Episode 17 – SSS Grade Talent (6)

Returnee. This was the first statement that mentioned them in Ways of Survival:

「Some people go back in time, others go to another dimension and some are born again. In the end, the way to adapt to destruction varies from person to person. 」

The second ‘method’ of ‘How to Survive in a Ruined World.’ To survive, destroy other dimensions and return.

“Answer me. Are you curious about my identity?”

Returnee Myung Ilsang. This boy was a returnee from Earth who was summoned to be a warrior in the world of Chronos.

“Hmm…isn’t it normal to blush and lower your eyes in this situation? Noona is looking straight at me?”

The Disaster of Questions was such a bastard.

Yoo Sangah opened her mouth. “What…”

–Yoo Sangah-ssi, don’t answer the question!

Yoo Sangah’s head turned towards me at my words. However, her chin was caught by Myung Ilsang and forced her to look back.

“Where are you looking? Look at me. Is that your boyfriend?”

“Remove your hand.”

Yoo Sangah shook off Myung Ilsang’s hand. Her dagger moved in a threatening manner through the air. Myung Ilsang laughed.

[The second question has been resolved.]

[The second seal of the returnee ‘Myung Ilsang’ has been released.]

“Ah, that’s right. I’ve had a baby-face for 100 years.”

The boy’s cold eyes turned towards me. I didn’t use Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint but it was clear even without the skill.

“You were having fun in this peaceful world?”

His right arm aimed at me. At the same time, purple particles condensed around his hand.

[The character ‘Myung Ilsang’ has triggered ‘Small Black Fire Cannon’!]

Black Fire Cannon. This was the fire of death that destroyed the eastern part of Chronos and burned all the insect kings in the forest.

The whole atmosphere was burning and I was surrounded by flames. Pain spread across my skin. I cursed inside my heart. Damn! It hurt. It really hurt. It hurt…

…Less than I thought?

After a while, the flames turned off and I looked at my skin. Every inch was scorched and painful, but it was a bearable pain.

This was the black fire cannon that drove the insect kings to fear? However, the Small Black Fire Cannon… it didn’t hurt?

I looked up and saw Yoo Sangah wielding her dagger. Unexpectedly, she had the advantage. Even the Disaster of Questions was perplexed by the overwhelming attacks.

“…What? Why are you so strong? Is Noona also a returnee? Or am I weak?”

I didn’t understand. The original Disaster of Questions with two seals released should be stronger than this.

[The exclusive skill, Character List is activated.]

+

[Character Information]

Name: Myung Ilsang

Age: 17 years old (127 years old)

Constellation Support: Mass Production Maker

Private Attribute: SSS-grade Warrior (Hero), Disaster of Questions (Legend)

Exclusive Skills: SSS-grade Growth Acceleration Lv. 10 (Currently Lv. 1), SSS-grade Swordsmanship Lv. 10 (Currently Lv. 1), Black Fire Cannon Lv. 9 ((Currently Lv. 1), SSS-grade Footwork Lv. 10 (Currently Lv. 1)…

Stigma: The Answer is Fixed and You just Need to Answer Lv. 7 (Lv. 2).

Overall Stats: Physique Lv. 99 (Currently Lv. 55), Strength Lv. 99 (Currently Lv. 55), Agility Lv. 99 (Currently Lv. 60), Magic Power Lv. 99 (Currently Lv. 55)

Overall Evaluation: The Disaster of Questions that destroyed Chronos. All stats are sealed due to the current scenario penalty. Every time a seal is released, the stats will rise. Once all seals are released, the real power of the disaster will awaken. If you want to survive, don’t answer his questions. But you are still going to die.

+

I was nervous about the constant ‘SSS’ filling the screen but once I read it in detail, I understood why he was weak.

The dokkaebis were fair. Right now, he was weaker than the original disaster.

“Han Sooyoung! Yoo Sangah-ssi!” I didn’t know if Bihyung was using his strength but now we had a chance. “Attack with all your strength! We must kill him now!”

If this was his current state, perhaps we could win without Way of the Wind. I poured my remaining coins into my stats.

[Physique Lv. 50 -> Physique Lv. 60]

[Agility Lv. 50 -> Agility Lv. 60]

[Magic Power Lv. 25 -> Magic Power Lv. 60]

[39,500 coins have been consumed.]

[All stats have reached the scenario limit.]

I ran aggressively while activation Unbroken Faith.

“Remember! You should never answer his questions!”

Myung Ilsang seemed interested when he saw my Blade of Faith. “What? An energy sword?”

My attack missed by a hair’s breath due to his high agility.

Myung Ilsang kept chattering. “Ahjussi, are you a martial artist? How can you use the energy sword already? Isn’t this crazy?”

I ignored him and triggered a stigma.

[The stigma ‘Song of the Sword’ has been used.]

[Your sword is filled with the words left by the Duke of Loyalty and Warfare.]

A random verse of Duke of Loyalty and Warfare’s story appeared in front of me, followed by a message.

「 The 28th day. Clear skies. I went to do official business. 」

Then nothing happened. Dammit, the Duke of Loyalty and Warfare didn’t help me at this time.

The Nanjung Ilgi (Yi Sunsin’s war diary) didn’t always contain content that fought against the enemy. In fact, most of the contents were ordinary.

The sky was clear.

The Duke of Loyalty and Warfare went to do official business.

If I wrote a ‘Destruction Diary’, my diary would roughly be like this.

The sky was dark.

Kim Dokja was right.

I rolled across the ground to avoid Myung Ilsang’s kick.

Myung Ilsang’s expression gradually became serious. He carefully looked at my Blade of Faith and sighed with relief.

“Phew… that’s right. It isn’t a real energy blade. Ahjussi, why are you acting like it is real? You almost scared me?”

“Brat, you talk too much.”

It was a cold female voice. While I was stalling for time, Han Sooyoung made dozens of avatars and they ran towards him.

“Die!”

Han Sooyoung’s attacks poured onto the boy whose movements were blocked.

However, her attacks weren’t strong enough to harm Myung Ilsang’s body. Rather, Yoo Sangah was unable to do any damage due to the excessive number of avatars.

Myung Ilsang laughed as he was hit by Han Sooyoung’s small hand.

“Aren’t you also quite pretty? How old are you? A student?”

“Shut up, die!”

Myung Ilsang’s face was marred by the continuous hits.

“…What is wrong with everyone? What did I do wrong? If you see a nice-looked returnee like me, shouldn’t you welcome me with open arms? Should I get rid of all the monsters from now on?”

“What a mad dog!”

“Ah, were my words ridiculous? Wait a minute, perhaps you are…”

Myung Ilsang’s expression changed.

“You guys are from the Hunters Association! Right? Isn’t there normally this development? Aren’t they always the first one to show up with a returnee comes back?”

“This chuuni bastard… no, shit?”

[The third question has been resolved.]

[The fourth question has been resolved.]

[The fifth question has been resolved.]

[The third seal of the returnee ‘Myung Ilsang’ has been released.]

Myung Ilsang smiled and nodded.

“You are from the Hunters Association.”

It was really crazy. His momentum became even stronger. The surrounding avatars were destroyed by a powerful wave of energy emitted from Myung Ilsang’s body.

Myung Ilsang burst out laughing. “Now, it is the munchkin’s time!”

Han Sooyoung stepped back and glanced at me with an absurd expression. “What is with that bastard?”

I gasped with irritation. “Didn’t I tell you not to answer him? You are just feeding that jerk.”

“I didn’t answer! I just swore.”

“Just don’t speak.”

The point of the questions asked by the Disaster of Questions wasn’t to get an answer. No matter what the answer, he would use it to strengthen his abilities.

Myung Ilsang kept speaking, “Then who should I kill first?”

But his words didn’t last. It was because Yoo Sangah appeared behind him while emitting a fierce killing intent.

[Hermes Walking Method].

[Theseus’ Resolution].

[Arachne’s Web].

The system messages didn’t pop up but I was able to recognize these skills. In a future scenario called Ragnarok, these skills were clearly described. They were the stigmas of the Olympus related constellations.

The surprised Myung Ilsang unleashed a series of Small Black Fire Cannons to keep Yoo Sangah in check.

However, Yoo Sangah rushed towards Myung Ilsang without caring about the black fire cannons.

“Something like this…?”

It was impossible.

As long as they didn’t experience a special scenario event, there was no way for an incarnation to simultaneously possess the stigmas of various constellations.

It was a situation where I only had two stigmas. Then how could Yoo Sangah have such a large number of stigmas?

“Let’s try it! Does it hurts?”

Sweat covered Yoo Sangah’s forehead.

The thread of magic power kept expanding and shrinking. She stepped freely through the air. The dagger pierced without hesitation whenever there was a visible gap. The vitality inside her body was burning.

It was an extraordinary change in just two days…

At this moment, I sensed something. The stigmas of various constellations in one incarnation.

There obviously wasn’t a single case in Ways of Survival. It didn’t even apply to Prophet Anna Croft of the United States. Then Yoo Sangah…

“Dokja-ssi! Now!”

Yoo Sangah gave the signal and I supported her explosive attack with the Blade of Faith. Han Sooyoung also participated. Little by little, Myung Ilsang became dizzy from all the hands and feet.

His movements were delayed for a moment and my Blade of Faith aimed at the gap, cutting his shoulder and belly.

“Shit…!”

Blood flowed out. Myung Ilsang pulled back and chanted something.

[The character ‘Myung Ilsang’ has used Blink Lv. 1.]

Myung Ilsang’s figure became blurry. My mind was in a hurry. He couldn’t get away.

I aimed the blade at his waist. But his body faded away just as the blade hit. The only thing left was scattered blood.

[The constellation ‘Secretive Plotter’ lets out a sad sigh.]

[The constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ is going crazy from all the sweet potatoes.] (Sweet potato is slang for when something is so frustrating that there is a stuffy sensation)

[The constellation ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ is pointing a finger at your heart.]

[The excitement of some constellations has reached a critical level.]

Han Sooyoung shouted, “Shit, we missed him!”

“It’s okay. He is injured so we can catch him soon.”

[Some constellations have calmed down.]

“Yoo Sangah. You did really well… Yoo Sangah-ssi?”

There was no answer from Yoo Sangah. I headed over because I sensed something strange, where she was standing there stunned. Han Sooyoung asked,

“What’s wrong with her?”

I belatedly realized. Theseus’ Resolution was a skill that drew out all the power of the incarnation. The use of that skill allowed Yoo Sangah to deal with a monster for a while.

I looked at her for a moment before handing her over to Han Sooyoung.

“Giving another person to me? Am I a daycare centre?”

“We need to find the disaster quickly. Shouldn’t you scatter more avatars?”

“I think I roughly know where he went.”

“Please guide me.”

I couldn’t miss that guy here. Han Sooyoung opened her mouth again, “I don’t remember well… He becomes stronger every time he answers a question, right?”

“That’s right. He is weak at first but becomes stronger every time he hears an answer. The returnees are too strong so there is a penalty when they fall into this world. Didn’t you see the seals being released?”

“That boy… how many seals does he have?”

“Perhaps dozens. There will be no answer if he releases all of them.”

So far, five seals were released.

Fortunately, the additional scenarios of the dokkaebis hadn’t come down yet.

If an additional scenario was released, many people would try to hunt that bastard and his seals would be released in a flash due to the many idiots answering his questions.

…The moment I was feeling relieved.

[Hrmm. Everyone, aren’t you great? Despite the penalty, this is still a disaster. Only three people putting pressure on him…]

Han Sooyoung and I looked up at the air at the same time.

[By the way, aren’t you being too greedy? As the old saying goes, you should share the beans.]

“Shit.”

Han Sooyoung cursed while messages arrived like they had been waiting.

[A new sub scenario has arrived!]

[The sub-scenario – SSS-grade Hunt has begun!]

I grasped the handle of Unbroken Faith. The situation was reaching the limit.