Chapter 111: This Is My Show

Episode 111

Soon after, another notification appeared beneath the flood of alerts:

[The Demon God Dantalian has temporarily blocked all other Demon Gods’ access to you.]

‘……?!’

Kim Jinsung’s eyebrow twitched at the unexpected message. Dantalian’s furious voice echoed in his mind.

[These greedy bastards… Breaking the unspoken rule of not interfering when another Demon God is negotiating with a mortal…!]

‘I never agreed to negotiate with you.’

[What? Ah… Ignore that. I was talking to myself. Ahem.]

Dantalian awkwardly cleared his throat and changed the subject.

[Where were we? …Ah, resonance! So, how was it experiencing the power of resonance I taught you? Impressive, right? Without me, you would never have….]

‘Stop changing the subject and answer me.’

[…Huh?]

Kim Jinsung wasn’t about to let him off the hook.

‘Why did you block other Demon Gods on your own? I never agreed to negotiate with you.’

[Well, that’s….]

‘Forget it, get lost! I’ll talk to other Demon Gods.’

[W-wait!]

As Kim Jinsung pretended to sever the connection, Dantalian frantically shouted.

[Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to get rid of me for other Demon Gods? Have you already forgotten who just saved you from crisis? Huh?!]

‘My goodness… You’re really milking this one favor, aren’t you?’

[That one favor saved your life! If I hadn’t told you about resonance, you’d be a cold corpse by now!]

‘Wouldn’t any other Demon God have told me the same thing?’

[Nonsense!]

Dantalian’s voice rose, as if he had jumped in indignation.

[Any other Demon God would have cursed you for your insolence and increased the dungeon’s difficulty tenfold! Do you think it’s easy to find a Demon God as kind as me?!]

‘I’ll have to check that for myself. I’ll start with Belial…’

[Wait!!]

This time, Dantalian’s cry sounded almost like a plea to Kim Jinsung.

His next words seemed almost tearful.

[Don’t you know how to show gratitude? You’re coldly abandoning me after I helped you without asking for anything in return? I thought humans were supposed to repay kindness!]

Kim Jinsung inwardly chuckled.

It was amusing to see a being calling itself a Demon God appealing to human emotions.

Addressing the now almost begging Dantalian, Kim Jinsung probed further.

‘I’m grateful, but why are you so against me talking to other Demon Gods? There might be one who’s a better fit for me than you. And most importantly….’

[What else?]

‘I’m not sure how much more help you’ll be to me….’

[What nonsense! How dare you say I’m not helpful!]

Dantalian took the bait Kim Jinsung had cast.

[I, Dantalian, am famous for possessing the most diverse knowledge and information in the demon world! Do you think I’m called the ‘Walking Information Warehouse of the Demon World’ for nothing?]

‘What does your intelligence have to do with me?’

[Isn’t it obvious! I can provide you with much more valuable information than just resonance!]

Kim Jinsung deliberately looked intrigued.

‘Oh? Information better than resonance….’

[You haven’t even fully grasped the true power of resonance yet. Covering the ‘Void’ is just a fraction of its capabilities!]

‘Really?’

[Yes! Let me explain what other abilities it has! This is the perfect environment for practical application. First….]

As Dantalian began eagerly sharing information, Kim Jinsung inwardly smirked.

A slight provocation to his pride, and he was spilling everything. He seemed simpler than expected.

‘It’s better to maintain this relationship until I get all the necessary information.’

It was perfect timing, as he had just realized how little he knew about the Demon World Dungeon and the New Continent.

He decided there was no need to dismiss Dantalian until he at least gained basic knowledge about the Demon World Dungeon.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Colosseum Survival program’s live broadcast continued uninterrupted.

[Now, let’s take another look at the scene where the ‘Void’ suddenly disappeared.]

As the caster finished speaking, the footage of the black wave of dark energy engulfing the purple circle was replayed.

The video, expertly edited in real-time, looked even more grand and spectacular than the live broadcast.

The most impressive part was the rapid disappearance of the purple monsters as the void vanished.

– Wow…!

– Whoa…!

– Amazing….

– So cool….

The viewers marveled at the highlight video, even though they had already seen it live.

The commentators also expressed their amazement.

[Wow…!]

[Wow, this is truly incredible…!]

[Seeing it again makes me even more curious. How did this happen?]

[I’m not sure… It seems too supernatural to be something Kim Jinsung did….]

While the commentators were puzzling over the cause, one person was fuming as he watched the scene.

It was Yong Hangil.

‘…This is bad.’

Hong Yeonseok, standing right behind him, nervously swallowed.

Yong Hangil’s face had visibly hardened, his hand holding the smartphone trembling.

He was clearly furious.

But Hong Yeonseok, only seeing Yong Hangil’s back, missed something.

Not only his hand, but Yong Hangil’s eyes were also shaking.

It was a sign that he was not just angry, but shocked.

‘That just now…. It’s not something someone like Kim Jinsung should be able to do…?’

He recalled a recent memory of leading Daehan Clan hunters in a high-level dungeon raid.

A Demon King they encountered had used an ability similar to what he had just witnessed on the broadcast.

The black wave that had engulfed the surroundings had instantly nullified all the buffs and debuffs the Daehan Clan hunters had set up.

As a result, the Daehan Clan team had struggled greatly in their battle against the Demon King, ultimately failing to clear the dungeon.

This was only the second time since then that Yong Hangil had seen such a scene.

In other words, Kim Jinsung had just used an ability identical to a Demon King’s.

‘This is far beyond my expectations.’

Yong Hangil’s expression turned grave.

His long experience as a hunter had taught him that beings who display unexpected abilities are the most dangerous.

In Yong Hangil’s eyes, Kim Jinsung now appeared to be an extremely dangerous existence.

‘That’s why he must be killed now.’

He was suddenly struck by an ominous feeling that if he couldn’t kill Kim Jinsung now, while he was trapped in the dungeon and before he grew stronger, he might never be able to eliminate him.

Yong Hangil turned around. Hong Yeonseok immediately approached him.

Yong Hangil spoke.

“We’re changing the plan. Deploy hunters again to create a rift in Kim Jinsung’s path.”

“Understood. Who should I instruct to deploy?”

“Deploy the failures.”

Hong Yeonseok froze.

For a moment, he thought he had misheard.

But seeing Yong Hangil’s determined eyes, he realized he hadn’t.

The failures.

Also known as the ‘Bearers of Forbidden Abilities.’

“…M-Master. Even you can’t unilaterally deploy the failures.”

Hong Yeonseok had no choice but to try to persuade Yong Hangil.

He was the only Daehan Clan hunter on this island who could stop Yong Hangil when he made decisions that crossed the line.

“Everything else aside, deploying the failures requires prior consent from all Daehan Clan executives…!”

“Do you think I don’t know that?”

Yong Hangil cut him off, asking in a low voice.

“I’ll take responsibility for the consequences. Follow my orders.”

“Master…!”

“What are you waiting for! Deploy the hunters now!”

Just as Yong Hangil shouted at the hesitating Hong Yeonseok, they heard a report from one of their subordinate hunters through their earpieces.

– President Baek is approaching Master Yong’s location.

They both turned towards the temporary studio.

They saw Baek Jun approaching with staff members wearing armor marked with ‘CSS’.

‘Oh no…’

Yong Hangil frowned unconsciously.

Baek Jun’s timing couldn’t have been worse. This made deploying hunters impossible.

‘I’m too late.’

As he inwardly lamented, Baek Jun had already reached Yong Hangil’s side.

Yong Hangil asked, feigning composure.

“Why are you here?”

“I couldn’t just stand by after the appearance of the Void.”

Baek Jun said, his expression stern as he looked at Yong Hangil.

“Fortunately, the Void disappeared for some unknown reason, which was a relief. But given the situation, it wouldn’t be strange if something worse happened. So…”

Baek Jun looked towards the dungeon portal as he continued.

“If such a situation occurs once more, we’ll have no choice but to temporarily halt the live broadcast and enter ourselves with the staff.”

“…The live broadcast?”

Yong Hangil asked in disbelief. He had never seen Baek Jun stop Colosseum’s live broadcast before.

“…We have no choice. The Void that just appeared could have wiped out all the finalists, couldn’t it?”

“Hmm.”

“I didn’t want to do this, but I concluded that temporarily stopping the broadcast is better than completely ruining the finals.”

Yong Hangil stared intently at Baek Jun, who was looking back at him with a closed mouth.

Seeing the firm resolve in his eyes, Yong Hangil inwardly sighed.

‘This makes it impossible to deploy our people again.’

Suddenly, over ten new pairs of eyes were watching the dungeon portal. With Baek Jun standing there too, secretly deploying personnel was nearly impossible.

But he couldn’t recklessly deploy them and take the risk either.

The risk of being caught by Baek Jun was too great. Moreover, Baek Jun had a deep relationship with Minister Tak Namgyu.

If they were to fall out with Baek Jun, the Daehan Clan would no longer be able to receive support from the Hunter Bureau.

‘What should I do…’

Yong Hangil, hiding his complex emotions, stared at the dungeon portal entrance and thought rapidly.

“Everyone, surround the dungeon portal entrance, maintaining equal distances.”

Meanwhile, Baek Jun was issuing orders to his staff through his walkie-talkie.

As he watched the staff spread out around the entire dungeon portal, Baek Jun muttered to himself.

‘This should at least prevent the Daehan Clan from creating additional rifts.’

In fact, Baek Jun was already certain about who was behind the rift creation.

Only the Daehan Clan could move so recklessly.

The appearance of the Void in such a low-level dungeon didn’t make sense. In other words, from Baek Jun’s perspective, it could only have been artificially created.

‘I don’t know the reason, but I can’t allow any further interference with the finals, Master.’

Baek Jun glared at Yong Hangil from the corner of his eye.

He intended to stay here with his staff, watching until Kim Jinsung passed through the finals and emerged from the dungeon entrance.

—