Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Part 12

Among them, one of the things he most wanted to recover was the Primordial Limitless Art.

It was an internal energy cultivation method that had made him stronger in the ruined world teeming with monsters.

‘The mana released from dying monsters gets drawn into my dantian.’

In truth, this was a cultivation method he had created in his previous life by modifying the Great Art of Absorbing Energy.

Clatter.

Creak.

“Now, let’s go fill up my internal energy.”

After finishing his business in the safe zone, Yugeon opened the entrance again and left the space.

____________

Slash!

Slash-slash-slash!

“Kyaak!”

“Human bastard! Die!”

“Kyaaaaaa!”

Slash.

After leaving the safe zone, Yugeon moved his sword and began cutting down the goblin spearmen.

Dozens of them rushed in, thrusting their spears.

Yet they could not leave even a small scratch on Yugeon’s body.

Ding-!

[Accumulated growth has been reflected in your attributes.]

Internal Energy　　　+1

Internal Energy　　　+1

Internal Energy　　　+1

Internal Energy　　　+1

Internal Energy　　　+1

Internal Energy　　　+1

...

“Hahaha.”

Watching his internal energy continue to rise, Yugeon burst into laughter.

As he advanced while cutting down goblins and continuously circulated the Primordial Limitless Art, his internal energy was accumulating at a ridiculous rate.

After about five minutes passed.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

In the distance, a gigantic goblin holding a black spear walked out.

“Grrrrr, human... How dare you slaughter our kind.”

The hero monster at the end of the seventh floor.

Since this floor had no boss, that creature could effectively be considered the boss.

“I will kill you and soothe the souls of my kin!”

BOOM!

Whoooooosh!

The gigantic goblin threw the spear in its hand.

With a tremendous tearing sound through the air, the huge spear came flying fiercely toward him.

“Then who soothes the souls of the humans killed by your kind?”

Swoosh.

Yugeon moved his sword gently.

Swoosh.

Bang!

“?!”

When the sword redirected the massive spear, the goblin’s eyes shook violently.

Ding!

【Supreme Ultimate Wisdom Sword】 has been activated.

‘It doesn’t display the individual forms in detail.’

That was actually better.

Otherwise, the status window would become too cluttered.

Swoosh.

Slash!

“Ghk!”

Yugeon quickly advanced and cut off the gigantic goblin’s head.

“This... can’t... be...”

Boom!

Ding-!

[Accumulated growth has been reflected in your attributes.]

Strength　　　+1

Agility　　　+1

Senses　　　+1

[You have leveled up.]

Level + 1

“It’s definitely easier to move now.”

Yugeon gave a faint smile, flicked the blood from his sword, and immediately headed for the next floor.

____________

Area 2, Floor 11 [Violet Spore Forest].

Each and every spore floating through the air was a poison that caused hallucinations.

Yugeon circulated the Great Void Immaculate Art, burning away the poison as quickly as possible.

Monsters charged at him, but Yugeon did not bother fighting them and passed by like the wind.

Floors 12, 13, 14.

He cut through thorny brambles and crossed sticky swamps with lightness arts.

By the time he reached Floor 15 [Queen’s Nest], the Queen Mantis was already dead, apparently having been subjugated by other Awakened.

Yugeon’s objective was not here anyway.

Floors 16, 17.

Spiderwebs and insect nests.

Yugeon performed Sword Dance, clearing away the obstacles and rapidly breaking through those floors as well.

And finally.

Floor 18 [Centipede Valley].

Rustle.

Rustle.

Rustle.

A chilling sound, as though something were gnawing away at flesh.

The floor of the gloomy valley was completely covered with tens of thousands of centipedes, to the point that not even the soil could be seen.

It was a revolting sight that would make an ordinary person faint just from looking at it.

A sea of insects without even the slightest gap.

“There are disgustingly many of them.”

Though Yugeon frowned, he stepped forward without hesitation.

Crunch.

Crack.

Every time he moved his feet, centipedes were crushed and burst apart beneath them.

‘Over there.’

Yugeon’s gaze turned toward the deepest part of the valley, where a waterfall of black water flowed.

The usual strategy was to clear the field and defeat the boss, but Yugeon’s objective was not the boss hunt itself.

Beside the waterfall.

There stood an enormous rotten tree.

‘That’s my objective.’

Slash!

Crack!

Yugeon moved his sword and split the enormous rotten tree in half.

Then, a path appeared.

The hidden space, [Thousand-Year Nest], was revealed.

When he entered, a damp and gloomy cave appeared.

‘There it is.’

Deep inside the cave.

Two red lights flashed in the darkness.

【Level 60】Thousand Poison Earth King

A gigantic centipede said to have lived for a thousand years.

Its body alone was as thick as a drum, and the monster was more than ten meters long.

Its shell gleamed purple, and its hundreds of legs were as sharp as razor blades.

The true ruler of this space.

And a boss that did not respawn in this tower.

“Kyaaaak!”

The moment it spotted the intruder, it spewed a thick purple poisonous mist from its mouth.

A venomous breath capable of melting even rock.

Inside the enclosed space of a cave, the poison mist was truly lethal.

But Yugeon was not particularly worried.

“Nice seeing you again after so long. Now die.”

Ding!

【One Sword of Heavenly Destruction】 has been activated.

[Consumes 1 Feat.]

Slash!

KRAAAAAAAANG!

“Kik... Kiiik...”

Boom!

The Thousand Poison Earth King was split in half without even managing to resist.

After twitching a few times, it stopped breathing.

“Conveniently split open for me.”

Yugeon approached and thrust his hand into the Thousand Poison Earth King’s abdomen.

Between the writhing organs and poison sacs.

Pull.

He extracted a bead that gave off such an enchanting glow that it seemed almost sinister.

【Item: Five-Colored Poison Pearl】

Rank: Legendary

Type: Consumable Item

A pearl in which five colors swirl.

The essence of the poisonous energy accumulated by the Thousand Poison Earth King over a thousand years, and a crystallization of deadly venom said to rot flesh merely by being touched.

Sizzle.

The skin of his fingers began turning black.

The smell of burning flesh.

An ordinary person would have panicked and thrown it far away, but Yugeon remained calm.

“Poison...”

He would soon have to go to Japan.

Sapporo, to be exact.

At present, it had become a land of death where even the air itself was poisonous.

When the second wave occurred, Sapporo had been reduced to ruins.

‘During the fourth wave, the same thing happened to Incheon.’

Because of that, he needed to prepare in advance so that he could withstand poison.

“Instead of avoiding poison, I should eat it.”

Yugeon opened his mouth wide.

Then he tossed the fist-sized mass of deadly poison straight into his mouth.

Gulp.

The moment he swallowed it, pain struck as though his esophagus were burning away.

No, rather than burning, it felt as though it were melting.

A scorching heat as though boiling lava had been poured into his stomach.

At the same time, frigid poisonous energy spread throughout his body through his blood vessels.

Extreme heat and extreme cold seized his body at once.

_____________

How much time had passed?

Five-colored smoke began rising from the top of Yugeon’s head.

At the same time, the blackened, dying skin began peeling away like a snake shedding its skin.

And beneath it, new flesh as white and smooth as polished jade was growing.

“Haa...”

Yugeon slowly opened his eyes.

A five-colored radiance flashed deep within his eyes before soon returning to a calm black.

Impervious to All Poisons.

No, to be more precise, it was an even higher state than Impervious to All Poisons.

His body had not merely become immune to poison.

As the Primordial Limitless Art absorbed the Five-Colored Poison Pearl, his constitution changed so that drinking deadly poison would replenish his internal energy.

He had even been reborn with a constitution that allowed him to breathe more comfortably within poisonous mist.

Swoosh.

Yugeon looked down at his hand.

His skin was so clean it almost appeared clear and translucent.

That was because all the minor impurities that had been inside his body had been expelled along with the poison.

It was not yet a complete bodily rebirth, but his physical body had nevertheless improved another level.

“Now the preparations are complete.”

Yugeon rose to his feet.

His body felt as light as a feather.

‘Tomorrow. Let’s go there immediately.’

Sapporo, the forbidden land.

Now, to Yugeon, it would no longer be a dangerous ruin, but a gigantic treasure vault untouched by anyone.

___________

Creeeeak.

The rusted barbed wire screamed as it was torn away.

Signs that rattled whenever the wind blew clearly revealed that this was a forbidden zone where human footsteps had long since disappeared.

[DANGER: TOXIC AREA]

[NO ENTRY. LIFE CANNOT BE GUARANTEED UPON ENTRY.]

Red warning signs written in Japanese, English, and even Korean lay half-buried in the snow.

The scenery beyond them was strange.

The entire world was covered in white snow, yet the mist drifting above it was an ethereal shade of purple.

A color of death, beautiful to behold yet capable of melting the lungs the moment it touched them.

“Brother... There really isn’t anyone here?”

Mincheol asked while looking around.

A checkpoint on the outskirts of Sapporo.

There were barricades and guard posts, but not a single person could be seen guarding them.

“Of course not. It would be a waste of manpower.”

When this place had first become like this, there had still been people guarding it.

But after a few years, they all withdrew as well.

No one tried to enter this place anyway, and no living creatures ever came out.

“The concentration of poisonous gas here is dozens of times the lethal dose. Right after the second wave, the Japanese government deployed large numbers of Awakened and tried to seal it off. But the result was disastrous.”

“What happened?”

“Even with the highest-grade protective suits, poisonous energy seeped through microscopic gaps. The Awakened couldn’t last even a few hours before coughing up blood and dying. The poison was so severe they couldn’t even recover the bodies.”

“Gasp...”

Mincheol’s face turned pale.

In other words, the place they were about to enter was essentially one enormous graveyard.

Sapporo had not merely been sealed off.

It had been completely ‘abandoned.’

A land of death that no one dared even consider entering.

“Here, put this on.”

Tap.

Yugeon took something out of his bag and tossed it to Mincheol.

It was a rough yet unusually shaped mask reinforced with black leather.