Chapter 64
Swish! Thwack!
Park Chung-ho’s expression tightened as he caught the axe when it finally flew back to him, as if his wrist had been strained. The crazed laughter that had twisted his face earlier was gone.
Thump!
The massive axe landed beside him.
He could feel the gap in skill, but Park Chung-ho wasn’t the type to back down.
‘He thinks he can cover the difference in strength and mana with technique.’
Make it happen, even if it doesn’t work.
Even in Hyuk-min’s past life, Park Chung-ho’s bulldozer-like personality was infamous. A one-way man who only acknowledged something after smashing into it himself.
‘That’s just you.’
[Regression Mode Time Remaining: 33 seconds.]
Hyuk-min picked up the [Immortal Demon Sword] and glanced toward No Death.
===
That day, when he had told me the plan in advance, No Death kept insisting it wouldn’t work.
– “This plan doesn’t make sense from the start.”
– “Why? What makes you think so?”
– “How are we supposed to beat them in the first place? Even if the skill gap is small, you’re saying we stop those three with just the two of us? Before they get out? It’s impossible to get the reward.”
– “We have the curse of immortality.”
– “Let’s say we almost beat them. If they think they’re going to lose, won’t they just take the reward and run? After preparing for months?”
When Hyuk-min heard that, he smiled meaningfully.
– “There’s a way to prevent that.”
===
That plan had started going wrong from the very beginning.
“What the hell, why are two of them stuck to me? Screw the plan, I’m going to die.”
No Death’s body was already in tatters.
He could barely manage against Yaksha alone, but with the Western Shaman joining in, he was on the verge of blacking out.
Torn open by Yaksha’s claws here and there, flesh charred black from the Western Shaman’s lightning and fire.
It was a miracle he was still standing.
“No Death!”
But plans weren’t plans if everything unfolded neatly.
Even as the situation spiraled, Hyuk-min’s voice cut through, as if demanding the next step.
Grind.
Teeth grinding could be heard from inside No Death’s mouth.
“I know, damn it.”
Bang!
No Death swung his two daggers in an X. They collided with Yaksha’s claws, and thick black smoke burst outward.
Yaksha’s eyes widened at the repulsive force, completely different from before.
His arms were thrown left and right, exposing his upper body.
No Death was also blown back by the recoil.
Knowing something in advance and being forced to endure it in real time were two very different things.
“[Empathize with Death].”
A flood of black smoke, incomparable to anything he’d released before, poured out of No Death’s body.
In the same breath, he hurled both daggers.
Whoosh!
They tore through the air, aiming for Yaksha’s exposed chest.
The entire exchange took barely a second.
Too short to evade or defend, Yaksha braced for the pain instead.
Then—
“[Black Tortoise’s Wall]!”
The Western Shaman’s green mana wrapped Yaksha’s upper body, turning No Death’s killing strike into nothing more than a test.
Thud!
Perhaps he’d anticipated it from Hyuk-min’s shout. The wall held.
No Death’s daggers barely cracked through [Black Tortoise’s Wall] and failed to pierce Yaksha’s chest.
“I really did all I could.”
No Death’s arms went slack, strength draining out of them.
“It was impossible to face both of them from the start.”
He turned his head toward Hyuk-min and shouted with everything he had left.
“Hyuk-min! I’m ready! I’m going!”
= = =
Scratch, scratch, scratch!
Hyuk-min surged forward, the [Immortal Demon Sword] scraping the floor as he ran.
He swung from bottom to top, forcing all his power into a single rising line.
Thump!!!
Park Chung-ho blocked perfectly with his massive axe, but the impact still lifted him slightly, showing how much force was packed into the strike.
Grind.
Teeth grated inside Park Chung-ho’s twisted mouth.
His wrist was clearly in pain, likely strained from the earlier punch exchange.
Hyuk-min didn’t miss it.
“Uryaah!”
He drove more strength into the [Immortal Demon Sword], forcing Park Chung-ho backward.
A veteran was a veteran.
“Hoo!”
Even while being thrown back through the air, Park Chung-ho didn’t panic. Instead, he tried to turn that momentum into an advantage, raising the axe and slamming it down with all his might.
But even Park Chung-ho’s instincts couldn’t account for a shot he hadn’t anticipated.
Bang!
“…?!”
Park Chung-ho’s body twisted in mid-air.
The axe blade that had been aimed straight down shifted with him, barely deflecting the mana bullet.
Park Chung-ho followed the deflected line—and the relief that crossed his face was immediately swallowed by rage.
‘He aimed for my heart?’
That was all the time he had.
Pace control belonged to the stronger.
Park Chung-ho met Hyuk-min again, already close, and his face twisted.
“You son of a bitch…”
It must have been infuriating.
Every time he tried to do something, he was being stopped.
He could feel the skill gap by now, but he still wouldn’t yield.
Thump! Quaddeuk!
Park Chung-ho’s legs dug into the ground, tearing it up.
Two long furrows carved backward from where his feet were planted, finally bleeding off the speed he’d been forced into.
And just as his backward momentum was about to stop—
Clang!!
Park Chung-ho’s massive axe collided with Hyuk-min’s [Immortal Demon Sword], blue sparks flaring as they locked.
“Keuk!”
Hyuk-min caught Park Chung-ho’s young face through the clash.
It felt like a dream.
In his past life, he couldn’t have imagined a day like this.
‘I’m pushing Park Chung-ho back.’
Hyuk-min poured more strength into his grip.
Yes, it was possible because of the cheat-like [Regression Mode].
But it was also the result of what he’d built in his past life.
If he’d done nothing back then, it would’ve been a useless skill.
In his past life, he’d been furious, and he’d done anything to get stronger.
And as he realized the tower of revenge he’d built to kill Park Chung-ho had become the force driving this moment, something swelled inside him.
“Kkeueueueuk!”
Park Chung-ho endured with everything he had.
Hyuk-min’s emotions shifted in the face of their reversed positions.
Joy? Happiness? Anticipation?
No.
Absolutely not.
What he felt was only one thing.
‘I want to kill him.’
A thick, violent killing intent.
A murderous hatred toward Park Chung-ho, the source of everything.
‘I’ll kill him.’
After crossing hands, he knew.
Park Chung-ho didn’t know about his past life.
But now, right here, Hyuk-min could cut off the sins that man had already committed—and the evil he would commit in the future.
By killing him.
Whoosh!
Blue mana surged around the [Immortal Demon Sword], condensing into a [Railgun]-like force.
Park Chung-ho’s legs, being shoved back faster and faster, tore the Dungeon floor apart like plowing a field.
Then Hyuk-min saw it.
A massive stone wall behind Park Chung-ho.
‘I can kill him.’
Hyuk-min pushed harder as the wall drew nearer.
If he dumped in even more mana right before impact, he could blow Park Chung-ho’s head off along with that massive axe.
“Uryaaaaa!”
His hesitation was brief.
Just as he was about to drive Park Chung-ho into the wall with everything he had—
“Hyuk-min! I’m ready! I’m going!”
No Death’s voice snapped Hyuk-min’s mind back.
[The remaining time until the end of [Regression Mode] is 10 seconds.]
What had he been thinking?
His head cleared as if struck by lightning.
And the conclusion that followed brought instant regret.
‘It’s a shame, but today isn’t the day.’
Ten seconds might have been enough to finish it.
But Hyuk-min swallowed the regret and swerved.
Bang!!
He detonated the mana he’d gathered, blasting Park Chung-ho backward instead of pressing the kill.
Park Chung-ho’s body slammed into the wall with tremendous force.
“Puhuk!”
Blood sprayed. His back bowed as he rebounded off the cracked wall.
And then—
A voice rang out, the one Hyuk-min resented for making him hold back.
“Yaksha! Protect Jang Han-bit! [White Tiger’s Roar]!”
The Western Shaman’s shout.
Bang!!
A violent burst of air exploded in front of Hyuk-min’s eyes, forcing him back two steps.
Just one second.
That single second was enough.
The Western Shaman crossed the distance and reached Park Chung-ho, who was bleeding as he tried to rise, and supported him immediately.
“Are you alright?”
Then Park Chung-ho gave an order.
“He’s dangerous. We have to get rid of him.”
“You mean…”
“Use that.”
Park Chung-ho’s eyes, filled with killing intent, locked onto Hyuk-min.
The Western Shaman’s eyes widened.
“If we use that, for a while…”
“We can’t let a guy who’ll become a variable in our plan live. Use it.”
= = =
Jang Han-bit stepped out of the reward room, cradling a black orb the size of an adult’s head as if it were priceless.
No Death, using the Death Knight’s Helmet’s ability, appeared in front of Jang Han-bit in an instant and reached for the orb.
===
– “Do we really have to go that far? If this helmet has that kind of ability, we can just snatch it, right?”
– “Try snatching it. The result will be the same anyway.”
– “That’s one thing, but more than that, would the cowardly Jang Han-bit really cross the battlefield in the middle of a fight and bring the reward out himself? That doesn’t make sense from the start.”
– “It will happen. So don’t doubt it. Just do what I tell you.”
– “I’ll do what you say as the leader, but I still don’t understand. Just how great is the Western Shaman?”
===
No Death’s hand was about to touch the orb.
Fzzzzzzt!
Yellow current burst out and instantly scorched No Death’s entire body black.
It didn’t end there.
Thwack!
Yaksha’s claws drove into No Death’s chest as he pitched forward.
The corners of No Death’s mouth lifted into a faint smile.
Hyuk-min’s absurd plan surfaced in his mind.
– “Die once in front of the reward. So everyone sees your death and doesn’t doubt it. Clearly.”
‘Cough… Geez. When that guy is sure of something… he’s never wrong. Just what kind of guy is he?’
No Death’s body went slack against Yaksha’s arm, blood dripping.
No one could live with their heart pierced.
Swish!
Yaksha pulled his hand out, and blood sprayed off his claws.
No Death collapsed, powerless.
At that moment, Yaksha saw something he shouldn’t have.
Smirk.
A mouth stretched too wide, sliding left and right.
Yaksha tried to warn the others, but his words died as his eyes snapped toward Park Chung-ho.
A green doll—connected to the Western Shaman.
“[Marionette]…?”
Then Yaksha confirmed the target.
Hyuk-min.
Yaksha spoke down toward the fallen No Death.
“I’d rather have you. That guy is going to die very painfully. But if there’s one more companion, it won’t be so lonely. Ah, there won’t be any variables. That curse is something even Jeonsin acknowledged as dangerous. It will kill you no matter what.”