Greed Projection Unlocked
Pandora's Box
Trait: Greed Photography
I've been so focused on my own growth lately that I'd almost forgotten. Pandora's Box can level up just like me.
"Following 'Gluttony Growth' and 'Wrath Expression', now 'Greed Photography'..."
Anyone could tell these names are drawn from the seven deadly sins. So, does that mean 'Sloth', 'Envy', and 'Pride' will come later too?
"Hold on."
Then what the hell would 'Lust' be...?
Constellation Sung Hyun-sook stares coldly at "our son♡"!
"I get it's puberty, but pick the time and place," Sung Hyun-sook scolds!
"I-I'm not in puberty, okay? I wasn't thinking anything!"
"You can't fool ghosts, much less your mom," Sung Hyun-sook narrows her eyes!
"Quit the filthy thoughts and check the trait info already," Sung Hyun-sook urges!
"I really wasn't thinking anything...!"
I grumbled excessively as I pulled up the info on Pandora's Box. Damn, how did she know? Can she really read her agent's mind or something? As suspicions bubbled up unnecessarily, a system window floated into the air.
"...This could be useful?"
Projecting footage containing the memories of the dead. There was a limitation that it only worked on the 'dead', but...
'It's worth more than enough to offset that restriction.'
"It's on par with an EX-grade skill for info gathering," Sung Hyun-sook admits in genuine admiration!
Mom was right. For example, imagine using this trait on a monster. I might learn info on a dungeon boss or the location of a hidden field piece.
But that's too vague. No guarantee it'd happen.
However, 'against humans who come at me with hostility, the uses are endless.'
With that thought, I turned to Kang Tae-sik's headless corpse.
...Just because this guy was dead, did that mean Mad Dog's revenge would end?
No way. Mad Dog were the types to hunt their grudge-holders to the ends of the earth. Plenty of guilds had been shattered by their obsessive retaliation.
So... 'If I don't strike first, this bad blood will never end.'
From the moment I'd regressed into the past. And from the moment I'd resolved to prepare for the war against the 'Pandemonium Legion' in the near future.
Getting tangled messily with Mad Dog was inevitable.
Why? 'Because of Lee Ji-yoon in their ranks, I have no choice but to clash with Mad Dog.'
In the future, she'd commit a massacre and be called the 'Demon'. She'd side with the Pandemonium Legion—as one of their executives, no less.
Cities crumbled by her indiscriminate destruction, countless lives lost...
Not a future I welcomed.
'Gotta stop it.'
Snapping out of my reverie, I decided to use Greed Photography on Kang Tae-sik.
"Good thing Pandora's Box hasn't eaten this guy yet."
As the leader of an assault team, Kang Tae-sik was likely a key figure in Mad Dog.
So he probably had some valuable intel. Who knows? I might find a clue to gain the upper hand against Mad Dog.
I stood before Kang Tae-sik's gruesomely mangled corpse and murmured lowly.
"Greed Photography."
Pandora's Box uses Trait: Greed Photography!
'Projector' has been summoned!
Ziiip!
The zipper on my backpack opened, and something floated up from inside, landing gently in my hand.
What settled in my palm was...?
"...A camera?"
Not digital—some shabby-looking film camera.
...Sometimes I wondered what the hell Pandora's Box's concept even was.
"No manual, either..."
Uncharacteristically unfriendly. Anyway, I roughly pressed my eye to the viewfinder and hit the shutter.
Click!
Target's memories successfully preserved on 'Film'!
Play back the filmed target's memories?
Scratch that unfriendly comment. Just press the shutter, huh.
No hesitation—I nodded immediately.
Whirr—!
Click! Click!
The film advance sound pierced my eardrums, and my entire field of vision turned black-and-white.
Soon, the grainy screen unique to film footage unfolded before my eyes.
"Whoa..."
Might seem outdated in this day and age, but... pretty cool?
Feeling like an audience member at the theater, I dove into Kang Tae-sik's memories.
'First-person view.'
The black-and-white footage played from Kang Tae-sik's perspective.
Which was why... 'Damn. Maybe I shouldn't have looked.'
All his past atrocities played out in first-person: murders, tortures, violence...
Faces twisted in agony and injustice, spurting blood and screaming, filled my retinas unfamiliarly.
Goddamn.
Thought I was in for an entertaining flick, but ended up with a snuff film.
'Please skip this crap...'
Overwhelming urge to bail out, info be damned—that's when it happened.
Whirr—!
"...Huh?"
The film advance grew rough, and the playback speed accelerated wildly.
The unwanted scenes flew by, drawing a satisfied grin from me.
"Knew you'd understand me like no one else."
Constellation Sung Hyun-sook expresses feeling left out!
Of course, Mom's always number zero.
...Though sometimes it understands me too well, which is a problem.
Anyway.
Finally, something info-worthy appeared through Kang Tae-sik's eyes.
「It's Team Leader Kang Tae-sik. Open the door. I'm here to check on it.」
The guy entered the guild HQ, spouting suspicious lines in an obviously shady basement.
Beep— With a mechanical tone, the steel door split open left and right.
And beyond it...
"Knew they were crazy bastards, but this is next-level insane."
A lab storing monster corpses and illicitly gathered items in glass cases.
Items, fine—but privately owning monster corpses without Association approval was straight-up illegal.
'Obviously stashing them to sell to Chinese or Russian crime syndicates.'
But was this valuable intel? I wasn't some hot-blooded journalist exposing their crimes.
And even if I did, they'd just bribe the media.
No real way to expose them anyway. Lucky if I didn't get labeled a lunatic.
Hmm... '...Should I just stop watching?'
Seemed like a time sink. I learned their dirty secrets, but nothing I could use.
At least I figured out how Greed Photography works—good enough.
Shaking off lingering regret, I tried to end the footage—right then.
「Growing well. It'll hatch soon at this rate.」
...Wait. Growth? Hatching what?
'Weren't these monsters just lifeless corpses?'
I refocused on the footage.
Kang Tae-sik stood before a massive glass tube reaching the ceiling, surrounded by intricate magic barrier formulas.
Meant this was the lab's most heavily secured item.
And honestly... even I wouldn't skimp on security for that.
"My God..."
What lurked beyond the glass tube was worth it.
"Why the hell is the Disaster Egg in there?"
"Mom. Know what the scariest thing in the world is?"
"The electric bill?" Sung Hyun-sook answers seriously!
I hesitated on how to react, then gave my answer.
"...When already strong bastards have outlandish items on top."
The Pandemonium Legion was like that. Even their rank-and-file soldiers rivaled A-rank monsters—nightmarish freaks.
They bolstered their forces with four items defying human reason and logic, ravaging everything in their path.
"They called those four items the Evil Divine Machines."
And... "Disaster Egg was one of the Evil Divine Machines."
"But why do these guys have the Disaster Egg?" Sung Hyun-sook questions!
"Beats me. But keep watching this jerk's memories, and maybe we'll find out?"
I played a few more minutes of footage.
Kang Tae-sik was more deeply involved in Mad Dog's abyss than I'd expected.
Thanks to that, I learned a few more crucial facts beyond the Disaster Egg.
Or rather, not crucial so much as...
Constellation Sung Hyun-sook expresses extreme disgust!
"First trash like this since Oh Kyung-hoon," Sung Hyun-sook clenches her fist!
The footage from Greed Photography ended with the Living Armor devouring Kang Tae-sik.
Color returned to my black-and-white vision, the snowy white forest greeting me.
But...
"......"
I stood frozen in place for a while.
I needed to regroup with the team, take down the boss monster, and clear the gate.
I knew that, but...
"...Damn."
The 'scene' I'd witnessed in Kang Tae-sik's memories wouldn't leave my mind—I couldn't move.
Finally, after steadying myself and swallowing hard several times, I shook off the shock.
Surveying the sprawled corpses of Kang Tae-sik and the Mad Dog members around me, I ground out.
"...You bastards really deserved to die. I'm dead serious."
May my words reach your souls in hell.
Having vented my grim mood by cursing them, I left the forest.
Constellation Sung Hyun-sook worries about "our son♡"'s condition.
"When your head's a mess, going wild can help clear it," Sung Hyun-sook smiles and advises!
"......"
Mom's efforts to cheer me up shone through the text—I let out a small chuckle.
Honestly, that 'scene' from Kang Tae-sik's memories still lingered unpleasantly, but...
For Mom's sake, I'd force some energy.
"Guess I'll do that? Been curious how strong this blue gate's boss is anyway."
Constellation Sung Hyun-sook breathes a sigh of relief.
"Blow off some stress and shatter that historic record," Sung Hyun-sook cheers on "our son♡"!
Historic record, huh...
"Blue gate's fastest clear was 8 hours, right?"
A sudden memory made me smirk.
"You know that's the record you and Dad set?"
Constellation Sung Hyun-sook is surprised!
"That record still unbroken?" Sung Hyun-sook beams with pride!
"Yeah. You and Dad are still number one. Hmm, let's see—been in the dungeon about five hours, so... I'll bag the boss in two."
"Who'd you get that cockiness from?" Sung Hyun-sook shoots a glare!