Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Poison Fog (2)
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Poison Fog roared.
- Kieeeaaah!
It didn't have a mouth or vocal cords.
Yet it clearly sounded like a roar in my ears.
“Urk!”
Poison enveloped me from all sides.
Toxins so deadly that an ordinary person would turn to a handful of ash the moment they touched it surged toward me.
Rumble!
The ground collapsed and the sky flipped.
Flutter! Whoosh!
Fierce wingbeats and the grating noise scraping at my ears.
I closed my eyes and plugged my ears with both hands.
Uwaaah.
My mind was in utter chaos.
[‘Bone 5’ uses the skill, ‘Air Shield’ (Lv. Max).]
[‘Bone 5’ uses the skill, ‘Air Shield’ (Lv. Max).]
[‘Bone 5’ uses the skill, ‘Air Shield’ (Lv. Max).]
…….
The bone ogre I'd instinctively summoned layered Air Shields over me.
But whoosh!
The moment it was summoned, it melted into liquid.
[‘Bone 5’s summon is released.]
‘Crazy.’
In this world, this was possible?
An A-rank summon melting away this easily?
I clicked my tongue.
Crack! Crackle!
Even the bone ogre's layered shields cracked in no time.
Of course.
The very idea of blocking a Disaster-grade poison with the bone ogre's shields was flawed from the start.
My entire field of vision was already blanketed in green.
I couldn't tell if my body was sinking into the earth or soaring into the sky.
Overwhelmed by the sheer force, I fluttered about like driftwood in a tornado.
“Get a grip, you fool!”
Amid the chaos, the old man barked.
“Didn't you expect this from the moment you leaped into this damned poison blob? If you've steeled yourself, then act like it!”
“Who doesn't know that... I know, but...!”
“Tch, you have the spirit to talk back? Focus on the poison seeping in already! Hurry!”
Gurgle, gurgle!
Veins bulged.
[Poison Bonus activated.]
[‘Noblesse’ is a Grade 1 Lethal Poison.]
[You acquire 500 Trial Points.]
[Poison Bonus activated.]
[‘Saint Poison’ is a Grade 1 Lethal Poison.]
[You acquire 500 Trial Points.]
[Poison Bonus activated.]
[‘Dark Light’ is a Grade 1 Lethal Poison.]
[You acquire 500 Trial Points.]
…….
[Poison Bonus activated.]
[‘Poison Fang Net Gland’ is a Grade 1 Lethal Poison.]
[You acquire 500 Trial Points.]
[Poison Bonus activated.]
[‘Crane Spirit Grass’ is a Grade 1 Lethal Poison.]
[You acquire 500 Trial Points.]
…….
My vision filled endlessly with Poison Bonuses.
Most of them Grade 1 Lethal Poisons I'd never seen before.
I squinted to check roughly, then closed my eyes again.
Honestly, I didn't have the focus to keep them open.
- Kieeeaaah!
The Poison Fog battered me relentlessly, as if I were its sworn enemy from a past life.
It pounded me until dust flew.
“Fuck!”
I tensed every muscle in my body.
I couldn't just take this lying down.
I had to circulate my energy quickly and expel the poison.
‘But.’
There was too much.
Way too much.
More kept pouring in than I could expel.
In this situation, was circulating energy...
Was expelling the poison even meaningful?
“You fool! Don't give up!”
The old man shouted.
“It was something you should've avoided from the start, but no choice now... Poison arts are one of the myriad arts too. Listen! Poison arts aren't just about neutralizing or repelling poison!”
“Hngh!”
Even as the old man spoke, poison kept forcing its way into my body.
Like when I was a kid and fell into a pool—the feeling of unwanted water flooding my mouth.
I flailed in a pool made of poison.
“Don't try to control every poison directly with your energy! Fight poison with poison! Ruling poison with poison is the wisest way.”
“...Urk, rule poison with poison?”
“One of the poisons you just ingested, ‘Noblesse,’ was called ‘Gentleman's Powder’ in our world.”
“Gentleman's Powder...”
“It's a qi-dispersing poison that prevents you from using energy as gently as a gentleman.”
Hm?
It prevents using energy?
But how is that gentle?
Was he mistaken about the meaning of ‘gentle’?
“And the ‘Saint Poison’ you took in was called ‘Immortal Waste’ in our world—a qi-dispersing poison. Unlike Gentleman's Powder, which just blocks energy use, this one scatters it entirely. But do you know what's funny?”
“Hngh, hngh!”
My breath was completely cut off now.
My nerves all over my body felt erratic.
My limbs twitched spasmodically, trembling.
“When the two combine, they not only prevent energy from scattering but also act like an elixir that replenishes it. So don't force them out. Let them clash, and use that time to expel the others.”
“Grgh...”
Move, move!
While controlling the poison, I listened to the old man.
I instinctively located the poisons he mentioned and let them clash.
“Also, the ‘Crane Spirit Grass’ you absorbed is a plant-based extreme poison that's acidic.”
The old man kept imparting knowledge to me.
“But the thick energy ‘Crane Pure Red’ is an animal-based extreme poison that's alkaline. Let them mix, and they'll neutralize naturally.”
The old man taught me about the poisons.
As expected of someone immune to all poisons—had he not tasted every one?
Even poisons with names I'd never heard of, he knew and explained on sight.
How to handle them.
How to expel them.
“It'll be hard at first. You're not used to it yet. But try a little, and you'll instinctively get it. How to move so your body survives—you'll learn naturally as you experience it.”
Kaboom!
A poison gale stirred inside me.
Dizzyingly many poisons waged war against each other.
Some collided to become tonics, others neutralized each other.
Lonely ones I gently expelled with my energy.
There was no time to rest.
I focused all my mind on observing and controlling my insides.
Thanks to the old man's advice, perhaps?
My breathing eased somewhat compared to before.
Proud of my progress, maybe.
“Hmph.”
The old man chuckled softly.
“Funny, isn't it? Do you know how poison experts in our world research it?”
“......”
“Don't be shocked. They catch test subjects and experiment one by one. Ridiculous, right?”
No.
What's ridiculous about that?
No, wait.
More precisely, this wasn't a situation where I could laugh.
“The only way to truly know a poison is to ingest it yourself. Arrogantly trying to understand poison through mere experiments—that's what's laughable.”
“......”
“Tch, no time for chit-chat, huh. Anyway, remember this well. Don't forget the knowledge you're internalizing now. It'll be priceless for understanding poisons later.”
Grind!
I gritted my teeth and endured.
Right.
If this experience all becomes my asset.
I can welcome it gladly.
Come on, Poison Fog! Kill me!
If you can't, I'll come out even stronger!
I'll become a monster who resists all the world's poisons and masters them all!
Don't like that? Hate it?
Then kill me right now!
Strangely.
The more pain I felt, the more my fighting spirit surged. Must be my constitution.
“Hraaah!”
I kept shouting with vigor, enduring and enduring.
Beside me, the old man continued reciting information.
And in crises, his dramatic advice saved me from death time and again.
How much time passed like that.
“...I'll trust you to hold on. Kid. This is as far as I go.”
With his final farewell, the old man vanished.
An hour had passed.
‘Just one hour?’
I was dumbfounded.
It felt like I'd endured a whole day.
- Kiaaa! Kiaaaah!
The Poison Fog was still ferocious.
As if mocking me for taking so little, it kept bringing lethal poisons nonstop.
“Fuck, yeah!”
I spat curses with fervent resolve.
“Bring it! All of it! Bring it!”
Shouting spiritedly, I swallowed the poison.
* * *
The battle with the poison raged on.
Until the overcast sky grew even darker.
“Urk!”
My body trembled with agony.
No matter how well I'd handled the poisons so far, I couldn't ignore the aftereffects.
But there was no time to recover.
[‘Firefly Mushroom’ is a Grade 1 Lethal Poison.]
[‘Rainbow Giant Mushroom’ is a Grade 1 Lethal Poison.]
[‘Golden Thread Temple’ is a Grade 1 Lethal Poison.]
[‘Kraken Ring Poison’ is a Grade 1 Lethal Poison.]
[‘Soul Severing Sand’ is a Grade 1 Lethal Poison.]
…….
[‘Diamond Spider Poison Gland’ is a Grade 1 Lethal Poison.]
[‘Yin-Yang Ghost’ is a Grade 1 Lethal Poison.]
…….
Were there this many types of poison in the world?
No matter how much I internalized.
No matter how much I neutralized or compounded.
I couldn't keep up.
They kept coming endlessly, no matter how many I resolved.
“Cough!”
Finally, blood refluxed up my throat.
Pain reached deep into my organs, my eyes and head spun.
A pain like my limbs were melting away, no exaggeration.
‘Ah, no...’
Strength drained from my body.
The body I'd been holding firm now fluttered like a limp paper airplane.
‘Never.’
Yet I screamed inwardly.
I struggled to hold onto my sanity.
‘I can't give up.’
The world spun dizzily.
Poisons infiltrated through my pores.
No, not just pores.
They invaded every orifice in my body.
“Ha.”
Was this what wanting to die felt like?
A hollow laugh escaped me.
The old man was right after all.
This thing was an unreasonable monster.
The best policy was to avoid it.
‘Damn it.’
Now there really was no answer.
Truly.
No matter how I racked my brain for a solution, there was none.
The energy I'd occasionally used to summon bone ogres for shields was nearly depleted.
The energy from the Azure Heart Method to expel poison was almost exhausted too.
‘At this rate.’
Death soon.
‘This... I wanted to save it as much as possible.’
In the end, I had no choice but to play my trump card.
The ultimate weapon that let me charge at the Poison Fog despite the old man's warnings.
‘Bone 7.’
[Using skill, ‘Skeleton Knight Summon’ (A-rank).]
[Uses 10 Energy.]
[‘Bone 7’ appears.]
Crunch!
It manifested in midair, knowing full well it'd melt soon.
[Energy fully depleted.]
[Tip: Want to refill energy? Try resting.]
“Hmph.”
My energy was already spent.
But it's fine.
Bone 7's energy remained.
‘Now, restore my body to its previous state.’
A skill I was using for the first time since acquiring it.
The cheat skill that once revived Kang Yu-jeong's arm, subordinate of Lee Seon-ah's Black Sword Squad.
[Skill: Recovery]
[Level: Max]
[Description: Reverts physical condition to previous state.]
[Effect 1: Reverts body to 24 hours prior. Cannot be used on the already dead.]
[Effect 2: Reuse cooldown - 30 days.]
[Effect 3: Uses 50 Energy.]
Crackle!
As Bone 7's body melted, Recovery began to activate.
Reverting the physical state precisely 24 hours back.
Not just the damaged body.
It applied to energy and qi too!
Whirr!
Feeling the warm light and energy enveloping me, I quietly awaited recovery.