Chapter 151

[This is the location of ‘Theme 5’.]

Flash!

When I opened my eyes after the burst of light, another new space had appeared.

Just like last time, it was an artificially created white space.

“Ugh.”

I forced my eyes open. The sudden light had made them refuse to cooperate.

Sss! Sssss!

My comrades appeared one by one around me.

“Haa, keoheok!”

“Haaah! Is it over? What was that last guy?”

“That guy? What, you could even see him?”

“No, not at all.”

Everyone was panting, clutching their chests as if they’d been stabbed.

“Hoo… but you all felt it, right?”

Vladimir Rodygin spoke, letting out a sigh that seemed to come from the depths of his chest.

“It pierced through my heart in an instant. Shit… it was a feeling I never wanted to experience again after Aranvalon.”

Ragged breaths.

Sweat pouring nonstop.

Just looking at their flushed faces was enough to tell how hard they’d fought.

If I’d dealt with a few of the executives, then they must’ve been cutting down the mid-to-low-level Shepherds that kept pouring in.

“But…”

Olena Zelenska frowned.

“You all saw it, right? The score that skyrocketed at the end. What was that? It shot up so much it honestly made everything we fought for feel pointless…”

“Look over there.”

Maximilian pointed at the electronic display board floating in the air.

Everyone turned toward it.

[☆★CON★☆☆★GRATS★☆]

[Congratulations on setting a new all-time number 1 ranking!]

“…Hah.”

Olena let out a quiet sound of admiration.

I wasn’t exactly confident about reading expressions, but I knew what that one meant.

“Again?”

It was the look of a soccer coach stunned by a spectacular, game-winning goal.

“This is…”

“That’s insane.”

“That’s crazy, isn’t it? I’ve seen it happen occasionally, but I never thought it would jump that high…!”

The others clicked their tongues, jaws hanging open.

Me too.

“…”

I was genuinely surprised.

[1st ‘Dragon Slayer’, 500,000 points.]

[2nd ‘Crazy’, 120,500 points.]

[3rd ‘Magic Swordsman’, 100,300 points.]

[4th ‘Rider’, 96,000 points.]

[5th ‘Lions’, 95,500 points.]

……

I didn’t expect the gap with second place to be this wide.

‘This is nuts.’

Even if it was a contract…

Even if there were tricks involved…

‘At this rate… do I actually have talent for this?’

Honestly, I felt a little sorry.

The rankers who cleared it below 2nd place were probably monsters with incredible skill back on Earth.

How much of a reality check would they get when they saw my score?

‘In reality.’

With my current strength, I wouldn’t be a match for the rankers.

I might be able to handle the lower-ranked ones… but I wouldn’t even be able to hold a candle to the top-tier ones without borrowing special powers like the ‘Unsealed Essences’ or ‘Toxin Mist’.

And yet, I did it all with the ‘Unsealed Essences’.

I made the absolute ruler of a world misunderstand, and I profited from it.

Honestly, I didn’t even plan it that way, but that’s how it turned out.

Isn’t this what being truly carried by items is all about?

“This must be Hoon’s work again, right?”

“What’s there to say… of course it is. By the way, where could the Team leader be this time? Passed out and sprawled in some corner…”

Vladimir Rodygin trailed off mid-sentence.

His eyes had met mine from where I was watching at a distance.

“Huh?”

Why was it so cute seeing the Russian mafia member’s eyes go wide?

A small laugh slipped out.

‘Right.’

Whenever I met them after a Theme ended, I was never in my right mind.

When I obtained the Toxin Mist.

When I took the Essence of Fire into my body to deal with the dragon.

When I faced the 5th stage of Theme 3.

I was always either injured somewhere or passed out.

“This is the first time I’ve come out with my body this intact, haha. Well, it’s the same in that I feel like I’m about to die from exhaustion…”

The moment I said that—

“Oh, Team leadeeer!”

“Hoon!”

“You’re okay this time!”

“What happened? The score? Capu said you entered some weird space and couldn’t be seen?!”

They came running over.

I exchanged greetings with them slowly.

[This is the location of ‘Theme 5’.]

[Please wait a moment.]

[Calculating rewards.]

Just like always.

While the system calculated the appropriate rewards, I shared what happened after Theme 5 ended.

“Wow, so you took care of all those Shepherds by yourself?”

“That guy who showed up at the end was the Shadow Shepherd King? What, I couldn’t even see him. How did Hoon…?”

I gave them a rough explanation.

Everything except the parts about the ‘Elder’ or ‘Essence’.

From the existence of the Shadow Shepherds to what I learned from them.

The kinds of lives they lived, and the relationship I formed with them.

They listened with wide eyes, nodding like kids hearing a fairy tale.

And after some time—

[This team’s contribution level is ‘Rank SS’.]

It was time to pick the sweetly ripened fruit.

[All team members will receive the same reward.]

[The appropriate reward designated for you is a ‘Rank SS Gift Box’.]

[The gift box will present you with the item you need most, according to its rank.]

“Oh, rewards!”

“Is it a gift box this time too?”

“Keh, another Rank SS reward thanks to the Team leader? I really don’t know how I’ll ever repay this debt…”

“Then should we talk later and get our rewards first? Before the next Theme starts?”

“That sounds better.”

The team members scattered to their own corners.

Why?

[If you select the appropriate reward, the acquisition probability is 100%.]

[However, you may consume your probability to acquire a reward up to 2 ranks higher.]

[Please consider carefully before choosing.]

[Acquire with 100% probability – Rank SS Gift Box]

[Acquire with 30% probability – Rank SSS Gift Box]

[Acquire with 1% probability – ??? Rank Gift Box]

[If you fail to acquire a higher-rank reward, you will not be able to obtain any reward.]

Because the system was playing its probability games again, giving us plenty to think about.

“…”

I moved to a corner as well.

Thump, thump, thump!

Leaving my accelerating heartbeat behind.

‘Heh heh…’

A dry laugh escaped me.

I hadn’t told the others, but—

Another message was floating before my eyes.

[Ding!]

[An error has occurred!]

[The Probability you have accumulated exceeds the current reward.]

‘As expected.’

The system was telling me, plain and clear.

That I was worthy of a higher reward.

That on top of the team’s Rank SS score, what I’d done was worth far, far more.

[You have mimicked the state of ‘Silence’.]

[You have touched the traces of the ‘Abandoned Apostle of Light’.]

[Furthermore, you have saved a species from the pit of despair.]

As if it couldn’t tolerate it otherwise, the words etched themselves into the air with unshakable firmness.

‘Of course.’

If not, I would’ve been a little disappointed this time.

It wasn’t as bad as before, but it was still brutal.

[Recalculating rewards.]

The system recalculated my reward.

Just like back then, when I used 1,000,000 Trial Points in the ‘VIP Shop’.

Just like how I amplified the reward probability with it.

[For any reward, the acquisition probability for the target reward will be set to 100%.]

[The acquisition probability for the ‘??? Rank Gift Box’ is adjusted to 100%.]

It handed me a bonus like it was only natural.

That must mean I’d accumulated that much Probability.

“Keeuh!”

An exclamation burst out of me without warning.

Heat surged through my body, like excitement turning to flame.

I turned my head to hide my twitching cheeks.

This was good.

So good.

Because I knew exactly what those question marks meant.

I forced my boiling emotions down.

[Acquire with 100% probability – ??? Rank Gift Box]

Slowly.

Carefully.

I clicked the message.

Gulp.

I swallowed hard, biting my lip.

After about three seconds—

[Selecting reward.]

[Congratulations!]

[★☆Awe To the Some☆★]

[You have acquired the ‘??? Rank Gift Box’.]

Woooong!

A box radiating mystical light appeared in my hands.

‘Fucking solid.’

A true thumbs-up moment.

—

Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul.

「Dmir’s Workshop」

A sign with golden letters on a black background.

On the terrace of the building where that sign hung so stylishly, a woman sat with her legs crossed, letting out a deep sigh.

In her hand was a tall can of beer.

“Hoo. So this is what it feels like to be dying for a smoke.”

Her name was Kim Jina.

Vice President of Dmir’s Workshop.

In the prime of her late twenties, soon to hit thirty.

On top of that, a woman of absurd talent—top graduate from Harvard’s economics department, still being scouted by countless corporations and guilds.

The reason she looked so lifeless was simple.

“No, I mean, why did he suddenly disappear, saying he’s going on vacation, and then not show up!”

At first, he was a customer.

Recently, Mr. Donghoon.

Now, the man who’d become the President.

“It’s already been almost a month! Do you think I came here, turning down all those other good places, for this!”

Because Joo Donghoon had gone completely off the grid.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it…”

She chugged her beer.

Everything else was fine.

The workshop ran smoothly even without him.

Entrusted with all of the President’s authority, she’d expanded Dmir’s Workshop in an instant.

For Kim Jina, that much was easy.

She set the strategy from a macroscopic view, and when something unexpected happened, she stepped in and handled it herself.

Directly managed stores were already being built in five locations, including GoTo Mall.

And that wasn’t all.

She’d even quietly lobbied the parties who controlled the nearby market, cutting off institutional problems before they could surface.

She’d reduced the unsystematic risk that could be mitigated through effort to virtually zero.

In truth, as long as Dmir—the blacksmith who mass-produced top-tier items—was around, she never once thought she’d fail.

It just grew and grew, smooth as flowing water.

“Ahem, ahem.”

That was when the short skeleton, Dmir, came out to the terrace.

“Why are you being all melancholic again? You were running around so hard during the day.”

Even though Kim Jina was the general manager, she’d still show up at the main branch sometimes to handle customers.

It was management.

Since all the employees were skeletons, unexpected problems could pop up—things they might miss.

That’s right.

She was pouring that much passion into the work.

“Hoo, calling me melancholic as soon as you arrive.”

“Isn’t that what you call it when you’re sighing like that?”

“Ugh… I bet everything for the first time in my life. He was the first CEO I decided to serve properly. I’m doing this because I’m starting to think it might all be for nothing…”

“The President is alive and well.”

“Of course he’s alive and well! He’s probably made some money now. Isn’t he off somewhere drinking a mojito in the Maldives?”

“Ho ho, did I not tell you? The President is getting stronger even now. I can definitely feel it.”

“Hoo… playing around and getting stronger. Fine. But why hasn’t he shown up yet? Without a word. Not even once.”

That was what upset Kim Jina the most.

If he was going to a Dungeon, he could’ve at least told her.

Or contacted her along the way.

A whole month had passed without a single word.

“Besides, the day after tomorrow is the end of the year, the end of the year! You know there are all sorts of events at the end of the year, right?”

“End of the year…? What is that?”

“Haa… what is this…”

Kim Jina shook her head with a short sigh.

‘What am I even saying to a skeleton right now?’

Then, with a shrug, she rose from her seat.

Dmir chuckled.

“Is the melancholy over? Are you going in now?”

“Yes. The wind is cold. You should go in too, Dmir. And don’t worry about me too much. I have to work tomorrow, too.”

Thunk!

After tossing the crushed beer can into the trash, Kim Jina stepped inside.

For some reason today, the winter wind felt exceptionally cold.

—

“…”

At that moment.

On the rooftop, a woman was watching Kim Jina go inside.

The Empress of Darkness.

The master of assassination.

Shadow Empress Ki Soyul.

“…”

There was only one reason she—and Joo Donghoon—couldn’t explain the situation to Kim Jina.

[If you disclose information to a non-ranker, you will not be able to participate in the ‘Dungeon Maker’s’ content in the future!]

It was because of the Prohibition set by the world’s 5th-ranked being.

‘It’s almost time.’

She could tell.

‘He’ll come out within the next two days.’

Delilah’s trial was held once every half-year.

Once from early June to late June.

Once from early December to late December.

Inside the Dungeon she created, space-time twisted, so time flowed differently from reality.

But she always kept the one-month time limit in reality.

‘Because if it’s him, he would have passed everything unconditionally.’

She already had a rough idea of who had been eliminated.

Through the connections among the rankers who participated in the trial, they’d identified those who were ejected outside.

Of course, they couldn’t identify those who died inside, but—

She had faith.

A conviction that Joo Donghoon would never die.

With that monstrous elder who toyed with her like a child as his master, would he be defeated so easily?

‘I wonder.’

A flicker of excitement stirred in her nearly expressionless eyes.

Anyone who passes Delilah’s trial unconditionally becomes a ranker.

Then what about Joo Donghoon?

He was already a ranker, no matter what.

The problem was—

Just how much stronger would he be when he returned?

Her fellow Necromancer, Dark Lord Kim Hyukseon, was ranked 948th.

He’d be higher than that, right?

Or could it be…

Would he be like the Berserker, Jang Daewoong, who shocked the world by hitting rank 450 the moment he came out?

“…”

The world ranking board updates at the end of the year.

Which meant she would know soon.

Ki Soyul, unmoving in the cold wind, sank deeper into thought.