Chapter 13 - The First Throne (2)
The First Throne (2)
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Gigantification
Grade: C
Effect: Enlarges the body. All stats except Mana increase by 50, and physical abilities such as reflexes and kinetic vision are greatly enhanced. However, using Gigantification causes a severe decline in brain function.
━
Lee Jeon-seok scanned through the effects of Gigantification.
Just as he had expected.
All stats increased by 50.
Additional enhancement to physical abilities.
At a glance, it was practically equivalent to a high C-rank or quasi–B-rank trait.
However—
‘The problem is the decline in brain function.’
A drawback severe enough to be considered fatal.
You lose more than you gain.
Thinking back to the guy who had rampaged through Yeongdeungpo using Gigantification…
‘This isn’t usable.’
No matter how strong you became, it was meaningless if your intelligence dropped to the level of a beast.
It would be nice if partial activation could at least reduce the downside—
‘…But that kind of application is probably impossible.’
Lee Jeon-seok was certain.
There was no way it would work.
That villain in Yeongdeungpo had gone on a rampage using full-body Gigantification.
If partial use were possible?
He would have done it from the start.
He wouldn’t have turned into a monster-like form and gone berserk.
‘Hmm…’
Gigantification.
What should he do with this trait?
━ You should be able to take out a loan of roughly 3,000 good karma.
Suddenly, Toyoto’s words came to mind.
Receiving good karma by using a trait as collateral.
Gigantification was, at the very least, a C-rank trait.
If he took out a loan, he’d receive 3,000 good karma.
But was that really the best option?
Lee Jeon-seok thought of the Skeleton Warrior.
What if he could give Gigantification to it?
Its intelligence was already low.
The drawback would disappear, leaving only the benefit of stat increases.
Trait transfer.
It didn’t seem impossible.
After all—
‘The ability of Heavenly Slaughter Star itself is practically a form of “transfer.”’
The difference lay only in how it was done.
In that sense, Heavenly Slaughter Star wasn’t all that different from what Lee Jeon-seok had in mind.
And that led him to a single thought.
If he could take traits—
Couldn’t he also give them?
More precisely—
‘There has to be a trait related to bestowal, not plunder.’
Lee Jeon-seok searched through his memories from his previous life.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t recall anyone who possessed such a trait.
At least, not to his knowledge.
But—
“Toyoto.”
Lee Jeon-seok used the Karma Shop.
As if he had been waiting.
“Did you call for me, dear customer?”
The air tore open as if ripped by a hand.
A rabbit wearing a gentleman’s hat hopped out.
“I want to browse items related to traits.”
Lee Jeon-seok looked down at Toyoto as he spoke.
The last time Toyoto had shown him the shop, there had been quite a few traits listed for sale.
Lee Jeon-seok wondered if there might be something related to trait transfer among them.
After all, this was a rabbit meticulous enough to pick up and sell even a Red Execution Blade that had sunk to the bottom of the River of Three Crossings.
If it came to trait varieties, there would be countless ones.
“As much as you like.”
As expected.
Toyoto nodded, and immediately—
A window popped up before Lee Jeon-seok’s eyes.
[Karma Shop – Traits]
A shop window listing nothing but traits.
Lee Jeon-seok scrolled down with his finger.
Then—
━
Wind Path (C) – 40,000 Karma
Soul of the Bold (A) – 100,000 Karma
Soul Blossom (B) – 70,000 Karma
Dragon Fear (A+) – 130,000 Karma
Myth Descension (SSS) – 5,000,000 Karma
━
‘Ridiculously expensive.’
Even the cheapest C-rank cost 30,000.
The sale prices exceeded loan values by more than ten times.
And the SSS-rank?
Five million.
Considering that saving a single person only raised good karma by 10, it was an absurd price.
He might as well beat down an SSS-rank villain instead…
Scroll—
The list kept going endlessly.
‘…Is there nothing?’
There was no trait related to transfer.
That was fine.
If nothing else, he could simply sell Gigantification to Toyoto under the pretense of a loan.
Still, the disappointment lingered.
As he continued scrolling—
“Hm?”
Lee Jeon-seok spotted a trait with an unusually striking name.
No—
Not striking.
Familiar.
[Broken Heavenly Slaughter Star (E)]
Heavenly Slaughter Star.
A name he had heard countless times.
But what truly caught his attention was the word Broken.
Similar, yet different from his own.
From the name to the rank—
Heaven and earth.
It was as if the original Heavenly Slaughter Star had been flipped upside down.
Lee Jeon-seok immediately checked its effect.
━
Broken Heavenly Slaughter Star
Grade: E
Effect: A distorted star of the northern sky. Unlike the original Heavenly Slaughter Star, it carries no murderous impulse—but in exchange, one’s traits are stolen by others.
━
Its effect was the complete opposite of the original Heavenly Slaughter Star.
No murderous impulse.
Instead of stealing traits, you lose them.
‘Why does something like this even exist?’
Lee Jeon-seok was dumbfounded.
A landmine of a trait—utterly useless, harmful if anything.
Gigantification was similar in that sense.
Its drawbacks outweighed its benefits.
And it wasn’t just Gigantification.
The world was filled with traits that would be better off not existing at all.
Why did such things exist?
Lee Jeon-seok couldn’t understand it at all.
‘…What a shame.’
Looking at the effect of Broken Heavenly Slaughter Star, Lee Jeon-seok smacked his lips.
Not transfer—but plunder.
It didn’t give traits; it had them taken away.
That fact alone was deeply disappointing.
It was just one step away from what he wanted.
“Is there perhaps something specific you’re looking for?”
Toyoto suddenly asked.
Lee Jeon-seok sighed inwardly and replied.
“I’m looking for a trait that can pass traits to others.”
He didn’t have much hope.
But—
“There is something like that.”
Toyoto answered.
And then—
A window appeared before his eyes.
━
Trait Transfer
Grade: SSS
Effect: Transfers one of your traits to another person. In exchange, you acquire one new trait at random.
━
“This is…”
“This trait perfectly matches what you described, dear customer. It not only transfers a trait, but afterward grants you a random new trait through the system.”
Not a bad effect.
Not only could he transfer a trait, but he’d also gain a new one at random.
It was reminiscent of reroll mechanics in mobile games.
However—
“1.2 million?”
Ha.
Lee Jeon-seok let out a hollow laugh.
The price was the problem.
1.2 million good karma.
Meanwhile, using a C-rank trait as collateral only yielded 3,000.
The height of inefficiency.
Had Toyoto read his thoughts?
“Expensive, right? To be honest, even if you put up most of what you currently have as collateral, you still wouldn’t be able to purchase this trait.”
“Are you mocking me right now?”
“Of course not.”
Haha—
Toyoto smiled with an odd expression.
Then he continued.
“I merely wish to say that there may be a better method.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
At Lee Jeon-seok’s low question, Toyoto replied in a meaningful tone.
“Heavenly Slaughter Star and Broken Heavenly Slaughter Star. Two identical stars. Who knows? Something special might happen when you possess both at the same time.”
Toyoto smiled cryptically.
His monocle glimmered with a blue light.
Judging by the fact that he knew about Heavenly Slaughter Star, it was likely the ability of that monocle.
“A sly bastard.”
“I hear that often.”
“Can’t you just tell me what happens?”
“That would require an information fee… but I can at least promise that nothing bad will happen to you.”
At those words, Lee Jeon-seok looked at the blue window—Broken Heavenly Slaughter Star.
Honestly, it was a gamble.
The combination of two Heavenly Slaughter Stars.
There was no way to know what would happen.
‘And his intentions feel off.’
Lee Jeon-seok glanced sideways at Toyoto.
Something special.
There was no way Toyoto meant that purely in a good sense.
No reason.
No evidence.
Just a feeling.
Normally, he would have ignored it completely—
‘But even if things go wrong, I have plenty of ways out.’
Above all, Toyoto was a merchant.
And merchants valued trust.
They treasured the trust of each customer and used it as a foundation to grow their profits.
That was the kind of beings merchants were.
So—
‘If that rabbit has even half a brain, he won’t do something as stupid as backstabbing me at this point.’
Even so, this wasn’t a decision to make lightly.
Lee Jeon-seok exercised extreme caution.
This was a hard-earned second life.
He couldn’t waste it on a careless choice.
After a long period of deliberation—
Lee Jeon-seok finally made his decision.
“I’ll take out a loan. Collateral—Gigantification.”
He already had plenty of good karma, but he chose to take a loan anyway.
The 12,050 good karma displayed on his status window—
It felt wasteful to spend it all at once.
He was surprisingly stingy when it came to finances.
“Thank you for your business, dear customer.”
Haha—
Toyoto tipped his gentleman’s hat and bowed.
Seeing a rabbit do that was strangely unsettling.
Then, the system appeared before his eyes.
[You have taken a loan of 3,000 good karma from Karma Merchant Toyoto, using the trait Gigantification as collateral.]
[If the loan is not repaid within one month, Gigantification will be confiscated.]
One month.
A shorter period than expected.
‘If I’d borrowed in the tens of thousands, it would’ve been confiscated for sure.’
Lee Jeon-seok glanced at Toyoto.
The rabbit was more shrewd than he looked.
Calling it a loan was generous—
‘This is basically loan sharking.’
An extremely one-sided, ruthless loan.
Well, even if Gigantification got confiscated, it didn’t matter.
That was why he’d taken the loan in the first place.
[You have purchased Broken Heavenly Slaughter Star.]
Lee Jeon-seok operated the system and bought the trait.
Out of the 3,000 good karma he’d borrowed, 2,400 was spent, leaving 600.
“Then I’ll be on my way.”
Having finished his business, Toyoto disappeared beyond the torn space.
Hop—
His figure vanished.
Lee Jeon-seok brought up his status window.
Broken Heavenly Slaughter Star.
He wanted to check its effect again.
But at that moment—
[You currently possess Heavenly Slaughter Star.]
[Heavenly Slaughter Star reacts to Broken Heavenly Slaughter Star.]
A strange message suddenly appeared.
“This is—”
Lee Jeon-seok placed a hand on his chest.
As the system window appeared—
His heart began pounding violently.
The killing intent within him stirred.
Thanks to the Mark of Eternity, it couldn’t burst outward, but the suppressed, starving malice glared like a gaunt beast.
Then—
[The killing intent devours the broken fragment.]
[The two stars begin to fuse.]
Something bizarre occurred.
Fusion.
The two traits merged into one.
Lee Jeon-seok could feel it.
Inside him, a single shining star was devouring another dim one.
[Broken Heavenly Slaughter Star has been destroyed.]
The trait vanished.
And at the same time, the existing Heavenly Slaughter Star underwent a change.
[Congratulations!]
[The grade of Heavenly Slaughter Star has increased to EX+!]
A rank-up.
Something that occasionally happened.
But—
‘The highest grade should be EX…’
Going beyond that was something Lee Jeon-seok had never experienced before.
Yet the change wasn’t limited to rank alone.
With a higher rank, the effect must have changed too.
Lee Jeon-seok immediately checked his status window.
━
Heavenly Slaughter Star
Grade: EX+
Effect: Randomly steals the traits of those you kill. However, as a price, you experience intense murderous impulses whenever you see blood. The more people you kill, the stronger the impulse becomes, eventually causing you to lose all reason and pursue only blood and slaughter.
Additionally, once per week, you may transfer one of your traits to another.
━
Everything else was the same.
Except for the final line.
[Additionally, once per week, you may transfer one of your traits to another.]
‘So that’s what he meant.’
Lee Jeon-seok looked inwardly shocked.
Toyoto’s words echoed in his mind.
━ Who knows? Something special might happen when you possess both traits.
He had been right.
Something truly special had happened.
The “having traits stolen” effect of Broken Heavenly Slaughter Star had transformed into “transfer” and manifested within Heavenly Slaughter Star.
The one-week cooldown was long—
But considering the effect, it was a reasonable drawback.
Lee Jeon-seok was about to test the new ability immediately.
He planned to summon the Skeleton Warrior and give it Gigantification.
Its intelligence dropping wouldn’t matter.
With Gigantification, the Skeleton Warrior could serve as more than just bait—it could function as a tank or even a damage dealer.
Just as he was about to summon it—
“Who’s there?”
Bang—
Lee Jeon-seok shot to his feet.
At the same time, he grabbed the Red Execution Blade he had set aside.
“……”
The room was silent.
Was it his imagination?
‘No. I definitely felt a gaze.’
For once, Lee Jeon-seok felt tense.
The strange gaze he had sensed—
It wasn’t from an ordinary person.
A hunter.
And a fairly strong one.
Slash—
Lee Jeon-seok dragged the blade across his palm.
The dagger’s edge turned crimson, growing sharper.
Flames ignited in his other hand.
He had activated Ignition.
At the same time, a Skeleton Warrior appeared in midair.
It raised its curved blade, guarding the surroundings alongside Lee Jeon-seok.
‘Dangerous.’
His instincts screamed a warning.
He felt such intense danger that he summoned even the familiar he had planned to keep hidden.
Then—
“There’s no need to react so sharply.”
A voice was heard.
A gentle, clear female voice.
“I didn’t expect you to notice this—”
Someone was there.
On the desk chair across from the bed Lee Jeon-seok had been sitting on—
A woman was seated.
She had smooth blue hair that flowed like waves.
Ghostly pale skin.
She wore a black hanbok, with a large flower-shaped hairpin stuck into her hair.
And—
An overwhelming presence she couldn’t fully conceal.
“Just like Baek-dong said… you really do have remarkable talent.”
The woman smiled softly as she spoke.