CHAPTER 213 – Explanation
-That’s all for my report. And I handled what you instructed.
“Good. You did well. Just in case, stay close to them until this situation is fully over.”
-Understood, Master.
Ryu Min ended the call with Yamtti and thought to himself.
A bad tie that had been long if long, short if short—was ending with this.
‘I never planned on killing Ma Kyung-rok in the first place.’
If possible, he’d meant to take him all the way to the 20th Round.
Someone like Ma Kyung-rok was more than sufficient as combat power.
‘But what I need isn’t a dealer who feels inferior to me—I need a supporter I can trust.’
If he had to choose between Ma Kyung-rok and Christine, it would be Christine without question.
Of course, whether Ma Kyung-rok had an inferiority complex or not, Ryu Min could still make him an ally.
If he used Yamtti to dominate him, it would be a simple problem to solve.
‘But that bastard tried to kill his own real brother.’
Since family members were trying to kill each other, they were the same kind of trash—there was no need for him to meddle.
He’d simply thought that if he used this situation, he could secure Christine firmly on his side.
‘Even if I give up Ma Kyung-rok as a piece, it’s better to hold on to Christine.’
With that judgment, what he set in motion was simple.
He would call Christine and Seo Arin, make them witness Ma Kyung-rok’s crime, and plant disgust in them.
Then, naturally, the two of them would distance themselves from Ma Kyung-rok.
‘Up to that point, it went exactly as planned. The problem was, I didn’t expect Christine to step in.’
Ryu Min had only hoped it would end with them learning Ma Kyung-rok’s true nature.
But according to the report he’d just heard, Christine stepped forward to save Ma Kyung-su.
An unexpected, sudden variable.
‘And because of that, Christine and Seo Arin ended up in danger of being killed.’
A criminal trying to erase evidence by killing witnesses was within predictable bounds.
That was why Ryu Min had attached Yamtti as well—on top of Jeffrey and Joo Seong-tak—to prevent any accident before it happened.
‘As long as Yamtti is there, nothing serious will happen.’
But unexpectedly, Joo Seong-tak made a major contribution.
With Corpse Explosion, he pushed Ma Kyung-rok to the brink of death.
A situation where Yamtti didn’t even need to step in.
‘But he couldn’t finish him.’
So, while listening to Yamtti’s real-time report, Ryu Min had to adjust the plan.
He would kill Ma Kyung-rok for sure.
-Dominate An Sang-cheol without Ma Kyung-rok noticing, right now. Then pretend to take care of Ma Kyung-rok and flee, and when you get an opening, order him to kill Ma Kyung-rok.
That was the command he gave Yamtti.
In addition, he told him that once Ma Kyung-rok was dead, he should dispose of the body and commit suicide as well.
As a result, it was completed perfectly.
‘Originally, I had no intention of killing Ma Kyung-rok, but once friction happened with Christine, I can’t just leave him alone.’
If Christine had stayed out of it, there would’ve been no problem.
But she stepped into that situation and exposed herself.
And then Ma Kyung-rok tried to kill Christine, the witness.
‘Because of that, the two of them became incapable of coexisting. I couldn’t have both anymore.’
He couldn’t take two people who were on bad terms to the 20th Round together.
One of them had to be discarded.
That was why he gave Yamtti that instruction.
Kill Ma Kyung-rok.
The result was exactly as seen.
[Unable to locate target ‘Ma Kyung-rok’.]
[This person does not exist.]
[Unable to locate target ‘An Sang-cheol’.]
[This person does not exist.]
Both were killed as planned.
The fact that they no longer appeared for tracking was proof.
‘Ma Kyung-rok’s body was erased with Trace Erasure by An Sang-cheol. And An Sang-cheol committed suicide as ordered.’
He hadn’t pulled out his shares only to avoid being suspected by Ma Kyung-rok, but now there was no reason not to.
‘I should sell off every share I’m holding.’
He’d get roughly one trillion won, but in exchange, the company would collapse.
‘It was about time it collapsed anyway. With Ma Kyung-rok gone, there’s no backlash even if I pull out my shares.’
Unintentionally, he’d had to deal with Ma Kyung-rok and An Sang-cheol, but he still wrapped it up cleanly.
Now all that remained was making people accept it.
Right on cue, a video call came in from Jeffrey.
Ryu Min put on a white mask and answered.
“Jepy.”
-Black Scythe-nim.
“Why does your face look like that? Did something happen?”
He asked as if he didn’t know, and Jeffrey showed the devastated scene while explaining how it unfolded.
Ryu Min already knew everything from Yamtti’s report, but he nodded as if hearing it for the first time.
“So there really was a clash in the end. Anyone injured?”
-Fortunately, no. More importantly, the people here want to hear Black Scythe-nim’s explanation.
At that moment, Christine and Seo Arin suddenly appeared on the screen.
-Hello, Black Scythe-nim. Sorry to call so suddenly. We have something we’re curious about.
“I can guess. You’re wondering how I knew about Ma Kyung-rok’s crime, right?”
-Yes. And the exact reason you called us here, too.
Ryu Min organized his thoughts.
An explanation—no.
It was a moment that required an excuse.
“Some of you may already know, but I was communicating with a Prophet named Ryu Min. I’ve known him for only a short time.”
Seeing them nod, Ryu Min continued.
“I heard one piece of information from him. That a man named Ma Kyung-rok, who uses the nickname Cheonma, would kill his family at a certain place. And that he was connected to you. That one of you was his fiancée, and one of you was an actress under him—I learned that then as well.”
-Ah…
Hearing that he’d received a prophecy from Ryu Min, the two finally looked like they understood.
-When did you hear that prophecy?
“Before the 12th Round began.”
-Then almost a month ago?
“Yes. Because I heard it ahead of time, I couldn’t view a person named Cheonma in a good light. That’s why I refused to party with him in the 12th Round.”
-Ah! So that’s why…!
Seo Arin, who had felt quietly upset that he’d only formed a party with Min Juri, finally made an expression like she understood.
“As the Round went on, I wrestled with it. Whether I should tell you this, when you wouldn’t know the true nature of a murderer who kills his own family—or whether it was right to stay out of it even knowing.”
Christine and Seo Arin couldn’t help being surprised inside.
To think that the blunt Black Scythe had agonized over them.
“Maybe if I hadn’t heard the prophecy it would be different, but once I heard that, it bothered me too much to stay still. I thought I needed to do something—and then I found out Jepy knows Christine. So I asked him.”
-To bring us here?
Ryu Min nodded at Christine, who spoke for him.
“I had something I had to do, so I wasn’t in a situation where I could move myself. So through Jepy and Joo Seong-tak, I gathered you there. So you could confirm Ma Kyung-rok’s true nature with your own eyes.”
There were lies mixed in, but to some extent, it was also true.
He really had called them with the intention of making them confirm it, at least.
“I could’ve told you on the phone, but you probably wouldn’t have believed it. I judged that seeing it directly would be more certain. That’s why I arranged this.”
-Ah… I see.
“Of course, whether you kept ties with Ma Kyung-rok or not was your decision. But I didn’t expect things to turn into this kind of mess.”
-We didn’t expect it either. That Ma Kyung-rok was that kind of murderer…
-If he ran away now, he’ll try to take revenge on us later, won’t he?
Maybe they hadn’t tried tracking, because they still didn’t know.
That Ma Kyung-rok and An Sang-cheol were dead.
‘Well, even if I don’t say it, they’ll find out naturally.’
Ryu Min didn’t mention that part and wrapped up.
“Are your questions answered now?”
-Yes, Black Scythe-nim. I understand a bit more now.
-But why do you think the Prophet told Black Scythe-nim that prophecy?
“Who knows. Even I don’t know that far. He’s the kind of man whose thoughts are impossible to read.”
Ryu Min held back here.
If he defended the Prophet unnecessarily, it would only invite suspicion.
It was better to let them imagine whatever they wanted.
“So what will you do now?”
-First, we should report it to the police. Two people died, after all…
“Leave that part to me. As the C.P.F Squad Leader, I can handle it.”
If they mentioned the Prophet during police questioning, things could get complicated.
He was cutting that off in advance.
“I’m sorry you had to go through something difficult because of me. Go back and rest well.”
-Thank you for your consideration. Black Scythe-nim, you should rest well too.
“Then I’ll see you in the next Round.”
-Yes. Goodbye.
After setting the phone down, Ryu Min immediately sent Yamtti a text.
[Black Scythe: Tell the National Police Commissioner General and clean up the situation. Announce that Ma Kyung-rok is dead too. But make sure not a single word about the Prophet comes out.]
[Yamtti: Yes. I will carry it out immediately.]
Ryu Min put his phone away and started walking.
The Ma Kyung-rok incident was neatly wrapped up, and his business in the United States was finished as well.
Now it was time to return to Korea.
One week after Ma Kyung-rok’s death.
It was a short time, but many changes happened in the meantime.
First, Ryu Min became a billionaire beyond even the chaebol.
Because he sold off all the shares he held, his assets alone exceeded one trillion won.
If he put it in the bank and did nothing but breathe, more than ten billion won in interest would come out every year.
If he handed it to a fund manager, he could earn even more, but Ryu Min, who had no greed for money, decided to keep it safely in the bank.
The second change was the collapse of Ma Kyung-rok’s company.
Of course it would stagger when he pulled out a total of 31% of the shares.
‘Even if I hadn’t pulled out, it was a company that was going to collapse anyway.’
As the Rounds went on, the number of Players was cut in half each time, and when it reached the 15th Round, it would be slashed again by a quarter.
With things like that, there was no way the business could do well in any normal sense.
No matter how much they increased promotions for VVIPs, there was a limit to how long they could hold out.
The fact that it had lasted this long was a miracle in itself.
‘And on top of that, the CEO died.’
Ma Kyung-rok’s death became known a day later.
When Ryu Min bought off the National Police Commissioner General and told him to reveal Ma Kyung-rok’s death, an article was pushed out not long after.
That Ma Kyung-rok, the eldest son of Ohsung Group, killed his siblings in a succession dispute, then was betrayed and killed by his subordinate.
Whatever the reason, the public reaction was bad when it came out that he killed his family.
It was only natural that Ohsung Group’s stock price dropped.
‘And on top of that, they investigated Ma Kyung-rok’s warehouse and dug up all his past murders too.’
The truth of countless crimes Ma Kyung-rok had committed in the past was exposed to the whole world.
Because of that, Ma Kyung-rok’s stock price plunged like a roller coaster.
Ohsung Group took collateral damage, and Chairman Ma Dae-cheol’s dignity was dragged through the mud.
‘It’ll be hard to recover their image for a while.’
After the unprecedented situation where all of Ohsung Group’s heirs died,
the internet was filled with every kind of speculation about who would inherit the group.
‘Say what you want. It has nothing to do with me anymore.’
He sold off his shares at the highest peak and pocketed enormous profit, and he eliminated Ma Kyung-rok.
Now he was someone with no ties to Ohsung Group whatsoever.
‘With this, my connection with Ma Kyung-rok is settled, for now.’
He was someone Ryu Min expected would eventually cause harm—and in reality, he tried to kill Christine and Seo Arin to silence them.
‘If I had spared him, I’d probably regret it for a long time. He might’ve come for revenge against Christine and Seo Arin, and even against me.’
He had no regret about killing him.
Better that than leaving future trouble behind.
And there was no lingering mess.
‘Besides, people don’t know I killed Ma Kyung-rok. They think An Sang-cheol killed him.’
The police searched the mountain and found An Sang-cheol’s body.
But no matter how they searched, Ma Kyung-rok’s body was nowhere to be found.
Because of that, the police concluded that after An Sang-cheol killed Ma Kyung-rok, he disposed of the body and committed suicide.
Which was exactly what happened.
The problem was why An Sang-cheol killed his own master, but—
‘Well, that’s up to people to decide.’
There were various conspiracy theories, but the most plausible one was that he betrayed him because he was sick of being used.
There was also a theory that An Sang-cheol was a double spy planted by the siblings.
‘Either way, it has nothing to do with me now.’
Ryu Min decided to stop caring entirely about anything related to Ohsung Group.
It was true that the Plpl Market he built ended up collapsing, but from now on, he could only obtain the items he needed through dwarves anyway.
What he needed to do in the 13th Round was to meet dwarves.
‘Now there’s one thing I have to do before the next Round. Meet Heo Tae-seok.’
Among the runes you can obtain in real life, there’s one called the Rune of the Hero.
If Heo Tae-seok was level 60, he should be able to help Ryu Min obtain it.
‘It’s been a while. I should drop by the Reaper Sect.’
It was time for Black Scythe to visit the Reaper Sect.