Chapter 128
Chapter 128
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Stuck in Decision Paralysis
-----------------------------------------------------------------
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Jang Jojun was presented with three choices.
The first option, Guardian's Insignia, was the most suitable reward for raising a dragon. Of course, it had the drawback of being usable only by Kim Ye-won-i, but the ability to survive a dragon's breath unharmed was a significant merit.
'Honestly, from Ye-won-i's perspective as the one raising the dragon, it might be best for her to get the insignia and prioritize safety... Plus, if dragons show up in the future, I could use her as a dedicated breath-blocking human shield... No, is that right?'
Given dragons' prideful nature—where they'd blast breath first and ask questions later—having their prized breath blocked by a puny human would leave them stunned and wondering, 'What the hell is that guy?' They might even initiate conversation out of fear of the unknown or attempt to build friendly relations. But Jo-joon had no way of knowing, as none of that was mentioned in the curt reward description.
'With the Dragon King's Amulet, maybe I could get help from dragons without fighting... And if I have Ragal's Seal, I could temporarily turn into a dragon and wage war on monsters. Wait. If I use Ragal's Seal to polymorph into a dragon... wouldn't I be immune to breath? No... Dragons' breaths probably work on each other too...?'
In the end, the Guardian's Insignia fell to the bottom of his priorities. Rather than an ability to indulge a dragon's inhuman whims, he preferred the power to transform into a dragon itself or avoid being preemptively attacked by one.
As he thought, Ragal's Seal allowed temporary transformation into a dragon, enabling melee combat with them despite the time limit. However, using it would create intense displeasure among nearby dragons, abnormally increasing the chance of being attacked first.
The final option, the Dragon King's Amulet, screamed entanglement with the Dragon King from its very name. Choosing it would almost certainly drag Jo-joon—thanks to his luck stat of 666—into a horrific chain quest of unimaginable difficulty. Plus, he'd likely end up tangled with dragon hunters, teetering on the edge of life and death.
Of course, unaware of this, Jo-joon eliminated the safest reward, the Guardian's Insignia, leaving him torn between the remaining two.
"So, I want to pick one of these two. What do you think, Ye-won-i?"
"Hmm... If that's what you think, Oppa... then it must be right. I trust your choices... From my view... you've always picked correctly... I've failed every time I've chosen..."
Jo-joon nodded, receiving Kim Ye-won-i's gaze full of trust.
Ye-won-i intended to leave it entirely to Jo-joon's choice. Most decisions she'd made in her life had ended in failure, so she preferred relying on others over acting independently.
Especially when it came to the man she'd entrusted her life to—she could follow him without reservation. Even if the outcome was bad, she had no intention of blaming him.
With Ye-won-i's full support, Jo-joon pondered alone between Ragal's Seal and the Dragon King's Amulet, weighing their pros and cons.
'Ragal's Seal... The transformation time is probably extremely short. There might even be unimaginable penalties. I won't know the details until I choose it... But based on this damn game's difficulty so far, no ability is purely beneficial...'
High risk, high return. That was one essence of this game, Jo-joon believed. He'd personally experienced that great rewards came with commensurate challenges.
For instance, his skills were outrageously powerful but came with acquisition pains that could drive one mad. Of course, his abnormal pain tolerance let him endure with his sanity intact.
Not just his skill acquisition pains—his summons were high risk, high return too. They were incredibly performant but either so grotesquely repulsive they drained mental strength or, like in the Aynax incident, directly menaced their owner.
That top-tier performance came with equivalent dangers or issues was only natural, given how Jo-joon had suffered near-terror-level ordeals multiple times.
'Then... the Dragon King's Amulet...'
Even assuming Ragal's Seal was risky, the Dragon King's Amulet had its own sticking point.
'Looking at it, there's no immediate use for this... Honestly, for something like Helgen, once it grows smarter, I can tame it with my Slave Brand.'
Helgen was still a hatchling, fully attached to Ye-won-i under her care, and likely to obey her even after growing.
'No urgent need to impress dragons right now...'
Thus, the Dragon King's Amulet would be hard to utilize unless he ventured into dragon-heavy areas.
'Plus, that line about gaining favor with most dragons is nagging at me...'
"Most" meant not all, so some dragons preset as hostile to players would attack regardless.
'But dismissing it feels wrong... As a Dragon King item, it probably triggers side quests or events...'
As he suspected, possessing it might lead to hidden NPCs or invitations from the Dragon King, entangling him with dragons proper.
'No... I need a breather now. I've been running too hard. So, pick Ragal's Seal... get a mount... Time to relocate the base anyway. And choosing this lets me naturally ride dragons around...'
In the end, Jo-joon succumbed to the impulse to transform into a dragon himself and the desire to ride one. In his situation, Ragal's Seal was the perfect choice.
"Let's go with Ragal's Seal."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Best option."
Above all, Jo-joon couldn't gauge how much it'd exhaust him to tangle with dragons. Rewards were huge, but dying before claiming them seemed more likely.
And as predicted, tangling with dragons before level 30 would surely hasten his death. He'd narrowly avoided danger once more.
'Dragons were definitely from the Myriad Ghost Realm... Being Myriad Ghost affiliates, they might harbor hostility toward me... or not. But not being Demonic Realm affiliates makes them a threat right now... If they turn hostile, even the amulet might not help.'
Jo-joon recalled Myriad Ghost Realm gods: the World Tree linked to Kang Hee-sun, and Queen Garia of the Blue Moon connected to Seong Ha-rin. The World Tree was desperate to kill Jang Jojun, but Garia had only warned to care for Ha-rin without direct threats. From this, Jo-joon inferred Myriad Ghost Realm opinions varied.
Unlike righteous gods who unconditionally opposed him or the Demonic Realm ones showering excessive affection, Myriad Ghost Realm was full of neutrals or hostiles.
'From what Ha-rin said, Garia seems reasonable... but who knows about dragons. Time to regroup the group... With no updates, prime time for activity... Getting into new incidents now would leave no time to grow the group. No updates, got the God's Idol—perfect for expanding now.'
Jo-joon wanted to hole up at base, manage personnel, and relocate soon. As numbers grew, 'Our Mart' was getting cramped, and frequent indoor battles had cracked and damaged the structure everywhere.
"Alright. Name's set. Reward chosen. Time to rest a bi—"
"Oppa! There you are!"
As Jo-joon hugged Kim Ye-won-i to sort his thoughts, Lee Eun-ji climbed to the rooftop.
"Oh? With Ye-won-i?"
"Yeah. Come here, Eun-ji. I'll show you something cool."
"Huh?"
Lee Eun-ji spotted Helgen in the cage and asked Jo-joon what it was. Before explanation, the hatchling's ambiguous serpentine-reptilian form was hard to identify.
"This little guy's a dragon hatchling."
"What? For real? Like, the fire-breathing, flying dragons? This tiny thing becomes one..?"
"Don't touch. It'll kill you."
"Whoa, almost did something stupid..."
Lee Eun-ji stopped mid-pet at Jo-joon's warning, looking regretful.
"But staring at it... kinda cute."
"Right, Unnie? Our Helgen's super cute, huh..?"
"Yeah. The way it wiggles is adorable. But Ye-won-i... its name's Helgen?"
"Yep... Oppa named it... Cool, right...?"
"Oh~ I see~ Sounds badass..!"
"Anyway, Eun-ji, what brings you? Something up?"
"Oh right, Oppa. Time for achievement rewards."
"Ah, yeah. Forgot."
Just from the Missing Persons' Forest, five rewards were pending: two for Jo-joon, three for Lee Eun-ji.
"Your rewards, Eun-ji... Let's see... 'Half-Human Half-Demon's Deed,' 'Yokai Walking Shadows,' and 'Inheritor of the Seal.'"
"First time achieving this many at once."
With his abnormal luck hogging evil gods' attention inhumanly, Jo-joon had racked up various achievements. Regular players rarely matched him.
Thus, three achievements thrilled Lee Eun-ji. Achievements meant power boosts.
Like Han A-ram skyrocketing after getting 'Excellent Negotiation Tool.' Eun-ji hoped 'Half-Human Half-Demon's Deed' granted her a signature weapon.
"Let's check 'Inheritor of the Seal' last, reverse order."
"Sure~!"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Choose your reward.] [0. Hannya's Mask] [Hannya's Mask: Proof of inheriting the seal of the oni Hannya, sealed in the shrine. Wearing the mask and calling Hannya swaps personalities briefly with the shadow-sealed Hannya. Fully unleashes oni's power.] "No choices here. Single reward."
"Yeah... But personality swap...?"
"Probably for desperate crises... Oni knows its power best... Learn yokai arts faster by observing, right?"
"Makes sense...? Like, your personality gets sealed and Hannya takes over..."
"Eek... No way... Oppa!! Don't scare me!!"
"Haha... Sorry."
Jo-joon chuckled awkwardly at Eun-ji's scolding after teasing her.
"Anyway... Shall we pick it?"
"Sure?"
Jo-joon selected Hannya's Mask. No alternatives anyway.
For reference, his evil gods' mark from pledging to them also had no choices.
'When I ate Black Serpent's Inner Core and Nagara's Sap, changing race for [Moltmaster] achievement, only [Sesha's Serum] appeared...'
Single-reward achievements were rare but happened.
"Whoa... Creepy mask..."
Kim Ye-won-i, petting Helgen's head while watching, shuddered at Hannya's Mask. As she said, it depicted a terrifying female face, exuding ominous aura and eerie yokai energy.
Like a cursed yokai artifact.
Perfect for half-human half-demon awakened Lee Eun-ji.
"Feels sinister."
"Yokai power too. Wearing boosts it, probably."
"Oh..."
Jo-joon and Eun-ji set Hannya's Mask aside and continued.
"Next, 'Yokai Walking Shadows'..."
"Yep!"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Choose your reward.] [1. Boogeyman's Ring] [2. Wanyudo's Wheel] [3. Gashadokuro's Shell] [Boogeyman's Ring: Consumes yokai power to melt wearer into shadows. Indetectable except by detection skills. Inflicts auditory hallucinations on nearby humans.] [Wanyudo's Wheel: Consumes yokai power to summon orbiting wheel. Throwable like boomerang. Shadow-infused boosts destructiveness.] [Gashadokuro's Shell: Consumes yokai power to summon shadow shell. Stronger in darkness. Stealth in shell erases presence.] "Uh... No clue what to pick."
"Shell's good... I have throwing skills, so wheel too... Ring seems for instant stealth."
"Exactly. All suit your style."
True to 'Yokai Walking Shadows' achievement, all three fit Lee Eun-ji's combat style.
Jo-joon's head started aching. Life was choices, but post-apocalypse, he'd made an excessive number.
"Seriously... Ring for instant stealth plus mind attacks... Wheel's auto-defense infinite-ammo boomerang... Shell's rare armor..."
"Oppa. Check next reward first, decide later?"
"Yeah...?"
Decision paralysis hit, so Jo-joon and Eun-ji deferred, checking 'Half-Human Half-Demon's Deed' next.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Choose your reward.] [1. Hell Goblin Sword] [2. Thousand Ghosts' Orb] [3. Pama's Horned Bow] [Hell Goblin Sword: Goblin-forged curved sword. Infuse yokai power to spew 'goblin fire.' Steals soul from non-yokai. Mark of Goblin King.] [Thousand Ghosts' Orb: Necklace with purple orb. Infuse yokai power to shine, temporarily becoming 'true yokai.' May lose reason occasionally. Thousand Ghosts' treasure.] [Pama's Horned Bow: Worn ancient bow. Infuse yokai power to load and fire 'Pama's Arrows.' Massive yokai power for arrow creation. Shrine maiden's relic for yokai hunting.] Jo-joon sighed deeply at the list. More tough choices.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇