Chapter 50

Chapter 25: Two Hearts (8)

At the end of the underground stairs.

Build hastily pushed open the iron door.

Inside was a strange room where hundreds of glass tubes were installed along the ceiling, walls, and floor, entangled like vines.

But Build passed through these glass tubes and stood in front of a purple stone placed in the deepest part of the room.

The stone was continuously receiving something through countless glass tubes.

A red, dark, and murky aura.

It was an unknown energy created by sacrificing countless players.

Build and his companions had called this energy 'Essence' over the past few years and had tried their best to produce more of it.

But now, things were different.

Build tore the glass tubes haphazardly.

The essence leaked out and evaporated quickly, turning the air murky.

But he didn't notice any of that.

His mind was completely focused on the purple stone.

Rattle, rattle, rattle...

With trembling hands, Build carefully picked up the purple stone.

How much time had he wasted because of this?

While his companions climbed higher and became stronger, he had held back, striving to create this.

He wanted to offer it to his master so that he could truly become the 'King.'

He wanted to be the King's right-hand man, to wield absolute power and rule from the top of the tower.

But now, his thoughts had changed.

Build wanted to live, and for that, he desperately needed this stone.

An object that brought both hope and despair, but now it was also a source of new power.

Build opened his mouth wide and swallowed the stone.

It was the size of a fist, making it hard to swallow, but now was not the time to worry about that.

The stone was a crystalline structure, highly concentrated and compressed through multiple purifications.

His master had said that by simply swallowing it, an enormous amount of magic power would be generated.

And he added that the result would be one of two things:

Either the body would be unable to withstand the magic power and explode, or it would undergo an extreme transformation.

He also mentioned that if the stone was 'complete,' there would be no risk of explosion.

Now, Build could only hope that the stone was as close to complete as possible.

So he swallowed it and waited for changes to occur in his body.

But then,

"...What...?"

Build's face was filled with bewilderment.

He could feel the stone sliding down his esophagus and into his stomach.

Something should have happened immediately.

But nothing did.

"Just... what's going on...!"

Build shouted, unable to understand the cause.

What was happening?

What had gone wrong?

Had he missed something?

Build's mind raced.

Had he made a mistake? Had he missed something in the process of swallowing the stone?

But nothing came to mind, and his thoughts turned blank. The demon was probably already right in front of him.

Build, feeling helpless, pushed his fingers into his mouth. He planned to vomit the stone and swallow it again.

If it didn't work, he would keep trying until it did.

Until the stone fully activated.

After several failed attempts, he finally vomited the stone.

The stone still glowed with a sinister purple light.

Build, frowning deeply, picked up the stone and swallowed it again. But once more, nothing happened. So he had to vomit it out again.

Build repeated this process several times.

Each time, his stomach acid dripped onto the floor, but the stone remained unchanged.

"Why!"

Build felt like he was going mad.

"Why!"

Each time he vomited, the purple stone emitted the same sinister light. The essence inside the stone continued to squirm.

But the stone refused to activate for Build.

Like a rose that refused to bend, it stood proudly, thorns raised, as if to say he was not worthy of being its master.

This only drove Build further into madness.

The fear and anxiety that the demon might have already killed the remaining Mangseokjung and was now approaching his bedside pushed him into a corner.

But nothing changed.

Creak.

The iron door opened, and a dark shadow fell over the warehouse.

Build, his face pale, quickly turned his gaze.

There,

Yeonwoo was smiling coldly.

"Is this the best place you could run to?"

Build wanted to scream.

But no words came out of his wide-open mouth.

It felt as if an invisible hand was choking him.

"Is this the 'stone' you were trying to create? It doesn't look like much. Is something not working right?"

Yeonwoo glanced at the purple stone that Build was clutching.

Build, startled, quickly swallowed the stone again.

But Yeonwoo didn't seem to care.

'So many people were sacrificed to create this, and it's just a failure.'

[Purple Stone]

Unidentifiable. Unreadable.

The stone was an object that provided no information.

It was unclear if it was incomplete or if there was a problem in the manufacturing process.

But one thing was certain:

It was unusable.

No matter how desperately Build tried to swallow it, nothing would change.

Even when examined with the Dragon Eye, the purple stone was full of flaws.

Not just full, but so entangled that it looked like a ball of yarn.

Such an object would typically be classified as F-grade trash.

Yeonwoo couldn't help but laugh.

For Leont to have invested so much time and money to create something like this.

Such an object was not even a weakness. It would be better to just get rid of it.

So Yeonwoo waited for Build to finish swallowing and then slowly approached.

"Done eating?"

"Ugh...! Ugh!"

Build started to squirm. The stone still showed no signs of activation.

His last hope shattered completely. He stumbled backward, fell on his buttocks, and continued to retreat.

He silently pleaded for Yeonwoo not to come closer, but Yeonwoo approached with a cold gaze.

"Wha... t!"

The demon's shadow loomed over his throat. A hoarse voice barely escaped his wide-open mouth.

"Why... why!"

Once the words started, they poured out in a torrent. Build, filled with rage, shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Why! Why are you tormenting me like this? What have we done to you? What grudge do you have against us that you interfere in things that have nothing to do with you?"

Build truly resented Yeonwoo.

If only he hadn't.

If he hadn't, everything would have gone smoothly.

His master would have obtained the complete stone, and he would have gained the power he desired. He would have transferred to the tower and succeeded as planned.

He wouldn't have had to care about others' affairs like other players, just focusing on his own goals.

Why did he do this...!

Build didn't think about how many times he had tried to capture Yeonwoo.

People only remember what they have suffered, not what they have done.

At that moment,

Chuckle.

"Why are you tormenting me?"

A small laugh escaped from under the mask.

"You asked why? What grudge do I have against you?"

Yeonwoo slowly reached for his mask.

"Does this answer your question?"

Yeonwoo removed the mask completely.

And the face that was revealed...

Instantly, Build's face turned pale.

A feeling beyond fear, indescribable, took over his entire body.

A face that should never have been there!

Yeonwoo spoke to Build with Jungwoo's face, Jungwoo's eyes, and Jungwoo's voice.

"You probably don't know how much I missed you all."

"......!"

Build wanted to say something.

But his voice was completely gone. He was cornered, unable to move.

Yeonwoo approached, holding the dagger of Karsuna in reverse.

The blade shone as coldly as his smile.

* * *

Aaah!

Soon, a rough scream echoed through the underground stairs.

* * *

"Kil... l me."

For the first time, Build, who had been begging for his life, now begged for death.

He had long since fallen to a state where he could no longer be called human.

All that remained was a mouth that could speak and a brain that could recall memories.

Build had to endure a time of unimaginable pain.

A time where living felt like not living at all. A time so difficult that he desperately wished for a peaceful death.

Yeonwoo asked many questions of Build's body.

Build's mind was clearly devastated. The shock of seeing a dead man return had left him with aphasia, unable to speak.

But his body was different.

Apart from losing a lot of blood from his left arm being cut off, he still had many intact parts.

By probing these areas and continuing to ask questions, his devastated mind would eventually return.

Thanks to this, Yeonwoo learned a lot from Build.

After Jungwoo's death and the dissolution of Artia.

After the purpose of the alliance of the eight clans disappeared.

The tower underwent significant changes.

The power dynamics shifted, and the former members of Artia sought their own paths in various places. Each obtained what they desired.

As always.

Despite experiencing such events, they continued to live their lives as they always had.

While someone's life was cut short.

'So, it was like this from the beginning. Unlike Jungwoo, to you, this was just a normal occurrence.'

He had hoped that at least one of them might feel a little remorse.

But he didn't really expect much.

So Yeonwoo couldn't help but laugh.

It meant he could let loose without restraint.

"Pl... ease."

At that moment, Build's weak plea broke Yeonwoo's thoughts.

Chuckle.

Yeonwoo, looking at the lump of flesh he was sitting on, asked,

"Do you want to die?"

"Pl... ease."

"But what can I do? I'm a contrarian, so when someone asks me for something, I want to do the opposite."

"Pl... ease!"

"Besides, there are many friends who are desperately looking for you."

Yeonwoo casually waved his hand.

Swoosh.

Black mist filled the air, and one by one, white ghosts began to appear.

Their number was in the thousands.

Originally, they were bound in the human farm in the warehouse, but Yeonwoo had enhanced them through the black bracelet.

The black bracelet could consume bound spirits to emit dark magic power, and by infusing this power into the ghosts, they could be enhanced to a higher level.

This was the birth of the Evil Spirits.

The spirits who had been unjustly turned into materials for the stone wanted to take revenge on Build.

So they willingly became Yeonwoo's servants, and thanks to this, they could appear as Evil Spirits before Build.

Build let out a shrill scream.

A plea for death. A desperate request to be released after revealing everything he knew.

But his anguished cries were completely drowned out by the eerie wails of the Evil Spirits.

Creak, thud!

Yeonwoo closed the iron door as he had entered. It would likely never be opened again.

Then he began to climb the spiral stairs upward.

Thud.

Thud.