Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: The Desperate Implant Gamble
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Too slow.
This is our last bastion, the only thing that can save us all right now.
Even if I dumped every single one of these points into boosting my stats, I still couldn't beat that slime that took down Lee Gok-nim.
So, just like always, I decided to roll the dice and gamble.
Not on a skill to 'subjugate' the slime, but on one to 'rescue' Lee Gok-nim from its grasp.
"Open the shop window."
I immediately pulled up the shop window and started scrolling down fast.
"Y-Yongchan...?"
"Just hold on! I'll get you out of there myself!"
"...Pardon?"
"You lost back there because of me! So if I can just pull you free, you can take the win now, right?"
Of course, the status window was visible only to my eyes.
In the middle of this dire crisis, Lee Gok-nim's voice trembled with anxiety as I flailed my hands at empty air.
But that lasted only a moment.
When I asked with a glimmer of hope in my voice, Lee Gok-nim—trapped in one of the slime's hands—nodded firmly and replied.
"...! Of course. I won't lose to a creep like this ever again!"
"That's music to my ears."
It would be, wouldn't it?
She was Korea's top hunter, after all—no one less.
If her final chapter ended with her getting offed on the safest first floor of some dungeon like this, she'd be the world's punchline.
And besides, she was never the type to go out like that.
"Status window, find me some implants I can use on the suit."
"If we just sit on our hands, we're all dead anyway. Now's not the time to nitpick."
Either way, death was coming.
Might as well try something.
The risks of suit implants.
Even the 'Fire Cannon' and 'Ice Gatling'—cobbled together by forcing non-armament skills—had pushed my body to the brink of breakdown.
How much worse would it be for implants built from the ground up as armament-exclusive skills?
I'd thought it through.
But I had to do it anyway.
"150 points?"
"Nah, that's all I need to hear."
The bare-minimum cost for an implant: 150 points.
With only 140 to my name, the news hit like a punchline before the tragedy.
Because it meant suit implants were doable, period.
'The suit's got that sci-fi vibe, so I just tossed it out there—lucky it actually works.'
And 10 points? Pfft.
Chump change. I could scrape that together anytime.
If I really wanted, I could do it right now.
"Lee Gok-nim, I need your help!"
Thankfully, I'd scored 10 points before without even lifting a finger.
Right here, right now.
Time to recycle that trick.
"What is it? I'll do anything I can!"
Consent secured.
Now it was fully above board.
And hey, this was a gender-flipped world, right?
What passed for pervy back on Earth could land you rewards here.
So the question I hit her with:
"What's your menstrual cycle like?"
"...Pardon?"
She blanked out for a second after I dropped it so dead serious.
"Wh-wh-whaaat?!"
Back on Earth, it'd be like your close girl friend sidling up out of nowhere with, "So, when'd you last jerk off?"—pure shame fuel.
"Do I... really have to say?"
"Yes! It's super important!"
"L-last... m-month..."
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The slime was still swinging its liquid arms at me like a deranged game of whack-a-mole.
I was dodging by the skin of my teeth, but time was critically short.
So I pressed her with utter seriousness.
"Last month, and..."
"Yes?"
"Today... it's actually my dangerous day..."
Trapped inside that water prison, she was puffing steam from her head like a goddamn steam locomotive, barely squeezing out the words.
Had to be mortifying.
I got it.
But what choice did we have?
If knowing her period schedule could save two lives, wasn't that a bargain?
Still a head-spinner of a system reward.
But thanks to it, my points hit exactly 150.
In other words...
"Purchasing the suit implant!"
"Yes. I consent."
This was where it really kicked off.
From here on, it was do or die—the prelude to our counterattack.
Why was I even born?
No clue.
I just opened my eyes, and there I was.
Snapping to my senses, a voice echoed from deep in my mind like an order.
Fuck the male in front of you.
Multiply the species.
Taste ecstasy.
Mate and thrive.
My squishy form shuddered as my lower belly throbbed with some inexplicable urge, and my body moved all on its own.
First things first: devour the male ahead of me, decked out in that bizarre outfit.
Luckily, I seemed pretty damn strong.
Thud! Bang! Thud! Bang!
Pound pound pound.
The male in front was every bit the frail weakling my instincts pegged him for.
His 'counterattacks' were just pathetic little peas flung cold or hot—that was it.
At this rate, I'd have him flat on his back and my aching gut satisfied in no time.
Good thing there was that 'dangerous' one nearby, but when I zeroed in on the male, she let herself get caught.
No females left to cockblock my fuckfest now.
But then.
Shhh.
What the hell?
Bang!
"Huh? Wha?"
He'd been right there in front of me.
No slacking off—I'd been locked on tight.
One blink, and the male who should've been slumped in my sights was suddenly right up next to me.
And from there, pelting my right arm—the one caging the dangerous one—with those cold little peas. Utterly baffling.
'How? When did he get here? How'd he pull it off? I didn't see a thing!'
I swung my remaining arm wildly.
Stretched my body every which way, even morphed my once-gooey form into spikes—skewering him just enough not to kill.
But every time, the doubts just piled up.
Spikes.
Prickly bastards sprouting everywhere, sharp on touch.
I thrust them out across the entire lakeside forest.
He should've gotten nailed, right?
But somehow, that utter weakling stood perfectly safe amid the gaps between my extended spike-skin.
Like he knew it'd be fine there.
Worse, rapidly reshaping everything but my right arm was wearing me down.
And then those cold peas kept slamming only into my right arm.
"Ugh... uuu... aaah!!"
Freezing.
My right arm that should've melted was icing over slow!
And once frozen solid, it'd shatter.
Shatter, and I'd have to tangle with the dangerous one again.
No way!
I hated that!
Staring at the frail weakling parked eternally on my right, the slime felt 'fear' for the very first time since spawning.
How in the world...?
Lee Gok couldn't trust her own eyes.
The whole world was watching her, the super rookie of the century.
She was one of the heralded 'Golden Generation' next-gen hunters.
Yet even she couldn't track that 'speed'!
"Yongchan... what are you?"
Top 5% of all hunters.
The B-rank barrier, where the average promotion age topped 100 and most washed out beforehand from lifespan or ability shortages.
She'd smashed through it at 50—half the norm—a certified genius.
Bang bang!
But.
Bang bang bang!
He turned even her into a fool.
Bang bang bang bang!
Raw, monstrous talent.
Crunch. Cruuunch...
Like he lived in his own private flow of 'time,' no matter how the slime twisted and thrashed, he always closed in right on her front.
Then flash-froze the water prison rock-hard to shatter it.
Craaaack...!
"I told you."
"...!"
His voice rasped with agony, like his lungs were scorching.
"I'd definitely save you."
Shatter!
A grin on his face.
Yongchan-kun, venting steam nonstop from the suit's seams, beaming bright.
"Ah... aaah...!"
The instant she was sure the frozen shell would hold, she smashed her fist through the water prison and broke free.
And first things first, she pulled the utterly spent man into a tight embrace.
He was just so damn impressive.
Rescuing her when she'd written herself off for dead—this surging emotion, she had no clue how to tamp it down.
But one thing was crystal clear: what came next.
Take down this monster together, safe and sound. Head back to Earth. Then schedule their next 'rendezvous' nice and cozy.
"Lee Gok-nim."
"Yes."
"Are we gonna lose?"
"We're gonna win."