The Apocalypse Has Been Downloaded – Chapter 24

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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“Thank you!”

“Yeah. Good work.”

About 30 minutes had passed since I healed Kim Il-woo’s dislocated shoulder. Now it was time to really learn some skills.

Of course, I should have the slaves do some work first. I already let them rest for 30 minutes, so it was time for them to get back to work.

“Hey. Jin-seong.”

“Yes! Hyung-nim!”

“Take the others and clean up the inside of the supermarket.”

“Clean up the inside?”

“Yeah. Get rid of all the zombies left inside the mart.”

“Got it! Ah, Hyung-nim. What about Kang Ha-young?”

I turned my head to see Kang Ha-young still muttering to herself, lost in thought with her head down.

“Her… Sigh… Fuck. Let’s just leave her alone for now and just keep an eye on her. I think her condition is strange because of her class or something.”

“Yes! Got it!”

“And you leveled up, right?”

“Yes! I’m level 10 now!”

“Choose your skills yourself. You guys choose your skills yourselves, too!”

From now on, I would only concern myself with the skills of Eun-ji, Ha-rin, and Kang Ha-young, who had just obtained a hidden class.

It would take too much time for me to personally manage the skills of all my slaves. They didn’t all have hidden classes. I figured it would be better to let them choose their own skills since I might abandon them if necessary.

“Got it!”

“Oh, and check if the water and electricity are working. Check the status of the food section too.”

“Yes! I’ll check everything!”

Ha Jin-seong grabbed some tools, took the slaves and the two remaining non-Awakened, and went down through the rooftop access door.

The supermarket was a five-story building, but most of the zombies had come up to the rooftop, so there probably weren’t many left inside.

And the food section was in the basement, so it should still be fine. It had to be.

‘Don’t worry. Those guys leveled up a bit last night, so they can take care of it. I’ll just focus on my skills for now.’

I leveled up 5 times last night, and I just learned Human Sacrifice, so I could still learn 4 more skills.

But I was a little disappointed that I only leveled up five times, considering I had killed at least a dozen special zombies.

‘Maybe it’s because I’m already level 10, so it’s harder for me to level up even with special zombies.’

It was hard to level up with regular zombies after level 5, so maybe it became harder to level up with special zombies after level 10.

It was smooth sailing for me until level 10, but now it felt like I had hit a wall. Maybe I needed to hunt named entities beyond special zombies to break through the level 10 wall.

‘Named… A new realm reached by special zombies that meet certain conditions… If I could just figure out the conditions, maybe I could mass-produce named entities. Or maybe not. Is that why they’re named…?’

I suddenly wondered if I could capture special zombies and force them to meet the conditions to create named entities. If I could do that, wouldn’t it be an easy and fast way to level up?

Of course, I also thought that it probably wouldn’t be that easy to create named entities, but it seemed worth a try.

‘Anyway, it’s still too early for that. I couldn’t even properly defend one base, so mass-producing named entities is still a distant story.’

For now, I needed to focus on survival, so I didn’t think about it any further. I had to clear out the remaining zombies in the supermarket today and clean up the corpses on the rooftop. Clean up, wash up, rest a bit, and prepare for the coming night.

‘The number of people has drastically decreased, so we probably won’t be attacked by a huge number of zombies like last night. It seemed like the more people there were, the more aggro we drew.’

I hoped the coming night would be a little more peaceful. If things kept coming to us without a break, we would just keep getting worn down.

We needed time to prepare for the future.

‘First, let’s check my stats… and read about the remaining 4 skills.’

I needed to take care of what I could do now while I had the time, and make good use of the day.

Until I got used to this disaster, there would be no time for me to relax.

“Status.”

My Magic stat had increased by 200 thanks to successfully consuming the Black Serpent’s Core, and all my stats from Strength to Will had increased by 10 as a reward for my Magic surpassing 100 points.

With the stats from leveling up and the additional 10 to each stat, my status window was quite impressive.

Also, “Summon Tentacles” had changed to “Tentacle Eruption”, and a new stat called “Karma” had appeared after I sacrificed someone to the god.

‘These stats alone are amazing. Am I the strongest at this level…?’

Just looking at my status made me feel proud.

Realistically, my stats were much higher than a typical level 10.

My physical abilities had also improved thanks to the mana flowing through my body.

‘Especially the 245 mana, that’s crazy.’

I could probably steamroll most people with just my Magic alone.

If I cast “Tentacle Eruption” with both hands, I could tear apart any special zombies or whatever.

‘This… I’m becoming more and more overpowered… Ah, no. I think I thought this last time, and I got my ass handed to me as a result. And last night, even though I wasn’t particularly careless, all the slaves except for the three of us almost got wiped out…’

I needed to be careful. In fact, even though I hadn’t been careless, last night was still dangerous.

If the peddler hadn’t appeared at the right time and sold me the Black Serpent’s Core… everyone except for me, Eun-ji, and Ha-rin would have probably died.

‘Get a grip…’

I almost lost the supermarket I had just taken over as well as most of my slaves.

I couldn’t be careless even if I got a little stronger.

‘And because of my involvement with the evil god, I’ll cause disgust among the players on the side of the good gods. I don’t know what the hell players on the side of the good gods do, but if they’re related to gods, they might have similar benefits and strength as me…’

There might be a truly overpowered person somewhere on Earth.

For example, someone with a luck stat of 777 who had been gobbling up all sorts of lucky encounters since the beginning of the disaster and had become incredibly strong.

I might get killed by some hero or saint who suddenly appeared because I was being cocky with just 245 mana.

‘And because of the Mark of the Myriad Demons, those with other brands will be hostile to me too…’

Those with other brands.

This meant that anyone with a brand, regardless of whether they were good or evil, would be hostile to me.

I had to hide the Mark of the Myriad Demons as much as possible.

It would be better for my survival if its existence wasn’t discovered.

Although I wasn’t really sure how to hide it.

‘Damn it… It’s not the time for me to relax at all… What if someone with a brand notices my brand and approaches me in a friendly manner to lower my guard to assassinate me?’

From now on, I would either enslave or kill any players I encountered.

I couldn’t be careless.

I didn’t know when or where I might get stabbed.

‘But come to think of it, I was already acting like that.’

As I resolved to kill or enslave all the Awakened I met, I realized I had been doing that from the beginning.

Ever since I obtained the Slave Brand skill, I had been trying to enslave any Awakened I saw, and if that didn’t work, I killed them.

‘I never made any equals to begin with. Yeah, I preferred vertical relationships over horizontal ones… Giving orders and receiving benefits…’

And I was the type of twisted person who felt more at ease knowing someone’s weakness, a wound I could exploit, or a piece of their past.

Thanks to that twisted personality, I didn’t have many friends, and there weren’t many people I was close to.

But now, I was really glad that this ruthless and sociopathic personality of mine was actually advantageous for survival.

‘Sigh… Enough with the random thoughts, let’s choose my skills…’

I wanted to quickly choose my skills, get the achievement rewards, and rest.

Just being awake was tiring me out.

My Stamina stat was already at 45, but that didn’t mean I was a superhuman who didn’t feel fatigue.

It was Ha Jin-seong who was strangely energetic.

“Skill Selection.”

‘A defensive skill…’

I wasn’t sure how much damage it could block.

Could it block bullets?

If that was the case, I would choose Twisted Carapace without hesitation.

I didn’t have any defensive skills right now, so I would have to choose it eventually, but for now, I was going to choose Abyssal Observation.

‘I wonder how much it will hurt this time…’

Every time I learned a skill, it hurt me so much that I felt like I was going crazy, so I gritted my teeth, expecting it to hurt this time as well.

How great would it be if I could get used to the pain?

The pain was always new and fresh, so I had to be mentally prepared.

‘Sigh… Abyssal Observation.’

I closed my eyes tightly.

I would probably drool a bit and writhe in pain this time, too…

“Huh…?”

But this time, there was no pain, no agony.

There was no terrible sensation of a spike piercing through my brain.

Nor was there the overwhelming feeling of knowledge being forcibly engraved in my mind.

But….

‘This… This feeling… What is this…?’

A wave of depression, lethargy, and helplessness washed over me.

My body trembled with a deep, deep sense of despair that threatened to drive me mad.

Mental shock and horror instead of pain in the brain.

Abyssal Observation was very different from the previous skills I had learned.

The moment I learned ‘Abyssal Observation’, I felt a dizzying fear as if I were falling into a deep, dark abyss.

My surroundings became quiet as if I were alone, and I felt mentally cornered.

Terror.

An unknown fear gripped my heart.

It was suffocating.

“N, no…”

It felt like I was sinking into a bottomless swamp.

Sinking lower.

And lower.

Into a deep, inescapable pit…

‘Wh, what… have I… done…’

What did I come into contact with?

Where was this?

Who… am I…?

It was suffocating.

It was driving me crazy.

The sensation of my breath being squeezed out.

I couldn’t breathe…

“…pa!..”

I thought I heard someone calling me… Was it just my imagination?

I didn’t know.

In the darkness where everything, including objects and sounds, had melted away, I struggled alone.

To escape this insane space where only primal fear remained…

To escape this unknown suffocation, loneliness, and terror.

“Oppa!!!”

“Gasp…!!!”

When I opened my eyes, Eun-ji was shaking me awake.

“E, Eun-ji…”

“Oppa!”

Eun-ji threw herself into my arms.

She was sobbing softly.

What the hell happened to me?

It felt like… I had a terrible nightmare.

My shirt was soaked with cold sweat.

“Wh, why… what’s wrong, Eun-ji…?”

“No matter how much I called you… sob… you didn’t wake up… you didn’t respond… you weren’t even breathing…”

Eun-ji explained my condition a moment ago in a rambling manner.

Ha-rin, who had been lying down, instinctively felt that something was wrong, and woke up and called me.

But I didn’t answer, and only then did Eun-ji realize that the situation was serious, so she woke up and called me and shook me awake.

And I wasn’t breathing during all that…

Then, Ha-rin, with tears streaming down her face, reached out to me.

I gently took Ha-rin’s trembling hand, as she seemed to want me to hold it.

“Master… Never learn skills alone again. Your skills are strange… It’s better if we’re watching you when you learn them.”

“Yeah… you’re right. That’s a good idea.”

Ha-rin’s hand was as cold as ice, as if the blood had drained from it, while she looked at me with worried eyes.

I gently squeezed her slightly trembling hand so as not to hurt her.

So that she could be reassured.

‘They both trust and rely on me, so they must have been shocked to think that I might suddenly die… I didn’t expect this to happen either…’

Abyssal Observation.

Something completely different happened this time.

Not just physical pain, but a mental breakdown.

Honestly, if Ha-rin hadn’t quickly noticed my condition, and Eun-ji hadn’t woken me up, I might have been consumed by the skill.

‘But… I definitely… felt a similar overwhelming sensation I felt from Kashnax in that pitch-black darkness… God… God was there…’

This allowed me to speculate on one possibility.

Abyssal Observation might be related to another unknown evil god who was completely different from Kashnax.

It was probably almost certain, considering how Abyssal Observation was particularly emphasized when it first appeared in the skill selection.

I wasn’t sure, but I had a feeling.

If “Summon Tentacles” was Kashnax’s power, then Abyssal Observation might be borrowing the power of another evil god.

‘Not only Kashnax, but other evil gods are also interested in me… Is it because of my 666 luck? Didn’t Kashnax give me this? I don’t know what’s going on anymore.’

I didn’t have enough information yet.

Wouldn’t I naturally find out as I continued to level up and grow?

Just like how I found out about Kashnax’s existence when I learned Human Sacrifice.

As I was thinking about that, information about Abyssal Observation was naturally infused into my head.

‘Consume 1 Karma to gaze into the abyss… The incantation is Krol-Vin-Usmer…’

To use the skill, I had to make a triangle by touching my thumbs and index fingers together and then chant the incantation.

Then, the triangle formed by my fingers would connect to the abyss, and I could communicate with the beings lurking within.

Of course, that was if we could properly understand each other.

‘Communication won’t be a problem thanks to the Mark of the Myriad Demons… but the problem is that it’s hard to use this skill properly on its own.’

It seemed like I could make contracts with the unknown entities, but the conditions might be absurd, and I had to go through this complicated process while consuming one Karma each time I gazed into the abyss.

‘It’s ambiguous. I wonder if there’s a supplementary skill…? Yeah, I can mitigate harsh contract conditions with Favor of the Myriad Demons… It would be great if the summoning process could be simplified.’

The effect of the Favor of the Myriad Demons skill was ‘Gaining the interest and favor of otherworldly beings and mitigating contract conditions’, so it was related to Abyssal Observation.

Then, if there was a skill to mitigate contract conditions, shouldn’t there also be a skill to simplify the contract process?

It was very inefficient to have to sacrifice a person every time I summoned a being from the abyss.

‘I’ll have to learn more skills for now. I can learn 3 more, so let’s hope that the answer is in there.’

This time, I told Eun-ji and Ha-rin beforehand that I would be learning a skill.

“Skill Selection.”

‘Hmm… What’s this?’

Beyond summoning tentacles, I could now summon a mouth too…

Was it literally summoning a mouth?

It was a skill I couldn’t quite grasp.

Summoning a mouth to tear off and devour the limbs of enemies…

‘This is a must-have skill.’

Summoning a mouth to dismember enemies.

It was the best skill when fighting someone I had to kill.

This, along with “Tentacle Eruption”, would become one of my strongest cards.

“Oral Summoning.”

The moment I learned the skill, the same reaction as when I chose Abyssal Observation occurred.

“Ugh….”

I felt the lethargy of sinking into a swamp again.

At the same time, Eun-ji and Ha-rin, who were sitting next to me and watching over me, tightened their grip on my hands.

I also held their hands tightly.

Warmth was transmitted through our clasped hands.

As if holding on to a lifeline, I endured the skill application while tightly holding their hands.

Maybe it would be better if my brain just hurt instead.

At least that was just pain and it was over.

This mental attack was a fresh shock that was hard to endure.

‘If Kashnax was a beginner-friendly evil god for newbies… this unknown being is an evil god that delivers a more high-level shock… The skill effect consumes 10 mana… Make a biting motion with your hand and chant Al-la-kum-Pluto… Usable 3 times a day. Hmm…’

This was definitely a dedicated skill related to the being in the abyss.

If “Tentacle Eruption” was a dedicated skill related to Kashnax, this was clearly a skill granted by the being in the abyss.

The explanation that it could only be used 3 times a day also suggested that.

Maybe if I found a way to contact the god of the abyss, like how I used Human Sacrifice to contact Kashnax, this skill could be enhanced just like how “Summon Tentacles” was enhanced to “Tentacle Eruption”.

‘There are 2 left.’

‘Permanent Contract… Simplifying the summoning process. This is how I can properly utilize Abyssal Observation.’

Through Permanent Contract, I could reduce the long and complicated process of gazing into the abyss and finding a being to communicate and contract with.

I could just summon the pre-contracted being by consuming mana.

‘I’ll choose Favor of the Myriad Demons and Permanent Contract for the remaining 2 skills.’

I chose Favor of the Myriad Demons first without hesitation.

‘Will my brain hurt this time… or will my mind be in danger…’

I held Eun-ji and Ha-rin’s hands tightly while waiting for the pain that Favor of the Myriad Demons would bring.

But this time, there was no physical pain or mental breakdown.

“Ah…?”

I felt gazes.

Countless.

Gazes that were watching me.

As if appraising their prey.

“Ugh…”

I quickly covered my mouth as I felt a sudden urge to vomit.

It felt like a huge number of things were staring at me for a moment, but after a few seconds, everything returned to normal.

‘Wh, what was that…’

Was I the only one having such a hard time learning skills?

It was to the point where I wanted to quit the game because of the skill acquisition process…

Killing zombies was easier than learning skills.

‘I can’t let my guard down about anything… Though I wasn’t even careless to begin with…’

Things that were beyond what I could endure and handle kept appearing.

I couldn’t predict any of it, so now I’m really afraid of learning skills.

“Sigh…”

“Oppa…”

“Master. If it’s too hard, you can learn it later.”

“No. It’s okay. I need to quickly learn the skills… and get the achievement rewards… I have a lot to do.”

I was grateful for their concern.

So I had to work harder and finish this quickly.

Even if I dragged it out, I would have to learn these skills eventually.

Yeah, the pain would come eventually.

“Whoa…”

This description was amazing.

Of course, as I had personally experienced, Cultist skills were never normal.

Through nearly 10 skill acquisitions, I had learned that Cultist skills had monstrous power but also had enormous repercussions.

‘Judging by the looks of it… it will probably hurt like hell every time I take out my wings…’

But being able to fly with wings was amazing.

This was a skill I had to learn no matter what.

Of course, for now, I would choose Permanent Contract first to properly use Abyssal Observation.

‘Permanent Contract.’

This time, I felt myself sinking again, so I quickly grabbed their hands tightly.

As I felt Eun-ji and Ha-rin’s warmth, I quickly regained my composure.

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T/N – So it’s not just one evil god who’s interested in the MC. Since that’s the case, I feel like the MC’s 666 luck is a natural trait of his instead of being artificially given to him by some entity. It would explain the interest of so many evil gods in him. Poor bastard has to experience new types of pain every time he learns a new skill from a different god though.

If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.

Important Notice – So I’m going to be transferring the release schedule of this novel to Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday to join my Barb Labyrinth one. So you can expect a chapter release tomorrow. Thank you very much for your continued support 👍