seattlejaycees Chapter 63 : Chapter 63
Chapter 63 : Chapter 63
Chapter 63
The name Seo So-hui had to face, April.
The 2-meter tall giant muscle-bound man who had guided us to this game site was the opponent this time.
Sim Yong-hun screamed as he grabbed his hair with both hands as if wringing it out.
“No!”
I was the only person on this island who had directly fought a dealer.
Because the others had never personally faced a dealer, they did not know specifically how strong a dealer was.
Nevertheless, there would be no one to raise a dissenting opinion that a dealer was overwhelmingly stronger than a general player.
The leisure and intimidation that dealers radiated toward the players were not ordinary.
Moreover, if the opponent was a 2-meter giant muscle-bound man, one would naturally feel even more pressure.
In order to protect Seo So-hui, Sim Yong-hun looked at the surveillance camera on the ceiling and expressed the unfairness of this match.
“Dealers! You are watching, right? This is just not right! Our So-hui…… she is not in a physical condition to face a strong person!”
Seo So-hui squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them as she grabbed Sim Yong-hun's wrist.
“Oppa, stop it.”
“What do you mean stop? Even you have to think this isn't right!”
In the end, Sim Yong-hun hopped up and down on the spot, waving both arms left and right as if crossing them.
Earnestly hoping that the dealers beyond the surveillance cameras would show him mercy.
“Dealers! We will surrender! We'll count it as our loss, so please impose the 1 billion won fine!”
And then he suddenly knelt down on both knees in front of me and Park So-yul, pleading.
“Mister, and So-yul Noona. I'll make up for this penalty somehow! So please let us surrender! I'm begging you like this!”
Emotionally, it wasn't impossible to understand, but the circumstances of how this situation arrived were somewhat difficult to appeal to emotions.
Sim Yong-hun had already lost his mind for fear of losing ‘two’ loved ones, but Seo So-hui seemed to realize that there was no grounds to appeal.
Sure enough, Seo So-hui stopped him by placing her hand on Sim Yong-hun's shoulder.
“Oppa, I told you to stop.”
“You stay still! I'll take care of everything! I'll solve it all, so go to the back!”
“Did we participate by force? Huh? We could have just left, but we voluntarily participated in Round 5 just to try and earn a bit more money. Do you think it will work now to act pitiful by putting our circumstances forward?”
“Then what? Together, the two of us barely gathered 100 million won! After the fees, it's 60 million won! Only 60 million won! Do you think three people can eat and live on that? Besides, after paying the debt, only 30 million won remains! Only 30 million won!”
The argument between the two students gradually grew harsher.
Both sides' opinions had a certain amount of logic.
Sim Yong-hun's position was that he had to overdo it inevitably amidst the pressure of having to protect both Seo So-hui and the child.
Seo So-hui wanted to face reality by separating only this current situation.
As their opinions diverged, they eventually began to drag up past things they were upset about.
After a while, a sound was heard that signaled the end of the heated atmosphere.
Bang!
The thick iron door attached to the south of Area E1 swung open rapidly and hit the wall once.
At the same time, the air shuddered first.
As if some huge beast were emerging from a cave, a massive silhouette wriggled in the darkness beyond the open door.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Footsteps that grew louder.
The slow rhythm made the listeners feel tension, like a drum that deliberately killed the beat.
In this case, the listeners were us.
The first thing to reveal its form through the darkness was a massive shoulder.
On the front of the neatly ironed suit jacket, bulging pectoral muscles protruded, distorting the fabric, and soon after, triceps that rose like a halo were cast under the lights along with the forearms.
Following that, a silver mask was revealed, catching the reflected light.
April, perhaps having been listening to the student couple's conversation, handed down the verdict regarding surrender.
“It seems you did not listen to the rules properly. In all matches of this Round 5, only the opponent's death can determine the outcome.”
Surrender was impossible.
A deathmatch that ends only when one side dies.
April's verdict made Sim Yong-hun scream.
Sim Yong-hun tried desperately to cling to April, but before that, Seo So-hui headed toward the center of Area E1 and preemptively prevented Sim Yong-hun's emotional appeal.
“If it's the rules, I know them. My Oppa is just being stubborn on his own. So let's start immediately.”
April reached out beyond the open door and pulled out a large weapon from the darkness.
It was a giant hammer with a metal mass larger than a human head attached to a pole reaching 1 meter.
He equipped the weapon and closed the south door of Area E1, saying.
“I believe that taking on debts one cannot handle is a foolish act, and that every player who entered this game is trash.”
“I know that too. So I have no complaints about having to face you, Mister Dealer. I just…… feel like what was bound to come has come.”
“Listen to the story until the end.”
April displayed superhuman strength by holding the giant hammer horizontally with only one hand.
And pointing the giant hammer at Seo So-hui.
“While there is trash that can be recycled among trash.”
Then pointing at me.
“There is also irredeemable waste that is completely rotten, scattering rotten juice and emitting a stench.”
At the blatant criticism, Park So-yul wore a venomous expression as if she herself had been insulted.
“You're speaking quite recklessly. Ju-seong ssi is a person who survived within the rules to get here. Denying Ju-seong ssi would be denying this game itself, wouldn't it?”
“For the sake of survival. I did not say that was bad. However, the person next to you remains in this game even after earning more money than he deserves. Either his greed for money is great, or he has developed a taste for killing people. If it's not one of those two, then what else is it but irredeemable?”
“Hey!”
Park So-yul tried to protest vehemently, raising her tone.
However, I stretched my arm to the side to restrain Park So-yul.
“That's enough. Stop.”
“But!”
“I'd rather be on the side that provokes, being on the side that gets provoked isn't my taste. More than that, I feel like there is a separate reason why the Dealer is rambling with small talk. What is it that you want to say?”
April advised while resting the pole of the giant hammer on his shoulder.
“If you want to save this woman, one of you three intervene in this battle.”
“A foul loss…… was that the picture you people were drawing from the beginning. Heh.”
“What's funny?”
“I was thinking of offering my thanks. Thank you for racking your brains for the sake of an irredeemable person like me.”
I used April's words exactly as they were to give him a blow in return.
The counter to criticism is not criticism, but gratitude.
If it were a typical argument, one could counter again with raw criticism, but for that, April himself would have to become a petty person.
April's pride would not allow that.
“…….”
While April was speechless, Seo So-hui took out a small die from her pocket and dropped it on the floor.
The die hit the floor and bounced once, then rolled twice before coming to a stop.
The number that came out on the die was 3.
As soon as the die number was determined, Seo So-hui took out a folding knife and leaned her upper body forward.
Tap!
With the sound of light footsteps, Seo So-hui's sprint began.
Her movement was very fast, as if she alone were in double speed.
It was thanks to her ability being activated.
The ability to become faster by the number of the die thrown. (Maximum 1)
The important thing here was that the acceleration ability was not Seo So-hui's original ability.
Seo So-hui's original ability was…….
The ability to borrow an opponent's ability by paying money.
It was a 5th-rank copying ability just like mine, but if you looked at the inner workings, it was safe to say it was a completely different ability.
Upon paying money under agreement with the opponent, one could copy the ability for as long as the amount paid.
The rental fee was 1 million won per day.
My ability disappears if I lose trust, but on the other hand, Seo So-hui's ability was maintained for the rental period regardless of the opponent's status.
Even if the opponent were to erase their ability and leave the Money Game.
And unlike me, who can copy abilities as much as I want, Seo So-hui's ability was limited to a maximum of 1 ability that could be copied at a time.
Seo So-hui tried to launch a surprise attack on April using the ability copied in the previous Round 4.
But April was not an easy opponent.
“Even after I told you the way to survive.”
He made a tongue-clicking sound inside the mask and then struck the giant hammer strongly against the ground.
The metal mass fell downward and hammered the floor.
Normally, it was a strike that should have ended as a threat along with a collision sound.
However, eerily, an explosion occurred at the point of impact.
Booooom!
Cracks like a rice paddy in a drought appeared on the floor, and large and small concrete fragments flew.
It was April's ability activating.
The ability to cause an explosion at the part struck by the hammer.
It was the same ability possessed by the April in the drama I knew.
It was an ability where the higher the power of the hammer strike, the stronger the explosion power became.
Seo So-hui instinctively pulled her body back.
“Eek!”
She lowered her head and crossed her arms to take a defensive stance, but the flying fragments struck above her guard.
Every time her arms were hit by the fragments, they suffered pitiful tremors.
One could easily anticipate that bruises would start to form under her sleeves.
While the overwhelming difference in level was already clear, April continued the next attack.
As soon as the explosion ended, he swung the hammer once and stepped forward toward Seo So-hui.
A huge shadow swallowed Seo So-hui.
“So-hui, dodge!”
Sim Yong-hun's voice burst out as if tearing, but it was already too late.
Whether her hearing had become blurred from the aftermath of the explosion just now, Seo So-hui reacted a moment late.
By the time she hurriedly turned her body, April's hammer had arrived in close proximity.
“Huff!”
The hammer aimed for Seo So-hui's shoulder, but thanks to her backing away half a step at the last moment, it barely grazed past.
The destructive power loaded into the hammer was driven straight toward the wall.
Craaaaack!
Along with spiderweb-like cracks, the wall became tattered.
Protruding rebars poked out, and the place where the hammer dug in was hollowed out to a size that could fit two or three palms.
If Seo So-hui had been even 0.1 seconds late, her body would have been caught between the wall and the hammer.
Because every single scene was so precarious, eventually Sim Yong-hun, unable to bear it, tried to intrude into the battle.
“Stop it!”
At this rate, a foul loss would be applied.
A foul loss imposes a fine equivalent to ten times the existing prize money.
In this case, ten times 1 billion won, so 10 billion won would be imposed as a fine.
It was an amount sufficient to empty out my balance.
Park So-yul, knowing the weight of a 10 billion won fine, rushed at Sim Yong-hun.
Park So-yul inserted her arms through Sim Yong-hun's armpits and pulled him up vertically, locking him tightly.
“Calm down! If you intrude like this, it's a 10 billion won fine! It's an amount you can never repay!”
“Aaaah! Stop it! Don't touch So-hui!”
“I understand your feelings, but if you move blindly, everything will be ruined! Ugh, Ju-seong ssi! Please give instructions on what to do!”
Amidst what could only be described as a mess, I calmly observed the entire situation.
Surprisingly, I didn't feel at all that this situation was a crisis.
Every act April performed brought me new inspiration.
January, I know well that you set up this operation after much deliberation. But it won't go as you wish, will it? I can do what you can do too.
I focused on the tattered wall.
The weakened wall seemed to symbolize the loopholes inherent in January's operation.
While the abacus in my head clicked cheerfully, April drove Seo So-hui into a corner.
“I gave you the chance.”
With those words, the hammer was raised over his shoulder once again.
Seo So-hui's pupils trembled.
Perhaps, this moment might be the last.
The child?
Sim Yong-hun?
That promise to all leave together?
It was then.
Like a jaguar soaring through the jungle sky, a pitch-black shadow flew in and delivered a blow to April's head.
A flying kick with added acceleration.
The sturdy sole of the shoe struck April's mask refreshingly.
As the mask skewed significantly, April's angular jawline was revealed.
The fact that two teeth popped out from the gap of his open mouth was a bonus.
Crunch!
Seo So-hui's mouth hung open in surprise, and Sim Yong-hun, who had been frantic, creaked like a broken physics engine at the unexpected situation.
Park So-yul also lost her strength and let both arms that had been locking Sim Yong-hun hang down helplessly.
Soon, April staggered and barely leaned his body against the wall, then made a pained hissing sound while touching his dislocated jaw with his hand.
“Ah…… Ahh…… Kah!”
April, struggling in pain as he forced his jawbone back into place.
And me, wearing a sly smile toward him.
While the contrast was distinct, I chuckled with my back to the electronic scoreboard where the fine was posted.
As if a 10 billion won fine was merely a trivial matter that could be ignored.
“I have intervened as you wished. Oh, keep the thanks. I only granted the request out of pure goodwill.”