I’m the Madman of This Family

Chapter 371. If It’s Tangled, Just Cut It (9)

When Keter first saw Amon, he was certain.

‘This guy is the same kind as me.’

For him, fun is life, and if he can have fun, he’s willing to take a loss or even risk his life.

If that’s the case, then dealing with him won’t be difficult.

‘Boredom is your greatest weakness.’

Above all, those who pursue fun are also highly competitive. If they lose in a fight where the outcome is predetermined, they’ll want a rematch, and if you don’t give it to them, they’ll stubbornly cling to you until you do.

‘I’d do the same.’

That’s why Keter prepared an ‘infinite loop’ strategy.

This wasn’t to ‘break’ Amon. Because if someone tries to intimidate him, his rebellious nature kicks in, and he becomes even more unyielding.

“Why are you doing this? Tell me what you want.”

At that moment, Amon was the first to attempt a conversation with Keter.

Keter had been waiting for this exact moment. If they could communicate, negotiation was possible.

“Amon. Do you want to play rock-paper-scissors with me forever?”

Amon immediately shook his head.

“I’d rather die.”

“Me too. I have a lot to do, and a lot I want to do.”

“Then why not just win? Fulfill three wishes and leave, isn’t that enough?”

“Why are you acting like this? You’re not going to let me go, are you?”

“If you ask for it through a wish, it should work.”

“Do you think I haven’t dealt with guys like you before? You’d make me come to you. No matter what it takes.”

“…Then just wish for something related to that.”

“You never intended to grant all the wishes anyway. If I told you to kill yourself, would you do it? If I asked you to kill the emperor, would you do it? Hey, Amon. There’s no reason for us to fight like this.”

Keter extended his hand.

Amon stared blankly at it.

“You and I are alike. We love games, bets, and gambling. But you’ve been holed up underground for too long. Honestly, your way of having fun is outdated.”

“Are you saying my arena isn’t fun?”

“It’s not that it’s not fun. But arenas are everywhere, they’re common. You created an arena with your own rules, but how long do you think that fun will last? When you get bored and only a sense of obligation remains, what will you do next?”

“Hmm.”

Amon frowned, realizing he hadn’t thought about that.

Keter stretched his hand further forward.

“The rock-paper-scissors game was fun, right? There’s more fun where that came from. I’ll teach you and introduce you to all of it. And I’ll keep creating games so you won’t get bored.”

“…Why are you being so kind to me?”

“Of course, it’s not free. It’s a benefit you’ll get if you become my friend.”

“Friend…?”

Even if he’s half-monster, he knows what the word ‘friend’ means.

But Amon never thought such a word would fit between him and Keter.

“Heh, haha. You want to be friends with me? A human, with this Transcendent Being?”

Amon peered into Keter’s heart. He thought it was a shallow trick to escape the current crisis.

But—

‘Amon is fun and capable. If we become friends, surely interesting things will happen. Plus, I can get some help too.’

Keter’s soul was pure. He genuinely wanted to be friends with Amon.

There was no shallow calculation of using him or making him a friend out of fear.

Amon stared straight into Keter’s eyes.

‘Me, a human… no, did I even have something like a friend in the first place?’

Looking back over hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of years, there was none.

Only enemies or temporary truces.

“This… is interesting.”

Becoming friends with a mortal who lives barely 100 years. This situation itself piqued Amon’s curiosity. He became curious about the ‘future’ of himself and Keter.

“Is this how it’s done?”

Amon took Keter’s outstretched hand.

Keter gripped it tightly, almost crushing it, and said,

“That’s not how a handshake works. You don’t hold it gently like a baby. You put in as much strength as your joy and excitement.”

“Interesting way.”

Crack! Sizzle!

As Amon and Keter gripped each other’s hands, steam rose, and the ground beneath them cracked.

“And you shouldn’t hold hands for more than 5 seconds.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s a sign you want to devour the other person.”

Keter tried to pull his arm back.

But Amon didn’t let go.

Sneak.

Amon smirked wickedly.

Keter forcibly shook off his hand and said,

“Don’t even dream about it.”

“Keter. You said it yourself. You and I are alike. And you’re someone who doesn’t know how to give up.”

That was a declaration that Amon was the same.

Keter felt like he might have said too much and changed the subject.

“As a friend, let me ask you for three favors.”

Keter, having just become friends, immediately started making requests. Truly shameless, but Amon found that shamelessness oddly delightful.

So he laughed and said,

“Since you won this game anyway, go ahead and ask.”

“From now on, don’t lose my true feelings.”

“Got it.”

“Release all the mercenaries trapped in this arena.”

Snap!

Amon flicked his fingers.

“Just released them.”

“Lastly……”

Keter glanced at Joyray, who was listening nearby.

Joyray was still processing the sudden ‘friend-making’ development.

“Don’t go easy on me in the match.”

Amon looked surprised. He thought Keter would help Joyray escape the arena, but instead, he told him not to hold back?

“Do you dislike this human?”

“If I disliked him, he’d have died by my hand long ago.”

“Then why are you pushing him into danger? This human’s goal was to save the mercenaries trapped in my arena. Since you saved them, there’s no reason to continue the match.”

“Of course, that was part of it. But our Joyray isn’t the type to walk into danger just because his allies are captured. He wanted to prove something. His strength and skill. Saving the mercenaries was just a bonus. Right?”

Keter pulled Joyray closer as he spoke.

Joyray gave Amon an awkward smile and said,

“Ha, haha. You’re the only one who understands me, Keter.”

“Hohoho.”

“Hehehe.”

Amon and Keter laughed along. Even without using his authority, Joyray’s true feelings were evident on his face.

‘Damn Keter.’

As Keter, Amon, and Joyray laughed, the monsters watching them jeered. They were unhappy that these life-and-death fighters had suddenly become friends.

“Shut up.”

Amon silenced the monsters with a single word.

It wasn’t that the monsters obeyed, but the ‘force’ of his words. A divine being could impose compulsion on the world and its inhabitants with just their words.

After silencing hundreds of monsters in an instant, Amon asked Keter,

“As a friend, let me ask you something. From the fifth match onwards, you won four consecutive victories against me. I couldn’t lose because I knew your true feelings, but you deceived even your own true feelings. What trick did you use?”

“I didn’t use any tricks. Instead—”

Keter pointed at Joyray.

Joyray, with an awkward expression, said,

“It was me.”

“…Ah, ah! Ahahaha! So that’s it? Hahaha!”

Amon realized. How Keter could move his soul and body differently. It wasn’t Keter’s will that manipulated his hand, but someone else’s.

Joyray, standing there like a ‘fair’ judge, manipulated Keter’s hand just as he had controlled the ‘kitchen knife.’

“And the person who first taught me gambling was our Joyray.”

When it came to gambling and tricks, Joyray was no less than Keter, and the same went for psychological warfare. Joyray read Amon’s psychology and secured four consecutive victories.

“You’re truly insane. You entrusted your fate to this guy.”

“I didn’t entrust it. I trusted myself, who trusts Joyray.”

“…I see. Now that I know the secret, it’s really nothing.”

When Keter set the rules, the monsters couldn’t interfere, not because they were afraid.

It was all a setup to make it seem like no one could interfere. That’s why Amon never imagined Joyray would pull such a trick.

As Amon stood there dazed, seemingly replaying the match in his mind, Keter patted his back and said,

“Even with 72 authorities, you don’t know how to enjoy life? When you make a friend, you bring out the alcohol you’ve been saving.”

Swish, swish.

Keter gestured for him to follow.

Already deeply curious about Keter, Amon followed without a word, and Joyray, uneasy about Keter, followed behind.

*

The underground hideout of the mercenaries.

The mercenaries, huddled in a corner, were trembling, while three people sat at a table.

Glug, glug.

A greenish liquor filled the glass.

Joyray looked like he was about to die of regret, fidgeting.

“Here, though it’s a humble place, the liquor is top-notch, right?”

Keter had brought out a liquor named ‘Gaia,’ a 500-year-aged drink so rare it had no price.

The first branch leader of Ruquer had saved it to drink when meeting the ‘Mercenary Association President,’ but Keter had found it and opened it right away.

Joyray looked at the empty bottle with hollow eyes and muttered,

“I’ve been holding back from drinking it too……”

“If you’re not going to drink it—”

Thud!

“Take your hand off, Keter.”

Joyray closed his eyes tightly and downed the Gaia, while Keter chuckled and did the same.

Amon also lifted his glass, sniffed it first, then drank it all.

“Hoh?”

Amon, who drank last but finished first, opened his eyes wide. This was the moment Amon became interested in collecting ‘liquor.’

“Guhhh!”

“Ah, I never want to eat anything again.”

Though snacks were prepared, no one touched them.

Even though more drinks were prepared, no one drank them.

They didn’t want the lingering taste of Gaia to disappear.

Flush.

Joyray’s face turned red in an instant.

Transcendent Beings don’t get drunk. Getting drunk is akin to being ‘addicted.’ But Joyray was already tipsy after just one glass.

The potency of Gaia was strong enough to intoxicate even a Transcendent Being.

“Ah, I wish I could have just one more glass.”

Keter’s ears were slightly red, but he wasn’t drunk. Instead, he looked regretful, wanting more.

“You’ve treated me well.”

Amon, satisfied with the taste of Gaia, spoke in a gentler tone.

Then, Keter stood up from his chair and shouted,

“It’s over! Disband!”

“……?”

Joyray and Amon looked at Keter as if he was talking nonsense. After causing all this, now he says it’s over?

Joyray, slightly angry from the alcohol, soon realized the reason.

‘Keter didn’t come to save the Mercenary Guild, but had business in Ruquer’s underground.’

So it was right to let him go. After all, Keter, who was about to leave, had helped him.

Even though they had to finish the match in the arena, all the mercenaries held as hostages were released.

This eased the mental burden, and the reward for ten consecutive victories would now be authority, not the lives of the mercenaries.

Joyray was more than satisfied; he was grateful. For Keter’s help.

On the other hand, Amon wasn’t.

“Aren’t you curious about who Lian and Uroné are, Keter?”

Amon wanted to talk more with Keter and enjoy games. So he threw out bait.

“I think I know. Probably Master Cheonryeok and Master Franken.”

At the scene, it didn’t come to mind immediately, but on the way back, Keter suddenly remembered.

Someone who could go down to the 4th Layer of the underground and converse with the ruler. Someone Keter didn’t know by name but knew of.

There were only two such people.

The ‘Master Cheonryeok,’ whose name he didn’t know, and the Lord of the Gray Tower, known as Franken.

‘Master Cheonryeok’s name is Lian, and Master Franken’s real name is Uroné.’

Amon made a bored face, then smirked and said,

“Don’t you want to see them? I know where they are.”

“If it’s fate, we’ll meet anywhere. But I have something more important to do.”

“What’s more important than being with me?”

“I’m going down to the 8th Layer.”

“Hoho… Indeed… Is this what fate is? Hahaha!”

Bang, bang!

Amon pounded the table in delight.

He laughed for a while, then said,

“Keter. Our rulers didn’t come up from the underground just to gain freedom.”

The atmosphere changed. Amon lightly tapped the center of the glass with his finger.

Crack, crack.

The entire glass cracked.

It was a miracle it didn’t shatter immediately.

“This is the state of the underground now. It could collapse at any moment. And this isn’t just about the ceiling falling or the ground sinking.”

Amon blew a ‘whoosh’ of air. The glass didn’t just break; it turned to dust.

Amon pointed at the dust and asked,

“Keter. Where do you see the entrance in this?”

The glass had an entrance and an exit.

But the dust had no entrance or exit. It was just dust.

“The form of the entrance is gone. So it’s not there.”

“Exactly. Each layer of the underground is an independent world. For that world to collapse means being trapped inside it, and once trapped……”

Amon paused, wanting to see Keter’s anxious expression.

But Keter calmly waited for the next words, and Amon, as if testing how long he could maintain that expression, said,

“Once trapped in a collapsed world, even a god can’t escape. And yet, you’re going to step into such an underground world?”

---