A Portal appeared behind the butler and with that, he stepped through, and the portal vanished.
The people looked at each other in terror.
[ THOSE WHO ARE ALONE WILL BE EXECUTED NOW ]
SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!
One after another, heads exploded.
The remaining survivors clenched their eyes shut, too afraid to witness any more death.
[ 9 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN EXECUTED ]
[ 20 PEOPLE REMAIN ]
[ QUEST 1 BEGINS NOW ]
...
[ TIME REMAINING: 09:59 ]
...
Futaba approached me.
"There's no point in fighting each other, Hong."
"Futaba? How are you feeling now?"
"I'm fine now."
"I see. That's good."
"Hong... kill me right now and survive."
"Huh? Wh-What are you talking about?! I'm not killing you!"
"It's the best choice for both of us. You need to survive."
"Futaba."
"Hm?"
"I'm not killing you, and you're not killing me."
Futaba's expression twisted in frustration.
"And how are you going to make us both survive?"
He pointed at the screen.
"See?! It says, 'KILL SOMEONE WHO'S IMPORTANT TO YOU'! Right now, I'm the only person important to you in this park! That means I should die!"
Futaba made a valid point... but I, Kang Hong, am the author of an Endless Dream. No one knows how to break the system's rules better than me.
"Futaba."
"What?!"
"Leave this to me. I won't let you sacrifice yourself."
"That's ridiculous! I—"
SHUFF!
Han Seeyoung grabbed his sister, Han Chaeyoung's shirt and lifted her up.
"OPPA, NOOO!!!"
Han Seeyoung. One of the side characters in my novel.
How did he survive Quest 1?
The answer is simple.
He killed his own sister.
The horrific scene of my novel was beginning to unfold…
[TIME REMAINING: 08:13]
...
Han Seeyoung had been completely corrupted by his mother's death. He changed drastically in a short time. He knew nothing except revenge.
"CHAEYOUNG!! You need to sacrifice yourself for Mom! I need to take revenge!!"
Han Chaeyoung, a 7-year-old girl, trembled in fear as she faced her older brother.
"Oppa! No one told you to take Mom's revenge! She'll be sad if we fight!"
"She'll still be sad if both of us die! One of us should survive, and I deserve to be that one!"
THUD!
Han Seeyoung threw his sister to the ground.
"Chaeyoung, one of us has to die. That's the rule here."
"Oppa…"
"I'm sick of your crying. You've lived long enough. You have no right to live anymore. In other words, you're weak, and the weak can't survive here."
Han Seeyoung launched his fist at Chaeyoung.
"Nooo!!!"
Chaeyoung instinctively raised her arms, shutting her eyes tight.
The punch never landed.
A middle-aged man had caught Han Seeyoung's fist.
It's too dangerous... That old geezer...
The man spoke calmly.
"I know you're angry about your mother's death, but this is not the way, kid. You're not the only one who lost someone precious today. We all have. Killing your sister won't bring your mom back."
I wanted to scream. I wanted to move him away from Han Seeyoung. But, I wasn't able to do anything... because I was scared of my novel's character.
Han Seeyoung's expression darkened.
"Old man… this is a family conversation… WHO TOLD YOU TO—"
[ FIRE ELEMENT LVL. 1 HAS BEEN ACTIVATED ]
"INTERFERE IN IT!!"
FWOOOSH!!
Flames erupted from Han Seeyoung's right hand as he punched the man's face.
The moment the fire touched the man's skin, he burned to ashes in a millisecond.
The crowd gasped.
"H-How?!"
"Was that magic?!"
"It was fire!"
"But that fire… it was too powerful…"
Han Seeyoung, a 14-year-old boy. One of the strongest characters in "Desired End."
The Demon King had taken an interest in him and granted him "Fire Element".
In the novel, Han Seeyoung had grown so powerful that even the main protagonist had trouble while killing him.
I remembered now—Han Seeyoung died in Chapter 547.
Ah… Glogus235's favorite character was Han Seeyoung.
That's why he dropped the story when I killed him.
Han Seeyoung turned to the others.
"Don't tell me your useless words. It's not worth it anymore."
Something popped up on Futaba's screen.
"Hmm?"
GULP
His eyes widened as he stared at the screen.
Han Seeyoung pointed at it.
"Look at that!"
[ TIME REMAINING: 6:45 ]
"What do you think will happen once that timer runs out? We'll all die!! This isn't the same world anymore! Our old reality is gone! Money, fame, relationships, positions, government, laws... none of that matters now!!
"If you're waiting for the government to save us, then you're stupid! No one is coming. Everything has changed. So what's the point of clinging to the past?! THERE ISN'T ONE!!"
"If we want to survive, we have to kill someone important to us. Otherwise, we can just wait and die! The condition to live is simple—kill your own family and survive. Nothing else matters! In this world, only one thing is absolute... Survival."
The crowd fell silent. Their terrified eyes locked onto Han Seeyoung.
"The weak deserve to die, and the strong deserve to live! That's the only rule in this dream! There's no family here. No friends. No love. There is only YOU."
"YOU need to survive!! If you don't have the guts to kill, then just sit there and wait for the timer to run out!!"
In the original novel, Han Seeyoung became a leader of an organization. He gathered people, shaped them with his words, and turned them into weapons.
And just like in the novel
A massacre took place.
Han Seeyoung took a deep breath.
"Fight for yourself! In this world, your survival matters!!"
The crowd went crazy.
In just a small moment, multiple people started supporting Han Seeyoung.
In the real world, I got the most views at Chapter 5 because the chapter was... "CHAPTER 5 - REVOLUTION."
Han Seeyoung led a revolution in the park, which led to many people dying, and only one survived.
That one survivor was Han Seeyoung.
This chapter reached many people, and they started reading my novel, leading it to become more popular.
It all happened just because of one speech given by Han Seeyoung, which drove the crowd crazy.
If I don't stop this, then a beast will be born.
"If you guys understand this much, then get lost and do what you want."
Han Seeyoung thought... Just what was that fire...? Is it my ability?
Han Seeyoung faced his sister, Chaeyoung, again and threw a punch at her with his right fist.
Whoosh!
He thought to himself... If it's my ability, then I can use this to...
[ FIRE ELEMENT LVL.1 HAS BEEN ACTIVATED ]
He used it again!? But for what??
Crackle!
Fwoosh!
He punched his sister on her left cheek.
SMACK!
Chaeyoung screamed.
"AAAHHHH!! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! Oppa, no! Oppa, no!! I'm sorry!! I won't do it! I'll listen to you... No! No! It hurts! OPPA, NOOO!!"
She burst into tears.
A burn mark... There was a burn mark on her left cheek... It was like she was hit by a burning frying pan.
The people gasped.
"H-How?!"
"A punch that can leave a burn mark?!"
"You're powerful, but how...? What type of power do you have??"
Han Seeyoung smirked.
He thought... My guess was right!!
Fwoosh!
Crackle!
It seemed like magic to people, but it was simply Han Seeyoung's skill—"FIRE ELEMENT."
With this skill, anyone could throw large or small amounts of flames through their hands.
Han Seeyoung realized this, released a small amount of flames into his palms, heated up his fists, and punched his sister—resulting in that burn mark.
Fwoosh!
Sizzle!
But it was enough... it was enough for people to realize that they shouldn't mess with this beast. Otherwise, they would die.
That's why no one dared to approach Chaeyoung, who was crying because of the punch.
Women wanted to help the little girl but couldn't... because of the beast standing beside her.
Some high school girls had already fallen for Han Seeyoung—for his handsome looks and his overwhelming power.
There were still some who didn't have the guts to fight against their own family.
"Now stop staring at me and go away!!"
Han Seeyoung glared at Han Chaeyoung.
His eyes held no emotions—no affection, no love, no brotherhood.
Only murderous intent.
A massacre began.