"U-Ughh..."
"Kughhh!"
A crowd spilled out into the alley.
Some were clutching their broken legs, and others were vomiting blood.
Some of them were completely beside themselves, their eyes turned white.
"Was that asshole a Ranker?"
"What a disgrace, without just...."
Those who were still relatively unharmed quickly pulled bandages and herbs from their inventories to heal their wounds.
Fortunately, there appeared to be no fatalities.
Although it was obviously an overwhelming difference, they only received external damage and not much internal damage.
At that moment, one of the group, who had his wounds bandaged, opened his mouth with a white face.
"I... I remember that asshole's face."
"Face? Is he a famous Ranker?"
"No. He's not a Ranker."
"Then?"
After hesitating for a moment, he answered, recalling a memory that had passed quite some time ago.
"It's Kim YuWon."
"Kim YuWon? The winner of the last Murim War?"
The winner of the Murim War.
The strongest player.
And the Vice Lord of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
All three were labels that were attached to Kim YuWon.
And as such, even though he was a player of the lower floors, the players above him recognized his abilities.
Of course.
"No matter how you slice it, how is it.. this good?"
Maybe Kim YuWon already had the skills to be a Ranker.
It was a rumor that was spreading openly.
The Great Sage, Equal to Heaven had already defeated a Ranker who was a Test Examiner on the 50th floor, and similar stories were common among the higher ranked Players.
But Kim YuWon even beat all the records of those High Ranked Players, so it was a fair assumption.
But assumptions are assumptions.
They couldn't help but feel a little impressed by the skills they saw with their own eyes.
"If he's got the Celestial Demon behind him, he's not going to be easy to touch, but..."
Another colleague asked, his eyes glittering as he tied his bandages.
"You're greedy, aren't you?"
The slurred-spoken, bright-eyed man nodded.
Of course he was greedy.
Trinity (Samsingi).
A treasure that even High Rankers would light up at the sight of, a treasure from the heavens.
Once you had it in your hands, becoming a Ranker with the power of the item behind you was a given, and once you became a Ranker, the power of the Trinity would give you even greater wings.
"That bastard definitely said he was looking for the Trinity."
"Kim YuWon must know something that no one else knows."
"If so, obtaining the Trinity wouldn't be just a fantasy..."
The conversation soon turned to the Trinity.
Someone was already talking dreamily about it, as if it was theirs.
But only for a moment.
"What about us, how will we get it?"
Someone's words chilled the conversation like cold water.
Colleagues lying on the floor.
This was the result of one person, Kim YuWon.
After a moment of silence...
"Even if it's hard for us..."
One of them spoke softly.
"If it's Trinity, I'm sure many others will also join this."
* * *
"Twelve points. Not including breakfast."
The innkeeper handed him a change of pajamas and a key with the number of a room. After choosing a room, YuWon looked around.
"This must be the most expensive room in town.
The most expensive room cost 12 points.
I knew the prices on the 44th floor were cheap, but this was a surprise.
It was about 30 square meters and quite clean. For this price, this type of accommodation was like a bargain.
The low cost of living in places with poor security and location was no different from the world of YuWon.
Yak-.
YuWon sat down on the sofa. He didn't feel very comfortable.
There was no immediate danger, but this neighborhood was a place where you never knew when or where a knife might fall.
'There's only one Trinity (The Magatama) loose at the moment. Two are being chased by the Three Precise Children...'
Tik-.
YuWon reached into his inventory.
A cheap looking sword fell into his hand. As he pulled out the sword with its rough red scabbard, he felt the air in the room turn cold.
'And one is here.
Kusanagi's sword.
A type of demonic sword, it was an heirloom of Susanoo, who was being chased by the Three Precious Children.
'It will be a sight to behold, if the Three Precious Children find out.'
Another of the Trinity was the Yasakani no Magatama (八尺瓊曲玉), qu was owned by Amaterasu.
Knowing the power of the Trinity, Amaterasu searched the Tower for the relic of Susanoo and the other Trinity.
The other member of the trio, Tsukuyomi, did the same.
If they knew that YuWon was in possession of Kusanagi's sword, the two would stop at nothing to find YuWon.
"Baat, ba-!"
At that moment, Danpung, who had been sleeping in YuWon's arms, poked his head out.
The boy showed interest in Kusanagi's sword.
"No."
Chik-.
YuWon quickly pushed Kusanagi's sword away from Danpung.
"Hey, you can't eat that."
"Abba, abba!"
"Even if you beg me, I won't give it to you."
Kusanagi's sword was an important item.
Since it was a demonic sword, it wasn't an item that had good compatibility with Yuwon, but there was a place to use it even if it wasn't necessary.
"Bah-."
Danpung's cheeks puffed out.
He pouted.
However...
There was no way a child being deprived of a delicious snack in front of him was going to take it lying down.
Naturally, he was disappointed.
YuWon chuckled to himself as he looked at Danpung's puffy cheeks.
He looked like he had to be comforted.
"Where I used to live, there was a thing called the Marshmallow Experiment*." (*: This experiment consists of taking a child to a room where there is a candy and they would tell him that if he was able to resist the temptation and not eat it for 15 minutes, then he could have more than one)
"Baah?"
As if asking what that was, Danpung tilted his head.
YuWon continued.
"It's something like, I'll leave you one delicious candy, and if you don't eat it until I get back from work, I'll give you two."
It was quite a famous experiment.
Two sweets as a reward for waiting.
And as a result, the story goes that the person who waits the longest is the one who succeeds the most later.
Since it was just an experiment, YuWon did not necessarily believe in the theory.
However, the experiment and the current situation were a perfect fit.
"So wait."
YuWon said , returning Kusanagi's sword that he had taken out a moment to his inventory.
"Then I'll give you a much bigger gift than this."
* * *
YuWon spent some time on the 44th floor.
Since he had already set the bait thrown out, it was time to wait for the bite.
"Did you hear? Kim YuWon is looking for the Trinity."
"The Trinity? Why here?"
"He must have heard something. What kind of person is he?"
"Is there such a thing in this rotten place?"
"Is this the beginning of a treasure hunt?"
Once outside, YuWon listened to the rumors with his ears wide open.
A group of gamblers were drinking in a tavern. As he soothed his boredom with a beer and ham, YuWon felt them watching him.
'Here we go again.'
It was his tenth day on the 44th floor.
Rumors were spreading like wildfire, and in the meantime, YuWon had continued his search for the Trinity.
A treasure hunt.
The story from the other table hit the nail on the head.
"Let me ask you a question."
Thud-.
YuWon put the beer he was drinking on the table.
Before he knew it, Arcane Power filled the tavern.
Of the six tables, he could feel the stares and hostility from four of them.
"I hear the Trinity are here, does anyone know anything about them?"
"That's for us to ask."
Drat-.
One person got up from his seat.
That was the beginning...
Chanang, Chang-!
The players took out their weapons and prepared their skills.
Among them was also a Ranker.
"Where did you hear that he's here?"
"You mean you don't know."
"Oh?"
"Then there's nothing to say."
YuWon picked up the drink he had put down for a moment.
"I'll drink my glass first."
It wasn't a very pleasant place.
YuWon drank alone in this place, with a spear knife right in front of him.
The situation seemed so relaxed that the frantic activity around him stopped.
But only for a moment.
"Get him, damn it!"
A scuffle broke out in the tavern.
Boom!
Kwazik-!
A hole opened up in the ceiling.
Starting with the player whose head had slammed into the ceiling, YuWon began to dance.
Kwajik-, Pereouk-!
Boom-.
YuWon grabbed his opponent's body and brandished it like a weapon. In the narrow confines of the tavern, a human body had become a rather menacing weapon.
Boom!
In an instant, the players fell one after another.
In the midst of it all, a sharp spear flew toward YuWon.
Kwajik-!
Thud-!
The floor of the tavern collapsed, along with the tables. Stepping out of the way of the spear, YuWon looked at its owner.
Bright yellow hair with his hair neatly pinned back with wax.
He looked like a thug, but the Mana around him was real.
"A Ranker."
After tossing it around for a while, he thought he'd finally found a decent one.
The fish got bigger as it took the bait.
It was a slower reaction than he expected, but still not bad.
Retrieving his spear, the Ranker took a moment to look at what YuWon had done.
"You're not as bad as I've heard."
"You're being cheeky."
His brow furrowed at those words.
"A kid who doesn't even know what's up here yet...."
His face contorted in anger.
Not a very patient man, he thought.
Power entered the hand that held the spear.
Now that he was face to face with a Ranker, YuWon had other thoughts.
'If I let it live, more fish will probably come.'
So the right thing to do was to let it live.
Even though he really didn't want to.
'It doesn't look like much.'
With a face that looks like an idiot, he looked intimidating, but that was about it.
It had been a long time since he'd seen one he didn't like so much, he thought.
Booung-!
Quadd deuk-!
The tip of the spear he swung split the wall of the tavern. The building swayed and the others backed up to get out of range
"What are you doing sitting still!"
"Thinking."
The furrows in the Ranker's forehead deepened at YuWon's reply.
"Thinking?"
"What to do with you...."
He didn't think much.
The spear pierced the air several times. The corner of YuWon's mouth turned up as he turned his head slightly.
"I've decided."
"What?"
Kukk-.
Arcane Power flowed through YuWon's arms.
[The power of a Giant dwells in your arm.]
Partial Gigantization.
It was a method he rarely used since he had mastered full gigantization.
But for now, this was enough.
Boom-.
The spear stopped in midair.
The Ranker's eyes widened at the sight of the motionless spear.
'What, what kind of power . ... .'
Boom-.
His vision went black.
Something came closer, filling his vision.
That was it.
Jjaeok-!
His vision spun, his consciousness faded. At the last moment, he knew that was the end of him.
Chak-.
The room fell silent as he saw the Ranker lying on the floor.
For a moment, too...
Thud-.
One by one, the players gathered in the tavern began to back away.
"Hey, hey!"
"R-Retreat!"
"Agh, I'd better not have come!"
The players who were still alive opted to flee. With their Ranker down, they decided they had no chance of winning.
YuWon didn't chase after them.
In an instant, YuWon was left alone and looked at the shattered remains of the table.
"This place is so messy........"
Turning his head, YuWon's eyes landed on the man who had just entered the bar.
"Shall we move and talk?"
"No need."
The man shook his head.
He was a middle-aged man with short, sporty black hair and deep wrinkles.
He had entered the bar in the middle of the fight and had been watching for a while.
'I finally got this guy.'
The biggest fish on the 44th floor, who took the bait cast by YuWon.
'Amaterasu'.
A large fish, not unlike a whale, shook YuWon's fishing rod.
