Artifact-Devouring Player Chapter 18

18
“Interesting. Can you see it?”

“Your eyes have changed, Sister.”

“That’s right. It seems like there’s an awakening skill. I don’t know exactly what effect it has, but at least one thing is certain.”

“which?”

“It’s a skill that simultaneously increases both physical and mental abilities. I’ve become a completely different person than before.”

In the eyes of the experienced Shin Tae-ri, it was clear how Sang-Hyeon had once again raised his strength.

Psychedelic.

Sang-Hyeon, who was in a state of awakening, continued to strike Choi Young-Cheol with his bloodshot eyes.

Now, even the great sword was too cumbersome, so he threw it away and thoroughly destroyed Choi Young-cheol with his fist.

Even though the damage was drastically reduced because it was training mode, the power of the fist was the same as in real life.

That is to say, in a real fight, each and every punch might have felt like a bone-crushing attack.

In the meantime, Choi Young-cheol tried to use his skills by twisting his body and bending his hands, but it was all in vain.

Sang-Hyeon, whose reaction speed was maximized while using psychedelic skills, did not allow a single attack.

“Brother… … Brother Yeongcheol… … .”

Cho Seong-ho, Choi Young-cheol’s eternal daughter-in-law, looked at Choi Young-cheol with an expression of disbelief.

Choi Young-cheol, who had been in a coma for a long time, was unable to get up properly.

The surrounding area was already filled with blood that Choi Young-cheol had poured out from his mouth and nose. It was a miracle that he didn’t die.

The live chat on Choi Young-cheol TV was full of content mocking Choi Young-cheol for receiving one-sided education from Sang-hyeon, and the number of posts praising Sang-hyeon also gradually increased.

▶ Hofast: I knew that one day, Choi Young-cheol would get a real education! But that guy is Shin Sang-hyun? That’s really great. They’re in different weight classes, but you just chewed him up and beat him up?

▶ Outdex: Anyone who has watched the live broadcast from the beginning will know. Watch out for that guy, Shin Sang-hyun. He is a truly scary player.

▶ Kingdom: Watching Choi Young-cheol do whatever he wants, it’s crap, but who would take care of it? … … And he’s a player who’s not even level 30. He’s crazy, he’s crazy!

▶ Hofast: That bastard Choi Young-cheol, when you come to your senses, will you be able to show your face properly?

Most of the content was about admiring Sang-Hyeon’s skills in overcoming the absurd level difference.

Choi Young-cheol, who was treated as a villain from the beginning, had no fans, so there was no such thing as words defending him.

“Phew.”

The gaze of Sang-Hyeon, who had previously used psychedelic skills to push his body and mind to their limits, returned.

Usually, when the psychedelic effects wear off, you feel exhausted immediately, but this time it was different.

This is because there was no significant counterattack from Choi Young-cheol while the effect was ongoing.

Usually, the accumulated damage at this time would surge like a tide as the psychedelic ended, hitting the body and mind hard, but this time it was an exception.

Because it didn’t allow even a single attack, there was no damage to come back as an aftershock.

“Your style was obvious. It must have been fun during that time. It must have been fun to play around with and trample on others with your freezing skills.”

“Kuuuuuuu… … .”

Choi Young-cheol, who was half-sweet, could not even listen to Sang-hyeon properly and only groaned.

The game is already over.

Anyone could see that it was Sang-Hyeon’s victory, and the only person who could disagree was… …the warm Jo Seong-Ho.

“Let’s get the money little by little. But I have to keep my promise, right? I’ll give you a nice massage.”

Sang-Hyeon gathered Choi Young-Cheol’s drooping arms together and placed them as one over his head.

Whether or not, Choi Young-cheol didn’t even know that his body was being moved on its own by Sang-hyeon.

“I got a massage once before, and it felt really good when they pressed my body with their feet.”

“Ugh.”

“I’ll press down on you with my combat boots, with all my affection. So accept it. Don’t pull back. Now, I’ll turn off training mode.”

Sang-Hyeon gave a clear message to Jo Seong-Ho’s camera containing him and then ended training mode.

From now on, the pressure and power will be transmitted in their true form, not in a weakened form.

Kook. Kook. Kook.

“Euuuuuuu… … !”

As Sang-Hyeon gradually put more weight on himself while adjusting his body’s center of gravity, a scream immediately erupted from Choi Young-Cheol.

Sang-Hyeon didn’t even blink an eye. Then, he climbed onto Choi Young-Cheol’s wrist as if he was performing an acrobatic feat.

He placed the greatsword next to him, held it against the pillar, and began to put all his strength into his legs.

Then, an unpleasant sound that made everyone watching frown burst out from Choi Young-cheol’s hand.

Drumroll. Drumroll. Crunch.

“Kkaaaah!”

Choi Young-cheol’s scream, which seemed as if the world was about to collapse, resonated everywhere.

Even though he had already suffered a compound fracture, Sang-Hyeon still did not back down.

“You should be thankful that I was able to use my last bit of patience to finish the job, leaving the bones shattered into tiny pieces instead of powder.”

Knock. Knock knock. Knock knock.

“Ahhh! Aahhh! Aahhhh!”

As Sang-Hyeon shifted his weight back and forth, Choi Young-Cheol’s scream went up in octaves.

In fact, it was Sang-Hyeon’s true education that accurately identified how to make it more painful.

If we do not educate them about the fear of pain, they may repeat the same evil deeds later.

Trauma occurs when you are unilaterally violated while you are completely helpless. Like right now.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

I felt something like a solid rock breaking into small pieces under my combat boots.

Perhaps some part of your wrist bone is no longer able to support your weight and has broken into pieces like cookie crumbs.

“Krrrrr… … .”

Choi Young-cheol, no longer having the mental strength to endure, ended up foaming at the mouth and fainting.

At the same time, the sphincter muscle was released and the urine and feces poured out with an embarrassing sound from the bladder.

It was the worst situation for Choi Young-cheol, who unfortunately came dressed in ivory-toned clothes.

And this embarrassing scene was broadcast on YouTube by Jo Seong-ho, who filmed Choi Young-cheol until the end.

It was only natural that it caught the attention of over 50,000 viewers who flocked to see it as word of mouth spread.

Then, suddenly, a group of players appeared among the pedestrians.

“Excuse me. Are you Mr. Shin Sang-hyun?”

Sang-Hyeon examined the clothing of the group that had emerged from the crowd of pedestrians. The name tags worn on their left chests clearly showed their guild affiliations.

【Utopia Guild】

It was Choi Young-cheol’s guild.

Perhaps he rushed to the scene as soon as he saw the broadcast. The result was probably different from what he expected.

“That’s right. Is there anything you want to see?”

Sang-Hyeon answered coldly.

In the first place, since it was the guild that Choi Young-cheol belonged to, he couldn’t help but look upon them with favor.

“I apologize for not being able to prevent this unpleasant incident in advance. I came to the scene to quickly resolve the situation and provide the promised compensation.”

“Can you please tell me your affiliation and name?”

“Oh, sorry for the late introduction. My name is Moon Baekhyun, the manager of the Gangdong region of the Utopia Guild.”

Asking about his affiliation and name was probably an intentional arrangement by Sang-Hyeon.

Even if it weren’t for Jo Seong-ho, there were already quite a few players filming the scene.

If you stuff it like this, it will become useful material for a long time later. Because images don’t lie.

“We will hold the guild member in question strictly accountable for his excessive bickering and actions and make him public.”

“I see.”

Sang-Hyeon answered with a calm expression. He knew that they were not doing it out of a sense of justice.

However, since Choi Young-cheol’s defeat led to a bad ending, they are only pretending to quickly recover.

If the situation had been the opposite, Sang-Hyeon’s video would have probably spread throughout numerous player communities by now.

A conversation that had never been held before was included along with fabrications. Utopia was such a thug guild.

“We will first compensate the amount that was revealed through the broadcast. After that, we will directly collect it from the player who caused the controversy.”

“Or so you say.”

“If you don’t mind, can I have your account?”

Sang-Hyeon took out his smartphone and showed his account absentmindedly. And immediately, 500 million won was deposited. It was a lightning-quick transaction.

“Deposit has been completed.”

“Thank you for your hard work. Don’t bother trying to recover in a half-baked way. Just take him to a high-priced healer player.”

Sang-Hyeon said, pointing at Choi Young-Cheol, who was still unconscious.

The Utopia Guild players who came close to support him all had their noses covered.

I wonder what I ate so heartily earlier… … The contents were no joke.

Sang-Hyeon ignores the shower of flashes and compliments pouring down on him and buries them behind him.

Click. Clang. Woofwoof.

I got right into my car and quickly drove down the road within the complex towards Bronze East.

And only after entering the deserted underground parking lot did the expressionless face loosen its strength.

“Whew, this feels unfamiliar.”

The life of a celebrity was something I had never experienced before. Always being the center of attention seemed like a new sense of responsibility and burden.

Of course I didn’t hate it.

If someone envies you and wants to watch over you, it means you are special.

“Until I go on the Chunui Station Gate Exploration, I need to refrain from going out for a while and work on my skills.”

For about a week, Sang-Hyeon rested at home and thought about what he needed to do.

It seemed like I would need some swordsmanship skills.

A skill that allows you to use a single-handed sword instead of two-handed. And a skill that can be used for both movement and attack.

I felt the need to set these two things before exploring.

This was an item that Sang-Hyeon, who knew everything about the Chunui Station gate, could never overlook.

* * *

After that, for a week.

What decorated all the online player communities was the video of Choi Young-cheol being brutally beaten by Sang-hyeon.

It was burning hot!

Many players have been curious about the many unknown aspects of Sang-Hyeon, but information is limited.

The only thing that was revealed was an article in The Player magazine that was revealed once through Kim Mi-so and Park Jeong-min.

So, all kinds of calls poured in for Sang-Hyeon, but he barely answered them because he was focused on training.

I received it exactly twice.

One of them was coordinating schedules with Kim Mi-so, and the other was coordinating an interview schedule with reporter Park Jeong-min.

‘You have to pull out everything you can from the Chunui Station Gate Exploration. It’s a bit disappointing that there have to be at least four participants, though.’

Sang-hyeon absolutely did not want to miss the opportunity that Kim Mi-so had offered him with her own feet.

Dungeons are dungeons, but there are still countless gates unknown to the world.

And even if he didn’t know about overseas, Sang-Hyeon knew the gates in Korea very well. In other words, there were many moonshots that he could catch if given the chance.

It was a moment when the fact that I had been so interested in gate exploration in my previous life and had studied countless cases of strategy shone through.

Of course, there was a reason for research even then.

When participating in a gate exploration, you need to have a lot of prior knowledge to deal with the various variables that occur inside.

Therefore, it was essential to fully understand the characteristics of the gates that the advance party had attacked.

This is so that if an emergency occurs, you can apply your knowledge immediately and respond quickly.

“As expected, the answer to artifacts is eating them! Thanks to Team Leader Yoon Dae-kyung, I’ve gotten quite a few artifacts with good absorption rates.”

Sang-Hyeon leaned back on the sofa and enjoyed the leisure of his prey, feeling languid and full.

Yesterday, I purchased an artifact worth 400 million won from a player I was introduced to through Yoon Dae-kyung.

[Stat increase status]

[Set period: Last 1 hour]

[Strength +23 / Stamina +19 / Agility +05 / Mana +11 / Luck +00 / Evasion +00 / Defense +13]

“If I buy an artifact from a player in the Inspectorate, it’s set up the way I want, which is really nice.”

Since the job groups are the same, the direction of stat development is similar, so the necessary stats are mainly increased.

The absorption rate was a little lower than that of Yun Dae-kyung, but it was still a seller worth the money.

“It’s true that the probability of hidden skills appearing increases as you go into a battle of wits. But that’s what drawing is all about, isn’t it?”

Sang-Hyeon checked the added effects with a happy expression.

This time, rather than using it as a separate skill, it seemed better to link it to a skill or artifact, such as delay or lightening, so I decided to go that route.

[The effect of strength gained through absorption can be combined with skills.]

‘Combined with psychedelics.’

[Added the effect of Strength to Psychedelic.]

[From now on, even when the Psychedelic duration ends, you will no longer immediately become exhausted due to accumulated damage.]

[Your stamina will gradually decrease over the next 100 seconds, with your strong body limiting the decrease to a maximum of 80%.]

“Using psychedelics, I can avoid being completely defenseless.”

I was much more satisfied because I felt like I had improved on my weaknesses. It is important to strengthen your strengths, but it is also very important to erase your weaknesses.

From Sang-Hyeon’s perspective, who had to think about various connections, awakening skills like psychedelic were very important.

However, the exhaustion that comes as an aftershock when damage accumulates excessively was a problem, and this part has been filled.

It was a very good thing.

“Even the skills that were carefully crafted here.”

Sang-Hyeon smiled happily as he looked at the two skills he had developed after a full week of intensive training.

『One-handed sword training』

■ Skill Level: Stage 1 (0.0%)

■ Skill Introduction: Increases adaptability to daggers and one-handed longswords.

『Full charging』

■ Skill Level: Stage 1 (0.0%)

■ Skill Introduction: After condensing powerful force, rush forward in one breath and strike the enemy.

Damage increases explosively and dash distance increases significantly for the amount of time that charging takes. However, movement is completely restricted during this time.

“Movement, it’s not important.”

Every time I fight a battle, I gain a skill that fills in the gaps that I always felt were lacking.