Chapter 70

The plunger pushed and the liquid began to be injected into the body.
Kim knew the language of the creature that had taken the substance. He remembered the past. Operation Ashbelt. The simultaneous appearance of an unnatural danger.
They were originally lab animals.
“Well, chalk it up to bad luck.”
The last words I heard were the dirtiest words I’ve ever heard.
The reaction was immediate: senses that had been numbed by the pain became extremely sensitive. A foreign object from her throat mixed with her bloodstream. Every single cell screamed.
Thump, thump.
The pain didn’t last long.
It wasn’t that the sensation itself was gone; it just felt like something else. It was as if my mind had been split, and all my senses had been given over to the other side, or taken away.
He doesn’t recognize the blackened vision as his own. Even thinking becomes fuzzy. Thoughts are not clearly verbalized.
The understanding of the subject, of the self, that every human being has, has thinned. Consciousness plunges downward, downward. Sinking endlessly into the infinite depths of the ocean.
At the end of it all, there were only emotions. The ones that had been churning in the pit of my stomach ever since the day I landed here in a heap.
Anger and resentment, longing and longing, fear and anticipation turned into soap bubbles, each one popping, popping, and being swept away with the memories in a black wave.
It was the end, I realized.
shoot-ahhhhhhhhhh
It was like hearing the ocean.
The awakening was sudden, like someone grabbed him by the hair and yanked him up out of the water. Against my will, my lungs gasped and my eyes flew open.
“…… is faster acting than…….”
I saw a face. There was the face of an idiot who hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary, who believed everything had gone according to plan.
And it’s been a long time coming.
[The administration of ■■■■■ has been confirmed].
[Agent ‘Kim’s’ talent is triggered].
The first thing I noticed was a change in perspective.
The image on my retina was uncannily sharp. It was like having a ridiculous amount of high-resolution photos on a display the size of your palm.
Even when I wasn’t concentrating, I could see the seams of things. The pores of the skin. The stitching on his coat. There were needle marks on Negrum’s neck, as if he had been wounded before.
Hearing is next. Clothes rustling, breathing, grasshoppers chirping, the bulbs of aging streetlights crackling. So many sounds amplified by orders of magnitude, assaulting my eardrums.
The smell of iron in my nostrils was dizzying, the amount of information coming at me at once too much for the human brain to process.
My spinal cord felt like it was on fire, but my consciousness was clear. My brain was overclocked, processing information at such a high rate that it felt like time slowed down around me.
[Agent information will temporarily change].
“What is this?
This was an unknown phenomenon.
“This has never happened in the game.
The identity of the blue water is revealed in the story. Since the Civil War in Bastitera, it has been used by the Legion. It is injected into humans or monsters.
Once absorbed, there is no turning back. The target’s body becomes hideously disfigured and loses its mind. They become biobombs that maim and kill indiscriminately until they run out of health.
I don’t know what happened to my body, but my mind is fine. In fact, my head is clearer than usual.
It was easy to see why.
[Your mind is protected by the effects of your talents].
[Mutation rate 13.1944%]
“Talent?
I remember it. It was a unique ability that was systematically reserved for four-star agents and above, but somehow Kim had it since he was a one-star.
There’s a lot of variation between agents. Asterique’s [Fire of Regeneration] is a powerful powerhouse, while Chelsea’s [Weakness Gouge] is a mediocre one that deals a critical hit at random.
And Kim’s talent was unknown.
“I thought it was adaptability or something, but it wasn’t?
It’s questionable. But for now, it’s probably good.
Boom, boom!
The body moves. The broken vertebrae reattached themselves.
“I heard about it, but it’s kind of creepy to see it in person.”
Negrum muttered to himself as he staggered to his feet. Half in admiration, half in disgust, he had already decided that Kim had ceased to be human.
“We’ll stay out of it.”
“Oh, right.”
Negrum’s companion tossed Ainoa at Kim’s feet. Now all they had to do was capture the princess’s murder at the hands of Minos and their mission was complete.
“I know it’s a big role for a guy like this, but-”
I hadn’t even finished my sentence.
Poof!
The man’s head flew off. For a moment, Negrum was mesmerized. Funny, he even thought it was some sort of illusion.
A single swing. The fact that Kim’s movements were several times faster than they had been earlier was one reason for the shock, but there was a bigger question.
“What did I just do?
Kim’s hand never touched the man. He swung his bare hand through the air and his head was severed. Actions and results are contradictory. For some unknown reason, the man’s hard neck was cut off.
I didn’t even have time to formulate a hypothesis. Instinct was sounding the alarm.
Negrum wasted no time in flinging himself to the side. By the time his inertia had dissipated, the torn clothes had already dug into his flesh, and he realized belatedly that he had been stabbed in the side.
“I escaped death, but this is a big one.
As long as it’s income, you’ve earned it.
I’d just seen through the deception. No, it was a mystery that seemed unreal, even now that I knew what it was.
The shape of his hand was proof. Kim was clutching an invisible hilt.
“I didn’t know monsters could spell.”
“Okay, I get it now.”
His voice was clear in response. Negrum’s point about words creating gaps was correct, and the fact that she was still lucid despite being drugged disturbed him.
Blame!
For the first time since the fight began, Kim struck. The angular force of the ground push is stronger than he expected, and he quickly closes the gap by grasping the limits of his control.
Remembering how it felt in his hand, he thrust his blade down. He aimed for the heart, but instead of piercing Negrum’s chest, the tip scraped his collarbone.
“What a monster.
He had read the sword’s trajectory from the angle of his hand alone. His senses were beyond phenomenal. It was a skill that Kim Yi Hyun would not be able to master even if he died and woke up.
You may have gotten physically stronger, but you’re just barely on par. Judging by the difference in experience, she still lags behind in pure combat ability.
I couldn’t help but realize. How big the world of Polaris was. Spellless and bare, Nigrum had outclassed the elite agents of the Lab.
All things considered, I was confident of victory.
His spear-like fingertips reach for Kim’s chest. He couldn’t respond with his sword, which had already missed. But there was still room in his left hand for a weapon.
What appeared was a kukri with a curved blade.
A toothless, rusted sword. The aged blade of the Kukri stung his skin. Nigrum’s hand, its trajectory twisted, stabbed Kim in the shoulder.
The crash was short-lived.
Negrum leapt backwards, pulling his hand out. Normally, he would have stopped with a single blow and ripped out its throat. But this time, he had no choice.
“What is this…?”
A kukri cut. The arm with the single cut began to dry out. Within seconds, the moisture drained away, leaving his forearm shriveled.
Negrum stared at Kim with shaky eyes.
Crystals of unknown material sprouted from his body. Its pupils are gaping like the eyes of a reptile. It matches the symptoms of the ‘mutation’ you’ve heard about.
But I don’t know that one. An intangible sword in each hand and a battered kukri. It was clearly alien to the armaments he had been using.
“That sucks, right? I think it’s some kind of fecal matter.”
Kim let out a long breath.
“It happens to me every time.”
Negrum turned his back.
It was an instinctive choice. Fleeing during a mission. If you’re caught, you’ll undoubtedly be eliminated, but if you fail, you’ll die anyway.
“We could just knit a bastitera.
There must be work out there. You’ve heard the stories of your people leaving their homeland to join the mafia or mercenaries. Maybe there’s a better life waiting for them.
He ran with all his might. There was no shame.
This was no battle. It’s a one-sided hunt that has nothing to do with each other’s skills. It’s like a wild dog running in front of a machine gun trusting only its teeth.
Pyrrhic.
An electron sounded.
Glancing behind him, Negrum saw a strange machine. It looked like a pistol. From the barrel to the grip, it emitted a blue glow.
Soon, the barrel opened like an alligator’s gills. A triangular device hidden inside was revealed, with a ball embedded in the center. From there, red light flashed rapidly.
Not fit for a run-down Bastitera – ðŸ™’
The last thought was actually pretty trivial.
Billion!
The body exploded as it ran down the hill. Chunks of meat scattered across the street. Blood soaked the piles of garbage at the foot of the stone wall.
Even in the vastness of Polaris, it was a futile end for a powerhouse at the top. But not everyone can give everything they’ve got and die a spectacular death.
“Ha, it’s not like it’s a real fuck-up.”
Kim looked down at the gun and smirked. [Eliminator]. A weapon that takes time to prepare to fire, but rivals Ast’s spell in terms of power.
Two swords are not far behind. [The Intangible Sword and the Fang of the Red Desert, both of which are ‘set’ to be found in ancient ruins.
‘I didn’t think it would be real.’
These are the machines we’ve never been able to build. Or, more accurately, areas that we shouldn’t even be touching. Power outside the fraction comes with a price.
[Mutation rate 31.9158%]
I had a gut feeling that this was dangerous. I had to stop. I don’t know how the talent works, but even at first glance, it’s far from immune.
You have removed the weapon from your hand. I have let go of my fighting spirit.
Go, go, go!
My heart pumped hard.
“Woof, huhhhhh…!”
Kim sat up and gagged. Every pulse was a throbbing pain. It was as if tiny needles were traveling through each of her veins.
The blood flow slowly pushed the debris out.
28.1088%. 17.7124%.
The numbers in your field of vision diminish. Your senses, once endlessly sensitive, become dull again. The crystals that had grown on your skin have fallen off in crumbs.
A cold sweat trickled down my face. The breeze was chilly against the nape of my neck. Maybe it was just a reprieve, maybe death was coming.
“Still, this is unfair.
A human form staggered to his feet in a blur. There’s no way a decapitated man could have survived. Ainoa was sprawled out and sleeping, so it must be Chelsea.
“I feel a little bad for him.
What if he’s getting a phobia of leaving the house….
Shake.
With that, the thought was over, and consciousness flickered.