I Became the Final Boss in the Game

Chapter 79 : Chapter 79

Chapter 79. Physiquesio (1)

At that time, at the foot of the mountain.

The shaman was still waiting for Riman at the entrance of the mountain.

She just stood still without even a slight movement.

The villagers watched this from afar with worried eyes, but no one dared to approach.

They each murmured, saying there must be a reason.

While doing so.

Flash.

Her eyes, which had been tightly closed, snapped open.

Did she suddenly feel something?

Coincidentally, that moment was exactly the moment Riman succeeded in exorcising the Mountain God.

The shaman lifted her eyes and looked at the mountain.

"…Right, he's gone."

Her voice was trembling thinly.

"He's been released, right… that is enough."

Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes as she murmured incomprehensible words.

* * *

It was almost just before sunset when Riman came down from the mountain.

Well, since he kept his eyes covered with a blindfold, it didn't really matter whether the sun was up or not.

Riman, who came down to the entrance of the mountain like that, took off the blindfold.

Before his eyes stood the shaman.

The shaman asked.

"Did you get what you wanted?"

Instead of words, Riman held up a small cloth pouch.

What was contained inside was the Fruit of the Eye-opening Flower.

The goal was neatly achieved.

Riman said.

"And the Mountain God……."

"I know. You exorcised it neatly."

Riman turned his head, glanced at the mountain once, and asked.

"…Can you feel it even from this far?"

"There are relationships that cannot be severed by physical distance."

"Hmm."

Ah.

"Come to think of it, this came out."

"Hm?"

Riman handed what he found earlier to the shaman.

A bracelet shaped like round wooden beads attached in succession.

It was an object found at the very spot where he exorcised the Mountain God.

"I scanned it, but no mana was felt. It doesn't have any particular function either."

"……."

"However, even the clothes that formed the Earthbound Spirit all disappeared, but only this remained. So……."

"Shall we walk for a moment?"

The two started walking toward the shaman's house.

Since he had to receive the Heukjaryeong anyway, Riman followed behind without complaint.

How long did they walk like that?

The shaman opened her mouth.

"…I gave this bracelet to my younger sister when I was young."

"Then the Mountain God……."

"Was my sister."

"……."

The conversation stopped for a moment, and the two soon arrived at the shaman's house.

The two sat on the wooden floor and continued the conversation.

"It's a common story. My sister envied me receiving the spiritual descent since childhood. Good grief, as if that's anything good……."

"When young, everyone admires specialness."

"And she envied me so much for frequenting the Eye-opening Flower colony that others couldn't even enter."

"You frequented the colony?!"

"In the past, there were no Demonic Beasts there. I also have detection ability. Plus, the Fruit of the Eye-opening Flower sold expensively at the time. I used to go in and out often as a side job."

The shaman caught her breath for a moment and continued.

"…But one day, she went to that colony alone."

"……!"

"Maybe she thought she could do it like me… well, that's what happened. She died there, and became an Earthbound Spirit there."

A moment of silence hovered.

The shaman went into the room and came out holding a wooden box.

The wooden box containing the Heukjaryeong.

The shaman asked.

"Do you know why I made this?"

"You made it yourself?!"

"It was to exorcise my sister. Because I couldn't deal with my sister with my power alone."

The shaman held out the wooden box containing the Heukjaryeong to Riman.

"But now there's no need to use it. So take it."

Riman opened the lid and checked the Heukjaryeong inside.

And now he felt like he knew why this was found broken in the game.

‘…If I hadn't come, this person would have attempted exorcism with the Heukjaryeong.’

In the game, the shaman probably tried to exorcise the Mountain God directly with the Heukjaryeong.

Of course, she probably succeeded too.

The evidence was that Riman had never seen the Mountain God of this place in the game at all.

But he had never seen this shaman in the game either.

What this means is…….

‘Mutual destruction.’

For the exorcism, the shaman probably wasn't satisfied with just using the Heukjaryeong and self-destructed.

As a result, both the Mountain God and the shaman would have disappeared in the game.

If deduced like this, the circumstances of how the Heukjaryeong came to circulate in the market in a broken state are also understood.

If the shaman defeated the Mountain God through mutual destruction, the used Heukjaryeong would have remained in that spot as is.

Finally, one questionable point was resolved.

Toward Riman who was quietly looking into the Heukjaryeong like that, the shaman said.

"Do you know what the Heukjaryeong is?"

"It's a bell with evil spirits sealed in it, right?"

"You know well. Can you feel it?"

"Well… sort of."

Riman put the Heukjaryeong back into the wooden box and asked.

"By the way, is it okay to just hand over something like this to another person?"

"It doesn't matter. You are stronger than those evil spirits."

"Come to think of it, you said that when I first entered this house too. That I am stronger than the Mountain God."

"I did."

"Can you see it in your eyes? What kind of person am I?"

"Of course."

To say she can see what kind of person I am.

I don't even know who I am.

So Riman asked.

What he was curious about more than anything since falling into this world.

"Who… am I."

"Hoh."

"When you first saw me, what did you see in your eyes?"

"A mountain of corpses. And the blood of the innocent."

"……!"

"Your existence stands upon all those deaths."

Riman was speechless for a moment.

"…You handed over this Heukjaryeong to me even while seeing such things? This dangerous object?"

"It isn't a mountain you climbed because you wanted to climb it, is it?"

"Yes?"

For a moment Riman thought.

Does that person perhaps see it?

The fact that I crossed over from another world?

The shaman said.

"Then this time I will ask. How do you see yourself?"

"…What does that mean?"

"Because depending on what kind of existence you view yourself as, your reason for existence can be established anew."

"……?"

"Do you know the difference between science and magic?"

Again, an unexpected question.

Riman answered.

"I don't know."

"Science strives to see the world as it is. But magic is the opposite. Magic is a study discussing how to view the world."

"How to view……."

"In viewing an object, what perspective to take, how to define the object through that perspective, and how to impose one's own rules on the object from there. Furthermore… how to view oneself and how to define oneself."

"……."

"Ponder and devote yourself to this endlessly. Because that is the only way for you not to lose your way in this world as a Mage."

"…I will keep it in mind."

Come to think of it, he remembered seeing similar words in the game setting book.

That a Mage's magic depends on how he views the world.

‘Thinking about it, the starting point of all magic is image. And image means the form through which the caster views and perceives the world…….’

Riman nodded and got up from his seat.

"…Thank you for your words."

"Go on."

The conversation ended.

Riman got up and walked across the yard.

Then he stopped suddenly and threw a final question.

"By the way, if you are a shaman, can you also see the future?"

"I can see the flow."

"…Does that mean you can see it?"

"Can you predict the currents of the Pacific Ocean by looking only at the flow of the Han River?"

Riman smirked and said.

"I asked a foolish question."

"Go on."

Only then did Riman really go outside.

Then the shaman placed the bracelet on the small dining table placed on one side of the wooden floor.

The bracelet the Mountain God kept until the very end.

The last gift she gave to her younger sister.

The shaman said.

"…Interesting fellow. A fellow worthy enough to become a seed."

However…….

"Whether he will become a giant tree protecting the world from disaster, or a spark burning the world with hellfire……."

The shaman smirked and muttered.

"…Well, that would depend on that guy."

She raised her body from the wooden floor.

And looking at the bracelet placed on the small dining table, she said.

"Let's eat dinner. I'm hungry."

She moved her steps slowly toward the kitchen.

* * *

The next day, Doban Brewery.

Ji Byeong-seo's pharmaceutical research lab.

Ji Byeong-seo's eyes widened upon seeing the items Riman brought.

"Did, did, did you really get these?!"

Placed in front of him were several fruits the size of coins with a dark gray color.

They were exactly the Fruits of the Eye-opening Flower Riman picked.

Ji Byeong-seo asked.

"How did you get these?!"

"Well just… I went into the colony and picked them."

There was something quite severely troublesome in the middle, but well, let's pass on that.

Riman asked.

"Then now you can make , right?"

"Of course! Just in time, the requests that came in earlier were all finished, so I can start working right away!"

Ji Byeong-seo took out his notebook and started flipping through recipes.

"Here it is, Physiquesio."

It was a medicine inducing explosive muscle growth of the body without side effects.

A medicine absolutely necessary for Riman whose physique was at the bottom.

Ji Byeong-seo turned on the power of the equipment.

While preheating was proceeding like that, Ji Byeong-seo said to Riman.

"By the way, you remember the warning I gave previously, right?"

"What warning?"

"If you want to properly see the efficacy of Physiquesio, you must follow my medication guidance. Absolutely."

"That, of course, following the pharmacist's words is……."

"It's not that simple."

Ji Byeong-seo's voice became heavy.

"If you consume this medicine without following my medication guidance, you die."

"Ah."

Right, he did say something like that.

"…Then how should I consume it? Well… like I must eat it within 30 minutes after a meal or something……."

"It doesn't matter when you take the medicine. Whether after a meal or before a meal. The key is, after taking this medicine."

"So I have to do something after taking it."

"Yes. Physiquesio takes effect the moment you eat it. And there is something you must do while that effect lasts."

"What is it?"

"You have to keep moving your body."

"Aha, keep walking around or……."

"You must maintain a heart rate of over 150."

"……?"

Heart rate over 150?

That's not walking but aerobic exercise?

Well good, since it didn't seem like it would be easy.

Riman asked.

"…So I have to keep exercising while the drug takes effect."

"Yes. Running is best. Since it uses almost all muscles of the whole body."

"Running while the drug takes effect… by the way, how long is the duration of the drug effect?"

"About 3 days."

"Aha, 3 days… what did you say just now?"

Riman doubted his ears.

Ji Byeong-seo said it again clearly.

"3 days. The efficacy of Physiquesio lasts for 3 days."

"Then you mean for me to run for 3 days?!"

"Yes."

"Without sleeping either?!"

"If you sleep, you die."

"Yes?! No, but wait a minute. Just staying awake for 3 days makes one's mind faint, but how running for 3 days……?!"

"You know what the efficacy of the Fruit of the Eye-opening Flower is, right?"

"Ah……!"

Of course he knew.

Awakening effect powerful enough to be scary.

That was the efficacy of the Fruit of the Eye-opening Flower.

And that was the reason the Eye-opening Flower was called ‘Eye-opening (Gae-an)’.

Such a name was attached because it forcibly makes a person open-eyed.

Ji Byeong-seo explained.

"…The Fruit of the Eye-opening Flower contained in Physiquesio will forcibly keep your mind in an awakened state. So you don't have to worry about sleep."

"…Let's put sleep aside, what about resting in the middle……."

"If you rest even for 1 minute, the muscles of your whole body will harden like stone. And you will die of dyspnea just like that."

"……."

"So I will ask for the last time. Mr. Leman, do you really need this medicine?"