“Byeong-woo, his were skills were amazing since the beginning; his abilities were enough to confront multiple enemies. Meanwhile, my attacks are still lacking; why is that?”
“Byeong-woo has a discerning eye; unlike others that prioritize the quantity or marble eaten, he considers the quality. He bulks up on the rarer ones since he knows that once you collect multiple marbles of the same kind, its effectivity lessens.”
“The black marble I’ve eaten increased my resilience, it doubles, then triples, and it takes 24 hours instead of 48, but it won’t help much in the fight… That’s why Kim Byung-woo scouted you; I’m envious.”
“Are you being sarcastic?”
“No, I’m serious.”
I sighed because of my circumstance.
“You got a strong ability; you’ll become rich.”
“I should go.”
Before she left, I had to one more thing to ask her,
“Wait a minute; I have a question. Do you know what power a yellow marble gives you?”
Park Min-ji’s eyes grew.
“Did you get the yellow marble?”
“No.”
“Then why are you asking that?”
“People usually think of red, blue, black, and white marble, but I’ve never seen a yellow one, so I had to ask, may Byung-woo has seen one.”
“It amplifies your special abilities.”
“You mean like your defense and my resilience?”
“Yes, he also said that yellow marble is precious; even after eating it multiple times, it was still very effective. Even the great Byung-woo has only eaten two.”
I clenched my fist.
I ate that precious thing.
I endured wanting to check my resilience right now.
“Are there really no instances of black marble duplicating abilities?”
“I said it was very, very, very, very rare. It’s almost considered impossible. If you want a stronger ability, look for a black striped bead. Kim Byung-woo seemed to know nothing about the black striped beads.”
“What’s been going on in the village?”
“Choi Yu-mi was right; there was scum in the mix.”
Park Min-Ji was angry with her feet.
“Did something bad happen?”
“There was a traitor.”
“traitor? Who?”
“You know that fat bitch who’s been pushing us.”
“Kim Su-ji?”
“Yes, Kim Su-ji. It’s been two years since he stabbed Choi in the back. Her arm was severed and shed a lot of blood. Luckily she was saved by Han Soo-jin.
She shook her head while thinking then muttered,
“Hasn’t Choi recovered? Can she still fight?”
“Monsters have been attacking the village a lot.”
“So?”
“The monster that raided the village gives a lot of marbles. Because of that, Kim Byeong-woo is also participating in the defensive battle.”
“While Choi Mi-mi treated her injury, Su-myeong Suh and Kang Yu-sik ate a lot of beads, so they’ve become stronger than her.”
“right.”
“Did Choi Yu-mi eat a lot of beads?”
“The women asked for it, but they probably didn’t eat as much as the younger ones.”
Park Min-ji shook his hand.
“Now I really have to go. I’m swamped today.”
As soon as she left, I pulled out my dagger and gave myself a deep wound, it began bleeding, but I did not touch it.
When the blood stopped, and the scab formed, covered it with my palm and tried to stimulate it, but still, nothing happened.
It’s not better yet.
I covered it again and tried again, the pain began to fade, and I felt a tickling sensation. I removed the scab, and underneath there were no signs of any cuts.
There is no way to check the time here because my phone’s a mess. So, the time was roughly calculated by looking at the movement of the sun.
“It takes about 3 hours.”
Compared to the speed at which the scars on the face have disappeared, it is a significant development, but it is still inadequate. Monsters were able to kill their opponents in mere minutes, and even humans can kill less than 3 hours.
“It’s no useless; even if you get a serious injury, as long as you manage to run away, then you’ll manage to survive.” I tried to comfort myself.
8. Still Life
Two days have passed since Park Min-ji’s visit. In the meantime, I caught nine lizards, but I didn’t get any beads.
The following day, I continued to slay lizards, but I didn’t get any marbles. Min-ji mentioned that the monsters attacking the village always had marbles, meanwhile here I am getting nothing.
Over time I became increasingly frustrated; I’ve even begun to bite my nails. They say that if you can survive for a particular time, you’ll be able to go home. The chances of survival are slim, especially if there is a qualification exam or if I’ll ever need to face Kim Byung-woo. He said it himself that at most twenty people will survive, but there may be less than ten that get to go home.
Kim Byung-woo, who is inhumanly strong and knows a lot of information we don’t know, and Park Min-ji, under his protection, will pass quickly. Seo Su-myeong and Kang Yoo-shik, who occupy an excellent place to take over the village, obtain a bead, and add Hong Joon-seop and Moon Hee-seop, who are the two under the two, and probably some members from the beehive, those 20 slots will quickly be filled.
“Should I go to the village?”
After thinking about an hour, I concluded then got busy.
“I should leave at least two living lizards…”
* * *
The two grandmothers of Senior Citizen Party secretly met Park Min-ji, but Kim Byung-woo was aware of the secret visit.
“You must have come to help.”
Kim Byung-woo muttered, turning the glass full of water.
“You never know how what are chances of survival are”
They say that being chosen as a summoner will be the best thing to happen to you if you survive, but your worst nightmare if you fail.
Byung-woo Kim prepared for tomorrow as he drinks his water. He, like Oh Chun-sam, desperately wanted more marbles to become stronger.
* * *
I secretly got up one of the trees and watched as the morning sun rose. Light began to take over Byung-woo’s house as well as the town hall.
After a while, people came out one by one to prepare for the start of the day. Previously, a mand and woman would prepare breakfast together, but now the woman is in charge. This alone shows how much the village has changed.
Seo-soo threw a bowl at a woman in the beehive. Then, she danced up the pants and made obscene moves.
Kang Yoo-sik wore a woman on both sides and laughed at it. Previously, she was wearing a grandmother, but now she is wearing a young woman.
After the meal, the women washed the dishes. All other minor work was also the responsibility of women. I kicked my tongue. It’s no different from a bully or a busy office worker or an elderly senior citizen.
It’s a game.
After some time, I was very nervous when I saw Kim Byeong-woo coming out of the house. His appearance is a sign of the monster’s emergence. When he appears, you can expect a monster nearby.
I watched the entire forest flutter and swallowed my saliva.
What will pop out?
“Kah Ang!”
A trembling roar rang, and six monsters that were more than twice the person’s size came out.
“It’s a troll!”
The young man near Su-myeong screamed. As they recognized what they were going to fight, Kim Byung-woo moved forward, and the rest also began to advance.
The fight took place at the open space between the village and the forest, Byung-woo was the first to attack.
Puck.
Byeong-Woo Kim rushed towards one of the trolls; the impact was so powerful that he could knock it down. The troll shrieked and fell then awkwardly flayed around. The troll was trying to stand up, but it was like an invisible hand was keeping it down.
Park Min-ji’s skill.
Her abilities were also strong enough to stop the trolls.
To use her abilities like that meant she had eaten more black beads.
Kim Byung-woo moved to the troll’s head and raised his sword.
It was too easy.
The sword was as quick as a speeding bullet,
Pak.
The troll’s head was cut off; it was the only way to stop its regeneration. The others were struggling to defeat the other troll.
As long as you cut off its head, it can’t regenerate.
Kim Byung-woo and Park Min-ji proceeded to beat the other troll in the same way; there were still casualties in the end. Five bodies were seen around the four trolls. They were all older women.
This is the world of Vakyuksik, where the weak are first eliminated. It is raw, violent, and inhuman.
Thud.
Finally, the other troll was defeated, but many of the elderly were injured.
Byeong-Woo Kim slaughtered two of them and took seven marbles and went near was a troll was still attacking the beehive.
Han Su-jin stopped in front of him.
“Can’t you see that we’re fighting?”
Kim Byung-woo said coldly.
“You can’t win.”
“I can succeed.”
“It could be if you sacrifice four people. Are you prepared to make sacrifices like Yoo-Sik Kang of the Senior Citizen Party?”
Han Su-jin bit her lip; she knew Byung-woo had a point but did not want to admit it.
“I’ll help you if you give me half the marbles you’ll get from the troll.”
Choi Yu-mi, who was fighting the troll, said.
“Fine.”
It was sad seeing Choi Yu-mi fighting with only one arm, soon Byung-woo and Min-ji assisted the beehive.
Su-myeong Seo was not fighting directly. Instead, he waved his hands like the conductor of an orchestra; the office workers moved according to his hand gestures. When he stretched out his right hand and rolled his foot, Jun-seop Hong, raised his right arm and shook his ax.
Puck.
The troll’s wrist was severed and flew. Su-myeong Suh finally came out.
“Do it now!”
When Hong Joon-seop stood up, Su-myeong Seo stretched out his palm. Then fire blazed out of his hand. The flames held the troll’s wrist, which started playing in a moment.
He had the flame powers.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the fire. I envied. Su-myeong Seo’s abilities.
This troll will be caught soon.
I turned to the sixth troll. Five gangsters from Sungtaek Seonggol joined forces with five office workers and were holding trolls.
They didn’t have superior physical abilities like Kim Byung-woo, no special skills like Su-myeong Suh, and no members of the organization to force sacrifices like Kang Yu-sik. So, like Yumi’s beehive, she was struggling with evil. Hong Joon-seop and Moon Hee-seop approached that way.
“We can help.”
Hong Joon-seop interrupted and said. Ho-Seok Park, the new center of Dong-Taipei, has put out an unpleasant tee. At the moment of refusal, an office worker was caught by a troll. The troll pulled the head of the man caught like a tap and chewed it in his mouth. And he swung another body to beat another office worker.
puck.
The beaten man flew 30 meters and hung it on the floor. It was a long time to live without anything that didn’t move.
Because they were dying, two seats were empty. Park Ho-seok reluctantly gave up his seat.
“The conditions are the same as the two dead.”
“What are the conditions?”
“After the hunt, we’ll gamble for the marbles.”
“It’s a lottery… … The unlucky one will suffer to die and go back empty-handed.”
“right. If you don’t like it, get out.”
“No, I will accept the terms.”