Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Unrecognizable
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“Kieeeek!”
The horde of zombies charged toward us like starving beasts.
There was no time to gawk at the bizarre phenomenon unfolding before us. Rotten claws were already lunging right at our faces.
“Incoming! Battle stations!”
My shout snapped the frozen party members back to reality.
“Seo-ah! Hold the front! Don’t let a single one through!”
“G-Got it!”
Lee Seo-ah hurriedly adjusted her shield and lowered her center of gravity.
Clang! Thud!
The pressure from the oncoming corpses.
It was a blow that would have made an ordinary person scream and collapse, but she gritted her teeth until her lips bled and endured.
“Hup!”
Ironclad Defense (Active/Normal)
A faint blue barrier coats the shield.
A faint blue membrane layered over Lee Seo-ah’s shield.
The newly acquired Ironclad Defense.
There were no flashy effects. Just a silent, desperate struggle to hold on with grim determination.
‘Now that’s more like it.’
I immediately issued the next order.
“Yumin! Hit it now! Spread it across the center!”
Park Yumin raised her staff high.
The frightened college girl who used to squeeze her eyes shut was gone.
She focused her mana into the staff in her hands.
Vmmm—!
The gem embedded at the staff’s tip resonated ominously.
In an instant, the ground began to boil.
Soul-Scorching Mirage
Black-red flames writhe like serpents across the ground.
Whoosh!
Black-red flames slithered across the earth like snakes, coiling around the zombies’ legs.
At the same time, the staff’s special effect triggered.
—Kyaaaaaah!
A banshee’s ear-splitting scream erupted alongside the flames.
Physical damage and mental terror struck the horde simultaneously.
“Grrooooh...”
‘Tch. Zombies must be resistant. Not much effect.’
But it didn’t matter.
A dozen zombies dancing atop the flames flailed in place before crumbling into ash in seconds.
Their ranks collapsed, tangling and burning each other.
“Whoa...”
The bucktoothed girl shooting arrows from beside the carriage gaped in awe.
She looked overwhelmed to learn the big-chested woman was an AoE mage sweeping the battlefield.
“Hm. Not bad at all.”
My casual praise brought a flush of delight to Park Yumin’s tense face.
“R-Really? Did I do good? Did I earn my keep?”
“Yeah, sure. You weren’t terrible.”
Of course, it was all thanks to the gear and skills, but I didn’t mention that.
Marshmallow was beaming like she owned the world.
‘Pushing her around won’t work as well as this. Positive reinforcement suits her better.’
Fear of me had long vanished from her anyway.
I was a little curious how the confidence in her power and the thrill of my approval would change her.
‘She’s simple, which makes her easy to handle. That’s her strength.’
As the tide turned in our favor and the zombies thinned out...
Thud. Thud. Thud.
A heavy vibration rumbled from behind the burning houses, shaking the ground.
A massive shadow flickered through the flames.
“Groooarrr!”
It revealed itself.
A physique that dwarfed the regular zombies like children.
An abomination wearing a blood- and grease-stained apron, wielding a rusted giant cleaver in one hand and an iron hook in the other.
Plague Butcher
“W-What the hell is that!?”
Kim Jun-ho’s party recoiled in horror.
“Yuriel, you handle the small fry. I’ll take the big one.”
“Understood!”
I stepped forward, regripping my sword.
The beast locked onto me and hoisted its massive cleaver.
“Groooarrr!”
Whoosh—!
A sound tearing through the air.
Grazed, and you’re dead.
But to my eyes, its trajectory broke down frame by frame.
‘Slow.’
I didn’t dodge.
I waited until the blade was a hair’s breadth from my skull—0.1 seconds from impact.
Now.
I twisted my torso at the last instant, like dodging a cabbage leaf.
As the rusted cleaver grazed my clothes and slammed into the ground, a thrilling shiver raced through me.
Condition Met: Blade of Retaliation
Critical Hit Confirmed!
—Slash!
150% amplified damage.
The Wraithblade sliced through the beast’s thick forearm like tofu.
“Krooogh!”
It howled in agony and swung its hook with the other hand.
Same story.
Whoosh! Slash!
Dodge point-blank, strike the opening.
Dodge, slash. Dodge, stab.
Tap-tap! Clang! Swipe!
Every attack whistled through empty air, never touching me once.
My sword, meanwhile, danced across its vital points.
“F-Fucking insane...”
“That’s not human movement...”
I slipped into the tattered butcher’s guard.
It tried to raise its cleaver in a final frenzy, but I was faster.
“Time to end this.”
Stab—
I drove my sword into its heart and twisted.
The giant crumpled, kicking up dust.
A level-up glow burst from every member of our party.
I shook the blood from my sword and looted the corpse.
Items caught on my fingers amid the sticky gore.
“As expected, it drops.”
The first was a hefty steel spear.
Steel Spike (Rare)
A spear with a longer, heavier blade than standard, specialized for thrusting.
High durability; ignores light armor for penetration.
‘Decent.’
Time to retire the cheap spear from the tutorial.
But this one’s length might limit its use.
‘Better to sell it to someone else.’
And beside it, a skill card.
Pain Resistance (Rare)
Reduces pain and stun from physical blows.
When HP falls below 30%, defense rises slightly for a time.
‘Hm.’
A passive skill focused on defense, not offense.
Typical for tanks or warriors—universal utility.
Not bad for me either.
I fight evasion-style, but in a dungeon where a graze can be fatal, this boosts survival.
‘More passives never hurt. But...’
It didn’t feel essential.
A bit meh, you know?
Of course, learning it wouldn’t hurt.
‘But dopamine’s the real prize.’
I still had one unused Karma Crystal.
Saving it for at least Magic-grade or higher, and this was perfect timing.
I smirked wickedly and pocketed the card.
“Hm, cleanup done?”
Only now did I take in the surroundings.
Lee Seo-ah leaned on her shield, panting raggedly. Park Yumin had collapsed against Yuriel, legs giving out.
Kim Jun-ho’s party gulped, eyes flicking between the massive corpse and me.
“Took down that thing... solo...”
“A monster, for real...”
Fear and awe.
Just the right reaction. They’d follow without complaint from here on.
“......”
But they were irrelevant.
My gaze inevitably drifted to one spot.
Amid the blood-and-flesh-smeared battlefield.
There he stood alone in the carnage, chomping loudly on an apple swiped from the village chief’s house.
Stomach of steel, or reality finally sunk in?
‘What the hell is this guy?’
I wiped my bloody hands roughly and approached.
No reaction even as I neared.
Instead, he stared up at me, cheeks puffed with apple.
“You. What was that earlier? Skill? Item?”
I asked coldly. He wiped juice from his lips with his sleeve.
“Nah. Background textures don’t take aggro by default. It’s a rule of this world.”
“Cut the bullshit. The zombies swerved around you. Right in front of them.”
“That’s ‘cause to them, I’m just a roadside rock or log. Nothing more.”
He grinned.
“Outside their perception range.”
“Perception range?”
“Yup. But you see me, right? Grabbed my collar, talked to me. You’re perceiving me fine.”
Suddenly, he stepped closer, poking the boss blood on my armor with a finger.
His eyes changed.
No longer vacant fish eyes—now sticky curiosity, like spotting a toy or kindred spirit.
“......You’re different, huh. An Irregular?”
‘Ha.’
Unbelievable.
Who’s the Irregular here? You’re the freak in my eyes.
No intent to play his game.
Instead of replying, I roughly yanked the hood’s nape.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. Ghost, whatever—you’re not my problem.”
“H-Hey? Ack! My hood’s stretching!”
I tossed him into the cart like luggage again.
“Ow ow... So ungentlemanly.”
“Ungentlemanly? If I weren’t a gentleman, you’d be trussed up tight right now.”
He grumbled from the cart corner.
No fear at all.
Instead, he tracked me with intrigued eyes.
‘Smiling even now...?’
You’re damn lucky, punk.
If we’d met in another stage...
Vroooom—
Monsters roared from beyond the village, right on cue.
No time.
“Everyone, snap to! We move now! If we don’t reach the fortress before night deepens... wipe.”
We pierced the darkness and barely reached the [Old Fortress] midway up the mountain.
Parts of the walls had crumbled; the main gate was sealed tight.
“This way.”
I pointed to a gap in the broken wall—the only entry the cart could squeeze through.
After shoving it in, we gathered dead trees and wall rubble to block the gap.
“Whew...”
Not perfect, but it’d hold off monsters through the night.
We set camp in a corner of the fortress courtyard and lit a bonfire.
As the flames flickered, tension ebbed; party members slumped one by one.
Yuriel draped a blanket from the village over me first.
“Master, here...”
“Thanks.”
“Uuu... Big Brother, this place is really safe, right? Feels haunted...”
Park Yumin glued herself to my side, shivering.
Lee Seo-ah hugged her knees, eyeing the barricaded entrance anxiously.
“Don’t worry. No monster respawns here. Seal the entrance, and we’re good.”
They relaxed a bit at my reassurance.
“We’ll take watch.”
Kim Jun-ho volunteered.
The bucktoothed girl beside him chimed in, grimacing.
“Can’t sleep anyway, too scared. I’ll take first shift. Feels like I’d get sleep paralysis otherwise.”
They looked ready to stay up all night glaring.
Not bad.
As everyone sought rest, I stood.
“Huh? Big Brother? Where you going?”
Park Yumin reflexively grabbed my hem.
Lee Seo-ah looked up in surprise.
“Got somewhere to be. Be right back.”
“B-Be right back? In the middle of the night? Alone?”
Lee Seo-ah’s voice quavered.
Instinctual dread at losing her sole protector from sight.
“Dangerous! Don’t go, please?”
“Yeah! You’re not ditching us, right?”
Park Yumin clung with teary eyes.
Yuriel jumped up, grabbing her bow.
“I’ll escort you! Can’t let Master go alone...”
“That’s an order.”
My curt command silenced them.
“Everyone stand by. Outside’s dangerous, inside’s safe—stay put. Won’t be long.”
Yuriel wilted under my firm gaze.
Lee Seo-ah and Park Yumin released their grips reluctantly.
I turned without hesitation into the darkness.
Step, step.
As my footsteps faded, whispers from Kim Jun-ho’s group reached me—thanks to sharpened senses.
“Big Brother. Where’s he off to?”
“Obvious. Grabbing the hidden piece.”
“Whoa... Greedy bastard. Hogging it all. But seriously, who is that guy? Knows the layout like home.”
“Shh. He’ll hear. Play dumb. We just scrounge scraps anyway.”
I smirked and headed for the fortress keep.
Sharp as hell.
But knowing doesn’t mean anyone can claim it.
Hidden pieces aren’t for just anyone.
Fortress basement level 2.
End of a cobweb-choked hall, before a wall that felt oddly off.
I stopped.
Vivid memory.
Back in the game, fleeing here after losing the cart and horse in the village—stumbled on this by chance.
Frantically trying to save the NPCs, retreated inside.
‘Finding this was near-miraculous.’
Was too frantic being chased.
Pure luck spotting it.
Bam!
I kicked the wall.
It crumbled, revealing a hidden narrow passage.
Stooping low, I crawled far along it to a sturdy wooden door.
Kaboom—!
This kick laced with feeling.
Door shattered.
Hinges screamed as they tore free.
Ripping it aside, I entered. Musty mold gave way to cool, alien air.
In the room’s center.
Floating midair: an object utterly alien to this world.
Black Cube
A perfect black hexahedron that devours even light.
No runes or mechanisms visible on its smooth surface.
‘Phew. Still here.’
I approached the cube slowly.
First time in-game, tried everything—no reaction.
Then rage-used my precious [Golden Key] from inventory.
Universal opener for anywhere—hoarded it dearly, but this mystery cube sparked defiance.
Lesson learned.
I was the fool.
In-game, die after using? Respawn fine.
‘Should’ve blown them freely.’
Can’t now.
This cube demands the one Golden Key.
‘But the payoff’s guaranteed.’
Grinning, I pulled the [Golden Key] from my magic bag on my back.
Brilliant gold lit the dim underground chamber.
A power worth the cost.
Key in hand, I reached slowly for the black cube’s surface.
“Heh...”
“......!?”
Then—a voice from the darkness behind.
“How the hell did you find this place?”
I whipped around, startled.
“You...”
Leaning crookedly on the ruined doorframe, smirking meaningfully at me.
The suspicious figure who called himself Kurokage.
“What’s your deal?”
Time to find out.
His true identity.