Chapter 380: Black Scythe |
Hwang Yong-min was visibly perplexed.
‘What the hell is this guy saying? That he wants to get hit?’
He felt his pride hurt, but what puzzled him the most was that no one had ever shown him such blatant hostility before. Seeing a guy who used to be so calm behaving like this showed how angry he was.
As Ryu Min turned around, he noticed that Hwang Yong-min wasn’t moving and signaled to him with his eyes again.
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you coming?”
“......”
“What, are you scared?”
Words that hurt his pride.
Hwang Yong-min knew that very well. But he couldn’t answer right away.
‘This guy has beaten five people alone. If I follow him, he’ll beat me just as brutally as last time...’
Who in the world would want to get beaten?
‘Damn it. Why aren’t my brothers coming? Damn!’
He wanted to hold out until the end, but Ryu Min’s patience wasn’t infinite.
“Aren’t you coming? Do you want me to beat you here in front of everyone?”
“......”
“Or are you waiting for the thugs? As I already told you, they’re not coming.”
“Why...?”
A sarcastic sigh escaped Ryu Min’s lips.
“Because I already dealt with them.”
‘You dealt with them...?’
What did that mean?
Did it mean he had faced all those guys recognized across the country?
As Hwang Yong-min’s eyes widened, Ryu Min’s gaze turned to Hwang’s friends.
“You guys too, follow me.”
“What? Us?”
“You guys participated too, didn’t you?”
At those words, Hwang Yong-min’s friends began to cry out desperately.
“What are you talking about? No, we have nothing to do with this!”
“Yeah, that’s right. Thugs? This is the first time I’ve heard that he called any!”
“It’s serious! We have absolutely no intention of getting revenge on you!”
The friends stepped back frantically waving their hands, which made Hwang Yong-min feel even more betrayed.
“You bastards! Is that what friends do?”
“What? We’re just telling the truth.”
“Yeah. You called the thugs on your own.”
“We have nothing to do with this, so settle it between yourselves.”
“Yeah, we’re leaving.”
Fearing to get caught up in the trouble, the friends quickly left.
Ryu Min let them go, knowing they wouldn’t be a threat.
‘Reading their thoughts, I see they have no intention of getting revenge on me. They even plan to cut ties with Hwang Yong-min.’
They posed no future threat.
But Hwang Yong-min was different.
He had tried to get revenge and acted on it, even involving his family in his thirst for vengeance.
He needed a lesson.
“Hey! Seung Han! Tae-sik!”
Hwang Yong-min tried to follow his friends, but...
Tock-
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Ryu Min’s hand gripped his shoulder.
‘God, where does he get such strength...’
Feeling the strength in the hand holding him, Hwang Yong-min couldn’t move.
“Follow me. Our conversation isn’t over yet.”
Ryu Min dragged him away while their families watched with concern.
“Ryu Min, what’s going on? That boy is...”
“I just need to talk to him. You guys go ahead.”
Ryu Min reassured his family and led Hwang Yong-min to a more secluded place.
——————–
Smack!
“Argh!”
With a kick from Ryu Min, Hwang Yong-min flew backward in a pitiful manner.
It looked like a scene of a school bully abusing a friend, but it was actually the opposite.
In the previous life, Hwang Yong-min had been the one bullying Ryu Min.
“Hwang Yong-min, I knew you were a despicable bastard, but...”
Bam!
“Argh!”
“I didn’t expect you to go as far as hiring thugs.”
With a punch to the jaw, Hwang Yong-min fell to the ground.
He had no strength to get up, but Ryu Min forced him to stand.
“Did you feel so bad about the beating I gave you? Did you want revenge?”
“Ugh...”
Hwang Yong-min’s eyes shone with a fierce glare.
He still needed more lessons.
“Do you need more punches to understand?”
“You damn... You’re a damn insect!”
Whoosh!
A surprise punch from Hwang Yong-min.
It might have hit an ordinary person, but Ryu Min was no longer ordinary.
Bam!
“Argh!”
Skillfully dodging, Ryu Min responded with a perfect counterpunch.
As Hwang Yong-min spat blood, Ryu Min kept talking.
“When you guys started bullying me, I tried to show my strength, but it seems it wasn’t enough. Seeing how you keep acting.”
“Ugh...”
“I should have made it clear from the start that I’m not someone you can mess with. That was my mistake.”
“Screw you...”
“You still have your pride. Let’s see if you can keep it after this.”
Ryu Min extended his hand.
Suddenly...
Swish!
A scythe of black and red energy appeared in his hand, leaving Hwang Yong-min stunned.
“What the hell...?”
His eyes widened in shock.
Who wouldn’t be surprised to see a scythe appear out of nowhere?
“Surprised? Well, it’s natural in a world without players.”
“How...?”
“You wouldn’t understand even if I explained.”
“......”
“It doesn’t matter. I didn’t show my power for that.”
Ryu Min drew an arc with the scythe.
Slash!
With a sharp sound, Hwang Yong-min’s hair fell to the ground.
“Don’t challenge me again. Don’t think about getting revenge. Don’t appear before me again. If you break this warning...”
The scythe touched Hwang Yong-min’s neck.
“Next time, it won’t be just your hair that I cut.”
“......”
Hwang Yong-min couldn’t respond.
He was completely overwhelmed by fear.
His body trembled uncontrollably, and a yellow stain appeared on his pants.
‘This is over.’
From now on, Hwang Yong-min wouldn’t dare raise his voice against Ryu Min.
By pulling out the [Black Scythe of Thanatos] from his inventory, he had asserted his authority.
‘I don’t have to worry about anyone spilling the beans. They’ll think he’s crazy if he does.’
Someone creating a scythe out of thin air with their hands?
No one would believe it, and if they did, they’d think he was a lunatic.
Given that Hwang Yong-min was always considered an idiot, no one would take him seriously.
Look at him.
Isn’t he already muttering like a madman?
“Black Scythe...”
“Hmm?”
“Black Scythe...”
A chill ran through Ryu Min.
This world had no knowledge of the Black Scythe.
‘Ah... He wasn’t referring to my nickname but the scythe.’
Of course, Hwang Yong-min couldn’t know his nickname.
This 102nd parallel world hadn’t experienced the Survival Game.
No angels, no players, no nicknames.
There was no way he could know or imagine it.
However, Ryu Min’s eyes widened even more.
“Ryu Min... Black Scythe... Survival Game... Player... Angel...”
Words that Hwang Yong-min shouldn’t be able to utter flowed from his mouth.
‘What’s happening? Where is he getting those words from...?’
It made sense for him to mention Black Scythe after seeing its form.
But the other words were difficult to chalk up to coincidence.
Ryu Min immediately read Hwang Yong-min’s mind.
What he was muttering now echoed clearly in his mind.
-Did I play the Survival Game...? Did my soul transfer every month to another world...? With the black scythe...?
Ryu Min’s eyes widened even more.
‘It can’t be. How does Hwang Yong-min know about the Survival Game?’
Only he should know about the Survival Game in this world.
Knowing information that hadn’t even happened yet was impossible.
‘What’s going on?’
Ryu Min decided to delve deeper into Hwang Yong-min’s mind.
His thoughts were a mess.
‘What is this? He’s thinking of everything and nothing at the same time. As if information were being injected into him.’
Although he wanted to question Hwang Yong-min, it was too late.
Thud!
The boy finally lost consciousness and collapsed.
“Hey, Hwang Yong-min. Wake up. Hwang Yong-min.”
He pushed and shook him, but Hwang Yong-min didn’t move, as if he were dead.
‘What’s going on here...?’
He stored the scythe and tried to analyze the situation.
The Hwang Yong-min of this world was different from those in other worlds.
He shouldn’t be able to remember the Survival Game.
Impossible.
‘Something’s gone wrong.’
There was definitely a problem with the timeline.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to recall information from another world.
‘I have no choice. I need to ask Cronos.’
Ryu Min had an Eternal Item: the Soul Gauntlet.
An item that stole gods’ souls, allowing him to use their powers.
In the past, he had captured numerous gods, using their abilities.
From the authority of creation to that of destruction.
But now, he had turned those gods into humans, forcing them to participate in his Survival Game.
Therefore, he could no longer use their powers, except for one.
‘I still have one left.’
The power of time from Cronos.
Ryu Min never released Cronos’s soul.
He kept it in the gauntlet to use in the future.
He had to do so to return to the time when his parents were alive and create a world without the Survival Game.
In hindsight, it was a good decision.
-Hey, Cronos.
He spoke to the gauntlet, even though his hand looked clean.
The gauntlet was bound to his soul and was invisible.
-It’s been a long time. You imprisoned me and now call my name.
-I have something to ask you.
-If I answer, will you release me?
-Do you think I’m crazy?
-You’re right. The great Black Scythe wouldn’t do that.
-Ask whatever you want and answer.
-What if I refuse?
-Then you’ll be destroyed at a molecular level. Or would you prefer to participate in the Survival Game as a human, like your parents?
-......
The threat worked.
Cronos knew the pain of soul annihilation.
Or maybe he despised the Survival Game.
-Ask. I’ll answer within reason.
Ryu Min explained to Cronos what had happened.
-So... this being from your world is talking about another world...
-Yes. When I read his mind, it seemed like information was being injected into him. Any ideas?
-It seems like information synchronization.
-Information synchronization?
-Even though they’re from different worlds, humans are made of the same matter. Their bodies can synchronize.
-Explain further.
-It seems information from another world is flowing into this one.
-Why is this happening?
-A collapsed timeline could cause this.
-A collapsed... timeline?
-Probably, one of the timelines you created has collapsed.
-You’re saying a timeline collapsed, and information from that Hwang Yong-min came here? Their synchronized bodies shared the information?
-Exactly. You got it.
A collapsed timeline and fragments of memories reaching this Hwang Yong-min?
-Could this happen to others?
-Most certainly. Which timeline collapsed and why it connected to the 102nd, we’d need to verify using the power of time.
-Why did it happen? How did a stable timeline collapse?
-Someone must have interfered.
-Who?
-There’s someone who fits... yes, it can only be him.
Cronos spoke with certainty.
-The God of Dimension, Deorant. It must be his doing.