Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: If Only Rewards Were Given
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A blue wave emanated from the Spirit Stone.
The wave swept over my body.
"A barrier?"
The wave spread out rapidly before coming to a sudden stop.
It formed a spherical shape centered on the Spirit Stone.
"Ooh! It's really like a barrier!"
Jang Ho-seop jumped to his feet.
He headed toward the edge of the wave.
Then he crossed back and forth between inside and outside the boundary.
"Huh? Bro! I can just walk right through!"
The wave's range was about the size of a small house.
If it were a 1,000-square-foot apartment, it might barely cover two floors.
Thanks to the factory's vast space, the entire area was visible at a glance.
"Damn... what the hell?"
I turned my gaze back to the Spirit Stone.
A system message floated up, just like when I'd seen the Gate.
Mom's voice soon followed.
The guidance ended.
The blue-tinged wave flickered and vanished.
"Huh? Whoa, whoa? Bro! It's gone!"
"Come sit down."
"Got it."
I explained the message to the group.
This was visible and audible only to me.
"Oh, so it didn't disappear."
"Yeah."
The safety wave was still active, just invisible now.
"As long as we're inside the range, we're safe, right? We can stretch out and sleep easy?"
After sorting out his thoughts for a moment, Jang Ho-seop asked.
"Not quite."
"Huh?"
"It doesn't physically block monsters."
I had a hunch, like with skills.
"Think of it like mosquito repellent. Or a really foul pile of shit."
"What the...?"
"It just makes monsters reluctant to approach."
People instinctively avoid dirty, smelly places too.
The safety wave was like that for monsters.
"But what if there's a gold bar right in the middle of that shit pile?"
"I'd have to pick it up. Ah... damn. And just when it sounded good."
Jang Ho-seop looked disappointed.
"What if we expand the range so much that the gold bar's out of sight?"
"Huh? Yeah, that'd be perfect!"
"That's how it works. It seems to mask the scent too."
Enveloping the entire building in the safety wave would be way more effective.
Monsters wouldn't bother coming inside.
"So that's what Mana Stones are for... We'll need a ton of them."
"Good thing we stocked up. Thanks to your skill."
"Heh heh."
After wrapping up the talk, I fed more Mana Stones to the Spirit Stone.
"The Gnoll Mana Stone gives more time than the Goblin ones."
"Oh, so there's a difference depending on the Mana Stone."
I extended the safety wave's duration and range.
This should keep us relatively safe until sunrise tomorrow.
"Um..."
This time, Lee Yu-na raised her hand.
"If we have enough Mana Stones, could we keep using the safety wave while moving?"
I pictured it for a second.
Me walking around carrying the activated Spirit Stone.
No good.
"It deactivates if we move."
"Aw... Still, it's great. We can relax a bit when resting."
It wasn't absolute invincibility, but it was plenty useful.
Just being able to let our guard down while sleeping made it invaluable.
"We'll still set watches, though. I'll take a longer shift..."
I could still hold out fine.
Jang Ho-seop was in better shape than the others too.
Level difference.
"Teacher. I'll take a watch too."
"No. Lee Jang-su, just get some solid rest."
Lee Jang-su was in the worst shape.
That's why I'd excluded him from watches.
"Still... No, I understand. Thank you."
He caught Jang Ho-seop frantically waving his hands in sign language, then bowed his head gratefully.
"Alright, everyone rest up."
And so the day drew to a close.
Everyone fell asleep quickly.
But someone cautiously got up.
"Bro."
It was Jang Ho-seop.
He checked that the others were asleep, then came and sat in front of me.
"Why aren't you sleeping?"
"Got something to ask."
Jang Ho-seop was next on watch after me.
Last shift was Lee Yu-na and Soo-jung Auntie together.
"What is it?"
"The Spirit Stone has a level. We don't know how to level it up or what the max usable level is, right?"
He was asking about stuff we hadn't covered earlier.
"Yeah."
"It has your name on it, so probably only you can use it..."
He was even jotting notes in his notepad.
He'd need a fresh one soon.
"That's it? Go sleep."
"More."
I nodded, and Jang Ho-seop lowered his voice further.
"Tomorrow... you're heading back to the department store, right?"
The unexpected question made me turn to look at him.
"Why do you think that?"
"Mana Stones. Your... skills."
The others didn't know, but Jang Ho-seop did.
What I'd done at the department store today.
'Ah, Lee Jang-su knows too.'
I'd investigated the corpses of the Fundamental Skill Awakeners.
Sliced open their bellies and checked inside, just like with monster bodies.
For Mana Stones.
I'd searched the two bodies pretty thoroughly. Nothing.
But using 'Mana Stone Extraction' got me Mana Stones.
Jang Ho-seop and I concluded that extracting Mana Stones from people was a special trait of my skill.
"Since there are still Fundamental Skill Awakeners at the department store, you could kill them for Mana Stones or even recruit them."
"Nah. Not going back."
Now that we knew what Mana Stones were for, he'd figured I'd return there.
Easy to secure more there.
'Mana Stones aren't the only thing—experience too...'
Still, my plan hadn't changed.
We'd head for the Han River Bridge as intended.
"It's not just about going back and killing the remaining Awakeners. We'd have to kill their close associates too."
"Harsh way to put it, but that's not hard for you, bro."
"Not hard."
It wasn't about hard or easy.
"I think your biggest strength is that mental fortitude. Unbreakable will."
"Because I can act on my own needs?"
"Yes."
Jang Ho-seop was steadily trying to understand me.
I answered for his sake.
"If you have to fill a big tub with gravel and sand, what do you put in first?"
"Uh... gravel?"
"Right. Put sand first, and you can't fit the gravel."
Important things versus less important ones.
That was the difference.
"Got it. Makes sense—we can always hunt monsters on the way for more Mana Stones if we need three or so."
Jang Ho-seop caught on quick.
He thought in terms of three Mana Stones, but it applied to experience too.
Like not smashing every bug in sight just to level up.
Maggots, cockroaches, flies.
They gave almost no experience.
"Was helping Lee Yu-na because she's 'gravel'?"
"Killing Kim Representative was the gravel."
"Oh, right."
Among the department store Awakeners, one could alter scents.
She could get stronger by leveling.
Passing her by without meeting was because, right now, that skill was like sand to me.
Lee Yu-na was somewhere between gravel and sand.
"And just like you get it now, the people left there will too."
"Huh?"
"They can force themselves to accept it because I only killed Kim Representative's group."
The department store survivors.
And now Lee Yu-na and Lee Jang-su too.
They could grudgingly accept the slaughter I'd wrought.
"Because you had justification?"
"Yeah. Plenty there would've resented me for more killing. I'd have wiped them all out then."
Lee Jang-su feared me but still followed.
Would he if I'd just massacred everyone?
"So... you're thinking long-term?"
"No. Standards. I'm setting standards."
As a kid, Mom and the doctors set them for me.
Couldn't rely on that now.
I had to make my own.
To survive.
And if I wasn't going to live in this world alone.
"Even if you killed everyone at the department store, I'd still follow you."
Jang Ho-seop said it with a resolute expression.
"I ask these questions because I want to help you."
The others probably had their own subjective lines too.
Jang Ho-seop was saying he'd accept mine outright.
"Honestly, I still don't fully get it. What you see as gravel, what standards you're setting..."
I wasn't entirely sure either.
Judging case by case.
"But whatever you decide, I'll follow. I ask to follow efficiently."
"Got it."
"Didn't want you thinking I'm prying."
His emotions toward me were always the same.
Awe and trust.
Leading to favorable feelings.
I didn't fully get why he followed so blindly.
"Like I said before, if it seems off, I'll speak up."
"Thanks."
"And let me see that notepad."
"Uh... sure."
Jang Ho-seop handed it over.
A few entries caught my eye amid the dense notes.
[Kim Representative]
— Controls people using external threats.
— Exploits relationships between people.
— Leverages existing connections. Differentiates by ability.
— Instills fear through examples.
> Apply to bro? Need to know his standards... Tough.
There were notes on me too.
"I... thought there was stuff to learn from Kim Representative."
He answered preemptively, reading my gaze.
"He might've actually kept more people alive."
"Yeah."
"I figured you hate dealing with people."
"Right on."
"So maybe I could... Huh? Really?"
Suddenly, I started to understand why he followed me.
The next day.
We ate breakfast and retrieved the Spirit Stone.
Sleep hadn't been long, but I felt good.
The others looked much improved too.
The Spirit Stone's safety wave had definitely helped.
"It's great, but the Mana Stone consumption..."
Jang Ho-seop shook his head at the noticeably lighter pouch.
Regretting the monster corpses we'd left behind on the first day.
"Yi Hyun. Buffs before we head out?"
With preparations done, Soo-jung Auntie asked.
"Yeah. Not on me—do Auntie and the others."
I'd experimented last night.
Auntie's skill weakened with more targets.
"Mom. Courage buff. Remember what we talked about?"
"Yeah. Got it."
We'd settled on specific lines.
Jang Ho-seop's idea.
"Overcome your fear of the unknown with composure."
At first, Auntie had just winged it.
Now we'd use set keywords, like magic incantations.
"How's it feel?"
Jang Ho-seop, buffed, asked his mom.
"This seems more efficient... No, better."
"Good. You'll have to keep experimenting, Mom. Different words for different purposes..."
Auntie finished her buffs, and we left the factory.
We hadn't gone far before running into a monster pack.
"Bro. What now?"
"Take 'em out."
Goblins again.
15 of them, no mutants.
They lay in a row atop a collapsed guardrail.
Ridiculous sight.
"Can I go a bit more aggressive this time?"
"Sure. I'll just pull aggro."
"Thank you."
Jang Ho-seop was level 9 now.
Killing all these wouldn't move my experience much.
"Stealth the awake one first. You got this?"
"Of course."
Jang Ho-seop vanished.
Lee Jang-su and Lee Yu-na jolted in surprise.
Puuk.
Moments later, he ambushed a goblin.
"Kheek!"
But it cried out as it died.
The other goblins lifted their heads one by one.
Tadak.
They charged right away.
I smashed the steel rod into a goblin's knee.
"Kiririk."
All attention turned to me.
The goblins scrambled up and rushed me.
Thud thud.
I shattered their legs and dodged efficiently.
Jang Ho-seop steadily thinned their numbers.
The buffs, maybe?
He fought calmly.
When overwhelmed, he'd use me to peel aggro off himself.
"Bro! We're good!"
Then, at some point.
"Level up?"
"Yeah!"
Jang Ho-seop hit level 10.
"General Skill?"
"Yep!"
"Keep track."
Four goblins left.
They slithered on the ground, jaws clacking.
"These..."
I'd shattered their arms too, then turned to the group.
"M-me!"
Lee Yu-na shot her hand up, catching my intent.
Lee Jang-su and Soo-jung Auntie stood awkwardly still.
'Lee Yu-na first?'
I beckoned, and all three approached.
"Alright, Lee Yu-na."
The moment I started to tell her to finish a goblin.
"Bro. Hold up."
Jang Ho-seop, lost in thought, held me back.