Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Madman and Suspicious Man - 2
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No time.
Joo Seung-cheol knows about me.
Exposing that at the auction house after I respawn would be a piece of cake for him.
Of course, I didn't think he'd actually do it, but it was always best to assume the worst.
Which meant I couldn't afford to leisurely hide in the dimension gate and wait for an opening to attack.
Quick and decisive.
I blocked one of the charging guys with a dimension wall.
"Kuk!"
At the same time, I parried the long knife swung by the other with my own long knife.
Ka-kak, kak!
The long knives clashed, chipping teeth-like notches into each other, but it didn't matter.
As I pushed forward with brute force, the man yelped in surprise.
He probably never imagined I'd wield strength surpassing Body Reinforcement.
"You bastard!"
He slid his long knife aside and kicked up with his leg.
Ex-security?
Trusting in Hard Skin, I headbutted his face.
Thwack!
"Gahhh!"
Both of us took the hit, but only one screamed.
The man's nose bridge shattered, sending him flying back.
With two skills stacked, his brain was probably rattled.
Of course, I wasn't unscathed—my body swayed, and my joints throbbed sharply.
But crucially, I hadn't lost my balance.
That was enough.
Gripping my tattered long knife, I lunged into his guard.
Even as he fell, he tried to shove me away, but that was all he could manage.
My long knife, backed by my full weight, plunged swiftly into the man's gut.
From behind me, the man blocked by the dimension wall attacked.
"Get off him!"
I rolled across the ground in the same falling posture.
The man collapsing with the long knife in his belly and the attacking man looked like they were moving in slow motion.
"Die!"
The man swung his long knife.
I barely ducked my upper body, a few strands of hair whipping through the air.
Straightening my waist and using the momentum, I slammed my fist into the man's jaw.
Thwack!
The man tumbled from the massive impact to his jaw but struggled to rise again.
Not bad durability for a brawler type.
Any other ability user would've taken a fatal blow from that.
I hurled Emeras daggers at the two downed men.
My throwing skill wasn't top-tier, but I could hit stationary targets.
The sharp daggers burrowed into their bodies, and they clutched their legs and stomachs, screaming.
"Huk!"
"Kuhk!"
Time to finish this.
I pulled an Emeras spear from my dimension slot and threw it at the man clutching his jaw.
Even groaning in pain, he dodged the spear but couldn't block the follow-up dagger.
"Guk!"
The dagger embedded in his forehead, and he slowly toppled backward.
One left—the guy with the long knife in his gut.
I stomped his forehead and gripped the long knife, twisting firmly.
"Gaaaaah!"
As the man grabbed the blade and thrashed, blood poured out.
Two undeniable murders.
My vision shifted to that of a murderer, and a new skill registered.
If I hadn't given the Wood Earth Shi to Bunny Duo to free up a skill slot, Paralysis Poison Resistance would've been overwritten.
Thump, thump, thump.
Amid my pounding heartbeat, I opened a dimension gate and summoned Dingo and Ding-sooni.
No time.
"...You've been nearby... Just buy me a little time. You get what I mean, right?"
The wolves grunted, sniffing me and licking my face.
Still alive, huh.
Not for long, though.
I soothed the two wolves and shooed them off elsewhere.
Now it was time for the main act to take the stage.
I pulled the blood-soaked long knife free, and there he was.
He pointed at me, mimicking firing a gun.
Then the ability seal message appeared.
A dozen skills were sealed at once, my stats massively nerfed.
Finally, a message said my trait was sealed.
My status window would be a mess.
"How's the bullet I shot? Mr. Murderer Kimbap Lover."
"...Damn effective. Why don't you stop standing up there and come down?"
He sat on the fence, chuckled, and hopped down.
"Fine, as you wish. I wanted a closer look at your face anyway."
Not yet. A bit closer.
Overwhelming fatigue made me loosen my grip on the long knife.
With abilities sealed, even this felt heavy.
"So, what's your take on the show?"
"Your skill in handling my underlings, your trait... "
He stopped right in front of me.
I wanted to pull it out now, but Seung-cheol had the stat edge.
One wrong move, and I'd be countered.
Buy a little time here.
"Pretty decent. Way better than my arrogant underlings."
"Guess your leadership wasn't up to snuff?"
"Nah, as a non-combat type, I had to carry them hard. Whatever, they're dead now, so who cares? Shame, though. Gotta kill you too."
"Can't you let me live? I could be your underling."
Seung-cheol shook his head in disbelief.
"You know that's impossible. Think I'd accept someone without knowing what's in their sub-space? Better to just kill you."
"Fair enough..."
As I hung my head sadly, he grinned triumphantly.
"Haha, don't worry. When you die, I'll put your stats to good use."
"What do you mean?"
"When a target under Ability Seal dies, one of their stats transfers to me. Been +1 so far; you should net me +2."
"Absorbing stats...? But won't you become a murderer too?"
"Nah, my underlings do the killing. When a sealed target dies, their stats come to me. Get it now?"
So that's one of the extra effects.
"Holy shit..."
"Truth is, I wanted to tip off the auction house the moment I learned your abilities. Plenty of folks out there itching to gut Kimbap Lover. But I didn't. Guess why?"
"Why?"
Seung-cheol's expression twisted.
"'Cause you'd end up caught by me and tortured to death anyway. You killed me, you fucking bastard."
"Never dreamed you'd have two resurrection scrolls."
"One was a gift. From a place a guy like you couldn't imagine."
"Where's that?"
I asked, but he ignored me and continued.
"Oh yeah, that fucker Top-gong stabbed me in the back too... Just thinking about it..."
He shuddered in rage, glaring at me.
"Won't kill you or him easy. Gonna test how tough human vitality really is. Plus, gotta rip out what's in that sub-space. Suck you dry."
That's my specialty.
"..."
I backed away, feigning extreme tension.
Seung-cheol gripped his long knife properly and advanced.
Too excited, or maybe the heartbeat drowned it out—he hadn't noticed the two wolves on the fence.
"Thanks for turning murderer yourself. Didn't wanna dirty my hands, so behave."
"Pass."
"An arm won't kill you anyway."
That's when Dingo and Ding-sooni leaped from the fence.
They cleared a huge distance, pouncing on Seung-cheol in an instant.
Pinned under two wolves, he spat curses.
"You fucking mutts!"
Kyaaang!
Dingo, shoving his muzzle in, got punched and flung off.
Ding-sooni savagely tore his shoulder, soaking it in blood, then retreated.
"Get lost!"
He swung his long knife wildly and staggered to his feet.
I aimed my prepared weapon at his chest.
"...What the."
Seung-cheol's face twisted in disbelief at the police revolver.
"Metal pl..."
Bang!
Before he could finish, the cylinder spun, detonating the gunpowder.
The revolver shattered from the recoil, but the bullet flew true toward Seung-cheol's head.
"..."
And that was it.
Seung-cheol stared blankly at me, hole in his forehead.
"How... did you..."
"Holds for about 30 minutes. Figured it'd tank one shot, so I prepped it."
"Fuc..."
He couldn't curse fully before collapsing.
The icy ground stained red with blood.
"No third one, huh."
Two was a miracle already.
Gift from some unimaginable place—curious where.
Speaking of, Da-jeong should be here soon...
If nearby, she'd hear the heartbeat and find me.
Sorry, but gotta ask her for a favor.
Finally, Da-jeong hopped the fence, riding the burly ghoul's shoulder.
Seeing me slumped casually on the ice amid corpses, she seemed to piece it together.
Her loudly thumping heart confirmed it.
"Sung-ho."
I held up my bloodied hands to her.
"Gun blew up, hands wrecked. Can't use 'em—do it for me."
"...Got it."
Da-jeong silently gripped the long knife, approached, and kissed me.
"Deeper ones after respawn."
"Haha, turns out dying's scary."
The long knife plunged into my chest in a flash.
A freezing sensation as my heart iced over.
Consciousness vanished instantly.
.
.
.
Da-jeong yanked the long knife from Sung-ho's chest and stepped back.
Her gnawed lips spoke volumes of her feelings.
"Just vanish already..."
She trusted the resurrection scroll, but killing Sung-ho herself felt awful.
Didn't want to, but seeing his bloodied hands, she couldn't refuse.
Massive points and skills from killing murderers? She ignored them, watching his body fade.
Well, he respawned somewhere.
Da-jeong sighed and snapped her fingers.
"Fetch Sung-ho."
All her ghouls except the burly one mobilized.
She fiddled with the Aggro Boots he'd given her, waiting.
'If you'd killed him sooner, this wouldn't have happened.'
So damn curious about everything.
Plan to nag him when he returns.
But... taking a while?
Da-jeong crouched, waiting, but no sign.
Should be time by now?
Panicking slightly, she climbed the burly ghoul and hopped the fence.
Her ghouls roamed the area.
"Still no luck?"
Sung-ho lost? No way.
She recalled him scouting atop a dimension wall and shook her head.
Something's wrong.
Bad premonition.
Da-jeong scoured every building but no Sung-ho.
"You're pranking me, right? Huh? Yeah?"
Some survivors clashed with ghouls—Seung-cheol's backups.
Face hardening, she focused and drove them off.
10 minutes, 20—still no Sung-ho.
Despair gripped her; she rampaged wildly.
"Hey! Come out already!"
Screaming everywhere, no response.
Respawned elsewhere? Posted in auction chat—no reply.
"N-No way... Impossible..."
Da-jeong frantically shook her head.
She'd stabbed him herself.
But couldn't believe he was dead.
"You had the scroll... Come back quick..."
Cold wind swept her long hair.
Da-jeong slowly knelt.
"I... I killed you..."
Tears streamed from her eyes.
.
.
.
"..."
I opened my eyes to an unnatural sensation.
Where's this?
Thought respawning nearby with the scroll...
Whole body ached like it'd been beaten, utterly powerless.
Forcing myself up.
"Puha!"
Shaking my head cleared it, then the stench hit.
A nose-curling reek.
"Ugh..."
Dizziness hit; I face-planted in water.
Hard to even steady myself—what the hell happened.
"Chup..."
Regaining senses and standing, my eyes widened.
Isn't this the valley pond?
"Weird..."
No clue why I respawned in the forest instead of reality.
Or why the pond water turned pitch black.
"Ugh..."
Choking back vomit, I crawled out of the filthy pond.
Looking around, it was the pond from the forest before.
The dreamlike scenery gone, replaced by polluted black water greeting me.
"Maybe the resurrection scroll..."
Patting pockets—shockingly, both still there.
Wet, but parchment; dry fine.
Why so sore and weak, though.
Seal lifted; should be back to normal.
I summoned the status window and freaked.
Points at 0, stats crashed to bottom.
Resurrection Aftermath debuffing frailty and exhaustion simultaneously?
I eyed the message log below.
"No way..."
Sacrificed my points as offering—the pond revived me?
Pond absorbed the death, got contaminated?
High point cost shortened respawn and debuff duration?
Exhausted, I plopped down.
"Lucky or not..."
Saved scrolls, but pond contaminated, points wiped.
Points farmable; pond reversible?
I stripped my stinking clothes and cautiously returned to the shelter.
No monsters; dung beetles startled at me.
"What happened to master?" their eyes asked.
"Complicated stuff. Mind moving the barbed wire?"
All dung beetles swarmed, shifting the wire.
I half-crawled over the moat into the shelter.
"Huu... Thanks."
Nearly passing out, stag beetles approached then fled.
Explained to them.
"Truth is, I died and came back. Pond nearby got contaminated instead."
Dung beetles nodded understanding; stag beetles panicked, crawling over drawing pond pictograms.
"Where? Not far..."
Wash first.
Staggering up, I bathed in the cave.
Fresh clothes on, thought of Da-jeong.
She's searching now.
Grabbed basics, opened dimension gate.
"Da-jeong... Where'd she go."
Ice had three frozen corpses.
Searched around for Da-jeong.
Found her at ghoul cluster, kneeling and sobbing.
"Why cry?"
"Huh?"
Da-jeong slowly looked up.
Eyes wide in disbelief.
"Y-You... H-How? Thought you were dead..."
"Was. You stabbed me."
"R-Right."
"Respawned in forest. Not scroll—some system thing. Woke in contaminated pond."
"...For real?"
I spread arms.
"See? Different clothes. Stank, so washed and changed."
"..."
She scanned me head to toe, face tearfully joyful.
"Crying thinking I died? Not like Duck Down Quack always yapping about pounding me."
Da-jeong suddenly hugged my neck, deep-kissed, then shoved.
Couldn't resist her strength; upper body hit ground.
"Hey, I'm powerless now. Resurrection debuff tanked my stats. Body hurts."
Da-jeong's eyes gleamed slyly.
"So I can do whatever, and you can't stop me?"
Shouldn't have said that.