Surviving Every Worldview

Chapter 33: Serial Murder in the Middle of the Night (3)

“Wake up, wake up!”

I walked over to the fallen Park Joo-hyung and shook his shoulder, trying to wake him up.

He’s still alive but his consciousness hasn’t returned.

His eyes, which had become white, never returned to their original color.

…Was he in such a hurry because he knew this would happen?

I took out his cell phone and checked the message from AA again.

‘Keep your promise before time runs out’.

This wasn’t just a threat.

After seeing the consequences of ignoring his warnings firsthand, I realized what he meant by those words.

A story.

A story strong enough to remotely attack someone they never met in person and have only spoken to over the internet.

But as strong as it was, it was also easy to recognize.

The ability to make enforceable contracts.

[Mephisto]

Named after a famous demon, it is a trait of oaths.

[You have revealed a trait your opponent possesses.]

[Mastery increased +3.7%]

—

[Mephisto]

Creates a contract that enforces penalties for failure to fulfill its terms.

However, it can only be triggered with the consent of both parties, determined without outside pressure.

The higher the talent’s rank, the stronger the conditions and quid pro quo in the contract.

—

This trait requires “uncoerced consent” but does not require “in person”.

So you have accomplices all over the country, and they don’t have a lot of information.

……So what do I do now?

There’s no way to stop this story unless I can track down the mastermind.

Perhaps because the target was not right in front of me, they didn’t even tell me the name of the culprit even though I figured out the characteristics.

Should I keep pretending to be Park Joo-hyung and send him texts?

No. The chat history so far hasn’t given me any useful information anyway.

Should I try to pinpoint the location by comparing the direction of the line to where the crime took place?

No, I can’t get a precise location.

If this had happened later, I would have done something to prepare for this.

-Bing!

The phone in my pocket got a notification.

It wasn’t my phone, it was Park Joo-hyung’s phone.

It was a private message from someone and the nickname of the person who sent the private message was AA.

AA: You there. I saw you.

AA: If you don’t want to be like him, keep quiet.

The chat couldn’t be used unless I knew the full context, such as who lost consciousness and how, and who was holding the phone.

Now, I was being watched.

Since when?

In the worst case, from the beginning, but probably not.

What is more likely is that it started around the time that AA warned there were few reported incidents.

Fortunately, by then, I had already moved out of my house and kept Park Joo-hyung here.

There’s no way Do-yeon will be in danger.

I was relieved and wrote back to AA.

AE (me): What if I don’t want to?

AA: I’ve already located you.

AA: I can go find you myself right now.

I have to solve this problem before morning and he is coming to me?

It was an opportunity, a way to reopen this lead that could be cut off at any moment.

To make this guy’s threat irrevocable and real…….

I need to play someone who is interfering with his plans.

So that this AA, the mastermind, feels compelled to deal with me right away.

AE (me): I wouldn’t have kept this guy if I was going to fall for your threats.

AA: Let’s see if you say that face-to-face.

AA hasn’t messaged me since.

The group chat room was no longer renewed, I was kicked out, and the cell phone is now useless.

The leads are gone.

Now I can’t track him down, and I’m in a situation where my life is threatened by the other person but I have no intention of running away.

I’m stuck with no clues, and he’s willing to come to me.

I can’t thank him enough.

I’m sure he’s overpowered, but now is the time to nip this in the bud before it gets out of hand.

He’s probably watching me now, so let’s keep up the charade.

“……I need to hide.”

I muttered under my breath, picked up Park Joo-hyung, and walked away.

Whether it was a park or a mountain, I needed to find an unpopulated area and pretend to be invisible.

First of all, if AA was spying on me, it was most likely through Park Joo-hyung.

He has a contract that allows him to monitor the person he made a deal with, and I happen to be there, so we can see each other.

That’s why I shouldn’t leave him alone.

I have to lure him to the right place while making him look at me naturally.

I continue my act, pretending not to have guessed the truth.

I don’t know how long I can fool him.

I don’t even know if the place I’m headed is really the right choice.

“Four-thirty…thirty minutes past four.”

Arriving at my target location, I hid Park Joo-hyung in a suitable spot.

There was supposed to be a guard, but thanks to the unwritten rules, there was no one there now.

“There’s a problem. I think we’re in bigger trouble than we thought. We need to find some way to resolve it with evidence… Oh, right. What happened is—”

I muttered to myself, pretending to make a phone call, and moved far enough away from Park Joo-hyung.

To check everything I had now, before things got serious.

Luckily, I replenished my supplies after the episode ended, so I had plenty of tools Do-Yeon had made for me.

Especially when it comes to gadgets like smoke bombs, she’s made everything she can think of.

It seems that Do-yeon has adapted and can easily make things that exist in the real world.

“And this…….”

While looking at the equipment, I noticed a strange box in my inventory that looked like a black suitcase.

I recognize it from somewhere.

-Click!

I opened it up and found a bunch of unexpected tools, an instruction manual, and a holster for my belt.

The contents reminded me of when I received this case.

You never know when you’ll need something like this.

I strapped my new tool to my waist and pushed myself up.

Now, time to get ready for the ringleader.

* * * *

It’s about 5:10 a.m.

Someone dressed in black stood in front of an amusement park that had closed hours earlier.

There was no romantic music playing at closing time, no light source of any kind, and the entrance was shuttered.

But he had a reason to go inside.

—

[Mephisto]

You have 1 contract going on.

You can take away the consciousness of “the one” who is not honoring the contract.

You can monitor the status of “the one” at any time.

The effects of the above traits cease to be effective the moment the contract ends.

—

A second effect created by mutual consent.

When he checked the approximate location of ‘AE’ with it, it was clearly stated to be at this location.

‘AA’ the mastermind- didn’t understand Yoo Seon-woo’s intention of running away to this place but it didn’t matter.

It doesn’t change the fact that he’s the one who’s in the way of his plan.

If he goes ahead with his plan, Yoo Seon-woo will be treated as an important character in the story of the ‘simultaneous murders’ and will share in the benefits.

This was something AA could never accept.

He rolled up his sleeve, checked the time on his expensive watch, and raised his hands to shoulder height.

“……Action.”

His hands clapped together, and the shutters of the amusement park began to open by themselves.

Like a city coming back from a power outage, each attraction began to run again, complete with its own heartwarming music.

Without a single person in sight, the crowd-pleasing fun began.

“I’d better hurry.”

AA muttered to himself and stepped into the open amusement park with his backpack.

Every door that should have been closed was open. The rides moved. The lights inside lit up and the Ferris wheel spun.

But he found his way without paying attention to any of it.

Like a man who knows perfectly where to go.

After a few minutes of walking AA stopped in front of a building.

It was a clock tower-like landmark built in the center of the amusement park.

According to Park Joo-hyung’s location, confirmed by Mephisto’s effect, he was left unattended in this building.

He looked around like a CCTV to pinpoint the exact location, but the masked man was nowhere to be seen.

[Stop surveillance.]

It’s a trap.

AA may not be sophisticated, but he’s not too stupid to realize it.

However he couldn’t back down.

An off-limits area for non-authorized personnel, accessed through a door between the walkways of the attraction.

Once inside, he found Park Joo-hyung lying unconscious in the corner.

“At least I found one.”

-clap.

The sound of applause rang out, and Park Joo-hyung’s body disappeared as quickly as it had appeared in the video.

From now on, AA’s next target was the masked man, Yoo Seon-woo.

He couldn’t have gotten far, because if he had, he would have run away alone from the beginning.

But AA didn’t find any clues, so he climbed the official ladder to the balcony of the clock tower.

There were tools and the mascot’s puppet costume on the balcony, as if something was being prepared.

AA ignored them and was about to look down at the ceiling when he realized.

“Ugh……!!!”

The doll stood up and strangled him as he turned around.

The mascot, who had been gently scooping the children up, didn’t hesitate to exert his strength in his arms but even a surprise can only take him by surprise for a moment.

It wasn’t hard for AA to break the stranglehold and toss the puppet over the balcony.

“Since when-”

Just as he was about to turn his head away, AA’s memory jogged and he remembered how the puppet had been placed.

It had been left on the floor until a few seconds ago.

There was no way the masked man would have ambushed him in such a stupid way.

If so, what was that thing he just pushed out of the way…….?

Whirling-

Just then, AA felt a whirring sound from above his head, accompanied by the sound of something blowing in the wind.

As soon as he realized the problem, he raised his hand to trigger his story but he was a step too late.

Falling from the top of the clock tower to the balcony, Yoo Seon-woo kicked AA away with all his might.

“Keuk……!!”

AA’s body slammed into the railing, and the worn railing broke, sending him plummeting to the ground below.

No matter how high his story rank, he didn’t have the ability to fly.

“…….”

The man watched silently but AA remembered every detail of his demeanor just before the fall.

It was the only thing AA could do.

* * *

“……Okay.”

On the balcony, Yoo Seon-woo thought quickly about his next move.

AA couldn’t be dead anyway.

An Awakened of high awareness would be stronger than the Necromancer I dropped last time.

If anything, he’d be able to quickly climb back up the clock tower even if he was injured.

So, there was only one thing I could do now.

I raised the new tool at my waist, pointed it at a nearby building, and squeezed the trigger.

A long string shot out from the tool, and the moment I released the trigger, my body was pulled at high speed toward the place where the string was embedded.

The Grappling Hook, a new tool created by Seol Do-yeon was a staple gadget used by characters who jump across rooftops.

This fight will be the first real-world use of this tool.