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Translator: uly
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Well, There Is Something to It
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"No, it's not about souls—there's another way. How could you not be curious?!"
Paeng's voice brimmed with impatience, like he was dying of curiosity.
"You don't rely solely on souls either. You develop your unique ability, research mana manipulation techniques, and figure out how to integrate them with your body or weapons."
This was all standard stuff, right?
"Well..."
"Exactly. And I'm the same."
Geon-woo dismissed it as nothing special, but Paeng shook his head.
"You changed this much from results like that? Just how did you do it?"
"What's with the broken record? You think I'm gonna tell you?"
"Ah, come on. But I really want to know!"
Now Paeng was throwing a full-on tantrum.
He'd always had a bit of a reckless, stubborn streak.
But usually, he kept it bottled up. Not now, though—none of that restraint.
"Ha!"
'This guy's acting like a damn kid.'
Geon-woo sighed shortly, thinking that.
But then.
"How about it? Should we make a deal or something?"
Words Geon-woo hadn't expected came from Paeng's mouth.
"A deal?"
Geon-woo asked for confirmation.
"Tell me how you did it, and do your best to help me get strong enough to do it too. In return, I'll be your subordinate. You be the boss!"
"How much?"
"Matching the value of whatever you offer."
"And you decide that value?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm."
Geon-woo crossed his arms, deep in thought at Paeng's proposal.
A chance to reveal a path to power and recruit Paeng as a subordinate.
It was pretty tempting bait, honestly.
The kind you wanted to bite right into.
= My lord, why not use the same method we used on the family's retainers?
As Geon-woo pondered, Ilryeong subtly urged him to accept Paeng.
Geon-woo mulled it over briefly at Ilryeong's words, then looked Paeng straight in the eye.
"There's a way to get stronger, but it's a kind of doping. You in?"
"Doping? Drugs?"
Paeng frowned at the word, questioning Geon-woo.
To that, Geon-woo tossed out bait Paeng couldn't resist.
"No side effects."
"No side effects on the doping? No reason to say no then."
Paeng was hooked instantly by the no-side-effects lure.
Even with drugs, if it was all gain and no loss, why not?
"Of course, it's not all upside. You do get stronger for sure with the doping—starting with muscle strength, plus avatar durability and stamina go up."
"Sounds good."
"The catch is, when you stop the drugs, those boosted stats drop off gradually over time. You keep about 15% as a permanent gain, though."
"No drugs means you lose the gains down to 15%? No side effects?"
"Yeah. And the longer the doping period, the bigger the effect. Naturally, when you quit, you retain 15% of that bigger boost permanently. Think of that 15% as severance pay."
"Wow, that's solid? Once you start, you won't be able to quit. The better it gets, the harder it'll be to stomach losing 85%."
"That's your choice. Don't wanna be a subordinate? Leave. Or stick around."
"Whoa, it's pulling me in. Feels like 'try it once, and you'll never stop.'"
"So? You in?"
"Really no side effects?"
= None at all, my lord. Even with all the warriors we hired who quit, there were never any issues. If there had been, we would've faced public backlash.
Geon-woo gave a firm yes, having heard Ilryeong's passionate assurance nearby.
"Yeah. None."
"Alright! Let's do it! Deal!"
Paeng stuck out his hand for a handshake, coolly sealing the contract.
* * *
Geon-woo accepted Paeng as a temporary member of the Dark Phoenix mercenary group, but they still kept separate lodgings.
The change was that now he could give Paeng orders.
That let him use Paeng more tactically in creature hunts, but outside of that, no major shifts yet.
They kept hunting creatures, gathering solpi, and taking down mutants—that was it.
"Where the hell are these demonkin hiding?"
After a fight wrapped up and solpi was collected and split, Paeng grumbled.
Not a drop of blood on him.
His unique ability was stealth, so you'd think he specialized in ambushes, but few knew he was a rare dual-user with a summoning-type power.
Paeng was one of the ultra-rare duals among capsule users.
Lucky character with two unique abilities.
One hid his body, the other was for combat.
He called his combat one 'Hydra.'
He summoned snakes using mana, controlling them freely to attack foes.
Biting snakes, electrifying whip-snakes, arrow-snakes that burrowed in, exploding snakes, and more.
Paeng summoned three or four different ones at once to hunt creatures.
But look closely: each snake faded transparently from mid-body, tails invisible.
He said it was because they were all linked to his body as one, hence the name 'Hydra.'
"Seen any demonkin step forward?"
"But they've gotta have a base somewhere, right?"
"You think Kolon would sit still if we knew? The alliance would've wiped 'em out first. You know that."
The alliance was the united command of Onbiroad residents formed to fight demonkin.
All military ops for Onbiroad folks went through it.
Precisely, the alliance central command.
"Ah, that Helparis hunt?"
"Yeah. Back then, demonkin didn't hide. Vanguard leaders stood out in the open. That's how Onbiroad folks could band together and hit 'em."
"We hit dozens of vanguards at once, and even counting the Helparis you took, we only got five. Not even half success—a failed op."
Onbiroad folks called it a triumph, but Paeng rated it a failure.
"Hey, I'm the boss here, so no 'you-you' crap. Shouldn't it be 'boss' or 'leader' or something?"
Geon-woo deftly changed the subject at that.
His Helparis kill with Kolon was a win in isolation, but out of dozens of attempts, only five successes? Scrutinized, it was embarrassing.
"You wanna hear that? Should I call you master?"
Luckily, Paeng took the bait and played along.
"You will?"
"Like hell!"
Paeng bellowed.
Whatever—topic shift worked enough.
"Anyway, I missed what happened after, but you were there, Paeng. You saw it."
"Yeah, demonkin lost hundreds at once, plus five vanguard bosses. They got scared and went into hiding."
"Yeah, that's what I heard. But you stuck around longer than me, who couldn't log in. So why whine that demonkin vanished?"
"Whine? Feels like you're ramping up."
"Ah, crossing the line?"
"Teetering."
"Got it. Dialing back."
He was a contracted subordinate, sure, but abusing that was Geon-woo's fault.
Gotta respect boundaries.
"Isn't 'no' the usual answer?"
"You know that won't fly."
"Fair. I've got that side too. Heh heh heh."
Teasing on the edge like this was common among mercs.
Combat cranked tension to the max, but no one sustains it forever.
You need release, and banter like this was one way.
But as they left their hideout, relaxing and moving, something pinged Geon-woo's senses before reaching the next creature spot.
"Paeng."
"Hm? Bad vibe?"
"Yeah."
"Doesn't feel like second-phase shedder or mutant?"
"Battle stations!"
"Got it. Going in?!"
At Geon-woo's call, Paeng's form dissolved into thin air.
Simultaneously, the jiangshi formed two circles around Geon-woo.
Geon-woo, Surryeong, and Gungryeong in the inner ring; the rest in the outer.
Among them, the tenth jiangshi, Amryeong, dual-wielding daggers.
'Where?'
Geon-woo asked Ilryeong hovering by his shoulder.
= Not one—six.
Ilryeong reported six hidden enemies.
Ilryeong shared its senses with Geon-woo.
With Cheonnoe Bunsim Je Ryeong Gong at 10 stars, his consciousness link to Ilryeong was far stronger.
Before, he shared his senses with jiangshi; now, he could receive theirs too.
Thus, Geon-woo detected the six ambushers Ilryeong spotted, plus Paeng's stealthy movements.
'When attack starts, control Amryeong, Gungryeong, and Surryeong. Amryeong blinks in for surprise, Gungryeong and Surryeong grab two more. Skip Paeng's target. I'll take the rest.'
= Understood, my lord.
No need to discuss attack timing separately.
Geon-woo could link consciousness to all jiangshi at once when needed.
And that power had leaped forward with his core art at 10 stars.
Pssht! Ping! Shrrr!
In an instant, battle began as Amryeong blinked forward on Geon-woo's command.
Amryeong's dagger pierced empty air, drawing blood, as Gungryeong's arrow flew at a tree-perched ambusher.
Then Surryeong occupied three trees, animating branches, trunks, roots.
= Tudarat! Sarkera!
= Katara!
Demonkin tongue erupted as the ambush hit.
"Demonkin?"
Geon-woo, stunned they were demonkin, sent Ssangryeong and Seomryeong charging.
Ssangryeong targeted the demonkin stabbed in back and chest by Amryeong; Seomryeong, the one ensnared by Surryeong's spell.
Slash! Sck!
The two jiangshi shot like lightning, severing demonkin necks.
"Huh?"
Geon-woo was dumbfounded, even he, at downing two demonkin instantly.
With Cheonnoe Bunsim Je Ryeong Gong at 10 stars, the jiangshi had grown stronger too.
But no time to gawk.
The demonkin, ambush blown, went all-out.
Boom! Clang! Whirr! Thud!
"Targeting me again?"
Lightning from sky—magic or curse?—plus spears and axes flew.
All aimed solely at Geon-woo.
Desperate to kill him, just like when Amryeong ambushed before.
Splat! Thunk!
Then, as attacks ended, a crossbow bolt.
Sunryeong's shield barely deflected it before Geon-woo's eyes, but he felt his hair stand on end for a split second.