Chapter 295.

‘Magic bullet’ was a bullet made up of tempered steel and condensed magic power . The destructive force of a single magic bullet—sold by Essential Armory for 100 million won—was equivalent to that of a steel sword wielded by a low-intermediate-rank Hero .

I could further strengthen it to the level of high-intermediate-rank grade-1 ~ a low-high-rank by enhancing the bullet with Random Consolidation System and combining it with the Desert Eagle and Aether .

But not Jin Sahyuk .

Because Jin Sahyuk’s attacks relied on ‘magic power’, she couldn’t inflict any ‘physical damage’ on her opponents . Though, she could always alter the physical laws, for example by overturning the ground with her magic power .

[Basilisk’s Skin — Reduce physical damage by 90% and magic damage by 99% . ]

[Basilisk’s Fang — Shatter magic by directly ‘biting’ it]

[Basilisk’s Mystic Eyes — Gaze of Deceleration . Slows down the speed of magic power circulating in the target’s blood . ]

Now, take a look at these magnificent effects that completely nullify magic and magic power .

Another name for the Basilisk was the ‘Scourge of Magicians’ .

This mystical beast was created specifically to counter people like Jin Sahyuk . She could never win against a Basilisk alone .

But I thought I could win easily .

As I said before, as long as I continued to hit him on his vital point, I believed he would eventually collapse .

“Ah, fuck!”

…Of course, it turned out to be harder than I thought .

Again, this was all because of the co-author .

“Can’t believe I wasted 3 whole days in this shithole!”

Currently, we were hiding in a cave to escape the Basilisk .

Jin Sahyuk’s cry struck my ear .

“…” .

Without a word, I leaned against the cave wall and turned my gaze to her . Jin Sahyuk continued to yell but occasionally shuddered in fear that the Basilisk might have heard her .

“Kuhum… . ”

As evidenced by our current situation, the Basilisk wasn’t as easy of a target as I thought .

In fact, he was off the charts on the difficulty scale .

His ‘recovery’ ability was much more overwhelming than in my original setting .

[Stage Effect — the Basilisk has been blessed with Stage Effect . His recovery rate is increased by 300% . ]

The Basilisk itself hadn’t changed . The problem was this strange setting called ‘Stage Effect’ . No matter how many times I shot him with Magic Bullets, Basilisk instantly recovered from his wounds .

What was even worse was that the only way to clear this dungeon was to defeat the Basilisk . In other words, we were stuck here until we killed it, and running away wasn’t an option .

“Why don’t you say something?”

Jin Sahyuk hissed .

I spoke .

“This is actually good . ”

“… . ”

My voice sounded surprisingly calm .

Speechless, Jin Sahyuk looked at me in a daze .

“What the hell do you mean by… no, wait, why do you only use that weapon? Go and beat that snake up like you did with me!”

Jin Sahyuk demanded .

…She was overestimating my physical strength because of Fate . Contrary to her belief, I couldn’t just go around beating everyone up at my will .

“No . ”

“Why not?!”

Certain conditions had to be met before I could register a new target for [Fate] . With Jin Sahyuk, the condition was ‘exchanging dialogues at least 30 times’ . But as expected of such a powerful Unique Skill, the condition became harder to meet the more it was used . The condition for registering a second target was ‘exchange dialogues at least 50 times, including self introductions’ .

Obviously there was no way for me to achieve that .

“…I’m your ‘trainer’, not someone who clears dungeons for you . ”

So I just offered her an excuse .

“What the fuck… . ”

A look of despair crossed Jin Sahyuk’s face .

With a sigh, she dropped to the ground .

“Haa… . ”

Time continued to pass .

There was nothing much to do in the dark, silent cave .

I began searching for ways to clear this stage with [Observation and Reading] .

Growl—

Suddenly, I heard the rumbling of an empty stomach . I raised my head and looked at Jin Sahyuk . She had her eyes closed, deep in thought .

“…Hey . Are you hungry?”

Jin Sahyuk opened her eyes slowly .

“No . ”

“Oh, but I think you are . ”

Having sensed the faint sarcasm in my voice, Jin Sahyuk frowned discontentedly .

“Don’t underestimate me . Hunger used to be my best friend . Have you ever survived only by eating grass roots?”

She was righteously enraged .

Slightly embarrassed, I nodded and turned my gaze to the outside .

Hisss—!

There, the Basilisk was giving orders to a couple of spiders . He was probably saying something like, ‘Find those two imbeciles and bring them to me! Hissss—!’ .

I watched the Basilisk for a while . Then I suddenly remembered the ‘mini-game’ and pulled it up .

「…‘Extra’s Knight’ Litrain became the youngest high-intermediate-rank knight in history .

But things haven’t been going well for her recently . She borrowed money to build a temple for ‘Extra-nim’ that failed to capture people’s attention . She also ran out of DP . But what is currently troubling her the most is the feeling that her growth stopped .

She wants to become a high-rank knight as quickly as possible, so she can repay ‘Extra’ for his kindness… . Ever since she stopped receiving donations, other knights insisted that her sponsor abandoned her . But Litrain still believes that if she tries hard enough, ‘Extra’ would reach out to her one day and tell her ‘you did well’, ‘keep it up’ .

She feels like she could do anything to hear those words… . 」

“What the . Why is she so nice?”

I had been so busy that I left her alone for almost two months, which equaled two years in her world . Yet she built a temple in my name .

I checked the amount of DP Litrain made me so far .

It was 53,271 DP in total .

I added 46,729 DP to it and donated a grand total of 100,000 DP to her .

[You donated 100,000 DP!]

[You left a message — ‘You did well . Keep it up . ’]

[Litrain is surprised . Hard times are past her and she’s moved to tears… . ]

“Hey, what are you doing?”

Suddenly, Jin Sahyuk leaned towards me .

“Huh? Oh . I’m thinking of ways to kill the Basilisk . ”

I did have a 9-star card in my card pocket .

===

[Story of a Legend on the Mural] [Individual] [9-star] ＊Effective Good＊

●Part of a legend manifests to assist you .

===

I could easily defeat the Basilisk with this card . But it would be a huge waste to use this right now . I’d been saving it for the very last fight: the battle against Baal .

“And how are you going to do that?”

“Well, I’m thinking I could play around with attributes . ”

The Basilisk’s attribute was poison . To counter poison, I needed an even stronger poison . So I would have to apply poison-attribute to my bullets, then… .

“…Wait a minute . ”

Suddenly a brilliant idea crossed my mind .

‘What if I could extract the Basilisk’s poison and ‘crystalize’ it?’

Of course, the Basilisk’s poison was too strong even for Aether to handle . If it got anywhere near me, there was a good enough chance that it would not only melt Aether but also my entire body .

But right now, I had Jin Sahyuk .

If Jin Sahyuk could use Reality Manipulation and allow only a small part of the Basilisk’s poisonous breath to pass through, then I could crystalize the breath with [Extraction and Permanent Materialization] .

“…Hey . Jin Sahyuk . ”

“What . ”

The Basilisk could become our gateway to the mass production of poisonous bullets .

“Just do as I say . ”

And the bullet made from the Basilisk’s poison would surely be lethal to all monsters, humanoid monsters, and Djinns .

**

[Gwanghwamun, Korea — Tower of Hero, Upper Floor]

“The current situation in Lupiton is complicated . ”

On the highest floor of the Tower of Hero, where the most important meetings were held, Yi Gongmyung was giving a briefing of the mission to three important people .

“After the death of General Tigris, Orden’s rage spread to Lupiton . He’s making life difficult for not only humans but also humanoid monsters . The harsh living conditions have freed some of the humans from Orden’s brainwashing . It seems that some of the monsters are also turning against Orden . The Resistance is rescuing the de-brainwashed residents from Lupiton and helping them escape Africa . ”

Chae Joochul, Heynckes, and Yoo Yeonha listened attentively to Yi Gongmyung .

“We have decided to take advantage of the confusion and rage to prepare a second attack . Over 100,000 of our soldiers are currently out in the fields of Africa . Surely, Orden’s elite soldiers would gather there to confront us . ”

Orden’s Palace would be empty, and Chae Joochul and Heynckes would proceed to assassinate Orden .

It was a simple yet systematic plan .

“…I see . That sounds fun . ”

Heynckes nodded with a smile but Chae Joochul remained expressionless .

Yi Gongmyung handed the two men velvet pouches .

“Inside are pinnacle-grade medicine and magic scrolls . I wanted to prepare some cards for you, but only Players can use them . ”

When Kim Suho cleared the Tower of Wish, the conditions for card use were adjusted . Originally, only Players who reached the 21st floor of the Tower of Wish could use the cards . But now, any Player could use them .

“Anyways, O Queen of Seoul . ”

Suddenly, with a smirk, Heynckes looked back at Yoo Yeonha .

“…Please stop the joke . ”

“Haha, but it’s no joke . That’s what the media calls you: The Queen of Seoul… . Anyways, I heard Oh Jaejin ran away?”

Yoo Yeonha nodded with a long face .

“Yes, I delivered him the medical pill for curing his side effect . And afterwards…”

“I understand . ”

However, Heynckes did not think lowly of Oh Jaejin .

“There’s nothing scarier than losing yourself . ”

‘Death’ would’ve been a better side effect .

To lose oneself and to forget all the values and beliefs that one has kept for an entire lifetime—

What could be more tragic than such an end?

“Well then, Joochul . ”

Heynckes called Chae Joochul .

Despite Heynckes’s friendly demeanor, Chae Joochul remained nonchalant .

“Let us get ready . ”

“…”

The folding fan was all Chae Joochul needed .

But Heynckes was different .

Heynckes took out his armor for the first time in forever .

“Come . ”

With a single word from Heynckes, his armor came to him .

Clunk— Clunk—

The breastplate stretched across his chest and the gaiters encompassed his legs . The chain mail, the gauntlets, and other parts of the armor surrounded his body, and lastly, the helmet concealed Heynckes’s face .

Just like that, each part of the armor was precisely put together .

It was not the old fashioned, heavy and crude kind of armor .

You could only see armor like this in games . The harmonious combination of silver armor and red cape was very classy .

[Steel Spirit Resistance — Increase resistance to all attributes by 80%]

[Steel Spirit Rigidity — Reduce damage by 80%]

[Steel Spirit Regeneration — Constant recovery rivaling time-reversal]

[Steel Spirit Sword — Sword sturdier than any metal]

[Steel Spirit Intuition — The collective intelligence of 23 invincible ‘Steel Spirits’ . ]

[Steel Will — No ‘metal’ in the world can defy Heynckes . ]

Yoo Yeonha stared at Heynckes in a daze .

“I see your armor is still needlessly garish . ”

Chae Joochul remarked flatly .

“Really? Now, let’s turn that frown upside down, Joochul . You’re on your way to see your granddaughter, after all . ”

“Why do you care about my granddaughter?”

“She’s a memorable one, that granddaughter of yours . ”

“… . ”

“Let’s play another game of chess later . Unlike you, your granddaughter is terrible at chess . ”

Heynckes continued to talk, and over time, Chae Joochul’s expressionless face turned into a small frown .

Heynckes liked the change in his friend’s expression .

**

[Underground Fortress in Africa]

Amidst a tense atmosphere, all 177 members of the Special Task Force gathered in the plaza of the fortress .

“…Everyone, the entire coalition’s forces have gathered here in Africa . ”

The final operation they had been waiting for was about to commence .

“I believe we’re ready . ”

Aileen stood on the podium and began her short speech .

“The mission starts tomorrow morning, before sunrise . But don’t be too nervous . ”

The anxiety, the agitation and the fear that they all felt began to fade slowly before Aileen’s Spirit Speech .

“…Kim Suho . ”

Shin Jonghak approached Kim Suho in the middle of the speech . He was carrying [Xiang Yu’s Conqueror Spear] that he purchased for 200 billion won .

It was a legendary artifact, second only to [Longinus] among spears .

“Wow, that spear, it’s… . ”

“Haha . That’s right . This is the spear wielded by the strongest warrior of ancient times . It even has two use effects, ‘World-Covering Qi’ and ‘Conqueror’s Farewell’, named after his famous anecdotes . Lü Bu is nothing compared to him . Hahaha . Hahahahaha . Hahahaha . ”

Shin Jonghak burst into laughter . It was unclear whether he wanted to relieve his own nervousness or simply show off his new weapon .

“This spear is beautiful inside and out . It captures the supremacy of a king . ”

It was worth all the boasting in the world, indeed .

The artifact originally belonged to none other than Xiang Yu, one of the most prominent warlords of the ancient times . In fact, all the nearby Heroes, including Chae Nayun and Yun Seung-Ah, threw awestruck glances at the Conqueror Spear .

“Congratulations . I’m jealous . ”

“…Enough with the formalities . Do you wanna make a bet?”

“A bet?”

With a chuckle, Shin Jonghak tightened his grip around the spear .

“On who’ll be the one to kill Orden . ”

“… . ”

Kim Suho stared at Shin Jonghak .

Shin Jonghak was beaming with confidence, and the magic power surrounding his Conqueror Spear was equally as confident and courageous as its owner .

“…Sure . ”

Kim Suho gave a small smile .

“Let’s make a bet . ”

The negative feelings that they once harbored for each other had already disappeared .

Shin Jonghak was no longer the cowardly and narrow-minded teenager he once was, and Kim Suho no longer considered him an ‘arrogant noble’ .

This was the butterfly effect caused by a man who wasn’t here .

“Everyone—!”

Aileen suddenly raised her hand and shouted .

“Don’t die! We’ll fight and win!”

Her words were imbued with powerful Spirit Speech .

They turned into snow that piled up in the hearts of the Heroes in the form of determination .

**

[Basilisk Dungeon]

I continued the extraction process with Jin Sahyuk .

In 12 hours we created 55,000 [Basilisk’s Poison Crystal] .

Yoo Yeonha could make tens of thousands of bullets out of this .

Or I could just shoot the raw crystals . Though, in order to do that, I would first have to add an ‘anti-poison’ attribute to the Desert Eagle .

“…When does this end?”

Jin Sahyuk asked with a sigh . She was clearly worn out from the overuse of Reality Manipulation .

“This is enough for now . The Orden Annihilation Operation will begin soon . ”

I put all the crystals in my spatial pouch and got up . Woong— My spatial pouch began to suck the crystals up like a vacuum cleaner .

“…Can we leave now?”

“Of course . ”

A little while ago I realized how to defeat the Basilisk .

The Basilisk’s resiliency, which we found to be troublesome, was due to the [Stage Effect] attached to his skin that faintly glimmered in green .

But this effect could easily be nullified with the [Mystic Key] .

“All I need is this . ”

“…?”

I took out the [Mystic Key] .

The only problem was getting near the Basilisk, but this could be solved with Jin Sahyuk’s help .

After I get rid of the Stage Effect with this key, I could simply blast the monster with my bullets . Or I could synthesize and condense some Basilisk’s poison, enhance it with [Random Consolidation System], and shoot it at him .

Poison could be countered with even stronger poison, after all .

“Hey, Jin Sahyuk . ”

“…What . ”

However, in order to do that… .

“You go distract him . ”

First, I had to get rid of the [Stage Effect] attached to the Basilisk’s skin .

“…Haa . Fine… . ”

To my surprise, Jin Sahyuk stepped forward without putting up a fight .

…Three hours later .

Along with the body of a Basilisk, we obtained two amazing artifacts .

Even Jin Sahyuk exclaimed in surprise at the sight of them .

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