aside from the ability called Judgment, they had frail flesh just like humans.
The angels knew that fact too, which was why they weren’t coming down from the sky and were keeping their distance.
Deep down, they were afraid of Players.
‘They might suspect me, but there’s no proof I’m the culprit. And they won’t even imagine that one of the mighty seven archangels could be dead.’
Even if they called it “missing,” to them it would still be a massive incident worth making a huge fuss over.
An archangel had vanished, after all.
‘Still, there’s nothing to worry about. As long as there’s no evidence, there’s nothing that can happen to me.’
It was the same in the previous Round.
He’d lured battle angels with an oracle and killed them, but he hadn’t suffered any disadvantage.
Because there was no evidence.
And they couldn’t act on suspicion alone, either.
The angels had rules: they weren’t allowed to mess with Players without reason.
‘Even if it’s for establishing dominance early on, after that, if they want to use Judgment, they need a legitimate reason.’
They threaten him, saying they’ll blow his head off at any moment, but in truth, they can’t.
Even with Judgment, they can’t kill a Player over some trivial reason.
Because that would ruin the game they’d built.
That was why Ryu Min felt at ease.
He might be suspected, but they wouldn’t be able to harm him outright.
‘The problem is… for Demon’s Blessing and the Soul Binding Quest, I have to keep killing angels.’
The longer the tail, the more likely it gets stepped on—so maybe someday he really would get caught.
‘I’ll have to be more careful from now on.’
When Ryu Min turned his gaze toward him, the angel jerked his head away and spoke, stammering.
[Th-then shall we look at the tally results?]
So he really was suspecting Black Scythe as the culprit.
★ Round 10 Results Tally ★
[All Zones]
└ 1st. Black Scythe (Lv89 Reaper) 10 completed 09:48:01
└ 2nd. Cheonma (Lv44 Dark Knight) 7 completed 09:37:39
└ 3rd. Shit Dumbasses (Lv43 Shaman) 7 completed 09:49:01
[Zone C3-ESKA001]
└ 1st. Black Scythe (Lv89 Reaper) 10 completed 09:48:01
└ 2nd. Cheonma (Lv44 Dark Knight) 7 completed 09:37:39
└ 3rd. Shit Dumbasses (Lv43 Shaman) 7 completed 09:49:01
The results were exactly what you’d expect.
‘Of course I’m first, and the others are Ma Kyung-rok and Joo Seong-tak.’
They’d probably cut time well on monster subjugations rather than other quests.
They were the two regarded, worldwide, as the strongest right after Black Scythe.
‘Dark Knight really is that strong. And the Shaman class is busted too.’
Plus, if you made it into the top three, you got multiple rewards and perks.
Those rewards made you even stronger, which meant the same people who made the rankings were likely to keep taking the spots.
That was why, from the very beginning, those two had monopolized 2nd and 3rd across all zones.
[Has everyone checked their rank? Only up to 690th place survives, and below that is erasure. Now then… let’s see… most of you with three quests or fewer are getting erased, aren’t you?]
“Angel! I have three quests, but I’m still in the rankings though?”
[That can happen. If the number of quests is the same, the rankings are determined by the order in which they were completed the fastest. Even if you completed only three, you can still make the rankings.]
“Th-thank god. Whew.”
“So four is the safe zone, then.”
“Ahhh! F*ck, I should’ve cleared just one more instead of slacking off!”
“No— I don’t want to die, fuuuuuck!”
[I can’t stop the System either. Then goodbye to the eliminated.]
With the angel’s words, fssst— ash scattered.
When three-quarters of the people there vanished, the once-crowded space looked hollow and empty.
Regardless, Ryu Min only focused on checking the reward messages.
[Congratulations! You have cleared the quest as 1st place in this zone!]
[Congratulations! You have cleared the quest as 1st place across all zones!]
[Your current rank, ‘Black Scythe,’ is 1st across all zones, 1st in this zone.]
[As the 1st place reward for this zone’s ranking, ‘Lucky Bundle’ will be granted!]
[As the 1st place reward for the all-zones ranking, ‘Special Reward Selection Box’ will be granted!]
Ryu Min used the Lucky Bundle first.
[Touch the reward you want from the following.]
└ 1. Gold Bundle
└ 2. Rune Bundle
└ 3. Material Bundle
└ 4. Equipment Bundle
‘Maybe because it’s Round 10, the rewards are generous.’
A Lucky Bundle wasn’t an item that got handed out easily.
As you could see, it was a chance to get a rune for free.
‘There are lots of choices, but I don’t need anything except a rune.’
He’d repeated Rounds and tried selecting them all just in case, but he’d never seen anything with value comparable to a rune.
[You have selected No. 2, Rune Bundle.]
[Rune Bundle has been delivered to your inventory.]
[Rune Bundle]
-Category: Consumable
-Grade: Legendary
-Effect: Obtain a rune at random.
-Use Restriction: Expert grade or higher
-Description: An item that lets you obtain a rune at random. Since runes do not have separate grades assigned, it is not affected by the Luck stat.
‘If Luck doesn’t affect it, should I draw it now?’
Just as he was about to do the pull, Ryu Min decided to save it for later.
There was no urgency, and if he used it now and got something bad, it would only sour his mood.
‘I’ll use this later—first, I should put the other one to use.’
Ryu Min used the Special Reward Selection Box.
[You may choose one of the following special rewards.]
[Touch the reward you want.]
└ 1. Temporary Skill – Clairvoyance (Round 11 only)
└ 2. 1.5× Point Gain Buff (Round 11 only)
└ 3. Information about Round 11
Options different from the usual EXP or stat buffs appeared.
If someone didn’t know what Round 11 was, they would’ve been wracking their brain, agonizing over what was best.
‘I don’t need to agonize.’
Round 11 was a point-acquisition game.
Option 2 might look good, but Ryu Min chose option 1.
‘Earning points isn’t the problem. What matters is controlling the situation.’
For that, an extraordinary ability like Clairvoyance would be a huge help.
More than anything, since it was limited to the Round, there wouldn’t be another chance to use it anyway.
[For the 690 of you who survived, we will now grant clear rewards in the form of EXP. Take note that it will be distributed differentially depending on how many sub quests you cleared.]
A moment later, along with a message that EXP had been granted, the Players’ cheers rang out.
“Oh! My level went up by three.”
“I went up by four.”
“Good thing I cleared a lot of quests!”
Some people seemed to have risen quite a bit—there were even those who hit level 50—but Ryu Min rose by only one.
It didn’t matter.
He had an enormous pile of stat points.
‘With over three thousand points stacked up, level-up points don’t even register.’
As he thought he should go back and distribute them evenly, his consciousness cut out along with a message.
◀ ROUND 10 ENDED ▶
[All Zones]
└ Survivors: 137,632
[Zone C3-ESKA001]
└ Survivors: 690
[Shortly, your soul will be transferred into your body in the original dimension.]
[Round 11 will begin at midnight on November 1, 2022. Then, we will see you in the next Round. Congratulations on your survival.]
A few days after returning home.
Ryu Min’s phone trembled in his hand.
An article from the newspaper he subscribed to had gone up.
[CPF Squad Leader Black Scythe revealed to have actually annihilated IS……]
[According to confirmations by the FBI and Interpol, the protagonist in the beheading video is indeed IS leader al-Baghdadi……]
[President Muhammad Wal of Nigeria: We are grateful to Black Scythe for doing what we had to do for us……]
[Confirmed with airport staff—Black Scythe really did depart for Nigeria?!]
[President Yoon states he wishes to award a commendation to Black Scythe, who defeated IS—an enemy of the public—and raised national prestige……]
Presidents from various countries expressed thanks to Ryu Min on paper, but he hadn’t heard anything directly.
Because after setting Lostyak’s phone to silent, he’d left it abandoned.
‘Presidents, reporters, advertisers, unit members, the police commissioner, and so on. Calls probably came in from everywhere.’
The reason he hadn’t checked his phone even knowing that wasn’t because it was annoying.
It was because he was waiting for the timing.
‘Right now isn’t good timing to step out in front of the public. You can tell just by looking at the comments here.’
Ryu Min checked the comments on one article.
[Black Scythe—Is he a hero who saved a chaotic era? Or a murderer who slaughtered thousands?]
Beneath the somewhat grandiose title, countless comments were posted.
└ Hero, my ass. He’s just a serial killer.
└ Korea’s “nobleman” class treating you like a serial killer even when you kill criminals! Should hurry up and leave Hell Joseon or something. Ptooey!
└ Don’t be sarcastic, you moron. Why do you think human rights exist? Why do we have the presumption of innocence? Aren’t criminals people too?
└ Yeah~ they’re not people. Those bastards are trash worse than livestock.
└ Even so, murder shouldn’t be justified.
└ This is true. Nothing is scarier than murder being accepted. If every random guy goes around killing, why would laws exist? In a rule-of-law country, does this even make sense?
└ The guys above are hilarious. It’s already in the law that Players are dangerous so you can kill them, you know? Don’t you know the Anti-Player Act?
└ The one ignorant about law is you. The Anti-Player Act only applies when they’re actually dangerous, and right now, Black Scythe basically went and slaughtered guys who were just sitting there—how is that the same? And not only Players, he killed civilians too.
└ Since when is IS “civilians”? They’re all the same—criminal terrorist bastards.
└ LMAOOOO never thought I’d live to see a bastard actually shielding IS.
└ Agreed. Seeing how stubbornly you’re shielding them, you’re probably Muslim.
└ You’re talking facts and they call it “shielding” and whatever, then act like they won. Idiots. Black Scythe is a murderer—nothing more, nothing less.
└ I agree with the “murderer” opinion. No matter what, killing not one person but thousands like that? You can’t see him as the same human. He’s a demon.
└ President Yoon and the Nigerian president said thank you. Isn’t that the end of it right there?
└ Exactly. The president basically acknowledged it. It means they didn’t see Black Scythe’s actions as illegal.
└ So you’re saying Black Scythe did well?
└ Didn’t he?
└ IS is the worst terrorist group that every country treats as an enemy. Killing them seems like a good thing?
└ I think differently. Murder crossed the line.
└ Looking at this, I see a few guys who’d whine “boohoo, murder” even in wartime, lol.
└ Everyone shut up. Stop keyboard-warrioring here—go wash your feet and sleep.
The comment section was on fire.
The debate—hero or not—went on without end.
‘In a situation like this, if I film commercials, accept a presidential commendation, and even do interviews?’
Ryu Min shook his head.
‘It could backfire instead.’
It would be like pouring oil onto a blazing fire.
If it turned out that way, it would produce the opposite result from his intention of elevating Black Scythe’s standing.
That was why Ryu Min waited.
Until the firewood cooled down, he wouldn’t touch Lostyak’s phone.
But then—
The firewood cooled sooner than expected.
An article went up that put an end to the controversy.