Chapter 19 - Return (3) (2/2)

I was slower than before, so the crossbow challenger had some time to react.

But we tried to kill each other and there was no mistake in that.

I couldn’t let my guard down listening to his excuses.

As he fumbled to load another arrow into his crossbow, I cut his head off.

Shuat!

「 Would you like to absorb the soul of the player ‘Lee Sieon? 」

The black fog and message notified me of his death.

Plumph.

The man in glasses looked in horror as the decapitated corpse collapsed in front of him.

“U-uhh, a-ahhhh!”

Feebly wiping the blood off his glasses, Im Sangyoon’s entire body trembled.

His hands, legs, and even his teeth clacked enough to fill the empty room.

I’d confirmed that his innate ability, magic, and skills weren’t a threat to me.

He was only strong with a team.

I flicked my arm to get the blood off and turned my head.

And there, a terrified Lee Hayeon and retracted Lee Sunghoon stared at me.

“…”

The battle was over and no one on our team seemed to have sustained any injuries.

Maybe the big cut on Lee Sunghoon’s arm, but it’d go away once he was in the waiting area.

It didn’t look like something that would bother him in battle.

‘At least we didn’t lose any power.’

I was worried that he might not be able to pull his weight in the boss battle, but it should be fine.

My teammates still seemed to be in shock, but I had to decide…

What we would do with Im Sangyoon.

“P-p-please let me live… You’re not a murderer right?”

Maybe he determined that he couldn’t win because he’d lost his last teammate.

He begged for his life as he trembled like a leaf.

“We, we, we can go back to Earth right? I’ll give you all my money. I-I have a lot of money.”

“…”

“I-I was a hunter. You can scrape like $500k from me.”

“I see.”

“R-really? If you just let me live!”

“You know I can’t do that.”

Im Sangyoon’s face crinkled.

“The special objective said that no one could get out until only one team was left.”

“Y-you don’t know that. Maybe there’s another way.”

“No there isn’t. That’s why you tried to kill me too.”

“…”

And even if there was…

Why should I let someone who tried to kill me go?

He almost killed me and wouldn’t be much help in the upcoming boss battle.

‘I’ve come too far to feel guilt.’

It was too late to be a saint.

“Damn.”

I didn’t even know what to say.

A dirty feeling was swallowing me as if I was in a puddle of quicksand.

The lukewarm blood dripping down my arm only cemented that feeling.

I wasn’t a saint, but I wasn’t a cold-blooded serial killer either.

Standing between that line made me feel shitty.

Status window, skills, stats…

A lot of things changed after the Great Calamity, but it didn’t affect one’s individual choices.

‘Kill people for bonus rewards?’

Hunters hunt monsters, not people.

Then how would I differ from the monsters that killed my parents?

The reason I became a player 7 years ago was to kill monsters.

Not this.

I wanted to kill monsters and reduce the number of people who would be affected by them.

But the tower didn’t seem to care about any of that.

Trials, rewards, and growth.

I was coming to know what the tower expected and wanted from us.

“…”

I wasn’t an evil person, but I wasn’t good enough to let people get in my way.

I gripped my obsidian dagger and stomped closer to the panicked Im Sangyoon.

“D-don’t come! L-let’s talk this ou—”

I sliced his neck open without listening to another word.

Shhhk—

A new message appeared.

「 Congratulations, you’ve cleared the special objective. 」

「 Bonus rewards being calculated into the 4th trial’s rewards. 」

I stared at that message silently for a while.

‘…The shield, I gotta pick up my shield.’

I grabbed the shield from the floor and re-equipped it.

I turned back to face my team.

“It’s over. Let’s get ready to fight the boss.”

Lee Hayeon and Lee Sunghoon studied my facial expression.

“…?”

I knew I didn’t have the best expression right now, but they kept flinching for some reason.

I didn’t want to show this face to anyone else either but…

‘I guess it doesn’t matter.’

I couldn’t hide it even if I wanted to.

“Um… are you alright?”

Lee Hayeon delicately asked how I was.

“I’m fine.”

Truthfully, I wasn’t. But what else could I say?

“…Okay. Should we go in now?”

Lee Hayeon didn’t probe any further.

Lee Sunghoon also looked at me and carefully made a suggestion.

“I’m not too hurt so we can go in now.”

“I’m fine too.”

We finished our conversation and moved to the giant door with the eye on it.

“…”

I hesitated when walking by the corpses with the necromancy message on them, but I’d put that decision on hold.

…I had killed some people, but I didn’t have the resolve to absorb their souls as well.

‘I… still need some time to think.’

Of course, I may not have a choice…

But at least right now, I wasn’t psychologically ready for it yet.

If I absorbed a human soul right now, what’s left of my mentality would probably shatter.

I could always come back after.

As long as I didn’t go through the portal after the trial ended.

All I needed was some time to calm my nerves.

Then I’d be able to make a logical decision.

I put my hands on the door and began to speak.

“I’m opening it now.”

And—

「 You have entered the goblin king’s chamber. 」

I could finally see the end of this trial.

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