Singularity (1)

Han Sooyoung stared down at the scrap of paper Park Jinwoo had shoved into her hand with an expression that screamed pure headache.

"Goddammit… why the hell did he dump this on me of all people?"

That bastard Park Jinwoo…

She let out a small, frustrated sigh, then glared at the spot where the portal had vanished the moment Park Jinwoo and Kim Dokja stepped through it. Finally she unfolded the note in her palm.

"Ugh… let's see… 'Hey, Constellations who have a bone to pick with Dokgak! Listen up for a second!' …? But if I say this, is it even gonna work…"

"Wha—?!"

The moment the Constellations' indirect messages popped up right in front of her eyes, Han Sooyoung let out a startled scream.

"At least turn your blinkers on before you jump in! You scared the crap out of me…!"

Under the relentless barrage of impatient indirect messages, Han Sooyoung had no choice but to start reading the rest of the note.

"Fine, fine, just stop nagging already. Uh… 'By now our Sooyoung should be reading the note I left her. The second I step into the portal, flood Dokgak's channel with reports and get that bastard kicked out.' …That's what it says…?"

Watching the Constellations act with uncharacteristic enthusiasm, Han Sooyoung looked up at the starry sky with a dazed expression and muttered,

"…Crazy. If they always jumped like this when I asked, life would be so much easier."

Then, right after the indirect messages confirming they had found Dokgak's channel, countless Constellations hammered the report button. Moments later, the Senior Dokkaebi 'Baram' appeared on the scene.

"…And then a Senior Dokkaebi just pops out of nowhere. Do you have any idea how much that scared me?"

"Hahaha! Still, you got rid of that annoying Dokkaebi, right? Drink up!"

Gulp! Gulp!

Han Sooyoung had given me a quick rundown of everything that happened outside, and even now the memory made her glare at me like she wanted to set me on fire.

I smoothly brushed off her death stare, cracked open the wine I'd stolen from Dokgak's hat, and started chugging straight from the bottle.

"Ahhh—! Damn, that's good! Anyone else want a glass?"

I opened My Little Hideout and showed off an assortment of booze, offering drinks to the party.

"Pass. I can't hold my liquor."

Kim Dokja whipped her head away and refused flat-out.

"……………."

Yoo Joonghyuk stayed silent.

"I'd rather have dinner than booze."

Han Sooyoung was already looking for something else.

"Um… I'd also prefer m-meat… dishes… rather than alcohol…"

Yoo Sangah flushed pink and, like Han Sooyoung, asked for food instead.

And finally, our adorable little Shin Yooseung:

"Then can I have some of that, Oppa?"

"““““Absolutely not.”””””

"Eh…?!"

All five of us shot her down in perfect unison. No way was an eleven-year-old kid getting anywhere near alcohol.

I snickered at Shin Yooseung, who was puffing out her cheeks and looking away, then tilted my head back to stare up at Bihyung floating in the sky.

The little Dokkaebi was frantically working his hands. Thanks to Kim Dokja and me, his channel level had skyrocketed in an instant.

Bihyung's hands were flying across the channel interface at breakneck speed, yet even while he was that busy, tears of joy were welling up in his eyes and a huge smile was plastered across his face.

…Guess all the chaos we caused was worth it after all.

It had only been a few days since Intermediate Dokkaebi Paul scattered our entire party.

A whole lot had happened in those few short days.

We'd witnessed some truly disgusting scenes, cleaned up the trash responsible, and saved people.

After that we massacred monsters for coins, found the Mino Soft building Kim Dokja used to work at, discovered Shin Yooseung, and brought her along.

We reunited with Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung, met Lycaon and learned the Way of the Wind,

helped a gravely wounded Yoo Joonghyuk who was collapsed on the ground, and while racing to stop Antinus from hatching the Disaster of Questions, ran into Yoo Sangah.

Then, together with the party, we crushed Antinus's group and the Disaster of Questions that Antinus had… wait.

"Ah, right?! My Extraction!!"

"Waaah!"

"J-Jinwoo-ssi?"

I suddenly remembered I'd completely forgotten to Extract from the corpses of Antinus and the Disaster of Questions. I shot to my feet with a shout. Han Sooyoung screamed; Yoo Sangah stared at me in shock.

"Sorry for scaring you! Got something urgent!"

Thud-thud-thud!

I tossed a half-assed apology at the bewildered Han Sooyoung, Yoo Sangah, and the rest of the party, then sprinted toward the Disaster of Questions' corpse—priority number one for Extraction.

I covered the distance in a flash and reached the street where the Disaster of Questions had fallen. Thankfully, the body was still intact far ahead.

"Whew… thank god."

I dashed over and laid my hand on the corpse of Myeong Ilsang, the former Disaster of Questions.

"I activate Extraction."

I stared at the system messages with a mix of anxiety and hope.

"……………."

Fuck. I should've known the second I saw the trait window plastered with SSS-ranks. And if I Extract while it's sealed, the skill levels show as Level 1 from that moment? Goddamn it…

No… wait. Maybe the levels being dropped is the only reason the success rate is even 2%?

I stared at the skill ranks, the success rates, and the tiny note at the bottom, then let out a long sigh.

"Ah, what a useless piece of shit. Not a single helpful thing."

Insane… one single trait makes every skill display as SSS-rank? Is this for real or is the system just farting at me?

"Ha… still, gotta try. I've pulled 0.6% rate-up characters on lucky days before. This is 2%…"

Gacha rates are worse than this, honestly. Who the hell came up with 0.6% probabilities?

Anyway, I only had two Extraction attempts left. Had to be careful.

Red Flame Cannon looks cool, but I've already got Flame of Destruction, so PASS. That leaves… Growth Acceleration, Swordsmanship, and…… hmm.

Stamina.

A word of critical importance to any man had just caught my eye.

My trembling gaze flicked back and forth between Growth Acceleration and Stamina. SSS-rank Swordsmanship had already vanished from my field of vision.

……Growth Acceleration or Stamina. Which one the hell am I supposed to pick?

This dilemma rivaled the Millennium Prize Problems themselves.

One would become the foundation for me to grow even stronger, even faster. The other was a skill for future nights with a lover—or wife.

After five full minutes of agonizing with no answer in sight, I looked up at the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠constellations in the night sky and spoke.

"Hey, seniors. Your junior has a serious dilemma."

I hardened my expression and spoke in a deadly serious tone.

"Should I take Growth Acceleration? Or should I secure Stamina for my future lover or wife?"

A heavy silence fell.

The stars above began blinking slowly. They were probably running my question through every mental filter they had, trying to decide whether I was joking or dead serious.

"It's exactly what it sounds like. Extraction gave me Growth Acceleration and Stamina. Which one should I all-in on?"

Normally the message would continue after "A considerable number of Constellations," but for some reason the rest of the text never appeared.

I tilted my head and checked the chat room of Bihyung's channel #BI-7623.

After reading the Constellations' chat log, I narrowed my eyes and muttered,

"…So the messages just stopped because they were too busy arguing with each other?"

I'd tried to use the Constellation Chance, but the opinions were split almost perfectly down the middle and they were just fighting.

"Hm?"

Right then, a Dokkaebi communication from Bihyung came through.

Ah, right. Completely forgot about that.

I'd been so focused on Extracting skills from the Disaster of Questions and Antinus ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that I'd completely blanked on the SSS-rank items.

I told Bihyung:

Click!

The Dokkaebi communication cut off, and a black coat dropped onto my head.

"You little shit… still handing it over like this, huh."

Well, not that I particularly cared.

I started pulling on the subspace coat that had landed on my head.

"Oh. Pretty comfortable, actually."

The moment I put it on, the coat resized itself perfectly to my body. It looked cool, the abilities were solid, and the defense was decent. I smiled in satisfaction.

Then I glanced back at the skill Extraction window… and simply reached for SSS-rank Stamina.

Getting stronger could happen anytime. Stamina, on the other hand, only existed in this exact moment.

"I choose SSS-rank Stamina."

As the Extraction began, I somehow heard the sound of a roulette spinning inside my head. No idea why.

"Tch… Yeah. Try again."

Once more the roulette spun inside my head.

"Goddammit…"

Yeah, I never really believed in a 2% chance…

But I couldn't hide the bitter disappointment welling up inside me.

"…Ah. There goes my Stamina enhancement event."

"Ah, ah, no, no. Cancel that."

No matter how far gone I was, I had zero interest in Extracting and eating human flesh.

I left Myeong Ilsang's thoroughly used-up corpse where it was, activated Flight Maneuver, and flew toward the place where Antinus's body had been.

A short while later I found Antinus's body and head, still separated by Kim Dokja's blade.

"……………."

Originally, Antinus had her head cut off, got hit by a Disaster fragment, barely survived by parasitizing the half-dead Lycaon, and then got tamed by Lee Gilyoung… or so I remembered.

Looks like that particular plot twist never happened here.

I approached Antinus's corpse and laid my hand on it.

"I activate Extraction."

"Huh…"

Even if her world was destroyed, a hero of a world was still a hero. The number and ranks of her skills were on a completely different level from ordinary people.

"Way better variety and odds than that useless Myeong Ilsang."

While reading the skill descriptions, I noticed several skills had red text attached.

Curious, I checked them—and my face twisted hard the moment I read the notes.

"…This skill cannot be used with the user's body structure, or cannot be Extracted due to gender difference…?"

What the actual fuck? What kind of bullshit is this?

Two skills were currently unextractable because of my body structure or gender:

Accelerating Wings and Queen's Charisma.

I scratched my head in irritation.

"If you're not gonna let me take them, don't even show them. Why bother listing them?"

I grumbled for a second, but there were still plenty of skills I could pull, and I hadn't planned on taking those two anyway. I stopped complaining and looked over the rest.

"Hmm… right now the high-probability, worthwhile ones are Advanced Weapon Mastery, Deadly Poison Crafting, and Crowd Control, I guess?"

Praying Mantis Slash was mediocre—it transformed your arm structure into a scythe and boosted scythe attack power.

Hard Insect Carapace looked like a passive but was actually active. It converted your skin into insect carapace for higher defense, but it was extremely vulnerable to fire.

Parasite Infestation was the skill Antinus had used when she parasitized Lee Seolhwa. You pick a host, slowly drain their life force and mana, then eventually seize full control of their body.

Tenacious Insect Vitality was exactly what it sounded like—the kind of vitality insects have, letting them keep moving for a while even after their heads are cut off.

Infectious Propagation was the skill Antinus used to turn her group members into insect humans.

After reviewing everything I could pull from Antinus, I opened my mouth to Extract.

"I will Extract Crowd Control."

I flinched and glared at the failure message.

"Something wrong here? Me, the guy with god-tier luck, failing like this?"

"Yeah."

"Ha… finally succeeded on the last try."

"Yeah, go ahead."

Oh, I got an Insect King Core?

No idea why the carapace and wings dropped, but getting a 5th-grade Insect King Core put me in a good mood.

This whole Extraction session had been pretty much the worst, so I hadn't been feeling great—but the moment the Insect King Core appeared, my mood bounced right back.

Anyway, everything I needed to do here was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠done. I activated Flight Maneuver to head back to the party.

After about two minutes of flying, I landed near the group and looked over.

There was Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung in white coats, Yoo Sangah in a brown coat, and Yoo Joonghyuk still wearing the same black coat as always.

Finally, Shin Yooseung was wearing a brand-new pair of shoes—white with wind-wave patterns. She was wiggling her feet and smiling brightly when she noticed my gaze and came running.

"Oppa!"

"Aww, our Yooseung. You switched shoes, huh?"

I scooped her up as she ran at me, set her on my shoulder, and looked at her new shoes.

Shin Yooseung kicked her legs proudly and nodded.

"Yes! I just picked the Leap Boots you recommended, Oppa."

"They look amazing on our Yooseung."

"Ehehe!"

Kids really did look best when they were smiling that purely.

I walked over to the party with Shin Yooseung still perched on my shoulder. Han Sooyoung sensed me, spun around, and yelled,

"Hey! Where the hell did you run off to?"

"Sorry, sorry! Just had something I needed to check real quick."

Han Sooyoung rolled her eyes and looked me up and down.

"You picked that one too, huh?"

I nodded and fluttered the hem of the coat.

"This one's the most practical, right? That's why you picked the subspace coat too, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah. Like you said, it's the most practical."

"………What the hell is that last one?"

An indirect message from a Constellation who had hidden their modifier sent a weird chill down my spine for some reason I couldn't place.

One last piece of business left.

I opened the Dokkaebi Bag and searched for a specific item.

After buying what I needed, I created a door to My Little Hideout and stepped inside.

"Hoju."

Lycaon rose from where he'd been sitting the moment he saw me enter and greeted me.

"Lycaon. You feeling okay?"

"I am well, thanks to you, Hoju. However, I failed to stop the Disaster of Questions from hatching because of Antinus, and thus could not be of aid to you. It weighs on me."

"It's fine, man. People make mistakes. Don't sweat it. I don't care at all."

"Thank you for saying so, Hoju."

I looked away from Lycaon bowing respectfully and shifted my gaze to the bed. Lee Seolhwa had just woken up—her hair was a mess and she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was sitting up with a sleepy expression.

I walked over to her and spoke.

"Lee Seolhwa-ssi? Are you feeling all right?"

"Mmm… ah… you're…"

She still didn't seem fully lucid; her eyes couldn't quite focus.

I wanted to tell her to rest more, but soon Yoo Joonghyuk would take her to reunite with Lee Hyunsung and Lee Jihye and head west to hunt the Disaster of Ice.

I gently took her soft hands in both of mine and spoke with an earnest expression.

"Lee Seolhwa-ssi. I have one request. Would you be willing to hear it?"

"…I already owe a debt to you, Kim Dokja, and the one called Yoo Joonghyuk. If it is within my power, I will do it."

She looked straight at me and gave a positive answer. I smiled and continued.

"My request isn't anything difficult, so please don't worry too much. It's really simple."

I pulled out the Mana Wide-Area Call Signal I'd just bought from the Dokkaebi Bag. Then—

Marking.

I handed the marked signal device to Lee Seolhwa and said,

"If you ever run into the Disaster of Ice later, I'd like you to press the button on this signal."

Lee Seolhwa looked back and forth between the device in my hand and my face, then stared at me and asked,

"Is that all?"

"Yes. Really simple, right?"

"…All right. If I encounter the Disaster you mentioned, I will definitely press this button."

"Thank you so much for granting my request, Seolhwa-ssi."

I smiled at Lee Seolhwa.