20. My Buff is a Drug
20. My Buff is a Drug
[ Shield ]
Level 10 Shield created
[ Healing ]
Level 2 Healing effect applied
She was still losing blood. I needed to treat her and block any further damage, so I created a Shield and Heal buff and applied them to Na Hee-yeon.
Healing burned through cost at a weirdly high rate, so I hadn't been able to level it up much.
'Still, it should do something, shouldn't it?'
But the wounds showed no sign of healing at all.
Was the level just too low?
Since there wasn't any immediate attack, I lowered the Shield's value and applied a Level 5 Healing instead.
Still nothing changed.
'So recovery just doesn't work at all, then... and if that's the case, what about the Shield?'
This time I poured every last bit of my cost into a Shield.
ㅡ Go up to the rooftop right now and jump off.
ㅡ No, wait. That makes it hard for whoever has to clean you up, doesn't it?
ㅡ You aren't even worth a death like that.
ㅡ How about throwing yourself into an incinerator and burning to death nice and clean?
Shnk! Shnk! Shnk! Shnk!
"Uh-hnnk......."
[ I really am...... better off dead. ]
The Shield had absolutely no effect either.
As if mocking Hye-yong for casting it, the letter-formed awls pierced Na Hee-yeon's body without the slightest resistance.
'Shit, what actually works on this? Is it seriously a digital Virus or what?'
Hye-yong had to make a decision—fast.
If things kept going like this, the Virus would form blades of text again and stab Na Hee-yeon mercilessly.
'But what the hell am I supposed to do?'
If there were something physical in front of him, he could self-buff and throw a punch.
But the enemy was nowhere to be seen.
It was hiding somewhere in this room, wounding and breaking Hee-yeon as effortlessly as eating a piece of cake.
'I don't know anything. Not what to do here, not how far I can push my abilities.'
Hesitating like this would achieve nothing. He screamed at himself inside his own head.
Then don't think.
Don't try to gauge whether it'll work or not.
It makes no difference whether it succeeds or fails. Just try anything.
'Though honestly, I can't think of a single way to attack that bastard here.'
But at the very least—maybe he could figure out how to protect Na Hee-yeon.
If you can't create, then imitate!
Hye-yong decided to steal the very method the Virus was using to attack Hee-yeon.
If it could wound with words, couldn't you also heal with words?
A simple, childish idea. But this place wasn't reality.
It was an Inner World!
His Healing and Shield had just been completely ignored.
If the enemy could disregard the rules like that, then Hye-yong should be able to pull off something just as unreasonable.
[ Healing with Sincere Words of Comfort, Shield ]
Can heal and protect a target with sincere words of comfort.
Exclusive to Na Hee-yeon
It was a buff created through imitation, modeled exactly after the text-attack form that had materialized in his imagination.
'Even if I want to comfort her, I know nothing about Na Hee-yeon...... so I've gotta force out some compliments, cringey as it might be.'
Once he'd made up his mind, Hye-yong cast the buff on Na Hee-yeon and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Don't listen to those words! You are a person worth plenty!"
A jolt.
Na Hee-yeon's tear-swollen gaze turned toward Hye-yong.
[ Don't listen to those words! You are a person worth plenty! ]
The letters that burst from Hye-yong flew at Hee-yeon and struck her.
Sliiither.......
But those letters did not wound Hee-yeon.
They seeped slowly into her body like ointment, mending her wounds.
"Wh-Who are......?"
Na Hee-yeon looked at Hye-yong's face through eyes swollen from crying.
Seeing that Hee-yeon's wounds had healed somewhat—if not completely—Hye-yong cheered internally at the fact that his idea had actually materialized.
'It actually works? I found a way!'
But as if refusing to grant even a single moment's respite, the counterattack came immediately.
ㅡ Nonsense. Do you really think you have a life worth living?
ㅡ What exactly is valuable about you? Think about it.
ㅡ Nothing, right? No matter how much you think, there's nothing, is there?
ㅡ You killed the person who gave birth to you and loved you more than anyone with your own two hands, and you survived just to live a life destined for failing grades. What value could you possibly have?
ㅡ Die right now. Get on your knees and beg your mother for forgiveness.
Thwack! Thwack! Shnk! Shnk!
"Ah-hnk, keu-heughhh......."
About half the attacks were blocked by the 'Sincere Words of Comfort Shield,' but the two most vicious ones pierced right through Na Hee-yeon.
'You son of a bitch.'
ㅡ You.......
And this time, that sickening voice seemed to whisper right in Hye-yong's ear.
ㅡ You lost your virginity to a slut!
ㅡ How many guys do you think she fucked while she was dating you?
ㅡ Thirty? You really think it stopped there? Try at least three hundred.
ㅡ Must've been a heart-fluttering, innocent first love for you.
ㅡ You probably loved that girl for real.
ㅡ But what about her? Far from loving you, you were nothing more than just another run-of-the-mill living dildo to her.
Shnk! Shnk!
"Ah, you cheap fuck."
The letters flew in and embedded themselves in both of Hye-yong's arms.
Blood in the form of red letters dripped steadily down.
[ Fuck, she was my first love and I was the virgin. ]
[ Loved her, shit....... ]
It felt as if the shock and resentment from back then were coiling around Hye-yong's entire body.
Indeed, the thing with his first-love senior was shocking enough to remember even on his deathbed.
'But so the fuck what?'
It was certainly shocking, but it was just bitter now. It didn't truly hurt anymore.
Even when stabbed with the memory, it was bearable.
"What about it? So what if my first love was a slut."
As if daring it to try more, he taunted. And the topic immediately changed.
ㅡ You—you were abandoned by your parents, right?
Shnk!
"Gkh......!"
This one hit pretty hard.
A sharp letter flew in and pierced Hye-yong's stomach.
'Keugh, fuck, that fucking hurts...... has Na Hee-yeon been getting hit by stuff like this the whole time?'
Once again, text-formed blood dredged up the innermost thoughts buried deep inside Hye-yong's inner world.
[ It was just uncomfortable anyway. Something like parents. ]
[ But still, still....... ]
[ Do those so-called parents have the right to do that....... ]
Hye-yong gritted his teeth.
'This bastard......!'
It was trying to drag out his emotions.
The thickest, most intense emotions—the kind that could drive a person to despair!
Hye-yong felt it instinctively.
If he got swept up here, he'd end up like Na Hee-yeon: dominated by grief, utterly incapable of resisting no matter what he tried.
'For me...... dying right here wouldn't be a problem. If this isn't the Inner World, the Virus can't harm me.'
But if he backed down here, there wouldn't be a next time.
If he retreated now, Na Hee-yeon really might end up killing herself.
Hye-yong desperately forced himself to think of other things and endured.
ㅡ How much must they have hated you to do that?
ㅡ It's not usually easy for parents to abandon their child.......
ㅡ A deadbeat dad, sure—but even the mother who suffered through labor pains to give birth to you abandoned you?
ㅡ That really isn't easy...... she must have found you quite the hateful child.
ㅡ They must have sensed you'd be completely useless no matter how they raised you.
Shnk-shnk-shnk-shnk-shnk-shnk!
"Gkh, gkeuuuughk!"
Bombarded by the storm of letters piercing his whole body, Hye-yong was forced onto his knees at last.
'Again, the blood made of letters!'
On his arm.
[ No matter how troublesome, still, your own kid. ]
In his side.
[ Do you have the right to just write off your own flesh and blood like they don't exist and abandon them....... ]
In his gut.
[ When they never even did anything for me. What the hell did I do wrong to them. ]
On his leg.
[ ......Was it my fault for being born. ]
It prodded at his emotions with meticulous cruelty.
'You fucking dog. You sure know exactly where to stab so it hurts like hell.'
But even if these attacks scratched at his heart, they didn't seem likely to pierce it through.
The fact that he'd been abandoned by his parents was certainly a painful memory.
But to Hye-yong, his parents were no different from mortal enemies.
It wasn't his parents who fed and raised him, but his maternal grandmother.
The very day his grandmother—the only person he'd ever considered family—passed away from illness, Hye-yong was abandoned.
"My parents were horrible people. My mom got ruined after hooking up with some thug bastard, and my dad supposedly hanged himself on a hill after word got out about how massively he'd fucked himself over with gambling."
Hye-yong muttered quietly, still kneeling.
It wasn't meant for anyone else to hear. It was something he said to himself.
"What would've happened if I'd gone along with those bastards? My life would've been just as goddamn horrifying. Those fuckers abandoning me? Actually, good. That was the turning point of my life. It was only after those bastards abandoned me that I learned there are plenty of good people in the world. Rather than tagging along with them, I'd take the wounds a hundred times over. A thousand."
Then he staggered to his feet and shouted.
"I was glad to become an orphan, you piece of shit!"
Crash-a-ash!
The moment he said it, the letters lodged in Hye-yong shattered into pieces and vanished.
And a portion of the darkness broke off and fell from the ceiling.
Thud-thud-thud-thump.......
A stream of light leaked in from above.
It wasn't a natural-looking light.
It felt slightly artificial—like the glow of a lamp.
'A lamp's glow......?'
The moment the question 「Wasn't the light fixture broken?」 crossed his mind—
Hye-yong's eyes flew wide open as he inspected the ceiling, and a chill ran down his spine.
[ Die die die die die die die ]
[ You have no worth to live ]
[ Die, die right now, right now, right now ]
[ Something like you has to die, die die die die ]
The light fixture wasn't broken.
'The room was blanketed in those letters!'
The light shining through had made the letters readable.
Curses and malicious words layered infinitely over one another.
A thick, tar-like malice—sticky and black-coated—pressed down with suffocating intensity.
Truly, a Virus!
It was the very essence of a Virus: the thing that tenaciously burrows into a person's heart and destroys everything that composes it.
Slink!
'Wait.'
As he stared blankly at the ceiling, he caught sight of something small and fast darting through a gap in the light.
That was the source of this entire situation.
His instincts screamed that this was the main body of the Virus residue—the thing making him go through this hell.
'Get ready to bite it. I'm all done identifying your weak points.'
If it was hurt by malicious words.......
[ Healing with Sincere Words of Comfort ]
Can heal a heart wounded by criticism with sincere words of comfort.
He could heal it with sincere words of comfort.
Hye-yong cast the buff he'd made on Na Hee-yeon, then took a deep breath and shouted with all his might.
"Na Hee-yeon!"
Na Hee-yeon, who had nearly lost consciousness, strained to lift her body and looked at the man desperately calling her name.
"You are a person worth plenty. I'll prove it. There's a reason!"
A reason why she was a person of worth?
Na Hee-yeon didn't know who this guy was.
It was a face she'd seen for the first time today.
He surely couldn't know anything about her.
But Hee-yeon—driven to the absolute extreme of self-deprecation by the Virus's influence—wanted to hear it.
The reason someone would say she was worth plenty.
It didn't matter if the one saying it was a man she'd just met who couldn't possibly know anything about her.
"Do you have any idea why I'm going through all this shit here?"
Hye-yong stretched out his left index finger and pointed it squarely at Na Hee-yeon's face.
"It's to bring you into our party as the ranged dealer."
[ You are a person worth plenty. ]
[ Do you have any idea why I'm going through all this shit here? ]
[ It's to bring you into our party as the ranged dealer. ]
Everything Hye-yong had said transformed into letters, flew forward, and seeped into Hee-yeon's body.
Fzzzzzz.......
One phrase of malicious text that had been lodged in Na Hee-yeon's body while she stared blankly at Hye-yong—vanished.
Crack!
Simultaneously, another corner of the ceiling began to crack.
"To me, you're a ranged dealer I want in my party badly enough to go through all this hell."
[ To me, you're a ranged dealer I want in my party badly enough to go through all this hell. ]
Fzzzzzz.......
Crack!
Another malicious phrase vanished from Hee-yeon's body without a trace.
At the same time, the ceiling fractured further, and the lamp's glow shone ever brighter inside the room.
ㅡ Nonsense! Have you ever even seen that guy?
ㅡ What the hell do you know about her to blabber on about wanting her in your party no matter what!
ㅡ In a few days you'll be clicking your tongue at her worthless ability and kicking her out.
ㅡ Then she'll just be a nuisance again, huh? As if her life isn't already full of being a nuisance.
ㅡ It'll only prove once again that she's useless.
Shoo-shoo-shoo-shoo-shoo-shoo-shoo-shnk!
The Virus's attacks rained down on Na Hee-yeon as she sat, collapsed and blank, on the bed.
But none of them reached her body.
As if time had stopped, every attack hung frozen in the instant just before impact.
Whether she knew it or not, Hee-yeon slowly parted her lips.
"I'm...... not a ranged dealer worth going to such lengths to recruit."
One syllable at a time—truly.
"My stats are weak. My skills are weak. My rank shows no sign of ever rising above E-rank."
Carefully enunciated.
"I've always been nothing but a burden to everyone."
She continued speaking cautiously, as if wishing these words would never be finished.
"So why would you want someone like me in your party?"
"That is......."
There were plenty of reasons he could give.
Because our party is so shoddy there isn't a single ranged dealer willing to join?
Because Seo Ha-yoon would be sad if you couldn't get your spirits back up?
But somehow, pathetic reasons like those didn't seem capable of conveying sincerity in this situation.
They were meeting for the first time anyway!
In a sense, there was only one factor that could most strongly express goodwill between people meeting for the first time.
"It's."
Hye-yong steeled himself.
The most primal, the simplest, and the most believably honest thing boiling up in his gut.
"It's, because you're......."
He decided to speak the raw truth with absolutely no filter.
"Because you've got huge tits and a body that turns me on!!!!!"
A shout that reverberated through the room.
"H-Huh......?"
Na Hee-yeon's face was completely overtaken by pure astonishment.
In that instant, something like a shockwave spread out around her, and all of the Virus's attacks that had been engulfing her vanished.
Moreover, the myriad printed letters of malicious text covering their surroundings all disappeared—as if purified by the shockwave.
What remained was what was now Hee-yeon's ordinary room.
And a bug crashing down in front of Hye-yong.
It was the main body of the Virus residue.
At first he'd thought it was completely transparent, but it had simply been hiding its body inside this dome composed of malice.
'Told you to get ready to bite it.'
As if begging for a solid punch, the bug fell at just the right speed. And Hye-yong, burning with murderous intent, deleted the buffs he had created.
Then, to properly deck this shitty piece of residue, he poured out every last fucked-up emotion he'd been bottling up tight in his heart—and forged a single buff.
'Now die―'
[ Power Strike ]
Strength increase 10 levels
Fist power increase 15 levels
'You motherfucker!'
Crrraaack!
Every last punch Hye-yong had thrown in his entire life combined probably wasn't as strong as the fist he'd just swung.
"KEU-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-EK!!!!!"
Splat!
The thing that looked like a grotesque bug was sent flying by Hye-yong's punch, spraying disgusting fluid as it slammed into the wall.
"Phew! Fuuuck, that felt refreshing as hell. You little bug bastard."
"Keu-ek, kke-eek......."
The bug slid all the way down to the floor in its own black fluid.
Driven by its intrinsic grossness, Hye-yong nearly stomped it to death without thinking—but stopped his foot just before making contact.
A good idea for how to execute the creature had come to mind.
Hye-yong suppressed his disgust, picked up the bug, and placed it in front of Na Hee-yeon.
"This disgusting bug was the main body of everything that tormented you earlier."
"This bug......."
Hye-yong quickly made a buff and cast it on himself and Hee-yeon.
The buff's effect was.......
"It looks revolting."
[ It looks revolting ]
Shnk!
A spear made of letters—generated by Hee-yeon's single sentence—stabbed the bug.
"Keu-eek......."
The fluid became letters that confessed the bug's feelings.
[ Don't....... ]
"Really revolting. I wonder if there's another bug in the world as gross as this one."
[ Really revolting. I wonder if there's another bug in the world as gross as this one ]
Shnk!
"Keu-e-eek......."
[ Don't call me revolting......! ]
"This...... pathetic, creepy little bug is what's been doing this to me all this time? A worthless, insignificant existence with no use at all? ......What a pitiful sight. Not even considering your own appearance."
Shnk! Shnk! Shnk!
"Keu-e-e-e-e-e-e-ek......."
[ No, I'm, I'm not insignificant! ]
[ Shut up, stop. I said stop it......! ]
"Creepy and insignificant bug bastard. What can you even do now? You've become completely useless. So what's the point of being alive? Die, die, die. Just fucking die right this instant."
Shnk-shnk-shnk-shnk-shnk-shnk!!
"Keu-e-e-ehh......."
With things brought to that point, Hye-yong looked at Na Hee-yeon and nodded.
Na Hee-yeon nodded back as if she understood completely.
[ Stooooop....... ]
"Die. You're the one who's completely useless—not me......."
Shnk!
A lethal blow pierced through the Virus.
As if it was truly over, the bug's form vanished completely without a trace.