Draining the Evolution Stone Accomplice

The woman who took the full force of my skill-enhanced fist crumpled to the floor, her face rapidly draining of color.

Agility has temporarily increased by 2.

The woman struck by Depressed Sneaky Drain had her stats ripped away the instant the ailment took hold.

"......!"

She looked utterly stunned by the surprise attack. Of course she was. She'd just finished preparing her ramen and stepped into the room only to get her gut smashed in. Add the terror of having her very stats drained on top of a status ailment, and the fear she felt right now was probably beyond imagination.

I pressed the dagger against her throat.

"Kuhuk... H-hidden...?! Wh-who...?"

I forced her to her knees beside the chair and turned her toward the computer screen. The notepad I'd prepared earlier was already open, the text clearly displayed.

"......!"

Her shoulders jerked violently, but the Depressed condition made any real movement difficult.

"I-if I talk—cough! W-will you spare me...?"

No.

But the words that appeared on the notepad were the exact opposite of my thoughts.

Whoosh—

"Eek...! I'll talk, I'll talk, so please put that away—"

Urgh—!

Her head must have been spinning ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from the sudden situation. She kept retching onto the floor. Then she clutched her forehead and began to speak with great difficulty.

"I-I... hic... I participated in experiments that turned children into materials for Evolution Stones..."

What? Why is the Evolution Stone suddenly coming up?

Did the sinister group the System mentioned include those involved with Evolution Stones?

"But! Cough— I only did what I was told! They threatened to kill my boyfriend if I didn't... sob..."

Whether she was actually blackmailed or not doesn't matter... the fact that she did those things doesn't change.

"It wasn't anything special... I was just a manager. I monitored the children to make sure they didn't run away... and punished those who resisted swallowing the runes as an example to the others... That was really all I did! I didn't even know the children were being consumed like that. I swear!"

Consumed... what a beautiful choice of words.

I pulled a wooden stick from my inventory and lightly tapped her on the head.

"Huk...! ...Eh?"

After her confession, the fact that I'd only given her a light tap seemed to confuse her. She looked up at me with questioning eyes.

Mana has temporarily increased by 3.

Enemy's level has decreased by 1!

"......!! What?! M-my level...!"

Even though the Depressed condition kept her from controlling her body properly, the level drop made her thrash like she was having a seizure.

"Th-this is... the Wraith's... Who the hell are you to have this kind of ability—kuuugh... S-stop...!"

The woman briefly regained her senses before the effects of Depressed made her clutch her head again. I tapped her chin with the stick and pointed at the notepad once more. The same message was still displayed.

"O-other than that, I haven't done anything bad..."

When I brought the fireball closer to the woman who said that, she finally began revealing her past sins one by one. Some of them were things society might dismiss with a casual "well, that happens," but others clearly crossed the line.

For example, she confessed that when she was younger and worked at a daycare, she'd dissolved sleeping pills in water and made the crying children drink it several times because their noise annoyed her.

Giving sleeping pills to children... isn't that extremely dangerous? This woman is completely insane.

After awakening as a hunter, she would frequently visit the boyfriend who had dumped her, flaunting her power and tormenting him for three years.

Three years... Good grief.

She had also stalked a man she liked on her commute, figured out where he lived, broken in at night, and forced herself on him...

Enough. That's enough. Should I just kill her now?

I hadn't completely trusted the System's "sinister" judgment, but hearing it directly made me believe it even more. A person like this disappearing would be better for a brighter society.

But killing her right away would be a waste. I decided to use her to test something I'd been curious about.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

"Wh-what are you—"

Strength has temporarily increased by 2.

Enemy's level has decreased by 1!

Stamina has temporarily increased by 3.

Enemy's level has decreased by 1!

So there's about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a three-second cooldown after stealing stats.

That meant even if I applied Depressed Sneaky Drain twice in three seconds, it would only trigger once. Since there were hidden elements not shown in the skill description, I needed to examine them carefully.

Nice! I wish Fireball would level up this quickly.

Maybe it was because I'd used it a few times in the Abandoned School, or perhaps there was a bonus for using it on hunters. Either way, the level rose faster than expected. Then I should keep going while I still could.

Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap—!

"????"

Even as she was being attacked, the woman looked utterly bewildered about what was happening.

My mana is already like this.

No matter how superior my mana circuit was, repeatedly using an 8-mana Sneaky Drain quickly drained my reserves.

The mana circuit's effect activated, dramatically improving my mana recovery.

Wow... How can I ever repay Tania for this favor?

While the buff lasted, I continued striking the woman with the skill.

Yes!

By squeezing out every last drop of mana, I barely managed to raise it to level 3.

Hmm... The duration increased again. There's still no ability to turn them into my subordinate. Maybe this skill can never gain that kind of power no matter how much I level it?

The ability I was hoping for might only be possible by defeating a Wraith from a higher dungeon. That would take quite some time, which was disappointing.

"Kek... Hegh... S-stop..."

The woman had sunk so deeply into Depressed that she simply lay sprawled on the floor, groaning. At some point, I couldn't even steal her stats anymore. Since the level decrease message had stopped, her level had probably reached 1.

"Sob... Please..."

What was she crying about? From the glimpse I'd seen of her life, she seemed to have lived without any significant restrictions on her desires. In that case, shouldn't she have been prepared for the possibility that someone else might ruin her?

I forcibly lifted the woman and made her look at the screen again.

Her body trembled violently as she shook her head fiercely.

"I-if I t-tell you, I'll d-die..."

Whether you tell me or not, you're going to die.

Suddenly, I remembered the Blue Eye cultist who had self-destructed in the dungeon.

Is there some kind of self-destruct restriction?

"Th-that's right... Urgh— Please, sp-spare me..."

The ones making Evolution Stones... they're not small fry?

Imposing such complicated conditions on a living person was no ordinary matter. It had to be a fairly large organization. There would probably be quite a few skilled individuals as well. Were they the same group as the red-hooded figure I'd killed last time? It was impossible to know.

"Pl-please—"

I no longer had any use for this woman. I would have liked to slowly level up using Fireball, but in such a small space, it would leave too many traces.

Slice—!

Without hesitation, I cut the throat of the woman begging for her life.

Thud. Roll—

I casually stored the corpse in my inventory and left the room without regret.

My stats went up.

The two mutated individuals from last time had left behind Contaminated Elixir of Life fragments. But since this woman hadn't mutated, she didn't drop any fragments. Instead, it seemed I'd received the same random stat reward as when I killed Blue Eye cultists.

It was now certain that another organization designated as "sinister" by the System had been added to the list. Considering the scale of the Blue Eye organization, I suspected this Evolution Stone group wouldn't be any less formidable.

Why does it keep getting worse? Just how comfortably was I living in my previous lives?

Only after Yeonhee was killed by the Orc Legion Commander did I begin questioning Jo Giman and digging into the hidden secrets. Before that, I'd simply lived as a slightly successful hunter thanks to my unique ability.

Yet behind the scenes, things like this had been happening. Of course the events would have unfolded differently, but the general flow probably hadn't changed much.

Ha! How ridiculous. To think I was just a clueless kid who didn't understand the world.

On the way home, I carried one more burden on my shoulders than when I'd left.

Click—

When I arrived home, Yeonhee was still fast asleep.

Sigh—

The sinister group I'd thought was connected to the Blue Eye turned out to be an organization involved with Evolution Stones... It was a night for deep thoughts.

Well, it's not so bad, is it? They're all things I have to clean up anyway.

Stat-boosting materials were swarming everywhere. I decided to think positively.

As I was thinking that, Rainy came floating over with a pitter-patter of wings and spoke to me. It seemed Yeonhee's mana hadn't run out yet, so the summoning hadn't been canceled. Cute appearance, but zero actual cuteness. A total old man in a child's body.

(Where have you been?)

Tsk, you don't need to know.

(Hmph! The one who should be protecting our master's safety...!)

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

......Then why don't you raise your combat ability a bit? Now that I think about it, why haven't you evolved yet? You've been with me since pretty early on.

(Hmph, fighting against beings of lower status than myself isn't very helpful.)

Hmm... Is that so... Even so, the dungeon we entered this time was mid-to-low tier among D-rank dungeons.

If Rainy's words were true, it meant Rainy could only gain experience in places teeming with Orc Lower Warriors or in the Dungeon of Nargul.

Since it started with a high rank, evolving should bring about a significant change.

I nodded and thought about the dungeon we'd enter tomorrow. Actually, there was something more worrying than the dungeon tomorrow, but for now I needed to focus on completing the exploration safely.

The Harpy's Spawning Ground... The terrain following the cliffs is narrow, but Neos Harpies themselves aren't much of a threat. The one inside the cliff is a bit annoying, but with my abilities, it should be easy to deal with.

Even so, anxiety clung stickily to one corner of my mind.

These days, sudden variables worry me more than the dungeons themselves. How am I supposed to continue this hunter life when I'm this scared?

Of course, our party had been dragged into an absurd number of strange incidents, but why did I have the feeling that such things would continue to happen frequently? It probably meant that major changes were occurring centered around dungeons lately.

I hope this one goes smoothly.

With that wish in mind, I spent the night making bombs and practicing swordsmanship. And the next day.

While Arin had already visited this place to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠point of exhaustion, the other three unconsciously swallowed hard at the sight before them.

- KyaAAAAAAAAAAK!!

- Kiyaaaaaaaak!!

The precarious staircase carved into the cliff. As we climbed toward the summit, we would have to face the 'Neos Harpies' that blackened the sky.

"We have to... climb that?"