Countless questions without answers (2)

"Oppa!" Shin Yoosoung anxiously yelled.

Even the usually nonchalant Yoo Mia was concerned for Cale.

Cale wiped the blood on his mouth and looked at the direction where the hunter had escaped.

He clicked his tongue. He was still too weak.

Fortunately, the strength of this hunter was inferior to the one he had fought before. He should have been able to hurt her quite a bit.

Cale checked that the children on the side were safe.

They worriedly gazed at him so he nodded to reassure them and put a finger on his lips.

"You have to keep my powers a secret, understood?"

Shin Yoosoung immediately nodded her head many times while Yoo Mia regained her composure and hesitated before nodding.

Cale held the hands of the two cute children once again and walked forward.

He didn't have much strength left, he wasn't sure if he would be able to fight if he met another hunter.

Then, he saw an unexpected person and felt relieved.

Yoo Jonghyuk also noticed him and scanned his messy appearance.

"Do you all have 9 Demon's proofs?"

Cale shook his head.

"The children don't have any."

Yoo Jonghyuk didn't say anything.

That's how Cale, the two children and Yoo Jonghyuk continued their way toward the altar together while gathering Demon's proofs.

Meanwhile, the hunter escaped while holding her bleeding side.

Finally in a safe place, she checked that the crimson-haired teenager didn't follow her and breathed a sigh of relief before using more karma to heal her wound.

Then, she noticed someone out of the corner of her eye.

A dark-haired man was smiling at her. Strangely, he was barefoot and his clothes were clean even though this place was full of monsters' corpses.

The hunter had chills.

She felt a huge energy coming from the man.

Then, she smiled. If she could kill this man, she would be able to replenish her karma, and even become much stronger! For sure—!

Before she could realize what was happening, she died.

Zhou Mingrui, who had used a miracle to restore his clothes to their original state and keep them clean, looked down at the dead woman.

He had heard a commotion and saw the hunter trying to kill Cale and the two children.

Then, unexpectedly, the hunter had escaped to where he was, so he killed her off.

He also briefly transformed her into a secret puppet just in case she had strange means and wasn't completely dead yet.

Zhou Mingrui easily turned every monster around them into secret puppets and walked toward the place where Cale previously was.

The doll on his shoulder lowered her gaze, not questioning how he was able to kill the person that the crimson-haired man who seemed stronger than her had so much trouble to deal with so easily.

Somehow, her spirituality was warning her.

She had a bad feeling.

Sharron jumped off his shoulder and walked next to him.

Zhou Mingrui was surprised to see her get out of the doll but he didn't say anything.

He put his 9 Demon's proofs on the altar, defeated the demon that appeared, and was easily ranked 3rd in the Dark Castle.

***

Yoo Jonghyuk had already gathered nine Demon's proofs for everyone and defeated the demon earlier than Zhou Mingrui.

"Kuaaaack!"

His blade curved in a beautiful manner and cut off the head of a demon species.

'…He was one without a story.'

Yoo Jonghyuk had climbed up to the second floor and launched his full-scale plan to raise his ranking. As always, plans for the future were crammed in his head like training routines.

'In order to get to the third floor, I need to seek the four heavenly kings.'

'The top rankers should be in the same section.'

'One of the 10 Evils is on the second floor. It is better not to bump into him.'

'If I keep collecting stories like this, perhaps in four days…'

Then a message appeared in the air.

[Someone has spread your name with 'Death Scream'.]

[The Dark Castle rankers will remember your name.]

[The Dark Castle rankers are watching for you.]

[The Dark Castle rankers will aim for your story.]

Yoo Jonghyuk frowned at the message.

'My name was suddenly spoken?'

It was strange.

'Death Scream is a demon curse. I haven't killed one yet who used that ability.´

Yoo Mia's cheeks puffed up from beside him and she asked, "What is it Oppa?"

"It's nothing." Yoo Jonghyuk hesitated for a moment before adding, "…It seems that guy is doing something bothersome again."

"That guy?"

"There is such a person."

Han Sooyoung was deliberately causing trouble for him.

Yoo Mia, who was now holding Yoo Jonghyuk's hand instead of Cale, watched her brother who had spoken in a cold voice. There was a nuance different from usual in his voice. It was a small change, like a grain of rice, but Yoo Mia was able to perceive the change. It was because Yoo Jonghyuk was her older brother.

Cale silently listened to them while following them with Shin Yoosoung.

***

The vast expanse of plains and forest areas spread out in front of Han Sooyoung. A river with an ominous aura flowed through the centre of the plains. This river was a tributary of the Phoenix River.

After pretending to be Yoo Jonghyuk (still with Kim Dokja's appearance), she finally arrived at the second floor of Dark Castle.

Unlike the first floor where a new scenario was in progress, the second floor had a scenario that had been going on for a very long time.

There were some incarnations in the distance. They were Seoul incarnations who newly entered this floor with her.

The incarnations didn't react when they saw her. Looking closely, they were receiving guidance from a dokkaebi.

[…Congratulations to all the new incarnations who came to the second floor. The Abyss Plains is an opportunity for you to do anything.]

It was a dokkaebi with a peculiar tone of voice. He had a visibly old appearance. He was a dokkaebi who seemed to have worked for the bureau for a very long time.

It was natural if he was in charge of the scenario for the Abyss Plains. Demoted dokkaebis were assigned to this scenario.

Han Sooyoung listened to the dokkaebi but didn't make any remark this time.

The other incarnations had become familiar with the dokkaebis and they looked at this one with distrust. This was the ninth scenario and there was no way they would make a fuss about an opportunity.

The dokkaebi laughed as if he knew what they were thinking.

[Don't worry. There will be no interference from the dokkaebis in this scenario. Regardless of whether the story is interesting or boring, we won't touch it.]

The incarnations murmured. to each other. So far, the dokkaebis had never said anything like this. They always wanted a more stimulating story. Why were they suddenly not interfering?

"What the hell are you planning?"

"What does this mean?"

[I know that you're all tired from the scenario. Still, I am telling you the truth.]

[The updated main scenario has arrived!]

+

[Main Scenario #9 ― ???]

Category: Main

Difficulty: ???

Clear Conditions: ???

Time Limit: ―

Compensation: None

Failure: ―

+

All the conditions were private and there was no time limit or failure condition. The incarnations had never received such a scenario before and were greatly confused.

"What? Nothing is revealed?"

"Are you trying to fuck us with a shitty scenario again?"

The dokkaebi laughed at the incarnations' violent reactions.

[So far, what have you been running for? For your family and friends? To become stronger? Or to reign over others? Each one of you have your own answer. In my opinion, it is all a lie. You came here because you 'followed' the scenario.]

The eyes of the incarnations were shaken as their recent life was dismissed.

The dokkaebi continued speaking. [However, future scenarios will be hard to overcome with such a mind. Passive beings can't survive in the Star Stream. Thus, this scenario won't ask for anything.]

A scenario that didn't require anything. The bodies of the incarnations trembled.

[There is no time limit or failure conditions. There is nothing to fail. You have to find the clear conditions yourself. Only beings who want to tell a story themselves will be able to move forward. Huhu, I wonder how many people will make such a choice? I pray that you won't fall asleep in this 'tomb'.]

The dokkaebi disappeared with these words. The incarnations lost their sense of purpose and started making a fuss. It was a bizarre sight.

This was more peaceful than any scenario so far but the incarnations seemed somewhat uneasy. It was like people were happier when there was an impossible goal.

A voice was heard behind her.

"Uh… where is this place?"

Lee Jihye had woken up.

Han Sooyoung knocked out Lee Jihye and made her lose consciousness once again.

Then, she headed to the place where the 2nd ranked in the Dark Castle was.

If she killed him, her ranking would inevitably go up.

Her lips curled up.