Chapter 139
Chapter 139
Chapter 139
Thwack-.
Seo-jin easily beat to death the three assassins who had rushed at him.
Normally, he would have had trouble dealing with them, but with superhuman physical abilities transcending human limits through [Muscle and Marrow Transformation], they were easy opponents for Seo-jin.
Whoosh-.
Just as he had knocked down the three and was about to rush at the Director again.
Pshoot-.
Along with a stinging sensation, something pierced into Seo-jin's chest.
"……."
Looking down, he could see a dagger painted black to be inconspicuous embedded in his chest.
At the same time.
Crackle-.
A powerful energy burst forth from the dagger and began to constrict Seo-jin's heart.
"Urk-."
Seo-jin clutched his heart and collapsed on the spot.
This wasn't like an explosion of energy.
'This is a curse.'
It was a curse imbued with the will for certain death.
Seeing Seo-jin collapse, the Director leaned his back against a wooden pillar and smiled.
"Hehe, this is my final strike containing everything I have. Do you find it to your liking?"
Crackle-.
The curse of certain death that constricted his heart began spreading throughout his body through his mana circuits.
A power that stops the activities of living beings.
Along with a sensation like thorns piercing his entire body, his heart slowly began to stop moving.
The Director continued speaking.
"That is the only skill I've mastered. The 'Curse of Certain Death' that I created by consuming all my Achievement Points. Even someone like you cannot be free from that curse."
"……."
Seo-jin, who had been trembling in pain, instantly pulled out the dagger embedded in his chest.
Pop-.
[Super Regeneration]
Then he stanched the wound with black magic.
But regenerating the external wound changed nothing.
The curse of certain death had already spread throughout his body via his mana circuits.
Gurgle-.
Starting from his chest, Seo-jin's body gradually turned dark red as if bruised.
If he hadn't dramatically enhanced all his physical abilities with [Muscle and Marrow Transformation], he would have died the instant the dagger pierced him.
And even now the curse continued to encroach upon Seo-jin's body, so it was clear that the moment [Muscle and Marrow Transformation]'s effects wore off would be Seo-jin's last.
"S-Seo-jin!"
So-yul and the team members who had been watching the situation from a distance approached in one step.
The Director chuckled at them and said:
"Heh, it's already too late. Just watch his final moments."
The Director gasped for breath and struggled to continue speaking.
"A curse is like poison. No matter how skilled a physician is, if they cannot determine what poison someone was poisoned with or what the composition of that poison is, they cannot cure it. Curses are the same."
The curse of certain death.
Unless one discovered the origin and structure of that curse, even a mage with the most outstanding analytical abilities would have no way to dispel it.
Even the renowned Nova.
'……'
But inwardly, he felt somewhat regretful.
Though he had killed because it was an order, it wasn't very pleasant for such an outstanding talent as Nova to leave this world so futilely.
"You bastard! Undo this right now!"
Nam-gung Cheon grabbed the Director's collar and lifted him up.
As Nam-gung Cheon knew, the effect of a curse depended entirely on the caster's will.
If the caster willed it, there was a possibility the curse could be lifted.
But the Director slowly shook his head.
"……Even if I die now, the curse won't be lifted. That's the kind of curse it is."
The curse of certain death that concentrated all its power on killing the target.
There was no way such a curse would be made with a structure that allowed it to be undone.
The curse left the Director's hands the moment it manifested.
"A-are you okay? Huh? You're okay, right?"
So-yul caressed Seo-jin's chest with trembling hands.
The pitch-black curse that had spread from his chest had already spread to Seo-jin's entire upper body.
So-yul fumbled at Seo-jin's chest, not knowing what to do.
"……N-no."
Se-yeon stood blankly looking down at Seo-jin, her eyes losing focus.
"Damn it."
Francesca was breathing heavily with a grimace as if this were a disaster.
Seo-jin let out a hollow laugh looking at his team members.
'It's like there's been a death in the family.'
Getting worked up over such a trivial matter.
Seo-jin pushed away So-yul who was whimpering beside him and frowned.
"Don't make a fuss."
If he was going to die from something like this, he would have died a hundred times over already.
So-yul tightly grasped Seo-jin's hand and asked in a trembling voice:
"Th-there's a way, right? Right?"
"Yeah, so be quiet."
It's so noisy that even what could work won't work.
Seo-jin pushed away So-yul's hand and looked at the dagger he had pulled from his chest.
'As that bastard said, this isn't the kind of curse that can be easily lifted.'
Seo-jin had been analyzing the traces of the curse remaining on the dagger from the moment he pulled it out.
But he couldn't completely unravel its structure.
Probably even Circe, a practitioner of the magic arts, would find it difficult to analyze and dispel this curse in time.
However.
'There's no need to stubbornly cling to a hopeless task.'
"Phew."
After taking a deep breath, Seo-jin first drew up the energy of Mixed Origin to suppress the curse from spreading further.
Gurgle-.
The curse that had been spreading throughout his body via his blood vessels temporarily stopped.
Next, he gathered the curse spread throughout his body and concentrated it near his heart where it had first invaded.
This work was possible ironically thanks to the cardiac vessel occlusion that Seo-jin suffered from.
If Seo-jin's heart had operated like a normal mana heart, the curse would have spread throughout his body much faster along the mana circuits.
In that case, there wouldn't have been time to take measures like this.
Crack-.
The curse of certain death gathered at one point near his heart in the same structure it had been contained in the dagger.
'To completely separate this curse from my body would require separate dispelling work. But…….'
There was no need to do that.
He could just carry it in his body like this.
'Until I die.'
"Phew."
Seo-jin, having finished his work, opened his mouth.
"Certain death isn't such a big deal."
"……?"
Looking at the Director who tilted his head questioningly, Seo-jin smiled wickedly.
"Because everyone dies eventually."
There was one thing he had learned in the process of analyzing the curse.
'I can't completely dispel the curse, but I can slightly modify its structure.'
That's right.
The concept of [certain death] that bastard had inscribed in this world through all his mana, innate true energy, and the achievements he had accumulated so far.
Even if it was difficult to perfectly eliminate this concept, he could control the timing of the curse's manifestation by slightly modifying its structure.
This was the only way to defer death without violating the concept of certain death.
Sizzle-.
Seo-jin modified the structure of the curse he had gathered at one point near his heart and slowly stood up.
Then he slowly approached the Director being held by Nam-gung Cheon and said:
"Yes, your curse of certain death will definitely kill me. But."
Step-.
"I'll decide when and where that happens."
Step-.
"After living a full life."
Step-.
"In the arms of my loved ones."
Seo-jin stood proudly before the Director and said:
"Do you have any last words?"
"……."
Seo-jin's eyes gleaming brightly under the moonlight.
The Director looked at the man standing before him for a moment, then lowered his gaze.
'So it's come to this after all.'
Actually, he had sensed it from the moment he first met this man.
That if he didn't kill him immediately, he would someday die by this man's hand.
Yet the Director had backed down.
This was the first request made to him by the granddaughter of his deceased master, Chairman Kwon Seok-woo.
Perhaps his inability to eliminate this man all this time was also because of that request.
"Phew."
Hanseong's Director Baek Mu-heun, sensing his end.
He sighed deeply and made a request to Seo-jin.
"Please take good care of the young lady."
He knew well what kind of person this man was.
Following his activities, one naturally came to know even if one didn't want to.
A demon-like being who showed not the slightest mercy in punishing evil.
But his heart contained compassion for the weak.
A being with cold reason and a warm heart.
He could trust and entrust the young lady to such a person.
"You don't need to worry about that."
At Seo-jin's answer, the Director closed his eyes with a satisfied expression.
Flash-.
Seo-jin's Heaven's Thunder shining beyond his eyelids was the last scene remaining in his mind.
***
The next day. The altar at the mountain peak.
The test supervised by Artovice, the 29th floor's administrator, and Circe was also nearing its end.
"You've worked hard coming this far. How was it, did you learn much?"
"Yeah."
At Artovice's question, Seo-jin and the team members nodded.
Though it was only a short three days, they had realized and learned much.
Circe said:
"You must have learned quite a lot. Skill proficiency, the mindset for climbing the tower, and even camaraderie."
Circe said this while poking So-yul's side.
"The way you clung to him crying was a sight that would be hard to watch without tears. Were you that afraid of my disciple dying?"
Circe teased So-yul with drowsy eyes.
"Ah, stop teasing me!"
With a knife stuck in his heart, turning black and dying, who wouldn't react that way!
But Circe didn't care about such circumstances.
There was just good gossip material to tease about.
"Hehe, what good timing."
Leaving behind the grinning Circe, Artovice continued:
"I could end the test like this, but won't you have some kind of final sparring match?"
Artovice's eyes lit up with anticipation.
Though the situation had changed due to the assassins' intrusion, originally the end of this test was supposed to be internal ranking determination through team battles.
But the team members shook their heads as if they didn't have the strength for it.
Even Nam-gung Cheon, who had been full of enthusiasm.
"Forget that. Just rank us according to contribution."
They had faced death several times while fighting those assassin bastards.
They didn't want to have more fights now just to determine rankings.
"If that's what you want."
Artovice snapped his fingers and declared the test over.
[The Administrator's test is concluded. Rankings will be determined according to contribution.]
Lee Seo-jin
Nam-gung Cheon
Kim Se-yeon
Francesca
Han So-yul
Siegfried
Austin
Nam-gung Rin
The rankings didn't deviate much from expectations.
The test contribution was calculated based on how much they had contributed in monster hunting and battles with the assassins.
"Last place……."
Nam-gung Rin, who hadn't been very active because she provided support with Taoist Arts instead of directly participating in combat, muttered with a dejected face.
Still, everyone except Nam-gung Rin was satisfied with the results.
"Good. Then let me return what belongs to you."
Snap-.
When he snapped his fingers, the levels, skills, and items that had been reset all returned to their original state.
"It was enjoyable being with talented climbers like yourselves. Well then, let's meet again at higher places."
***
"……."
The office in Hanseong Tower.
After hearing the report, Chairman Kwon Do-il sighed and closed his eyes.
"The operation failed, and all the hunting dogs are dead……."
Phew-.
Thick smoke poured from his mouth holding a cigar.
Setting aside the operation's failure, the absence of Director Baek, who had been Hanseong's shadow all this time, was too great.
He knew that the man had been more loyal to his deceased father and Ha-yeon, the granddaughter his father had cherished, than to himself.
But still, he had worked silently following orders without ever voicing dissent.
Kwon Do-il looked at a small butterfly knife placed on the table.
Something he had been fond of using before.
Kwon Do-il picked it up and turned it this way and that, then made a small cut on his hand.
Slice-.
Blood droplets beading over the wound.
He drew blood wondering if he would feel something, but there was no particular emotion.
Sadness or mourning.
He had long since abandoned such human emotions.
The day his son Kwon Ha-jin died. Chairman Kwon Do-il's emotions had dried up completely.
Chairman Kwon folded the butterfly knife and tucked it into his jacket.
Then he ordered the person making the report:
"Contact the Sword Star."