CHAPTER 78 – "It's Me."
A Player who used a scythe was rare.
One who carried a scythe that huge and brutal-looking was even rarer.
If there was a Player who walked around with something like that, there was only one person it could be.
'N-no way… Black Scythe?'
As if they'd made an appointment, both men thought of the same person.
The unshakable Rank 1 on the leaderboard, the high-level ranker no Player could not know.
'Is he seriously saying he's Black Scythe?'
Lostyak smoothed the surprise off his face and narrowed his eyes.
There was a dissonance between this reality and the idea that the man in front of him was Black Scythe.
'First of all, he's short.'
He didn't even look 170 cm tall.
The scythe he carried looked too big for him to even swing.
His voice sounded a bit young, his frame was slight and wiry.
He was completely different from the Black Scythe image Lostyak had imagined.
'Of course, comparing someone to their avatar is dumb to begin with, but…'
The fact was, he looked easy to push around. What was he supposed to do with that?
But Hwang Yong-min, who had actually faced Black Scythe before, knew better.
'B-Black Scythe… It really is Black Scythe!'
The build was different, sure—but the way he talked, the atmosphere around him, it was the same.
Above all, those eyes visible through the mask were unforgettable.
'It's real… The real one's here.'
The hair on his head stood up, and his hands and feet began to tremble in short bursts.
It was the same reaction as a herbivore recognizing a predator.
'Black Scythe… showing up in the real world…'
His vow to split him in half if they ever met in reality had long since been forgotten.
Honestly, that had just been talk.
Their level gap was more than double—how was he supposed to kill him?
'But why is Black Scythe here…?'
No, more importantly, why had he stolen his name?
There shouldn't be anything left between them now.
Anyway, since he'd shown up armed like this, it was clearly not for a good reason.
Whether from sweaty palms or just trying to release tension, Hwang Yong-min clenched and unclenched his hand over and over.
At that strange behavior, Lostyak glanced back at Black Scythe.
'Is this guy really Black Scythe?'
Even he, who had been thinking of him as easy prey, now looked a little tense.
'I've never seen him in person, but if he really is Black Scythe…'
A Level 20 like him wouldn't even count as an opponent.
An ambush would probably be his only shot.
"You."
At the sudden call, Lostyak flinched.
"Y-yes?"
"You didn't come alone, did you?"
"…"
"Tell the others to come out too. I know they're there."
Lostyak was honestly impressed.
So impressed he felt like clapping.
'He even figured out the other executives are here…'
Up until a moment ago, he'd only suspected this might be Black Scythe.
Now, he was sure—whether or not this was really Black Scythe, this wasn't someone to take lightly.
Right then—
Step, step—
Maybe because they'd heard him call them out,
two men who had been hiding on the stairwell in the corridor revealed themselves.
They were [Soboru is Crazy Tasty] and [Poporing].
"Ah, so we've been found out."
"How did he know we were here?"
Unaware that he could discover them with Presence Detection, the two approached Ryu Min.
"Don't come any closer. Not unless you want to die."
"Heh, listen to this punk bluff."
Soboru snorted, but Poporing stopped him.
"Hey, are you really that Black Scythe?"
At Poporing's question, Ryu Min gave his scythe a little shake.
"You should be able to tell from this, no?"
"I've heard you use a scythe as your main weapon, but none of us has actually seen Black Scythe in person. We can't be sure just from the weapon."
"Then why ask? You weren't going to believe me anyway."
"Because I still wanted to hear it from your own mouth."
"Fine. I'm Black Scythe. Satisfied?"
The moment he acknowledged it, Poporing's gaze sharpened.
[The target you are currently observing is speaking 'the truth.']
It was because of the [Rune of Truth] he possessed.
Soboru, standing beside him, turned to Poporing.
"What does it say?"
"It says… truth."
At that, the executives stared at Black Scythe with wide eyes.
'So this is that famous Black Scythe…?'
'I thought no way, but it really is him…'
They were all taken aback by how different his real-life appearance was from their expectations…
'Fuck, I'm screwed.'
But Soboru alone looked like he'd just bitten into shit.
He'd acted all high and mighty a moment ago, thinking there was no way this guy was actually Black Scythe.
'Damn it. My damn mouth is going to be the death of me.'
He'd pissed off someone who might end up being an executive of the café.
If they ever became "family," he'd definitely be on the blacklist.
'What do I do? Sh-should I just apologize? N-no, maybe he didn't even hear me. He's just standing there, isn't he?'
Testing the waters, Soboru, feeling guilty, was the first to speak.
"Black Scythe-nim, it's an honor to meet y—"
"Forget the greeting."
Ryu Min pointed the scythe straight at him.
"You said you wanted to see if I'm really Black Scythe, right? Then verify it with my skills."
"W-with your… skills?"
Soboru was flustered.
It was like a Level 40 challenger calling out a Level 20 to a duel.
The intention was obvious.
'Damn it, so he was holding a grudge.'
Clearly, he wanted to humiliate him in front of everyone.
'T-there's no way out of this. I just have to apologize.'
It went without saying that he had no confidence he could win.
He didn't need to fight to know.
"I-I'm really sorry for my rudeness just now, Black Scythe-nim."
"Sorry or not, we still have to confirm if I'm really Black Scythe, don't we?"
"There's no need to show your skills. We've already confirmed it."
Poporing cut in, but Black Scythe's anger didn't cool.
"You confirmed it just because I said my name?"
"Ah… well, I have a rune related to that, so…"
"Enough. If you block my attack, I'll consider your earlier rudeness wiped clean. Ready?"
"B-Black Scythe-nim, please, just this once…"
Before Soboru could even properly beg forgiveness, it happened.
Slice—!
With a chilling sound, Soboru's head dropped to the floor.
Thunk— roll—
As their colleague's head rolled to their feet, the other two recoiled in horror.
Fuck!!! What the hell is he!?
Lostyak wanted to scream.
But he swallowed it down, sure that if he did, he'd end up like Soboru.
Poporing didn't feel much different.
'I-I didn't even see him swing the scythe.'
An overwhelming gap.
Even with the common skill Dynamic Vision learned, it was a speed he could barely track.
"B-Black Scythe-nim! W-what are you doing?!"
"What do you mean, what am I doing? I proved I'm Black Scythe with my skills."
"I told you there was no need…"
"Sigh…"
Both men grabbed their heads as if this had suddenly become far more troublesome than they'd expected.
A real person had died.
And not just anyone—a fellow executive.
This wasn't the Otherworld; there was no resurrection here.
The only silver lining was that he hadn't been one of the founding members, but an executive chosen through interviews.
They could replace him anytime.
'But with who?'
At that moment, the lunatic in the white mask entered their field of view again.
If it was Black Scythe, he was the optimal talent to place in an executive role.
They'd come out here specifically to recruit him, after all.
But…
'And we're supposed to accept a lunatic who just chopped up a comrade as an executive?'
'The Chairman will never agree. He cares too much about his subordinates' lives.'
The risk of bringing Black Scythe in as an ally was too great.
He was a cold-blooded monster who killed people over trivial things, as they'd just seen.
So their deliberation didn't last long.
'It's too dangerous to accept Black Scythe as an ally. If we can't keep him, we have to kill him here.'
No matter what, they couldn't just let someone who'd killed a comrade walk away.
If he couldn't be an ally, then he had to die.
Even in terms of eliminating a rival, that was the right call.
The Chairman would probably agree.
'It won't be easy. He's Level 40.'
'We pretend to surrender, lower his guard, then ambush him. That's our only shot.'
Just as the two exchanged glances and silently agreed to murder—
"How amusing."
A dry chuckle leaked out from behind Ryu Min's mask.
"You're broadcasting your killing intent that blatantly, and you think I won't suspect anything?"
"E-eh? W-what do you mean…?"
"You were just about to try and kill me. You think I wouldn't notice?"
"Haha, of course not. How could we ever do something like that to Black Scythe-nim…"
"You planned to bow your heads like this and pretend to surrender, then jump me, right? Isn't that it?"
"…"
He'd hit the nail on the head, and they were left speechless.
It was like he could read their thoughts.
"Do you know why I used Hwang Yong-min's name and address to apply for membership?"
Of course they didn't.
"Because I wanted to meet you executives."
"Meet… us?"
The executives glanced at each other.
"W-what is it you want?"
"It's simple. Die for me."
"…"
If it had been anyone else, they'd have written it off as a joke.
But this was Black Scythe.
He was not the kind of man to joke around.
He'd already killed one executive as a warning.
More than anything, his eyes were thick with murderous intent.
'W-what do we do? Th-think. If we stay like this, we're just going to die like dogs.'
Among them, Poporing was at least the type who could think in a crisis, and he tried to calmly assess the situation.
But in a panic like this, his brain refused to work.
Especially when things were moving this fast.
'W-we should stall him. Try to talk him down and buy time. That's the only way.'
He'd killed someone out of nowhere, but maybe they could still talk to him.
So Poporing opened his mouth, intending to bargain—
"Ah?"
He let out a stupid sound without meaning to.
Because Lostyak had also become a headless corpse.
Thud—
In an instant, two corpses lay on the floor.
A pool of blood quickly formed under them, and only three figures remained in the corridor.
A trembling Hwang Yong-min, Poporing, and the Reaper.
'Ah… So he lured us here intending to kill us all from the start.'
Faced with reality, terror flooded Poporing's eyes.
"W-why? What grudge do you have against us…?"
"And what about you?"
Shing—
Ryu Min's scythe touched Poporing's neck.
"What grudge did you have, to frame innocent people as criminals and kill them?"
"H-how do you…?"
"You thought I wouldn't know? That your interview 'test' involves killing people?"
"…"
"Executive interviews are even worse. You make them personally deal with a completely innocent ordinary person one-on-one."
"…They weren't innocent ordinary people."
Poporing spoke in a wounded tone, as if he were the one being wronged.
"They were inferior ordinary humans who dared to speak ill of Players. All while secretly being jealous because they couldn't get any abilities. Humans with that kind of double standard deserve to die."
"And you?"
"…"
"You're strict with others but lenient with yourself. Isn't that the same double standard?"
"How unpleasant. You don't know anything about me."
Don't I, though? I've seen everything through the Rune of Inner Thoughts.
Swallowing that thought, Ryu Min raised his scythe.
"There is one thing I know for sure."
Slice—!
His head dropped like a grape and rolled across the floor.
"You're trash who killed ordinary people."
Ryu Min glanced sideways.
Hwang Yong-min was shaking with fear.
"There's no need to be scared. I'll send you to your friends soon."
Was it the word "friends" that got to him?
The same guy who'd been trembling just a moment ago was now staring at him with a serious expression.
"How do you know my friends?"
"Why wouldn't I? We used to hang out together. Strictly speaking, I got dragged around by your little gang."
"Eh?"
Hwang Yong-min looked at him like he was talking nonsense.
Ryu Min smiled.
"You really don't know who I am?"
"You're Black Scythe, of co—"
He cut himself off.
The face revealed as the mask came off was someone he knew all too well.
"It's me. Ryu Min. The guy you used to bully."