Chapter 90 – Path Of Choice (1)

Jin-hyuk, who dealt with the players instantly, retrieved his swords.

‘The rest of them will be taken care of by the players.’

As long as the Breakers were gone, there was nothing these mad men could do.

At best, they’d only be able to fight back using a blade.

Now all that was left was to deal with the professor.

‘Then, I just need one person to guide me.’

He could visit by himself, but there was a fear of delay since the professor could be hiding anywhere.

‘And I don’t want to take those chances.’

The answer he wanted required him to get out of this place first.

Jin-hyuk looked around.

Oh!

Finally, there was one thing that caught his eye.

That one. The one who can guide him.

A person who was not a fanatic to the core.

A hard-to-find talent.

‘Right, I choose you.’

Jin-hyuk quickly flew over and subdued the target in an instant.

Since the person was too preoccupied with running away, they were caught off guard.

“S-sorry! S-save me! Please… I don’t want to…”

A girl with short hair.

‘This is.’

He lightly pressed down on her shoulder. Anyone who heard her would think he was trying to cut her arm off or something.

“Calm down. If you stay calm, I won’t kill you.”

“Really?’

“If I was going to kill you, I wouldn’t even be talking to you.”

He spoke the words with no emotions.

However, those words felt more persuasive for this girl than anything else.

Considering his skills, as Jin-hyuk said, there would be no need to explain things using words.

“Instead, if you lie or play tricks, you are done.”

Her role would be as a guide.

“Yes, I understand.”

The girl nodded her head.

“Do you know where the professor is?”

“Yes.”

At least she seemed useful.

There were so many places where he could hide, but he could narrow it down with her.

“Name?”

“Andrea. I am Andrea.”

“Nice. Andrea, you guide me to where he is, and then I guarantee your life.”

[Lv4′ Stigma of the Soul’ is activated.]
“Because I don’t like promises made with words.”

Wheik!

Jin-hyuk’s finger shone red as Andrea shook her head.

“I promise.”

With this, their contract was made. An unfair contract where betrayal means burning to death.

Jin-hyuk crossed the dark passage that Andrea led him into.

‘We are moving to the 12th stone chamber.’

He thought she would take him to a strange place, but it didn’t seem like it. He probably would have chosen somewhere between the 7th and 12th chambers without Andrea.

At that moment.

He suddenly thought.

Why did this cowardly girl join these fanatics?

“Do you believe in that God?”

A demon king who demanded blood and sacrifice? A cultist who existed on the 5th floor?

Without faith that overcame that blindness, then she couldn’t be here. But the answer he got was different from what he expected.

“No. I… I believe there is no such thing as God in the world. If there is God, such a hellish place shouldn’t exist.”

“Then why are you following the professor?”

“It wasn’t my choice. I was sold.”

“Sold?’

“Yes. Abandoned. From the family that I trusted the most.”

Andrea mumbled with dead eyes.

‘That is why you are here.’

The places on the 5th floor were the mines, the gladiator arena, and the psychiatric ward. All of them were poor places to live in.

So it wasn’t uncommon to throw away kids for a few pennies.

Jin-hyuk bit his lip.

‘Now this feels like a sad story.’

The system had said.

Kill the wicked and get 0.1 points.

If so, would the one who sold such a kid also be wicked?

There was only one way to know the answer.

But…

Jin-hyuk didn’t continue thinking about it.

“Things like this won’t give you much comfort. But I am just like you. As soon as I was born, I was abandoned in an orphanage to grow up alone.”

He grew up in loneliness and despair. He had to learn everything at an early age.

“But nothing will change if you blame your parents, the world, or yourself.”

Instead, do what you can do at the moment.

He hadn’t been very talented as a BJ.

But at least he didn’t force the viewers to support him by using his property.

He took what was given for his effort and used that.

“Of course, your situation is a lot darker than mine. I apologize if I said something out of line.”

He knew that their situations weren’t exactly the same.

So.

“I will kill the professor and destroy this cult. No one will try to kill you again. So stop making faces like you’ve lost your world because even I am feeling depressed.”

“…”

Andrea’s eyes shook.

It was as if she wasn’t expecting this.

“Why are you looking at me like that for?”

“No. Thank you for saying that. But, the professor… I think he is a lot stronger than you. And he uses strange powers.”

“I know.”

“Uh?”

“The power of the professor. How can I not know if I want to take him down?”

Jin-hyuk smiled a very light smile.

But why?

Ba-dump!

Andrea’s heart began to beat quickly.

It was as if she could see a small light at the end of the dark road she had walked all her life. A small flame lit up in the broken heart of this girl who had struggled with despair.

The two didn’t talk after that, committed they were to their roles.

How long was it?

The place they arrived at was behind a firmly shut black iron gate.

“Here.”

Andrea said as they arrived.

“Thanks, you did well.”

Jin-hyuk nodded and looked at the gate blocking the entrance. The surface of the gate had runes drawn upon it with blood.

‘A way to maintain the barrier.’

It was something that seemed to mock anyone who thought they could enter.

‘Interesting.’

Jin-hyuk reached out to the gate and, at that moment…

Kukuku!

The thick iron gates opened.

[You have entered the ‘Path of Choice’.]
[There are two contestants.]
A room full of rusty keys. The first gateway to the Path of Choice.

“H-here is…”

Andrea looked around in shock at the change of scenario from the outside.

“Don’t worry, and be still.”

He reassured her.

It was then.

Chhh!

A doll with a white mask appeared on the screen. It had quite an unusual pattern drawn on its cheeks with red lipstick.

It looked like its next line of dialogue would be, ‘Do you want to play a game?’

[Congratulations on coming here. I am called Valsetter, who serves the professor and is often referred to as ‘Moderator’]
“Uh? What is with these smelly feet?”

[Eik! It isn’t smelly feet but Valsetter (a pun on the name)!]
Somehow, the more it spoke, the weirder it felt.

“It is a hard name to remember, so I will call you smelly feet.”

Jin-hyuk scratched his head.

[Ugh. I will make you regret what you said. Do you know why this place is called the Path of Choice? This is because you can only go to the next level by choosing between life and death! Because of your impudent behavior, I will make sure that your bones are buried here!]
“Ahem.”

Jin-hyuk let out a long yawn.

No, for real.

Why do these people keep babbling despite having minor roles?

Only newbies would listen to the babbling of idiots with the thought of gleaning information from it.

But Jin-hyuk wasn’t new.

[Enough! Enough! Now let’s start the game. The key is hidden in this room. The time limit is 5 minutes. If you don’t find the key to open the door inside, you will be crushed by the walls!]
Kukuku!

The walls around them began to suddenly move.

A screen also appeared with a timer. The walls began to narrow down their space without pause.

If the key wasn’t found, only gruesome death awaited them.

However, finding the real key in a pile of so many wasn’t easy either.

[Hahaha! Come down and beg me if you want to get a hint on how the real key can be found.]
Smelly Feet was happy.

But…

“Here you go.”

Jin-hyuk picked one key from the pile.

[Don’t make me laugh. Just picking anything up…]
Clack!

The door opened.

[H-How…?]
Smelly Feet’s eyes became wide.

Calm your face, girl.

“A rough guess.”

[W-what? A guess out of so many? Do you expect me to believe it?]
“Don’t believe it if you don’t want to.”

While the bewildered Smelly Feet was having a hard time, Jin-hyuk and Andrea went through the second gate.

This time it was a room full of clear glass syringes.

At that moment.

Push!

White smoke came from the walls and filled the room.

[Fufu. The smoke you inhaled was a poison that would melt your body in no time.]
Smelly Feet was back to her normal attitude.

“P-poison?”

Andrea’s face became pale.

“She just said it.”

On the other hand, Jin-hyuk didn’t care.

[There are various medicines in the syringe. One will give you a chance to live, but the others have strong poison. So decide your life and death here.]
Thirty syringes.

Only one of them was an antidote, and the rest were all poisons that would lead to their death.

[If you want a hint…!]
“Don’t need it.”

Without hesitation, Jin-hyuk picked up one syringe and put it in his arm.

Puak!

The liquid was pushed into the body.

[Yah! Choose after listening to some hints!]
In the end, Smelly Feet, who couldn’t hold back their frustration, yelled.