[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
w
Chapter 7: Selection (2)
"…A rock?"
I blinked, thinking I’d seen it wrong, but what appeared amidst the shimring light was a dull stone.
A single stone, smaller than a golf ball.
“Ah! Is this really a sword? What if I cut myself?”
“Hey, miss! So chunk of tal just ca out, but do you know what it is? It’s heavy as hell!”
The woman in the fitted business skirt got a gleaming sword, and the security guard—whose vision wasn’t the best—ended up with a riot shield fit for a special forces unit.
“Woah! Check this out, hyung!”
Even Jaehyuk managed to get himself shiny dieval-style armor!
"Uh, Eunho? Did you seriously just get a stone?"
Jieun’s words drew everyone’s attention to the floating box in front of .
“Young man, is it true? A rock ca out?”
“A stone? Wow, I thought the cape was the worst, but I was wrong.”
“Well, um… stay strong…”
Everyone else had gotten sothing useful for survival.
Sure, it was random, so there were differences between items like shields and capes.
“Hyung! Wanna share my armor? We can take turns wearing it!”
“You’ll pause in the middle of a fight to swap armor?”
“Well, I guess…”
“...Sigh. It’s fine. If I throw it well, a rock might co in handy sohow.”
Though, a rock is still just a rock.
I tried to console myself, but my hand gripping the golden string trembled uncontrollably.
‘This was supposed to make up for my setback…’
The random box was truly random.
There’s an old saying: luck is a skill.
But no amount of effort could have changed the result this ti.
Still, my shoulders slumped no matter how much I tried to rationalize it.
“…What about you, Jieun?”
“This,”
Jieun replied, pulling a dagger about the length of her forearm from the box.
Her eyes sparkled with curiosity, suggesting she liked it.
“You seem good with it.”
“Yeah. It feels oddly comfortable in my hand. I’ve never handled anything sharper than a kitchen knife before.”
She turned it over in her hand, experinting with grips, as if it had been tailor-made for her small hands.
“That’s great. I’m sure it’ll co in handy.”
At least Jieun and Jaehyuk had gotten decent items.
The dagger, in particular, would prove useful even outside of combat.
If she got used to it, it could be a great asset.
‘A rock could be useful if I got used to it too… throwing it… rolling it...’
Resigning myself to the thought, I reached out to the stone.
And then—
—Flash!
[You have absorbed the "Diamond of the Forsaken Highlands."]
The stone’s surface, which had felt cool to the touch, suddenly began to liquefy as if lting in intense heat.
[The skill "Petrification (Lv.1)" has been unlocked.]
[Due to limited absorption, the initial activation range is restricted.]
A skill? A
ll of a sudden?
After all the painstaking data collection, I hadn’t seen even a trace of the skill I’d worked for.
Now, one pops out randomly from a box?
—Slick.
The once-solid stone flowed up my fingers like molten tal.
An intense heat coursed through my skin, muscles, and even the marrow of my bones.
Petrification.
As I felt my fingertip hardening from the inside, I realized—my body was changing.
[Initial activation range for "Petrification (Lv.1)" for subject "Eunho" is…]
How far will it go?
My legs?
My arms?
My fists?
[The index finger of your right hand.]
“…Huh?”
* * *
—Thunk!
“This is actually pretty amazing!”
Jieun clapped her hands like a seal.
“That’s no ordinary rock.”
"Diamond of the Forsaken Highlands."
I had suspected sothing was unusual about a stone with such a grandiose na.
It could punch through concrete walls and marble floors alike.
“It’s so cool! I bet it’s great for opening cans too!”
“Uh, you open cans with your thumb, not your index finger.”
“Really?”
I nodded silently, and Jieun shrugged as if to say, “Is that so?”
“Anyway, I like that it’s a growth-type skill. If you level it up, the range will probably expand.”
「Petrification (Lv.1): Hardens the caster's body for 60 seconds.」
「Activation range: Index finger of the right hand.」
The strength was impressive, so expanding the range would make it extrely useful.
Sure, items like swords and shields were great right out of the box, but upgrading one’s core abilities was always the better long-term choice.
"Mission reward."
[Choose your mission reward.]
“With the remaining point, I’ll upgrade the Petrification skill.”
[Upgrading "Petrification (Lv.1)" to "Petrification (Lv.2)".]
[Select an additional activation range: Right-hand thumb, middle finger, ring finger, pinky finger, left-hand thumb…]
“Right-hand thumb.”
I decided without hesitation.
The thumb and index finger often work together, making it practical for gripping and applying force.
[Skill upgrade complete.]
“Eunho, are you planning to open cans now?”
“…Of course not.”
I glanced at Jieun, who tilted her head quizzically, then turned my attention to the others.
I needed to see if anyone else had gained a skill like mine.
If soone had, they’d likely beco a rival.
‘Aside from Jieun and Jaehyuk, the others have a sword, a shield, a cape, or a bomb...’
The items from the random boxes were all over the place.
But the reactions of those holding them were largely the sa:
“What the hell am I supposed to do with this?”
"Hey! How are we supposed to carry all this stuff? It doesn’t fit in my bag.”
“Wait, Minjung, why are you putting my money in your bag?”
“What are you talking about? It’s our money. We’re using it to buy a house, rember?”
In the midst of this chaos, the couple who had gleefully received five hundred million won in cash were still buzzing with excitent.
That excitent, however, had spiraled into a lovers’ quarrel.
“What house? I said I’m not thinking about marriage!”
“You said we’d get married once things settled down! This money is enough!”
“…Sigh. Minjung, that’s not—”
“Forget it! Get lost.”
—Thud.
The man wore a troubled expression.
The sulking woman walked toward the corner.
A palm-sized figure from a display case rolled to my feet when the man followed her.
"Hm?"
The slippery floor made it roll smoothly.
“Co to think of it, the manager did say earlier that the floor was slippery…”
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
w
— Thud. Thud. Roll.
Next, it was a tumbler that soone had left after drinking.
"Ah, oppa!"
"Ahhh! Minjung!"
The couple, heading toward a secluded spot away from the crowd, tripped and let out cries of alarm.
The couple toppled forward.
One by one, items began to roll.
This was…
"…The floor is tilting! Everyone, be careful!"
My warning was barely out when the exhibition hall floor trembled and tilted sharply to one side.
"Aaah!"
"What’s going on?!"
"H-Hyung! It’s tilting more and more!"
The incline grew steeper and steeper.
From a gentle slope, to a steep hill, and then to sothing resembling a rock wall.
People started losing their balance one by one, staggering and falling.
So were seen rolling down the tilted floor.
"How far is this going to tilt?!"
— Crash. Thud. Clatter.
Pots and ornants tumbled and shattered everywhere, while large furniture and display cases slamd down, sliding down the slope with a deafening racket.
“Jaehyuk! Grab onto a pillar!”
“Ahhh! What about you, hyung?!”
Unlike Jaehyuk, who clung desperately to a pillar set up in the exhibition hall, there was nothing near to grab onto.
In that case—
“Petrification!”
[Using skill.]
— Thunk!
I thrust my thumb and forefinger into the floor.
‘Will this work?’
There was no ti to hesitate.
Even as my fingers dug into the ground, others were rolling and falling away.
"Kyaaaah!"
Thwack!
In the chaos, I managed to catch Jieun’s wrist just as she was about to fall.
“Are you okay? I must be heavy…”
“I can manage. But… everyone over there! Are you all right?”
I called out to the people who had fallen into a pile at the corner, but all I got back were cries of, "Ahhh! Kyaa! Ugh!"
— Snap!
To make matters worse, sparks started flaring up at the feet of a couple who had been pushed to the farthest corner.
“What the hell?! What is this?!”
“F-fire! What do we do?!”
‘Fire? Out of nowhere? Why?!’
Flas, which had no apparent ignition point, grew larger and began to blaze furiously.
“What do we do? Ahhh!”
The fire climbed up from the man’s toes, spreading along his legs.
Clutched tightly in his arms, bundles of yellow cash beca the dium for the fire.
“Throw that away! Quickly!”
“O-Oppa! Drop the money! Waaah!”
“S-save eeeeeeeee!”
Before anyone could act, the flas engulfed the man entirely.
A fiery demon consud him as though conquering its prey, then spread to coil ominously at the side.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
In an instant, two people had turned to ashes.
— Fwoosh!
“Hy-hyung!”
There was no ti to think about saving or helping the burning people.
— Crash! Crash! Crash!
“Above you!”
A wooden table, easily over 2 ters, was plumting straight for my head.
‘If I let go of my grip, I’ll fall! And then the flas will…!’
Below , the raging fire seed to open its mouth wide, ready to make us its next target.
[Data collection for skill unlocking is complete.]
[Searching for a skill suitable for the target.]
“...!”
The skill that had been stuck at 99%.
I prayed with desperate resolve.
‘Anything will do. Just let it be sothing I can use right now!’
[Congratulations! Based on your unparalleled adaptability, your intense desire to run until your heart bursts, and the mories of surpassing your limits etched into your body, a unique skill has been generated!]
[The skill Acceleration (Lv.1) has been unlocked!]
‘Acceleration…?’
— Whoosh!
‘It just makes faster, doesn’t it?’
In this situation, where I was clinging to the slanted floor, struggling to stay on, running wasn’t an option.
‘Just moving faster isn’t going to help!’
“Hy-hyung! You have to move!”
Was it death by a crushing blow to the head or death by immolation?
There was no other way.
I had to try it.
“Acceleration!”
[Using skill.]
I planned to speed up and dodge sohow…
‘Huh?’
I didn’t feel any faster.
I tilted my head in confusion, and Jieun’s lips began to part.
Very, very slowly.
“Whhhhaaaaaatttttt thhhheeeee heeeeeecccckkk!”
‘What?!’
This acceleration skill…
It wasn’t my speed that increased.
Was it?
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
w
Reviews
All reviews (0)