Chapter 75

While one might be used to others’ deaths, no one can get used to their own death.

That’s because death comes only once for everyone.

However, Yuseong, who had experienced 999 failures in [Please, Anyone, Help Me!], could calmly analyze the situation without panic even in the face of sudden death and resurrection.

‘Knights and mages keeping their distance. Three sides blocked except the front. Body condition normal aside from slight fatigue.’

The exact same situation as when the quest started.

Unlike the first attempt, Yuseong lay still without moving a finger, counting numbers internally.

And before he could count to three, the horrible pain and nausea returned.

“Uweeeeek!”

Food and blood clots spilled from his mouth.

At first glance, nothing had changed, but by doing nothing, Yuseong was able to realize one thing.

‘Given the use of the word contamination, this seems to be some kind of poisoning situation. The timing of the seizures and pain that come even when staying still are exactly the same as the first attempt, so this isn’t the kind of poison that spreads slower if you don’t move or faster if you move violently.’

If you can’t delay the poison’s seizures by minimizing movement, the strategies and tactics you can choose change.

“The contamination seems to have progressed to a considerable level, it would be better to just dispose of him.”

“Didn’t they tell us to…”

A conversation identical down to the last letter.

Knowing that the knight and mage’s conversation would continue for a while longer, Yuseong calmly thought of a plan without rushing, even amid the pain stabbing through his whole body.

‘Given that they killed without interrogation, the chance of them accepting surrender is low. With mana difficult to control and considering the distance, if I charge in I’ll be full of holes before taking a few steps. Gun won’t work either. Maybe against the mage, but the knight is wearing armor. Don’t know if that armor can stop bullets, but in a gunfight between an unarmored person and someone covered head to toe in steel plates, the winner is obvious. Then…’

“Urgh!”

“Tch. This is why contaminated ones are…”

As the knight aimed his gun, Yuseong urgently stretched out both arms and opened his mouth.

“I’ll talk! The map and evidence are… Urgh! I-I’ll tell you where!”

-What’s this? Have I finally gone mad too?

He cleanly ignored the voice presumed to be the client’s.

This wasn’t the time for leisurely conversation.

“Where is it?”

“Cough! First promise me! Promise that you’ll spare my life in exchange for the map and evidence…”

-You crazy bastard! You? Another me? Anyway, what are you doing? Do you think they’ll spare us if we tell them that?

Bang!

“Eek?!”

“Do you think you’re in a position to negotiate? Whether you live or die is entirely up to me. You’d better speak quickly before my mood gets any worse.”

“W-well, that’s… Urgh!”

“Tch.”

When Yuseong, who had seemed to calm down, retched again and buried his face in the ground, the knight clicked his tongue and slightly loosened his finger on the trigger.

A moment of carelessness that could only come from someone in an absolutely advantageous position.

And Yuseong didn’t miss that moment, activating Pain Nullification and charging forward.

“You bastaaaard!”

In accelerated thoughts and slowed time, he saw the knight pulling the trigger.

‘Dodging bullets by sight is impossible. But I can sufficiently predict where he’s aiming.’

Bang!

Sizzle!

The bullet fired from the muzzle just left a bit of smoke before evaporating upon contact with the plasma.

“What?”

An unexpected situation.

The knight hurriedly pulling back the bolt hastily threw himself sideways when he saw Yuseong appearing to throw an axe glowing with purple light.

However, that was the wrong choice.

Because Yuseong’s target wasn’t the knight.

Crack!

The mage, with an axe embedded in his face, collapsed to the ground without even being able to scream.

‘The knight isn’t dangerous. He has a gun so I just need to watch out for that. But the mage is dangerous because I don’t know what abilities they have or what variables they could create. The mage needs to be dealt with first.’

Only the knight remained.

“Die.”

Having finished reloading, the knight had a confident smile on his face as he aimed the gun.

And Yuseong, looking at such a knight, had a smile no less confident than his.

Bang!

There was a deafening explosion and flash of light, but no scream was heard.

Not because he died instantly without being able to scream.

Because the second bullet didn’t hit Yuseong’s body but was buried in the ground.

Yuseong, who had used Flash Step to escape the line of fire and reach in front of the knight, gently placed his palm on the armor.

A light strike that seemed like it couldn’t tear a single sheet of paper.

However, it was more than enough to bring down the knight.

Thud!

A torrent of blood flowed from between the fallen knight’s helmet.

While it might look fine on the outside, the inside had been turned to rags by Infiltration Path (浸透勁) which ignores defense and inflicts damage. [note]TLN: 浸透勁 can also be translated as Infiltration Force. So, the “Path” in this case means terms relating to methods or principles of force application. This is similar to how “道” (do/dao/way) is used in terms like “Judo” (柔道) meaning “Gentle Path/Way.”[/note]

“Phew.”

Yuseong took a deep breath and calmed his surging internal energy.

Internal energy that suddenly appeared in a body that originally only had mana.

Its source was the Blue Wood Pill, an elixir obtained as a reward from [Youngest Disciple of the Jincheon Martial Arts Family].

In the first attempt, realizing he couldn’t properly handle mana, Yuseong pretended to retch and buried his head in the ground, secretly eating the Blue Wood Pill to instantly gain internal energy.

‘It’s a bit wasteful, but can’t be helped.’

While his real body on Earth could raise stats indefinitely through the karma shop, the client’s abilities couldn’t be changed.

Getting some immediate internal energy was less beneficial than strengthening the client’s abilities to clear quests that were originally impossible and obtain greater rewards.

-Really gone mad, huh. Am I having hallucinations before death?

“This isn’t a hallucination but reality.”

-Or is it mental illness? I used to laugh at terminal contaminated ones spouting nonsense while doing weird things, but now that I’m in that state, I can’t even laugh.

“It’s not a split personality either. Get a grip.”

-No. Even with mental illness, you can’t create things that don’t exist, right? Then is it mental illness and hallucinations at the same time?

“A client who denies my existence entirely. That’s fresh.”

While he had been called many things like god, angel, demon, immortal, apostle, and so on while carrying out quests until now, this was the first client to completely deny his existence.

Having confirmed there was no one around, Yuseong, who hadn’t let his guard down despite his surprise, began searching the fallen knight and mage’s belongings for useful items.

From the knight, he found a gun and a pouch containing bullets, and from the mage, a pouch containing silver coins and two glass bottles containing silvery liquid.

“This is…”

-Oh? Holy water, isn’t it? Hey! Quickly drink it before someone sees!

“Holy water?”

<Arkon’s Intermediate Status Recovery Potion>

-Grade: D+

-Type: Potion

-A status recovery potion made according to the recipe of the miracle alchemist Arkon. Unlike ordinary status recovery potions, it focuses on purifying and recovering from contamination.

-Alleviates all types of status ailments.

-More effective against contamination status ailments.

While the name shown through appraisal wasn’t holy water but status recovery potion, the name wasn’t what mattered.

When he downed the potion, the pain, headache, and nausea began to decrease instantly.

While they hadn’t completely disappeared, it was now bearable enough without having to use Pain Nullification.

“Much better.”

-To not recover even after drinking holy water, is this terminal of terminal cases?

Ignoring Kuzan’s nonsense, Yuseong opened the status window next.

Name: Kuzan

Class: Informant

Level: 201

Title: Bluffer

Strength: 161

Agility: 167

Wisdom: 352

Vitality: 187

Mana: 573

Internal Energy: 41

Skills: Contaminated Mana(A), Mana Control(B-), Strong Digestive System(C+), Pain Resistance(C), Mana Enhancement(C), Stealth(C), Pickpocketing(D), Intimidation(D), Machine Maintenance(D).

Yuseong’s eyes narrowed.

The overwhelmingly high mana compared to other stats, the Mana Control skill, the A-rank Contaminated Mana skill, and unfamiliar skill names like Strong Digestive System and Pain Resistance.

While he had seen quite a few status windows until now, this was the first time seeing such a unique one.

‘Let’s move first.’

Worried about possible pursuers, Yuseong didn’t take the front path but used Thorny Vine to climb over the back wall.

And the moment he encountered the scene spread out beyond it, he froze in place.

“Hey bastard! Wanna die?! Get out of the way quick!”

“These are goods secretly diverted from the Eastern District! If you don’t have money, get lost!”

“Got some new medicine in, wanna try it? I’ll give you half price specially.”

The bustling market center filled with sellers and buyers, lively tunes and colorful lights, shouts and curses.

Up to here, there was nothing surprising.

The problem was the elements making up the market.

“…Should I call this steampunk, or arcane punk.”

Massive crude armored suits slowly walking around while spewing steam everywhere.

People with parts of their bodies replaced by mechanical limbs and prosthetics.

Witches and ghost entities flying through the air on staves.

From relatively normal non-humans like werewolves and fairies to bizarre life forms resembling insects of questionable intelligence.

For Yuseong, who had only experienced traditional martial arts, fantasy, modern, and SF worlds until now, this was an unfamiliar world difficult to readily accept.

However, while surprised, Yuseong hadn’t let his guard down and naturally melted into the crowd after noticing gazes directed at him.

‘Kuzan, guide me to a place where we can hide. No, before that, let’s first go to where the map and evidence the knight mentioned are. I don’t know what it is, but that seems to be the key, so securing the items should be the priority.’

-Why should I follow your words? And I can’t give the map and evidence to anyone! That’s an incredible secret!

‘Since I’m moving your body, I’m you and you’re me, so what’s there to distinguish? And if it’s such an incredible secret, shouldn’t I have it so others can’t find and steal it? Right?’

-Uh… Is that so? I might not tell others, but I can tell myself.

Whether his mental state wasn’t very good, Kuzan was convinced by Yuseong’s nonsensical words and began guiding the way.

Complex narrow alleys, a dog hole hidden between piles of garbage, an empty house covered in dust, a cleverly disguised secret wall.

As Yuseong was starting to doubt whether they were going the wrong way due to the increasingly gloomy scenery and vibrating stench, Kuzan’s voice was heard.

-Over there! See that room with the broken window on the 5th floor? That’s my house. The map and evidence are there.

“…You hid the items in your own house?”

-Then where should I hide them? It’s too risky to entrust them to others, and hiding items from someone’s eyes in this damn city is impossible. Hiding them at home is most comfortable.

“I’m sure it is.”

After hooking Thorny Vine on the railing and climbing up, Yuseong only entered through the window after confirming no sound could be heard from inside the room.

“…”

-Open the door in front and turn left.

Piles of garbage and crumpled papers everywhere.

Bowls containing unidentifiable food and crawling insects.

Even though there would be no need to see each other again after the quest ended, he absolutely couldn’t hold back from making a comment.

“Do some cleaning. You’ll get sick living like this.”

-Sick? Puhahaha! Who in this city worries about getting sick? Everyone’s contaminated anyway. Getting sick is the least of our worries.

Yuseong’s eyes shone.

He had been curious about what the word contamination meant, from both what the knight had said earlier and the Contaminated Mana written in the status window.

“What is contamination?”

-Hm? Contamination is contamination.

“No, explain exactly what contamination is. When it started, how it occurred, what adverse effects it has, everything.”

-Hmm. To think I was dumb enough to not even know history. I’ll have to explain it well. Contamination happened about 100 years ago. The ones who caused the contamination were the elves of the Elven Forest. Ah, go into that bathroom at the end.

“Elves? You mean those elves with pointed ears who love nature and are vegetarian? Didn’t you say contamination?”

Elves and contamination.

No matter how he thought about it, it was an ill-matching combination.

-Yes, those elves.

“Such elves spread contamination?”

-Yeah. According to legend, the elves who were enraged by the reality of their kind being kidnapped and enslaved for hundreds and thousands of years declared war on the continent. At first they thought it would end quickly, but the war dragged on when the elves brought out secret weapons. They used fire-spewing rods, steel carriages that blocked all attacks, iron birds flying at invisible speeds through the sky, and poison smoke that killed tens of thousands of people in the blink of an eye.

Yuseong’s eyebrow twitched.

For some reason, these secret weapons of the elves that Kuzan was describing felt very familiar.

-All races were surprised by the never-before-seen new weapons and united as one to counter the elves, they say? They captured broken elven weapons and made new weapons to counter them, and the elves made stronger weapons in response, and after going back and forth like that, the elves brought out the contamination weapon that made the world like this.

“What was that?”

-I don’t know either. According to legend, it was a weapon that blinded with light, burned everything with flames, and sprayed terrible poison.

“…”

-Because of that, several cities disappeared and several countries fell in a day, they say. Heroes who couldn’t bear to watch anymore gathered and invaded the Elven Forest where the World Tree was, but… Don’t know what happened, but that contamination weapon exploded in the Elven Forest and something went wrong, spreading serious contamination worldwide, making the world end up in this state, they say. Take two steps right from there. Yeah. Break the ceiling right above.

Crack!

With one punch, the ceiling split and two items fell.

One was an old map, and the other was…

“…A flower?”