Max Talent Player

<suicide. Readers, please be advised.>>

The casper was exhausted. He wasn’t in his usual fighting form.

“This place is an artificial space created by you.”

It was like a VR space, so to speak.

“And I might not know what you were planning on doing, but I know you’ll have controlled the minds of each and every person here.”

All in order to nab Ban Kimyung. The casper was sure to have been tempted by prey as delicious as Ban Kimyung. If Hyukjin hadn’t come here, the casper might have moved to Ban Kimyung, and there was no knowing what would have happened to Sunhwa and Ahyoung in the process.

“To do that, you would have needed a ton of mana.”

The casper used a lot of mana to distort this half-virtual space, and was using more to control it, a process that involved taxing mental manipulation.

Hyukjin breathed in.

‘Even this mana will become my strength.’

Thanks to Assimilation, this mind-controlling mana was merely a type of nourishment for Kim Hyukjin. The very reason why the Demon King was able to slaughter so many magicians in the Great Battle of Shanghai was because mana had no effect on the Demon King.

‘But I can’t rely purely on Assimilation.’

Assimilation was certainly an outstanding ability, but if the opponent was on a higher level than him, it could actually be dangerous to use. Adding two liters of water to a one liter container would make it overflow.

‘I’ll aim to let this energy flow naturally past me.’

Hyukjin decided to not use this mana. All his preparations were complete.

Kim Sunhwa spoke with a smirk. “Really, what makes you so damn confident?” Her eyes turned red. “I’m still in your little sister’s body. If you want to kill me, you’ll have to kill her.”

“...”

“And you see, I really don’t like you.”

“...”

“So I’ll commit my full power to tearing you into a million pieces.”

Caspers were astral beings. He was saying he would make use of Kim Sunhwa’s body.

“Come on then, have a good fight with your little sister.”

A large, white shield formed at Sunhwa’s right arm.

* * *

* * *

On the 2nd floor.

Ban Kimyung was shocked by the notice he heard.

‘I’ve become a Player?’

You could earn a lot of money if you became a Player. He knew the products coming out of dungeons and gates were being sold for extremely high prices.

‘So suddenly?’

In fact, Ban Kimyung had decided to end his own life. He was in this shop because he had decided to travel a little before dying, to go on the first trip of his life. He heard rich people went to places like Switzerland for suicide trips, but Ban Kimyung didn’t have the money to do that.

But something was weird.

‘I’m happy, but I’m not happy.’

The feeling was hard to describe—it was as if his feelings were far, far away, like his brain and body were separated. His mind felt hazy, as if he were drugged by anesthetics.

‘Strange. I also feel a bit dizzy.’

Actually, it didn’t matter if he was dizzy or not. He had resolved to kill himself, anyway.

‘Where did my life go wrong?’

Even if he was a Player now, even if he awakened, would his life really change?

He heard the first Players were already over level 30 and nearing 40, so what could he possibly achieve by awakening now?

Depressing and vexing memories surged to his mind.

–You, a singer? Forget it! Fucking idiot.

–Go out and earn some money instead.

–There’s no booze left!

–Money! Go get money for booze, shithead!

He was abused by his father since childhood. Ban Kimyung wanted to become a singer. But that dream crumbled in front of the harsh reality that was his life. In order to earn money to fund his father’s alcoholism, he was forced to do part-time jobs since middle school.

Like someone was controlling his mind, the unpleasant memories he was doing his best to forget kept floating to the surface.

–Okay. We’re friends, after all.

The one and only friend he thought he had, Kang-sik, borrowed $10,000 from him, saying it was a real emergency.

That was the money Kimyung had saved up from age 20 to 29. Because he was unable to abandon the father he had the misfortune of sharing blood with, his father who became ill with alcohol-related dementia, he couldn’t even save up much.

‘And Kang-sik fucking disappeared.’

$10,000. Even though it was a huge amount of money for Kimyung, he didn’t think it was enough to lose a friend over. He was sad about losing the money he’d earned for nine years, but it was the thought that he lost his only friend over that sum that drove Kimyung to suicide.

‘Ah. My life.’

Even though a new path had opened up before him, it felt too late. The only thing he’d learned from a young age was working part-time.

‘What use is it for someone like me to stay alive?’

Actually, he had seen and felt a lot while traveling. He saw things he hadn’t been able to see, and met people he hadn’t been able to know, and found out that there were more beautiful sights in this world than he imagined. As a result, his desire to live had been flickering back.

‘I should just die.’

But since entering this patisserie, his mind kept getting flooded with negative thoughts. It was like someone was whispering, ‘Yes, someone like you should just die’, like a terrible auditory hallucination.

‘Yeah. Let’s just end it.’

Right when he thought that, he heard a loud crash.

‘Huh?’ Kimyung snapped back to his senses. ‘What was I thinking just now?’

He couldn’t remember. He had the impression he’d been drowning in depressing and irritating thoughts, but it felt like he had woken from a dream that he’d been having for a long, long time.

Ban Kimyung had no idea that the reason he was able to break away from the mental assault was because Kim Hyukjin had confronted the casper on the 3rd floor. Kim Hyukjin diverted the casper’s attention, weakening the evil spirit’s domination over other areas.

The variables grew even further. A loud cry split the air.

“Boss!”

It was a woman’s voice. Ban Kimyung turned his head and was startled when he saw who it was.

‘Shin Yeonseo?’

The Smiling Swordsman Shin Yeonseo who was so famous was running in.

‘The Tutorial Ender?’

Even So Yoohyun was there.

‘The Jo Sunghyun and Choi Sung-gu Wombocombo?’

A bunch of famous people came dashing in, all at once. They ran up to the 3rd floor, where Hyukjin greeted them with a grin.

“You’re here.”

“What’s happening? What’s wrong with Sunhwa? Why are her eyes red?”

“The current Sunhwa isn’t the real Sunhwa.”

“Then what is she?”

“It’ll take too long to explain. For now, we need to fight Sunhwa.”

“You crazy? How are we supposed to fight such a cute kid?”

Even as she said that, Yeonseo pulled out her sword. Similarly, even though So Yoohyun was bewildered and wondering what in the world was happening, he also clenched his fists, believing that his hyungnim was in the right.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but whatever my hyungnim says, goes!”

Jo Sunghyun and Choi Sung-gu also drew forth their mana.

“Huhuhu,” chuckled Kim Sunhwa. “You human insects sure are fearless.”

Hyukjin stared silently at Sunhwa. Controlling her was an Intermediate Administrator. At this point in time, there were no Players who could defeat an Intermediate Administrator.

“You’ve all Played a lot with Sunhwa, so you should know,” Hyukjin said.

Sunhwa possessed a truly sturdy body.

“You need to attack without mercy.”

He was saying the words to his teammates, but they were also words for himself. Half-hearted attacks wouldn’t get through her defense. Such an attempt would only invite a counterattack.

“The enemy is a mental manipulation Intermediate Administrator. The moment he sees an opening, he’ll burrow into your mind. Steel yourselves.”

“If Sunhwa’s body is weakened, will he also be weakened?” asked Sunghyun.

“Yes.”

In addition, Song Kiyeol the Taeguk Shield took up the tank role for their side.

“I will handle the defense,” Song Kiyeol said, stepping forward.

“Your heart must not waver. The current Sunhwa is 100% an enemy.”

Song Kiyeol knew. He knew that Kim Hyukjin was saying those words to himself. So he made a suggestion.

“Mr. Kim Hyukjin, you can stay back and watch.”

“...”

“With our current forces, I think it’s worth a shot. If it’s as you say, the enemy is extremely worn out.”

“...”

“If it becomes really dangerous at any point, you can jump in then. If, by some one in a million chance, he ends up possessing you, things will become really troublesome.”

After a moment of silence, Hyukjin responded.

“Thank you.”

He stepped back, intending on aiming for the perfect chance to strike. Giantgod and Song Kiyeol surged forward as one team, surrounding Kim Sunhwa and pelting her with their attacks.

Song Kiyeol took out and raised his shield, blocking Sunhwa’s elbow jab.

A resounding clang rang out. Sunhwa’s elbow was a little bloodied, but the wound quickly recovered.

‘I never thought I’d be fighting with an Intermediate Administrator one day,’ thought Song Kiyeol.

For mankind, Intermediate Administrators were pretty much calamities, higher beings humanity could do nothing against. And yet, he was fighting one such being. So many unimaginable things seemed to happen when he was with Kim Hyukjin.

Having become a third party, Hyukjin observed the situation.

‘With the casper’s strength, Sunhwa and the rest of the party are equally matched.’

It came down to who would tire first, who had the better luck. But thankfully, they had a fairly skilled tank in the form of Song Kiyeol on their side.

‘The casper must have read the situation, too.’

What would he do, if he were the casper? What choice would he make? If he were the casper, what picture would he draw?

‘I wouldn’t keep fighting like this.’

The casper would find some casper-like way to break through.

‘Even now, he hasn’t given up his control over the entire patisserie.’

He was still exerting his influence over the patisserie, though his control was weakened.

So Yoohyun folded at the waist with a violent cough. Sunhwa’s fist had landed a direct hit. Yoohyun rapidly jumped back, and Choi Sung-gu kept Sunhwa from pursuing with a lash of his Fire Whip.

The fight came to a brief standstill. The members of Giantgod and Song Kiyeol seemed a little tired, but Kim Sunhwa was more relaxed than ever.

“I’ve been observing you guys for a long time,” she crowed. “So I can read your movements in advance.”

The casper wasn’t just bluffing. Hyukjin could feel the casper strengthening his dominance over the 2nd floor while fighting them, meaning he had some measure of leisure.

‘But if he really had energy to spare, he would have killed us all.’

Because he couldn’t do that, the casper was resorting to this little show.

‘In the end, he’s gonna go for Ban Kimyung.’

He would leave Sunhwa’s body and go into Ban Kimyung. Then, he would use some way to flee the scene.

‘He’ll come back to kill us in the future.’

He was too great a threat. They had to kill him here. Hyukjin took a step forward.

“I can see what you’re going for so clearly that I can’t stay back.”

Hyukjin took out his sword, the transcendent artifact Isabel. Kim Sunhwa tensed a little.

And then, she spoke with Sunhwa’s voice, Sunhwa’s face.

“Oppa. Are you going to kill me?”

“...”

“The only thing I want is to live happily with you, Unnie, and Mom…”

At the same time, Hyukjin knew. Someone was coming up the stairs from the second floor, step by step. He didn’t miss that chance.

‘I’ll cut through.’

He clenched his teeth, then swung Isabel with all his might at his sister. Isabel reached Sunhwa’s neck.

Schwing!

And cut something.