Ch 68
Episode 67 – In the blink of an eye.
Jaejoo Kim took a deep breath while holding the doorknob leading to the fountain of ordeal.
My heart was shaken by the relationship I met in Tarha.
‘Calm down.’
Now was not the time.
He turned the hood inside out and pressed it on, and opened the door leading to the inside.
The interior of the building was reminiscent of a luxurious hotel lobby.
Being in Tharha, the red carpet and bright lighting came to me awkwardly.
Jaejoo Kim quickly looked around.
Red and blue in the corner. Two portals were open.
It must be a clear portal that only his eyes can see.
But what was even more worrisome was the multitude of people.
’21 people.’
The people on the 2nd floor were sipping alcohol and drinks.
People sitting on the sofa next to the lobby chatting.
There were also people who were talking in groups of four or five people.
They all closed their mouths and looked at one person.
Kim Jae-joo.
There was a deep silence inside.
‘There are quite a few left.’
– What are you twisting about?
– Oh, you dare to tell Hwang Rapo
– What else is Hwangrapo?
– Reduced Emperor Rachanta Popoi
– Reduce everything;
-But why is Popoi the last?
-The fundamentals are you haha
The audience didn’t really care.
Because I didn’t think that Jaejoo Kim would be dangerous in the first place.
Among the 21 people, some people stood out, and some familiar faces were also seen.
‘Kim Sang-hyuk. Lee Su-jeong.’
The two of them looked at this side while talking with other people, and they immediately caught on because they had a particularly serious expression.
“······there.”
He was the first to talk to me when other people only looked at me and couldn’t even open their mouths, let alone move.
After telling Su-jeong Lee next to me to wait, the image of me walking out alone was quite strong.
“hello.”
Unlike the first time I saw him, Kim Sang-hyuk spoke in a very cautious voice.
Thanks to the strength he gave to hide his trembling voice, he was coming out more trembling.
“yes.”
“Are you sure it’s our sphere?”
“Yes.”
“Haha…you decided to add a friend, but you’ve been quiet all this time, so I was wondering what’s going on.”
Kim Sang-hyuk carefully turned around.
Jaejoo Kim had no intention of doing that.
“Are you on the air?”
“Yes Yes? no!”
Kim Sang-hyuk shook his head as he slapped his hand.
‘It must have been done on the 15th floor.’
Jaejoo Kim stopped the conversation there.
Kim Sang-hyeok was not a bad person, but he seemed to like to be swayed.
He must have leaked as much information as he knew about himself.
‘Without starting with Jaejoo Kim and the fountain of ordeal. As much as he asked me to confirm the mission.’
There is no information that could be a weakness.
The only thing that bothered me was the name.
There were a lot of things that could make you wonder, but it wasn’t dangerous.
After Kim Jae-joo did not speak for a long time, Kim Sang-hyuk started to sweat.
“Uh, uh. there······.”
As Kim Jae-joo went to the portal without a word, Kim Sang-hyuk, embarrassed, spat out a vague sound.
Unfortunately, his words did not follow.
As the door to Tarha slowly disappeared, a message came to everyone.
Palaham’s prediction that it would be by morning at the latest was correct.
[The 15th floor is closed.]
[Ranking in progress······· completed.]
[Hall of Fame]
[1st place – Jaejoo Kim 2]
[2nd place – zI Zone Master S2]
[3rd place – Rafnaro]
The reaction to it was varied.
“I don’t think it’s your real name.”
“Should I spray it on the viewers first?”
“It will be fine. Because there were about 50 people who watched the broadcast at the time. If you twist gently, coins will pour out.”
There were people who calculated profit and loss.
“Hey, hurry up and make a friend request.”
“no. How can you be sure that person is Jaejoo Kim?”
“You idiot. We all kicked out and left him alone, so who would that be?”
With people who want to beg for Kim Jae-joo, who has shown overwhelming ability.
“Aren’t you really going to change your nickname?”
“why?”
“You idiot, the Supreme Court-”
“Shut up.”
Even people who are not interested in anything other than their own rankings.
Among them, Kim Sang-hyuk.
“······ah.”
His gaze was nailed to one of the message windows scattered in front of him.
[1st place – Jaejoo Kim 2]
No other information was provided other than his name.
The playfulness of making jokes under the name of Kim Jae-joo has long since disappeared.
‘It’s too late.’
It was full of regrets for vainly blowing up the opportunity to earn coins.
‘No, even now…’
The moment I turned my head to have a conversation with Jaejoo Kim.
“uh?”
he wasn’t
Kim Sang-hyeok exclaimed hastily.
“just now! Has anyone seen where I went?”
All that came back was a cold silence.
Kang So-ah was in the clan house on the 70th floor.
It was because he had to fill his quota and prepare a report under the direction of the clan leader.
inside the house.
She and a man were in the luxurious central conference room.
“How is it?”
With her sitting on a chair, crossing her legs and making an annoying expression.
“Currently, all nickname change rights have been purchased.”
The figure of a dark-looking man in a black suit standing in contrast with her was clear.
“What is the staffing?”
“We are monitoring every channel in each country with a high floating population, 3 shifts, 2 people.”
Kang So-ah kept her expressionless expression while kicking her tongue inwardly.
‘Han Jin-soo.’
A person assigned by the clan leader in the name of an attendant assistant.
In reality, it was closer to the surveillance station.
He was as unfamiliar as he looked on the outside.
I didn’t really pay attention to it because I didn’t do any external activities.
The clan leader who liked to draw clear lines was the only one who didn’t rank them.
‘Is it the Joker?’
Kang So-ah needed a break.
This is an opportunity to help Kim Jae-joo.
I needed to think about it or shake it.
Kang So-ah, who was tapping the cold table, slowly opened her mouth.
“What do you think, Jin-Soo Han?”
“I do not know the intent of the words.”
“Do you really think the change up to the 10th floor was caused by one user?”
“················ogue.”
Han Jin-soo bowed her head without saying a word.
“Kang So-ah.”
“Please speak.”
“Is that important?”
Han Jin-soo’s voice was not high.
Her fingers stopped clapping.
And then smiled softly.
“I’m curious. No matter how much I think about it, it seems like an overreaction.”
“I have been instructed, so follow them and that’s it.”
Despite Han Jin-soo’s decisive attitude, her eyes did not waver.
“Ugh. Be afraid.”
Rather, he lowered his voice and looked at him with a piercing gaze.
“If anyone sees it, they will know that I am Han Jin-soo.”
“················ogue.”
After a moment of awkward silence, Han Jin-soo politely bowed his head.
“sorry. I made a presumptuous remark.”
“it’s okay. What a great person I am Is there anything else other than smashing the mage’s head on the 35th floor at most?”
Again she knocked on the table.
The table, which was ringing louder than before, was cracking little by little.
“················ogue.”
“Will there be any disruption to existing work because of the monitoring personnel?”
“yes. It’s a bit rushed though. In addition to the progress of industrialization, we are sending a message to our managers, making resource procurement our top priority.”
“I think we need to check. I will go directly to the site.”
“You have to-”
“I do not like it?”
“······no.”
“Then from the field.”
Kang So-ah spoke in a bright voice and got up from her seat.
‘I’ll have to shake it from here.’
If there is no problem, just create a problem.
[4880 units. 4882 units. 4885 units. 4891 units. A total of 30 people have entered.]
[Condition number of people have been met.]
[The level of the ordeal is proportional to the user’s total difficulty.]
A portal opened and dozens of people poured out.
“Isn’t it a little uncomfortable that there is only one person missing?”
“What should I do? I’m sick. If you want to get it right, you have to go like this.”
“Looks like a fool. Sooner or later, that bastard will be fired. certainly.”
[The 16th floor trial begins.]
[Break through the Temple of the Ancient Gods.]
[Time remaining until start: 10 minutes]
“uh? Start?”
“What kind of kid…..”
“Watch your mouth.”
“yeah.”
Despite entering the ordeal, there was no tense atmosphere.
It was relaxed and friendly, as if on a picnic.
Leading those 28 people, a middle-aged man in the lead looked around.
“It’s the same as the third floor.”
“You heard the clan chief. 3rd Floor. 4th floor. It’s a massive ordeal that is a mixture of two.”
A young man who followed closely spoke to the middle-aged man.
“I know mate. Nice to meet you Nice to meet you.”
They were standing on a barren plain.
A place with no special corners except for the stone steps and the temple guarded by stone statues in the distance.
It had the same structure as the third floor.
Except that the inside of the temple is infested with all kinds of traps and magical beasts.
“The other one….”
The middle-aged man only then realized that there was someone in front of the statue.
The brown robe seen from afar was so plain that it wouldn’t stand out if you weren’t paying attention.
Fortunately, it was found quickly thanks to the bulging subspace backpack.
“You look like that person?”
“It’s good too. How did you get to the 16th floor by yourself?”
“Thank you, we are. I thought you would wait a long time.”
“What should I do?”
“I will tell you first. Look at the kids, hold each other and wait.”
“Yep.”
A middle-aged man approached the man in the robe.
“Hey!”
The body of the person wearing the robe turned slowly.
‘Up to the face.’
The man grunted inwardly.
The deep-pressed hood had no space for sunlight to penetrate.
“Are you a user?”
He kept his distance with a moderately friendly expression on his face.
Because I didn’t know what he would do if he had committed a crime and ran away.
“yes.”
The voice emanating from the robe was strangely low and clear.
“Yongke also came alone.”
“There are circumstances.”
The attitude of avoiding specific answers was certainly suspicious.
The man reached out with his long sword, which he had attached behind the plate armor.
“Do you know what is going on?”
“sorry.”
The man stepped back little by little.
At that unusual look, the 28 users who were watching from behind also hardened their expressions.
“Well. there······.”
“yes.”
“I know it’s hard to say, but should I call them comrades risking their lives together? No, it’s difficult to have that kind of attitude amongst the same users anyway.”
“I understand. But now it is a bit like that.”
His voice alone could not read any emotion.
‘What are you doing?’
Eventually, the man drew his sword.
“He is a non-verbal man. Can you see me behind you?”
The man tilted his head back.
As if responding to that, 28 users took out their weapons in unison.
“When you say something nice, take off the hood first.”
“sorry.”
“You mean you don’t like it?”
“················ogue.”
The man sighed.
‘driving me crazy. I have to see blood from the beginning, unfortunately.’
The remaining time reached one minute.
Eventually he decided to try the last conversation.
“You must have been nervous, so let’s talk about it from the beginning. My name is Park Soo-han.”
[Time remaining until start: 30 seconds]
A brown robe twitched in his hand.
The frowning man quickly took his stance.
A strange confrontation ensued.
“I am Jaejoo Kim.”
After a while the answer came back
“yes?”
After that, the other party turned back to the stone statue without saying a word.
“No, hey…”
The moment I tried to catch him again with an absurd voice.
[The ordeal begins.]
The ordeal has begun.
Kugugugu Palace.
The statues began to wake up without any time to worry about the message.
‘Damn it.’
The man hurriedly stepped back.
If the statues on the 3rd floor had only one eye shining, these statues have both eyes glowing red.
In other words, unless both eyes are destroyed, they will continue to regenerate.
The higher the difficulty, the more common it was that even if the attack was hit with magic or aura, there was not a single scratch.
In the end, his weakness is his two red eyes.
It’s said that if you don’t know how to look good like now, and if you flirt in front of it, it’s just right to die.
“There, Kim… Ah.”
Watching the man run to the stone statue, Jaejoo Kim, he was terrified.
“You madman! back-”
His words were not finished.
Obviously, the stone statues that stood up vigorously.
Aww!
Because in the blink of an eye, it was shattering with stone dust.
Broken pieces of stone fell on him like crazy.
He hurriedly turned to avoid the stone and bowed his head.
He couldn’t believe it.
‘·······What did I see?’
It was even confirmed that a man called Kim Jae-joo was running to the statue.
The moment he raised his fist and his fist shone brightly.
It was just there.
taang. taang. taang.
The pieces of stone collided with the plate armor and bounced off loudly.
When the sound stops, calming the beating heart.
The man quickly turned his head toward the stone statue.
“······uh?”
But there was nobody there.
A man named Jaejoo Kim. stone statue.
Only the wide open door of the temple and the remnants of a stone statue that had been smashed down were the only reminders that it was not a dream.
The man approached the group with a blank expression.
“Who did you just see?”
“················ogue.”
There was no reply returned.