Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The Sealed Being

[A door that must not be looked into has opened! Observation and communication from all Constellations except the player will be blocked!]

System, you bastard. I thought you were a bystander who did absolutely nothing when it came to the Constellations, but you did act when you had to.

The door split apart along the line I had drawn.

I looked beyond it.

It was a stone chamber that looked incredibly old.

The deeper part was so dark that I could not see anything.

After taking a few breaths, I entered the space.

If the Constellations had made that much of a fuss, there had to be something here.

I could not let my guard down.

I continued forward little by little, holding Callista out in front of me for a long while.

“Who are you?”

A voice reached me.

It had a tone that seemed young, yet carried a strange authority.

Still, this was fascinating.

It was a language I did not know, yet its meaning was conveyed to me clearly.

“Who are you?”

Perhaps because I had asked a question.

Light leaked out from within the darkness.

It was a blue light cold enough to feel chilling.

“You do not seem to be one of those damned Constellations. Are you human?”

“That is right. I am human.”

A brief silence followed.

Then the being’s glowing eyes flickered greatly.

“What are you doing? How dare a mere human not kneel at once? In the old days, you would already be dead.”

Someone warned me in a stern, solemn, and serious voice.

When I moved a little closer, I began to see this person’s appearance.

Huh.

It was a young girl with long, matted blond hair hanging down.

Both of her arms were bound by thick chains.

Ding!

[You have encountered the Demon of the Evil Eye!]

This tiny kid was a demon?

It did not match at all.

[You will be given 1,000 drawable cards! 999 cards are duds, and 1 card is the jackpot!]

[If you draw the jackpot, this demon’s status window will be provided!]

[Through the status window, you will be able to learn her true name and detailed history!]

[In ancient times, such words were passed down! He who knows a demon’s true name can rule that demon!]

[The cards will be arranged! Good luck!]

How was I supposed to draw the jackpot from among 1,000 cards... Ah, right. My Luck was MAX.

I reached out as my instincts guided me.

If the probability was not one hundred percent or zero percent, the goddess of luck would stand on my side.

Ding!

[You have broken through a 0.1 percent probability and drawn the jackpot!]

[The status window of Aris di Carsia, the Demon of the Evil Eye, will be revealed!]

[In her prime, her Evil Eye saw through everything!]

[Now, she has lost most of her abilities and has weakened!]

Aris’s information was listed at length beneath the message.

Personality Traits: impudent, arrogant, bluffing, overbearing toward the weak and submissive toward the strong, rebellious, complacent.

“What are you planning to do with that tiny knife? I will tell you one last time. Kneel and bow your head.”

As expected, she kept chattering without pause even while I was checking the information.

For now, I lowered my body as she instructed and approached.

Then I knelt...

Or rather, I only pretended to kneel.

“Yes. That is it. That is what suits a human...”

CRACK!!

I sprang upward and headbutted her in the chin.

Was I insane for hitting a demon?

Not at all.

I had checked through her status window.

I did not know what she had been like in her prime, but this little steamed-bun brat was weaker than me right now.

Besides.

Weakness: Terribly fragile. Cannot endure physical pain.

She could not take a hit well either.

So let us keep hitting her for now.

This time, I raised my fist.

“W-Wait! Wait a moment!”

Aris raised both hands.

Aris’s eyes shook violently.

What is this? What is wrong with this lunatic!?

When someone said they were a demon, people were supposed to be frightened, yet he had immediately opened with a headbutt.

He was not an ordinary madman.

“Why? Do you have something to say?”

“M-My nose! My nose is bleeding!”

“It is fine. It will keep bleeding.”

I raised my fist again.

“Tell me if you feel like becoming my subordinate.”

“What if I do not?!”

“Then you will have to keep getting hit.”

At the incoming fist, Aris hurriedly opened her mouth.

“I will do it! I said I will!”

Fortunately, my fist stopped midway.

Aris let out a sigh of relief and looked up at Ryu Jin.

“Can you swear it?”

“I-I swear!”

Aris answered quickly and began calculating in her head at high speed.

In any case, there was no need to keep the oath she had just made.

There was only one case in which a demon’s words gained binding force.

When the other party asked while knowing the demon’s true name.

But there was no way that could be the case, so she formed a sinister smile.

Once these chains were undone, she would absolutely slap that human’s cheeks left and right without mercy...

Ding!

[You have sworn an oath to Ryu Jin, the one who knows your true name!]

“Eh?”

The sinister smile vanished in an instant.

What was this saying right now?

With her pupils trembling, Aris raised her head.

Only then did she notice it.

Ryu Jin’s smile, which was several times more wicked than her own.

[Aris di Carsia, the Demon of the Evil Eye, will be bound as Player Ryu Jin’s subordinate!]

Cold sweat flowed down Aris’s forehead.

She did not know what was going on, but she was certain of one thing.

She was completely screwed.

---

[You will exit the first underground floor of the labyrinth!]

[The SSS+ ancient weapon Callista will be returned!]

[You have entered the labyrinth’s personal lobby.]

[Settlement for the first underground floor of the labyrinth will begin!]

[You have completely destroyed one floor of the labyrinth! The First Destruction Bonus will be granted!]

[Player Ryu Jin has leveled up!]

[Player Ryu Jin has leveled up!]

.

.

.

[Player Ryu Jin has leveled up! Current level: 10 achieved!]

‘Oh? All at once?’

I had heard that the first underground floor only gave two level-ups at most.

Perhaps because it was the first destruction, the reward was generous.

[Each stat will increase!]

[Currently owned Draw Tickets: 0/1 - Status: Charging]

[The recharge time, which was 24 hours, has been reduced to 23 hours!]

[Maximum slots will be added when certain level thresholds are surpassed!]

[All self-destructing slimes that existed on the first underground floor were subjugated along with the labyrinth’s destruction!]

[You have obtained 10 lowest-grade magic stones as a clear reward!]

[You will receive 50 more magic stones of the same grade as the First Destruction Bonus!]

It had been written in the strategy guide.

The maximum number of lowest-grade magic stones given as a reward on the first floor was ten.

But sixty?

This First Destruction Bonus was absurdly excellent the more I looked at it.

I quickly calculated it.

The shop purchase price for one lowest-grade magic stone was 30,000 won.

I had only gone around the labyrinth once, yet 1.8 million won had fallen into my hands.

It was money-making that wiped the thought of a part-time job clean from my mind.

At that moment, I made a firm decision.

I would become a true labyrinth cash farmer.

[You may use magic stones to remodel your personal lobby!]

It was tempting because the place was terrible anyway, but not now.

First, I had to deal with real life.

Ding!

[A Labyrinth tab will be added to the status window!]

[Player Ryu Jin is the owner of the first underground floor.]

[You may adjust the tax rate or appoint a proxy through the Labyrinth tab.]

“Can I adjust the tax rate however I want?”

[The Constellations who own other floors have set rules so that proxies may adjust it up to a maximum of thirty percent.]

“That sounds like I can create new rules too. Since this floor is mine.”

[Correct. The number of floors owned by Player Ryu Jin is 1. For now, you may only determine the tax rate and the targets to whom that tax rate applies. If the number of floors you own increases, a wider range of settings will become available.]

“Oh?”

This was another tempting function.

I pressed the Labyrinth tab, which was shining diligently.

A plus-shaped button was located under the tax tab.

When I pressed the button, a new tax-rate scroll and a target input field appeared.

‘Will it work?’

Kronos.

I wrote it without hesitation, then set the tax rate to one hundred percent.

I was not certain whether it would work or not.

The concept of belonging to a company might be ambiguous from the System’s perspective.

Ding!

[From this point onward, a 100% tax will be imposed on all members of Kronos, the company ranked first in the world by market capitalization.]

‘Wow.’

This System friend was much smarter than I had expected.

Next came the tax rate for players who were not affiliated with Kronos.

Because I hated this world where only I had failed to regress, I wanted to hit them with a refreshing one hundred percent as well, but that would not do.

If I did that, no one would come.

‘I have to pay off my loans.’

Now that I had a labyrinth floor in my hands, I could not let it sit around for free.

I lowered it to twenty percent, so even low-level cash farmers would at least consider it.

Would they cash farm on the lower floors, where more magic stones came out but the difficulty was higher?

Or would they cash farm here, with a slightly disappointing reward but easier difficulty and a lower tax?

For now, I would watch and see.

I would see how meaningful an incentive a ten percent tax difference would become.

Stretching, I stared at the name written in the input field.

Kronos.

Even after resigning, I had not particularly thought about screwing Kronos over.

To be more precise, I had been unable to.

A company that firmly maintained its position as the global leader, with its labyrinth business at the forefront, and an individual who had nothing but debt.

I could not throw away my already difficult reality into a fight where defeat was one hundred percent certain.

But.

The situation had changed.

It was only a single floor, but a crack had formed in the walls of Kronos, which had seemed as if they would never collapse.

Even if it was only one percent, the sweet fruit called possibility had borne fruit.

‘It looks too sweet not to eat.’

Perhaps because something called possibility had appeared.

Greed began to rise within me.

I wanted to overturn it.

The table Kronos had set for itself.

I wanted to scatter them.

Ashes over their perfectly cooked rice.

I wanted to drag them down and slam them somewhere onto the floor of that labyrinth.

I stood up and lifted the corners of my lips.

‘Just you wait.’

I wanted to do everything I possibly could.

Everything Kronos would hate.

Perhaps because I was imagining something so enjoyable that I could not endure it.

The corners of my lips rose even farther.

It had truly been a long time since I had felt this excited and thrilled.

And in one corner of the labyrinth’s personal lobby.

The eyes of Aris di Carsia, the Demon of the Evil Eye, shook violently.

Ryu Jin had been agonizing alone, then smirking, and at some point, he had begun laughing, “Heeheehee!”

Watching him like that gave her a powerful certainty.

That human was absolutely not normal.

‘Well, there is no way a human who headbutts the nose of the first demon he meets could be normal.’

She rubbed her nose.

He had struck her so hard that it still throbbed.

‘Hoo. Because of the oath, I really cannot even punch him once...?!’

Aris sucked in a startled breath.

For some reason, Ryu Jin was staring intently at her.

“You were insulting me, weren’t you?”

His intuition was disgustingly sharp.

“No, I was not!”

“Really? Then fine.”

Just as I was about to leave, since there was still time left for the Draw Ticket to recharge.

Ding!

[Labyrinth Energy has been charged!]

[You may draw a book once from the unique trait ‘Great Labyrinth Library’!]

[Would you like to draw?]