Chapter 148
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 148
Chapter Title: Jackpot at Jamsil Gym
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After hearing the man who had used his Blink skill to enter and exit Jamsil Gym tell his story, everyone rushed inside the gym to check the situation.
The dozens of bombs they had planted should have detonated, turning the interior into a total wreck—or worse, collapsing the whole place.
But contrary to everyone's expectations, the inside was serene, as if nothing had happened at all.
Far too serene.
"What the hell? What is this?"
"What the fuck happened?! Hey, what is all this?!"
The men couldn't believe the scene before their eyes. They shouted furiously at their leader and lunged toward him.
The leader ignored them, staring blankly around the room with a dazed expression.
"No way... Where the hell did they all go... Where did everything go?!"
His voice echoed through the empty interior, which held nothing but the men. No one answered.
The leader couldn't accept this unbelievable reality.
He had spent days struggling to gather zombies inside Jamsil Gym for this exact purpose.
Even with power and water cut off, making daily life a hassle, he had rallied four men to pull this off just to amass a huge pile of coins. Now, with this unexpected outcome, he was plunged into panic.
"Fuck... I joined this shit to make a killing on coins, even invested my own... What the hell happens now?"
"What do you mean, what happens? Can't you see the situation, you idiot? Our invested coins just vanished!"
"D-Don't fuck with me! I put my entire fortune into this! You said we'd double it—no, more than that! Told us not to worry and to invest in you!"
"Hey, what are we gonna do now? Huh? Tell us your plan! Don't just stand there!"
The men other than the leader surrounded him, unleashing a torrent of resentful words.
But the leader had no response.
What had happened was beyond anything he'd imagined—something he thought impossible in reality.
Sure, midway through, someone had worried that gathering so many zombies might tempt thieves. But they'd figured that was only feasible for under a hundred zombies.
This time, they'd stockpiled thousands.
If anyone tried to steal that many, they'd just blow the bombs and take them out together. No problem.
Yet thousands of zombies had vanished in an instant, and even the planted bombs were gone.
They hadn't spotted any zombies escaping outside Jamsil Gym, so he could grasp that they'd all disappeared from inside. But the how eluded him completely.
"Where the hell did they go... No, does this even make sense..."
As the leader muttered in a soulless voice, one of the men who'd been listening glared at him and bellowed.
"Hey, hold up. You didn't... scam us, did you?"
The speaker was the man with the Blink skill.
His unexpected accusation brought silence among the men.
The leader broke it first.
"...What? What did you just say?"
"I said you're scamming us. Why? Look at this situation. That many zombies gone in a flash, bombs vanished? You expect us to buy that?"
Those words snapped the leader out of his daze.
"See? This doesn't make any sense. What if you pocketed our coins and hogged all the coins from the zombies yourself?"
"You moron? How could I hog thousands of zombies alone? You saw them here too. If I'd killed them, I'd have coins coming in—look! My status window shows almost no coins!"
The leader quickly shared his status window with everyone and yelled.
In truth, his coin count was under 100. No way he'd have so few if he'd killed zombies, so trust was starting to reform—until the suspicious man shouted louder.
"Yeah, no coins. But what if you teamed up with someone else?"
"What? What bullshit is that?"
"Someone outside our group could've moved the zombies elsewhere, and you're pretending nothing happened. Then you pocket our coins without sharing."
Once suspicion took root, wild theories flew. The leader stared at the man in disbelief.
"I showed you making bombs with the coins you gave me. And you doubt me like this?"
"What you showed might not have been bombs. Could've made fakes, called them bombs, and handed real coins to someone else. Did those bombs actually explode? They didn't. Were they really bombs?"
The other men eyed the leader suspiciously too.
Outraged by the accusations, the leader yelled in frustration.
"F-Fuck! I really planted bombs!"
"Then why no explosion? Doesn't make sense."
He wanted to retort, but had nothing. He didn't know what had happened either.
He wished someone would explain.
"Ha! See? Hit a nerve, and you're speechless? You scamming bastard!"
"Fuck, I must be crazy. Throwing my whole fortune into this. Give my coins back, you fucker!"
Thwack!
"Gahk!"
Unable to contain his rage, one man swung at the leader, who couldn't react and toppled backward.
The others piled on, stomping mercilessly.
"You dog! Give me my coins!"
"Where'd you hide my fucking coins?!"
Shielding his head with his arms and curling up, the leader endured the blows to his body.
He had the bomb-making skill, but zero real combat power. Three against one was impossible.
'Fuck, fuck! What is this? It hurts! Fucking hurts!'
As the three stomped him, wondering if he'd die trampled like this,
"What a fucking circus. You guys clowns or what?"
A new man's voice rang out.
The attackers froze and turned toward the sound.
There, in the spectator seats of Jamsil Gym, sat a stranger grinning down at them.
He looked unremarkable, but his face screamed villain.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Hey, isn't that guy in on it with him?"
"Yeah. Remember when he said the bombs went off? Someone went inside the gym. Must be him!"
With that, they headed toward the seats.
"You, stay right there! We're gonna beat your ass!"
Fuming, they rushed up, but the seated man stood calmly.
"You lot stay put. I'll come down."
He leaped far out, dropping down.
From at least 10 meters up.
Thinking suicide, they watched in shock—then gaped at what followed.
He crashed down with a thud but landed on his feet unscathed, strolling over with a smile.
Any normal person would've shattered bones. Fear welled up in the men who'd been raging moments ago.
"Wh-What are you? What the hell?"
He grinned wide.
"Me? Just a passing ordinary... Black Magician?"
Coming to Jamsil was the right call.
Zombies stockpiled inside the gym like a gift for me, guys with useful skills gathered, and even a haul of bombs.
Total jackpot.
Upon arriving at Jamsil Gym, I'd planned to sweep the zombies—then spotted hidden people nearby. Sneaking close, I overheard fun stuff.
About their handy skills.
Blink to cross walls, sharing mana with others, a cooking skill to amplify that mana, and mass bomb production.
Each one seems useful on its own.
Might look pointless next to my black magic, but hey, they'll come in handy somewhere.
Because with my Skill Theft, I could transfer skills to others if needed.
Hand 'em out to my underlings based on roles, right?
So, collect every promising skill.
That's why I didn't kill them on sight.
Left them be, cleared the gym zombies, figuring they'd rush in. Then stashed the hidden bombs in my Subspace.
Another dimension entirely—no explosions no matter how they flip switches.
Thanks to them, thousands of zombies down, bombs secured.
This is golden goblin tier.
With that thought, I approached to steal their skills.
They started furious at my entrance, but after my long-jump landing, they edged away to flee. I closed in fast and swept their legs.
"Aaaagh! M-My legs! My legs!!"
As they writhed with legs bent wrong, unable to run, I prepared to steal skills—when the guy they'd been stomping leaped up, thrusting forward what looked like a bomb.
"D-Don't come closer! I'll blow it up?!"
Seeing his buddies crippled, he threatened...
"Go ahead and blow it."
"What?"
"I'll stand still. Throw it and detonate."
I sidestepped to spare the leg-broken ones from shrapnel and spoke.
He gawked, then, with distance, hurled the bomb at me and dove flat, hitting the switch.
"Think I won't? Die!"
Boom!
A massive blast, shards flying everywhere.
Designed not to hit the prone user, none pinged the floor-huggers.
Nor me, behind my barrier.
Seeing me unscathed post-explosion, their shocked faces never get old.
Alright, time to harvest skills.