Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: The Third Upgrade (3)
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Everything had vanished.
The scorching heat of the battlefield.
The absolute being.
"Good work, Master."
The familiar Customizing Room.
Austin offered her greeting.
"...Yeah."
But Kim Gunja felt a bit let down.
So he could only stand there blankly for a moment.
He knew.
All of it had been an illusion from the start.
The trials had always taken place in virtual spaces created by the Customizing Room.
Yet he felt this way because of a lingering doubt.
'What is it...'
The sense of incongruity was strong.
This trial had been different from the others.
He couldn't shake the feeling that the Customizing Room had crafted it to tell him something.
The Bloody Gate had been like that. The Demon God too.
'And Abel seemed to be in on it...'
That was probably why.
He began recalling all the trials he'd undergone in the Customizing Room so far.
But that didn't uncover what he didn't know.
There were too few examples.
'But...'
He could spot a common thread.
What the Customizing Room truly wanted from him through these trials.
He'd been unsure up to the second one, but now he was certain.
'...It was testing my mental fortitude.'
He had to earn Ma Ilcheon's recognition.
By repeating countless deaths until he grew numb to the fear of dying.
He had to earn Stein's recognition.
By staying calm even in the moment of death, searching for a way to clear the trial.
And considering this trial's demand for fighting spirit against an absolute being...
'It's clear.'
The roles were distinct.
If the Customizing Room handled growing the Master's body.
Then its upgrade trials handled the Master's mental growth.
As if appraising whether the Master possessed a spirit worthy of an absolute being's body.
'Harsh standards that would shove you off a cliff at the slightest falter...'
But that's what the Customizing Room desired.
For the Master to grow not just physically, but mentally as well.
It felt like every step was designed for that purpose.
Which inevitably led to one question.
'What for, exactly...?'
"Cough..."
Kim Gunja coughed dryly as he unconsciously checked the alert.
...Pointify what?
He blinked a few times, wondering if he'd misread, but the alert window remained unchanged.
He'd only thought that pointifying magic stones and artifacts would make things more convenient going forward.
But pointifying Awakener bodies?
As Kim Gunja made a dumbfounded face, the alerts kept coming.
"......"
It was clear.
This upgrade was different from the previous ones.
What could he say.
It felt like he'd finally completed the tutorial and was now truly recognized as the Customizing Room's Master.
'Perks and shares are important too, but...'
The strangest part.
He couldn't help but wonder what pointifying an Awakener's body even meant.
Kim Gunja's gaze turned to guide Austin.
Austin wore her usual gentle smile.
"Looks like you need an explanation."
Kim Gunja nodded.
Vigorously.
#
"...That's it."
Austin's brief explanation ended.
The conditions for pointifying an Awakener body were simple in summary.
— Only bodies within 24 hours of death can be pointified.
The reason was straightforward.
After 24 hours, the mana circuits and mana etched into the Awakener's body by the system dissipate.
In other words, the Majesty Ring absorbed those lingering mana circuits and mana to convert them into points.
'The conditions make sense, but...'
He couldn't wrap his head around the principle.
No matter that it was the Majesty Ring, could it really interfere with someone else's body?
With the question arising, Kim Gunja had to ask, and Austin answered more simply than expected.
— Because magic stones, artifacts, and the power Awakeners possess all stem from the same source. Regardless of the medium's properties, form, or size, the Majesty Ring absorbs the power itself and pointifies it.
Hearing that felt like a hammer blow to the head.
He'd only been thinking about how it could affect another person's body.
But unexpectedly, it felt like he'd glimpsed just the tip of a massive iceberg.
'The medium doesn't matter. It's the power that counts...'
How had he foolishly assumed it was just about pointifying magic stones or artifacts themselves.
Only now did he understand why the artifacts from Stein's treasure vault couldn't be pointified.
'Artifacts from that world must draw from a different power source.'
Learning that made him recall the alerts that sometimes appeared when the Majesty Ring activated.
— [The Majesty Ring begins forced intervention in the system at the investor's request!]
Forced intervention.
In other words, the Majesty Ring operated on laws slightly different from the system.
Meaning it might not even be a mere ranked artifact.
'Come to think of it... the voice that announces it sounds different too.'
Kim Gunja asked Austin what fundamentally set the Majesty Ring apart from other artifacts.
"I'm sorry, Master. That's a question far outside the Customizing Room's scope."
The answer was a refusal.
He'd forgotten.
Austin could only answer about the Customizing Room itself.
She could speak on the Majesty Ring only insofar as it related to the Customizing Room.
"No, my bad."
"Thank you for understanding."
He also asked about shares and investors, and Austin answered diligently.
The higher the Customizing Room's level, the more information he could get.
After calmly organizing the info from this upgrade.
Kim Gunja smiled at Austin.
Now only the most important step remained.
The one that could be called the root reason for upgrading the Customizing Room.
And as if sensing that thought.
"I'll prepare the perks."
Austin, who now knew without being told.
Kim Gunja nodded.
Austin snapped her fingers, and body parts materialized as holograms, just like before.
Not three, but four holograms.
'......No way...'
Kim Gunja distinctly remembered three perks.
[Right Leg that Crushes the Earth]
[Heart that Never Dries]
[Mana Vessels Engraved with Magic Runes]
The Titan Emperor Pertao's leg, the Extinction Dragon Kaisir's heart, the Great Mage Belshutain's mana vessels, in that order.
But now a fourth hologram had appeared beside them. Which meant.
'...That.'
It was an odd feeling.
More options were certainly welcome.
But if they were momentous choices, his head would ache just as much.
And for Kim Gunja, customizing perks was more crucial than any other decision.
"......Hmm."
Still, he had no intention of complaining.
He knew how envious other Awakeners would be of such "problems."
Kim Gunja's gaze shifted to the new perk.
[Eye that Pierces All Phenomena]
'Eyes, huh...'
To be honest, he'd already calculated what he lacked most.
With the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel securing perfect balance, and the setup for temporary overwhelming power in place.
Choosing in that context wasn't hard.
'But still...'
It wouldn't hurt to check whose it was and what abilities it held before deciding.
Knowing ahead would help with future choices too.
Kim Gunja's hand reached for [Eye that Pierces All Phenomena].
At that moment, fragments of a being's memory played out like a panorama.
Atop a spire piercing the heavens sat a single entity.
A man lounged on a throne, tilting a goblet of red wine with infinite leisure.
Even as knights and mages charged from all sides to kill him.
Aura blades and spells.
None light; a barrage hurtled toward him.
But he merely watched.
An instant.
His eyes, traced with a hexagram, gleamed.
Oblivion.
All incoming power vanished with a mere glance.
Forces of every nature dismantled in a heartbeat.
The Archdemon Beelzebub.
The new perk was his eyes.
As the vision faded, astonishment crossed Kim Gunja's face.
'Unbelievable...'
The sight was overwhelmingly dominant; the words slipped out naturally.
The previous absolutes had been, well.
Within the realm of comprehension.
But this transcended understanding.
'Nullifying already-activated power...'
Piercing all essences, reverting forces to their pre-activation state.
A far superior version of the Foresight Demon Eye.
He couldn't help but covet it.
Choosing Beelzebub's eyes would yield benefits beyond count.
'Might even detect Homunculi in advance.'
The Foresight Demon Eye couldn't, but these eyes surely could—he felt certain.
Zainan had said.
— Homunculus eyes. Eyes that detect those whose bodies are altered or reinforced with body information.
All Homunculi gained them upon awakening.
Beelzebub's eyes could surely pinpoint such individuals.
'Plus... power nullification.'
Details would come post-customization, but based on the memory, he could predict.
Nullification likely affected unique traits too.
If so, even Kang Inhyeok wouldn't be an issue.
Sealed unique traits meant even single-digit rankers couldn't wield full power.
'But...'
Such a high-level ability wouldn't be available right after customizing.
At first, it'd only work on low-tier Awakeners.
With his duel against Kang Inhyeok in less than a month—an S-rank upper echelon—sealing his unique trait was near impossible.
'Above all...'
Beelzebub was an Archdemon.
Born of pure evil.
As a Lv 4 perk, it had to be harder to handle than Lv 3 ones.
'Yeah...'
Too soon.
With his current perfect body balance and mana circuits, what he needed most was overwhelming output to maximize it.
The deliberation was brief.
He couldn't gamble at the plan's final stage.
Having decided, Kim Gunja's hand moved slowly toward his choice.
Toward the heart of the last mad dragon, who slew kin and devoured their hearts wholesale.
The Extinction Dragon Kaisir's heart.
#
Incheon Airport.
As the handsome man appeared in arrivals, chaos erupted nearby.
"Kyaaah! He's totally my type!"
"Inhyeok oppa! Over here! Oh no!"
"Just one look this way, please!"
Flashes burst, screams rang out.
Kang Inhyeok removed his sunglasses, drawing another wave of shrieks.
Ssssss.
Inhaling deeply with pleasure, he smiled.
"Home air really hits different. Right? That idiot rookie's doing me a favor."
He'd planned to stay in America over a year.
But thanks to the rookie wanting a friendly match with him, he returned early.
A suited middle-aged man whispered to him.
"Reporters are coming. Mind your words a bit..."
"Tch, always with the image crap."
But knowing Baek Jincheon's temperament, Kang Inhyeok instantly switched to cheerful hero mode, as if he'd never curse.
"Hello! From JTC! Mr. Kang Inhyeok! First, welcome home!"
"Haha! Thanks for the warm welcome."
"We heard you're dominating in America too! This time..."
Thus, the return of world rank 98's young hero Kang Inhyeok set Korea abuzz.
Attention naturally focused on why he came back early.
The massive event in a few weeks: the friendly match between Kim Gunja and Kang Inhyeok.