Chapter 97
Chapter 97 - Express of Despair(1)
"Ugh... I'm, I'm dying."
I grabbed my throbbing head and stuck out my tongue.
When the pain subsided and my head finally started working again, the first question came to mind.
'But really... How is that demon lady together with the Immortal Cult?'
I never dreamed we'd reunite in such a worst-case scenario. Actually, I hadn't even thought about reuniting at all. It feels like I've been hit hard in the back of the head.
I tried to think of possible connections between the Immortal Cult member and that lady.
'No matter how much I think about it, I don't understand.'
The only thing they have in common is... wanting to kill me. There couldn't be anything else.
What connection could have led them to cooperate?
'Sigh. If thinking about it is pointless, let's not think about it.'
After brief contemplation, I finally reached that conclusion.
I clearly can't explain their connection with the information I currently have. Then worrying about it would just be a waste of time.
I immediately opened my status window. There was something I needed to check.
[Name: Park Jeong-yong]
[Title: 163417413th Official Hero. Guardian of the Demon King's Egg. One Bound to Immortality]
[LV. 164]
[HP: 1220/1220 MP: 450/450 Status: Slightly Confused]
[Strength: 232 Agility: 388 Intelligence: 51 Hero Sense: 19]
[Remaining Stat Points: 0]
"Good."
As expected, a considerable amount of experience points returned.
Since I had already maxed out the Death God's Favor skill to level 20 during the Halcenberg era, recovering my Residual Sentiment restores about half of the experience points.
I gained about 21 levels in my previous life... so roughly half of that, 10 levels, were inherited.
Plus, the additional stats recovered through Izanami's Heart are not insignificant.
Though these added stats don't carry over to the next life after death... making battles easier right now ultimately leads to easier leveling.
'This way I'll keep... getting stronger, even if just a little!'
I clenched my fist and strengthened my resolve.
Yes, this is my fundamental strategy for this fight. The so-called 'Secondary Financial Institution-style Compound Interest Stats Infinite Death Run Operation.'
After death, recovering Residual Sentiment means half of the experience points 'disappears?' no.
After death, recovering Residual Sentiment means half of the experience points are 'recovered!' yes, yes, yes!
With this positive mindset as my motto, I'll accumulate experience points bit by bit with each death to grow and eventually overwhelm them... a simple but definitive method of crushing them.
"...... Sigh. Damn it."
Of course, I know. This is a crazy strategy.
Back when I deeply felt the fear of death... when I was in Halcenberg, this would've been unthinkable. Only the slightly crazy me now could come up with this idea.
There are two essential conditions that come with executing this strategy.
'Must gain more levels than previous life. And... must definitely recover Residual Sentiment before dying.'
First, dying at a lower level than the previous life is meaningless.
If I die now at level 164 without accomplishing anything... my level in the next life will be reduced to 159.
Moreover, if I die without recovering my Residual Sentiment , all the battle experience I've accumulated so far will be completely lost. This is fatal.
Of course, since I'll forget even the fact that I died, I won't be aware of what I've lost.
Anyway, after working hard to accumulate levels, now I just need to die.
Die gloriously, spew out experience points for my next life self to absorb.
Die gloriously again, spew out experience points for my next next life self to absorb...
Let's change the operation name. To 'Park Jeong-yong Leaves Experience Points in Death Operation.'
Looking back on it now, it's a strategy that reflects my irreversibly ruined humanity.
'Right... I need to invest in skills from now on.'
When you die after investing in skills, the skills equal to the inherited level amount are restored just by recovering your Residual Sentiment . Of course, if you don't recover your sentiment with Izanami's Heart, skill points will accumulate.
In my previous life, I was too busy fighting non-stop to even think about skills, but now I have room to breathe.
No, precisely speaking, there's no room except for now.
Once I enter combat, there's rarely any breathing room afterward. Even the time for investing in stats is tight.
"Even with a cracked head, attack skills are the way."
I focused on distributing skill points to Black Wing, Seven Sword Pierce, and Fatal Thorns.
I plan to invest most of the skill points that come up during battle into either Seven Sword Pierce or Fatal Thorns.
Of course, in the long term, it would be better to evenly invest in support skills, but this is a desperate measure to break through the obstacle that is the Immortal Cult.
'Let's focus on immediately necessary skills. A war of attrition will definitely put me at a disadvantage... so area attacks.'
We need stronger, faster, and more accurate attacks to achieve one-shot-one-kill. Not just skill one-shots, but each tentacle and each magic sword needs to be strong enough to kill an enemy in one hit. Without that, there's zero chance of winning this asymmetric battle.
Of course, in that sense, Fatal Thorns is ideal with its attack power increase and tentacle limit increasing one by one...
'But this has a cooldown which is problematic, and it consumes quite a bit of mana.'
In the end, my real main skill has to be Seven Sword Pierce. Especially in chaotic situations like now where it's one against many.
I really don't know what I would've done without this reliable skill. I feel deeply grateful to Lord Margrave all over again.
"Alright. Then..."
The guidelines are roughly set. Let's go stop the Immortal Cult.
The more I dawdle, the more disadvantageous it becomes for me. I should make a move while there are still resistance forces on the citizens' side
Even if they are those kinds of people, I should deal with them, so there'll be fewer guys coming after me later.
I immediately prepared to take flight with my black wings.
"Excuse me. Mister."
Because of the delicate voice that came from behind me, I quickly hit the brakes.
When I glanced back, a girl wrapped in shabby rags was staring straight at me.
Just in case, I pointed my finger at my face.
"Which mister. Are you talking about this big brother?"
"Yes. Mister."
Even though I corrected her to big brother, she's consistent. She's a stubborn little one.
I quietly observed the girl's face.
"..."
A face streaked with grime, dry brown hair, and striking gloomy gray eyes characterize this little one. Though her appearance is shabby, there's something alive in those eyes.
Usually, I would have ignored her since the situation is urgent, but I turned to face her completely. Maybe it's because of those firm eyes.
"Why are you calling me? Big brother is kind of in a hurry right now, you know? Tell me quickly."
"Mister... did you come to fight the scary misters who kill people?"
"That's right."
"Then... you're a good mister, right?"
"My nickname was Walking UNICEF."
Actually, the nickname wasn't given because I was kind, but because I was a pushover. Since she probably doesn't even know what UNICEF is, let's just move on.
While I was grinning at my own joke, the little one came over with tiny steps and firmly grabbed my sleeve. Then she looked up at me with a desperate face.
"Mister. Could you help find my mom?"
In that moment, the smile disappeared from my face as if it had been a lie.
My voice naturally became heavy as I answered.
"Mom?"
"Mom went out because of the night market, but she still hasn't come back. There are too many scary misters at the market... I can't go look for her."
"..."
"Mom... she'll be okay, right? She must be hiding well, right? I'll... I'll be able to meet Mom again, right?"
That's not my department, so I'm not sure. You should ask the Department of Immortality.
I'd like to make a bureaucratic joke, but seeing the sobbing little one's face made that thought fly away.
At the same time, ding, a notification window appeared in the corner of my vision.
[Quest Generated!]
[Title: Please Help Mom]
[Difficulty: Legendary]
[Details: Tara, a refugee from the destroyed village of Elrata, is desperately waiting for her mother's return from working late at the night market. Let's safely bring Tara's mother back to her.]
[Reward: Tara's Ring. 13 Copper.]
This is strange.
A simple kid's personal request has the same difficulty level as the Halcenberg escape. Is something wrong with my eyes, the panel, or is this world wrong?
Well, that mission might have been harder than the Halcenberg escape, it certainly wasn't easy. So it's not strange that it's legendary difficulty.
'But the reward...'
Tara's ring and 13 copper.
I quickly scanned Tara's hand. I saw one worn-out iron ring. That alone gave me a rough estimate.
While I was thinking about how to get out of this awkward situation, she delivered a follow-up attack.
"Mister... this."
"Hm?"
"This is all the money I have. This and... I'll give you my ring too... if you bring my mom back... please? Even if I wanted to give more, I don't have anything else..."
I blankly accepted what Tara held out. With a jingling sound, a few copper coins and a worn ring fell into my palm.
"Uh... um..."
13 copper and Tara's ring. Her entire fortune and the quest reward shown in the system.
She gave me the reward before I even accepted the quest.
Beep―. Along with an alarm-like sound effect, a panel appeared.
[Quest Complete???]
[Reward Acquired - Tara's Ring. 13 Copper]
"..."
Even the hero support system must be confused by this unprecedented situation. The three question marks show it's having a brain freeze.
I scratched the back of my head while letting out a deep sigh.
'You're supposed to present your trump card later, kid.'
Living in the slums, she doesn't know how the world works. You'll get taken advantage of living like this. I know because I've been taken advantage of a lot.
After quietly staring at Tara's gray eyes looking up at me, I finally raised both hands and shook my head.
It was a sign of surrender.
"You. For someone so small, you've got good intuition."
"... Eh?"
"You've got quite an eye for picking out pushovers."
In this urgent situation. Out of all the people, she had to ask me. Thinking about it that way, I'm not sure about her business sense, but maybe she has good intuition.
... Or could it be that I give off such a strong pushover vibe?
With something feeling off about this, I lifted up the Box of the Dead and started scribbling a memo.
[Find a girl named Tara in the shantytown. There's a legendary quest with a surprising reward.]
[A girl about 7 years old. Brown bob cut with gray eyes. You'll know her when you see her.]
It was an errand note to my future self.
While I have zero interest in complete strangers, it's different once I get involved with someone.
I'm not satisfied until I do my best. Since my next life is still me, they won't blame my actions.
'Well... at least I didn't lie.'
Of course, I'm not thoughtless enough to cause trouble and just leave it to my next life self.
After roughly patting Tara's head, I spoke as reliably as I could.
"Big brother will find your mom. Wait here."
"Ah... ah!"
Finally, a smile returned to Tara's face that had been clouded all this time. She nodded repeatedly while tears streamed down her face, and then tightly grabbed my collar.
"Mister... can you really find my mom?"
"Of course."
"Mister, are you stronger than the scary misters at the market?"
"Dang, you're quick. But more importantly, follow after me. Big Brother. Big.Bro.ther.."
"Mister... what if you die?"
"Sigh."
My pathetic effort crumbled helplessly before a child's innocence. In the end, I turned around with a bitter smile of defeat.
Swoosh! The cloak splits and transforms into crow's wings. Before taking flight, I left Tara with one last word.
"Mister is immortal. I'll never die."
And I kicked off the ground and soared into the night sky.
Tara's face, looking up with wide eyes, quickly grew distant, and I held a satisfied smile.
'Ha. That was so damn cool, Park Jeong-yong.'
Honestly, it's not an exaggeration to say I accepted Tara's request just to experience this moment.
I flew toward the city with a smirking face, repeatedly savoring the image of 'Park Jeong-yong, the dark hero who's cool but warm to children.'