CH 306

[Barba Plague 2 has been eliminated.]

(Plague Resistance)]

[Barba Plague level: 55]

Seong-Il flailed his arms as soon as he came to his senses. It had become an act of instinct to check if something was after him, but his hands caught nothing. Instead, his whole body was just very itchy. Seong-Il’s hands swung in the air, but they soon came back to his body. He knew he wasn’t supposed to scratch, but he couldn’t stand it. Every time he scratched with his sharp nails, pieces of his flesh came out. He dug harder, but nothing relieved the symptoms. It was getting worse.

“Mr… Mr… Caliber…”

He heard the voice from a distance, and the voice was so soft that he could barely understand it.

He asked, “Are you Ja-Seong?”

“Yes.”

Seong-Il tried to get up, but he soon realized that he was a total wreck. His hands were pushing on the ground, but he couldn’t even stand up. The itchiness was driving him crazy, so he didn’t even feel any pain.

Seong-Il checked his surroundings. Since Ja-Seong couldn’t talk through telepathy, Seong-Il lowered his voice as much as he could, “What… happened?”

He was in a small cave where he couldn’t fully stand and stretch out his limbs. The air was stale and sour as if he had been trapped there for hundreds of years.

“Do you… not remember?” Ja-Seong asked in return.

Memories flooded in randomly instead of in chronological order. His ears were ringing, and it felt like he could see the members of the detached force dying like a hallucination. He also saw how he had suffered by himself as he had been isolated during the battle. It was difficult for him to figure out what had happened first and last.

In any case, he now knew why he was still alive even though his defense and plague resistance had been exhausted. Seong-Il stared at the notification window while scratching his body again without even realizing it. He was actually tearing his skin off.

[The God of Wind’s Blessing has been applied to you.]

[Duration (The God of Wind’s Blessing): 2 hours 12 minutes 29 seconds]

Seong-Il did a double take as he realized a possible situation that Ja-Seong could be in and that fact made him forget about the itchiness for a moment. He crawled on the floor. As he had expected, Ja-Seong had been swallowed up by the plague. Seong-Il thought of him as his son in this world, and he was the only one who had reached this point together with him all the way from Act One, Stage One. Therefore, he had a special place in his heart for Ja-Seong. A person’s life and death were decided by fate, but the sight of the boy dying was a shock to him. Seong-Il buried his head in Ja-Seong’s chest as he collapsed.

“You silly kid. You have to live first. You… You should have…” he breathed out.

The God of Wind’s Blessing was one of Ja-Seong's main abilities. Its cooldown time was 14 days, which was very long, but it had been proven to be effective several times. However, Ja-Seong had used it on Seong-Il, not himself.

The teen gasped, “Seong… Seong-Il…”

“Why are you only calling me by my name now? I told you to do so a long time ago. Why now…?” Seong-Il asked bitterly.

Ja-Seong responded, “How much… Are you going to pay me? The… the price for… my… my life…”

“You are so stupid. What is the point of paying you if you die?”

Tears trickled down on Seong-Il’s face, and blood dripped from his wounds.

Ja-Seong continued, “Seong-Il… I trust you.”

“We are almost there. It’s so upsetting to die now. You have gone through so many things to reach this point. What’s wrong with you?”

The teen ignored him and continued, “Zero, five, one, zero…”

“What?”

“Zero, five, one, zero, two, three… three, four, eight, two, four, one, one… Kang Ja… Ja-Seong… My father is Il… Kang… Il-Koo… Mother is… Cho Soo-Yeon…”

Seong-Il couldn’t tell where they were right now, but since the ground was contaminated with plague, they were very likely to be in a corner of the battlefield. Therefore, Seong-Il had no choice but to hold in tears and whisper.

“Seong-Il… You know? I’m… valuable… Zero, five, one, zero, two, three… three, four, eight, two, four, one, one…”

Ja-Seong was struggling to list the number even while he was dying. Seong-Il didn’t want to accept what was going on, but he was neither a healer nor did he have any remaining insignias. All he could do was to clearly repeat what Ja-Seong said. One syllable at a time, so Ja-Seong could close his eyes in peace.

“051023―3482411. Your father is Kang Il-Koo, and your mother is Cho Soo-Yeon.”

Ja-Seong gasped, “Ten billion…”

Seong-Il snapped, “You think you are only worth that much? That’s nonsense.”

“I’m scared… Help me, Seong-Il… I don’t want to die…” the teen pleaded.

Seong-Il interrupted, “Do you think I’ll let you die in front of me? Who am I? I’m the Caliber, Kwon Seong-Il.”

Ja-Seong also knew that it was a pipe dream though.

[Duration (The God of Wind’s Blessing): 1 hour 30 minutes 1 second]

Seong-Il could only move after his body recovered and his plague level had decreased to a certain level. The way Ja-Seong looked in his last moments was horrific. Most of his skin and muscles had melted, revealing his bones. His crumpled head had shrunk to the size of a fist, and dark red mucus was flowing down from every hole in his face such as nostrils and eyes. His fingernails and teeth had already fallen off. Since his body had shrunk, the gap between his body and the armor had widened.

When Seong-Il laid Ja-Seong down on the ground while swallowing his tears, a ring on the youth’s remaining finger came off.

[The God of Wind’s Protective Ring (Item)

Item Class: A

Item Level: 480

Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Effect: The God of WInd’s Blessing will be applied if this item is used.

Physical Defense: 0 / 5000

Magic Defense: 0 / 10000

Cooldown time: 14 days]

[The God of Wind’s Blessing

Effect: The target will significantly recover from any injury and negative effects. Resistance to certain negative effects increases significantly. The target’s regeneration speed increases significantly in proportion to their Health.

Duration: 4 hours]

***

Ja-Seong’s body continued to dwindle even though he was dead, but Seong-Il had seen countless Awakened who died of the plague reappear as a ghoul. He had no choice but to trample Ja-Seong’s head because it would be troublesome to encounter a ghoul that had reached the master section. Seong-Il felt more miserable than he had ever felt before.

[Barba Plague level: 38]

When Seong-Il came out of the cave, his plague level had fallen below forty. Although his body was still itchy, he could endure it somehow by clenching his teeth and fists until his hands bled.

His first plan was to return to the Osiris Corps, but it wasn’t long before he realized that there was no way for him to break through the raging military force alone. Also, he noticed he wouldn’t be able to get through to them before the duration of the God of Wind’s Blessing ended. Therefore, Seong-Il shifted his attention to the north where Odin’s central stage was located.

[Guild: Odin, the guild leader, completed the quest ‘The Immortal Warriors.’]

…

[Guild: Odin, the guild leader, destroyed the Chouborow (Declan Corps).]

Judging from those notification messages, the Declan Corps must have been somewhat sorted out by Odin! However, another message soon caught his attention.

[Warning: Doom Dejire has entered.]

It was also where Odin was dealing with one of the Seven Demon Kings. Seong-Il painfully sorted through his thoughts. At a time when the number of rats flocking toward him was increasing, he didn’t really have a choice. It would violate Odin’s order, but there was nothing he could do. That was the only way to survive.

I never know. I might be helpful to Odin.

Of course, it would be difficult to get out of the land that was being controlled by the Barba Corps. It was true that they were concentrated around the boundary on the first floor of the Light Pillar, but it was hard to avoid the monsters that would rush toward him from all directions after smelling his flesh. A moment’s judgment determined his life and death, and Seong-Il got an ominous feeling. It was natural for someone to have poor judgment when they were barely holding onto their lives. If he continued to face the crossroads, it was likely he’d take the wrong path and end up disgracing Ja-Seong’s sacrifice.

At any rate, he needed to avoid encountering Shaimar, the general commander, and the other necromancers. Unfortunately, he became more injured in the process of cutting off pursuers. His plague level had previously fallen to the twenties, but had now already risen to the fifties, It was a number that could exceed his current Plague Resistance level. The God of Wind’s Blessing had worn off already.

[Barba Plague: 51]

All he could do if he met a necromancer in this situation was destroy his own brain so that he didn’t become a ghoul! Many Awakened often became ghouls because they didn’t have the resolve to do this, but Seong-Il was ready at any moment to smash his fist between his eyes. He really didn’t want to do it, though…

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck…”

Escaping from the infected land was not the end as his pursuers continued to chase him. It was only a matter of time before they caught him. What was clear was that he had made the wrong decision. When the sun was about to sink below the horizon, Seong-Il was scratching his entire body and walking at a noticeably slow speed.

[Barba Plague: 61]

He stopped his fingers right in front of his eyes. He would have dug out his eyes if he hadn’t been trying to stay aware of what he was doing. Seong-Il rubbed his eyes nervously. His view became dim and slowly returned to its original state.

Then, he saw something. He had barely escaped from the land of the plague, but there was a swamp in front of him. It was the home of the Maruka Clan. The things that were moving around limply were not reeds. Instead, they were the monsters’ tentacles, and the things that were stretching out of the popping bubbles were the Maruka’s clones.

The habitat of Maruka was in front of him, and the Barba army’s pursuers were behind him. In the middle, he was suffering from plague and wounds. Seong-Il smiled, realizing that he was now in the perfect scenario to meet his death. Although his protective barrier was slowly charging up, that wasn’t enough to save himself from the perfectly combined grip of death. Seong-Il stopped walking when he saw a human shape walking out of Maruka’s habitat. Maruka that walked on two legs were likely aristocrats.

He remarked, “Ah, I’m going to die soon.”

He was sincerely regretful that he had wasted Ja-Seong’s sacrifice and also felt ashamed that he had failed to live up to Odin. Above all, he had lots of regrets when thought of his ex-wife’s old boyfriend taking care of Ki-Cheol as his son. However, he was relieved that they wouldn’t be able to have a baby together as that old man’s dick wouldn’t stand up due to age. He was a bougie guy, so Seong-Il thought he would pay for Ki-Cheol’s tuition in the future.

“Well, if he dies of old age before that, all of his money will go to my ex, and Ki-Cheol will have a better life. Ah, my son is going to have a better life than mine. Haha.”

Seong-Il erased the smile on his face, and the light of life and death flashed in his eyes. However, it soon disappeared because the creature that was approaching him was a monster that he was well acquainted with. It wasn’t a Maruka. It was a human… no, the guy who was stuck with Odin. Orca.

***

While the Barba pursuers were stranded in Orca’s habitat, Seong-Il was being carried somewhere while being tied to Orca’s tentacles. The tentacles that were growing out of its robe weren’t aggressive at all. Instead, they were clenching him loosely such that Seong-Il could escape from them if he wanted to.

However, there were quite a lot of Orca’s clones who rushed toward Seong-Il like the Barba rats. He knew Orca was protecting him as his plague level was no longer rising. Deformed tentacles sprang up from his wounds and wriggled hideously, but it was better than being insanely itchy. Therefore, Seong-Il didn’t resist his current state and instead took the time to catch his breath.

It seemed like Orca was heading toward a boundary. It wasn’t a boundary created by a Light Pillar. The inside and outside were blocked by a subtle golden light instead of being transparent. At that moment, two names crossed his mind.

Odin! Doom Dejire!

Doom Dejire was no longer crying, but the closer he got to them, the more the creepy energy began to overwhelm him. Seong-Il ground his teeth together. He was certain that Orca was having a difficult time carrying him. All of Orca’s clones that had been chasing Seong-Il were now gone. Orca put Seong-Il down in a crack that had formed in the boundary. The rays of light were filling the gap, but he could definitely see the inside of the boundary.

“...!”

He couldn’t feel it outside because of the boundary, but it was clear that a powerful vortex was sweeping everything in there. Sparks of lightning bounced off wildly, and a huge amount of blood was circling around. Delicate and soft things like flesh and small bones would have pulverized into mush in there. The large fragments of bones that were circling around were the Skeletal Dragon’s body. In fact, Seong-Il could see the dragon’s skull in there, which had been split in half. Other debris were also fiercely rotating like tops, and he thought they were items.

Then, Seong-Il widened his eyes. It was right after he exploded his Sense to the peak because he couldn’t miss this moment. One thing that appeared for one second and exploded was definitely Odin’s arm. Then, he saw Odin’s sliced body.

“Odiiiiin-!”

***

I felt like I could hear Seong-Il’s voice in the end, but I had already been sucked into the darkness. All that existed there were me and the messages.

[You have exterminated Doom Dejire.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

…

[You have leveled up.]

[Warning: The quest ‘Power Extraction’ has been removed.]

[Warning: The quest ‘Great Minds Think Alike with the Guide’ has been removed.]

[The quest ‘The Birth of Doom Man (1)’ has been removed.]

[The quest ‘The Birth of Doom Man (2)’ has been removed.]

[Followers: 10000 / 10000]

[You have fulfilled the conditions required to complete the quest.]

[You have completed the quest ‘The Birth of Doom Man (2).’]

[The quest ‘The Birth of Doom Man (3)’ has started.]

[Choose between Doom Caso, Doom Dejire, and Doom Moun to exterminate: You have successfully exterminated Doom Dejire.]

[You have fulfilled the conditions required to complete the quest.]

[You have completed the quest ‘The Birth of Doom Man (3).’]

I heard a heart beating loudly, so I thought I was back in my mother’s womb. Even when I realized that the sounds were coming from Yeon-Hee’s heart, the notification message continued to appear.

[Congratulations! You have finally completed the linked quest ‘The Birth of Doom Man.’]