39. Religious Gathering (4)

“Let’s see…”

I wiped out the remaining guys on the 4th floor. Using shadow shikigami to draw aggro, I slaughtered the Awakened with various methods including the Exorcism Method.

Thanks to that, I managed to kill all the roughly 20 Awakened on the 4th floor and earned a whopping 600 points. This is it. This is real honey farming.

‘The points I’ve gained here…’

I earned a staggering 1,215 points. This brings my total points to 2,004. With this, I can immediately purchase the Frozen Seal Stone, which costs 2,000 points.

‘No. I’m still short. I need to earn 2,400 more points.’

To buy the remaining items-the Mandrian Seed and the Purification Emblem-I need to earn more points.

I seriously need to manage a monster nest separately. I’m so short on points that I’m about to lose my mind.

[Quest: Kill 100 people within 3 days (90/100)]

[Reward: 1,000P, Random Weapon]

At least if I kill just 10 more, I’ll complete the quest and earn 1,000 points, so I need to push a little harder.

[Quest: Survive for a week (6/7)]

[Reward: 700P, Credit Score Increase]

[Quest: Use the shop reset function 3 times (2/3)]

[Reward: 300P, Product Exchange Coupon]

And if I hold out for just a few more hours, I’ll complete the week-long survival. Then I’ll have 3,704 points, so if I earn just 700 more, I can buy all the shop items.

“Grrk…”

“You’re the last survivor on the 4th floor. You’re exactly the 91st. I’m short by 9. I’m so frustrated I could die.”

“Die… you monster…”

“The real monster is your Cult Leader.”

“W-Wait!!!”

-Squelch!!!!

I killed the butler in the Cult Leader’s office.

His ability was Vision Sharing. I almost died from dizziness after being forced to share his vision.

Well, even so, that kind of petty trick could be easily countered by just charging in with my eyes closed.

[Level has increased by 1.]

Unintentionally, my level went up again. Since all the guys I encountered on the 4th floor were Awakened, killing them all made my level rise smoothly.

‘First, let’s invest in Strength again…’

I immediately invested points into my Strength stat. Now then…

-Boom!!

-Uwaaah! Do you think you can kill me like that?!

-Damn it!!! Dodge!!!

-Gyaaaa!!!

The floor below is quite noisy.

Judging by the torn screams of macho men and the miserable roars of some unknown monster that have been echoing since earlier… it seems the Cult Leader and the Blue Cross Group’s Hunters are fighting fiercely.

‘Are only three coming? No more?’

I was mentally prepared to escape at any moment in case more Blue Cross guys showed up, but contrary to my expectations, no reinforcements seemed to be coming.

‘Then… maybe I can really take advantage of the situation.’

From the sounds below, it seems they’re fighting evenly. If I intervene at the right moment and kill both sides, I could gain enormous benefits, right?

I don’t think I’ve ever killed a real Hunter before.

Well, Oh Haryeong was still too weak to be called a Hunter. The Pulse Company’s second-stringers were just Hunter applicants. To be honest, they were no different from Awakened nobodies.

Just Awakened who received some proper military training?

So, I’ve never actually killed a proper Hunter who graduated from the Hunter Academy.

‘My first Hunter hunt just happens to be the noble Blue Cross Group members who strive to save humanity.’

Isn’t this too exciting? My hands are itching. I never thought I’d get the chance to kill them so soon, especially since I didn’t see the need to save humanity.

“Hehehe.”

I never thought I’d get to hunt Hunters so easily. Free meals are the best.

‘If I kill the Cult Leader too… No, actually, keeping him alive might be useful.’

His abilities are quite good, so it wouldn’t be bad to train him through Torture Training and take him along. I can decide whether to kill him or not after checking his status.

“Hmm. For now, let’s take it easy and do some farming.”

Since both the Blue Cross guys and the monsterized Cult Leader still seem to have energy left, I decided to loot the safe in the Cult Leader’s office first.

By the way, the butler I just killed gave me the password on his third finger. Who knew a butler would actually share the safe’s password?

Thanks to that, I can loot it quickly.

“Oh…”

Opening the safe revealed various expensive-looking items, gold bars, three glass bottles containing unidentified potions, a wooden box covered in talismans, and a very old book.

“These are items.”

When I checked the potions and the old book, they were recognized as items, and description windows appeared.

First, I examined the three bottles of potions.

[Parting Gift Sap: When consumed, increases all stats by 3. Consuming it more than twice results in death.]

[Narata’s Potion: When consumed, awakens the Endurance stat and allows the acquisition of ‘Scale Skin Armor.’]

[Gucheongui’s Elixir: When consumed, reduces all stats by 1 and allows the acquisition of ‘Intangibility.’]

“Holy shit.”

What the hell? How did he have such elixirs?

‘Ah, he must have bought them with the money he earned from selling drugs…’

It made sense. Since he could manufacture drugs himself, he must have used the money he earned to buy and stockpile these.

“First…”

I immediately opened and drank the Gucheongui’s Elixir.

If I drank Narata’s Potion first, which creates a new Endurance stat, that would also be reduced, so I drank the Gucheongui’s Elixir first, then Narata’s Potion, and finally the Parting Gift Sap to boost all stats by 3.

Gulp. Gulp.

“Ugh… Bitter. So damn bitter.”

It felt like drinking a bottle of blood. Though the liquid was transparent, it was incredibly bitter when drunk.

[Intangibility has been acquired.]

A new skill was immediately acquired. Also, all stats decreased by 1. I felt like my body lost some strength.

Intangibility was exactly what it sounded like-a skill to turn my body intangible.

By consuming magic power, I could pass through walls, floors, or ceilings and nullify all physical attacks, but the magic power consumption was no joke, so it seemed best to use it only as an emergency evasion skill.

I postponed testing Intangibility and drank Narata’s Potion.

“This one’s pretty savory.”

It was decent. Tasted pretty good. Kind of like chicken gomtang, I’d say.

[Scale Skin Armor has been acquired.]

[Endurance stat has been unlocked.]

I gained a new skill and stat.

Scale Skin Armor consumed magic power to turn parts of my skin into hard scales. If I raised my Endurance stat and used Scale Skin Armor, I could probably easily block bullets.

‘Perfect. Now all that’s left is to drink the Parting Gift Sap.’

The Parting Gift Sap had a refreshing mint-like taste. Since I’m someone who can eat mint chocolate, I could handle this toothpaste-like freshness.

Still, it wasn’t something I’d savor, so I downed it in one go, and my stats increased.

[Name: Elena]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 21]

[Strength: 18]

[Stamina: 12]

[Perception: 11]

[Willpower: 8]

[Endurance: 4]

[Magic Power: 345]

“Ah. This is it.”

It seems raising the Endurance stat makes my body tougher. I really like this. Plus, I gained two more skills. Perfect.

The Cult Leader bastard is being taken care of by the Blue Cross idiots, while I’m just farming tons of sweet items. This is what they call dungeon backdooring.

If I’d fought my way up from the 1st floor, I’d have had to kill every damn one of them, but since I started from the rooftop and worked my way down, I could pick out all the good stuff.

“Alright, next…”

I examined the worn-out book.

[Daesurim Soxin Gongyangseo Vol. 1: Upon reading, grants partial knowledge left by Daesurim’s worst sorcerer. Allows acquisition of ‘Soul-Sucking Divine Tree’ and ‘Dryad Conception.’]

“Oh…!!”

So this is the book the butler mentioned.

The Daesurim Soxin Gongyangseo Vol. 1, a magic book the Cult Leader obtained through dark channels.

This implies there’s a Vol. 2 or Vol. 3, right?

‘Since it’s treated as an item, it might appear in the general store too.’

I’ll read it later. If it’s knowledge left by the worst sorcerer, how useful could it be? It must be some incredibly dark art, right?

‘Come to think of it, the Cult Leader said he read this and became a divine tree by absorbing his followers’ energy…’

If the skills are too dangerous for me to use, I can just dump them on Number 1 or some other guy.

Anyway, I put the book in my inventory. Next, I examined the wooden box covered in talismans.

“Should I open it?”

In this world, talismans have real power. It’s a world where monsters appear, after all. Exorcists and shamans are more likely to be real than fake.

“Hmm.”

Hoping something worth the risk would come out, I opened the sealed wooden box.

-Whoosh!!!

“Ugh.”

A pitch-black darkness gushed out from the box. It seemed like an enormous amount of evil energy trapped inside had been released.

“Cough. Cough. What the hell is this?”

Inside the box were fragments of a broken mirror.

[Fragment of the Other Realm: When embedded in the body, turns the embedded body part into a monster. The monsterized body part becomes trapped between reality and the other world.]

“…”

What should I do with this? Turning a body part into a monster… What exactly does that do? It’s clearly a reinforcement item, but it seems quite dangerous.

Moreover, since it connects to the other world-the Underworld-it felt even more dangerous. Using it now would be too risky. If the power is uncontrollable, it might be hard to survive the current situation where the insane Cult Leader and Blue Cross Hunters are fighting downstairs.

“I’ll put it in my inventory for now.”

I closed the box and put it in my inventory. I’ll try using it later when I get home.

“Now then.”

Time to meditate. Until the floor below quiets down.

******

“Hmm?”

The sounds stopped. The shouts of macho men, the screams of the rampaging Cult Leader-all gone, leaving only an eerie silence.

I immediately grabbed my shotgun and headed downstairs.

“Oh.”

Activating Night Vision, I entered the hall with its shattered doors and saw a few followers groaning on the floor.

“…”

At the center of the hall was a half-destroyed ancient tree with the Cult Leader impaled by a sword embedded in it.

[Gah. H-Help me… If you help me… I’ll grant you eternal life…]

“Shut up.”

I shook my head to dismiss the Cult Leader’s psychic wave and approached the fallen Blue Cross Hunters.

“Guh.”

“…”

“Ugh. R-Rescue request. Rescue… rescue req…”

One was displayed with his back impaled by a tree root that had pierced the floor, another was kneeling before the dying Cult Leader with his head bowed, and the last was lying face down, barely conscious, sending out a rescue request.

‘A mutual kill, huh.’

The three righteous Hunters of the Blue Cross Group succeeded in capturing the rampaging Cult Leader. But they’re also dying in the process.

‘It’s a miracle the building hasn’t collapsed. Must be earthquake-proof design?’

Not sure if it’s due to earthquake-proofing, but seeing the half-destroyed hall made it clear how destructive the battle had been.

“You all worked hard.”

I gave my thanks to the dying Blue Cross Hunters.

At the same time, I raised my double-barreled shotgun and blew off the head of the young Blue Cross Hunter who was sending out a rescue request that would never reach anyone.

-Bang!!!!!

Splat–!!

His head exploded cleanly, and points came in.

[100 points acquired]

“Wow. Yeah. This is it.”

Proper Hunters give a whopping 100 points. The point yield is on a whole different level compared to those Hunter apprentice bastards.

“Ahh. Sweet.”

“Guh… Y-You… What are you? Are you with these guys?”

“Nope.”

Bang–!!!!!

I also blew off the head of the middle-aged Blue Cross Hunter kneeling before the Cult Leader.

Even with half his body destroyed, he was trying to get up, so I had to kill him quickly.

Now I’m out of shotgun shells.

“Gah… Kill me too…”

“Sure.”

I smashed the head of the last Hunter, who was suffering with his back impaled by a tree root, with a Stun Fist.

In just 2 minutes, I earned 300 points. Hunter hunting is the real honey pot.

“2,304 points. Now, how much will you give me?”

[W-Wait. Hold on.]

I pointed my gun at the Cult Leader, who was vomiting blood, and approached him.

He had sacrificed himself to become a divine tree and had been growing by absorbing his followers’ energy. Is this what happens when you learn Soul-Sucking Divine Tree?

“If I spare you, what can you give me?”

[W-Wealth and glory. And eternal life and happiness.]

“Don’t bullshit me, you bastard. Your bullshit just increased your chance of dying by 40%. Tell me the truth. If you don’t want to die.”

[Gyaaaa!!! It’s all lies!! I can’t give wealth or glory!! I wanted eternal life too!! That’s why I became a divine tree…! But I can give happiness!!]

“How?”

[If, if you drink my blood, surely…]

“Hoo.”

I pressed the gun against his head. My finger on the trigger.

“Stop selling me drugs. Got anything else? Ten seconds till I pull the trigger. Nine. Eight. Seven.”

[Gyaaaa!!!! W-Well, you see. My blood has painkilling effects!! And if you boil it, the addictive properties disappear!!! Also, if you dilute the boiled blood in water and spray it on plants, it makes excellent fertilizer!! And… ah!! There’s a safe upstairs.]

“Already looted it. Tasted good. Your blood is highly addictive but has painkilling effects. And boiling removes the addiction and makes good plant fertilizer, you say?”

I can’t fully trust him. I’ll need to test whether boiling really removes the addiction on Number 1 or 2.

“So, free painkillers for now. Okay. Next.”

[Ugh. Next is about my current condition.]

“Yeah.”

[Right now, I can survive with just water and sunlight. With just those two, my wounds regenerate automatically. And if you give me a living being as nourishment, I can conceive a dryad.]

“A dryad?”

[Yes. I gained nourishment for becoming a Soul-Sucking Divine Tree from my followers. But to go beyond that, I need new nourishment. If I can produce dryads, they’ll surely help you. So please…]

The Cult Leader begged for his life.

I nodded.

A free drug generator, painkillers, and even usable as plant fertilizer-all he needs for sustenance is water and sunlight.

Plus, if I throw in corpses as fertilizer, he can produce dryads as minions.

‘Not bad.’

I took out an awl from my pocket.

“Alright, our dear Cult Leader friend. Let’s see you submit to me.”

“W-Wait!!! Gyaaaaaa!!!!!!”

Stabbing the awl into his eye immediately raised the training gauge by nearly 40.

[Training 38%]

Now, I’ll use Torture Training to corrupt the Cult Leader into a tree.

Then, I’ll cut off and uproot his tree-like limbs and plant him in a rooftop planter at my base.

How full will I be after eating free drugs, free painkillers, and dryad fruits?

Plus, if I kill all the survivors scattered around the hall before leaving, I’ll complete the quest too.

Every cultist has been given a chance to be good.

Truly perfect.