Chapter 111

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 111: On a Pitch Black Night (5)

Parnas Hotel, Room 3233.

A high-priced room where 62,000 karma must be paid in just one night.

As Yeongwoo stepped into the room, Lim Suna bowed behind him and greeted him.

“Well then, please rest. We’ll take our leave now.”

“Yes. Thank you as always.”

Bowing his head slightly to see off the Taewon Group employees, Yeongwoo immediately took off his equipment as soon as the entrance door closed.

Click, clack, thud!

From now until 10 a.m., this space would be protected by the rental system.

In other words, as long as no one forcibly enters, there would be no danger in this room.

Of course, when it’s 11 p.m. and the Obsidian rain starts, he would have to go outside, but until then, he wanted to enjoy uninterrupted rest.

“Unbelievable.”

Yeongwoo loosened the three weapons and belts on the floor, enjoying the safety.

Then he hurried to the bedroom.

Thud!

It was to confirm if there was really a television there.

And indeed, the bedroom he arrived at did have one.

“Wow…”

As Yeongwoo had hoped, there was a television.

Moreover, it was positioned in a way that he could watch it while lying on the bed.

“It’s huge.”

[PR/N: THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID ]

The screen was so large that he thought it might as well be a window.

Upon this, Yeongwoo immediately grasped the remote control and pressed the power button.

Click.

Then.

Buzz…!

For a moment, the remote control seemed to turn into a hologram, and the television in question blinked.

Then.

Fwish!

With an eerie sound effect, the screen turned on.

“Oh, is it really working?”

Yeongwoo’s eyes widened at the unexpected development.

The television screen, which had just reflected Yeongwoo’s appearance, was now filled with gray noise.

Then suddenly.

Pfft!

The noise momentarily stopped, then began to flow steadily in a certain direction.

‘…Ah.’

To the right.

At this, Yeongwoo pressed the right direction key on the remote control as if possessed.

Click.

Then, this time, the screen brightened so much that it was blinding.

“Ugh.”

Yeongwoo’s forehead wrinkled deeply at once.

However, he couldn’t help but relax his expression after hearing the sound coming from the television.

―How long do I have to keep doing this?

―Until we’re summoned again.

―When will that be?

―I don’t know either.

“What…”

Although it sounded like muffled sound quality as if listening through a wall, it was clear because of the voices.

This voice…

“Chairman?”

It was the mutant, or rather now, ‘friend’ Kim Taejoon, the chairman, and Hong Youngtae.

So, what Yeongwoo was looking at now was…

“No way…”

The room where Yeongwoo and the others had shook hands, also known as the “returnee’s room.”

A quarantine space without a sense of time, communication with the outside world, or any external contact.

“…Youngtae!”

Yeongwoo shouted loudly as he approached the television, but the two people on the screen didn’t even flinch.

They simply sat huddled in the endless expanse of white space, gazing endlessly at a white hourglass.

While Yeongwoo could see and hear them through the television, those two didn’t even know that someone was watching them.

“Hah.”

It was just as Youngtae had said before.

He had said that going back to the room with nothing to do would drive him crazy from boredom.

Thanks to the few times he had been summoned, he could buy an hourglass at least, but before that, there was nothing in the room but white walls.

―I’ll really go crazy if I stay like this.

Eventually, Chairman Kim Taejoon, dressed in white pajamas, sprang up from his seat.

Then he looked up at the ceiling, which was so white that he couldn’t tell if it was the ceiling or the sky.

―Should I just play chess? If I have that, maybe it’ll be a bit better.

At this, Youngtae, who had been staring intently at the hourglass, grabbed Chairman Kim Tae-joon’s sleeve.

―No, Chairman! We promised to endure and buy a television.

“Huh…?”

At this point, Yeongwoo’s ears perked up.

“You can buy a television? From there?”

If he hadn’t misheard, he was sure.

The fact that there was a television among the items that could be purchased in the returnee’s room.

If so, what would appear on the television screen over there?

‘Perhaps they can see this world from over there, just as I can see that world now.’

Through this peculiar television, Yeongwoo finally realized why the rental system charged such a high fee for this room.

The rental fee of 62,000 karma for this room was essentially the usage fee for an irreplaceable function.

The spacious area and comfortable bedding were just extras.

‘Then what did Jeong Hyunsik see here…? He didn’t have anything like a whistle.’

Yeongwoo’s gaze naturally turned back to the direction button on the remote control.

The two ‘friends’ on the screen eventually resolved to endure a little longer and sat down on the road.

―Hmm.

―…

The two of them began to gaze at the hourglass in silence again.

Since it seemed like nothing would happen for a while, Yeongwoo cautiously pressed the right direction button on the remote control again.

Click.

Would there really be another channel?

Click!

Eventually, as the screen shifted somewhere else, it became much more comfortable than before.

Because what was being broadcast on the second channel was the natural light of Earth.

More precisely, it was the view of a motel called Lusso located in Cheoin-gu, Yongin City, where the morning sunlight of Earth was shining.

“Ah…”

Yeongwoo, after confirming what was playing on the screen, involuntarily covered his mouth with his hand.

“This… the battle is supported by the intergalactic weapon brand Dogo.”

“What…?”

“I am Jwong Yeongwoo07, the strongest man in Gyeongbuk, Earth.”

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

“What, what is this? This crazy guy.”

On the screen, the late Gyeongbuk’s Strongest sword, Jin, was as bewildered as ever.

Then, another scene, different but familiar, appeared.

“…It can’t be helped. This battle is supported by the intergalactic weapon brand Dogo.”

This was the moment when Yeongwoo informed Chairman Kim Taejoon of Dogo’s support.

“My goodness.”

Simply put, this channel was a collection of horrifying moments when Yeongwoo fulfilled his obligations as an advertising model.

“…”

If this continued, scenes like when he had kicked Cha Dooseong, who was honestly boxing according to the rules, would appear.

So, Yeongwoo quickly pressed the direction button on the remote control.

Click!

Then, for the first time, a dark screen appeared.

“Huh…?”

Yeongwoo thought it was noise starting again and narrowed his eyes, but soon realized it wasn’t.

“Hmm…”

Breathing sounds could be heard in the pitch-black screen.

And upon closer inspection of the dim screen, a certain figure was clearly visible.

“A… a person.”

A person.

What Yeongwoo was seeing now was someone sleeping with all the lights off.

“What, could it really be a person?”

The reason for this thought was because the background on the screen looked like a motel somewhere.

‘If that’s a real person… are they showing somewhere in this world right now?’

If that were the case, what he was seeing now was likely a live broadcast.

Without knowing who it was, they had rented a room and fallen asleep as soon as the rental service started.

‘It must have been a really tough day.’

Since the face of the person was too dark to confirm, Yeongwoo reluctantly changed the channel again.

Click!

Then, the screen suddenly brightened again.

Shoaaaa…!

It was accompanied by the sound of water out of nowhere.

“…?”

Yeongwoo’s eyes widened in fear as the sight of a foreigner washing his wounded body filled his vision.

And the title above his head.

“Wh-what!”

Yeongwoo let out a scream-like sound.

『Swordmaster, London』

“No…!”

Although it was so alien, paradoxically, something that seemed to be known or not known stirred in his mind.

What he was looking at right now, no matter how you looked at it.

‘Isn’t that the Strongest Sword from abroad?’

No, more precisely, it should be ‘Swordmaster’.

It seemed that the concept of ‘Strongest Sword’ didn’t exist there.

“What’s this? Why are they showing this?”

Panicked, Yeongwoo repeatedly pressed the direction button on the remote control, and each time, people of different races appeared one by one.

And the forms of the titles each of them had on their heads were also different.

Guardian Sword, Sword Judge…

And some had the title ‘Five Heroes of Shanxi’, which Yeongwoo thought belonged to the Strongest Sword system of China.

“Is this all real?”

[TL/N: Chat is this real? Or is Yeongwoo tripping rn]

The ‘World’s Strongest’ channel Yeongwoo could see had a total of six channels.

And after scrolling through all the channels, it returned to the initial noisy screen.

He experienced all the contents that this strange television had to offer at least once.

Then.

-Taxes will be collected starting shortly at 10 p.m.

―The basic tax amount is 1,000 karma, and non-payers of taxes will be forfeited immediately at the time of collection.

A tax collection notice appeared in Youngwoo’s field of vision, informing him that it had already reached 10 p.m.

“Wow, already.”

Yeongwoo, who had been engrossed in the television and had lost track of time, was suddenly brought back to reality.

Beep beep.

Suddenly, the alarm on Yeongwoo’s wristwatch rang, indicating 10 p.m.

And at the same time.

-As of now, taxes will be collected.

|Basic tax: 1,000

|Deduction item: Single household

|Final tax: 500

For a moment, his body felt cold, and 500 karma in taxes was automatically withdrawn.

* Available Karma: 996,000

Tax payment completed.

Yeongwoo, who had once again endured another day, stared blankly at the disappearing tax details in his vision, then shifted his gaze back to the peculiar television.

With a calmer mind than before, he began to flip through the channels one by one.

These were the world’s strongest individuals spending their night in their own ways.

‘But why are they showing this? Is it to inform us that we will soon be going overseas?’

Perhaps they were the main characters or candidates for the new achievement, ‘Ending Maker’.

Or maybe they were candidates for the lead role.

Anyway, one thing seemed certain.

‘Jeong Hyunsik must have seen something completely different from me. It seems that depending on the user, completely different channels are shown.’

Then what did Jeong Hyunsik, the original owner of the Dragon’s Legacy, see?

Yeongwoo pondered vaguely, then immediately straightened up and began to execute what he needed to do right away.

He started to memorize the titles and faces of the overseas strongmen shown on television.

Except for one person whose face couldn’t be confirmed due to the darkness of the screen, the owners of the other five channels clearly showed their titles and faces.

「00:58:14」

Now, there were about 58 minutes left until the Obsidian rain fell.

‘But it should only take about 20 minutes to memorize the five people. Five Heroes of Shanxi, Five Heroes of Shanxi, Five Heroes of Shanxi…!’

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]