Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Constellation Gallery EP.32
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Tulip had explained that the 'Forgetting Poison' was weak as a toxin but caused one to forget themselves for three seconds.
"Hearing that, it's pretty terrifying, right?"
"Yeah. Terrifying stuff."
Three seconds. An incredibly short time.
But if those three seconds were on a battlefield, it was a different story.
Lives could flash back and forth multiple times in that span.
"But, mister."
"Yeah?"
"Anything else? You said a scroll dropped while killing ghouls last time."
"Oh, right."
I immediately rummaged through my inventory.
There were no new scrolls.
Instead, something new had appeared that wasn't there before.
What kind of description is that?
More importantly, it's categorized under materials.
Meaning it's an item that can be processed...
'Or do monster corpses just go into the materials tab by default?'
Just in case, I showed it to Kang Harin.
"What's this needed for?"
Kang Harin examined it from all angles and tilted her head.
"If Juhan tells me exactly 'make this with it,' I could probably do it... but nothing's coming to mind for me."
Ah, did she get scammed by the contract here too?
Skills like 'Touch of Forging' and 'Hot Press Forming' sounded so impressive, but this is what we get?
No, wait. Tulip's Medicine skill didn't sit right at first either, but now it looks incredibly efficient.
This probably has its uses too.
"Can I take a look too?"
They say even a tiger offers its paw if you ask nicely.
Tulip held out her hand.
I handed her the tooth.
Tulip turned it this way and that, then suddenly stared right at me.
"What're you looking at."
"We need to be careful with this."
"Oh, the thing where if you get pricked, the bleeding won't stop? Something about inhibiting clotting factors?"
"No?"
Tulip blinked.
"If you get pricked by this, you turn into a ghoul."
"What?"
"If you get pricked."
Tulip emphasized, staring straight at me.
"You become a ghoul."
"...What kind of crazy talk is that?"
It was info I'd never seen even on the Constellation Gallery.
All I'd read was that wounds wouldn't stop bleeding.
"It doesn't revive dead people into ghouls if you stab them, right?"
"No. Dead organisms' cells stop functioning even if stabbed..."
"Stop explaining."
I cut her off, and Tulip gave me a hurt look.
"Pouting won't work."
I said firmly and stored the tooth away again.
Then I turned to Kang Harin.
"Did you raise Magic Power—no, Intelligence?"
Kang Harin flinched.
"Why the flinch. You didn't dump everything into it thoughtlessly again, right?"
"I haven't raised it yet."
"Good. Best to spend gold only as needed."
This game—no, this damned system—could backstab you with variables at any moment.
"For now, raise just one stat, and try reshaping that dogshit Tico key into one from a nearby car."
"Yes!"
"No, wait!"
Kang Harin paused.
"I'll get you more iron, so make a new one. Remodeling an 110,000 gold car key is insane."
"Ah... Got it."
The Constellation Gallery was abuzz with posts praising me to the skies again.
In the meantime, Kang Harin produced a new key.
I'd scoured the shop to find its name: Athos.
We stood in front of the car.
"This'll work, right?"
I gripped the key and inserted it into the door.
Tulip and Kang Harin watched tensely from the side.
Click.
Turning the key opened the door.
"Whoa!"
I grinned brightly at Kang Harin.
Kang Harin finally relaxed and beamed back.
"Everyone, hop in."
I took the driver's seat.
Kang Harin in the passenger seat, Tulip in the back.
"Buckle up first. Even with Vitality boosted, do what you gotta do."
The two quietly fastened their seatbelts.
"All buckled?"
"Yes!"
"Alright, we're off."
I floored the accelerator.
Vrooooom—!
"Kyaaah! Juhan! This is scary!"
Kang Harin screamed right beside me, but Tulip was silent.
Thanks to Spirit of the Constellation, I was fine, but Tulip's calm was unexpected.
'Is she so used to scarier monsters that this doesn't faze her?'
I checked Tulip in the rearview mirror.
There it was.
Her lips pressed tight, face stiff like on a terrifying ride.
"Hang in there, both of you. No time to dawdle."
"We're gonna crash!!"
"You raised Vitality."
"No! I buckled up to drive carefully, even with Vitality!!"
"Yeah. Buckled up, so we're good."
"No, that's not...!"
"Kyaaah! Mister!"
Tulip screamed too in the end.
What the hell are these crazies saying.
I'm heading to stock up on fuel first.
After stocking up plenty on fuel cans, I learned something new while driving the car.
Ghouls don't die easily even if you ram them with a car.
'Guys who died from three frying pan smacks to the head...'
Suspecting the head was the weak point, I ran over a downed one's skull—and only then did it die.
But no gold came in.
'What the hell!'
Gold comes if you kill monsters with arrows.
Not with bullets.
Not by running them over with a car.
'No clue what the mechanism is.'
There was one more change from testing.
"Barbarian."
"Had to test if gold comes in or not with this method."
Since the head wouldn't crush easily, I had to forward-reverse a few times, and that's when she started calling me that.
Anyway, we arrived in Daejeon.
"You're really a great navigator."
"Ah, this is easy! Navigation isn't even my specialty. Just need to read the signs."
Kang Harin was being modest.
Though her shoulders were perked up proudly.
She seemed thrilled to finally prove her worth.
"This place feels different from Incheon."
The streets were clean but eerily quiet.
Kang Harin looked around, while Tulip had already gripped her bow.
"No people around."
"Did they flee?"
"Not fled—probably holed up at home."
"But why'd we come here?"
"You ask that now?"
"Your soul-shaking driving left no room for thoughts."
"Plus gruesomely flattening monsters."
"Right! While we were in the car!"
That was when it happened.
"Please! Somebody help!"
We all whipped our heads toward the voice.
Far off, a man was crawling on the ground, having fallen backward.
And in front of him was something.
"Hold on tight."
"Huh?"
"Gonna ram it."
The two flinched and gripped their seatbelts.
I floored the accelerator as is.
Gripped the wheel tight, pedal to the metal.
Vrooooom—BAM!!
The monster collided with the car and got pushed back a bit, but it seemed barely damaged. Tougher than a ghoul.
"Shit..."
I just dented the car for nothing.
How hard was it to get this thing.
"Mister, why do you keep ramming monsters with the car!"
"Driving up to a monster and neatly parking is weirder."
"Fair, but..."
"Saved gold to use it like this."
Tulip chewed her lip, then retorted.
"No, even so, that's clearly a crustacean. Obvious it'll wreck the car."
Yeah. Tulip's definitely smarter than me.
Couldn't deny it with the dashboard caved in, smoke billowing from the vents.
The monster glared at us.
It wasn't just its shell that looked tough.
Clang clang!
The threatening sound from its claws.
"Won't that slice us up too?"
"Mister, why say something so scary so casually."
"Still, doesn't seem as fast as ghouls. No attack coming yet."
The guy who fell earlier probably couldn't think straight from max terror.
"Don't let your guard down anyway."
"That's my line."
"You're the one lulling us."
"Everyone out of the car. Might explode."
"Why scare us all the time!"
I stared silently at Tulip for a moment.
"...Complain if I lull you, complain if I scare you. What do you want?"
"Kill that thing first."
Sarcasm, but she hit back with a clear demand.
'Summon Grave of Ten Thousand Demons.'
The sword materialized in my hand, chilling and heavy.
Ah, this feeling...
Like I'd become Sword Saint Ko Gildong.
'This'll be easy.'
I charged straight at it.
And without hesitation, slashed.
But.
Kaching—!
The sword halted instantly.
'Shit, hold on...'
Grave of Ten Thousand Demons, which had cleaved through even blood ink at dawn, was blocked by mere armor.
In that instant, the armored monster's claw was already swinging at me.
'I'm screwed.'