Shouting Duel at the Center of a Dead Game

After alternating between the monster beyond the iron bars and the system, there was only one heavy and large reverberation filling my head.

'Are they really crazy?'

'Last Savior' has levels. A definite indicator of growth and the easiest measure of strength.

And right now, my level is 1, as I saw in the status window earlier.

Even the stats are all set to the basic 5, and the class is also novice, that is, a beginner.

On the other hand, what's visible beyond that iron bar is.

'Could it be Paimon?'

The head of a goat and a body like a gorilla, plus six wings on its back.

It matches the appearance of the boss of the gate that appears in the 10th year of the game, the demon Paimon.

I looked at the system. Except for me, the four people also seemed to have the same thoughts as me, and were staring blankly at the system.

Even Hong Su-ah, who had been confident, had a pale face and couldn't close her mouth.

Questions like 'Are you telling us to catch that?' didn't even come out. Such questions can only come out when they are somewhat realistic.

[Oh my, everyone seems surprised.]

The damned system smiled gently.

[Don't worry. This demon you see here is by no means an opponent you can face. This demon is… ]

The system looked at Paimon beyond the iron bars and continued.

[The supervisor of the second stage, Paimon.]

After that, a long silence flowed.

"Huh?"

It was Hong Su-ah.

"Ah, the demon is the supervisor? That's nonsense…."

[I understand those questions.]

The system answered with a benevolent smile.

[First of all, this demon is repenting.]

"Re…… penting?"

The same question that I had came out of Hong Su-ah's mouth. A demon repenting? Isn't that as much nonsense as a rogue doing team play?

But the system didn't lose its smile.

[That's right. He has a body and mind created by the evil god, but he is a demon who has been given a chance to repent by Deia.]

At that time.

"Ha."

Paimon's voice echoed from beyond the iron bars. It was the sound of scoffing, but it was so loud that the place where we were standing echoed slightly.

"Yeah, I repented, so open this iron bar. You damn bitch."

The voice, which seemed far from repentance, was filled with vivid murderous intent. Cold sweat flowed down my spine, but the system's smile didn't waver at all.

[Oh my, Paimon. It seems that the spirit tainted by the dirty evil god has not been cleaned up yet.]

And when it moved its hand.

─Clang, clang.

Shining restraints flew from somewhere and were placed on Paimon's entire body. From the neck to the wrists, ankles, waist, and even the wings.

"Release this!"

Paimon shouted like that, but the system, without any agitation, put its hands together. And it closed its eyes as if praying and bowed its head slightly.

[Let's repent.]

The moment those words ended.

─Buzzzz.

Current began to flow through the restraints. Blue current, flowing so strongly that it was clearly visible to the eye, swept through Paimon's entire body.

"Kueeeeuk……!"

It was a sight as if thousands of lightning bolts were concentrated in one place. The shadows disappeared in the dark space, and it leaked through the iron bars so much that it was hard to even open my eyes.

─Crackle.

Soon the lightning gradually subsided, and eventually stopped altogether.

And beyond the huge iron bars, Paimon's body was seen lying in tatters. Tied to the restraints, unable to fall completely, with only his upper body bent forward, it was a bizarre sight.

[I hope it has been of some help to repentance.]

"……Damn…… bitch……."

[Still irreverent.]

─Buzzzz.

Lightning struck again. The smell of burning meat spread with a stench.

─Crackle.

When the lightning stopped and the restraints were released, Paimon fell forward.

─Thud.

The sound was as loud as its huge body. The system looked at the fallen Paimon for a while, then turned to us and said.

[Don't worry. This is… just repentance for those tainted by evil. As long as you follow the will of the great goddess, the lightning of the goddess will never be directed at you.]

"……."

No one opened their mouths.

I looked at the system.

'……This is a kind of warning.'

If you abandon the will of the goddess, you will end up like that. That's how it seemed.

'But why are they doing this?'

It was a bit too much to be a warning. A warning should be to the level of being scared and being careful in actions, but this is to the level of wanting to run away because it's scary.

[Then, let's start.]

When the system waved its hand, something was seen rising behind us.

'Shelf?'

Various kinds of weapons were arranged on the long and wide shelf.

From popular ones such as swords, spears, daggers, bows, and shields to scythes, hoes…… what is that, a pebble? Anyway, there were even very unusual things.

[Paimon, get up.]

The system stared at Paimon and ordered. The smile was still there, but it felt a little creepy.

"Kueeeuk……."

Paimon slowly raised his body. The square pupils were glaring at the system as if he would kill it right away, but he couldn't speak carelessly like before.

[Well, then start.]

"……."

Paimon looked at the system and drew the shape of something with his hand. Then a magic circle was created in front of us and black smoke spread.

And when the smoke cleared, a figure was seen between them.

A figure that was dark and opaque like dark asphalt, and flowed out as if it would swallow everything, the figure revealed by the torch was…….

"Slime?"

Hong Su-ah said, blinking her eyes.

[That's right.]

The system answered with a smile.

[You have to come out one by one and fight. If you defeat the opponent, a slightly stronger opponent will be summoned. Of course, you can give up at any time.]

"R-Really?"

When Hong Byeong-hyeon asked, the system answered in a voice that was still endlessly benevolent.

[Of course. However, if you want to overcome the trials scheduled for the third stage, I recommend that you faithfully participate.]

In the end, it means do your best.

[The points you earn here will be returned as benefits on the next floor.]

The system said.

By the way, the slime that was summoned just now.

'That's Paimon's authority.'

In 'Last Savior', demons have the 'authority' given by the evil god. And Paimon had two authorities.

Violence and summoning.

When using the 'summoning' authority, the same magic circle as just now comes out.

'Could it be……'

Deia has Paimon locked up and is making him a summon shuttle for low-level monsters?

'Really…… should I say she's thrifty? Or should I say she's cruel?'

She warns us by showing us the giant demon being imprisoned and burned, and uses the authority of the demon that was just burned to proceed with the tutorial?

Isn't she worse than our platoon leader, who made us do chores even after sentry duty and didn't let us sleep on duty?

I suddenly felt a little sorry for Paimon.

[Then, Paimon. I hope you faithfully fulfill your role.]

The system looked at Paimon and said that, then turned to us.

[I will open the door to the next stage over there. I have to go to assist the other summoners now, so…… Please do your best.]

And the system disappeared. Naturally, as if the light was slowly going out.

And we were left alone with Paimon beyond the iron bars.

After a while.

"Damn it, damn Deia bitch. I have to tear her into a thousand pieces and kill her so that not even a speck of a trace remains. I have to explode her and kill……."

Paimon's soliloquy, which was far from repentance, continued. I could feel genuine murderous intent in his voice and eyes. It was to the point where I thought if I put wood there, it would catch fire.

"……Even though I am trapped here like this, the great Aleph will not have forgotten this lowly servant. If the day comes when that person tears Deia apart and kills her, if that day comes! I will peel off the skin of my body and make a drum and celebrate by dancing!"

The long curses and murder prophecies ended with those words. And I was able to obtain another piece of information from those curses.

'Aleph, that evil god also exists here.'

Aleph, who was not implemented in the game, is here.

"You guys, are there five of you."

Paimon said, glaring at us.

"Is there anyone who has faced me in that 'game'?"

Starting with Lee Ji-yeong, who shook her head first, one person shook her head at a time. I also looked around and shook my head.

I looked at Hong Su-ah. Hong Su-ah, who was looking at Paimon, was nervous, wiping the sweat from her hands on her pants and said in a trembling voice.

"I've seen it in screenshots……."

She declared that she was a veteran even though she had never caught Paimon.

Paimon, who was looking at us for a while, clicked his tongue.

"Tsk, how boring. Then…… anyone come out and start."

At those words, we looked at each other. I was going to step forward first, but I didn't want to stand out unnecessarily. Then, as expected, Hong Su-ah raised her hand.

"I'll try it first. Watch what I do and learn."

After saying that in a trustworthy voice, she picked up a dagger. You can't hide your roots.

***

─Clang.

"Th, that's enough!"

When Jo Seong-cheol dropped his long sword, the goblin in front of him turned into smoke and scattered.

"Tsk, you are 34 points, you are trash as expected."

Paimon said as if it was boring.

"Only boring guys this time too."

Hong Su-ah, Lee Ji-yeong, Hong Byeong-hyeon, and Jo Seong-cheol all finished the combat tutorial.

Hong Su-ah gave up at the 5th stage skeleton shield soldier. And Lee Ji-yeong dropped her sword at the 2nd stage black rat, saying it was gross, and Hong Byeong-hyeon and Jo Seong-cheol gave up at the 3rd stage goblin.

The scores were 93 points for Hong Su-ah, 32 points for Hong Byeong-hyeon, and 8 points for Lee Ji-yeong.

"Then get lost."

When Paimon said that, Jo Seong-cheol hurriedly ran towards the portal leading to the next stage. Then he stopped for a moment, turned to me, and said.

"Young man, I'll go first! Um, don't overdo it."

And disappeared beyond the portal. The rest of the people also crossed over after finishing their tutorials.

Well, even I wouldn't want to stay in this space for long.

Left alone with Paimon, I scanned the weapons on the shelf. And I reached for what I had chosen in advance.

'If my guess is correct.'

Hong Su-ah chose a dagger, Lee Ji-yeong and Jo Seong-cheol chose a long sword, and Hong Byeong-hyeon chose a spear. And when Paimon was giving Hong Su-ah points, he said.

─"84.2 points, since you used a dagger, I'll give you 93 points. For reference, this is out of 500 points."

And the rest of the people who used swords and spears didn't have additional points.

Considering the 'unweapon-like weapons' that were scattered on the shelf.

'There are bonus points for unfavorable weapons.'

"Hoo?"

Paimon, who saw what I picked up, said with interest.

"You're the first one I've seen pick that."

I looked at what I was holding in my hand.

In my hand was a weapon that was short and blunt, slightly curved, and flaunting sharp triangular edges.

That is.

'A hoe.'

"You seem to have some sense, but even then, you're bound to be just another one of those guys."

Paimon seemed to have lost interest in the meantime. It doesn't matter. I'm confident.

Hoe.

I, who has carved out all kinds of builds, have experience handling all the weapons on the shelf. And I can be proud of that proficiency as well.

But the hoe is special among them.

It's the weapon that's most familiar to my real hand.

─Hae-il, let's go dig potatoes.

Our executive officer was very close to the local leaders.

Thanks to that, I had to go out to support the rural community every chance I got and help with farming, and the most common crop in Gangwon-do, where I served, was potatoes.

The equipment that our reconnaissance unit held in their hands the most was this hoe.

'This light and cool feeling.'

If I just closed my eyes, it felt like I would go back to that time when I was squatting in the rice fields of Gangwon-do.

The potato slayer, Han Hae-il, a reconnaissance soldier among the reconnaissance soldiers who dug up twice as many potatoes as other squad members, even if they were from the same reconnaissance unit.

If converted into proficiency, wouldn't it be more than enough to hit Max? In other words, the hoe is not an unfavorable weapon to me at all.

I lightly swung the hoe.

─Swish, swish.

The tip of the hoe drew a long arc. After only swinging it twice, my hand had already perfectly grasped the center of gravity and was adjusting the force with which I was holding the hoe.

'As expected.'

Even after time has passed, the class is still the same. Every time I swing, the tip of the hoe reaches the target point without any error.

I looked at Paimon and said.

"Then let's start."

The first-rate pianist's fingers remember the sheet music even after resting for ten years. The same goes for me.

It's time to go back to the reconnaissance unit's radical feminist, Han Hae-il.