Chapter 169: Kim Min-ha
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 169: Kim Min-ha
“Move.”
[Your turn. Time remaining: 56 seconds]
[Action Points: ■■■■■□]
Using psychokinesis, I pull Kaal’s wand from where he fell in front of the stairs.
Right in front of the Chihuahua.
There’s a considerable distance between me and her as I dive into the flames, and the spell I intend to use has a short range, like an ice cloud, but…
“Remote Wand Control.”
I take control of Kaal’s wand, which I’d sent flying before the Chihuahua, and cast a spell at her feet.
“Carbonization Magic Circle.”
This is how I’ll extend my own survival time inside this warehouse, which is rapidly turning into a pressure cooker, while also trapping the Chihuahua.
“Moisture Absorption Magic Circle.”
It’s the same spell I used on the Dagger Raptor.
[Your turn. Time remaining: 37 seconds]
[Action Points: ■■■□□□]
Three action points spent so far.
Once the hourglass runs out and time resumes, the Chihuahua’s body will absorb all the superheated steam boiling around her.
Casting Hellfire grants a significant amount of fire resistance, so she won’t die from the heat of the steam, but she won’t be able to move either.
The Dagger Raptor, who could run around while under that much moisture, was a monster. A squishy wizard like her stands no chance.
“Move.”
Next, I pull out a scroll from the pile in the cupboard.
[Freezing Blast Scroll]
It’s the same item the Dagger Raptor had its eye on earlier. A Tier 7 ice spell. It generates a massive number of ice spikes in all directions, turning the ground into a pincushion.
The sharp blades of ice inflict bleeding and frostbite, and can cause Frozen or Slow status effects.
I’m taking this now to extinguish the raging inferno. The exit room is a problem, but if I leave this fire unchecked, all the scrolls will burn up. I can’t let that happen. These are priceless strategic resources.
“Move.”
There’s another reason I’m using this: to finish off the Chihuahua for good.
Even if the moisture absorption curse reduces her mobility to zero for a moment, she’s a professor-level wizard. She must have a curse-removal spell in her memory book.
Even if she doesn’t have it registered in a slot, she could just quickly swap one out while the hellfire buys her time, then dive into the gate. Game over.
[Your turn. Time remaining: 18 seconds]
[Action Points: ■□□□□□]
It’s a bit farther away than Kaal’s wand. It takes a little longer to bring it into my grasp.
But it’s almost here.
“Move.”
When the hourglass flips, I will likely come face to face with her.
Not Elaine, the university professor, nor the Chihuahua of the Assembly, but the human, Kim Min-ha.
I steel myself.
[Action Points have been fully consumed.]
[Ending turn.]
Tap.
Her foot steps onto the magic circle. It feels just like a trap switch in the Labyrinth.
As a Possessor, Kim Min-ha had always feared the Labyrinth’s traps the most.
Why the hell was the Labyrinth filled with so many of those things?
What a fucking shitty game.
In a way, the game itself might be the trap.
One that kidnaps the poor victims who click on it and throws them into the Labyrinth City.
“Dammit…”
She was just four steps from the gate.
But now, she had lost the strength to move.
Fwoom!
The steam rushing in from all sides was heavy. It felt like she was scuba diving in the deep sea.
Ah. Come to think of it, back when she was slaving away as a civil servant, she’d tried snorkeling in Jeju Island during a vacation. It was so much fun she’d promised herself she would definitely try scuba diving one day.
That was a lost cause now.
The pressure was too intense.
How did the Dagger Raptor manage to run around while covered in this?
And how…
‘How did he install it right under my feet?’
Collapsing to the floor with a loud thud under the immense weight, Kim Min-ha stared at the man.
He was even less merciful than the Dagger Raptor.
A ruthless wizard.
“…”
“…”
As their eyes met, Kim Min-ha also saw the Freezing Blast Scroll in his hand.
“Save me.”
She begged, prostrate on the floor.
No spell she could cast would be faster than him tearing that scroll.
Try to reach the gate with something like Ethereal Blink?
It was a gamble, but an ice spike would tear her apart before she could even finish chanting the first word.
Her body, heavy and soaked with steam, was completely drenched. The scroll’s chance to inflict the Frozen status was 100%.
“Save me…”
Kim Min-ha threw her wand aside and pleaded for her life.
“Please, just let me go through there. This has nothing to do with you. I just want to disappear. Let me leave. Please. Why… why are you doing this?”
She said, “That exit room will be secured and investigated by the university. We can’t let just anyone use it. And I have to put out this fire.”
“I… I didn’t ask to come to this world. I didn’t want to be a Possessor either. You don’t know anything about us, do you? You think we’re some kind of heinous, evil monsters? We’re not!”
Kim Min-ha sobbed as she begged. As she spoke, the sorrow of the past decade and a half suddenly overwhelmed her, and real tears began to flow.
“We just want to go home!”
“You’re wrong.”
“…”
“By your world’s standards, that was still murder.”
He pointed at Kaal, whose bones were already exposed by the fire.
“Ah…”
A hollow laugh escaped Kim Min-ha’s lips.
“Haha…”
Sixteen long years.
Her life as a wizard in the Labyrinth City had been longer than her time as a civil servant.
“I had no choice…”
She had become a sufficiently cruel and heartless person.
So much so that she didn’t even blink after murdering a friend, forgetting it almost instantly.
“You people can’t understand. I had no choice. Really. Let… let me go. Please.”
“I understand,” Caleb said.
“That’s why it’s a shame. If possible, I didn’t want to kill you.”
“…”
In that instant, something flashed in Kim Min-ha’s mind.
‘Why… why is he going this far…?’
Suddenly, the situation felt wrong.
All of Sohen was in crisis. What reason could there possibly be to guard an exit room?
What was his goal in throwing himself into a hellfire to do this?
Why was he so obsessed with the exit room? This was almost as if…
“You…”
Kim Min-ha’s face went deathly pale.
“Don’t tell me you’re…”
When she and Seong-hyun were exchanging code words, talking about Dragon Ball, she had seen Caleb’s expression harden for a moment.
She hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but…
“Are you… a Possessor…?”
It was more shocking than the White Lion being captured, more shocking than the Dagger Raptor’s death.
No, wait a minute.
Caleb had proven himself under Lie Detection Magic.
“What in the world…”
No. Hold on.
Isel had done the same, but judging by the circumstances, she was the one who had betrayed them.
There had to be some kind of loophole in the Lie Detection Magic. A loophole that Caleb knew. And one he had taught to Isel.
“But how…? You’ve been deceiving everyone this whole time…?”
The immense terror and the shock of the revelation made Kim Min-ha’s breath catch in her throat.
“Sorry.”
“No!”
Regardless, all Kim Min-ha could do was beg for her life.
“No! Save me! Please! Don’t do this! I’ll give you the exit room! It’s yours! Just let me live, please! I… I don’t want to die like this.”
She wept and pleaded.
“I finally made it this far. I’m just a few steps away. I have to go back and…”
She rubbed her hands together desperately.
“I have to go back and feed my dog…”
Of all things, the first thing that came to mind was her dog.
“And… and I’m going to sue the game company… If I get out, I’ll save you too. I’ll find a way to get you out from the outside. I swear. So please… And if you set that thing off, you won’t get out of this unscathed either!” she screamed.
“It’s true. When I die, the moisture absorption curse will disappear. The steam will explode everywhere. You’ll be dead in an instant! Please…”
Riiip!
But the wizard was merciless.
KABOOM!
Ice shards and blades erupted from the flames, sharp and cold. Steam hissed and billowed wherever the ice met the hellfire.
And then, like a black hole, it was all sucked toward the Chihuahua.
She wasn’t wrong.
The moment her last breath was extinguished as she was buried in ice, the moisture absorption curse would be lifted.
And the massive amount of steam generated here would boil me alive.
The heat was a problem, but there would also be an explosion. The compressed water and ice would instantly turn to steam, expanding in volume.
It would be something like a dry ice bomb. The spell’s name was Freezing Blast, after all.
It would all happen in a single, fleeting moment.
But I could escape.
[Your turn. Time remaining: 60 seconds]
[Action Points: ■■]
I killed the Dagger Raptor once.
Which means I have a temporary hourglass.
“Move.”
[Designated Coordinate Transfer Scroll: West Tower, 1st Floor]
I grab the scroll.
I’ll use this to escape.
Then I’ll kill the Dagger Raptor. I’ll investigate the exit gate slowly. The university has ways to examine the inside of such things without actually entering.
And when the opportunity arises, I’ll ask the other Possessors. ‘The balding yeti’ should still be alive, right? I need to find that wizard who was posing as Kaal’s advisor.
[Your turn. Time remaining: 42 seconds]
[Action Points: ■□]
This is definitely the most gruesome fight I’ve ever had.
And the kill that leaves the worst taste in my mouth.
“Move.”
A thought crosses my mind.
What if we had met sooner?
If we’d had more time, and if I had known much more about the Assembly.
Would things have turned out differently?
For instance, if I could have told them I was the one who cleared Turn-Based Master and kept it a secret.
If all the Possessors could have united with a single purpose.
Would that have changed anything? Could we have defeated the Labyrinth Master and returned home without anyone dying?
I doubt it.
I’m not heroic enough to risk exploring all those possibilities.
It’s hard enough just looking out for myself here.
No matter the circumstances, I probably would have never told anyone that I was the Turn-Based Wizard.
[Action Points have been fully consumed.]
Damn.
My psychokinesis is just a little short.
[Ending turn.]
The moment my turn ends, I leap forward and snatch the scroll as it flies toward me.
Ice shards and steam scatter in all directions. A wave of intense heat washes over me.
The Chihuahua is…
‘Already dead.’
The moment I tore the scroll, I saw her final moments.
Giant ice spikes had erupted from the floor, piercing through her lower abdomen, chest, and side.
Her limp body was motionless. Only a single tear had trickled from her resentful eyes.
The moisture absorption curse breaks.
Zzzzip!
I activate the Designated Coordinate Transfer Scroll.
“To the West Tower!”
I send the signal, trusting Yernil’s ears.
KWAGAGANG!
The steam that erupted from the bottom of the stairs was like a volcanic eruption.
“Gah!”
Yernil, who had been listening intently, was thrown backward, her hearing seemingly paralyzed by the deafening blast.
“Boss!” Back Attack screamed down into the stairwell.
“Caleb!” Isel shouted as well.
“This can’t be…”
An incredible amount of steam billowed and roiled from below, and water pooled everywhere.
The hellfire had been extinguished.
“A Freezing Blast spell?”
Isel cautiously descended the stairs and looked around, but Caleb was nowhere to be seen.
“Caleb?”
No matter where she looked, there was nothing but shards of ice and hot water.
And Professor Elaine’s corpse.
That was all.
“Caleb!”
Aimus scrambled down the stairs in a panic.
“The West Tower!” Yernil shouted from above.
“Caleb went to the West Tower!”
“The West Tower?”
Isel’s eyes widened.
“Did he use a scroll…?”
“Did he say anything else?” Back Attack asked.
“Anything else…”
Yernil’s ears twitched.
“Nothing…”