Chapter 98
Crunch, crunch.
Ptew!
After chewing up a dead poison scorpion and sucking out only the venom, I spat out the remains and leaned against a tree.
All around me were fragments of various poisons I had spit out.
[Poison bonus applied.]
[‘Venom Sac of the Deadly Poison Scorpion’ is a Grade 1 deadly poison.]
[You have gained 500 Trial Points.]
“Nice!”
The words slipped out on their own.
Lately, I had begun to truly understand what the Elder meant—how encountering stronger poisons could make a man excited.
Especially Grade 1 poisons—they were incredibly rare.
From my experience, you had to find around twenty Grade 2 poisons to encounter one Grade 1.
“Uuuugh.”
As expected of a Grade 1.
My tongue burned and stung.
Not just my tongue—every nerve in my body screamed for mercy.
‘Sorry. Sorry, body.’
Hang in there a little longer.
The pain now will make us tougher and stronger later.
They say pain that doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, right?
Vrrrm—!
I activated the Supreme Azure Mind Method, gently wrapping the invading poison.
Following the channels the old man taught me…
I could now handle two Grade 1 poisons at once.
“Whew.”
After some time, the poison gathered at the tip of my finger—
Drip.
A green drop fell.
Two weeks since entering this place.
I now could even control where the expelled poison came out.
‘I’ve eaten an insane amount.’
After separating from my group, I spent a week roaming near the central region, gathering and consuming poison.
As a result—
[Skill: Hundred-Poison Immunity]
[Grade: B]
[Effect 1: Grants resistance to a hundred types of poison.]
[Effect 2: Grants complete immunity to poisons below a certain level.]
I had gained Hundred-Poison Immunity.
And—
[Your current Trial Points.]
[Trial Points: 51,300]
I had accumulated this many Trial Points as well.
Of course, it was still far from enough to buy everything in the shop.
I was…
I was still hungry.
– “You brat. At least rest a little.”
While I was channeling energy against the tree, the old man scolded me from behind.
I had already told him that for a while, I’d put training aside and focus solely on building poison resistance.
He’d wanted to watch, so he told me to summon him during the day instead of at night.
So here he was.
– “Seeing you now, you’re not even eating proper meals. You’re just consuming poison. Are you even sleeping?”
“…Sleeping? I sleep two hours every day. And I’m eating too.”
– “Eh? Don’t tell me… you mean that thing?”
The old man stared at me in disbelief.
There were mushroom scraps in the direction I’d pointed.
– “That’s not food. That’s just mushroom bits. Foolish brat. What will you do if you collapse from malnutrition? Driving out poison also requires proper strength.”
“I don’t have time.”
I said quietly.
“To deal with that Toxin Mist creature, I need at least Thousand-Poison Immunity. But I’m still only at Hundred-Poison.”
– “Well, look at this brat.”
What.
– “You think Thousand-Poison and Ten-Thousand-Poison Immunity are achieved overnight? In my day, I wandered mountains for nearly a year to achieve Thousand-Poison, you rascal!”
“That’s because your world didn’t have enough poison.”
Even as he lectured me, I continued crunching the poisonous mushroom in my hand.
Beside the tree, dozens of mushrooms Eldrin had collected were neatly piled.
There was still plenty to eat.
And Eldrin ensured the poison supply never ran dry.
“Ah. I see how it is.”
I grinned.
“You’re jealous your disciple found a natural paradise of poison, aren’t you?”
– “You little—!”
[Poison bonus applied.]
[‘White Spiked Clown Mushroom’ is a Grade 3 poison.]
[You have gained 100 Trial Points.]
Tch.
Grade 3 this time.
Grade 3 didn’t even tingle anymore.
More like a refreshing massage.
– “Well yes, I’m jealous. Tsk. Everywhere you go, you stumble into fortune. If I were you, I might’ve surpassed the pinnacle of the Ten Thousand Arts.”
“…Oh? You have a realm above that?”
– “Heh.”
The old man smirked.
– “Do you know this?”
“Know what?”
– “The moment you think something in this world has an end… is when it truly begins.”
“Oh.”
I remembered my first meeting with the old man.
How he toyed with Ki Soyul— a Ranker—using various weapons like they were toys.
And he still had a realm above that?
What could that possibly be?
“I’m still like a frog in a well. I can’t even see the world outside.”
– “Click-click, you brat. You’re not in the well. You’ve at least poked your head outside.”
“That’s… oddly comforting.”
Ptew.
I spat out the bitter mushroom pulp.
My stomach tingled slightly—this one attacked the digestive system.
‘Still.’
It was comfortable.
Maybe I really was a necromancer to the bone.
Being alone was so much easier.
Away from the group, I could eat poison freely.
I could mutter to myself without restraint.
“…I might not be the type Delilah wants.”
I muttered as I popped another poisonous chunk into my mouth.
– “Hmm? Why do you think that?”
“She seems to want cooperation. But honestly, I’m happier alone. Even now. It feels peaceful.”
“Hmm…”
I didn’t have to deceive anyone.
Didn’t have to read the room.
I simply focused on getting stronger alone.
– “You brat. You are the sole disciple of me, the Master of Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts.”
“……”
– “Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts is vast yet solitary. Even if that Delilah woman thanks you, you don’t need to become the ideal she wants.”
“That’s true.”
– “Whatever the next trial is, whatever obstacles lie ahead, keep doing what you’re doing. Then you’re already halfway there.”
“Keep doing this?”
– “Yes. Charging forward blindly without looking back. Your luck has already surpassed the heavens, so that alone could solve everything. Tsk. Jealous brat.”
“……”
This old man…
Why did he start talking like that again?
As we bantered while I continued consuming poison—
“Master.”
Sunny returned from scouting.
While Eldrin gathered poison, he was in charge of reconnaissance.
About three days ago, I had ordered Sunny to investigate all hunters remaining near the central region.
And right on cue—three days later—he returned.
“As you commanded, I have identified every hunter near the central area.”
“Oh, really?”
Sunny was talented indeed.
To scout A- and S-grade hunters—people at my level or higher—without being caught?
Impossible unless you were Ranker-tier.
‘Well.’
Sunny was somewhat special.
He excelled in darkness, and night was his prime hunting ground.
“There were 24 hunters near the center, excluding Master.”
“Twenty-four?”
“Yes. One group of ten, one group of five, one of four, one of three, and two individuals moving alone.”
“……”
Not many.
We started with fifty.
The twenty-five besides me were either—
Far away from the center.
Or dead.
“Huh, a team of ten already?”
Ten.
Exactly the number Theme 2 teams would need.
Did they also obtain information?
“Yes. They were all busy gathering food.”
“Of course. At this point, anyone who doesn’t know how to gather Trial Points would be a fool.”
“And there’s one more thing.”
Sunny’s eyes grew cold.
“Yes?”
“For the past three days, one team has been circling around Master.”
– “Oh, them.”
I nodded.
With the old man beside me—who could detect Rankers—how could I not know?
“The team of four, right?”
“…As expected, you knew.”
Sunny nodded.
– “You brat.”
The old man cut in.
– “They’re approaching now.”
“Yes, I feel them too. They must not have been nobles in their past lives.”
– “Click-click, what will you do now? You kept singing about how much you like being alone.”
“Well. I need to find out their intentions first.”
I answered, amused by the old man’s grin.
‘But what a shame.’
The Elder’s summon time was almost up.
Only an hour a day… and we were nearly out of coins.
“……”
The old man seemed to sense my gaze, because his expression instantly darkened.
– “Haa… really.”
He sighed heavily.
– “Heaven is cruel. Just when things were getting fun… and I must leave? This cannot be. Boy.”
“Yes?”
– “Could you run away and meet them tomorrow instead? That much should be easy for you!”
“…Wow. That desperate?”
Well…
I understood.
What must it feel like to live only one hour a day?
‘However.’
It was already too late to grant his wish.
Rustle, rustle!
With the sound of grass being stepped on—
From all four directions—
Four figures appeared.
“Hey.”
One man, standing at the front, spoke first.
With his bulky build and rough skin, he looked intimidating.
Chinese, at first glance.
“Lemme ask you something.”
“……”
I didn’t even take my back off the tree.
I just stood still and watched the middle-aged man.
[Skill ‘Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts’ (S-grade) has ended.]
[Summon of ‘Master of Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts’ has been canceled.]
[This skill will be usable again in 24 hours.]
The old man vanished while cursing endlessly.
As silence fell—
“Hey, f***er. You deaf? When someone talks to you, why are you clamping your damn mouth shut? Huh?”
His deep voice shook the clearing.
“I can hear fine.”
I snorted.
These people.
I didn’t know their reason for approaching me.
But they were incredibly disrespectful.
If they wanted to ask something, they should do it politely. Instead, they threatened like they were about to kill me if I didn’t answer.
“……”
There was no need to show courtesy to someone who didn’t show it.
“Look at this brat’s face.”
The rugged man tilted his head arrogantly.
“You’ve been wandering around eating poisonous mushrooms, and now you’ve gone crazy, huh?”
“A guy who couldn’t even form a team is walking around alone… how the hell do you have the balls to stand so straight?”
The other three walked toward me with equally nasty attitudes.
Heh.
I laughed quietly inside.
Look at these idiots.