"Wait, what did that person just say?"
"I think he's asking for a better reward."
"Did he just try to negotiate with the angel?"
"Is he insane?"
"He must be out of their mind to act like that."
The people murmured, but the angel couldn't hear a thing.
Briel doubted her own ears.
"What did you say just now, human?"
"I'm not satisfied with the reward. I want something better."
[…] The angel asked again, thinking she misheard, but the human's demand remained the same.
As if it were his right.
"How dare this human speak to me like this?"
The beautiful face of the angel Briel contorted in frustration.
"Should I gouge out his eyes?"
Despite the menacing expression on her face, the human continued to stare at them boldly.
It was almost laughable.
"I thought he was actually decent when I watched him take the first round, but now his spewing this nonsense like a lunatic."
Does he think he's invincible after taking down a few goblins?
The angel wanted to bash his head out of frustration, but she couldn't.
She had already used up her authority to kill using that skill.
"That arrogant human. I can't kill them… Wait, hold on."
Suddenly, Briel's expression changed, a faint smile appearing on her face.
"What's stopping me from killing him? If I want him dead, I can just kill him even without that skill, right?"
With a good idea in mind, Briel turned to face Ryu Min.
"You wanted a better reward, right?"
The barrier surrounding Ryu Min vanished in an instant.
"I'll make a deal with you. Follow me, and I'll give you a better reward than you can imagine. The others will wait here until I come back."
The people nodded, knowing they couldn't go anywhere, trapped within the pillars.
"She's going to give him a better reward?"
"Does that mean she'll do what Black Scythe said?"
"Did he just make the angel really negotiate with them?"
"Maybe I should ask for a better reward too?"
"Only if you're ranked first place, I bet."
"I envy him now, if I knew that I would have asked her myself."
The people mumbled as they watched Ryu Min follow the angel with envy in their eyes.
As Ryu Min watched the envious glares from others, he bit his tongue in frustration.
"What's there to be jealous about? If only they knew what the angel had in store for me."
The angel wasn't really taking him away to offer some reward or compensation.
"If it's just a reward, they could have given it to me here. Why move me to another location?"
There was only one reason why the angel moved him to a quieter place; to lure him into a trap and kill him.
Ryu Min was certain of it. But why was he so sure? Because he had experienced it firsthand. He had been killed by an angel before.
"Was it the 12th regression? When the angel backstabbed me, I felt so dizzy."
At that time, and after 12 regressions, Ryu Min managed to kill the goblins with his experience and skill, achieving the top rank for the first time.
"I was expecting a huge reward for being first. But when I saw the special reward box given to the top ranker, I muttered under my breath, 'It's not as great as I thought it would be.'"
Of course, he had the right to complain. The problem was that the angel had overheard him.
"I didn't know then. I didn't know that complaining would anger the angel."
And the price he paid for that was steep.
The angel had lured him by promising an even better reward, then struck him from behind.
He died for no other reason than for annoying Briel.
That was why Ryu Min could never see angels in a positive light. To them, humans were nothing more than lowly insects, even when dead.
"I'm sure she'd kill all humans if she could. But there's a reason why she can't."
The angels are not as powerful as they appear to be.
"They made people believe that they cannot compete with an angel. If they try, their heads will explode."
But this was all part of the game plan.
She only killed that guy at first to instill fear and make people obey her every command.
"That skill that makes heads explode is a one-time ability. It's a privilege of an angel that can only be used once."
The ability to kill instantly was called the "head explosion."
A piece of information he obtained through torturing the angels from the previous regressions.
"If I didn't use up that privilege in the beginning."
This is why Briel couldn't think straight anymore.
It was also why Ryu Min didn't flinch in fear.
"Angels without their powers aren't really that scary."
They may have wings and a few tricks up their sleeves, but that's about it.
Physically, they're not much different from humans.
If anything, they're weaker and more fragile than they appear.
"Angels are just humans with wings."
Ryu Min wasted no time in seeking revenge on the angel in his next regression.
In the process, he discovered a few things.
Angels are weaker than he thought.
And killing an angel yields hidden rewards.
"You can't miss out on hidden rewards, especially if it's an item that can be used to advance to the unique class, Grim Reaper."
When an angel is killed, an item necessary for advancing to the Grim Reaper class is obtained.
Since then, Ryu Min continued to kill angels.
In the next regression and the next after that.
He deliberately made a name for himself from the first round and then tried to piss off the angel to the point that she would decide to kill him.
"I guess this is the last time."
Every time, the angel tried to stab Ryu Min with a hidden blade in her wings.
But it was always the angel who ended up being defeated.
"Getting hit in the back would only work once."It was easy, he just had to attack the angel in the back first and obtained the reward before getting hit himself.
As he was thinking these thoughts, the angel turned around, possibly because she felt a cold chill on the back of her neck.
"Why are you so far behind? Can't you keep up?"
"Oh, yes."
Ryu Min approached with quick steps, but the angel's expression was still full of displeasure.
"Humans always have to be shouted at to understand. Tsk."
And what's worse they are all greedy.
Humans were a race that could not feel full even if they drink the ocean.
"If you want to be treated like a pig, then you'll get what you deserve. Sure, I'll show you the price of your greed. Kyohohoho."
Briel laughed to herself as the thought alone was amusing. She never had any intention of exchanging the reward for Ryu Min.
She didn't even have the ability to do that.
"How can I change the reward that's predetermined by the system?"
She had only enticed him with sweet words.
In order to kill the human in front of her in a place without any witnesses.
"There's no rule that says I can't kill a player."
Didn't she already kill one at the beginning; well that was a one-time thing and now it's not possible.
"In fact, I can kill humans, but I can't kill them openly. Who knows what kind of trouble I'll get into if I do that?"
There's no rule that says she can't kill a player, but there's also no rule that says she can.
It would be a huge problem if she killed a player for personal reasons.
What if the players rebelled later, claiming unevenness?
She would ruin the game they have worked so hard for.
At that point, Briel would not be able to avoid responsibility.
"So the cleanest and best way is to kill them without leaving any witnesses."
Briel couldn't bear to look at the person who hurt her pride.
She couldn't just let it go, it would be against her dignity.
"Other humans are scared and obey well, but this person who's ranked #1 has stirred things up by haggling for rewards."
They're all the same, after reaching #1, they became greedy.
"What a stupid bastard. He could've settled for what he got, but he had to run his mouth."
The more she thought about it, the more she felt disgusted by him.
"After we pass this place, I'll kill him right away."
The angel who had become so distant that none of the players could see her suddenly stopped walking.
This was a good place to get the job done.
"Well, you want a better reward, don't you? What kind of reward do you want…?"
At that moment, Briel turned around and was surprised to see a fist in front of her.
Whack!
"Kiyaaa!"
She stumbled and fell, clutching her face in pain.
She couldn't regain her composure due to the shock, not the pain.
"What's going on? Did that human hit me?"
Soon, she realized what had happened to her, and her smooth forehead wrinkled uncontrollably.
[You damn human!]
She turned her head, but the human was nowhere in sight. However, she could easily tell where he was. She felt his presence behind her.
Ryu Min was holding his new dagger tightly.
"Hey, wait a minute! What are you trying to do…!"
Crack!!!!
"Kiyaaaaaaa!"
The sound was chilling, and the angel's mouth opened wide in horror.
"Ahhh!"
"Stop overreacting."
Ryu Min brushed away the drooping wings and grabbed the other one. He was determined to break both wings, so the angel couldn't escape.
Crack!!
"Screaming in pain?"
Despite the angel's scream, Ryu Min shouted back in disbelief.
"It always amazes me to see you scream like this, it's really different from how you acted tough before, laughing at the people dying, how was it… Kyohohoho?!"
[Are you insane, human? What are you saying…!]
"You were going to kill me with that dagger hidden in your wings, weren't you?"
[…]
Seeing the angel's stunned expression, Ryu Min smiled.
"I knew it."
[Killing you?! I never thought of that…]
"You don't have to lie. Because it's all over the face. Briel."
Briel's eyes widened.
[How could a human like you…?]
"I don't know about that."
Ryu Min raised her hand, revealing a dagger he had selected as his first prize, a stiletto.
[What are you doing with that weapon all of a sudden?]
"Don't you see?"
The piercing look in Ryu Min's eyes silenced Briel.
He didn't say anything, but she knew she would soon die in this spot.
Although fear crept into her heart at the moment she was caught, Briel's pride remained unbroken.
[Are you crazy, human? Did your head explode or something?]
"Nope, you can't use that anymore."
[…]
The moment her weakness was exposed, Briel was speechless.
The voice of the angel was filled with confusion.
[Do you really think you can survive by doing this? Surely my colleagues won't just stand by and watch!]
[What colleagues? Don't you know that angels are selfish beings who are not interested in others even their own race? Whether you live or die, none of them would care," replied Ryu Min, gripping his dagger.
Briel's face showed desperation as she realized the danger she was in.
[Wait! There's nothing to gain by killing me!] pleaded the angel.
"There is. You just don't know it," replied Ryu Min with a smirk.
[If you kill me, you'll regret it! You won't be able to go home!] said the angel in a last-ditch effort to save herself.
"We can go home. The system will automatically send us home after a period of time," said Ryu Min dismissively.
[How do you know that? What else do you know?] asked the angel, grasping at straws.
"Why do you care? You're dead anyway," said Ryu Min, before stabbing the angel in the heart.
Briel's eyes widened as Ryu Min's dagger pierced her chest.
"Gaaah!" she screamed as her body shook and he fell to the ground, while her golden blood was flowing from her torn chest.
Ryu Min didn't even look twice at her, instead, his attention turned to the message that had just appeared in his vision. It was a message about a hidden reward.