Chapter 251. <Turning Tables(3) >
====================
The Venomous Snake slowly opened his eyes.
Black water drained from his eyes. The emotion that had been burning on his face disappeared.
I could tell that his sense of reason, which had been lost in the state of Disharmony, was slowly awakening.
“Are you telling me to seclude myself and train…?”
“To be precise, it doesn’t have to be ‘closed door training’, but instead, you would seclude yourself in this stage, this world. I guess you could say it’s ‘Closed World Training’. Since you’ll be using an entire world as your training ground, there’s no more luxurious or lavish training than this.”
I smiled.
“If you had told me you were jealous, ah, I didn’t realize how much I’ve grown. I. I should have paid more attention to the feelings of the people around me, but I didn’t… I am also an inadequate person. A bad person… Do you know how I feel as I watch the Chun Mu-mun Master making such a sorrowful expression?”
“…..”
“I feel fantastic right now!”
I tilted my head back and laughed. So much so that Sylvia’s petals stuck to my lips, and Estelle’s rainwater entered my mouth. Still, I laughed heartily, not caring at all.
“To be envied by the Chun Mu-mun Master, is such a great feeling. Seriously. It really feels so good. Ah, ah, I must have been born to feel this. I feel like the reason I was born into this world must be just to create a scene where everyone envies me, to the point where I feel like it is my destiny.”
“You…”
“I mean it.”
At that moment, a spear flew out from the pile of corpses across from me.
I lightly flicked my hand, altering the trajectory of the spear so that it flew off to an entirely different location. Thud! At the same time, one of the Venomous Snake’s possessed bodies charged towards me from the pile of corpses.
“Hyaaaaaab!”
Although they had a relatively small build, they wielded a greatsword. Was this the trump card the Venomous Snake had hidden? Buried in a pile of corpses, filled with the desire to not miss when I finally showed an opening, to stick their blade in, even just once.
“Chun Mu-mun Master. No, Mr. Venomous Snake.”
Crunch, I stomped my foot.
The ground in the surroundings that had turned into Kim Yul’s sand, making a squelching sound.
“Why are you doing this when you know you can’t?”
I struck the ground with my blade.
Swoosh-
At the same time, a sand hole began to form right where the Venomous Snake’s possessed body was charging. Shocked, he tried to step back, but it was useless. A sand hole was forming there too. Before he could escape from the hole, the sand swallowed his toes, calves, thighs, torso, and finally, his head.
“Did you see that?”
I put a hand on Kim Yul’s shoulder and looked at Venomous Snake’s possessed body.
“Whether it’s 12 Oni Wings or 36,000 oni, no, even if the entire oni race turned into clones to fight, you can’t defeat me right now.”
“…”
“Do you really want to fight like this? Yes? Should I discard my honor and everything else and drive the oni race to extinction? In any case, you fought and lost. You did your best, but it wasn’t enough, so you didn’t lose your pride. So, it’s okay… everyone will just say it’s okay at the funeral. Chun Mu-mun Master. Mr. Venomous Snake, is this the scene you want?”
I grabbed Venomous Snake by the collar.
“That’s not it, right?”
“…”
“You don’t want such a glorious defeat, do you?”
Silence continued.
Then, the Venomous Snake’s lips opened.
“I…”
“Yes.”
“I want, even if it’s just once…”
“Yes.”
“I want to be ahead of you.”
“Yes.”
“I want to be the main character!”
Right.
That’s the real bottom.
If it were to borrow the form of a wish, it would be an utterly miserable sentence.
[I want] [to be] [like you]
How candid a desire.
“Ahahaha.”
But that lump of desire looked beautiful in my eyes.
Because the Venomous Snake is a person of action.
He’s different from someone who just bangs on their keyboard because of envy. He’s different from someone who spends their everyday life in vain, waiting for a fortune that may or may not exist.
The Venomous Snake was different from me.
Even though he envied me, he still thought, made efforts, and took action to catch up. He was a strong person who turned his envy into personal growth.
How can I not laugh?
“Chun Mu-mun(天武門).”(*: Can’t remember if I said this before or not, but it roughly translates to ‘Heavenly Martial Gate’.)
I said, looking at the Venomous Snake.
“As you said, Namgung Yeon, the Head of the Murim Righteous Faction, is the supreme leader of Chun Mu-mun.”
There was a question in the Venomous Snake’s eyes.
I spoke without caring.
“I heard that usually, you spend your time training the Chun Mu-mun guild members and carrying out small tasks. However, no matter how renowned the members of the ‘mun’ faction are in the Tower, would they be of any importance in the eyes of the supreme leader who is revered for his extraordinary talent in the world? That’s probably why you’re suffering too.”
The Venomous Snake’s face contorted in pain. Without answering, he admitted that what I said was true.
I spoke slowly.
“However, Chun Mu-mun Master. Think about the last great battle between righteousness and evil factions.”
“…”
“On either side of a vast snowy plains, a thousand demonic cult troops appeared. Like shadows come to life, they wore dark cloaks from head to toe. Their number reached a thousand. As the world was heading towards destruction, people gathered from all over to protect the Heavenly Demon, the very essence of the demonic cult.”
As my words continued.
Until then did our family’s warriors, who had been quietly assembled, begin to move.
In the wide sandy plains, they precisely formed a large formation without a single error.
Even the moonlight seemed to fade as it approached their formation, and from a distance, they looked like one gigantic mass, like a black dragon.
“…”
The Venomous Snake gulped.
Even though they hadn’t received bodies yet, the 1,000 elite demonic cult members spread across the sandy plain were a sight to behold. He was not someone who couldn’t recognize their strength just because they were in a spiritual form.
“However, Mr. Venomous Snake. They’re not the only ones.”
I used a skill.
“Hundred Ghosts Reincarnation (百鬼還生).”
At that.
Across the plain, right in front of the lined-up cult members, a new shadow was cast by the moon.
It was dark. Various shadows could be seen within the dark bushes. At first, it seemed like a weasel was poking its head between the bushes, and then, it looked like deer running through the reeds.
They wore white fur on their bodies, causing their existence to seemingly brighten the world. As the summoning ended and they became a single mass, they stood firmly in place, like a great white tiger.
“Those guys are……”
The Venomous Snake recognized them.
I nodded my head.
“Yes.”
Hundred Ghosts I’d never summoned before.
I had the ability to summon them, but since I didn’t think I deserved to summon them, I left them in their final rest.
“These are the 1,000 elite from the Righteous Sect of the Murim Alliance.”
“…”
“You are the disciple of the leader of NamGung Yeon. Therefore, just as I became the deputy leader of the Demonic Cult as the disciple of my master, you are also qualified to lead them.”
The Venomous Snake stared blankly at the 1,000 elite troops of the Righteous Sect engraved on the plain.
“However, now, they will not swear loyalty to you.”
“Right… So you’re preparing the Battle of Good and Evil.”
“It won’t be easy to win their loyalty one by one.”
“Are you telling me I can try that…?”
“No.”
I looked at the Venomous Snake and said.
“I’m telling you that you can do it.”
The Venomous Snake pulled out the spear embedded in his chest with a thud.
Then, with a face contorted due to pain and humiliation, he stood upright.
“Those warriors of the Righteous Sect will disappear as soon as you disappear from this stage.”
“Yes. Because they are people who exist as a part of my skill.”
“Then I can only accept them after my Closed World Training ends.”
“That seems to be the case.”
The Venomous Snake spat out blood-stained saliva and glared at me.
“Wait, Death King.”
The eyes of the warrior of the oni race, the one-eyed Venomous Snake, targeted me like a single spear blade.
“I lost in this stage! Right, our oni race children have been defeated! But next time will be different…next time! Just wait there quietly!”
“No.”
And I denied his words once more.
“How can the loser have Closed World training?”
The Venomous Snake didn’t seem to understand my words at first.
However, my vassals understood what I meant. In particular, Estelle, the Advisor of the Death King Family who bought the Spiritual Descent at a cost of 10,000 race points for just 5 minutes in the present world, must have understood my thoughts better than anyone.
“Lady! I will forfeit this stage!”
Therefore, when I shouted this, none of my vassals reacted.
Only the Venomous Snake reacted.
“What!? No, wait, why the hell would you forfeit…?”
I raised my hand to stop the Venomous Snake.
“Look behind me, the Leader of Chun Mu-mun Master.”
The Venomous Snake’s eyes cleared up again. His hazy vision must have finally seen the scene beyond my shoulder.
The goblin race was there.
-…
-…
Thousands of goblin race warriors. They all had their arms crossed.
The weapons that were originally held in their hands to target the enemy had all been put down by their feet.
Angry glares were directed at my family’s vassals and the white giant, Uburka.
-…
-…
The goblin race remained silent. However, it was impossible to not understand what they meant. That [They cannot accept this kind of victory.]
“Ah, even though outrageous things have happened, it seems I’ve crossed the line.”
Smiling bitterly, I spread my arms.
“Taking care of children is really tough. What I thought was best for the kids could actually end up becoming me ignoring and interfering with them.”
The Venomous Snake’s eyes became more and more clear, and he could see more.
The oni who escaped from the Burning Grave, and those who had witnessed the borrowing of corpses and looked at the Venomous Snake with resentful eyes.
“However, there is a significant difference. Do you know what it is, Chun Mu-mun Master?”
Standing between the goblins who were silently protesting against me and the oni who were afraid of the Venomous Snake, I spoke to the Venomous Snake.
“The winner has the right to refuse a victory they do not care for.”
The Venomous Snake narrowed his eyes.
“You…!”
I nodded and said.
“On the other hand, the loser has no right to refuse a rejected victory when it comes back to them.”
“Don’t make me laugh!”
The Venomous Snake roared angrily.
“A victory like this, a victory like this, I…”
The reason the Venomous Snake’s words faded was not because he understood the phrase ‘the loser has no right to refuse a rejected victory’ in his head.
It was probably because he realized if the Death King Family had not intervened and he had possessed the corpses of the oni to massacre the goblins, the surviving oni would not have wanted such a victory either.
A look of realization appeared in the Venomous Snake’s single eye. Even while being criticized by the goblins, I could not help but feel pleased with it.
The Venomous Snake would become stronger.
Stronger, stronger, stronger, and stronger.
“Chun Mu-mun Master.”
Therefore, I had no complaints or worries about stepping down here.
The goblins would do just fine.
The Black Dragon Master, the Crusader, the Sword Saint, and of course the Chun Mu-mun Master will splendidly complete the climb up the remaining ‘up to the 40th floor’– and eventually, ‘up to the 50th floor.’
“Take care. See you next time.”
As I was about to turn around after saying that,
“Liao Fan!”
The Venomous Snake shouted.
“Huh?”
“My name is Liao Fan!”
The Venomous Snake glared at me.
“It’s neither a pseudonym nor a nickname, Liao Fan is my name! Got it?”
“…”
“Liao Fan! Next time, I’ll call you by your name, and you’ll call me by mine! Don’t forget!”
At that moment.
Hwaaaaaaaa-
Pure white light began to envelop us.
[Stage Forfeit.]
[You have forfeited the stage clearing of the 36th floor.]
Enveloped in white light, nothing could be seen.
Not just me, but my family members, including Uburka, Sylvia Evanail, Kim Yul, Estelle, Four Demon Lords, and the cult members were gradually disappearing in the white light.
“You crazy bastard!”
Then, from below, an oni pointed his middle finger at me. His horns were broken, and his body was battered, but his eyes were unwaveringly staring at me.
So, I also quietly raised my middle finger in response.
“Only another crazy person would look into the eyes of a crazy person.”
“What? You son of a bitch, I’ll really see you later! When we meet later, you’ll see—.”
Just as the Venomous Snake frowned.
[You will be transferred to a temporary space!]
The transfer finally occurred.
And our consciousness was cut off.
~~~
Comments