Chapter 75. The Cost of a Choice (3)
Ever since she was a child, Ji-Eun had always hated rainy days. She hated how she’d to hop around impatiently before school, worried that the laundry she’d hung out last-minute might get soaked. She hated how rain meant her father would start sending those busy, rushed texts again.
“Why didn’t you pack Ji-Woong’s umbrella? Take it to him.”
Despite never once asking if she had an umbrella, he never failed to check on her younger brother’s safety. That always stung. Still, instead of sulking, Ji-Eun quietly carried two umbrellas.
“Ji-Eun is such a good girl. Her father raised her so well.”
That was what people used to say.
As the good daughter and big sister, such roles were expected from her. For only she could step into the role her mother had left behind after passing.
Perhaps, that was why being a secretary suited her so well. Putting others before herself was something Ji-Eun had done all her life, as naturally as breathing. She thought that if a little self-sacrifice made the people around her happy, then surely, that was better for everyone.
“Hey rookie! Why are you doing that yourself? Tell Secretary Kim to do it!”
“Huh? B-but the manager told me to do—”
“It still counts as your work even if the secretary does it! Don’t you know how to use your head?”
That meant someone named Kim Ji-Eun was slowly vanishing like a shadow. However, Eun-Ho was different from the moment they met and ever since.
“I need you. I really do.”
“No one else will do. Only you can in this entire world.”
He didn’t stare at her because she was pretty, kind, or had a nice body. He looked straight at Kim Ji-Eun, the person.
Eun-Ho was the type of man who’d casually snip away at her smooth, untamed hair with a pair of office scissors. He seemed ready to discard anything—or anyone—that stood in his way. Yet, in a curious contradiction, when she trembled with the chill, he’d kindle a pillar of flame just to shield her from the cold.
“Will you help me?”
That kind of man said he needed her, and called her irreplaceable. That it couldn’t be done by anyone else but her.
Therefore, Ji-Eun said, “... I’ll go.”
Higher, and higher she rose. Whether it was the end of the sky or the edge of the sea, she wanted to be wherever he was, looking at the same horizon. She wanted to do well and to live up to his faith in her. To show him he hadn’t misjudged her, and that she was strong enough to stand proudly beside him.
The next moment, Ji-Eun broke through the pouring curtain of rain and fired straight from her heart.
Bang!
***
Whooosh—!
The downpour pummeled their heads so hard that their ears had long since gone numb. Even so, the sharp report of Ji-Eun’s shot tore through the storm, ringing across the sky.
Bang!
Radiant light exploded from the muzzle instead of gunpowder. A golden sphere flew upward, straight into the false sky. It was nothing but a black ceiling—the largest screen in this world.
Ji-Eun seemed to hesitate.
“You’re doing great! Keep firing!”
Bang!
The first shot bounced off.
Bang!
Then, the second made the clouds tremble.
Bang!
The third sent a faint vibration rippling through the air.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
By the time they lost track of how many she’d fired, the once-calm sky suddenly sparked with electricity.
Pzzzz—!
Eun-Ho immediately yanked Ji-Eun behind him, looking for the impact point. There was a tiny mark left by an invisible bullet. Gripping the slippery hilt with both hands, he raised the sword high, rainwater streaming down his wrists.
He drove his sword in between the hairline cracks.
Crack!
Straining like a beast desperate to prove itself, the Flame Shatter Blade roared to life.
Fwoom—!
Flames exploded like lightning, followed by thunderous alarms.
Beep!
[Malicious attack has been detected!]
[A barrier will be deployed!]
“E-Eun-Ho! Did you just—”
Thud!
He pushed Ji-Eun behind his back, barely having time to shout. “Petr—”
[The electrical strike will be released.]
Fwoom—!
The word wasn’t even finished before the world turned white.
“... ify”
Krakaboom!
Zaaaaap!
[The impact has exceeded your defensive capacity!]
[As a result of the reversal of system penalties, your defense power has been enhanced and successfully absorbed the impact of the attack!]
[The Scale Chestplate has absorbed part of the impact!]
A lightning bolt slammed down from overhead. He shielded himself with his petrified right arm, barely blocking it. He barely survived, in fact.
[Unexpectedly powerful assault has inflicted a status effect, fear.]
Even while he turned stiff as stone, the full voltage poured straight through.
Pzzzzz—
He raked the sword across his right forearm as if scraping away burnt flesh. Every part of him felt like it was being branded by a giant cigar. The falling rain turned to steam whenever it neared his skin. His flesh blackened, blistered, and crumbled away like meat charred to ash on a grill.
[Thanks to the high Endurance stat, you can resist the status effect.]
Stiffening without realizing, he could finally move again. The smell of burning flesh was sharp in the air even amid the rain. Even his insides felt like they’d been charred over open fire.
So... I really still can’t compete with this thing.
His Petrify skill had never failed to block an attack until now. Moreover, he had his Scale Chestplate on, and the penalty boost made him three times sturdier than usual. Yet, one strike had left him coughing up literal blood.
“Eun-Ho!”
“... I’m... fine... Kuk!”
He forced a breath, only to splutter blood, each exhale sparking at his throat.
Ji-Eun clutched her soaked sleeve, voice cracking in panic unlike her usual calm. “Seriously! Why! Why are you doing this to yourself?!”
“Huh?”
Tears pooled in her eyes. “You could’ve dodged if you were alone! You did it because of me! Because you were shielding me!”
“Well...” he rasped.
Of course he had to shield her. She was literally the one holding him five kilometers in the sky. If he was wounded, he could heal himself, but if she got hit, they’d plummet and splatter across the ground together. Plus he needed to gauge the barrier’s strength.
“... Because it was more... important...” Eun-Ho added.
“Huh?”
More important than any pain was hope that this damned sky could be damaged, as well as despair that his own stamina was pitifully low to keep doing it.
[98.57%]
[62.04%]
He’d paid in blood just to shave off one percent of the barrier. Anyone would agree this was a losing battle, but it wasn’t time to quit. He still had plenty of cards to play.
“T-this is just the beginning...” Eun-Ho muttered.
For example, he had his freshly earned rewards.
[You have spent five points to increase your Stamina stat.]
[Your Stamina stat has become 15 → 20.]
[You have spent five points to increase your Strength stat.]
[Your Strength stat has become 15 → 20.]
Also, he had the ointment he received from the friend of the blond haired guy.
[You have used the Basic Healing Ointment]
[You partially recover from the status effect, Electrocution!]
[Thanks to the Basic Healing Ointment, your Stamina stat has increased slightly.]
[82.04%]
Twenty-percent heal wasn’t bad for a basic item, but it was also proof that his stamina wasn’t very high. Even after pouring everything in, he was still determined to cause maximum damage.
I need to shave down the barrier as much as possible!
“Eun-Ho! That’s—”
He nodded at Ji-Eun’s shocked voice, checked his scorched forearm, and saw fresh flesh slowly regenerating.
“Don’t stop... Keep attacking!”
“... Okay!”
Ji-Eun bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood, refusing to give the damned sky even a second to recover.
***
Crack!
The Flame Shatter Blade lived up to its name. It burrowed into the ashen ceiling, smashing it like it once had a dragon’s spine.
Crackle!
The sky’s true nature had long since been revealed. It was no longer pristine, but cracked, scorched, shedding glittering dust that settled on their heads and shoulders.
It was hot—at least, it should have been. Eun-Ho wasn’t sure anymore because perhaps his nerves were all frozen from the icy deluge disguised as rain. Maybe his organs were so cooked by lightning everything just felt like fire.
“Haa... Haa...” Ji-Eun, cheeks flushed, panted hard as well. “How much have we got it down?!”
“Sixty-six point four percent! It’s speeding up now!”
“I guess focused fire must be dealing more damage!”
The barrier was at sixty-six percent. Dealing damage was definitely faster now, thanks to Ji-Eun’s absurd adaptability and her newly mastered pinpoint shooting. The issue was, as the barrier’s Stamina stat dropped, Eun-Ho’s own was diving even faster.
Boom!
[28.20%]
[You have used all charges!]
[You have used up the Basic Healing Ointment]
“... It’s all gone.”
There was nothing left to refill. One more lightning strike and he’d flatline. They were already standing with their backs to a cliff.
“I’ll take the hits now! Get behind me!” Ji-Eun shouted.
Ji-Eun, pale and trembling, forced her eyes open wide in determination.
“No. You get behind me.”
“Eun-Ho, please... Let me protect you this time!”
The fact that gentle, kind Ji-Eun was crying and begging told him they were at the edge.
“Do you really want to die saving everyone else?!”
“... Hardly.”
Eun-Ho let out a dry laugh at the naïve purity of that idea.
Dying for everyone else? You’ve got me all wrong.
He was far more selfish than she realized. He’d obtained an insane trump card and kept it hidden just for this moment.
[Your defiance in the face of life and death, your refusal to bow to authority, and your instinct for revolution has unlocked your Unique Trait!]
[You have been granted the trait Rebel.]
It was a trait he had earned after reviving Ji-Eun. He could feel that this was the moment.
The reason he had let himself get grilled alive and why he’d pumped everything into defense, hoarding his Stamina stat like a miser was all for a counterattack.
“Counterattack.”
[Input the Resistance stat to expend!]
Eun-Ho remembered that the amount of Counterattack was equal to the percentage of Resistance stat consumed. He had saved up for the Counterattack skill that reflected ten percent of the damage, at the cost of 10 Resistance stat.
“Use all of it,” Eun-Ho said.
He’d saved up so much, carefully and patiently, to return every last bit of damage with monstrous interest.
[The trait-exclusive skill, Counterattack (Rebel), has been activated!]
[You have expended 1,549 Resistance stat!]
[You have released damage equal to 1,549% of what you have taken!]
[Brace for impact!]
Ji-Eun opened her mouth. “Eun—”
However, silence followed. Neither the sound of the rain or the furious humming of the sword could be heard. It was as if all sound had vanished from the world. Then, in a single heartbeat, light exploded across the entire sky with a catastrophic detonation. The heavens went berserk.
Kraaaaa— Boooom!
Beep—!
[Caution!]
[... rapidly destabiliz...]
[Administr... immediately...]
The sky began to collapse.
[23.95%]
He impaled his sword into the once-impenetrable vault and clung to it while taking Ji-Eun’s hand.
[11.44%]
The blast warped into a storm of blinding light and deafening sound.
[5.83%]
They tumbled helplessly amid shards of a sky that no longer knew what to do. Then finally, as the storm gradually faded, he drew out the sword from the film-thin remains.
[0.01%]
Swoosh—!
Crack!
Then, he stabbed it back in.
[... uncontainable... detected!]
[Barrier... has... destroyed!]
The sky split, cracked, shattered, and poured down.
[Congratulations!]
[New achievement unlocked: Sky Breaker!]
[You have acquired the title Heaven Shatterer!]
The very world that had tried to kill him now showered him with blessings.
[Caution!]
[Your physique is insufficient to contain such a grand title!]
[Searching for an alternative host medium.]
[The new host will be...]