Immediately after Sa Ujin left, I began pouring blood from my nose and mouth because I had mimicked an SS-Rank Skill that was far beyond my means.
“Benefactor!”
Sa Ujin probably knew as well. Bringing out the copied web and aiming it at his throat had been my limit.
If I had truly thrust that Skill into Sa Ujin’s throat, I would have suffered the original SS-Rank Skill’s counterattack and become a doll myself.
The only reason I was still fine was that my madness had successfully captured Sa Ujin’s interest.
Only after sitting nearby and calming my anemia and headache did I begin thinking in a different direction.
“……At this point, even being stupid is a talent.”
Why had I not thought of it?
I had awakened Yu Danyeong’s Ability and taken Leia out of the Gamble Center many times before, but I had never acted this early.
In iterations where I had enough motivation to approach those two, I usually waited until I had grown strong enough to take care of myself.
I had never moved so thoughtlessly while prepared only to die, like I had this time.
And the result?
“Has a madman in a well who has never experienced a double-digit Gate decided to drag a D-Rank into hell……?”
As I muttered while lost in thought, Leia cautiously spoke from behind and interrupted me.
“Um, Benefactor…….”
“What?”
“What will you do from now on?”
“We already signed a contract, so what else can I do? I have to go. The tenth Gate.”
Leia hesitated before opening her mouth.
“That is not a place for you to go, Benefactor…….”
“Hey. Enough. I know.”
“Pardon?”
“That the difficulty skyrockets from the tenth Gate onward. Were you going to risk a penalty just to tell me that?”
That useless woman had a strong tendency to be a sucker.
Gate bosses were forbidden from revealing information about other Gates, yet she was about to ignore that prohibition just to stop me from entering.
“……There really is nothing you do not know.”
“I am rather smart.”
Leia gave me a contemptuous look.
I considered poking out her eyes, but I was civilized, so I endured it.
“Then what are you going to do? You would need to raise your rank by several levels to have a chance, but there is far too little time.”
“It is a little troublesome……. But it is not impossible.”
“Pardon? That cannot be true. It is not as though you can gain a rank through a Gamble!”
I pulled a laptop out from beneath the desk and began searching for something.
“Not my rank.”
“Then what?”
“Surviving the tenth Gate.”
***
Honestly, I truly did not want to use this method.
It was neither ethical nor moral.
Even in iterations where I had given up on everything, I had always resolved this problem in advance. Yet this time, I had to watch it happen.
“Kid.”
“Uh, me?”
“Are you heading to now?”
“Yes! Why?”
The current time was two minutes and twenty seconds before it happened.
“Hmm. I am a friend of Ms. Hwa Yejin. Could you do me one favor?”
“Y-You are friends with the Empress of Fire Wings?! Awesome! I came to All Magic Tower because I really wanted to see the Empress of Fire Wings! Mister, are you very close to her?”
“We are not extremely close. Still, when Ms. Hwa arrives shortly, I will give you a chance to greet her……. Could you buy five cans of energy drink from that convenience store over there?”
The child took the money I handed over and ran away.
It did not matter whether that child actually bought the energy drinks or ran off with the money.
There were only one minute and twelve seconds left.
[Ability 「Rapid Reading」(D) has been used.]
[Rapidly reading the ‘ranks’ of ‘people within a ten-meter radius.’]
“Let us see. I have moved everyone below C-Rank away. As for those who are C-Rank or higher……. They will not die, right?”
I looked at the clock and silently began counting.
Ten, nine, eight, seven…….
“Three, two, one.”
BOOOOM!!
One of Korea’s Three Great Guilds.
A massive explosion erupted at the Mage Guild .
“AAAAARGH!!”
“It is a terrorist attack! Call emergency services!”
“Put out the fire first! Is there anyone with a water-type Ability?!”
Magic-type Hunters ran screaming from the building. The stench of blood and the unpleasant smell of burning filled the air.
I never wanted to see this sight again.
That was why I needed to finish quickly.
[Skill 「Mimicry-Frostwind」(E) has been used.]
Before coming here, I had left the piece of baggage behind and mimicked Yu Danyeong’s Skill one more time.
I poured Frostwind into the blazing corridor, completely freezing the path, then set a timer.
[04:00]
Four minutes remained until the corridor frozen by Frostwind melted. I needed to rescue the person trapped inside within at least three minutes.
“It has been the first time since the 1,000th iteration that I have done this…….”
“Hey, wait! It is dangerous!”
“Hey! Stop that person!”
I had frozen as much as I could, but I could not prevent debris from falling after the explosion or stop the weakened floor from collapsing in places.
If it had been the original Skill, perhaps. But with an E-Rank copy, preventing the flames and heat was the most I could do.
One wrong step would send my foot through the floor, but I did not stop for even a moment and continued running.
[Ability 「Rapid Reading」(D) has been used.]
[Rapidly reading ‘dangers’ within the ‘field of vision.’]
A little blood began to flow from my eyes.
Rapid Reading was only D-Rank before its evolution. If I overused it even slightly, it placed an excessive burden on my body.
However, by reading the dangerous places in my rapidly changing field of vision and avoiding them as I moved, I was able to drastically reduce the time it took to reach my destination.
When I arrived at a laboratory on the fourth floor, a woman collapsed near a desk entered my sight.
A woman with long red hair and a white dress shirt. A cloak meant to wrap around her body like a blanket, a mage-like hat, and a staff were scattered around her.
She had failed to respond in time to the sudden impact and had been caught in it as she was.
The S-Rank Hunter ranked third.
The ‘Empress of Fire Wings.’
Hwa Yejin.
If she had been in her usual state, even a sudden attack would have been automatically blocked by her Skills. However, she had likely disabled her defenses to research a Skill.
Several other problems had been intertwined as well, which was why she had been caught so absurdly. Since those ‘other problems’ could not be resolved right now anyway, there was no need to discuss them. What mattered was this.
“Ms. Hwa Yejin, can you hear me? Can you get up?”
“……Who……?”
“Yeah. A passing civilian. I will summarize briefly. A terrorist attack occurred, the building exploded, and you suffered a fractured leg and passed out from the blast. That is all.”
“……Ugh……. The others……?”
“Those below C-Rank were unharmed, and I do not know about those above that. However, no one died between the first floor and here.”
Even though the pain had not fully faded, Hwa Yejin looked relieved upon hearing that nobody had died.
It was very like her.
I slung Hwa Yejin over my shoulder.
“W-What are you doing?!”
“Are you going to move with that leg? It would be too much.”
“Do you even know who I am?”
“I do. You are the Guild Master of , right?”
“Do you think someone like me would not have even one healing Skill?”
You probably did.
“Then what is the problem? Your Skills probably will not work right now.”
“What?”
Hwa Yejin clenched and unclenched her hands as though trying to use a Skill, but naturally, nothing happened.
“How……?”
“Common sense says that anyone attempting a terrorist attack on a den full of monsters like All Magic Tower would prepare a device to disable Skills. I do not know the exact method.”
Saying I did not know was a lie, but I did not have the confidence to explain every detail of how I had obtained that information and make her understand it right now.
“So let us just leave. Ah, and……. Once we get out of here, will you grant me three requests?”
From Hwa Yejin’s perspective, the explanation and situation were incredibly unfriendly. Still, she was intelligent enough.
She quickly realized that there was no time to waste on needless conversation and arguments. Touching her forehead, she answered,
“……Haa, all right. But may I decide after hearing the requests?”
“Okay.”
I kicked off the ground and ran.
Frostwind was already melting, so heat leaked through gaps all around us.
But that was only a minor problem.
The real problem began now.
HISSS, HISSS……!
“Ms. Hwa Yejin. Wrap your cloak firmly around your body.”
“What? What are you going to do?”
“Physical comedy.”
[Ability 「Rapid Reading」(D) has been used.]
[Rapidly reading ‘Skills’ within the ‘field of vision.’]
Around us, something like faintly rippling smoke leaked out together with the heat.
A kind of curse.
And I knew those curses. A Weakness Curse, a Sensory Manipulation Curse that inflicted unbearable pain upon the body, and a Dissolution Curse that damaged muscles.
The Sensory Manipulation Curse was one thing, but if a D-Rank body was hit by the Dissolution Curse more than four times, it would definitely become unable to walk.
[Ability 「Rapid Reading」(D) excessively reads higher-Rank Skills!]
[The burden placed upon the body intensifies!]
Therefore, with only one minute and thirty seconds remaining, there was no choice but to take exactly three hits and pass through.
***
The sound of joints cracking echoed through my body, while blood flowing from my eyes obscured my vision.
No matter how accustomed I was to pain, this was inevitably difficult.
[Skill 「Fellow Traveler’s Curse」 gnaws at you!]
“Your……. condition…….”
“It has been an extremely eventful day, but…….”
Step.
The moment I took the final step my stamina allowed, the timer I had set announced that time had expired.
I collapsed onto the ground and turned only my head to look up at the sky.
“……Escape, successful…….”
“You, stay awake! No, is anyone here?! Call a doctor!”
Barely holding onto my fading consciousness, I forced out my words.
“My three requests……. Can I say them now?”
“All right, I will grant them, so breathe slowly first. What on earth did you do to your body?”
“First, do not ask how I know so much about the terrorist attack……. I have no connection whatsoever to the people who committed it, and I have no intention of harming you. You may even use a lie-detection Skill to confirm that.”
“I will.”
Then I revealed the purpose for which I had not stopped this terrorist attack in advance.
“Second……. You have a B-Rank Skill called 「Nightingale Pharmacy」. Give it to me……. Even if it is not that, you have a healing Skill, do you not?”
“……You are a greedy person, are you not? It is still a B-Rank Skill. However, all right. I will give it to you.”
Beyond my fading vision, I saw the medical Mages from All Magic Tower rushing toward us. Near them was the child, hugging the energy drinks and crying loudly.
“My last, third request……. Go greet that child over there who is crying. They are your fan.”
“……Do you know that child?”
“No. I first met them earlier.”
After I said that much, the side effects of Rapid Reading and the aftereffects of the curses pulled my consciousness away.
Before my mind completely went dark, I thought I heard a voice tinged with laughter.
“……You are a strange person. Rest well. I will cure you completely, whatever it takes.”