The Dark Master of the Abandoned Auto-Hunting Game

Chapter 4

Green smoke filled the surroundings.

Crash!

Rayzen rolled on the ground.

In the end, he flew at the maximum speed of the bone broom.

He collided with the golden spider and fell.

Naturally, his body was in tatters.

Fortunately, the spider silk from Pelrox had damage reduction attached.

If he hadn’t been wearing Pelrox’s spider silk, he would have died from the fall just moments ago.

His body was a complete mess.

His mind was hazy.

He could barely feel his right arm.

He knew he had to deal with it immediately.

But Rayzen first tried desperately to lift his upper body.

Then he tightly gripped his venomous fangs.

Drip, drip—

Before he knew it, blood was flowing from his nose.

His body felt empty.

The nosebleed seemed to be the price for excessively consuming mana.

However, he couldn’t afford to lose consciousness yet.

In the moment Rayzen quietly awaited the outcome.

Boom—

A sound of collapse echoed through the smoke.

Soon, Rayzen saw the fallen golden spider before his eyes.

The core within its body was shattered by the venom explosion.

No matter how resilient the golden spider was, there was no way to survive that.

He had taken it down.

He had defeated the magic-immune golden spider.

There was no thrill of victory like in a game.

Only a sense of relief washed over him.

At least relief was something.

Rayzen smiled faintly.

‘Not yet.’

But even so, it was not the time to relax.

After some time, a group of spiders would regenerate in the plaza again.

At that moment, Rayzen saw the belly of the golden spider glowing.

Could it be that there was a different pattern than in the game?

The moment Rayzen tensed, the light shot towards him.

Ping!

Then, a golden gem rolled in front of Rayzen.

Rayzen’s eyes widened at the sight.

The golden eye that appeared with a 3% chance from the golden spider.

A material that could be sold for a high price to create items.

‘Equipment made from the golden eye has magic immunity properties.’

A rather hard-to-obtain material had appeared.

Rayzen was honestly surprised.

‘What luck.’

It was worth the effort to defeat the golden spider.

‘After all, luck comes back around.’

Rayzen quickly collected the golden eye.

Then he somehow managed to stand on his two legs.

He took out the potion bottle he had used earlier.

Though it was a very small amount, he poured the remaining potion onto his right arm.

Fortunately, the burning sensation in his arm indicated that his nerves were not completely severed.

“…Shall I go?”

Rayzen began to walk.

After passing through the plaza and entering the exit, he took a shortcut.

The spider silk scattered by the golden spider had melted away.

Rayzen walked and walked again.

The shortcut felt much longer than before.

The endorphins from the battle were fading away.

Gradually, a throbbing pain was felt throughout his body.

His legs had cracked from the impact of the fall.

As evidence, his ankles and various parts of his body were swollen and bruised.

Rayzen had been dragging his legs for a while now.

So, naturally, his pace was incredibly slow.

It was at a point where it could no longer be described as walking.

However, even that was a better situation.

Thud!

Finally, Rayzen, whose strength had completely drained from his legs, collapsed.

He no longer had the strength to lift his body.

The endorphins had completely worn off.

His body felt as heavy as lead.

It felt like he was squeezing out the last bit of heat from his body.

“Ugh, huff.”

Rayzen began to crawl, pulling himself with his left arm.

He had to get out.

If he lost consciousness here, he wouldn’t be able to wake up again.

All of Rayzen’s focus was on his left arm.

How long would he have to crawl?

He didn’t know, but Rayzen kept crawling and crawling.

‘Why am I doing this?’

His mind was starting to slip away.

‘Why am I doing this?’

But Rayzen once again grasped the rope of consciousness.

His mouth forced a smile.

‘I’m doing this to survive.’

A survival instinct much stronger than others.

That instinct held his mind together.

He had overcome countless obstacles before.

To give up at the end would be the most regrettable thing.

So he crawled.

Crawled.

Crawled.

He kept crawling.

Crawling and crawling again.

After repeating that.

Flash—

Light entered Rayzen’s eyes.

It was sunlight that couldn’t be seen in the subjugation dungeon.

It was warm.

In the face of the sunlight, Rayzen’s body almost came to a halt.

‘See?’

In the end, he didn’t give up and reached the light.

Luck belongs to those who seize it themselves.

“Uh, a person?”

Soon, a voice was heard.

Rayzen’s consciousness began to fade.

There was no guarantee that the voice he heard would save him.

In dungeon replays, thieves often appear out of nowhere.

There are countless places with poor security.

Especially in front of dungeons, it’s even worse.

So Rayzen decided to use the luck he had received immediately.

“…Advance payment, please.”

Rayzen took the golden eye out of his pocket.

“Let’s, do it.”

Then he squeezed out his voice as best as he could.

Even in a state where he could barely see, he forced a smile.

He was a stubborn guy who smiled even in this situation.

“If you heal me, I’ll give you even more!”

Rayzen couldn’t do anything more than that.

So he threw out his last card, and ultimately, he lost consciousness.

* * *

In front of a computer.

A boy was playing a dungeon replay.

“Mom, look! If you do it like this, the door opens. I solved the puzzle. Isn’t it amazing?”

The boy excitedly boasted about the game strategy to his mother.

His mother watched with a smile.

At this point, they had somehow paid off all the debts to the loan sharks.

There was still bank debt, but.

At least the loan sharks no longer knocked on their door.

It was a happy moment.

Perhaps it was the happiest time for Rayzen.

Until his father fell back into gambling addiction and his mother left the house.

Flash—

And Rayzen opened his eyes.

Sizzle—

Somewhere, the sound of a pot boiling could be heard.

Rayzen slowly raised his body.

“Ugh!”

And soon, Rayzen felt pain all over his body.

It felt like every bone in his body was shattered.

He saw the bandages wrapped around him.

‘…I’m alive.’

Seeing that, Rayzen finally realized.

That he had somehow survived.

Rayzen clenched his fist tightly.

At the same time, memories of fighting the golden spider came flooding back.

The reality that was so different from the game.

The blunder caused by carelessness.

Those thoughts flashed through his mind.

It was definitely something that could have been resolved much more easily.

If he had been more skilled and calm, without narrowing his vision.

He could have accomplished it without experiencing this level of crisis.

The poison necromancer that Rayzen had possessed had that level of ability.

‘But thanks to that, I have a second chance.’

Let’s not regret what couldn’t be done.

Failure is a great experience that prevents future mistakes.

‘I learned something valuable from this.’

This is a precious experience that cannot be bought with any amount of money.

There couldn’t be a better way to start.

Rayzen reflected positively on this incident.

‘From now on, I must not underestimate real combat.’

Here, he was a novice.

He lived with the mindset of starting over from the beginning.

As Rayzen steeled his resolve, he heard voices.

Rayzen stood up.

Then he quietly approached the door.

He could faintly hear voices from outside.

“Son, why go through the trouble of bringing someone like that?”

“No matter what, I can’t just ignore an injured person.”

The voices belonged to a young man and an old man.

“Father, we must save those who need saving.”

“No matter what.”

After that, the conversation between the two fell silent.

It didn’t seem like a very pleasant exchange.

Rayzen opened the door.

Then the young man and his father both looked over at him.

“Oh, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”

The young man spoke to Rayzen with a bright face.

In contrast, the father looked at Rayzen with a disapproving gaze.

It seemed he didn’t like treating a complete stranger with their limited resources.

Seeing that, Rayzen smiled and bowed deeply.

“Yes, thank you. Thanks to you, I’ve survived.”

You can’t spit in the face of someone who’s smiling.

Hearing Rayzen’s words of gratitude, the son smiled broadly.

“Haha, those who are meant to live should live. Are you hungry? I’ve prepared stew. Please, have a seat.”

He said that and headed towards the kitchen.

Seeing this, Rayzen pulled out a chair and sat down.

The young man’s father remained silent.

Thanks to that, a silence continued between Rayzen and him.

This was rather preferable.

A calm silence was more comforting than being nitpicked for no reason.

Rayzen enjoyed the silence.

Only the sound of clattering from the kitchen could be heard.

It was the sound of the man preparing the meal.

“How old are you?”

At that moment, the old man spoke up.

“I’m twenty-seven.”

“You’re young. You’re not much different from my son. Do you have any children?”

“I don’t have a wife either.”

When Rayzen replied flatly, the old man nodded.

“Well then, take your belongings from that room and leave.”

Rayzen lifted his head.

Then the old man took out a cigarette from his pocket.

“You’re a necromancer.”

Rayzen’s eyes were gray.

In dungeon replays, the eye color changes depending on the wizard’s attributes.

So he knew Rayzen was a necromancer.

“About ten years ago, after the gray tower collapsed, didn’t the empire capture all the necromancers? There’s nothing good about being associated with that.”

The gray tower, the necromancer’s tower, collapsed?

The empire is targeting necromancers?

This was a story Rayzen, who had been doing dungeon replays, didn’t know.

What on earth was going on?

“Consider it a price for saving your life, and please leave without saying anything.”

He issued a dismissal.

Rayzen stood up without saying a word.

‘Thank goodness. I met people like this for my first encounter.’

He could have handed him over to the soldiers right away, but he met good people.

The old man was gruff, but he valued life just like his son.

Rayzen entered the room and gathered his belongings.

Then he took out the golden eye that had been in his pocket.

Rayzen smiled broadly.

“This is the price for saving my life. If I sell it at the magic item shop, it will fetch a high price. At least I could buy two houses like this.”

The old man’s eyes widened.

It seemed he didn’t know the value of the golden eye.

So he must have just left it in that room.

Rayzen didn’t know that the empire was targeting necromancers.

If these people hadn’t saved him.

He might have been captured while he was unconscious.

So this was the price of life to repay the old man and the young man.

The kindness of the old man and his son had saved Rayzen.

One should repay kindness double.

That was Rayzen’s creed.

Rayzen bowed his head with a smiling face.

“Thank you for saving my life.”

You can’t spit in the face of someone who’s smiling.

As if to echo that, the old man’s lips twitched.

Rayzen stepped outside.

He had no intention of causing any more trouble.

Looking at the trees and the farm, it seemed quite rural.

“Bone broom.”

Rayzen flew into the night sky on the bone broom.

The starry sky was certainly different from the Korea where Rayzen lived.

Dungeon replay.

In a world where good and evil were mixed.

Rayzen had to survive from now on.

Rayzen lifted his head.

What did he want to do here?

The answer was simple.

‘I want to survive and go back.’

This place is Rayzen’s world, not Ryu Han-hyuk’s world.

The world he lived in is the real Earth.

Those who have worked hard every day would say they want to live in the present, even if asked if they would go back to the past.

That’s because they know that the life they’ve worked hard for is the best.

Ryu Han-hyuk lived harder than anyone else.

So he wanted to go back.

To return and rise through the ranks in a large corporation, aiming for an executive or even the president’s position.

Moreover.

‘Whoever sent me here, I don’t know who they are.’

He wanted to take revenge on the one who had thrown him here without warning.

One should repay kindness double.

But instead.

‘Revenge should be repaid tenfold.’

Rayzen’s gray eyes painted a manic smile.

Once he sets a goal, he will surely achieve it.

It was a moment when the goal he had to live for was clearly etched in his mind.