Chapter 23
CHAPTER 23
Madness 99% (2)
"How...?"
There wasn't any poison?
Ju-Heon swallowed a mouthful and casually wiped his lips as if nothing had happened.
The Satyr and everyone around them stared in disbelief.
If the glass he had drunk from contained poison, he should have already collapsed.
It was that potent.
And yet...
"Or... does he have some kind of poison resistance?"
Ju-Heon merely smiled as though it had never mattered.
"Resistance? I've always had a bit of that."
"You're... fine?"
Even so, whether that resistance would work against poison from this world was another matter.
Besides, if there really had been poison, a message like [Resistance has neutralized the poison.] should have appeared.
Majesty Yu Jae-ha gulped, unable to close his gaping mouth.
Which meant—
Ju-Heon had simply avoided the poison through sheer luck and drunk three glasses.
The Satyr instinctively stepped backward.
Yu Jae-ha, having realized the same thing, trembled.
"Your relics laid their hands on my family."
"Aren't you afraid?"
The Satyr's expression wavered.
It was obvious now.
Seo Ju-Heon hadn't been certain there was no poison.
He had simply drunk it anyway.
Fully prepared for the possibility that it was poisoned.
He took another step forward.
From the moment he learned that his child would never be born...
He had already made his choice.
"I never let anyone who steals what's mine get away."
Flames blazed within his eyes.
The aura pouring from his body wasn't mere anger.
It was resolve.
"How can someone like you even exist...?"
Ju-Heon's eyes flashed.
He was smiling—
But it wasn't a lighthearted smile.
The Satyr's expression shifted from contempt to horror.
Is the heavens themselves helping this man...?
Damn it... A man like this truly deserves to lay claim to a Chief God's domain.
Majesty Yu Jae-ha silently cursed to himself.
Ha... he's genuinely insane.
Then—
Ju-Heon stopped directly in front of the Satyr.
Outwardly he wore a mocking grin.
Inside, however, countless thoughts churned.
"Come on."
"Your turn."
"Drink."
He's really telling me to drink the poisoned glass?
His voice carried both madness and cold ridicule.
The Satyr's eyes trembled.
If it wasn't luck, Ju-Heon should have died on the spot.
Even so...
He had never feared death.
Without realizing it, Yu Jae-ha let out a hollow laugh.
[How dare a mere human...!]
Just as the Satyr flicked his finger to invoke a new rule—
Boom!
The Satyr suddenly coughed up black blood mixed with wine.
The blood spilling from its mouth splattered across the floor together with crimson wine.
Ju-Heon's Muramasa flashed like lightning.
The table—and the Satyr's arm—
Were sliced cleanly in half.
The flute and the wineglasses tumbled across the ground.
Stepping on them, Ju-Heon's eyes gleamed.
[Poison Activated.]
"A new rule?"
"Fuck that."
"It's your turn now."
"So drink."
The Satyr's short horns trembled violently before splitting apart.
It collapsed onto one knee, glaring at Ju-Heon with bloodshot eyes.
Ju-Heon seized one of its horns and growled.
At the same time, the Rope of Binding shot forward, tying up the Satyr's arms.
Ju-Heon picked up one of the three remaining glasses of wine.
Grabbing the Satyr roughly by the jaw, he forced the wine down its throat.
[…Y-You filthy... insect...!]
The Satyr vomited blood as it fell to its knees.
Panting heavily, it turned to glare at Ju-Heon as he walked back toward the others.
[The Majesties... will never forgive you.]
"Oh."
Ju-Heon suddenly remembered something.
"Rope."
"So this was what you were planning to use at the end? I was wondering why you kept talking about games."
Immediately, the Rope of Binding grabbed the Satyr and began shaking it violently.
[Hand it over! Everything you've got! Hand it over!]
Something fell from inside the Satyr's clothing and rolled across the floor.
Ju-Heon bent down and picked it up.
[Dionysus's Wheel of Fate (S-Rank)]
It felt cold in his hand.
Yet the moment his fingertips touched it, he had the strange sensation of drunkenness spreading from head to toe.
Tap.
"Looks like you need an absurd amount of Madness just to use this thing."
It resembled a compass-like roulette wheel.
Inscribed upon it were four words:
- Madness
- Emptiness
- Blessing
- Destruction
"So this was your trump card."
"I was wondering why you kept going on about continuing the game."
Ju-Heon smiled.
It felt as though someone's entire fate had been compressed into that tiny disc.
"A perfect match."
"A fitting end for someone like you."
"Interesting."
Using the Satyr's finger, Ju-Heon pressed the roulette's button.
Click.
The wheel spun.
The Satyr's eyes widened with a mixture of terror and fury.
At last, it lowered its head and collapsed.
Blood and wine pooled together beneath its body.
Eventually it reverted back into relic form—
Though it looked so rotten that picking it up seemed difficult.
The wheel gradually slowed.
The needle stopped on a single space.
[Result: Emptiness]
"...Yu Jae-ha."
[I can't fix that!!!]
"I figured."
"'Emptiness,' huh..."
Ju-Heon turned toward Majesty Yu Jae-ha.
Then he spoke.
"Here's your payment for staying alive."
"Fix it."
"..."
Yu Jae-ha accepted it with a long sigh.
"...Just this once."
The people watching could only stare blankly.
"...Who in the world... is that man?"
The people stared at Ju-Heon in astonishment.
He was definitely no ordinary man.
More importantly, he had the qualities of a leader.
Ju-Heon merely snorted.
As Yu Jae-ha put away the relic, Ju-Heon picked up a small vial that had fallen alongside the roulette wheel.
It was the poison the Satyr had mixed into the wine.
Looking at it, Ju-Heon smiled.
"What are you all standing around staring for? Come on. I'll get you out of here safely."
A poison capable of affecting even Divine-Grade relics...
The people looked at him in surprise.
This'll come in handy someday.
"You're... going to save us...?"
"The price is one million dollars per person."
"...What?"
Inside the casino—
Amid the crimson lighting and crowds intoxicated by alcohol, Ju-Heon sat calmly at a gambling table.
A real roulette wheel spun before him.
His gaze was as cold and calculating as if he were searching through a warehouse full of stolen treasures.
Seeing that, Majesty Yu Jae-ha couldn't hold back any longer.
"...Aaaaaaaaaah!"
He clutched his head.
He wanted to slap himself for ever thinking Ju-Heon looked cool, even for a moment.
After all...
"Why are we in a place like this?!"
"Why else?"
Resting his chin on one hand, Ju-Heon looked up at the casino's sign.
"No! What I mean is—you finally got the Satyr, so why are you gambling in a casino?!"
"You said you need Madness to restore the Satyr, didn't you? This city's casino is the fastest place to raise your Madness."
"...Feels more like you just wanted to gamble!"
"Not at all. We should at least test the Dionysus relic we worked so hard to obtain."
"Then why are you using my money?!"
"Because I don't have this world's currency. Didn't you notice all the money from my own world disappeared the moment I got here? You said you've been here before, so you should have some."
"...Shit."
The nearly impossible outcome to land on was Blessing.
Click. Click.
Finally, the pointer stopped.
It landed on—
Madness.
The corners of Ju-Heon's lips slowly rose.
He took out the roulette relic.
"Oh, nice. Madness."
"I'll bet five times the payout."
"Oooh! Now that's some confidence!"
[Dionysus's Wheel of Fate (S-Rank)]
To be honest, he simply wanted to test how powerful it really was before confronting Majesty.
He casually pressed the button on the roulette-compass.
The needle spun across the four outcomes—
Madness.
Emptiness.
Blessing.
Destruction.
Among them, Blessing occupied the smallest slice by far.
The gamblers gathered around burst into cheers.
Yu Jae-ha, meanwhile, nearly had a heart attack.
"You bet on Madness instead of Blessing?! Are you insane?!"
"Maybe I'll go crazy after winning."
Ju-Heon answered calmly.
"No way... he actually won?!"
"What kind of insane luck does this guy have?!"
"Or maybe I'll go crazy after losing."
"Will you stop saying ridiculous things?!"
The spectators shouted in shock and excitement.
Yu Jae-ha clutched his chest with both hands.
His heart felt like it was about to burst.
Although Majesty Yu Jae-ha desperately grabbed at his own hair—
The bet had already been placed.
The roulette spun again.
Even the NPC dealer's hands trembled.
The instant the needle stopped—
"My heart nearly stopped... If it'd landed on Destruction, we'd have been completely screwed!"
Meanwhile, Ju-Heon simply swept a mountain of chips toward himself while leisurely sipping his drink.
"I won."
Casino chips poured across the table like a waterfall.
"Relax."
"It doesn't matter."
"What do you mean it doesn't matter?! That's my money! More importantly, can you stop using that roulette relic?!"
"...The Satyr was defeated?"
Ju-Heon ignored him and borrowed Yu Jae-ha's finger once again.
Then—
Majesty's expression turned icy.
The hand holding her wineglass slowly stopped moving.
Click.
"Oh."
"It landed on Destruction."
"I'll bet five times that this guy loses."
"Will you knock it off already?!"
The atmosphere inside the grand hall turned heavy.
The servants scarcely dared breathe as they watched their mistress.
One of them cautiously continued his report.
"Yes, Majesty."
"The Satyr was defeated inside the labyrinth... and even its relic was taken."
"...Hah."
At the top floor of an enormous skyscraper—
A blonde woman leisurely swirled the wine in her glass.
She tilted her head back and took a sip.
As the blood-red wine slid down her throat, her expression grew cold.
She was the one who had turned every invading Majesty into NPCs before selling them.
"If you're truly the hunter of relic users..."
"You should be capable of defeating the Majesty of Creation."
"Interesting."
"The Satyr isn't someone who should fall so easily."
The subordinate standing before her...
Was none other than Julian Miller.
A face both familiar—
And one that should never have existed in this city.
Resting her chin on one hand, Majesty murmured,
"So..."
"The hunter couldn't possibly have defeated the Satyr alone."
"That means it must have been thanks to the Majesty of Creation accompanying him."
Julian Miller's eyes gleamed coldly.
Majesties were valuable assets.
A king among kings.
Simply having another Majesty under one's command elevated one's own status.
And an unawakened Majesty?
There was no better opportunity.
So Majesty summoned someone.
"If that is your command..."
The man lowered his head respectfully.