Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Kekeke. Are You All Heated Up by This Body's Item? Your Faces Are Hilarious!
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"What was that punch... about?"
A-rank hero Kim Jun-hwan.
Just a few hours ago, the guy had been yapping away in casual speech, acting all cocky. Now he was extremely timid.
It was because he'd witnessed me beating the crap out of Scylla.
"Hey, mister! Why the sudden formal speech? It doesn't suit you and it's cringy, so just talk casual!"
"Ahem..."
The team members gathered around.
A mix of emotions played across their faces.
Relief at having survived.
Anxiety over having looked down on me.
And fear of my power.
Kim Jun-hwan reacted the quickest.
"Th-thank you..."
He bowed at the waist, expressing his gratitude politely.
But the other team members still weren't acting very courteous.
"Why'd you hide that kind of power?"
"Are you a spy or something?"
"If you were alive, you should've radioed in."
I tossed the busted walkie-talkie at their feet.
"It broke."
"......"
They were extras, sure, but they were all high-rankers A-rank and above.
No way they were used to bending their pride and apologizing.
At least Jun-hwan still had some conscience...
"You bitches haven't said thanks yet?"
"Answer our questions first. Why'd you hide your power?"
"I didn't hide it. Our affinities just happened to match up well."
"Affinities?"
"It's a stigma that gets stronger against the undead. If you want more details, strip down and show me all your stigmas first."
Heroes don't usually go around flashing their stigmas willy-nilly.
That's why even trash like them are hard to deal with.
"Team leader. Doesn't something feel off? This doesn't make any sense. The numbers weren't high enough for a Bone Dragon to show up. It wasn't even a dungeon quake. How could this happen?"
"What are you trying to say?"
"What if Kim Taeyang pulled some kind of stunt—"
Abigail shot back like a venomous barb, her brow furrowed.
"You trying to say a fresh-faced newbie who just enrolled at Ark let loose a Bone Dragon to threaten us, then played the hero by taking it down himself? Why not just say he’s buddies with the Bone Dragon and they staged the whole thing?"
...What the hell is Abigail's deduction skill?
Spot on!!!
"Either way, we got help from him, that's a fact. The only way out is clearing this place, that's also a fact. We're short on strength as it is—don't stir up division."
"S-sorry."
With that, the team members' suspicions were dispelled.
Abigail's leadership is insane!
GOAT of team leaders!
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ We re-entered the ruined city.
The sun had already set, so we needed to find a building to spend the night in.
There were plenty of abandoned structures.
All team members were veteran heroes, so survival was no big issue.
They somehow scrounged up food and supplies from somewhere.
Of course, compared to my 'Emperor Survival Kit' from the backpack I'd grabbed outside, it was nothing.
"Kim Taeyang. Looks comfy and warm?"
"Don't even. This sleeping bag's too damn hot, it's pissing me off."
"......"
The dungeon nights were pretty cold.
You could tell just by how the team members huddled together, shivering.
Ah, of course, I don't feel the cold.
Thanks to Pomi's stigma, I'd been immune to it for a long time.
"Th-this is the best we could do..."
"What more do you want? There's nothing but grass outside."
"Don't hog the blanket all to yourself..."
The team members clutched their primitive blankets made from branches and leaves.
But the wind found every gap just fine.
They were shaking so hard you could see it.
"If we'd just grabbed the backpacks, this wouldn't have happened..."
The line came off a bit sharp.
Regret always leads to blaming others.
And sure enough, the barbed exchanges continued.
"Yeah, why didn't you stop the guy who said he'd only grab the sleeping bags?"
"Who could've predicted this?"
"Fuck. Stuck with the wrong team, gonna die like dogs..."
"If you were so principled, why didn't you grab everything? And why bitch at me? Ultimately, the team leader approved it."
Sniffle.
Abigail wiped her runny nose and replied.
"You trying to help with the warming by pissing everyone off? It's working great. Keep it up."
"......"
Even Abigail seemed to have no slack left.
She'd spent hours stopping them from fighting each other.
And now the arrows of blame were flying at her. No wonder she was pissed.
As Abigail's face hardened, the atmosphere froze solid in an instant.
They weren't even talking to each other anymore.
It seemed settled, but I could tell.
Cracks were forming in their trust.
"Ugh..."
"So cold... Can't feel my toes..."
The weather was brutal.
"Don't huddle so close."
"Fuck, I don't wanna either. What am I supposed to do about the cold?"
Still, for warmth, they had to stick tight to teammates they couldn't stand.
"Damn! I'm dying of heat here! Hey! What the hell is this company?! They made a sleeping bag so hot you actually feel it!! Was it a sleeping bag company or an oven company?! Hey!!!"
The smug bastard enjoying his solo emperor camping kept spouting infuriating crap.
Just looking at their faces, you could practically read their thoughts.
'Fucking pissed.'
'This sucks...'
'Wanna punch someone...!'
Unbearable frustration levels skyrocketing!
Time for this body to step up!!
"Hey. Injured sow. How's the body holding up?"
"Mind your own business."
A-rank Shin Yu-jin had hurt her waist fighting the Bone Dragon.
She could barely walk without support.
"Hey hey! 'Mind your own business'? What kind of half-assed response is that?! Huh?!!"
Shin Yu-jin glared at me.
"I said mind your own business."
I get the prickliness.
'No way a guy like Kim Taeyang actually cares about me!'
That's surely what she was thinking.
But I was genuinely worried.
If you screw up, we might not clear the dungeon.
"Hey!!! If you're injured and can't fight properly, you're a burden on the team, got it?!! Reporting your condition to teammates regularly is the duty of anyone hurt!!!!"
"I-I'll handle it myself, so butt out!"
Shin Yu-jin seemed a bit stung by the textbook line.
But the real game-changer was something else.
"Tch. Was gonna offer my super hot sleeping bag since it's too damn warm, but whatever..."
"W-wait. You're giving up the sleeping bag? For real??"
"This body's strong enough to handle the cold, but you're injured, right?"
Her face lit up for a second.
Lick lick...!
I flicked my tongue.
"Wh-what's with the tongue? You using the sleeping bag as an excuse to sexually harass me?! You trash bastard! Think that'll work?!"
"Hah? What kinda morally bankrupt bullshit is that?! Licking my tongue is my routine, so shut up about it!!! Get in the damn sleeping bag!!!!"
It's not like I lick it because I want to...
It's just like how you blink—I flick my tongue, that's all...
I helped her up and gave her the sleeping bag.
Meanwhile, Kim Jun-hwan, who'd been watching, shot his hand up.
"I object!"
"Hah? To what?"
"Why does only the injured one get the sleeping bag? I'm freezing my ass off too? Shin Yu-jin's just a psycho who blames everyone else!"
"Hey hey!!! Show some respect to your teammate!!!! You don't know injuries can weaken your mental strength too?!!"
"Tch."
How can they have no camaraderie...
Even for a ragtag team, this is too much infighting.
I pulled an item from my pocket and handed it to Kim Jun-hwan.
"Th-this is...!"
A hot pack.
"Found it buried in the backpack. You lot want some too?"
Everyone grabbed a hot pack.
Except me.
Kim Jun-hwan glanced around cautiously before asking.
"Um... don't you have one?"
"Nah, don't need that crap. This body's strong!"
"......!"
Not just Kim Jun-hwan—everyone stared at me.
Completely different look in their eyes.
Like they had no idea I had this heroic side.
"I judged you wrong before. Sorry!"
"Same here. This is thawing me out."
"Thanks, Kim Taeyang. Once we're out, I'll give you an interview about today."
But I really didn't need it...
I'm immune to cold...
"Kekeke. Seeing you all warmed up makes me feel great, doesn't it?"
No need to spill the truth.
Anyway.
That's when the dungeon's main event kicked off.
Rustle—
"Something's there."
Kim Jun-hwan jumped up.
Something was approaching from the darkness beyond the collapsed building.
"Get ready."
Everyone drew their weapons.
Injured Shin Yu-jin gripped her throwing weapon while leaning on someone.
But we didn't have to fight.
What emerged from the darkness was an 'old woman.'
"Team leader. Think that's the mysterious old lady?"
"Looks like it."
The name 'Old Woman's Ruins' had its reasons.
A certain old woman wanders this dungeon.
I don't know why at the point she's introduced in the story.
Normally, she doesn't talk to heroes or attack.
You just ignore her.
The trigger to activate the old woman's event is the bridge.
Once the bridge is destroyed, she starts talking.
"If you're young folk, you might be able to help me..."
"Sh-she's talking to us?"
"I'll handle it."
Abigail took the lead in the conversation.
"Help with what?"
"Follow me."
We followed the old woman out of the building.
She pulled some unidentified hunk of flesh from her bosom and scattered it.
Whoosh—
Pigeons hidden in the darkness swooped in, pecking at the meat.
"Beyond the sky lies a horde of evil seeking to destroy the world. The guardian god protects us alone..."
Dungeons sometimes had stories.
Honestly, they were all side stories, so I never paid much attention while playing.
The constellations' tales were all over the place anyway.
Sure, some linked up, but that was rare.
"It's a recent tale. The guardian god fought his archenemy and broke its wings. The evil god crashed here, and I had to find and seal it. That's my fate."
"Who is this evil god? How strong is it?"
Abigail and the team seemed to catch on.
Find and kill the evil god—that was the dungeon's clear condition.
"No one knows the evil god's name. Can't express it in our tongue... Its strength is beyond words too. But right now, it's badly wounded. Wings broken, guts spilled from the fall."
The old woman snatched a pigeon pecking at the flesh.
Whispered something to it, then released it skyward.
Flutter flutter—
Suddenly, pigeons from all around swarmed in.
Enough to blanket the sky.
A black, writhing wave that felt kinda creepy...
The pigeon flock circled one ruined building.
"Let's go."
We followed the old woman to the building the pigeons indicated.
Inside, a instinctive chill hit us—a stench that set our nerves on edge.
The smell of blood.
"This is the evil god's heart."
In the center of the building.
Atop a pile of concrete chunks, a heart as big as me sat there plainly.
Even creepier: it pulsed, contracting and expanding.
"You can't destroy this heart. The evil god won't die. Petty mortals can't kill a god."
Constellations don't die.
Slit their throats, stab their hearts—they come back.
But they're not truly immortal.
Satisfy specific conditions, and even constellations die.
Pomi's sister died, after all.
Dunno the details, but still.
"For the evil god to revive, it needs this heart and its other organs. But it's cunning—never shows where I or the pigeons are."
"So you're using us as bait."
"Yes. Meet the evil god here. No need to defeat it. That's impossible from the start."
"Just summon it?"
Cough—cough—
The old woman hacked like she was about to spit blood.
She answered in a raspy voice.
"Make the evil god drop its guard. Help it so it doesn't notice me approaching. Grant its every wish."
Cough!
The old woman crawled to the building's edge amid coughs.
It was completely collapsed, wide open.
This was the fifth floor above ground.
Even heroes could get hurt falling from here.
"Grant any unreasonable demand...! That's the only way you get out...!!"
"Granny?"
The old woman plummeted.
The startled team rushed to peer over the edge.
A massive flock of pigeons rose up.
No sign of the old woman.
Thump! Thump!
"This is fucking creepy as hell, huh...?"
The massive pulsing heart.
Seeing this thing in person...
Wild, but gross too.
"Kim Taeyang. Move."
Abigail aimed her crossbow as she said it.
A gleaming steel weapon etched with angelic motifs.
"Hey. What the hell you doing?"
"It said 'evil god.' If that's a demon, I can smite it with my power."
Whoosh—!
Holy light gathered at the crossbow tip.
Abigail definitely had the power to destroy a demon heart.
Holy power.
Angels can kill demons, demons can kill angels.
That was the death condition for angel and demon constellations.
Problem was, this evil god wasn't a demon.
"Almighty heavenly general, grant holy light to this lamb. Lend the power to destroy the demon heart and save the world...!"
The light charged to bursting.
The bolt fired, striking the heart.
Fwaaaaaaaa—!
The bolt erupted in blinding light...
Then...
Fizzle...
It crumbled to dust and vanished.
That was it.
The heart was fine.
"Hey. All that bragging, and nothing changed?"
"Th-then it's not a demon heart!"
That was when it happened.
The whole building started shaking.
"Quake?!"
A classic dungeon quake phenomenon.
But this earthquake wasn't a quake.
The evil god had just shown up.
"L-look over there..."
"?"
Kim Jun-hwan pointed outside.
Through the gaping wall appeared a massive face.
"Who dares pierce my heart—?"
The enormous voice hammered our eardrums.
"Urgh...!"
"W-we're sorry...!!"
"Forgive us!!"
At the same time, the team members dropped to their knees.
Abigail pressed her forehead to the floor, trembling as she pissed herself.
"Do you know who I am to commit such an act?"
"Ugh... ughhh...!"
"P-please... spare......"
This evil god wasn't your average deity.
A god with the power to subjugate heroes with aura alone.
Unlike the Greek-Roman gods blabbing about sex, this one showed true 'difference in class.'
Even a vet like me had to tense up.
This guy was no joke.
"Hmm? Why are you fine, little one?"
"Hah? Got a problem with that, you oversized head!!"
"?"
But who would've thought Kim Taeyang's mental immunity trait could even withstand this evil god's power...
Kim Taeyang really is a cheat...
"Heh heh heh. Bold for a mere insect—entertaining. I won't kill you. You'll all work for me anyway."
"Hey hey! Don't treat me like some clown!!"
Thank you for sparing me...!
"From now on, gather my organs scattered in these ruins. Bring them all, and I'll help you leave."
"Ugh... ughhhh......"
I was the only one properly hearing it.
The evil god shoved its huge face right up to me and snorted.
Just a snort nearly blew me back.
Wind like a typhoon.
This is a giant's power...?
The evil god's voice rose in agitation.
"But the sin of touching my heart won't go unpunished...!"
"S-s-sorry!! We didn't know!!! Honest!!"
Abigail rubbed her hands like a fly, babbling excuses.
But it was pointless.
The evil god's pride was already bruised.
"One of you. Offer me an arm. I'll rip it off painlessly."
"?!"
The team members looked at each other in chaos.
Any will to fight was gone.
In the game, this evil god was invincible anyway.
Fighting was meaningless.
Someone had to sacrifice an arm, and it stemmed from Abigail's screw-up.
"An... arm...? Who...?"
But Abigail didn't step up.
"Come now. Which of you will offer? Hurry up...!"
As everyone just eyed each other.
As silent pressure mounted on Abigail to sacrifice her arm.
I stepped forward.
"Hey. Take it."