### Chapter 411 – Room 206, The Curse Room – ‘The Demon King Who Revives After 100 Days’ (13)
—
I, Park Seungyub.
Age: 14, Gender: Male.
Here I am, facing my once-in-a-lifetime showdown.
— Kwoooah!
The enemy is the greatest beast born from nature itself.
A god of violence shaking the heavens with one roar.
But who am I?
A martial prodigy recorded in the history of the Jianghu, recognized by the world’s best swordsman, Lee Jaesung!
Therefore, I will not retreat in this battle.
As I stand on the brink of this life-and-death struggle, I recall two days ago.
Is this the light of a passing horse or something like that?
*
Mei is probably the ‘Progenitor.’
No one explained it to me, but the experiences I’ve gained from the hotel tell me so.
The choice of the hotel to set the nursery as my starting point wasn’t without a reason.
The day after Mei vanished like a soap bubble, the headmaster shook me awake.
“Ugh… What is it?”
“Follow me.”
The headmaster led me down the stairs to the basement of the nursery.
“…”
“…”
We descended for nearly an hour.
I was so exhausted I had to take short breaks every now and then.
During one of those moments, the headmaster spoke.
“Have you met Him?”
“He… do you mean Mei?”
The headmaster’s eyes widened.
“Mei ‘nim’?”
“Yeah. Did she say anything important?”
“Nothing particularly profound… She just looked a bit tired?”
“Whew.”
“Where are you taking me?”
After walking in silence for a while, the headmaster finally spoke again.
“Outside.”
“Excuse me?”
“You are a special child. You’ve recognized that person, after all.”
“Such-”
“This city turns special children into ordinary ones.”
I think he was referring to the ‘Indomitable Reason’ I faintly heard about at the start.
“Go outside. There, you shall meet your destiny.”
With those words, the headmaster handed me a rather large bag.
Inside were chocolate bars and supplies for camping.
“Walk about 200 meters along this road, and you’ll find a river. Follow the river upstream.”
“How long will that take?”
“A week?”
“W-wait, is it really that long?”
“If you can’t endure that, it means your potential isn’t enough.”
“…”
*
Now, a day has passed since that moment, and I have faced my destiny.
— Woaaah!
As the gray bear roars, every hair on my body stands on end.
“Whoo! Whoo!”
I’m reminded.
How does one face a bear with bare hands?
I think I know!
I’m sure I read something about it on the internet.
Something like this, right?
「If it’s a gorilla, maybe, but against a bear, it’s easy!
1. Wait for the bear to stand and attack.
2. A beast’s punch is predictable. Dodge the rookie-style punch and charge forward.
3. Quickly move behind the bear.
4. You know? Bears can’t reach their backs with their short limbs.
5. Properly choke it out. Even the strongest beast will fall when blood to the brain is cut off.」
That should take about 30 seconds, right?
As I recalled that reliable information, confidence surged through my whole body.
— Woaaaah!
The bear roars and charges at me. Step one!
I brace myself to dodge its punch—
[Fortune Activation! The energy of the universe protects you!]
… I dodged!
The bear suddenly buckled and fell!
Did I dodge it with an epic move?
Now’s my chance to move in behind it!
“Yahap!”
Ha, this is the difference between the apex predator and a wild beast.
There’s no way a bear could harm a human from behind—
— Thump!
“Ahhh!”
What the heck? That crazy bear just rolled on the ground!
Step four! I failed step four!
Whoever that loser is, just why?
“Ahhh!”
— Crash!
Someone threw me against the concrete wall.
For a moment, I felt like my lungs were going to burst.
“P-please!”
No! No no no no!
Seriously, am I gonna die because of a scam artist on the internet!?
In my hazy sight, I flailed my limbs around.
Blood surged from deep within my heart, warming my body and flowing to my fingertips.
In that desperate moment, ‘Soul of Aksha’ activated.
— Khe-eek!
When I opened my eyes, I realized the explosive force from the Soul of Aksha had crushed the bear’s eyes and brain!
“… What?”
Is this even possible?
Even when I was training alone staring at the wall in the hotel, five out of ten times nothing happened!
To break through a less than 20% chance, and it just happened to hit the bear’s eyes perfectly.
…
Maybe I could have just relied on luck and stayed put, and the bear would’ve died anyway?
Let’s think positively.
This is a kind of talent too!
My master would surely admire me now.
After that, I moved along the river for about three days without any incident.
I encountered some small animals now and then, but honestly, nothing major.
Eventually, the meaning of what the headmaster referred to as ‘the outside reality’ was revealed.
…
Another ‘paradise’ appeared before my eyes.
Humanity’s final city was, in fact, not the final city.
*
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 273 (+41)
Current Location: Room 206, The Curse Room – ‘The Demon King Who Revives After 100 Days’
Sage’s Advice: 3]
— Han Kain
The days went by.
How many humans has the Indomitable Reason devoured during that time?
I don’t know. The only important fact is the extinguished furnace is beginning to heat up again.
— Kyaaaah!
In the meantime, I solved many questions through talks with the Progenitor.
The reason she didn’t use the One More Chance until the moment the mayor died was simply there wasn’t one available.
The One More Chance, casually referred to by the Progenitor as a ‘coin,’ was originally hers and had just been borrowed from the Kardirovs.
She retrieved the coin from the mayor after her rewind.
— Please… please let me live!
“While the Indomitable Reason alone may struggle, with the One More Chance added, we can suppress the Demon King in the early stages of revival. Surely, right?”
— You devils! Hell awaits you all!
The Progenitor murmured with an endlessly tired expression.
“You left out the most crucial point. Someone must be able to bash the waking Demon King back into the underground.”
“Okay. So in the early stages, it seems like it can be pressured.”
“Didn’t you hear what I said? Someone has to defeat the Demon King!”
“Should I start preparing to go up soon…?”
“No, just because it’s the early stages doesn’t mean the Demon King is on the same level as those monstrous things above.”
— Ah… God! Let these monsters rain down their divine wrath!
The Progenitor couldn’t fathom how I intended to temporarily stop the unchained Demon God.
I had no way to explain about the Descent either.
At that moment, finally, a faint spark ignited in the Indomitable Reason.
[Descent: 1 -> 0]
Now’s the time.
Right before the Indomitable Reason started to exert its power, at the pivotal moment!
If I miss this moment, I won’t be able to use the Descent.
Celestial waves broke through the paradise ceiling and fell upon me.
The Progenitor looked at me in shock.
“You are… what the hell!?”
“Now do you understand what I meant?”
*
This is my fourth Descent!
I thought I’d get used to it the more times I did it.
Nope.
Each time is a fresh experience.
The sharp sensations that extend endlessly devour all the information the world holds greedily.
In this process, my frail mind couldn’t withstand the storm of information and screamed.
The volcanic strength surging from my whole body felt utterly uncontrollable.
Just twitching a finger could likely trigger an earthquake, such omnipotence squeezed my soul.
Yet, just as in the past, the painful moments didn’t last long.
The Descent doesn’t just provide power; it grants the capacity to endure that power too.
One second, or less.
In a flash, I pierced through the dome and rose above the paradise, looking down on the city.
For a brief moment, it seemed like the Indomitable Reason had regained its strength, the bizarre fiends that filled the city melted away like ice exposed to sunlight.
“Come out. After some time, the Indomitable Reason will become burdensome for you too, so even if you’re unprepared, you must emerge!”
— Bang!
Just then, the dome ahead shattered, and Miro rose up.
“G-gain!”
“Still can’t control a single human body, huh?”
「G-gain, g-gain, g-gain, g-gain, g-gain, g-gain, g-gain, g-gain!」
“…”
What a discomforting display, akin to playing with a toy.
I wonder what Miro’s role is in the scenario of Room 206?
At first, I thought Miro was the ‘Progenitor,’ but she appeared in the form of a completely different brown-haired girl.
I don’t know.
There seems to be no grand role for Miro in the known history of paradise.
I subtly probed the Progenitor about it, but she seemed to have no clue either.
It suggests that Miro’s identity is something even the Progenitor, who knows most of the city’s secrets, cannot grasp.
There’s too little information regarding Room 206.
— Rumble!
Finally, the hand of the Demon King emerged, collapsing the center of the city.
*
There’s not even a second to delay.
The moment that hand escapes, I realize.
The Demon King’s full body is coming out beyond that horrifying hand?
At that moment, even if I were to gain strength surpassing the Descent, there’s no way I could win.
Even if the main character from Room 104 came in, it wouldn’t be easy.
I’ve always thought while watching various cartoons and movies since I was a child.
Why do people always give their opponents a chance?
In a life-and-death battle, simply exchanging words is commonplace.
People lose out on the chance to land a critical hit or say something like, ‘Let’s call it a day for now,’ causing viewers to want to grab their necks.
I had no intention of doing anything of the sort.
After all, this enemy isn’t even one who could afford such leisurely behavior.
So I started right away with my strongest potential move.
The great power of the Descent that the ‘Celestial Dragon’ previously imparted to me.
“The declaration states, you have granted me three chances!”
…
“Once again! The declaration states, you have granted me three chances!”
Seriously, if I’m going to be dramatic, there should be at least some minimal reaction!
Why is the ‘Judgment’ contained in the words of power not reacting at all?
The strongest card was blocked right from the start, and in that moment, the Demon King’s hand grasped me.
*
The city collapses.
The city that endured by incinerating humans falls into the abyss.
I behold the endless pit from which demons crawl out.
I witness the malicious intentions mocking all the efforts made by the Mayor and the people of Paradise.
In a red-hued imagery, as if seeing flames dancing in joyful winds, I could hear tales of burning “Father’s love,” “Mother’s awakening,” and “when hungry, I chewed on my sister’s leg, only to find she had eaten it.”
Amidst the madness, I unfold my grimoire.
Am I going crazy? The power of the Demon King is still melting me away as we speak?
Foolish. Madness is not a collection but a complement; the madness of the grimoire might lead to salvation.
What does that even mean? Who do you think you are to be that arrogant?
As the Demon King pulls us north, even the Descent struggles against it, drifting aimlessly.
Thus, shouldn’t I channel the power of the grimoire to draw it south instead?
Did you plan something so pathetic and call it a strategy?
Just try anything at this point; better than quietly dying, right?
— Flap!
Surprisingly, I regained my senses.
My mind, which was fracturing in all directions, managed to stabilize.
…
Is this hell?
Or a more dreadful place?
It feels small. Faint and weak.
I, the Descent, and the grimoire.
Everything feels like a dim candlelight in this abyss.
Just moments ago, I thought I had obtained a near-omnipotent power….
Now, no matter how much I pour those two strengths, all I can manage is to fend off the impulses surging in from everywhere.
Impulses. Impulses. Impulses.
I feel the infinite impulses swirling around as if they were a tornado.
I see black eyes writhing from below.
They are the eyes of the Demon King, a swirl of malignant flames tangled in the ages.
Right now, am I preventing that existence from breaking free?
Can what I’m facing truly be called a fight?
I don’t know.
I simply held on, enduring and enduring.
There was no room to utilize any skills or powers whatsoever.
I merely released the power bestowed by the Descent over and over.
I think of a stellar body igniting in this empty universe.
For eons, even time is but an instant to the stars, and they burn eternally in the abyss.
Did that endless fusion of cores warm the universe?
The temperature of the universe is –270.42452℃.
Isn’t it too cold and vast for the power of a star alone to warm?
I am the star, and this place is the universe.
— Bang!
I feel a tremendous wave that shakes the fabric of space-time.
As the clock of all creation starts to turn backward, I finally know that the painful moment has come to an end.
「You have successfully escaped!
It’s clear that killing the mayor without fully understanding your role was a mistake on your part, wasn’t it?
In the end, you weren’t able to stop the revival of the Demon King, leading to your own ruin.
However, the Descent, the Descent!
What an absurd power it is!
Well, I suppose gaining the Descent was indeed your luck and a blessing.
In this hotel, luck is tantamount to skill, isn’t it?
Remember this.
You shall not receive any more Descents.
Now, it’s time to repay your debts.
…
You have escaped from the curse.
However, you still feel the source of the curse remains.
A successful escapee among your comrades! Congratulations! With one successful escapee, all members return safely.」
—
I will repay with diligent updates.
P.S. The image of bear vs. human was found on the internet, and this link is the original. I really laughed hard looking at it, so you all should definitely check it out for some fun.
https://www.bobaedream.co.kr/view?code=best&No=15013&vdate=
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