novelraw Chapter 38 : Chapter 38
Chapter 38 : Chapter 38
Chapter 38
I, Lee Ju-seong, was on the platform, and August was running from below the platform.
Everyone who knows a thing or two knows that the person in a high place has the advantage when fighting.
“We finally managed to unite the players with the goal of everyone's survival, and yet you're going out of your way to interfere. Aren't you being too mean?”
I moved back behind the throne and threw the needles at August as if scattering them.
The needles spread wide and fell toward August, who remained below the platform.
August, witnessing the needles, twisted the corners of her mouth ever so slightly.
“Needles? It looks like you prepared a sewing kit to sew on a button or something.”
The act of throwing thin needles was itself an extension of humor.
Just as a person lets out a scoff at a trivial action, my behavior appeared like child's play in August's eyes.
Whether it's child's play or not, we'll see.
Ability to turn scrap metal into traps.
The needles were thin and short.
Therefore, the types of traps that could be generated were inevitably limited.
No, was it even a matter of being limited?
It was impossible to create even a single complete trap.
The only thing that could be made was about one wedge to be installed in a spike trap.
However, that ‘shabbiness’ gave birth to infinite versatility.
Each needle turned into a wedge.
30cm in length.
About the thickness of two fingers.
Befitting a component originally used in traps designed to pierce people, the tips of the wedges possessed the specific sharpness of a conical protrusion.
Calling them wedges was just a name; it produced the same effect as throwing multiple short spears.
From my perspective, I had thrown needles, so I spent almost no strength in the throwing process, but from the perspective of August who had to deal with them, she had to parry 3kg wedges each.
In terms of power cost-effectiveness, it was as different as heaven and earth.
August lowered her posture and stretched her arm out horizontally in front of her.
As if covering her face to block a flying insect.
And she spoke as if she were deeply impressed by my way of utilizing the ability.
“Interesting.”
“That's what a date is supposed to be.”
“Not you.”
“How cold. Anyway, how about you dodge soon?”
Faced with five falling wedges, she didn't even attempt to dodge.
If she was unlucky, the wedges would be embedded or cause fractures, or at the very least, bruises.
It was a movement possible because she had something to rely on.
A moment later, the wedges touched August's arm.
Surprisingly, the wedges vanished as soon as they touched August's arm.
At the same time, August's movements became even more agile.
August suddenly jumped without a run-up and landed on the 5-step platform in a single bound.
“Worry about your own body instead of giving advice.”
August threw her body to the right, stepped firmly with her right foot, and sharply changed direction as if drawing a ‘ㅅ’ trajectory using only the strength of her right leg.
I threw a palm-sized iron plate upward and used my ability.
“For someone who declined an after-party, you're approaching quite aggressively.”
The identity of the iron plate was the cover of a toilet paper holder.
It was an item from the hotel, and I had taken it because the inside was rusted.
It was an item exchanged for the bewilderment of a hotel staff member who would be cleaning the room right about now.
The iron plate became a guillotine blade in the air and fell.
Originally, it was a trap component intended to fall on someone passing below and leave them in a miserable state, but in this case, it served as a barricade to block August's advance.
A guillotine blade as large as a person's torso fell between me and August and became embedded in the floor.
Thud!
August didn't care and drove her fist into the guillotine.
Thump!
Along with a heavy impact sound, the middle of the iron plate bulged out toward me.
Part of the protruding section resembled the shape of a fist.
It was a blow strong enough to leave a fist print on an iron plate.
I took advantage of the gap provided by the iron plate acting as a barricade and went down below the platform.
“The wedges used for attack vanished. The guillotine blade used for defense is intact. Is it an ability that only reacts to actions mixed with offensive intent?”
August looked down at me from the platform.
In the gaze staring at me, there was a strong sense of being interested.
I could sense that her interest in me was deepening as time went on.
“Furthermore, your physical abilities increased as soon as you blocked the attack.”
“…….”
“Attack. Ah, to be specific, it would be more fitting to call it damage. An ability to nullify attacks directed at oneself and strengthen physical abilities by the amount of power contained in the attack……”
“…….”
“An ability that gets stronger the more it is attacked. That is your ability.”
The official name is ‘Damage Doping’.
That was the ability August possessed.
She could absorb and nullify attacks directed at herself and strengthen her physical abilities by the amount of damage absorbed.
Of course, it wasn't omnipotent.
The damage she could absorb was limited to the same level as being hit by a rampaging dump truck, and the physical strengthening ratio was a maximum of 5 times.
Clearly, there were limits, but as the limits were quite generous, it was an ability that ranked among the cheat abilities.
August neither affirmed nor denied.
“The important thing is, Lee Ju-seong, whether your guess is right or wrong, the result doesn't change.”
August jumped down from the platform and narrowed the gap between us in a single bound.
Whether she intended to utilize the acceleration from the fall as it was, she took a preparatory stance to strike down with her fist while falling in a parabola.
As I moved back, I scattered about twenty needles toward August.
Ability activation.
The needles turned into wedges and flew toward August.
August ignored them whether the attacks flew in or not.
The wedges vanished as soon as they touched August's body.
“You're a person who doesn't know how to give up.”
Before August's fist could fly in, I moved far out of range.
But August's physical ability, strengthened one level further than before, was marvelous.
As soon as she landed, she kicked off the ground and stuck close to me.
Instead of using my ability, I tilted my head back and loosened both arms to the sides, exposing my neck.
The more competent someone is, the more they choose a certain option.
August did not miss the area where she could definitely suppress me.
Grab!
August grabbed my neck with her hand and pushed me over just like that.
The rough texture of the leather glove tightened around my neck, and I couldn't breathe.
“Gah! Ack! Cough!”
“I won't kill you. What I want is money, not your trivial life.”
She took a cable tie out of her jacket front pocket, then used her brute strength to forcibly press my body down into a prone position and tied my hands behind my back.
In that process, I escaped the pressure strangling my neck and could breathe, but in exchange, I lost the freedom of my hands.
August sat on my back so that her gaze was directed toward my waist.
“Since you're losing billions, consider it a high lesson fee and I'll give you a bit of advice. If you saw through my ability, you should have stopped attacking. You shouldn't have kept strengthening my physical abilities. Your analytical skills are excellent, but your practical experience is still a long way off. Do your best to improve.”
While savoring the feeling of a winner, she manipulated my hand with hers.
The transfer function of the Money Watch could only be used when operated directly by the owner's hand.
Therefore, she was arbitrarily manipulating my hand to operate the Money Watch.
Whether the transfer was finished or not, August, who had been sitting on my back, stood up.
“2.335 billion won. I'll take it well. With this, I can escape this game with a light heart. Let me express my gratitude.”
It was a remark thrown to act like a player until the end and to provoke my temper.
However, her intention did not hold.
Because a smile was widespread on my face that touched the floor.
Everything is as planned.
I used the fact that my face was in August's blind spot to laugh to my heart's content, then changed my expression completely around the time August stood me up.
From a smiling expression to a hollow one.
I played the person who had lost everything and was left as an empty shell.
***
August tapped Lee Ju-seong's cheek with the back of her hand to check his reaction.
When he didn't react at all, she muttered indifferently.
“It's not surprising since he lost 2.3 billion. Indeed, no one would be fine after losing 2.3 billion won.”
There was no one who could maintain their sanity properly after losing a huge amount of money.
If that was possible, they were either an immature person who didn't know the value of money, or a monster who could truly treat money as a mere tool; that was August's thought.
Thus, August started the work to clean up even the aftermath neatly.
‘I was quite bewildered when I heard the order to just take the money without killing him. I thought it would be difficult, but unexpectedly, I solved it easily.’
The cleanup was none other than confining Lee Ju-seong in a place no one knew.
Since he had to remain as a player until the game ended, it was necessary to take measures so that troublesome situations wouldn't occur if possible.
She denied it as best she could in front of Lee Ju-seong, but if Lee Ju-seong was smart, he would have been sure that August was a dealer.
If Lee Ju-seong was left free, it was obvious he would go around shouting that a dealer had intervened in the game.
So, she planned to confine him in a place no one would find and isolate him so he could no longer involve himself in the game.
‘I should take care of the throne separately. If the throne disappears along with Lee Ju-seong, everyone will suspect Lee Ju-seong. And it can be used as insurance for the 2nd and 3rd sets.’
The other players would think Lee Ju-seong betrayed them and broke the existing oath out of greed for money.
Later, even if Lee Ju-seong met other players outside the game site and exposed the dealer's participation, the other players were certain not to believe the words of Lee Ju-seong, who had betrayed them once.
Even if the throne was heavy, it posed no problem for August.
Because her strengthened body was powerful enough to lift even a large man with one hand.
Thus, August held Lee Ju-seong in her right hand and the throne in her left and dragged them up the stairs.
***
Inside a small banquet hall at the end of the 3rd floor.
Befitting a banquet hall, a small stage was equipped.
I was confined in the empty space below the stage while being restrained.
A gag in my mouth, cable ties on both hands and feet.
These were all measures taken by August.
She tore off part of the stage, put me in the empty space below the stage, and reassembled the torn part to confine me perfectly.
Since the stage was strong enough that it couldn't be disassembled without some kind of heavy equipment, in reality, other players except for August had no way to check the empty space below the stage.
It was truly an overwhelmingly superior ability.
I chuckled while biting the gag.
‘In a little while, that ability will become mine.’
There was one fact August didn't know.
It will probably be today.
The day Park So-yul returns to the game.
In the drama, the scene where Park So-yul returns during the 3rd round was aired.
If the calculation is correct, the news will fly in during the 2nd set.
Perhaps that woman Park So-yul isn't any better, because not long after being confined, I was able to encounter the message I had been waiting for so longingly.
[Park So-yul recognizes you as an ally.]
[Copied Park So-yul's ability.]
[Acquired ‘Ability to turn one's own bodily fluids into blades’.]
[This ability can only be used while Park So-yul recognizes you as an ally.]
Currently, August had no doubt that she had completely excluded me.
In other words, I had acquired the right to act in August's blind spot.
From now on, every action I take will become the work of an invisible man.
I'll run wild to my heart's content outside the realm of awareness.