Episode 8
Chapter 2 Promotion Test (2)
So far, the intent of the system has been clear.
Kill the creatures in front of you and absorb their mana.
Three tutorials forced the pattern on me.
This time, the target to be killed has simply changed from a beast to a monster.
As soon as I realized that, I ran in the direction the monster disappeared.
We have to catch the guy who ran away with a knife in his eye a while ago.
There’s a reason you shouldn’t miss out on the rewards based on your grades!
‘Ten million won!’
Yes, capitalism was great.
Enough to make me forget the antipathy towards the system and the fear of death for a moment.
There was no guarantee that I would actually get paid.
If you can really get it, you can earn as much as 10 million won in one shot.
There was no reason not to run.
Of course, it was possible because the judgment was made that it would be possible to some extent.
In addition to knocking down a polar bear with one fist, he didn’t get pushed back too much in the previous encounter with the monster.
It was embarrassing when the tongue suddenly came out.
I could follow the monster’s movements and speed.
In fact, I dodged his attacks several times.
In the state of mana management, it is not physically pushed.
To make matters worse, he is injured.
‘I can catch it!’
The chase wasn’t too difficult. Because the dagger had fallen not far away.
After retrieving the weapon, I followed the dark liquid that landed on the dirt floor.
‘Could this be blood?’
Seeing the traces of the monster, I was confused for a while.
After a few minutes of chasing, I found my target, and I cursed myself.
“What crazy!”
The monster was on the verge of catching and killing a white man he had never seen before.
“Put him down!”
As soon as I started using magic, I raised the spearhead and threw it at the monster.
The spear flew through the air as fast as a flagship and stuck into the monster’s abdomen.
“Kieack!”
The guy groaned and turned around.
The way he moved without a moment’s delay seemed like he was about to run away.
Embers flew out of my eyes, which contained him.
10 million won is far away!
“Hey you bastard, over there!”
It’s something you can’t miss out on.
I kicked off the ground and leaped into the air.
The distance of 20, no, 25 meters narrows at once.
When he jumped over a fallen white man and landed on top of a monster with his back showing.
“Ten million won!”
I screamed out in anger.
The rewards you could get if you caught him flickered in front of your eyes.
Ten million won was enough to inspire me.
Concentration went up to the point where it was incomparable to when I first met the monster.
The fact that he turned towards me.
Sharp claws aiming at me and swinging around.
The rope-like tongue sticking out almost at the same time.
It started to flow slowly.
Twisting the upper body while floating in the air, avoiding the nails.
When you hold the monster’s tongue with your left hand.
The long sword that appeared in my right hand was already touching his chin.
「The senses are expanded.」
「Characteristic sensory extension is created.」
Over the system message that suddenly appeared, the monster’s eyes met.
It’s really absurd, but at that moment, it was fear that bloomed in the eyes of the one and only monster.
Even after seeing that, I swung my sword without hesitation.
“Kik… … !”
This monster was clearly trying to kill me.
It’s just that I couldn’t kill him because I wasn’t weak.
No compromise was necessary.
The sense of resistance felt through the blade penetrating the skin was considerable.
Contrary to pulling the hand holding the tongue, the hand holding the sword pushed harder.
knock, knock.
Twice in total, the blade I stabbed passed through the roof of the monster’s mouth and pierced its skull.
The black liquid spurted into the air, causing the monster’s body to limp.
When the body started rolling backwards, I was able to stand on the ground with both feet.
“Whoa.”
It happened within seconds at most.
However, it felt like tens of seconds in the delicate senses as if it was out of the human realm.
The phenomenon where everything slowed down a bit.
I put the feeling I felt right before I killed the monster into a corner of my head.
Thinking about it and practicing again is a later task.
Now it’s time for the magic to come in.
I looked back as I prepared for the shock that would follow.
It was in the direction of the white man.
Byeok-an with brown hair.
He sat up before he knew it and was looking at me while holding onto my neck.
‘Let’s start by absorbing mana, then claim that this was mine.’
I was thinking of putting a nail in it so that they wouldn’t argue, since it’s steel for no reason.
If it wasn’t for me in the first place, I might have died, so the justification lies with me.
I have put together everything I have to say to the man.
However, because of the message that followed, the conversation with him had to be postponed.
“You have succeeded in eliminating the enemy. 61 contaminated magic power is absorbed.」
The mana that was far greater than that of a polar bear was invisible.
‘Contaminated magical power?’
I started screaming and rolling on the floor as I was afraid to look at the unusual message and feel suspicious.
“Haaagh!”
Hundreds and thousands of needles crawled into his body and pierced his whole body.
I had never felt any pain when absorbing mana until now.
It was just a maddening refusal.
But this time it was different. It felt like my body was being torn to pieces.
The message from the system continued as I struggled in pain.
“There is tainted magic within the body. Check the chaos level.”
“The mental contamination begins.”
「Purify the contaminated magic power.」
The bolder-than-usual letters disappeared leaving behind an afterimage.
“Hey!”
Then the white man began to approach urgently.
Pain I’ve never felt before.
signs of getting closer.
stranger character.
I reflexively drew the spear from the monster’s body and pointed it at the white man.
It’s dangerous to get attacked by that person right now!
When the blade dripping with black liquid was aimed at it, the white man stopped.
Meanwhile, the pain continued.
“Ouch, suck… … !”
I gritted my teeth and endured it, but my body wriggled as if in a seizure.
The windowsill shook and my vision blurred.
“Huh, Hak!”
It took a longer time than usual for the pain to go away.
Tears, runny nose, saliva.
He took a deep breath and scanned his messy face when he heard an unfamiliar voice.
“Are you ok?”
I was definitely trying to answer.
But what came out of my mouth was not an answer, but a question.
“what… … ?”
Someone was whispering in my head, whispering in a small voice.
I brushed my hair roughly, but my voice gradually became clearer.
Eventually, when I realized what that meant.
Unknowingly, I grabbed the spear I was aiming at the white man with a stronger grip.
‘Kill… … ?’
It was only once.
When I understood the words in my head, something filled me up.
‘Why is this all of a sudden?’
why are you so angry
My breathing was messed up as if I had run at full power for hundreds of meters.
The voice in my head started to get louder and louder.
Kill, kill, kill, kill!
‘What is this… … .’
I thought this was schizophrenia that I had only heard about.
I gritted my teeth and walked away from the white man.
Otherwise, it seemed to run at him.
I wanted to kill that person right now.
It was not an illusion. Murderous intent is seething.
Eyes flickered aimlessly.
There were words that passed through my head at that moment.
「Purify the contaminated magic power.」
‘purification.’
I hurriedly opened the locker.
* * *
Player Hyunwoo Kang (Beta tester)
mana: 192.33
(Attribute mana: 13)
Chaos Level: 31.72%
Affiliation: Earth
Race: Human (player)
Rating: Delta
property : –
Attributes: ??????, Assimilation, Tenacity, Mana Management (0.57%), Sense Expansion (0.01%)
I’ve been collecting plants whenever I have time.
It wasn’t a large amount, but it meant that there was a steady amount of additional income besides regular missions.
As a result, a new word was created under my magical power, which was about to reach 200.
‘Chaos level?’
The message of mental pollution in an unfamiliar word, even a marble the size of a 100-won coin.
The hesitation was only momentary.
I put a white orb, supposedly a cleansing agent, into my mouth.
The beads turned into smoke and were absorbed into the body, and the thorns stuck in the body came out.
When the chaos level changed to 0, the voice in my head was no longer heard.
“Whoa… … .”
It was only then that he was able to catch his rough breath.
As soon as he got up from his seat, the white man flinched and shuddered.
I glanced over at him.
‘player… … .’
Players like me who got into this crazy game in the first place.
Among them, the top rank who cleared all the tutorials.
English-speaking white people.
Considering the Japanese I heard after being moved to this space, I could see that the nationalities of the players were diverse.
Instead of talking to me, I just stared at the white man.
The white man spoke first.
“Are you ok?”
“… … .”
“Ah… … I’m Ethan. First, thank’s. You saved my life.”
“… … .”
“Do you speak English? Understand me?”
It wasn’t a conversation that I couldn’t understand, but I couldn’t help but get a wrinkled impression.
After the GED, I completely lost my English.
I clicked my tongue and opened my mouth.
“It… … .”
Of course, I stopped before I could even finish talking.
‘No, why do I have to write English that I’m not good at?’
The other side doesn’t even think about my position and uses English as they can.
I pointed my spear at the monster’s corpse and said.
“Let’s not argue for ownership. Because this was originally mine.”
I was thinking of catching as many monsters as possible and claiming the first prize.
This guy I just killed was the foundation for my 10 million won.
“What?”
The white man asked back, as if he didn’t understand me at all.
However, there was no reason why I should kindly write in English and interpret it.
‘I wish I could have put a lifeline on it.’
I took my eyes off the white man, no, Ethan.
“Tsk.”
Immediately after, I put the longsword in the storage box and inspected the monster’s corpse.
‘What kind of animal is this… … ?’
No matter how much I retrace my memory, I’ve never seen a beast like this.
Furthermore, the black liquid that flowed from the wound.
‘Is this real blood?’
The blood I know is red.
However, the obvious and absolute truth is being denied.
What is this guy’s true identity?
What followed behind the question was a word I had already seen many times.
I glanced at the status window that was still floating and checked the affiliation column.
‘Belonging to Earth… … .’
If so, what are the different affiliations marked with me?
I was still lost in my thoughts and called up the mission window.
MISSION
[Promotion Test Beta Test]
Eliminate enemies. (1/13)
The count was up.
There is also one monster I killed.
This monster is a system-defined enemy, so it belongs to a different group than me.
“The survival of mankind… … .”
The sentence I saw on the first day I was called to this crappy game messed with my head.
What the hell is going on?
“Whoa.”
I let out a long sigh and scratched my head.
‘I’ll ask questions later.’
This was not a good place to think long.
There must be at least a dozen more of those monsters.
Putting aside my doubts about the system and the current situation, I looked at Ethan again.
When our eyes met, Ethan smiled awkwardly.
As if he was waiting for me to pay attention.
“I have some… … .”
As soon as Ethan opened his mouth, my body flinched.
Because the count of the mission window at the top went up.
‘Someone killed the monster.’
There was no time to be still like this.
Because my goal in this mission is firm.
I held onto the window sill.
First of all, it seems that he has no intention of claiming ownership of this monster.
Although he was being attacked by monsters, Edan was also a player who had cleared all the tutorials.
Would it be better to accompany him?
‘But should I try to pass the next prey?’
Probably, there were 7 players in total who entered the mission site.
There is a possibility that one of them is dead, so there are 6 left.
There are 11 monsters left.
How much can you achieve when moving with Edan?
Would it be advantageous to offer him a companion?
My worries soon became meaningless.
It is because his keen hearing caught unfamiliar signs.
– Key profit.
I quickly turned around in the direction of the sound.
“Sigh.”
As I raised my mana, I could hear the tangled echo more clearly through the rustle of the branches.
“Kikki.”
“Key profit?”
“Kieek!”
thump, thump, thump, thump.
The sound of the ground was not regular. at least two!
“come!”
As I screamed, I saw two monsters running through the trees and bushes.
They came closer at an unbelievable speed.
And as if they had promised beforehand, they rushed at me and Ethan one by one.
My impression was terribly crumpled.
‘also.’
These pups are pretty intelligent.
Gripping my teeth, I stabbed the spear at the guy who jumped towards me.
Even after aiming precisely at the torso, the spearhead failed to pierce the monster.
Because he turned around and escaped.
‘I know that blades are dangerous.’
The monster I encountered for the first time was also dodged when I speared it.
You know you shouldn’t get stabbed here.
I swung the spear, building up my awareness even more.
The spearhead hit the man’s side as he turned to avoid the spearhead.
“Kikki!”
The monster flew sideways, sticking out its tongue and aiming at me.
I gave up my left arm instead of my neck or torso.
The three-pronged tongue coiled around his arm.
“Big!”
As soon as he landed on the ground on all fours, he felt a strong pull.
‘If it wasn’t for the magic operation, I would have been pushed back?’
That moment when I strained my back and legs to avoid being dragged by the monster.
“Keah!”
A scream was heard.