The Disaster of Ice (5)

The first thing I felt when I regained consciousness was the pain coursing through my entire body.

Ugh... this hurts like hell...

A full-body ache like every muscle had been wrung out at once twisted my face into an automatic grimace.

This is... My Room?

I rolled my eyes around. The familiar interior of My Room came into view. I racked my brain over why I was lying on the bed inside it, and what I had been doing right before I blacked out.

Ah, right. I fired Der Freischütz after stacking a bunch of skills on that turtle bastard.

The recoil had been so brutal that I had lost consciousness. That much I remembered.

I don't have time to lie around here...

I still needed to farm the Ice Ghost Dragon's corpse. That was the whole reason I had come here—to snatch its skills and materials.

"Guh..."

My whole body felt like it weighed a ton from the backlash, and pain throbbed through every limb, but there was no way I was giving up the rewards. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself upright with sheer stubbornness.

"F-farming..."

I pushed myself off the bed, put every ounce of willpower into my trembling legs, and was just about to step outside My Room when Uriel's indirect message blocked my vision.

Uriel?

I frowned and tilted my head at the sudden message covering my view. More of Uriel's indirect messages began stacking one after another.

"Everything's fine except for the full-body throbbing and the fact that I can't put any strength into my limbs..."

Why... why is she acting like that?

All I had done was cough up a little blood from the recoil of Der Freischütz and collapse. Uriel's reaction felt completely off.

Right then, the sound of someone sprinting frantically came from outside the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠door. A moment later the door to My Room slammed open so hard it nearly came off its hinges.

Bang!

"Wh-what the hell?"

Why was everything so chaotic the second I woke up?

The sudden slam of the door made me jump. Wondering who had barged in like that, I looked toward the entrance.

Standing there, breathing hard and staring straight at me, were Lee Jihye, Lee Hyunsung, and Lee Seolhwa.

I had no idea why the three of them were gasping like that, but it was obvious they were the ones who had taken care of me while I was out cold. I forced strength into arms that refused to move and waved at them.

"Something happen? Why do you all look so shocked?"

I just smiled and greeted them cheerfully, yet their reactions were still weird.

"O-Oppa..."

Lee Jihye's eyes suddenly brimmed with tears and her voice cracked.

"Jinwoo-ssi... I'm so, so glad you're all right..."

Lee Hyunsung's eyes also welled up. He looked at me and murmured how relieved he was.

"...Haa. I can finally relax."

Last of all, Lee Seolhwa stared at me for a long moment and let out a soft sigh of relief.

Their reactions left me completely blank. I could barely keep up with whatever was going on.

"Did something happen while I was out? Why are you all reacting like this?"

Huh?

Between my companions and the Constellations, I had no idea what kind of face I was supposed to make.

"What is it? What happened? Somebody explain."

"After Oppa fired that weird gun, blood started pouring out of your mouth, nose, eyes, ears—everywhere. Your whole body was covered in wounds..."

"What...?"

Lee Jihye's words left me staring blankly in shock. The recoil had been that bad? No way...

Was it because I stacked so many other skills on it...? No, even then the backlash shouldn't have been that severe...

Ah.

I roughly understood why the recoil had hit so hard.

My body was already wrecked once from losing the breath clash against the Ice Ghost Dragon, and then it got wrecked again when I saved Jihye. That's why it couldn't handle the recoil.

I had pushed Flame of Destruction to its absolute limit just to counter the Ice Ghost Dragon's breath and ended up coughing blood from internal injuries. I had downed a potion right away, but that level of damage wasn't going to heal instantly.

Then, when the Ice Ghost Dragon's ice spear was about to skewer Lee Jihye, I had thrown myself in the way and taken the hit instead.

I had activated Continuous Combat afterward and patched myself up, but that only fixed the surface. Internally I was already a complete mess.

So my body simply couldn't tank Der Freischütz's recoil.

I hadn't even considered that. Realizing how badly I must have scared everyone left me feeling guilty toward the people in front of me.

Lee Jihye continued, eyes still glistening.

"Oppa was bleeding so much we freaked out, and then you went into cardiac arrest right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠after. Seolhwa unnie had to work like crazy... Me and Hyunsung-ajusshi were completely terrified too..."

"Cardiac arrest...?"

I actually almost died?

I turned to Lee Seolhwa standing beside Jihye with a startled expression. When our eyes met, she offered a gentle smile and spoke.

"I had quite a hard time because of you. But I'm truly glad you regained consciousness safely, Jinwoo-ssi."

"Thank you so much for helping me, Seolhwa-ssi. Or should I call you my life-saver right now?"

"Hehe. You and Dokja-ssi helped me as well, so let's call it even."

We looked at each other and nodded with matching smiles.

Lee Jihye immediately started complaining about how badly she had been startled, Lee Hyunsung smiled and said he was just glad I was okay, and Lee Seolhwa echoed the same relief before asking how my body felt now.

I answered that it only ached and refused to put out strength, then glanced around My Room. Someone was missing.

No matter how thoroughly I searched the interior, Yoo Joonghyuk was nowhere in sight. I turned back to the others and asked.

"What about Joonghyuk?"

"Master's outside right now trying to farm the Ice Ghost Dragon's corpse. But its scales and shell are so tough she's having a rough time."

"Is that so?"

I nodded at Jihye's explanation and started heading out of My Room. Lee Seolhwa watched me with a flustered look.

"Jinwoo-ssi. Moving right away in that condition is..."

"Sorry, Seolhwa-ssi. I'd love to listen to the doctor, but the whole reason I came here was to farm the Disaster of Ice's corpse. I don't really have a choice."

"Even so..."

"I'll just farm it quickly and come right back. Don't worry too much. Farming doesn't take long."

Lee Jihye, who had been listening beside us, tilted her head.

"Huh? How are you going to farm that giant thing quickly, Oppa? Even Master's been struggling with it for ages."

"I've got my ways, Jihye."

I gave her a smile and stepped straight outside My Room. It was finally time to check on those sweet rewards.

Creak.

Outside, Yoo Joonghyuk's back was visible as she quietly stared at the Ice Ghost Dragon's corpse—tongue lolling, a small hole punched through its head.

Swoosh.

Whether she sensed my gaze or simply reacted to the sound of the door, Yoo Joonghyuk turned around, fixed her eyes on me as I emerged, and slowly opened her mouth.

"So you lived."

"Thanks to Seolhwa-ssi, yeah."

I shrugged at her flat remark, gave a casual answer, brushed past her, and placed my hand on the Ice Ghost Dragon's corpse.

"What are you doing? Offering a eulogy for the Disaster?"

"A eulogy? Ah, is this the first time you're seeing me use this?"

Come to think of it, I had never activated Extraction in front of Yoo Joonghyuk before. That was why she had no idea what my hand gesture meant.

I smiled faintly at her reaction and spoke.

"Watch closely, Joonghyuk. See what this oppa is about to pull off."

"Who are you calling oppa? I'm two years older than you."

"...Our Joonghyuk really is a pure T, huh."

Jokes never landed with her. She had to be a Thinking type. No other possibility.

Anyway, I activated the skill that had become almost second nature by now.

"Extraction."

Oh? Off to a good start.

I grinned at the cascade of system messages popping up in front of me. A solid beginning put me in a good mood for no real reason.

I stared at the system messages with a complicated mix of racing heartbeat, mild anxiety, huge expectations, and hope.

I lost the ability to speak while staring at the skill extraction window. The Ice Ghost Dragon that had appeared even stronger than the Disaster Yoo Joonghyuk faced in her second regression had possessed skills and levels that left me genuinely speechless.

...This is a massive jackpot.

Every single skill the Ice Ghost Dragon had held was A-grade or higher, and all of them were high-level. Best of all—

The probabilities aren't bad either.

Not sky-high, but not abysmal either. I swallowed hard and locked my eyes on the extraction window.

I forced my racing heart to calm down and started reading the skill descriptions one by one.

First, Ghostly Cold Ice Flame. The cold-attribute breath that completely overpowered my Flame of Destruction.

I could just think of this as Flame of Destruction (Cold Edition).

Next, Glacier Molding. This is the skill the Ice Ghost Dragon used to create ice spears in midair.

A skill that consumes mana to freely reshape and manipulate ice into whatever form the user desires.

The Ice Ghost Dragon had only used it for ice spears, but it looked capable of creating all sorts of shapes—swords, bows, cannons, even animal forms, maybe.

This one's pretty useful. If I get it, it'll definitely become a big asset.

I moved on to the next skill.

Ice Turtle Dragon's Scales.

If my Hard Skin was a mastery-type (passive) skill, this one was active. When used, dragon scales sprouted across the user's body and massively boosted defense.

Not bad either...

After reading that, I immediately checked the description of the SS-grade skill Snow Dragon Formation.

...This is it.

So the blizzard that had swirled around the Ice Ghost Dragon's body had come from this skill?

When activated, it generated a blizzard around the user. Enemies who entered the Snow Dragon Formation received a movement-speed debuff and continuous cold damage, while any cold-attribute skills or items the user employed were amplified with increased damage. Finally, allies inside the formation received a slight boost to overall stats...

Holy shit, these effects are broken... Yeah, this is what an SS-grade skill should look like. From SS-grade onward the skills are just ridiculous. Even my Der Freischütz has nasty recoil, but its raw power is outstanding.

I read the next skill's effect.

Dragon's Aura. An active-type skill.

When used, it inflicted heavy pressure and a fear debuff on opponents weaker than or equal to the user. Simple, but not something you could ignore.

Ice Turtle Dragon's Hard Shell...

When used, it summoned a miniaturized Ice Turtle Dragon shell in front of the user... basically telling you to use the shell as a shield.

Cold Immunity granted immunity to cold-attribute skills or items of S-grade and below. Superior Adaptability let the user adapt quickly to surrounding conditions. Advanced Mental Barrier provided strong resistance against various mental attacks.

And lastly, Vitality Enhancement...

Is this fate?

Apparently the Ice Ghost Dragon really was a turtle, because it possessed a Vitality Enhancement skill.

Last time I had missed out on SSS-grade Vitality from Myeong Ilsang, and now an A-grade Vitality Enhancement skill was showing up again...

But I wasn't going to pick that one.

A-grade means it might already be available in the Dokkaebi Bag. In other words, I can buy it anytime.

So right now the correct move was to extract the Ice Ghost Dragon's S- to SS-grade skills.

The four skills that would help me the most right now were Glacier Molding, Ghostly Cold Ice Flame, Snow Dragon Formation, and Ice Turtle Dragon's Scales.

Thankfully, leveling Extraction raised the success rates a lot and bumped the extraction count up to four.

All that was left was to pray the Goddess of Luck was on my side.

"For the first extraction, I choose Glacier Molding."

Activating skill extraction after so long made my chest pound for some reason. Whether that pounding would end in despair or fill me with hope, I had no idea.

I stared at the extraction window with desperate hope.

"That's what I'm talking about, damn it!! I believed in you!!!"

I clenched my fist and whooped at the success message. Yoo Joonghyuk frowned and muttered.

"You're loud, Park Jinwoo."

"Sorry, Joonghyuk. The Goddess of Luck smiled on me, so I got a little carried away..."

I gave her a half-hearted reply and immediately selected the second skill to extract.

"For the second extraction, I choose Ghostly Cold Ice Flame."

"My luck is insane today!!"

Today's luck was clearly on fire. Hitting 15% and then immediately landing a 9% chance?

"For the third extraction, I choose Snow Dragon Formation!"

"No way, what the hell is with today's luck...?"

Is this even allowed, holy shit?

With trembling hands I selected Ice Turtle Dragon's Scales for the fourth extraction and shouted.

"F-for the fourth extraction, I choose Ice Turtle Dragon's Scales..."

"............???"

I couldn't believe the reality unfolding in front of me, so I rubbed both eyes with my hands. Even after rubbing them, the result on the extraction window didn't change.

Then more system messages flew in.

"Holy shit... I almost died just a moment ago, and now I'm getting rewarded like this?"

I spread my fingers and started calculating the probabilities I had just succeeded with.

9%, 9%, 15%, 17%... let's see.

0.09 × 0.09 × 0.15 × 0.17...

"Wh-wh-what...?!"

The chance of succeeding every single extraction was 0.0206%...? Is this real life?

Yoo Joonghyuk watched me staring blankly into empty air, then scrunched her face and spoke.

"What nonsense are you about to pull now, Park Jinwoo."

Her words snapped me back. I answered with a bitter smile.

"J-Joonghyuk. When have I ever been pulling nonsense all the time...?"

".................."

Yoo Joonghyuk glared at me with an expression that said she couldn't believe what she was hearing, snorted softly, and whipped her head away.

I scratched my cheek at her reaction, put on an awkward smile, and turned back to the Ice Ghost Dragon's corpse.

A familiar system message was floating there.

"Yeah, go ahead."

What kind of day is this, seriously?

Even the byproducts came out in bulk today. Especially the named-grade ones: 4th-grade Ice Turtle Dragon Core, Ice Ghost Dragon's Shell, and Ice Ghost Dragon's Mana Heart.

I looked up at the sky where the sunset was beginning and sniffled with tears in my eyes.

"Joonghyuk... this oppa really hit the jackpot today..."

"...Who are you calling oppa. Like I said earlier, I'm two years older than you. More importantly... that massive Disaster of Ice corpse just vanished in the blink of an eye...?"

"Didn't you check my attribute window with Sage's Eye?"

"I did. I know you have a skill that steals an opponent's skills. I also know that skill farms materials from monster corpses. I just didn't expect it could yank materials out of a monster this huge in an instant."

"Yeah, even I think it's pretty amazing."

Without my exclusive skill Extraction, I never would have grown this fast. Even if I had gotten this strong eventually, it would have taken forever.

That was why I was always grateful for Extraction, Shop User, and My Small Hideout. Enchant too, of course.

"Heh! Meat's on me tonight, Joonghyuk! Let's make some restorative food with this dragon-turtle meat!"

"Who are you calling oppa, Park Jinwoo. Listen when people talk. I'm two years older than— Park Jinwoo?"

Yoo Joonghyuk suddenly noticed me staring blankly up at the sky and tilted her head the same way. But there was nothing particularly strange up there.

Just the sunset beginning to settle in, night slowly approaching.

"Th-the sun's going down?"

I have to reach Kim Dokja by tonight.

With trembling eyes and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a trembling voice, I remembered the promise I had made with Kim Dokja that morning.

I propped my chin in my hand and started pacing restlessly, searching for a way to fix this situation.

My body's in the worst possible shape right now, so running is impossible... Mana control is hard too, so flight or Path of the Wind is out of the question.

In this condition, Hiraishin no Jutsu would probably only work once. Anything more than that was impossible with my current body.

Damn it... I should've marked Kim Dokja's coat or one of the others. I was in such a rush to get here that I forgot to mark the abandoned building where Kim Dokja's group spent the night.

Was there really no way...? Nothing except waiting here until my body recovered a little?

Flash!

Wait, why didn't I think of that?

I was a Constellation right now, wasn't I? I could sponsor an Incarnation!

Reaching Kim Dokja by tonight had seemed completely impossible, but if the method I just thought of worked, I could breeze through this obstacle with ease.

Kim Dokja, Han Sooyoung, Yoo Sangah, Lycaon, my cute little Yooseung... ah, found them.

The screen that appeared in front of me showed Shin Yooseung undergoing intense training in the abandoned building, Lycaon standing nearby giving her advice, and Yoo Sangah, Han Sooyoung, and Kim Dokja scouting the area while hunting Yanaspreta and Grolls for tonight's dinner.

After confirming my companions, I pulled a single kunai out of My Room. Then—

"Marking."

Holding the marked kunai, I looked at the screen and started searching for something.

Sponsorship window, sponsorship window. Incarnation sponsorship. Ah, found it. Why is the sponsorship function buried in a corner?

I grumbled internally about the unfriendly UI and sponsored the kunai marked with Hiraishin no Jutsu to Shin Yooseung.

—Huh?

On the screen, Shin Yooseung looked startled when a kunai made of Sea Serpent bone appeared in front of her, then read my sponsorship message.

—Oppa? Is that you, Jinwoo oppa?

Ah, right. This costs coins.

Do all the Constellations who spam indirect messages in our channel just suck it up and pay every time? Respectable, honestly...

Anyway, preparations were complete.

I turned my head and glanced at Yoo Joonghyuk.

"Joonghyuk, go inside My Room for me."

"What are you scheming this time."

"This time it's something good for you, if anything. Nothing bad."

"...Do whatever you want."

At my assurance that it wasn't anything bad, Yoo Joonghyuk stared at me for a moment, then let out a small sigh and stepped into My Room.

Just in case, I opened the window and checked. Thankfully Lee Jihye, Lee Hyunsung, and Lee Seolhwa were all inside as well.

"Hoo... this is the first time I've ever used Hiraishin no Jutsu like this."

Hoping the method I had thought of would work, I activated Hiraishin no Jutsu.

The moment I activated Hiraishin no Jutsu targeting the kunai I had sponsored to Shin Yooseung, the space around me shifted from the Gangseo-gu intersection to the abandoned building. Standing right in front of me were Lycaon and Shin Yooseung, both staring at me with blank expressions.

I gave the two of them a small smile, waved, and said,

"I'm here."