Chapter 183

I could carefully grasp the surroundings through the Skull Snake.

Of course, I couldn’t examine the entire space because it was impossible to look at distant places.

But there was no need to move right away. I could take some more time and then move.

I raised my head to check the number of people.

[Current Remaining Users: 461]

The number had decreased quite a bit.

Faster than I thought?

As I watched, 461 changed to 460.

The number slowly decreased.

That’s how the probability increased.

Hmm?

Muhyuk’s brow furrowed slightly. He felt a presence behind him.

He wanted to turn his head to check, but he didn’t bother. He could check with his summoned creature.

Skull Snake, to the left.

If the owner of that presence was a user, it would also be an opportunity to make the opponent lower their guard.

Since Muhyuk didn’t turn his head, the opponent would surely praise their own stealth and gradually close the distance.

The Snake caught something.

I knew it.

The owner of the presence was a user as expected.

One person.

Judging by the looks, the job was a Thief type.

In that case, they would likely attempt an attack if they closed the distance a bit more. He watched him through the Skull Snake’s vision and waited patiently.

Pabat.

Did they think they had closed the distance enough?

The user strongly kicked off the ground.

The way they wielded the dagger was incredibly clumsy.

Do they think I’m a monster?

You shouldn’t be so clumsy against users. Muhyuk chuckled and turned his body, extending the longsword in his hand.

Windstorm.

It was obvious that a longsword was longer than a dagger. Muhyuk’s sword reached the opponent first.

“Keueup!”

The opponent, who was pushed back by the explosion, rolled on the floor. They hurriedly got up, but their expression was already filled with embarrassment.

“Y, you bastard…!”

Muhyuk silently transformed the sword into a bow.

Multishot.

He fired five arrows at once. The arrows, which stretched out in different trajectories, were mysteriously sucked into the user as if they were being absorbed.

The user twisted their body to avoid them, and despite that, they blocked two arrows with their shield.

Stealth!

To reverse the situation, the Thief-type user used Stealth and rushed in, but the footprints on the ground were so clear that Muhyuk could clearly grasp their location.

This is, really.

They definitely lacked PVP experience.

Windstorm, Powerful Archery.

He aimed the arrow and waited while looking in a different direction.

When the distance was quite close.

He twisted his body, aimed at the direction the user was approaching, and released the string. The distance was quite close, so they probably wouldn’t have time to dodge.

Kwaaaang!

It was as Muhyuk expected.

“H, how…?”

The user, who revealed their appearance, raised their head with an expression full of questions, but Muhyuk wasn’t going to give them an answer. He simply aimed the arrow again and fired it.

There was no need to summon a Skeleton, so he quickly finished it off.

After finishing off the opposing user, Muhyuk took a rest near the old building again.

Not long after, two users appeared. He dealt with them neatly as well and then guarded his position again.

But in less than a minute, three people appeared.

After summoning Skeletons to deal with them, this time five people appeared.

Something’s strange.

It felt like the frequency of appearances was increasing as time passed, as well as the number of users.

Besides, the users who were appearing didn’t seem quite normal.

I should move for now.

In the end, Muhyuk left that place.

Meanwhile.

The user Adeon wiggled his fingers, and the thread fluttered.

The eyeballs of the doll connected to the thread fluttered in the air. The eyeballs, which were moving following Muhyuk’s movements, hid behind a leaf.

It was to avoid Muhyuk’s gaze when he suddenly turned his head.

“Hmm.”

Muhyuk tilted his head.

Watching him, the puppeteer Adeon stroked his chest.

He knew that he was Muhyuk, the top Ranker. It was Adeon who deliberately sent the doll to him to make him move.

Good, what about the other users?

Users who are being identified through other eyeballs.

The plan was to lure them and send them to Muhyuk.

Doll Illusion.

At best, there were only seven dolls with combat abilities.

The rest were only made to look like users through illusion. But that alone was enough to lure them.

Adeon cast an illusion to make them look injured and then scattered several dolls in all directions.

“Hmm?”

The reactions of the users who saw the injured dolls were mostly similar.

“You’re just the one I was looking for!”

They were careless because they saw the staggering appearance and rushed in.

Then Adeon skillfully controlled the dolls to make the user continue to chase after them.

“Ugh, it’s so hard to kill!”

The enraged user doesn’t give up easily.

Good, they’re all here.

After making them come to where Muhyuk was, he reverse-summoned the dolls.

Please take care of them for me.

Adeon was watching the situation through the eyeballs.

Muhyuk was watching the situation unfolding through the Skull Snake.

A clone?

At first, it was a bit unfamiliar. He didn’t know if it was a clone or not, but anyway, they were bringing users here through something that could be reverse-summoned.

“Uh, what?”

The user who lost their target aimed for Muhyuk, who was resting, and had to taste defeat in the preliminaries as a result.

As he repeated the same experience several times, he was able to grasp the job of the user who was playing tricks now.

It was a puppeteer.

He judged that they were hiding not far away, within a distance where they could lure people here.

Alright, shall we find them?

He couldn’t keep being taken advantage of like this.

Shashak.

He commanded the Skull Snake.

That guy.

Then he found a doll luring a user. He made it pass by the doll and continue straight.

Muhyuk, who dealt with the user who appeared in the meantime, focused on the Skull Snake’s vision again.

Just in time, the doll was bringing another user.

Should I go further in this direction?

How many times did he repeat that?

He was able to find a doll that was looking for users instead of a doll that was luring users.

He passed by that doll, went a little further, and then guarded his position. An injured doll appeared in the distance, limping.

He passed by that doll and gradually narrowed the distance.

Hoo.

In a secluded place in the forest, he found a user waving his hand.

That’s the guy.

It didn’t take long to find him.

Closer than I thought.

“Eucha.”

Muhyuk got up.

At the same time.

The puppeteer Adeon, who was watching Muhyuk, flinched for a moment. It was because he smiled while looking at the place where the eyeballs were hidden.

The moment he thought it was a misunderstanding, Muhyuk suddenly pushed off the ground.

He was moving away at an incredible speed, so he couldn’t even think of chasing him. He belatedly commanded the eyeballs, but he had already disappeared.

Damn it, crazy!

He hurriedly controlled the dolls that were scattered in all directions.

I have to find him, no matter what.

Suddenly, a sense of unease swept over him.

Could it be, no way?

Just in case, he searched the surroundings thoroughly, but he couldn’t see any Skeletons.

Nevertheless, the smile kept coming to his mind, amplifying his anxiety.

As he tried to shake his head and erase the distracting thoughts, the grass that grew on the left floor collided with each other and screamed.

He turned his head to check, but only a hollow wind swept by, and there was nothing to see.

“Hoo.”

The moment he stroked his chest once.

“You must have had fun all this time?”

A chilling voice was heard from behind.

Adeon couldn’t turn around.

The chill that rose from the tips of his toes momentarily froze his body.

He regained his senses and tried to turn his body, but he flinched again at the cold sensation that touched his neck.

After all, as a puppeteer, his HP and defense were low, so he could die from even a simple attack like this.

The reality was that he couldn’t move recklessly unless there was a guarantee that he wouldn’t die.

Still, his mouth was alive, so he moved slowly.

“How did you get here…?”

“Are you curious about that?”

“No, that’s not it. Well, how about we have a conversation first?”

“What conversation?”

Muhyuk showed interest. Adeon thought that he wouldn’t survive if it wasn’t now, so he began to actively appeal to himself.

“W, well, you’ve been through it too, so you know, but I think I can be of some help. I may look like this, but I have a hidden job, and also…”

“Hidden job?”

“Eung.”

“What exactly is it?”

“You want me to tell you that?”

“Yes.”

Adeon looked troubled.

Muhyuk waited quietly.

He intended to kill him instantly if he lied.

“I, I’m a puppeteer.”

“Hoo.”

Still, he hadn’t lied, so he decided to listen to the story a little more.

“So, what kind of help can you give?”

“First of all, I can induce users to fight each other. Also, in dangerous situations, I can switch with a doll, and I can create various other situations. I, I’ll definitely be helpful, so how about you spare me just once…?”

Anyway, 4 people can survive.

What if I create one assistant?

It didn’t seem too bad.

Yeah, just in case.

He knows the flow of Illusion, knows the changes, and knows the information, but he can’t know the result when he participates directly.

Besides, there was no guarantee that there wouldn’t be hidden powerhouses.

If a powerhouse formed an alliance with another powerhouse and attacked Muhyuk, the situation could become difficult.

They were beings who had a talent for the game itself, to the point that they couldn’t even be compared to the mediocre users Muhyuk had faced so far.

“Not bad.”

“R, really?”

“But if…”

“I wouldn’t even dream of betraying you!”

“Well, fine.”

For now, he decided to act with the puppeteer in front of him.

“Oh, my name is Adeon.”

“Muhyuk.”

“I know. But are you Japanese?”

“Korean.”

“Ah, I see. I’m Thai.”

“I didn’t ask?”

“Haha, w, well, just saying. We’ve decided to be together, so you should know this much.”

He seemed to be quite talkative.

He ignored him and raised his head.

[Current Remaining Users: 397]

Already more than 100 users have been eliminated.

“Uh…?”

Muhyuk’s eyes widened.

[Current Remaining Users: 391]

The number was decreasing rapidly.

[Current Remaining Users: 382]

15 people died in a short time.

“Eh? Did a group fight break out or something?”

Adeon, who was next to him, also had a surprised expression.

The problem was that the rapidly decreasing number still showed no signs of stopping.

370 people. 360 people.

Before he knew it, it was down to 350 people.

What…?

What on earth was going on?

Kwaaaang!

The sudden explosion made him turn his head involuntarily.