abcnovels
Chapter 180
Chapter 180
Chapter 180: VS Ma Kyung-rok
[Memory Erasure Potion]
– Category: Consumable
– Grade: Legendary
– Effect: Reads and erases desired parts of the target’s memory.
– Usage Restriction: Master level and above.
– Description: Allows the user to read and erase desired parts of the target’s memory. It can even turn someone into an idiot if desired.
Ryu Min’s astonishment was not unwarranted.
The Memory Erasure Potion is an item with an extremely low drop rate.
‘It only appeared once when I used Ju Seong-tak to capture the Doppelganger…’
He was lucky to have it appear again.
Ryu Min’s lips curled up in satisfaction as he secured the potion.
‘There will be a time when I’ll need this.’
Previously, he had used it to erase Min Juri’s memory when she was shocked by his true identity.
‘I wonder what I’ll use it for this time.’
He would need to wait and see where it would be needed.
“Master, now that your goal is accomplished, will you be leaving the labyrinth?”
“No, there’s still something left to do.”
“Something to do? What…?”
“It’s not your concern. It’s something I must handle.”
Ryu Min avoided answering precisely what it was and gestured with a nod for Ju Seong-tak to follow.
“Let’s go. You just need to watch from a distance.”
“Yes.”
*
As Ma Kyung-rok walked through the labyrinth, he asked An Sang-cheol.
“Still no trace of Black Scythe?”
“No… Tracking still doesn’t work, and the presence-detecting skill doesn’t yield anything either. It seems this forest blocks external signals.”
“That seems to be the case.”
Ma Kyung-rok spoke with a bitter smile.
“I’m sorry, Manager An. It was my fault for insisting on following Black Scythe.”
“No, it’s rather my fault. I shouldn’t have insisted on getting the buff from Min Juri…”
“We should have tracked Min Juri instead. If we had, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“No, your decision was not wrong, Sir. We were just unlucky.”
‘Unlucky, huh…’
Ma Kyung-rok wondered if it was really just luck that led them into this labyrinthine forest.
‘Could the Prophet have known this would happen when I followed Black Scythe?’
He couldn’t know the truth, but even if the Prophet knew, he couldn’t blame him.
The Prophet had provided invaluable assistance so far, and it would be unwise to cut ties over withheld information.
‘The Prophet holds all the power. We who listen to the prophecies are at his mercy.’
There was no way to uncover the truth anyway.
The Prophet could simply claim they didn’t see the prophecy.
Ultimately, it was clear that his own choices led to this outcome.
“Sigh, I wonder what happened to Christine.”
“Are you worried?”
“Of course. She’s my fiancée.”
While it was a business relationship, his concern was genuine.
“Let’s find a way out of this damn forest first. There must be a way.”
“We keep coming across the same path though…”
“But we can’t just stay here. We heard an explosion earlier too.”
Hearing an explosion in the otherwise quiet forest meant someone else was there.
For them, feeling like they were navigating a boundless ocean without a light, this was a significant reassurance.
“We have time, so let’s keep going without giving up.”
“But what if we don’t have much time left when we get out?”
“It can’t take that long, can it? As long as we don’t lose hope, we’ll find a way.”
It was a hopeful tale but lacked concrete evidence.
Ma Kyung-rok couldn’t guarantee how long it would take to escape the forest.
“It could take up to 24 hours, but let’s keep going. We have nothing else to do anyway.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And if we have some time left after getting out, find foreign players. Kill them indiscriminately, regardless of nationality.”
Killing people on sight.
It was an order reminiscent of the Zionists, but it was necessary.
Killing foreign players would grant kill points and reduce their points.
Lowering the enemy country’s score while increasing their own?
There was no reason not to kill.
“Other countries are likely thinking the same. There might be a war of killing and being killed for points somewhere.”
An Sang-cheol nodded in agreement.
He had grown numb to killing by the fourth round and had aided Ma Kyung-rok’s hobbies even before becoming a player.
Killing others was no obstacle for either of them.
As they walked down a single path, promising a massacre, they suddenly stopped.
“Hmm?”
In the distance, someone was blocking the path.
‘A person?’
‘There’s a person?’
Seeing someone was a rare occurrence, and their faces brightened.
Seeing a person was as welcome as finding a light in the endless ocean.
“Hello there, it’s good to meet someone here…”
An Sang-cheol smiled and approached.
But his smile disappeared as he got close enough to see the person’s face.
With a serious expression, An Sang-cheol grabbed Ma Kyung-rok’s shoulder.
“Sir, wait.”
“Huh? What is it?”
Looking, An Sang-cheol’s face was extremely serious.
His eyes even showed a hint of anger.
“That guy, it’s him.”
“Who? Someone you know?”
“Yes, it’s Hwang Yong-min.”
Hearing that name, Ma Kyung-rok’s expression also hardened.
He hadn’t seen him before, but he knew the name well from An Sang-cheol’s stories.
“The punk who attacked you and Seo Actor in the second round?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure? Wasn’t he supposed to be dead?”
“According to Seo Arin, yes. The Prophet also confirmed it.”
“Then, as you mentioned before, is he an undead?”
“That’s how it appears.”
Ma Kyung-rok had heard of Seo Arin encountering Hwang Yong-min and that there was a job capable of reviving corpses.
‘I didn’t take it seriously, but to meet him here…’
Ma Kyung-rok looked again, incredulous.
The figure appeared fully human, clean, and normal.
“Sir, could Seo Arin have lied? He looks genuinely human…”
“I don’t know. What’s certain is…”
Ma Kyung-rok drew his sword, dripped in dark aura.
“He’s not here just to talk.”
Hwang Yong-min, standing silently, looked at them with a malicious glare and raised his fist.
“Fighting with his bare hands? He must be underestimating us.”
With a slight laugh, Ma Kyung-rok decided to kill him and take his points.
Undead or zombie, what mattered was he appeared as an enemy.
‘Now’s the time to strike first.’
His thoughts were brief, his actions swift.
“Devour him.”
The dark aura surrounding his sword transformed into a giant hand and lunged forward.
If caught by that dark hand, Hwang Yong-min would be drained of his life force to fuel Ma Kyung-rok’s dark magic.
But Hwang Yong-min was quicker than expected.
Whoosh-!
Dodging the aura like a trained boxer, he closed the distance rapidly.
But Ma Kyung-rok was also closing in on him.
‘I anticipated a dodge.’
As he raised his sword above his head, the dark aura retracted to envelop the blade.
‘Destructive Slash.’
The level 40 skill of the Dark Knight came crashing down towards Hwang Yong-min.
The timing and angle were perfect.
Unavoidable.
It seemed like his head would split open.
“……!?”
That’s what Ma Kyung-rok thought until Hwang Yong-min narrowly dodged the skill.
BOOM-!
The explosion was louder than anything heard in the forest before.
The spot where Hwang Yong-min was standing looked like a meteor had struck it.
‘Damn it. I poured a third of my dark magic into that.’
Destructive Slash was a skill where the amount of dark magic used could be adjusted.
He had poured a third of his magic to ensure a kill, but the enemy had dodged.
‘Lucky bastard.’
There was no time to curse.
Hwang Yong-min’s fist was already inches away.
‘Dark Armor.’
Whoosh-
Dark aura instantly wrapped around Ma Kyung-rok, forming a protective barrier.
It was weaker against magical damage but boasted top-tier defense against physical damage…
Or so he thought until Hwang Yong-min’s punch landed.
Crack!
“Gah!”
“Sir!”
With a cracking sound, Ma Kyung-rok was sent flying.
He quickly regained his stance but felt intense pain in his ribs.
‘Damn, my Dark Armor that withstood a Minotaur’s blow…’
Dark Armor could absorb up to 70% of incoming damage.
Given the chunks of dark magic depleted, the damage must have exceeded the maximum.
‘Is he really just an undead? How strong is he?’
The damage was shocking for an undead.
He looked like an ordinary human.
“You bastard!”
Enraged at Ma Kyung-rok’s injury, An Sang-cheol charged, swinging his sword.
But despite his ferocity, he didn’t even graze Hwang Yong-min.
Crack-!
“Ugh!”
Instead, he took a punch to the face, stumbling.
“Urgh, Sir, get behind me! I’ll protect you.”
Despite his helmet being dented and his nose broken, An Sang-cheol raised his shield.
Whirr-
Activating the shield’s skill, ‘Knight’s Protection,’ created a wide barrier centered around the shield.
“It slows my movements but protects against 80% of physical damage. Stay behind me, Sir, and you’ll be safe…”
At that moment.
Hwang Yong-min, who had closed the distance, struck.
Wham-!
“Ugh!”
The barrier, which had never failed, wavered from a single punch.
Bam-! Wham-!
“Ugh, urk!”
With the second and third strikes, An Sang-cheol spat blood.
The punches penetrated the barrier and damaged him directly.
Seeing his comrade suffering, Ma Kyung-rok took advantage of the opening to counterattack.
‘Destructive Slash.’
BOOM-!
He used half of his remaining dark magic.
He timed it perfectly as Hwang Yong-min was pounding the shield.
It was a guaranteed hit.
But.
‘…Monsterous bastard.’
Hwang Yong-min dodged even that.
His reflexes were astounding.
Missing was unfortunate, but Ma Kyung-rok had anticipated such a scenario.
“Devour him.”
The dark aura spread out like a predatory slime, targeting Hwang Yong-min again.
The timing was impeccable, and Hwang Yong-min couldn’t avoid it.
‘Got him!’
He was caught.
Now it was time to drain his life force.
‘What?’
But an unbelievable scene unfolded.