Chapter 121 : Chapter 121

Chapter 121 - Hunt (4)

Whenever I looked at the human named Kim Gyu-sik, I always felt a sense of disbelief.

Of course, even so.

It was also clear that this situation was not something that could be easily judged in such a way.

According to what I learned from the Guardian who took me in when I was young and had nowhere to go, Demons were a terrifyingly threatening race.

A seed of disaster that, if left alone, would one day cause an unprecedented catastrophe that would swallow the entire world.

Considering that the Tower was built with the dual purpose of defending against ‘external enemies,’ it would not be an exaggeration to say that Demons were a major reason for that purpose.

And, such a terrifying being.

Was being horrifically crushed before my eyes.

“Three Recoils, two Death Swirls, one Sweeping to the front.”

Attacks whizzed past Kim Gyu-sik, who was muttering something to himself.

Recoil. A technique where the attack that hit him was reflected back this way. It was probably one of the Demon’s trump cards. But, as if he knew it was coming, he lightly tapped it with his weakest attack and easily deflected it.

Death Swirl. He walked right through the center of the vortex of black mana that would have torn me apart with a mere graze, as if he were taking a stroll. As if he already knew that passing through there would result in no damage.

Next, a powerful strike that swept across the entire field of vision poured down, but he simply unfolded his Cloak of Darkness and deflected it easily, like a person opening an umbrella in a light drizzle.

[ --!!! ]

And perhaps because it was so infuriated by the fact that its opponent was easily deflecting all of its attacks.

A scream that no longer even resembled human language erupted from beneath the black armor, and then the greatsword on its back was drawn with a monstrous force.

It was a weapon whose name even Evangeline had heard.

Blood Reaven.

A sword with the effect of stealing life force from the enemy equivalent to the damage dealt.

It even exponentially increased the attack power and the amount of life force stolen the more severe the user's injuries became.

Beyond the simple strength of the weapon, it was a weapon that made its user nearly immortal, as long as an environment to continuously strike was created.

Even for Evangeline, who was not very familiar with the outside world's artifacts, it was an item infamous enough for her to recognize that it had the performance to grant Batan Gilius the moniker of Berserker.

And such a fearsome item, cloaked in the Demon's mana, was rushing toward him, but.

“Ah. Right.”

The person who was about to receive such an attack actually had a hint of a smile in his voice.

He looked as if he had just found a large sum of money he had forgotten about in an old piece of furniture he hadn't looked at in a long time.

“You had something like that, didn't you? This is great, man.”

“...”

And to Evangeline’s ears, that sentence was being translated into, ‘There’s more to loot, awesome!’

The ensuing scene was nothing but a one-sided assault, as if to prove that he hadn't spoken such relaxed words for nothing.

What good was a weapon that guaranteed a near-immortal life force if it could just hit the opponent?

It couldn't even graze him.

“...Ha, really. That guy.”

Right.

Such a terrifying race, capable of pouring out such powerful techniques without a second thought.

Even though it relentlessly unleashed techniques that felt like they were carving away at its own body.

They didn't land.

It didn't feel like even a single hair was touched.

Flawlessly, it couldn't even stand as a fighting opponent. It was being completely trampled.

I understood what he meant when he told me to watch and learn from him earlier.

I guess he wanted to show me that even a race like Demons could be easily subdued this way.

However.

“...I want to ask if anyone besides you could do that. Are you in your right mind, really.”

In the end, didn't it just mean that you had to nullify all of the enemy's attacks and land all of your own?

Muttering so in a hollow voice, Evangeline thought of the expected answer she would get if she asked how on earth to realize that method.

‘Just dodge or block the enemy's attacks, and make sure your attacks land... Is that so hard?’

‘No, I told you, it's 1/60th of a second, right? That timing isn't even that hard to hit, right? You just need to sequentially scratch it 10 times with an off-beat rhythm. Honestly, anyone can do this with practice...’

“...”

Right.

Let's not try to understand.

That guy would surely accomplish such nonsensical feats without batting an eye, and he was the type to even develop a method for others to be able to do such things.

***

[ Level Up! ]

[ Lv. 38 → Lv. 40 ]

[ Stat Points +4

Skill Points +2 ]

Right.

A Demon-mutated Batan was a pretty high-grade mob, so I thought it would give a ton of experience even if it wasn't related to the Main Scenario.

If that much was expected, what came next was something I hadn't anticipated.

[ You have met the conditions for ‘Awakening’. ]

[ You can proceed with the Awakening Quest to develop a unique ability. ]

“...”

What?

Awakening?

‘Well, I mean...’

It was a window that always appeared in the game when you hit level 40, no matter which character you started with as the protagonist.

But. That was for the main character.

I was a bug character that wasn't even planned to be playable in the first place.

Even setting aside the fact that I was a bug character, there was no way an event like Awakening would be allocated to a guy named Kim Gyu-sik, who was an extra from birth.

“...”

There was one hypothesis that had the highest probability, though.

I just had to recall how I obtained the Share skill.

It was because I acquired a skill that was buried as dummy data outside the system, for the reason that I had a similar design to the ‘final boss’.

It meant that this Awakening thing was also me following the originally designed ‘final boss’ template.

“..Hah. Haha.”

And if that hypothesis was correct.

I let out a hollow laugh as I ran through the final boss's skill set in my head.

If even one of these could be given to me as an ‘Awakening Skill’.

Well.

Just how much stronger could I become?

“...Why are you suddenly trembling?”

“I was just shivering at my infinite potential.”

“...”

I was only able to come to my senses after receiving a gaze from Evangeline that seemed to say, please stop doing weird things.

Right, then.

For now, I should take care of what's in front of me.

“Hmm.”

I rolled the white cube in my hand back and forth.

Inside was the ‘Essence of the Demon’ that Evangeline helped me extract from Batan's chest.

Normally, just being in close contact with it would have caused instant contamination, but thanks to her help, it was in a state where I could carry it in a reasonably sealed condition.

Now, all I had to do was create the ‘drastic medicine’ to awaken Ms. Han Si-yeon with this, and my job would be done.

And what I additionally obtained was the ‘Blood Reaven’ that Batan had.

In my memory, this was originally a Rare grade weapon.

[ Blood Reaven (Demonized) / Grade: Unique ]

[ A weapon made with ancient technology. It has the effect of restoring the user's health by the amount of damage dealt to an enemy, and due to the influence of ominous demonic energy, a powerful armor corrosion effect has been added. ]

[ Unique Skill: ??? ]

[ Not yet analyzed. ]

“...Oh.”

A Unique grade weapon.

Considering that my full Cheonryongpo set, which was slapped together with all sorts of rare materials, was Unique when combined, the value of this weapon was self-evident.

However.

‘I can't use it.’

Being contaminated with demonic mana was a characteristic that could be considered to inflict continuous damage just by equipping it.

For me, who covered my poor specs with all sorts of tricks, such a penalty was fatal.

Well, but there was one place I could use it.

“...You're making a face like you're thinking of something sinister again.”

“Why does everyone say such harsh things when they see me?”

Seriously, you guys, I'm starting to feel a bit wronged.

As I grumbled to myself, Evangeline chuckled and finished the work she was doing.

She had finished tending to the grave near her house and even completed a modest memorial service.

It was said that it would soon be moved and enshrined inside the village, so this seemed to be the last farewell at this spot.

“...”

I didn't know what she was thinking inside right now. The villagers had gone pale and rushed to fulfill the conditions of the promise I made, so I hoped she wasn't feeling too bad.

Just in case they might backstab her, I brought Cornelius along and kindly received a ‘promise’. That if the promise wasn't kept properly, he would come back anytime and take revenge more horribly than the Demons and demonic beasts he just buried.

The reliability would have doubled as Cornelius, who had vented a lot of his stress, was smiling brightly.

The sight of him like that, covered in the blood and flesh from beating a ton of demonic beasts to death, was a scene that would appear in nightmares even by my standards.

“...Thanks to you, my thoughts have cleared up a bit.”

“Really? Do you feel a little better?”

“Better? I thought of them as beasts not even worth an apology in the first place. They're not worth getting angry over, so there's nothing to get over.”

Ah, right.

I definitely saw your hands shaking with rage back then. You and your words.

“However.”

As I was mulling over that thought, Evangeline smiled brightly and turned her head toward me.

“Among humans... I did think that there are still some guys worth protecting.”

Right. That's a relief.

“...”

But why was her gaze piercing right through me?

It was burdensome.

Are you talking about me? You're not, are you?

“...Think whatever you want. You foolish guy.”

No, why are you suddenly getting pouty now?

“Anyway. In that respect... there is something I must tell you.”

Saying so, Evangeline, who had been hesitating for a long time, finally opened her mouth with difficulty.

“The third ordeal will soon open in the Tower.”

“Yeah. It's about that time.”

“Don't participate in it.”

Her tone was utterly resolute.

It was so firm that one could clearly feel her intention not to accept any counterarguments.

What is this? What is she trying to say?

“Why. Are you worried I might die?”

“Yes.”

“...”

Look at that blunt answer. I thought she was a block of firm tofu.

“I'm not someone who dies easily.”

“I've had plenty of opportunities to know that watching you until now. However, I'm saying this taking all of that into account.”

Evangeline continued, meeting my gaze squarely.

“In the third ordeal, even you will surely die. Absolutely do not participate.”

“...”

Hmm.

For her to go this far, there was a high probability that something truly nasty was waiting.

It would be roughly one of three things... and it would probably be best to assume the worst-case scenario among them.

If it was that, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to confirm that even I would surely die.

So, the answer I should give at a time like this was also set.

“All the better.”

“...What?”

Well.

It's not for nothing that I've saved up two Guardian Angels.

It meant I always knew such a thing would happen one day.

No. Because.

[ Awakening Quest: One Who Breaks the Mold ]

[ Create a miraculous scene that will surprise everyone. ]

In a situation where something like this has popped up, if she even says something like that.

The little Super Gyu-sik inside me is about to ‘awaken’, hey.

“...Hey.”

“Huh?”

“If you're going to be hurt by being called sinister, please, could you not show it so openly on the outside? It's to the point where I don't even want to approach you right now.”

“...”

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