Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: The Dice Are Cast
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“Use you...?”
Woojin looked at Juter and asked.
“Yeah. Well, it's your call, but I guarantee you won't regret it.”
He spoke with full confidence.
“If you're interested, go cut some demon grass growing along the lower Raufgang River and bring it back. He'll lick the soles of your feet for it. Heh heh!!”
Juter treated him like one of their own without a second thought, despite coming from a different world. It was certainly far from ordinary.
“It's a different world, so you're just another guy. Never met you before. What's the big deal?”
Of course, Juter himself seemed baffled by that logic.
‘Demon grass...’
Woojin mulled over Juter's words.
The Raufgang River flowed around ancient ruins east of the Great Forest.
An uncharted area whose name wasn't even known yet.
No one knew anything about it.
Except for one person.
‘Probably... the Dwarven Barrier.’
Woojin recalled a name he'd seen on Gowun's map before.
‘East of the Great Forest was home to level 75 monsters...’
It wasn't a dungeon raid—just gathering in the field—so it seemed feasible.
“Do you know anything about the Dwarven Barrier?”
“Barrier? Oh, those ancient ruins? I've heard of 'em.”
“Any special points worth noting?”
Woojin asked with a hint of expectation.
Maybe he'd even learn how to conquer the uncharted zone.
“Nah. I'm not into relic hunting.”
But the response was disappointing.
“What about the Ice Archipelago or the Red Wasteland?”
“Never been that far.”
“Dawn Monastery or Zarkan Palace...?”
“Those are all dungeons. You ever see an alchemist raiding one? I just buy or steal dungeon drops.”
Unlike his earlier enthusiasm, he knew surprisingly little about uncharted areas.
“......”
Suddenly, Woojin felt something off.
As if the amount of info he could glean from this one person was being artificially limited.
But he soon shook his head with a wry smile.
‘Maybe the guy's lying...’
After all the absurd events, he was starting to spin conspiracy theories.
“I've found a way!!”
It was then.
Irurin approached him.
-Master, check this out!! I gathered some promising relics!
Setsuna greeted him as he emerged from behind the stone wall.
True to her excited voice, relics were piled up before her.
“This is called the Guardian's Bracer. It has the power to repel enemies when you're attacked.”
As Woojin examined the relics, Gowun eagerly explained each one.
“And this is the Furnace Ring. I never expected to find it in a dragon's hoard... It was made by the dwarves called the Thunder Clan.”
Whoosh...
When he slipped the ring on, the gem embedded in it glowed red-hot.
“Now grab your sword in that state.”
As instructed, Woojin gripped his sword—and astonishingly, the blade itself heated up red.
‘Different from enchanting.’
Normal fire enchantments coated the blade in flames.
But this made the blade itself radiate searing heat.
“It imbues weapons with fire attributes, but more importantly, it superheats the edge to boost penetration.”
Gowun propped up a shield from the pile and nodded at him.
She'd brought it to demonstrate the ring's effect.
Stab.
A casual thrust yielded shocking results.
The sword pierced the shield like chopsticks through tofu, without a hint of resistance.
There were plenty more items besides.
All high-grade, but unlike before, Woojin couldn't bring himself to take them.
“What's wrong?”
Gowun asked, noticing his hesitation.
“Uh? Oh... well...”
“What you gain, you lose in equal measure.”
Juter's severed head spoke up in Woojin's stead.
“It's fine. The ignorant are always bold. Fear grows as you near the truth—perfectly natural.”
He hated to admit it, but Juter was right.
At first, he'd thoughtlessly seen runes and gear from this world as his privilege.
But after meeting Nisen and learning about the balance between worlds, he'd grown cautious.
“......”
He picked a rune stone from the pile.
Unlike the bite-sized low-grade runes, this was apple-sized.
“A mid-grade Strength Rune Stone.”
He'd seen a community post about the Phoenix Unit getting a low-grade one on Labyrinth Tower floor 10.
That meant mid-grade rune stones hadn't been discovered in-game yet.
Shing.
He drew his sword with his other hand.
Weighing them like scales, Woojin alternated glances between the sword and rune stone.
‘The admins must know about my sword by now.’
Many had noticed him in Torn Bach.
After the black dragon vanished, posts about his gear had flooded the community for a while.
‘If it was a problem, they'd have banned it.’
Raoul's Dragon Slayer Sword was from the future in the scenario timeline.
But with Dark Forest as the acquisition spot and Raoul as an existing NPC, it passed as an Easter egg.
‘This is different.’
It was an item that couldn't be obtained at all.
‘I wonder... how will they react?’
Thump. Thump.
Woojin's heart raced.
This was a challenge—a provocation.
Not just curiosity about admin responses to him.
‘Ethan.’
It was about the system overseeing all of Evil Tail.
How would the AI handle the variable of this other world?
Account deletion...?
Possible.
If it couldn't resolve the variable, it might erase him—the one who knew about it.
In a situation where his real self couldn't be traced.
Existing only in-game, he could vanish completely.
Chill.
The thought brought a wave of terror.
The fear of eternally disappearing like this.
Grind.
But in that instant, Woojin gritted his teeth.
‘Do your worst.’
Crunch!!
He bit down on the rune stone with all his might.
Shaaa...
The remnants melted away like ice in his hand the moment his teeth sank in.
“......!!!”
The rune stone's energy was utterly unlike the low-grade ones.
“Hoo—.”
His exhaled breath carried volcanic heat.
Feeling power surge through him, Woojin marveled at his body.
“You've made your choice.”
Woojin nodded at Juter's words.
“Yeah. No challenge, no gain.”
Exactly as Juter said.
Dodging solved nothing.
One step.
Even small ones, toward the truth.
Grip.
The strength in his clenched fist felt worlds apart.
The die was cast.
Time to face it head-on.
“Irurin.”
She nodded at his call.
“I'll keep the rest of the gear safe. Take it when you return.”
“No need. Same dragon hoard means they're where I am too.”
“Still, you never know. Time flows differently—things change.”
“The change I want is this world's future. The gear will help in the war ahead. Use it yourselves.”
Woojin patted Gowun's shoulder.
“What about... him?”
“Up to you.”
Woojin glanced at Juter's head.
It had healed from being split in two.
“He knows his own worth... so he'll figure it out.”
“Heh heh. See ya.”
Juter grinned confidently.
“Take good care of Kelduan and Pensir.”
[Kuuu...]
Kelduan let out a low rumble, reluctant to part.
“Sorry. I brought you into this world to save myself.”
Woojin stroked Kelduan's cheek.
“But I promise. I'll come back for you. Until then... help them out?”
Lick.
Acceptance, perhaps.
Kelduan extended his massive tongue and lapped at Woojin's face.
“We'll take good care of him. A primal spirit's mere presence strengthens us all... We're the grateful ones.”
“Thanks.”
He regretted not properly saying goodbye to Pensir, but time was short.
“Next time, bring something tasty to win him over.”
Woojin chuckled at Irurin's words.
“Yeah. Whenever that is... I'll return.”
It wouldn't be easy.
He knew how to go back now, but not how to return here.
“To connect worlds as Khan said, you need immense energy. Only a primal spirit has that power on the continent.”
Woojin nodded at Irurin's explanation.
“Even an adult primal spirit could do it only once.”
“Then...”
“Pensir's the last one left in this world.”
“So even if I find a way back here, my chance to leave is just once?”
“Yes. For now.”
Troubling.
Forced transfers like this could trap him here permanently.
“You know I researched rift stones to make the Labyrinth our base?”
“Yeah.”
“I told Khan it was possible because primal spirit power resembles rift stones.”
“What do you mean?”
“To connect things, you need a passage. So what makes a passage?”
“......Punch a hole.”
Woojin got it.
“Right. A rift is that hole.”
“So... finding a rift stone would work?”
“Not sure. But don't worry. I'll keep researching. I won't let you get stuck away from your world.”
Irurin shouted, sensing his concern, mustering courage.
“Can't you connect worlds the same way from my side?”
“Probably not. Without rift research, it's incomprehensible, and...”
She slowly drew up her mana.
“Maintaining a magic circle with a primal spirit takes enormous mana.”
Even Woojin, no mana expert, felt the unnatural aura from her.
“In pure mana quantity, even Master couldn't beat me.”
She gazed at Woojin, then smiled faintly.
“Live long. Then I'll be born there too, and we'll find a way.”
“Time flows differently. By your birth, this you won't exist.”
“That's fine, isn't it? That world's me is still me.”
The opposite of Juter's view.
A thought befitting her, Woojin smiled softly.
“Luen.”
Finally, he turned to her.
Words unspoken, he silently offered a handshake.
[KUUUUOOOOOH————!!!]
Kelduan's roar echoed through the hoard.
Despite the depths, a refreshing breeze stirred.
“See you again.”
He slowly closed his eyes.
A black screen filled his view.
Dots after the text in the bottom right pulsed like a gauge, growing and shrinking.
‘What's this?’
Woojin stared blankly at the cycling tips in the screen's center.
‘Oh, right. This loading screen...’
The boot screen when logging into the game.
He hadn't seen it since first launching Evil Tail, so it felt strangely foreign now.
“......”
After hesitating, Woojin recalled the loading tip.
Minor updates followed, but Woojin barely registered them.
As the alerts faded, his vision shifted to the game world.
He was back.
“Ha... haha...”
But unlike before, joy at returning gave way to bitter laughter.
Skill creation and mid-grade rune stones.
The very things he'd brought from the other world were now canonically in the game.
Just good timing?
No.
Absolutely not.
Grip.
Woojin bit his lip.
The system knew.
About the other world.
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