Those Who Face the Gods (7)

Having finished a terrifying sparring session with my master—who had beaten her disciple half to death just for calling her a hysterical old maid—I lay sprawled out on the floor however I pleased.

...I'd better watch my mouth around Kyrgios from now on.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be anything left of my body.

"Haah... I'm seriously gonna die."

Getting coins from the Constellations was a nice mental boost, but the heat and pain radiating through my entire body still made me grimace.

...Transcendents really are ridiculously strong.

I was currently Seoul Dome's Number One, for what it was worth, and I still hadn't managed to so much as graze Kyrgios's sleeve during our spar.

Well, in exchange, a ton of my other skills had leveled up like crazy... especially Steel Skin. And Steel Skin. I said it twice because it was that important.

I forced my trembling arms up and checked the skills that had leveled over these past eleven days.

...I didn't care much about the rest, but the weapon-related mastery passives had gone up absurdly high.

I thrust over 680,000 times. It'd be weirder if the levels hadn't gone up.

After a quick glance at the leveled skills, I heaved my body up off the ground it had been stuck to and opened the channel screen to check on the current situation in Seoul Dome.

And then I saw it.

"Ugh...!"

"Hahahaha! How truly foolish! What are you even resisting for? What a pitiful living being!"

Nirvana had merely pressed a finger to Yoo Sangah's forehead—and a Buddhist lotus and its accompanying patterns had been carved into her skin.

It was the mark of Nirvana's skill: Thought Infection.

"………………."

The moment I confirmed that Yoo Sangah had fallen to Nirvana, my fists clenched on their own.

...That bastard. Even chewing him up and spitting him out wouldn't be enough for daring this.

If I could have, I would have sprinted back to Seoul Dome right that second. My entire being was filled with the urge to kill Nirvana with my own hands.

But I couldn't kill Nirvana. Or rather—I could only kill his body.

Nirvana is a reincarnator. And not just any reincarnator—he's the same type as those infinite reincarnators that used to be popular in novels.

Even if I killed his body, he would simply transfer ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his soul into a new one and keep going. The only person who could truly kill him was Kim Dokja.

Of course, if I dug through the Story Shop, there would probably be items that could affect a soul directly—but Kim Dokja already owned the Fourth Wall, which was basically Nirvana's hard counter. There was no real need to buy anything.

I watched Yoo Sangah resist the Thought Infection for a while, then switched the screen.

I still needed to check on Jung Heewon, Cha Sangkyung, Shin Yooseung, and Lycaon.

Cha Sangkyung was fleeing Nirvana with his remaining forces, body already wounded, and Jung Heewon, Shin Yooseung, and Lycaon were in the same boat.

I kept watching the screen as it crawled along at 0.3x speed. One by one, the Incarnations of Seoul Dome who had fallen to Nirvana's Thought Infection were forcibly inducted into the Salvation Church.

...Jung Heewon will get hit by Thought Infection soon enough too.

I slowly closed my eyes and ran through the coming developments in my head.

Best-case scenario: only Yoo Sangah and Jung Heewon get Thought Infected. And then—

The worst case was if Lycaon and adult Shin Yooseung got hit as well.

In the ORV webtoon, Lycaon had retired the moment Myeong Ilsang hatched from the disaster meteor, so people tended to forget—but Lycaon was a considerable powerhouse in his own right.

Right now, Lycaon's overall stats sat at 75, and he had a solid number of skills. If he got Thought Infected and turned into an enemy, subduing him would be a real pain.

And among the party currently in Seoul Dome, there was one person who absolutely could not be allowed to fall to Thought Infection.

Adult Shin Yooseung.

If she fell to Nirvana's Thought Infection, Seoul Dome would face a second Disaster of Floods.

That, above all else, had to be stopped somehow.

I opened my eyes again and glared at the bald Salvation Church members chasing after Jung Heewon, Shin Yooseung, and Lycaon.

"Purchase one grenade from the general shop."

A single grenade purchased from the general shop settled neatly into my palm. Then, for the first time, I activated the Stigma I had obtained last time.

"Activate Stigma."

Black demonic mist bloomed around my body. It was no ordinary fog—it was thick with a viciously dark, sinister energy that coiled and drifted around me.

"Go in."

At my command, the black mist rippled, then was sucked entirely into the grenade in my hand.

———!!

Once the black mist had fully entered, the grenade's appearance began to change. Screams that sounded like people of every age crying out in terror echoed in my ears. The grenade turned a dark crimson, and a vertical slit pupil of the same color opened on its body.

"Enchant."

"Apply five stacks of Deadly Poison Enchant to the grenade."

Because I'd used my Stigma Demon's Weapon on the grenade, a Demonic attribute had taken root, slightly corrupting the Deadly Poison enchantment.

———!!!

Then a bizarre, unidentifiable scream began to ring out from the grenade in my hand. Dark purple liquid slowly oozed from the eyeballs that had spread across its entire surface thanks to the Stigma.

Sizzle!

The skin of my palm that touched the liquid began to slowly burn away, then turn a dark purple.

"That'll do."

I had created an ungrateful weapon that attacked even its own master without a second thought. Now it was time to deliver a gift to the Salvation Church goons daring to chase my comrades.

I moved my free left hand and locked onto one bald man standing dead center among the Salvation Church group.

Ping!

So they couldn't refuse my gift, I pulled the pin first, then clenched my fist tight.

"I will sponsor this grenade to the Incarnation named Jeong Gihyeon."

The grenade I'd been gripping vanished from my palm, then reappeared on the channel screen.

"Huh? Apostle of Pleasure? W-wait a second, that modifier is definitely...?!"

Apparently he liked my gift so much that the bald man, face gone deathly pale, immediately flung the grenade I'd sponsored behind him.

And because he'd thrown it backward, one of the Salvation Church members trailing behind them tilted his head at the sphere flying toward their group.

"Something's flying this way—"

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaah………!!!!"

A thin seam appeared down the center of the grenade the bald man had thrown, then split open. From the gaping maw, a mouth ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bristling with fangs like serrated saw blades let out a scream.

"Aaaaaagh...! What the hell is that sound...?!"

"M-my ears...?!"

A scream that sounded like a child's, a young man's, a young woman's, and an old person's all mixed together rang out through the streets of Seoul Dome.

Gulp! Gulp!

Then dark crimson blood gushed from the grotesque grenade's eyeballs and mouth. The moment the blood touched the air, it vaporized.

The dark crimson blood became a dark purple mist on contact with air, and in an instant it engulfed the people of the Salvation Church.

"U-ugh...?!"

Several of those the dark purple mist had touched began gushing blood from every hole in their faces. And then—

Sizzle....

—it began slowly melting their entire bodies.

"...Gyaaaaah! S-save me...! S-somebody please...!!"

"Puhk……!!"

The skin of their faces melted. Their clothes melted. The skin of their entire bodies vanished in an instant. Then their muscles melted, followed by their nerves and bones.

A living hell unfolded on the streets of Seoul Dome.

"...Oh."

I watched quietly as the grenade, with its insane performance, massacred dozens of Seoul Dome Incarnations before crumbling into powder and vanishing—then hurriedly checked my own palm.

Fortunately, whether it was because of my high overall stats or something else, only the skin that had touched the poison had burned and discolored, the same as the Seoul Dome Incarnations. My muscles and bones hadn't melted.

I bought an Advanced Stamina Potion from the Dokkaebi Bag, applied a Holy attribute enchant to it, poured half over the burned skin of my hand, and downed the rest.

Thankfully, it worked—the wound began healing rapidly.

I glanced at the wound knitting itself shut, then adjusted the channel screen with one hand to find my comrades who had been fleeing the Salvation Church. They stared blankly for a moment as the Salvation Church members chasing them were massacred by something, then put power back into their legs and started running again.

...That should at least be the bare minimum of help.

The Constellations hostile to me snarled that I should stay out of the seventh scenario unfolding in Seoul Dome.

I glanced at their indirect messages, snorted, casually ignored them, generated a door to My Room, and stepped inside.

"...Including today, three days left."

Three days remained for Kim Dokja to raise her understanding of Kyrgios enough to register her as a Bookmark.

The time to end the sixth scenario was drawing near.

Day twelve.

After watching my comrades in Seoul Dome get hunted by the Salvation Church, I had barely slept.

That day, I was supposed to learn energy circulation breathing under Master Kyrgios's guidance.

And that was when it happened.

"Sit in the lotus position and close your eyes. Focus."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I will show you the flow of magic power through your back. Remember it well. We begin now."

Kyrgios placed her hand on my back and began injecting magic power into my body. Cold sweat beaded on my skin as I felt her clear, tingling magic power flowing through me, and I did everything I could to understand the flow she was teaching me.

Thump! Thump!

But then—the Water-Calming Pearl, which had been hibernating in my heart for over ten days, suddenly reacted.

"What is this?!"

...Ugh?!

The magic power Kyrgios had injected into me reversed course like a salmon swimming upstream, then gathered toward the Water-Calming Pearl in my heart.

And the Water-Calming Pearl greedily devoured every bit of magic power that had collected around it.

Sssssssssssuuuup!

Having drained every drop of the magic power injected into my body, the Water-Calming Pearl now began hungering for whatever magic power I still had left.

"Hold on, disciple! If you lose consciousness now, your life is in danger!"

.........That's a lot easier said than done, you know?!

Why was the Water-Calming Pearl, which had been sitting quietly in my heart all this time, suddenly devouring Kyrgios's magic power and mine so greedily? I had no idea.

Fortunately, with my Magic Power stat at 80 and the Lesser Dragon's Mana Heart boosting my recovery rate, the danger wasn't catastrophic.

It had still eaten most of the magic power in my body, so it was plenty dangerous—but I was alive, and that was what counted.

Crrrack....

If only there hadn't been that sound of something shattering in my ears.

"Guhhk...!! Uweeeehk...!!"

Splat!

Something clenched around my heart, and I pressed both hands to my chest. An unpleasant sensation rose from my throat, and I looked down at the ground and vomited.

But it wasn't ordinary vomit—it was blood. Thick, dark crimson blood soaked the earth, and the faces of Kim Dokja, Han Sooyoung, and Asuka Ren as they rushed over in shock looked like they were moving in slow motion.

"Grrraaagh...!!"

The pain that had started in my heart instantly flooded my entire body. The sensation of every bone in my body crushing and every muscle twisting seized control of my mind.

"It's Qi Deviation! Hold your mind together! Or you will truly die!"

"Jinwoo...!!"

"What the hell...! Park Jinwoo! Hey, get a grip?!"

"P-Park-san...!"

The beautiful women in front of me looked down at me with worried faces, and I could see Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung murmuring something quietly toward Kyrgios.

...H-holy shit, it hurts...!!

Pain beyond imagination blanketed my entire body, and my mind felt like it was going pure white.

Kyrgios's words, which had been faintly reaching me, seemed right. My instincts told me: if I couldn't endure this pain and closed my eyes, I would die for certain.

I clenched my teeth and scraped my hands against the rough ground, fighting to endure.

Crrrack....

Even with my mind gone white from the pain, the sound of something shattering rang out with perfect clarity, and my consciousness swam.

"Gyaaaaaaaah………!!!"

Whatever magic power I still had left was completely absorbed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by the Water-Calming Pearl. Then, as if it still wasn't enough and was urging me on, the Water-Calming Pearl trembled. Because of that, every blood vessel in my body felt like it was boiling over—and then.

"...Cough!! Uweeeehk...!!"

I vomited blood again, spectacularly.

"Don't tell me...? Magic power! Everyone, inject magic power into Jinwoo!"

"A-alright!"

At Kim Dokja's quiet order, Kim Dokja, Han Sooyoung, Asuka Ren, and Kyrgios all began pouring their magic power into me.

With four people's magic power flowing into my body, breathing became a little easier than before—but the horrific pain still circulating through me made it feel like something was pouring from my eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

......Oh, fuck!

At this rate, I was going to die for sure. Either my mind would break from this terrible agony and I'd die, or I'd just die outright. One of the two.

Crrrack.

Han Sooyoung and Asuka Ren, who had been supplying me with magic power, went deathly pale. Their overall stats had dropped significantly as a penalty for being turned into little people.

After the two of them, Kim Dokja's face also began to go cold and ashen. But she kept her hands pressed against my heart area and held on.

......Ah. I'm so damn sleepy.

I had no idea how much time had passed. A few seconds? A few minutes? Or hours? I couldn't tell.

The pain that had lasted so long eventually faded. Now only a bone-deep exhaustion that made my eyes want to close blanketed my entire body.

But I couldn't close them. Even through my blurred vision, I could see Kim Dokja with perfect clarity.

"———!!!"

Tears hanging from her eyes, she was shouting something at me—and I simply could not close my eyes.

So I held on against the full-body weakness and fatigue, buying time—until a single message floated up before my eyes.

Ding!

The Water-Calming Pearl, which had been greedily devouring magic power, finally stopped moving. Then a vast amount of clear magic power began pouring out from my heart, spreading through my entire body in an instant.

The fingernails I had scraped raw against the ground grew back anew. The teeth that had cracked from how hard I'd clenched them regenerated.

Then the full-body weakness and fatigue vanished in a flash, and I snapped my eyes open and sat up.

I slowly looked down at myself. My entire body was covered in dull red blood, as if it had all been sprayed out of me, and I muttered quietly.

"...I really almost died."

"Jinwoo...!"

Kim Dokja, who had been continuously injecting magic power for my sake, pulled me into a fierce hug with tears still hanging from her eyes. I gave her a bitter smile and hugged her back.

"Thank you. You saved me, Dokja. Master, Sooyoung, Asuka—thank you all so much for helping."

"...Hoo. Truly, this is the first time I've seen someone fall into Qi Deviation while being taught energy circulation breathing."

"Hey. Hey. You're really okay, right?"

"Park-san! Is your body all right now?"

"Yeah. Luckily, all the pain is completely gone."

I smiled at the people who had worked so hard to save me, then carefully turned my gaze.

"...And what's this?"

What the hell was Circulating Physique supposed to do?

I turned my head and called out to Kim Dokja, who was still clinging tightly to me.

"Dokja."

"...What."

"I got an attribute called Circulating Physique after dying and coming back. What is it?"

"...It's an attribute that improves the efficiency of magic power circulation. With that alone, you can use skills that burn a lot of magic power for longer."

"Oh. Nice."

So I could use mana-hog skills like Flame of Destruction, Returning Ice Flame, and Der Freischütz even more? That was exactly the kind of skill I needed.

"Anyway, thank you all so much for helping."

The four of them told me they were just glad I was alive. I gently peeled Kim Dokja out of my arms, stood up in one motion, and generated a door to My Room.

"Sorry, Dokja. You must've been really worried. But my whole body is covered in blood right now, so it's not great for hygiene..."

"Mm, no. Go wash up quickly."

"Yeah, go clean yourself. Something reeks of blood and—ugh... my stomach's not doing great."

Han Sooyoung scrunched up her face and pinched her nose with one hand, so I roughly nodded and headed for My Room's bathroom.

After scrubbing myself thoroughly clean in the shower and changing into fresh clothes, I headed back outside My Room.

And then—

"Rest well for the rest of today."

"Huh? My energy circula— thwack...?!"

"A living corpse that nearly died moments ago dares talk back?"

Having taken a knuckle to the head from Kyrgios, I clutched my aching skull and nodded.

"So mean. She really is an old maid."

"......What did you just mutter?"

I'd whispered it as quietly as possible, but she'd still heard it—and now she was glaring at me with eyes full of killing intent. I folded my waist at a perfect ninety degrees and hurriedly opened my mouth.

"I whispered that our Master is a milk-white beauty! If anyone seeks the greatest beauty under heaven, they will point to Master! Kind, overflowing with love for her disciple—long live Master, long live, long long live!"

"...If you hadn't just been a living corpse, I would have beaten you senseless."

"This disciple is deeply moved by Master's vast magnanimity. As expected of our Master. Disciple-love is Kyrgios Rodgraim!"

"Shut up and rest quietly in that bizarre room of yours."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Following Kyrgios's orders, I took a long overdue rest in My Room and finally caught up on the sleep I'd been missing.

And so the twelfth day slipped away into nothing.