Chapter 10
“Gah…!”
The whites of Andariel’s eyes were fully exposed.
Her pupils trembled beyond control—she was no longer capable of accepting reality.
“Wow, how many wins in a row is that already?”
“But isn’t it weird? Why are only skeleton soldiers showing up?”
“Exactly… isn’t this discrimination?”
The other participants of the ‘Booking of Death’ felt the same sense of bewilderment.
Although Park Chan-woo and Lee Hyuk-soo’s party kept winning, their booking opponents remained nothing but ‘skeleton soldiers.’
Meanwhile, the other participants faced stronger enemies with every victory—
Zombies, ghouls, and even three-headed man-eating hounds.
Naturally, talk of bias and favoritism began to spread.
Especially since everyone had seen Park Chan-woo hand over a ‘tip’ to the game master.
“Hey, Andariel! Isn’t there a problem with fairness here?”
Team Leader Kim Byung-han shouted, veins bulging in his neck.
After experiencing the Abyss during lunch and encountering a flesh-eating ghost, he realized the world had become something out of a fantasy novel.
And that in the world to come, one had to move faster than anyone else to reach the top.
‘Park Chan-woo. That bastard… I’ll get you for this. Calling me a pants-wetter?’
Of course, the biggest reason he ended up in the First Night of the Abyss was Park Chan-woo.
He couldn’t forget the contemptuous look in Chan-woo’s eyes—
Calling him fat, calling him a pants-wetter, looking down on him with arrogance.
To Kim Byung-han, Park Chan-woo was nothing but easy prey.
That’s why he looked up at the moon.
After entering the Abyss, he immediately began farming and gathering strong-looking people.
Kim Byung-han and his party had been together even before arriving at Pretty Faces Nightclub. Naturally, their synergy was better than any other group.
They had won three times in a row without a single pass.
“Hey, Demon Manager!”
“…Shut up, human.”
“…Hiccup!”
Kim Byung-han hiccupped in surprise.
Then he immediately covered his mouth with both hands.
…Andariel’s demeanor had changed.
Gone was the friendly demon manager—or self-proclaimed waiter—who had played nice on the surface.
She, too, could no longer understand the current situation.
‘…It must be stopped.’
This winning streak.
Park Chan-woo and Lee Hyuk-soo were running wild with no end in sight.
《You are on a 41-win streak.》
《You’ve currently accumulated 2,990 points.》
Forty-one wins already.
Something that had never been accounted for in Andariel’s calculations.
No one could have predicted this outcome.
Not even the ‘Master of the Moon’ who created the Abyss—or the other Creators.
The problem was that Andariel himself was the game master of this game.
‘I should never have let him in…!’
She allowed Park Chan-woo to enter without a proper party.
If anyone were to be blamed, it would naturally fall on Andariel.
Abuse of power by overstepping her authority as game master.
And she had even accepted a bribe in the form of ‘coins,’ leaving her no room for excuses.
‘If I don’t stop them now… I’ll die.’
Her role was only to arm the humans to a reasonable degree.
To show them hope and stage a ‘show’ the Creators could enjoy—that was the game master’s greatest responsibility.
But Park Chan-woo and Lee Hyuk-soo had long crossed that line.
The treasures that could be purchased with booking points?
No matter how hard humans tried, they were never meant to collect more than 500 points.
That was how the game was designed.
They were meant to serve as unreachable bait—dangling hope in front of players, suggesting they could get them if they tried.
If they failed to hunt the Twelve Divine Generals, it meant they weren’t desperate enough, and they were to quietly accept death!
To deliver that crushing despair, the Master of the Moon had even opened his own vault.
After all, no human could ever afford anything from it.
《You are on a 42-win streak.》
《You’ve currently accumulated 3,300 points.》
The more wins they piled up, the more points they earned.
By their 42nd win, each of them had accumulated 3,300 points.
The biggest issue… was that once they had joined the game, Andariel no longer had the authority to stop them.
“You’ve already passed 3,000 points.”
“……”
Park Chan-woo looked at Lee Hyuk-soo as he spoke.
With 3,000 points, you could purchase the [Elixir].
The time to fulfill the one and only dream he’d longed for.
After the battle ended, they could buy anything with their points. No one could stop them. It was purely a matter of will.
“Don’t you want to buy the Elixir right now?”
“…Didn’t you say to follow your instructions?”
Park Chan-woo smiled faintly at Lee Hyuk-soo’s reply.
He hadn’t told him to buy the Elixir—so he didn’t.
Had Lee Hyuk-soo bought it on his own or shown any hesitation, he would’ve been disappointed.
But Lee Hyuk-soo was following Park Chan-woo’s instructions to the letter.
He instinctively understood that this situation could be leveraged for an even greater outcome.
And he also knew the opportunity before him was entirely thanks to Park Chan-woo.
“Buy the [Greatsword of the Immortal King].”
“Understood.”
Without hesitation, Lee Hyuk-soo used all of his booking points.
And then, in his hands appeared the [Greatsword of the Immortal King].
A weapon of [Ancient] rarity that had no usage restrictions and could massively boost Lee Hyuk-soo’s strength.
It granted bonus effects against the undead and other beings of death.
And all the monsters appearing in the ‘Booking of Death’ were, by default, [Dead].
“Lee Hyuk-soo. Is your level still 1?”
“…Still 1.”
As expected, the hunts in this area didn’t grant any experience points.
Yet simply wielding that greatsword granted Lee Hyuk-soo the attack power of an awakened being at least level 10.
Given his natural genius with the sword, his actual combat effectiveness might be even higher.
‘Booking opponents are based on party average level. With my level and Lee Hyuk-soo’s, our average is negative 48.5. We should be able to win at least ten more rounds with ease.’
After the 40th win, the point gains rose exponentially.
And if Park Chan-woo’s calculations were correct, the level of the 43rd opponent, soon to be “engaged,” would be [-5].
Just how far could this go?
‘The Philosopher’s Stone costs 5,000 points.’
He was certain he’d buy it.
But Park Chan-woo wanted more than that.
And to get it… he would need Lee Hyuk-soo’s sacrifice.
If they gave up purchasing the Elixir, twenty more wins would be achievable.
“…Would you mind stopping now?”
It was then.
Demon Manager Andariel approached with a face full of rage.
“I’ve let it go up to this point. But if you intend to continue gaining unfair advantages through bug exploitation, I can no longer remain silent as the game master.”
At those words, Park Chan-woo sneered.
“You’re calling me a bug exploiter? The Abyss must be an awfully easy place if something like that were even possible.”
“You manipulated it so that only skeleton soldiers would appear, didn’t you?”
“Manipulated? If you’re that confident, why don’t we make a vow with the Abyss itself? Whether or not I used a bug to ensure only skeleton soldiers appeared—it’ll be clear through an oath.”
“……”
Andariel fell silent.
She had no idea how a human knew about the [Oath of the Abyss], but no matter how many times she reconsidered, this had to be a bug.
Having nothing but skeleton soldiers appear over 40 times? That was impossible.
That man definitely pulled some kind of trick.
Bankrupting a Creator to steal coins had to be part of the same scheme.
The oath was a bluff.
A bold move meant to corner her into submission.
‘What a ridiculous ploy.’
Andariel was a game master.
A high-ranking demon who stood above humans.
Naturally, she knew humans well.
And in truth, she was relieved the man had made an aggressive move.
Now Andariel was convinced as well.
“…Fine. I swear upon the Abyss with my heart—that you pulled some kind of trick in this game.”
She didn’t say bug or manipulation, but “trick.”
A more expansive accusation that implied some form of tampering.
If he refused, she could just label him a bug abuser and destroy him. Either way, Park Chan-woo would be ruined.
‘He won’t accept it.’
Finally, some confidence returned to Andariel’s face.
It had taken more than forty rounds, but if that human died, everything would be erased.
‘Gotcha.’
Park Chan-woo smiled inwardly.
The fish had finally taken the bait.
“I, too, swear upon the Abyss with my heart—that I used no ‘tricks’ in this game.”
“…?”
Andariel tilted her head.
Did this human not understand what that meant?
To stake one’s heart upon the Abyss—
It was a demon’s ritual, a vow that placed one’s body, soul, and everything else on the line.
To suffer pain far worse than mere death.
Ssssshhhhhh.
In that instant, before them—
“Gasp…!”
“I-It’s a Reaper!”
A Reaper carrying scales appeared.
It was the [Reaper of Oaths], an entity governing the Abyss.
One of the most powerful Reapers, capable of confirming whose vow was true and inflicting absolute pain and annihilation on the loser!
Reapers had no will. Only pure, objective judgment.
Soon—
Creeeak!
…The scales began to move.
Thump! Thump!
Before long, the hearts of both Park Chan-woo and Andariel sat atop the scales.
The pendulum swung back and forth, and then—instantly—tipped toward Park Chan-woo.
Andariel’s face turned pale.
“……Wait.”
The scale leaned, and leaned further, until it locked entirely in Park Chan-woo’s favor.
Which meant—
“I used no tricks whatsoever, Andariel.”
Park Chan-woo’s vow was the truth.
‘No…!’
Andariel’s pupils dilated.
It wasn’t a bug?
No tampering at all?
Then how could skeleton soldiers have appeared over 40 times in a row?!
But her mouth couldn’t open.
The judgment was already passed.
‘Stop…!!’
Slice!
The heart atop the scale was severed.
At the same time, Andariel’s body was shredded into hundreds, thousands of pieces.
And in just about three seconds, Andariel completely vanished as if she’d been erased.
Ting. Tingtingtiiiing…
Park Chan-woo picked up the coin that had fallen to the ground.
It was the one he had given as a tip.
At the same time—
《High-ranking Demon ‘Game Master Andariel’ has been annihilated.》
《You’ve earned 4,444 Booking Points.》
《‘Easter Egg’ has been triggered!》
《Booking party’s win streak point gain +20%, all treasures 20% off, 4 Lucky Dice acquired (can lower booking opponent level by 1–6).》
《Title ‘Easter Egg’ acquired (All bonus stats +2).》
《You have obtained ‘Easter Egg (001)’.》
