Chapter 189 - Angry Ma Gyeong-rok
Players wake up simultaneously in a synchronized burst as they return.
Therefore, their families have no choice but to wait anxiously.
Without understanding why their children aren't opening their eyes, why they sleep for 24 hours without knowing any information.
"Umm."
"Oh, you've woken up!"
Christine, who gently opened her eyes, was surprised as she turned her head.
Because her father was sitting by her bed as if he were taking care of a sick patient.
"Father?"
"Thankfully you're safe."
"What happened? Have you been waiting without sleeping until now?"
"Do you think I could sleep well? My daughter didn't wake up for 24 hours."
Father Nathan's concern was understandable.
Especially since he had already heard she was in trouble since round 11, he was especially anxious.
Christine was surprised when tears stealthily came out of her father's eyes.
It was the first time she had ever seen her father cry in her whole life.
"Did you really worry that much?"
"Don't misunderstand. These are tired tears. Anyway, why did it take so long?"
"This round had an unusually long time limit of 24 hours."
Just as the door opened, Jeffrey entered.
"Ah! You're alive! Christine."
"It was somehow."
Christine's reaction was cold.
She didn't look at all, evidently still upset about what happened last time.
After being dominated by Yamti, any negative feelings towards the Prophet had already disappeared.
"Daughter, anyway, what happened? Were you really attacked as the Prophet predicted?"
"...Yes."
Christine recounted the experiences she had with an uncomfortable feeling.
The surprise attack from the Church of Despair, the betrayal of the Paladin she trusted, and the appearance of the Church Leader, the necromancer.
Especially when Christine mentioned that the Paladin tried to force her, Jeffrey couldn't contain his anger.
"Such a beastly guy! Christine, he must surely be dead, right?"
"He's dead. I saw it with my own eyes."
"To have such a demonic human by your side. You shouldn't believe in the followers who followed you either."
"There's nothing I can do about it. Nearly 100 of my comrades have already died in the Church of Despair's surprise attack."
"...."
"...."
After hearing those words, the two fell into a delicate silence.
Christine's expression looked extremely melancholic.
"You don't have to worry. I've decided to overcome the sadness and rise."
"Really?"
"No matter what happens, I have to reach round 20. There's no other way for my comrades' deaths not to be in vain, right?"
"A wish, huh?"
Originally, Christine had no wish.
She had only come this far to survive, whether by wish or by chance.
But now, her attitude had changed.
"No matter what happens, I have to reach round 20. There's no other way for my comrades' deaths not to be in vain, right?"
"A wish, huh?"
Christine had gained a strong motivation from this incident.
Would Nathan read the change in his daughter's gaze?
Nathan showed a more satisfied smile than ever before.
"As expected, our daughter is strong."
"I've heard some advice."
"Eh? Advice?"
"Don't worry. More than that, have you ever heard of the Church of Despair?"
Nathan and Jeffrey raised their heads at the same time.
"What kind of false religion is that?" Jeffrey asked.
"It seems to be a religion formed only by players. It seems they have a base in the United States, but we can't find a way to locate it," Nathan responded.
"Let us handle finding those guys. Don't unnecessarily entangle yourself in dangers," Jeffrey suggested.
"More importantly, Christine. Who rescued you?" Jeffrey asked.
Nathan, in response to Jeffrey's question, seemed intrigued and asked as if he wanted to know.
"Yes, tell us. Who helped you out of that situation? Was it your fiancé who rescued you?"
Christine snorted.
"No, I didn't meet him."
"Then who was it?"
"The person's nickname who rescued me is Black Scythe."
"Black Scythe?"
Nathan seemed surprised to hear it for the first time, but Jeffrey's reaction was different.
"That... Black Scythe?"
"Why do you react like that, Jeffrey? Do you know him too?"
"I've heard of him. He's famous in this industry. The strongest player among existing players, who has never lost the top rank until now. Is he American?"
"He's Korean. It's said he's the commander of the CPF unit that eliminated EI's remnants in Nigeria among civilians."
"Oh, is he really a player who does good deeds?"
Nathan's eyes blinked.
Though he had never met him, Black Scythe's first impression by saving Christine was already approving.
"I'll have to go to Korea soon to thank him for saving my daughter."
"But it won't be easy to meet him. He doesn't communicate with anyone else and completely hides himself using masks to conceal his identity."
"Still, there must be a way to meet, right? It can't be so difficult to find a person in a small country like Korea."
Though he spoke confidently, Jeffrey's expression was negative.
If it were possible, his face would have already become public through the media.
At that moment, Christine intervened.
"I'll go to Korea."
"To Korea?"
"I'll go to meet the Prophet. Maybe he knows Black Scythe's location."
"Even after exchanging numbers this time, couldn't you ask him over the phone?"
"Discussing it over the phone would be disrespectful. I must show the courtesy of going personally."
"Do you know what his address is?"
"Forget already? The person closest to the Prophet is my fiancé. I can ask him and find out."
------------------
Waking up from his sleep, Ma Gyeong-rok got up and threw the stand next to him.
"Uwaaaaa! Damn it!"
He wanted to throw anything he had in his hand, but unfortunately, due to his orderly nature, he didn't have many things he could grab.
"Hu, hu."
Ma Gyeong-rok huffed like an angry bull.
He was furious.
Nothing less than Round 11, his score was 0.
He hadn't gotten out of the labyrinth forest in 24 hours.
"Director An is probably yelling like a whale right now. His determination to become stronger was greater than mine."
Fortunately, thanks to Black Scythe, the Korean team reached first place and was able to avoid annihilation, but that was it.
Due to the lack of points, he found himself in a position where he couldn't take advantage of the special store even if it opened.
It was really a piece of cake.
"Since I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, now I find myself in a situation where I simply watch without having a single point."
In an instant, I felt like a beggar without a penny.
Although I had billions in the bank account, I felt a deep disappointment.
The anticipation for the special store was great, and the feeling of loss couldn't be more intense.
"Really ironic. Chasing after Black Scythe, I ended up like this, but thanks to Black Scythe, I managed to survive."
It's impressive even thinking about it now.
How could he gather 20 million points alone?
"No, more importantly, how the hell did he get out of that damn forest?"
Ma Gyeong-rok, hit by Hwang Yong-min and knocked out, later opened his eyes.
The remaining time was 3 hours.
For one hour, they struggled cutting tree stalks and trying to escape the labyrinth with An Sang-cheol.
But only two hours were not enough to escape.
I spent the whole day in a maze-like forest, so the points couldn't be anything but zero.
"It's absurd, unbelievable. With 0 points, I, who was always in the ranking..."
Beyond anger, he was feeling desolation when, with a click, the door opened and An Sang-cheol entered.
Seeing the messy room, he showed a surprised expression for a moment, but soon his face calmed as if he understood.
"Representative, I've come."
"Yes."
"Have you vented all your anger already?"
"More or less. And Mr. An Sang-cheol?"
"Well, I lost my patience too and threw some things before coming."
"Does this make sense? That we have 0 points."
"It does."
"Does Mr. An Sang-cheol believe the fault lies with anyone in particular?"
"Well..."
The reason An Sang-cheol hesitated in his response was none other than Ma Gyeong-rok.
Honestly, the cause was Ma Gyeong-rok, who suggested following Black Scythe.
But as long as he was in his right mind, he couldn't criticize his boss directly.
"The first cause is Black Scythe, who entered that strange forest, and secondarily, Hwang Yong-min, who made us like this."
"It's not Hwang Yong-min, is it? That guy."
"Oh, yes. Actually, he's an undead. If we look closely, we should consider the one controlling Hwang Yong-min as the cause."
"It makes no sense in any way. Just an undead with that skill..."
Hwang Yong-min had manipulated them completely.
It was a skill that was ridiculous to consider as a mere undead being.
Even in appearance, he was so human and healthy that, if the prophet hadn't said he was dead, he could have almost believed he was a player.
"The prophet clearly said it at that time, didn't he? That Hwang Yong-min was dead."
"Yes, I heard it clearly. He also said there was a mage controlling him."
"Then the prophet knows. Who's behind all this."
They were not victims of Hwang Yong-min.
They were victims of someone who controlled Hwang Yong-min.
"Will you seek revenge?"
"Yes. We'll have to find that bastard and tear his limbs apart to feed the dogs."
"Should we try to call the prophet?"
"Yes. Besides confirming whether he's alive or not, I'll make the call personally..."
At that moment, Ma Gyeong-rok's phone rang.
He looked at the sender and it was Christine.
"Christine?"
Hi, Mr. Ma Gyeong-rok.
"You're safe. It's really a relief. Do you know how much I've been worrying about you?"
The thoughtful voice proved surprising, and there was a brief silence on the other end of the line.
"Thank you for worrying."
"How could I not worry? After all, we've made a promise for the future. Besides, this last round was a round with bad prophecies."
"That's right."
"And? Did something really happen according to the prophecy?"
To satisfy Ma Gyeong-rok's curiosity, Christine calmly explained the situation at that moment.
The problem was that the listener couldn't keep calm.
"I almost died at the hands of the leader of the Church of Despair, you know?"
"Yes, he had the ability to control the dead being American. It seems he was also a necromancer."
"A necromancer?"
The mention of controlling the dead triggered his intuition.
This individual was the root of everything he had to avenge.
"What was that guy's name?"
"He's called John Delgado from the Church of Despair. Do you know him by any chance?"
"No. I don't know much, but I'll look into it. After all, he attacked me and my fiancée, so he should pay a price, right?"
"It's not necessary to go that far..."
"No. They couldn't help us in this realm, so at least we should do something."
Although Ma Gyeong-rok spoke as if it were for the good of all, in reality, it was for his personal desire for revenge.
"I'm sure. This guy is the necromancer who controlled Hwang Yong-min."
Looking back, he probably went to look for Christine after spying on her in the Labyrinth Forest.
"What's strange is why they didn't kill us."
Since Christine also tried to kill them immediately, he was clearly someone willing to murder for his goals.
Why then did he keep them alive and tie them to a tree?
He couldn't find a logical reason for it.
"I can ask him directly when I find him."
He would definitely find John Delgado from the Church of Despair.
As Ma Gyeong-rok made this vow, he suddenly remembered the question he had forgotten.
"Oh, by the way, who was the person who rescued us from Christine?"
"You know him too, Ma Gyeong-rok."
"I know him?"
"He's a Korean player named Black Scythe. He's the one who rescued you."
"Black Scythe?"
Ma Gyeong-rok's expression suddenly changed.
It turns out that his fiancée's savior was none other than Black Scythe.
"All because of that guy..."
Although it wasn't entirely his fault, he couldn't contain his anger without blaming others.
"Anyway, Ma Gyeong-rok, I have a request."
"A request?"
"My father wants to meet Black Scythe after hearing about him. So, could you arrange a meeting with the Prophet? I think the Prophet might know Black Scythe's whereabouts."
"That shouldn't be too difficult."
"Thank you. I'll contact you again when I get to Korea."
"Yes."
Although the call disconnected, Ma Gyeong-rok had an uncomfortable expression somewhere.
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