The Apocalypse Has Been Downloaded – Chapter 26

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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I was torn between the Black Serpent’s Egg and the Fang.

‘The Black Serpent’s Egg.’

I didn’t know what the Black Serpent was, what it looked like, or its specs, so I wondered if it was the right call for us to hatch and raise it.

‘Moreover, this doesn’t seem to be a summon.’

This was the biggest obstacle.

The description didn’t explicitly state that it was a summon, which bothered me.

The salamander was clearly labeled as a summon.

So even if it died, I could just summon it again. But the Black Serpent wasn’t a summon.

If it died during battle, would it be permanently dead?

‘If it dies while I’m raising it, that’s it. That’s not good.’

It only said that it could be ‘tamed’, so I thought it might be the end if it died.

Moreover, it wasn’t given in its hatched form, but as an egg, so I had to raise it from the beginning, which seemed quite bothersome.

What if it broke while I was carrying it around?

Would I have to make an omelet or something out of it then?

The fact that it was given as an egg strongly suggested that it was a dud.

‘Yeah, let’s not choose the Black Serpent’s Egg. It would be a waste of a reward if it died while I was raising it, and who knows how much resources, time, and effort it would take to raise it. Moreover, what if it suddenly died after I had raised it, or if it wasn’t in good condition even after it became an adult? That would be really annoying.’

The Black Serpent’s Egg was rejected.

After much consideration, I had a gut feeling that choosing the egg wouldn’t be the best choice for me.

‘Then it’s the Fang…’

The Fang was the ultimate weapon that could instantly kill anyone with a single stab.

But the one-time use made me hesitate.

I had to throw it away after one use.

It felt like a waste.

If it could be used at least five times, I would consider it, but the one-time use made me reluctant to choose it.

‘Honestly, with my current “Tentacle Eruption” and “Oral Summoning” skills, I can one-shot most enemies… So, do I really need to choose the Fang?’

Since my skills were already so powerful, I didn’t think I needed the Fang.

Moreover, with “Tentacle Eruption” or “Oral Summoning”, I could kill special zombies at mid to long range in one shot.

“Tentacle Eruption” could even grab and crush five at a time.

Thinking about it that way, the Fang, which required me to approach someone to stab them, didn’t seem like a very valuable reward.

‘Then wouldn’t the Twisted Core, which could increase my Magic, so I can use more skills, be more beneficial to me?’

My gaze naturally shifted to the core.

If I took this, my Magic could increase by a whopping 500 points.

An increase of 500 in Magic.

How many levels would I have to gain to reach that number?

I couldn’t even calculate it.

It was an incredibly huge number.

‘Plus 500 in Magic. Honestly, it’s quite tempting.’

If I took this, I could confidently say that I was the strongest in this area.

A Magic stat of 245 was by no means low, but if it increased by 500 to 745, how much stronger would I become?

Could I just unleash tentacles everywhere without anyone being able to stop me?

It was enough Magic to spam “Tentacle Eruption” and have “Unholy Touch” constantly active.

And using the “Slave Brand” consumed 10 Magic each time, so with 745 Magic… I could honestly run a slave factory.

Moreover, I felt that my Magic recovery was proportional to the amount of Magic that I had.

If I used up all 745 Magic, I could fully recover it in just a few hours of rest.

If my Magic was 745, I could probably relax a little.

If I could just avoid the 55% chance of instant death, I would be one step closer to being truly overpowered.

‘And when my Magic stat exceeded 100, I received a reward that increased all of my stats by 10… Maybe I’ll get a similar benefit this time too?’

If I succeeded in consuming it, I could probably unlock several achievements this time as well.

‘Or should I finally try my luck and give it to Hwang Soo-min?’

Hwang Soo-min’s class benefited greatly from a high Magic stat.

If it increased by nearly 500 at once, she could become a magic bomber.

That would be insane.

I could have her indiscriminately spam magic and burn all approaching enemies.

‘But can Hwang Soo-min survive with only a 45% chance?’

That was the problem.

A 45% chance of survival was by no means low.

But a 55% chance of death was also not low, which made me hesitate.

Honestly, I felt like Hwang Soo-min would die if she took the Twisted Core.

Her luck stat wasn’t that high.

It was lower than Ha-rin’s 33.

‘Even if she was affected by my luck… I’d still have a higher chance of survival than Hwang Soo-min if I took it instead. After all, my luck is 666.’

If Hwang Soo-min took the core and died, it would be a loss of achievement rewards and a waste of a Mage.

I decided it was safer for me to take it instead, given my ridiculously high luck stat.

‘Yeah, I’ll take it. There’s a 45% chance of surviving if I take the Twisted Core. It’s worth a try…’

As I was staring intently at the Black Serpent’s Twisted Core, a little devil in the form of Eun-ji popped into my head and whispered seductively in my ear.

‘You wanted to take it from the beginning.’

Ouch.

She hit the nail on the head.

This was driving me crazy.

Gulp.

Just imagining my Magic stat becoming 745 after taking the Black Serpent’s Core made my mouth water.

I did want to take it from the beginning.

An increase in Magic of 500 wasn’t something to be taken lightly, and I didn’t want to give it up so easily.

There wasn’t even a warning not to take more than two, like with the Black Serpent’s Core.

This meant that the Black Serpent’s Core and the Black Serpent’s Twisted Core weren’t the same item.

I was just hesitant because of the description of instant death.

I wondered if I could be lucky enough to survive again this time.

It wasn’t like I had protagonist powers or anything, so I couldn’t be sure that I could avoid death once again, which was why I couldn’t easily choose the core.

Then an angel resembling Ha-rin appeared in my head and said.

‘You idiot! You have such high luck, and you’re still hesitating? Your luck stat is 666. Are you really worried about dying?’

The angel and the devil seemed to be saying the same thing.

Well, they were both figments of my imagination, so it made sense that they had the same opinion.

‘Should I just take it…?’

I was half-convinced to take the Black Serpent’s Twisted Core.

But I still couldn’t make a decision.

If someone just told me to take it, I could do it right away.

I needed the courage to take the core.

I wanted to wake up Eun-ji and Ha-rin to ask for their opinions, but I didn’t in the end because I thought they would just tell me not to take the core.

What I needed now wasn’t realistic, heartfelt advice, but a word of encouragement.

So, I closed my eyes tightly.

Then I thought of Kashnax.

I had a small hope that my god would give me a clear answer.

‘Kashnax… May I take this core…?’

I asked my god as if I were asking a magic conch shell.

Honestly, it didn’t matter if he didn’t respond to my call.

It was like how religious people prayed to Jesus or Buddha.

I prayed out of frustration, and not because I genuinely expected an answer.

I just didn’t believe in God or Buddha, so I didn’t have anyone else to pray to but Kashnax…

Did my prayer reach him?

Suddenly, I felt the gaze of a powerful being on me.

“Gasp…!”

The eyes of a great evil filled with viscous malice.

I felt a very burdensome gaze staring intently at me.

The moment I was exposed to that gaze, I felt a chill run down my spine, which made me break out in a cold sweat.

This must be how a mouse feels when facing a snake.

It was an overwhelming presence that was too much for a mere mortal like me to handle.

‘Wh, what… Why is it staring at me so intently…?’

Why was it giving me so much attention?

Was it a god with too much time on its hands?

Or was it because I had acquired the “Favor of the Myriad Demons”?

It was a strangely active response.

‘What… I didn’t expect this much attention… I shouldn’t have prayed.’

Honestly, I never imagined that it would respond so quickly and accurately to my prayer.

And I didn’t think it would stare at me so intently.

It was incredibly burdensome.

‘This gaze is so heavy… Please just respond with indifference.’

The pressure was intensifying.

Just when I thought I was going to have trouble breathing, a response came from the god.

[Do as you please.]

[I’m hungry.]

The will of the god reverberated in my head.

I felt a great hunger.

It wanted a human sacrifice immediately.

The intense declaration of his will was so strong that I almost drew my ritual dagger.

Even though there was no one suitable for a human sacrifice nearby, I was seized by the thought of killing and offering someone.

If Koo Ji-hwan or Kim Do-kyung had been here, I might have sacrificed them right away.

“Gasp… Huff… Cough…”

The pressure that had been constricting me suddenly disappeared.

The presence and gaze that had been pressing down on my soul also naturally receded.

‘What an overwhelming presence…’

I really thought I was going to die.

Praying to a god was such a dangerous thing…

I realized that being connected to a real god was no joke.

Moreover, since I had only performed the human sacrifice once, I hadn’t built up enough favor with him, which might have been why the response was so sharp.

‘I must never pray so carelessly again. If I have to pray, I should do it after I’ve performed countless human sacrifices.’

I couldn’t let my guard down around an evil god.

If I prayed like I was praying to Jesus in a church, I might incur the wrath of the evil god.

‘But since it told me to do as I please, it seems like it’s telling me it’s okay to try…’

It seemed like it wouldn’t be a problem if I took it.

I didn’t know if this was just my convenient and arbitrary interpretation, or the actual will of the god.

But hearing some kind of response made me decide that it was okay to take it.

‘Yeah. Let’s take it. How long would it take for me to increase my Magic by 500 otherwise? Even if I die, I have to take this. Even if I can’t take it, I’m still taking it…!

As soon as I made my decision, I acted quickly.

I chose the Black Serpent’s Twisted Core as my achievement reward.

Soon, the Twisted Core appeared before me.

‘It’s a little different from the one I took before…’

The Black Serpent’s Core I had taken last time was just black.

This one had yellow stripes all over it.

It looked even more dangerous.

The colors seemed to warn me that it could kill me.

“Huff… Huff…”

I took a deep breath.

My heart was pounding.

I was so nervous that I had goosebumps all over my body and my hands were slightly trembling.

‘I’ve always been good at drawing lots. I had good gacha luck as well. Surely… Surely I can survive this time too. Yeah, Kashnax will protect me. Do you think my 666 luck is just a joke!?’

Gulp.

I swallowed it.

The core melted like chocolate as soon as it entered my mouth.

‘D, did it work? Was it a success? But why isn’t there any notification?’

The reaction was different from the last time.

When I took the Black Serpent’s Core, a notification popped up as soon as I put it in my mouth, telling me that my Magic had increased by 200.

‘No way… No way, right? Did I rely too much on my luck stat? Dammit! This can’t be happening. Why is there no reaction… Ugh…!

Thump…. Thump!

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!!!

My heart was pounding.

My chest was shaking with a loud beating that I could hear in my ears, and a pain that felt like my blood vessels were going crazy followed.

“Ugh…!!!”

“M, master!! Unnie!”

“Wh, what! Oppa, what’s wrong?! Oppa!”

“Argh!!!!”

My body was shaking violently.

My heart felt like it was going to explode.

I felt foam flowing from my mouth and the blood vessels in my eyes bursting, and at the same time, my vision went dark.

It was dark.

I couldn’t feel my body.

‘Damn it… I fucked up…’

Did I really die?

Why wasn’t my 666 luck working?

With these questions repeating in my head, my consciousness…

Was sucked into the depths of the ‘Abyss’.

The End…

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T/N – Sike! Obviously, it’s not the end. There are 700+ chapters left for this novel (and yes, it’s already completed in the raws).

This author really likes to hear himself talk. Nothing happened in this chapter again apart from the MC being so indecisive with the twisted core. In the end, he ate it anyway, so what was the point of all the dilly-dallying? At least it’s better this time compared to the rant he did in Chapter 5…

Also, do take note that from this point on, I will be using the term ‘Magic’ exclusively. I’ve been using Magic and Mana interchangeably in the past few chapters, but it gets confusing sometimes, and there doesn’t seem to be a difference between the two. So, I’ll be sticking to ‘Magic’ instead from now on.

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