Chapter 75
“I don’t like how you did things, but... result-wise, you were right,” Gilder said to Seong-Hwi.
He sat among the cradles, objectively reflecting on himself and the situation, and came to a decision.
Gilder continued, “I admit it. My plan was half-hearted, and its end was obvious. If I stayed on that path, I would have become an escaper.”
He had spent years inside this dungeon and had run out of ways to earn Karma. It would have been best to settle the fight against the Shadow Fairy Queen as soon as possible.
Seong-Hwi answered, “I can’t say I’m any different. My plan was extreme, and it also had an obvious end.”
It was all or nothing. If the plan had failed, he would have died. However, he would make the same choice even if time were rewound. Seong-Hwi had never heard of Gilder Roy in his past life, meaning he had likely died here with Dryas. Some would find it romantic, but such an end had no future.
“If only our plan had been the best of both,” Gilder mumbled.
However, he knew such a convenient plan didn’t exist. In the Mirror World, one either lived or didn’t. There was no room for those with no commitments.
Gilder stared at his right arm and remarked, “I thought about my conviction again.”
He wanted to protect Dryas. He saw in Dryas the little girl who blew herself up, which triggered his PTSD. His affections only grew the longer he spent protecting Dryas, hence he protected her like a gem he never wanted to take out. However, Dryas wasn’t a child.
“Thinking back on it now... I was protecting her for myself.” Gilder had taken a deep look into his egoist mind. “I packaged it as conviction, but in the end, it was only self-satisfaction. I never thought deeply about what Dryas wanted.”
Dryas was the Fairy Queen who lived for a millennium solely to protect the cradles. What she truly wanted might have been a knight like Seong-Hwi, who did whatever it took to eliminate the threats to the cradles, instead of a knight who only protected her.
Gilder noticed Seong-Hwi staring intently at him and remarked, “Whoa, don’t look at me like that. I’m not looking to be pitied. I just... found a new goal.”
Gilder pulled out the Queen’s Crown Dryas entrusted to him and continued, “I’m sure this artifact is more important than anything for the fairies. It might be the key to their freedom.”
“Freedom? From what?” Seong-Hwi asked.
“From the dragons.”
Seong-Hwi nodded and recalled, That artifact has the power to select the next Fairy Queen.
There was no Fairy Queen in the Mirror World at the moment. If a queen were born among the fairies, she would become their pivotal point against the oppression of their ruling race.
“A fine goal. Are you planning on going against the dragons?” Seong-Hwi asked.
“I won’t avoid a fight,” Gilder answered as he smiled.
Seong-Hwi did not know this, but Gilder had returned to his aggressive self from his days working for the PMC.
“I have a bone to pick with the dragons, too. Since I’m indebted to Dryas... I’ll help to the best of my ability,” Seong-Hwi remarked.
“Hah! I thought you were cold, but you have some warm sides too. Are you sure? I’ve once lost all my comrades because of one stupid mistake.”
Gilder refused to join a clan and traveled alone, partly to discover his conviction and partly because he was scared. The guilt of his mistake, costing the lives of his comrades, remained in his heart.
Seong-Hwi smirked and replied, “It’s fine. I’ve met my fair share of idiots.”
His Calasanz comrades who picked a fight against the dragons were just as idiotic as Gilder.
Gilder extended his fist. Seong-Hwi fist-bumped him and said, “Let’s discuss the Rescue quest once we’ve recovered.”
***
White fumes stopped rising from Seong-Hwi.
[Canceling Regenerating Crown.]
I’m fully recovered now.
Seong-Hwi opened and closed his fists, swung his arms around his shoulders, and loosened his ankles to assess his condition. His muscles were overflowing with power; it felt like his muscle fibers were made of steel cables. His senses had evolved further, allowing him to see, hear, and sense presences much better. Most of all, the harmony between his circulating mana and Destiny Force was as powerful as a waterfall.
[Cheon Seong-Hwi
Health: C(64+35) Strength: C(64+35)
Dexterity: C(99) Sense: C(99)
Magic: B(8) Destiny Force: B(7)
Karma: 1,510,305
Coins: 37,775
Destiny Weapon: Tarot Deck of Destiny B(7)
Skills (3) Traits (4) Items (6) Cubes (2)]
[Common Skills: Rust of Ruin B(11)]
[Unique Skills: Symbol Embodiment, Borrowing Destiny]
[Item Skills: Myriad Faces]
[Traits: Natural Enemy of Chaos C(11), Hundred-Man Killer C(13), Underdog D(99), Scorn for the Weak D(99)]
[Items: Ancient Fairy Queen’s Wings D(99), Silver Bracelets of Queen Consort Muryeong C(99), Myriad Cheoyong Mask D(99), Barbed Snake Brigandine F(0), Tom’s Leather Boots F(0), Ackher Ring Dagger F(0)]
[Cubes: Stat cube (A), Item cube (A)]
Seong-Hwi smiled satisfyingly as he examined his status window. All his basic stats were C(99) and above. He had raised his Magic and Destiny Force stats to B-rank using a silver cube. It was the result of using 13,489,900 Karma to power up.
A Double-B in just two months, huh? It’s unprecedented.
It was not an exaggeration. Although he was of inferior caliber due to the limitations of his race, his growth speed was undoubtedly faster than even the royals of superior races. Not only that, Seong-Hwi had raised his S-rank potential skill, Rust of Ruin, and his specialization D Weapon, Tarot Deck of Destiny, to B-rank.
I could fight toe-to-toe against an inferior race Semi Ranker around the nine-hundreds after maximum doping.
However, one thing bothered him: the Ancient Fairy Queen’s Wings. He raised the item’s rank to D but stopped after that because nothing about them had changed.
I should ask Lina about them.
As Seong-Hwi matched his heightened senses with his consciousness, Gilder approached him.
“Kurgh! Why don’t you suppress your aura a bit, Gilder?” Seong-Hwi asked as he frowned at Gilder, exuding powerful mana that shook everything around him.
“You’re the weird one, Seong-Hwi. How can you so easily control the sudden boost in your mana capacity?”
Gilder scratched his head as he tried his best to control his mana. Something shone from his head, but it wasn’t because he was bald.
“Your D Weapon changed,” Seong-Hwi remarked.
“Oh, this?” Gilder looked at the right arm he was using to scratch his head. His former silver arm had turned gold. “I raised it to A-rank and added another rule. It’s not the Prosthetic Arm of Sin anymore. It’s the Prosthetic Arm of Conviction.”
Gilder stared intently at his golden right arm, which the last light particle from Dryas had seeped into.
[Prosthetic Arm of Conviction (Destiny Weapon)
Rank: A(5)
Description: A prosthetic arm for keeping one’s conviction. It contains the feelings of Fairy Queen Dryas.
Unique Skills: (6)]
Seong-Hwi stared at Gilder staring at his right arm. He could feel powerful mana from him; he undoubtedly possessed A-rank Magic.
No wonder... I got fifteen million Karma, so who knows how much he got?
Gilder spent years earning purification merits in the dungeon. However amazing Seong-Hwi’s accomplishments had been, he had only been in the dungeon for a few days. Gilder would have received much more Karma than Seong-Hwi.
He might have even received an S-rank cube.
If that was the case, a new High Ranker candidate was born.
“Are you ready?” Seong-Hwi asked.
Gilder nodded. “Yeah. Let’s get right into that escape plan you told me about.”
***
[Closing Dungeon: Forgotten Fairy’s Hideout.]
[Purification merit rank: 2]
[Stat cube (A) obtained.]
[Item cube (B) obtained.]
[Stat cube (C) X 4 obtained.]
[Stat cube (D) X 10 obtained.]
...
The dungeon entrance broke down once Seong-Hwi and Gilder left the dungeon. The cylindrical pillar that rose from the armrest of the metal chair disappeared.
Even the closing rewards are insane, Seong-Hwi thought.
He still couldn’t open the A-rank stat cubes because his stats were lacking, but they would be useful in the future.
Seong-Hwi said, “Stay here, Gilder. Someone will come get you in my name.”
Gilder, gazing vacantly at the metal chair, turned to Seong-Hwi and nodded.
***
“Shit! Shit! Those fucking goblins!” a man in his forties with brown eyes and hair cursed as he stirred a boiling thick stew with a paddle in a pot under a fire. “It’s just an endless cycle of boiling soup and distributing it every day! What kind of shit is this?!”
The man threw the paddle and spat in the soup.
“Kekek! Eat my spit, motherfuckers. How dare they treat me like their servant?”
This was the only way he could vent his rage. Clan Trophy provided him with Coins, but he had not betrayed his kind to spend his life doing chores. He had dreamed of entering the hunting and securing unit to kill, kidnap, and steal all he liked to earn Karma as a Dark Human.
“I could’ve become at least a hunting ground keeper if Miroslav didn’t die,” the man mumbled.
Just then, a voice from behind the man said, “Hey, that’s Thumper’s soup, Miguel. You shouldn’t spit in it.”
“W-what the hell?!” Miguel, a man from Venezuela, turned around in shock. He had not felt anyone’s presence. He saw an Asian man he had never seen before. “Who the hell are you? Were you newly transferred to the sub-second floor?”
“I thought you were gonna help me out once you made it big. What are you doing here, stirring carrot soup?”
“What?”
Miguel recalled a certain conversation.
“What are friends for? In exchange, I’ll have you help me in the future.”
“Of course! Hahaha! I’ll make sure to help you out once I make it big!”
“I said that to the dead Miroslav—Kurgh!”
The Asian man instantly appeared right in front of Miguel as if teleporting and stabbed his chest with a hand as hard as steel.
“I told you, didn’t I? I’ll have you help me in the future.”
“Gurgh! Who... are... Guh!”
Seong-Hwi squeezed his fist, and Miguel’s heart squashed like clay. He pulled his hand out of Miguel’s chest and pushed him into the shaking pot containing carrot soup.
Seong-Hwi pulled out the Myriad Cheoyong Mask. Its skill effect had slightly changed after rising to D-rank.
[Myriad Faces (Artifact Skill)
Rank: Shared - D(99)
Description: The wearer can change their face, language, voice, aura, and body into those of the individual they touch, once every 18 hours.
Duration: Proportional to mana capacity
Cooldown: 18 hours]
The cooldown went down from twenty-four hours to eighteen, and he could also change his body into that of his target.
Seong-Hwi wore the Myriad Cheoyong Mask and mumbled, “I befriended someone with a body composition most similar to mine, but I guess it was unnecessary.”
[Activating Artifact Skill: Myriad Faces.]
[Target: Miguel]
The Myriad Cheoyong Mask contorted, and Seong-Hwi turned into a man in his forties with brown eyes and hair.
***
“Oh, human friend Seong-Hwi~! Oh, Seong-Hwi~! I wonder where you are, Seong-Hwi~! Oh, Seong-Hwi~!” Thumper sang as his ears twitched.
Seeing that from the opposite cell, Chlor said pitifully, “Thumper’s gone crazy.”
“Grrr. That rabbit was crazy from the start.”
“Chwik. You sure are taking it easy with your life on the line. Has your brain fried?”
“Qwee, rabbits can remove their brains and hide them somewhere else. My brain is hidden in a clean spring.”
“Chwik? Really?”
“Ahaha! Stupid orc!”
The prisoners suddenly heard footsteps as they chatted in the west wing. They instantly stopped talking, their eyes gleaming. It was the pathetic human man in charge of their food. His hands always shook uncontrollably in fear whenever he distributed the food to each cell.
“Tsk, it’s him again. I wonder when our human friend will return?” Thumper expressed disappointment as he chewed on his carrot. “Hm?”
The human man who used to be afraid to approach the cells was walking toward Thumper’s cell, his shoulder almost touching the bars. He even grabbed the bars on Thumper’s cell.
“What the hell?” Thumper said.
[Activating Skill: Rust of Ruin.]
Seong-Hwi activated the B-rank skill, Rust of Ruin, with S-rank potential, and the cell instantly corroded. He broke the cell as if it were made of cookies and stood before Thumper.
[Canceling Myriad Faces.]
Seong-Hwi removed the Myriad Cheoyong Mask to reveal his true form and said, “Let’s escape, Thumper.”
“WHOOOAAA! SEONG-HWI~!!!”
Thumper hopped as he dropped his carrot.