episode_0079

Immediately after killing the animal given time, Retel, who suddenly had a nosebleed, hugged his body tightly and sat down with a trembling, pale complexion.

“Ugh, big…!? Kahak…!?”

“Re, Sister Retel? What’s wrong!?”

“Oppa Han-gil! Could this be…?”

“Yes. That’s right. As I said before, two hours worth of accumulated sensations come rushing in at once. It may not be life-threatening, but as you can see… hmm?”

I was speechless when I saw Letel bleeding not only from his nose, but also from his eyes and ears.

Why does it seem like he’s in a lot more pain than I saw with his [dog-eyed] eyes…?

“Keuuuk! Huuuk! Huuuuk! Keuuuuk…!”

Fortunately, the time he felt the pain itself was short-lived and he quickly got up, but he was out of breath and shaking his legs, which did not look normal.

“Retel. Are you okay?”

“…It’s okay. It just looks serious because it’s bleeding. It’s more bearable than I thought. Let’s keep going.”

The sight of him gritting his teeth and flashing bloodshot eyes, as if some kind of warrior spirit has awakened within him, is quite scary.

…This is a scene I saw with [dog-eyed] eyes.

“No, let’s step back.”

“what?”

However, in my eyes, it seemed like he was just trying to trick her, so I put my hand on her shoulder and shook my head.

“Hangil. Don’t ignore me. I’m not that weak.”

“I’m not looking down on you. I just realized that I was so unprepared. There’s no way a proper battle would be possible while wasting money like this. We’ll continue hunting, so let’s go back and regroup for now. Please.”

“……”

She was staring at me, wiping away the blood and letting out a stale breath.

“I don’t know what kind of reorganization you need, but…I understand. Instead, lend me your shoulder.”

I looked at him with bewildered eyes as she casually put her arms around my shoulders and put her whole weight on me, pressing me close to him.

“No, hey. Are you pretending to be strong when you don’t even have the strength to walk properly?”

“It’s noisy… What should I do when the tension subsides and I lose strength? It’s because of you, so take responsibility.”

“Ugh…”

I had no choice but to support her and look around at my companions.

“Do you agree to return everything?”

“It’s okay, but…what should I do?”

“…I’ll tell you when I get there.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t too far from the stone building, so we were able to return quickly.

“It’s only 2 hours long and this happens…”

“It seems the difficulty of the ordeal is higher than I thought.”

When I laid Retel down and turned around, the expressions of my companions were slightly stiff.

“Hey, everyone, focus.”

After gaining the attention of the group, I opened the [Point Shop].

“After just one battle, we realized how complacent and optimistic we had been. Even our weapons were nothing more than stone knives and stone spears carved with our abilities… so we are going to arm ourselves.”

“Are you really going to use Hangil’s points on us?”

I nodded at Noeul’s words.

“Yes. That has to be the case now.”

[Remaining points: 562]

“First of all… a means of recovery or treatment will definitely be needed.”

This is not a one-time thing, but requires a means that can be used continuously.

“Now, wait a minute. Oppa Hangil. Are you aware of the dangers of [point stores]?”

Noeul holds my wrist tightly as I look through the list of items and makes eye contact with a serious expression.

“Yes. I know. The things I buy at point stores can contaminate and deteriorate my body and mind.”

“No, if you know, you shouldn’t do that anymore. Is there a need for you to do that for us?”

“…there is.”

“What do you have? I don’t think you can get through this ordeal without our help?”

That’s not it, I just realized it.

I need to create something different from the scene I saw with [Dog Eyes].

“…I just don’t want to see my comrades getting hurt. Rather than seeing such a scene, it would be easier to protect them, even if it means wasting my life and all my points.”

Since it was sincere, I looked at him with firm eyes, and No-eul, Sae-ron, and even Gyeong-gyeong made uncomfortable expressions.

“…You may not understand it now. But you will understand everything later.”

“No, you probably don’t know. Brother. That kind of thinking is absolutely not normal. Besides, I hope you understand our position as we watch your one-sided sacrifice.”

“There’s no such thing as a sacrifice. Compared to what you guys have done for me…and to be honest, shouldn’t you welcome it? I’m using the points as I please, increasing my chances of survival.”

“What are you looking at us for? Do we look like such boring people?”

Gyeong-hyeong took a step forward, his eyes wide as if he were angry.

“Obviously, I don’t completely trust you yet. I recognize you as a comrade, but that’s it. But that doesn’t mean I can be happy when I clearly know that the person in front of me is being destroyed. I can’t just wait and see.”

“…Who says it’s broken? Even if you buy something at a [points store], the impact on your body and mind is very small. Almost non-existent.”

At my words, Noeul’s grip on the wrist tightens.

“How can you be sure of that? Brother. That disgusting mouth and the tattoos on the back of your hands are all skills, right?”

“It’s okay, but I didn’t buy this tattoo at [Points Store].”

“Even so, it doesn’t seem like it will have any effect, does it? There’s no way a tattoo with such strong power would have no consequences.”

“……”

I couldn’t say anything.

Certainly, ‘grievance’ in itself has a negative impact.

“Brother, think about it seriously. Nothing has changed since you gained the skill? Really?”

“Hmm…even if you say that, not much has changed…”

I tried to say something casually, but I kept my mouth shut due to a feeling of discomfort lingering in my head.

“……”

I have lived my whole life without family or friends, just working to survive.

Because he was always alone and poor, it was natural for him to prioritize his own safety and money, and the vigilance and survival instincts he developed through that life tend to be quite intense.

To me, my life and money are something that cannot be exchanged for anything else, and I have tried desperately to save and survive even in real crisis situations.

“hmm…?”

However, when I saw Noeul and Letel’s deaths in ‘Space of Nothingness’, I felt like I put their lives above my own.

No, there is no need to look back at the past, it is the same now.

No matter how much you may have seen their deaths in advance, aren’t you prepared to sacrifice all your points and your life if the situation arises?

“……”

I’m not denying that they are precious people.

Perhaps they are the type of people I have never seen before who treated me as more than a friend.

But even so, since when have I been this selfless, self-sacrificing, and bond-oriented person?

In my memory, I have never been like that.

Until you get the skill, that is.

“…what is this.”

I got a little goosebumps because my thoughtless thoughts and actions felt like I was denying my own life.

Moreover, I was originally the type of person who found it difficult to become close to people.

Because I had a high level of alertness, hardened pessimistic sensibilities, and a personality that did not feel lonely even when I was alone, I did not necessarily want to become friends with anyone and did not feel the need to make such an effort.

“Am I…really…?”

However, at some point, it seemed like the wariness and tension I had had all my life eased away and I began to value emotions over reason.

As if the person had suddenly changed. Is this possible?

“……”

scary.

I don’t even want to admit it.

The emotions, thoughts, and values I feel now are not originally mine, but have been altered by skill?

If so, what skill is it due to?

The only skills purchased from the [Point Shop] are [Emotional Eyes] and [Cry of Despair, Pain, and Grief].

However, whether you consider it in terms of points or frequency of use, it is probably [Cries of Despair, Pain, and Grief] that had the greatest impact on me.

‘Mirror of Resentment’ could also be included, but it is difficult to think that such a mass of negative curses would have cultivated an altruistic mind.

“Brother. Are you guessing something?”

“…No, there is not.”

But, what does that mean?

Is it strange that you think you want to protect your comrades? Not like that.

Is it strange to make sacrifices for your colleagues? That can’t be possible.

Putting them before me? This may be a bit strange, but isn’t it possible? I don’t think there is a problem.

Seriously, my actions now feel right and natural.

I don’t even feel like anything has changed.

“There is no problem. So, I will do whatever I want. Besides, it is true that if I don’t do this, I won’t be able to pass the test.”

-Hangil…?

Rael looked at me with a particularly worried expression, but I tried to ignore it and looked around the [Point Shop].

Damn it! Damn it!

“Wow!?”

“Wow, I’m surprised… Oppa Han-gil. Why did you suddenly take out that eye?”

As various eyes are pulled out from all over the body, the group, except Rael, takes a step back.

“Ah, I need [Dog Eyes]. The more eyes there are, the more likely it is to activate.”

Since there is no [Emotional Eyes], we have no choice but to rely on the probability of [dog-eyes] to understand the essence.

“Whoa…”

Damn it! Blah blah blah!

I took out more than a hundred eyeballs and looked at the [Point Store] with all of them.

[Purchase Skills]

[Trawley’s Flower: 30 points]

[Tokakal’s Dance: 50 points]

[Song of Joy and Joy: 70 points]

[Healing Light: 45 points]

[Levern’s Bridge: 60 points]

“…Ugh.”

The essence of a page’s worth of skills is injected into the brain by [Dog Eyes] activated unknowingly.

“oh…”

I was wondering something about [Trowley’s Flower], but it seems to be a skill that grows man-eating plants with various properties in one’s body.

In the process, I was able to know what I needed and what I had to endure, and this was information that could never be known with the [emotional eye].

To raise an adult animal, you have to feed it dozens of corpses.

I will never buy that.

“Wow! You have a lot of skills with strange names, right?”

“…okay?”

Come to think of it, in the past there seemed to be a lot of game skills such as Auror Blade and elemental immunity, but now such skills are rarely seen.

I don’t know what the basis is for the list to change, but I felt a little bad because it felt like it was proof of my change.

“Uhm…”

Anyway, I looked at the list of skills, relying on [Dog Eyes], which activates sporadically.

The number one function currently needed is healing or recovery.

Next is defense and protection.

“…There’s nothing useful.”

To be exact, it’s not that they don’t exist, but there are vague restrictions on them, or you have to pay a price each time you use them… or they have too much karma.

“No, wait a minute.”

If a skill is added, won’t my doppelganger also have that skill?

“…I almost got in big trouble.”

I almost did something foolish that strengthened an already hopeless opponent.

After putting the [Skill Purchase] list away, I quickly moved on to the [Product Purchase] list.

[Ordinary sword: 3 points]

[Ordinary Shield: 3 points]

[Chimera Leather Armor: 30 points]

[Regeneration Potion: 25 points]

[Soul Suppressant: 45 points]

[Solid Ectoplasm: 50 points]

As soon as you press it, useful-looking things pop out.

It was as if he knew my situation.

“…but it’s necessary.”

It’s so cheap that I can’t trust it.

“Hold for now.”

If possible, I want to give better things to my colleagues, and I don’t want to be in trouble if I don’t have enough points when a product with the function I want comes out, so I decided to look through it first.

[Basaglia’s Holy Grail: 120 points]

“uh?”

While quickly flipping through the list, I found it.

For some reason, the strong intuition that I must buy it resonates loudly with my instincts.

I almost bought it by moving my hand without thinking, so I was quite embarrassed and kept a close eye on it until [Dog Eyes] was activated.

Paaaat!

“Ugh…!?”

Immediately after, [Dog Eyes] was activated, showing its true nature.

The problem is that, unlike before, which only showed fragmentary and business-like information, it vividly showed someone using this product.

A woman holding the [Holy Grail of Bassaglia] high in the sky glares with stern eyes at the monsters that cover the sky.

“This person…”

It was definitely my first time seeing this woman, but I knew her.

Because it appeared in none other than a dream.

It was the woman who suffered terribly during her lifetime, who is thought to be the original owner of [cries of despair, pain, and grief].

“……”

I bought it like I was fascinated.

[Remaining points: 442]

Fuwaaa!

Immediately after, a dazzling light burst out of thin air.

“Wow!? What!?”

“Stay back!”

Brother Jing stepped forward and crossed his arms, and Retel quickly used his spatial abilities, but nothing dangerous happened as they had feared.

It was just that a platinum-colored holy grail was held in my hand.

“……”

The weight and texture of the Holy Grail feels overly familiar.

Slurp slurp!

As I concentrate my consciousness like a habit, colorless and transparent water fills the chalice.

It’s holy water.

Equipped with high versatility, excellent efficiency, and powerful power.

“Retel.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll spray it in a moment.”

“What? Wha!?”

Sigh!

As soon as she was drenched in holy water, her slightly pale complexion visibly turned red.

“…oh my god.”

After confirming that his body was in good condition, Letel opened his mouth wide.