The Price of Vision
Naturally, shipping costs are expensive for remote mountain areas. From now on, I’m going to gouge out my own eyes and replace them with dragon eyeballs.
"Haa... I'm nervous."
I was a bit tense at the thought of swapping out my eyes. Even for me, it wasn't like I didn't feel any nerves at all. I might have acted like it was no big deal, but... obviously, it’s terrifying and scary to gouge out your own eyes with your own hands. But I have to do it. My eyesight had deteriorated too much from blocking those breaths. It’s like I’ve become someone who has both nearsightedness and astigmatism; everything in front of me is blurry. I can't keep using my morphed vision, either. It’s a bit weird to have purple light glowing from my eyes. Furthermore, it would be troublesome if I ever ended up in a situation where I couldn't use my skills, like at that abandoned hospital in the Black Market. Who knows what kind of enemies I’ll run into next? I have no choice but to modify myself to get stronger. Hwa-young might cry that the taste of my blood has changed, but it can't be helped.
I pulled out a ritual dagger and stabbed it into my eye.
Strike while the iron is hot... if I do it quickly, it might hurt a little less... -Squelch...
"Guh-guh-guh-guh!!! Sh, shi-shi. Shit, ahhhhh!!!"
Gouging out your own eyeballs. That was truly insane. And I am doing that insane thing right now. It’s not like some LASIK surgery at a hospital; I’m just stabbing and pulling them out with a dagger.
"Ugh-ugh-ugh... Please... ugh... ah... ahhhhhhh..."
When it hurts too much, you can't even scream properly. Moreover, this wasn't just a matter of pain. Having my eyes pulled out in real-time stimulated an immense sense of horror. This was on a completely different level than replacing the button eyes of a toy doll.
"Stop... huff..."
My optic nerves came out with them. My brain trembled at the sensation of tearing them off, like pulling out a fishing line. My brain actually trembled. I’m not joking; the sensation felt like pain was being carved directly into my brain, and I felt like I was going to lose my mind.
'This wasn't something to be taken lightly. God...! It hurts like hell...!!'
I’ve gouged out plenty of other people's eyes until now, but I never imagined I’d end up having to gouge out my own. I’m going crazy. My hands were soaked in blood. I’m going crazy. Well, I managed to pull them out. Now I have to insert the dragon's eyes. This isn't exactly the Ship of Theseus, is it... If it goes on like this, I hope I don't end up in a situation where I have to replace everything except my brain?
"Shit... shit... shit... get in there, damn it... shitttttt..."
I pushed the dragon's eyeballs into my empty eye sockets. They didn't go in well at first, but once they were halfway in, they popped into place. Since the nerves weren't connected yet, I just felt like something large had been shoved into the holes, and I still couldn't see anything.
"Ri, rising... huff... fl, flesh..."
How much will it hurt? I can't even imagine---
"Gyaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!! Ugh!!!"
It hurt so much that I ended up biting my tongue. Blood flowed down from my eyes and mouth. I feel like I'm going insane. I’ve been in plenty of pain until now, but this was truly a fresh kind of agony. I felt something similar when I first awakened as a cultist and gained my first skill... but I should say this hurt more stubbornly than that. It felt like my eyeballs had been dug out and filled with bugs. The sensation of those bugs eating my brain and crawling up... it was the kind of pain where you sprinkle sand into your eyes and crush them with the heel of a high heel.
"Cough... shit... it hurts like hell..."
As I coughed, blood sprayed from my nose and mouth. Still, thanks to enduring this pain, I successfully swapped out my right eye. I thought I was going to die while swapping it. From now on, I should swap out eyeballs a few times when I'm torturing someone. Yes, I should torment that clown bastard like this.
'Damn clown bastard...'
Thanks to him, I got so much dragon material... but he’s still despicable. I’m going to gouge out one of his eyes, stick a doll's eye in, and throw him into the basement of the Jeonyul Mansion. I’ll keep him alive while he wanders around until he’s about to die, then keep tormenting him.
"Whew... oh... I can see...!"
I blinked my new eyes a few times. Maybe because they weren't my original eyes, the size didn't quite fit yet. I guess you could say there was a slight sense of alienation. I’ll get used to it after wearing them for a few days. For now, they felt too dry and like there was some foreign object in them, so I sprinkled a little bottled water into them.
"Wow... I can see so well..."
My original eyes were very good, but the eyes of a Dragon King's offspring are indeed different. I can see just as well as a hawk. I think my vision is almost 8.0. To think I can see better than a hawk. At this point, I think my vision might be sharp enough to see the pixels on a TV. With eyes like these, it’s no wonder dragons can spot enemies from the sky. And since it died while polymorphed into a human state, the eyeballs were a suitable size.
'Thank you... Golden Dragon. Now you will be with me forever...'
I sent a word of thanks to the dead, nameless offspring of the Dragon King. Perhaps this guy had been living until now just to give me these high-performance eyeballs?
"Now then..."
I brought the dagger up to my left eye. Even though I’d already experienced it once, I was still afraid. The act of gouging out your own eyeball with your own hands is something you can never get used to, no matter how many times you do it.
-Squelch!!
"Guh-ugh...!!"
To finish the job quickly, I hurriedly pulled out the eyeball and shoved the dragon's eyeball in. The longer you delay while swapping eyeballs, the longer the pain lasts. It’s better to just ignore the pain and swap them quickly.
"Haa... haa... it's done... shit... I did it again..."
Finally, I swapped both eyes. As both eyes reached a vision of over 8.0, the scenery I saw changed. It was wider, and I could see more. I guess you could say my cognitive ability had increased significantly.
"The flow... I can see it..."
As I focused my eyes, my vision shifted slightly, and I could see the flow of mana running through my hands. I couldn't see it in detail, but... at this level, I think I could tell whether a normal player was about to use a skill before they even activated it.
'Jackpot...'
As I was continuously admiring the performance of my newly acquired eyes, achievement notifications popped up.
[Achievement completion rewards are granted.]
[Achievement completion rewards are granted.]
[Achievement completion rewards are granted.]
More achievements were unlocked. I don't know how many achievements I’m unlocking at this point.
'I need to rest for a moment...'
I lay halfway down on a red rock. I can just check the achievement rewards and look around to see what the surroundings are like. For now, there are a total of nine achievements I need to check. First, there are 'Grotesque Predator' and 'Nightmare of Dragons' achieved by eating dragon dough. And 'Superhuman' and 'Galloping Gale' achieved when my Strength and Agility stats exceeded 200. In addition to these, 'First Visitor of Hell' and 'Abandon All Hope' were automatically achieved upon entering the Infinite Hell. Finally, 'Dragon's Pupil', 'Endless Bodily Modification', and 'Self-Surgery Expert' were achieved after swapping my eyes for the Golden Dragon's eyeballs. It’s an enormous amount.
'There are so many...'
It’s going to take forever just to receive the achievement rewards. It reminds me of when all the achievements that had been blocked by Sataniel were released...
'Come to think of it... how do I crush that Loki bastard? Is there really no way to find him...'
Loki suddenly came to mind. It’s not just Loki. There are quite a few bastards I’ve put on my blacklist now. First, Nick, this dirty apostate is just priority number one, no questions asked. Next is the World Tree; one day, I will burn it down with Hilde. Next is Paimon; this parasite bastard is waiting for me right now, cleaning his neck. Lastly, the newly emerged Dragon King; this bastard is also picking a fight with me for no reason.
'The world is full of bastards to kill...'
I didn't even bother putting the Pantheon on my blacklist. They aren't even worth talking about. Not a single one of them should be left alive.
'For now...'
I should write a letter and send it, saying I’m safe. Everyone must be worried about me.
"What is this..."
But in the last 20 minutes, the auction house had become a mess.
'These shits... these cunning bastards... pulling this kind of bullshit in the meantime...'
Other users who had been watching Mer and me use the auction house for almost an hour started uploading fishing items. From bastards uploading a plausible-looking envelope with the words "To Mer..." to bastards uploading a box that looked like it was full of nothing but trash with the title "Anna, are you doing well?"... it was a mess. Even looking at the fact that the prices weren't rising, it seemed like Mer, who would be at Cheshire's hideout, and Anna, who would be at Hyoseon Girls' High School, had also realized they were all fishing items and weren't buying them. The bastard who started this scam first must have earned some coins... my coins...
'I'm going crazy... I can't even catch the scammers...'
There was another part that was even more annoying.
[Infinite Hell - Auction House Unregistered Area]
[Shipping Fee Self-Pay - 100,000 Coins]
They say that to hold an auction in hell, you have to pay the shipping fee because it’s an unregistered area. How can such an absurd thing happen? 'Shit..! This is too much..! 100,000 coins isn't just some kid's name... do I have to pay this much every time I send or receive something..? This is insane...'
It’s too wasteful to pay. Since I received a few food and water items earlier, I’ll try to endure as much as I can with those... or I’ll have to procure them locally here. 'My 0.2-ton side bag is almost full with daily necessities, the dragon's heart, and the inner core... and my backpack and duffel bag are empty, so...' I’ll have to pack the items I farmed in here as much as possible. For now, let’s just receive the achievement rewards.