"What are you doing?" one of the puzzle solvers behind Pink-hair asked.
"Can't you see it? He's the one responsible for all of this!" Pink-hair yelled, making sure everyone heard what he had said.
Unable to sit and watch any longer, the surviving Z-Streamers got onto their feet. Murmurs grew as they contemplated what Pink-hair was on about.
Even Min-ho's teammates weren't sure how to feel about this.
"What do you mean?" a Z-Streamer asked.
"Do you all see what happened to the original Event Icon? It glitched and transformed into something else."
The murmurs grew in volume and the number of views above each Z-Streamer's Z-Eye increased. Suddenly, Min-ho's heart began to pound as fear settled in.
"You need to calm down," he said, the feeling of being naked creeping up on him as everyone stared at him with dangerous curiosity in their eyes.
"Calm down? How the hell am I supposed to calm down when you are the one responsible for all of this?"
"Back off, bastard," Sae-wee said, grabbing the blade of Pink-hair's sword. "He saved your life—he saved all of our lives!"
"Fuck you, bitch!" Pink-hair pulled his sword, cutting Sae-wee's hand and drawing a line of crimson across the sky. "You'd defend him, I'm sure—she's probably his Nightshade partner."
Sae-wee yelped from the pain.
"Sae-wee," Min-ho called out, holding her hand as her blood poured onto his hands.
Seeing the wound, Min-ho summoned his dagger and pointed it at Pink-hair.
"Now you're going too far," Min-ho said, anger flaring in his eyes.
"Am I?" Pink-hair asked.
"Enough of this!" Jang-book yelled, his voice and presence carrying a strange authority.
He too was covered in wounds and blood, yet he walked without faltering once, making his way closer to Min-ho and Pink-hair.
Im-hee followed behind, eager to relieve Sae-wee of her pain.
"You've been talking and accusing without saying anything," Jang-book stood between Pink-hair and Min-ho. "What are you getting at?"
Im-hee held onto Sae-wee, trying to heal her, but Sae-wee wouldn't have it.
"What am I getting at?" Pink-hair asked, then turned to the Z-Streamers watching. "This man somehow managed to mess with my System. I saw it with my own eyes. My Affinity glitched the same way the Event Icon did."
"I find that hard to believe," Jang-book said through gritted teeth.
"Don't believe me? Ask them!" Pink-hair pointed to the other puzzle solvers.
Jang-book, along with everyone else, turned to them. Their gazes were fixed to the floor, as they felt cornered.
"Is that true?" Jang-book inquired.
The puzzle solvers hesitated before nodding in response.
The murmurs grew.
Min-ho's uneasiness also grew, as his mind began to race.
Things were going bad very quickly. He doubted he was the reason for any of this, yet he also believed no one would listen. Hysteria was taking over, and the only thing that would lead to was more chaos and bloodshed.
He thought of escaping with his team, but would they join in on the madness? Or would they still trust in him?
If Dok-su was anything to go off of, then the answer would be no.
Min-ho bit his lip.
'I think I'll have to make a run for it,' Min-ho thought, scanning his surroundings.
"We should get rid of him. Maybe doing so will stop us from returning to this nightmare!" Pink-hair said, winning over the crowd as the seconds went by.
"I agree, I'm not coming back to this."
"Me too."
"It's better that one of us dies instead of all of us!"
One by one the Z-Streamers were joining Pink-hair's side. With a smile, he walked over to them, standing in front of them as though he was their leader.
Anger welled within Min-ho.
'This is the thanks I get for helping these bastards.' He thought to take this as his cue and make a break for it. The exit was now open once again, except it was behind the crowd.
No matter, he could rush past them if he was fast enough. Most of them were already wounded anyhow.
But there was just one problem.
Min-ho pinned his gaze on Jang-book.
It didn't have to be said for everyone present here to know Jang-book was no Third Tier. Despite his wounds, if he wanted to, catching up to Min-ho wouldn't be a problem for him.
As this thought settled in, Min-ho's fear transformed from a small flame to a raging fire.
He needed to survive, but there was a chance he wouldn't if Jang-book sided with madness.
All of a sudden, the dagger in Min-ho's hands started to find new purpose.
Staring at it, he felt his stomach lurch at the prospect of taking someone's life. Could he actually do it?
Just then, the image of his sister flashed in his mind. The sight renewed his resolve and steeled his heart.
He was going to do anything to survive.
He gripped his dagger, ready to make a decision—before the decision was taken out of his hands.
Flipping the dagger into a hook position, he held it firm as he aimed for Jang-book's neck. His heart began to thump in his ears as dread filled his being.
'I have to do this. I have to...'
Pausing his train of thought was a wet warmth on his arm.
Turning to it, he found Sae-wee, holding him with her bloodied hands.
"Don't," she whispered, that one word being her last before her consciousness waned, and she fell onto him.
Acting on a whim, Min-ho caught her mid-fall, so she rested in his arms.
"Sae-wee!" Im-hee yelled, rushing toward her and placing both hands on Sae-wee's chest as she began to heal her.
Watching all of this unfold, Min-ho felt… lost.
She knew his intent. She told him not to carry out his plan—but what was he to do?
"Enough!" Jang-book yelled, startling everyone. "I'm not going to have any of this! You're all acting like lunatics! Did any of you stop and think that maybe his Affinity was to mess with that of others? What would happen if you killed him and the Event still called you back? You would have killed an innocent man!"
Min-ho froze in place upon hearing this.
'He's… defending me?' he asked himself, disbelief becoming him.
"And let's not forget that he saved all of us," Ji-su's voice emanated, calling Min-ho's attention. "If it wasn't for him, none of us would be alive right now to condemn him."
Ji-su defended, further surprising Min-ho.
In that moment, a wave of guilt overcame him. To think he almost attempted to kill Jang-book.
While his team defended him, Dok-su stood in silence, watching with an indifferent expression on his face.
The crowd went silent, all eyes on the floor. Most of them too ashamed to look up.
"I think I'll take my chances," Pink-hair said, adamant on finishing Min-ho off.
'What the hell is his problem?' Min-ho thought, his anger rekindling.
"I… I'd rather live with that guilt, than die guilt-free," said another.
A few other Z-Streamers said the same. And even though a good chunk of them kept quiet, they didn't protest, as a part of them desperately did not want to come back to this, and would do anything to survive.
If that meant possibly killing one innocent man, then so be it.
"There you have it. Now hand him over," Pink-hair said, pointing his sword at Min-ho.
"I won't stand here and let you kill someone on unfair causes. If you want him, you'll have to go through—" Jang-book was cut short when Pink-hair swung his blade in an arc, taking off three heads at once.
Min-ho's eyes widened.
Pink-hair did not stop there. He lunged at another Z-Streamer and impaled his sword into her chest, then dragged it up her neck before pulling it out and slicing another Z-Streamer's stomach open.
The other Z-Streamers retaliated, using their weapons to take off Pink-hair's left arm and give him several deadly wounds. Yet he still attacked without concern for his well-being.
Weapons clashed and Affinities exploded. In the span of a couple of seconds, every Z-Streamer protesting for Min-ho's death was a corpse on the floor—leaving only Pink-hair.
He stood in the midst of guts and blood that pooled on the ground, while meeting Min-ho's horrified gaze.
In the second that followed, Pink-hair placed the blade of his sword on his neck... and sliced it open.
[Name: Park Oh-Sol, Rank: E]
[Affinities, Equipment]
[Inventory, Shop]
[Coins: 654,150]
[Affinities: Soul Puppeteer]
[[Soul Puppeteer]]
[ Affinity Type: Active, Affinity Rank: E]
[Soul Puppeteer: Grants the ability to detach one's soul from their body and possess another's body. Once a body has been possessed, they will lose all autonomy and memories of their possession. Prolonged possession can lead to the death of the possessed]
[Uses Available: unlimited, Whiplash: Tribute of Flesh]
[Tribute of Flesh: Slowly lose body parts each time the body of another is possessed]