Chapter 37 (2/2)
He recovered his wits and hurriedly pulled the blank paper talisman out. And then….
[I can't tell what foolish thoughts led you to this place, but!]
….And then, without a shred of hesitation, he ripped it in half.
[You've used the Necessary Talisman.] […But! As a Guardian, I can not sit idly by and simply watch your insolence!] [Scanning for the most 'needed spell' for the current situation…. Please wait.] [The punishment for intruding upon this holy site is your dea…. What?]
The voice and the message continuously rang around in his ears. But then, eventually….
[The spell, Limited Area: A Big Earthquake, has been activated.] (TL: the name of the spell was written in English in the raw.)
[An earthquake measuring 12 in magnitude will commence within the designated area.]
Wuong, wuong, wuong, wuong!!!
A ma.s.sive barrier suddenly formed between the spot Seol was standing on and the mountainside. Then, this barrier expanded even further and completely surrounded the entire mountain range in the blink of an eye, with a membrane much, much thicker than any barrier Seol had seen up until now.
[W, what do you think you're doing, human?!]
The voice became urgent as this unexpected event continued to unfold.
Unfortunately for the owner of the voice, the actual spell hadn't even begun yet.
*SFX for a ma.s.sive rumbling of the ground*
An indescribably terrifying roar attacked Seol's hearing. It was so loud that he lost all his hearing right away.
It was as if tens of thousands of fault lines were colliding with one another. And subsequently, the earth split….
The ground cracked apart like spider webs, and the whole mountain range began trembling.
KABOOM!!
The earth broke apart and exploded upwards.
Seol could only describe what he saw like that.
[Kyaaaaahck!!]
Almost at the same time, a figure of a woman swiftly emerged from one of the trees trapped behind the barrier as her hair whipped about.
This was no longer on the level of a mountain slide or something similar - no, the entire mountain range itself was cracking apart and was collapsing from top to bottom while the ground exploded non-stop.
As he stood outside the barrier in safety, Seol couldn't really tell whether it was his eyesight twisting around or the actual mountain was being shredded into pieces. That was how absurdly scary the destructive force of the spell was.
[Euhark? Euahaaaarck!!!!]
The mountains and the ground undulated and broke apart over and over again, causing this figure of female to jump up and down like a madwoman. However, the quaking became even harsher, even more violent than before, and soon enough, even her screamings disappeared as well.
Seol dazedly looked on, before powerlessly collapsing to the ground. Witnessing this spectacle unfold right before his eyes, a nearly insurmountable fear had taken hold of his mind. Him sitting there on his knees, looking on while completely unscathed, that felt like a lie.
In the end, he squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears.
When a calamity of such an unprecedented, heaven-changing scale descended, it didn't take long for everything trapped within the barrier to be utterly annihilated into oblivion.
[You have successfully cleared the 'Impossible' difficulty mission.] [You have received one One-time use VIP coupon.] [172,800 Survival Points have been accredited to you.] [Current Survival Points: 477,997.]
When the kneeling Seol opened his eyes after hearing those alerts resound in his ears, he was already back in the first floor plaza.
”Whew-ahhh….”
Seol breathed out a sigh of relief as if he almost lost ten years of his life just now. His shocked heart was still pounding away madly. He remained on the ground, working hard to regulate his heavy and rough breathing.
'It's just a mission. Yeah, it was nothing more than just a simple mission….'
After managing to calm his fears, Seol finally noticed a small piece of paper resting on his chest. And it was the one-time use VIP store coupon. It was only then he realised that he had succeeded. The emotion of pure joy rushed in.
Seol clenched his fist tightly. He was uncertain and hesitant even when he was about to rip the mission parchment in half, but now that he managed to clear it, he was being overwhelmed by this sense of unadulterated joy and satisfaction.
After confirming the amount of SP he had, Seol got up to leave.
His comrades constantly advised him to invest in new armours and stuff, but he doggedly saved all of his points. And since he had received the extra rewards, he just knew that he'd never be able to get a good night's rest from regret if he didn't spend a dime and ended up leaving the Neutral Zone tomorrow.
While carefully carrying the coupon, Seol quickly ran up the stairs. He pushed the door to the eighth floor VIP store and entered, only to find that there was another customer here.
”Uh? You also came?” (Odelette Delphine)
It was none other than Odelette Delphine.
”What did you come to buy? I want to get an Elixir, but apparently, there isn't one for Magic Power anymore.” (Odelette Delphine)
Seol half-listened to Odelette Delphine's complaints while hurriedly browsing the item list.
Divine Elixirs: 30,000 SP each - Strength x1, Endurance x1, Agility x1, Stamina x2, Luck x2
He was the one who bought all the available Magic Power Elixirs, but one bottle each of Agility and Luck Elixirs were gone as well. Seol's team mates had purchased them. They did invest in their armours and equipment, but that didn't mean that some of them lacked enough wiggle rooms to invest another 30,000 points on buying up the Elixirs.
”Miss Delphine, are you planning to buy one of these Divine Elixirs?” (Seol)
”Pardon? Oh, no, not really~. I'm not gonna buy them.” (Odelette Delphine)
”I understand. Uhm, hey miss? Give me every single Divine Elixir left in your inventory, please!” (Seol)
”………Eh?” (Odelette Delphine)
A stupid-sounding gasp escaped from Odelette Delphine's mouth after hearing Seol's bold purchasing decision. 210,000 points disappeared in one go, as seven vials of Divine Elixirs entered Seol's hands.
”And then….” (Seol)
While he was saving his points, he had already made up his mind on what he wanted to buy. He only bought the Elixirs simply because he now had lots more points to burn all of a sudden.
Psychi's Tears: 250,000 SP, x1
”Give me the Psychi's Tears as well!” (Seol)
”Euh-ehhhhh?!” (Odelette Delphine)
With that, another 250,000 points were gone.
Now, the real problem began. Well, he wasn't planning to earn that one-time use VIP store coupon, after all.
Moirai's Souvenir: 600,000 SP, x1 Miyal's Branding Iron: 100,000 SP, x1 The Divine Stigmata: 300,000 SP, x1 The Seed of the World Tree: 400,000 SP, x1 Aphrodite's Sedge: 150,000 SP each, x5
Seol didn't even bother to look at the items cheaper than 100,000 points. His eyes remained fixed on these five items as he deliberated on his choice for a long time.
'Oh my G.o.d, heaven help me….' (Seol)
Every single one of them possessed heaven-defying effects. After some deliberation, he had to tearfully exclude Miyal's Branding Iron and Aphrodite's Sedge from his choice and move on.
'Let's see. Moirai's Souvenir, The Divine Stigmata, and the Seed of the World Tree…….' (Seol)
After thinking about it seemingly for an eternity, Seol finally made up his mind.
”Give me…. the Divine Stigmata…” (Seol)
There was only one reason for his decision.
Both the Moirai's Souvenir and the Seed of the World Tree possessed an overall effect that seemed to benefit a group of people more. Meanwhile, the Divine Stigmata seemed more geared towards helping out one individual rather than many.
As soon as Seol presented the One-time use coupon, the eyes of the maid in charge of the VIP store and Odelette Delphine went extra round in shock.
”O, oh my goodness?!” (the maid)
”Uwaaaah?!” (Odelette Delphine)
”Can I use this?” (Seol)
Seol's question caused the dumbfounded maid to nod her head.
”Yes, yes, you can take anything you want with this…. B, bu, but, how?” (the maid)
”Wha, what is this? This, isn't this that?! Right? You, did you clear that mission?! But, but! How did you do that?!” (Odelette Delphine)
Ignoring the two fl.u.s.tered females, Seol tightly grasped the marble that shone in a brilliant blue hue. Then, he turned around and quickly left the store. He ran to his next destination, the regular store that sold weapons. He feared that, if he remained in the VIP store for a second longer, he'd not be able to forget about the other two items.
The points still remaining: 17,997.
Seol could hear Odelette Delphine desperately calling out to him from behind, but he was unable to answer her, as his head was filled with a singular thought of getting rid of the remaining Survival Points as quickly as possible.
He spotted a handful of survivors browsing through the wares in the weapons store. Discovering Aragaki Yuzuha not too far from him, Seol raised his hand high and called out to her.
”Over here!” (Seol)
”Yes?” (Yuzuha)
Yuzuha trotted over to his side unhurriedly.
”How much is the most expensive spear in this store?” (Seol)
”The most expensive one? Then it's…. we have a spear that costs 22,500 points, but for you, it'll be 15,750. In any case, how can I help you?” (Yuzuha)
Unless one was talking about armours or items designed for Sorcerers and Priests, one wouldn't find high-priced weapons reserved for Warriors costing more than what one might find in the VIP store.
”Give it to me.” (Seol)
”….Eh?” (Yuzuha)
”Give me that spear. I'm buying it.”
”Oh, oh my!! You're sooo cool, Mister Survivor!!” (Yuzuha)
Since all sales commissions counted towards her achievements, there was no way Yuzuha would hesitate and waste time here. She rapidly brought out a spear that shone in the most arresting silver light one could imagine, and then, bent her waist 90 degrees in grat.i.tude.
And out of the remaining 2197 points, Seol spent them all, bar the 1000 he needed to leave the Zone. Only then, his shopping spree came to an end.
”Euhehehehe….” (Seol)
Seol continuously giggled like a madman as he climbed up the stairs, before covering his mouth in hurry. Even if he felt like he was on cloud nine, his laughter sounded way too stupid for his own liking.
He decided to save the Divine Elixirs for a rainy day. He was thinking that he should use them only after he ran into some kind of a bottleneck when trying to get physically stronger. Since he had plenty more room to grow as he was, using these Elixirs now seemed like the height of stupidity, instead.
'As for the Divine Stigmata, I can only use it when I get to a temple…'
But, the remaining item could be used right away, no problem.
What a nice timing, then, as the night had approached and it was now time to hit the sack, anyway.
Seol returned to his quarters and finished packing things up. He switched off all the lights and headed to the bathroom. After chasing away Yun Seo-Rah who was hiding at the bottom of the bathtub, he lied down on the tub himself.
He stared at the clear liquid swirling around inside the small vial for a little while, before pulling the stopper out to drink every last drop of it.
As soon as the refres.h.i.+ng sensation of the liquid tickling his throat registered in his brain, he was. .h.i.t by a powerful urge to sleep, perhaps to signal that the effects were already manifesting themselves.
Seol's expression was one of pure happiness as his eyes slowly closed shut.
He had no idea in his wildest dreams what might happen tomorrow morning.
< 37.=”” to=”” paradise=”” (3)=””> Fin.