Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Spoils of Battle
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Whether because it was half-destroyed less than five minutes after being summoned, or because its mission was complete, Choi Yu-ra's Gigantes vanished in a flash of light. The sight was similar to how the bodies of Ahn Jae-nam and Kim Nam-yeong had disappeared, leaving Kang-seok with a bitter feeling.
“Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?”
Seong Yu-jin, standing beside Choi Yu-ra, shouted to Kang-seok. If not for the injured Choi Yu-ra, she looked as though she would have rushed to his side in an instant.
Kang-seok smiled warmly and quickened his pace. He approached Seong Yu-jin and Choi Yu-ra and asked.
“Yu-jin, are *you* okay?”
“I'm fine. I barely fought the Abomination.”
Even as she answered, Seong Yu-jin kept glancing at Kang-seok's arms.
It seemed she was worried that the damage to the Gigantes's arms might have somehow harmed Kang-seok, who had been controlling it.
Watching the heartwarming scene of them genuinely worrying about each other, Choi Yu-ra let out a sigh.
“Oh, for heaven's sake. It's enough to make a single girl die of sorrow. Am I invisible to you two?”
Choi Yu-ra even pretended to look haggard. Kang-seok took her banter with a wry smile, but Seong Yu-jin's reaction was different. Her face turned bright red.
“I-It's not like that.”
She took a step back in embarrassment, then peeked at Kang-seok. Seeing Seong Yu-jin's reaction, Choi Yu-ra's mouth fell open in disbelief.
“Wow, a textbook reaction. You're a natural treasure in so many ways. Kang-seok, you better hold on to Yu-jin tight. Girls like her are rare these days.”
Seong Yu-jin grew even more flustered, while Choi Yu-ra grinned with a mischievous, devilish smile. Kang-seok shook his head and sat down in front of Choi Yu-ra.
“Is your head okay?”
One side of Choi Yu-ra's forehead was covered in blood, likely from being struck by falling rocks. Once again, Choi Yu-ra tried to act tough.
“Why? Planning to finish me off for good?”
“Seeing as you're still spouting nonsense, you must be fine.”
He retorted, but his expression darkened. Choi Yu-ra had lost too much blood. Up close, her complexion was pale and her eyes lacked their usual energy.
“Hold still.”
Kang-seok unslung the small backpack from his waist and took out its contents. Contrary to its initial 'fantasy' impression, this world had a strangely advanced level of medicine.
Kang-seok took out the antiseptic solution, minced herbs for wounds, and clean bandages he had received from the village chief's son, and finally, unfastened a leather waterskin. He intended to wash the blood from Choi Yu-ra's forehead.
As Kang-seok began to prepare for treatment in earnest, Choi Yu-ra blinked. She spoke quickly, her voice tinged with a hint of embarrassment.
“Hey, hey, we just took down a boss mob. You should go check if it dropped any rare items.”
“Treating your injury comes first. This is going to sting a bit, so bear with it.”
Kang-seok gave a signal, and the quick-witted Seong Yu-jin immediately moved to hold Choi Yu-ra's shoulders. She then sat down, holding Choi Yu-ra in her arms as if cradling a baby.
At this point, Choi Yu-ra gave up resisting and simply closed her eyes. Kang-seok first poured water on her head to wash away the blood, then wiped it again with a wet bandage.
“Ugh...”
“Just a little longer. Here it comes.”
Kang-seok poured the antiseptic solution onto the wound on Choi Yu-ra's head.
“Ah!”
Choi Yu-ra let out a pained cry and flinched, but Seong Yu-jin held her tight. Kang-seok continued the treatment.
“Stay still.”
With practiced skill, Kang-seok wrapped a bandage around Choi Yu-ra's head. It was a skill he had learned in the military.
“I hope this doesn't leave a scar.”
As Kang-seok muttered in a worried voice, Choi Yu-ra flinched again. She opened her eyes and darted them back and forth between Seong Yu-jin and Kang-seok.
“Did you... woo Yu-jin like this too?”
Kang-seok didn't answer, and Seong Yu-jin pinched Choi Yu-ra's side.
After much ado, the first aid was complete. Kang-seok asked Choi Yu-ra, who had crawled out of Seong Yu-jin's lap and was now sitting hunched over.
“How's your back?”
“Probably fine. Even if it's hurt, it's likely just a bruise. So don't even think about treating it.”
Kang-seok looked at Choi Yu-ra, clearly not satisfied, but given the location of the potential injury and her firm refusal, he cleanly gave up. He moved on to what he considered the next most urgent task.
“Thank you.”
Kang-seok looked at Choi Yu-ra's face and expressed his gratitude sincerely. Choi Yu-ra blinked.
“For what, all of a sudden?”
“You sacrificed a lot.”
Six anti-materiel sniper rounds and two incendiary grenades.
Furthermore, she had spent a whopping 1,500 Kron to summon the Gigantes. Since the Gigantes was half-destroyed, there might even be repair costs in Kron.
Choi Yu-ra let out a long sigh and slumped her shoulders.
“Well, I guess I did give it my all. But is it really something grand enough to be called a sacrifice? I was just trying to survive, too.”
With a grin, Choi Yu-ra wiggled her fingers in the air.
“But I bet the rewards were pretty hefty, right? Speaking of which, shall we check?”
At Choi Yu-ra's suggestion, Kang-seok and Seong Yu-jin also moved their fingers in the air. They skillfully summoned the luminous characters.
[MVP Choi Kang-seok: 4,000 Kron Acquired]
[Party Member Seong Yu-jin: 2,000 Kron Acquired]
[Party Member Choi Yu-ra: 3,000 Kron Acquired]
The perceived difficulty was higher than that of Aden, King of the Gnolls, but the Kron reward was similar. It seemed the presence or absence of a tutorial bonus made the difference.
And that wasn't all.
Seong Yu-jin suddenly started jumping up and down on the spot, shouting cheerfully.
“We got Kron for killing the zombies and for the sub-quest, too! I got a lot of experience, and wow, I leveled up!”
Kang-seok also received rewards for defeating the zombies. The amount of Kron from each one was small, but since there were so many, it added up to a decent sum.
Kang-seok asked Choi Yu-ra.
“What about the ammunition?”
“Just a sec.”
There had been mention of some items being resupplied to Choi Yu-ra. The only supply that immediately came to mind was ammunition.
“Five anti-materiel sniper rounds and two incendiary grenades. That's excellent.”
After saying that, Choi Yu-ra let out a long sigh of relief. She hadn't shown it, but it seemed she had been quite anxious about having used up almost all her bullets.
Choi Yu-ra waved her hand in the air a few more times, and two small boxes appeared beside her. The sight was like the process of Ahn Jae-min's body disappearing into light, but in reverse.
‘Is it some kind of materialization?’
Circumstantially, the one sending these items had to be the same entity that caused ‘The Great Summoning’.
He couldn't know who was behind all this, but it was truly a godlike power.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Kang-seok asked Choi Yu-ra again.
“Gigantes Down doesn't have levels, right?”
“But it has ranks instead. Let's see. My rank went up from Private to Corporal. Did you get anything?”
“I went from Fighter to Intermediate Fighter.”
“Fighter? Is that a rank, too?”
“It's more or less the same as Gigantes Down. God of Combat Online doesn't have a leveling system. Instead, it has this kind of ranking and transcendence system.”
“Oh, I see.”
Choi Yu-ra's mouth opened slightly as she nodded. Kang-seok asked again.
“In Gigantes Down, what changes when your rank increases?”
“In the game, it would unlock research projects for modifying the Gigantes or firearms. My stats would also increase a little. But, well... even though Gigantes Down used the Gigantes as its marketing darling, the core gameplay was still gunfights, just like any other FPS. So it's best not to expect too much from the Gigantes side of things. Even in the game, it was a mech that could be destroyed by regular players' gunfire, and the modifications were more focused on firearms than the Gigantes itself. What about God of Combat Online?”
“In the game, not much changed. At most, the skill effects would get a little flashier. But it seems different here. I feel like my stats increase slightly and I can use more techniques each time my rank goes up.”
By advancing from Novice to Fighter, Kang-seok had become able to use the Dark Destiny Lord's techniques, like the Gigantic Piston.
It was more or less the same as how Players from other games gained more skills as they leveled up. The only difference was that Kang-seok had another way to learn new commands besides these rank-ups.
‘Even if it's a skill from another game, as long as it's a martial arts skill, I can use it.’
Kim Kang-san's Bash was a prime example.
“Hmm.”
After hearing Kang-seok's explanation, Choi Yu-ra wore a thoughtful expression. She seemed to be contemplating the new possibilities that came with her rank increase.
“Anyway, that's enough of that. Let's go look for items.”
Kang-seok stood up and offered a hand to Choi Yu-ra. Choi Yu-ra looked at his hand for a moment, then shook her head.
“I'll pass. I'm too tired. I'll just sit here, so don't be too stingy with my share. Not that I think you or Yu-jin would be.”
“Uh, then...”
Kang-seok glanced back and forth between the Abomination's corpse and the rubble where the lich's body lay.
He was thinking it might be more efficient to split up. Reading his mind, Seong Yu-jin smiled and said.
“Because of the MVP bonus, you have to check both of them anyway, Kang-seok. Let's do it together instead of splitting up.”
Seong Yu-jin set down her shield and lightly shook out her hands. Kang-seok, too, stopped hesitating and nodded.
“Alright, shall we get to it then?”
“Just don't be too stingyyy with my share.”
As always, Choi Yu-ra had the last word. Shoulder to shoulder, Kang-seok and Seong Yu-jin set off toward the Abomination with light steps.
* * *
It was hard to expect any items from the Abomination, which hadn't even been wearing proper clothing to begin with.
The putrid stench that assaulted their nostrils made Seong Yu-jin gag, while Kang-seok, his face scrunched up in disgust, forced himself to examine the Abomination's corpse.
Just like with Aden, King of the Gnolls, certain parts of it were twinkling with light.
Upon closer inspection, they were small, black fragments about the size of a knuckle.
They felt more like shards of glass than gemstones.
“What do you think?”
Kang-seok asked, handing a handful of the fragments to Seong Yu-jin. Seong Yu-jin stared into the air for a moment, then furrowed her brow.
“Fragments of a Black Magic Crystal. I don't know anything more. Nothing else comes to mind besides the name.”
“A material item?”
According to Choi Yu-ra's story, the ‘Beast Hunter’ Player had gathered various materials to craft items.
Since this was reality and not a game, the likelihood of being able to create something useful with these magic crystals was even higher.
“Let's gather them for now.”
This time, Seong Yu-jin took out a small box from her waist. It was an item she had obtained in the Labyrinthos.
After filling the box with the black magic crystal fragments, Kang-seok and Seong Yu-jin turned to look toward the ruins of the church.
It was in the direction of the lich.