Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: VX Aftermath Panic
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[Title: lol super sweet]
(Clip of a golem that can't even control its own body properly)
(Clip of beasts collapsing on the ground, gasping for breath)
I'm the scout myself, but something's off.
Did they all get drunk together or what?
- lmao why are they like that?
- Status ailment or whatever, works for us.
- Whoa, those were really four steel golems.
ㄴ For real, if they'd invaded normally, Kellerton would've been fucked.
A scout's post preparing for the wave went up on the gallery.
A report that the beasts' condition was weird.
At first, most posts were just relieved, like "good thing whatever it is."
But the symptoms worsened dramatically in less than an hour.
[Title: Uh, this shit's intense]
(Clip of dead beasts and golems)
(Clip of plants in the surrounding plains rotting)
(Clip of crows flying in to eat the corpses, only to become corpses themselves)
Suddenly they all started dying.
Gotta bounce, no time for questions.
- What the?
- Kinda creepy, ngl.
- A golem just drops dead like that, all limp?
- ?? Did they get cursed or something?
ㄴ A curse that powerful?
ㄴ Never heard of a curse that clears a wave with five variant beasts in an hour.
It was great when the beasts were staggering around.
Steel golems were monstrous enough to smash city walls single-handedly.
If they were weakened, it'd be a good thing—but all dead in an hour? That's different.
- What is it, divine punishment?
- God's curse! The gods have cursed them!
- This isn't gonna spark another Great War, right?
Hundreds, thousands of wave beasts quietly turned into a mountain of corpses.
Every animal in the area rotted away.
Even the ones coming to eat them died.
Terror from the unknown.
The gallery's mood shifted from celebration to fear in no time.
- What if that heads our way?
- Whole city could drop dead in an instant, right?
- And dying looks fucking painful.
- (scared elf con)
"Guess I need to make an announcement."
Modern firearms were impressive, but chemical weapons were on another level.
Before panic spread through the gallery, I posted a new announcement.
[Announcement: Important update on the current bait]
Author: Judak*
It's me.
Announcement about the Kellerton rift bait.
(Clip of all the beasts dead)
Straight to the point: yeah, that was me ㅇㅇ
Cut it off early before it got worse, didn't expect the aftermath to be this bad;
That's VX nerve agent.
Threw it in the rift, they crawled out trying to survive after getting hit and all died, so no worries.
Posting cuz all sorts of rumors and bullshit are flying around the gallery.
"Eh, that should do it."
Explained what it was and assured them it wouldn't hit people.
Naturally, thousands of comments poured in right after posting.
- Wait, no wounds or anything?
ㄴ Fr, no explosion marks either.
ㄴ Even magic leaves traces, but this... they just drop one by one silently?
- Judak learned curse magic too?
ㄴ Judak*) Something like that?
ㄴ ?
ㄴ ???
ㄴ Nah, doesn't really exist; but if you don't know, wtf is it then;
Meanwhile, some gallery users focused on its solid killing power.
Suggestions to stock it in the market for defense and combat.
[Title: Judak this shit's OP]
Seems super effective.
Can't you put that VX stuff in the market?
- Fr lmao game-breaking weapon incoming.
- Can't we use it to wipe out beasts?
I thought about it at first too.
But after trying it, I knew better.
The beasts hit by it would thrash out of the rift in their death throes.
ㄴ Judak*) How you gonna use it?
ㄴ Like a grenade, grab and toss at beasts?
ㄴ Judak*) How you gonna grab it?
ㄴ Can't you figure out some way to grab it?
ㄴ Lol Judak's dodging.
ㄴ C'mon, just release a bit and clean up some beasts lol.
"Ah, how do I explain this."
The gallery still didn't grasp the danger of chemical weapons.
I pondered how to explain, but no need.
Time explained it for me.
One week after using the chemical weapon.
[Title: North plains update...jpg]
(Clip of all flora and fauna rotted away)
(Clip of a vast plain littered only with corpses)
Feels like staring into hell...
Makes you think, y'know.
Pretty creepy, no, hella creepy.
Judak, what the hell did you bring?
- Why do animals just die passing by?
ㄴ Looks like blood barely touched it and it died.
ㄴ Life's that fragile?
- Better not fuck with Judak.
ㄴ "Grand Mage" hits different now...
It didn't recover even after time passed.
The silver lining: VX only spread a few hundred meters around the rift.
The rift vanished after spitting out the wave.
"Never releasing chemical weapons carelessly again."
Don't even open the shop's chemical weapons tab.
This was beyond handling.
If using it, seal off the rift area completely first.
"But gotta handle the cleanup at least."
Couldn't relax just because the rift was gone.
Leaving it like that would kill clueless folks too.
"But who's gonna do it?"
Unlike the gallery doctors during the Black Death, this was next level.
Even those tough steel golems lasted less than an hour—no, 20 minutes—before dying in agony.
Go clean up VX in a place like that?
"Still, might as well post a job listing..."
With a sliver of hope, I made a recruitment post.
The gallery was terrified of chemical weapons.
- Touch it and die?
ㄴ Breathe and die.
ㄴ Bullshit lol even a dragon couldn't pull that off lmao.
ㄴ Fact: Judak official.
ㄴ Fuck, that shit really exists?
In a medieval world of physical attacks, touch it—hell, breathe it and die?
No wonder devil curses and divine punishment rumors weren't rampant.
Even so, posted it just in case...
[152 applications received.]
"What the."
In under a minute, applications flooded past a hundred.
*
The ground was dyed ash-gray.
One week since the corpses were left.
They should be rotting, but not even flies buzzed around.
"If hell exists, it'd be like this, right?"
"Think it'd be worse than this."
All thanks to Judak.
A few days ago, Judak's job post went up.
[Recruiting: Workers needed.]
Requirements: Has limbs.
Gear provided: Chemical protection suit, gas mask, etc.
Job: VX contamination cleanup crew.
The post was extremely concise.
Short, even.
But the ones gathered here applied without reading properly.
For the fat pay.
"Didn't expect it'd be like this, though."
The man pressed the ignition button, and the flamethrower spewed fierce flames.
The long jet of fire devoured corpses and surrounding plants alike.
Their job was simple.
Burn everything in the area.
"Creepy as hell..."
As the youngest guy said, if this was hell, they'd all head to heaven.
Show 'em hell once, and they'd turn devout just to live.
But even after learning how gruesome it was, none of the selected workers bailed.
"So why'd you sign up?"
"Yeah, you look young—aren't you scared?"
Someone asked the boy amid the workers.
But the boy was unfazed.
Didn't seem forced.
"Hunger scares me more."
"Fair."
"Got dragged to the Great War without a dime—this is nothing."
He even seemed proud.
At least Judak didn't assign impossible tasks.
The weird suits they wore kept them safe, right?
And above all...
[4,000 mana rice cakes deposited.]
"Yatta!"
The massive payout spurred them on.
Amid the hyped workers, one glanced up at the scenery.
Judak wiped out the beasts tormenting the whole nation in one go.
Judak kept them safe amid it all.
The man, once a Jutak Worshipper, chuckled bitterly.
"And they say he's not a god?"
*
The chemical weapon aftermath settled somewhat over time.
When similar corpses popped from other rifts occasionally, the part-timers handled it.
"Hope it never reaches people."
Zero cases so far, luckily.
But no room for complacency.
Time to stay vigilant, reading every gallery post for issues.
[Title: My eyesight keeps getting worse]
(Crying frog clip)
And that's not all.
My hands shake like crazy, I keep forgetting things that happened,
Weird stuff keeps popping up on my skin...
I take my meds properly, apply them too—why is this happening?
"No way?"
Chemical weapon side effects?
Maybe trace amounts diluted from dead beast corpses seeped in somehow.
Otherwise, no way someone diligent with meds deteriorates this fast.
- Judak*) What meds you taking?
I commented right away, and got an unexpected answer.
ㄴ OP) ㅠㅠ Mercury.
ㄴ Judak*) ?
"Oh, shit."
Medieval classic number two: mercury.