Damn System

Episode 20

Chapter 5 K(4)

Player Hyunwoo Kang (Beta tester)

mana: 1563.48 (attribute mana: 53)

Chaos level: 0.00%

Affiliation: Earth

Race: Human (player)

Rating: Alpha

Attribute: Lightning

Skills: Mana Management (45.64%), Sense Expansion (13.25%), Magic Detection (lv.1 – 6.61%)

Attributes: ??????, Assimilation, Tenacity, Purification (lv.1 – 17.11%)

There are more letters and numbers than before.

Above all, the attribute field is filled.

‘Lightning… … .’

I was worried as I alternately looked at the text in the attribute column and the sparks flashing in my hand.

‘If it’s a fire attribute, can it make fire?’

If it was really like that, the fire would have been more comfortable.

‘Easy when setting fire to the forest.’

I even clicked my tongue in regret for a while.

There were thoughts running through my head.

‘No, in a big way, lightning is also a flame… … ?’

I hurriedly took the paper and put it in my hand.

As expected, the part that touched the spark started to burn.

“oh.”

good night. No need to carry matches anymore.

Now I have to think about how to use this mana in battle.

Just as I was about to sink into my thoughts, the spark in my hand suddenly disappeared.

“ah.”

It has exhausted its mana.

There was no exhaustion phenomenon because there was a lot of normal magic power left, but the impression naturally wrinkled.

‘This also consumes quickly.’

Even the normal red mana quickly disappeared when it was taken out of the body.

“Tsk.”

Normal magic power can be collected while purifying contaminated magic power.

But what about attribute magic?

‘Mission reward… … .’

I search my memory, but I have never obtained elemental magic other than mission rewards.

The ranking reward was also a reward according to the mission after all.

When I thought about it, the road ahead was blocked.

Because most of them were 10 to 20 units.

‘Unlike normal mana, it must be difficult to gather quickly.’

I imagined shooting lightning while implicitly catching a monster.

It will take quite a while to get to that level.

I looked down at my empty hands and thought.

How should I use this power?

What should I do to get maximum efficiency?

If you think in a simple area, you can use it as a way to insert a spear into a monster and inject attribute magic.

‘Then the intestines will burn.’

There is nothing to lose by trying it once.

However, it seems that there are infinite ways to use it to be satisfied there.

This is a completely new power that I lived without knowing until now.

I’m sure there are ways to use it that I hadn’t even thought of.

‘Let’s think carefully.’

After organizing the rewards, it was time to organize the loot.

My heart beat faster as I put the shiny chunks into my bag one by one.

My face seemed to heat up too.

“madam.”

Recalling the yellow light shimmering in front of my eyes, I finally opened the bag again.

Looking back, it’s so pretty. I caressed the loot with a gentle hand.

is this real gold? If so, how should it be disposed of?

I thought a lot about this and that, but even that was good.

“Is this a diamond?”

I murmured as I touched the transparent jewel on the necklace.

The egg is the size of my thumb nail. There are a lot of numbers there. as many as eight.

If this was a real diamond, how much would it cost?

I’m going crazy because the corners of my lips keep curling up.

I really can’t control my facial expression.

After looking at the spoils for a while, I picked up my phone.

Now we have to find a way to dispose of it.

Unless you can reveal the source, it will be impossible to sell through legal channels.

You will have to look into the illegal realm.

To be honest, it was a bit daunting.

In the meantime, I have been careful not to get involved in crime as much as I have not done anything dangerous.

Because I was the guardian of the twins.

I have no idea where to start or how to find it.

Of course, apart from the vagueness, I didn’t worry too much.

Because there is no such thing as a bottom in a society created by humans.

It’s been a while since I picked up my phone and immersed myself in a search.

I checked my watch and suddenly came to my senses.

Now it was time for Edan to enter the mission.

‘I don’t know if I’m going to do well.’

As long as you’ve mastered the use of magical power, you won’t be fooled like before.

I couldn’t help but worry.

‘I owe something to you.’

I have received a lot of confidential information that I have no way to know on my own.

Thanks to that, I was able to decide that I should hide myself, even by manipulating my medical records, and it also helped me to convince Jong-hoon.

The result of analyzing the monster’s black blood was also shared.

‘It’s hard to see it as blood.’

I didn’t see a report with the results of the experiment.

Even if you see it, it will be difficult to understand.

At least, I learned that what constitutes black blood is different from human blood.

Because I heard that, I was able to think about whether the mission was a different world.

Edan had a lot of debt, and at this point, he was the only player I interacted with.

More than anything, I trust Ethan.

Because he never asked me about my whereabouts.

My name, age, nationality, etc., never raised questions that could identify me.

It’s better not to know at all, just in case I get tortured.

However, he gave all his information.

It was enough to build trust between him and me.

‘It’s not unconditionally trustworthy, though.’

At least I could trust it.

It was natural not to want such a person to die.

It was a loss to lose a friendly person now that 10,000 players were newly selected.

– (Secret comment) Are you ready?

I shook my head, waiting for Ethan’s answer.

Unless I was directly hunting with him, the way I could help him was limited.

⌎ (secret comment) The preparations are over. I’m a little nervous.

Ethan’s comment came just in time, and I turned on the shop function with a grin.

⌎ (secret comment) Open the auction window.

⌎ (secret comment) Yes?

⌎ (secret comment) quickly.

⌎ (secret comment) turned on. why?

After a while, Ethan replied that he had opened the auction window.

As a result, I put 4 of the remaining 8 potions on the Auction tab.

The name of the function is an auction, but it felt like an individual exchange.

You can proceed with a successful bid, or you can buy and sell right away by specifying a price.

I set the potion’s price to 1 hp.

I have received something in the past, so shouldn’t I give it to you?

I had already experienced the effect of the potion, so it would be easier to protect my life if I had it.

⌎ (secret comment) Buy it right away because it’s a gift.

If I was taken away by someone else, I really planned to grab him by the collar and say one thing.

⌎ (secret comment) What do you mean?

⌎ (secret comment) Auction window now.

The moment I wrote a comment, I registered an auction item.

「The sales item has been registered.」

And after a few seconds, the potion disappeared.

「Code name Ethan Rembrone purchased a potion (×4).」

The comment section started to catch fire.

It wasn’t even a proper sentence, but an English word stuttered.

I can’t translate it, so it seems that the original text is uploaded as it is.

I said one more word to Ethan, who was at a loss for what to do with excitement.

⌎ (secret comment) Don’t die. It’s not a waste to keep alive.

⌎ (secret comment) Yes, definitely. Thank you very much!

After handing over the potion, the first proper comment came up.

For some reason, I felt like I could see Ethan’s smiling face, so I also raised the corner of my mouth.

After Ethan entered the mission paper, I scanned the community to see what players were doing.

Even so, I continued to visit the community.

“under?”

Thanks to you, I was able to find an article that scratched my nerves.

“Title: Since K is Asian.”

When I hurriedly pressed the text, the contents were concise.

While talking about me in another post, someone commented.

When I opened the search window, I found articles saying that I was amazing for clearing the 2nd level mission.

Along with the comments on the problem left there.

– Anyway, I’m Asian.

Not Ethan. There’s no way he’ll reveal my information.

There is no reason for Ethan to scratch my nerves in the first place.

‘As long as I’m ahead, he has a lot to gain from me. I have no motive to ruin friendship.’

If Ethan is eliminated, only one remains.

My expression hardened and my body trembled.

I wanted to comment right away, but I held back.

‘It’s better to stay still.’

If I do wrong, it will be like admitting my race with my own mouth.

If I kept looking at it, I thought I would get a vase, so I closed my eyes.

Right after that, I nervously ran my face down.

“Tsk.”

I should have realized earlier that I can’t control all the variables unless I’m playing alone, but I was complacent.

A crackling sound escaped from the tightly closed teeth.

“Whoa.”

I tried to suppress my anger and shook my head.

‘It’s okay, it’s not at a dangerous level yet.’

It was all about race at best.

No important information such as nationality, age, or name was mentioned.

It is rather fortunate that we were alerted before something bigger happened.

I caught my breath and checked the community window again.

It must have been a longer time than I thought to get my emotions under control, so there were quite a lot of new posts posted.

「Title: Looking for a party.」

Among them, when I clicked on the particularly eye-catching article, there was a comment at the end saying that the party recruitment was over.

When I quickly opened the mission window with a feeling of fighting.

「01-12(09/10)」

Among the list, I was able to find the missions that were changed to bold letters.

From then on, I couldn’t take my eyes off the mission window.

10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours.

As time passed, the number marked on the number of entries continued to decrease.

It meant that one of the players was dying.

And before that mission was even cleared, another mission turned into bold letters.

“01-11 (08/10)”

The players started moving in earnest.

While watching the numbers with a stiff face, Ethan made a new comment.

⌎ (secret comment) The monsters are different. It looks like a bear, but it has four eyes. About 3 meters in size… … They give less mana than the ones I saw in the promotion test.

As a result, Edan successfully completed the mission.

Thanks to that, even though my worries were alleviated, a part of my heart felt uncomfortable.

It was close to midnight and I closed my eyes, but I couldn’t sleep.

“Whoa.”

Eventually, I opened my eyes again and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Mana, Minimum Value, Perception, Operation, Monster, Death.

The facts I know are tied and intertwined, and I keep bringing up issues I want to ignore.

Eventually, I let out a deep sigh and opened the community window.

What caught my attention was the number at the top.

‘10,085… … .’

Six people disappeared from the community due to an incident a few days ago.

I was looking at the mission window as they died.

At that time, the number of entering players decreased one by one.

They were killed by one or two monsters.

If they were attacked by multiple monsters, their numbers would have decreased faster than that.

It proves a really simple fact.

They said they entered the mission without knowing how to use magic.

If I knew how to do it, I wouldn’t be so easily defeated.

‘Jerk the.’

I let out a sigh of relief.

Of course, I didn’t sympathize with the six dead.

If I had to ask, it would be correct to say that I was pathetic.

Only beta testers can enter the mission now that the new player’s tutorial is not over.

And that beta tester had a grace period of over three months.

It means that he has had enough time to learn how to use mana.

They obviously started out on the same line as me.

But the results were different.

I came back alive in the 2nd level mission, and they died in the 1st level mission.

The difference reminds me of the corpse I saw during the promotion test.

‘It’s embarrassing.’

I have no obligation to protect people I don’t know who they are.

The reason I helped Ethan not die was not because of a sense of duty, but because I wanted to put my mind at ease.

Even so, the corpse keeps disturbing my head and reminds me of the time when my parents passed away.

The people who died in the promotion test, the six people who died three days ago, and the additional people who died in the mission that started today must be someone’s family.

As time goes on like this, the number of memorable corpses will continue to increase, and each time a stain will remain in a corner of my heart.

However, I don’t see any reason why I have to give away what I’ve accumulated through my efforts.

‘Even if I spread the information, there is no benefit to me.’

I just watched the number of players continue to dwindle until late into the night.

It was obviously uncomfortable and uncomfortable in a corner of my heart, but I didn’t intend to step out.

Just as they were not responsible for my survival, their deaths were not my responsibility either.

That fact was clear.