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CHAPTER 172 — A MEAL
“Aren’t you Yamtti-nim?”
At Seo Arin’s question, Yamtti was more than a little startled.
‘How did she recognize me when I changed my face?’
She’d customized her appearance, thinking no one would recognize her—yet someone did.
Maybe it was because she’d only changed it a little.
“Right? Yamtti-nim.”
“……”
Yamtti neither confirmed nor denied it, only watching Ryu Min’s reaction.
But as if there was no need to read the room, Ryu Min cut in.
“Oh? You two knew each other?”
“We met in the other world. Back then, you said you were Black Scythe-nim’s real-world acquaintance…”
“That’s right. Yamtti-nim is someone Black Scythe-nim also knows in the real world.”
“Don’t tell me Ryu Min-ssi too…?”
“No. I’ve never even met him. He’s extremely secretive, so…”
“Then I guess it really is Yamtti-nim?”
Only then did Yamtti relax enough to answer.
Because her owner had acknowledged it.
“Haha, yes. That’s right. I’m Yamtti.”
“I thought so—you look similar. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too. Still, meeting Seo Arin-nim in the real world… that’s surprising.”
“I’m more surprised that you’re Black Scythe-nim’s acquaintance.”
Smiling as she spoke, Seo Arin deliberately lowered her voice, letting her desire show.
“Um… Yamtti-nim. If it isn’t too rude, could you share Black Scythe-nim’s contact information—”
“That’s rude. Not to me, but to Black Scythe-nim. He doesn’t want to reveal his identity to anyone.”
“Ah…”
When Yamtti spoke with a serious face, Seo Arin felt awkward and embarrassed.
“Then… could you at least let me talk to him briefly on the phone? I have something I want to say…”
“I’m sorry. Even though I’m his real-world acquaintance, I don’t know his contact information either. I only get calls from him with blocked caller ID. That’s how cautious he is. Honestly, there’s a reason he even covered his face in CPF unit ads.”
“Ah…”
Seo Arin understood, and at the same time, felt disappointed.
—She’d wanted to meet him again in the real world…
Reading her inner thoughts, Ryu Min let go of his worry.
‘So it’s not that she wants to know my identity—she just wants to meet me.’
He’d been worried she might stubbornly pry into his identity, but there was no need.
‘Even if she did, it’s not like my identity would be exposed.’
From the start, he’d prepared for situations like this by teaching Yamtti what to say.
How to respond if people asked about Black Scythe in the real world.
‘Good. She followed what I told her.’
When he read Seo Arin’s thoughts, she wasn’t suspecting Yamtti.
She was simply jealous that Yamtti could communicate with Black Scythe even in the real world.
“By the way, what brings you two to my door…?”
“Ah, there’s something I wanted to ask you privately, Ryu Min-ssi.”
“Is that so? Then come in first. Since you’re here, eat with us too.”
“Eat?”
“You haven’t had dinner yet, right?”
“Well… no, but…”
“Then come on in.”
With a grin, Ryu Min opened the front door and looked at his younger brother.
“It’s okay if we have a few more guests, right?”
“Huh? Uh… yeah…”
A chance to treat Seo Arin—someone he liked—to dinner.
Ryu Won was happy, but at the same time, the pressure piled on.
Gurgle gurgle—
When the bubbling kimchi jjigae was finished, Ryu Won set it down in the middle of the table.
“I-I didn’t prepare much, but please eat.”
“Not much? This is a full feast.”
Just like Seo Arin said, the table was covered with side dishes.
Rolled omelet, stir-fried sausage with vegetables, japchae, stir-fried fish cake, and kimchi jjigae.
It was a lot to prepare alone, but Ryu Won managed it.
Even if it took an hour and thirty minutes.
And that was only because Ryu Min helped—otherwise, it would’ve taken three hours.
“Thank you for the meal.”
“Let’s try it.”
Slurp—
After tasting the kimchi jjigae, Seo Arin’s eyes widened.
“You made this by following YouTube?”
“Yes… Is it not good?”
“Not good? It’s amazing.”
“Whew, that’s a relief. I was worried it might taste bad.”
Only then did Ryu Won relax at Seo Arin’s sunshine-bright smile.
“I didn’t know my little brother was this good.”
“Haha, it’s just that I don’t do it usually. But if I do it, I do it.”
“Then go study for a Korean cuisine certificate while you’re at it. Stop playing games now.”
“Ugh… o-okay.”
Ryu Min, Ryu Won, Seo Arin, An Sang-cheol, and Yamtti—five people—finished the meal in a warm atmosphere.
“That was great, Won-ah.”
“Thank you, Noona.”
Ryu Min looked at Yamtti and Ryu Won, startled, and asked,
“What? When did you two start talking casually?”
“Earlier, when you went to the bathroom, Ryu Min-ssi. Hehe.”
“There’s a bit of an age gap—we can’t keep using honorifics forever, Hyung.”
“Won, are you dissing me for being old right now?”
“No way, Noona.”
Chuckling, Ryu Won headed off to wash the dishes, and Yamtti stood up too, reading the room.
“You’re going to do the dishes? Let’s do it together. I’ll help.”
“I’ll help too.”
Seo Arin started to stand as well, but Ryu Min stopped her.
“Let’s leave the cleanup to those two. We have something to talk about, don’t we?”
“Ah, yes.”
Following Ryu Min into the living room, Seo Arin and An Sang-cheol sat down on the sofa.
“So… shall I hear what it is you wanted to ask me?”
“Prophet-nim. Earlier today, I ran into that punk Hwang Yong-min…”
Ryu Min listened calmly to Seo Arin’s story.
“So, Hwang Yong-min doesn’t show up when you search him?”
“Yes. More precisely, it says he’s a person who doesn’t exist. I was wondering if you knew anything about that…”
“It’s exactly what it says. He doesn’t exist in this world.”
“What? Th-then the person I saw really was a ghost…?”
“What ghosts are there in this world? And it wasn’t just you—dozens of people saw him, didn’t they?”
“That’s true. Then what on earth is going on?”
“Hm.”
Pretending to think hard on purpose, Ryu Min brought up the excuse he’d made during the meal.
“Now that it’s come to this, there’s no choice. I’ll tell you everything.”
“Huh? Tell us what…?”
“Hwang Yong-min is already dead. But someone resurrected him as an undead.”
“Whaaat? U-undead?”
“……”
Their reactions differed, but both of them were staring with wide eyes, shocked.
Not because they didn’t know what ‘undead’ meant.
But because they were shocked undead actually existed.
“Among Players, there are jobs that can even resurrect corpses. Hwang Yong-min was brought back as an undead. That’s why I told you not to touch him… but it looks like someone did.”
“Hah… resurrected as undead… Who would do something like that…?”
“I don’t know that either. I saw it through prophecy, but it only showed me their back.”
It was a lie, but there was truth mixed into Ryu Min’s words.
There really is a job called a necromancer that controls undead.
A dark mage can also use undead, but that’s more like summoning—it’s fundamentally different from a necromancer that raises a corpse.
And shamans were the type who blew up corpses instead.
‘Only a necromancer can make a corpse move like a normal person. But they can’t make it talk like Hwang Yong-min did.’
That was different from Hwang Yong-min, but it didn’t matter.
What mattered right now was getting Seo Arin to accept it.
Thankfully, Seo Arin believed Ryu Min’s lie without question.
“S-so I met… a kind of zombie?”
“You could see it that way.”
“Ugh, that’s creepy.”
While Seo Arin rubbed her arms, An Sang-cheol asked with a curious face.
“Prophet-nim. Is that necromancer a Korean Player? What level are they?”
“I don’t know the details.”
“Will that person’s existence become a threat to us later?”
“Well… if we make them our enemy, wouldn’t that be dangerous?”
He spoke as if he didn’t know, but Ryu Min did know.
That the necromancer’s existence would become a stumbling block in the future.
‘More precisely, a stumbling block for the Reaper Church.’
Even knowing that in advance, Ryu Min didn’t eliminate them.
Because he intended to use even that stumbling block.
‘Darkness makes the light look brighter.’
No one saw the slight curve of Ryu Min’s lips.
After Seo Arin’s group left, Ryu Min walked up to his younger brother and patted his shoulder.
“Good work.”
“Haha, it was nothing.”
“Your cooking’s pretty good.”
“I’m actually thinking I might get a certificate like you said. I tried it and it’s fun, and maybe I’ve got a knack for it?”
Ryu Min smiled along with his brother’s giggling, but it wasn’t because he was happy.
It was a smile to hide bitterness.
‘A certificate… for me right now, that’s a luxury.’
No matter how incredible Players were, their lives were ultimately collateral.
If they couldn’t clear Round 20, their lives ended right there.
And in the middle of that, studying for certificates and planning a future?
For a Player, it could only be called a luxury.
‘Right. My life can end however it ends. But at least my brother—my brother, at least—I’ll create a world where he can live normally. That is my role in the final, 100th run.’
To do that, he needed to remove as many variables as possible and execute everything exactly as planned.
Click—
Back in his room, Ryu Min lay on his bed, thinking deeply.
He checked his plans, one by one, and carefully examined whether there were any variables that could interfere.
‘Could Seo Arin’s existence become a variable? No. For now, she’s too deeply involved. Eliminating her would become the variable.’
Even if she knew Yamtti and Ryu Min were connected, nothing would change.
As long as they maintained the stance that she couldn’t contact Black Scythe in the real world, she wouldn’t pry or suspect too much.
And when he read her thoughts, that was exactly the case.
‘Then what about An Sang-cheol and Jeffrey?’
An Sang-cheol was always near Ma Kyung-rok or Seo Arin, so reading his thoughts was easy.
Meaning it would be easy to respond if something happened.
‘But Jeffrey isn’t.’
He was someone who could go flying off in any direction, like last time.
And when it came to Christine, he was also the type to act emotionally without thinking.
‘Tch. I hate annoying flies.’
As he checked one potential threat and obstacle after another—
A call came in from Ma Kyung-rok.
-Prophet-nim. This is Representative Ma.
“Yes. What is it?”
-Are you available tomorrow afternoon? Jeffrey—the one you saw before—and my future father-in-law want to meet you, and they’re coming to Korea. It seems they want to apologize in person for the way Jeffrey threatened you before.
‘Jeffrey and Nathan are coming?’
If it was something they could’ve handled with a phone call, but they were coming in person—so it seemed they understood how serious it was.
“Understood. What time are they scheduled to arrive tomorrow?”
-They should arrive at Incheon Airport at 3 p.m.
“Then could you tell them to meet at a nearby café at 4? I’ll choose the location.”
-Yes. I’ll do that.
After ending the call, Ryu Min immediately called Yamtti.
“Yamtti. How many slots do you have left for Domination right now?”
-The Plseba chairman and the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency are already dominated, so we have three slots left.
“Good. Then it should be fine to use one slot.”
-Is something going on?
“I’m meeting Jeffrey and Nathan tomorrow.”
-Are they trying to apologize?
“We’ll see when we meet. So…”
Ryu Min lifted one corner of his mouth.
“Just in case, you be out there with me too.”