CHAPTER 75

20 Squad. Receiving Medicine Costs.

Behind the monk, who stood outside the shimmering landscape where the enemy squad was trapped within the formation, players appeared.

"Now, all that's left is to wait."

As the Taoist in red robes spoke, the alchemist, holding a statue in his hand, nodded while placing one intricately crafted statue at each corner of the formation.

Taking out a fingernail-sized gem glowing in the subspace, he dropped it above the head of each statue. Astonishingly, the floating gem began to emit a gentle glow, illuminating the statues.

The alchemist, who had placed all four statues and gems, smiled.

"The union of formation arts and alchemy has opened a new world. Even if there were a whole horde of Sword Emperors, surviving this wouldn't be easy."

The Taoist in red robes expressed concern with a doubtful expression.

"There was someone among the enemy who seemed to know quite a bit about jiangshi. You don't think they'll find the life gate and escape, do you?"

"In order to find the life gate, they'd have to destroy all four Heavenly King statues. That's impossible within this formation."

The monk, alchemist, and Taoist had first met during a 4-person squad game. The three had survived the chaos of the battlefield by combining their powers of formation arts, spellcasting, and alchemy.

Back then, their martial strength was relatively weak, so they used formations to trap players and unleashed alchemically enhanced undead inside the formation to take them down.

Afterward, they would turn the not-quite-dead players into jiangshi (hopping vampires), gradually growing stronger.

It started off crude, but once they became a fixed squad, their method evolved. They accepted only those with similar skills and formed a 15-member fixed squad.

"Let's begin now."

Players spread to all directions of the formation and enhanced its resonance.

"G-Goodness…"

As the statues of the Four Heavenly Kings—easily 30 meters tall—advanced from all directions, players instinctively made despairing faces.

"It—it's just an illusion of the formation! Don't move recklessly…!"

-KA-BOOM!

Jinryung's words couldn't be finished.

Guangmok Heavenly King, holding a pagoda in one hand and a trident in the other, thrust his weapon forward. Jinryung reflexively blocked it, but couldn't withstand the force and was violently hurled backward.

Rolling on the ground, Jinryung spat out blood and struggled to stand.

"Gah! It's not... not an illusion…"

At his words, the players' panic deepened.

"This won't do."

Looking at the players frozen in despair, Seowoon shook his head.

He wanted to curse them for giving up before the fight even began, but now was the time to lift their morale, which had sunk to the ground.

—Physical and magical forces are strangely twisted here.

Even without Hamit's words, it was clear:

Those statues of the Four Heavenly Kings were not mere illusions.

If they aren't illusions, that means physical force works too.

He focused all his inner energy into his clenched fist. As the power of his two meridians gathered, a fierce aura formed, drawing the aggro of Guangmok Heavenly King nearby.

-SWOOSH!

As the giant trident came flying, Seowoon's punch filled with force slammed into it.

-BOOM!

Seowoon was pushed back, but kichan gently caught his back and stabilized him.

Meanwhile, the trident-wielding Heavenly King's shoulder cracked—then seemed to regenerate, or at least appear to.

Seowoon didn't miss that moment.

"Physical attacks work!"

Seeing the stumbling Guangmok Heavenly King, Seowoon shouted,

"This is a fight we can win!"

Juriel joined in, shouting as well, and morale that had been crushed began to rise again.

Just then, behind them, Jangjang Heavenly King, holding a dragon and a jewel, approached.

The dragon in his hand roared and unleashed blazing red fire from its jaws.

-FWOOSH!

-KIEEEE!

kichan and Juriel quickly cast Blizzard and Ice Snake spells, which instantly erased the fire and repelled the Heavenly King.

"Elemental counters work too!"

Even kichan shouted, and the players' fear was almost completely gone.

"No need to be overwhelmed by appearances."

"It's nothing!"

Though Jinryung had been smacked away in one blow and Seowoon was internally injured, players didn't seem to realize the danger.

Seeing the crack in Guangmok's small statue, the monk shook his head.

"They're resisting more than expected. Let's keep the formation steady!"

Usually, once the Four Heavenly Kings were inserted into the formation, it would be over quickly. But this time, the resistance seemed significant.

"Sending the jiangshi into the formation!"

"Break the Four Heavenly Kings' encirclement!"

-BOOM!

-CRASH! CRACK!

Dodging sword strikes from Jigyuk Heavenly King and stabs from Guangmok, the players tried to break free of the encirclement.

That's when Damon Heavenly King, holding a lute, began to play.

-Pluck! Twang! Strum!

-SHATTER!

Barriers that had been placed started breaking immediately with the music.

"Don't panic! Keep casting barriers! Don't stop the magic attacks!"

—Master!

As Hamit shouted, a spinning wheel appeared in front of Seowoon.

He flicked it with a fingertip.

-Spin-spin-spin… Ding! 'Sticky Fingers of Thievery'. One of the Thief series. It's the sensory variant.

He was about to complain about the name, but the essence of the skill became clear in his mind.

Sticky Fingers of Thievery: Upon physical contact with an enemy, steal one of their senses at random. The stolen sense does not return for 5 minutes. You cannot steal another sense from the same target within that time. Special senses can be used for 5 minutes. Max of five senses can be stolen.

Seowoon activated the bizarre skill and used his step technique to dodge Guangmok's trident.

As he split into twelve afterimages and scattered in all directions, the Four Heavenly Kings began stomping them like bugs.

-WHAM!

As Seowoon passed and struck Jangyang Heavenly King's leg—who was summoning lightning with his orb and spewing fire with his dragon—he felt a sense being stolen: sight.

Now blind, Jangyang began flailing wildly, sending flames in the wrong directions.

Damon, who got hit by stray fire, wrinkled his already fierce face in frustration.

Seowoon once again dashed toward him with his step technique.

He could feel his inner power draining fast, but with two meridians' worth of energy, he could hold out.

Even if his core was emptied, this formation had to be broken quickly—he wouldn't make the mistake of dragging the fight out.

-TWANG!

With a grating sound, Seowoon's hand snapped the strings of the lute.

-SMACK!

Though he got swatted down by Jangyang's palm like a fly, a smile spread across his face.

As he got back up and retreated his aching body, he clearly saw the flustered Jangyang trying to restring the lute.

-Twang! Crack! Squeal!

Without his sense of touch, Jangyang could no longer perform the precise music he once could.

The sound waves from the lute backfired, damaging Jiguk and Guangmok Heavenly Kings, cracking their forms.

"Jiangshi behind us!"

Just as they began regaining momentum, Kaien shouted a warning.

No time to rest. Seowoon, Kaien, and Jinryung dashed toward the incoming jiangshi.

-CRUNCH!

Unlike before, Seowoon crushed a jiangshi's skull with one hit, and the sword-wielding undead knight collapsed.

-SLASH!

-SLASH!

Kaien and Jinryung also took down jiangshi swiftly, cleaving heads clean off.

These jiangshi, attacking mindlessly unlike before, were even easier to dispatch.

"Focus on your magic!"

Juriel encouraged the mages whose concentration was wavering from watching their teammates fighting jiangshi up close.

-Clang! Crack!

A martial jiangshi casually blocked Kaien's wooden sword, twisted its mouth into a sneer, and slashed his chest shallowly with a blade.

Kaien staggered back, blood trailing from his lips as he shouted,

"Living jiangshi!!"

The warriors looked shocked, but with the ongoing struggle against the Four Heavenly Kings, they couldn't afford to turn to the rear.

They had read about such beings in wuxia novels.

They didn't yet know how much of it was fiction or fact, but they understood that living jiangshi retained their martial arts from life and even had a sense of self.

"Still just a martial artist."

With Jinryung still recovering from internal injuries and Kaien receiving healing magic for a torn chest, Seowoon charged at the living jiangshi.

In the meantime, he had grabbed a jiangshi by the neck, torn it apart with brute strength, and was now being watched curiously by the living jiangshi.

"Arrogant bastard. For a jiangshi."

As the living jiangshi's sword came thrusting in, imbued with sword energy, it clashed with the back of Seowoon's hand—filled with the essence of counter-technique.

Even then, the relentless pressure of the sword didn't relent, and Seowoon frowned at the sheer brute force behind it.

-Boom!

He stepped with a jingyak stance, drawing up power from his lower body and channeling it through his arm. The sword finally wavered.

As the blade skimmed dangerously past his shoulder, Seowoon's fist opened, unleashing Blood Bone Fist.

-Crack-crack-crack!

The living jiangshi tried to guard his neck and head, but his arms were shredded to tatters in seconds.

The creature glanced down at its mangled left arm, face twisting in fury.

"Kyaaaargh!!"

With a beast-like roar, the living jiangshi charged. Seowoon, moving even more savagely, rushed to meet him.

-Crunch! Crack!

As the two shadows passed each other, the jiangshi's arms flew into the air.

Before it could react, Jinryung's blade half-sliced its dazed head—and then Seowoon's fist shattered the rest of it.

"Damn it! Those precious jiangshi!"

The Taoist in red robes cursed, as a heavy tension spread through the air.

"To still be holding out… something is definitely off."

Someone muttered, and the monk shook his head.

"This formation won't be broken—"

-CRACK!

The sound of a giant tree splitting interrupted him.

"The formation's been broken! Everyone retreat! To the rendezvous point—"

The blackhole-like space shattered, and two figures burst forth.

-BZZZTTT!

A lightning bolt flew at the monk, who blocked it with a barrier and a bizarrely oversized rosary around his neck.

Immediately after the chain lightning was stopped, kichan cast Flame Burst and Seowoon unleashed energy strikes in all directions, forcing the formation-holding players to retreat.

The formation cracked even further.

At that moment, the small Heavenly King statues at the four corners were completely destroyed, and the environment returned to normal.

"Kill them all!"

The players, sensing defeat, began fleeing faster.

As the storm of battle finally settled, Kaien dragged over three corpses and threw them at Seowoon's feet.

"What's this…?"

Feigning ignorance, Seowoon looked up. Kaien replied,

"From now on, I'm handing over all my kills to Jin Sohyeop."

Though he smiled inwardly, Seowoon put on a troubled expression.

"Th-that's too much…"

"Please, Jin Sohyeop. Accept this, for your brother's sake."

"I'll repay this kindness no matter what."

And with that, Seowoon's Blood Bone Fist smashed in the heads of the three corpses.

"We lost four."

At the scouter Jinryung's report, Juriel nodded.

"It was the right call not to pursue too far."

 Jinryung, also nodding, brought another corpse by the neck and laid it in front of Seowoon.

"He asked me to pass the kill to you. I don't know the details, but I'll hand over all my kills to Jin Sohyeop as well."

Now with two people doing this, the other players naturally turned to look at Seowoon.

"I can't possibly accept this much…"

"Please do. If he asked with such earnestness, I'm sure he has his reasons. And if it's for Jin Sohyeop, it's nothing."

-Crunch!

After landing the finishing blow, Seowoon raised a polite fist-salute toward the two.

"Thank you."

Just then, Jinryung dragged the Taoist in yellow robes by the leg and tossed him in front of Seowoon.

"There seems to be a reason behind this. If it helps, I'll give you all my kills too."

"Senior brother! I'll shamelessly accept your kindness for my unworthy brother."

-Crunch.

As Seowoon ended the Taoist, Jinryung asked,

"If it's not rude, may I hear the reason behind this?"

Everyone looked at Seowoon, curious. When he hesitated, clearly uncomfortable, Kaien stepped up.

"Jin Sohyeop probably doesn't want to bring up private matters in front of everyone. If you'll allow me, I can explain briefly."

Seowoon reluctantly nodded, and Kaien began to spin a dramatic tale that was anything but brief.

"Good heavens!"

"He's meridian-severed?!"

Gasps and sympathetic cries came from all around.

"With a dragon heart, it might be possible!"

As the tale ended on the note of a dragon heart, some players even began dragging over remaining corpses to Seowoon.

"I'll hand over all my kills too."

"Me too!"

"I don't have any kills right now, but if the situation allows, I'll give you mine too."

One by one, players stepped forward. Even Juriel and Liringwi joined in—nearly everyone had pledged their kills.

Naturally, all eyes turned to the five remaining Shielders.

"Everyone wants the main prize. I'm not giving up my kills."

At Kaite's blunt refusal, the players' faces soured.

"Me neither… I need every coin I can get until I make regular knight."

Four Shielders refused. Then the last one spoke:

"I'll give all my kills to him."

This was the same knight who'd helped kichan hold off a powerful foe before.

Since Seowoon had led the rear defense then, this knight had been watching him ever since.

Despite the peer pressure, the knight stood firm.

"Thank you, everyone. I should refuse if I had any shame. But thinking of my brother waiting helpless in bed… I'll shamelessly accept all your kindness."

Everyone except the four Shielders and kichan nodded with proud smiles.

"You… you scammer!"

Only kichan looked at Seowoon in disbelief.

He had known there was something fishy going on, but he never imagined Seowoon would run such an open con.

As Seowoon avoided his gaze, bloodshot eyes unblinking, he silently pointed a finger at kichan.

"Was he always like this…?"

Watching the shameless Seowoon, kichan's expression twisted in real time.

[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]