had inhaled and the blood pooling in my mouth. The taste of iron clung
stubbornly to my tongue. I wiped the dust from my hair and face with the
back of my hand before turning to Yuna. She was staring ahead, her
expression caught somewhere between confusion and disbelief.
“What just—?” she muttered.
“You good?” I asked.
She gave a small nod, still processing everything.
I heard carpeted footsteps on the stairs leading to the third floor.
As I glanced at it, the trio seemed to be doing okay. Arthur, having
been thrown through a wall earlier, was leaning slightly on Luah for
support with a leg raised. He must’ve broken one leg. As for Orion, his
expression lit up the moment he saw me.
“Mister!” he called out, relieved that I was still here in one piece.
But I shook that relief out of their faces. “Don’t put your guard down yet, the Elimination Quest isn’t—”
[Elimination Quest complete!]
[The rewards will now be
distributed to its slayer momentarily. Because the kill was considered
an environmental kill, the participant who triggered the kill will be
named the slayer. Please wait…]
[The following rewards have been issued to Devon.]
- (A-Tier Talisman) Bug Repellant Talisman
- (B-Tier Potion) Potion of Lesser Healing x5
- (C-Tier Weapon) Golden Crusader Shield
- (D-Tier Weapon Augment) Explosion Journal
- (E-Tier Skill Scroll) Ethereal Restraint
- (F-Tier Artifact) Vision Cape of the Shadowflesh Cerberus
[Due to a full inventory upon
receiving the rewards, your rewards have overflown into your inventory
space. You may take them out once, but you cannot put them back as long
as your inventory is full.]
Right after that panel disappeared, the wave completion notifications
followed. Even though I couldn’t see the portal absorbing the remaining
corpses beyond the dome, my kill counter began ticking upward.
Prior to killing the boss, I started with 80/50. The counter stopped ticking when it reached 100/50.
I was only credited twenty kills. Were they split between us? If that was the case, and if someone on Orion’s side hadn’t reached five kills before the boss died…
My head jerked to their direction. In a concerning tone, I hurriedly asked, “Did you all—”
“Don’t worry, mister,” Orion said quickly, smiling. “All of us cleared the second wave.”
A heavy wave of relief overcame me. The tension in my muscles
suddenly drained so abruptly that I fell on my rear. Though, I
deliberately avoided thinking about the others who had entered the dome
with us and hadn’t made it.
[Congratulations on completing the second wave!]
[To all surviving participants
within this dome, please take note! All ongoing skills will be
deactivated and their cooldowns reset. The third wave will begin in five
minutes.]
[Intermission: 00:05:00]
Oh, and—I also leveled up.
Your level has been increased to Level 6!
- +1 to all stats.
Yuna, who had been staring blankly at the ceiling until now, finally
started speaking, “You changed the plan at the last second and it just…
worked?”
“No.” I explained, “I couldn’t take my mind off Arthur’s theory, so I
had to confirm two things: whether we’re being watched by outsiders,
and that those people can influence everything inside the dome. If those
were not the case, I think the System would have fairly played by the
rules. It would’ve accepted our plan and Arthur would’ve killed the
Cerberus already. But when the modifier appeared that nullified his
attack at the last second, that gave me the confirmation that his theory
was spot-on.”
I continued, “So, I kept my real plan hidden. I made it look like we
were going for a direct kill. My objective was to always to drag it
inside the library and collapse the chandelier into it.”
“You foresaw everything, then…” Yuna stared at me with a still-surprised expression.
“Not the wolves appearing inside the Elimination Stage. Though I
fooled you good, huh?” I smirked. “You even said those things about me.”
“Oh, shut up,” she exhaled with a relieved yet resigned smile. “I’m not taking those back.”
I shifted my gaze to the group. “Let’s move somewhere cleaner. We
need to divide the rewards before the third wave starts. And can someone
give me a hand? My entire body hurts like hell.”
All five of us eventually gathered in a relatively intact room lined
with cushioned chairs and a long, wooden table at the center. The only
illumination came from orange light filtering through a single window.
The lights were off, as the circuit breaker of the building was caught
in the damage of the boss fight.
I placed the rewards on the table, but first handed out a [Potion of
Lesser Healing] to each of us. I drank mine immediately. The warmth
spread through my body, dulling the sharpest edges of pain, though not
nearly fast enough for my liking. The others drank theirs as well, and
Yuna visibly relaxed when the ache in her thigh finally healed and
eased.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Orion, who hadn’t been injured, tried to give his potion to me. He
must’ve noticed my pain, which still lingered from my Agony debuff.
“You should keep it,” I told him. “You might need it later.”
He nodded. “Okay, but you should choose who should receive which,
mister,” Orion said. “You were the one who carried out the plan.”
“Yeah. You did all the work, and I’d feel bad if I piggybacked on it,” said the blonde-haired Arthur.
“My plan wouldn’t have worked if not for your theory, Arthur, I just
acted upon it.” I replied, glancing at him. “Give yourself a little
credit.”
“Y-Yeah! I should! I deserve anything that you give me!” said the blonde-haired guy, but…
“You haven’t stopped staring at that shield since I put it out of inventory though,” I said.
His ears reddened. “I am not.”
With a sighing smile, I said, “Just take it.”
His tough composure turned into childish excitement, “Wait, seriously? I can?”
Like a kid receiving a gift on Christmas, Arthur grabbed the shield off the table and admired it in childish awe.
Yuna didn’t hesitate either. She snatched up the [Explosion Journal]
and looked upward as if addressing to an unseen audience. “This reward’s
basically made for me! To everyone cheering for me, thanks. Keep
watching, ‘kay?”
I ignored the theatrics and skimmed the description of the item she
took. And upon reading it, well, I didn’t argue any further and just let
her have it.
[(D-Tier Artifact) Explosive Journal]
When in possession of this
artifact in your inventory or in your person, passively increase the
damage and blast radius of all explosive-type skills and items by 50%.
Also passively decrease the amount of blast damage you take in
proportion to your Endurance (END) stat. Rumor has it that a man named
Carlson the Fifth was the author of this journal. It was probably
written in a bathroom, so please do not ask why this olden journal
smells like manpiss and feline fecal matter at the same time.
Three out of six items from our rewards remained in the table.
I looked at Luah. She stood with her arms crossed, waiting.
“Want first pick?” I asked.
She shook her head and reached for the [Bug-Repelling Talisman]. “I’ll take this.”
“Are you sure?” I pointed out, “That’s the lowest rarity.”
She shrugged lightly. “The cape doesn’t really fit my skillset, and I
already have something similar to the skill from the scroll. Besides, I
hate bugs anyway, so I like this.”
“That’s right,” Yuna haughtily said. “Freeloaders should get the shitty ones.”
“Huh?!” Luah shot back. “You were literally a useless bitch back there!”
While Yuna and Luah bickered with each other, I looked at the two
items remaining in the table. I glanced at Orion. Orion blinked as a
response. He wasn’t really showing any interest for any of the two
items, so I took it upon myself to decide for us.
Summarizing the first artifact, the [Vision Cape of the Shadowflesh
Cerberus] is a black cape crafted from the shadowy, ectoplasmic hide of
the Cerberus. It was a wearable artifact that would grant immunity to
all physical vision-based debuffs, perfect night vision, and a danger
sense within five meters. It synergized well with my high INT that
further amplified my reaction speed. This would allow me to get out of
danger much easier.
However, I realized that the [Vision Cape of the Shadowflesh
Cerberus] was a purely reactive artifact. Although I can be much nimbler
in battles if I took it, it didn’t give me an offensive advantage.
Without my crude goblin-made weapons, I’d have nothing to defend myself
against. Worse, one of my main skills, [Goblin Mania], was useless now.
Next, I inspected the skill scroll.
[(E-Tier Skill Scroll) Ethereal Restraint]
Cooldown: 00:10:00
If your Strength (STR) and Skill
Power (SKL) combined is higher than the target, summon an [Unbreakable]
ethereal chain. When this chain entraps the target, successfully pull
them to the ground, restrain all their movements, and reduce their
Dexterity (DEX) by five for five minutes. Otherwise, remove the
[Unbreakable] modifier. Use this skill on bastards that fly or are too
fast for your own good.
With [Ethereal Restraint], I could at least restrain the target and
subdue them using my increased strength and stat buffs. It was a really
bad choice of rewards in my case, so I didn’t have much of a choice.
With that justification, I grabbed the metal-plated papyrus scroll off
the table and handed the cape to Orion.
“Are you sure, mister?” Orion asked.
“There might be a time when Arthur and Luah aren’t right next to
you,” I said. “You’ll need something to protect yourself, okay.”
The black-haired kid’s eyes practically sparkled when I handed him
the cape. As he wore it, the cape’s length adjusted itself to his
height, ensuring that the end of the cape doesn’t embarrassingly slide
off the floor. He stood on the chair, posing with the cape on his arm.
“Look, mister!” He smiled. “Do I look cool? Like a hero?”
I gave him a nod of approval. “It’s pretty cool!” I said as I used
the [Ethereal Restraint] skill scroll, adding it to my list of skills.
The overjoyed Orion suddenly dashed out of the room, letting his cape
fly off his back with his hands spread out. Luah pushed herself off her
chair and followed him, saying, “Leader! Don’t just go flying off!
We’re not sure if—” Her voice faded to silence outside the room.
Arthur’s gaze lingered at the door as he watched them go. “Orion acts
so much like a kid when he’s around you. You must be making him feel
safe, more than we do.”
“He’s eleven,” I said. “Why do you and Luah treat him like he’s older?”
Arthur fidgeted his shield, touching its dull edge as he thought of
what to say. “He made us promise not to tell anyone, but seeing that you
two knew each other before all this… It’s probably important to let you
know.”
Arthur hesitated before speaking. “When the EVENT started, three men
tried to hurt Luah. I wasn’t strong enough to stop them as I didn’t have
my skills and my gear yet. Then, when Orion stepped in, those three men
just… dropped. There were no wounds at all, nor were there anything to
indicate that he hurt them. They died, but I’m certain Orion did
something to them.”
He continued, “There wasn’t any emotion in his eyes. I couldn’t
explain it much better, but...” He swallowed. “It’s like he was
emanating an aura of death at that moment.”
I straightened instinctively.
Arthur kept speaking, “Since then, the two of us are indebted to him.
That’s why we treat him so importantly even if he prefers us to call
him by name.” He gave me a slight smile. “But sometimes, when I remember
that moment, it’s hard not to feel uneasy around him, y’know?”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.
“I’m not sure what happened between you and Orion, but I appreciate
that you’re there for him, Devon.” Then, Arthur stood up, “I’ll go get
Orion and Luah.”
The weight of his words hung on me as I sank on the chair, taking a
deep breath. Yuna and I were the only ones left on the room with the
three of them gone outside.
“Hey,” Yuna called. “I need to talk to you about something.”
I looked at her. She was fidgeting with a nervous look in her eyes.
She wasn’t meeting my gaze. Then, I remembered her telling me that she
said that she was “done” with me after the boss. Was she breaking up
with the group now?
Assuming that, I said, “It’s fine. You can go. You can also keep the items we won from the direwolf, so don’t worry about it.”
She raised a brow and her tone returned. “You can at least be nicer
about it, you’re literally shoo-ing me away! Besides, that’s not what I
want to talk about.” She continued. “Devon… What did your past life look
like?”
…
“Devon?” Yuna’s chair scraped against the floor. “Devon?!”
I didn’t hear her words because I wasn’t there anymore. Right before her eyes, I suddenly disappeared.
Author's note:
why Devon is the Greed System Irregular in another way than having that thing stuck to his soul. Please look forward to Chapter 20 this Friday!