Chapter 32.1
Demon Merchant
âItâs here.â
Park Chan-wooâs eyes gleamed.
The reason he had remained under the radar since clearing the Water God Abyss was now manifesting right before him.
âFever Time.â
An event triggered when the probability of reaching the target score drops below 1%.
If he had cleared another dungeon immediately after hunting the Water God, this event wouldnât have been activated.
And âFever Timeâ had happened once before in the past.
At that time, the Creators had decided that South Korea wouldnât reach 5,000 points.
Feigning benevolence, they unleashed trials that led to a massacre.
Countless lives were lost, regardless of age or gender, because of the âconditionâ necessary to activate this event.
âBecause theyâve never entered a dungeon, theyâre assumed to be weak or unfit.â
A random 20% who had never entered a dungeon before.
Most of those who were physically or mentally strong had already ventured into dungeons.
And many others had entered out of curiosity.
But there were others who hadnât gone inâ
Those who were sick and couldnât move easily.
The very young, the elderly, and anyone unfit for battle were also thrown into ârandom dungeonsâ without warning.
The outcome was predictable.
â76.1%. The approval rate is even higher than before.â
One difference from the past was the sheer number of people who wanted Fever Time.
Approval had jumped by a whopping 10% compared to before.
Perhaps the sharp increase in early points made people more desperate as progress slowed.
Opinions must have split rapidly on social media and online forums.
âThe Avatars and Han Shin arenât making a move, so the points are naturally slow to accumulate.â
The reason was obvious.
A large number of Avatars had died in the Water God Abyss.
Avatars were classified as strong players, and with so many killed or injured, there was a lack of leaders to guide the people.
âŠNot that it mattered much.
Even if these people took on the role of saviors and saved as many as they could now, they would later slaughter ten times that number.
âHan Shin not moving⊠now, thatâs unexpected.â
That attention-seeker remaining quiet was surprising.
Perhaps, with the Water God dead and his carefully arranged plan shattered, he was observing the situation for a while.
But Park Chan-woo shook his head.
âNo. Knowing Han Shinâs personality, it makes no sense for him to stay idle in a situation like this. Solving this crisis would make him the undisputed savior of Korea. His Creator, Ahata⊠must be involved.â
Or it could be Ahataâs own intent.
Ahata had probably wagered that Korea wouldnât reach 5,000 points.
But with the Water God Abyss cleared, heâd lost a significant 1,000 points. Moving Han Shin now would make reaching the target score far too easy.
âSeems Ahata has a lot of coins on the line.â
Park Chan-woo smirked.
One of the obstacles holding him back had now disappeared.
After all, Han Shin and Ahata were out there, searching desperately for him.
But if Han Shin couldnât move easily, that changed things.
Even in the past, Han Shin was skeptical about reaching 5,000 points.
Though he posed as a savior, South Korea ultimately fell short by 500 points, triggering the âSiege Abyssâ and resulting in over 200,000 casualties.
If he had actively stepped forward, he could have slain the Water God with ease.
Reluctantly, Park Chan-woo acknowledged that Han Shin was a monster.
Not through underhanded methods like his own, but through sheer force, Han Shin could have killed the Water God.
At least now, Park Chan-woo was confident that Han Shin wouldnât take the lead.
It was likely why the Creators had deemed it impossible to reach the target score and had proposed Fever Time.
âDouble dungeon rewards.â
It wasnât a bad thing.
In fact, it was an advantage for Park Chan-woo.
Double rewards for dungeon clearsâa ridiculous boost.
But more importantly.
âWith a look at the sun, I can enter any dungeon instantly.â
To cut down on travel time, theyâd made it easier to enter dungeons.
Previously, every dungeon entrance was tied to a specific structure.
Now, as long as there was sunlight, he could enter any uncleared dungeon on the spot.
But what Park Chan-woo looked forward to the most was the third feature.
âI have to find the Demon Merchant.â
Demon Merchant!
Their appearance was rare.
For one to show up openly like this was nearly unheard of.
The Demon Merchants were the only beings in the Abyss capable of âtradingâ.
Of course, it was a trade of equal âvalueâ.
âWith enough value, they might be able to cure my debuffs.â
If the value he offered was sufficient, the Demon Merchant would provide anything.
He had even heard of someone acquiring the âFruit of the World Treeâ from a Demon Merchantâ
A treasure beyond any elixir that could lift all dire curses and negative status effects!
If he could obtain it, curing his ailments like âWeakestâ, âFrailâ, âFeebleâ, and âTerminalâ wouldnât be a dream.
Park Chan-woo gazed up at the sun.
ăYou will be transported to the chosen dungeon out of the 13 available.ă
ăDungeon selected.ă
ăTransporting to âFire Dungeon (300)â!ă
ăThe number of entrants currently in the Fire Dungeon: 587,191.ă
* * *
âW-What theâŠ?â
Han Min-oh looked around.
Just moments ago, he had been in his own room.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, everything before him had changed.
A burning wasteland.
Several towering pillars of flame rose in the distance.
âWhat⊠are those?â
No, they werenât just pillars of flame.
“F-Firestorm!”
“Run for your lives!”
The place was overflowing with people who, like Han Min-oh, had been abruptly summoned here.
In an instant, the fiery storm swept over them.
“Aaaaah!”
“Save me!”
No matter how he tried to rationalize it, this wasnât a dream.
It was reality.
Han Min-oh instinctively got to his feet and started running as fast as he could.
âN-No way⊠An Abyss?â
He had been chosen as part of the random 20% who had never entered a dungeon before.
In mere seconds, he had already witnessed dozens dieâcaught in the storm, screaming as they burned.
Hiss!
Hisssss!
After running for a while, he came across enormous lizards.
These flame-scaled creatures snapped up fleeing people with quick flicks of their tongues.
Han Min-oh immediately changed direction, heading east.
“Hehe.”
“Heheheh.”
As he turned, mocking laughter echoed, and floating skeletons appeared in the air.
The skeletons spewed flames from their mouths, burning people alive.
Screams came from all directions.
âT-This is hell.â
At last, Han Min-oh realized the brutal reality before him.
This was a hellish nightmare.
He had only one direction left to goâwest.
“Graaah!”
“Urrgh! Urrgh!”
âŠMoving west, he encountered zombies.
The peculiarity? They were all skeletal, their skulls exposed.
They looked like the same skeletons from the east, having now taken over corpses and evolved.
âMilitary uniforms? Are they⊠soldier zombies?â
Most of these zombies wore military uniformsâlikely soldiers who had perished in earlier dungeons,
Now, as undead, they surrounded and attacked Han Min-oh from every side.
“D-Donât come any closer! Stay back!”
Han Min-oh, fallen to the ground, shouted, tears and snot streaming down his face.
He was terrified. He didnât want to die.
He had never felt such intense fear in his life.
“P-Please, just⊠let me live⊔
“Do you want to live?”
“âŠâŠ!”
A voice from beside him made him turn his head in surprise.
Standing close by was a figure with a backpack.
Dark skin, horns protruding from his forehead, and two wings on his backâthere was no mistaking it.
This was a demon.
The demon introduced himself.
“I am Dagon, the great merchant. If you can pay the right price, I can even resurrect you from death.”