Chapter 329: Sinner (3)

Translator: DreamscribePark Jun-seong stared blankly at the beautiful scenery of Arsilan.

Had he logged into Arsilan Saga just now?

He tried pulling up his Information Window, but nothing appeared.

Of course, he wasn't wearing a Soul Link either. Above all, the sensation of smashing Han Mong-gyun's mouth in with a golf club still seemed to linger at his fingertips.

There was no way all of this vivid experience could be fake.

The refreshing breeze that swept over his entire body told him that he really was in Arsilan. Little fairies appeared out in the fields and approached him. They looked at him, smiled, and then guided him somewhere.

Park Jun-seong followed the fairies across the field.

This serene atmosphere seemed to soothe his wounded heart.

After walking for a while, a staircase leading downward appeared. The fairy gestured for him to go inside, then vanished.

"It's, it's not dangerous, is it?"

The staircase was dark.

An ominous energy seemed to seep out of it. Park Jun-seong took a deep breath and descended the stairs. The moment his foot touched the steps, the torches mounted on the walls ignited one after another, leading all the way down.

"Th-that's deep."

It was deep enough that he couldn't see the bottom.

He looked behind him. The place he had entered through was already gone. Now there was only one way to go, the path leading down. Park Jun-seong looked at the long line of torches stretching down below and descended the stairs.

'This feels like I've walked into a horror game.'

The thought made him chuckle.

Was it because of what he'd done to Han Mong-gyun?

Until just yesterday, thinking about game development had left him with nothing but guilt and regret, but now he could think about it with a light heart. It felt as if the things knotted deep inside his chest had melted away.

Only after descending for a long while did the end of the staircase appear.

The instant he set foot at the bottom of the stairs, a long corridor stretching off to the side appeared.

"Usually this is where they lull you into a false sense of security and then hit you with a jump scare, right?"

A jump scare was a directing technique used in horror films or games where something suddenly leaps out to startle the audience. Used sparingly and at the right moments, it was extremely effective.

Park Jun-seong said this while keeping his guard up on his surroundings. But nothing came out.

It was just as he forced a smile and stepped into the long corridor.

"Correct."

"Aaaaagh!"

At the sudden voice from behind him, he leaped straight up and tumbled to the ground.

Park Jun-seong turned his head to look behind him. A man holding a torch glowing with blue light was looking down at him.

"L-Lee Jinwoo?"

There was no way he wouldn't recognize the face of the most famous man on Earth.

Jinwoo smiled and reached out a hand toward Park Jun-seong. Park Jun-seong cautiously took it.

"Are you... are you really Lee Jinwoo?"

"That's right."

"Th-then, where is this...?"

Jinwoo placed a hand on the shoulder of the utterly tense Park Jun-seong.

"The Underworld."

"What?"

"The Underworld of Arsilan. That back there was its entrance."

At the word "Underworld", far from relaxing, Park Jun-seong's whole body froze solid.

"A-am, am I d-dead?"

"Do you think you are?"

"N-no?"

A dumb reply spilled out of Park Jun-seong's mouth on its own.

When Jinwoo walked ahead, Park Jun-seong barely managed to get his feet moving and followed after him.

"You haven't been playing Arsilan Saga lately."

"...Things have been complicated for me, mentally...."

"Level 50 is right when it starts getting fun, so that's a shame."

"I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about."

Jinwoo suddenly stopped, turned his head, and looked at him.

"It is a bit galling, though. So I thought I'd give you a little punishment. How about burning in hell for about a hundred years?"

"Eek!"

"I'm joking."

"H-haha...."

Park Jun-seong's legs gave out and he nearly collapsed straight onto the floor.

He barely pulled his body and mind back together and followed after Jinwoo. When he stepped through the door, the Underworld of Arsilan spread out before him.

This was the deepest part of the Underworld.

"Let me show you something interesting."

Jinwoo took him down to Narok, in the depths of the Underworld.

There were all the enemies who had threatened Arsilan up until now. And there were Han Mong-gyun and the executives of EL Soft, wailing and begging for mercy.

"H-H-Han Mong-gyun?!"

Their condition was ghastly.

They were roasted over fire, skewered on spikes, and crushed whole. But they were immediately restored and made whole again.

Park Jun-seong had resented Han Mong-gyun so bitterly, yet even so, pity welled up in him.

"J-Jun-seong!"

Han Mong-gyun spotted Park Jun-seong.

Hope surged up in Han Mong-gyun's eyes.

"Please! Get me out of here! I'm begging you! Jun-seong! We were close, weren't we!"

He kept shouting toward Park Jun-seong.

"Damn it! Don't just stand there staring, get me out of here! Who do you think you have to thank for putting food on your table!"

Han Mong-gyun screamed, thrashing in a frenzy.

Seeing that, Park Jun-seong felt every last drop of his pity vanish. It was utterly revolting.

Jinwoo shook his head.

"Still no remorse. Well, it hasn't even been a day yet...."

Jinwoo shrugged.

Jinwoo made his way out of there together with Park Jun-seong. Han Mong-gyun's desperate screams came from behind them, but Jinwoo didn't stop walking.

"Why is that guy in there?"

"Because he's committed so many sins."

Jinwoo pulled up an Information Window recording Han Mong-gyun's crimes and showed it to him. Beyond just the game industry, he was a cancer on society.

When people died on Earth, souls that had accumulated Evil Karma could not rest in peace. They fell through the Soul Gate into the Underworld of Arsilan. Jinwoo had granted self-awareness to Aren and had it judge their punishments.

After countless years passed, once their sense of self was lost and their souls were nearly shattered, they would be scattered as fertilizer for Arsilan.

"It's always only the good who suffer."

The end had to be fair.

One had to take responsibility for one's own choices.

"Wh-what's going to happen to me?"

Fear washed over Park Jun-seong.

He, too, had worked at EL Soft. And he had committed many wrongs. That was the reason so many people still pointed fingers at him.

"You can't exactly be called a good man."

"Th-that's true."

"But you're not evil either."

Jinwoo looked at him.

Park Jun-seong met Jinwoo's eyes.

He wasn't afraid. That was because he could feel mercy in Jinwoo's gaze. It was as if Jinwoo saw him as a kid who'd gotten into trouble at school.

The moment he saw that gaze, Park Jun-seong felt a flood of regret and guilt. Before he knew it, tears were streaming down his face.

Jinwoo smiled faintly and began walking again. When they reached the end of the Underworld, a door leading to the Soul Moon appeared. Jinwoo moved to the Soul Moon together with Park Jun-seong. Once they reached the Soul Moon, all of Arsilan came into view at a single glance.

Park Jun-seong gazed endlessly at the beautiful sight of Arsilan.

"What's going to happen to me?"

"You choose."

Jinwoo didn't force him.

"If you want to go home, you can. I'll make you forget everything that happened here. If you want, I can even have you work at FS Games."

"M-me?"

"Everyone deserves a chance. If you bring others joy, you'll find joy yourself. I guarantee it."

As long as someone wasn't truly wicked, Jinwoo wanted to give them a chance to walk the good path.

Might a soul destined to become a Hero discover their own potential at such a crossroads of choice?

"And if I don't go back?"

"Game development."

Park Jun-seong's eyes wavered.

"Well, it's a bit different from Arsilan Saga, but there's a place where you can put what you've got to use. Work there for a few years and you'll be able to wash away your Evil Karma."

It was work that would save the Dimensional Realm, so it was more than enough to cleanse Evil Karma.

Perhaps it could amount to even more than that. Park Jun-seong, too, was a Hero possessed of infinite potential.

"If there's anything I can help with...."

Park Jun-seong looked down at his own hands.

The reason he couldn't bring himself to log into Arsilan Saga was the laughter of the Heroes. That laughter, brimming with joy, told him that this was not a place where he belonged.

It might have been overthinking, but every time he saw an article about EL Soft, that thought had piled up higher and higher.

"I want to help too."

Park Jun-seong let go of everything and said this to Jinwoo. Jinwoo nodded with a bright smile.

"Good decision."

Park Jun-seong's heart grew calm.

The two of them smiled and looked out at Arsilan together.

"But, um...."

"Is there something you're curious about?"

Park Jun-seong nodded.

"Are you really the Creator God?"

"These days, something like it, yeah."

He could create not just a planet but an entire world from scratch, so it was fine to call him the Creator God now.

"So you really were a god. Now it finally makes sense."

Park Jun-seong said this while recalling Jinwoo's accomplishments.

Thanks to Jinwoo, Earth had become an even better place to live. Strangely, wars had decreased, and relations between nations flowed along peacefully. Even the figures who had strutted around as if they owned the Earth had gone very quiet.

As if someone had intervened.

Bizarre papers were coming out reporting that sudden natural disasters and people dying abrupt, violent deaths had almost entirely disappeared.

Park Jun-seong asked about the things he was curious about regarding Arsilan.

The Lord God of both Earth and Arsilan was standing right before his eyes!

When he heard that Heroes were reincarnated into Arsilan when they died, a thrill ran through his entire body.

"It's an honor that I get to help you, Lord God."

Park Jun-seong's eyes sparkled.

His soul, burning with passion, looked very good in Jinwoo's eyes.

"Lord God! So what should I help with?"

What should he help with?

Jinwoo had said game development, so surely it was work related to Arsilan Saga?

Park Jun-seong's heart pounded with anticipation and excitement.

Jinwoo looked at his passionate, eager expression and grinned.

"Rok 2."

"What?"

"You just have to make Rok 2."

Park Jun-seong froze on the spot.

Rok had been vicious, but at the same time it was an extremely well-made game. That made it all the more dangerous. An extraordinarily well-crafted game with every kind of gambling system stuffed into it had become a social phenomenon that ruined the Korean game industry.

At the order to make Rok 2, Park Jun-seong felt a shock like his soul was leaving his body.

"L-Lord God! Wh-what do you...."

"I'll assign you staff. Han Mong-gyun and the executives are going to work under you like dogs. Well? Exciting, isn't it?"

Jinwoo looked at his dumbfounded face and drew a deep smile across his lips.

"Ah! There's something I didn't mention."

A dark current burst out from beneath Jinwoo's feet.

"I'm also the Evil God."

The Evil God.

Wreathed in darkness, his figure was the Evil God itself.

Park Jun-seong swallowed hard.

"So let's do all the bad things we want, to our hearts' content."

"Th-then won't you go to hell?"

"Doing bad things to bad people is fine. Now, go ahead and show off your talent to your heart's content."

"I-I don't have a talent like that...."

He wanted to say he had no such talent, but he couldn't. Rok's success was, after all, as good as his own doing.

"...I'll do my best."

That was what Park Jun-seong ended up saying.

* * *

Park Jun-seong spent a few days in Arsilan.

He looked around Arsilan and tried out all sorts of experiences. Doing it directly in his own body gave him a truly remarkable feeling. Along the way he met Ella and Helby, and he was completely at a loss. His reaction was like that of a lowest-rank employee, no, an intern, meeting the board of directors.

"Work hard."

"Yes, I'll work hard!"

At Ella's words, he was moved and answered with vigor.

Helby glared at him with a sharp gaze.

"Working hard is something anyone can do. Do it well."

"Yes! I-I'll do it well!"

His resolve snapped firmly into place.

Once Park Jun-seong had adjusted somewhat, it was decided to move forward with the work. Jinwoo separated Park Jun-seong's body and soul. He couldn't very well operate in the Kalsus Dimensional Empire in his original form.

Preserving Park Jun-seong's body as it was, Jinwoo created a body suited to a citizen of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire for him. He left the customization up to him.

"Pretty good-looking, isn't it?"

He'd turned into quite the handsome man with a scholarly air about him.

"I figured good-looking is better if I've got the choice...."

Park Jun-seong laughed awkwardly.

Now it was time to pick out the laborers to assign to Park Jun-seong.

When Jinwoo stretched out his hand, the ground split open and black coffins surged up. The black coffins opened, and Han Mong-gyun along with the executives and developers who had followed him came pouring out.

"C-cough!"

"Nn, nnngh!"

They trembled violently.

When they felt no pain, their faces filled with ecstasy.

"Feel like working?"

"P-please let me work!"

"I-I don't want to go to hell! I-I'll do anything."

"Please...!"

The sinners begged for mercy.

Rather than enduring endless torment, doing grueling labor without rest would feel like paradise to them. Han Mong-gyun sobbed with tears and snot running down his face and pleaded desperately.

"Obey Park Jun-seong's orders."

"What? P-Park Jun-seong?"

When Jinwoo looked at Han Mong-gyun without a word, he nodded frantically.

"Y-yes! I'll do anything at all."

Jinwoo extracted the sinners' souls.

He created bodies suited for labor and had the souls dwell within them. They were goblin bodies that could work tirelessly. The sinners examined their own bodies and sank into despair, but they had no choice but to accept it.

They were to be treated as livestock and brought into the Sanctuary.

Jinwoo boarded a large vessel together with Park Jun-seong. The sinners were bound in the cargo hold. The large vessel turned transparent, shot up into the sky, and moved swiftly toward the Dimensional Realm.

Park Jun-seong looked at the map of the Dimensional Realm and nodded.

"It resembles outer space, but it isn't."

"The Dimensional Realm is vast, sure, but it's on too small a scale to be called outer space."

Jinwoo told him about the Kalsus Dimensional Empire.

During his few days' stay in Arsilan, Park Jun-seong had learned all of the truth about Arsilan. True to the man once called a genius, he understood it very quickly.

They passed through several Dimensional Portals and entered inside the Dimensional Barrier. The moment Jinwoo landed on Reist's planet, he switched into Reist's body.

Jinwoo immediately appointed Park Jun-seong as Head Steward.

"I'll just call you Jun."

"Yes, that beats getting changed to some other name entirely."

On the spot, Jinwoo appointed Park Jun-seong, now the bearer of the name Jun, as a Baron.

"Do you happen to like gambling?"

"No."

"You made Rok and you're not into gambling?"

"Ugh...."

At Jinwoo's words, he staggered as if he'd taken a hit. Jinwoo chuckled and took him to Reist World.

Reist World was packed with nobles.

It looked as though every noble in the Sanctuary had flocked there, with the waiting line stretching out long. There was so little room to accommodate them all that they were in the middle of demolishing the surrounding mansions and carrying out expansion construction.

"Just, just once, please, let me in just one more time!"

"You don't have the credentials."

"I-I'll go borrow some money, so...!"

Nobles reduced to the state of vagrants were pleading with the gatekeeper in front of Reist World. They were people who had lost not only their entire fortunes but had also fallen into enormous debt.

When Jinwoo approached, the gatekeeper knelt and bowed his head. The nobles immediately lowered their heads as well.

"What's going on here?"

"My apologies! These people were causing a disturbance, demanding to be let in...."

"Hmm."

When Jinwoo looked at the nobles, they trembled all over.

"Tsk tsk, you should have known when to stop."

There was a tenderness woven into Jinwoo's words.

He drew Chips from his robes and scattered them among the nobles. When the nobles saw the Chips fall to the ground, they crawled along the floor and snatched them up. The way they tangled with one another was like beasts.

"Y-Your Highness!"

"Your grace is beyond measure!"

The nobles wept and praised the benevolence of Jinwoo, who had bestowed the Chips upon them.

"Take heart with those. Trials always follow a hero. If you are the true heroes and men of valor that you are, you'll be able to overcome them."

"Yes! We'll succeed without fail."

"We'll serve you with all our loyalty!"

At Jinwoo's gesture, the gatekeeper promptly let the suckers inside.

Jinwoo went straight up with Jun to a spot overlooking all the gambling floors at a single glance. Jun looked at the nobles utterly immersed in gambling and was left speechless.

"Did Your Highness make this place too, by any chance?"

"Yeah, magnificent, isn't it?"

The floors were full of nobles absorbed in the games with glazed eyes, as though they were addicted to drugs. There were even nobles yanking levers in a disheveled state, as if they couldn't spare the time to wash.

"You really are the Evil God."

Jun couldn't help but admit it.

The Lee Jinwoo beside him was the Lord God of both Earth and Arsilan, and the Evil God of the Dimensional Realm.

And if that was so, then what was he?

"I'll make Rok 2 properly."

As an employee hired by the Evil God, he would give it his all.

*****

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