Chapter 131  

When Choi Yu-Seong mentioned the word 'sincere', it was not spoken easily. Out of all the villains, the Demonic Beast King played a big role in the original novel. Was it because Choi Yu-Seong himself was an orphan? While reading the story, Yu-Seong had also wondered several times if he could have made a different choice if he were in Yoo Jin-Hyuk’s situation.

‘If I were in your situation...’?

It wouldn’t have mattered who was in Jin-Hyuk’s situation, they would all have had a difficult time. It would not be strange to curse such a cruel world to disappear.

“You…have no idea.” Yoo Jin-Hyuk raised his head and looked at Choi Yu-Seong with sharp eyes. Emotions surged in his eyes, which only showed an indifferent gaze before. His distorted face made him look like a twisted demon.

"I can't say I know everything, but... I understand you,” said Yu-Seong.

Yu-Seong deeply empathized with what he had read about Yoo Jin-Hyuk's feelings in the novel.

"Bullshit. Where are you coming from with such hypocrisy?"

Filled with anger, Yoo Jin-Hyuk rose from his seat. He then stalked into the kitchen and picked up a sharp knife. He pointed the handle of the knife toward Choi Yu-Seong. He spat, "If you're sincere, then go ahead and die. Don't tremble like a scaredy-cat and show me that you can do anything for me."

"Yoo Jin-Hyuk."

"You sympathize with me?" A cunning smile appeared on Yoo Jin-Hyuk's face as he said, "Don't talk nonsense. What would a spoiled rich kid who's been eating well and living well all his life know about sympathy? And sincerity? Ha."

Jin-Hyuk spat on Yu-Seong's face and brought the knife close to his own fair neck. He said, "I would have died for those people. But it was all a lie.”

Choi Yu-Seong, watching Yoo Jin-Hyuk cry, quickly grabbed the teenager’s wrist, snatched the knife, and threw it into the air. He said, "You don't have to prove your beliefs by making extreme choices like death.”

“For me, that was my only choice. So, you try to die. Didn’t you say that you sincerely sympathized with me? That’s what you can do for me. You can't do it, can you?"

"Of course, I can't. Even if I sympathized with you, my life is not something that I would put above you, you fool," Choi Yu-Seong said coldly.

He wanted to stop Yoo Jin-Hyuk's pitiful life from falling into a bad place, but he had no thought of sacrificing his own life for him. Why would he throw his life away just to save someone else when all this time, he had been working harder than anyone else to survive? Choi Yu-Seong sighed deeply and furrowed his eyebrows.

"It doesn't seem like a good time to talk right now. I'll come back tomorrow. Think about it until then. No matter what you think, I’m not a bad person, and I won’t do anything to harm you.”

Already agitated by the incident with Choong-Ryeol, Yoo Jin-Hyuk gave a loud shout just as Choi Yu-Seong was about to leave.

"Don't go!"

Blazing red energy began to swirl around Yoo Jin-Hyuk. The energy then formed a passageway that was larger than Jin-Hyuk himself, leading somewhere beyond.

Choi Yu-Seong widened his eyes as he witnessed the entire process unfold in a mere instant.

‘This is...a Mana?Overload?’?

Mana Overload was a rare phenomenon that occurred when the player experienced a drastic change in emotional state. It had two main characteristics. Firstly, as its name suggested, the target would suddenly use a massive amount of mana. Secondly, the cost was the consumption of one's own life force, commonly known as innate energy in the martial world.

"Don't leave me alone," said Yoo Jin-Hyuk. With tears streaming down his face, his eyes were already out of focus. Not only had he lost his composure, but he had also lost control of himself and his rationality.

"Oh my..."

In a state of panic, Yu-Seong forcibly grabbed onto Jin-Hyuk’s shoulders. The mana that was pouring out of the teenager pushed him back by about ten steps. When he met Jin-Hyuk’s eyes with a desperate gaze, he realized that it was already too late.

Crrrrrrrr-!

A beast-like screech echoed as the terrifyingly sharp front legs of a creature resembling a mantis enveloped Yoo Jin-Hyuk. It was glaring at Yu-Seong.

'This is insane... That thing... It's the raid boss monster, Clark, the Mantis Hunter...!'

Clark was the rank 4 dungeon’s raid boss monster. As a named monster, it was obviously the strongest among those of the same rank. In fact, its strength was evaluated to be higher than Krutak, the Orc War Chief that Choi Yu-Seong had defeated after eating the Lightning Burst.

Of course, even if Yoo Jin-Hyuk was a natural-born talent, Clark wasn’t a monster that an E-rank player could easily summon.

‘It was summoned by the Mana Overload.’

In other words, in order to control that demon, Yoo Jin-Hyuk would have to continuously use his own life force.

‘He can somehow handle it for a short period of time...but…’

As time passed, Yoo Jin-Hyuk would inevitably die. He wouldn’t be able to endure this consumption of life force for long.

Additionally, the suddenly released Mantis Hunter, Clark, would also create many victims.

‘A sudden Mana Overload…’

This was a development that had not occurred in the original novel. The reason for this situation was obvious.

‘Is it because I prevented Yoo Choong-Ryeol's death?’?

It might be that the butterfly effect had come more quickly than expected. Perhaps it was a fate predetermined by the original novel that someone must succumb to death tonight.

"Yu-Seong oppa!" shouted Jin Yu-Ri.

After feeling the sudden burst of immense energy, Yu-Ri had quickly overpowered Yoo Choong-Ryeol and rushed to Yu-Seong.

At that moment, Clark flung its body and swung its sickle towards Jin Yu-Ri. It was a surprise attack, but Yu-Ri, who was an A-rank hunter, calmly made a black barrier and blocked the attack. She then created a black blade in both hands while standing beside Choi Yu-Seong.

"I'll handle this. Yu-Seong oppa, you..." said Yu-Ri.

"Wait, hold on," interrupted Yu-Seong as he looked into Jin-Hyuk's eyes.

Jin-Hyuk’s eyes were unfocused as if he had lost his rationality. In that state, he said, "Sincere? That’s a joke. You're just trying to deceive me as a wealthy individual.”

Did Jin-Hyuk truly lose his senses? Or perhaps he was fully aware of the entire situation, but he was unable to control himself due to his overwhelming emotions.

‘Then...’

The responsibility was on Choi Yu-Seong. He had to do this. To save Yoo Jin-Hyuk, who had been greatly disappointed by the world, Yu-Seong had no choice but to step forward and try to gain some of Jin-Hyuk’s trust.

Yu-Seong looked at Clark, which was tearing the black barrier and coming at them. He said, "I'll do it.”

"Yu-Seong oppa?"

"I can do it."

This was not simply a boast or a gamble with his life.

‘I was going to fight with the Orc War Chief anyway.’

Clark was a raid boss monster that was considered slightly stronger than the Orc War Chief. And now, Yu-Seong believed that he was much stronger than he had been. Perhaps this situation could offer a relatively ideal outcome in the end.

‘I might be able to teach that damn brat a valuable lesson.’

To stop his Mana Overload, Jin-Hyuk’s unconscious mind also had to be completely turned off.

There was just one problem.

‘I have to suppress him before it's too late.’

.

The Mantis Hunter, Clark, was a relatively strong boss monster. Despite Yoo Jin-Hyuk being a naturally born Awakened player, and even if he had exhausted his powers through a Mana Overload, it was still impossible for him, as an E-rank hunter, to summon a powerful creature such as Clark.

'As expected... Yoo Jin-Hyeok's talent is truly immense.'

If he came to realize his own worth through this incident, could Yoo Jin-Hyuk learn to live on self-love rather than love from others?

Yu-Seong contemplated only for a moment.

'Activate the Third Eye.'?

Yu-Seong activated the Third Eye skill that he had temporarily deactivated, turned Pharaoh’s Caprice into a spear, and ran forward. He swung his spear as he met the sharp front legs of the approaching Clark.

Without any hesitation, the spear's sharp edge broke and shattered everything in its trajectory. The surroundings became a sea of debris.

Yu-Seong read every move with his Third Eye at an extremely fast pace, not missing a single thing. However, there was a problem. He found that it was getting harder to keep up with Clark’s movement.

'This monster...is getting even faster?'?

Clark’s energy source was the dark red energy that was flowing from Yoo Jin-Hyuk's body. Since Choi Yu-Seong's abilities were much better than Jin-Hyuk had expected, the teenager must have begun to pull and use more of his life force.

'Are you serious?'?

Yu-Seong sighed inwardly, but he couldn't keep his eyes closed for long.

'I don’t have the battlesuit. I'll be defeated upon getting hit.’

Yu-Seong had to overpower Clark without any major injuries.

'I'm definitely being pushed back in this state.'?

However, an opportunity soon came about. Amidst the exchange of attacks, Choi Yu-Seong unleashed the Raging Snake skill of Cu Chulainn. Clark's front legs swept through the air at that sudden attack, and Yu-Seong didn't miss the opportunity. He quickly activated another skill.

'Twin Snakes Biting Their Tails. Target: Clark.'?

Upon seeing the two twin snakes chasing after it, Clark widened its eyes. It swung its front claws once again. Thanks to that, Yu-Seong was able to pierce through its shoulder with his spear. However, Clark was successful in cutting the twin snakes. Clark rolled its big eyes and roared.

Screeeech-!

“Ugh…!”

When Choi Yu-Seong covered his ear in surprise, Clark stood up and spread its large wings.

'What the...?'?

Then, Clark broke through the ceiling and flew into the sky.

Thuu-uuu-uud-!

Choi Yu-Seong stepped back to avoid the collapsing ceiling and looked up. He made eye contact with Clark, which was flying in the rainy sky. Clark's protruding mouth seemed to show a smile.

Since Clark possessed a large body and wings, a long battle in the narrow room would be disadvantageous for it. Breaking through the ceiling was a wise decision on its part.

'Look at that one...'?

Choi Yu-Seong was surprised, but soon had a bitter smile on his face.

‘So you want a piece of me.’

In fact, the cramped space inside the house was a source of discomfort for Choi Yu-Seong as well.

‘I couldn’t do any big attacks, because I was worried that the damage would spread to other houses and people might get hurt.’

In the pouring rain, Yu-Seong jumped up to the rooftop and looked up at Clark wandering through the sky. Then, he gripped his spear tightly. Perhaps it was due to the power of the Third Eye, but he could clearly read Clark’s intention.

Clark was seeking an opportunity to strike. Once tension reached its peak, and Yu-Seong’s concentration was compromised, it wanted to swiftly sever Yu-Seong’s neck and kill him.

Having read Clark’s intention, Yu-Seong kept his distance from the monster.

As expected, Clark did not let Yu-Seong out of its sight and made a sharp sound as it tore through the air. With a strong swipe of its sharp front legs, it cut Yu-Seong in half. Deep emotions rose in Clark’s eyes as it experienced a sense of victory.

Yu-Seong retreated while utilizing the remaining Wind Control skill, which had created the hazy illusion of being split in half by Clark. He then met Clark's gaze and smiled, having finally revealed that it was an illusion.

‘Why would I risk my life in a battle like this?’

No matter how he thought about it, Yu-Seong found it foolish to take on the boss monster's strike with his bare body in mid-air. Thus, he had set a trap and had caught Clark.

He had taken the wide rooftop, the bright outdoors, and the proper distance all into consideration. After all, just as Clark was feeling suffocated in the narrow house, Yu-Seong himself was also not pleased with the previous situation.

‘I was actually waiting for this moment.’

Choi Yu-Seong could see Clark trying to escape while desperately flying back into the sky. However, it was already too late for it to run away.

‘Lance Charging.’

Choi Yu-Seong's finishing move ripped through the dark night and became a beam of light.