Chapter 52:
Chapter 52
A small creature resembling a deer with vibrant, iridescent fur stood before Seo Gangrim. This creature belonged to a species called the Qilin, considered a rare and precious creature. Qilins were born when a specific combination of the five elements was met of about 20% each, with a diet consisting of fresh vegetation being a key factor.
"Wong!"
The newly born Qilin approached Seo Gangrim slowly. Qilins were known for their gentle nature and did not harm other living beings or even step on grass and insects. They also couldn't bear to witness suffering or death.
[Ability 'Purification' activated!]
[The poison from the Ten Thousand Fragrance fruit begins to dissipate!]
The Qilin approached and touched its head to Seo Gangrim's. Through its abilities, the Qilin helped further purify Seo Gangrim's body, removing the remaining toxin.
"Cough, cough."
However, with the poison in the place and the tree still burning, emitting a strong toxic aura, Seo Gangrim would be poisoned again. He asked the Qilin as he got up, "Can you purify that as well?"
"Woong!"
The Qilin confidently stepped forward, as if it would give it a try. Closing its eyes, a white light gathered around its horn, becoming brighter and brighter.
[Ability 'Purification' activated!]
The purple smoke that had filled the air was gradually replaced by the purifying light. Poison and light seemed to be devouring each other. Just as the poisonous fog made one last struggle, the white light flooded everything.
[All poison from the Ten Thousand Fragrance fruit has been purified!]
In an instant, the surrounding air became clear. Only the burned tree remained with the small Qilin standing in front of it. It was quite a strong poison, but the Qilin managed to purify it all.
"Woong woong!"
The Qilin was hopping around happily now that the poison fog was gone, and everything was calm. Some were silent due to their comrade's deaths.
[Ability 'Destiny Theft' activated!]
In stealing the destiny of the corpses, he only took the most useful abilities. Taking weak abilities would be more of a loss considering the penalties associated with accumulating too many karma. After all, the more karma he gathered, the closer he came to the edge. As he was stealing abilities, he heard faint moaning nearby.
"Gasp, ugh..."
Among the guys nearby, there were still some survivors. Their vitality was quite strong. Seo Gangrim looked at them in silence, and the Qilin nudged him lightly.
"Woong?"
With pitiful eyes, the Qilin stared at him, as if asking him to spare them.
"Woong?"
The problem was that the Qilin was too merciful. If Seo Gangrim left them to die like this, the Qilin would probably resent him. After a brief moment of contemplation, Seo Gangrim turned around.
"Whatever."
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"Thank you, thank you..."
The people from Zone One were shedding tears as they expressed their gratitude. Just moments ago, thanks to the Qilin, they narrowly escaped death and now they were politely kneeling down in appreciation. Hong Daehoon himself was bowing his head so low it seemed almost servile.
Seo Gangrim addressed Hong Daehoon, "Hey."
"Yes, yes!"
"Where did the rest of your group go?"
Certainly, there were many more of Hong Dahoon's henchmen than this. Hong Daehoon urgently responded, "Just to be safe, the others are waiting at our hideout."
Seo Gangrim fell silent for a moment, then Hong Daehoon continued, "I'll make sure they never touch Zone Two again. I promise!"
Hong Daehoon prostrated himself on the ground, bowing deeply. Beside him, the Qilin blinked its eyes as it stood there. Seo Gangrim glanced briefly at the Qilin, then sighed.
"I'll let you off the hook this time. Now, go."
"Yes, yes!"
Hong Daehoon, along with his companions, hurriedly fled the scene, seemingly in a hurry to get away. After running for a while, they finally stopped outside the cave. Hong Daehoon punched a nearby tree with his fist, cursing.
"Darn it, I can't believe we lost to just one person...!"
Until a moment ago, his face had been sycophantic and submissive, but now it was filled with anger.
"We're lucky though, we escaped with our lives......."
"Luck, you say? We just lost a hundred million won!"
Hong Daehoon glared at his companions as if he wanted to kill them. The one hundred million won was the reward for the first to complete the stage at the highest difficulty level, and he still had a strong desire for it.
"We have the advantage in terms of numbers. If we all gather and take on Seo Gangrim again..."
"I-I'm giving up!"
Unlike the stubborn Hong Daehoon, the rest of his companions were hesitant. One of them, looking frightened, commented, "Seo Gangrim and that strange deer don't seem ordinary. We shouldn't get involved any further."
"Life is more important than money! I'm quitting while I'm ahead."
Hong Daehoon, with his greedy eyes, seemed incapable of letting go. He suddenly shouted, "Alright, fine! I'll handle this alone, and I'll take the reward for myself. You cowards."
Leaving his companions behind, Hong Daehoon started running towards the direction of where Zone Two was located. He clenched his fist, thinking, 'I don't have to face Seo Gangrim one-on-one. If I take a hostage, he'll give up!'
Although he wanted to kill Seo Gangrim, his primary focus now was on becoming the first to complete this stage. If he could just snatch the Ten Thousand Fragrance fruit from Seo Gangrim, the one hundred million won would be his.
'If I catch the weakest one among them, then...'
-Clang!
Suddenly, while Hong Daehoon was running frantically, he tripped over something and fell to the ground. He got up cursing and dusted himself off.
"What the heck did I trip over..."
In an instant, he felt a chilling sensation around his neck. Someone was holding a blade to his throat.
"Move one more step, and..."
"You, how did you...?"
Hong Daehoon was startled by the sudden appearance of Seo Gangrim. He had no idea that Seo Gangrim was using 'Invisibility' to pursue him, so he was understandably shocked.
Seo Gangrim spoke in a calm voice, "Earlier, I couldn't deal with you because of the Qilin."
The Qilin refused to shed blood and was averse to taking lives. In front of such a creature, there was a possibility that it would not obey Seo Gangrim's commands if he had killed a person.
Hearing Seo Gangrim's words, Hong Daehoon urgently exclaimed, "So, you want to kill me? Do you know your comrades will be in danger if you do that?"
To Hong Daehoon's surprise, Seo Gangrim stopped for a moment. Hong Daehoon quickly seized the opportunity and said, "They're not at the hideout. They all went to your companions to attack!"
Seo Gangrim remained silent. Hong Daehoon smiled smugly, thinking he had succeeded in his threat. After a moment, he breathed a sigh of relief as the blade slowly moved away. However, Seo Gangrim's voice turned cold as ice.
"You've made two mistakes."
At these words, Hong Daehoon felt a shiver down his spine. Seo Gangrim's voice was like a blade, and the atmosphere had completely changed from before.
"First, I was already expecting your companions to raid us."
Hong Daehoon was speechless.
"Second, if you wanted to live..."
-Thunk!
"You shouldn't have tried to threaten me with the lives of my companions."
Seo Gangrim's sword was swung horizontally, and in an instant, the ground was dyed with blood. Hong Daehoon could no longer say anything.
Seo Gangrim activated his ability on the corpse.
"[Ability 'Destiny Theft' has been activated!]"
"[Hong Daehoon's 'Strength' partially stolen!]"
Seo Gangrim stole Hong Daehoon's Destiny and took his weapons before leaving the scene. When he returned to the campsite, Father Yohan greeted him with a pale face.
"Brother Seo Gangrim...!"
The campsite looked very different from the morning. Tents were in disarray, trees and grass were cut down, and blood was scattered on the ground, indicating that there had been a battle.
"Are you okay, Father?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Brother Dokgo Jun protected me..."
Then, Dokgo Jun appeared, his face bloody but smiling as usual. He held someone's unconscious neck in one hand.
"Ah, Seo Gangrim. You're here? Zone One's people attacked, so I had to deal with them."
Dokgo Jun was smiling as if nothing had happened. The only difference was the splatters of blood on his face. Then Shin Sooah appeared as well.
"Gangrim-ssi, are you alright?"
Judging by her bloody fist, she seemed to have dealt with her opponents effectively. Seo Gangrim felt relieved seeing their condition.
'I had thought that they would be able to handle Zone One's attackers, but they exceeded my expectations.'
He swallowed his thoughts and took out the Ten Thousand Fragrance fruit from his bag, distributing it to the others. Although the tree had been burned, he was still able to bring enough for them.
Yoon Geoul said with an excited face, "Wow, we'll complete this stage at the highest difficulty!"
"Brother, how did you find this? Can we just accept it?"
"I'll tell you later. And I think I should be the first one to complete this stage."
"Of course!"
Seo Gangrim had made a promise with Gong Joo, so he had to keep it. When Seo Gangrim turned the doorknob and left, an announcement appeared before him.
[Conquest of 'Tongue Removal' has been completed!]
[Successful conquest at the highest difficulty level!]
[As the first conqueror, 'Fate Guide' has arrived as a reward!]"
What arrived was an unidentified, compass-like item. It was one of the things he needed most.
[Item] Fate Guide
[Class] Dragon First-class
[Description] An item that guides the owner when their fate is wandering. It activates automatically when the conditions are met.
Fate Guide was an item similar to a compass that provided guidance in times of crisis or important decisions.
'If I have the Fate Guide, I can somewhat respond to changing futures.'
The Fate Guide, however, was currently dormant, unresponsive. Seo Gangrim placed it inside his bag and closed the door behind him.
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"So in the end, Hong Daehoon failed?"
"...That's right."
"Hmm."
Seomun Yongneo threw a dart at the dartboard with a blank expression. The dart hit the center with a loud thud. She gave a twisted smile and said, "Zone Two is stronger than I thought. The appearance of the first conqueror and the complete defeat of our zone..."
Due to the deaths of Hong Daehoon and his associates and the failure to complete the mission, the number of Zone One trainees had significantly decreased. Hearing such a report had left Seomun Yongneo in a somewhat displeased mood.
At that moment, a knocking sound came from the door, and someone's voice was heard.
"Team Leader Seomun, may I come in?"
"Come in."
As permission was granted, the door opened, and at the same time, a dart flew towards the door.
-Thunk!
The sharp tip of the dart barely stopped near the face of the person at the door. Gong Joo caught the dart with his bare hand and expressed annoyance.
"I've told you to stop doing this."
"Oh, I'm sorry. It was a mistake."
"Well, I'll tolerate it to some extent. After all, you're probably angry because you lost the bet."
With a slightly tilted smile, Gong Joo replied. Seomun Yongneo appeared to be smiling, but it was clear she was irritated.
"Congratulations. I heard that the first conqueror is from your zone, right? His name is Seo Gangrim, right?"
Her eyes gleamed like a predator aiming for its prey.
"I really want to meet him."