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Chapter 11
“The contents of the order will be obvious enough.”
With a frown, Jang Sun-nam left the poison-brewing tent and headed toward the nearby document storage tent. There, he checked the latest directive—and the contents left him speechless.
-Notice-
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The straight path of approximately 5 kilometers between the Government Daejeon Complex and the Seongshimdan Tower is now a glacial zone.
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Some of the crimson ice within this zone has been confirmed to harbor the zombie virus.
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Since the glacial zone manifested with the appearance of the boss, it is hypothesized that defeating the boss will cause the ice to melt.
-Orders-
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Upon securing the vaccine, proceed with the raid on the zone’s boss to induce the melting of the crimson ice.
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Disseminate the zombie virus and regulate the distribution of the vaccine in order to secure coins.
This operation shall be named the “Gudon Plan” and its disclosure beyond authorized parties is strictly forbidden.
Gudon.
It meant “dogs and pigs.”
Reading the document, Jang Sun-nam felt the same fury that had consumed him during his very first regression.
“Those damned bastards.”
Now, with irrefutable evidence that Baekui Authority was indeed the enemy, he turned to leave the tent.
But at that very moment—
Thud!
From the corner, a guild member suddenly emerged, colliding with him.
“……!!”
“Eh? What the—?”
[The Misfortune of Extremes has activated.]
The invisibility granted by his bracelet shattered from the shock, revealing his figure.
“An intru—urk!”
Before the man could finish shouting, Jang Sun-nam’s hand struck his throat like lightning, cutting off his voice.
Crack!
A kick swept the man’s ankle, toppling his balance.
Boom!
Grabbing the guild member’s face, Jang Sun-nam slammed it mercilessly into the ground.
The man went limp.
Jang Sun-nam quickly scanned his surroundings. Thankfully, no one had seen.
“…That was too close.”
From his inventory, he pulled out a bottle of soju, popped the cap, and forced the unconscious man to drink. Then he slumped him onto a chair.
“This way, it’ll just look like he slacked off on duty.”
Even if the man claimed to have seen an intruder, who would believe a drunken fool?
He glanced at his bracelet. Its glow had faded.
“Damn it… back to recharging from scratch.”
Just then—
“Why are you idiots moving so slowly! Don’t you know time is money?”
A harsh, commanding voice rang out from outside.
“…That voice…”
Peeking out, he saw a familiar figure—a man in a white lab coat embroidered with the insignia of Baekui Authority. Clearly, a high-ranking officer.
A plump man in his thirties, once a senior researcher at a pharmaceutical company. Now, ironically enough, he bore the name “Second-in-Command,” befitting his rank as the guild’s number two.
“So he was at base camp during this time, huh.”
Jang Sun-nam knew the man’s temperament: impatient, always eager to finish tasks quickly. That meant the assault on Seongshimdan Tower must have already begun.
“After all, the hint is obvious to anyone paying attention.”
If the Government Complex at the start of the glacial zone held a boss and the zombie virus, then surely the Seongshimdan Tower at the other end held something to counter it—a vaccine, or a tool for fighting the boss.
And indeed, Baekui Authority was gambling on that possibility.
“And the truth is—they’re right. There is a vaccine there.”
“Second-in-Command, a report!” someone shouted.
Just as Jang Sun-nam was preparing to move toward the tower, he froze.
“One of the priority targets, the ‘Crow,’ has been sighted.”
“The Crow? Who was that again?”
“The one who, during the very first cleared tutorial, single-handedly defeated the mid-boss—the giant slime—in Munhwa District 2.”
“Ohhh, that guy? I figured he’d died since nothing else showed up on the list. Where was he?”
“Several hours ago, at Seodaejeon Park. He was last seen extorting coins from merchants before vanishing.”
“…That’s me.”
Apparently, while he had waited for his reward in the tutorial zone, others who arrived earlier had sold off information about him. A man who stood out too much had to be monitored.
“Shaking down merchants, eh? What a fun fellow! Strong too, by the sound of it. If the chance comes, recruit him. He seems like our type.”
Jang Sun-nam’s expression darkened.
“…To think I’d be lumped in with scum like that.”
His mask, meant to conceal his identity, had only made him more conspicuous. Still, he wasn’t displeased. After all, it wasn’t Jang Sun-nam who had become notorious—it was the “Crow.”
And if others began donning the easily replicated Crow mask, then he could maneuver more freely, harvesting the benefits of his fame while remaining safely in the shadows.
Resolving himself, he was about to leave camp when he noticed something.
The Second-in-Command was carrying an unfamiliar document.
“…What’s that?”
Perhaps a freshly issued order.
“Hey! What are you standing around for? No breaks until the quota’s done! Move!”
Barking orders at his subordinates, the Second-in-Command disappeared deeper into the camp.
Jang Sun-nam’s bracelet had recharged—five minutes of invisibility. He activated it and silently followed.
The path led to a place that hadn’t existed in any previous run.
“…This isn’t right.”
Where once there had only been an incinerator, now a massive machine stood—its design eerily similar to an air purifier.
“What the hell? Where’s the incinerator operator? I need this now!”
“…So the man I took out earlier was him.”
The Second-in-Command fiddled with the incinerator, opened its hatch, and tossed in the document before hurrying off.
“…A chance.”
Jang Sun-nam quickly snatched the half-burning paper out. Its edges were charred, but the writing was intact.
The cover bore a sigil he recognized.
“…The emblem of the Seeds of the Evil God?”
A cult he had only just discovered in this seventh regression.
“…What the hell is this organization?”
The document explained that entry into the cult was possible only through recommendation by existing members.
But then—
“…What?”
It stated that Pi Gwang-seok, master of Baekui Authority, had recommended the Second-in-Command.
Yet Pi himself, within the Seeds of the Evil God, was nothing more than an ordinary member.
“…If Pi Gwang-seok is just a grunt by Day 100, then the scale of this cult must be immense.”
And yet, in six regressions, Jang Sun-nam had never once heard its name.
Had it only recently formed due to changed circumstances? No—he remembered glimpses of the emblem even in the tutorial zone. Which meant it had always existed, hidden in the shadows.
He read further, his expression twisting as realization dawned.
“…So these bastards were the root cause all along.”
The document listed only one, simple mission:
[Collect ‘Chaos Energy’ using the device provided.]
That was it. Nothing about its purpose, their location, their hierarchy—nothing. The organization was shrouded in secrecy.
And yet, Jang Sun-nam trembled with fury.
“…So that’s why I was forced into bad endings, every single time.”
Chaos Energy.
It was born from negative emotions—rage, sorrow, pain, fear, irritation, anxiety, malice, depression, tension. And the most efficient way to create such emotions was, of course, to make people suffer.
That explained everything.
Why Baekui Authority had spread goblin poison, or unleashed the zombie virus. Why villain groups had multiplied endlessly across each regression.
It was all to harvest Chaos Energy.
“…These goddamn monsters.”
His gaze fell upon the great machine resembling an air purifier. Its casing was engraved with the Seed emblem.
“…So that’s what it’s for.”
A device designed to harvest Chaos Energy.
And this camp, filled with suffering patients, was the perfect place for it.
For Jang Sun-nam, who sought the world’s happy ending, and the cult that thrived only by plunging the world into misery, there could be no coexistence. They were natural-born enemies.
“I need information.”
If someone like Pi Gwang-seok was only a low-level member while commanding his own guild as a proxy branch, then the cult itself must be vast, a sprawling network impossible to topple by brute force.
“…But even a web has its core spiders.”
If he could identify and eliminate the true leaders, then the road to a happy ending would finally open.
“Pi Gwang-seok… I’ve got more reason than ever to drag you in and make you talk.”
But before that, there was something more urgent.
The zombie plague.
Its solution lay in Seongshimdan Tower.
“…I can’t let anger cloud my priorities.”
Setting his next goal, Jang Sun-nam turned his back on the camp and strode away.
