Huge screens floated all around the battlefield of the stars.
What was shown on those screens were scenes from the ongoing event.
Various situations from the Snake's Ruins were being broadcast.
"Hmm, judging by its appearance, it seems to be human."
"Looks like it's an event from the Earth side. A dungeon raid, maybe?"
Some events are broadcast for the pleasure of the Playmires.
Dungeon raid events are one of them. In some cases, events even allow Playmires to place coin bets on the outcomes.
Unfortunately, the current Snake's Ruins event wasn't one of those.
"What are those monsters? They look like a mix between humans and snakes. Their name... Twisted Poison? Something like that showed up."
"Not sure. Could be a dungeon from the martial realm."
"Martial realm? How can you tell?"
"Watch how they fight."
The middle-aged male pointed at the Twisted Poisons fighting against the Playmires.
There was precision in their movements. The way they stepped, like a martial arts footwork technique, and the way they wielded their weapons according to training, clearly showed it.
It meant they had learned martial arts somewhere.
"Ah, now that you say that..."
"I don't know the exact circumstances, but maybe humans from the martial realm were twisted for some reason and turned into those monsters. Could be."
"Interesting."
On the screen, a deadly battle was being broadcast.
Playmires who had entered through different routes were trying to push forward, overcoming the Twisted Poisons that blocked their way, as well as traps and mazes.
But not all of them were doing so in the same manner.
W−Whatthehell,whyareyoudoingthistous...!Gaaaaah!W-What the hell, why are you doing this to us...! Gaaaaah!W−Whatthehell,whyareyoudoingthistous...!Gaaaaah!
Stop!Fuckingstopalready!Stop! Fucking stop already!Stop!Fuckingstopalready!
From one route, screams of Playmires rang out.
It was the route chosen by the most participants.
There, countless Playmires were collapsing one after another.
And it wasn't because of anyone else—
Gasp...Gasp... Gasp...
—but at the hands of another Playmire.
A man clutching a blood-dripping sword: Maejato Mozu.
He was breaking through the maze accompanied by a large group of Playmires.
But the method he used was rather—no, extremely—unique.
Go.Go.Go.
Ugh,ugh...aaaaaaaaagh!Ugh, ugh... aaaaaaaaagh!Ugh,ugh...aaaaaaaaagh!
Mozu was using the Playmires.
He sent them ahead to take the traps—
To spring them and die in his place.
Following his order, a Playmire rushed forward, only to be pierced all over by blades and arrows launched from every direction.
Next.Next.Next.
Mozu advanced through the maze at an astonishing speed.
Of course, not every Playmire obeyed his commands.
Among them were some who refused.
Th−Thisisfuckinginsane!That'sobviouslyatrap...!
IfIgeteliminatedhere,theLordwillneverletmeoffthehook...!If I get eliminated here, the Lord will never let me off the hook...!IfIgeteliminatedhere,theLordwillneverletmeoffthehook...!
But it was all meaningless.
Squelch!
The moment some Playmires resisted, a gruesome sound rang out, and those who defied him collapsed—cleaved cleanly in half.
It happened in an instant.
They couldn't even see it, let alone react.
"Holy shit, how fast is that sword?"
"Didn't they say he has a unique ability?"
"Yeah. Not sure what it is exactly, though…"
Even the spectators could do nothing but gape in disbelief.
Mozu successfully broke through the maze using such methods.
Was it finally over?
The Playmires who had been dragged along by him let out a sigh of relief.
But that was merely the beginning.
Now that I think of it,there was that 'Mark,' wasn't there. What? Whatmark—ughk!
Mozu's blade began slicing through the Playmires who had come with him.
Every single one of them, without exception.
Not a soul was spared.
With looks of disbelief on their faces, the Playmires turned into light and vanished.
Mozu didn't stop there.
Since you can't even die for real here, I may as well cut to my heart's content.
W−What the hell! What is this?!
Aaaaagh!Aaaaagh!Aaaaagh!
Mozu, waiting at the maze's exit, began ruthlessly hunting down the Playmires who had barely managed to escape.
It was as if he wouldn't allow anyone but himself to pass through.
The horrifying scene left the spectators speechless, their tongues tied in disbelief.
Among those spectators was Ran.
"Ha... this is insane. There's a limit, you know..."
Ran tightly shut her eyes.
She had expected something like this—but not to this extent.
The problem was that he had gone completely off the rails, slaughtering like a madman unable to control his impulses.
That man—Maejato Mozu—was a Playmire.
A guy who kills people without batting an eye is supposed to be the heir?
Ran let out a deep sigh.
The only slight consolation was that this event involved something called the Serpent's Mark.
When a Playmire is taken down, their gathered Marks can be stolen.
With that, maybe there would be a way to justify things—
She began thinking about how to manage the media coverage in her country.
And just then—
"…Huh?"
Ran's eyes caught something strange.
Next to the broadcast screen showing Mozu, another figure had begun appearing.
A man wearing a mask, walking calmly through a corridor.
Wha...?!
Khaaaaagh!
"This is…"
A corridor with no escape.
Endlessly appearing Twisted Poisons.
And the bloodstorm and shadow-forged weapons mercilessly cutting them down—
The man advanced down the hallway, slaughtering every enemy in his path.
"Wait, what... what is that…?"
"This makes no sense. Am I really seeing this?"
"Does that guy even know what fear is?"
Even the Playmires, before they knew it, found themselves letting out gasps of awe.
Ran was the same. Her eyes were filled with shock.
It was a sight too unbelievable, even though she was witnessing it with her own eyes.
"He's using martial arts at that level and casting magic?"
Handling martial arts with such mastery—sure, that's possible.
Wielding powerful magic—also possible.
But using both at the same time? That's unheard of.
And above all, what was most shocking was the sheer power of the magic.
Shadow magic? But the power… it's way too strong.
Weapons forged from shadow were slicing clean through the Twisted Poisons.
It was a feat impossible unless his magical ability scores were insanely high.
And yet, was his martial prowess any weaker in comparison?
Not at all.
Fists wrapped in blood-red wind were tearing through confused enemies like paper.
"His strength and magic stats are both that high? Is that even possible?"
It shouldn't be. It can't be.
But what she was witnessing with her own eyes made it clear: it was possible.
Could a Playmire like that exist at the Bronze or Silver tier?
"Hey, did you count? How many has he taken down so far?"
"How would I know? But even being conservative…"
"He must've taken out over a hundred. And alone, no less."
A Playmire capable of singlehandedly defeating that many Twisted Poisons—
Ran felt a sudden surge of curiosity. She wanted to know who that man was.
But at the same time, an unease crept up inside her.
"What if…"
Mozu, who had been slicing through his fellow Playmires without hesitation.
And this man, who was tearing through the Twisted Poisons as he advanced.
At this rate, the two of them would inevitably clash.
"If... Mozu were to lose?"
A chill ran down Ran's spine at the ominous thought.
She shook her head quickly, trying to brush away the fear, and desperately hoped—
Hoped that Mozu, that mad dog, would win this event like always.
For the first time in her life… she was praying for it.
A fierce, breathless battle was unfolding.
A corridor with no place to retreat, Twisted Poisons charging in from all directions.
Their attacks were filled with a clear and unmistakable intent to kill.
But it was they who met death.
The path that Han Yuseong carved forward was littered with the corpses of the Twisted.
Kraaaaagh!Kraaaaagh!Kraaaaagh!
Squelch!
Of course, Han Yuseong wasn't unscathed either.
The number of enemies was overwhelming—far too many.
How many had he fought by now? Easily over two hundred.
There was no way to avoid every attack.
A dagger coated in poison grazed across Han Yuseong's face.
Drip.
Blood ran down his cheek.
I−Ifinallygothim—ughk!I-I finally got him—ughk!I−Ifinallygothim—ughk!
Han Yuseong wiped the blood from his lips… and then crushed the Twisted's skull with a brutal strike.
The creature, shredded to pieces by the bloodstorm, collapsed.
The last thing it saw—
"Why... is he... smiling…?"
—was Han Yuseong's face, twisted in a grin.
His body was covered in wounds, both big and small, but he was smiling.
And truthfully, he was enjoying himself.
Fighting against overwhelming numbers—this was one of his favorite kinds of battles.
But even that twisted joy… did not last forever.
Ku...∗kughkk∗...!
Crunch!
The sound of bone being crushed echoed through the corridor.
A single blow had obliterated the Twisted Poison's heart.
Its bloodshot eyes stared at the human before it—
filled with shock and disbelief.
Khuhk!Y−You...you′reamonster…!
With those final words, it collapsed and died.
Han Yuseong clenched his fist and quickly searched for his next opponent.
But there were none.
The corridor, once swarming with enemies, was now filled only with their corpses.
Only then did Han Yuseong shake the blood off his fist.
Over 200 Twisted Poisons have been defeated.
You have obtained 50 Serpent Marks!
"So they're all dead, huh."
You did beat the mall to death yourself,did you not? Even I,just watching, thought my heart would give out!That was a spectacular battle!
Kakasha chattered away.
Han Yuseong smacked his lips in slight disappointment.
As he turned to move on, a sudden wave of dizziness hit him.
He staggered, unable to hold himself upright.
Only now did he realize—his body was covered in wounds.
And the venom injected by the Twisted Poisons had spread throughout his system.
"Tch. This dungeon's a pain."
Han Yuseong clicked his tongue.
In truth, the Twisted Poisons weren't all that strong physically.
They had just one thing going for them that made them truly troublesome—
"The real problem is... every last one of them uses poison."
All the monsters in this ruin wield poison.
And Route 10—the one he took—was packed with Twisted Poisons.
To make matters worse, the entire path was laid with toxic miasma.
Naturally, this made it the most dangerous route.
That's why, before coming here, Han Yuseong had packed a few items with poison resistance effects, like the
But even with that gear, it wasn't enough to block all the toxins—
That's how potent the poison was.
"There are really only two main ways to neutralize this poison…"
Han Yuseong looked around while using Blood Demon Art to heal his wounds.
Many of the gashes on his body were closing up, but the poison remained.
The Blood Demon's regeneration couldn't cure status ailments.
He began rifling through the corpses of the Twisted Poisons, searching for something.
Luckily, he didn't have to look for long.
[Twisted Poison's Core (Common)]
A core from a Twisted Poison that has devolved into a monster. Small and weak.
When consumed, it expels some of the poison that has accumulated in the body.
However, consuming too many may cause side effects.
Maybe it was because they had mutated into snake-like monsters, but the Twisted dropped cores that could partially detoxify the body.
That meant the key to clearing the Serpent's Ruins was to take these cores at the right times as you progressed.
"Stocking up on cores will be crucial," he thought.
They would likely prove valuable in the upcoming boss battle too.
But aside from the cores, there was one more way to purge the poison.
"…Found it."
Han Yuseong, chewing on a core as he walked, had just discovered something else.
At the end of the corridor, something shimmered faintly.
[You have discovered the Spring of Purification!]
[Drinking from the spring will cleanse the poison from your body.]
A spring that purified poison.
Scattered throughout the Serpent's Ruins, these springs were either placed openly or hidden away—
a sort of mercy built into the dungeon's brutality.
"If even this didn't exist, everyone would've been poisoned and eliminated."
After all, not everyone could afford top-tier gear with high poison resistance.
Without mechanics like this, clearing the ruin would be virtually impossible.
Han Yuseong exhaled deeply as he felt the venom being purged from his system.
Hmph.With this, I suppose you've dealt with all the enemies? They said this was the hardest route, but it turned out to be under whelming
"It'd be nice if that were true."
Honestly,even∗I∗didn't believe what I just said..
Dungeon raid events were never that easy.
This was supposedly the highest-difficulty route—there was no way it would end here.
Both Han Yuseong and even Kakasha, who had made the offhand comment, knew that all too well.
More than anything, he could feel it now—
A massive cluster of energy signatures up ahead.
"That's a disgusting number. Must be hundreds."
At least twice or three times as many as the Twisted Poisons he had fought so far.
And among them—something else.
A particularly powerful presence. Something different. Something dangerous.
Han Yuseong walked toward the end of the corridor.
As he opened the tightly sealed door, a vast chamber revealed itself.
[This is.... ]
Kakasha let out a groan.
The entire area — not just the walls, but even the floor — was covered in poison, and the space was packed with what must have been hundreds of poison creatures.
[Ughh, even for you… isn't this going to be tough?]
Kakasha's worried voice rang out.
But that wasn't what was important to Han Yuseong right now.
His gaze was fixed on one poison creature standing at the very back of the cavern — larger than the others and fully armored.
And the moment he saw it—
Ding!
"Hmm?"
With a pleasant notification sound, something appeared before Han Yuseong's eyes.
It was a quest window.
[Mark Quest]
[Eliminate the powerful poison creature "Il-dok" located deep in the cavern.]
[Reward: Snake's Mark x600]
A smile rose on Han Yuseong's lips as he read the quest.
There was no way he could back out now.
"So this really was the route that gives the most marks."
He could ignore it and move on.
But since he'd come all the way here, he wanted to claim the best reward available from this event.
In that sense, this quest was an opportunity he couldn't afford to miss.
"Let's go."
Han Yuseong clenched his fist and took a step forward—
Into the cavern where countless enemies awaited him.