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Cave Cleaning -3-
Acquire the [Patience] trait.
In the game, it came with a simple ability called All Damage Reduction.
I guess it’s similar in this world.
The disgusting and nauseating smell of drugs and the moans were noticeably weakened.
To be precise, it means that I am taking it that weakly.
“I guess I can live a little.”
I stuffed the rest of the kimbap into my mouth.
The rice was thin and had a variety of vegetables, and it was very tasty, with plenty of tuna and mayonnaise.
This is only 1500 won.
Considering that it originally costs around 4,000 won to buy one large tuna kimbap, this is an absurd price.
‘The prices are strange.’
Real estate prices are two to three times higher, while the cost of living is less than half.
Actually, it can’t be helped.
We live in a world without a minimum wage.
The hourly wage is usually around 4,000 won, and even 5,000 won is considered generous.
If the production of food and daily necessities had not skyrocketed due to advanced magical science, the world would have been turned upside down.
Instead, due to the population explosion, South Korea’s population has long since surpassed 100 million.
With 100 million people living in this tiny piece of land, South Korea, social problems are exploding.
There’s a reason why drugs are so rampant.
‘Let’s go to sleep.’
I don’t know.
I don’t know where the Republic of Korea in this strange world will go.
I should take care of my life.
I took a cheap sleeping bag out of my bag and covered it up to my head.
The groans of the old men were still irritating to my ears, but I somehow managed to fall asleep.
The next day.
Everyone limped towards the concrete structure.
“I’m dying······”
“Mr. Park. Walk away. You rotten me.”
“Is this your first time seeing a zombie?”
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Oh. It’s clean.”
“If you think he’s going to mutate, tell me in advance. Mr. Park’s skin has all rotted away, so it’s hard to tell if he’s mutated or not.”
“I told you so.”
Most of it looks similar to when we left yesterday.
Except for one person.
“Oh······”
The hedgehog’s head stumbled as he walked.
A flood of wary eyes pours in.
“Mr. Kim. Are you okay?”
“You can’t give up here. I don’t think Kim will die alone.”
“But if it mutates, it won’t be any better.”
“Even if you mutate, make sure you consume magic power before you mutate. If you think you might mutate, don’t forget to tell me in advance.”
“Hehe. It’s okay. Don’t you remember last week? It was exactly like this last week.”
“It was dangerous even then······”
The inhibitor did not completely restore the hedgehog’s head.
Wasn’t it the same last night?
The hairs on the back of my hand had turned into small thorns.
Even now, his hair is definitely long and has a metallic sheen. It’s not as pointy at the ends, but I think it was only a matter of time before that happened.
There were small thorns growing all over my face that weren’t there yesterday.
“Sir, shouldn’t we stop here?”
I couldn’t stand to watch anymore so I said something and the air suddenly became cold.
The deer spoke with a pouty face.
“Sir. Do you know what happens if 7 people eat the same thing as 8 people?”
“I know that······”
“It’s a no-go. Since Mr. Kim came in yesterday, we have to see it through. If we can’t purify all five, I won’t even open the door. How do you think Mr. Nana will hold out? If Mr. Kim gets out of here, two or three of the men here will die instantly.”
The rest of the men nod their heads vigorously.
The hedgehog head swallowed dry saliva and then spoke.
“I’m fine. Let’s go like this.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes. As I said yesterday, I’m more afraid of debt collectors than of death. If I give up here, I won’t get what I earned yesterday. I’d rather go all the way than have my head ripped off by debt collectors.”
A hedgehog head speaking with clenched fists.
The pupils are shaking.
The face overlapped with that of Mr. Lee, the man from Gosiwon, whose chin had been replaced by a steel prosthesis, whom I had seen on the street at night a few days ago.
My heart starts to ache and I instinctively turn my head away.
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okay.
I’ve done enough.
Anything beyond this is a ploy, a hedgehog’s choice and self-destructiveness.
What can I do if he insists on going to hell?
“Go.”
The deer spoke bluntly and walked into the concrete structure.
The first thing that comes to mind is the hedgehog head.
Although he pretended to be cheerful and laughed and chatted, he couldn’t hide his shaking eyes and trembling hands.
“Want to have a glass of soju after we’re done?”
“Good!”
“Is Mr. Lee living there?”
“Where did I get my money? It’s buns, buns!”
“I’m in too!”
“Mr. Kim, please get purified properly.”
“If you don’t get purified this time, next time it’s 100%, 100%!”
Cleaning went back to the same as yesterday.
Noru and I take the lead in digging up the slimes, and once the slime hunting is over, the old men collect the magic cores, and we sit against the wall and absorb the contaminated magic.
“Hoooo, hooray.”
“Euuuu······”
“Ugh, gasp.”
“Wow!”
“Ugh, I’m going crazy. I’m going crazy!”
“I should have studied harder when I was in school!”
This is the second polluted area we entered on the second day.
I felt my breath clearer as I absorbed the polluted magic.
This feeling of being refreshed to the depths of my lungs.
The refreshing sensation was soon tainted by the contaminated magic, but it was not long before I realized what had happened.
[Deep Breath] Acquire trait.
This makes the absorption of pollution magic much faster.
It wasn’t a bad story even in normal times. The deep breathing trait increases the speed of magic recovery.
My heart naturally became warm.
‘If I do well, I’ll get one more magic-related trait.’
All the traits I’ve acquired so far are common traits, and among the common traits, they are tier 3 and basic traits.
Instead, it satisfies the acquisition conditions of a certain Tier 1 trait.
It’s the magic heart.
Magic Heart is a rare tier 1 trait among common traits, and it greatly increases all magic usage and recovery efficiency. It is most effective for the magician class, but it is also quite good for the warrior class.
“Krrrrr!”
It was when I was chuckling to myself.
The hedgehog head that had been crouching on the side of the passage suddenly spat out foamy blood.
“Huh? Mr. Kim?”
“are you okay?”
“Damn it! Get the shovel out!”
“No one brought a gun?”
The deer glares cruelly.
A deer takes out his bag and takes out a pistol.
Crunch.
The sound of the loading gun was heavy.
Hearing that, the hedgehog head quickly raises both hands.
“Eww! Eww!”
It seems like he’s telling me not to shoot, but I can’t get the words out.
Even the tongue is deformed.
A situation that is difficult to turn back.
It was when the deer raised its pistol and was about to aim at the hedgehog’s head.
Ding!
A green light exploded with a loud sound.
The tension that was as heavy as a weight suddenly bursts and disappears.
“Whoa!”
Someone let out a sigh they had been holding back.
“Mr. Kim almost died.”
“If I had been just one minute late, I would have died.”
“I think I’ve been reborn from today.”
“Ugh, ugh.”
The hedgehog’s head sank and he let out an incomprehensible sound.
The men quickly supported the hedgehog’s head.
“Get out quickly.”
“You shouldn’t stay here too long.”
“Go out quickly and get some inhibitors first.”
Even though he has absorbed the polluted magic into his body, he still has some residual magic left. That is why he has to go outside and take the suppressant.
Everyone barely managed to get out, limping.
Yesterday I took a dose of the inhibitor after showering, but today I didn’t even have time to do that.
As soon as I got out, I was busy inserting syringes into my thighs and arms.
“Huh······ I’m going to give you a lot of Jicha······”
The inhibitor did not show the same miraculous performance as yesterday.
The hedgehog head in particular was like that.
The others returned to their original state, but Hedgehog Head was mumbling to himself, his pointed head flashing.
“Mr. Kim. Can you hold out?”
“One······Namajjana.”
“That’s right. There’s one left.”
“There are not two tomorrows. There is only one.”
“Just hold on somehow. Just hold on and earn money. Go to the temple, make an offering, and be purified. You’ll live. Got it?”
“Uh······ I’ll hold on.”
The second night at Landfill 1.
Similar to yesterday, the men were lying down, soaked in drugs.
The hedgehog head was pouring drugs into his body as if today was his last day.
Cigarette drugs and injection drugs are the basics. On top of that, he blew up a green bottle of soju. At first, I thought it was soju, but upon closer inspection, it was drugs.
With each sip, I could see the hedgehog’s head getting tastier in real time.
“Ugh. I’m drunk.”
Do drugs act as a cure or a suppressant?
The babbling sound has improved a lot. The sharp tips of the thorns seem to have become a bit dull.
Even so, it’s just a drug and even so, it’s just a temporary measure.
I fell asleep, glancing at the strangely shiny hedgehog head reflected in the window.
Finally, the last day.
Less than an hour after I started absorbing the fifth area’s magic, the hedgehog’s head started to convulse.
“Kkeuheuk!”
What is flowing out of the mouth is foam.
No, it’s a black slime that’s strangely deformed and full of black thorns the size of grains of sand.
The mutation was beginning in earnest.
“Damn it! Mr. Kim! Come to your senses!”
“It’s all over now! This is the end!”
“Hold on a little longer!”
“No Holy Water? Holy Water?”
The men searched the hedgehog’s head’s luggage roughly, but found nothing.
Just one.
Except for one green soju bottle with its bottom exposed.
“shit!”
“Damn it!”
“Who has a saint?”
“Even the lowest level of holy water is fine! Doesn’t anyone have one?”
No one came forward.
I laughed inwardly.
Because I caught a glimpse of the truth in the men who shouted out loud for Holy Water.
Want to bet?
At least half of the men here will have holy water.
I’m not giving it away because I feel sorry for it.
Isn’t that right?
A person who is lucky enough to survive today but will not live long, or a quack.
At least in this place, there is no one who would spend expensive holy water on a human being who is not even family.
The same goes for deer that unconsciously stroke their own legs and move their bodies.
That’s a cognitive assumption.
If I were in the same situation, I wouldn’t have been able to give up the Holy Water.
Maybe that one bottle of holy water could be my lifeline.
‘You’re trash too. I’m trash too.’
I felt relieved when I acknowledged my self-portrait.
Instead, I’ll do what I can.
If you’re lucky, you’ll live. If you’re unlucky, you’ll die.
“Take her out.”
“huh?”
“Junior?”
The old men look at me with faces like they’re wondering what I’m talking about.
I nodded silently.
“I’ll cover as much as I can. It’s still bearable. Take him out and wait. I’ll try to hold out, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll call him and we can take turns then.”
It means that I will absorb the polluted magic power alone.
The door won’t close, so the polluted magic will leak out, but not by much.
The old men’s faces brightened up.
“Are you serious?”
“Are you okay?”
“If something goes wrong with my junior······”
“It’s okay. I told you to let me know if it’s difficult.”
“Absolutely, absolutely!”
“Just say the word and I’ll come in right away!”
The men rushed out as if they were afraid that they might cancel their conversation.
The hedgehog’s head is writhing as it is heard by the men.
The thorns that have turned metallic are growing longer and longer.
The odds are 50/50.
If you endure, you will survive, but if you can’t endure, you will mutate and become a contaminated body.
The deer stared at me intently.
“mister.”
“why?”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“well.”
I shrugged my shoulders slightly.
It’s our first time meeting anyway.
Just leave it alone, whether it lives or dies.
But when it actually became a reality and I thought about that person dying right before my eyes, a corner of my heart felt uncomfortable.
That’s why it’s like this.
It’s just a matter of spreading out several times more polluted magic power, but it’s not a big deal to me.
Because even if you force yourself like this, you will never mutate or die.
“Hueuheuup.”
Close your eyes and take in as much air as possible.
A large amount of polluted magic power flowed in due to the effects of deep breathing and magic power absorption.
The traits I have currently chosen are as follows:
[Deep Breath][Magic Absorption][Contamination Resistance]
[Patience][Vitality][Healing from wounds]
It was definitely easier to bear.
I could clean up an entire district by myself and still have some left over.
However, after finishing one area like that, you have to go home and recuperate.
“Euuuuuu!”
The deer next to him was also struggling.
It seems like you feel competitive with me.
Arthura.
The magpie is chasing the stork. Then its leg gets torn off.
“Kwaaaaak!”
It really was like that.
I felt that when about half of the polluted magic was absorbed, the deer let out a long scream.
My legs were twisted.
It was already twice as thick, but it was growing longer like a snake and trying to grow another joint.
This is the limit.
The deer gasped for breath and took a small glass bottle out of its bag.
Mulberry!
He bites the cork with his mouth and sprays the liquid from the vial on his leg.
A liquid that is as transparent as water, but strangely holds a star-like light.
Cheeeeek!
A cloud of steam rises and something amazing happens.
The long and twisted legs shook violently and then returned to their original state.
And not in the state before entering the final area, but in the state when I first saw it in the office.
“Ugh, ugh, ugh.”
The deer is gasping for breath.
He threw the glass bottle aside and looked away from my gaze.
And silence.
The deer kept its mouth shut and I pretended not to notice and focused on my breathing.
That took a long time.
Suddenly, my heart started pounding and it hurt like I was stabbed by a knife, and then the pain melted away. Immediately after, my heart started pounding and a warm feeling spread throughout my body.
You came!
I clenched my fists with both hands.
[Magic Heart] is a characteristic.
In fact, we have obtained all the characteristics that can be obtained from the first landfill.
“It’s over······”
The deer spoke with a pale face.
Before I knew it, the green light was smiling brightly.
The air was clear and there was even a gentle breeze blowing thanks to the ventilator that was running fiercely.
That’s all for today.
Unfortunately, there was no time to just relax.
“Goooooooooo!”
The reason why a loud scream echoed from beyond the open door.
“Eww!”
“Save the people!”
“Noru-nim! Junior! Please save me!”
Along with a terrified scream.
The deer’s face hardened.
“f*ck!”
Taat!
In an instant, he pulls his body out and runs out the door.
“Phew.”
Is this how it ends up?
I also grabbed the shovel I had thrown away and followed the deer.
When I came out of the door and entered the hallway.
I saw.
A giant hedgehog monster standing under dim fluorescent lights,
A deer flying through the air, spraying blood.