Chapter 107. The Realm of Talent (4)
[Wow! The ROK district’s stage is getting showered with donations!]
[Whose idea was this? That strategy was brilliant!]
The chat window scrolled upward at breakneck speed, and the donations poured in alongside it. Obviously, this performance was unlike any that had come before. Even the host seemed thrilled, throwing out exclamations one after another.
“How on earth did you come up with the idea to use that screen?” Ji-Eun asked.
“Right? Noonim, I thought we had to perform on stage no matter what, since they told us to go on stage,” Jae-Hyuk replied.
Having nothing else to say, Eun-Ho could only offer an awkward laugh. “Haha...”
The truth was simple.
Actually, it was inspired by Ji-Eun’s content.
During the memory trial, Ji-Eun had edited her memories, giving it K-drama vibes. Eun-Ho had seen firsthand how wildly the observers had responded to it.
Besides, there was an obvious demand from people who wanted something fresh.
[The Newbie from the Bureau of Corporate Relations shines with excitement at the thought of watching juniors put on a show!]
[The Brain from the Bureau of Investigation sneers that it will just be swordplay and singing so don’t get your hopes up.]
The observers’ reactions toward the Swear-Master and Myung Seung-Tae on his channel sealed the deal. He hadn’t expected it to go this well though.
“It seems the market research paid off. We just got lucky,” Eun-Ho said with a shrug.
Either way, the talent show was drawing to an end. He needed to remind them to wrap things up.
[00:30]
Eun-Ho started walking over when the Swear-Master frowned and muttered something under his breath.
“Insult?”
What!?
“Did you unlock it?” Eun-Ho asked quickly.
Swear-Master nodded reluctantly, still frowning in dissatisfaction. “Uh... Yeah. It feels kinda off, though...”
That’s strange. He’s probably been waiting so eagerly for his ability to awaken, yet now he looks almost disappointed, Eun-Ho thought.
[Time is up, ROK district!]
[That was such a brilliant performance! Even I, Sarah, enjoyed it so much!]
[Everyone had fun, right?]
Beeeep!
A shrill tone signaled the end of the district’s time limit. Then, instead of applause, a burst of fireworks lit up the air. Their five minutes were over.
Fwoosh—!
[The total amount of donations made is 57,000 points!]
[Wow! ROK stage shoots straight to first place!]
[Those cheeky foul-mouthed rogues really pulled it off!]
“Hah...” Eun-Ho exhaled in surprise.
The results had exceeded his expectations. It seemed like the Swear-Master had more potential than he’d given him credit for.
[The Smiling Angel from the Bureau of Public Affairs shivers in regret that it’s already over!]
“Ugh, enough already! Fuck off!” the Swear-Master shouted irritably.
[The Hook from the Bureau of Investigation demands just one more line!]
Great, now we’ve got ourselves a bizarre little fandom, Eun-Ho thought wryly.
With practiced ease, the blonde ponytailed host tossed out her closing lines.
[Sorry, but all good things must end! We’ll be moving on now!]
[We are disconnecting the feed for the ROK district stage!]
[Next up is the following stage from another district. Don’t change the channel, got it?]
In an instant, the massive central screen flickered off, and the lively chat vanished with it.
[The Newbie from the Bureau of Corporate Relations nods with a satisfied smile, saying they finally understand the fun of watching their juniors perform.]
[The Prince from the Bureau of Investigation chuckles dryly, asking if they finally figured that out.]
[The Catty Cat from the Bureau of Investigation whines that it’s been ages, and they just want to see the cute female lead’s face already.]
Of course, true silence never came to Eun-Ho.
Well, at least these guys are useful sometimes.
Thanks to them, he’d gained a clearer picture of everyone’s tastes.
Swear-Master, looking as though he’d been tormented enough, dramatically flicked at his ears. “Ah, finally. It’s a little quieter now.”
Eun-Ho said, “Let’s start wrapping things up. The performance is over anyway.”
“Yeah, guess we should,” Swear-Master agreed. Then, with a face that radiated relief, he tossed a final parting shot at Myung Seung-Tae. “We’re all done now, you bastard.”
He had only thrown out a single line, but the insult seemed to take on form, twisting together like a cloud of black cigarette smoke.
Ptooey!
Szzzzzt!
Then, the dark haze slithered forward, attaching itself to Myung Seung-Tae.
“Huh?”
All three of them, Eun-Ho, the Swear-Master, and Seung-Tae, stared in shock.
“W-what the hell is this?! Get it off me! It feels disgusting!”
The smoky tendrils crawled up from Seung-Tae’s legs, winding higher and higher, wrapping around him like something alive. Just looking at it sent a chill down the spine. The murky energy wormed its way into his ears. Then, came the sound like water draining away.
The color drained from Seung-Tae’s cheeks until his face appeared gaunt.
“W-what the hell! What is this?!” Seung-Tae stammered.
“What’s happening?” Eun-Ho demanded.
“Um...”
“The message! What did it say?”
Eun-Ho grabbed the panicked Swear-Master, forcing an answer out of him.
With eyes trembling, Swear-Master finally said, “A s-strong curse has drained his vitality...”
“And?”
“And so his Stamina will drop by ten percent...”
So it’s a debuff, Eun-Ho thought.
Up to this point, all the titles and skills Eun-Ho had acquired had been buffs.
A debuff that could shave off ten percent of Stamina was no small matter. There could even be more abilities hidden beneath it. Whether that ten percent was a fixed value or if there were special conditions, he’d have to confirm later.
If he can use this on enemies, it’ll be invaluable, Eun-Ho concluded.
Just then, Seung-Tae erupted in fury. His face was red with rage. “What the hell did you do to me?! You bastard, what did you just do?!”
Even with his eyes covered, he somehow knew the one responsible wasn’t Eun-Ho but the Swear-Master.
It’s funny how he didn’t say a word when I was twisting his bones and muscles around, but now he’s up yelling.
Swear-Master suddenly snapped back to himself. His eyes grew sharp, and strangely enough, his expression even looked refreshed.
“Shut up, you piece of shit.”
Ptooey! Szzzzzt!
The foul aura spewed out once again.
“Argh! Stop this cursed garbage already!” Seung-Tae screamed, his face growing paler and paler.
Then, he kept shrinking away, drained, until the Swear-Master finally closed his mouth with a satisfied look.
***
Between Seung-Tae’s shrill screams, the sound of countless footsteps echoed.
Thud! Thud! Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
As soon as the stage ended, a rush of people stormed in. The pounding steps were proof that the plan had succeeded.
“That bastard!”
“C-Captain, please, calm down!”
The first to arrive was Park Gong-Chan. His face was flushed red, his chest heaving with rage.
Bang!
Held back by his juniors, he couldn’t strike Myung Seung-Tae’s head, so he kicked the nearby table instead.
So he was one of the victims too, Eun-Ho thought.
The way Seung-Tae had casually slung an arm around his shoulders, calling him “Mr. Gong-Chan” or “Gong-Chan,” had been suspicious from the start.
No wonder it felt off back then...
However, a man as proud as Park Gong-Chan would never easily accept the fact that he’d been used like a puppet.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Thud!
He kept slamming his foot against the jewel-cut table until shards scattered across the floor. Finally, with a long exhale, he managed to get control of himself.
“I...”
He stepped up in front of Eun-Ho, wiping his face with both hands as if trying to sober up.
Huh?
Eun-Ho wondered why he came toward him rather than Seung-Tae.
“I almost dragged you into this too. I’m sorry.”
The apology came out of nowhere.
“You couldn’t help it.”
“Still... Damn it, I wasn’t in my right mind.” Gong-Chan’s face was etched with genuine regret. “... I owe you twice now.”
Twice?
Eun-Ho guessed he was referring to that time in the Training Institute when the ball had been passed to him. It didn’t matter much to him either way.
“If you’re that grateful, just pay me back later,” Eun-Ho said lightly with a shrug.
After all, having a favor owed by someone of Park Gong-Chan’s caliber wasn’t a bad thing.
“... I will. I promise.”
Eun-Ho patted Gong-Chan on the shoulder, nodding toward the man’s anxious teammates. “Good. Then relax a little. Your juniors look like they’re about to faint.”
“You...” Gong-Chan began, eyes clouded with something complicated. However, he stopped himself. “... Forget it.”
What an anticlimax.
“Ji-Woong!”
“Ji-Eun!”
Ji-Woong came running in, breathless, calling out for his sister. His eyes were sharper than Eun-Ho had ever seen them before.
Right. Once they learn the truth, the brainwashing effect breaks. The stronger the ability, the harsher the restrictions, Eun-Ho thought.
“Seung-Tae Hyung,” Ji-Woong said, stepping in front of the bound man.
Seung-Tae raised his tied hands, his voice pleading. “K-Kim Ji-Woong? Ji-Woong, is that you? Look, if you heard what I said earlier, don’t misunderstand—”
However, Ji-Woong cut him off, his gaze unwavering. “Pay me back.”
“Huh? What?”
“I came to collect the stats you borrowed.”
Seung-Tae froze, his excuses silenced. “I-I’ll give it back later! Ji-Woong, don’t be so selfish. Can’t you see I’m suffering here—”
Ji-Woong’s lips pressed into a hard line. He opened his eyes after a brief blink. “Summon.”
“Wait, hold on!” Seung-Tae panicked.
Something appeared above Ji-Woong’s left palm, and he gripped it tightly. It appeared to be a keypad that was slightly larger than his hand. With his right index finger, he began pressing the keys one by one.
Is that a calculator? Eun-Ho thought incredulously.
Fwoom—!
Before Ji-Woong’s eyes, a translucent square screen unfolded. A vertical line divided it neatly down the middle.
“Debit.” Ji-Woong spoke firmly as he kept tapping at the calculator.
“Stamina, twenty. Strength, ten. Agility, eight. Endurance, fifteen.”
Then, blue text appeared on the left column of the glowing screen.
- Stamina 20.
- Strength 10.
- Agility 8.
- Endurance 15.
“Credit.” The next words rolled off Ji-Woong’s tongue. “Borrowed stats is fifty-three.”
The figure appeared in the right-hand column. It was the exact sum of the four numbers he had listed on the left.
Confirming the balance, Ji-Woong sealed it with a final word, like a period at the end of a sentence. “Offset!”
Fwaaash—!
Light burst from Ji-Woong and Seung-Tae.
Pop! Flash! Fwaaaash!
Dozens of shining particles streamed out of Seung-Tae, scattering like jewels and pouring into Ji-Woong’s form.
Shrrrrk—!
“Wow!”
“Kim Ji-Woong!”
Debit, credit, offset? Eun-Ho thought.
“Ji-Eun,” Eun-Ho asked quickly, “Did Ji-Woong ever study accounting?”
“Yes! He was preparing for the CPA exam. He only had one subject left for the second test when all this happened...”
Gaslighting, insult, and now an accounting skill?
Eun-Ho couldn’t help but think the guys’ abilities pierced right to the essence of things.
“Y-you took them back? Just because those bastards said so?!” Seung-Tae shook, trembling with rage.
Wait a second.
Eun-Ho’s eyes darted to the display above Seung-Tae.
[0.3%]
What?! His stamina is that low?!
Even factoring in the Severing Muscle and Dislocating Bone technique and Swear-Master’s curse, Seung-Tae’s remaining Stamina should have been higher. For it to drop so low could only mean one thing: nearly all of his Stamina had belonged to Ji-Woong.
How weak was he originally?
Perhaps he had poured all his rewards into skills, believing that stealing other people’s base stats was enough to carry him. Just like an investor who maxed out a loan they could never hope to repay.
“You overdid it, didn’t you?” Eun-Ho muttered.
Now, Seung-Tae was left in a state where even a light tap to the back of the head could kill him. Yet the man didn’t seem to realize it, or maybe he just didn’t care.
Grinding his teeth, Seung-Tae began crawling forward. “D-damn it... Kim Ji-Woong, you little!”
Somehow, the blindfold slipped down his face until it hung near his nose.
“You’d better stay put,” Eun-Ho warned coldly.
“Shut up! That ungrateful brat!”
Foaming with rage, Seung-Tae dragged himself forward like a legless specter, crawling toward Ji-Woong.
“D-don’t come any closer!” Ji-Woong cried.
“How dare you betray me?!”
“Stay away!”
Panic overtook Ji-Woong as the man lurched closer, so he swung his arm wildly.
Suddenly, a system message appeared.
[Subject Myung Seung-Tae died.]
What?
Eun-Ho had witnessed countless deaths by now. Ever since the restructuring process began, death had only become more common. However, never before had a death felt quite like this one. For the first time, Eun-Ho realized that not every death carried sorrow.
[You have defeated Subject Myung Seung-Tae!]
[You have obtained a large amount of Welfare Points!]
Seung-Tae’s death wasn’t tragic. It was hollow, less sorrowful and more absurd. Besides, judging by the reactions around him, Eun-Ho was not the only one who felt that way.
“He’s dead?!”
The Swear-Master’s face twisted in shock. “S-Seung-Tae Hyung?!”
“What? Seriously?!” Ji-Woong cried out in alarm.
“That bastard! I should’ve been the one to hit him!”
The idols, who had come running in late, fumed with reddened faces, their anger boiling over.
“That son of a bitch is already croaked.”
“Damn it, we rushed here for nothing!”
Even the muscle-bound guys who had once been victims themselves showed up. They clutched their half-healed wounds, cursing as they spat on the ground.
Everyone had their own reaction, but one thing was clear: no one truly mourned him. Not a single person offered heartfelt grief. There were only shivers of disgust—people horrified at what they had endured under him.
Meanwhile, somehow, it felt as if they had inherited his estate.
“They said he was loaded but...”
“Uh... I just got a ton of points from him!”
“What’s my total Welfare Points right now anyways?” Eun-Ho muttered.
[Checking your Welfare Points...]
[Current balance is 100,150 points.]
A hundred thousand...
Until now, he’d saved up just under seventy thousand, which meant taking down Seung-Tae had earned him over thirty thousand.
“Thirty thousand?”
“Did you get that much too?”
“Well, me too.”
“Holy shit... So he was carrying ninety thousand on him?!”
Turns out, when Seung-Tae bragged about being rich, he wasn’t lying. He’d been sitting on a fortune. It almost felt like Eun-Ho should be grateful for it.
[Congratulations!]
[You have met the requirements to upgrade the shop.]
[Would you like to upgrade to the intermediate-tier shop, Everywhere and Nowhere Golden Caravan?]