Chapter 8

Chapter 8

“I must have sprayed about 30 cans.

When stacked, they are counted as a combined total. It does not extend the duration, but the value is strengthened proportional to the number of times it is painted.

Slowing in Polaris is more than just a high-value status. It affects not only movement speed, but also attack speed and skill cooldowns.

This means that 10 hits is equivalent to a confirmed stun.

‘It’s almost buggy, but…….’

Since then, most of the status-granting special weapons have been reworked. The developers have admitted their mistake.

“The question was, can I do this alone?

The [Sticky Brushes] are a set of brushes and a paint can. If they disappeared as quickly as the rest of your gear when you let go of them, this strategy wouldn’t work.

But luckily, all that was missing was the brush and the paint “bucket”. The paint that had already been applied was left behind.

To use an analogy, the gun is gone, but the bullets are still there. I had checked the day before that it would last at least 8 hours.

And to reiterate. These are the minimum conditions required to clear stages 0-5.

Well-established 4+ star dealer.

10 [Sticky Brushes].

10 random characters to serve as launchers for your equipment.

Slam 100% of your slows and then. Melt it down with a bombardment-type magic dealer and you’re done.

“But in the real world, it’s a little different.

Spells require a lot of concentration. In Kim’s case, the cooldown was replaced by a headache-inducing recoil.

If yes.

Can a caster maintain normal spellcasting while afflicted with an ailment?

“I’m not going to die anytime soon.

When I stepped on the sticky stuff myself, I felt terrible. My thinking was impaired, and my whole body felt heavy, like it was soaked in water.

The spell was easily broken.

All my brushes were gone, even the paint I had already applied, and I had to start over.

If you keep making the same thing over and over again, you’re going to get bounces, right? That’s why I’ve got my dad’s body in the corner.

So, to summarize.

At this point, the shadow becomes a shadowbird.

Saaaaah!

The shadows began to lift. The overwhelming scope of the ‘flare’ was shattered.

Eventually, only the human form remained. As the skin was peeled away, the nakedness of ‘Carib’ was gradually revealed.

Shadow’s spells have stopped working. Extremely high physical immunity has been removed.

The remaining duration is about 6 seconds.

Time to kill defenseless humans and get away with it. And here’s the dealer with the big guns.

Poof!

The [Glitchknife] lodged in the center of Carib’s neck. Ghost twisted the handle, slicing through the inside of his throat, and pulled out his secret weapon with his left hand.

4 seconds.

I stabbed him in the heart, not bothering to pull it out, this time drawing the dagger at my belt.

A series of daggers stabbed you in the side. His lungs and other organs are damaged.

1 second forward.

Puddle!

I fixed the [Glitch Knife] I had stuck in my pocket, grabbed it, and pushed it aside. Carib’s neck was crushed, his soft muscles torn, and his skin slashed from the inside.

Shoot!

Blood poured out.

The skinny body staggered. Ghost took half a step back, and Carib fell forward. His open pupils reflected the image of Kim.

He didn’t even have time to leave a will.

Shadow died just like that, never uttering a single word since the beginning of the stage.

“Ha, ha, ha.”

Shocker, there was.

A man murdered a man right in front of my eyes. As a modern person who was born and raised in a country with the rule of law, I couldn’t help but be shocked.

No enemy was too stupid to laugh at a good death.

Sympathy? I don’t know. More like gross and cruel.

But where there is death, there is life. Ghosts that should be dead are alive.

And apart from that.

Kim’s eyes were on Shadow’s corpse, but he was looking at something else.

[ERROR!]

[An unexpected error occurred].

[confirms the death of the character “Shadow”].

[Calculate the damage rate for the scenario].

[Now Loading…….]

…… What is this?

No, I had a vague idea of what it was. The day I fell on the world of Polaris. When you witnessed the existence of your player character, the Professor.

Something similar to the “agent record” that appeared at the time.

[Loading Completed!]

[during the damage rate of the main episode 0 “Reunion”].

[during the damage rate in the main episode, “Adaptation”].

[Under the damage rate in Main Episode 2, “Jun Dong”].

.

.

.

[Best damage rate in main episode 6, “Farewell”].

A chill runs down my spine as if I’ve been doused in ice water. I feel like I’ve been caught red-handed.

But soon my head was cold.

It wasn’t a sin, and it wasn’t something to be afraid of. They knew what they were doing.

‘I guess that means you did a good job.

Almost every episode has tragedy added to it. If it becomes even more tragic than it already is, it will be a dark day ahead…….

“No way, I’m not doing that.

I hope it’s skewed in a hopeful direction. It’s worth the effort.

This might save a lot of agents from dying.

“That’s it.

I was about to breathe a sigh of relief.

[The presence of agent “Kim” becomes apparent].

An inorganic voice says.

[Agent ‘Kim’ gets a rating increase].

[Skill ‘Craft Special Weapons’ is enhanced].

[The stat’s cap is expanded].

[Update Agent Record].

[Agent name: Kim Yi Hyun].

[Rating: ★★]

[Talent: Unknown].

“……?”

Kim became a 2-star agent.

* * *

Less than a minute later, all the commotion subsided.

The silence was as heavy as a stone. For a while, only their breathing filled the room.

Kim is distracted by an unexpectedly updated agent record. Leila and Ghost were each lost in their own thoughts.

After a while.

“…….”

The sound of shuffling feet. Leila walked over to Shadoor, biting her lip as she saw the mutilated body.

Leila felt sorry for her enemy, but she didn’t offer words of condolence, because that would sound like she was blaming the Ghost.

But I had to keep a minimum of decency. I blindfolded him, then took off my jumper and draped it over his body.

Next, I looked around the garage.

The condition of the facade was beyond words. Not only the shutters, but also the stone walls on either side had melted away.

However, there were some areas that weren’t directly hit by the shadow, and I could see splatters of green paint there as well.

“I see.”

The tone was half understanding, half a mixture of emotions.

“My professor told me that you’re a cautious person, despite your seemingly lighthearted demeanor, and when I think about it, you were the one who warned me about enemies with spells.”

Relieved. Cluttered. Helplessness. Such things.

“When you said you were aware of the risks, and you were going to go out there blindly… maybe I should have known.”

The less-dried oil paint was sticky from the heat. Leila ran the tip of her index finger along the wall.

“Maybe it’s because it’s …… trace amounts, I don’t really notice a difference, but I’m pretty sure it’s this paint that’s responsible for his sudden spell.”

Look down at the paint on your finger and then look away.

Eyes. Kim’s dark brown eyes and Leila’s light brown eyes reflect each other.

“It’s a weird feeling, because even though they’re the same color, they look so different from my eyes in the mirror.”

“Meh. Isn’t everyone?”

Kim doesn’t think it’s a stretch. It must mean distance.

Leila didn’t understand Kim right now.

A tramp, a denizen of Tulavia. The words spoken to the mysterious Paint and Shadows.

They didn’t mesh together.

“If I’m not mistaken, Mr. Hyun called her ‘Carib’ and ‘EDA-031’ means-”

“I don’t know.”

Kim shrugged. Naturally, he had no intention of telling Leila everything. If he’d come this far, he’d have to push through.

I have a way out in mind.

“I don’t know if it’s okay for you to tell me, I can’t judge. Make a note of it, and then go to the lab and ask your lab director.”

“Is that ……?”

Leila’s eyes narrowed. Ghost, who had been silently assessing the situation, spoke up.

“Did you have a connection with Calliope?”

“Huh?”

Calliope?

Kim scratched his head at the unfamiliar name. But his doubt was short-lived, and he soon burst out laughing.

Where are you going with this?

“I know he goes by a lot of names, but I’ve never heard of Calliope. The one I’ve heard is Kushan.”

The head of Cellbrossix Labs goes by many names. And Kim remembers them all.

Morea, Nazar, Glaucus …….

None of them are calliope. Isn’t it even a feminine name?

Kushan is male. It’s a trap set by the Ghosts to determine its authenticity.

“Is it rather good?

Tried and tested, it had a little bit of truth to it. Leila and Ghost exchanged glances, then nodded.

“I wish you had told me first.”

“It’s a pitfall. Didn’t you think about how suspicious the professor would look to someone who didn’t know any better?”

“That’s…….”

“See, it’s hard to explain.”

Off the beaten path. He was even asleep in a glass coffin. It was weird to take it so casually.

“And all I knew was the name ‘Carib’ and that he wanted to get something out of the professor.”

Tsuup. Kim frowned. My back is still sore. I’d like to check your condition.

“EDA, what did you say? I made that up, and it doesn’t stick. Anyway, I don’t have that shit.”

This is true.

Even in-game, Shadow dies without the cure. The Professor lost his memory in the first place.

Even if the exact name was written, it’s hard to remember. Polaris is full of characters like Shadow.

“I can’t imagine sitting down and trying to remember the name of every single drug, and I’m sure there’s a lot of people on the team who don’t know it.

It doesn’t really matter. The result was perfect. The aggro worked well, and we were able to handle the shadow as planned.

‘I even got a two-star.

In terms of star count, it’s still pretty insignificant. A 1-star agent who wasn’t even in the game has finally made it to the lowest tier, 2 stars.

But.

“You mean we can go up from here?

With very few exceptions, all agents in Polaris have a fixed ‘high point’. No matter how much you train them, their rating will not increase.

Kim, however, is different.

We figured it out this time, and it was both an unexpected benefit and the biggest reward.

“I thought you said stat caps were expanded.

Stats. Even though it doesn’t show up in the agent’s record, it means the calibration is being applied.

It was worth it to get my body moving.

“Does each rank have a cap on abilities, and as you move up the ranks, the cap is lifted?

In gaming terms, it’s “max leveling”. Even if you don’t see a big change right away, your stats will go up as you gain experience.

Once again, Kim felt a sense of floating, as if her feet were lifting off the ground.

No, I felt this way before. The whole time I was being chased by Shadows, it didn’t feel real.

You’ll have to adapt. This was Kim’s reality.

* * *

Some time later.

Pablo and the professor were able to join them safely. Leila gave Pablo a briefing, then took a moment to regroup.

Leila and Ghost were in charge of first aid. Luckily, no one was seriously injured.

Not all of them were in one piece, but nothing serious. Kim suffered only minor first-degree Chapter burns.

Other than that, we’ve heard that Ghost suffered an abrasion while trying to shake off a shadow, or that the professor’s back was a little more cooked than the others…….

“I’ll go to the lab and they’ll take care of it.

There was no such thing as zero damage. Just like in a game, beating a stage doesn’t heal your injuries. Healing spells exist, but they’re not universal.

‘I’m so impatient. If only I’d used flare later, it would have been so much easier.

What he would do if the professor was really dead. I’ll never know. I don’t want to understand it in hindsight.

Chandelier, Carib.

‘I’m a pitiful bastard, but who doesn’t have an ejaculation, and in my eyes I’m the most pitiful.

You’ve been working hard, living like everyone else, with no family, and suddenly you’re thrown into a shitty world.

An earlier incident had hardened my resolve.

“Never die, always survive.

Somehow, prolonging life is not good enough. I’m sure some episodes have been ruined by this behavior, but that’s about it.

The organization ‘legion’ the shadow belongs to.

This was half the Shadow’s doing, but in the next episode, they’ll be in full force.

War and all manner of catastrophes. Tragedies still in store.

One professor is not enough. If left alone, it will bring you closer and closer to destruction.

“I need more variables.

We must stop it, even if it means collapsing all episodes. To survive.

“It seemed to correlate with a higher rating.

It was a change that happened as soon as the planned scenario got twisted.

It may be a leap of faith… but if we avert one tragedy after another, maybe… just maybe… we can figure out why we landed here.

The way forward is now clear.

After a break and a quick bite to eat, we resumed traveling. The conversation had noticeably diminished. It was a different kind of silence.

By the time you mention “Kushan,” the option of becoming an agent of Cellbrossix Labs has already been eliminated.

“There was something near Tulavia.

The main episode and all the side stories that followed. Add to that the events, and my head was spinning.

I was walking along, lost in thought, when I felt a tug on my sleeve from behind.

“Me, Mr. Hyun.”

“Why?”

“I’m sorry about that, I didn’t mean to sound so accusatory, but like you said, we had secrets from each other.”

“That’s old news.”

The answer came from Pablo’s mouth, not Kim’s. When Pablo heard the truth, he didn’t seem surprised.

“I didn’t even believe you were a bum in the first place, because even if you’re a bum now, you looked like a bum then. You looked fine, the way you talked, the look in your eyes, everything.”

Hmmm, and snort.

“Bums don’t. If you ever have to act again, you’d better pay attention to the details.”

“Thanks for the advice. I thought you thought I was an eyesore.”

“I did, because it was obvious you were lying, and I’m not saying I believe you now…….”

Pablo looked back and forth between Ghost’s and Leila’s faces. Ghost’s mask aside, Leila’s features were pretty sketchy.

Everyone is alive. Even the professor.

“You’re the reason we’re alive, after all, and if it was you who brought that nigger in, I’m pretty sure it was for the professor’s benefit. I kind of knew you were trying to help us.”

Pablo smirked. It was the first time he’d seen it in all the time they’d been together.

“Then I suppose I should say thank you. Ghost and Leila must feel bad for you, since they’ve had a crush on you since the beginning.”

Kim swallowed hard. For a moment, she wished they’d let her out of the mine. Or at least give me a shift.

“So I’ll ask you again, what’s your name?”

“This is Lee Hyun Kim. That’s my real name.”

“Really? I thought it was just a pseudonym.”

He looks surprised and then says, “I’m not sure.

“My name is real, too. Some guys in the lab use codenames like Ghost, but not me. Remember that whenever you can. I’d like to return the favor sometime.”

“In what way?”

“Um. Do you like to drink?”

Kim chuckled to himself.

“Ah, alcohol is good.”