“Wait, what did that person just say?”
“I think he’s asking for a better reward.”
“Is he trying to negotiate with the Cheon-sa?”
“He must be out of his mind.”
The whispers rippled through the crowd, but they were too faint for the Cheon-sa to hear.
Seo-rin was certain she had misheard. “What did you just say, human?”
“I said, I'm not satisfied with this reward,” Park Jin-ho repeated, his voice unwavering. “I want something better.”
The Cheon-sa asked again, certain her ears were deceiving her, but the human’s demand remained the same. He spoke as if it were his absolute right.
How dare this human speak to me like that?
Frustration twisted Seo-rin’s beautiful features into an ugly mask. Should I gouge his eyes from their sockets?
And yet, despite the naked threat on her face, the human met her gaze without flinching. It was almost laughable.
I thought he showed some promise during the first round, but he's just another lunatic spewing nonsense. Does he think killing a few goblins makes him invincible?
She wanted to smash his skull in, but she couldn't. Her one use of that authority, that absolute power to kill, was spent. That arrogant little insect. I can’t kill him… wait.
Suddenly, Seo-rin's expression shifted. The anger melted away, replaced by a slow, cruel smile. What’s to stop me from killing him personally? If I want him dead, I can do it myself, skill or no skill.
Her plan solidifying, Seo-rin turned back to Park Jin-ho. “You wanted a better reward, did you not?”
With a flick of her wrist, the barrier containing him dissolved.
“I’ll make you a deal. Follow me, and I will grant you a reward beyond your imagination. The rest of you will wait here until I return.”
Trapped between the pillars, the others could only nod in agreement. A new wave of murmurs rippled through them.
“She’s going to give him a better reward?”
“You mean she’s actually doing what Huk-yeong said?”
“He made an Cheon-sa negotiate!”
“Maybe I should have asked for something more, too.”
“Only if you're ranked first, I bet.”
“Still… I’m so jealous.”
Envy burned in their eyes as they watched Park Jin-ho walk away behind the Cheon-sa.
Park Jin-ho felt the heat of their stares on his back and had to suppress a bitter laugh. What is there to be jealous about? If only they knew what she has in store for me.
The Cheon-sa wasn't leading him to some grand prize. It was simple logic: if she were just giving him a reward, she could have done it right there. Why lead him away to a private location?
There was only one reason. She was luring him into a trap to kill him.
Park Jin-ho was certain of it. He had experienced this exact scenario firsthand. An Cheon-sa had killed him this way before.
The twelfth regression, was it? He remembered the dizzying shock as her blade slid between his ribs. That had been the first time he'd managed to take the top rank, and he'd expected a magnificent reward for his efforts. But upon seeing the special reward box, he’d muttered under his breath, “It’s not as great as I thought it would be.”
He had every right to be disappointed, but the Cheon-sa had overheard. He hadn't known then how fragile their egos were, how a simple complaint could be a death sentence.
The price for his insolence was steep. The Cheon-sa had lured him away with the exact same promise of a better reward, only to strike him down from behind.
He had died for nothing more than bruising Seo-rin's pride. It was a lesson that had forever colored his perception of angels. To these beings, humans were insects, to be crushed at their whim.
I'm sure she'd kill every human here if she could. But there are rules she can't break.
The angels were not as omnipotent as they seemed. They cultivated an image of absolute power, one backed by the threat of an exploding head for any who defied them. But it was all a performance.
The initial execution was a simple, brutal tactic to instill fear and command obedience. That spectacular ability—the one that made heads explode—was a one-time privilege. An ace played far too early. That was a piece of information he had… extracted from other angels in other timelines.
If only I hadn't used that privilege so soon. The thought was no doubt tormenting Seo-rin, clouding her judgment.
It was also precisely why Park Jin-ho felt no fear.
An Cheon-sa stripped of their ultimate authority wasn't particularly scary. They had wings and a few parlor tricks, but that was all. Physically, they were hardly different from humans.
If anything, they were weaker, more fragile than their divine appearance suggested.
Cheonsa-ui were just humans with wings.
In his next regression, Park Jin-ho had wasted no time seeking revenge. In the process, he'd made two vital discoveries.
First, angels were far weaker than he ever imagined.
Second, killing them yielded hidden rewards.
You never passed up a hidden reward, especially not one that dropped an item required to advance to the unique class, Sasin.
From then on, it became part of his routine. In one regression after another, he would distinguish himself in the first round, then deliberately provoke the presiding Cheon-sa until she tried to eliminate him quietly.
I suppose this will be the last time.
Every time, the Cheon-sa would attempt to bury a hidden blade from her wings in his back.
And every time, it was the Cheon-sa who fell.
Getting stabbed in the back only works once.