episode_0163

163. Snake.

“Huff, huff… Did I get rid of her?”

John muttered, wiping the sweat flowing down his chin. His whole body trembled. Unless it was a team battle, she definitely had the advantage in a 1-on-1 duel.

The way she approached him while being hit with spells all over her body… she was nothing short of a demon.

At that moment, the faintly sensed life reaction disappeared. Judging from the circumstances, her breath had stopped.

[The match is over.]

The blue window that followed further convinced John. John immediately threw himself backward.

Thud-

The ground, dried by the influence of the flame spell, rustled. He closed his eyes as he was.

“······.”

John’s fingertips, which were trembling finely, stopped. His consciousness sank below the surface of the water.

***

When John opened his eyes, he was lying in a room that felt somehow familiar.

“Umm······.”

He felt a soft mattress behind his back. It was much better quality than the one he used in reality.

John rolled his eyes. There, a figure was sitting, staring at him since earlier.

A woman with mysterious rainbow-colored hair, who definitely didn’t seem human.

Her mouth opened. At the same time, a blue window appeared in front of his eyes.

[Are you awake?]

“······Yes.”

[Congratulations. Player Shin John now has the opportunity to challenge the Chairman.]

It was very bizarre to convey congratulations with a blank face. John nodded with an awkward expression.

“Yes. So when do I challenge?”

[You can do it anytime. Please come to the Colosseum whenever you want to challenge. The Chairman will always be waiting for Player Shin John.]

“Anytime······.”

‘What’s with this Chairman person being so free?’

As if she had predicted John’s thoughts, the rainbow woman added a word.

[Currently, Player Shin John is the highest-ranked VIP.]

“Well, are there any benefits?”

He asked without much thought, but surprisingly, her answer was affirmative.

[Yes.]

“······Really? What is it?”

[You can challenge the Chairman anytime.]

“······.”

He was completely let down. John lay back down on the bed and waved his hand.

“Okay, I understand for now. Is that all you needed?”

[Yes.]

“Then go out. Because I want to rest.”

[Yes.]

She opened the door and went out without any regrets. Her rainbow-colored hair didn’t flutter at all.

Thump-

As soon as she left, John looked around with a blank gaze. It had a similar structure to the reward room. Except it was smaller and had a bed.

John blurted out.

“It’s about time she came.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the door burst open.

“John! Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

Her eyebrows furrowed at John’s indifferent answer.

“······Don’t answer vaguely, are you really okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m really okay. But Sarah, shouldn’t I be the one saying that to you?”

You’re the one who died. John added like that.

“Of course I’m okay. I died and came back to life. On the contrary, you didn’t come back to life.”

“······.”

It was a strangely convincing answer.

Sarah glanced back at the door and grumbled.

“What did that woman say?”

“Why?”

“I said I’d like to go in for a bit, but she blocked me so much, she was so stubborn.”

“······Is that so?”

She didn’t seem like that kind of person. John nodded vaguely.

“She didn’t say much. She just asked when I was going to fight the manager.”

“When are you going to see him?”

“As soon as I recover, I’m going to challenge him right away.”

At that, Sarah hesitated for a moment and asked. Her expression was darker than before. I don’t know if she’s aware of it.

“······It’s not urgent, is it? Take your time. Is there a time limit or anything?”

“No. There’s nothing like that.”

“Then take it easy. What if you fail after challenging rashly?”

John tilted his head at her words.

“Are you serious?”

“······Yeah.”

Silence lingered between the two. John was swept up in a strange feeling.

What if you fail after challenging rashly······.

‘For you, an infinite regressor, isn’t that too out of place to say?’

John didn’t say those words out loud. Because─

‘Why are your eyes like that?’

Her red eyeballs were shining grotesquely.

John swallowed dryly and said.

“Shall we go back for now?”

“Yes!”

Sarah answered, visibly delighted. John immediately got up and got out of bed. The two men and women left the Colosseum as is.

In between, citizens who recognized the winner asked for autographs. John was going to ignore them, but he showed a miracle of making mass autographs using magic.

“Oooooh!”

The black stream of water that floated in the air shot around and inscribed letters on the citizens’ papers.

The citizens were worried that the black water would flow down for a moment, but it was a liquid with a stronger viscosity than ink.

“Indeed, the winner is different.”

Some people with knowledge of magic quietly marveled.

Even though he signed multiple papers, it was as elaborate as if it were printed by a machine.

Eventually, a magician couldn’t stand it and asked John a question.

“How on earth did you do it? Is there any method?”

Originally, such questions are rude among magicians. Unless you give adequate compensation for it.

However, too excited, the magician forgot the implicit rule. It was already too late when he realized this belatedly.

John looked at the man making an ‘Oh no······.’ expression. Then he said casually.

“After spreading the magic power widely to grasp the positions of all the papers, you can sign each one with the same magic power arrangement.”

“······.”

The magician was speechless.

‘How can you do that······.’

His inner self began to shake uncontrollably.

He realized the overwhelming difference in capabilities and fell into Demonic Possession.

“Oh my, be careful.”

John stretched out his finger and tapped the magician’s chest. Then, as if by a lie, the swaying of magic power subsided.

“······Huh?”

Wait, did he just cure Demonic Possession? With such a simple gesture?

“Concentrate on what you can do. Don’t compare yourself to others. Then goodbye.”

Immediately after, the two men and women suddenly disappeared. The citizens who were trying to get new autographs became like dogs chasing chickens.

***

John and Sarah entered a familiar hotel. John said, parting ways in the hallway.

“I’m going to rest for a bit. Contact me when it’s time to eat. Or, should we just eat separately?”

“No. Let’s eat together. I’ll contact you.”

“Okay.”

The two men and women who said that entered their respective rooms.

Thud-

John threw himself on the bed as soon as he entered the room. He was a little uncomfortable because he didn’t take a shower, but fatigue preceded him.

“Haa, I thought I was going to die from fatigue.”

He closed his eyes and recalled the events that had happened today one by one. Starting from getting the Iron Order to fighting Sarah.

The most difficult thing of all was definitely the match with Sarah. She was so persistent that he still gets goosebumps just thinking about it.

The thought continued, reaching the conversation he had with Sarah in the hospital room just now.

“Take it easy······.”

John kept mumbling that one word in his mouth. It was a sentence that remained particularly in his mind. Why is that.

Then, suddenly, John let out a hearty laugh.

“This, I think something really big has happened.”

He desperately prayed that his prediction would be wrong.

***

Click, John roughly locked the door and came out. After lying on the bed for a while, Sarah contacted him with the hotel phone.

She asked if it was okay to eat soon. John felt an uneasy feeling for no reason and greeted her.

“Oh, John. You came?”

“······Yeah.”

Sarah pointed to the hotel front door with a strangely awkward gesture.

“Shall we go? I heard from a local here that there’s a good bar near here.”

“Are you going to drink?”

“······Yeah. Why? Is there a problem?”

“No, I’m just a little tired.”

As John answered like that, Sarah’s expression cracked. At the same time, the uneasy feeling grew even stronger.

Sarah smiled softly and said.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. Let’s drink a little today and sleep soundly. We have plenty of time anyway, right?”

“That’s true, but······.”

Perhaps she read the strange denial in John’s ambiguous answer, she grabbed John’s sleeve tightly.

“You’re going, right?”

“······.”

She almost dragged John out.

But for some reason, even though they walked quite a bit, the destination still didn’t appear. Eventually, John opened his mouth.

“······Didn’t you say it was nearby?”

“Huh? Ah, we’re almost there. Don’t worry.”

“You know we’ve been walking for 30 minutes now, right?”

“Re, really? Has it already been that long? Haha.”

Sarah turned her head unnaturally and said.

“It’s just ten more minutes. It’s a really good restaurant. Okay?”

“······.”

John’s eyes narrowed like anchovy fry. She ignored it and kept walking.

And finally, she stopped walking.

The sign that read ‘Poisonous Liquor’ was the first thing he saw. When he lowered his gaze, a bar with a black design welcomed him.

The strange thing was, he could only feel one person’s presence inside the bar.

“It’s too quiet, isn’t it? Sarah. Is this the right place?”

“I rented it. It’s happened before, right? Why are you making a fuss?”

Sarah grabbed John’s sleeve and entered the store.

From afar, it looked like John was being dragged into the mouth of a black beast. Although John didn’t realize it.

Creak- Thump.

The door of the bar that received today’s last guest closed quietly. On one corner of the bar’s sign, it was written like this.

[*Try the Snake Wine made directly by the Snake Beastkin! One person may die from eating it together!]