novelraw Chapter 106 : Chapter 106
Chapter 106 : Chapter 106
Chapter 106: Digestion
The next day, I opened my eyes in a hospital bed.
It is familiar now.
The problem was that it was too familiar.
‘Still, this is the best one so far.’
I had even gained the composure to inspect the facilities.
Single room availability, bed size and quality, room temperature and various equipment.
At this rate, I might change jobs to a hospital interior specialist.
The place I was hospitalized this time was none other than a hero-exclusive hospital.
Everyone hospitalized was either a hero or someone equivalent.
The Zero cadets who were injured were also able to be hospitalized here thanks to the Academy's support.
‘Everyone hospitalized is a hero……. If an accident happens here, would it be a jackpot?’
I had that thought for a moment.
The image of the Tactical Manual skill window's shopping cart filling up came to mind.
A full course meal where I could learn all techniques if I just gathered SP.
Of course, a delusion is just a delusion.
If a situation came where heroes were pouring out all their techniques, that would already be a disaster.
Like yesterday's terror.
The noise of helicopters and rescue teams could be heard intermittently from outside.
The accident was over, but the aftermath had not completely faded.
Just then, a notification rang from the watch I had taken off and placed on the bedside table.
VZZZT-!
[Please note that the Freshman Midterm Evaluation scheduled for 4.29~5.1 will proceed according to schedule without changes. - Zero Academy Administrative Team]
‘As expected, they are pushing through.’
Zero was that kind of place.
Whether an accident happened, demonic beasts went wild, or villains acted up, we go on as is.
A place where you get stronger as long as you don't die. That was Zero.
It was like that in the original novel, and it is doing the same now that it has become reality.
“……Harsh, so harsh.”
My head shook on its own.
The exam was in 3 days.
They said the training schedule until then would only proceed for cadets without injuries.
For now, I should consider it fortunate that I am exempt from training.
At least I would be able to focus on recovery until the exam.
BEEP-!
Not long after the announcement was delivered, my smartphone notification rang.
[DoDay(Do Haru): Isn't it crazy that they're proceeding as is? After all that chaos yesterday;;]
[Seol Hayun: I heard that before, even if a terror attack occurred during an exam, they proceeded normally. It’s a Zero-like decision.]
[DoDay(Do Haru): They won't wake up until the number of students becomes zero at this rate. Ha; I'm even going to training today. The instructor in charge is apparently Kang Mooseong. Someone beat me up, I want to be hospitalized too ㅠ]
A chuckle escaped me seeing the fox emoticon Do Haru sent.
To have Kang Mooseong's training even after coming all the way to Jeju Island.
I felt glad again that I was hospitalized.
[Ryu Jinwoo: Good luck.]
[DoDay(Do Haru): Are you a robot? Put some emotion into it.]
[Ryu Jinwoo: Good luck ㅠㅠ]
‘Still, it ended well somehow.’
The groundwork with the Milky Way Grass, the Chimera terror, the overall structure was identical to the original.
So I could prepare in advance.
However, Gonta targeting me. That leading to a berserk state.
And even the Chief's appearance were completely unexpected.
Since I, an impurity that didn't exist in the original, had intruded, I could accept that unexpected things happen.
The problem is that the scale is too large.
Looking back now, it went by so frantically that I wonder how I overcame it.
‘Setting aside other things, regarding the Chief, it was fortunate that Mimicry triggered.’
The moment the Chief tried to kidnap me, the Mimic sensed the crisis and activated ‘Mimicry Instinct’, and thanks to that, I could become Balzac for a moment.
Convincingly enough that even the Chief was fooled without any suspicion.
Thanks to that, I added one villain connection.
To increase villain connections while attending a Hero Academy, does this make sense?
‘It won't reach a point where all the villains start talking to me, right…….’
Seeing that the Chief didn't know I was Balzac at first, it was clear that Edward's side was hiding the fact that I was Balzac well.
But now the Chief knew too.
‘Will it become known to the Alliance side? I don't know yet.’
The Chief is someone who constantly interacts with Edward.
From their perspective, I would be perceived as a quite ‘useful card’.
As such, they wouldn't go around exposing my identity everywhere.
Both were characters who were cautious and had their own plans.
The problem is ‘how’ they intend to use me.
‘To not be swayed, I need to become that much stronger. First Edward, and now the Chief.’
Mountains beyond mountains.
No, it is practically like two huge mountains are blocking me at the same time.
Even if there are no immediate problems, it can be said to be a completely F-ed up situation in the long run.
Moreover, if Kang Mooseong or the Academy side finds out that I'm involved with those monsters, it's over.
Black and white, the grey zone in between.
I was standing on it.
Holding on barely.
[Kkihee! I'm full! Stuffed! Stuuuuffed!]
And the guy who interrupts whenever I try to take time to think, interrupted without fail this time as well.
“……Be quiet for a bit.”
[Kkiheeheehee! Good! Goooood!]
This bastard, what kind of eccentric behavior is he trying to pull this time to start acting up again.
Just as I felt anxious for no reason and my lips were drying up.
DING-!
[Tactical Manual]
[Digestion is complete.]
A message floated up.
‘Digestion?’
What is it digesting? The question passed briefly.
Suddenly, I remembered.
Gonta, who survived even after being crushed by the giant Viking.
The memory of when I poured out all my power to cut him down so he wouldn't regenerate and rampage again.
‘The Mimic was chewing on empty air.’
And the message [……Digesting……] that appeared at the same time.
Then, does that mean it has now digested what it ate back then?
The moment I looked at the Mimic smiling satisfactorily with its tongue sticking out.
WHOOSH-
My consciousness turned off, like a candle blowing out.
***
The moment I opened my eyes again.
I was standing in that familiar space.
An empty space that was entirely black.
DING-!
[Tactical Manual]
[Named Villain ‘Gonta’ digestion complete.]
[You acquire loot.]
‘……It was Gonta after all.’
When I killed Gonta, the Mimic guy started chewing on empty air.
I didn't know ‘ingestion’ was possible in that way too.
I turned my head to look at the Mimic.
The guy was licking the cover satisfactorily with its tongue.
We've lived together for a long time, but it really is an incomprehensible guy.
“So what's the loot?”
Let's set aside the bizarre mechanism for now.
Anyway, if it gives a reward for catching Gonta, I should know what it is.
After waiting for a moment after asking, I soon saw a faint cluster of light in front of my eyes.
A palm-sized dot spread on the floor and soon took a certain form.
‘……A chest?’
It was the kind of chest that would be placed in the final room when you defeat a boss monster in a game.
A somewhat familiar design.
Did it implement the act of defeating Gonta in this way?
I glanced at the Mimic floating next to me.
The guy was staring blankly into empty air with its tongue sticking out.
‘What is it thinking?’
I shook my head, sighed, and approached the chest.
When I placed my hand on it, the lid opened quietly.
Items were placed inside.
One green sphere.
And one wide, flat object.
I picked up the green sphere first.
Because I could recognize what this was immediately.
‘Essence.’
Simply put, a sphere that gives ‘SP’.
It was an item basically obtained when catching a boss.
The so-called ‘Named Villains’ were each semi-boss class.
Beings that gave hefty rewards when defeated like bosses of Gates or Dungeons.
Just as Balzac gave the artifact ‘Eye of Deception’.
[You have obtained Gonta's Essence (Hatred).]
While I was fumbling with it wondering how to use it, the sphere quietly melted on my palm.
[Absorbing Essence.]
The sensation of a transparent liquid seeping under the skin.
Then, something heated up rapidly from deep within the body.
My heart thumped loudly once.
My blood swirled hotly.
The energy circulating through my whole body did not fade for a while.
DING-!
[You have obtained 150,000 SP by absorbing the Essence.]
[Possessed SP: 204,800]
A short yet powerful message.
It didn't stop there.
DING-!
[Strength +1]
[Stamina +1]
[Recovery slightly increased. The efficiency of recovery-related skills and items increases.]
Yes, this is it.
I closed my eyes and inhaled.
My heart beat softly, my muscles became firmer, and reacted more lightly than before.
‘Mm, this is why people do boss raids.’
[Possessed SP: 204,800]
Moreover, I came to possess abundant SP for the first time in a while.
In the meantime, I couldn't save SP at all because I was learning rehabilitation arts, fatigue recovery potions, other passives, and basically necessary skills.
With this amount, quite meaningful options arise.
I could learn high-level techniques, or consider purchasing items from the Tactical Manual Store that were pushed to the back of the purchase list because they were too expensive.
‘Come to think of it, Instructor Kang Mooseong's technique must have been added to the cart too.’
I rummaged through the skill window immediately.
[Tactical Manual]
[Nullification Zone]
- Will you learn this skill? (Y / N)
[Required SP : 250,000 SP]
[Possessed SP: 204,800 SP]
Unfortunately, I couldn't learn it right away.
Still, it was true that I had approached the required SP in an instant.
‘For now, if nothing special comes up, should I make this my goal?’
Before me, who was vaguely making plans like that, the chest flashed with light once again.
One more reward remained inside the chest.
I carefully took it out.
The texture touching my fingertips was sticky.
A smooth yet strangely slimy surface.
‘Skin?’
Looking closely, the eye and mouth parts were gaping open.
The shape was so familiar that I was speechless for a moment.
‘This, don't tell me.’
Something white squirmed in the crevices of the green skin.
Looking closer, they were maggots.
“……F*ck.”
A curse came out sincerely.
Troll's face skin.
It was identical to the skin revealed after Gonta's mask was cut.
DING-!
[Will you bind the artifact ‘Gonta's Face Skin’?]
[Gonta's Face Skin: Grants abilities specialized in disguise and camouflage. The body is replaced by the corresponding artifact.]
Looking only at the abilities, camouflage and disguise, it wasn't bad.
There would be differences depending on the degree, but the keyword ‘camouflage’ itself was important.
Disguise meant changing the outer appearance, and camouflage meant changing the ‘traits’.
For example, if one disguises as A, they copy A's outer appearance.
Going further, if one camouflages as A, they can even copy some of A's traits. Like even the aura becoming A's aura.
However, there were two major problems.
First, I already have the passive called ‘Mimicry Instinct’.
I would have to use it to know how excellent Gonta's Face Skin's performance is, but anyway, it was an ability of a lineage that already existed within me.
‘Of course, Mimicry Instinct is still a passive, so I can't control it at will.’
So if the second problem didn't exist, I would have boldly bound this artifact.
The second problem was written explicitly.
‘The body is replaced by the corresponding artifact.’
A ridiculous toxic clause was mixed into the item itself.
I recalled when I bound the ‘Eye of Deception’ after catching Balzac.
When I bound the Eye of Deception, an eyeball became embedded in my right hand.
Now, the eye has somehow moved to the Mimic's cover, but for the first week, I had to make every effort to hide the pupil on my right hand.
But my face skin gets replaced by a Troll's?
I imagined my face skin turning green and maggots swarming.
‘It doesn't make sense in the first place.’
Beyond simply being bizarre, if that happens, even Academy life becomes impossible.
No matter how overpowered the ability is, it's a demerit I can't handle.
Furthermore, I'm in a position where I can't currently know how good of an ability this ‘Face Skin’ is.
I deliberated for a long time with my eyes closed.
At that moment when my worry continued endlessly.
[CRUNCH CRUNCH! It’s savooory!]
The Mimic's pleasant voice was heard.
“Be quiet. I'm thinking.”
Disturbed from my thoughts, I opened my mouth.
Suddenly I realized. That my hand had become lighter.
“Huh?”
It was definitely in my hand just a moment ago.
The sticky and slimy green face skin.
But it had vanished without a trace.
“Where did it go?”
I turned my head.
The Mimic was floating in the air.
But the guy's mouth was diligently performing chewing motions.
The sound of chewing gum, squish squish, could be heard.
“Wait, are you.”
The thought ‘don't tell me’ soon turned into certainty.
The guy was chewing the face skin like gum.
“You, what are you doing right now…….”
I reached out urgently.
But the Mimic kept chewing.
Squishy sounds rang out in succession.
[Mmm! It’s nuuuttty!]
“Are you eating pig skin or something? Nutty my ass! You bastard, why are you eating someone else's stuff! I was in the middle of deciding!”
I almost screamed as I grabbed the book.
I struggled to open its cover, but it didn't budge.
Just like that, GULP.
A dull sound rang out.
Silence followed.
I thought.
It finally caused trouble again.