Chapter 62: The Production Team’s Trap

Chapter 62

– Wait! Hold on… Ah, there we go. Whew, that was a scare.

The voice of Thief 6, now relieved, came through. It seemed it wasn’t a major issue. Kim Jinsung asked again.

“What happened?”

– There was this green puddle, and I didn’t think much of it as I ran over it, but it turned out to be a monster!

“Are you talking about something that looks like a green swamp?”

Kim Jinsung asked while looking at a small green swamp directly ahead. It looked like an ordinary swamp, but his ‘Location Detection’ trait was warning him that a monster was there.

– Yes! If you step in it, you’ll be sucked into the ground, so be careful! My ankle still hurts…

Hearing this, Kim Jinsung activated his dark energy. A large dark energy sphere formed in his right palm and flew rapidly towards the swamp.

**Bang!**

With a sharp explosion, the green swamp was torn apart. As green mucus splattered everywhere, a notification appeared before Kim Jinsung.

—

▶ You have defeated a monster.

▶ You have earned 25 Beast Karma points.

▶ You have acquired the monster’s skill ‘Toxic Swamp.’

▷ Toxic Swamp: Creates a swamp of toxic liquid at a designated location. Consumes 100 mana.

—

“…Thief 6?”

– Yes?

“The monster you mentioned seems to have toxic properties. Could you check?”

– What do you mean… Oh, my shoes are melting!

Kim Jinsung chuckled. Seeing that he had acquired the ‘Toxic Swamp’ skill, he had suspected as much.

“Pour a bit of the status immunity potion on it. That should fix it.”

– Hold on!

After a brief silence, Thief 6’s relieved voice came through.

– It worked! Wow, if it had melted any more, the soles would have been gone…!

“Check the ruins nearby for any spare shoes.”

– I’ll do that… Thanks!

“Next, those who went underground, please report.”

Following Kim Jinsung’s request, the four Thieves who had gone underground responded one by one.

– This is Thief 7. I’m on the first underground level. The structure is more complex than I thought. If you lose your way, it will be hard to find it again.

– Thief 8 on the second underground level. There are a lot of monsters here. Swarms of rats, vampire bats, slimes…

– This is Thief 9 on the third underground level. Same here. I’ve had to kill over twenty monsters already.

After hearing all the reports, Kim Jinsung spoke.

“Avoid combat as much as possible and focus on survival.”

Storing the reported information in his mind, Kim Jinsung continued.

“Thief 10, please respond. Thief 10?”

…There was no answer.

“Thief 10 in the sewers? Please respond. Thief 10?”

Still no answer. Sensing something was wrong, Kim Jinsung quickly gave instructions.

“Thief 9, Pung Bitgaram.”

– Yes.

“Please go down to the fourth underground level and check on Thief 10.”

* * *

At that moment, Pung Bitgaram’s expression changed upon receiving Kim Jinsung’s instructions.

“Right now?”

– Yes.

Pung Bitgaram looked around. The dark third underground level was littered with the bodies of rat and bat monsters he had defeated.

‘After all this trouble, and now I have to go back?’

Pung Bitgaram glanced back at the path he had come from. The passage was once again filled with monsters, making his previous efforts seem futile. Feeling a mix of annoyance and reluctance, Pung Bitgaram asked through the communication link.

“Can we wait a bit longer? Maybe he just forgot to respond or his earpiece fell out…”

– No, it’s dangerous if we don’t help now. Please follow my instructions.

“But if he’s in a dangerous situation, going to help might be too late anyway…”

– It’s an order.

Kim Jinsung’s firm voice made Pung Bitgaram’s expression harden.

‘This young brat…!’

With a vein bulging on his forehead, Pung Bitgaram was about to retort, but Kim Jinsung spoke first.

– Didn’t you agree to consider me the leader and follow my orders for these 24 hours?

“That’s true, but…”

– It’s only been 10 minutes, and you’re already breaking the rules?

“No, that’s not what I meant…!”

– Fine. If this continues, I’ll withdraw.

“…What?”

Startled by the sudden declaration, Pung Bitgaram asked.

– If this is how it’s going to be, there’s no point in cooperating. From now on, I’ll consider not only the Seekers but also the Thieves as enemies.

“……!”

Pung Bitgaram’s eyes widened in shock. Kim Jinsung turning against them…?

– As soon as this call ends, I’ll start by checking the underground. Ending the call now…

“Alright, I’ll follow your orders! I’m sorry!”

Pung Bitgaram urgently shouted, apologizing.

“I overstepped my bounds. I apologize. I’ll head to the sewers right away!”

– …

“Please forgive me this once. It won’t happen again!”

After a long silence, Kim Jinsung’s voice finally came through.

– If this happens again, I’ll cut off communication immediately. Be careful.

“Yes…”

– Report the situation as soon as you reach the sewers.

“Understood.”

Pung Bitgaram replied and began heading back to the entrance. Seeing a swarm of rat monsters approaching, he drew his sword. Swinging his sword at the swarm,

**Crackle!**

With a sound like thunder, the electrocuted rats were instantly killed. As he passed through, Pung Bitgaram thought to himself.

‘It’s already questionable if we can survive 24 hours against 240 Seekers even with all 10 of us cooperating. If Kim Jinsung turns against us…’

Pung Bitgaram shook his head. Just thinking about it made him dizzy. To survive as a Thief for a long time, he needed to make the most of having one of the top talents, Kim Jinsung, on his side.

‘For now, I’ll just follow orders. There’s no other choice.’

With that thought, Pung Bitgaram realized he was already near the stairs.

* * *

At that moment, Kim Jinsung, having finished his communication with Pung Bitgaram, continued scouting his surroundings while moving towards his target location.

‘By establishing my authority early on, it’ll be easier to give orders later.’

Thinking this, he entered a nearby ruin. As he searched for useful items, he continued his thoughts.

‘Honestly, if it were just about survival, I wouldn’t need any allies.’

Unlike the other Thieves, Kim Jinsung had a high probability of surviving 24 hours without anyone’s help. His skills, such as Stealth, Shadow Hiding, and Location Detection, were specialized for survival.

‘But using them will make things much easier. The Seekers include Seol Daun and other capable participants who haven’t shown their full abilities yet.’

Kim Jinsung was particularly wary of Seol Daun. The abilities and performances he had seen on YouTube were enough to warrant caution.

‘Most importantly, I can’t kill Yang Junggeun on my own.’

Killing Yang Junggeun among a crowd of people was too risky. But Kim Jinsung had no intention of letting Yang Junggeun survive until the third preliminary round. To create an opportunity to kill Yang Junggeun, he needed to divert as many Seekers as possible towards the other Thieves.

‘…Why hasn’t there been any more reports?’

After searching through one ruin, Kim Jinsung noticed the silence in his earpiece and decided to speak first.

“Thief 9, respond.”

– Yes…

“Are you in the sewers?”

– Yes, I am…

“Then why didn’t you report?”

– It’s just… Huff!

Suddenly, the sound of heavy breathing and something shattering came through.

‘…So he wasn’t ignoring me on purpose.’

It seemed he was in a situation where he couldn’t communicate.

* * *

Pung Bitgaram’s body turned into smoke in an instant. Simultaneously, a massive green slime slammed into the spot where he had been standing. With a thud, the ground caved in.

“Damn it…”

Reappearing further back, Pung Bitgaram still looked shocked.

‘Now I understand why Thief 10 didn’t respond.’

He himself had been too focused on avoiding the massive monster that had suddenly appeared to think about reporting.

‘Why is such a boss-level monster in the sewers?’

Pung Bitgaram looked ahead. The sewer ceiling was quite high, and a monster with a massive body almost touching the ceiling stood there. It could be described as a ‘bipedal slime.’

Its entire body was made of a gelatinous green substance, and it stood on two legs with a head. Most importantly,

‘…Huff!’

**Thud!**

It was incredibly fast and strong. Pung Bitgaram, who had been one of the most active participants in Group B’s preliminaries, couldn’t even think of counterattacking and was just dodging in smoke form. And even more importantly,

‘There’s not just one!’

Another massive green slime monster was approaching from a distance in Pung Bitgaram’s view. This sewer was more dangerous than a dungeon, with multiple boss-level monsters.

* * *

[Here it is! The strongest monster you can find in this second preliminary round, the Quagmire!]

(TLN: who else but Quagmire?)

The caster’s voice rose as he watched Pung Bitgaram struggle on the monitor.

[I imagine many of you don’t know what a Quagmire is, so let’s take a moment to explain.]

The TV screen changed, displaying detailed information about the Quagmire.

—

Name: Quagmire

Rank: A+

Characteristics:

– Possesses regenerative abilities

– Immune to regular attacks

– Body composed of deadly poison

– Extremely fast, even faster in water

—

– Whoa

– A+ rank?

– That’s too strong!

– And there’s more than one?

– The production team has gone too far with these traps, starting with Forghinae

– Are they supposed to kill that?

[Many viewers are shocked, but it’s not meant to be killed!]

[Think of it as the role Forghinae played in the first preliminary round. It’s essentially a ‘trap.’]

– Oh, I see

– But Forghinae was killed, remember?

– And Kim Jinsung, who killed Forghinae, is still here

– Could he do it again?

[Exactly! But remember, there was one participant who killed Forghinae, even though it wasn’t meant to be killed.]

[Indeed…]

The commentator chuckled and continued.

[We cautiously predict that if anyone can kill the Quagmire, it would be Kim Jinsung.]

[But it looks even harder than Forghinae, right? And there are more than one!]

[Yes. Forghinae didn’t move and was bred to be much smaller than the original 150 years ago. But the Quagmires in the sewers are identical to those found in actual A+ dungeons.]

* * *

At that moment, Kim Jinsung, who was being mentioned by the commentators and viewers alike…

“Is the monster really that strong?”

– Yes… Huff!

…was still communicating with the panicked Pung Bitgaram. After a heavy thud, Pung Bitgaram’s report came through again.

– From what I see, it’s at least A-rank! Its movements are on a different level… Huff!

Listening while moving, Kim Jinsung finally stopped.

Then he said,

“I’ll come to you.”

Kim Jinsung changed direction and started moving towards Pung Bitgaram.