Chapter 359 (1/2)
Su-hyeun looked examined his surroundings.
He didn’t really need to look to know, but even then, he couldn’t help but do a double take anyway.
He then bent down to touch the ground and feel the blades of grass.
The grass, full of moisture, looked and smelled splendid. It was a complete contrast to the 103rd floor’s world that had lost all of its vitality and magical energy.
‘Is this really a world where a predator exists?’
First things first: this was not an illusion. He confirmed several times, but his surroundings remained the same.
However, if this was really an illusion, so perfectly crafted that even he couldn’t detect it, then…
…then he wouldn’t win here.
As such, he decided not to entertain such thoughts.
Step.
Su-hyeun began to walk away.
He put some distance between him and the city and, for the time being, headed to the castle nearby that seemed to have been constructed purely out of gold.
Chirp, chirp.
Croak, croak.
He heard the sounds of birds chirping and frogs croaking in a small pond nearby. The path he was on was just about perfect for a peaceful stroll.
After walking for a while, Su-hyeun discovered a group of people yonder.
‘Humans? No, wait. Similar races to humans are among them, too.’ Su-hyeun’s brows furrowed.
The group was composed of about 50 individuals.
Not only that, they were already well-armed as well.
Step, step.
Su-hyeun slowly walked up to them.
He didn’t sense any hostility or resistance from them. However, the group seemed to be prepared for battle, judging from their armament.
Which also meant…
‘I should prepare, too.’
Su-hyeun mounted it on his hips. He wanted it handy in case something happened.
Each and every one making up that group looked quite highly skilled. Not only the level of magical energy they possessed was quite considerable, but the light gleaming in their eyes couldn’t be described as ordinary either.
Especially so with one or two among them. They were quite powerful individuals.
Thus, as Su-hyeun got close, preparing to unsheathe his sword…
Clack, clack.
“We greet your lordship, Grand Duke,” one welcomed.
“We offer our greetings, Grand Duke!” another greeted him.
Starting with the man standing in front of the group, the 50 odd people all went down on their knees in a rather restrained, cultured manner, too.
“…?”
Su-hyeun, who had been getting ready for a fight, stopped in his tracks. He was confused. He didn’t know how to process the situation.
‘What’s going on? Did they just call me ‘grand duke’?’
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The 40 knights and 10 magicians said that they were from the imperial guard corps.
Su-hyeun wondered what ‘imperial guards’ could mean when he had been summoned to the world of the predator. But more than that, he found the title ‘grand duke’ even more puzzling.
“Okay, so… Are you saying that I am your grand duke?” Su-hyeun asked.
“You don’t have to speak politely to us, my lord.”
The being from a similar race to humans, who introduced himself as the leader of the imperial guard corps, Kyle, a Dark Elf, still had his head lowered before Su-hyeun.
Kyle wouldn’t dare to look a grand duke in his eyes. He deemed himself not worthy.
These people were calling Su-hyeun ‘grand duke’. That was because of the third trial he cleared earlier.
“If I’m really the ‘grand duke’ that you need to serve, then,” Su-hyeun groaned as he spoke, “I’d like you to answer some things that I’m curious about.”
“Okay,” Kyle agreed. “How about we change the location first?”
Su-hyeun nodded in agreement.
Kyle got up and headed to the imperial palace. By then, the 50 imperial guard corps members had already been dismissed according to Su-hyeun’s order.
Su-hyeun followed Kyle and asked him, “First of all, what kind of place is this?”
“It’s the imperial court,” Kyle paused, looked at Su-hyeun, then continued, “but I feel that what your lordship is asking me about isn’t to learn where we are.”
“That’s correct. I’m asking what kind of a world this is.”
“Simply put, it’s an artificially created world, Sir.”
“Artificially created?”
“Yes. And I trust that you already have a rough idea on what that means.”
“Several summoned races, trials, and even the peerage… You receive a rank depending on your performance during the trial, and then, you’re supposed to live in this world according to the rank?”
“You’ve correctly guessed it, Sir.”
Step.
They stepped into the imperial palace, and Kyle stopped walking after entering a wide circle on the floor. When Su-hyeun joined the Dark Elf within the circle, their bodies began to ‘rise’.
It seemed that this ‘circle’ functioned similarly to an elevator.
“Of course, it’s possible to improve your peerage rank, Sir. In this place, strength rules,” Kyle explained. “You can always challenge anyone and then take their peerage, and acquire the right to challenge higher ranks.”
“That’s fairly simple.”
“Yes. Indeed, it is. However, in the eyes of those in the lower ranks, this rule is more on the side of cruel than simple.”
“It’s cruel?” Su-hyeun’s brows furrowed.
Whir.
The magic elevator continued to go up. Its speed wasn’t all that fast, and the location Kyle was guiding Su-hyeun to also happened to be somewhere up.
“You’ll die if you fall behind in the competition, Sir. Once every month, 100,000 people will lose their lives starting from the lowest peerage and ranking.”
“Crazy son of a—”
“There’s no reason to swear, Sir,” Kyle cut Su-hyeun off. “As I’ve said before, strength rules in this place. This place is a world where the strong preys on the weak.”
Just as Kyle finished saying that, the magic elevator stopped.
The Dark Elf took a large stride forward before walking through the corridor right before their eyes.
“The weak will fall behind and lose their lives. That is the natural course of things in this place. There’s no need to swear or think of it as bizarre at all, Sir. You’ll soon get used to it.”
Su-hyeun continued to follow Kyle. Then a thought occurred to him and said, “The flesh of the weak will become the food for the strong.”
“…?”
“That’s the definition of the ‘strong preys on the weak’ that I’m familiar with. Tell me, do you believe you’re part of the strong? Just because you think this rank of the imperial guard corps, or whatever you call it, is not a low-ranked peerage?”
Su-hyeun didn’t know all the peerages of this world in detail. Even then, he could easily surmise that in this world, the weak was sacrificed in hundreds of thousands periodically instead of the so-called strong.
To fill the void left behind by those who died, the predator dragged other people from different worlds. Just like that, the roles of the weak and the strong were filled again, and the people trapped here would train hard to become stronger and continue to compete in order to survive.