117. My Buff is a Drug
117. My Buff is a Drug
Let's take all the intel we've gathered and think this through carefully.
'We can't say that the thing dominating Seong Yu-ran is the Virus itself.'
Just like the Executioner and the murderer from last time, there's a high probability that this is also a "character" in a "story" prepared by the Virus.
We figured out how to put down the murderer by talking to the Executioner. If we can pin down the identity of whatever's dominating Seong Yu-ran, finding a solution might get a lot easier.
So let's do that right now.
— Yes, run away. I have no intention of killing anyone who isn't a swordsman.
First off, the Virus uses a sword as its main weapon and only tries to fight swordsmen.
— Never mind. Cutting down civilians yields nothing anyway.......
If you're not a swordsman and don't oppose it, it shows you the mercy of treating you as a civilian and doesn't cause you any particular harm.
Of course, if you pick a fight with it, it kills you without hesitation.
Still, seeing that it obliterated Yuri—who charged in with buffs stacked—in a single slash, it looked like there was a trigger at play: it wouldn't strike first against non-swordsmen, but in return, it was invincible if they attacked it.
'The word "civilian" is usually what soldiers call regular people, right?'
We're used to calling low-skill players "civilians" in games, but that meaning probably doesn't apply here. Best to take it at face value.
— Must, go.
— To the battlefield.
— To the general... must go.
That lines up with what the skeletons said.
Soldier.
A commander on the battlefield.
This time, the Virus's identity looks to be a general who fought in battle.
'If that was all the info I had, I'd be like, so what? But....'
This token with the crossed-swords pattern was the key.
It was clearly a different type from the lion-pattern token.
The first time I held a lion-pattern token, it guided me toward the lecture hall building—meaning toward a location where the Virus was highly likely to be.
So we could safely assume that the lion-pattern token follows the general currently dominating Seong Yu-ran.
Since Lee Ji-eun was blocking it, let's boldly rule out the possibility that the Virus moved quickly.
'The fact that the lion pattern and the crossed-swords pattern are pointing in different directions means that if I follow the direction the crossed-swords pattern is indicating, there's a different general—one who isn't the Virus.'
I couldn't be absolutely certain of its nature.
But right now, we had to go that way.
Still... could I really find it for sure with just a vague sense of direction?
'Having five feels a lot more distinct than having three.'
The more tokens I gathered, the clearer the direction became, and I started to get a sense of distance, too.
'Looks like I need to collect more tokens to track this thing down properly.'
Around this point, I decided to contact Kwon Jin-ah and Lanfang.
〔 Kwon Jin-ah, what's the situation over there? 〕
〔 As time passes, the enemies are growing abnormally stronger and their numbers keep increasing. The students gathered here won't be able to hold out much longer. 〕
〔 Did you collect any leather scraps? 〕
〔 Yes, I have quite a lot. 〕
〔 Start slipping away and regroup with me. 〕
〔 Hmm... understood. 〕
There was a note of reluctance in Kwon Jin-ah's last response.
The situation sounded pretty urgent.
She probably didn't feel good about abandoning the other students to save herself.
But she was following my earlier instruction not to care who died—obediently moving this way.
〔 Lanfang, how are things now? 〕
〔 An instructor is nearby, so I'm holding out without much danger. 〕
〔 Did you collect any leather scraps? 〕
〔 Yes. There are two types, about ten or so....... 〕
〔 That should be enough. Regroup with me. 〕
〔 Yes, Master! But there's something strange. 〕
〔 Something strange? 〕
〔 Sometimes, the skeletons fight each other. I think skeletons with different patterns fight each other. 〕
If she confirmed it, then it was definite.
The two factions are enemies.
A proper breakthrough was starting to take shape.
Use the general from the crossed-swords pattern side to catch the Virus.
That seemed to be how the story was designed.
〔 Good, Lanfang! Well spotted. I knew you were my treasured pet dog. 〕
〔 Aaah! I-I'm so happy......! Then, I'll come to you right away, Master. 〕
It was a relief that both of them had been able to obtain tokens.
According to Kwon Jin-ah, the longer we dragged things out, the stronger the soldiers got and the harder they were to handle. Wasting time collecting tokens wasn't a good idea.
'With about twenty, I should be able to find the general.'
With that in mind, Hye-yong waited for Kwon Jin-ah and Lanfang behind the instructor.
— Strike down, the enemy.
— Destroy the general's foe.
Amidst all that, a black fog crept in, and from within it, more than ten skeletal soldiers materialized, gripping their swords and charging.
"What in the world is this...."
Kang Ho-jin muttered in dismay, then charged in with a shout.
But the same creatures that had burst apart in a single hit earlier now shrugged off his punches. They surrounded Kang Ho-jin, swung their swords, and actually started wounding him.
"Kgh, my mana barrier!?"
He'd been hit even while wearing a mana barrier around his body.
Hye-yong flinched in surprise.
'Whoa, shit. I knew they got stronger, but I didn't think they'd do this to an instructor.'
I should have switched pages and cast a shield right away.
Hye-yong scrambled to switch pages now and threw up a shield.
Thunk, thwack-thwack-thwack!
The blades swung by the skeletal soldiers all bounced off the shield at once.
Whatever distortion they'd used to mess with the instructor's mana barrier, they couldn't ignore Hye-yong's shield.
"Thank you, student! I don't think I've seen you before, but your shield is quite powerful."
Seeing the shield's performance, Kang Ho-jin threw himself into a brawl without any care for defense.
'Characters without a Seed of Recognition are endlessly weak against the Virus.'
Hye-yong was the adversary of the Virus—brought here by Mina, the creator of this world.
Because he was a special existence in this world, his abilities worked to some extent.
He could kill skeletal soldiers and obtain tokens from them.
Kwon Jin-ah firmly believed that without Hye-yong, she would die to the Aberration. Lanfang served him completely as her master and had sworn loyalty. Their Seeds of Recognition had grown and bloomed, marking them as special beings influenced by Hye-yong. Because of that, they seemed to receive a correction that let them contend with the Virus.
In the end, the only reliable ones were comrades with properly bloomed Seeds of Recognition.
"Huff, huff, where are all these things coming from......."
The ground was churned up and shattered.
Kang Ho-jin grabbed skeletal soldiers and flung them away, slamming them into the stone floor. The surroundings had become a complete mess.
That was how strong they'd gotten.
'Tch, lion pattern.'
I went and checked, but it wasn't the token I wanted.
Still, I pocketed it.
"Your shield was a great help. Seeing that it's tougher than my mana barrier, you don't seem to be at a student level."
"You flatter me."
"But what are you doing right now?"
"I was hoping to figure out the identity of these things."
"Hmm......."
Maybe because I'd earned Kang Ho-jin's trust with my shield, he came over to examine them with me instead of telling me to fall back.
〔 Captain, I'm here! 〕
By then, I could see Kwon Jin-ah running over,
〔 Master! 〕
and Lanfang joined us right behind her.
"Good, you made it. You're unharmed. Go inside the dormitory."
Kang Ho-jin, still panting, said this to the two of them, but they didn't even pretend to listen and stuck close to Hye-yong.
"Alright, let's go. Follow behind me."
"Wait, you two! Where are you going? If you leave the building, the instructors can't protect you."
"A friend of ours is missing. We'll definitely find her and come back."
"......It's dangerous. But I can't stop you. Make sure you come back."
Kang Ho-jin's voice was worried, but he let them go.
From here on out, we'd talk while moving.
"First, hand over the leather scraps you collected."
Walking between Lanfang and Kwon Jin-ah, I took all the tokens.
Then I picked out only the crossed-swords patterns, crumpled them into my right hand, and held them tight.
'Oh, the direction is sharp! I can almost see the location!'
It looked like heading toward the orchard for students with a gardening hobby would do it.
Collecting the tokens had been the right answer after all.
"But, Buffer-nim, what are these leather scraps for?"
"They're a kind of map. If you hold them tight, they tell you which direction to go to find something."
"What are we going to find?"
"Well... I'm not sure either. But this is the only clue we have, so we don't have a choice. We can't afford to waste any more time, right?"
Rumble-rumble!
Four skeletal soldiers burst up through the stone floor and blocked the path of the hurrying group.
Lanfang stepped forward first, blade tonfas held out front, and said,
"You said wasting time would be troublesome, right? I'll handle this, so go on ahead! I'll catch up once I finish them off!"
Even if we got a bit far apart, we had Resonance, so finding her way back wouldn't be a problem.
"I'm counting on you."
Lanfang gave a single nod, then—after receiving a buff from the holy relic—threw herself at the skeletal soldiers.
She was truly the model of an excellent pet dog.
"Looks like we'll have to run."
"Yes!"
Leaving her behind, I ran with Kwon Jin-ah.
I switched pages, created a buff to boost mobility and leaping power, and dashed hard toward the orchard.
"Here, this is it."
"This is... the orchard?"
"Is this your first time here?"
"I came at the start of the semester because gardening was recommended as a hobby, but I got lazy at some point and quit......."
Unless someone actually wanted to start gardening, that's usually how it ends.
No, that's not what's important.
The moment we stepped inside, the energy I felt from the tokens grew immensely stronger.
It meant we'd come to the right place.
'About thirty more steps.......'
As I walked while counting my steps, one apple tree laden with red apples caught my eye.
Even if seasons didn't matter inside a greenhouse, would they normally leave a tree so full of fruit without picking it?
Sensing something off, Hye-yong approached and examined it.
'Heh, something's clearly fishy here, right?'
On the other side of the apple tree, a gravestone carved with an unknown language was planted squarely in the ground.
Who would put a gravestone under an apple tree in an orchard tended by students?
It was definitely a gravestone that had appeared as this Virus chaos unfolded.
"Captain, this gravestone."
"Yeah. This looks like the clue that will resolve this situation."
But what were we supposed to do with it?
I stroked the gravestone, but nothing happened.
I tried my hardest to read it, but I had no idea what it said.
'They say Awakened have no language barrier. Figures there'd be exceptions.'
Hye-yong thought hard.
A gravestone.
A gravestone is something erected to honor the dead.
"Is something like an aberration sleeping here too?"
An aberration?
Kwon Jin-ah's single remark gave me the decisive hint.
'I think I know what this is!'
Hye-yong created a buff and cast it.
[ Soul Detection ]
Becomes able to see and feel the souls of the deceased.
'Oh!'
The moment it took effect, something popped right into Hye-yong's vision.
A half-transparent figure of a man perched on the gravestone, observing Kwon Jin-ah!
I couldn't help but ask immediately.
"Who might you be......?"
The man's expression brightened.
— Oh! You can see me?
"Yes, I can see you clearly. I can hear your voice as well."
"Captain? Who are you talking to......."
Without bothering to explain, I cast the buff on Kwon Jin-ah too.
"Ah......!"
Kwon Jin-ah jolted, startled to see the man as well.
— It seems you can see me now too.
"Y-yes."
— Good. It was frustrating—no one answered no matter how much I called.
The man nodded, looking satisfied, while still seated.
— Then I should answer your question first.
— My name is Ian.
— I was the commander of the 1st Knight Order of the Baharf Empire, and I was once called the greatest knight on the continent.
— Though I'm now dead and reduced to this state.
— Is that answer enough?
I didn't know the details, but he seemed like someone who once had some serious clout. I decided to be polite.
"Yes... Sir Ian. It is an honor to meet you."
— I'm pleased to meet you as well.
— Since I answered diligently, may I ask a few questions too?
"Of course."
— I roughly gather that I'm dead and have become a soul... but where am I?
— Glancing around, it seems a vast amount of time has passed since I died.
— I wanted to look around more, but if I move past a certain distance, I'm forced back to this gravestone, so I couldn't.
— I also don't know why I woke up.
— Is my waking up in this form related to you two?
— You're not necromancers or something, are you?
— Please, explain.
How was I supposed to explain this?
Hye-yong organized his words in his head.