Chapter 120

It didn’t go down the “I’m too scared to get the artifact, so I triggered the trap…” route.
Ruins that, as mentioned, have already been visited by dozens, maybe even triple-digit numbers of grave robbers. It’s a dangerous world, but it’s not just Kim who’s being held to a high standard.
“It’s a problem because it sucks overall.
Everyone gets a fair shake. A world called Polaris.
Click, click, click.
I lifted the awl and brushed off the dust and stone dust. The design is bland and shabby. Its weight was almost imperceptible. At first glance, it looked as flimsy as a twig.
“It looks like garbage.
Polaris has a few users who run live and write about the event as it’s updated. We’ve had some pretty harsh reactions from users who have gotten the awl while running.
[subject: (spoiler) I’m going to the desert and picking up shit].
Doesn’t this game understand the concept of shitfodder?
I’ve been in the service for a couple of years, please learn something!!!
I’d rather have Edkina’s chilled corpse or something.
└Edkinaga Nugo
└You look like you’re talking about the mafia.
└Why would you put a corpse in your inventory?
└A scholar picks up a stick and says, “Hmmm, I sense a strange energy!” ㅈㄹ
└Professor ‘…….’ I feel like I’m going senile with this shit lol.
└슬슬 교수 혐성짓 쿨 돌았음 100퍼 학자 지게 태움ㅇ
Personally, I found the scene comical and futile, because at the time, I was playing the game for the long term, not for the fun of the game itself, but because I was trading miscellaneous items for event rewards.
However, in the next patch, public opinion reverses.
“I never thought I’d get a six-star deployment.
The acquisition method is Build.
The event will add a 6-star weapon to your Lab’s Workshop. The key ingredient needed to craft this weapon is the Awl.
‘It’s not quite a six-star, but it’s close….’
It’s a matter of birth.
Polaris is a game with a wicked value system, BM. If free gear is better than paid gear, it’s a design flaw. No wonder high scores and versatility are limited.
Even so, it’s underwhelming at the moment.
─thump, thump…….
The temple shuddered, and shards of stone fell from the ceiling. Sheathing his awl, Kim looked back down the aisle. The commotion that had started less than ten minutes ago was still going on.
Long live the fight, I thought to myself.
“Oh. I guess it’s over.”
Just in time, it quieted down outside. I wasn’t worried about the outcome. The sergeant may be strong, but there were only three of us.
There’s no way that Edwin can’t handle three people.
* * *
The prediction was accurate.
As he walked back to where he had parked his car, he could see the back of a man standing in the doorway. Edwin turned slowly, as if sensing the approaching crowd.
“This is ugly.”
“Because of whom?”
He sighed, exhausted, and even more exhausted.
Thick spikes embedded in both shoulders. Deep cuts all over his limbs. Large amounts of blood on his stomach and thighs. There was no sign of blood splattered from others.
Bam!
Edwin pulls the thorn out of my hand. It must have been painful, but he didn’t blink. He pulled it out so violently that blood spurted out like a sprinkler.
But even that was short-lived.
The wound has sutured poorly. New flesh sprouted where the skin had fallen off. Edwin’s entire body is stained red, but there is not a single raw spot on his body.
Kim muttered, half in admiration, half in disbelief.
“Cockroaches.”
“That’s my least favorite thing to say, please be careful in the future.”
Sorry, but hundreds of thousands of humans around the world call you that. Roughly 7% of Polaris users. In the West, we call them trolls.
In the system, Edwin’s skill is [Indomitable].
Setting aside all the fancy stuff, he has, to put it mildly, ridiculous playability. Not to be compared to the Ricardo family member you once fought.
There are very limited ways to kill Edwin.
Assassination is the only viable option. You can kill them instantly by destroying their brain or heart to prevent spells from being cast, or you can continue to damage them until they reach their limit.
The latter is not very realistic.
“Well, he survived the bombing.
She is the poster child for Polaris’ common sense rule that people die when they are shot. In many ways, she is an exception to the rule, as her godmother was also shot and survived.
In short, Edwin is a Tier 0 tank. Even in Polaris, where tank values are low, he’s a staple in players’ lineups.
It’s not a waste.
“Okay, so I messed up. How was it?”
“They were not to be underestimated.”
Edwin’s gaze fell to the corpses at his feet, one with its limbs mutilated by a knife. The other two were pinned to a post, dented and torn.
A pit had been dug into the once flat ground. It’s a site that would make any archaeologist or organization that cares about protecting cultural heritage scream.
Of course, I didn’t give a rat’s ass. Neither did Kim, nor Edwin.
“The coordination was excellent. It was a no-win situation. If there were three, or even two more, I would have struggled.”
“It’s even funnier when you say you didn’t struggle with that body.”
“Different strokes for different folks. You’re fine now, aren’t you, and….”
He paused for a moment, then asked.
“Do you know what the Legion studies?”
“I’ve seen a lot of different things at Bastitera.”
“Then at least you know the theme of the study.”
“You mean chimeras?”
Nod your head in agreement.
“They were like an extension of them. If Legion’s research goes any further than it has, they’ll be able to create halflings like them, and that’s not good.”
“Huh?”
Kim shook her head, but then said, “Oh, yeah.
“Surely the sample could be dangerous if it fell into Legion’s hands.”
It was an unthinkable idea.
Hassassin and Banzar had no previous ties to the Legion. All of this changed when Mithril fell to Banzar.
However, it wasn’t a huge concern.
“I don’t think Legion can afford that right now.”
“Yes?”
“Come all the way to Naraka and kidnap these guys without a rat’s ass or a bird’s eye view… It’s not easy, and even if we could get the information, who’s going to do it? With Snowfield, Camelia, and Mithril dead in the shadows.”
The information is unreliable and it’s too risky to travel in and out of the danger zone. For now, the Legion is forced to remain passive.
“After a few years, disaster strikes anyway.
Of course, Edwin has no way of knowing. All he needs to know is that there’s little danger of his research subjects falling into the hands of the Legion.
No, not in the first place.
He plans to destroy the Legion before it is wiped out by the scourge. Of course, he’ll need some luck to do so. First and foremost, we’ll have to deal with the Godmother.
Edwin’s throat was burning as Kim went over the plan.
‘After all, shadows should also be sent to this person…….’
Four already.
Camellia may not have been an officer, but she was certainly one of the major powers. The Snowfields alone are terrifying, and the Legion’s nemesis.
Current. unknown origin, career unknown.
The first time his name began to spread within the Legion was shortly after the failed capture of Kilikia.
Edwin didn’t know much about the current mood of the Legion due to his pursuit of Mithril, but it was clear that the events in Bastitera had raised more eyebrows than before.
“I’ve been watching for a while, but I’m not sure.
He’s an enigmatic man. For example, he seems to know the inner workings of the Legion in detail. Or his past behavior, which remains unclear.
But two things were certain.
“But hey, asshole, who the fuck used my knife? It’s out.”
“Swordsmanship is not a skill.”
“I got this, too. I was nagged to take care of it when I came here.”
“Sure, it’s my fault, but if it’s valuable, I should have said so from the start…….”
“Oh, I don’t know. Follow me to the lab and you apologize.”
First of all, it’s a nasty little bastard, and.
“……Yes, okay, that’s the way to go.”
Against Legion, there is no knife sharper than the string.
* * *
That was the end of my visit to Naraka.
We started traveling again with Kavarati as our destination. We had only been in the ruins for a short time, so we needed to move quickly. It would be a nuisance to be surrounded.
“We’ve come so far, we should reap the benefits of our labor.
It would be a shame to get to the end of the line and screw up. There’s helixivir, but it’s a poison no matter how you package it. I don’t want to use it again for any reason.
The escape itself wouldn’t be difficult.
There is no single road. Whichever direction you choose, you’ll first have to navigate the sandstorms that surround Naraka.
But why?
“It looks like we’re going back the way we came, is that right?”
“Is it? I’m not sure.”
“It looks that way to me, but….”
Edwin, looking out the car window, throws a fastball.
“Are you worried about the mafia?”
In fact, it was not much different than what he had done in Atlanta. He had abandoned his collaborator, Al Quamar, and escaped. Remorse? Not a trace.
What’s different.
Do you remember the time you spent together, the casual conversations you had, or do you find yourself dirtier and more vicious than you were then, and feel a sense of sympathy for the criminal?
We don’t know the exact reason for this. However,
“It’s annoying.
It’s like a thorn in my neck.
I can picture Ekidna’s end in my mind’s eye without even trying. A woman who was united by ambition and ambition, lying dead.
Things not shown in the illustrations.
The dried tears in the corners of her eyes, the shaggy hair she’d given up on the dignity she’d always valued, the ragged fingernails, the traces of the drugs she abhorred so much.
In the end, Kim didn’t say anything. Edwin didn’t ask any more questions either. I don’t know if it was out of respect or what, but it was a good thing. I think I would have gotten annoyed if I kept scratching.
I wasn’t going to search the desert for pearls in the sand.
I can’t and won’t take that risk. I think it’s worth the effort if I just ‘happen’ to run into it.
That was it.
“Ha, I knew it.”
She was there.
You’re walking in the desert, cradling your injured right arm. It’s a bruise, but thankfully not bleeding. Footprints, but better than blood. Some of them have sensitive noses.
As usual, there was no one by her side. No Antonio, no Ravi, not a single member of the organization that had followed her to Naraka.
I realized they were all dead.
She, too, was going to die sooner or later.
“…….”
The sound of tires crunching over sand stopped Ekidna in her tracks. Her head turned, and I could see her expression. It was a disembodied look.
The car pulled up in front of Ekidna. A helpless glare shot through the windshield. It was a gaze devoid of will, filled with hatred with nowhere to go.
Then.
“……ha.”
Ekidna closed her eyes. Her feelings for Kim right now were complicated. Kim was the one who had lured her to come to Naraka.
Directly, it was the nameless goons who had destroyed the organization… but indirectly, they thought Kim had dragged them in by the limbs. But they were in no position to blame him.
Because you betrayed it first.
And it was her decision to come to Naraka, after all.
Kim had a reason to kill Ekidna, and the man she knew was not one to hesitate in times like these. The moment he saw the car, he knew death was coming.
But we were wrong. As always.
Instead of pulling out his gun, Kim opened the door for him.
“What are you… doing?”
“Shut up and decide in 10 seconds.”
He said with a blatant display of the displeasure bubbling in his stomach.
“I’ll live with it or fuck it.”
Echidna’s lips twitched in a paroxysm.
The first emotion that came to Ekidna’s mind was shame. To be saved by someone who had become her enemy. She was ashamed of her future self, who would be dragged around without a load.
The words “fuck off” were stuck in my throat.
It came suddenly and swiftly, enveloping Ekidna’s entire body. Something cold as ice and slimy as a swamp. It made her muscles stiffen and her hair stand on end.
It was a fear of death.
It was an enormous sense of emptiness, that his values and identity, the history of a man who had lived for twenty years and a future that should have been much longer, had been swallowed up by the desolate sands.
My breath shook. As if crushed by the weight of despair.
After pouting her lips, Ekidna replied.
“……I want to live, help me.”
She had lost everything she had and was reduced to nothing, but she was still human.