Chapter 147
Chapter 147
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 147
Chapter Title: Land of Opportunity
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Bang!
As soon as the white corpse blocking his path collapsed with the sound of a gunshot, Lee Si-woo checked his magazine.
'Four bullets left.'
Was it because of the absurdly low number of bullets, considering the number of white corpses chasing him?
Lee Si-woo regretted not having had the time to go through Roxen's belongings.
But the regret and disappointment were fleeting.
Lee Si-woo delivered a sharp high kick to the white corpse that was falling through the ceiling right above him.
Crack!
The white corpse fell to the floor with the sound of its neck snapping.
In that moment, doubt filled Lee Si--woo's mind.
'Strange. They're too weak.'
Compared to the white corpses that Black Night controlled in the Main Dimension, their physical abilities were so pathetic they weren't even worth comparing.
To put it bluntly, if Black Night's white corpses were adults, these were less than elementary school students.
'...A prototype?'
For some reason, Lee Si-woo thought this was a prototype of the White Calamity.
In other words, an incomplete, early model.
It wasn't a baseless assumption.
Considering the half-made goblins and lycanthropes, there was no reason the white corpses couldn't be the same.
"Hey! Over here! Help me over here!"
Plenitas was struggling against a white corpse rushing at her.
At first, she had been a nuisance, not knowing what to do, but after surviving several crises thanks to Lee Si-woo, she seemed to have realized she couldn't afford to be dazed for her own sake and was mustering her courage to face the white corpse.
Lee Si-woo ran toward Plenitas, who was fighting the white corpse, swinging the fang axe he had given her.
Kyaaaak!
He delivered a side kick to the flank of the white corpse that was screeching and pressuring Plenitas.
After stomping on the face of the feebly falling corpse with his heel, he kicked its head with all his might as if it were a soccer ball, and the white corpse with its broken neck went limp like a waterlogged cotton ball.
This was the result of the 'Fighting' Talent combined with Lee Si-woo's extensive combat experience.
However, even as he overwhelmingly pushed back the white corpses, Lee Si-woo couldn't let his guard down for a single moment.
'There are too many.'
No matter how easily Lee Si-woo could handle each white corpse individually, if he lost focus for even a moment against the ones that kept dropping from the ceiling, it would be over.
The moment he was bitten, the mutation would begin immediately, regardless of the remaining time.
'Still... I'm almost there.'
Lee Si-woo advanced with Plenitas toward the end of the tunnel where a huge steel door stood.
Each time, white corpses rushed at them from the ceiling and from behind, but Lee Si-woo dealt with them one by one with his exceptional fighting skills, clearing a path forward.
Soon, after Lee Si-woo defeated the white corpses in front of him and reached the steel door, it strangely creaked open to both sides, welcoming him.
As if it had been waiting.
Just then, a thick, gamy smell wafted out from inside, and Lee Si-woo shouted to Plenitas.
"Plenitas! Get back! Quickly!"
At the same time, a ferocious roar erupted from inside the steel door.
Kwoooar--!
A white lion burst out, its pale mane flowing.
Its forelegs were human arms, while its hind legs were those of a beast.
Where a tail should have been, a human leg dangled, and under its jaw, instead of a beard, a human head was attached.
Plenitas swallowed a groan at the bizarre and hideous sight. Lee Si-woo responded calmly.
"Plenitas. The fang axe."
Brought to her senses by Lee Si-woo's calm voice, she tossed him the fang axe. Catching it, Lee Si-woo charged toward the white lion.
The chances of escape were slim anyway.
He intended to deal with the beast one way or another.
-Grrr...
The white lion let out a low growl and leaped.
In the blink of an eye, the white lion reached Lee Si-woo and swiped at his upper body with its human-armed forelegs.
Lee Si-woo calmly observed the attack's trajectory and raised the fang axe to his chest.
Crack.
The fang axe broke helplessly under the beast's blow, but Lee Si-woo, with a blank expression, drew his pistol and aimed it at the white lion.
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots.
But unlike its seemingly fragile forelegs, the white lion's beastly body didn't even flinch.
Realizing it was futile to try and take it down with the pistol's firepower, Lee Si-woo rolled forward just as the white lion's jaws snapped at the spot where he had been.
-Grrr.
The white lion let out a low growl and swung its tail, which was like a muscular human leg.
Thwack!
With an impact like a low kick from a skilled martial artist, Lee Si-woo was sent tumbling to the ground.
It was a fierce blow, enough to fracture a bone in a single hit if not for his Vigor Talent.
Intense pain washed over him, but adrenaline pumped furiously, numbing his sense of pain.
Panting heavily, Lee Si-woo studied the white lion.
'Its weak point?'
Setting aside the beast's torso, which was fine even after taking two bullets, there were the forelegs with human arms and the tail with a human leg.
Finally, the old human head dangling from its jaw caught his eye.
'The weak points of the incomplete monsters I've met so far have all been their human parts. In that case...'
As soon as he made his decision, Lee Si-woo finished aiming and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The bullet rushed toward the head dangling from the white lion's jaw.
However, the lion lowered its body, guiding the bullet to hit its brow instead of the head.
Thud!
With a dull thud, the bullet embedded itself in its brow, but the white lion charged at Lee Si-woo again as if it felt no impact.
Crack!
With a sound that tore through the air, its foreleg struck Lee Si-woo's face.
The impact rattled his skull.
But even then, Lee Si-woo didn't let go of the pistol.
No, as if he had been waiting for this, he pressed in close to the beast and aimed the pistol at its jaw.
Click.
With the pull of the trigger, a thunderous gunshot echoed through the tunnel.
The human head dangling from the white lion's jaw shattered, spewing blood, and the lion collapsed with a pain-filled screech.
The white lion, which had been breathing heavily as if it were about to draw its last breath, closed its eyes.
Soon, its body turned into white smoke and vanished.
Where the corpse had disappeared, the familiar research journal and a pair of studded black gloves lay.
'Gloves and a research journal...'
With little time left before the mutation set in, Lee Si-woo didn't examine the journal and gloves closely, simply stuffing them into his bag.
The gloves seemed to be an item, so he considered equipping them right away, but he held back, feeling it was too risky to wear them without knowing what they were.
"Are you okay? You're not hurt?"
To Plenitas's worried voice, Lee Si-woo replied while looking at the room beyond the steel door, from which a faint light was leaking.
"I'm fine. Not hurt. More importantly... let's go inside."
"Is it okay to just go in?"
"It's not a matter of whether it's okay. We have no choice. If we stay here, we'll end up infected just like them. There's no other way."
"...Tch, I guess you're right."
With a simple agreement, the two entered through the steel door.
Inside was a laboratory filled with all sorts of experimental tools and machines.
Wary of a surprise attack from the white corpses, Lee Si-woo closed the steel door as soon as he entered the lab.
Plenitas gagged at the grotesque sight of the lab, which was filled with human eyeballs and organs.
In contrast, Lee Si-woo looked around nonchalantly, as if he were used to such scenes.
Moreover, his face showed no fear or worry about mutating after the time limit.
'Hidden chapters or secret chapters. They're all artificial constructs you'd see in a game. In that case, a vaccine must exist. I don't know what purpose the Ancestor Demon had in creating this trial or whatever it is... but they wouldn't have designed the game they made to kill off all the players at the very beginning.'
Just from the fact that the veterans called themselves 'users', I could tell this trial was structured similarly to a game.
No, perhaps this trial itself is built on a system similar to a virtual reality game.
Otherwise, absurd things like the existence of a 'Logout' item or all non-human races connecting with human bodies wouldn't be happening.
'Found it.'
Lee Si-woo opened a white box resting on a desk at the far end of the lab.
Inside the box were five syringes filled with a clear, sloshing liquid and a camera-like device called a 'Scanner', the same kind Roxen used.
First, Lee Si-woo took out the scanner and, like Roxen, took a picture of a syringe.
Click.
Vaccine
Description: A vaccine that cures the White Calamity virus. Upon injection, antibodies are created, making the user immune.
Letting out an interested hum, Lee Si-woo then aimed the scanner at Plenitas and pressed the button.
Click.
[Plenitas] ★★★★★★☆☆☆
Race: Human
Talents: Archery, Gluttony, Clumsiness, Effort, Positivity, Supporter,
Plenitas, completely unaware that Lee Si-woo was using the scanner to check her talents, was rubbing her stomach.
Grrrrowl.
Embarrassed by the sound coming from her stomach, the tip of her nose turned red as she pretended to look away.
Lee Si-woo chuckled, took a few cans of food from his bag, and handed them to her. She accepted them with a radiant expression, looking as if she couldn't be happier.
"Thank you! I was getting hungry!"
"Let's take the shot before you eat. This is a vaccine. Once you take it, you'll develop antibodies and won't get infected even if they bite you."
"Huh? Really? Hmm... But how did you know that? No matter how I look at it, that just seems like a very suspicious syringe."
Lee Si-woo tossed her the scanner he was holding and said.
"It seems to be the same kind of scanner Roxen was using. An explanation popped up when I used it. Check for yourself."
"Oho."
Plenitas took a picture of the syringe with the scanner and nodded. She then aimed the scanner at Lee Si-woo with narrowed eyes and said.
"Can I take a picture of you?"
"Well, I wouldn't enjoy it, but if you really want to."
Seeing Lee Si-woo's displeased expression, Plenitas pouted and tossed the scanner back to him.
"You don't seem keen on it. Then never mind. I'm not so shameless as to do something that bothers my savior."
Lee Si-woo shrugged and said.
"You're perceptive. Hmm, if only you were half as good at handling crises."
"...I admit I froze up, but could you not point it out so bluntly? It's discouraging."
"Alright. Now, we're not children, so let's take care of ourselves. Go ahead and take the shot. Don't make a fuss and cause trouble later."
Lee Si-woo tossed a syringe to Plenitas and injected himself with another.
As soon as he took the vaccine, his arm felt stiff, and a message window appeared before his eyes.
[Secret Chapter 1 Complete]
[A Green Key is awarded as a chapter reward.]
'A green key? What's this?'
Lee Si-woo tilted his head as he examined the green key given as a chapter reward.
Just by looking at it, he couldn't tell what it was used for.
In any case, considering he had found the secret chapter using the map, Lee Si-woo figured it would be useful eventually and pocketed the key.
'Next up... let's check the gloves.'
Lee Si-woo used the scanner on the black gloves he had obtained after killing the white lion.
Gauntlets of Strength
Description: Gloves that increase physical strength when equipped. Grants the user the 'Strength' Talent.
Lee Si-woo was shocked after reading the item's description.
'It doesn't just enhance strength, it's an artifact that grants a Talent? Unbelievable. This is a rare artifact that's hard to find even in the Main Dimension. Ha, they're giving something like this as an early-game reward?'
Lee Si-woo immediately equipped the black gloves and smiled, satisfied with the power flowing through his entire body.
But the joy was short-lived.
A thought struck him, and his expression turned serious as he scratched his chin.
'Wait a minute. Roxen definitely said you could get out with an item called Logout. If so... could I use that item... to take these gloves outside with me?'
Lee Si-woo, who was knowledgeable about most artifacts listed on the Universal Market, knew that the Gauntlets of Strength he had obtained did not exist in the Main Dimension.
But I can take this artifact to the Main Dimension?
Then I could lead my real body, whose growth is stalled by a wall, to a higher level.
'...Now I see why the veterans don't leave this place, even with the Logout item, and instead play childish games like forming clubs. To them, this trial isn't a place to survive, but a land of opportunity.'
Lee Si-woo's gaze then shifted to the syringes.
'And finding the vaccine for the White Calamity is a huge gain. If I can just take this vaccine outside... I can not only significantly improve the treatment of humans, but I can also shatter Black Night's White Calamity project.'
Lee Si-woo's eyes gleamed as he carefully packed away the vaccines.
Perhaps he could find the breakthrough he'd been desperately seeking not in the Main Dimension, but here.
Yes, this place was a land of opportunity not just for the veterans, but for Lee Si-woo as well.