At first, I didnāt think he was a Userāafter all, there were tangled, white bones where the head shouldāve been.
However, as soon as the bone mass collided with the floor, it shattered and scattered; the face of the young man hidden behind it was finally revealed. It was a face I had never seen before. However, since he may be someone related to Lim Jisoo or Bae Jaemin, I decided to meticulously scrutinize him.
āCo-oughā¦ā
There was no severe trauma on the outside, but the man was bleeding from his nose. Even after he had returned to consciousness, I suspected he had a concussionāhe couldnāt maintain an upright balance.
Soon afterwards, though, he shook his fist in the air and unfurled it; in his palm was a commonly used recovery potion. I was sure he was a user just from that.
Then, with his shaking arms, the man looked down at his slightly twisted wrist, sighed, and opened a new potion bottle. Strangely enough, he didnāt go on to contact his fellow colleagues he must have entered the with, nor check his current location, nor examine his weaponsā¦
āWhatās thisā¦ā he gaspedāa strange sound. He picked up and examined the [light] item from the floor. From then on, I felt a bit stifled (is this the correct word? Uncomfortable? restless? I donāt know the perfect english word but I know this word in Korean) with his actions.
āI donāt know how long Iāve been stuck here, butā¦ā
However, before I died, didnāt the difficulty mandate that the be accessed by Users at least level 80 or higher?
Let alone level 80, the man I was watching could not have been level 50 from his slow movements and his naive behavior. In addition, he directed the [light] in the same direction constantlyāhis manner of searching was futile.
No, to be exact, he was like someone who had never explored and investigated before; in gaming terms, he had a newbieās unique clumsiness. He seemed to be working hard, but it seemed to be, to say it lightly, a waste of time?
Watching him dither around meaninglessly for dozens of minutes, I wondered how many times this guy would have died if there were any active monstersālike those I encountered before my deathāaround.
āHe probably would have died once every 30 seconds?ā
Nevertheless, this man was special to me.
[A special benefit has been added to the āDemon King of Revengeā scenario]
[If you proceed with the scenario now, you obtain the āWise Manās robeā that contains the āStarās Orbitā]
[If you proceed with the scenario now, the Demon Kingās henchmanāSuccubus Lupetia, will be fully loyal to you.]
Why? Because the system, as if it were undergoing a seizure, threw new perks at me, enticing me to accept the scenario, whenever I looked at that man.
Of course, I had no intention of becoming a dungeon boss and a monster, but I needed to consider the meaning of the scenario further. Especially with how it came into view, trying to steal away my attention from the man.
Thus, I concluded this:
āIf I were to get entangled with that man, the [Demon King of Revenge] scenario will not develop or will be batted away.ā
Otherwise, there would be no reason to flood my view with dozens of messages to accept immediately.
However, the identity of the man was still unknown; I was frustrated from my inability to do anything but observe him.
However, I soon learned that there was no need for me to step in. Searching this dungeon properly would lead to [a new discovery], which would help lead to the next step. Only when certain actions had been made, the [a new discovery] alert would be renewed, furthering progression.
Although the man was slow, he seemed to find the [new discovery] and followed it diligently in his own way. Then, he stepped on the broken staff and tripped over it. One step ahead of him, I had found the corpse ahead and had been examining it.
āDid a monster do this?ā
The issue wasā¦the corpse was something that imitated my death. The same with the tattered robe wrapped around the body, the collapsed posture, and the recently discovered broken staffā¦these were all clues that were indexical of my death.
As soon as I saw that sight, I turned to the man, who was just staring at it with fear; he didnāt show any signs of agitation or acknowledgement.
Was he truly someone irrelevant to my death? While I was still full of suspicion that was soon becoming uncertain, the man followed the trail of [new discoveries] to my corpse.
āUrgh, I guess I have to take it out.ā
While hesitating, he cringed and touched the black wedge stuck in my corpseās back.
He plucked it out; simultaneously, I felt an extreme paināone I hadnāt felt in many yearsāspread from my back. I crumpled, unable to make sounds at the fiery pain. But, something weirder than that appeared in front of me.
The scenario window for the [Demon King of Revenge] scenario, which had been persistently dodging my view, gradually became transparent and soon deteriorated until it was unreadable.
[A new scenario has been added.]
[You can now begin the scenario, āA Summons After Deathā]
[The scenario āDemon King of Revengeā will now proceed automatically if the āA Summons After Deathā scenario fails. Currently, that scenario is in a locked state.]
And, as soon as that window disappeared, a new message appeared. Pushing through the torturous pain, I pressed the button that would manifest a further detailed explanation for the new scenario.
The grade of the scenario, [A Summons After Death] was classed at SSS gradeāa first of its kind from what I could see. There was even no guidance on how to progress with the scenario or information on achievement conditions.
However, below, the reward was clearly listed.
[Reward: It may be possible to completely and perfectly resurrect the dead party]
āā¦.The reward is resurrection?ā
I opened my eyes wide. Iād refused to become a monster so far, but I didnāt dare to dream that I could live a new life again. I had just hoped to not turn insaneāthat was all. If I were to be left in this situation for eternity, I was afraid that I would eventually succumb to the allure of becoming a monster, an escapeā¦
Wouldnāt it be better to disappear into nothingness? The long days of worries and agony passed my mindāIf I couldnāt survive, then Iād want to let those I cared about in the outside world know of this situation and disappear cleanly. That was all I could hope for.
Resurrection.
As if an asphyxiating person had received a respirator, I began to breathe heavily. The pain that was still lingering in my back began to feel sweet. The pain was like Iā¦
It made me feel like Iād already returned to life.
However there was no acceptance button for the [A Summons after Death] scenario, and I was still trapped in this mental world, same as before. The system window remained the same. As soon as I realized that the answer did not lay within my hands, I immediately looked around the surroundings. Soon after the man held the black wedge within his hands, he collapsed, and I found myself face to face with an unconscious, pallid-faced man.
The moment I saw his face, I was sure.
āThis man is the core of the scenario.ā
Time, previously frozen, had begun to flow again ever since he fell in front of me. I looked down at the unconscious man and reached out to him. However, contrary to my expectations, my hands couldnāt even touch the man. However, even though we did not touch, the man frowned and muttered as if I had touched him.
āSeo Dawonā¦ā
My name unexpectedly popped out of his mouth.
He murmured my name as if he knew me. I had never seen him. But, just in case, I observed his face meticulously again.
He looked a bit younger than meādid he just recently turn 20? I donāt think my guess was too far off given the bumbling appearance he showed before he collapsed.
I had no knowledge of his level or classā¦ He had no defining weapon nor specific body features that could be a marker. I could only shallowly remove certain classes, āIām guessing he isnāt a Warriorā¦?ā
Then, suddenly, the man convulsed; he breathed in raggedly as if he were being strangled. I reached out my hand to help, but, frustratingly, I could do nothing.
TL: Imagine being turned into a monster that Users kill after deathāhonestly this is basically dystopia.