LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 9 - Deleting the Villain.
“What… did you say?”
What is he asking again? Are his ears blocked?
“I asked why you used [Tracking Imprint]. If it weren’t for this, I might not have had to kill you.”
His eyes, looking up at me to their limit, tremble. His open mouth wouldn’t close.
That reaction made me feel even more disgusted. It’s a reaction of someone who never expected to be caught, having been confident they would never be discovered.
[Tracking Imprint] is a technique for tracking the target’s location and recovering spirit energy when they’re killed.
If I heal him and we travel together, he’d kill me in a moment of crisis. Even if I leave him and go, he’d come to kill me. That’s how he survived in the original work.
“N-no! I don’t know where you heard this, but it’s not true! I can explain!”
I tightly gripped the sharp emerald crystal. If I don’t kill him, I’ll die.
“Yeah, our tribe often gets misunderstood like this. Because we’re a hunter race. But I swear… W-wait a moment!”
Why is he doing this? Although my offer to heal him was a lie, from his perspective, there’s no reason to harm someone who healed him.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! This was, well, like insurance! I did it because I need to pass the trial too!”
Perhaps it’s also a natural strategy since he needs to get the jade bead. But the emotional weight felt different. Especially since I had just offered to save him.
To think he’d immediately backstab someone who offered to save him.
Being so blatantly exposed to murderous intent and malice makes my head a bit fuzzy.
“So this is what being a villain means.”
“It’s true! If our cooperation went well, I had no intention of using it!”
No, maybe I’m the same?
I lied to him and tried to steal his jade bead, so maybe I’m not in a position to criticize.
“Please save me! I have a wife and children back home!”
But one thing is certain, there’s no need for hesitation between us now.
Just as he tried to kill me, I should do the same to him.
No, it’s simpler. I have to kill him. That’s how I survive.
“I’ll just clear the 10th floor and leave right away! I won’t enter the tower again… Ah.”
The guy who was frantically making excuses suddenly stopped.
“Huh….”
And then he lowers his head and sobs.
“Huh, huhuh…. So this is how it feels… Looking up at eyes determined to kill….”
“You must have always felt this way when hunting innocent people.”
“Of all… Of all things… Of all things! To meet someone from our planet! This is unfair! Aaaaargh- Kak-!”
I smashed the emerald down on the back of his head.
“Ak… kak… hak, ak….”
His head, which had hit the floor, gradually rose.
‘[Grasping].’
After firmly grasping his neck, I smashed the emerald down relentlessly.
Thud!
“Ek.”
Thud! Thud!
“E, ek.”
Thud!
“Sa…”
Thwack!
“Sa… ve…”
Crack!
“…”
The sensation in my hand just now was different.
When I lifted the emerald, something transparent, different from blood, stretched out. The guy’s body, which had been convulsing, stopped moving.
Ding!
[You have changed the predetermined flow. The trait ‘Body that Defies Heaven’ grows slightly.]
I irritably dismissed the meaningless system message. My head was too hot to think about such incomprehensible things.
‘Reality is different from novels in many ways.’
Four stories high was much higher than I thought, and the pain of having my thigh pierced was much worse.
Crises came as frequently as meals, and the first murder was much easier than I thought.
It took a while to make the decision, but… there was no guilt about murder.
Seeing the bloody wounds was also much less horrifying than seeing my own thigh’s bones. I’m just relieved that blood isn’t mine.
I didn’t die. That’s enough.
***
I opened my eyes after leaning against the wall for a while.
‘I need to move.’
The trial isn’t over yet.
First, I searched the harpoon man’s corpse.
‘The crossbow…’
A wave of confusion hit me as soon as I picked it up. It was an item modified with various mechanical structures, which was too much of a challenge for me, a mechanical idiot.
‘Is it broken?’
Judging by the lack of response when I pulled the trigger, the explosion seemed to have damaged it.
I threw the crossbow aside and approached the harpoon man.
‘Oh, a dagger.’
It’s better than mine? Sharper and lighter.
I also pocketed the gold beads from his pocket.
Gold is a heavy and precious element. It’s so rare that it can only be created under the pressure of a supernova explosion. That’s why it’s used as currency in all civilizations across the universe.
‘What else is useful….’
While rummaging through his clothes, my gaze fell on the harpoon man’s finger.
It was a ring on the left ring finger.
‘….’
After staring at it momentarily, I took it off his finger.
Ding!
[Ruby of Marriage Commemoration]
A ruby used to bless the eternal love of two lovers. When using the ‘Tears of Gems’ skill, it gives the ‘All Ability Score Increase’ effect for a certain time to the target with whom the caster feels the highest bond within range.
I quickly dismissed the message window.
‘I’ve got everything.’
Because of the explosion, I couldn’t salvage much, but these items will be very helpful to me.
Now, I headed towards the inner part of the cave, following the blue light.
Step, step.
‘This cave is quite long.’
But as it got deeper, the interior actually became brighter. It was because the number of luminous gems was increasing.
I rubbed my arms in the cool and humid air.
How long have I walked? Finally, a large cavern appeared.
“Wow….”
The scenery suddenly brightened.
The number of gems actually decreased sharply. But each one was in the form of a large, gorgeous crystal, like flowers.
And in the middle of the pond were two brightly glowing lotus flowers.
‘Found it.’
The gem lotus. I finally reached the hidden piece of the 1st floor.
***
F-grade skill [Tears of Gems].
This skill’s overpowered nature lies in its versatility and ability to inflate early stats.
In the original work, there was a character who was superior to Seol Ga-ram in terms of magic stats in the early stages.
He was from a noble family and said he absorbed his mother’s entire jewelry box with [Tears of Gems] before entering.
When she fired mana endlessly from the rear, the enemy couldn’t even dare to approach. Thanks to this, she was described as a bomber-like existence in that batch.
‘If that was the case with refined gems, the gem lotus, an elixir, must be on a different level?’
I held up the lotus I had harvested. Inside the layers of clear petals, a light like fireflies can be seen. Light flows between my fingers.
‘Is this light mana?’
The gem lotus was originally treated as a nuisance in the original work.
Although it’s full of spirit energy, it can’t be consumed because it’s a gem and can’t be used as a crafting material. The spirit energy dissipates quickly from the moment it’s harvested.
But with the [Tears of Gems] skill, it transforms into an excellent elixir.
This is the early-game most efficient path that only existed in theory in the setting.
‘How many times did I almost die trying to get this….’
I used the skill.
[Activating skill ‘Tears of Gems.’]
Saaaah-
The lotus glows and oxidizes into powder…
“Huh?”
No, it doesn’t break immediately, but glows brightly. But it’s glowing a bit too much.
‘Uh, why is it doing this?’
The original work did not describe such an effect with [Tears of Gems].
The light source inside swells with a terrifying momentum, filling the surroundings with light.
But when the light enveloped my body, my breath was suddenly cut off.
“Ugh…!”
Even though my lungs expanded, no air came in, my airway was blocked, and my thoughts stopped. I felt a surge of fear that something had gone wrong.
Ding!
[Confirmed a conflict between the traitand the skill .]
[Calculating judgment priority.]
[Discovered causality error in trait…]
Ding!
[Activating trait .]
[Modifying content.]
[Confirmed judgment priority of trait.]
[Judgment correction through skill is taking place.]
The moment I felt something tightly turning inside my body, an unbearable sharp pain hit me.
“Kheok!”
When I coughed dryly, I saw something small burst out of my mouth into the blue light.
Black sparks crackle and burst out. No, black sparks are flowing all over my body.
Even as the blue light covered my entire vision, the sparks were clearly visible as if painted over it.
“Ah, ugh…. What… is this….”
Something fiercely races through my entire body, but I instinctively feel that it is going in the ‘opposite direction.’
Even though my eyeballs felt like they were about to burst, I tried my best to keep them open and check the situation.
That reverse phenomenon forms some kind of power that I still can’t understand, greedily sucking in the light from outside my body.
“Keu, geuuk….”
What the hell is happening?
Without knowing what was going on, I collapsed and lost consciousness due to the terrible pain.
Ding!
[Activating the increase effect through the trait ‘Body that Defies Heaven’!]
[Mana absorption efficiency greatly increases!]
[Ability ‘Magic Power’ has increased by 12.]
An unbelievable increase of 10 units in ability score, which was rare even in the original work and will never happen again in the future.
But having fainted at this time, I would later greatly regret not being able to see this precious message.
***
“No… Please don’t die….”
An Earth girl sobs bitterly in front of a fallen golem.
It was a golem with a body made of gems.
“Don’t cry, Garam. I don’t think this end is bad for me.”
He was strangely calm despite his serious injuries. Instead, he comforted the girl named Garam with a benevolent smile.
“What are you saying… Mister, you’re really going to die at this rate…!”
“Garam. Child with a beautiful heart. Although our relationship was short, in my long life, there was no human with a pure heart like yours. Here, take this.”
When he put his hand on his chest, light flared up.
Garam felt ominous at that sight.
“…What are you doing?”
In the golem’s hand, where the light had disappeared, was a gem. A red gem deeper than a ruby and more radiant than a crystal.
“It’s my heart. Other races call it ‘Tears of Gems.’ If you take this, you can gain a special ability. Please take it.”
“…I can’t do that. If I take this, you’ll die, won’t you?”
He didn’t say so, but she felt it. That this gem contained all of his enormous life force.
The golem smiled happily at her concern.
“That’s just like you, Garam. Truly a child blessed by mana.”
“Put it back. I’ll somehow find a healer for you.”
“Please take it for my sake. Giving my heart to a child who shed tears for my death. This is the most glorious death that our race dreams of. It’s like a fairy tale, isn’t it?”
“But….”
“Hurry. I’ve already returned to nature’s embrace. If you don’t accept it, I won’t be able to close my eyes in regret even after returning to the soil.”
“…”
“If you’re still worried, when you meet a child who has received a heart like you in the future, show them one act of kindness. Embrace that pure child who cried for my kin.”
“…Alright.”
“I hope it helps you in your journey ahead. Thank you, Garam.”
The gem golem closed his eyes.
He had been talking as if nothing was wrong, but with that closing of his eyes, as if turning off a power switch, it was over.
His gaze, until the moment of death, was fixed on the girl who preciously held his heart.
“…”
A watching companion patted her shoulder.
“Let’s go, Garam. The golem would be sad if we stayed here and it became dangerous. We’ve collected all the jade beads, so let’s go up to the 2nd floor right away.”
“Okay….”
The girl wiped her tears. And she stood up bravely despite her age and fragile appearance.
There will be countless tears she’ll shed during the rest of the story. But these tears she shed for the first time after entering the tower will be unforgettable for the rest of her life.