The First Kill Sparks a Monster (Part 2)
Probably. Hehehe.
Mr. Byeon grinned with greedy eyes as he tucked Beodori into his waist pouch.
He immediately slammed the machete into the ground and pulled out a small shovel.
“From now on, I’ll be digging the dirt. Hwang Geumpa, take this machete and watch all around in case any zombies come.”
“Yes, sir.”
I set down the shovel and pickaxe, then gripped the machete.
[Obtained item: Low-grade Machete]
LT__Classification>: Normal
LT__Attack Power>: 1~3
“Just watch out and safely dig up the truffle. I’ll give you ten percent of the truffle’s price.”
“R-really?”
“Forgot already? We’re a party, remember?”
“Haha. Yeah.”
I kept a strict eye on Mr. Byeon. But my head was only full of money.
He said at least one hundred million… Ten percent? Ten million won!
If the truffle’s price hit around five hundred million…
Fifty million won!
Just thinking about it made me feel like I was about to fly away.
I watched Mr. Byeon dig carefully with his little flower shovel, still full of caution. Yet his speed wasn’t joking around.
At a glance, it looked like his trait was completely specialized in digging.
“Great, great.”
“Why?”
“Even after digging fifty centimeters, nothing. That means it’s likely a jackpot. Truffles found in the tower are higher quality the deeper you go.”
“I see.”
Mr. Byeon’s face under the torch grew more and more excited.
Mine was probably just as tense, wary of tower zombies.
Suddenly, far away, a zombie started shambling toward us.
I whispered to Mr. Byeon.
“A zombie’s coming!”
Uweee~ Eek~
My heart felt like it would burst.
Earlier, I had swung the pickaxe on reflex to save someone, but now that I was facing a slow zombie up close, my machete hand started trembling.
But Mr. Byeon didn’t even glance my way and kept digging.
“Don’t get nervous. Just one clean swing to the head is enough to take down a zombie. For beginners, think of chopping with the flat of the blade, not the tip.”
I knew that too.
Beginners always panic and usually miss when they swing the tip.
So wait until it gets closer, then land one solid blow.
Focus!
Focus!
Then the zombie entered my range.
I waited a little longer.
Just a little more…
Then I swung the machete with all my strength and brought it down on the zombie’s head.
The zombie surprisingly raised its arm to block my blow.
But because I was too tense and swung too hard, the machete sliced straight through the zombie’s mushy arm and lodged deep into its skull.
Slash—
The zombie’s steps froze for a moment.
At almost the same time, Mr. Byeon’s shaky voice rang out.
“It’s here! Jackpot! Real truffle!”
Mr. Byeon tossed the shovel aside and carefully scraped and brushed dirt from his hands. He pulled out something dark and grenade-shaped and held it up carefully.
I kicked the zombie with my foot, recovered the machete stuck in its head, and asked excitedly.
“Whoa! Haha. At this price, how much do you think it’s worth?”
But I didn’t need to ask. The status window popped up right in front of my eyes.
[Party member has gathered 2nd-grade Truffle Mushroom.]
[Estimated market price: 325,000 gold ~ 461,000 gold]
“Whoa! If it’s 325,000 gold, that’s how much in cash? Whoa! Almost four hundred million?”
Then another line pushed up on the status window.
[Request to divide the promised 10% of the truffle mushroom with your party member?]
[Yes] < [No]
Since he promised ten percent, I was about to press Yes without thinking.
“Don’t press it, you bastard!”
Suddenly Mr. Byeon’s eyes filled with killing intent. He grabbed my collar and slammed me to the ground.
Kwoong—
I was too startled and dropped the machete from the shock.
Dang-dang—
“You bastard! So you’re a total thief! I dragged you around for years and taught you everything, but you don’t even appreciate it and try to steal my stuff!”
I was so shocked I blurted it out immediately.
“B-but you said you’d give ten percent earlier…”
He immediately felt around on the ground for the fallen machete, gripped it, pressed the blade hard against my throat, and glared with burning eyes.
“Shut your mouth, you dog. Does that make any sense? When I say I’ll give ten percent, it’s when there’s one or two thousand gold involved! This is completely different! You really don’t get it?”
“…”
Percentages did have weird spots, that was true.
Even if so, it shouldn’t come to pressing a blade to the throat.
But Mr. Byeon was too busy defending himself, spittle flying.
“I’ve been digging up my legs one after another for the past few years. I suffered like a dog down here. But a brat who only entered the tower two hours ago is trying to rip off four thousand?”
I felt the blade press slightly against my throat.
The machete covered in zombie blood.
“If you don’t want to die, press No, kid. Got it?”
Was it too late?
No. I had saved this guy who had almost been bitten by a zombie.
And I had protected him while digging the truffle.
A heartless bastard.
The words rose to my throat, but I swallowed them.
Stimulating him right now would be stupid.
At the same time, I remembered what I had done with my younger sister that morning.
* * *
“You’re really going to be a tower scavenger?”
“…Don’t stop me.”
“Fine, I can’t bend an older brother’s will. Here, take this. Gift.”
As she spoke, my younger sister Eunpa held out her palm.
On her palm lay blue-fluorescent nails.
If my guess was right, it was the ‘Nail Shot.’
“Stick it on your nail.”
I stuck the nail on my right index finger.
[Bolt Nail Shot equipped.]
LT__Charge>: 1 use
LT__Range>: About 3 meters
LT__Description>: Aim at the target with your finger and shoot. The target will be paralyzed for 3 seconds.
LT__Caution>: The effect can weaken or disappear depending on the level difference between caster and target or the target’s electric resistance.
“Isn’t this expensive?”
“Of course it is. But among tower scavengers, there are plenty of ex-cons and wanted men who commit murder for trivial reasons. You should have something like this for peace of mind.”
“Kid, why this kind of thing. Fine, I won’t take it.”
“You have to take it. You’re going to do dangerous stuff without any safety gear. Does that make sense?”
“Then… I’ll gratefully accept.”
“Thank you. But you’ll definitely pay it back. With interest.”
“Got it. By the way, tell Mom and Dad I’m doing this as a tower scavenger for now.”
My sister glared and left for work.
When I checked, the price of that Nail Shot far exceeded what I could afford right now.
Was it okay to accept such a high-value item from my little sister?
Ah, screw it. I’ll just use it and return it later.
* * *
Mr. Byeon’s blade pressed harder against my throat.
I had to decide now.
He had me pinned, blade at my throat, but shooting him in the side with the Bolt Shot using my right index finger was easy.
But the problem…
If I was close like this, I would get shocked too.
I pressed No.
[Selected No.]
[Party member now owns 100% of the 2nd-grade Truffle Mushroom.]
He checked the status window, smirked, and pulled the blade from my throat.
“Don’t live like that anymore, okay? A kid who can’t even swing a sword in the tower shouldn’t greedily go after big money. I spared your life because I’m a decent guy. If you were my brother, you’d be dead already, you bastard.”
That’s ridiculous.
My blood was boiling. I wanted to punch Mr. Byeon’s face right then, but I just silently brushed off my clothes and stood up.
“Fine, I’m leaving. You find the waypoint yourself. I don’t plan to raise kids like you.”
As he turned to leave, I grabbed the pickaxe tightly and stretched out my index finger.
Even for this, killing someone was too much?
He was bad, but he hadn’t done anything wrong enough to die.
“Hey! What’s this?”
Just then Mr. Byeon jumped into the pit he had dug earlier.
He picked up a gold coin and a transparent straw.
[Party member obtained 1 Gold Coin.]
[Party member obtained Bit-use Transparent Straw.]
[Request to divide 1 Gold Coin and the Bit-use Transparent Straw with your party member?]
[Yes] < [No]
I instantly understood what was happening.
Because we were a party, digging one meter gave one gold. His trait had activated.
He stood in the pit, bouncing the gold coin on his thumb, and said,
“Hehehe. This is your trait, huh? Man, that’s funny. There really is a guy in the world who just digs dirt and gold comes out.”
His hand moved toward the machete.
“Sorry. I tried to spare your life, but… too bad. Today you’ll have to hand over your Rune Stone too.”
That was enough.
Mr. Byeon had done something worthy of death.
“I’ll say it. You dug your own grave today.”
“Hehehe, what’s that?”
“The hole you’re standing in is the one you dug, you bastard!”
Before Mr. Byeon could answer, a blue lightning bolt shot straight from my fingertip.
Zap! Zap!
The guy was engulfed in chaotic lightning.
“Uuuuuh….”
I raised the pickaxe high and aimed it at his head, which was about seventy centimeters above the ground.
I was a rural guy, manual laborer, 21st year of service. The pickaxe never misses.
My right hand, gripping just below the iron, swung naturally as my left joined it. The weight of the pickaxe head added perfect rotation.
And a long iron nail, loaded with enormous power, was locked in high-voltage electricity and slammed into the man’s forehead.
Paaaaak—
The lightning wrapped around his body for a moment and jumped to the pickaxe.
If the pickaxe handle wasn’t wood, I would have been shocked too.
On paper it sounded dramatic, but it actually happened in just two seconds.
“Aaaahaaaaaaa~”
The death scream of the shocked man filled the air.
Beeeeee—
But right after, instead of his scream, I heard that sound.
My first kill. My mind should have been blank.
I could see his bones bursting, blood and iron flowing out realistically.
[Party member has died from your attack.]
[Party has been dissolved.]
The lightning around his body disappeared. But now he couldn’t move for another reason.
Thud—
The coin he was holding fell to the bottom of the pit. It was a gold coin, but plated, so it had no real value.
“One thousand two hundred won. Use that as bus fare to hell.”
I stomped his shoulder with my foot and pulled out the pickaxe.
At the same time, his body turned blue and instantly turned to ash.
The clothes, belt, necklace, ring, hunter watch he wore fell to the ground first, then soft ash fell like snow over them.
And I saw a black stone floating in the air.
Rune Stone!