Chapter 682

The sky over the gorge was dyed black.

In the heart of a demonic realm where everything had been reduced to ash stood an existence heralding the prelude to the end.

Heh heh heh!

Mana as heavy as the deep sea.

Just facing it made it feel as if his entire body were burning.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve felt this.’

Jinhyuk protected himself with Glacial Sculpting and flexed his fingers.

A primeval being he hadn’t faced since his battle with Gros.

The moment had come to face a monster with the absurd ability to manifest the realm of fire as it was.

Crackle…!

The flames receded, revealing a red-haired girl within.

Anyone would be drawn to her beauty, yet she carried a chilling, icy murderous intent.

‘Did it choose that kind of shell?’

It had manifested in its true form, but seeing it disguised in a human shell was definitely different from the primeval beings he’d known.

Yomaganto, enraged enough to distinguish neither friend nor foe, was a grave threat to the returnees. Clemence and several others earnestly insisted they weren’t enemies, but it was useless.

“Wait. We received a request from you, and we’re carrying out a mission.”

“A mission? You idiots are being dragged around by a human and you’re about to miss the most important thing, and you’re talking about a mission!”

“Aaaaargh!”

Clemence’s body, engulfed in Flames of Fear, burned alive.

The Ownerless Shadow Sapling resisted fiercely as its host died, but it couldn’t withstand Yomaganto’s authority—especially at the level of a mere plant.

In the first place, it had absorbed its host and bloomed into a half-baked existence. It never had a chance.

The burned ash gathered around Yomaganto.

Fire meant extinction and birth.

Not simple disappearance, but recycling—becoming nourishment for the new.

[Yomaganto’s Flames of Fear increases by +2,050.]

“That useless Mana. Offer it to me. You insignificant vermin.”

Yomaganto swallowed the flames whole.

The sight of that beautiful girl’s mouth splitting wide as it opened and closed was bizarre to the point of grotesque.

Whirr!

Long snakes made of fire sprang out from beneath Yomaganto’s shadow.

“There are those who covet what’s ours without knowing their place. Go and kill them.”

“Hiss!”

“Hiss!”

The snakes flicked their tongues and nodded.

Purple flames surged, and dozens of snakes shot forward at tremendous speed.

They were headed toward 1Person2Chickens and Pesis.

He couldn’t let that happen.

“Goguma!”

“Mogiii!”

At Jinhyuk’s call, Goguma spread his wings wide.

Crackle!

Light gathered at his mouth.

Ancient Dragon’s Breath drew a red line in the direction the snakes were racing.

KABOOM-KABOOM-KABOOM-KABOOM!

Fire slammed into fire, and everything ahead was dyed crimson. On a battlefield where all moisture had already vanished, even a small flame carried several times the usual firepower.

“A futile obstruction…”

Yomaganto spat out an annoyed remark.

“Stop flirting with someone far away. Focus only on me—unless you want to end up like Gros.”

Jinhyuk smirked, unfazed by the anger.

“You… the more I learn about you, the more unbelievable you are. To think you’ve fought those beings from the abyss.”

Medrey’s eyes widened in genuine astonishment.

He knew of primeval beings, but only as knowledge—never as something to fight.

Yet a mere human…

…had fought the most secretive and powerful top-tier Divinities in the Tower of Trials.

And not only that.

According to Yomaganto, he had even annihilated one of them.

If a primeval being hadn’t said it outright, he would never have believed it.

“I’ve had luck in more ways than one. I hope I’m lucky again this time, since I met Medrey-nim.”

“The burden’s sky-high, but I don’t mind that you trust me.”

[Medrey’s favorability increases.]

[The standard of goodness is 12% fulfilled.]

Tsk.

Still only 12%?

Since he was so upright, it seemed impossible to meet the criteria with simple flattery.

Still, now that he could freely make use of Medrey, who was completely won over, it was true he’d gained a reliable card.

“Excuse me, but I’ll take the lead and continue the fight. Medrey-nim, please support me at the right timing.”

“It’s been a while since we worked together, but don’t worry. I cooperated perfectly even with that picky Ice Witch.”

“Ice Witch… you mean…?”

“You probably don’t know her. She’s called Frost Spirit, and she’s been a resident since long before you guys came to the Tower.”

Thud.

A large rock dropped onto Jinhyuk’s head.

Frost Spirit’s name had come out of Medrey’s mouth.

‘No, more than that… is that ancient climber still alive?’

The spear he’d safely stored in Subspace came to mind, and the unexpected information left his thoughts in a tangle.

It seemed he had one more thing to talk about with Medrey after this fight.

—

Amid the tense standoff between the two—

A huge commotion erupted among the returnees as well.

With Clemence gone as their central axis, they could no longer guarantee what would happen to their own lives.

“Are you going to keep fighting? There’s no reason to anymore, is there?”

Teresa asked the paladin before her.

“…The bounty the System put up hasn’t disappeared yet.”

“You have to be alive to claim it.”

Faced with reality, the paladin let out a deep sigh.

“That’s not wrong.”

Now that a primeval being had overturned the entire board, there was no reason to fulfill the contract he’d made with Nyarlathotep. If anything, he felt a deep need for revenge against the ones who had stabbed them in the back.

And the same was true for the rest of the returnees.

“Hm. That’s too bad. I really wanted to settle the score.”

The white-haired boy licked his lips.

His clothes were stained red from wounds here and there, but excitement and pleasure seemed to outweigh the pain.

“Get lost. I don’t want to see you again.”

Chun Yoosung wiped the blood from his forehead and exhaled.

“If we fight each other, there’s a 100% chance we all lose. Yeah.”

“Hmph. Consider yourselves lucky you saved your lives.”

Frey and Alice withdrew their Mana as well.

Now they had to face an even greater enemy that had emerged. The returnees needed to flee as quickly as possible—one second sooner, even—to avoid being absorbed by Yomaganto.

Jinhyuk lifted his gaze to the sky, taking stock of everything.

‘He’s made enough noise. It’s about time he showed up…’

Just as that thought crossed his mind—

Hummm!

A crack split open in the sky.

The one he’d been waiting for had finally arrived.

[Upper Administrator ‘Rick Hennessy’ intervenes.]

“Oh dear. It seems I’ve interrupted at a very busy time.”

A middle-aged gentleman in a bowler hat descended a set of translucent stairs.

“Why did you appear here?”

Yomaganto frowned.

Among the Upper Administrators, Rick Hennessy and Bendivia were especially disobedient. In particular, Rick, despite not having been an Upper Administrator for long, had repeatedly ignored their orders and stubbornly insisted on doing things his own way.

So it was inevitable that Yomaganto would feel uncomfortable seeing him intervene at such an important moment.

“I don’t make a hobby of coming to a hellish place like this, but actually…”

“I called him!”

Jinhyuk quickly raised his hand, like a child who knew the answer.

“Yes. Player Kang Jinhyuk strongly protested against this floor intervention. He said that even though the covenant was over, you were freely manifesting in your true form… Let’s see. According to Article 22 of System 103-c, primeval beings cannot go to other dimensions outside the Tower. I don’t know how you found this clause… truly.”

Rick adjusted his monocle and kept flipping through a long book.

A law book containing various statutes and clauses related to the System—one only Upper Administrators could possess.

“…I’m speechless. So an Upper Administrator dares to penalize me?”

“Of course, I know very well that I lack both the power and the authority to do that.”

Rick bowed deeply, offering excuses.

That overly exaggerated self-deprecation was irritating in its own way.

“However, I do believe I can offer you one item from my merchant guild as a small gift of consolation.”

Rick pulled a quill made of golden feathers from Subspace.

Swish…

The quill vanished.

It reappeared in Jinhyuk’s hand.

[‘The Quill of Writing Laws’ is activated!]

Content: You can modify a certain part of the rules set by the System.

A special reward from Rick Hennessy.

If that man had added a variable by playing tricks on Jack Eden, then Rick was giving Jinhyuk a variable—an opening that would force Yomaganto to move.

And on top of that—

[Unique Ability ‘System Manipulation’ is activated!]

Jinhyuk summoned an Operator-only ability from the Memory of the World.

Crackle!

When those two coincidences met, sparks of different colors burst into a dazzling light. A new kind of Mana opened a new horizon.

[Bounty Event]

Content: Player Kang Jinhyuk…

Bzzzt!

The gold-lettered status window flickered, as if stuttering—like an old TV screen.

In that instant, Jinhyuk moved the quill. The existing letters vanished, and a completely different sentence was completed.

[Bounty Event]

Content: If you succeed in defeating the primeval god ‘Yomaganto’, the returnees will be able to fulfill one wish each. This quest is a group quest that recognizes cooperation, not competition. (In addition, if you form an alliance with Veteran Corporation, you will be able to lift one of the restrictions imposed on each returnee.)

“You…”

Yomaganto bared its teeth as a brand was engraved on its body.

With that, the entire phase of the battle changed.

“A famous person said this.”

The corners of Jinhyuk’s lips curved like a crescent moon.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

If they’d been trying to kill the returnees a moment ago, now they could fight as one—for a greater wish.