novelraw Chapter 124
Chapter 124
Chapter 124
Silver shadows moved incessantly, swirling like a tornado to surround the Finger Man.
The Finger Man didn't move an inch—he simply raised his arm lightly and snapped his fingers.
A massive explosion erupted.
Silver wreckage scattered in all directions.
One of the machine soldiers burst out from the encirclement and brought down a massive axe.
The axe came within a few centimeters.
Without turning around, the Finger Man brought his hand up beside his face.
He blasted his own rear with an explosion.
The movement of lifting his arm and snapping his fingers was unnaturally fast.
In terms of pure speed, the Finger Man vastly outpaced the silver apostles.
That was precisely why he could provoke an enemy into attacking, then follow up with a perfectly timed counter.
No matter how close the explosion was, the Finger Man never caught fire.
As if there were an invisible, absolute wall between him and the explosion.
This was skill control—something only those who had mastered a single skill through relentless use could attain.
Some time later—
The Finger Man had created a mountain of charred remains.
"Gii-san, collection please."
"Gii!"
With a single cry from the Calamity Mollusk, the ground at its feet bubbled black, and a horde of Black Swamp monsters appeared.
They were in charge of gathering Thousand-Style Metal Kits from Metal's machine soldiers.
After storing enough particles of light—an enormous amount of experience points—to form a galaxy inside the lighter, the Finger Man lit it with the excuse, "We'll need light." He kept sniffing it and twitching. Feel even a little guilty, won't you?
The Finger Man nearly ascended to heaven from the sound of leveling up ringing in his head.
"Gii (Translation: That's embezzlement.)"
"Ah, Gii-san did it on his own..."
The Calamity Mollusk took the lighter.
Then it began absorbing the experience points itself.
Its smooth slug body grew larger and larger by the second.
A sense of guilt stirred within the Finger Man—"W-Well, I embezzled too..."—and he allowed the blatant embezzlement to continue. Thus began the corruption.
Five minutes later—
"W-Wait, Gii-san! You've gotten way too big, haven't you!?"
"Gii (Translation: I can't close the lighter properly. I'm a slug. So it can't be helped.)"
"Gii-san's turned to the dark side!?"
By the time he finally managed to wrest the lighter back from the Calamity Mollusk, who kept making excuses and growing larger, a giant slug rivaling an orca in silhouette had been born.
The Calamity Mollusk had been using repeated embezzlement as a shield, lying in wait for the perfect moment to steal all the experience points.
"G-Gii-san... That's awful, this isn't what we agreed on."
"Gii (Translation: It seems you didn't understand my true nature. But my master, you are just as guilty. Fuh fuh fuh, I can see the guilt festering inside you. You can't blame me, can you?)"
"So cunning... Is this a new kind of experience point crime...?!"
"Gii (Translation: Please don't tell your bird senpai. If she finds out, she'll eat me for sure. She has an overwhelming advantage against bug-types.)"
Experience point junkie, experience point trash—even our only salvation has now become experience point intellectual trash. What future awaits Team Finger Man?
"Well, fine. Gii-san, what happened down here stays between us, okay?"
"Gii (Translation: Of course. This is top secret between me and my master.)"
"By the way, Gii-san, status check."
The Finger Man requested the Calamity Mollusk to reveal its status.
────
──Akagi Hideo
Gii-san's startling true nature has been revealed.
As expected of a Calamity. Everyone has a dark side, and Gii-san was no exception.
Anyway, let's take a quick peek at the status screen.
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Gii-san
Level 80
HP 3,021/254,800
MP 6,012/526,400
Skills
'Call of the Black Swamp Lv3'
'Black Swamp's Tragedy'
'Black Swamp's Armament Lv5'
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Yep, guilty as charged.
Shurado, I'll leave the rest to you.
"Gii-san, you've really done it now."
"G-Gii..."
"No, there's no way you can still pretend to be harmless after this."
Anyway, shall we double-check 'Call of the Black Swamp Lv3' and 'Black Swamp's Armament Lv5'?
Not that it'll change the verdict.
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'Call of the Black Swamp Lv3'
Summons and attacks with a part of the Black Swamp monster.
Can be used once every 2 hours. ATK 1–300,000
Stock 999
Resolve cooldown with 200 MP.
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Oh no, it can now hit for 300,000 ATK.
This is that tentacle you always use, isn't it?
You mean getting gently stroked by that could launch you with 300,000 ATK?
That's basically a bug.
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'Black Swamp's Armament Lv5'
Summons Black Swamp's Armament.
MP 1–100,000
Can be used once every 2 hours.
Stock 999
Resolve cooldown with 200 MP.
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Hoh.
If I recall, 'Black Swamp's Armament' was a skill that summoned weapons using MP.
The previous unranked version summoned a 1,000 MP weapon, like a naginata—didn't really give off a dangerous vibe...
"Now that Gii-san doesn't have enough MP, we don't know what the 100,000 MP weapon will be... Oh well. We'll censor it later."
I've got a bad feeling it's going to be something awful.
"Hm? Oh, the lighter's flame went out."
Maybe it's broken?
────────────────────
'EXP Lighter Lv3'
It's the age of storing experience points.
0/99 trillion 999 billion 999 million 999 thousand 999
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Oh crap!!
My precious, precious EXP savings——!!
"Gii! (Translation: This is bad! There's no way we can hide this from senpai!)"
Even the experience point intellectual trash is panicking now.
So you're that afraid of birds?
"Gii-san, please calm down."
"Gii......?"
"Here's what we'll do."
There was never such a thing as 'EXP Lighter Lv3' to begin with.
I smash the Zippo and toss it away.
"Gi, gii...... (Translation: I can't believe our master came up with such a clever trick......! Looks like he really does have a trait that boosts IQ the moment experience points get involved......)"
"Nice. The lighter broke. So, it can't be helped if the experience leaked out. Right? Right?"
"Gi, gii (Translation: The pressure from Master is......!)"
I'll coordinate the story with Shimaenaga-san.
Yeah. I guess the suspension is lifted too. (The last lingering sense of guilt)
After all, Shimaenaga-san doesn't know we used 50 billion × 100... that's 5 trillion EXP. Yep, yep, it's fine. As long as the truth doesn't come out, it's not a problem.
"Gii (Translation: Team Finger Man is developing a culture of cover-ups.)"
""Huh, what's that? Did you say something, Gii-san?" (Dead serious)"
"Gii......"
By the way, I've leveled up a ton, but I wonder what my level is now.
────────────────────
Akagi Hideo
Level 255
HP 33,155/191,800
MP 17,120/51,400
Skills
'Finger Snap Lv6'
'Phobia Syndrome Lv8'
'Single Strike Lv6'
'Steel Spirit'
'Probability Time: Coin Lv2'
'Super Metal Assault Lv8'
'Blue Pulsation Lv4'
'Black Swamp's Severer'
'Super Catcher Lv4'
'Until the Very End Together'
'Silver Shield'
Equipment
'Blue Blood Lv5' G4
'Proof of the Chosen One Lv4' G4
'Labyrinth Conqueror' G4
'Bloodstained Comrade' G4
'Metal Trap Room Lv3' G4
'Traces of a Dream' G4
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I've really grown.
My HP went over 190,000. Now I can finger snap as much as I want.
"Gii (Translation: The underlings have returned.)"
"Hey, good work, you guys."
And so, I start attaching the 'Thousand-Style Metal Kits' everyone gathered to my arm.
Ah~ yes, this is it~
This feeling of rugged machines stroking my veins. I can't get enough of it.
With this, my defense is practically guaranteed.
"Ugh! M-My heart...!"
Right around the 25th 'Thousand-Style Metal Kit', I was hit with intense nausea and a pain like my heart was being crushed.
"W-Why...? Just why......! I don't understand the reason......!"
"Gii......? (Translation: Isn't the reason obvious......?)"
After flopping around like a fish out of water for a while, the pain and nausea gradually faded.
"Phew. I've calmed down."
"Gii (Translation: My master, you didn't have to use them all......)"
"Okay, I'm fine now. It's an unidentified symptom, but it's probably like a leg cramp or something."
"Gii (Translation: Are you serious right now?)"
After that, I kept using the 'Thousand-Style Metal Kits' to boost my defense.
I got hit by mysterious pains that made me think, "So this is what cardiac arrest feels like," over and over, but I successfully finished equipping all 100 interdimensional devices.
(Skill level has increased.)
(Skill level has increased.)
(Skill level has increased.)
(Skill level has increased.)
(Skill level has increased.)
(Skill level has increased.)
(Skill level has increased.)
(Skill level has increased.)
That's one noisy announcement.
"Display status."
────────────────────
Akagi Hideo
Level 255
HP 33,356/191,800
MP 17,120/51,400
Skills
'Finger Snap Lv6'
'Phobia Syndrome Lv8'
'Single Strike Lv6'
'Steel Spirit'
'Probability Time: Coin Lv2'
'Super Metal Assault Lv8'
'Blue Pulsation Lv4'
'Black Swamp's Severer'
'Super Catcher Lv4'
'Until the Very End Together'
'Silver Shield Lv9'
Equipment
'Blue Blood Lv5' G4
'Proof of the Chosen One Lv4' G4
'Labyrinth Conqueror' G4
'Bloodstained Comrade' G4
'Metal Trap Room Lv3' G4
'Traces of a Dream' G4
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Wait, what changed......? The 'Silver Shield'——!?
───────────────────
'Silver Shield Lv9'
The ultimate characteristic of silver-colored grace
Merges with a person to witness the beginning of it all
The Silver Shield that protects the body from impact.
Conversion rate DEF10,000,000 : HP1
Unlock condition: fusion with silver-colored grace and a cosmic nightmare.
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Whoa~ my entire Thousand-Style Metal Kit just got absorbed~.
But hey, being able to special summon DEF ten million for the cost of 1 HP is totally broken, so it's fine!
Wait, does this mean I won't get hurt anymore......?
Maybe... no, definitely—am I Metal Finger Man now......?