Damned System

Chapter 46. Contact (3)

Everything happened so quickly that I could hardly keep up.

All I could see was the blood splattering.

The flash of a blue light.

Rashar and her group suddenly starting to fall over the recording.

That was all I could make out.

Soon, a large flame surged towards Rashar, and I realized I actually witnessed it with my own eyes.

From that moment, I felt the limit approaching. I sensed the danger that I might explode if I kept looking.

I did not ignore the warning bell ringing instinctively.

As I shook off Rashar’s hand roughly, my body sank downwards.

Had it not been for the support from next to me, I would’ve ended up sprawled awkwardly on the ground.

Before I even realized Raul was the one holding me, a headache sprang up.

It was like taking all the pending pain in one go.

“Heugh…”

Blood started dripping from my nose, accompanied by groans that escaped unwillingly.

The pain was so severe that I didn’t even realize Rashar, who had drawn her sword, had pushed it close to my face.

Only after some time and after the headache subsided did I come to that realization.

When I saw the blade positioned similarly to the area around my eyes, I was left speechless.

The common brown eyes of an average South Korean resident had changed.

“Gold…”

It was similar to Rashar’s.

‘To think the color of my eyeball would change.’

If I was the pre-game me, I might have been frozen in shock.

But fortunately, I was someone who had experienced multiple times that expecting common sense in this world wasn’t a good idea.

“Hah.”

Hence, I could quickly regain my composure with a wry smile.

“Why are my eyes like this?”

“It’s a trace of divinity. It’s a symptom that appears in those who are chosen by a god, sharing authority with apostles, bestowed priests, and holy knights, as well as anyone else using authority.”

For some reason, Rashar’s voice seemed a touch brighter.

The subtle vigilance I had felt was also lighter. It was quite a sudden change.

“… What?”

When I asked with a bewildered heart, I definitely heard Rashar’s voice softer than before.

“No need to worry too much. The traces from the blessing are temporary and will return in a few hours.”

As I kept looking at the eyes reflected in the blade, I turned to Rashar.

Her eyes were a darker, more profound gold than mine were now.

“Then, what about you?”

“Let me properly introduce myself. I am Rashar Bennett, commander responsible for the 2nd Company of the Snow Brigade of the Ferrell Resistance 2nd Division and one of the five apostles of Palao who governs charity.”

“Apostle…?”

Without needing a detailed explanation, I got the gist.

An apostle must hold quite a high position in this world.

‘These people possessing such power aren’t very commonplace or easy to deal with, are they?’

Should I be happy or burdened about meeting a group of intelligent beings first?

“You mean Palao, then, that Palao is… a god?”

“Indeed, it was so.”

The use of past tense in her reply unnerved me, making my brow furrow slightly.

Ding.

The system interrupted once more.

HIDDEN MISSION

「Main Scenario」

Visit the temple.

「Rewards」

• Attribute Mana 100

• Random Box (×3)

• Open Main Scenario

• Dialogue with the System

Although the graphics were still broken, the content was clear enough to understand.

Among the contents, what captured my attention was not the unusually lengthy list of rewards but the short sentence in bold text.

If my memory was correct, it was the first time the system had emphasized something like this in such a manner.

However, what bothered me more was another detail.

“Dialogue…?”

“Hmm?”

Rashar and Raul wore expressions asking what I was talking about while looking at me.

On the other hand, I was staring at the mission window instead of them.

‘Dialogue, huh.’

Just that was enough to make me inclined to go to the temple.

I clenched my teeth and steadied my breathing, then decided to focus on the discussion with Rashar.

“May I ask a few more questions?”

“If it’s something I can answer, I’ll do so earnestly.”

“What about Finelpenia…?”

“She governs diligence among the seven great virtues.”

“… God’s name?”

The god of diligence is Finelpenia, and what I experienced was said to have been her power.

My thoughts began to multiply.

‘Seven great virtues? Is it related to the seven deadly sins?’

I wasn’t entirely knowledgeable, just a general understanding through common sense.

Pride, greed, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, sloth.

I vaguely recalled hearing about these seven sins.

I wasn’t sure if this pertained to a religious doctrine or was connected to another study.

‘Where there is sin, there is virtue.’

It seemed to me that in this world, these seven virtues were of great importance.

Each type of virtue probably had a god responsible for it.

‘It was said Palao was the god of charity?’

And now, Finelpenia is the god of diligence.

There must be five more other gods.

I discreetly bit the inside of my cheek.

‘A world where it’s possible to see the miracles of gods with one’s own eyes.’

There was no reason to distrust gods in this place.

Therefore, the weight of religion would probably be far greater than I imagined.

‘And now, I’m told to visit a temple.’

Whether I could enter there was a secondary issue.

‘I don’t even know where it is after all.’

Standing in my current situation, there was only one way for me to visit the temple.

To use someone who knows where the temple is and probably has access to it.

Coincidentally or perhaps fatefully, there seemed to be such a person right in front of me.

“If there’s a god, there should also be a temple, right?”

I commented offhandedly, and Rashar’s hand tightened on its own.

My eyes narrowed at that.

Even aside from the system, she was reacting to the word ‘temple.’ But why?

‘What could possibly be in the temple?’

If visiting it could solve the mysteries that had been haunting me?

‘Although the system put up the mission, I was already planning to check it out anyway.’

From now on, I should really seriously go about this properly.

‘First thing is to latch onto this side.’

As Rashar showed disturbance upon mentioning the temple, I decided to probe deeper.

“It seems like you at least know where it is…?”

“…”

“Could you guide me there? I’m new around here.”

When I tossed out a potion, Rashar received it effortlessly.

“It’s not like I’m asking for a free favor.”

Rashar’s gaze returned to the shield dangling from my waist.

“How many potions do you have?”

With a light laugh, I replied to her question.

“I’ve gotta have insurance too.”

Do you really think I’d reveal that willingly?

She might discard me once the quantity I mentioned runs out.

‘Not to mention, there really aren’t that many left.’

Though I didn’t offer a wordy explanation, Rashar seemed to understand enough.

“Is the timing urgent?”

There was no time limit for the hidden mission, but a lot of time had already passed since entering the mission field.

“It’s better sooner than later.”

Rashar, after closing her mouth, lowered her gaze.

Tap, tap, tap, she tapped the handle of the sword hanging at her waist and fell into thought.

The rhythm of her fingers gradually slowed down, and instead, her yellow eyes started moving.

I narrowed my eyes, following her line of sight.

Rashar’s gaze settled on my waist, where a shield with an open hole hung visibly.

“Alright, I’ll show you to the temple.”

Having stared quietly at the shield for a while, Rashar turned her body with those words.

I kept my eyes trained on her back.

Surely this was the outcome I wanted, yet I felt more baffled than joyful.

It was too suspect to just feel relieved and happy about it.

‘What does she know about where I come from or what I do for a living?’

Even though I had saved their lives, was this not a bit too easy?

More crucially, Rashar hadn’t even asked me why I wanted to go to the temple.

Her attitude dramatically shifted after she used what they call ‘power.’

‘Constantly glancing at this shield is also odd.’

Is it because it’s simply a dangerous item?

‘No.’

Rashar possesses the power to destroy the connection regardless of my opinion.

Even if I saved the life of her teammate, if this shield were of significant danger to continually warrant attention, she would have forcibly destroyed it.

But she didn’t.

Despite emphasizing its hazard verbally, she neither forced destruction nor went beyond merely monitoring it.

‘There must be another reason.’

While fiddling with the shield in my hands, I averted my gaze away from Rashar.

At the moment, there isn’t any answer, so I should just observe a little longer.

* * *

“Nuna, good morning!”

Kim Yul arrived at the training room just in time for training and greeted with a bright smile.

The agent assigned there acknowledged the greeting with a reciprocal smile.

“Yul, good morning. Good morning to you too, Hyewon.”

“Yes, did you sleep well?”

Yang Hyewon, arriving alongside Kim Yul, also exchanged greetings with the agent with a smile.

They naturally continued their conversation as they awaited the arrival of other players and the instructor.

‘All that fan service paid off.’

It had been several weeks since being placed under the National Intelligence Service’s protective watch.

Kim Yul leveraged his experience as a trainee to bond with the agents.

He typically portrayed a bright and cute image, but emerged with bloodshot eyes and tears after missions were completed.

The tension and vigilance born from the Han Changshik incident hadn’t entirely disappeared, yet.

It wasn’t too difficult to garner sympathy and empathy.

Especially because he was still relatively young.

This, in turn, allowed him to receive considerable help from a few agents.

On a smaller note, he was notified that players’ accounts and call records were being monitored.

Only yesterday had they caught wind of discussions at the top concerning the disposal of players.

‘Though I haven’t overheard why these agents mentioned K-hyung days ago.’

Building rapport with them was definitely more beneficial than sour relations.

Only then could he summarize the accumulated news and relay it to K.

‘Surely, at this point, there’s no other player closer to K-hyung than myself?’

The few who could access K’s personal information would probably be rare.

And one of them being himself was quite satisfying.

Of course, Kim Yul didn’t investigate the owner of the phone number given by K.

‘He’s probably already on edge just by giving the number, no need to prod unnecessarily.’

Now is the time to maintain a friendly relationship rather than trying to exploit or catch K off guard.

This individual casually handed over 10 potions as hush money.

Why on earth would he do anything to upset such a person?

While Kim Yul was engrossed in thoughts about K, an intriguing topic came up between the agent and Yang Hyewon.

It concerned the analysis results of equipment obtained during the tutorial.

“Have the results already come out?”

The agent showed a slight smile, which sufficed as an answer.

Kim Yul discreetly twinkled her eyes.

She was someone with a college colleague in the National Institute of Science.

She must have heard some hints through that connection.

“What did they say? Is it an entirely different metal?”

Based on what K had informed, it was impossible to imbue reality’s objects with mana.

In fact, Yang Hyewon had demonstrated this within the NIS a while back.

No matter the effort, mana wouldn’t dwell in the melee weapons provided by the NIS.

Given the situation, research on weapons provided during the tutorial had commenced around five days prior.

“No, they say the composition is the same.”

Oddly enough, an unsettling result emerged.

“The weapon provided during the tutorial is also just ordinary iron.”

“Hmm…”

“There seems to be talk among the researchers about investigating mana rather than the weapon’s material.”

Only a few conjectures regarding the relationship between mana and weapons were exchanged.

But with other players arriving in the training room, they inevitably had to wrap up their conversation.

Kim Yul threw himself into his well-practiced daily routine over the past few days.

Without a moment to rest, the routine continued until dusk.

After finishing dinner and returning to the dormitory, Kim Yul uttered plaintive wails while opening the mission window.

“Okay, okay, are you doing alright today again?”

After a quick scan of the mission list, he located what he needed straightaway.

The level 3 mission had changed format.

It signified K was still progressing within the mission.

While he drilled a gaze onto the number like engraving it in his vision, Kim Yul sent a message.

– Kj: Hyung, check in with me today too.

– Yokai: Yeah, you know you owe me another one tomorrow, right?

– Kj: Of course!

Codename Yokai, real name An Kijun.

From what Kim Yul had seen, he wasn’t someone who’d hit someone on the back unprovoked.

However, he also isn’t foolish enough to unconditionally help others without a reason.

Hence, potions were dangled as a sweetener.

By sending a message that ‘the player in-game is still alive’ to the phone number K gave, he’s promised a potion every two days.

This was a deal only shared between Kim Yul and An Kijun, unbeknownst to even Yang Hyewon.

‘Although I haven’t mentioned to An Kijun that the phone number is related to K-hyung.’

As K had requested this message since the day he began the level 3 mission, An Kijun may have already caught on.

‘I should at least warn K-hyung later.’

After completing the task he had been doing for the past nine days, he reviewed the mission completion list.

Since he had the mission window open, he intended to check the activity of other parties as well.

“Oh…?”

However, as soon as the latest list filled his eyes, he let out a silly sound.

「04-1848 – Closed Contributor: K and 6 others (Unregistered Users)」

Did he see it wrong? Kim Yul rubbed his eyes deliberately and checked the list again.

Of course, the numbers remained untouched.

Just in case, he verified the active mission list again.

Yet, the level 3 mission was still highlighted.

“What…”

With a dumbfounded heart, a murmur escaped Kim Yul unconsciously.

Remaining blank momentarily, he hurriedly opened the chat window.

* * *

「Corrupted Mana is Absorbed. Absorption Efficiency Decreases due to Absence of Direct Causal Process.」

「Corrupted Mana is Absorbed. Absorption Efficiency Decreases due to Absence of Direct Causal Process.」

「04-1848 Connection (3) is Destroyed.」

「MISSION – All Connections of 04-1848 have been Destroyed. Holes are Sealed.」

Three days since meeting Rashar’s group.

I held my lips below with force, holding back the corners threatening to ascend upwards.

– Kj: What happened?! Hyung, level 4 clearance just popped up!

Simultaneously, I glanced through the chat message from Kim Yul, calming my breath.

‘What happened, he asks?’

Would he understand if I said I hopped on a bus?

Not just any bus but one that speeds at unbelievably tremendous velocity.

‘All that hard work paid off.’

Savoring a shiver of excitement, I pondered over the numerous days gone by, all built towards today.