Chapter 15
Sniper
《A powerful curse surrounding the contents of the box begins to seep out.》
As soon as the box was opened, black smoke started to slither out from inside, accompanied by tiny, sparkling lights resembling starlight.
‘The Curse of Anubis!’
Park Chan-woo quickly stepped back. He recognized that the curse within the black smoke was no ordinary one. He had seen similar black smoke before.
‘The same smoke that turned people into monsters in the ancient Anubis temple.’
There had once been a massive Abyss in Egypt, named ‘The Ancient Temple of Anubis’. Everyone who entered the temple was transformed into a monster by that very smoke.
Yet people kept entering the temple, desperate to glimpse Anubis standing at its entrance, holding the ‘Staff of the Earth’.
The ‘Staff of the Earth’ was an endgame-level weapon, on par with the ‘World Tree Staff’. Park Chan-woo had entered the temple, hoping to claim it for himself, barely escaping with his life.
In the end, no one ever managed to clear the Ancient Temple of Anubis.
It was due to the black smoke spewing from Anubis carrying a curse that no one could dispel. On top of that, Anubis himself was an insurmountable obstacle.
Only those who faced him knew the fear.
Even now, the sound echoed vividly in his mind.
Goooarrrr!
The monstrous roar of Anubis.
A top-tier clan had sent a raid team of 3,000 people to defeat Anubis, but they couldn’t even scratch him, leading to a total wipeout. After that, the clan disbanded, and the temple was deemed impossible to clear.
‘So that’s why it’s called a Black Box—because it holds a curse.’
The box contained something wrapped in a powerful curse. But before he could examine the contents, the smoke had already filled his room.
Just as Park Chan-woo was about to leap out the window—
《‘Luck (1)’ has intervened, allowing you to avoid the curse.》
《Another ‘Luck (2)’ has intervened, enhancing the contents of the box.》
Suddenly, whoosh!
The black smoke vanished without a trace, as if it had never been there.
Park Chan-woo furrowed his brow.
‘…The Easter Egg’s luck can even dispel Anubis’ curse?’
It was the ‘Easter Egg (001)’ that had erased the curse. He began to understand what it meant when the Easter Egg said luck would come with each level-up.
Honestly, he was surprised. He never imagined that the ‘luck’ of a mere normal-grade Easter Egg would be capable of doing something that all of humanity had failed to achieve.
‘If the luck of a normal-grade Easter Egg is this powerful… how much stronger could higher-grade luck be?’
Now he understood why the Easter Egg was called a ‘clear item’.
It was sheer overwhelming potential.
With just that one possibility, the Easter Egg could overpower anything.
Park Chan-woo approached the Black Box again.
This time, white light was seeping out from it instead of the ominous black smoke.
‘It kind of feels like Pandora’s Box.’
The Black Box, which had seemed so cursed and ominous at first, now shone with light. In the myth, Pandora’s Box unleashed all kinds of calamities, but at the bottom remained ‘hope’.
Cautiously, Park Chan-woo peered inside the box.
“Hm…?”
At the same time, he tilted his head, puzzled.
The contents were far from what he had expected. In fact, they were seriously off the mark.
It said it had become ‘radiant,’ so he had naturally expected some kind of equipment or artifact to match the description.
But instead…
“…A furball?”
Inside the box was a bundle of white fur.
The bundle of fur slowly raised its head and looked up at Park Chan-woo.
Si-siit?
***
Team Leader Kim Byung-han was in a great mood.
The world had undergone a radical change in just one day.
And amidst that change, Kim Byung-han had seized an opportunity. He had gained power and now stood apart from ordinary people.
“What’s going on? Is this all the people who came to work today?”
Kim Byung-han frowned as he glanced around the office. There were supposed to be 15 people, but only 3 had shown up.
“They say the world’s ending.”
Employee Lee Min-soo spun in his chair, cracking a joke. What’s the point of going to work if the world is ending?
“What do you mean, ending? Kids these days just use any excuse to take a day off. Tsk.”
Kim Byung-han clicked his tongue in disapproval, wearing an expression of disdain.
But in truth, the appearance of the Abyss had thrown the world into chaos in just one day.
The only reason they were in the office today was to be on standby for any emergencies. Even so, there wasn’t much work to do.
“You didn’t lose anyone, did you, Team Leader?”
Lee Min-soo asked, wondering if any of Kim Byung-han’s family or friends had been affected by the recent events. The death toll in South Korea had already surpassed 100,000.
Kim Byung-han shrugged.
“Me? I’ve always been lucky.”
It was as if a divine force was looking out for him. He had gained strength, adapted to the changes, and even built a rapport with the person everyone was calling a ‘hero’, Lee Hyuk-soo.
As long as he could keep Lee Hyuk-soo on his side, there was nothing to fear.
The way Lee Hyuk-soo had obliterated the Dragon Divine General with a single strike sent chills down his spine just thinking about it.
Then a thought crossed his mind, and he asked aloud:
“By the way, where’s Park Chan-woo?”
“Hiding at home, crying, I bet.”
“Probably. He’s always been a bit of a scaredy-cat.”
“That’s your fault, Team Leader.”
“What?”
“Because you’ve taken such good care of him, he’s gotten soft. Haha!”
“…Yeah, I guess I’ve been too easy on him.”
“Team Leader, you’re the best!”
Lee Min-soo raised his thumb in approval.
Kim Byung-han shook his head with a sigh. …That’s just how Park Chan-woo was. Even the other employees acknowledged him as a timid guy. He would follow orders without question.
But the Park Chan-woo from yesterday was different. So different, in fact, that it was hard to believe he was the same person. Kim Byung-han couldn’t forget the way Park Chan-woo had looked at him.
‘Things will be different now.’
Kim Byung-han clenched his teeth. If the same situation from yesterday happened again, it wouldn’t be him begging for his life in tears, wetting himself in fear—it would be Park Chan-woo.
“Look, Team Leader. Looks like someone can’t be a gentleman.”
“Heol. Seems like it.”
It was at that moment. Lee Min-soo, who had been chatting idly with Kim Byung-han, glanced toward the entrance of the office.
Kim Byung-han followed his gaze and greeted him warmly.
“Park Chan-woo!”
Park Chan-woo was standing at the office entrance. A smirk naturally formed on Kim Byung-han’s lips.
He walked up to him briskly and threw his arm around Park Chan-woo’s shoulder in a firm embrace.
“You punk! I was worried about you! Nothing bad happened after yesterday, right?”
Squeeze!
Kim Byung-han squeezed Park Chan-woo’s shoulder with all his might, almost crushing it. His strength had increased with his Rare-grade gear, making him stronger than most athletes.
Sssss!
That’s when it happened.
‘Why does it feel like my pants are getting warm…?’
Feeling something wet, Kim Byung-han looked down and instantly scowled.
“W-What! Did that thing just piss?! You idiot! How could you bring this damned dog to the office?!”
A small ball of white fur was sitting on the ground. It was so tiny, you could call it a ‘mini-cup puppy’. The ball of fur looked like it had just rolled over and peed on him.
Furious at the sudden turn of events, Kim Byung-han swore, but Park Chan-woo remained completely unfazed and continued what he had come to do.
“Take this, ‘Piss-pants’.”
Thud.
Park Chan-woo tossed his resignation letter from inside his coat.
While the social infrastructure was still functioning, it was best to avoid getting entangled in unnecessary trouble, hence the resignation.
“Piss-pants…?”
“Team Leader, did you really wet yourself?”
The two employees who had come to work muttered under their breath.
Kim Byung-han’s face turned bright red in embarrassment.
‘So it really was you, Park Chan-woo!’
It wasn’t a dream. What had happened during yesterday’s Abyss was real. It was Park Chan-woo who had killed that Fallen. After all, if it wasn’t him, he wouldn’t have called Kim Byung-han ‘Piss-pants.’
But Kim Byung-han had grown stronger after going through the Abyss last night. He no longer had any reason to be afraid.
“Park Chan-woo, let’s not go too far.”
“I’ve handed in my resignation, so you can process it yourself.”
Of course, the threat held no weight at all.
Park Chan-woo turned his back to leave.
At that moment—
Thud!
Kim Byung-han grabbed Park Chan-woo’s shoulder.
“When an elder is talking, don’t you think it’s rude to just walk away?”
“……”
Park Chan-woo paused, still facing away from him.
Seeing this, Kim Byung-han grinned and continued.
“Apologize for what happened yesterday, and I’ll let you go quietly. Otherwise, why don’t you try threatening me again, like yesterday?”
“……”
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you scared?”
“…’Abyss’.”
“What? Abyss?”
Hearing this, Kim Byung-han furrowed his brow in confusion. For a moment, he didn’t understand what Park Chan-woo was talking about. But then, he laughed.
“What are you talking about? There hasn’t been any notification of an Abyss appearing… wait, what is that?”
His laughter quickly turned into shock as he looked outside the office.
Everything had changed.
“What… What’s going on with the hallway?”
“Team Leader, what’s happening?”
“Huh…?”
The other employees, who had approached, were equally bewildered.
The hallway looked as if it had been abandoned for decades, with cracks and signs of decay everywhere. Soon, the office itself began to transform in the same way. The world around them was rapidly decaying, as if spreading like an infection.
There was only one thing that could cause such a phenomenon.
“No… No way! There was no system message!”
…It only happens when an ‘Abyss’ appears.
Kim Byung-han’s body trembled.
From his experience yesterday, he knew that an Abyss always appeared with a notification. But now, there had been no system message.
‘A sniper Abyss.’
Of course, Park Chan-woo knew exactly what this meant.
A ‘Creator’ had forcibly opened a ‘sniper Abyss’ targeting someone.
A sniper Abyss was exactly what its name suggested—an Abyss aimed at a specific target. There were no warnings. It would suddenly appear without any notice.
Without a coin, the mortality rate for someone caught in a sniper Abyss was over 95%. Some even claimed it was as high as 99%.
‘Am I being targeted?’
It was only the second day. Who could a Creator want dead enough to open a sniper Abyss?
It could very well be Park Chan-woo himself, the one who had bankrupted four Creators yesterday.
‘If they know I bankrupted Creators, they must know I have coins too.’
Park Chan-woo possessed seven coins. No Creator would be foolish enough to target him with a sniper Abyss while knowing that.
The typical method was to force him to use his coins in other Abysses before opening a sniper Abyss.
Was it revenge for bankrupting a Creator?
Even that didn’t make much sense. Creators had no sense of loyalty or camaraderie. They were indifferent to one another, and often cheered when a fellow Creator went bankrupt.
Besides, Park Chan-woo couldn’t remember having wronged any specific Creator enough to warrant a sniper Abyss.
“Look! Outside! The sun! Look at the sun!”
Everyone turned their gaze to the window.
Soon, Park Chan-woo realized the true meaning behind this sniper Abyss.
Lee Min-soo pointed at the sun with one hand and then looked at Kim Byung-han.
“…Team Leader, doesn’t that look like your face?”
Indeed.
…Kim Byung-han’s face was floating on the sun.
“What the hell? Why is my face up there?!”
Kim Byung-han muttered in disbelief.
And soon after, messages appeared before everyone’s eyes.
《The Abyss will end upon completion.》
《You have 72 hours.》
《If you fail, the ‘Death Knight’ will appear.》
“……”
Kim Byung-han’s face turned completely pale as he read the messages.