Chapter 14: Fisherman's Profit
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 14: Fisherman's Profit
Seo-un lunged toward the source of the sound, his movements a blur of agility.
With every stride, he propelled himself three or four meters forward. His physical capabilities already far exceeded those of any ordinary human.
Upon reaching the scene, Seo-un found a wide clearing carved out of the dense forest. Flames erupted across the scorched earth. He quickly melted into the shadows, observing the suffocating atmosphere of the battlefield.
An old mage, bleeding from his shoulder with one arm hanging limp, stood in a tense standoff against a boy who looked far too young to be called a man.
"You bastard! I could grind your bones to dust and it still wouldn't be enough!"
The old mage screamed at the boy, who wore a shimmering, mocking smile.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. If you had just waited patiently, I would have killed you eventually. Why were you in such a hurry to find me? This place isn't real anyway. You should have just enjoyed it while it lasted."
"Shut up! I will tear you apart here, over and over—"
Whoosh! Crash!
Before the old man could finish his sentence, a hidden palm strike launched from the boy's hand shattered the mage’s protective shield in a single blow.
Simultaneously, the boy's figure vanished, leaving only an afterimage behind. The old man grit his teeth and thrust his staff high above his head.
"Erok!"
Rumble!
Instantly, a rain of lightning cascaded down within a ten-meter radius of the old man.
Splat!
Despite the magical storm, blood sprayed from the old man's side, staining his robes a deep crimson.
"Urgh!"
"Tsk, tsk. You and I were a bad match from the start. There's no way I wouldn't sense such a massive surge of energy. You mages are just inefficient."
Watching the fight, even if only for a moment, Seo-un shared the same thought.
He hadn't seen it clearly, but the Qi emitted from the boy's hand had pierced through the lightning to slash the old man's side.
No matter how I look at it, that old mage has no chance of winning.
"Don't act like you know everything. I still have plenty of tricks left."
"Even if you do, they're all inefficient."
The boy's figure blurred again, leaving only his voice echoing in the clearing.
The old man raised his staff above his head once more.
This time, no magic occurred.
Instead, the old man's chest split open, and a spray of dark red blood erupted.
"Cough!"
The old man collapsed, clutching his chest. He stared at the boy in front of him as blood pooled at the corners of his mouth.
"I told you it wouldn't work."
"Hehe... Gurgle! Hehe. A mage's magic isn't as simple as you think. I'll consider my granddaughter's grudge settled by ending your little game... Urgh! Someday... we shall meet... again..."
Before he could finish his final words, the old man's head slumped forward. The boy appeared behind his lifeless body.
"Man, you talk too much, old man. I wonder if he had anything useful?"
Sensing an inexplicable chill, Seo-un turned around and began to sprint away.
What was that? What did he do? That mage did something.
He didn't know exactly what it was. All he knew was that the moment the mage raised his staff, a massive wave of mana had shot straight into the sky.
Surely... no. There's no way something like that is possible...
Seo-un cut off the thought and ran with everything he had. He had already seen too many "impossible" laws of reality shattered with his own eyes.
As he ran, he stole a glance at the sky. A red star flickered briefly in his vision. A red meteor had appeared for a fleeting moment before being obscured by dark clouds.
Damn it!!!!
Seo-un funneled all his internal energy into his legs, kicking off the ground with explosive force. His speed surged.
W-H-O-O-O-O-O-S-H!!!!!
The roar grew louder—a thunderous sound so terrifying he was now afraid to even look up.
K-BOOOOOOOOM!!!!
The earth shook. A split second later, a massive cloud of dust swallowed Seo-un whole.
The vibration traveled through the ground and into his entire body. The world turned into a haze of dust as the earth literally flipped over. An immense pressure slammed into his back.
"Gah!"
He tumbled across the ground. A massive pile of earth and a stray boulder crashed into him, striking his back.
Shatter!
The shield protecting his body was instantly obliterated. It was a devastating impact; had he not been wearing his breastplate, he surely would have died instantly.
The crushing weight of the debris pinned him down, but he clung to his fading consciousness and crawled out from under the dirt.
"Blegh!"
As soon as he emerged, he vomited from the internal shock.
"Ha... ha... Shit. I almost died doing nothing just because I wanted to watch a fight."
The thought of getting a Game Over like that made him dizzy. If he had died as collateral damage while spectating, he would have been the world's biggest idiot.
After vomiting, his stomach settled slightly, but the constant flow of blood from his nose and the throbbing in his shins felt ominous. The thick dust showed no signs of settling, leaving visibility extremely poor.
Left with no choice, he pulled an Intermediate Recovery Scroll from his subspace and tore it immediately. The throbbing pain in his shins subsided significantly.
He pulled out another and tore it. Only then did his nosebleed stop, though a headache began to set in.
Did I hit my head harder than I thought?
Feeling uneasy, he tore one more scroll. Finally, his body felt back to normal.
I don't remember hitting my head specifically...
When he reached up to check, his hand came away wet with blood.
Damn! I really almost died.
If he couldn't even remember when he hit his head, it meant the impact had knocked him unconscious, however briefly. Fortunately, after using three scrolls, the wounds were gone. Seo-un had come dangerously close to a Game Over.
He took a moment to orient himself, sensed a faint trace of Qi, and summoned the Survivor List.
Survivor List!
Holy crap, he's actually alive? What a monster...
Seo-un didn't waste another thought. He sprinted through the dust toward the faint energy he felt behind him. Visibility was terrible. He barely dodged fallen trees and boulders that suddenly appeared in his path, but he didn't slow down.
"Ugh... Ah... He... Help... me..."
The boy was in a wretched state. He was clutching a recovery scroll in his hand, trembling, unable to even tear it. Half of his face was crushed beyond recognition, and his clothes were reduced to rags.
Half-buried in the dirt and barely clinging to life, it was a miracle he was even breathing.
"So you're barely hanging on after all."
"Please... help... me..."
"Tsk, tsk. This isn't exactly a game where we help each other. You almost killed me back there, but in the end, I get the fisherman's profit. Goodbye. Let's not meet in the next life."
"Ple... ase..."
Thwack!
Seo-un's longsword pierced the boy's heart. The boy's eyes bulged as he coughed up blood, and then he went limp.
Immediately, a massive amount of vitality began to be sucked into Seo-un.
"Whoa!"
Even though he had expected it, the sheer volume of vitality made Seo-un gasp. His eyes turned blood-red for a moment before returning to their original color.
"Whew... incredible."
He had absorbed at least ten times more vitality than the last time. Seo-un smiled with satisfaction as he felt his dantian expand significantly.
"Now, let's see what you have..."
A wooden box appeared in place of the boy's corpse. Seo-un tilted his head as he opened it; the contents were surprisingly sparse.
For a guy who killed that many people...
Seo-un first checked the five rings sitting on one side. As he inspected them one by one, his mouth curled into a wide, triumphant grin.
[Tring! You have obtained Kaiser's Ring. Greatly increases Agility.]
[Tring! You have obtained Dreaminger's Ring. Greatly increases Strength.]
[Tring! You have obtained Gailen's Ring. Greatly increases Stamina.]
[Tring! You have obtained Toka's Ring. Greatly increases Magic Resistance.]
[Tring! You have obtained Toka's Ring. Greatly increases Magic Resistance.]
He only kept the best stuff!
Seo-un knew very well from experience what it meant for an item to "greatly increase" a stat.
Status!
"Yes!!"
Seo-un clenched his fists as he saw his overall stats had risen to an absurd degree. Each ring provided a 40-point boost to a stat—an upgrade far beyond his expectations. His Magic Resistance, which had been a mere 10, was now at 90, a ninefold increase.
There was a reason he didn't die instantly even after being caught in that explosion.
Compared to Seo-un, who had sensed the danger and fled early, the boy had reacted much later. It was impressive that he had escaped that far, but the fact that he hadn't been obliterated on the spot was likely due to these high Magic Resistance stats.
Seo-un looked down at his left hand, now adorned with five rings, his eyes sparkling.
"And what's this necklace?"
He found himself talking out loud in his excitement.
[Tring! You have obtained Cameron's Necklace. Increases communication with Mother Nature.]
"Huh? What kind of bull—"
Seo-un almost threw the necklace away but hesitated. It bothered him that a guy who had killed so many people only kept a few items. There had to be a reason.
There must be a point to it... Subspace.
When in doubt, putting it in the subspace was the best move. All that remained in the wooden box were some cloth armguards and a few secret manuals.
[Tring! You have obtained Seok So-cheon's Divine Artifact.]
"This scrap of cloth is a divine artifact?"
[Detailed Description: Seok So-cheon was a master craftsman who once created numerous divine artifacts. This artifact, which he created and gifted to Yang So-hu, became the symbol of the Fist King, Yang So-hu. When wrapped around the arms, it boasts a durability that is difficult for even the sharpest blades to scratch.]
The item felt strangely familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before. Seo-un stared at the black cloth for a moment before wrapping it around his forearms.
"Well, can't hurt."
With the cloth secured on both arms, Seo-un finally reached for the secret manuals.
[Tring! You have obtained the Heavenly River Divine Palm. Would you like to learn it?]
[Tring! You have obtained the Demon-Subduing Water-Fire Palm. Would you like to learn it?]
[Tring! You have obtained the Nine Flower Yin Poison Palm. Would you like to learn it?]
Seeing the three palm technique manuals with their formidable names, Seo-un's grin returned.
[Ding! Your traits do not match. You cannot learn this.]
"Huh?"
[Ding! Your traits do not match. You cannot learn this.]
"This is..."
[Ding! Specialized materials are required to learn this. Nine Flower Poison x1, Nine Yin Poison x1]
"Sigh... of course."
No wonder Nam Sa-gwang hadn't learned them; he couldn't either.
"But it's such a waste to just throw them away."
It seemed these were martial arts that couldn't be learned unless one practiced a matching mental method or possessed the required specialized materials.
I guess it wouldn't make sense if they made it so easy to learn any martial art in just a few seconds.