ReLife Player

[When the Fox Rain Stops (6)].

The Cheongpyeonghwa Market, located on Jung-gu Majang Road, is one of the existing Red Dungeons in the Gangbuk area.

The dungeon, which remained functional after the boss monster was destroyed, was currently managed by the Dangun Clan.

«Did something just pass by?»

«What passed by? I didn’t sense anything.»

Taking advantage of the distraction, Eunha infiltrated the Cheongpyeonghwa Market.

The guards in front of Gate 5 failed to detect the magic of Averniers Cloak.

…Not very efficient.

Passing through the gap and entering the Red Dungeon, he retrieved the mana enchanted in the cloak.

The Lizard King’s magic was excellent at concealing his presence, but the mana cost to activate the artifact was significant.

Eunha took out a tumbler from his messenger bag and sipped coffee milk to replenish his mana.

«Let’s go.»

There shouldn’t be anyone in the dungeon at this hour.

He sprinted down the corridor, releasing the mana in his body.

The monsters that poked their heads out of the storefront were, at most, eighth-rank.

They weren’t anything he couldn’t kill on his own.

He ran up the stairs, breathing fast to keep the monsters from calling in their allies.

«Move.»

Mana Crusher

As soon as he reached the top of the stairs, a Seventh-rank monster burst out of the side bathroom.

Kicking the wall and jumping diagonally, he loaded mana into his mangoshu.

The blade, dyed blue, split the monster wide open, its mouth gaping.

Madness

Speed was crucial.

He scattered the remaining mana from the blade onto the still breathing creature.

A thin stinger sliced through the creature’s torn mouth.

Thousand Blades.

Cheongpyeonghwa Market was not one of the most challenging dungeons among the Red Dungeons.

But trying to conquer a dungeon with an elementary schooler’s body was daunting.

The very idea of trying to solo a Red Dungeon was absurd.

It’s okay; I can still…!

As he was climbing the stairs to the second floor, he touched a trap.

Fireballs rained down from the ceiling, and the way down collapsed.

Eunha blocked the flames with his Avernier’s Cloak and threw himself upstairs.

As soon as he hit the floor, he rolled over and extinguished the remaining flames on his cloak.

«These…!»

At that moment, two 6th-rank Garage Worms charged from both sides of the corridor.

His beretta couldn’t deal with the creatures that had approached so closely.

Violent Venom.

He gritted his teeth as he activated his magic.

For a moment, the power drained from his body.

He swung his blackened mangoshu in a radial motion.

At the same time, he used the Heavenly Steps to throw himself backwards.

The poisoned worms plummeted to the spot where he had been just moments before.

Their spindly bodies tangled, splattering each other with blood.

«Who’s to say this isn’t a Red Dungeon…!»

He hadn’t caught his breath yet.

Goblins giggled as they emerged from the storefronts on either side of the hallway.

Grotesquely dressed creatures swarmed around the one who knew how to use magic.

As soon as he took one down, a blast of magic came from the front.

Eunha glared at the sixth-ranked Curser Goblin that had broken through the barrier and left a gash on his cheek.

Stygian Eye.

The Curser Goblin flinched.

It had resisted the Stygian Eye.

The creature laughed slyly under its hood.

But soon, its face turned to confusion.

It made eye contact with its minions, and they went into a collective panic.

They couldn’t identify Eunha and instead threw weapons and cast spells in disarray.

Just as the Curser Goblin hurriedly attempted mental magic,—

—Revolver Shot.

Eunha drew the beretta in his left hand and pointed it at the curser goblin.

The bullet that exited the barrel transformed into a massive thorn, targeting the creature’s forehead.

Kreeeek!

A sound akin to piercing a pig’s jawbone echoed.

Utilizing Thousand Blades, Eunha crushed the Goblins and used all the thorns left to kill the Curser Goblin.

The thorn that shattered the barrier directly crushed the creature’s skull.

«Goblins messing with humans again.»

Eunha wiped the blood flowing down his cheek with his palm, expressing his irritation.

He looked back.

The Goblins were still lost in confusion.

He plunged his mangoshu into the stomach of a goblin that had its head against the wall nearby.

When he withdrew the blade, a fountain of black blood gushed out.

From there, the chain of death began.

Goblins that came in contact with the poisoned blood spewed blood as they died, infecting others.

Eunha stepped through the corridor, blood soaking the floor.

There was no hesitation in his steps. His memories told him to take the shortest route to his destination.

«Definitely…, was 18, right?»

The name stuck with him because it was unusual.

He didn’t have to search through 200 stores.

«…Found it.»

Store No. 18 Avatar.

Eunha glanced at the monster lying sprawled in front of the women’s restroom.

The sixth-ranked monster that had gone on a rampage upon arriving at Store N. 18 had only been able to squirm after a few strokes of the Violent Venom.

There was no need to be wary of it as it coughed up blood and breathed raggedly.

He felt the gazes of monsters observing him from various places, but witnessing him defeating the field boss seemed to deter them from approaching

«I never thought I’d do this again….»

A store no different from any other store.

No player would have cared about a storefront with the shutters down in a cleared dungeon.

Not knowing what was hidden inside.

«Shouldn’t break the shutter.»

The later Dangun Construction noticed, the better.

Eunha took his time and unlocked the lock.

He desperately wanted to tear down the shutter, but it couldn’t be helped.

After unlocking all the locks, he lifted the shutter and entered.

«Yoo do-jun. You son of a bitch.»

Entering the store, Eunha spat out the words while checking the bloodied clothes.

Yoo do-jun.

Eternal Group, regarded as one of the top three in South Korea after Galaxy and Sirius.

A man who became the 2nd chairman of the group.

The third child of the first president, Yoo Sun-kyung, and the son of his second wife, he entered the Academy with the ambition to win the succession battle.

He joined the Academy for two main reasons.

One was to make his presence known to the successors and prevent them from disregarding him.

There was a line of succession, and by entering the academy to become a player, he let them off the hook.

The other was to gather strength to survive the succession battle.

The children of powerful families who entered the academy were usually those who had been pushed out of their positions as heirs.

He used them as his eyes and ears, and focused on recruiting players of exceptional skill.

‘What’s the point of making enemies like that? It won’t do you any good….’

‘What are you trying to say?’

‘…The monsters you want to kill, I’ll let you kill them however you want.’

Eunha was one of the players Yoo do-jun had recruited.

He was not an exclusive player.

He was merely a pawn used by Yoo do-jun to undermine the heirs to the Eternal Group.

Although Yoo do-jun acknowledged his skills, he was calculating the losses he would incur by making him his exclusive player.

Eunha had no desire to become an exclusive player either.

He just needed a sponsor.

‘What are these?’

‘It’s a macaron. It was shipped to Seoul from Pierre Hermé in France not long ago…, not that you’d care.’

‘Yoo-jung would love it if you brought it to her. Don’t tell her you got it from me.’

Until the day he graduated from the academy, Eunha became the dagger that stabbed the successors of Eternal Group in the dark.

The Red Dungeon, Cheongpyeonghwa Market, was the trigger that led Yoo Do-jun to bring down the three sons of the Eternal Group.

At that time, the three sons of Eternal Group were amassing massive illicit funds through Dangun Construction.

Sensing this, Yoo do-jun spared no effort to secure Dangun Construction’s secret ledger.

And he finally discovered the whereabouts of the secret ledger.

‘Nobody would have thought they’d hide it in the dungeon, right?’

Dangun Construction had concealed its secret ledger in the Red Dungeon, Cheongpyeonghwa Market, owned by Dangun Clan.

Just like now.

Eunha discovered the vault stained in red hidden under the pile of clothes.

There was no need to hesitate to open the vault door.

Since the dungeon had twisted laws, the vault didn’t function properly.

If he broke the several layers of traps installed, it would be over.

Dangun Construction should have enchanted the vault so that the contents inside would be incinerated the moment the traps were broken.

«…Found it.»

Inside the vault, there were not only the ledgers.

Eunha swept all the Marbles classified as superior items into his Messenger Bag.

It was too unsatisfying to take only the ledgers from them.

While he had broken into the vault, he decided he might as well take everything.

He took the Marbles he couldn’t fit into the Messenger Bag outside the shop.

He infused mana into the Marbles.

He threw some at the 6th-rank monsters that hadn’t yet ceased breathing and tossed the rest randomly.

Cheongpyeonghwa Market was a dungeon where mana permeated everywhere, even though boss monsters might not exist.

Mana infused into the dungeon’s surroundings sparked, and monsters with glowing eyes charged at the Marbles.

Eunha ran out before powerful monsters appeared on the 5th floor.

It didn’t matter what kind of people entered the dungeon later.

Regardless, they would most likely be Dangun Group members, so…

Just suffer a bit.

Eunha dashed outside as the guards momentarily left their posts.

As soon as he landed, he cast his magic on the Avernier’s Cloak.

He had to maintain the spell until he was out of range of the guards.

«…That should do it.»

He released the magic when he reached Dongdaemun Station, visible from Ogan Bridge.

He removed his hand from his cloak and sat down on a bench, panting.

The ledgers… he should deliver them later.

It was uncertain if he could go home now before his mom woke up.

What would happen if these ledgers were made public?

Not only the three sons of Eternal Group but also Dangun Construction, which had created the illicit funds, wouldn’t be able to escape public condemnation.

Dangun Construction should have cast a magic to burn the contents the moment someone broke the vault.

They will be too busy fixing this problem to pay attention to anything else.

It would be a blow to them

Yoo do-jun didn’t know how much damage Dangun Group would suffer, but it was obvious they would be in a difficult situation against Eternal Group.

Even before his regression, there had been a trend of Eternal Group attacking Dangun Group.

«Will he be able to take advantage of this?»

Suddenly, he was worried.

Yoo do-jun was just a fifth grader in elementary school.

He couldn’t be sure if he could effectively use the ledgers he handed over.

Maybe I should give the ledgers to another successor of Eternal Group.

He pondered.

No. They have to be given to Yoo do-jun.

Eternal Group was the only group that supported Han Baek-ryeon, the 2nd Fairy.

If the ledgers were given to another successor, it might lead to a change in the 2nd Chairman of Eternal Group.

The ledgers had to be given to Yoo do-jun.

Still, there was a problem.

The ledger was nothing more than a distraction for those who would attack Seona from the outside, attacking Dangun Group.

The slander against Seona had already spread, and the ledger couldn’t fix it.

It was beyond his power.

«…Frustrating.»

This time, he was just lucky.

If the opponent hadn’t been Dangun Group, the ledgers would have been useless.

My strength is…, insufficient.

I have a lot to protect.

I need strength to protect it.

If you remain complacent, there will come a day when your strength and luck will not be enough.

You know it too.

There’s only one solution.

He heard a hallucination.

One he created himself.

…I know, I know.

I know.

I know, but it’s hard to make a decision.

The path ahead is too dangerous.

The pain I have to endure is too great.

Even though I know what to do, making a choice is difficult.

I wish time could stop.

So I wouldn’t have to think about anything.

So I could be happy like this.

Yet time continues to flow without stopping.

There isn’t much time left.

The time will come when I have to make a choice, sooner or later.

So until then─

─Just a bit more, I want to stay like this.

Someone will say.

That it’s an endlessly selfish desire.

Someone else will respond.

So what if it is?

It’s your life, your choice.

«…….»

With heavy steps, he walks back home.

Under a sky that was beginning to brighten, Eunha traveled a long way, his cloak stained with blood.

☆

That day, Seona did not come to school.