Chapter 289 – Poseidon (1)
“What about Captain?”
Seeing the people in front of the door, Jinrang paused.
It was Ted and Elaine. They were commanders who led Triton and protected Benteke along with Jinrang. They were Antaes and Charybdis’s apostles, and they were twins, like how the gods were actually siblings.
“He’s still resting. I think he’s having a hard time because his severed arm isn’t regenerating.”
“Are you taking care of him properly?
Ted, who was leaning against the wall, narrowed his eyes. He was speaking in a curt tone.
Jinrang’s face hardened.
“What do you mean by that?”
“What else would I be talking about? I’m saying something like this wouldn’t have happened if you served Captain by his side well.”
Ted snickered, and Elaine quietly nodded in agreement.
‘They’re doing it again.’
Jinrang had felt that the two were irking him for some time now. He knew that they were pretending to listen to him obediently while actually being envious of his position as Benteke’s right hand.
It looked pathetic to him.
The same went for now.
News of Benteke’s injuries was spreading quickly around Triton. Everyone knew that he needed some time to recover because he had used up all his holy power.
Ted was saying that it was his fault and trying to blame him for something that didn’t make sense. Jinrang didn’t want to speak with them any further and blatantly hardened his face.
“Think whatever you want. Other than that, the Hoarder is coming here at a quick pace. His recovery was faster than we thought. We have to stop him.”
Ted snorted, uncrossing his arms.
“What are you so worried about? We can just catch him. No, shouldn’t we be grateful that he’s coming here on his own two feet? There’s no need for us to do anything.”
Ted thought Yeon-woo was overestimating himself. There were only 49 days to clear everything up to the 30th floor, and Yeon-woo didn’t have that much time right now.
Just now, he had heard that Yeon-woo had cleared the 29th floor and entered the 30th, but the difficulty of the 30th floor was incomparable to the ones before it.
It was better to describe it as “trickier.”
These were trials that were hard to finish even using all your strength for 49 days. He thought Yeon-woo was barely forcing his tired body forward and considered him foolish.
His nonchalant attitude was only an act. He was actually very wary of the Hoarder.
Living beings were more threatening when they were hurt. Yeon-woo was acting exactly like that.
This was why Ted was going to catch Yeon-woo. Since he had entered the 30th floor, there were countless routes to attack him. It was perfect.
It didn’t matter that Yeon-woo was somewhat recovered. He could just break him down further.
Ted considered himself to be as powerful as Benteke even though he was his subordinate because of the gods they served.
Jinrang clicked his tongue. His eyes narrowed at Ted’s arrogance, but he knew that Ted wouldn’t listen to his warning anyway, so he didn’t say anything.
In fact, he wanted to see how much Yeon-woo recovered and what he had done with Benteke’s right arm.
‘I can confirm it with Ted and then prepare based on that.’
He was going to use Ted as bait.
Jinrang told Ted to do whatever he wanted and walked away. Ted and Elaine looked at him walk away with frowning faces.
“He’s lofty until the end. So annoying.”
“Why? Isn’t that part of his charm?”
“Sister!”
Ted looked at Elaine with an annoyed face, but Elaine covered her ears with her hands and grinned.
“I’m not deaf, so don’t scream. Also, what Jinrang said isn’t wrong. And you have your own thoughts too. We can just find out which one of you is right.”
He clenched his fists, knowing that Elaine was trying to sound him out, but he just smiled.
“Fine. I’ll bring the Hoarder’s head first, and we can talk after that.”
He melted away into the sudden breeze.
Elaine quietly murmured to herself, thinking that Jinrang and Ted had led Triton well so far, considering their opposite personalities.
“The Hoarder, hm. It’ll get pretty noisy soon.”
If Yeon-woo was really climbing the floors with Triton as his target.
Elaine couldn’t hold in her excitement.
* * *
[Trial: Congratulations on your strong will and courage for surviving bravely in the world of souls. Now, you are getting ready to enter the world you came from. However, it doesn’t look easy. Your body has become familiar with the world of souls as you have breathed, eaten, and drank from here for some time.
From now on, cleanse your body of the poison of the souls completely. Only then will you be given the chance to leave.]
[Time left: 13 days 22:01:29]
Every tenth floor was like a stage that tested what you earned from the floors below it.
So according to the individual, it could feel difficult or easy.
The 30th floor stage looked easy, but it was tricky.
Cleansing the poison of souls.
You had to find the antidote and drink it in the remaining time.
‘The problem is that you have to know accurately what the symptoms of what you were poisoned from.’
Obviously, there weren’t just one or two antidotes. There were tens of them. And these were just what people knew.
The hardest part for most players was to determine what kind of poison had entered their body. Only then could they create an antidote that fit the situation.
‘Even if I find a way to create it, it might not be easy to gather ingredients for it.’
The 30th floor was too vast. It wasn’t hard finding the antidote for each of my team members. It was all thanks to Bayluk.
However, the problem was that the ingredients were all spread out over the large stage, and it was hard to find them.
The Site of Souls was extensive.
It wasn’t like the stages before it were small, but they couldn’t match the Site of Souls. As wide as it was, the environment of each area was slightly different, so the quality and effects of the ingredients were different as well.
Of course the players would be extremely frustrated, especially since they didn’t have that much time to begin with. And when you met the occasional monster, their annoyance gauge would burst.
Merchants were living their best life on the 30th floor. They would gather ingredients beforehand and sell them at expensive prices to players.
It was a bad way to use Karma, but it was useful for people who were in a rush.
‘But there are so many fakes among them too.’
You had to be careful when choosing products.
Many of these backpacking merchants approached Yeon-woo as well. They asked him if he needed anything and offered to check his symptoms for free.
However, Yeon-woo chased all of them away and released his Monster Portents.
He had guys that could gather his ingredients for him, so there was no need for him to run around himself.
Also, Yeon-woo had heard an explanation from Boo.
“So four of these are elixirs and the other six are poison?”
「Yes. But. You. Have. To. Take. The. Four. In. The. Order of. Red. Blue. Yellow. And Black. If you. Don’t.]
“My holy power will explode?”
「Your. Holy power. Will. Destroy. Your Body.」
Boo nodded everything. His chin joints moved and made a clacking sound.
Yeon-woo looked down at the medicine that Boo had finished analyzing.
It was the elixir for becoming closer to a godly human by amplifying your holy power. As he expected, there was poison mixed among it. He would only be able to avoid getting sick by absorbing the elixirs one by one.
“Then what about these?”
「Then. These are.......」
Boo began to explain the poison he had analyzed. Yeon-woo’s eyes shined.
‘They’re Bayluk’s Eight Poisons. Or another version of them.’
Bayluk could be called a leader in the field of poison. One drop of the one of the Eight Poisons he made could melt a sea king monster.
Yeon-woo knew that each of the Eight Poisons was as poisonous as the Devil Poison.
They were right in front of it. He was quite interested.
Just then, an idea popped up in his head.
‘If I use it well.....I might be able to grow with this, thanks to Bayluk.’
“Are you finished analyzing them?”
「I have. Finished. Analyzing. The poisons.」
“And after this?”
「I’m planning. On. Throwing them. Away.」
“I see.”
Yeon-woo grinned.
Boo didn’t know why he was smiling and tilted his head. Yeon-woo always did something unimaginable whenever he laughed like that. But he didn’t ask why Yeon-woo was acting like that.
“There they come.”
Just then, the Monster Portents that were scattered across the stage returned.
Boo scanned the ingredients in their mouths and was surprised.
「Master. These are........」
“Right. Poison.”
「Are you. Planning. On. Poisoning. Yourself. Further?」
Yeon-woo silently nodded.
Unlike how we were desperate to find the antidote, Bayluk said that he would attempt to cure himself through another way.
We just watched him, not knowing what he was talking about then.
Then, we realized. That guy was a total psycho. Why were none of the people around me normal?
At the time, Bayluk considered it a waste to get rid of the poison in his body. The quality of the poison of souls was so special that it couldn’t be found on any other floor.
Bayluk thought it would be better to engrave the poison in his body if he was going to get rid of it anyway.
If his body changed to get used to the soul poison, he could use it anytime he needed.
〈Poison Blood〉. After that, the signature skill that made Anti Venom infamous was born.
Yeon-woo was planning on receiving Poison Blood like Bayluk had on the 30th floor.
Even if he couldn’t get the skill, it was also nice if his body could completely get used to poison.
And not only could he amplify the soul poison, he had the extreme poisons that Bayluk had left behind.
Also, Yeon-woo could handle Devil Poison.
If he could reign over all of them, he might be able to catch up more quickly to Bayluk, who completed Poison Blood after he became a ranker.
「It’s. Dangerous.」
For the first time, Boo expressed disapproval. He was always faithful and loyal to Yeon-woo, but he knew how dangerous it was this time.
Yeon-woo just waved his hand, saying it was fine.
The process of how Bayluk overworked his body was in the diary. Also, he had the Demonic Dragon Body and trusted the potential he earned after absorbing the Summer Queen.
‘And if something goes wrong, I have Cold-blooded and Regeneration.’
The Cold-blooded trait increased his resistance to whatever he faced.
Moreover, he believed that he could endure it if something went wrong. With his Regeneration skill, his body would heal over and over again.
‘After I have Poison Blood, I’ll take the elixirs too.’
He planned on getting stronger before he clashed with Benteke again.
Boo’s Inferno Sight wavered with concern.
* * *
“......S***.”
Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes. His mouth still felt numb. He could get used to his body weakening and then becoming tighter again.
However, he could still smell the horrid smell and the sickening taste in his mouth. It wasn’t something he would ever do again.
But the result wasn’t bad.
Hwaaaa—
Yeon-woo looked at the black smoke whirling around him. It was acidic and poisonous.
It was Poison Blood, which was born by pushing his resistance to poison to the limit.
‘I hope it’s effective.’
Yeon-woo gathered the smoke in his hands and looked down. Under the precipice, he could see countless ships docked at the port.
Above them, the trident flag that symbolized Triton was waving.
It was the official start of war.
[TN: Just a heads up, the five chapters that are left in the cycle will all be released on the last day! I will be translating them on a plane, and maybe I’ll even sneak in a little bonus chapter or two, haha.]