Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Chapter 3 System (2)
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‘Purification is an Alpha-exclusive trait.’
I could see why Alpha was the top rank.
‘No need for purification agents, huh.’
Purification agents were essential for killing monsters and absorbing their mana.
Alphas were the rank that could purify contaminated mana on their own, without any agents.
From this, I could guess the limitations of lower ranks.
Lower ranks probably had to obtain purification agents separately.
‘The shop function exists, so they can probably get them there…’
There would surely be a price.
I organized my thoughts up to that point and then lost interest.
No matter how lower ranks obtained their purification agents, it had nothing to do with me.
I had advanced to Alpha. What I needed to focus on was figuring out how to use this Purification trait.
“Purification.”
I said it out loud, but there was no response from the system.
“Trait, Purification.”
I tried varying the words several times, but all I got was silence from the system.
It reminded me of the end of the first tutorial.
Back then, I’d tried all sorts of pointless things to use mana.
But unlike that time, I wasn’t angry.
The ten million won reward had made me a bit more lenient.
So instead of getting mad, I just shrugged it off.
‘The system’s never been friendly even once.’
Better to spend the time finding a method than fuming.
I closed my eyes and focused on my mana.
Right away, my body twitched involuntarily.
Moving mana was several times easier than before.
I could operate mana even before the promotion exam, but now it felt different.
If I had to describe it, before it was like forcibly grabbing mana by the scruff of the neck and dragging it along.
Now, it was like mana followed at a mere gesture from me.
That was the difference in sensation.
I’d seen the Mana Operation proficiency rise to 10%, so that must be why.
‘So this is what increased proficiency means.’
Mana control had become much easier.
It resisted stubbornly before, refusing to yield easily.
Thanks to that, I’d preserved most of my mana without losing any and greatly increased my proficiency.
‘Originally, you have to take care of your own rice bowl.’
Nodding in satisfaction, I focused on my mana again.
Circulating mana throughout my body, I could vividly feel the thorns embedded in me.
The moment I concentrated my senses there, the smoothly flowing mana halted abruptly.
Then it settled into place and began clinging to the thorns.
It was an instinctual realization.
These thorns were the filth that came attached to the mana.
With them embedded in my body, they were corrupting my mind.
The system called it contaminated mana.
So if I pulled these thorns out…
‘Only the absorbed mana would remain in my body, and the filth would disappear.’
Now that I knew what to do, all that was left was to execute it.
“Hngh, hah.”
Of course, as always, it wasn’t easy.
Moving mana near the thorns was dozens of times harder.
It felt like an invisible force was pushing my mana in the opposite direction.
Performing purification was like using a muscle I’d never once moved in my life.
More precisely, like using a muscle I didn’t even know existed.
A grinding sound came from my clenched teeth.
At the same time, wriggle, wriggle.
The thorns in my body slowly pushed outward like writhing maggots.
「Trait: Purification has been activated.」
“Hah!”
I gasped for breath, and my mana operation cut off, deactivating the trait as well.
Checking the system message filled me with both elation and rage.
I was thrilled to have finally figured out how to purify.
But the method was so grueling it made me want to curse.
Even with all my effort, I’d barely extracted one.
Considering the amount absorbed right after killing the monster, the road ahead looked arduous.
‘As expected, nothing in this damn game is easy.’
Muttering a quiet curse, I focused on purification again.
Since I’d started, I had to see it through.
That day, it took a full two hours to reduce my Chaos Value, which was just over 5%, to zero.
What a game I just couldn’t grow fond of.
* * *
I went through discharge procedures right in the evening.
My wounds had visibly healed, and staying away too long would worry my siblings.
Jae-hyuk had insisted on driving, so I got in without protest.
On the way home.
My mind was occupied with preparing excuses for my siblings.
First, before discharge, I’d aligned my story with Jong-hoon.
‘Fell down the stairs and got hurt, so we did a thorough check-up just in case.’
Fortunately, Jong-hoon hadn’t mentioned the extent of my injuries.
That left some room to gloss over it.
‘No need to worry them unnecessarily.’
Next week was the entrance ceremony, after all.
I didn’t want to upset them over nothing.
As I sat quietly rehearsing the lie I’d tell my siblings.
“You really okay?”
Jae-hyuk asked from the driver’s seat.
“You saw it yourself earlier.”
He’d watched my wounds heal in real time for half a day.
There was still some pain, but no issue with movement.
It was absurd, but I decided to think positively.
‘At least the chance of dying is lower now.’
Sitting still, staring ahead, I felt his sidelong glances.
“…What’re you thinking?”
Jae-hyuk’s voice grew cautious.
His concern was obvious.
Sinking deep into the passenger seat, I replied.
“Wondering why this happened to me.”
Jae-hyuk didn’t respond.
I muttered softly to him.
“Community.”
“What?”
“Just talking to myself.”
As I answered his question, my eyes moved busily.
I’d only remembered when leaving the hospital.
The community function, unusable during the tutorial just like the shop.
Thanks to the message that it was now active, the window opened normally.
Already, there were five or six posts, with far more comments.
But what I was looking at wasn’t posts by other players.
「Player 98.」
Seeing the number at the top of the community made my teeth grind involuntarily.
It was 100 minus exactly two.
The same number as the names crossed out in the promotion exam mission.
‘The player selection message said 100.’
Two of them had died.
The corpses I’d seen flashed before my eyes again.
Suppressing the nausea, I focused my gaze.
‘98…’
Staring at the number, something felt off.
‘The tutorial wasn’t a walk in the park either.’
Only two deaths out of 100?
One thing nagged at me as I thought.
‘Safe zone.’
The white space where the tutorial took place.
And the forest where the monster appeared.
The difference between the two locations was the safe zone.
‘Did failing in the tutorial not mean death?’
My guess was spot on.
「Title: All Clear.」
The short-titled post had the relevant info plastered there.
「Content: The all-clear guys aren’t human, are they? How’d they catch the lion? I was busy getting my limbs torn off. If failure hadn’t popped up, I’d be dead for sure.」
- Catching the polar bear seems more impressive than the lion.
⌎Yeah, I got knocked out by one hit. Woke up to a failure notice.
⌎The bear had that spear. Lure it with its own weight and stab. Lion’s harder. There were three of them.
⌎So you caught the bear? What a clown.
- Curious how they cleared stages 2 and 3, but more curious what they’re doing now.
⌎What’d they get from the mission? Something good, probably. System obsessed over scores.
⌎Who knows.
⌎Definitely special perks. System tallied scores for a reason. I hit top 5 once catching that guy. Top scorers get extra rewards. Among the all-clears who did the extra mission, the top ones got something extra for sure.
⌎Jealous.
- Bold comments are from the OP?
⌎Yeah, it’s me.
- Glad I didn’t all-clear. Player count dropped. Others waited in safe zone, no reason for it to drop otherwise. Two of the all-clears must’ve died.
⌎No way, don’t injuries heal after mission?
⌎It was tutorial. Safe zone message popped up.
⌎So no healing after tutorial?
⌎That’s how normal games work. No character damage during tutorial.
- Damn Coca-Cola bastards.
⌎Must’ve gotten beat bad by the polar bear. Hahaha.
Failing in the tutorial didn’t mean death. It was a safe zone.
I hadn’t failed, so I didn’t know, but the failed players already did.
For a brief moment, recalling my struggles during the tutorial made me angry.
But the time for anger had long passed.
Letting out a sigh of near-enlightenment, I read every comment.
‘Community has auto-translation, I see.’
Apparently for players of different nationalities.
Some phrasing felt awkward here and there, but no trouble understanding.
The problem was there wasn’t any useful info among the comments.
In the end, I went back to the main page to check other posts.
“Huh?”
But I flinched without clicking another post.
A new one had appeared that wasn’t there before.
「Title: K, I have something to say.」
All community posts were anonymous.
Neither posts nor comments showed the author.
And there, a term related to me was mentioned.
‘K…’
My code name.
If it really meant my code name, they’d seen the assignment chart.
Meaning, out of the six who did the promotion exam mission with me—minus the two dead—one of the remaining four.
One of them was looking for me.
‘Why?’
Hesitating at the title, I decided to check the content first.
Reading it wouldn’t cause any big issues.
「I really have something important to tell you. If I say I want to repay the debt of my life, would you understand? If you’re K, leave a secret comment. It’ll help.」
Seeing the content, I had a hunch who wrote it.
‘Talking about life debt—probably Ethan.’
As I pondered with the window open, comments started piling up quickly.
Watching them, I typed a short sentence in the comment section.
As Ethan said, comments had a secret function.
Good. No need to expose the conversation to others.
-(Secret Comment) Ethan?
As if waiting for my comment, a reply came right away.
⌎(Secret Comment) Do you remember where I first got hurt?
⌎(Secret Comment) How about proving your identity first?
⌎(Secret Comment) I don’t like it unless I know who you are.
Nitpicky.
Clicking my tongue briefly, I continued the comments.
⌎(Secret Comment) Neck, tongue numb, bruise there I think.
⌎(Secret Comment) It really is you. Sorry for being suspicious. Code name had real name, thought it might be someone else. I was unconscious at mission end, couldn’t even say hi… Thank you so much. If not for you, I’d be dead.
⌎(Secret Comment) Shouldn’t you prove you’re really Ethan?
⌎(Secret Comment) Describe physical features? Brown hair, blue eyes, over 6.2 ft tall. You were Asian… Oh, you carried me the whole time because I kept getting hurt.
‘6.2 feet… about 190 cm?’
It matched Ethan’s height by my conversion standards.
Just as Ethan’s face, sobbing with his huge frame, came to mind.
‘Based on what’s mentioned, it’s Ethan.’
Carrying him around—no other players were encountered then, so no doubt.
Confirming the poster was Ethan raised a question.