Chapter 76

Chapter 76

The fight with Berserker was pretty fierce.

I have no idea why he was struggling so desperately.

Not that it mattered—he ended up collapsed at my feet anyway.

“Ugh.”

His left shoulder was crushed, and his right arm was twisted at a grotesque angle. His legs weren’t intact either; the shape was there, but Arc Mine had hit them so many times the bones had been ground to powder.

It’s not that I have a hobby of tormenting people. He just resisted that fiercely.

He was faster, tougher, and stronger than before.

This guy Berserker—he’d been training hard while pretending he wasn’t. The way his muscles moved, the way he handled his Force, the killing intent aimed at me—all of it showed he was in peak condition.

Especially the fact that he’d been preparing specifically to deal with me—that came through loud and clear in our fight just now. Every movement was optimized to counter my attacks.

A few of his strikes were genuinely dangerous. I could tell just how much he’d enjoyed tearing into me, chewing me up, and savoring it while training his mind.

He must have wanted to kill me that badly.

Persistent bastard.

Still, to me, he’s just a bit of a handful. If anything, after subduing him several times, it felt like handling him was getting easier.

Can “easy” and “troublesome” even coexist in the same sentence? It was ambiguous, but that’s how I felt fighting Berserker.

I nudged Berserker’s shoulder with my foot.

“Hey, quit playing dead and get up.”

“Kgh! Keke! Is this my end…?”

He says that while gasping for breath.

Anyone watching would think he’s about to die.

And when he spouts lines like that, it makes me look like the villain.

“It’s not your end. You’re not dying.”

“I don’t fear death, but now that it’s actually come to this, it feels hollow. So many more cutting-edge gadgets are waiting for me…”

He starts listing off various electronics, but I can’t follow any of it.

How is a guy who wanders the city outskirts more of an early adopter than me?

It’s not that I’m indifferent—it’s that this guy is weird.

“More importantly, are you not listening to me?”

“Kill me.”

At this point, I have to assume he’s doing this on purpose, right?

If he won’t listen, I’ll make him listen.

I put my foot on his crushed shoulder and ground it in.

“Listen when I talk.”

“Kraaagh!”

His thrashing began to subside as he screamed. Seeing the strength drain from his eyes, he was finally ready to listen.

“…What did I ever do to you?”

“I’d say your crime is holding a treasure I want.”

“A villain who died not long ago said that exact line to me.”

“Are you calling me a villain?”

“Kraaagh! Just kill me, please!”

I ground his shoulder again, and he thrashed.

“Immunity to All Poisons is honestly impressive. I had a stake in you acquiring it, too. So I’m here to collect my share.”

“Keke. What a novel and insane idea.”

“Whatever you think, you don’t have a choice. I’m taking Immunity to All Poisons. And you’re misunderstanding one thing—I’m not going to kill you.”

“That was true?”

“Yeah.”

Berserker’s eyes went wide.

Then he should’ve stopped while he was ahead. He screamed and lunged the moment he saw me, and this is the result.

I sprayed a recovery potion over his body as I spoke.

“You don’t have to destroy the heart to copy a gift. Heart-blood is enough.”

“Th-then…”

“But there’s a problem.”

Hope seemed to flicker across his face, but there’s one serious issue.

I’ve never done it.

“I’ve never taken a gift without killing the target. So to get the gift without killing you, I’ll probably need to try a few things.”

“You bastard, don’t tell me…”

“Cooperate a little. You won’t die. Trust your vitality. I believe in you. Fighting!”

…Probably?

Berserker, his face pale blue, shouted.

“Just kill me instead!”

I’m telling you, I’m really not going to kill you.

* * *

I had prepared a total of three methods to copy the gift without killing Berserker.

And just now, two of them had failed.

“Guess it’s not this one either.”

“Kegh!”

I wiped the blood off my hand, and Berserker vomited blood.

“Hey, are you alive? Can you hold on?”

“…Just kill me, please.”

“Quit whining. Take a breather.”

“…”

The first method used a tool. I tried a syringe, but the problem was that by the time the blood traveled up the needle to my hand, it got contaminated—the gift information couldn’t be read.

Too bad. If this method had worked, I could’ve easily identified all kinds of gifts.

It seems I need to get the blood directly on my hand for the gift information to be readable. I pulled out the syringe and caught the spraying blood, but that failed too.

The next method was taking blood directly from a spot slightly away from the heart. The information on Immunity to All Poisons started to register, but it wasn’t complete.

In the end, it meant I had to get the blood closest to the heart onto my hand.

Nothing in this world is easy.

Five minutes passed.

I looked at Berserker, who had recovered some stamina, and spoke.

“Let’s finish this in one go.”

“…”

“It’s fine, you won’t die. Trust my hand, will you?”

“…Just kill me.”

Even after saying that, he didn’t look convinced. Tsk, those two failures did sting a bit.

Still, I can’t kill him.

Berserker is useful to me. He’s handy to summon and use when needed, he’ll help with Jung Dahyun’s leveling, and especially when I want to handle something quietly out in the outskirts, there’s no better means of mobilization than him.

So don’t die, Berserker!

“Aren’t we buddies? Let’s not make this too painful.”

I mean that sincerely.

Even if I need Immunity to All Poisons, there’s no need to kill him.

I just need to get exactly the blood I need. It’s my first attempt, but I’ll pull it off.

“Hold still.”

My hand burrowed into Berserker’s chest. It sank through firm muscle like tofu and wrapped around his heart. The violently beating heart felt like a fish thrashing desperately. Along with it, I felt my hand soak in his blood. He was screaming for me to kill him, but his heart was pounding away. Clearly healthy. This should be enough.

I carefully withdrew my hand from his chest.

Blood spurted from the gaping hole in his chest. I opened three recovery potions and poured them all in at once. Spending a hundred million won worth of medicine on a buddy like this.

“Kreuuugh!”

Listening to Berserker’s recovery, I turned my gaze to my hand.

“Hope this one works.”

Surely Blood Devour’s gift theft doesn’t only complete when the target dies, right?

I ingested the blood on my hand. The Immunity to All Poisons information recorded in the blood began to decode. This method was correct. Immunity to All Poisons was copied and inscribed as a gift compatible with me. I deleted one of my existing gifts, Force Forging, rather than adding it as new.

As Immunity to All Poisons took its place, an intense headache assailed me. Pain stabbed through my head like an awl poking again and again, but it was bearable.

Frowning, I carefully traced the shape of Immunity to All Poisons as it was inscribed. The gift copy had succeeded. No abnormalities. After several attempts, the legendary gift was in my hands.

“Good.”

It was a gift I hadn’t obtained even in my Blood Lord days. Even if Blood Lord stood before me now, I could tear him to shreds.

After briefly savoring the euphoria, I turned my gaze to the collapsed Berserker.

“You alive? Yep, alive.”

The hole in his chest had closed properly, and he was breathing evenly. He really was a tough one.

Though his face twisted with pain with every breath.

“It’s all over. Thanks for the gift.”

“…Just kill me.”

“Hey, I said you lived.”

“…Kill me.”

“Good grief.”

I told him I wasn’t going to kill him, and he’s still like this.

But looking at him collapsed like that, I did feel a little sorry for him.

Still, he’s a villain notorious enough that even the government trembles.

Was I too harsh?

* * *

Berserker came to his senses only after quite a while. I’d been kneading his heart a bit, but it didn’t seem to have done any real damage. This is a good way to get a gift without killing someone.

Not that I’d planned to kill him from the start.

I’d figured I’d spar with him to see how much stronger he’d gotten, then just copy the gift and leave.

Of course, it’s not free.

Since I was taking a legendary gift, I prepared a gift in return.

I handed a dagger to the man clutching his chest.

“What’s this?”

“A dagger made from Nuri’s bone.”

“What?”

“It’s the combined capability of the Shinseong Group. Probably among the hardest of all existing blades?”

He uses a greatsword, but that would’ve been too much material to spare, so I gave him a self-defense dagger. An excellent cost reduction.

Though once you reach transcendent level, even that becomes a weapon of slaughter.

“It’s a gift. Did you really think I’d come all the way to Yeosu for a gift and take it for free?”

“…”

This guy won’t accept it.

He must have thought I’d take it for free. Why does it feel like I can’t give anyone trust these days?

Lately, it seems like an unusual number of people don’t believe what I say.

Anyway, I’d achieved my purpose here, so I decided it was time to head back and said my goodbye to Berserker.

“Please leave. Hurry up and go.”

…He likes me too much.

“Anyway, use it well. And you’ve gotten pretty strong. But it won’t work on me.”

Ever. Forever.

I headed straight for Seoul.

* * *

After returning to Seoul, I went straight home. I planned to change clothes, eat, and then check out Immunity to All Poisons.

Opening the door and stepping inside, I spotted Yunhee fused with the sofa.

This girl—is she actually training hard?

“How’s the gift training going?”

“Me? I’m working hard. Stop right there! Don’t come closer!”

“What?”

Yunhee sprang up and eyed me warily with narrowed eyes.

“Your eyes are super shady right now. You were thinking about how to work me harder just now, weren’t you?”

“No I wasn’t.”

She’s a ghost.

Even at my denial, Yunhee threw a fit.

“I work incredibly hard every single day, you know? To the point my mouth tastes bitter! So don’t even think about working me harder. I already got advised that I’m short on rest time. They said I need management! And also—”

Yunhee stopped mid-sentence, and her eyes suddenly turned chilly.

“I told you not to tell Mom about my fan stuff, didn’t I?”

“Did you get scolded?”

“I seriously considered coming at you with a knife when I unlocked my gift. Do you know how furious I was? Huh?”

“Sounds like you got scolded pretty badly.”

“Yes, yes, thanks to a certain whistleblower, I got thoroughly wrecked. And having to say it out loud makes me even madder.”

She glanced around, looking for something to grab, so I took a step back.

That kid—if she says she’ll do something, she really will.

In the end, unable to find anything suitable, Yunhee let out a heavy sigh and sat on the sofa.

“By the way, I heard the National Guard Bureau Director is going to become the head of the new National Front Defense Administration being established this time. Did he say anything to you, oppa?”

“He didn’t.”

“Yeah? His confirmation hearing is tomorrow, though.”

“He’s the type who does fine on his own. I’ll just watch comfortably.”

“True—if you were there, it’d be chaos. Everyone would run away, wouldn’t they?”

“What do you take me for?”

“A training maniac whose brain is made of muscle?”

…The way she runs her mouth, I feel like I could work her harder after all.

Yunhee flinched when her eyes met mine, then turned her head and fixed her gaze on the TV.

Hard to find more fault now.

Deciding that I’d set a day soon to help Yunhee with her gift awakening, I went into my room, changed clothes, and grabbed something to eat.

I’d heard about the Jung Juho matter from Lee Sehee, but it would probably go through without issue. He had no personal flaws, and his relationship with me was fairly dry.

Jung Juho’s integrity, having served as a public service Hunter for so long without a single instance of corruption, ranked at the highest level.

“Should I go too?”

I considered it, but since Jung Juho hadn’t asked me for anything, I decided to trust him and watch from afar.

After sending a brief message of encouragement, I was about to head out when—

“Oh right, you said you’re going to Tokyo soon, oppa?”

“Yeah, why?”

“There’s a guy named Guillermo in Mexico—if you see him, pound him to a pulp!”

“Why?”

“He publicly accused you of lying about hunting Nuri.”

“That’s possible.”

“If he stays quiet, fine, but if he starts trouble, kill him! They’re weak themselves—why do they make a fuss at innocent people?”

“Got it.”

If he comes looking for a place to die, I’ll kill him. Sure.

I headed to the National Guard Bureau and entered the private training room.

Now that I had Immunity to All Poisons, I planned to try awakening the gift.

The reason the gift is named Immunity to All Poisons is that it regards all strange phenomena of the world’s front and back sides as poison and liberates against them—hence the name.

It was first discovered in China and given this name; in the West, because its power was similar to Lancelot’s Ring of Detoxification, it was also called the Authority of Detoxification.

Since it repels any status effect, it was an essential gift in an era overflowing with all kinds of gifts and monsters.

Its only drawback was that it applied only to the user.

“Let’s give it a try.”

I activated Immunity to All Poisons.

The awakened gift swept through my body in an instant. It felt like a cool breeze drying a damp body until it was crisp. This refreshing wind began scanning me for the presence of any poison lingering within.

First was the body. When nothing abnormal was found, it moved to my Force. No abnormalities in the Force either.

The last place Immunity to All Poisons reached was the domain of the mind.

I’m confident about this. My return to the past began with regaining my sanity, so it should pass through without any problem—

Tick! Tidik! Tididik!

But then, an anomalous current began to stir.

The energy of Immunity to All Poisons surged violently, then began charging toward my mental barrier.

I couldn’t hide my bewilderment.

What is this? Does this mean there’s something wrong with my mind?

Blood Lord’s personality had clearly vanished, and I’d regained normal thought.

I’m living blended into society without any sense of incongruity.

So why?

Immunity to All Poisons, as if proving why it was called a legendary gift, barely broke through my sturdy mental barrier, and a single tendril invaded my mind.

And then, a strange emotion was conveyed.

Affection for family.

Compassion for the weak.

Love for the opposite sex.

Mercy for enemies.

Justice for the world.

Why are these useless things surfacing?

…I suppose even Immunity to All Poisons isn’t all-powerful.

I reinforced my mental barrier and blocked the current of Immunity to All Poisons trying to bore its way in. The fragmented emotions that had surfaced rapidly faded away.

I now found myself in an absurd situation—fending off my own gift with my own Force. Even as I did, I turned my mind to figuring out what was happening.

Could it be that a fragment of Blood Lord's ego still remained?

There was no way Immunity to All Poisons had judged my perfectly sound mind to be abnormal.

Because it wasn't.

I crushed the current of Immunity to All Poisons with my Force.

Even in the moment it was being extinguished, Immunity to All Poisons kept trying to bore through my mental barrier. It was as if it were screaming that something was wrong with my mind.

A gift, daring to treat its owner like he's out of his mind?

"Gifts these days have no manners."

I began educating Immunity to All Poisons on the fact that its owner was perfectly sane.