novelraw Chapter 40 : Chapter 40
Chapter 40 : Chapter 40
Chapter 40
August fell into confusion.
This situation itself, where the Money Watch of the confined person was held in the hands of a third party, was too sudden.
If there had been even a sign beforehand, as if slowly wetting the parts far from the heart before entering the water, she wouldn't have been surprised.
But because it happened suddenly without any omen, her thoughts momentarily ground to a halt.
Nevertheless, she did not reveal her flustered state outwardly.
“Are you saying that everyone here has revealed their balance?”
The players nodded their heads simultaneously like a synchronized dance group.
“The first person to discover it was the one who was in the Slave rank. That person took the lost item and consulted other players, and after that, as we joined one by one and went around checking, we ended up here.”
“I don't see Mr. No Tae-jin; did you check Mr. No Tae-jin's balance as well?”
“Of course. He said he would act together if we resumed everyone's survival operation. But with a traitor having emerged, everyone's survival is out of the question.”
The players' eyes turned bloodshot as they focused on August's wrist.
The players' breathing was rough like an excited bull.
The only thing that could stimulate a Money Game participant was, as expected, money.
They were certain that there would be over 2 billion won in August's Money Watch.
“Please show it to us quickly. If you have nothing to hide, you should be able to show it.”
The way they persistently tried to check the balance despite being certain was incredibly dark.
Even if they were to attack, they wanted to leave behind the fact that they followed the correct procedures until the end.
Only then could they claim to be righteous people even after getting blood on their hands.
They were trying to grant themselves an indulgence, saying they were acting based on justice.
August was able to regain her composure thanks to the players' pettiness.
‘I don't know about that guy Lee Ju-seong, but I don't feel like I'll lose to such a rabble. I should use the privilege first.’
August was not one to be nervous just because it was a 1 vs 7 situation.
Only 1 vs 7? She had a track record of facing even larger numbers.
She was offered to work as a dealer because her history of surviving every time was recognized.
For now, she intended to place the ability sealing penalty on the seven people, excluding the Slave, and strike the Slave in a surprise attack.
She didn't think for a single moment that she would fail.
Considering her own capabilities, it was a very easy task.
King's privilege, activation.
She designated everyone as targets and used the privilege.
Since the players still thought August was a Commoner, they would surely be flustered if their abilities were suddenly sealed.
The moment everyone was in a stir was the perfect opportunity to neutralize the Slave.
However, the players were calm.
“What are you doing? I believe I asked you to show us your balance? If you don't show it, we have no choice but to point you out as the culprit.”
Why aren't they attacking when they've already concluded I'm the culprit?
No matter how much they wanted to remain hypocrites, stalling to this extent was strange.
It was as if they had something to rely on.
August soon felt strange.
‘The privilege…… isn't it activating?’
If the King's privilege had been properly applied, a signal should have occurred accordingly.
Yet, let alone a signal, there was no reaction.
A continuation of incomprehensible situations.
In that midst, the players who sensed August's confusion smirked.
It was a smile that closely resembled the laughter of a Hahoe mask.
“It seems you are curious why the privilege isn't activating?”
August took a deep breath and then exhaled, entering a combat stance.
“You people, you didn't sit in the chairs for this 3rd set, did you.”
Another case where the privilege did not apply, it was precisely not sitting in a chair.
They had to pay 10 million won as a fine, but it had the advantage of being free from rank privileges after paying the price.
A 10 million won fee for 30 minutes of extraterritoriality.
It was human nature to want to recover as much as they paid a high price.
The players licked their lips and took out weapons or warmed up their abilities.
Along with revealing their aggression, the way they spoke to August also changed.
“Missy, we all know that you have the throne.”
“You arrived in the lobby the latest during the 2nd set Rule Time, didn't you? It turns out you were late because you were hiding the Slave chair.”
Using the privilege would allow one to suppress players more easily, but even without the privilege, there would be no inconvenience.
Even if everyone could use their abilities, she thought she could easily handle it with her rank 1 ability, Damage Doping.
Just as she was about to engage in battle, August felt a sense of dissonance.
She later realized that among the words a player just said, there was a remark that gave off a sense of dissonance.
‘Hiding the Slave chair? Me? I've never touched the Slave chair once.’
In fact, even the original Slave was participating in this place in a rankless state without sitting in a chair.
Someone had hidden the chair without the Slave's knowledge during the 2nd set Rule Time.
The identity of the culprit was obvious.
Lee Ju-seong.
That guy must have moved it.
She had clearly confined him thoroughly.
Unfortunately, there was no time to contemplate Lee Ju-seong's escape method.
Because a message arrived that wiped away August's composure in an instant.
[The Slave has used a privilege on you.]
[You cannot use your abilities for the next 10 minutes.]
‘Oh no!’
At an exquisite timing, she was properly stabbed in the back by the Slave.
The Slave had secretly used the penalty from somewhere.
After quickly moving her eyes to scan the surroundings, she could confirm that the door, which had been firmly closed until a moment ago, was slightly open.
August without her ability was no different from an ordinary person who exercised consistently.
Winning against seven ability users was truly impossible.
The moment she sensed a 0 percent win rate, August immediately turned her back and fled without looking back.
The cold impression and cool-headed behavior she had boasted of had collapsed long ago.
“I thought things were going too easily.”
For the first time in a while, she could feel her heart pounding with tension.
How long had it been since she ran at full speed without using her ability?
From behind, the players who had gone mad for money were chasing her with blooming laughter.
“Lee Ju-seong's balance we saw in the 1st set was 2.3 billion! Since then, that woman received 200 million twice, so there will be 2.7 billion in there!”
“2.7 billion…… if it's 2.7 billion, even after taking out the commission……”
“Don't say nonsense and focus on catching that wench! Whether it's 2.7 billion or whatever, it's useless if we don't catch her within 30 minutes!”
Just as she thought she heard the sound of air being sliced from behind, a short arrow brushed past her ear and hit the wall and fell.
She glanced back to check the person who fired the arrow.
Among the players, there was someone holding a wooden bowgun.
Other than that, a small number of people were holding weapons capable of long-range firing.
However, there was no sign of them actively trying to shoot.
August instantly saw through their intentions.
‘The thoughts of small fry are all the same. Who wouldn't know they're planning to kill me just before the game ends to monopolize the 2.7 billion?’
It was the same when she ran away from the room.
There was a strong sense that they were deliberately chasing loosely.
Even if they were to kill her right now and get the 2.7 billion, the possibility of becoming the target of other players was high.
In a situation where everyone's survival strategy had come to nothing, who would want to share a huge sum of money nicely with the remaining players?
‘10 minutes. I just need to run away for the next 10 minutes. When the penalty ends, I can deal with them.’
Setting not to be caught until the penalty ended as her immediate goal, she quickly went down through the central stairs.
The distance between August and the player group widened noticeably as time passed.
It was a gap created by the difference in usual lifestyle patterns.
A person who always has to maintain professional-level physical fitness due to the nature of their job.
A person who has lived while grinding their body down as if being chased while suffering from debt.
It was self-evident which side would exert superior physical ability and stamina in an emergency.
August calculated the remaining time and attempted psychological warfare.
‘If I keep running forward like this, I'll eventually be driven into a dead end. I have no choice but to try running backward as a gamble.’
As soon as she arrived on the 1st floor, she entered the corridor closest to the central stairs.
And she went back to the 3rd floor via the 2nd floor using the stairs inside the corridor.
Since the players who were on the 3rd floor had just arrived on the 2nd floor using the stairs, they would only return to the 3rd floor after going down to the 1st floor and wandering for a long time.
She had to hope it would take more than 10 minutes for them to return to the 3rd floor.
‘I have to organize the situation while I have room. Right now, Lee Ju-seong's existence itself is an element of instability. Unless I find out how he escaped from confinement, I'll have no choice but to keep being dragged around.’
Every time she tried to think, an unexpected situation occurred, so there was no time to grasp the cause.
Taking advantage of the brief moment of leisure, she tried to contemplate Lee Ju-seong's method.
However, as if the existing equations were still valid, an unexpected situation occurred this time too.
Suddenly, a cold feeling was felt on her neck, and a sly voice was heard from behind her back.
“Such a situation is what they call being played in the palm of one's hand, isn't it?”
The hair on the nape of her neck stood up.
It was chilling that someone had taken her rear at the right timing, as if they knew she would eventually arrive in this room.
Lee Ju-seong's conviction, that if he removed August's options one by one, she would eventually arrive at the place he wanted, was conveyed through the sly voice.
It felt as if even her breath, which she was letting out casually, was all being read.
The phrase ‘feeling a wall’ must be used at times like this.
The man who occupied the rear spoke as if giving an order.
“Ah, you may turn around. After all, it is polite to face each other when having a conversation.”
August slowly turned her body 180 degrees.
I, Lee Ju-seong, watched as she was surprised once by my fine appearance after she turned around and faced me, and she was surprised twice by seeing the Hwando held in my hand.
“Ability to turn bodily fluids into blades? Park So-yul left……”
“I wonder. If you're a dealer worth the name, you should slowly get a sense of what happened, shouldn't you?”
Sense, my foot.
From the moment this 3rd set Rule Time began, doubts only kept increasing, and she hadn't obtained a single answer to those doubts, so it was incredibly frustrating.
“You, how much of it was real and how much of it was acting?”
“Everything was real, and everything was acting.”
“You have a bad personality.”
“I would recommend choosing the words you say more carefully. You can't be unaware of what kind of situation you are in.”
Strength entered the corners of my mouth as my smile extended.
It was the smile of a winner.
For a winner to exist, the existence of a loser was essential.
In this case, the loser was, of course, August.
I, Lee Ju-seong, bitingly mocked her as if branding August as a loser.
“If you want to live, try your best to entertain this Slave, Your Majesty.”