Chapter 506

               

[Seven Sins ‘Envy’ – Benetty]

Among the Original Sins, she governs one of the most primal and deep-rooted sins, as red as her status window.

“C-Contractor?”

Alice’s eyes widened like saucers.

Her hand trembled uncontrollably from rage.

It wasn’t because the Original Sin of Envy standing before her had such a seductive appearance.

It was because someone who absolutely shouldn’t be by that woman’s side was standing right next to her.

“Fufufu. We just met not long ago, but we really hit it off. Said he fell for me at first sight, or something like that?”

Benetty’s white fingertips traced along Jinhyuk’s cheek.

From his cheek to the nape of his neck, then down to his chest.

Jinhyuk accepted the touch without the slightest reaction.

As if to say, this sort of thing was completely natural.

Crack!

A thick vein bulged on Alice’s forehead.

Her pupils split vertically into thin slits.

“You… you… y-y-y-y-y-you! Are you out of your mind? Have you completely lost it?!”

In that instant, the murderous intent pouring out of her was as heavy as the depths of the ocean.

A tide of endless blood surged forth like a crashing wave.

Kukukukukuku!

Not even when Excension took the head seat from her had she been this furious.

No, never in her life had she felt such unbridled rage.

A mix of emptiness, like a part of her soul had been carved out, and overwhelming jealousy that threatened to devour it all, came crashing down in waves.

“Just wait a second!”

“Alice, please calm down! There’s still no proof that person is really Jinhyuk…!”

Chun Yoosung and Teresa tried to stop her, but by then Alice had no reason or logic left in her mind.

At least in this territory, common sense held no power.

Kill.

Who?

First, the vixen who dared to seduce her contractor—execution.

Then Jinhyuk, who fell for her tricks—also execution.

No, if he died, she wouldn’t be able to see him again. So she’d beat him to the brink of death, revive him, and beat him again.

Then she’d suck out every last drop of blood from his entire body.

Every time he begged for his life.

Bzzzt!

Scarlet aura surged over the platinum rapier.

“Dieeeee!”

Alice roared as she soared into the air.

At the same time—

“As expected, you’re so simple.”

A cold smile curled in the dimples of Benetty’s cheeks.

[Benetty activates Lv?? ‘Target Lock’!]

A thin black chain appeared in Alice’s pupils.

[Target Lock] was a power that latched solely onto one target.

No matter what enemies surrounded her, she wouldn’t care about any of them.

Though it required a certain threshold of jealousy to activate, once triggered, it was close to being a cheat.

Alice had fallen perfectly into Benetty’s snare.

Kwakwa-kwang!

Jinhyuk’s clone and Alice collided head-on.

Benetty slipped a jagged, blood-colored blade over her finger.

“Shall we play for a bit?”

Even if she attacked openly, Alice’s eyes would only stay fixed on Jinhyuk.

Now, just a little effort—like eating cold porridge—was all it would take.

—

“So, what do you think?”

A white-haired man chuckled while watching a screen floating in the air.

On it, someone identical to himself, Alice, and the Original Sin of Envy—Benetty—were locked in a fierce battle.

“Son of a…”

Jinhyuk failed to hold back the curse rising from his gut.

Whatever else happened, messing with Alice was a disaster waiting to happen.

Especially if it involved this kind of prank, he couldn’t even imagine the aftermath.

“Kukukuk. Starting to worry now? I told you, this would be fun.”

“Haa…”

His head was already pounding.

What would it even take to clear up this misunderstanding?

“All we want is to get Andrea back safely. From what I can see, you’re not even aiming for the psychiatric ward—you’re after me. If you’ve got something to say, say it to me. Don’t drag others into it.”

“Hmm. True enough.”

The man nodded.

The reason he’d gathered a raid team full of suspicious types.

The reason he chose the fifth floor, barely a bite-sized piece, as their battleground.

It was all a buildup to catch the big fish—Jinhyuk.

“Whatever else, I really wanted to have a chat with you. Thought I might die holding it in all this time. Ah… well, I wasn’t supposed to say that, but screw it. I’ve never been the type to follow orders anyway. And this way’s way more fun.”

The man pointed his finger into the air.

Bzzzzzt!

When [Frozen Air] activated, the air froze, drawing a line of ice through space.

As the letters formed, Jinhyuk’s pupils began to quake.

No way…

No, it couldn’t be.

That name couldn’t possibly appear here.

And yet, the finished letters were unmistakably familiar and deeply nostalgic.

‘Coffindance.’

One of the viewers who had been there since the very beginning of his stream.

It felt like being struck in the head with a hammer.

Calling it a daze wouldn’t even come close.

“You… how? No—why are you attacking me?”

A long, grueling life as a BJ.

A string of days spent clawing his way up from rock bottom, just trying to survive.

Back then, he couldn’t even pay his rent properly, often skipping meals out of poverty.

The only thing that kept him going was a handful of loyal viewers.

They stayed with him through it all, supporting his broadcast.

Even after discovering their kindness was connected to the Tower of Trials, the gratitude he felt hadn’t vanished.

And yet—

To think that one of them would now appear as an enemy.

Jinhyuk’s expression turned icy.

If the man before him was indeed one of those viewers… then he must be tied to the deepest veil of this Tower.

One of those so-called Operators—was Coffindance.

“No, I told you my identity because you seemed curious from earlier, and now you’re being so cold. Have you already forgotten the good old days when our Jinhyuk used to eat cows and barns?”

“A memory’s just a memory. If you hadn’t stabbed me in the back, Maringya.”

“Don’t look at me so harshly. I want to get along with our Jinhyuk too. Really, I mean it. Otherwise, why would I go to all this trouble?”

“Cut the tongue-flapping and just tell me your goal.”

“Sleeper Owl.”

Another ominous name rolled off Coffindance’s tongue.

Flinch.

A faint twitch passed near Jinhyuk’s eye.

But only for a brief moment.

His face quickly shifted to an innocent expression as if he had no idea what was just said.

“Don’t bother denying it poorly. I know you two met. Besides, I’m not here to give you grief about that. I’m actually trying to keep you from getting caught up in that dumbass’s trap.”

“If you ask me, you’re closer to the dumbass… but fine, I’ll listen. Go ahead. Tell me why I should side with you people.”

“Sleeper Owl’s ultimate goal is to reclaim the summit of the Tower. Just like how you once saw the top, now that it’s become reality again, they’re scouting those with the highest odds of climbing it. Naturally, you’re candidate number one.”

Coffindance opened with weighty words.

This wasn’t a trivial subject.

“But… is that really the wise thing to do?”

“You’re saying climbing the Tower is wrong?”

“The Tower’s already formed a perfect ecosystem. The factions fight and jostle for power, but that’s a minor issue in the grand scheme.”

Even if a few groups perish, others rise to fill their place—new forces and rankers.

The cycle of destruction and creation maintained a delicate balance.

And of course.

The apex predators ruling over this structure had no reason to risk that balance.

Naturally so.

Because things were just too satisfying and sweet right now.

“Join us. Then we’ll release you from all that fear of humanity’s extinction or whatever. You won’t have to wrestle with other divine beings or boss monsters to clear stages anymore. No more groaning over chump change relics or item scraps either.”

An alluring offer.

A promise of survival and tremendous glory.

Above all, a blank check that promised anything he wanted—hard to refuse.

“Of course, it’s fine if you say no. If you can.”

Coffindance’s eyes flicked toward the floating screen in the air.

Alice, struck by Benetty’s power, was more consumed by madness than ever.

And then—

Sshk.

At Coffindance’s gesture, a frozen statue appeared.

A nine-tailed fox sealed in a massive block of ice.

Even as she summoned numerous foxfires to protect her domain to the end, it had all been frozen solid.

“Andrea…”

Jinhyuk bit down hard on his lower lip.

He called it a proposal.

But in truth, it was just shackles on his limbs and a threat in disguise.

A carrot and stick twisted into something impossible to reject.

Now, all that remained was to choose one of the two paths.

“I…”

Jinhyuk finally opened his mouth, heavy with tension.

—

[Lv??? ‘Collapse of Phenomena’ activates!]

Everything seen, felt, and touched began to fall apart.

Purple fragments reversed direction and soared into the sky, unveiling a world where gravity and laws no longer existed.

Just then—

[Lv??? ‘Eternal Time’ activates!]

Everything that had begun to collapse froze in place.

As if time itself had stopped.

Even the sunlight pouring down seemed to crystallize into a shard of eternity.

“Impressive. I’ve felt it before, but your leech-like tenacity really is something.”

A man in the shadows clapped his hands together.

“Hearing that from you is an honor. Though I’m sick of this too, we’ve got no choice but to keep clashing, don’t we?”

Sleeper Owl gathered mana into both hands.

A confrontation of absolute beings far beyond reason.

But even that battle was nearing its end.

“You know better than anyone that this is a fight you can’t win. Why don’t you give up your stubbornness and find peace?”

They’d clashed more than hundreds of times.

As time passed, the scales tilted more and more in one direction.

Drastically so.

“Most of the ones who used to be on your side have already joined me. They’ve realized what’s profitable—and how ridiculous your dreams really are.”

The end was near.

All the Operators working in the shadows of the Tower would either betray or die.

Only those who made the right choice would survive.

But—

“Not yet… it’s not over.”

Sleeper Owl hadn’t given up.

Because even in the worst-case scenario, he still had a sliver of hope he could trust and wait for.

“You trust that human so much?”

“Of course.”

‘It’s unfortunate, Sleeper Owl. The future you hope for won’t come to pass. One of our own has already approached Kang Jinhyuk.’

“…Approached? Don’t tell me—”

“That’s right. That coffin friend of yours from the past has moved. Plus, the troublesome Alice has one of the Seven Sins on her—so now even the final variable is gone.”

A white light blinked at the man’s fingertips.

A demonic flash that pierced through all things.

Sleeper Owl took stance.

“You’re the one who’s mistaken.”

Vwoooom!

A violet energy gathered and shaped itself into a sword.

“The Kang Jinhyuk I know…”

From the first floor of the Tower.

To its summit.

Someone who had watched all that time at his side.

“He would never give up on climbing.”

Because he understood the Tower better than anyone.

And because he possessed a deeper yearning for it than anyone else.

He had broken through countless impossible thresholds.

“To say that in front of me… amusing. Well, fine. We’ll know the result soon enough.”

The man released all the mana gathered at his fingertips at once.

And in an instant, everything turned white.