Chapter 28
Terminally Ill, but It's Okay — Episode 28
Once the destination came into view, my steps quickened. The Mangnyang lurking along every path were Baek Sa-young's to handle.
There were quite a few of them, as close as we were to the enemy stronghold, but had he actually reached some kind of enlightenment?
Baek Sa-young cut the creatures down with a chain of attacks far more fluid than before.
The creatures collapsed to the ground without so much as a single battle cry.
[You have defeated the Grade 8 Monster, 'One-Horned Mangnyang'.]
[You have gained 12 hours.]
[You have gained 12 hours.]
[Seal Release Rate: 6%]
['Greed' says it likes that kid.]
Thanks to him, I hit the jackpot.
Absorbing Demonic Energy was a given, but I also picked up extra time here and there, conserved my mana, and approached without difficulty.
When I reached the main gate of the Seonang Shrine, I felt Demonic Energy so intense it stung my skin.
Baek Sa-young, who had been glaring with hawk-like eyes, suddenly shuddered.
"Master...... no, senior."
Ma...... what?
"I can sense people. At least ten of them. This has to be connected to the disappearances."
"It's exactly twenty-two."
Of course, I hadn't sensed it like he had. That was just what the original work said.
[Remaining Time: 26 days 7 hours 43 minutes]
I checked my remaining time for a moment.
It had been roughly an hour since we entered, so the special patrol team would be arriving before long.
Before that, I had to complete the quest and get my hands on the Demonic Energy essence.
I asked Baek Sa-young in a deliberately meaningful tone.
"Have you ever faced a Demonkin?"
"Not...... yet."
"Have you ever risked your life to draw attention for a teammate?"
"No."
"Then today will be your first experience."
"Pardon?"
"Listen carefully."
I laid out—no, handed down—the plan I had prepared for Baek Sa-young.
If he bought time against the Demonkin, I would handle something even more important.
When I brought up the Demonic Energy essence, the serum that would be stained with people's blood, and the forbidden ritual, Baek Sa-young clenched his fist with a grinding sound.
"......I will see it through."
It wasn't only for my own benefit.
For Baek Sa-young, today's fight against a Demonkin was an essential experience for awakening a new trait.
"It won't take long."
"I will do my utmost."
Baek Sa-young bowed his head once, then walked toward the main gate.
I thought he would leap and vault over it.
Instead, with a thunderous boom, he smashed it halfway apart and charged in like a madman.
"Th-that......."
He seemed thoroughly enraged.
Normally he was as gentle as could be, but his inability to tolerate injustice had kicked in.
A moment later, I heard the clashing ring of blades.
I took advantage of the chaos Baek Sa-young had created and circled around the Seonang Shrine.
A 32-stroke, 1-star Wind-Style Sorcery, Bull Gale.
[Manifestation Completion: 85%]
With light movements, I crossed over the wall.
"There it is."
The building where the ritual was underway was visible at a glance.
Wreathed in black heat-haze, it looked like a cursed imugi coiled around and settled upon it.
['Greed' opens its mouth wide in delight.]
[It wipes away its drool and urges me to hurry.]
"Wait."
I enhanced my vision and observed the situation.
I figured it was about time for the bastard to appear.
"A little rat has crawled in."
The building's door flew open with enough force to nearly break it, and a wave of pressure on an entirely different level surged outward.
It was him.
"Demonkin, Midas."
His grade was Blue.
Among the six grades used to classify Demonkin, it was the second-lowest, but the standard of strength was always relative.
For Baek Sa-young and me as we were now, he was easily a life-or-death opponent.
"How dare you commit such acts......."
"How dare I?"
Midas's massive frame flickered and vanished in an instant.
KABOOM.
Midas's fist, as large as Baek Sa-young's head, slammed into the sword Baek had reflexively raised.
Baek Sa-young slid backward, leaving two lines carved into the ground.
"...How is he so fast?"
Baek Sa-young couldn't hide his bewilderment.
And no wonder.
Normally, the greater the mass, the lower the instantaneous speed—but Midas was the opposite.
He boasted speed that belied his enormous frame.
This was due to the unique trait of the Demonkin called Midas.
"That insect-like bastard."
It wasn't merely an insult to disparage him.
His trait came from the fruit fly, whose reaction time could be fifty times faster than the blink of an eye.
An alias that didn't suit his appearance at all, which made the effect all the more dramatic.
Like Baek Sa-young, flustered right now.......
"This, too, is something he must go through."
A necessary crisis always becomes an opportunity.
I trusted Baek Sa-young and headed toward the building where the ritual was in progress.
* * *
I moved swiftly between the quiet hanok buildings.
With Baek Sa-young drawing their attention, I approached easily, arrived safely, and opened the door.
The interior was more vast than it looked from outside, and more gruesome.
A massive transparent Erlenmeyer flask.
Screeeeech—
As the magic circle beneath it flickered with an ominous light, the Monsters trapped inside shrieked and thrashed.
The Demonkin's ambition and greed to artificially raise the quality of Demonic Energy.
I had come face-to-face with his sacrificial victims, but I felt no pity.
Compassion, when I was exterminating vermin?
I clicked my tongue audibly and kicked off straight toward the Demonic Energy essence at the top of the flask.
Borrowing the power of Bull Gale, I ascended in a single bound with a leap I could never normally attempt.
The liquid-form Demonic Energy essence was contained in a transparent glass bottle.
There was not much of the concentrate itself, but the black haze it gave off was denser and murkier than anything I had seen before.
Was it about fifty creatures' worth? Or maybe a hundred?
I couldn't gauge it precisely, but I hoped all the effort so far hadn't been in vain.
['Greed' grins broadly.]
I reached out my hand.
['Greed' absorbs the 'Demonic Energy Essence'.]
Shwoooop—
As a gentle suction force activated, black smoke surged upward.
And then it poured down.
[Absorbing Demonic Energy from Grade 9 Monster 'Sugwi'.]
[Absorbing Demonic Energy from Grade 8 Monster 'Yagwang-gwi'.]
.
.
These bastards. How many had they slaughtered?
Maybe a hundred.
No, more than that!
The frantic flood of message notifications only ended around the time my right hand began to ache.
[You have absorbed Demonic Energy from a total of 154 Monsters.]
[Seal Release Rate: 85.5%]
['Greed' lets out a burp.]
Whoa.......
85% in one go. No, 85.5%.
Heh.
It had far surpassed my original goal, and I kept laughing in spite of my bewilderment.
['Greed', picking its teeth, asks what happened to that child.]
But I soon tried to regain my composure.
Because, as Greed said, it wasn't over yet.
I quickly summoned the 'Chungyongwi Warrior's Dagger'—
the Armament I had stolen from Kang Cheol-min and copied with Appraisal—and infused it with mana.
I struck the flask hard.
It did not shatter outright, but a loud crack rang out as a fracture spread across it.
After two or three more strikes, it crumbled apart.
The trapped Monsters bolted out of the building as if they had been waiting for it. I was about to follow them out.
"What's this?"
At that moment, a fist-sized purple gem embedded in the center of the magic circle caught my eye.
The gem was blinking regularly, sending an ominous light through the entire magic circle.
Was it the core of the magic circle?
It looked quite valuable, so I approached and cautiously reached out.
"Just the basic info."
I activated Appraisal while presenting keywords.
[Intermediate Magwang Ore]
[Description: A crystal of mana accumulated naturally over hundreds of years. A high-value magical engineering material used in various fields.]
Oh-ho.
To think something like this would be here.
If it's expensive, there's no reason not to take it.
I gripped the Magwang Ore firmly with both hands and pulled with all my strength.
Using my momentum, I yanked hard, and the Magwang Ore, half embedded in the floor, popped free.
Perhaps due to the aftermath, the light emanating from the magic circle gradually faded.
It was pure dumb luck, but I had neutralized the magic circle too—two birds with one stone.
"I'll put it to good use."
After stuffing the Magwang Ore securely into my pocket, I exited the building.
KABOOM. CRACKLE.
The aftermath of the battle reached me in full.
The fight, already in its latter stages, was escalating into something far fiercer than the opening.
"This little whelp......."
But the one who looked anxious was Midas.
Baek Sa-young was blending into the battle with movements more relaxed than before.
As expected of a character built from Yoo So-young's favoritism.
This was Martial God Physique, another cheat-level trait of Baek Sa-young's that would rival 'Attribute Conversion'.
It was also proof that the strongest human body—one that would later withstand even a Demon's power—had begun to awaken.
Midas's extraordinary physical abilities, his combat style built around them, and the life-or-death duel had all acted as a catalyst for Baek Sa-young.
Moment by moment, a golden radiance flickered in Baek Sa-young's eyes, shining brighter than ever before.
His movements, once barely keeping up, became evenly matched, and in the instant he pulled half a step ahead, the match was decided.
Slash—
Baek Sa-young carved a long cut into Midas's side.
Dark-red blood scattered as Midas reflexively swung his hand down.
That was his undoing.
The next instant, Baek Sa-young's sword pierced straight through Midas's exposed chest.
* * *
The fight ended quickly.
Like a sturdy fortress wall crumbling, Midas's massive body collapsed.
A shallow tremor rippled through the ground.
But Baek Sa-young's condition was no better.
Physically, he looked more like the loser. Covered in wounds from head to toe and gasping for breath, he seemed ready to collapse at any moment.
When I approached, Baek Sa-young spotted me and grinned.
"...Is the proof complete?"
Proof?
"I mean whether I’m qualified to be your junior."
What the.......
I was so dumbfounded that I fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Thank goodness."
With that, Baek Sa-young let out a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground.
......So he had barely been holding on for those words.
He really never changed. That was what made him all the more remarkable.
I wanted to let him rest a little longer, but there was no time.
I spoke in as gentle a tone as I could manage.
"Good work. Your role ends here. The special patrol team will arrive soon, so guide the missing people and clean up the remaining Mangnyang."
"Understood."
"And regarding this disappearance case......."
I additionally asked—no, coerced—him to keep quiet about my existence.
I made the excuse that I was pursuing more than one Demonkin, and that exposing my movements would compromise future missions.
It wasn't just an excuse to slip away. Most of it was true.
Because there was still one more left.......
I even remembered the name.
The Snake Demonkin, Kiat.
Originally, he was supposed to be defeated by Kim Mi-young when she led in the special patrol team, but because I had taken advantage of his absence, he was still alive and well.
So I had to catch him.
To set the twisted plot back on its original course.......
This wasn't something to push onto someone else. It was a burden I had to carry myself.
Anyway, my time with Baek Sa-young ended here, so I hurried to say goodbye.
"If our paths cross again......."
......But then.
That was the moment I felt a powerful sense of wrongness.
The air wavering behind Baek Sa-young.
RRRRRUMBLE—
Through the distorting view, the form of a giant snake with its jaws gaping wide lunged at us.
[Side Quest #4-1]
[Objective: Repel Demonkin Kiat]
[Reward: 5 days added to Remaining Time, 10 SP provided]
Already?
It was the first Side Quest I had ever received, but this was no time to dwell on it.
The instant I perceived it, I moved.
"Danger—"
It was almost instinctive.
I shoved Baek Sa-young aside and reached out with my right hand.
[[Auxiliary Authority 1] Absorption activates.]