Damned System

Chapter 40. Capitalism (4

Swick-!

「You have successfully eliminated the enemy.」

「459 corrupted mana is absorbed.」

Only after the monster’s head had completely detached from its body did the system notification appear.

There was no time to feel the mana being absorbed.

I practically tossed aside my spear and sword, retreating backward.

Even as the soles of my shoes melted and white smoke began to rise, it didn’t register to me.

The flesh where the monster’s fluid had touched was nearly melted, leaving my skin deathly pale.

Cold sweat poured down in response to the unbearable pain.

“Eugh…”

The left arm and hand, where the flesh had melted away, revealed the bone beneath.

With trembling hands, I hastily poured a potion over the wounded area.

However, for some reason, the recovery was slow.

It was only after I poured three bottles of potion that new flesh began to form.

By the time I had escaped the area covered in the green liquid, the pain was no longer the issue.

The itchiness was driving me insane.

I had once heard that severe itchiness could feel like torture, and it was true.

The urge was so strong that I wanted to reach into my head and scratch my brain.

Gripping my wounded hand tightly did little to ease the horrendous sensation.

I knelt on the ground, bowed my head, and endured.

How much time passed like that?

“Hah, ha…”

Gradually, the pain and itchiness subsided.

When I lifted my head to inspect the wound, it had healed quite a bit.

Exhausted and limp for a while, I confirmed that the wounds were not severe.

Fluid had splattered on my cheeks and ears, causing the flesh to melt.

After tending to all the small wounds, four bottles of potion had vanished.

“Haha…”

This was the first time I had gotten hurt this badly since the second tutorial.

The pain that had dominated me just a few minutes ago was still vividly remembered.

Though the aftermath left my hands trembling, I couldn’t remain seated any longer.

Tiptoe, tiptoe.

That was because the mana began creeping into my detection range little by little.

Perhaps they sensed that the boss monster had vanished, as they gathered without giving me a moment’s rest.

I absorbed and purified the corrupted mana in bulk, forcing my heavy body up.

Then, I approached the site where the boss monster’s corpse lay.

By overturning the soil with a dagger, I created a path that allowed me to move without sacrificing my shoes.

“Now, I’ve got to spend on equipment too.”

The longsword lying beside the monster’s corpse was half-melted.

With the handle bubbling and vanishing, it was no longer usable.

Resolving to abandon the sword, I turned my gaze to find a spear that hadn’t melted despite being drenched in the monster’s fluid.

‘How is it different from the longsword that it remains intact?’

Setting aside yet another growing question, I pulled out clothes from my inventory to grasp the spearshaft.

These clothes were originally intended for a change after the mission.

But sacrificing clothing was better than touching it with bare hands.

Fsssh.

The clothing that touched the spearshaft began to melt.

Only after rinsing off the fluid in a nearby puddle could I grab the spear with my bare hands.

While I was rearming, the small monsters had crept quite close.

The ensuing fight didn’t last long.

Only after dispatching them did I approach the water’s edge once more.

What I felt from within the water was swirling mana, along with a few very small mana presences.

‘If it’s this size, it must be a plant.’

There were no dangerous creatures deep within the water.

I waded into the water.

Even though my body had changed, I couldn’t transcend the fundamental limitations of human beings.

Securing visibility in the murky water was impossible.

For ordinary people, finding something without any equipment in there would have been difficult.

Fortunately, I had a skill that could substitute for advanced equipment.

I closed my eyes and relied on mana detection.

Upon diving towards the bottom, I realized anew how deep this swamp was.

‘It must be at least 20 meters deep.’

That’s a daunting depth for me previously.

The deeper I went, the colder the water became, but now I could advance without much difficulty.

As I fought against my body wanting to float back up and finally touched the bottom, I reached toward the direction where I sensed the swirling mana.

I didn’t know what I was grasping, but the object felt slippery and hard.

Clutching it, I made my way back to the surface.

“Puh!”

Emerging from the water and opening my eyes, I saw what I had brought with me.

「Connection」

A connection linked with 03-143 Hall.

Destroying it will close the hall.

Beyond the system window was an iron shield rusted all over.

It had been abandoned underwater, covered in weeds, with a white lump tangled in the ends of the weeds.

“Truly astonishing…”

At first glance, it looked like a human skull.

Momentarily speechless at its sight, I picked it up with rough hands.

“Is it some kind of bonus?”

Why did it have to drag along something so creepy?

With almost a sense of resignation, I shoved the skull into the inventory.

I planned to analyze it along with the rotten hand I had collected a few hours ago.

Once I had gathered everything I needed, I pulled the weeds off the shield.

The engraved designs on the outside resembled a bird.

‘A bird of prey?’

The coin had a mammal engraved on it, but this was avian.

The decoration on the inside was also a bird.

It was just the size of a thumbnail, but the material was likely gold.

As I quietly stared at it, I prepared to head back to land with the shield.

Though I wished to retrieve the sunken spear, it seemed likely to waste time unnecessarily.

‘Unless I had diving goggles or something.’

It would be difficult finding the sunken spear just by feel.

Emerging from the water, the droplets splattered, soaking the area around me.

“Hoo.”

Having come ashore, kneeling down, I reviewed my thoughts.

The system, the updates, and the mysterious Trait.

Adding the item description window, code-named missions, bounty missions, and finally forced mission execution.

And on top of all that, the grueling ordeal I just went through.

“I’m really sick of this…”

I couldn’t understand why I had to go through all this.

It felt like being forced to sacrifice without knowing what it was for.

I reached my limit of being jerked around whenever I understood less.

Ever since I started this game, how much has become clear?

In my view, I had a right to know why I had to endure this.

Yet the system shoved me into danger without any explanation.

I couldn’t forgive its selfish behavior.

‘Considering I’m being used here.’

When I considered the big picture, the system was clearly using the player.

‘One thing’s for sure, closing halls is part of the system’s objectives.’

Realizing this, I stared coldly at the void surrounding me today.

“Hah.”

Every time I thought about the system forcing its way into my life, anger boiled over.

The animosity toward the system beyond the void was unwavering.

Today, alongside anger, there was contempt.

A bastard intruding into my life and using me with no regard.

But regrettably, I had no idea how to escape this game.

I wasn’t even allowed the option of not participating in missions.

No matter how much I refused, every ten days, I would be dragged back into this unfamiliar land.

Should I continue to be pushed around like this?

Should I just roll over and play along with a system that used me at its whims?

‘Don’t make me laugh.’

Grinding my teeth, a chilling noise emanated.

If this damned system was going to use me, then I should do the same.

How should I go about using this damned system?

Piece by piece, a good idea came to mind.

‘I haven’t been able to work for nine days.’

For now, the 1.6 billion won from selling the loot was intact, but realistically, it’s not a huge amount of money.

If our family of three spent it, it could run out in 1 or 2 years.

‘I should start investing, but I also need extra income.’

I have the duty to support my family.

However, as the game’s level progresses, continuing work alongside it becomes difficult.

Even training in minute intervals for 24 hours a day resulted in such injuries.

Trying to work on top of that is risking my life.

The time I invested in this game.

The time I will have to sacrifice.

And the things I missed and will miss due to it, when I organized these clearly, my thoughts became clear.

‘Three years isn’t long.’

If I continue to let the game consume my time, affording the twins’ university tuition would be a dream.

In case I die an untimely death, I need to prepare a way for my siblings to survive.

‘While I plan to avoid dying, I need to consider the worst-case scenario.’

With my thoughts reaching this far, what I needed to extract from the system became clear.

While tearing off the golden decoration from the inside of the shield, I swept a hand over my face.

‘If the system is truly watching me.’

If my prior assumptions were correct, then maybe it could hear me.

This was also an opportunity to verify if the system was really watching me.

“Hey.”

I toyed with the bird-shaped half-golden decoration in my hand and spoke.

“Don’t you have more of these?”

There was no answer to my question. But I wouldn’t back down.

“You bastard, not answering, huh?”

The system foolishly revealed its weakness to me.

I had no intention of kindly overlooking it with a benign and beautiful heart.

In a teasing tone, I added,

“Do you want to see me only doing missions once every ten days?”

The system already showed that it was interested in missions.

In that situation, I declared that I wouldn’t fully cooperate using the game’s rules.

If it truly was obsessed with missions, it would have to respond.

‘What will you do?’

Depending on the system’s reaction, at least one thing would become clear.

If the system was unaffected by my threat, it could force a mission again or update the game file by reducing the grace period.

However, if there was no update?

‘It means there’s a restriction.’

The suspicion I harbored since the fourth update would be confirmed.

I crafted several scenarios based on the system’s response.

Meanwhile, quite a bit of time passed.

Yet, the system remained silent.

Within that silence, contempt, anger, and frustration steadily built up.

I clenched the small gold ornament in my hand and muttered.

“Answer me.”

The emotions that had accumulated while being forced into sacrifice were by no means light.

“Who are you to use me at will?”

The low, sunken voice rippled with emotions I could not conceal.

And they gradually became more agitated.

“If you want to use me, compensate me adequately for my efforts and time!”

And when I finally unleashed what had been building up inside me,

“The name of the Trait ????? changes to Capitalism.”

“The Trait Capitalism is activated.”

“The system switches to a support type. Support target player Kang Hyunwoo.”

“Commencing search.”

“Progress 1%”

…..

“Progress 100%”

“A list of recommended missions suitable for the support target is provided.”

Finally, a response came back.

Damned System