Chapter 75: The 20-Man Quad. Collecting the Medical Fees
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 75: The 20-Man Quad. Collecting the Medical Fees
Players began to materialize behind the monk, who stood just outside the shimmering barrier trapping the enemy squad within the formation.
“Now, all that’s left is to wait.”
As the Taoist in the red robe spoke, the alchemist—clutching a small statue—nodded. He began placing intricate figurines at each of the four cardinal points surrounding the trapped players.
Reaching into a subspace, the alchemist pulled out glowing, nail-sized gems and dropped them over the heads of the statues. Remarkably, the gems hovered in the air, emitting a soft radiance that illuminated the figures.
Having placed the four statues and gems, the alchemist smiled.
“The union of formations and alchemy has opened a new world. At this level, even a horde of Sword Emperors would find it difficult to survive.”
The Taoist in the red robe looked on, his face clouded with doubt.
“One of them seemed to know quite a bit about Jiangshi. You don’t think they’ll find the Gate of Life and escape, do you?”
“To find the Gate of Life, they would have to destroy all four Heavenly King statues—an impossible feat inside that formation.”
The monk, the alchemist, and the Taoist had first met in a 4-man Squad game. By combining their mastery over formations, spells, and alchemy, the three had survived the carnage of the battlefield.
Back then, when their martial prowess was relatively weak, they captured players using formations and released alchemy-enhanced Saldong into the fray to finish them off. Afterward, they would turn the players who weren't fully dead into Jiangshi, steadily increasing their power.
Though their methods were crude at first, they had refined them since forming a regular squad. By sharing techniques and recruiting only those of their own kind, they had eventually built a 15-man regular Quad.
“Everyone, let’s begin.”
The players spread out to the four corners of the formation, their powers resonating to expand the reach of the Jin.
*
“M-My god.”
Despair washed over the players as the statues of the Four Heavenly Kings, each standing nearly thirty meters tall, loomed over them from all sides.
“I-It’s an illusion of the formation! Don’t move recklessly, and—”
Boom!
Jin Long couldn’t finish his sentence.
Gwangmok Heavenly King, holding a pagoda in one hand and a trident in the other, lunged with his weapon. Jin Long instinctively blocked the strike, but he couldn't withstand the force and was sent flying backward.
Jin Long tumbled across the ground, coughing up blood as he forced himself up.
“Urgh! It’s… it’s not an illusion…”
His words only served to heighten the players' agitation.
‘This won’t do.’
Seo-un shook his head as he watched the players cower with hopeless expressions. He wanted to curse at them for their pathetic lack of spirit—giving up before the fight had even begun—but his priority was to restore their plummeted morale, even if only a little.
—The physical force and mana are strangely distorted.—
He could feel it even without Hamit’s warning. These statues of the Four Heavenly Kings were clearly more than mere illusions.
‘If they aren’t illusions, it means my physical attacks will work on them.’
He concentrated his internal energy into his clenched fist. As two cycles of internal power began to gather silently, he drew the aggro of the nearby Gwangmok Heavenly King.
Whoosh!
The moment the massive trident came flying toward him, Seo-un threw a punch imbued with Concussive Strike.
Crrraaaaack!
As Seo-un was pushed back, Gi-chan caught him firmly from behind, stabilizing his stance.
Meanwhile, a crack momentarily appeared on the Heavenly King’s shoulder where the trident was held, only to heal—or rather, appear to heal—instantly.
Seo-un didn’t miss it.
“Physical attacks work!” Seo-un shouted as he watched Gwangmok Heavenly King falter while pulling back his trident. “This is a fight we can win!”
Juriel shouted as well, refusing to be outdone, and the shattered morale began to rebuild.
Just then, Jeungjang Heavenly King approached from behind, holding a dragon and a precious orb. The dragon in his grasp roared, opening its maw to unleash a torrent of crimson flames.
Fwoooooosh!
Kieeeeeek!
Gi-chan quickly fired an Ice Snake, and Juriel’s Blizzard magic instantly neutralized the dragon’s flames, pushing Jeungjang Heavenly King back.
“Elemental magic works well too!”
When even Gi-chan shouted, the players' fear almost entirely vanished.
“We don’t need to feel as pressured as they look.”
“They’re nothing special!”
Jin Long had been sent flying in one hit, and Seo-un—though he didn't show it—had suffered significant internal injuries from that single clash. However, the other players failed to realize this.
*
The monk shook his head as he saw the crack on the small statue of Gwangmok Heavenly King.
“It seems they’re putting up quite a resistance! Everyone, maintain the formation to the end.”
Usually, once the Four Heavenly Kings were unleashed within the Jin, things were settled instantly. He had a feeling these enemies wouldn't go down so easily.
“I’m sending the Jiangshi caught in the formation straight in!”
“Break through the Four Heavenly Kings' encirclement!”
Boom! Crash! Crackle!
Dodging the sword of Jiguk Heavenly King and the thrusting spear of Gwangmok Heavenly King, the players tried to break the encirclement to face them head-on. At that moment, Damun Heavenly King, who held a lute, began to play.
Ting! Twang! Clang!
Crrrk!
As soon as the music started, the barriers that had been set up began to shatter.
“Don’t panic! Keep the barriers up! Don’t stop the magic attacks!”
—Master!—
Simultaneous with Hamit’s call, a roulette wheel appeared before his eyes. Seo-un quickly flicked the wheel with his fingertip.
—Tick-tick-tick-tick… Ding! Thief’s Habit. It’s the Thief series. The Sensory Version.—
He was about to complain about the ridiculous skill name when the essence of the skill flooded his mind.
[Thief’s Habit: Sensory Version]
• Every time you make physical contact with an enemy, you randomly steal a portion of their senses.
• Stolen senses do not return to the target for 5 minutes.
• You cannot steal another sense from the same target for 5 minutes.
• If a special sense is stolen, you can use it for 5 minutes.
• Maximum of five senses can be stolen at once.
Seo-un activated the strange skill immediately. Dodging the spear of Gwangmok Heavenly King, he began to move using Muryeong Phantom Step.
As Seo-un split into twelve afterimages and scattered, the Heavenly Kings began to stomp around, trying to crush him like a bug.
Thud!
As he struck the leg of Jeungjang Heavenly King—who was summoning lightning with his orb and firing flames with his dragon—he felt the sensation of stealing the statue's sight.
The blinded Jeungjang Heavenly King began to swing his dragon and spew flames in a rage, but they were all aimed in the wrong direction.
“He’s right next to you!” Damun Heavenly King, holding his lute, scowled even more fiercely as he was accidentally scorched by the flames.
Seo-un used Muryeong Phantom Step again toward Damun Heavenly King. He felt his internal energy draining rapidly, but he now possessed two cycles of internal power. Even if it meant emptying his Dantian, he had to break this formation quickly. He wouldn't make the mistake of dragging out the fight just to save energy.
Snap!
With a discordant note, the strings of the lute in Damun Heavenly King's hands snapped under Seo-un's touch.
Whack!
In exchange, Seo-un was swatted by Jeungjang Heavenly King’s palm and slammed into the ground like a fly, but a smile played on his lips. He sprang up and retreated, his aching body ignored as he watched the flustered Jeungjang Heavenly King try to restring the lute.
Twang! Crack! Snap!
Having lost his sense of touch, Jeungjang Heavenly King could no longer perform the delicate lute playing from before. The sound waves erupting from his lute struck Jiguk and Gwangmok Heavenly Kings instead, causing cracks to form on their bodies.
“Jiangshi from the rear!”
No sooner had he finished disrupting the giants and returned than Kaien shouted a warning. Without a moment to catch his breath, Seo-un, Kaien, and Jin Long rushed toward the approaching Jiangshi.
Crunch!
Unlike before, the head of a Jiangshi was crushed instantly by Seo-un’s hand, and the knight Jiangshi wielding a sword collapsed to the ground.
Slash! Slash!
Kaien and Jin Long also made short work of the Jiangshi lunging at them, taking their heads in an instant. Because the Jiangshi were attacking blindly compared to their earlier hesitation, it was much easier to clear them out.
“Focus on the magic!”
Juriel encouraged the mages, whose concentration was wavering as they watched their teammates fight the Jiangshi at close range.
Clang! Flash!
A martial artist Jiangshi easily blocked Kaien’s wooden sword, its lips curling into a twisted grin as it delivered a shallow cut to his chest.
Kaien retreated a great distance, blood trickling from his mouth as he shouted.
“A Living Jiangshi!!”
The martial artists seemed shocked by the revelation, but they couldn't afford to worry about the rear while struggling against the Four Heavenly Kings.
Seo-un had seen many Jiangshi in martial arts novels. He didn't know how much was fiction and how much was reality, but he knew that a Living Jiangshi retained its ego and the full extent of the martial arts it possessed while alive.
‘It’s still just a martial artist.’
Seo-un lunged at the Living Jiangshi in place of Jin Long, who hadn't recovered from his internal injuries, and Kaien, who was receiving healing magic for his slashed chest.
The Living Jiangshi watched with amusement as Seo-un grabbed the neck of a mace-wielding Jiangshi and tore it apart with brute force.
‘Arrogant bastard. For a mere Jiangshi.’
The Living Jiangshi thrust its sword, wreathed in sword qi. Seo-un met the blade with the back of his hand, utilizing the principles of Spinning Strike. Despite this, the sword continued its path without being pushed back at all. Seo-un’s brow furrowed at the creature's monstrous strength.
Thump!
Stomping his foot, he drew strength from his lower body and channeled it into the back of his hand, finally causing the enemy's sword to waver. The moment the blade grazed his shoulder, Seo-un opened his fist and unleashed the Blood Bone Claw.
Skreeeech!
The creature desperately blocked its neck and head, but its arms were instantly shredded. The Living Jiangshi’s expression twisted into a hideous grimace as it glanced at its mangled left arm.
“Kaaaaah!”
The creature lunged with a beast-like roar, and Seo-un met it with movements even more predatory.
Crunch! Crunch!
The moment the two figures crossed paths, both of the Living Jiangshi’s arms flew into the air. As the creature stared blankly at its severed limbs, Jin Long’s sword halved its head, and Seo-un’s fist finished the job by pulverizing what remained.
“Damn it! My precious Jiangshi!”
At the Taoist’s cry, an ominous atmosphere began to spread through the surroundings.
“They’re still holding out. Something is going wrong.”
As someone spoke, the monk shook his head.
“There is no way this formation will be broken—”
Crrraaaack!
The sound of a giant tree splitting interrupted the monk.
“The formation is broken! Everyone, run! To the promised location—”
The black-hole-like space of darkness shattered, and two figures soared upward.
Zzzzzzt!
The monk blocked the incoming lightning with a barrier and the strangely large prayer beads around his neck. As soon as the Chain Lightning was blocked, Gi-chan cast Flame Burst and Seo-un unleashed a barrage of Fist Qi, forcing the players maintaining the formation to retreat.
This caused the cracks in the formation to widen even further. At that moment, the small statues of the Four Heavenly Kings placed around the area shattered completely. The formation could no longer hold and collapsed, returning the environment to its original state.
“Kill them all!”
The fleeing players, sensing defeat, quickened their pace.
As the storm-like battle drew to a close, Kaien dragged three corpses over and dropped them in front of Seo-un.
“This is…?”
When Seo-un feigned ignorance, Kaien spoke.
“From now on, I will yield all my kills to Young Hero Jin.”
Seo-un smiled inwardly but put on a troubled expression.
“I-I couldn't possibly…”
“Young Hero Jin. Please, think of your sister and accept this favor.”
“I will surely repay this debt.”
With those words, Seo-un’s Blood Bone Claw crushed the heads of the three players.
“Four of them got away.”
Juriel nodded at the report from Kaien and Ju Yeo-run, who had been acting as the scout.
“You did well not to pursue them too deeply.”
Ju Yeo-run nodded and brought a corpse he had been holding by the scruff of the neck to Seo-un, dropping it before him.
“I heard a request to yield kills to this friend for now. I don’t know the details, but I will also yield all my future kills to Young Hero Jin.”
With two people already stepping forward like this, it was only natural that the team’s attention focused on them.
“I can’t be this much of a burden…”
“Please accept it as a gesture of goodwill. There must be a good reason why he made such a request. For someone like Young Hero Jin, this is the least we can do.”
Crunch!
Seo-un finished the kill and cupped his hands in a respectful salute toward the two.
“Thank you.”
This time, Jin Long came dragging the Taoist in the yellow robe, whom he had just been about to finish off. He tossed the Taoist in front of Seo-un and spoke.
“It seems there are circumstances involved. If it helps, I will also yield all my kills to you.”
“Senior! This unworthy junior will shamelessly accept your kindness.”
Crunch.
As Seo-un finished the Taoist, Jin Long spoke again.
“If it’s not an intrusion, might we hear what those circumstances are?”
When all the players turned their inquisitive gazes toward him, Seo-un looked troubled and hesitated to speak. Kaien stepped forward to speak in his stead.
“Since it might be difficult for Young Hero Jin to discuss his personal matters before so many people, would it be alright if I gave a brief explanation?”
Seo-un nodded as if relenting, and Kaien began to spin a tale that was anything but brief.
“Oh, my!”
“Severed Meridians!”
Pitying gasps erupted from all around.
“I see! If it’s a Dragon Heart, it might actually be possible!”
As the story concluded with the Dragon Heart, several other players even dragged the remaining corpses over to Seo-un.
“I’ll yield my kills from now on as well.”
“Me too!”
“I don’t have any kills to give right now, but if the situation allows, please take mine as well.”
One by one, the players stepped forward, and with Juriel and Li Lingwei joining in, most of the players were on board. Naturally, the players' gazes turned toward the five remaining shielders.
“Everyone covets the main rewards. I have no intention of yielding my kills,” Kite said.
At Kite’s words, the players’ expressions soured as if they had been doused with cold water.
“I… I don’t intend to either. Every coin counts until I become a regular knight.”
With four of the knights acting as shielders refusing, the last remaining knight spoke up.
“I will yield all my kills.”
It was the knight who had blocked a powerful enemy alongside Gi-chan last time. The knight, who had blocked the guerrilla attack from the rear based on Seo-un’s judgment, had been keeping an eye on him ever since. Despite the pressure from his peers, the knight stood his ground.
“Thank you, everyone. If I had any shame, I would refuse you all, but when I think of my sister lying in her sickbed, waiting only for me… I will shamelessly accept your kindness.”
The players, excluding the four shielders and Gi-chan, nodded with proud expressions.
‘That… that… scammer!’
Only Gi-chan was staring at Seo-un with a look of utter disbelief. He knew Seo-un was up to something, but he never imagined he would pull off such a blatant scam.
Avoiding Gi-chan’s gaze, Seo-un brought his fingers to his eyes—which were bloodshot from not blinking—and rubbed them.
‘Was he always that kind of person…?’
Watching Seo-un, who could only be described as "contemptible," Gi-chan’s expression shifted through a dozen different emotions.