‘Did I pour about thirty cans?’
When stacked, it was calculated additively. The duration did not extend, but the value strengthened in proportion to the number of times the paint was applied.
In Polaris, Slow was a high-value status effect. It affected not only movement speed, but also attack speed and skill cooldowns.
In other words, if you stacked it ten times, it was no different from a guaranteed stun.
‘It’s basically bug-like play, though......’
Most Special Armaments that inflicted status effects released afterward had their application method changed. It meant the developers had acknowledged their own mistake.
‘The problem was whether I could do this alone.’
[Sticky Brush] was a set consisting of a brush and paint can. If it had disappeared quickly when he let go of it, like other equipment, this strategy could not be used.
Fortunately, however, only the brush and paint “can” disappeared. The paint already applied remained.
To compare it to something, even if the gun disappeared, the bullets fired from it remained. He had checked the day before yesterday that it lasted for at least eight hours.
And to emphasize again, the minimum conditions required to clear 0-5 Stage were as follows.
A well-built 4-star or higher damage dealer.
10 [Sticky Brushes].
10 random characters to use as equipment launchers.
After inflicting 100 percent Slow, you melted the enemy with a burst-type magic damage dealer, and that was the end.
‘But I figured it would be a little different in reality.’
Using a Spell required concentration. In Kim Yi-hyeon’s case, the cooldown had been converted into backlash in the form of a headache.
If so.
When someone was afflicted with a status effect, could an ability user maintain their Spell normally?
‘I sure as hell couldn’t.’
When he personally stepped on the sticky paint, it felt horribly shitty. His thinking ability declined, and his whole body felt heavy, as if it had been soaked in water.
His Spell was easily released.
Not only the brush, but even the paint he had already applied all disappeared, so he had to do the work again.
Did he not suffer backlash if he kept making the same item? That was why the vomit he had thrown up before dawn was spread all over that corner.
So, to summarize.
At this moment, Shadower fell into being Shaeboong.
Saaaaa!
The shadow began to clear. “Flare,” which had boasted an overwhelming range, was torn to shreds.
Before long, only the human shape remained. Even that peeled away, gradually revealing “Carib’s” bare face.
It meant Shadower’s Spell had stopped functioning. His extremely high physical resistance had disappeared.
The remaining duration was about 6 seconds.
More than enough time to kill a defenseless human. And here, there was a “well-built damage dealer.”
SQUELCH—!
[Glitch Knife] plunged into the center of Carib’s throat. Ghost twisted the handle and churned up the inside of his neck, then drew a throwing knife with his left hand.
4 seconds.
He stabbed the throwing knife into the heart. Without bothering to pull it out, this time he drew the dagger at his waist.
The dagger stabbed his side repeatedly. His lungs and all sorts of other organs were damaged.
1 second remaining.
CRUNCH!
Ghost gripped the embedded [Glitch Knife] again and pushed it sideways. Carib’s neck bone was crushed, soft muscles tore, and his skin was cut from the inside.
SHAAAAA!
Blood poured out.
The gaunt body staggered. When Ghost took half a step back, Carib collapsed forward. Kim Yi-hyeon’s figure was reflected in his opened pupils.
He did not even have time to leave last words.
From the start of the stage until then, without uttering a single word, Shadower died just like that.
“Haa, haa.”
There was shock.
He had watched a person kill another person before his eyes. As a modern person born and raised in a nation ruled by law, he could not be completely unaffected.
No matter how much of an enemy Carib had been, Kim Yi-hyeon was not in the state of mind to laugh and say he deserved to die.
Pity? Hard to say. More than that, the impression of it being grotesque and brutal was stronger.
But if there were the dead, there were also the living. Ghost, who should have died, had survived.
And separate from that.
At that moment, although Kim Yi-hyeon’s eyes were directed toward Shadower’s corpse, he was seeing something else.
[ERROR!]
[An unexpected error has occurred.]
[Confirmed death of character “Shadower”]
[Calculating scenario damage rate.]
[Now Loading…….]
......What is this?
No, he roughly understood what it was. On the day he had fallen into the world of Polaris. The moment he witnessed the existence of the player character, the Professor.
It was something similar to the “Operative Record” that had appeared then.
[Loading Completed!]
[Main Episode 0, “Reunion,” damage rate: Medium]
[Main Episode 1, “Adaptation,” damage rate: Medium]
[Main Episode 2, “Stirring,” damage rate: Low]
.
.
.
[Main Episode 6, “Farewell,” damage rate: Highest]
A chill ran down his spine as if ice water had been poured over him. It felt as if a crime he had committed in secret had been discovered.
But soon, his head cooled as well.
This was not something like a crime. Nor was it something to fear. Had he not acted while knowing all of it?
‘It must mean I did well.’
Almost every episode had tragedy added into it. If they changed to become even more tragic than before, the future would turn dark, but......
‘That makes no sense. Surely not.’
If they had been distorted in even a slightly more hopeful direction, that was exactly what he wanted. His hellish suffering had been worth it.
With this, many operatives might no longer die.
‘That’s enough.’
Just as he was about to let out a sigh of relief,
[The existence of Operative “Kim Yi-hyeon” becomes clearer.]
A mechanical voice flowed out.
[Operative “Kim Yi-hyeon”’s Grade increases.]
[Skill “Special Armament Crafting” is enhanced.]
[Stat cap expanded.]
[Operative Record Updated]
[Operative Name: Kim Yi-hyeon]
[Grade: ★★]
[Talent: Unknown]
“......Huh?”
Kim Yi-hyeon had become a 2-star operative.
***
In less than a minute, all the commotion died down.
The silence was as heavy as a stone. For a while, only the breathing of the three people filled the interior.
While Kim Yi-hyeon’s attention was drawn to the Operative Record that had suddenly been updated, Leila and Ghost were each immersed in their own thoughts.
A moment later.
“......”
The sound of trudging footsteps. Leila approached Shadower. When she saw the corpse that had been horribly cut apart, she bit her lip hard.
Even though he had been an enemy, Leila felt sorry for him. However, she did not speak words of mourning. That would sound as if she were blaming Ghost.
Still, she had to uphold the minimum decency. She covered his eyes, then took off her jumper and draped it over the corpse.
Next, she looked around the garage.
The front was in a terrible state. Not only the shutter, but also the stone walls on either side had melted down.
However, there were parts that had not been directly struck by the shadow. Even there, traces of green paint splatter were visible.
“So that was it.”
Her tone held half understanding. In the remaining half, various emotions were tangled in a complicated mixture.
“The Professor told me. That Mr. Hyeon may seem lighthearted at first glance, but he is a very cautious person. When I think about it, you were also the one who warned us about an enemy with a Spell, Mr. Hyeon.”
Relief. Complexity. Helplessness. Things like that.
“When you said you would go out recklessly, even while being aware of the danger... perhaps I should have noticed.”
The still-wet oil-based paint trickled down stickily from the heat. Leila swept the wall with the tip of her index finger.
“......Is it because this is only a trace amount? I do not feel any particular change. But the reason that person suddenly withdrew his Spell must certainly lie in this paint.”
After looking down at the paint on her finger, she turned her head.
Eyes. Kim Yi-hyeon’s dark brown eyes and Leila’s light brown eyes reflected each other.
“It feels strange. They should be colors of the same family, yet they feel so different from the eyes I used to see in the mirror.”
“Well, that’s true for everyone, isn’t it?”
Kim Yi-hyeon did not think it was a sudden change of topic. It was clearly a comment about distance.
Right now, Leila did not understand the person named Kim Yi-hyeon.
A vagrant, a resident of Tulavia. The unknown paint and the words he had spoken to Shadower.
Those things did not fit together.
“Could you... explain? If I did not mishear, you called that person ‘Carib,’ Mr. Hyeon. And ‘EDA-031’—”
“Hard to say.”
Kim Yi-hyeon shrugged. Naturally, he had no intention of telling Leila everything. Since he had come this far, he had no choice but to push through.
He had thought of an escape route.
“I can’t judge how much I’m allowed to tell you. Remember it well, then go to the Lab and ask your director.”
“......Pardon?”
While Leila’s eyes grew round, Ghost, who had been quietly observing the situation, opened his mouth.
“Did you have a connection with Calliope?”
“Hm?”
Calliope?
Kim Yi-hyeon tilted his head at the unfamiliar name. However, his question lasted only a moment, and soon he let out a small laugh.
Trying to play tricks, are you?
“I know that person goes around using various names, but this is my first time hearing Calliope. The one I heard was ‘Kushan.’”
The head of Selvlogics Lab operated under various names. And Kim Yi-hyeon remembered all of them.
Morea, Nazar, Glaucus......
Among them, there was no Calliope. Was it not even a feminine name?
Kushan was male. In other words, it was a trap Ghost had laid to determine the truth.
‘Is this actually better?’
Thanks to having gone through verification, his words gained at least a little truthfulness. Sure enough, Leila and Ghost exchanged glances, then nodded.
“It would have been nice if you had told us first.”
“That goes both ways. Have you never thought about it? How suspicious the Professor would look to someone who doesn’t know anything?”
“That is......”
“See? It’s hard to explain, isn’t it?”
A place untouched by human feet. And on top of that, a person sleeping in some glass tube. It would be stranger to accept that without question.
“And all I knew was the name ‘Carib.’ Plus the fact that he wanted to get something through the Professor.”
Tss. Kim Yi-hyeon grimaced. His back still stung. He wanted to check its condition.
“EDA, what was it again? I made it up on the spot, so it doesn’t stick in my mouth. Anyway, I don’t have anything like that.”
This was true.
Even in the game, Shadower died without obtaining a cure. To begin with, the Professor had lost her memories.
Even if the exact name had been displayed, there was no way he would remember it. There were more than one or two people like Shadower in Polaris.
‘How am I supposed to sit there remembering the names of the cures for each and every one of them? Plenty of people among the developers probably don’t know either.’
It was not particularly important content either. The result had been perfect. Thanks to successfully pulling aggro, he had been able to deal with Shadower according to plan.
‘And I became 2-star too.’
Looking only at the number of stars, it was still a pathetic level. The 1-star operative who had not even existed in the game had finally risen to 2-star, the lowest grade.
But.
‘That means I can raise it even further from here, right?’
With the exception of a very small number of individuals, every operative in Polaris had a fixed “ceiling.” No matter how much they were raised, their Grade did not increase.
But Kim Yi-hyeon was different.
He had learned that this time. It was an unexpected benefit, and at the same time, the greatest harvest.
‘Did it say my stat cap expanded too?’
Stats. Even if they were not displayed in the Operative Record, it meant corrections were being applied.
No wonder his body had moved so well.
‘Each Grade has a maximum value for ability. When the Grade rises, the restriction is lifted.’
Thinking in game terms, it was “max level expansion.” Even if there were no major changes right away, his stats would rise as he accumulated experience.
Once again, Kim Yi-hyeon tasted the floating sensation of his feet drifting away from the ground.
No, he had felt this way earlier too. Ever since Shadower had chased him, he had not felt any sense of reality.
He would have to adapt. This was the reality Kim Yi-hyeon now faced.
***
A while later.
They were able to safely regroup with Pavl and the Professor as well. After Leila gave Pavl a rough explanation, they took time to reorganize.
Leila and Ghost took charge of first aid. Fortunately, there were no severely wounded.
Not everyone was perfectly fine, but it was not serious. Kim Yi-hyeon, too, had only suffered light first-degree burns.
Aside from that, he heard that Ghost had suffered abrasions while cutting away shadows, and that the Professor’s back was slightly more cooked than everyone else’s, but......
‘They’ll treat that at the Lab.’
There was no way to have zero damage. Injuries did not heal just because you cleared a stage like in a game. Healing-type Spells existed, but they were not almighty.
‘Anyway, he sure was impatient. If he had just used Flare a little later, this would’ve been much easier.’
What had Carib planned to do if the Professor had really died? Kim Yi-hyeon simply could not understand. Nor did he feel any desire to understand after the fact.
Shadower, Carib.
‘He may be somewhat pitiful, but who doesn’t have circumstances? In my eyes, I’m the most pitiful one.’
He had no family, had lived earnestly, and had finally, barely managed to live like everyone else. Then he had suddenly been thrown into a world that was a gutter.
The events from a moment ago hardened his resolve.
‘I’ll absolutely not die. I’ll survive no matter what.’
He could not be satisfied with merely scraping by somehow. His actions this time had damaged several episodes, but in other words, that was all.
The organization Shadower belonged to, “Legion.”
Even though this incident had been half Shadower’s own arbitrary decision, starting from the next episode, they would begin acting in earnest.
War and all kinds of disasters. There were still overflowing tragedies prepared ahead.
The Professor alone was not enough. If he left things alone, they would approach destruction by the moment.
‘I need more variables.’
Even if it meant collapsing every episode, he had to stop them. In order to survive.
‘It seemed related to Grade increase too.’
It was a change that had occurred the instant the predetermined scenario was twisted.
It might be an excessive leap, but... if he prevented the tragedies one by one, then perhaps. He might even learn the reason he had fallen here.
Only now did the path forward become clear.
After they finished resting and having a simple meal, they resumed moving. Conversation decreased noticeably. It was a different kind of bleakness from before.
Their companionship would last until they left Tulavia. The moment he brought up “Kushan,” the option of becoming an operative of Selvlogics Lab had already vanished.
‘What was near Tulavia again?’
Trying to keep in mind the main episodes afterward, all sorts of side stories, and even events made his head throb.
He was walking while sunk in thought when he felt someone tugging on his sleeve from behind.
“Um, Mr. Hyeon.”
“Why?”
“I’m sorry about earlier. Without thinking, I ended up speaking as if I were interrogating you. As you said, we simply both had secrets.”
“That’s a little late to say now.”
The answer came not from Kim Yi-hyeon, but from Pavl. When Pavl heard the truth, he had not seemed especially surprised.
“To begin with, I never believed you were a vagrant. Things are a mess now, but back then, you looked too put-together for a vagrant. Your speech, your eyes, everything looked normal.”
He snorted.
“Vagrants are not like that. If you ever need to act again in the future, you should pay attention to the details.”
“Thanks for the advice. I thought you saw me as a thorn in your side.”
“I did. It was obvious you were lying. Even now, well, it’s not like I trust you, but......”
Pavl looked back and forth between Ghost and Leila’s faces. Leaving aside Ghost, who wore a mask, Leila’s appearance was quite haggard.
Everyone was alive. The Professor too.
“In any case, it means we lived thanks to you, doesn’t it? It would be one thing if you were the one who brought that black bastard here, but it seems like his goal was the Professor. I also roughly understand that you meant to help us.”
Pavl grinned. It was a sight Kim Yi-hyeon was seeing for the first time since they had begun acting together.
“Then it would be right for me to say thank you. Ghost and Leila seemed to like you from the start, so their feelings must be complicated, though.”
Kim Yi-hyeon let out a hollow breath. For a moment, he thought it might be okay to take Pavl out of the mines. Or at least make him a replacement shift worker.
“So I’m asking again. What is your name?”
“It’s Kim Yi-hyeon. My real name.”
“Is that so? I thought for sure it would be an alias.”
He reacted as if surprised, then continued speaking.
“My name is real too. There are guys at the Lab who use codenames, like Ghost, but I’m not one of them. Remember it if you can. I want to repay the favor someday.”
“In what way?”
“Mm. Do you like alcohol?”
Kim Yi-hyeon also burst into a small laugh.
“Ah, alcohol sounds good.”