Believer in Mysteries (1)

Right before going to the next scenario, Cale, Yoo Jonghyuk, the two children and Jung Heewon they had found on the way met an unexpected person.

Cale's eyes widened and Yoo Mia pointed to the woman in front of them.

"Oppa, isn't this the person who died on the screen before?"

"…"

Xin Jian waved to them.

"Hello, I'm back!"

Cale opened his mouth in shock.

"Weren't you dead…?"

Yoo Jonghyuk, who had seen someone resurrect many times before was not that surprised.

However, Cale had thought that he would never see her again.

He doubted that the person in front of him was really his childhood friend and not an illusion.

Xin Jian, after sacrificing herself dramatically in front of a lot of people and coming back from the dead, answered Cale.

"Death is a social construct."

She made a 'V' of victory with her hand.

No, this was indeed his childhood friend.

In reality, Xin Jian had already expected that she wouldn't really die since she was immortal. Even when she had divided her soul into a million pieces, she wasn't able to die, so how could only this much kill her?

As for if her plan backfired and she disappeared because of a probability aftermath, wasn't there an Underworld in this world anyway?

And if she didn't go to the Underworld and completely disappeared, it was her problem. After all, a nonexistent soul couldn't think.

「What do you mean by 'divided your soul into a million pieces'?」

"…"

The Oldest Dream changed his question.

「But even if you are immortal, didn't the system say that you died?」

Xin Jian explained her reasoning.

'What exactly is called 'dying'? Does your soul have to come out of your body? Does your heart have to stop beating? Does your brain have to stop working? I can do all of them. Although it was a joke, at this point, death is really a social construct…'

「So what was the point of making your friends believe that you died?」

'Well, it was to make that joke.'

「…」

The Oldest Dream covered his face with his hand.

Xin Jian was even worse than him.

Xin Jian blinked, then she looked toward the dazed Cale and smiled.

She clasped her hands.

"So, have you finally come to your senses? Someone else is coming and we have to go to the next scenario."

As she said that, they heard the sound of footsteps approaching and noticed Zhou Mingrui.

Zhou Mingrui stopped and opened his mouth slightly in surprise when he saw Xin Jian.

"…Weren't you dead?"

"Death is a social construct."

If you say so…

The corners of his mouth twitched.

Knowing her personality, Zhou Mingrui nearly regretted mourning for her. However, he also felt relieved.

Cale realized that she must have read a weird meme on the net again and tried to imitate it.

Zhou Mingrui rubbed his temples and looked toward Yoo Jonghyuk.

Then, the remaining people in Dark Castle also arrived.

It was a man in a white cloak carrying Lee Jihye in his arms.

Yoo Jonghyuk decided to act as if this situation was normal and looked at each of them.

The people present were Cale, Yoo Mia, Shin Yoosoung, Jung Heewon, Zhou Mingrui (+Sharron), that weird girl, Lee Jihye and Han Sooyoung.

"Who is ranked second among you?"

Zhou Mingrui raised his hand.

Yoo Jonghyuk asked for their respective rankings. Only those in the top ten in Dark Castle could participate in the 10th scenario.

Han Sooyoung was third, Cale was fourth, Jung Heewon was fifth, Xin Jian was seventh, Shin Yoosoung was ninth, while the others weren't yet in the top 10.

"I will announce announce the participants for the tenth scenario."

The others listened.

"There are two teams. My team and Zhou Mingrui's team. Four people will be arranged for each team."

He glanced at the weird girl who was previously the strongest incarnation then at Han Sooyoung with Kim Dokja's appearance.

He had made up his mind.

"My team will consist of Cale, Lee Jihye, Shin Yoosoung and Han Sooyoung. It is the four of them.

Zhou Mingrui's team will be four other people. I'll let you choose."

Jung Heewon frowned.

"Why are you deciding so arbitrarily?"

However, she had no choice but to follow them.

While the remaining people got into the top 10, Zhou Mingrui chose his party members and everyone arrived to a gigantic building reminiscent of the ancient Parthenon.

"We're here."

A waist-height altar soon appeared. Yoo Jonghyuk placed his hand on the palm mark on the altar and Zhou Mingrui imitated him.

[The scenario challengers have been confirmed.]

[Scenario Challenger: 1st in Dark Castle, Yoo Jonghyuk.]

[Scenario Challenger: 2nd in Dark Castle, Zhou Mingrui.]

[Total Number of People Admitted: 10 people.]

[Are you sure you want to enter the scenario?]

The two nodded. There were dazzling rays of light and their bodies were transferred to the next floor. The place they were transferred to was a cramped passage.

Team 1 was composed of Yoo Jonghyuk, Cale, Lee Jihye, Shin Yoosoung and Han Sooyoung; while Team 2 consisted of Zhou Mingrui, Xin Jian, Jung Heewon and Sharron.

Yoo Mia had been left behind.

[You have entered the new main scenario area.]

[Main Scenario #10 ― '73rd Demon King' has started!]

Once they followed this passage, they would reach the hall where the 73rd demon king was waiting.

They moved carefully along the passage.

However, as they moved along the passage, a worrisome feeling filled Yoo Jonghyuk's mind.

…Why was it so quiet? Shouldn't they feel the demon king's aura at this point?

Then a system message emerged.

[An error has occurred in the scenario.]

Reminded of bad memories, Yoo Jonghyuk frowned.

Seeing his reaction, Zhou Mingrui and Cale noticed that something was wrong.

The Oldest Dream was also frowning.

'What's wrong?'

The Oldest Dream didn't answer Xin Jian.

The latter tilted her head.

She decided to ruin him to make him react and sponsor her incarnation at the same time.

[The constellation 'Believer in Mysteries' sponsors incarnation 'Kim Rok Soo' 1000 coins.]

[The constellation 'Believer in Mysteries' sponsors incarnation 'Kim Rok Soo' 1000 coins.]

[The constellation 'Believer in Mysteries' sponsors incarnation 'Kim Rok Soo' 1000 coins.]

[The constellation 'Believer in Mysteries'…]

「The only money you're spending right now is yours.」

"…"

Ah, right.

She looked up at the sky with puppy eyes.

'Can't you give me money…?'

There was no response.

Surprisingly, there were bodies that looked like they just died on the ground. Yoo Jonghyuk touched them and powerful sparks popped out.

"It is evidence of a probability storm."

They didn't know what they had done but if the sparks were still here after their deaths, their sponsors must've done something huge. The incarnations had used a lot of force and the sponsors behind them must've suffered a huge blow.

The regressor turned to Han Sooyoung with a piercing gaze.

"What the hell did you do?"

The man in a white cloak smiled.

"Why did you accept me into your team if you have only so much trust in me?"

Yoo Jonghyuk continued to stare at her icily and Han Sooyoung shook her head.

"How could I know what the main body intends to do? I'm only an avatar."

She didn't deny that she was responsible for this.

Yoo Jonghyuk's frown deepened. He hurried and started running toward the hall with a bad feeling.

The moment they arrived in the hall, they witnessed a shocking sight.

He looked in the centre of the hall. There was a broken throne that should've originally contained the 73rd demon king.

The fearsome demon king that they should've met…

Yoo Jonghyuk's eyes shook before he glared at Han Sooyoung who threw her hands up into the air.

[The 73rd demon king is dead.]

He was lying dead on the ground, his chest torn apart.

Xin Jian had already seen this scene from the train. She had watched this moment with the Oldest Dream, it happened in the world line of the '3rd' round.

With a bad feeling, she asked a question that she already knew the answer of.

'What's going to happen now…?'

[You are sponsored 500 coins.]

'I didn't want money in these circumstances! Moreover, why only 500 coins? Don't be so stingy!'

「You're never satisfied.」

'How do you want me to be satisfied in this situation?! Someone is going to die.'

「Then die instead.」

'Okay.'

The Oldest Dream facepalmed.

Meanwhile, Cale intervened before Yoo Jonghyuk tried to murder Han Sooyoung.

"It isn't time to fight. We should focus on the scenario instead."

What should they do now?

At first, the scenario seemed to be resolved. However, the main scenarios of the Star Stream weren't so simple.

[The Star Stream has corrected the balance of this scenario.]

The scenarios where transcendent existences excessively intervened were forcibly corrected by the Star Stream.

There was a strong sense of deja vu in Yoo Jonghyuk's mind.

[The Star Stream has corrected the broken probability.]

He looked at the dead demon king.

The Star Stream liked the natural flow of stories and it couldn't revive dead existences. A time reversal or resurrection would undermine the probability of the scenario even more.

[The main scenario contents have been updated!]

The 73rd demon king was dead. However, a 73rd demon king was still needed. It was because they had to hunt him in order to proceed with the scenario.

The Star Stream was originally set to fix these contradictions. There was a shining precious jade in the spot where the demon king had died.

At that moment, Yoo Jonghyuk knew. Maybe he had even known it since the beginning of the scenario.

One of them would die here.