READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 277: Value is Something That Can Disappear (2)
“Maybe?”
“The reason I resisted the Knight’s Pact was because of my Awakening attribute… that parchment is actually an item that psychologically affects you.”
I stumbled through the explanation.
I had thought it was odd, but it turns out this was a case of not awakening a common active skill.
While others seem to recall memories like they had been dormant in their muscles from the moment of awakening, I couldn’t even conjure fire despite becoming a psychic and couldn’t push objects in the distance.
Thus, the skills I displayed recently were mostly things I had learned over time.
“……”
At this point, I had provided enough initial explanation for the main topic.
G cough, cough…
As you would know if you hit me yourself, if my condition was right, my body was pretty sturdy.
However, the surface hardness was comparable to a genuine defensive hunter.
Additionally, this body rarely succumbs to brainwashing without any measures. So,
The words I squeezed out, forcing my neck muscles, ended with this sentence.
“…Maybe my Awakening ability is… broadly, some function to protect myself from external threats.”
Most of the rest was omitted, but if that guy, who was usually very interested in magic, heard it, he would surely understand.
In the first place, Earth skills are all just records of phenomena observed by humans, after all.
How much accuracy could there possibly be in that?
‘There must still be an abundance of magic that hasn’t been properly registered, including those kept secret. Plus, already recorded spell information can’t be considered perfect.’
I maintained my argument consistently after that.
Anyway, I wasn’t sure, but my body had automatically nullified threats from outside since long ago.
And that defensive range wasn’t limited to just physical power.
As there was no previously registered information, awakened individuals on Earth could only infer their innate talents through experience.
“I don’t know either. Honestly, I don’t really know why I have this ability… I just got bitten by a dog and awakened… and ended up like this….”
“Awakened from a dog bite?”
To make the lie convincing, I didn’t forget to mix in a real incident.
I described in detail why I had immunity to the Knight’s Pact.
Then, Kang Chang-ho stood there with his arms crossed, silent for a long moment.
‘Is he contemplating?’
A few seconds passed.
It seemed like Kang Chang-ho had finished thinking and shifted his posture.
He placed his hand on the erector spinae on the back and said,
“That sounds plausible.”
“……!”
Although the PIXY notation was simple like in a game, as someone said, in reality, skills were a fairly complex concept.
An Awakening ability that simply preserves the spirit and body of the spell owner.
Vague as it was, such a thing could naturally exist.
It seemed Kang Chang-ho had come to a conclusion of sorts, nodding positively.
He appeared to understand a significant part of my argument.
‘Oh!’
But it seemed there were still many intricate parts remaining for him to believe everything I said…
“But, you know?”
The questions came in quick succession.
“This time, that’s the sticking point. Teacher Kim, you have such a great ability, so why pretend to be F-Class?”
Of course, answering was not difficult.
I had already answered that question in the past, but I had no idea what logic brought that up again.
“……Well, back then. I got seriously injured and couldn’t use my power for a while… didn’t I explain that?”
“Hum.”
“Even if I had a natural defensive talent… when my magic power is completely depleted, that, hmm. That ability doesn’t activate.”
“So?”
“…Then, what’s left is… my rare ability is just resistance to mental attacks. There’s no reason to reveal it to the world….”
“Usually none.”
“How many awakened individuals in this world are there hiding their abilities?”
The blue nails embedded in my upper body disrupted my breathing’s magical power exchange.
But I deliberately didn’t hinder the interference process to hide that I wasn’t affected by magical tools, creating a somewhat bizarre sound that turned into a persuasive device.
I argued with a voice dry like a parched patient’s.
“I really am nothing….”
If a person explains desperately like this, shouldn’t a conscience at least listen a bit?
“What that Lee Hwa-young said… it was just… a family situation.. there’s a lot of entanglement there. I can explain it all… There were circumstances that couldn’t be avoided…”
But it was at that moment.
Kang Chang-ho, who had been quietly listening to my claims, turned his back.
Then he started walking towards one side of the room with large strides.
‘What’s going on?’
The underground room was generally dimly lit, making it difficult to distinguish shapes far from the sole light source on the ceiling.
But in the course of our conversation, the mammal’s vision had adapted to the darkness. Objects that hadn’t been recognized until now were now observed quite clearly.
It was a place where you could see something hanging like in a slaughterhouse.
The S-Class Hunter headed toward the side with the workbench where things were lined up.
And the identity of those objects on the workbench was.
“……!”
Several mana potions.
Scream Stakes.
Surprise Boxes.
And Hydra.
These were all items that were quite familiar to me.
More specifically, they were artifacts that undoubtedly came out of one Item Box.
I wouldn’t have cared if just one was out.
But with such a perfect set, there was no way I wouldn’t know they were mine.
Moreover, the bad news didn’t stop there.
I realized from the moment I opened my eyes that the necklace I had always carried with my skin sensation was gone, and the whereabouts of the missing Pyromancer Necklace had just been revealed.
Upon closer inspection, I found fragments of the pendant of that necklace lying at the very right end of the workbench.
‘Wait, fragments?’
Golden. And made of a very small amount of red hues, some solid piece of rubble.
‘Kuugh…’
To be direct.
Kang Chang-ho had completely destroyed one of the items I owned.
More precisely, the Pyromancer Necklace had become a pitiful sacrifice.
This act of property destruction seemed to be influenced solely by the Earthling’s mood.
The other items hadn’t been damaged at all despite not being emotionally intimidating toward the opponent.
‘Damn Earthling. You still held a grudge over that necklace I wore to show off back in the day.’
Even if his extra income had increased, the price of the Pyromancer Necklace still felt high to me.
I swallowed my tears while looking at the wreckage worth about 50 million won.
But Kang Chang-ho didn’t consider the feelings of the victim and just focused on his goal.
Thud, thud.
With steady steps, he walked up to the table, and picked up the magical tool directly opposite the remnants of the necklace.
‘Hmm.’
In fact, that workbench didn’t hold only my items.
There were a few tools presumed to belong to the room’s owner, in addition to the seized items of the kidnapped victim.
And among those, the one I expected to fetch the highest price was undoubtedly that.
‘Justitia.’
Kang Chang-ho returned holding the silver scale.
I felt a bit anxious.
I wasn’t worried about Justitia’s two functions: truth detection and the moderate weakening magic Judgment towards those who lied.
‘Speaking of which, wasn’t the current time around 10 o’clock?’
The problem was the process before that tool returned to its owner.
Justitia.
There was a time I had thought about luring Kang Chang-ho in with that item. So, I had proposed transferring the scale to another Earthling.
However, Seonwoo-yeon had not only said she couldn’t hand over someone else’s item but also seemed to plan to use herself as bait due to Kang Chang-ho’s hair. In that case, it made more sense for her to hold onto the scale firmly, didn’t it?
‘The association employee was right. Dragging the opponent into the studio forcefully would have low chances of success anyway…’
Ultimately, Seonwoo-yeon had taken the truth scale and left the studio.
If that magical tool had returned to Kang Chang-ho, it indicated that the man had re-established contact with the association employee.
“Kim Gi-ryeo.”
Naturally, I was worried about the safety of that B-Class Awakened.
So I rolled my eyes and pondered for a moment, and Kang Chang-ho, having brought Justitia, placed his hand on the scale’s head and spoke.
“-And, is it truly the case that you have no connection to Dungeon Shock, including all the consciousness controlling that body?”
It was a question that seemed to sift through the gate’s creators.
I slightly nodded and replied.
“Yes.”
Clack!
To be precise, the ki-simche had fled to this distant galaxy because of being chased by a great mage.
Then Earth got entangled in gate phenomena, so there was a real risk of false judgment in that statement, but Justitia had already found a resolution during the day, so the situation was safe.
The right plate dropped down.
‘Seeing that I had entrusted that magical tool to Seonwoo-yeon, it seems contrary to what I had shouted on the beach that I still trust Justitia’s functions…’
Seeing this, I thought that since I had borrowed the power of the magical tool, perhaps the opponent would start accepting my claims.
‘Huh?’
At that moment.
The room’s owner tilted his head as he scrutinized Justitia’s result.
“Hm, the right side. The right side.”
After some prolonged careful observation, he exhibited such behavior.
“Well, in that time, there’s no way they would have done nothing with the scale.”
Thud!
With a physique matching his height of 192 cm, the giant Korean’s hand fiercely grasped something.
What he grabbed was a cylindrical organ with a circumference of 36 cm.
Simply put, it meant that I was currently being strangled by a kidnapper.
‘Mammals catching aliens!’
Oh no!
I felt the barrier of the Divine Tree Sapling being cut down in real-time.
Kang Chang-ho seemed intent on crushing the neck of the alien he had caught, tightening his grip without mercy.
As time flowed, the opponent’s strength gradually increased to about 20%, 44%, and then 68% over time.
Oh no.
‘This is bad.’
A minute later.
The limit of my protective effects was swiftly approaching—less than 70 seconds had passed.
The magical barrier, barely holding on, quickly lost strength under continuous impact.
Consequently, someone’s body retreated according to its original F-Class level.
Before long, the unique keratin nails of the Earthling tore into the area near my neck.
Creeeak.
If the same force was applied continuously, that area would shatter down to the bones.
However, immediately after, when the defense of the body sharply dropped, the action Kang Chang-ho displayed was unexpected.
‘Oh no?’
The mammal had been maintaining just enough force to obstruct another’s blood flow.
Now I noticed that the targeted area was roughly around the carotid artery.
And Kang Chang-ho aimed specifically at the carotid artery.
‘Ah, I see.’
Anyone equipped with modern magical knowledge could easily understand.
The Third S-Class Hunter of Korea had repeated behaviors that might seem trivial, grabbing and releasing the neck of his prey, right after shattering the Divine Tree‘s barrier.
‘It was fact-checking.’
Grrr.
As external force pressed hard, an uncomfortable sound reverberated within my closed vocal cords.
What did all this action signify?
‘This bastard knows too well that a mage is severely affected by breathing!’
It was a behavior that interfered with my breath, just enough not to kill or make me faint.
In fact, this was a primitive test method used to determine which individual the spell came from.
If you suffocate a mage, most of their connected magic becomes unstable at the same timing.
‘That…’
Kang Chang-ho tightened his grip on the neck muscles of the alien.
In an irregular rhythm, he calmly gazed at the Justitia held in his other hand.
He was checking if the judgment value would waver even slightly.
‘Oh… it seems I really shouldn’t die like this. From a macro perspective, for the sake of this entire planet, I need to remove that mammal somehow before resting…’
Beside me, blood vessels were bursting in real-time. Yet, he merely focused on the cold scale like observing the markings in a measuring vial?
Fortunately.
The countermeasures I had prepared for Justitia were unaffected by such verification methods.
In short, once a sentence was produced from my mouth, the judgment had already been confirmed and relayed to the scale. Anyway, my trickery wouldn’t be detected by primitive Earthlings at least.
Yet irrespective of this technical success, the current actions of the third kidnapper led to many ponderings.
‘Kang Chang-ho, you certainly bought this test method somewhere, didn’t you? …You didn’t learn this through experiential learning, did you?’
As time went on, I found myself increasingly curious about the source of that kidnapper’s information.
Moreover, various ethical considerations regarding Earth’s black market started to arise as well.