The Devil’s Cage

Rachel placed the cup down, turned around and looked at Kieran with a never before seen gaze.

It was serious and as sharp as a knife.

Kieran looked back at her with a calm gaze and briefly explained what happened just now through messages.

After that, Kieran clearly felt that Rachel was a bit more relieved.

It seemed like Rachel wasn’t surprised about “how to kill a player in their room” but the topic itself, “killing a player in their room”.

……

2567: Did something happen?

……

Kieran asked through messages.

He didn’t hold any hope for an answer though.

Although he was a frequent visitor of Harvest Inn, the reason why he was there was to sell his equipment conveniently other than Lawless’ relentless invitations to drink.

The real communication done with Rachel was also because of Lawless.

Other than that, he didn’t have any further private conversations with Rachel.

Therefore, Kieran was surprised when Rachel actually answered him.

……

Rachel: Back then someone tried to hire me to remove a threat through “exterior means”, it failed.

…

It was a short and simple reply yet it held substantial information.

“Exterior means? Threat?”

Kieran muttered in his heart, his squinted eyes suddenly enlarged.

Exterior means, as its name suggested, illegal methods which deviated from the common means before them.

What was before them?

The game!

Which meant illegal methods outside the game!

What kind of threat was severe enough to hire Rachel to get rid of said threat outside the game?

The Witch!

Other than the infamous one, Kieran couldn’t think of anything else.

Kieran replied immediately.

……

Rachel: Yes, the Witch.

Rachel: And I failed.

2567: Failed?

…

Kieran couldn’t hold back his curiosity nor his questions.

Rachel, however, seemed to fall into some less than decent memories as she entered a small trance.

Two to three seconds later, she finally came back to her senses.

……

Rachel: Yes, failed.

Rachel: It should have been an easy mission yet somehow accidents happened one after another as if the whole world was against you.

Rachel: What was scarier is that it only happened when I was going after the Witch!

…

“As if the whole world is against you?”

“Only happens when going after the Witch?”

“The Child of Destiny?”

Kieran couldn’t help but think about the book titled “Child of Destiny” that he read back in Nikorei’s study room.

The whole book was thick and had around 200 pages yet the contents were very similar and repetitive.

Most of the book was short stories about the main character facing unimaginable difficulties yet being able to smoothly overcome them in a surprising way.

One part of the story that left the most impression in Kieran’s mind was: no matter how powerful the enemy was, they would always become the stepping stone for the main character.

Each time the main character escaped the clutches of death, he would become stronger and in the end overcome the powerful enemy that he couldn’t defeat before.

The whole book had a lot of illogical places but no doubt it was a good read to kill time. Besides, the book genre also leaned towards entertainment.

The reason why Kieran finished that book was that the author was Nikorei herself.

He wanted to find more hidden knowledge in her work but ended up disappointed.

However, there was a phrase that he remembered from the book, “don’t ever go against the Child of Destiny, because the whole world will turn against you!”

What would it be like if a person had the whole world against them, would they be hated by all?

Choked to death from drinking water?

Getting into a car accident every time the person went out?

Or being struck by lightning?

Kieran would shiver with the slightest thought about the possible outcome.

“The Witch is really scary…”

Kieran muttered before he continued sending messages to Rachel.

…

Rachel: Then?

Rachel: Of course the Witch took revenge.

Rachel: The one who hired me is the Witch’s old friend but her bloodthirsty and merciless character didn’t spare him. Anyone who was related to him were all killed, even a few lucky ones that managed to return to their room couldn’t escape death.

Rachel: Don’t worry, the Witch didn’t hire us to do the job. The few lucky ones were severely injured during the battle with the Witch, so they couldn’t escape their demise when a new dungeon came.

Rachel: Wondering how I managed to survive?

…

Kieran nodded without concealing his curiosity.

Rachel took a sip of sweet wine from her glass before continuing.

…

Rachel: Because I paid the price, the equivalent of a life.

2567: The price equivalent of a life?

…

Rachel didn’t answer this time.

Both of them entered an awkward silence.

Kieran believed Rachel must have paid a substantial amount.

Similarly, he also believed Karles wasn’t so stupid as to leak his own address to the Guardians and likewise, Karles wouldn’t sign some contract that would threaten his own safety.

Excluding the two possibilities, what else could it be?

Puzzled, Kieran went into deep thought.

Coincidentally, more lone wolves came to the inn and Kieran’s eyes suddenly shone when he saw the other players enter.

“The game lobby can prevent danger from outside the room. But what if the danger is already inside the room from the start? I’m afraid as long as a high enough price is paid, the impossible murder might very well be possible.”

Kieran suddenly thought of Allen, the ex-boss of Blood Alliance and also the abandoned pawn of Broker.

Under Broker’s pressure, Allen used a [10-times Increase Cooldown Card] on Kieran and the whole process took place in his room. If the [10-times Increase Cooldown Card] was some other kind of lethal weapon, the murder would be successful even without someone to activate it.

The only thing that needed further verification was…

Did such items exist and could someone conceal the real item with a mysterious veil?

Right away, Kieran sent a question to Rachel through their messages.

…

Rachel: Who knows?

Rachel: The big city is changing every day, even for us of the earliest batch, all we did is take a peek at the tip of the iceberg of the whole underground game.

Rachel: No one can guarantee what kind of skills or items might pop up in the game.

Rachel: Similar to the fact that if I didn’t see it with my own eyes, how would I believe that you, 2567, have reached the level to oppose Gods within such short period of time.

…

Rachel obviously didn’t want to linger on the Witch anymore, she switched the topic back to what Kieran asked before Karles’ little incident.

…

2567: You knew?”

…

“Of course! But the price required is not cheap!”

This time around, Rachel didn’t continue messaging anymore; she spoke instead.

Looking at how Rachel was holding her glass in a light-hearted and leisurely way, Kieran somehow felt pain all over his body. He was just looking for information regarding the Gods in the dungeon world yet he didn’t think it would come at a price.

Huuu, haaa!

Kieran repeatedly took in deep breaths and when he thought he was prepared for it, he asked, “How much?”

However, when the price was revealed, Kieran felt both his hearts stop for a while.