Chapter 167 – An Unexpected Luck (3)

Kang Geom-Ma slid the half-drawn sashimi blade back into its sheath. He tried counting the number of angels but shook his head.

There were too many—having two sashimi knives wouldn’t even be enough to take them all on. Kang Geom-Ma muttered a curse.

“What is this, Ttosik’s hundred-chicken promotion? Why the hell are there so many damn pigeons?”

Even though he mocked them by calling them pigeons, the truth was—they were formidable foes.

But he hadn’t lost his composure to the point of denying that fact.

‘What kind of power are those bastards wielding?’

They weren’t using magic like demons. Instead, their arms were wrapped in white energy that looked like bandages.

Was there something like this in the game settings? Kang Geom-Ma considered it for a second but quickly dismissed the thought.

‘That doesn’t matter now.’

What did it matter what kind of power those pigeons were using? He had just witnessed a brutal massacre orchestrated by them.

Angels? For heaven’s sake. Compared to these things, the pigeons flocking in Seoul Plaza were actual angels. Kang Geom-Ma licked his dry lips.

The bonus reward was off the table. Still, his main objective—the second relic—was secured, and that would have to be enough.

‘What a waste.’

But he couldn’t just stand by watching that indiscriminate slaughter. He knew all of this was an illusion. Even so, he was genuinely furious.

He was observing fragments of humanity’s history as a third party. Maybe that’s why his blood boiled even more.

At those beings who exterminated humans just for daring to live freely—and the higher entities that backed them—Kang Geom-Ma felt pure rage.

“……”

Suddenly, his gaze shifted. A little girl was watching him, as if her soul had slipped out of her body. Her hair and eyes were mint-colored, shining like fresh leaves. Kang Geom-Ma gave her a soft smile.

“Hey, little one.”

“Huh… eh?”

Luckily, since it was a mission, the Korean language patch was active. Kang Geom-Ma knelt in front of her and sat in a formal posture. He deliberately lowered his gaze and gently patted her head.

“What’s your name?”

“Me… Mesther…”

Kang Geom-Ma smiled slightly again.

“Listen carefully, Mesther. From now on, just do exactly what I say, okay?”

The black-haired man’s smile brought some life back to the girl’s lifeless eyes.

“Run over there.”

As he said it, Kang Geom-Ma gestured toward a pile of rocks atop a hill. Her legs were too short to run far. At the very least, those stones with some kind of overhead cover might serve as anti-air shelter.

Mesther opened her mouth as if to say something but eventually nodded silently. Her intuition told her to trust this man.

‘Ah, right.’

Just before she left, Mesther picked up the flower crown that had fallen to the ground. It was stained with blood, a mess. She had planned to give it to her father, but that gift had lost its recipient thanks to the winged monsters.

With her tiny hands, she fiddled with the crown for a moment. Then, after a short hesitation, she placed it on the man’s head.

“I’m giving it to you.”

“Ah…”

Kang Geom-Ma was surprised. But he soon smiled gratefully.

“Thank you. I’ll put it to good use.”

“What’s your name, mister?”

Kang Geom-Ma calmly answered Mesther’s question. Not because he had time to spare—but because the enemies still hadn’t moved.

The pigeons were still there, staring at him with blank eyes, like they were watching a monkey in a zoo.

“My name is Kang Geom-Ma. And I’m not a mister… well, technically I am, but biologically, I’m still a teenager.”

“How old are you?”

“Stop asking and just run already.”

“It doesn’t matter. Everyone else is dead. It’s okay if I die here too. So I’m not moving until you answer me.”

‘She’s so young she doesn’t even grasp the situation.’

Kang Geom-Ma sighed and replied.

“Seventeen.”

“Huh? You’re three years younger than me!”

“…What?”

Mesther’s face, which had been frozen in fear, regained a bit of color.

“Kang Geom-Ma…”

Mesther repeated the name in her mind and took off running. She knew that continuing the conversation would only interfere with the “mister” (or not?) right now.

As she ran, she left behind the places where the elder, her neighbors, and her parents had disappeared. She was the only ancient who escaped the original sin.

‘I’ll never forget all of this.’

Mesther ran. Even as her feet bled from scraping the ground, she didn’t stop.

‘If I remember, then someday, people will know what happened here today.’

Through her clenched eyelashes, something leaked out. At last, the tears she had been holding back burst out.

The angels looked at one another. Since they shared thoughts, they didn’t need words to communicate.

Archangel Uriel, the leader of the angels, spoke on behalf of them all.

[What are you?]

“…….”

Kang Geom-Ma didn’t reply. He pulled out a portion of his blade and stared at it. The well-honed steel vibrated with a mournful hum.

That’s when—

[Hidden – Using the flower crown as a catalyst, the timeline ‘World Good’ is being rewritten.]

[Location – The catalyst ‘Code. Ancient’ allows a temporary rank elevation.]

[The system uses suppressive force to realign and synchronize current location: Code. Ancient.]

Bzzzzzzz—

Uriel pressed again, impatiently.

[That was a poor question. I’ll ask again.]

“…….”

[Who gave you that power? Speak the name of the impure being that granted you such profane strength, a force whose mere existence insults the stars above.]

“…….”

[If you refuse to speak, we’ll rip your brain out to find the answer.]

“Gu gu gu… Can you shut the hell up already?”

The bloody silence shattered like glass.

“Who gave it to me? Hell if I know. You think if I knew, I’d be living like a loser, running around collecting artifacts?”

[……!]

“But if you want, I can tell you who I used to be until recently. I used to fish. Though now, I’ve changed industries.”

The tools scattered on the ground began to float into the air.

Jagged swords, nearly worn into saws… so crude they barely counted as blades. But in terms of numbers, they lacked nothing compared to the army of angels.

Kang Geom-Ma spoke.

“I now run a chicken restaurant, you feathered freaks.”

[The Blessing of the God of the Sword has been deactivated.]

BOOOOOM!

At the same time thunder roared, the swords tore through the air at impossible speed.

The scattered blades fell on the angels’ bodies. Limbs were severed.

Like oil sizzling in a fryer, golden blood exploded into the sky.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…!

The endless screams and stench of blood soaked the entire plain.

The angels tried to flee. But they couldn’t escape the steel that came for them. The points of those blades meant certain death.

…And so, for a full minute, the tools of humanity crushed the heavenly beings.

Plop. Plop. Wingless bodies fell like a drizzle.

An unknown being, alone, crushing a horde of angels. An inexplicable phenomenon.

If this scene were ever passed down to future generations, it would be remembered by a single name.

Divine Punishment.

***

[You have obtained the second fragment of 【???】: ‘The girl who survived’. Total obtained (2/7).]

—Flash!

== ==

『Amid the divine punishment that stained the earth in blood, a girl survived.
The cursed girl. The human not chosen by the stars. Many vile names were used to label her.
And yet, her bloodline greatly contributed to the history of humanity—and still does today.
In time, the girl engraved the Day of Judgment onto a great stone.
She did it to remember that twisted judgment. Alongside it, she carved her wish that one day, the resentment would be reopened.
And that became the beginning of the true human sword—the birth of writing.』

== ==

[Surprise mission: Ancient Memory achieved!]

Beep!

[※ However, the additional reward could not be obtained. (……)]

[……]

[……]

♪♬♩♫

[NEW! By completing the hidden mission ‘The Sole Survivor’, you are granted a true reward.]

[▷ You can now manifest ‘The Blessing of Motive Force (車力)’.]

[……]

[……]

[Thank you for your effort.]

***

Changseong slammed the stack of documents down on the table.

“The story is mostly tied together. Good work, Media.”

“It wasn’t that different from the Academy’s daily workload, so it was nothing. …I’m tired from the sleepless nights, but at least now I can rest a bit.”

Media rubbed around her eyes. The look Changseong gave her was somewhat bitter.

“You’re still pushing yourself at your age. When I was young, I was afraid of dying at the hands of demons, but these days, disease scares me more. Though, of course, you’ll probably live much longer than I will. Ha ha! In human years, you’re barely what—twenty?”

“Can you not treat me like some kind of freak? I just live longer than others, but I’m still a normal human.”

“And living for hundreds of years is normal…?”

Media frowned. Changseong quickly changed the subject.

“Anyway, can you tell me how your ancestor survived the divine punishment? I got curious while we were guiding Kang Geom-Ma to the monolith.”

“Your father must’ve told you at some point. He’s your direct superior, after all.”

“We haven’t had any informal conversations in quite a while.”

“Why? You used to follow your dad around like a puppy.”

“He’s currently in seclusion. For about three years now.”

“Again? At over three hundred years old, has dementia finally caught up with him?”

“It’s been about 50 years since his last appearance. It’s about time he adopts a new identity. It’s tradition in the Poison clan. And from an ancient’s perspective, he’s still only middle-aged.”

“Even so, could he not at least let his daughter know? They always vanish without a word. My sister left me in charge of the Academy and disappeared, and now Dad too… Ugh, this family’s a mess.”

Media sighed in frustration and continued.

“Anyway, even I don’t know exactly how the founder of the Poisons survived. The legends have been passed down in very fragmented pieces. The only consistent part is that, suddenly, a human appeared and stopped the divine punishment.”

“A human? It’s hard to imagine an ordinary human interfering with divine punishment.”

“Depends on which version of the record you read, but the most accepted one says it was a personification of disaster. Like in any myth or legend. Something appears out of nowhere, destroys everything, and then another being saves it all. And so they end up deified. It’s always the same pattern.”

“Myth or legend, thanks to it, the ancients managed to preserve their bloodline.”

Media shrugged as if it wasn’t her concern.

“If the legend is true, then my ancestor was blessed by fate.”

Beep beep!

The internal phone rang.

Changseong asked Media for permission and picked up the receiver.

“Yes? What’s going on?”

[Mr. Geom-Ma seems to have finished his task.]

Still holding the receiver, Changseong turned his head. He was met with a drowsy gaze. Media gave a slight nod.

Changseong spoke into the receiver again.

“I’m heading over right away.”