It must be a finishing move created with all her life force and future potential as collateral.
But saying that suicide is the final finishing move? That was strange.
Of course, she could commit suicide to avoid being used by blood sorcerers or necromancers, but her ability felt too grand for that.
Even the incarnation of the Seven-headed Dragon couldn’t recognize her ability?
“Damn—!!”
Jo Gi-man, rarely flustered, quickly broke through the multiple layers of defensive walls surrounding Shayna’s unique space and reached her.
All that greeted him was a cold corpse with no trace left above the heart, but at least it was a relief.
As long as it wasn’t a complete explosion, it wouldn’t hinder his devouring ability in any way.
Jo Gi-man lifted Shayna’s arm, which lay alone on the ground.
The arm still had some warmth. He slowly pushed one of her fingers into his mouth before the feast got cold.
Crunch—
Chew—
The act of tearing into a live person.
How much torment he had suffered because of this when he first reincarnated.
But for Jo Gi-man, who had long since discovered the taste of human flesh, this was a moment he cherished dearly.
“Indeed… It’s the best. Those born with sensory stats have such rich flavors. The texture is great too.”
As he prized the remaining parts scattered around, he suddenly had a question.
“300 times? Is that girl who was so reluctant to use her ability because of the pain of her lifespan being shortened and her stomach being ripped apart?”
Shayna’s whims had never occurred even once.
Moreover, she spoke as if she had prepared for such a moment, leaving a sticky doubt in Jo Gi-man’s mind.
[Search]
Originally a skill only usable by Awakened Ones, the search skill had long been expanded through several reincarnations.
“… As expected, there’s nothing. That damn girl is just creepy. She died without using any skills yet was still flapping her mouth. What a foolish girl.”
Despite checking several times, no ability was manifested in this space. Yet the feeling of disgust remained; he vented his anger by tearing apart the poor space.
“Ah— really. Why does this message keep showing up late?”
Although he usually pretended to act leisurely around others, he was not a patient person at all.
After cursing for a while, he finally smiled at a message that popped into his mind.
– You have ‘devoured’ a being possessing ‘top-tier’ potential with sensory stats.
– Achievement [Ruler of Twisted Sensation] acquired!
“Top-tier… It’s much lower than Yoon Han-gyeol’s ‘unrecorded’, but I guess it doesn’t matter. That guy is dead anyway.”
Jo Gi-man felt relieved because he had checked this several times in previous rounds.
Shayna was, and would continue to be, the best sensory stat user in this world, aside from Yoon Han-gyeol.
And this maximized the value of this achievement.
[Ruler of Twisted Sensation]
– The power of the Evil God Seven-headed Dragon has greatly twisted the achievement. Additional damage increased by 10 times, but the damage taken also increases correspondingly.
– Identifies the locations of all ‘sense’ ability users with potential lower than that of the devoured Shayna Laine.
– Inflicts an additional 1,000% damage to all ‘sense’ ability users with potential lower than that of the devoured Shayna Laine.
– Receives an additional 1,000% damage from all ‘sense’ ability users with potential higher than that of the devoured Shayna Laine.
The essence of this achievement was not the additional damage, as there was no hunter whom he couldn’t kill alone.
Of course, there was no need to worry about receiving additional damage.
No human existed with higher sensory stat potential than Shayna, and the damage of non-combat sensory ability users wouldn’t increase much anyway.
What mattered more was the ability to pinpoint the locations of ‘sense’ ability users with lower potential than Shayna. This was the key.
That ability essentially meant he could identify the locations of nearly all sensory ability users on this planet, making it an astonishing achievement.
Top-tier dungeons sometimes couldn’t progress without guides with ‘sense’ stats, meaning that in major parties leading global dungeon explorations, at least one sensory ability user was always present.
Thus, knowing the positions of sensory ability users meant having insight into the movements of the world’s strongest, giving Jo Gi-man an omnipotent superiority as if looking down on the battlefield from above. It was undeniably a significant strategic advantage.
“It got a bit more cumbersome, but in the end, the path is set. Hehehe.”
Jo Gi-man’s laughter was filled with confidence that everything would flow according to his will.
“Spit—!”
After spitting on Shayna’s spot, Jo Gi-man quickly left.
A few hours after he left.
Sahara—
A tiny sprout began to emerge where Shayna had died.
That sprout was a tiny possibility left behind by Shayna, which even Jo Gi-man could not perceive.
An unknown ability she manifested when she sensed her death.
In fact, even Shayna, who spoke as if she knew everything, had no clear grasp of what her ability was.
Shayna, who put effort into making Jo Gi-man even slightly uncomfortable in the imminence of her death, was, in some ways, beyond the realm of normalcy.
Boom—
Soon, the sprout, as small as a pinky fingernail, was carried up high into the sky with a gust of wind.
This marked the start of a journey to find a master who would inherit the possibility that Shayna traded for her death.
* * *
“Haah—”
In a study richly decorated with antiquated interiors, a woman sighed as if the ground would swallow her whole. This woman appeared to be in her 20s or 30s, brimming with vitality, yet in truth, she had long surpassed her middle age.
And before her stood another woman, bowing her head.
“What am I to do with you, Ha-yoon?”
“······.”
“Why do you keep delaying your promotion? Don’t say it’s because you dislike receiving help from the members. You know that once you rise to the higher rank, your skills will naturally keep up. The days of exploring dungeons while making memories with your teammates are long gone.”
“······.”
Im Dong-soo, Ha-yoon’s mother and an early Awakened One, was a person with an extremely delicate personality, despite her rough name.
Her radar caught an anomaly in her youngest daughter’s trajectory. So she had called her to her space for now.
“When did she grow so big…?”
Even she, known as the ice witch across the world, found herself helpless in the face of her youngest daughter’s stubbornness.
The child who had once feared her so much was now showing a firm will not to back down.
“She must have some reason for acting this way…”
However, when asked for a reason, Ha-yoon merely kept her mouth shut and requested a bit more time.
“I believe it was Lee Yeon-hee.”
“······!”
“… I heard she’s been quite active lately. It appears something changed after you joined a party with that girl.”
“······.”
“… Do you, by any chance, like her?”
“N-no! Not at all!”
“Hoho— I’m open-minded in that regard. Don’t be shy, just tell me.”
“Really, it’s not that! I mean, it’s true that she has a positive influence on me.”
“… To what extent? Unless it’s an overwhelming advantage—”
“That extent… I’m aware of it.”
“······.”
It was just passing along the information she had overheard, but it was clear that there was something to this Lee Yeon-hee girl.
After all, there was no way a girl who could utter such phrases would be just ordinary. Today, she exhibited several unexpected displays.
“Okay. But this promotion can only happen once. After that, rise to the next rank immediately. I’ll grant you some free time after the promotion.”
Though it was not something to say to a child long past adulthood, Ha-yoon clenched her fist in joy.
And as she quietly observed her daughter’s joy, Im Dong-soo pulled out a ring from her inventory and handed it to her beloved daughter.
A small ice path formed, allowing only one ring to descend down toward Ha-yoon. It required extremely fine control for freezing transformations, but for a witch, it was as simple as breathing.
“This… Wearing this would be too excessive—”
“Don’t say another word and wear it. There’s no guarantee that incidents like the last dungeon break won’t happen again. Do you know how shocked I was when I heard that news? Thinking back to that time, I’d feel it wouldn’t be enough to lock you in a room.”
“… Okay. Thank you, Mother.”
“Tsk— be off now.”
Ha-yoon politely bowed her head to her mother, stepped back a few paces, and then made her exit.
……
“… Hehe. My choice was right.”
Im Dong-soo, looking at the place where Ha-yoon had left, smiled with satisfaction. It was said that however you go, as long as you end up in Seoul, it’s fine. In any case, her daughter was growing quickly within expected bounds.
Whuuuu—
Im Dong-soo briefly unleashed her personal space, which had been temporarily dormant, back to its maximum size.
The study had undergone no external changes, but this space was solely hers. A sanctuary that no one could covet.
“Haah—”
Having slept for several days until Ha-yoon’s arrival, she then fell back into a seemingly endless sleep once more. The constraints that early Awakened Ones received also applied to the ice witch.
* * *
Morning dawned. Yeon-hee had finally fallen asleep at the break of dawn after tossing and turning for quite some time the night before.
Yawn—
“Ah, hello…”
“Clap, Clap, Clap!!”
As a result, the first sign of shadows appeared under Yeon-hee’s eyes. That had its own appeal, but controlling her condition before entering the dungeon was crucial and couldn’t help but worry her.
Especially today, the dungeon would be heavily populated by Orc Low-Rank Warriors that had tormented us endlessly.
The dungeon was named ‘Orc-D-177’.
This signified that it was the 177th dungeon rated as grade D among the Orc dungeons generated in our country.
Since there were so many dungeons centered around Orcs, the names just got simpler as they were tagged based on their generation order.
Dungeons emerge and disappear repeatedly, but as time goes on, the rate at which dungeons disappear decreases while the number being created increases. This is something I can assert from experience.
In any case, we planned to gain experience in the Orc dungeon for at least a few days. Though whether that would proceed as planned was uncertain.
Swish—
The sound of Yeon-hee washing herself had been tickling my ears for a while now. Of course, I don’t have ears, but it feels that way.
Being a skeleton with a conscience, I intentionally widened the wave of sensation so that I couldn’t grasp the details of her body. I wonder if Yeon-hee knows that I am such a chivalrous skeleton.
Click—
I heard her step into the living room after washing.
“······ Turn your head away. If you look back, you’ll be scolded!”
I was already looking out the window, but for some reason, she said that directly to my backside. It’s quite unjust.
Moreover, she didn’t even go back right away and stared at my back for quite a while.
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