Chapter 96
Chapter 96 - Death Game
For a moment, my mind went blank.
"... This isn't the situation for jokes."
And I could clearly tell it wasn't a joke by looking at Lucy's eyes. If that serious face was acting, she'd be a shoo-in for Best Actress at the Blue Dragon Film Awards.
At this point, I have to admit it.
'My plan... really isn't working.'
As I felt an unpleasant sensation like something damp pulling at my legs,
Dong. As always, a message appeared before my eyes with a chilling tone.
[Name: Box of the Dead]
[Notice: Item Update - Items stored in the Box of the Dead from previous life have been updated.]
The last legacy, or will, left by my past self.
I habitually searched my belongings and took out the Box of the Dead, but couldn't open it right away.
Perhaps because Lucy had just declared I would 'fail'. Somehow, I felt if I heard something like 'you won't survive' from my past self too, my resolve would break.
'Oh hell. Don't chicken out, Park Jeong-yong!'
After much deliberation, I carefully opened the Box of the Dead. As expected, inside was a hastily scribbled note in my handwriting.
With trembling emotions, I unfolded the paper and read its contents.
[You will die.]
Something that had been consuming me from my feet suddenly rose to my throat. Feeling like I couldn't breathe, I unconsciously touched my neck.
I expected it, but my mind is reeling.
'... This is....'
My wandering gaze soon fell on another crumpled note stuffed in the Box of the Dead.
I focused on them and immediately unfolded them.
There wasn't just one note. Three more sentences were written on the remaining notes.
[But our thinking wasn't wrong.]
[Don't doubt, just collect the Residual Sentiment no matter what.]
[You and I will die, but in the end, we'll win.]
I unconsciously gripped the notes I was holding tightly.
There's a possibility. I wasn't wrong, it says. None other than myself proved it.
I glanced at Lucy, who was staring at me with a frown, and gave her a smirk.
"It's not failure."
"What did you say?"
"I'm saying I haven't failed."
As I gave a bitter smile, a low rumbling sound - kuguugugu... - occurred.
Beyond the horizon, a white light shone and emitted a dazzling radiance.
The direction was toward the Plains of Promise.
A pure white explosion. It was the precursor announcing the start of the Astarte Fragment summoning ritual.
I clenched my fist once and roughly patted Lucy's head.
"Eeek! Wh-what are you doing!"
"If I get possessed by a Xiongma and go crazy, stab me in the gut to wake me up."
I told Lucy, half-joking and half-serious. My voice was surprisingly hoarse, even to myself.
Lucy, who was fixing her hair, soon smiled wickedly.
"Heh. You said the exact same thing in your past life. Did you know?"
She mutters while shaking her head. Well... seems my past self said something similar.
Anyway, Lucy soon nodded and said,
"Yes, yes. I'll definitely wake you up even if I have to amputate your limbs, so don't worry."
"... That's the most reassuring thing you've said so far. Damn."
Swoosh! I immediately drew my dual swords and ran like a beam of light toward Kern's west gate.
Thwack! The surroundings passed by like arrows with one leap.
"Daddy's going to work!!"
"Dad can freeze to death."
Lucy's smiling face at my unfunny joke quickly faded into the distance.
* * *
"Kyaaah! Please save me!"
"Guards! Call the guards!"
"M-monsters!"
The closer to Kern's central district, the closer the voices filled with despair became.
While the sounds of clashing weapons could be heard occasionally, the overwhelming majority were children's cries, piercing screams, and voices calling for salvation.
"... Tsk."
Although I'm known for not caring about complete strangers, I'm not such a cold-blooded person that I can remain unfazed hearing such horrific sounds.
My heart naturally pounded, fueling urgency and anxiety.
'... Residual Sentiment. Even if my head gets cracked open, recovering the thoughts comes first!'
Everything has its order. To see the bigger picture... I need to ignore those sounds for now.
After entering Kern's west gate, I first activated Izanami's heart.
Woong. Along with a heavy resonance, the lantern emitting an ominous light. Just as I was charging in the direction where that light grew stronger.
"......"
"......"
Two adventurers in ordinary attire passed by before my eyes.
After briefly glimpsing the two people entering the alley past me, I tilted my head curiously, then looked forward again and ran.
And immediately chanted a skill.
"Fatal Thorns!"
It was half instinctive.
If I had to find the cause of the discomfort... yes. The two were expressionless in a way that seemed out of place in this chaos.
An eerie expressionlessness that made them seem neither like people fleeing nor like those doing the massacring.
That's why I unleashed the skill.
"...!"
Thwack!
The flying thorns pierced through the two adventurers' limbs and penetrated their chests for the finishing blow. Exactly 5 thorns per person. A clean hit that even I found satisfying.
However, there was one chilling point...
'These bastards... were trying to kill me.'
Although this was an ambush method I'd used before, unlike Jermi who was pierced through the back, these guys were pierced through the chest.
In other words, they had also turned around to ambush me from behind. This confirmed they were Immortal Cult members.
Just as I was about to heave a sigh of relief and wipe my chest,
"......"
The guys who were glaring at me with thorns piercing their bodies spat out something with a 'tut' sound.
My gaze unconsciously followed it. It was a tiny metal ball, the size of a fingernail. The ball rolled up to me with a clicking sound, then cracked with a 'psst'.
"... What's this?!"
Puwhaak! It started spewing smoke with tremendous force.
A smoke grenade. How ridiculous. They're really pulling all kinds of tricks now. I let out a mocking laugh and cursed.
"This is absolutely crazy!"
After retrieving all the thorns that had started to disappear as their casting time ended, I immediately rushed to finish off their breathing.
In a situation where I couldn't see an inch ahead due to the smoke, I suddenly felt a chill and ducked my head.
"......!!"
Shwaek!
A whooshing sound rang out. A uniquely shaped double-edged sword swung and cut off a few strands of my hair.
Then thump. The Immortal Cult member who had swung the sword fell face-first onto the ground with the same expressionless face. Like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
"... Phew."
Massive bleeding was occurring from the five holes pierced through their body. The slight convulsions throughout their body clearly showed they were on the verge of death.
Yet they didn't move their mouth once, and their expression showed absolutely no change.
'To make such a fast attack with a body in that state?'
If I hadn't instinctively ducked, even I might have been in danger.
I don't think I have particularly good instincts. Perhaps my special stat 'Hero Sense' activated. I'm impressed with my past self who diligently completed quests.
While wiping my chest in relief, I turned my gaze toward the fallen Immortal Cult member, still feeling chills.
"I definitely pierced their limbs..."
The smoke slowly began to clear.
The one who had delivered that fierce final strike to me lay fallen at my feet, and the other one... had disappeared in the meantime.
I had a sudden realization. Could it be that the hopeless one distracted my attention so the other could escape?
'... No. There wasn't even a hint of such strategy.'
Of course, there could have been prior arrangements for emergency situations.
Either way, it's not something to take lightly. It's mind-boggling if they communicate without words like some Protoss, and if it was pre-arranged, that means they're well-trained combat veterans.
My wariness of the Immortal Cult suddenly skyrocketed. Indeed... they're definitely not opponents to underestimate.
'Eye of Mimir.'
Before leaving, I scanned the dead Immortal Cult member, hoping to gain even a bit of information.
And immediately my eyes widened.
[Monster Information]
[Name: Kane Caucus]
[Health: 0/980 Mana: 0/730]
[Strength: 124 Agility: 106 Intelligence: 33]
[Details: A Hero who betrayed the will of Ashin. Death's mace to the filthy traitor.]
Their status window was showing as a monster.
I stared at it for a long while, then let out a scoffing laugh.
"... So this is what it meant?"
I now fully understood the meaning of my past life's words, "We will be victorious in the end."
If that's the case, the Residual Sentiment are even more important. I don't have time to dawdle here like this.
I spurred myself from my position and hastened my steps. My running speed has become much faster than before.
'Should be around here somewhere...'
Well well. Following the lantern light, I had already reached the back alley where the shantytown was located.
The anxious gazes of the poor people stung sharply. They clearly thought I was involved with the ongoing massacre in the city.
"Hmm."
I roughly scanned the beggars who were trembling helplessly in fear.
And soon clicked my tongue.
'Hick... isn't here.'
Seems he fled in the meantime. He's quick to run away.
I might not be able to help, but couldn't I at least spread rumors among the poor to buy him time to escape?
I give him information and he shows not even a shred of conscience. What an ill-mannered old raccoon.
'Found it.'
While mentally cursing the old raccoon, I followed the light and soon the Residual Sentiment appeared before me.
Well, as always when seeing my past life's corpse, I caught my breath this time too.
"Phew."
I scratched my head and sighed. Then carefully brought the lantern to the corpse.
"This just never gets easier..."
Well, how could it?
The upper body completely destroyed from the center of the chest to the right side, and the contents(?) spilling out like an overturned ramen pot - appreciating my own corpse in such a state.
[Item Activated - Izanami's Heart]
[Acquired Residual Sentiment from past life.]
[Recovered 8 Strength, 23 Agility, 0 Intelligence points.]
[No combat skills recovered as none were lost in past life.]
[Recovered all memories from past life.]
"Keu... ugh, uwaaaaah!!"
And the memories of my past life, the pain, emotions, and death. The overwhelming fear that comes from it. All of these experiences being forcefully thrust into my entire body in an instant.
If one gets used to such a thing, they're no longer human. So.
"Sister, I'm dying!!"
Anyway, that was the first thing I shouted after coming to my senses.