Chapter 247. Dark Illusion
“D-didn’t you just hear something?”
“Ugh, that gave me chills.”
“Uuugh….”
Dark Illusion’s cry wasn’t normal.
With a voice that clawed at primal fear, it systemically inflicted the status ailment ‘Fear’.
That was why some Players were trembling.
‘But it doesn’t apply with a 100% chance.’
Thanks to Christine’s Saintess’s Blessing cast before the start, many people could resist Fear.
Needless to say, that included Ryu Min.
‘With the blessing active, the probability of being inflicted with Fear is 2.45%. Even if I do get hit, it only lasts 0.07 seconds.’
With his resistance already high, plus a blessing that cut the chance of status ailments in half, there was no way it would land.
‘You can basically say Dark Illusion’s cry has no effect at all.’
But what was truly frightening about it wasn’t some status ailment.
“W-where is it?”
“I heard the sound, but I can’t see it.”
To Dark Illusion, darkness was water—like a fish.
Not only was it fast, it was hard to see, making it an extremely troublesome monster.
‘It doesn’t show up on Presence Detection, and it’s hard to spot with the naked eye.’
Of course, there was a simple countermeasure.
If you emitted light, you could pull it out of the darkness—and it became easy to kill.
But that didn’t work here.
Because the environment had been deliberately created to favor Dark Illusion.
Sure enough—
“Huh? Light won’t go in.”
“Guys, something’s weird.”
“Someone use a skill and light it up!”
“It doesn’t work! Not at all!”
They tried to brighten the area because it was too dark, but it went out quickly—like a candle in the wind.
While they tensed, guarding their surroundings in pitch-black darkness where no light entered—
“Kyaaaah! M-my arm!”
A scream rang out from somewhere.
Looking toward the sound, they could faintly make out a Player trembling with an arm severed.
THUD— THUD—!
Then a blade burst out through the chest, and the Player died.
The first victim had appeared.
Even so, no one could figure out where the monster was.
Only a fearful sound—
Uuuuuuu—
“AAAH!”
“It’s here! The monster is here!”
The second scream had barely sounded when—
“Kkheuk!”
“AAAH!”
Wails exploded from all over.
Lifting their heads, they saw multiple figures wearing sackcloth-like clothing, tearing through the darkness.
Those things were Dark Illusions.
“Where did this many come from all of a sudden?”
“Everyone, be careful!”
“Keugh—those bastards cut my arm!”
“Kill them! Fight back!”
“Didn’t you see the message? It said they’re invincible!”
“We have no choice but to run!”
The number of Dark Illusions was, at a rough guess, over a hundred.
Like fish swimming through a current, they freely swept through the darkness.
Now people had realized what they were, but there were so many, and they moved so fast, it was extremely difficult to avoid them.
“UAAAH!”
“It hurts! It huuurts!”
“Kkheuk!”
They whipped past, raking with their long nails, and a sharp, electric pain surged up.
“H-how are we supposed to run away from this many?”
“Also—aren’t these monsters? Why don’t they show up on Presence Detection?”
“Shut up and run!”
People panicked, shouting over each other as they tried to flee.
In the chaos, the ones who maintained some composure were those using invisibility.
And the believers of the Reaper Church who had heard the strategy.
And lastly, Ryu Min—who intended to break the gimmick.
‘They’re panicking a lot.’
They were running for their lives like someone had kicked a hornet’s nest, but honestly, there was no need.
‘It’s all fake. Ah—except for one.’
It looked like over a hundred, but except for the single main body, all of them were fake.
Dark Illusion’s clones were only planting false pain—there was no real damage.
‘They’re panicking because they’re being fooled. By clones created by just one.’
That was why Ryu Min calmly stepped through the darkness, searching for the real Dark Illusion.
If he was careful of only the main body, the first mission would be easy to clear.
‘Where are you? Where’s its position?’
Using darkness as footholds, he leapt around, searching for the real Dark Illusion.
The fakes tried to rake him with their nails, but they couldn’t even keep up with Ryu Min’s movement.
‘Even if they’re fake, there’s no reason to let them hit me.’
The way to find the main body among them was simple.
He would cast Seal of Death on every Dark Illusion he could see.
‘If I cast Seal of Death on the main body, I’ll see its HP bar. The clones won’t show it.’
That let him distinguish real from fake easily.
A function of a skill that seemed unremarkable—useful at times like this.
Before long—
‘Found it.’
He found a Dark Illusion with a visible HP bar.
It was hiding among countless clones, lying in wait for prey.
Uuuuuuuuuu—
Seeing it use the resonance of fear, it looked like it had found the prey it wanted.
While people fell into Fear, the Dark Illusion moved swiftly.
It shot straight toward a female Player trembling in a defenseless state.
‘It’s invincible, so I can’t kill it, and I can’t shove it away either, but….’
Ryu Min, at overwhelming speed, overtook the Dark Illusion.
‘I can interfere so it can’t hunt.’
Before the nails could pierce the female Player, Ryu Min intercepted first.
“Kyaah!”
When she was suddenly hoisted onto someone’s back, the woman screamed in surprise.
When she came to her senses, the now-famous Black Scythe—someone no one didn’t know—was setting her down.
“That was close. Are you okay?”
“M-me?”
Only then did the woman spot the Dark Illusion glaring at her.
“Th-thank you, Black Scythe-nim.”
Nodding, Ryu Min suddenly shouted to everyone present.
“Listen up, everyone! I’ll tell you how to clear this Round!”
Perhaps the words “I’ll tell you the strategy” sounded tempting—people’s gazes gathered.
“It looks like dozens, but Dark Illusion is actually only one. That one right there.”
Ryu Min’s scythe aimed at the main-body Dark Illusion.
Having its prey snatched away—and now even having its identity exposed—must have been awkward for it.
“The rest are clones, so if you just watch out for the one I pointed at, you’ll be fine!”
“The rest are clones?”
“No way. That can’t be true.”
“What nonsense is he talking about?”
The Players couldn’t believe Black Scythe’s words.
The pain felt this vivid, and they were clones?
So all the pain I’m feeling is fake—lies?
Reading their thoughts, Ryu Min shouted again.
“It’s false. The pain you’re feeling is nothing but a hallucination. Don’t be fooled!”
“A hallucination….”
“I can’t believe it….”
As people stared at Black Scythe like they were denying reality, the clones flew in again.
“AAAH!”
“Ugh—i-it hurts!”
“It hurts this much and you’re saying it’s fake?!”
“I can see my flesh tearing and blood seeping out!”
“Stop spewing nonsense—!”
But Ryu Min expected it too.
He didn’t think they’d believe him easily.
“Believe me! As proof, look at the death count! How many Players have died so far?”
At Ryu Min’s words, people checked the quest progress window—half expecting to be tricked.
[Current survivors: 2,303]
[Time remaining until next mission: 00:27:12]
“Huh?”
“Weren’t we 2,304?”
“Why did only one person die?”
They were being attacked and “injured” this much, but only one death?
It made no sense.
“I told you. They’re clones. The pain you’re feeling is all false, and there’s only one main body. If you recognize that, you’ll be able to escape the pain.”
People who had dismissed his claim as nonsense now began to listen.
In their minds, a seed of doubt sprouted—maybe it really was a hallucination.
And strangely, just like Black Scythe said, the pain vanished as if washed away.
“W-was it really a hallucination?”
“All the pain I felt was fake?”
Once they thought that, even the Dark Illusions flying around now felt like nothing but clones.
Even if they were attacked, it only stung slightly—once they thought it was false, the pain disappeared immediately.
Seeing that, the corner of Ryu Min’s mouth lifted in satisfaction.
‘The way to break an illusion is simple. Just realize it.’
If you awaken them—make them believe it’s a hallucination—it stops working.
That didn’t mean they could distinguish clones, though.
“Ignore the other clones! The real one is only a single one!”
“What did you say the real one looks like?”
“Please tell us again, Black Scythe-nim!”
Seal of Death was a skill only the caster could see.
That was why only Ryu Min could see the HP bar.
“That one.”
Ryu Min’s scythe pointed at the Dark Illusion with the HP bar.
Uuuuuuuuu!
Maybe it got angry at being singled out—it charged in aggressively.
Whoosh—
Dodging easily, Ryu Min continued telling the Players around him.
If you just avoided this one, you could live.
You could clear the mission.
“This one is real—ignore the others!”
Thanks to Ryu Min pointing it out, the Players could avoid the main body early.
In fishing terms, it was like splashing the water to warn the fish to run.
From the fisherman Dark Illusion’s perspective, it was enough to make its insides explode.
‘Good. Like this, we can survive thirty minutes easily.’
Maybe because they already knew what to avoid—
Players fled easily, stalling for time.
As a result, even after twenty minutes passed, Dark Illusion couldn’t kill a single Player besides the first victim.
For it, it was enough to drive it completely insane.
No matter how many clones it summoned and released, everyone ignored them and only avoided the main body.
It was like playing tag alone against two thousand people.
Uuuuuuuuaah!
It let out a cry filled with rage and inflicted the Fear status ailment.
It rushed toward prey trembling in a defenseless state, but—
Tap!
A human snatched the prey away every time, interfering with the hunt.
It was Ryu Min.
Uuuuuuu! Uuuuuuu!
It spat out its cry again and again, but it was useless.
‘I won’t let any more victims happen.’
After thirty minutes of sabotaging it—
Sssrk—
Dark Illusion dissipated like smoke.
The hundreds of clones did the same.
[The time limit has ended.]
[You have succeeded in the first mission.]
[Survivors: 2,303. Deaths: 1.]
[Congratulations! The second mission will begin shortly.]
“Phew! It’s finally over.”
“Nice! Only one person died!”
“It’s all thanks to Black Scythe!”
The Players cheered.
Some Players bowed their heads, grateful to Ryu Min.
‘He definitely saved a lot.’
Considering that there had been hundreds of deaths before, it was a result worth celebrating.
But he couldn’t just be happy.
Because the second mission was going to be soaked in blood.