Chapter 271
Chapter 271
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 271
Chapter Title: Above the Underground Ruins
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Ah, what a mess.
[‘Madness – Magic Phobia’ manifests.]
Just as expected, the message window jumps out and covers my eyes.
The mana stone bombs I launched mostly exploded in midair, and for some reason, I’ve fallen off Dolly’s back and am plummeting. That bastard Mun Kyung-nam is hurling fire magic right at me.
[Mental strength stat attempts to resist the delirium.]
I deploy Blood Volcano to block the flames rushing in beyond the message window, and at the same time—
“Reddie!”
“Kieeeek!”
Pwaaak!
Reddie, puffing up in an instant, grabs me as I fall toward the bottom of the stairs.
[Mental strength check……. ]
Fire or explosions aren’t the problem!
Someone, take this madness hit for me like last time!
Kim Shin-hwa! You gonna keep fighting in this state? Delirium’s gonna kick in!
“No, I can hold it! I can hold on! My sanity score’s still pretty high!”
[……Success!]
“See? I told you! Before I set out, you saw my sanity score was yellow, right? Out of 100, red means moths, so the U.S. President’s actually a reptilian alien! I telepathically communed with them and learned the truth of this world!”
Oh shit. This guy’s done for.
“What? Why the face? Did I say something weird?”
No, this isn’t the time!
The altar’s status has changed.
While time was frozen, and while I was pulling out all the stops to block his attacks—Mun Kyung-nam’s ritual has already advanced to the next phase!
“Hey! I’m not dead yet! Reddie, let’s go!”
“Kieeeek!”
Whirrr!
I hurl a few more mana stone bombs around him. I don’t have many left that I’ve primed to explode.
“I did the math ahead of time—someone’s watching us from that left direction, right? When the ticking clock starts, guide them a bit more to the right!”
『What a nuisance. What the hell are you doing all this for?』
“Oh, I agree! There’s no backstory between us, we just met today, and suddenly this confession? You’re shocked, huh? If I’d come yesterday, there’d be some narrative plausibility for you!”
I hoped Mun Kyung-nam would waste time pondering my words, but he seems smarter than the other cultists I’ve met.
Giiiing—
Mun Kyung-nam swings his sword, drawing up mana. Damn it, look at that mana moving so crudely. That’s not how you do it!
“No! Don’t use magic! The electromagnetic waves from every spell distort this world’s balance and laws! The more magic you use, the stronger the abyssal beings get, and greater dangers will come to this world! Your thoughtless magic will destroy it!”
Snap out of it! Kim Shin-hwa, you’ve been spouting nonsense! Break free of the grand delusion! I resisted the delirium, but the madness aftereffects haven’t fully faded!
“Oh, thanks for the kind explanation! Reddie, faster! We need to get as close as possible!”
“Kiiiiiek!”
[Time Stop]
Ah, that damn
* * *
thing!! Uwaaaah!”
A sudden shift in the situation.
I’m falling. Where’s Reddie!?
“Reddie!!”
I don’t know what he did while time was stopped, but Reddie’s been flung to a spot I can’t reach.
[Enhanced Vigilance] trait and the personalities in my head scream. Behind! Behind! Dodge! No, block! Kim Shin-hwa! I hurriedly twist my body—
Damn it, that’s an impossible move with my agility!
Giiiing—
I forcibly wrench my body using telekinesis from mana. Wood-crack— an ominous sound from my waist. Ah, damn. Did it break?
Kwaaaang!
But somehow, I block the explosion charging from behind me. Damn it, isn’t this my mana stone bomb?
『Impressive that you blocked that. Try this on for size.』
[Time Stop]
“Ah— that
* * *
time stop shit!”
[Ice Spear] [Winter Orb]
Paga-gagak—
Magic completed while time was frozen suddenly surges at me. No efficient way to counter! Damn it!
Whirrr—
Kwaaaang!
Kwaaaang explosion and impact. And the inevitable judgment that follows.
[‘Madness – Magic Phobia’ manifests.]
[Mental strength check…… success]
Yeah, consecutive successes mean someone’s taking the hits for me!
“If all the ice in the Arctic melts, the cosmic virus inside will awaken, and humans will grow antennae from their heads, you know? Did you bring that Arctic ice knowing that? The virus is gonna spread!”
I think rationally and speak correctly and clearly, but the friends in my head disagree a bit.
“Can’t do it multiple times!” “Sanity’s taken a huge hit!” “You’re not normal right now! Fall back and regroup!” “No time for that! Just push!”
“Don’t worry, I know a guy named Spacesu—he’s an assassination master. He’ll come riding a UFO soon, so hang on a bit longer!”
But Reddie’s not by my side anymore. Is Reddie okay? Wait, no—I’m falling too! Snap out of it!
The bottom is pitch-black darkness. Dizzying floating sensation. I’m falling!
“Kim Shin-hwa, [Night Veil Wing Robe]!” “Shut up!”
This guy’s really lost it. I get what he wants to do, but you’ll die like that.
“I feel eyes on us. Someone’s observing from the left. You know who. Definitely—a Soviet spy. Tick, tock. Hear that? To lure out that pro at space-time infiltration, this is the only way.”
You get what I’m saying, right?
Giiiing—
I leap off the mana stones orbiting my body as footholds. Gying— rebound sound, and a crude leap spell unfolds.
This isn’t that kind of game genre, but using telekinesis, I double-jump, triple-jump in midair like a platformer protagonist—and close in on him.
“You bastard! See that? That’s the power of friendship! I can win without magic! The power of friendship is true magic!”
『Pathetic.』
Mun Kyung-nam swings his sword again, chanting.
“That bastard! What the hell, chaining casts like that!?”
Time stop magic is 9th circle.
But Mun Kyung-nam isn’t a 9th circle mage.
His mana pool’s low, control’s crude. A real 9th circle mage would’ve killed me long ago with something stronger than [Time Stop].
“That’s not magic—it’s an artifact effect!”
The madness wasn’t from time stop—it triggered from some other magic he cast during the freeze!
[Flesh Sword].
Like the [Soul Shackle] that killed Yang Seo-ho, an artifact imbued with the [Great Origin]’s power.
He’s using the [Flesh Sword]’s unique ability for that.
“I’m not dying to a scrub wasting a premium artifact just to skip chants!”
“Got a plan?”
“We win with the power of friendship! Friendship is Magic!”
“Ah, Kim Shin-hwa! Get a grip!”
Almost there!
I’ve reached the altar where he stands.
“Truly tenacious and horrific.”
“Everyone says so!”
Close enough to converse with normal voices!
What’s left for attacks?
“Eh— eat this!”
I slam max mana into [Four-Fang Piercing Sword] and hurl it at him.
Whirrr!
The mana-charged [Four-Fang Piercing Sword] flies in with ferocious momentum, but Mun Kyung-nam doesn’t even try to dodge—he swings [Flesh Sword], drawing mana.
“Kr- Cha- Ukta- Br- Toph- Sha- Suak.”
As per the pact, [Flesh Sword] unleashes its power.
[Time Stop]
It’s coming!
I try to deploy Blood Volcano
* * *
—but clearly, the Blood Volcano in my hand just moments ago is gone.
Whatever he did with [Four-Fang Piercing Sword], my left hand’s fingers—middle, ring, pinky—are severed clean off. Wait, no time to check my hand.
[Chain Lightning]
A blinding white bolt engulfs my vision. Oh man, I’m dead.
“Uwaaaak!”
Like hundreds of needles piercing veins into my body. Muscles spasm wildly, body twists, pain like my blood’s boiling away in an instant.
I’m fine! I’m okay! I can endure! Release mana to cancel it!
Quickly gathering mana—with my mental strength stat at 20, focusing like this in this situation would’ve been impossible.
[---------------------------.]
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Message windows pop up before my eyes. Something about madness, but no clue if the check succeeded or failed.
Anyway, smells like grilling meat somewhere.
Sang-hyun oppa, the meat’s burning, I think.
Ah— the other day, that fried stuff was so good. More frying, please. Oh, and short ribs. Love those short ribs. And those weird-named pastas you make sometimes. Ah, preparing such a feast—thank you so much. Sang-hyun oppa, it’s delicious. But the meat in the oven’s burning. Ah, eyes are heavy. Yawn— overate?
Sleepy.
Smells like burning meat.
Come to think of it, where the hell is Jang Hyun-deok? Things are this bad, and that bastard’s wandering around? Gonna yank every hair off his head when I see him. Why no contact? Something happen? An-san and Buyeo close? He wouldn’t get caught in cultists or Yang Seo-ho’s mess, right?
Thinking about it, isn’t this too much?
No grudge between Mun Kyung-nam and me, no backstory, and he just pops up as final boss? What kinda plot twist is this?
Mmm, savory smell.
If this were a proper game, he’d show up earlier, show his face, drop cryptic lines, lay some foreshadowing, right? Same with Mun Seung-hee. Never saw her, then suddenly she dies—how’s a player supposed to empathize? Ah, she died. That’s it, no deeper thoughts.
All because I was a day late?
If I’d come to Sokcho sooner, would I have enjoyed the exciting event with Mun Seung-hee and Mun Kyung-nam?
“Ah, burning meat smell……?”
My left pant leg’s completely burned off, and the exposed skin beneath is melting and charring grotesquely.
It was the smell of my leg burning.
No pain.
No, just no sensation. Losing three fingers on my left hand’s no big deal. Can I even walk now?
Where am I? Who am I?
Ah, Kim Shin-hwa? That guy had a shitty personality. Wait, I’m Kim Shin-hwa?
[System: ‘Rapid Recovery’ trait activates.]
“Ugh…….”
Auto-recovery starts, and belatedly, dizzying pain floods in.
“Uwaaaaa—!”
The horrific pain yanks my mind back from its brief outing due to confusion and madness.
Ugh…… hurts.
Really snaps you awake. Not sure if delirium hit, but I blacked out for a bit.
Blocked pure mana surge—not even a protective spell. One slip, and I’d be dead.
But seriously, where am I?
Looming darkness.
Whooshing wind.
“Damn. Still falling. How far did I drop?”
Far.
Hopeless. Lost Blood Volcano in the shock, plummeting below the altar.
Can’t visually check Mun Kyung-nam now.
I extend detection to spy on him.
He’s thrown his head back, laughing.
Shouts from above conveying supreme pleasure. He’s enjoying this?
Anyway, he thinks I’ve finally lost and fallen.
So now, Mun Kyung-nam—no, the [Ancient Voice]’s high priest—begins the ritual’s final phase.
Groooowl— groooowl—
Achilles who came down with me, Dolly, Reddie—none are here now. Lost all my weapons.
“Mana’s almost tapped out.”
I grip [Butcher’s Hook], focusing my mind. Desperate measure to amplify what little mana remains.
[System: ‘Feast Offering’ trait activates.]
[System: Descent of ‘Abyssal Existence: Great Origin’ begins.]
“Not sure if there’s enough time.”
Just as Mun Kyung-nam has a plan, so do I.
Honestly, better if I’d taken him down midway without going this far……
“No choice.”
I reach toward the sky.
Sky?
No, high as the sky feels, there’s a ceiling up there.
What’s beyond the ceiling?
Beyond this cavern’s ceiling lies a massive underground ruin. And to make shortcuts, I drilled tons of holes throughout the ruin.
Plus a giant shoggoth caught in a loop, smashing and rising repeatedly, wrecking the ruin.
Giiiing—
“Got it.”
Wasting mana stone bombs getting here wasn’t for nothing.
I command the mana stone bombs precisely placed at the ruin’s weak points.
“Explode.”
Groooowl—
No idea why they built such a bizarre structure, but that ceiling supports an insane weight of rocks.
The underground ruin of giant stones also bears massive soil and a colossal rock mountain—
Ulsan Rock, holding up the sky on its way to Geumgang Mountain, but stopped midway to become part of Seoraksan. A monster still yearning north in its slumber.
Perimeter alone is 4km, they say?
How much does that rock mountain weigh?
Groooowl—
Can’t know the weight, but the violence a mountain that size unleashes? I’ll find out soon.