Damned System

Chapter 105. The Tomb Raider (5)

After Yang Taeho joined, I resumed the task of clearing the surface before entering the recommended mission area.

Of course, since I had a companion now, we also exchanged conversations when there was time.

It was necessary to understand his full capabilities to minimize any mishaps during battle.

“Your attribute mana isn’t even a thousand?”

“Oh, yes, yes… You’re sharp, aren’t you?”

“Is there anything else I should know?”

Most of the topics discussed were aimed at adjusting the hunting pace.

However, during the process, I uncovered some surprising information.

“You say your Chaos limit is in the 70s?”

“You seem surprised. It’s the truth, you know. Want to see for yourself?”

Yang Taeho, as if to prove his statement, opened his status window.

The displayed Chaos value was a staggering 51%.

This was a figure I hadn’t seen since the very beginning of the game.

“You’ll start hearing voices when it’s over 70.”

Yang Taeho chuckled awkwardly, a mix of embarrassment and pride in his demeanor.

I couldn’t help but be both amazed and somewhat at a loss.

‘How is he so normal with a Chaos value that high?’

If what he said about his Chaos limit being in the 70s was true, it was astonishing.

‘At that level, shouldn’t he be enlightened like a Buddhist monk?’

The point at which the Chaos value affects a person differed depending on their personality.

People like me, who are impulsive or belligerent, reacted even at low levels.

‘Mine is around 30.’

From there, I start hearing hallucinations and battling violent urges.

If I didn’t purify myself and let it go beyond 50, I would struggle to control myself.

This is why I’m always thankful for having the Purification Trait.

In contrast, Yang Taeho’s Chaos limit isn’t 50 or even 60, but 70.

It was already amazing that he, as a second-generation player, reached 40,000 mana and was equipped with gear.

It seemed the reason lay in his Chaos limit.

Using fewer purification pills than other players allowed for faster growth.

“By the way, isn’t the messeo all cleared out?”

While I marveled at Yang Taeho’s monk-like demeanor.

“Where are we going now? It feels like we’re deep inside… Aren’t we going back?”

Yang Taeho, who had been silently following his role, expressed concern for the first time.

“There are still corrupted areas to clear.”

I replied while checking the map occupying a corner of my vision.

At that, Yang Taeho, anxiously watching me, cautiously spoke up after a moment of hesitation.

“How do you know that? I don’t have a mission prompt? Have you been here before?”

This game doesn’t show you where the corrupted areas to be cleared are.

As you move, you enter corrupted areas, and each time, a mission prompt appears.

Unless you directly travel from Earth to the mission area.

‘Well, I know because I have a map.’

Normally, there was no way to know where the corrupted areas were.

Therefore, it seemed he couldn’t understand why I said there were more missions left.

In response to his mixture of curiosity, doubt, and a hint of anxiety, I smiled and answered.

“I’ve been here before.”

Shortly after, we arrived at the location with the familiar burrow.

To double-check, I clicked the golden star marked on the map, and a small window popped up.

MISSION – Recommendation

「Corrupted Area Purification ★★(04-2776)」

Annihilate all enemies within the specified range and destroy the messeo.

• Messeo (0/6)

「Rewards」

Choose one of the following rewards.

• Mana 80, reputation 4

• Attribute Mana 40, reputation 8

※ Additional reward: spoils equivalent to 2.7 billion won

This was among the recommended missions promised by the Damned System, one with particularly high monetary rewards.

Thanks to Vellego’s vault, I had secured a certain amount of reserves.

‘More can’t hurt, right?’

I closed the mission window and peered into the tunnel.

The burrow, descending on a gentle slope, seemed endless.

‘Messeo underground…’

Messeo referred to a state where a hole had fixed onto an object and materialized.

It meant that a hole must have a fixed object to form Messeo.

‘Well, it’s possible the hole fixed to a rock.’

This was unprecedented, but not impossible.

I decided not to put too much weight on the location of the messeo.

Instead, I thought about the process of getting there.

Once the messeo was formed, monsters were bound to swarm.

A path must have formed during that process, so accessing it shouldn’t be too difficult.

‘If there are any blockages, we can simply come back.’

With Yang Taeho, who had joined us and could command earth attributes, there was no fear of being buried helplessly.

“Let’s go in.”

“We’re going in here?”

I rummaged through my inventory to find some wood I could use as a torch, then pulled out a backpack I always carried.

From there, I took out oil and cloth, made a makeshift torch, and lit it.

Then, without any delay, I squeezed into the burrow.

Yang Taeho hesitated for a moment, but then followed me inside.

“Gosh, this is cramped. Is this really the way?”

“Probably.”

The burrow was too small to even stand upright.

I ended up swapping out my gear from a spear to a dagger.

Holding the makeshift torch in one hand and a dagger in the other, I cautiously moved forward, receiving an unwelcome greeting.

Strange creatures emerged from countless holes in the walls.

Knowing of their approach through the map, I wasted no time stabbing the dagger into them as they crawled out.

“Squish!”

Their mana was only in the late teens.

In terms of combat power, they were among the weakest monsters, out of the hundreds of field mobs, competing with each other for the bottom spot.

‘Even a regular adult could fight them off with a knife.’

I examined the corpse for a while.

The creature, impaled by the dagger, was about 1 meter in size.

It reminded me of a snake with its triangular head, and there were feet protruding beside it, resembling moles.

The most noteworthy feature was the absence of eyes.

Instead, its ears were pointed high on its head. Like a bat.

Though I had never seen such a creature before, its appearance felt oddly familiar.

“This is a Volpo.”

“Volpo? What… do these things have names?”

Most don’t have names.

There’s a bizarre book similar to the bestiary in Bihar, and only the creatures listed in it have definitive names.

If you look at the ratio, creatures with names are 30%, while those without make up 70%.

‘That level is barely unfinished work.’

At first, I couldn’t understand why they left the job half-done, but I understood once I learned the background.

The reason the bestiary wasn’t completed was due to the lack of mages who could specialize in the biological research of creatures.

Nearly half of the mages associated with the magic tower betrayed the Demi-humans about nine years ago.

I heard the damage was substantial.

All of the garrison locations, supply routes, and other classified internal information handled by mages fell into the hands of the enemy’s leaders.

I haven’t yet encountered any high-grade creatures.

‘Generals, marshals, and Commanders.’

These creatures are intelligent enough to negotiate terms during wartime.

Some can even communicate directly with Demi-humans.

Examples include the 9-star, 10-star evolved species that have intelligence similar to humans.

So, it wasn’t a coincidence that they strategically destroyed key military bases of the allied forces.

‘It was around then that they decisively began losing the war.’

Because of the shock at that time, even the mages who didn’t betray them and chose to stay were treated as potential dangers.

That’s why mages like Ahel wear restraints and are strictly monitored.

Due to this background, there hasn’t been any progressed research or additional study on creatures.

As a result, the bestiary hasn’t evolved significantly beyond the 9-year-old version.

I’ve heard that people who have direct combat experiences with these creatures have documented their observations.

But since it’s not systematically validated knowledge, it can’t be widely shared.

Instead, it’s merely used as foundational information for formulating action guidelines in areas where such creatures appear.

Given the situation, calling it a real dictionary feels off.

But it is worth reading once.

You can at least gather basic information about the documented creatures.

I recalled the characteristics of Volpo.

‘They lack vision and have very dull olfaction.’

Instead, their hearing is abnormally developed, it said.

Based on this, the characteristics of the location I was in, and other possible tricks to use.

As I carefully considered each one, a method to swiftly deal with the over 2,000 monsters began to form in my mind.

* * *

Bang bang bang bang!

Every time Yang Taeho slammed his shield, a loud noise echoed.

In the cavern, about 5 to 6 meters wide, the sound reverberated like an echo.

Could there be a more perfect way to attract the hearing-sensitive Volpos?

“What in the world is going on…?”

Yang Taeho seemed so dumbstruck by its effectiveness that he stood there, staring up at the ceiling.

Where he was looking, the Volpos crawled out and descended from above.

But it wasn’t just the ceiling.

They crawled in from the walls of the cave we stood in, and even from the floor.

Volpos crawled out of every hole you could see.

I felt we had hunted about 600 or 700 monsters in the last 20 minutes.

Although the speed wasn’t exceedingly fast, there was no helping it.

Since I had to proceed with hunting using only the wind attribute.

‘Indeed, wind lacks in dealing with large areas.’

Unlike fire, which can cause physical damage merely by materializing through materialization, wind requires a secondary process to sculpt it into a sharp form.

As much as I wanted to conjure up fire-based magic, which is easiest to wield…

‘If I use fire magic here, I’ll get carbon monoxide poisoning.’

Using the water attribute wasn’t feasible either.

Because I couldn’t manipulate the water attribute at my own will.

Though I was able to dissociate the elements, handling them freely like the fire attribute was a different issue.

According to Ahel, it was because my affinity leaned towards fire.

Though both attributes were suitable for me, I felt a closer bond with fire than with water.

To put it simply, even if both colors fit me, I only had one favorite.

‘I did prefer sitting by the campfire over swimming during camping trips as a kid.’

My parents would find it curious since I was quite active, yet rarely went into the water.

Not to the extent that I disliked water, but it’s true my preference leaned toward fire.

Consequently, I ruled out the use of water attribute magic in combat.

Because it’s difficult to respond adequately to dangerous situations that might occur.

‘The earth attribute would mean I have to keep pushing corpses into the ground, making it unsuitable for attacks.’

Eventually, I had to cut the creatures one by one with the wind attribute.

‘Turning them to ashes with fire would be quicker, but there’s no alternative.’

The only choice was to spend more time on it.

I steadily hacked away at the Volpos being drawn to us here.

While I was moving the corpses with Yang Taeho giving a weary nod, he spoke.

“It’s really something else.”

Then he sneakily asked a question.

“It’s the first time I’m seeing a scene that makes me feel so drained. Is this how you usually hunt?”

“Typically, it’s hard to gather them to this extent.”

Running around usually caps at around 200 to 300 at most.

There’s a physical limit since I’m alone.

Even if a larger number were amassed, clearing them at once wasn’t easy.

Right now, thanks to the geographical characteristic of being underground and the attributes of Volpo, we were just able to gather efficiently.

“Gosh, my eyes are rolling back from this, but look at how calmly you’re handling it. Like you’re from another world.”

With various exclamations, Yang Taeho expressed awe at what was for me an everyday sight.

Damned System