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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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A chill ran through me.
“……”
What was this feeling?
A sudden, chilling sensation ran across the back of my neck.
Startled, I hurriedly surveyed my surroundings.
Of course, even while doing so…
“Ha, I’ve been looking all over for you.”
Click.
“Lee…?”
Rumble, Crash!
I didn’t stop pulling the trigger.
Bang!
A radius of ten meters.
The darkness that was swirling around me like a vortex.
Within that darkness, the head of the monster disguised as Lee Seo-yeon, more precisely, as “Lee Seo-yeon,” who was approaching me, exploded.
Thud.
The headless body of the monster collapsed.
At the same time.
Gurgle, gurgle.
The monster’s form melted like mud, emitting a disgusting sound.
With the destruction of its head, the core and center of its body, it reverted to its original form, the one revealed by my talent, True Sight.
‘As expected of Holy Bullets.’
Against other attributes, they were no different from ordinary bullets, but against demonic attributes, they were incredibly powerful.
But unfortunately, that power wouldn’t last long.
After all, the Holy Bullets I was currently using were imbued with the holy sword’s Death Fog Negation effect.
So, I had to use them carefully, one shot at a time, not in bursts.
Using the cheat, Super Accuracy, I blew the heads off the disguised monsters approaching me.
And I focused mana on my eyes.
I enhanced my vision to more effectively search for the source of the chilling sensation.
‘Where are you?’
The chill I had just felt.
It wasn’t the kind of energy I would feel from a mere disguised monster.
It was the kind of energy only a being at least equal to me, or even stronger, could emit.
So, I didn’t dismiss the sensation I had just felt as a mere feeling.
Especially since I felt it now, with almost all my power restored, with only 20% of the restrictions remaining.
So, I immediately searched for the source, but…
‘…nothing?’
I couldn’t see it.
Even with enhanced vision.
Even with expanded senses.
I couldn’t find the source of the chill, the true nature of the sensation that had put me on edge.
‘If I can’t find it with my eyes or senses…’
…it means it’s not inside, but outside.
Then it made sense.
Although not as good as Lee Seo-yeon’s, my detection abilities were top-notch.
I could confidently say they were superior to my classmates who possessed detection talents or skills.
But even I couldn’t find it?
And in a space with a radius of only ten meters?
‘It wasn’t in the same space to begin with.’
That’s why I couldn’t find it.
Still, just in case…
It was possible I simply lacked the ability to find it.
‘Terra, what about you?’
So, I asked my System, my supporter, Terra, if she had found the source, but…
[I apologize, Master.]
[I have scanned the entire space you are in, but I haven’t found anything besides the disguised monsters.]
‘You couldn’t find it either?’
Then there was nothing I could do.
I just had to be more careful.
Honestly, I wanted to find the source right away and get rid of this unsettling feeling.
But what could I do?
Terra couldn’t find it.
Terra’s search abilities were top-tier.
Most superhumans couldn’t match her search capabilities.
And that included me.
‘The drawback is that it’s centered on me.’
But the advantages far outweighed the drawbacks.
Infrared.
Thermal sensors.
Lifeform detection.
360-degree and spatial scanning.
And friend-or-foe identification, etc.
Terra could scan effectively and over a wide range, like a military-grade camera with various functions.
But even Terra couldn’t find it.
Would it be wise for me, whose detection abilities were merely top-notch, not superior, to continue searching?
It would be beyond inefficient, it would be foolish.
‘Terra, you can’t see beyond the darkness barrier, right?’
[Yes, I tried to check beyond the barrier when I started the search, but as Master confirmed with Clairvoyance earlier, I could only see darkness, not beyond the barrier.]
‘As expected.’
I had been certain since I couldn’t see beyond the barrier with Clairvoyance, but this confirmed it once more.
The darkness barrier.
It was indeed a special property.
Well.
If the barrier, rising high into the sky like a wall, wasn’t a special property, what else could it be?
Finishing that thought, I fired my gun.
As I blew the head off another disguised monster…
Rumble, Crash!
…along with the thunderous sound unique to Thunderbolt, the slide locked back.
I had used up all the bullets I had loaded before entering the fog.
‘The buff is gone.’
By using up all the bullets, the holy sword’s effect applied to them had been lifted.
So, the bullets I would use from now on were only imbued with the “Indestructible” effect from Astra, a Rank S equipment item.
‘…How much has the damage decreased?’
The place I was in was the Death Fog.
A place where even a bomb filled with the holy power of Noah, the son and successor of the Saintess, a Transcendent, would corrode instantly.
In such a demonic realm, could bullets without the holy sword’s effect truly inflict sufficient damage on the enemies?
I didn’t think so.
‘Terra, what do you think?’
[I agree with Master. The bullets you have loaded now, although they won’t corrode due to the Indestructible effect, will have significantly reduced damage compared to Holy Bullets.]
As Terra said…
Holy Bullets, bullets engraved with holy blessings (A).
They were consumable items that inflicted damage by exploding the holy power contained within them upon hitting the target.
But here, in the Death Fog filled with Death Qi, the holy power, the core of Holy Bullets, couldn’t exert its power.
Simply put, the special bullets, effective only against demonic attributes, had been downgraded to ordinary bullets.
As if to prove that…
Rumble, Crash! Bang, Crash!
Bang!
“…It hurts.”
The disguised monsters, which had been killed with a single shot before, now didn’t go down even after being hit by two, three, or even more shots.
“Yu-jin, it hurts. Why are you doing this to me?”
Gurgle, gurgle.
Hmm.
I had expected them to be weakened…
‘But they’re too weak, aren’t they?’
I clicked my tongue at the sight of the disguised monster instantly regenerating the holes in its body.
Moreover, it should have been taking continuous damage from the Holy Flame created by the explosion of holy power, but even that was suppressed by the Death Qi, fading away without burning.
‘This is a bit troublesome.’
Even without the holy sword’s ability…
The bullets, imbued with the base damage of Astra, a Rank S weapon, were only inflicting that much damage?
‘…I need to revise my judgment.’
The Death Fog.
I had thought it was dangerous, but…
Experiencing it like this, it was even more vicious than I had imagined.
‘Sigh, it can’t be helped.’
I hadn’t intended to use it until I reached the target amount…
But with the situation like this, I had to use it a little.
With that thought, I immediately called out to Terra.
‘Terra.’
And as soon as I called her name an inventory opened beside me, and five Battle Maids emerged.
“Your orders, Master.”
Terra asked for my command, not through a System message, but with her voice.
At that question, I opened the Point Shop, one of the System’s functions, and said,
“One minute.”
No, 30 seconds.
Protect me for that long.
At my command, the Battle Maids slightly lifted their skirts towards me.
“Serving Master is a maid’s basic duty.”
The maids said, lowering their skirts.
And then, looking at the approaching disguised monsters with cold expressions…
Clang— Shing!
…they drew their arm blades, the hidden weapons in their arms.
“So, leave it to us.”
With those words, the maids kicked off the ground.
At the same time, the monsters that had been approaching me were thrown back.
“Do not approach Master.”
The five Battle Maids stood around me in a pentagon formation.
And whenever a monster approached…
Slash, slash, slash—!
…they cut them down with their arm blades.
Gurgle, gurgle!
But as soon as their bodies were cut, the monsters instantly regenerated with their unique regenerative abilities.
Although weakened, they had regenerated even after being hit by Holy Bullets and burned by holy power, so they were unaffected by the maids’ mana-less attacks.
On the other hand, the maids…
Sizzle…!
…were being tarnished black, accompanied by a burning sound, as if acid had touched them.
Since the holy sword’s ability didn’t apply to them, they were being corroded by the Death Qi in the air.
But the speed was strangely fast.
It seemed like only a few seconds had passed since they emerged from the inventory, but already, a third of the maids’ bodies were tarnished black.
Seeing that, I quickly scanned the talents displayed on the Point Shop screen and thought,
*Why?*
Why was the corrosion so severe already?
As I thought that, I realized why the corrosion rate had accelerated.
Slash— Sizzle…!
The disguised monsters.
It was because of them.
‘…Are they aliens or something?’
The acidic sound that came when the maids’ blades cut the disguised monsters’ bodies.
I had thought it was the sound of them burning from the Death Qi.
But now I saw it was the sound made when cutting the disguised monsters.
‘Every time they attack, the corrosion accelerates.’
It was a truly unfair fight.
The monsters didn’t die because of their unique regenerative abilities.
And the maids’ corrosion worsened every time they attacked the monsters.
“Body damage 88%… 89%… 90%… unable to continue combat.”
The maids, their clothes melting and most of their bodies tarnished black.
As they said, they seemed unable to continue fighting.
But it was fine.
Just as the other side was unfair, this side was also unfairly advantageous.
After all.
“Body replacement complete.”
“Resuming combat.”
The Battle Maids.
The maids fighting the monsters were bodies, not people.
They were items affected by the cheat, Infinite Items.
So, there weren’t many complaints.
Until Terra’s processing power was depleted, the Battle Maids were infinite.
Of course, only the number was infinite, the application was finite, so…
I had to hurry.
I had to hurry so as not to exceed the 30 seconds I had told Terra.
And right before the 30 seconds were up…
Ding, ding.
[Firearms Expert (A) purchased.]
[Battle Priest’s Holy Aura (A) purchased.]
I purchased the two talents I currently needed.
I could feel the new talents permeating my body and soul.
I felt my power increasing and checked the points displayed at the top of the Point Shop.
[1,570,000]
300,000 points used.
I saw the number, which had been close to two million, decrease.
‘…I was prepared, but…’
Seeing the decreased points, I felt a bitter taste in my mouth.
But considering the situation…
‘I can earn the points back.’
I brushed aside the regret along with a sigh. And the target amount I had set was still far off.
So, the regret wasn’t that great.
‘…300,000 points.’
…Actually, I was a little disappointed.
I clicked my tongue and briefly checked the information on the purchased talents.
There were other effects as well, but…
What I needed most right now was power.
So.
Click.
I immediately checked the power.
Rumble, Crash!
And the result…
“Lee…?”
Bang!
…Thud.
…was extremely satisfying.
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