Chapter 69

Chapter 69.

I handed the Vestment of Immortality over to Cheol-su.

[What is this? It looks like something a cult leader would wear. I am not wearing this.]

“…Shut up and put it on.”

After I input the motion to kick him with Nebula a few times, Cheol-su hesitantly put the clothes on.

How should I put it? He looked like a father who was secretly pleased on the inside while acting shy and saying, “You did not have to get me something like this….”

It annoyed me, so I kicked him once.

[Ghk!]

Cheol-su went flying.

It was only a gesture, so there was no major damage.

Probably.

[You bastard… that had some spice to it.]

Cheol-su dusted himself off and got up after changing clothes.

The appearance of the vestment was just… ordinary, unlike a Genesis-grade item.

It was something I planned to give to Cheol-su, so I had no intention of carefully designing its appearance.

I simply brought in one of the vestments worn by the Pope, copied it as it was, and changed only the color pattern to white and gold.

“Well, it looks decent.”

Perhaps because he was tall and had boxed before, it suited him fairly well.

It looked completely different from when an elderly Pope wore it.

Since I had focused the Genesis Trait entirely on immortality, I could not expect an enormous change like the fourth or fifth items.

Still, it was Genesis-grade.

At the very least, it had the basic specs to beat down most Legendary or Unique-grade items.

[…What is this?]

Cheol-su asked again in a serious voice.

It seemed he was shocked after feeling the buff granted by a Genesis-grade item.

BANG!

When he punched the air, it made the sound of the air bursting.

“Oh.”

Cheol-su had been a professional boxer before the Tower appeared.

On top of that, he had been a genius prospect who had been evaluated as someone certain to become a champion. The only question had been when.

His punches had already been decent to begin with, but now that he was strengthened, the difference was clearly noticeable.

After that, Cheol-su twisted his body this way and that, swung his fists around, and felt the performance of the vestment.

Then—

[I offer my deepest respects.]

He bowed to Nebula at a 120-degree angle, folding over completely.

“Good.”

Now then. Since I had confirmed the vestment’s basic specs…

It was time to check its Genesis Trait.

I picked Cheol-su up and crossed through a portal.

The place we arrived at was…

[Blood-Reeking Land]

It was a battlefield where NPCs could legally be killed.

I tossed Cheol-su aside.

“Now, get ready. Kim Cheol-su.”

A battle against Nebula.

Han Seol-ah and Iaun had both gone through it.

If there was one difference…

Unlike the previous two battles, a “flag” would not descend and plant itself with a DUN-DUN! before the fight against Cheol-su.

That was because this was not a spar.

It was actual combat.

In a spar, no matter how much damage one received—even if it amounted to instant death—one would never die.

That was because Lost Honor’s system absolutely protected the participants.

But this field, Blood-Reeking Land, was a place made so NPCs could be killed.

If this had been an ordinary online game, it would have become a “PVP zone.”

If one died here, one truly died.

[Seong-un? What are you doing?]

“If you do not dodge, you will die.”

Click.

The moment I cast one of the Void Knight’s skills…

A handful of void that began at Nebula’s fingertips silently pierced through Cheol-su’s chest.

[Ghk!]

Without even being able to scream, Cheol-su’s pupils lost focus and went slack.

Thud.

Like a puppet whose strings had been cut, his body collapsed to the ground.

“Well, you would not have been able to dodge it anyway.”

Even the great Guardian Han Seol-ah could not react to it.

It was magic that no developer with a normal mind would ever have put into the game.

Because it was an “instant-death skill.”

Since Cheol-su had been hit by this magic, he was definitely dead now.

No, he should have died.

Twitch.

However, due to the Genesis Trait of the Vestment of Immortality—

The effect of “Immortal Sun” meant he did not die.

The first effect of Immortal Sun.

Undying!

[What? Why did I collapse?]

I confirmed that it could even ignore the Void Knight’s “instant-death skill.”

“This makes it certain.”

As long as he wore that vestment…

Cheol-su would never die now.

***

The first reason I had decided to use the Possession Ticket on Cheol-su was to give him the Vestment of Immortality.

With that vestment, one strategy that allowed a “no-death clear” of the 94th floor became possible.

Of course, that was not my only purpose.

There was one thing I absolutely had to find out through this possession.

Cheol-su’s possession was also a major experiment for me.

Cheol-su was a system-certified B-rank Hunter.

If I used Lost Honor’s system, could even a mere B-ranker like Cheol-su be transformed completely?

However, the difficulty was… not low.

“He is stronger than I expected.”

Even his Unique Trait was strange… “The Most Ordinary Existence?”

I truly had not expected him to possess something that suited him so perfectly.

‘How can I make a mere B-ranker grow?’

There were exactly two cases where a Hunter’s grade grew.

First. Their mana capacity increased.

This was impossible in reality.

Mana capacity was something one was born with at the moment of Awakening, and there was no method to increase it afterward.

It was only possible, and only in a limited way, in Lost Honor—when one consumed a high-grade elixir plastered with modifiers.

This was Han Seol-ah’s case.

Second. Their Awakening Ability evolved.

Iaun’s case belonged to this side.

I had forcibly granted her aptitude, then “reawakened” her through Lost Honor’s “class change.”

This was not an ordinary case.

Iaun’s Awakening Ability had been lost due to the external interference of an Outer God.

In other words, Lost Honor judged her to be in a “newbie” state without any ability or class, so a class change had been possible.

Ordinary Hunters all possessed their Awakening Abilities properly.

That meant the method of changing classes like I had with Iaun could only be used in limited cases.

Even excluding those special cases, the growth of an Awakening Ability did occur from time to time.

Originally, rank was fixed at the moment of Awakening, but there were cases where a Hunter evolved after obtaining a special “enlightenment” through bone-shaving effort.

However, since this enlightenment sounded like a vague, cloud-grasping concept, cases of rank promotion through this method were known to be extremely rare.

A representative example was China’s “Martial God.”

He was a legendary figure who began as a B-rank and, like the protagonist of a martial arts novel, reached EX after attaining enlightenment again and again.

‘If this world were a martial arts novel, that man would have been the protagonist.’

So, for now, it was the first method.

“Shall we increase your mana pool?”

The blessing that could only be experienced in Lost Honor.

I would let him first taste “increased mana capacity.”

“Scatter, Elixir.”

[What is this? It is damn delicious!]

Cheol-su’s palate had already been similar to a mutt’s to begin with.

Once he tasted the heavenly flavor known as Elixir, his eyes flashed and he began drinking it.

Gulp, gulp.

“?”

The moment the elixir passed down his throat, a dazzling flash announcing that absorption was complete should have burst out.

“What is this?”

The elixir’s spiritual pressure… vanished?

There was no effect at all.

[Mmm~ Gulp, gulp, gulp!]

Even though he was chugging it like that.

“It seems mana and divine power are judged differently.”

Despite his ridiculous appearance, Cheol-su was a cleric who used divine power.

Just as mana and divine power were judged differently in Lost Honor, it seemed the same was true for real-life clerics as well.

“Confiscated.”

I stored all the Elixirs into my inventory.

[Ah, what are you doing?]

Even a dog got angry if it was bothered while eating.

Cheol-su sprang up in irritation, but…

“Split in half and die.”

He collapsed from one of Nebula’s instant-death skills.

Because of the undying judgment, he did not die.

A moment later, Cheol-su sprang back up and shouted angrily.

[Hey! Stop doing that!]

It seemed that even if he did not die, the unpleasant sensation of being hit by an instant-death skill remained.

The way he flicked his tongue over his lips showed he was furious.

‘I heard that when Kim Cheol-su starts licking his lips, he is truly angry.’

“Understood.”

I was not bullying Cheol-su right now.

How could I afford to spend time on my hobbies when every second was urgent?

All of this was an experiment on immortality, as well as training to make Cheol-su easily accept being undying.

That was why I had been using the most efficient and painless instant-death skill on him.

And yet he insisted on choosing hell.

***

After tasting the “Spoon Killer” meta, where he was killed only by normal attacks, several times, Cheol-su became thoroughly enraged.

I had thought he would eventually demand that we “go back to instant-death skills,” but whether his stubbornness had flared up or not, he kept trying to fistfight Nebula until the very end.

“Your guts are still the same.”

His nickname had been “Zombie” because he charged in without fearing being hit.

However, there was no chance Cheol-su could defeat Nebula.

I put Nebula on automatic counterattack mode.

[Die, you bastard!]

Even though his mind must have been worn down by repeatedly dying and coming back to life, he kept throwing punches until the very end without giving up.

Since Nebula would automatically counterattack with normal attacks, it would make for a good fight.

Meanwhile, I searched through the warehouse.

‘There are no elixirs that can increase the total amount of divine power.’

Mana belonged to the individual.

It was stored in the body.

That was why it could be increased by consuming elixirs.

Divine power was borrowed power.

Since its source existed elsewhere, unlike mana, it could not be increased with elixirs.

In the end, the limit of the power permitted by the “divinity” lending strength to Cheol-su was “Recovery B-rank.”

In other words, to raise his divine power, I had to make the divinity that was its source grant Cheol-su more power.

“What a stingy bastard.”

If it was going to give divine power anyway, how convenient and nice would it be if it handed out plenty?

“Whitey, are there any cases where a healer’s Hunter grade increased?”

[There are a small number of promotion cases.]

Whitey displayed the contents.

First was a Vatican case.

An A-rank priest performed fasting prayers for over a hundred days and, at the threshold of death, was promoted to S-rank.

“…Rejected.”

There was not enough time.

Fasting was obviously impossible too…

And Cheol-su was an atheist, so he had practically no faith.

‘A priest being an atheist, honestly.’

The next case.

After over a hundred days of asceticism through whipping and fasting, at the threshold of death…

“Rejected.”

‘Why are all the cases this extreme?’

I reached the conclusion that, in order to raise divine power by one level, one had no choice but to have one’s value acknowledged by a “divinity.”

Whether by proving faith.

Or by proving achievement.

Either way, neither method could be applied to Cheol-su right now.

“Kim Cheol-su. You have no answer.”

Plan A was blocked.

And naturally…

I had prepared Plan B as well.

This world was overflowing with divinities that handed out power if one paid only a very “minor” price.

Morality, goodness, justice, light—things like that.

If one only went through the simple trouble of throwing away these small and trivial things and shouting, “The light has betrayed me,” there were suckers everywhere who would be so moved that they would hand over even their liver and gallbladder.

“So let us fall!”

Fallen gods.

…In other words, “evil gods.”

He should not have been able to hear me.

But perhaps Cheol-su, who was being beaten by Nebula’s fists, felt something ominous, because he shuddered.

***

I picked Cheol-su up and moved locations.

Thwack! Thwack!

Perhaps his anger had not subsided, because even while being held in Nebula’s hand, Cheol-su kept swinging his fists and diligently hitting the armor.

Rat-a-tat-tat.

However, Nebula’s HP bar did not so much as twitch.

‘Still, since it is judged as an attack, its HP is being reduced by 1 each time. It is just that the speed of automatic recovery is a hundred times faster than the damage.’

Even though he was like an egg striking a boulder, he kept driving his fists in with bloodshot eyes until the very end.

As expected of Kim Cheol-su.

He was a man whose mental strength I acknowledged.

We passed through a fog-filled canyon.

Then we crossed a sinister gate that looked like the carved mouth of a Demon King…

And arrived at a special area.

The “Hall of Apostasy.”

[Ooh! Most wicked one…!]

An NPC wearing a large brimmed hat and a robe pulled low over her head.

“Lilith” prostrated herself before Nebula.

[Who is that man?]

After finishing her greeting, Lilith pointed at Kim Cheol-su and asked.

Her snake-like eyes curved into an evil smile.

NPCs that expressed emotion this richly were rare in Lost Honor.

Since there was no function for me to answer anyway, I carried Cheol-su and moved into the hall.

I walked at the front, and Lilith followed behind me. Every being inside the hall prostrated itself as if worshiping me.

Demonkin with horns on their heads and demon wings on their backs.

Sickly figures hiding their grotesque appearances beneath robes.

Civilized monsters.

Priests of evil gods with wriggling tentacles.

And so on.

It was truly like a garbage dump for villains.

[…]

Cheol-su had grown serious as he examined every one of them carefully.

At the center of the hall…

There was an altar bathed in black light.

According to the setting, it was an installation gathering energy from a world other than Lost Honor’s world… “Otherworldly Sunlight.”

Simply put, the black light filling that altar itself was Otherworldly Sunlight.

It could be called a structure opposite to the statue of the goddess, which was bathed fully in the sunlight of the world.

I clicked the “Altar of Corruption” and designated Cheol-su, whom I was holding, as the “target.”

[Huh?]

WHOOSH!

Lines like crimson, pulsing veins surged up from the altar, wrapped around Cheol-su, and dragged him onto it.

[What is this? Hey, let go!]

He struggled violently, as if he would tear the veins apart.

If left alone, he was the kind of guy who would bite off his tongue and die just to resist.

I sent a whisper to Cheol-su, who had begun struggling.

[/w ‘Kim Cheol-su’ It is fine, so do not be scared.]

Although it must have sounded filtered through the system’s dry, mechanical voice, it seemed he immediately recognized the blunt tone contained in that short sentence.

Cheol-su’s body, which had been trying to tear away the veins, stopped as if it had been a lie.

‘From anyone else’s perspective, it does look like a horrifying situation where he is being offered as a sacrifice to a demon.’

He no longer struggled and obediently lay on the altar.

[…I was not scared.]

“What a bluff.”

The panic from just a moment ago had been washed cleanly away from his grumbling voice.

Next, I took out the items I had brought in my inventory.

Pulsating Heart of an Outer God.

KIIIIIEH—!

Grudge of the World Tree.

Aaaaaah—!

Cross of False Salvation.

Craaack—!

…When I took out numerous other materials symbolizing “corruption,” the wails and screams of those cursed objects filled the sound space richly.

It was not only the noise.

Even the Hall of Apostasy NPCs watching the altar were pressed down by the energy, trembling with their foreheads planted against the ground from the density of that evil.

“It is practically a gore film.”

[Aaaaaagh!!!]

And Kim Cheol-su, screaming in the middle of it all, was the film’s protagonist.

Finally, I offered an entire bottle of Tears of the Goddess.

‘I have almost used up all the Tears of the Goddess too.’

I would have to set aside a day and go harass her all day long sometime.

In any case, the preparations were complete.

With this much, even “that one” would drool over this supreme feast.

It was not inferior to the Manchu-Han Imperial Feast that emperors were said to have enjoyed.

Click.

I activated the altar.

Then, immediately…

[The fallen divinity “Firmament Devoured by Madness” looks down upon the world…]

The “King of the Fallen Gods” descended into the cavern.

The divinity that would grant Cheol-su the power of corruption!

I had specially selected the strongest one even among those divinities.

“Your life really has opened up.”

I nodded with deep emotion.

Thanks to having a good brother, he even got to fall into corruption.

There was no one else like me.

[You crazy bastaaaaard!]

How heartwarming.