Chapter 74
《Amazing!》
《You have survived for 5 hours.》
《You have not been caught by a single ‘Chaser.’》
《All stats are amplified by 50%.》
《You have gained 8,000 contribution points.》
《You will now be marked with a larger dot on the map.》
Five hours had passed since the start of the second night.
During that time, he received rewards simply for surviving.
‘Looks like survival rewards are also set to 10 times.’
Unexpectedly, survival rewards were also multiplied by ten.
The longer he survived, the greater the increase.
If he managed to avoid capture until morning, he could earn a considerable amount of contribution points.
However—
‘I can’t be satisfied with just survival rewards.’
He had no intention of hiding just for survival rewards.
A sudden variable had appeared, but it didn’t matter.
He was certain, through considering every possibility and rapid reasoning, that the one Ahheta was searching for was not him.
So—
Rather, this was an opportunity.
‘Move while Ahheta’s attention is elsewhere.’
The Lord of the Moon, Ahheta, had his attention entirely stolen by the ‘Uninvited One.’
They were offering a full 1,000,000 contribution points for finding and identifying them.
He must have been quite furious.
However, if the ‘Uninvited One’ was an Elder Dragon-level dragonkin, they would never be found so easily.
A Creator couldn’t easily interfere in a creative Abyss.
That’s why he was trying to borrow the hands of the participants instead of searching directly.
《You have destroyed ‘Shelter (5)’!》
《6 ‘Fugitive Marks’ have been destroyed together.》
《You have destroyed ‘Shelter (6)’!》
《4 ‘Fugitive Marks’ have been destroyed together.》
《You are the first to surpass 500,000 contribution points!》
《Hidden linked quest ‘The Highest Place (3)’ cleared.》
《You have gained 150,000 contribution points.》
Park Chan-woo moved without hesitation, faster than anyone.
As time passed, his stats increased sharply, and his magic became even more powerful.
Even his frail constitution improved as his stats rose.
Wherever ‘Heaven’s Wrath’ passed, only dust remained.
“Another shelter has been destroyed!”
“It’s the work of the ‘Ghost’!”
“Damn it! Find the ‘Ghost’!”
Before he knew it, the doppelgangers had started calling him ‘Ghost.’
It also seemed that the doppelgangers realized Park Chan-woo’s goal was ‘shelter destruction,’ as the number of fugitives hiding in shelters began to dwindle.
Instead, they roamed around the shelters in a frenzy, trying to find Park Chan-woo.
But frenzy aside, they couldn’t find him.
‘The Masterpiece Map shows all information around me.’
The map didn’t just show the locations of hidden shelters.
It also displayed information about every Chaser and fugitive nearby.
Chasers were marked with black dots, fugitives with red dots.
This allowed him to track their real-time positions and movement routes.
‘Within a 5km radius: 197 Chasers, 133 fugitives.’
The detection radius was a full 5km—vastly greater than an ordinary map’s typical 500 meters.
This, too, was at a tenfold level.
No wonder the doppelgangers could never find him.
Thanks to this, Park Chan-woo could move quickly and safely.
He only hunted small groups of doppelgangers, avoiding the large clusters.
《You have destroyed ‘Shelter (7)’!》
《2 ‘Fugitive Marks’ have been destroyed together.》
《You have destroyed ‘Shelter (8)’!》
He destroyed two more shelters afterward.
But as eight shelters were destroyed, the number of doppelgangers hiding in shelters plummeted.
By the eighth, there were no more fugitives hiding.
Not even the doppelganger groups patrolling around shelters in search of the ‘Ghost’ could be seen.
“…They must have decided to abandon the shelters.”
Park Chan-woo smirked.
They had realized they couldn’t stop him.
It was a swifter decision than expected.
He had noticed the doppelgangers were sharing information, but still, with such numbers, making that decision couldn’t have been easy.
‘They’re evolving from a pack into an organized group. A leader is starting to emerge.’
They were shifting from small packs to a large group led by a powerful leader.
A staggering pace of evolution.
This had never happened in the previous ‘Second Night.’
‘You could call it a contest between humans and doppelgangers now.’
Originally, it was content designed for competition among humans.
They probably wanted to see distrust break apart the humans from within.
But then, the doppelganger card appeared.
Why did the Lord of the Moon, Ahheta, and the Creators introduce doppelgangers as competitors for the humans?
‘…They became curious about humans.’
Little by little, he could see the bigger picture.
The large scheme they were drawing.
Apparently, the humans they thought were worthless had piqued their curiosity, so they’d unleashed a mass of doppelgangers.
Otherwise, why would they need doppelgangers at all?
They were desperately making doppelgangers copy humans.
‘They used doppelgangers to grasp every possibility humans possess and extract information.’
But why, all of a sudden?
Why were they doing something now that they’d never done before?
He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
Unless there was a human who’d provoked them enough to redesign the whole game.
But Han Shin wasn’t at that level yet.
Besides, Ahheta was keeping the contract with Han Shin a secret.
‘Adora said it. That a bunch of Creators joined in the Second Night.’
Suddenly, Adora’s message came to mind.
《Be careful. Many Creators joined the Second Night. They’re using large amounts of coins to summon strange things into the Second Night.》
At first, he hadn’t paid much attention.
The arrival of the doppelgangers was far more striking.
…But were those who participated just ordinary Creators?
‘They’re new Creators who had no interest in Earth.’
They brought in large numbers of doppelgangers with large amounts of coins.
Ahheta allowed it.
In other words—
It meant that high-ranking Creators, ones worth listening to, were starting to take interest in this ‘Second Night.’
And those were most likely Creators who hadn’t cared about Earth until now.
Now they were interested.
Interested enough to invest.
There must have been a trigger for their interest.
‘…Did my conquering the Tower of Arrogance provoke them?’
Most likely, conquering ‘Arrogance.’
That must have spread through the core of the Abyss.
They wanted to know how a human had conquered ‘Arrogance.’
How did a human, with talent less than trash, accomplish what even the Twelve Species could not?
Maybe there was a talent they didn’t know about!
So, using doppelgangers, they were copying every human ability and extracting all information.
‘They’re searching for new possibilities in the human who conquered Arrogance. In other words, me.’
He nodded.
For something happening in just the ‘Second Night,’ the scale was enormous.
Because of what he’d done, powerful Creators who were never supposed to be involved were now moving.
It was an unprecedented phenomenon.
‘Things are getting interesting.’
Rather, Park Chan-woo welcomed this situation.
The fact that so many high-ranking Creators were now interested in Earth was a very good thing.
Especially before the ‘Species War’ began.
‘The demons are searching for a challenger to go up against the Twelve Species.’
The demons of the Abyss do not touch the Twelve Species.
Likewise, the Twelve Species do not touch the Abyss.
Because both sides are so powerful, any conflict would spell the end.
‘If I can just show that humans might rank near the top in the Species War… the demons will pour investment into Earth.’
Demons and the Twelve Species.
What they chose instead of war was the ‘Species War.’
An entertainment for peace, so to speak.
The Species War was like a ‘colosseum.’
They would showcase their skills and forcibly promote peace.
If a new species was discovered, they too would be given a chance to participate.
‘But no species has ever surpassed the Twelve Species.’
The Twelve Species were just too strong.
No new species, no matter how remarkable, was ever a threat.
Instead, they were treated as toys or made into slaves.
Countless humans were enslaved and vanished.
Every time the Species War was held, humanity came in last, and 5% of the remaining population was selected as slaves.
At the first Species War, 120 million people became slaves.
Ten million were given to each of the Twelve Species.
No one knows what happened to those enslaved humans.
But it was certain they became ‘test subjects’ and died with high probability.
‘Sometimes other new species participated, but humans were always dead last.’
Humans were the weakest.
Why would demons care about them?
As interest in Earth faded, the number of creative Abysses dropped.
With fewer creative Abysses, humans could no longer grow stronger.
A vicious cycle.
Creators are evil that must be eradicated, but right now, they were worth using.
At this point, high-ranking Creators showing interest in humanity was a good sign.
‘Then I’ll have to show off humanity’s potential even more spectacularly.’
His original goal was 10 million points.
He changed it.
‘I’ll aim for 100 million. More than that.’
He’d really threaten Ahheta.
He’d meant to play it safe, but now he’d devour everything.
For that, he needed—
‘Monopolization.’
Absolute, uncompromising monopolization.
Park Chan-woo moved immediately.
‘Heaven’s Wrath.’
Boom!
Heaven’s Wrath descended from the sky.
Then—
《‘Magic Crit (32%)’ activated!》
《‘Double Casting (25%)’—Heaven’s Wrath is cast twice.》
《The final shelter, ‘Last Sanctuary,’ has disappeared.》
《Unbelievable!》
《All 20 shelters have been destroyed.》
《You have single-handedly destroyed every shelter and achieved the masterpiece quest, ‘Shelter Destroyer.’》
《The qualification of ‘Stealthy Betrayer’ is evolving.》
《You have acquired the qualification of ‘Stealthy Destroyer’!》
《‘Stealthy Destroyer’ is one of the qualifications to become a ‘Lord.’》
《All rewards will now be doubled.》
《You are the first to surpass 2,000,000 contribution points!》
《Hidden linked quest ‘The Highest Place (Complete)’ cleared.》
《You have gained 1,200,000 contribution points.》
《All hidden conditions have been satisfied!》
《The Legendary Quest, ‘The Road to Legend,’ has appeared.》
《The appearance of the ‘Legendary Quest’ has been announced to all participants!》