Shouting Duel at the Center of a Dead Game

Level-up notifications densely filled the screen, and below them, the Duelist reward was visible.

'First of all, the level-up…….'

I started counting the number of notifications that had popped up, but I decided to just bring up the status window.

◾ Name: Han Hae-il

◾ Level: 20

◾ Age: 24 years old

◾ Class: Novice

◾ Title: None

◾ Affiliation: (─)

◾ Stats

【Strength 24】 【Agility 24】

【Skill 24】 【Intelligence 24】

【Sense 24】 【Resistance 24】

(Remaining stat points: 0)

◾ Unique Trait

Duelist.

◾ Skills

Paimon's Evil Eye (Lv. 1)

'20?'

I couldn't help but doubt my eyes when I saw the level.

My level had gone up by 19 at once. I was briefly surprised because it was something I had never experienced before, but I soon realized that it wasn't that surprising.

'If I caught Paimon at level 1, it's right to go up this much. No, is it a bit lacking?'

All the stats also went up by 19.

'This is the same as the game.'

The stats that increase with level-up are 6. And Novice, that is, beginners, receive all stats evenly distributed upon leveling up. Later, when you change jobs, the stats are redistributed.

No wonder I had strength in my body despite being exhausted, my stats had increased a lot.

Up to this point, it's the same as in the game.

'That's right, but…….'

I looked at the phrase that had popped up in front of me.

[Duel victory, acquired rewards.]

This is what caught my attention. The first trait I had obtained and its reward, I wouldn't be qualified as a veteran if I wasn't looking forward to it.

When I touched the phrase, light arose. Warmth was felt in the blue and deep light. And that light went around me once and entered Paimon's head.

'Huh.'

Where's my reward?

I stared blankly at my feet, where black blood was flowing down.

'No way. It said it would give it to me?'

It wouldn't give no reward at all, no matter how trashy the trait was. Thinking so, I groped Paimon's head to find the reward.

After rummaging through the rough fur, I stood up.

"Alright, I didn't believe it in the first place. Deia."

Still, I decided not to curse because I had survived thanks to the Duel trait.

A trait that doesn't tire you, doesn't scare you, and is blessed by the goddess. The one-month cooldown is a bit of a problem, but it's a good trait.

At that time.

─Buzzzz.

Black smoke began to spread from Paimon's body.

'What is this again?'

I jumped off Paimon's head and looked at the situation. The black smoke that had begun to spread quickly wrapped around Paimon's corpse, and then Paimon's body began to crumble.

─Phew.

The body, turning into dust while making a bizarre sound, and something red sparkled in between, and then disappeared somewhere.

'Was it like this?'

In the game, demons are basically immortal. When the body reaches death, it turns into dust like now, and only the soul returns to the demon god's hand to prepare for resurrection.

Of course, I've never actually seen it resurrect in the game, but I don't know what it will be like here.

When even Paimon's head had crumbled into dust, I saw something special on the floor.

Something sparkling had fallen to the floor.

I approached and looked at the sparkling something. It was…….

'Eyeball?'

There was one special thing about the eyeball that had fallen on the floor.

'The way this eyeball looks……'

The shape of the pupil was a long sideways square. Just like Paimon's eyes.

'Could this be…… Paimon's eye?'

In the game, after killing a monster, you can harvest byproducts by manually processing it. In the case of demons, you can't harvest byproducts except for the equipment that the demon was wearing.

Because they turn into smoke and disappear when you kill them.

When my thoughts reached that point, something flashed in my head.

'Could this be the Duelist reward?'

It was reasonable to think so. It was sparkling as if asking to be picked up, how else can I explain it?

I carefully reached out and picked up the eyeball.

The moment I did, the eyeball melted into my hand and a phrase popped up in front of me.

[You have acquired the Duelist reward.]

[Acquired . You can use some of Paimon's powers.]

'!'

The moment I saw the phrase that had popped up, a thrilling sensation spread through my entire body.

To use the power of a demon? It was an ability that was not implemented in the game. I hurriedly opened the status window to see if there was anything new.

And something new was visible at the bottom of the status window.

◾ Skills

Paimon's Evil Eye (Lv. 1)

When I brought my hand to the item, a description appeared.

[It contains the power that the demon of violence, Paimon, had.

Lv. 1 ─ You can glimpse the emotions of the other person.]

Glimpse emotions?

It was a word that was hard to understand.

'How do I use it?'

While moving my eyes around, I felt something strange when I put a little strength into my eyelids and thought of 'Evil Eye'.

But since there was no one around, I couldn't tell the difference.

'Hmm, then……,'

I looked at the door over there. The door that the system had opened, leading to the next stage.

'I don't think there's anything more to see here, so let's move on for now.'

I slowly moved my steps.

***

The third stage.

"Ugh."

Lee Ji-yeong kicked the sand with her toes and said brusquely.

"That Han Hae-il guy, why isn't he here yet? I think I've been waiting for an hour!"

"That's right."

Hong Byeong-hyeon also added. His skinny wrist throwing a stone towards the sea stood out.

─Splash.

"Seriously, he has no manners. What's taking him so long to make us wait."

Hong Su-ah and Jo Seong-cheol were silently looking at the two of them.

The place where the four people were was a beach. The warm sunlight had appropriately warmed the sandy beach, it was truly a resort.

"By the way, genius miss……."

Jo Seong-cheol looked at Hong Su-ah and asked.

"Is this a dangerous place?"

Hong Su-ah hesitated for a moment and answered.

"……I don't know yet either. I think it's some kind of island, but I don't know what to do here."

Hong Su-ah said while looking at the opaque barrier that surrounded the beach.

"It doesn't seem like anything has started yet, so that system thing will explain it."

"……We need Hae-il to come soon before that. I'm a little worried about how long it's taking him."

"That's what I'm saying……."

At that time.

─Buzzzz.

A blue shining door opened and Han Hae-il entered.

"Oh! He's here!"

Jo Seong-cheol ran to Han Hae-il and grabbed his hand.

"Oh my, what took you so long? What happened to your hands that they're all hurt like this?"

Hong Su-ah also walked over and looked at Han Hae-il.

"What have you been doing……?"

To put it very simply, Han Hae-il's appearance was like a beggar, and to tell it in a little more detail, it was like a beggar who had been beaten after begging.

"Ah."

Han Hae-il said with an embarrassed expression.

"The goblin was stronger than I thought."

***

Let's not stand out on purpose.

This is the best course of action I have judged.

The system and even Paimon were looking for me. I don't know the reason yet, and I don't know how similar this world is to the game.

So now is the time to quietly learn about this world.

And above all.

"……Huh?"

The dagger rogue Hong Su-ah frowned.

"The 2nd stage goblin?"

RabbitBoneSoup, this woman is the most worrying. If my identity is exposed, she may have a grudge, and above all, I don't want to be caught by a dagger rogue in the first place.

So I said with an embarrassed expression.

"Yes, it looked a bit scary, so I ran away and it turned out like that."

"……Got hit by a goblin…… Ah, okay."

Hong Su-ah looked at me with a pitiful expression. Yeah, it's better to look a little lacking than to stand out.

"You suffered."

Behind Hong Su-ah's hypocritical encouragement, Lee Ji-yeong's voice was heard.

"No, even so, you can just give up, why did you drag it out for so long?"

When I turned around, I saw Lee Ji-yeong's spiteful expression.

"Seriously, what a nuisance."

Hong Byeong-hyeon, who was next to her, also added a word. But I shrugged and said.

"I know, right. It took longer than I thought."

And I put a little strength into my eyes. Then I saw a shadow-shaped gray behind Lee Ji-yeong's head.

'Is this the emotion you see with the Evil Eye?'

At that time, red began to appear between the gray. In front of the shadow that was quickly turning red as if paint was spreading in water, Lee Ji-yeong's mouth opened.

"Are you even saying that now? Ah, seriously! You're making me angry!"

'Okay, red is anger.'

I obtained information.

"Are you kidding me right now?"

Red was also visible behind Hong Byeong-hyeon. I shrugged even while looking at him.

"It could be."

"Seriously, what kind of person is this!"

At the moment when the voices were getting louder.

─Buzzzz.

Lights flickered in the air, and Deia's system reappeared.

[It's only natural, but everyone has arrived safely.]

Natural?

I bit my lip to stop myself from cursing.

[With this, everyone has reached the third stage. Now, I will explain the test for this stage.]

The system, speaking in its usual gentle voice, looked at each of our faces once and continued.

[From now on, for one week, the "Lever of Causality" will be applied to this entire archipelago.]

"Causality…… What is that?"

The system answered Jo Seong-cheol's question immediately.

[The summoners from Korea quickly understood when I said "Burning."]

I understood immediately. And it seemed that Hong Byeong-hyeon did too.

[Your "growth" will be the same as in the game. The maximum level that can be reached on this stage, the Isle of Trials, is 20.]

'Hmm?'

The level limit is 20?

Then what about me?

"Um."

I carefully raised my hand.

"Does that mean I can't go above 20?"

[Yes, that is correct.]

At that moment, Hong Su-ah looked at me and said.

"You don't have to worry. Level 20 isn't that simple and easy to achieve in just a few days. This game's difficulty is quite hard."

[That is correct. There are hardly any summoners who reach level 20 on the Isle of Trials. Please do your best.]

No.

I'm already 20.

In the meantime, the system continued.

[Also, separately from that, Karma Points will be accumulated based on your actions over the next three days.]

'Karma Points?'

It was a concept that didn't exist in the game.

[It may be unfamiliar, but you have already been given some Karma Points. That is…… the test score you obtained in the previous stage.]

What?

[From now on, you can check your Karma Points, or KP. Of course, most of you will not have exceeded 100 points, but if you really work hard to accumulate "achievements" in this stage, you will be able to accumulate a large amount of points.]

I opened the status window. Sure enough, an item called "KP: 500" had been added there.

'I know one thing for sure.'

I looked at Deia's system.

'That system can't peek at my status window.'

If it could, it would have reacted to the numbers level 20 and KP 500.

At that moment, Hong Su-ah raised her hand.

"Um, what are those points used for?"

[You will find out after the test is over. However, if I may offer some advice, it would be best to collect as much as possible.]

Well, it's always good to have a lot of points first.

Anyway, achievements.

'Judging from the shape of the beach, it looks like Cavallo Island, what achievements could be completed here?'

As I was thinking that, the system continued.

[Aside from achievements, there are also other ways to collect points, but you will find out on your own. Finally, to further motivate you, I will tell you one more thing.]

The system smiled gently and continued.

[This is Cavallo Island, located in the Madeira Archipelago. And on this island and the rest of the archipelago, there are summoners from other countries as well. Also…….]

The system looked at each of us in turn and said.

[A "special" reward is prepared for the person who achieves the highest KP among them.]

A special reward.

My heart fluttered at those words. The "Duelist" trait from the 1st stage, and the "Evil Eye" from the 2nd stage, were all things that I had never obtained in the game.

[Well then, we will start the test in one hour. May good fortune be with you.]