Surviving on the Northern Front with Gukbap

Chapter 58 : An Unusual Minor Demon Realm (2)

An Unusual Minor Demon Realm (2)

I took a big bite.

Taste? What's there to even say.

'Tastes like crap.'

I barely held back my urge to vomit.

But I had to force it down.

I needed to boost my bonus ability even just a little.

Swallowed, then another big bite, and another.

Chewing, chewing. Gulp.

It was only after I barely managed to finish it off that I heard the system message.

〈 Strength increases by a small amount. 〉

First, I received the rice's buff,

Then came the bonus for a completed Korean meal.

〈 Consumed completed Korean dish 'Failed Meat Rice Ball (lowest-grade ingredient: Imp's Wing)'...

It's the first time I've seen 'Failed' for a dish grade.

... Thus, no bonus effect is granted. 〉

Do you know what happens when a person becomes so dumbfounded?

They become a petrified statue, unable to move, like now.

'... What did the system window just say?'

If I'd heard correctly, the system said, 'There's no bonus effect.'

Of course, it wasn't hard to guess the reason for this.

'So, if it's a failed grade, there's just no bonus effect at all?'

I was screwed.

I lost count of how many times I thought I'd screwed up today,

But this time, I'd really done it.

If I'd just eaten the rice ball as-is, I would have gotten a strength buff for 30 minutes,

but thanks to my so-called clever move, it only lasted a few minutes.

And I wasted a perfectly good imp's wing as a bonus.

But that didn't mean I could just sit still.

I had to fight as much as I could while I had the strength buff.

As I steeled my mind and was about to move,

【 You have consumed 】

【 monster meat. 】

The system voice I'd heard when I first entered the minor Demon Realm rang out.

Listening to it right after my usual system voice, the sense of alienness became even more pronounced.

【 [Chaos Awakening] 】

【 is unlocked. 】

Chaos Awakening?

That was a different name than anything that had been unlocked before.

Up until now, it had been things like [shop window] or [quest].

【 Stage 1 'Shackle of Mutation' will activate for 10 minutes. 】

It seemed [Chaos Awakening] was closer to a skill than a system feature.

【 One random primary stat will greatly increase. 】

My skin crawled as soon as I heard it.

The primary stats in Belkhazium were the most important,

and to have one 'greatly' increased, to boot.

It was also the first time I'd seen the term 'greatly.'

【 In disorder, chaos flows 】

【 and new possibilities arise. 】

There are only four primary stats in Belkhazium.

Strength, mystical power, vitality, and agility.

Of these, strength is the best, but vitality and agility are also good.

As long as it wasn't mystical power, the mage's stat!

【 Mystical power greatly increases. 】

I unconsciously squeezed my eyes shut.

How could I be so unlucky!

But the unpleasantness wasn't over yet.

【 One random secondary stat will super-massively decrease. 】

A new unit had appeared again.

Not just 'greatly,' but 'super-massively'.

Only now, it came with 'decrease' attached.

【 Stamina regeneration super-massively decreases. 】

【 One random special stat will super-massively decrease. 】

【 Hearing super-massively decreases. 】

In the end, I gained a great amount of mystical power,

and lost stamina regeneration and hearing super-massively.

I couldn't hear sounds around me, but the system voice still came through fine.

【 The being of chaos is watching you. 】

Yeah, I get it, so would you shut up already.

"......."

It became quiet.

"Haa."

I let out a sigh, but even that sound didn't reach me.

No earplug in the world could block sound as completely as this.

With this awkward sense, I looked at Gardoc, Plerine, and Legion.

I could still see them just fine.

Fire burst out, walls shattered, and six-section staffs sliced through the air.

'I can't hear a thing.'

So maybe that was why.

Only after losing my hearing and having my mystical power stat increased,

I could finally see just how complex the mana flow was in Plerine's silent casting magic.

'Ah. So that's what it was.'

A thin, transparent thread was connected to Plerine's fingers.

A certain energy flowed along the thread, triggering an explosion in the distance.

The key was the flow.

'The flow of mana.'

Little by little, bit by bit,

I felt like I was starting to understand what I hadn't grasped about Sword Energy.

2nd-rank to 3rd-rank.

The possibilities and images connecting those two hovered before me.

It felt like now or never.

Before I knew it, I sat cross-legged and closed my eyes.

Deciding to meditate according to Ralph's advice.

'Unlike simply strengthening the body in 1st and 2nd-rank, 3rd-rank requires creating Sword Energy outside the body. That's how I'd always thought about it.'

That's why I'd always tried to draw out my internal mana and wrap it around my sword.

But that didn't seem to be it.

'Mana isn't something you just bring out to use, it's a flow.'

In other words, I had to let the flow of mana move naturally without resisting it.

I had to accept the sword not as a mere sword, but as an extension of my body,

become completely one with the sword,

and allow the flow inside me to extend through the blade.

The moment I reached this conclusion,

"!!"

I felt something connecting somewhere.

A sensation like my soul being pulled out through the crown of my head.

'Is this enlightenment?! Finally, 3rd-rank?'

Along with a dizzying, refreshing feeling,

something spoke to me, even though I had lost my hearing.

"We finally meet."

* * *

Squad leader Big-jaw.

Or,

Old man practice junkie.

Or,

'Ralph of Fruition.'

Those were all nicknames for Ralph, the security squad leader of Granfen.

And he was currently regretting his decision to follow Ian's orders.

That's how tough the path to the statue at the entrance of the minor Demon Realm was.

No, it was considered on the difficult side.

"Damn it."

Ralph grasped his sword hilt with trembling hands.

Chak. Tadatadachak.

The monsters, skels, which he and Ian had hunted so many of, had discovered Ralph.

'I should've checked my surroundings properly from the start.'

He hadn't noticed while heading for the Ruler's Domain, following the mage woman,

but the route through the minor Demon Realm was a maze.

Even for Ralph, who was a 3rd-rank, finding the right way in one go wasn't easy.

But the fact Skels were in front of him now meant he'd taken the wrong path.

If he'd been here before, there shouldn't be any Skels.

'Better hurry.'

Ralph summoned up the last of his strength and started running.

His body was in no shape to push through by fighting,

and for now, following Ian's advice was his top priority.

'If I break it and nothing happens, Ian, I'll really kill you.'

Having these thoughts as he turned the corner,

A bony spear suddenly shot out and lunged at Ralph's face.

Chaaak!

*

"We finally meet."

I slowly opened my eyes.

Even though I'd been sitting cross-legged, I now found myself standing.

'Where is this?'

It was a boundless space filled with light.

But it didn't feel blinding.

I was drawn instead to the silhouette before me.

"Who... are you?"

I asked the mysterious figure, as if their whole body had been pixelated.

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

The speech was graceful and unfamiliar.

But the voice was eerily familiar.

It overlapped with the system voice I heard countless times a day, and my own.

"My name is Belkhaz."

For a moment, I doubted my ears.

Belkhaz.

Belkhaz meant the Creator of the continent of Belkhazium.

In other words, a god.

'Why is a god standing before me?'

Could it be that if you ascend, you get to meet a god like this?

No, that can't be.

If it were, Ralph would have said you meet a god instead of saying 'voice of enlightenment.'

What I was experiencing was different.

'Maybe only outsiders who ascend get to meet a god.'

Or maybe one loses all memory of meeting the god, and only remembers the voice.

But, well, that's all beside the point.

What matters is that there's a god standing in front of me, right now.

'I have to ask now.'

There's something I'd wondered about ever since I landed in this world.

Who, why, and for what purpose brought me—and humans from Earth—into this world as outsiders?

I clenched my fist and opened my mouth.

"Is it you? Are you the one who summoned Earthlings to this world?"

I considered the most likely being behind the summoning of Earthlings to be a god.

No matter how much Belkhazium was a game, there were rules,

and power that transcended those rules was a god's privilege.

If it wasn't a god, I couldn't think of anyone else who could have done this.

"......."

But Belkhaz didn't answer my question.

After a long silence, the voice finally spoke. Or rather, it came to me.

"Ian, are you currently in the Demon Realm?"

"Yes, I'm in the minor Demon Realm. Why do you ask?"

"Of all places... That's unfortunate. Interference is occur■■g. Someo■■■."

Static interfered with the god's voice,

and the light of the space began to fade little by little.

Seeing the encounter with the god ending like this,

the next thing I knew, I was back in the boss chamber.

'Almost no time has passed.'

I saw the two women still fighting Gardoc.

I still couldn't hear a thing.

I was starting to confuse what was real, what was false, what was genuine.

'For now, the memory of meeting the god hasn't vanished, and I'm back to normal. I need to focus on that.'

Just as I made an effort to regain composure, the system voice chimed in.

〈 Quest [3] Survive (Stage 1) target achieved. 〉

〈 Congratulations. Your reward is being paid out. 〉

〈 A new quest has been added. 〉

Hearing it again, I was convinced.

The system voice was identical to the god's voice.

'Just what's going on here?'

I felt like my head would explode.

But there was no way to confirm things right now,

and for now, the priority was to fight.

I had to make it out alive here first so I could ponder it later.

I grasped a kitchen knife in each hand.

I regarded the knives as an extension of my body, and focused on the flow of mana.

There. It was full Sword Energy.

A colorless, opaque energy wrapped the entire blade.

Not the half-baked Sword Energy I'd gained from the strength buff in 2nd-rank,

but the real 3rd-rank Sword Energy.

But that wasn't the end of my 3rd-rank.

Ever since 2nd-rank, I'd been imitating 3rd-rank Sword Energy whenever I got a strength buff, right?

Then it was time to see what would happen in 3rd-rank with a strength buff.

I would test it in real combat.

'The rice buff doesn't prolong the buff, so it'll be extremely short-lived!'

I dashed out.

Tatadat!

Of course, that sound was just my imagination.

I couldn't actually hear it.

Still, even with my imperfect body, my speed increased further.

I could feel I'd grown a stage stronger.

Plerine's lips moved when she saw me.

Obviously, I had no idea what she was saying.

She looked rather shocked, so I'd have to ask her what it was if I survived this.

I dodged Gardoc's oncoming punch.

The wind pressure shook my body, but I withstood it and fixed my stance.

I had to test with the technique I was most confident in.

The quick sword, of course.

'Think of it as firing, and swing!'

If the 3rd-rank used Sword Energy,

the 4th-rank could release Sword Energy.

I pushed my crossed arms out with all my might,

maintained the flow of mana, honed it as sharply as possible,

and swung with the intention of drawing out the blade as far as possible.

"......."

Still, I couldn't hear a thing,

but Gardoc smiled when he saw my slash.

Legion, on the other hand, stared at me wide-eyed.

She looked rather surprised.

That's right.

I had managed to pull off, albeit awkwardly, the Sword Energy release unique to the 4th-rank.

'They're really reacting just because I let off a bit of Sword Energy.'

Well, after all, 4th-rank means company commander level, the same as Legion.

But there was no time, nor room, to get cocky.

Gardoc started rampaging again.

Fwooom!! Fwoom! Kwaaang!

Again, blows so heavy I could almost hear them in my mind struck at me in rapid succession.

But, with my upgraded self, I dodged, somehow.

'The raised mystical power stat is part of it too.'

It was a different perspective than just boosting one's vision with mana.

Just as I'd seen Plerine's mana flow earlier,

I could now track Gardoc's attacks much better.

And this improved vision meant more attack routes were open to me.

'A great match with Hunting Time.'

Moreover, as I was now able to release Sword Energy,

it meant I could throw a utility knife imbued with Sword Energy.

'So I need to do it before the strength buff runs out.'

I quickly calculated a target, hoping Gardoc's aggro would shift from me to Plerine or Legion as soon as possible.

With the greatly boosted mystical power, I felt I could aim for places other than his wide thighs.

For instance,

'The head.'

After all, the brain would be the most effective against an opponent with such fast regeneration.

If I could manage this,

even if Ralph didn't destroy the medium, I could subdue him.

'And get even sweeter rewards!'

So, please, keep your guard down till the end, you barbarian.

As I desperately wished this,

Tick-tock.

Gardoc's aggro was being drawn toward Plerine and Legion's joint offensive.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock!

Hooked, captured — now!

Without hesitation, I threw my last utility knife.

Shwik!!

The target: his eye and brain.