Anyone can become a player.
All you need is to sign a contract with a Constellation.
But not all players are the same.
A player’s level is determined by the grade of their contracted Constellation and the skills they receive from them.
At the very peak are the Monarchs.
They were ten superhumans who had reached level 100 by contracting with the greatest Constellations and developing their unique skills to the limit.
Because of this, the name of a Monarch carried immense weight in the Iron Age.
Even the president of a nation could not treat a Monarch lightly, and any faction would bow their heads before them.
As their title suggested, they were the absolute rulers who dominated everything in this era.
“Why? Are you just now starting to realize you made a mistake?”
Having one of those ten Monarchs as a brother-in-law was a staggering background.
On top of that, he was a high-level player in the level 80s himself.
It was only natural for him to be arrogant.
Once someone becomes a celestial being, they tend to stop seeing earthly beings as fellow humans.
“I’m telling you, you shouldn’t have ambushed me. Why did you do something so despicable and piss me off, huh?”
“……Ambush?”
“Fuck, you ambushed me while I was drunk and defenseless!”
Limon blinked.
He glanced back at Yu Na-gyeong, asking with his eyes.
‘Hey, do people these days call riding a bull and going on a rampage being “defenseless”?’
‘If that’s defenseless, then arson must be considered a firework show.’
‘Then why is he talking such nonsense?’
‘I don’t know, maybe he blacked out?’
‘Even if he doesn’t remember, he must have heard things. There’s a mountain of CCTV footage.’
‘Maybe someone fed him a different story?’
After sharing their thoughts for a moment, Limon, who couldn’t find an answer himself, finally asked the person in question directly.
“Just to confirm, what is the basis for your claim that I ambushed you?”
“What basis do I need? If you hadn’t used some despicable trick, there’s no way my summon would have been defeated by a has-been like you.”
Limon unconsciously frowned.
It wasn’t because of Seo Yong-chan’s absurd answer.
He had realized the true reason why this man had come all this way to make such a forced argument.
‘Aha, his pride was wounded.’
He must have lived his life acting like a tyrant as a celestial being.
But his summon, one of the sources of his confidence, had been crushed in a single second.
He simply couldn’t accept it.
Especially since the opponent was Limon, who was treated as a washed-up has-been among players.
And Limon knew very well from experience how a guy like this would try to restore his pride in a situation like this.
“A civil servant assaulting an innocent citizen, does this make any sense?! It gives me the creeps, the creeps, thinking that people like you are living off my taxes!”
What was that method?
It was extremely simple.
Crushing the culprit who wounded his pride.
Strangely, these kinds of people believe that if they break their opponent like that, their own pride will be cleanly restored.
“Do you think this will end with just compensation? Not a chance! If I put my mind to it, destroying a has-been like you is nothing.”
In that sense, Seo Yong-chan’s threat couldn’t be dismissed as mere bluster.
CCTV, black boxes—it didn’t matter.
He could just wipe out everything that could serve as evidence.
It wasn’t a difficult task if he mobilized just one high-level player of the electronic type.
Witnesses?
That was even easier.
Just hinting at his background as a relative of a Monarch would make anyone who wasn’t crazy enough to want to die shut their mouths. With a little bit of money added to that, he could even manufacture witnesses who didn’t exist.
With just that, the incident of [The Infinite Monarch’s Brother-in-law, Rampaging in the Middle of the City!] would cleanly disappear, and instead, stories of Limon’s assault would be spread everywhere.
However, the one who reacted most sensitively to Seo Yong-chan’s threat wasn’t Limon.
“Seo Yong-chan, are you threatening a Special Management Bureau agent in front of me right now?”
“Why? Am I not allowed to?”
“Listen to yourself!”
Kang Jeong-su’s face contorted.
He had been putting up with it because of the Infinite Monarch’s background, but there was a limit.
Shouting at Seo Yong-chan’s over-the-line behavior, he barked out.
“If you’re going to keep acting like this, I’d rather call the Infinite Monarch and talk to him separately! Would you like that?”
Seo Yong-chan flinched at those firm words.
Even for a relative, the name of a Monarch weighed heavily.
Especially if he caused a figure as high as a PAB Director to contact the Monarch directly over such a matter, even Seo Yong-chan would face severe repercussions.
“Tsk, fine. Fine.”
Hesitating between his pride and his fear for a moment, Seo Yong-chan reluctantly backed down.
“Since the Director is begging like this, I’ll let it slide this time if I just get the compensation.”
‘When did I ever beg, you bastard!’
Kang Jeong-su frowned at the arrogant tone.
But he didn’t argue.
Regardless, dealing with a Monarch was a burden, and if the matter could be settled with some money, it was a relief.
“On one condition: that guy over there has to get on his knees and apologize to me.”
It was at that exact moment that Seo Yong-chan pointed at Limon.
As Kang Jeong-su froze and Yu Na-gyeong’s eyes widened at those words, Limon tilted his head slightly.
“……You’re telling me to kneel?”
“Isn’t it obvious? If you caused harm to someone, you should at least show some sincerity!”
“Seo Yong-chan, that’s……!”
“Why? You don’t want to? Then forget it. I’ll just take a scolding from my brother-in-law.”
‘You idiot!’
Kang Jeong-su swallowed a curse.
Negotiations and settlements were all over now.
Just in case, he turned his gaze, only to see Limon throwing a punch with a murderous face, and he ended up closing his eyes.
Whack!
‘Just as planned.’
***
Limon was lunging toward him with a fist.
Seeing that savage face, Seo Yong-chan wore a triumphant expression.
‘Falling for such a simple provocation, what a stupid old man.’
From the moment he walked in until now, Seo Yong-chan hadn’t acted arrogantly just because of his pride.
He had intentionally provoked Limon to induce him to attack like this.
The reason was clear.
To get his revenge by beating Limon down in a fair fight!
Of course, that plan was only possible if he could overpower Limon one-on-one, but Seo Yong-chan was confident.
Yesterday, he was drunk and wasn’t wearing his equipment, so he couldn’t block that surprise attack.
But now that he was wearing all sorts of items and was fully prepared, there was no way he couldn’t handle a single has-been.
Seo Yong-chan had no doubt about it.
Until he was struck in the solar plexus by Limon.
“Urgh?!”
Seo Yong-chan was bewildered.
The punch he thought he had clearly blocked had somehow buried itself deep into his stomach.
Even so, as a high-level player in name and deed, Seo Yong-chan tried to endure the pain and launch a counterattack.
But that was nothing more than Seo Yong-chan’s wishful thinking.
Slap, slap, slap!
“Hey, you son of a bitch.”
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
“If you did something wrong, you should know how to reflect on it.”
Crack!
“What was that? Compensation? Kneeling? You’re really dying to lose your life, aren’t you?”
‘T-This shouldn’t be happening.’
His cheeks were swollen from being slapped.
His entire body was being kicked evenly.
His face was being pummeled by fists.
While being assaulted by Limon without even a moment to breathe, let alone counterattack, Seo Yong-chan felt more bewilderment than anger.
A high-level player was a superhuman themselves.
With the correction from their level, their body became as tough as steel, and their reflexes became fast enough to catch even a flying arrow.
Furthermore, equipped with his items, he should have been able to crush a tank with his bare hands.
Yet, why did the punches from Limon, who was nothing more than an ‘ordinary person,’ hurt so much?
Seo Yong-chan couldn’t understand it.
But that bewilderment was brief.
The pain from the never-ending violence made Seo Yong-chan’s eyes roll back.
“Y-You bastard! Do you think you’ll be safe after this?! If I tell my brother-in-law about this……!”
“Tell him what? You’re about to die anyway.”
“What?”
Only then did Limon stop punching.
He then grabbed Seo Yong-chan by the hair, pulled him up to meet his eyes, and wore a chilling smile.
“Did you really think you could say those things to me and walk out of here alive?”
“……!”
A chill ran down Seo Yong-chan’s spine.
He was something of an expert when it came to being reckless.
That was why, as soon as he saw Limon’s golden eyes glinting with murderous intent, he knew.
Limon was a crazy bastard whose personality was just as bad as his own…… no, he was a lunatic incomparable to someone like himself.
‘This guy is serious!’
In that moment, Seo Yong-chan forgot all his anger and resentment.
Following his surging survival instincts, he hurriedly opened his mouth.
“W-Wait, let’s talk…….”
“Too late, you bastard!”
“Aack!”
As if he wouldn’t even give him a chance to speak, Limon struck Seo Yong-chan’s chin with his knee.
Just how hard he had struck him, a shower of broken teeth poured out of his mouth from that single blow.
Limon didn’t stop there.
He stepped on Seo Yong-chan’s body as he rolled on the floor to pin him down, and wore a grim smile.
“You’re going to die anyway, so you don’t need this anymore, right?”
Even while writhing in pain, Seo Yong-chan’s eyes bulged.
Limon’s savage gaze was aimed specifically at his lower body, right at his groin.
“No, not there……!”
“Yes, right there, you bastard!”
Trampling over Seo Yong-chan’s desperate cry, Limon delivered a ruthless kick.
Crark!
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!”
It was the scream of a man.
***
Seo Yong-chan eventually fainted.
It was only natural.
There was no way he could remain conscious after receiving such a horrific impact.
What was even more horrific was that even then, Limon’s violence did not stop.
Thump, thump, thump!
“Where do you think you’re fainting! Is this your living room? Huh? Fine, if you want to sleep, then sleep! I’ll make sure you sleep forever!”
“Sir! Please, calm down. He’s really going to die at this rate!”
Unable to watch the atrocity any longer, Kang Jeong-su hurriedly tried to stop Limon.
But in the next moment, Kang Jeong-su couldn’t help but freeze.
“I am going to kill him, though.”
“……Pardon?”
“I’m hitting him because I intend to kill him.”
The one who had left Kang Jeong-su dumbfounded with such a nonchalant answer, Limon, continued indifferently.
“Why, kid? Did you think I said I’d kill this bastard as a joke?”
“No, but……! This man is the Infinite Monarch’s brother-in-law! What will you do if the Infinite Monarch finds out about this?!”
“Then we just make sure he doesn’t find out. We have plenty of experts in our organization who are good at erasing evidence like that.”
“Do you think the Special Management Bureau is some kind of criminal organization?! And dozens of people must have seen this guy barge in here, how can we hide that!”
“Can’t we hide it?”
“Listen to yourself!”
“Tsk.”
Looking at Kang Jeong-su, who was shouting at the top of his lungs, Limon smacked his lips.
Then he glanced down at the battered Seo Yong-chan.
‘Should I just kill him or not?’
Limon pondered.
Whether he should ignore the Infinite Monarch, the law, and everything else and just kill this bastard right now.
Or if he should just endure it and let it go for now, like a civil servant who must uphold law and order.
In the moment he was lost in serious thought, Seo Yong-chan’s appearance suddenly changed.
Sss.
“……What’s this now?”
Even though his eyes were rolled back, he had still looked human.
But the moment a faint black radiance flickered in his vision, Limon couldn’t help but wear a bewildered expression as he looked at Seo Yong-chan’s head, which had suddenly transformed into the head of an ox.