Chapter 116 : Chapter 116

Chapter 116 - Resolution (3)

So.

After clearing the dungeon with a single glare, I arrived at Crawford’s private room located in the deepest part.

A blond boy, who would barely reach my waist, was looking at me with a tearful face.

That was because I was currently continuing my terrifying threats in front of him.

“If you don’t listen to my demands, I’ll break one more.”

“Y-y-you... demon! Monster! Stop iiiiit-!”

“Wrong answer.”

I said coldly and executed the ‘hostage’.

One of the small robot figures that this guy had clearly made with great care was mercilessly disassembled under my hand.

A scream that sounded like Crawford’s mentality was being torn apart followed, leaving a long tail in the room.

“...”

Of course, the expression of Chang Meirin, who was watching this scene, was so bizarre that it couldn’t be twisted any further.

“...I sometimes just can’t understand men.”

Whether Chang Meirin sighed or not, the hostage situation continued for a long time.

In the end, Crawford surrendered and accepted the Planet Eater’s heart I handed over.

“...But you know.”

He accepted it, but Crawford looked back at me with a serious gaze.

“Do you even know who the person who commissioned me is, to be doing something like this?”

“Of course, I do.”

I replied with a smirk.

“...Actually, there probably aren’t many people who would want to throw something like that at Han Si-yeon.”

She was a kind person without a single rough edge, so she wouldn’t make enemies, and her ability as a supporter was one of the best in the entire world. The reason Han Si-yeon was now lying down for over a decade under a curse.

It would probably be faster to find the reason not in her, but elsewhere.

Mainly from the past Seo Jin-seong, who used to run wild tagged with Kim Kang-in.

It was official lore that the free-spirited duo caused a lot of trouble, unlike their current selves who were quietly lying low.

And, well.

Among the people they angered, there was one guy whose skill and personality were inversely proportional.

“...”

The pinnacle of all superhumans in the entire world. The strongest in the world who had never once come down from that spot since the Tower and dungeons first appeared.

An out-of-spec monster who made even Kim Kang-in, who had no rival for an entire era, the ‘strongest climber of all time only in Korea’.

In addition to that.

He was also a personality-disordered person who cast a curse on someone else’s family to make them a vegetable forever just because his mood was slightly soured.

When asked why a vegetable, it was because if they died completely, they could ‘come to terms with it’.

He made them neither dead nor alive, so they would live on with futile hope.

‘Wow.’

No matter how I thought about it, he was a guy with a truly awesome, shattered personality.

How could a person think like that?

“Right, but you’re basically picking a fight with a guy like that right now.”

“I already said I know.”

“...What on earth are you going to do?”

What do you mean, what am I going to do.

“There’s one creed I’ve always kept since long ago.”

It was a creed I had always kept even before being transmigrated into this game, back when I was rolling around to death in the slums.

Poetic justice. The one who tied the knot must untie it.

“A person must take responsibility for the consequences of their own actions.”

So I had also tried to live without committing any real sins.

Even in that harsh environment, I tried to solve things with just what was in my hands.

But guys who harmed others just because their mood was off?

Even bastards who touched not the person themselves, but their family?

“So, well. Guys like that.”

Hearing the story that had continued up to this point, it seemed he had a rough idea of what would come next.

I grinned at Crawford, whose face had turned pale blue.

“Don’t you think they need to be taught some manners?”

EX-rank or whatever, what did I care.

Those who went around committing evil deeds.

There had to be a punishment befitting them.

“...”

Hearing my words, Crawford looked down at the Planet Eater’s heart in his hand with a deathly pale face.

“...Somehow, I feel like I’ve gotten entangled with a really vicious guy.”

“Oh my. Does everyone get that impression when they first meet him?”

“...”

Again.

A strange sense of camaraderie formed between Chang Meirin and Crawford, excluding me.

“Ah, right. That’s that.”

As I said before, this guy’s specialty wasn't just other-dimensional research; it also included mechanization.

It meant there were a few things this guy could add to the item Leila was currently making.

“There’s something I want to ask you separately.”

“...? A request? For me? I have no talent other than making bipedal robots.”

“Right. I’m asking you precisely for that.”

With those words, I explained the concept of the vessel I would use in the Third Ordeal.

As the explanation continued, in Chang Meirin’s case.

“...Is that really possible?”

Was her reaction.

And on Crawford’s side.

“Good. I’ve decided.”

“Huh?”

“I withdraw all acts of support for you.”

“...Right?”

“From this moment on, you and I become one body. An insult to you will be considered an insult to me. I didn’t know you were a person who shared the same dream.”

“...”

As expected.

People who knew romance tended to communicate well.

***

“...How on earth did you make this?”

Lee Si-yeong looked at the scene before her with a dumbfounded voice.

It could be called a giant incubator. Though the one inside was not a baby but an adult woman.

“Time dilation... even that alone is a top-tier spell. Natural regeneration promotion, immune system enhancement... even a terminal cancer patient would be cured in a few hours if they entered here.”

“That, in other words.”

I scratched my head and took her words.

“Means the situation of the person inside is much more serious than that.”

Han Si-yeon.

The mother of the Seo sisters. Looking at her characteristic white hair that came down to her ankles, that trait felt even more palpable.

She had her eyes closed inside as if she were dead, but she wasn’t dead. Though she probably would be in a few seconds if she were taken out of this machine.

“That’s... [Baptism of Corruption], isn’t it? I’ve only seen it in literature, but to think I’d see someone actually afflicted with it...”

Seeing the dark spots rising on Han Si-yeon’s body, specifically her skin, Lee Si-yeong let out a sentence like a groan.

It was the worst of the worst curses, one that made the inside and outside of the body rot while still alive.

The reason it was particularly famous was that the decay would ‘never stop, no matter what you do’. It was the same for blessings that erased all debuffs among support-type skills, Seo Hye-in’s hands that blocked mana, and even completely amputating the decaying part.

It was a de facto death sentence that would continue unconditionally until the target died.

It was to the point where if the main character got this, even I would advise them to just delete the save file and start over.

“Yes. It’s that dangerous, so it seems best to just watch from here and step back. It could be big trouble if you stay too close for too long.”

Seo Hye-in, who had guided us this far, said in a gloomy voice.

She couldn’t even look that way properly and had her gaze fixed on the floor.

‘...Hmm.’

What should I do.

It might be too shocking to show what would happen next right in front of this person.

I had all the ingredients, so all I had to do was resolve Han Si-yeon's curse.

But the process... well. It would surely be a gruesome sight to show in front of family.

Originally, that's why only Lee Si-yeong and I were going to enter, but we had no choice because the security inside was too tight unless this person authenticated it.

“Hey.”

But, well.

It couldn’t be helped.

As I called out to Lee Si-yeong and smiled awkwardly, she looked back at me with a ‘are you serious’ expression.

‘Are you really going to do this?’

‘I have to. That’s why I brought you along.’

‘...You’re really going to do it in front of her?’

‘No, but right now, it doesn’t look like they’ll leave just the two of us here.’

When Lee Si-yeong stealthily turned her head, Seo Hye-in, who seemed to have a question mark floating above her head, was tilting her head and looking back and forth between us.

“Are you two... communicating via telepathy? More importantly, it seems better to get out of here quickly.”

“Um, by any chance, would it be okay if just the two of us remained here...”

Lee Si-yeong checked Seo Hye-in’s expression and quickly turned her head back to me.

‘Yep. No good.’

‘Right?’

‘I think there might be another reason mixed in besides what you’re thinking. But anyway, either way is fatal.’

‘...?’

What was she suddenly talking about.

Anyway, what was certain was that I had to do it in front of this person.

I sighed and took out the sealed container from my pocket. It was the one that had held the Planet Eater’s heart before.

It had become a ‘catalyst’ that our first-class other-dimensional researcher, Crawford-sensei, had personally taken care of.

“Um, Seo Hye-in.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“No matter how I explain it, it will sound like crazy talk. So I’ll ask for just one very simple thing.”

“Pardon?”

“You must not try to kill me until it’s all over. Promise.”

“...Pardon? Why on earth would I, Kim Gyu-sik...”

Why, you ask.

Because I was going to do this.

The next process all happened in an instant.

While Lee Si-yeong scattered hieroglyphs full of shamanistic meaning around to form a protective circle, I approached the incubator and raised my hand.

And.

I pushed my hand straight into the incubator.

-!

-!!

-!!!

The room was instantly filled with a red siren, Han Si-yeon’s body inside the incubator thrashed wildly, and the decay of her skin began to progress instantly.

“K-Kim Gyu-sik?! What on earth are you doing right now-!”

Ah, a familiar question. I felt like I had heard it countless times since coming over to this side.

But, unlike usual, I didn’t have the luxury to explain right now.

[Baptism of Corruption] was something that even top-tier veterans who had mastered this game to some extent had trouble resolving.

More than anything, the trigger that it would ‘never disappear until the target dies’ had an absolutely high priority.

“...”

Right.

This curse would never disappear until the target was judged to be dead.

So, that.

In other words.

It meant that I could dispel it.

Lee Si-yeong did say I was crazy when she first heard it, but it was still definitely possible.

I gripped the sealed container in my other hand. It shattered completely, and the catalyst inside shattered with it.

Seeing the black smoke coming out from it wriggle and crawl up my body, I took a deep breath.

Right.

This was the deciding moment.

A curse that would surely kill one person in the world was in this room right now.

But here.

I would save everyone without killing anyone.

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