Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: How to Live in Fusion Punk
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Strong denial is strong affirmation.
Jin realized that whatever he said here would just come off as self-justification that wouldn't land at all.
In situations like this, the best move was simply to change the subject.
"Whatever. Can you stand?"
Jin helped up the two fallen figures and scanned the surroundings.
Bodies half-submerged in bloody water dotted the area here and there.
Sorry, but he didn't recognize a single one of them.
And that made sense—back when they'd joined him one by one, Jin had been far from his right mind, tormented by severe hallucinations.
The only vaguely familiar one, a chameleon beastman, had been devoured without a trace, making the rest of the corpses feel even stranger.
The past 24 hours now lingered only as hazy blanks in his memory.
Unpleasant recollections he had no need to dwell on.
That said, he was inwardly glad to see his little brother's face after so long.
Even if it had turned out to be fake.
That was when it happened.
"...Something's off."
Maximo muttered as he lit a signal flare shaped like a long stick.
A modern-day torch, essentially.
The illumination flares they'd set up around the area were starting to dim, so he'd prepared ahead.
In other words, the darkness still blanketed everything.
"Won't everything be fixed once the vampire's dead?"
The old man, shrugging off Natasha's hand, answered Maximo's uneasy mutter.
"...I told you. There's a magic circle drawn in blood underground. Until you destroy it, the darkness won't lift."
Magic circle?
Jin scratched his cheek at the unexpectedly fantastical term.
He knew this was a world where magic and tech blended, but it still didn't quite click for him skin-deep.
To Jin, magic wasn't some product of understanding or enlightenment—it was just knowledge force-fed into his brain.
"So what do we do?"
"Smash it."
Jin nodded at the strained reply.
Then he hoisted the old man—clutching his lower belly and sweating bullets—onto his shoulder like luggage.
"What insolence is this! Put me down! Right now!"
"Can't even move, yet your pride's through the roof."
The old man's flailing resistance was almost comical, like a fish swimming out of water.
Even though he'd channeled mana to strengthen himself.
More like a big fish thrashing around?
This one's a keeper. A real trophy catch.
As that thought crossed his mind, Jin glanced down at the ticklish itch on his chest.
The gash had been deep enough to expose his sternum, but not only had the bleeding stopped—it was visibly knitting back together.
This went beyond just rejecting vampirism; it was the result of devouring pure vampire blood.
The overflowing nutrients had permanently boosted his recovery even further.
Thus, his body had evolved into something more inhuman than ever—while still technically human.
But his mentality took it in stride.
Doesn't matter if it's inhuman; it's not not human.
Hey, wasn't there that thing?
Even Lady Jang Geum thought persimmons tasted like persimmons because they were persimmons.
I'm human, so I am human.
Are those the same? Whatever.
With his mental gymnastics complete, Jin turned his head.
The group had already pulled themselves together.
Maximo gripping the flare, Natasha split back into her two forms: Left and Right.
...And the mercenary?
"What the hell? You didn't die?"
"I-I was just playing dead."
The mercenary stammered, looking embarrassed.
Even Underheart's last sword-wielders had perished with broken blades in their chests—yet this useless mercenary had survived.
Some people just have freakishly bad luck.
Sounds like a phrase coined just for this guy.
Jin didn't brush it off lightly.
He eyed the mercenary up and down with suspicion.
What if he suddenly flipped later—
Actually, I'm rank 3 or 4 in some super-secret powerful organization, infiltrated this place for some epic terrifying reason, my wimp act was all fake, and you're all dead meat!
—something like that.
"...W-Why are you looking at me like that?"
But he saw no such vibe on the guy's dopey face.
Not even now, with his perception heightened to rank 2, attuned to invisible flows.
Jin shrugged.
"Let's go."
And so, to the ruins!
The place where it all began—the site of the dark law that stole the tunnels' light.
They soon reached the deepest chamber.
Beneath an ancient, temple-like structure, geometric patterns drawn in blood covered the floor.
"That it?"
Jin asked, and the old man stared into space, babbling nonsense.
"...I am the king. You—show some respect."
His rambling monologue hit close to home.
Jin had initially wondered what was up with the old guy, but phrases like "I won't submit" and "Get out of my head" made it look like he was arguing with an invisible foe.
The familiar scent of infection.
No telling if this self-proclaimed king had gotten his 24 hours too, but for now, his resistance mattered.
"Quit chatting with Red Blood Cell Head and focus."
Jin set the old man down as he spoke.
The man, who'd been glaring at nothing with bloodshot eyes, shook his head violently.
This guy turning vampire would be a problem.
A rank 2 mage reborn—who knew what monster he'd become?
Like a ticking time bomb.
But they'd brought him this far for one reason: his magical knowledge might prove useful here.
"Can you... dispel it?"
The old man shot Jin a reluctant glare at the chin-jerk toward the pattern, then shifted his gaze to the floor.
"...Nothing is impossible for the king."
And with that, he began meticulously examining the blood-drawn circle.
As Jin watched him immerse himself, he sidled up to Natasha and Maximo, whispering in turn.
"Keep a close eye. If anything seems off, you know what to do."
The two, already briefed on the old man's condition, nodded as if it were obvious.
That was when Jin's eyes drifted to the ancient structure.
Come to think of it—what was he supposed to find again?
The state window's demand resurfaced late, forgotten amid the chaos, and he found himself walking toward the ruins without realizing.
"Where you going?"
"Just poking around."
"Got it. Be careful."
Left Natasha asked; Right Natasha answered. A bizarre exchange.
Jin blinked for a moment before speaking.
"You two... independent entities or what?"
"Something like that."
"Insane."
A split-body ability. Something anyone, young or old, fantasized about at least once.
One to go to work, one to study, one to serialize chapters...
Jin's eyes sparkled, drawing a chuckle from Natasha.
"I can guess what you're thinking, but the range is only 30 meters. When we merge, the split's experiences vanish."
"Ah."
Jin nodded in understanding—only for Maximo to poke his side.
"You're not ditching us solo, right?"
"Ditch? What, you forget already? Anything valuable got looted by the old man and his goons. And it was all junk antiques anyway."
"True."
Maximo deflated and plopped down, muttering wistfully.
"Still, once you're back, I gotta check it out myself. It's ruins, after all..."
"Knock yourself out."
Jin chuckled softly and stepped into the structure.
His face, flashlight sweeping around, showed little interest.
Hardly surprising.
Whoa, ruins buried for a thousand years! Back home, the world's oldest observatory—finished 1,300 years ago—squatted right there.
Age of Light and Roses?
We were in the Three Kingdoms era, dude.
Speaking of, do kids still picnic in Gyeongju these days?
Cheomseongdae keychain comes to mind.
Looked nice hanging by the fridge.
As usual, his mind wandered off-topic.
Surveying the scenery with a blank expression, Jin's gaze halted somewhere.
An open stone sarcophagus.
Peeking inside by the light, he wrinkled his nose.
"Ugh. Stinks."
A headache-inducing stench.
A millennium of body odor, basically rot.
Vampire dead and done with—Jin tore his attention away and scanned the ruins again.
The flashlight beam danced accordingly.
Its brightness couldn't pierce far into the dark, so the difference was stark when it hit empty air versus something solid.
Meaning: if something blocked it, the beam wouldn't vanish but form a round spot ahead.
Each time, Jin approached to check it out.
All duds, of course.
"...There really something here?"
As boredom set in amid the barren ruins—contrary to expectations—the beam hit somewhere round.
But wider this time.
Moving his hand up, down, left, right—no scatter into the dark.
Jin hurried over.
"Whoa."
A short exclamation escaped.
At the ruins' innermost dead-end wall: an enormous mural, intricately engraved.
"...What's it depict?"
Too vast to take in at once—Jin stepped back.
Dizziness hit like vertigo.
Suddenly, Jin stood somewhere else.
A grand hall. Where was this?
The palace?
Luxurious chairs in a circle; higher up, a jade throne on a stepped dais, gleaming. And figures seated there.
All exuding otherworldliness.
Various ages and genders, but Jin sensed transcendence in each.
Like glimpsing a giant star's outline as a mere twinkling point.
One familiar face among them.
Red hair, crimson-glowing eyes.
The man who'd incinerated the first vampire.
Realization dawned: these were the seven clan heads.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
Simultaneously, Jin's gaze lifted to the dais.
Higher than the heads, looking down—only one possibility in that era.
King? Emperor?
Indeed, someone sat on the throne.
Silhouette backed by slanting sunlight.
Cool so far.
Until the head lolled sideways.
What? Dead?
As Jin rubbed his eyes at the motionless figure—
A third person emerged behind the tall backrest.
Who?
Squinting yielded no face.
Deep hood, shadowed gloom.
Hidden gaze swept the heads; their eyes turned to him.
Time froze.
Second hand ticked once; dry swallow slid down throat; droplet hit water surface— that instant stretched eternally.
Infinitely long.
Then snapped back with superhuman elasticity.
Followed by the voice from the shadows.
A new era is coming.
"Gah!"
Jin snapped back to awareness, staggering.
Clammy clothes stuck to his back, cold and damp with cold sweat.
In his peripheral vision, "(Complete!)" faded away.
Clunk.
The dropped flashlight rolled across the floor.
Ruuuuumble——!!
Suddenly, the entire ruins shook violently.
A distant scream pierced the air.
"Shit!" "Jin! Get back here!"
Maximo and Natasha's overlapping shouts spurred Jin to snatch the flashlight and bolt from the ruins.
Meanwhile, the thick darkness saturating everything began to lighten in saturation.
No light down here—where would black get saturation? But Jin felt the change.
The prior gloom was artificial malice cloaking the world; now lifting, it was just natural dark from absent light.
Way better, anyway.
But why's it collapsing?!
"What happened?!"
"No idea! Damir torched the magic circle, and then suddenly...!"
A house-sized boulder crashed down beside the panicking Maximo. The mercenary yanked him back just in time.
"Gah!"
Rushing past the freaked-out curly-head, Jin spotted the old man kneeling far off, arms spread wide.
"What're you doing?!"
"...At last, reclaimed. My kingdom. My land."
Confirming the mage shuddering with bloodshot eyes, Jin abandoned him without hesitation.
"Run!"
Or they'd all get buried alive.
Leaving the wannabe king—who might vamp out any second—they bolted.
This cyberpunk dungeon break?!
As Jin howled—
A state window popped up.
(Sudden!) (Emergency!) Escape the Dungeon Within 20 Minutes
"Get lost! I know!"
Jin bellowed, kicking off the floor.
Enormous rocks tumbled behind the fleeing group—
The end of this long mission finally neared.