Clash with the Living Armor

…Yeah, it was definitely about time to get myself some proper armor. I couldn't keep fighting bare-handed forever.

There wasn't anything in the Association shopping mall or the market that really caught my eye…

Krunch!Splat!Crunch!

'That guy's got the right vibe.'

I grinned as I watched the Living Armor continue its brutal massacre.

My mom, as always. She must've picked up on exactly what I was thinking.

"The harder the fight, the sweeter the reward, right?"

I stepped forward without hesitation, crossing through the purple dome. My vision rippled for a moment, and suddenly I was inside, face-to-face with the Living Armor.

"Hyung-nim!"

I waved Lee Il-ho off as he shouted in surprise from behind. He hesitated for a second, then nodded and bolted with Lee Ji-yoon in tow.

Yeah, get out of here quick. If the Forbidden zone expanded because of me, it could cause trouble.

"Hey."

I glared at the Living Armor standing over a Mad Dog member's mangled corpse.

Fierce red light burned from its eyes, hidden behind the helmet.

"That guy's already on his last breath. Why don't you stop tormenting him and fight me instead?"

With a guttural roar like phlegm bubbling in its throat, it planted its foot firmly.

Splat!

The crushed member's head exploded gruesomely. That horrific sound of bursting flesh signaled the start of battle.

Boom!

It kicked off the ground, its form hurtling straight at me in an instant. Just like with the others, it swung its fist aiming ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to smash my head in one blow.

Of course, I had no intention of meeting the same end as them.

"Don't underestimate me."

Fist met fist. I countered with my own, wrapped in explosive ether.

As our fists collided—KABOOM!

A deafening explosion like a forest collapsing erupted, thick dust swirling around us like a typhoon.

Even as I grimaced at the stinging ache in my knuckles—

"I'm."

A smirk tugged at one corner of my mouth.

Crack!

Like bulging veins, jagged cracks spiderwebbed across its right arm.

As it tried to raise its knee in response, I grabbed its helmet with my left hand.

"Not like the others."

I yanked it toward me, unbalancing its body. Into its exposed side, I drove another ether-charged fist.

-BOOM!

A cruder sound than fist-on-fist— the crumpling of metal armor like a tin can. That meant a solid hit this time.

With its side caved in, it tumbled across the ground, gouging the earth.

A sudden thought crossed my mind.

'Does that thing even feel pain?'

Then.

Its form, flung to the dome's edge, sank into the ground and vanished.

"Guess not."

No sooner had I muttered that than—

Whoosh!

A hand blade slashed out from the shadows toward my neck. I twisted away, slamming my forearm into its helmet.

But,

The ether flames only clung to my knuckles, not spreading to my forearm.

Maybe that's why? The Living Armor staggered briefly but didn't seem to take real damage.

"That was mana properly channeled, even if not full ether."

It felt like if it hadn't been ether, I'd have been at a disadvantage. Not a great feeling.

But I didn't have time to dwell on it. The Living Armor recovered quickly and unleashed a barrage of punches.

With my senses sharpened to the extreme, I tracked each incoming fist with my eyes.

Wham-wham-wham!

A brutal exchange of blows erupted.

Dozens, hundreds of afterimages tore through the air from us both. Every clash of our rapid strikes sent shockwaves exploding outward.

It wasn't taking damage easily, and small cuts were starting to accumulate on my body too.

Instinct flashed.

'I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠can't keep this up long…!'

If we kept trading blows like this, I'd be the one at a disadvantage.

Not mentally rattled or losing form—just,

As time dragged on, a burning pain flared in both hands. Not just stinging—hot like actual fire.

Damn, the guy using fire fists hurting from his own flames. What a ridiculous situation—not even funny in a gag comic.

"Oof?!"

A heavy blow thudded into my chest. I coughed and flew backward.

I'd unintentionally created distance from the Living Armor.

No complaints to Mom, though. If anything, I was grateful. I'd been wondering how to break this slugfest.

"…Still, a little warning next time would be nice, Mom."

"Hands? …Holy shit!"

Looking down at them as Mom said, a curse burst from my lips. No one could see their hands charred black like after an earthquake and not swear.

"No wonder they hurt so much…."

Fair point. Keep using explosive ether like this, and I'd literally ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be cutting my own flesh.

Damn it. No choice but to—

—turn the tables with item RNG.

If I could add Kirius's Residual Thoughts, it'd be perfect… but cooldown's not up yet.

A deep blue glow gathered like water droplets over my mangled right hand.

The most effective weapon against living armor, huh. I could guess.

"As expected. Here it comes again."

And I was right.

Not long ago, in the instance dungeon against the emperor centipede, the summoned mace appeared in my hand once more.

"Last time, I screwed up and dropped it without using it properly…."

Boom!

As the Living Armor charged like a bullet, I took a batter's stance at home plate.

The moment its form entered the strike zone—

"No repeating the same mistake twice."

CLANG!

The arcing swing smashed into its helmet. The impact rippled satisfyingly up my wrist, clearing my frustration.

It must've hit hard—the helmet crumpled like paper against the dome wall.

Twitching… yeah, not dead from that alone.

Wait a sec. Come to think of it…

"…You do die eventually, right?"

Kang Tae-sik inside that armor was long dead. So I had to "kill" a full-body suit with no vitals.

Throw Eye hadn't shown a core location.

Best bet: Smash the limbs until it couldn't move—

…What?

Crunch!

Before I could even gasp at the message, it had already repaired. The crumpled blood-red helmet smoothed out like straightened paper.

"No way…."

All I wanted was some armor, and here I was suffering like this? Sure, I asked for it….

But how do you beat a guy who heals every hit?

Hm?

'Something's off about that.'

Thinking it over, something didn't add up. If it healed every hit, why only now did the repair message pop?

The moment that question hit me—

"…Aha."

Taking in its appearance, the answer clicked.

The helmet I'd just mace-smashed was fully repaired, sure…

"But recovery isn't omnipotent, huh."

The cracked right arm and caved-in side remained untouched. Those were from my ether punches earlier.

No doubt about it.

"Ether attacks nullify that fancy recovery."

Breakthrough found. But…

I glanced at my charred hands, breaking into a cold sweat.

'If I wrap ether around them again in this state….'

Unpleasant visions: my hands crumbling to ash.

Even if not that bad, more ether would definitely cause problems.

Boom!

While lost in thought, the Living Armor's hoof slammed the ground as it charged.

Ignoring the flying rocks and dust, I racked my brain.

'Ether works like mana.'

The only difference: ether had inherent physical destructive power. Mana was like "flow," ether like tangible "matter."

Just that distinction. No different in handling.

So, 'Can I wrap ether around a weapon like mana?'

Infusing mana into gear to strengthen or extend range was basic mana use.

Would it work for ether?

'Worth a shot!'

Fwoosh.

I fended off the incoming Living Armor while igniting ether flames in my free left hand.

Mom must've thought I'd brute-force with fire fists again; she reacted awkwardly.

"Your son isn't that dumb, Mom."

I swept the flaming left hand over the mace.

Fwoooosh!

The plain iron mace transformed into something like a flaming club from hell's depths.

"It actually worked?"

Didn't expect it to solidify as a full skill.

First time acquiring a skill through accidental insight.

A grin spread across my face.

"Last one was a foul…."

Whoosh!

I ducked low under its scythe-like kick sweeping horizontally.

"This one's a homerun."

At the same time, I swung the mace—spewing relentless ether flames—with all my might toward its jaw.

And—KABOOM!

A deafening blast rang out, ears ringing.

Its head rocketed upward, as if punching through the dome's ceiling.

The purple dome faded, the full-body armor collapsing limply. It looked like the fight was over…

"But it ain't over till it's over."

I kept my guard up, eyes on the twitching heap on the ground.

Right then—

Pop!

The Living Armor detached from Kang Tae-sik's body in an instant and started thrashing wildly.

It crawled like a bug, then leaped unpredictably between trees. Impossible to pin down.

'System says it's defeated….'

I tried Throw Eye just in case, but nothing.

Throw Eye only worked on living things.

So that meant…

"Living Armor. Living up to the name."

Moving like it was alive even after death. What a pain.

Can't wait to see what armor I craft from this thing.

As I pictured the best "master smith" I knew—

Whoosh!

The erratic thing suddenly charged me.

But I didn't panic. I thrust forward the Igor's Necklace from my neck like a cross.

A terrifying suction poured from the cross necklace, swallowing the Living Armor like a black hole.

Soon, reduced to a speck, it got sucked right in.

"Mom did Pokémon and I didn't…?"

Hanging the necklace back, a wave of grievance hit me. We were both gamers—why nag me about not playing when I was a kid…?

Past is past, but it irked me enough to sulk—

The Mad Dog corpses crumbled to ash one by one.

As mentioned before, Pandora's Box grows by eating corpses—specifically the ones I deem useless.

The powdered remains got sucked into the box.

While it feasted—

"Oh. Jackpot."

I eyed their gear scattered on the ground, eyes gleaming. All high-end stuff, at least B+ grade.

Ownerless now, these pathetic things. I'd graciously take them.

"Tigers leave their skins, these guys leave their gear."

As I happily looted into Igor's Necklace—

The box, vacuuming corpses like a hoover, suddenly paused.

What? Something wrong?

"Huh?"

Pandora's Box's status was…?