Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Part 13

The texture alone was different from that of an ordinary rubber gas mask.

The surface was rough and hard, and where a filter should have been, there was something resembling a pouch of medicinal herbs.

“What is this? It looks different from a normal gas mask.”

“It’s a special gas mask I made.”

Yugeon tapped the leather portion of the mask with his finger.

“An ordinary filter can’t screen out the poison here. So I made it myself using materials obtained from the tower.”

“May I ask what materials you used?”

“The outer layer is made from the hide of the Goblin King, the boss of the tenth floor. Its hide has magical resistance, so the poison can’t seep through it.”

“Ah! That boss with the golden mace. I remember it.”

Mincheol nodded.

It was a boss monster he had also defeated in the past.

“Right. And for the inner filter, I mixed activated charcoal made by burning the Moss Monster caught on the third floor with Purification Herb gathered from the eleventh floor.”

Mincheol fiddled with the mask in admiration.

The Moss Monster on the third floor was famous for its excellent absorption properties, while Purification Herb from the eleventh floor was an herb that neutralized poison.

Combining them into a filter and sealing it with the hide of a boss monster.

It was an ideal item for survival.

“Thank you!”

Mincheol quickly put on the mask.

The moment he put it on, the acrid smell that had been stinging his nose disappeared completely.

Instead, a faint grassy scent lingered at the tip of his nose.

The tightness in his chest also disappeared, and breathing became much easier.

‘As expected, there’s nothing Brother can’t do.’

Relieved, Mincheol raised his head, only for his eyes to widen in surprise.

“But why aren’t you wearing one, Brother?”

Yugeon’s face was bare.

No matter how strong he was, poisonous gas was a matter of breathing.

Just because his skin was tough did not mean his lungs could be made of steel.

“Brother! It’s dangerous! You said the poison here can even penetrate protective suits!”

Mincheol shouted urgently, but instead of answering, Yugeon raised his head toward the air thick with purple mist.

Then he took a deep breath.

“Huuuuup.”

His chest swelled greatly.

He was filling his lungs all the way to their depths with purple poison.

An ordinary person’s lungs would have melted, killing them instantly on the spot.

Mincheol watched anxiously, afraid that Yugeon might suddenly cough up blood and collapse.

“Haa.”

But Yugeon slowly exhaled and smiled.

There was not the slightest trace of pain on his face.

Instead, he looked refreshed, like someone breathing clean air filled with phytoncides in the middle of a forest.

Ding-!

[Accumulated growth has been reflected in your attributes.]

Internal Energy　　　+1

Internal Energy　　　+1

Internal Energy　　　+1

...

“Don’t worry. To me, this isn’t poison. It’s a medicinal elixir.”

“Pardon...?”

“The air is nice. Refreshing.”

“...”

Mincheol was so shocked he could not close his mouth.

He had inhaled poisonous gas and said the air was nice.

In fact, Yugeon’s skin was faintly glowing, and every time he absorbed the poison in the air, he seemed to become more vigorous.

Impervious to All Poisons.

Having obtained the body of a monster that used poison as an energy source, he could enter the ruined city without worry.

“Let’s go.”

Step. Step.

Yugeon took the lead, walking over the snow.

Wherever his footsteps landed, the poison hidden beneath the snow rose like heat haze and was sucked into Yugeon’s body.

It looked as though a living air purifier were walking along.

Mincheol followed behind tensely, readjusting his grip on the Bastion Shield.

____________

Thirty minutes after entering the city.

The ruined streets of Sapporo were utterly silent.

Traffic lights were bent like taffy, and every store window had been shattered.

Half-destroyed cars lay buried in the snow along the roads, lined up like white graves.

Only the occasional clatter of a can rolling in the wind and the creaking of rusted signs broke the silence.

“Ugh... It’s cold.”

Mincheol shivered.

The gas mask protected him from the poison, but there was nothing he could do about the murderous cold that seeped all the way into his bones.

Even though he wore several layers of clothing, the chill still seeped through.

On the other hand, Yugeon did not feel cold at all despite wearing thin clothes.

As he circulated his energy while consuming the poison, heat rose from his dantian, leaving him no chance to feel cold.

“Bear with it a little longer. You’ll warm up once you start moving.”

“Pardon? What do you mean...”

Yugeon stopped walking.

His gaze turned toward a dark alley across the intersection.

As the sun began to set, the entire city grew even darker.

Gleam.

Gleam.

Blue lights began appearing one by one in the darkness.

At first there were only two, but the number gradually increased.

Before long, there seemed to be dozens of them.

Low growls could be heard from all directions.

Mincheol reflexively raised his shield and lowered his stance.

“Brother, there’s something there.”

Swoosh.

The creatures revealed themselves from the darkness.

White fur covered in snow, massive fangs protruding from their mouths.

And beasts with purple saliva dripping from the corners of their mouths.

“Grrrrr...”

Snow Wolves.

They were at least twice the size of ordinary wolves, and after being contaminated by the poison, they could no longer be considered ordinary wolves.

Monsters that had survived even in this terrible poisonous environment.

There appeared to be roughly a hundred of them.

“GRAAAH!”

When the alpha wolf at the front roared, dozens of wolves charged forward at once.

It looked as though black shadows were surging across the white snowfield.

Mincheol tightened his grip on the hammer in his hand.

“Damn monsters.”

Whoooosh!

BANG!

Mincheol swung his hammer and crushed the head of the wolf at the very front.

At the same time.

Steel Skin.

Crack.

Crack.

After learning the skill book Yugeon had given him, Mincheol activated Steel Skin.

His skin began hardening like steel.

Crunch!

Crunch!

“Not a chance, you damn mutt!”

When the wolf’s teeth failed to pierce his skin.

Mincheol moved his hammer even faster and continued dealing with the monsters.

Meanwhile, Yugeon supported Mincheol by taking down the wolves that lost their aggro one or two at a time.

_______________

A short while later.

“Haa... Brother, I got them all.”

Breathing heavily, Mincheol lowered his shield.

His shield and body were covered in wolf blood, but he had not been injured anywhere.

Around them lay the corpses of more than a hundred wolves.

“Good work. Your movements have improved a lot.”

Yugeon nodded as he looked at Mincheol.

Mincheol’s growth was clearly visible.

Now, even when faced with a sizable swarm, he no longer panicked and calmly dealt with it.

Before he knew it, Mincheol had reached level 54.

“The warm-up is over, so let’s get to the main objective.”

“The main objective... What exactly did we come here to find? Something valuable?”

“Not money. There’s another real objective.”

Yugeon pointed toward the tall steel tower visible in the distance.

Sapporo TV Tower.

A landmark overlooking the entire city.

Now it was covered in bizarre vines and blue ice, making it look like an enormous pillar of ice.

And at the very top, something massive and red was faintly glowing.

“There’s an item I need at the top of that tower.”

“An item?”

“Yeah.”

The battle against the gods that would come in the future.

There was an item there that he absolutely needed for that battle.

“If we kill the thing up there, we can obtain something called the Single Eye of the Abyss Watcher.”

“Abyss Watcher...?”

“It’s an eye that shows your opponent’s weaknesses and lets you see one second into the future.”

One second.

For superhumans who had transcended ordinary humanity, knowing what would happen one second in advance provided an enormous advantage in battle.

Originally, this item would be taken by an Awakened known as one of Japan’s Colossi.

But this time, Yugeon would take it.

“You’re not planning to give this one to someone else too, are you?”

“It’s an item I’ll use.”

“Phew, that’s a relief.”

Mincheol looked relieved.

When he thought about it, Brother was far too willing to hand valuable items over to other people.

Just how many things had he already given Mincheol himself?

‘He seems to be misunderstanding something...’

Yugeon let out a hollow laugh as he looked at Mincheol.

“Once we get that item from there, are we done?”

“No. There’s something else we need to take. There’s a blacksmith workshop near that tower.”

Yugeon’s plan was thorough.

Obtain the Abyss Watcher’s Eye from the tower, then obtain a hammer from the nearby workshop.

In truth, the hammer was even more important than the eye.

That hammer was the reason he had come here.

“What effect does the hammer have? Don’t tell me it summons thunder or something...”

“I’ll tell you after we get it.”

Yugeon and Mincheol made their way toward the TV Tower through the blizzard.

The closer they came to the center of the city, the denser the poison became, but to Yugeon, it was merely a medicinal elixir that filled his stomach.

_____________

“Keeeeeh...”

The vines wrapped around the TV Tower writhed while making grotesque noises.

Seen up close, they were not simple plants.

They were vein-like stalks mutated after absorbing the purple poison.

Sharp spikes of ice protruded from the ends of every stalk.

“Brother, are those really plants? The way they move, they look exactly like mutant snakes.”

Mincheol frowned as he held his shield in front of him.

The tower was 147 meters tall.

To reach the observation deck at the top, they would have to break through that forest of vines.

Monsters that sent chills down one’s spine at first sight.

Especially when they spotted living creatures and seemed to gaze at them as though eyeing prey, making them even more unsettling.

“They’re plant-type monsters called Ice Vines. They move slowly, but once they catch you, they’ll squeeze until every bone in your body breaks.”

“They really are just like snakes.”

“Don’t worry. They’re weak to fire.”

Yugeon infused internal energy into the Godslaying Sword.

Wooooong!

Then crimson fire energy began blazing across the entire blade.

“Gasp! Brother, i-is that a skill?”

“It’s martial arts.”

“Ah... Martial arts...”

“Hold out your hammer too.”

Swoosh.

At Yugeon’s words, Mincheol silently held out his hammer.

Splash.

“What’s that?”

“Oil I got from an elite goblin soldier on the eighth floor.”

【Item: Goblin Oil】

Rank: Advanced

Type: Consumable Item

Oil carried by elite goblin soldiers.

Once ignited, the flames do not easily go out, and it can be used for various purposes.