Resurrection Chapter 133 - I’m Saying Let’s Date

For the reasons above, skill books were often treated more like currency than for their original function. This was also because once the skill in the book was acquired, its physical form would vanish. The skill would only reappear in the form of a book somewhere after its owner died.

That was why Yaksha couldn’t kill me and take the skill book containing Resurrection. The moment I died, the skill book would move to a place unknown to him. No one could specify the time and place where the skill book would reappear. It could be found in someone’s front yard the day after tomorrow, or it might never appear at all.

Yaksha probably didn’t want to take such a risk with Resurrection, a skill he believed didn’t even exist. That must be why he tormented me so terribly, trying to tame and break me.

Just thinking about that time made me shiver and my shoulders tremble. I was feeling relieved at how fortunate it was that the son of a bitch was dead, when Park Gyu, who had been pretending to contemplate, spoke as if it were unfair.

“This doesn’t seem like a very beneficial deal for me. It’s not like there’s a pile of skill books where you acquired yours. And anyway, when you die, the skill book doesn’t return to its original place, it just disappears somewhere. So what value does that information have?”

I scratched my cheek.

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Then how about this?”

“What?”

“The risk.”

At my words, Park Gyu’s expression wavered. I looked at him and said with a casual smile.

“I’ll tell you what risk the one who possesses Resurrection has to bear. When you think about it, this is my weakness. I’m saying I’ll tell you my weakness.”

As is the way of the world, great power demands a great price. It was only natural for an ability that messes with the absolute causality of death. Because I wasn’t confident I could handle it, I had no intention of acquiring the resurrection skill book even though I had it in my possession. If the person who offered to buy the skill book had just paid the right price and taken it, I wouldn’t have had any lingering attachments.

It was because that person brought thugs and tried to silence me by killing me that I realized the skill book I had wasn’t the kind that could be sold for money. As long as it was in my possession, it was an object that would constantly threaten my life.

And if I acquired it, there was a high possibility that I myself would become a target for the world. Even if I acquired Resurrection, it couldn’t be applied to myself, so it was useless for self-protection. This was a skill solely for others, and as was natural, it was based on sacrifice.

Should I acquire Resurrection even if it meant being prepared for that?

I hesitated for a long time on a bridge, intending to throw the skill book into the river. It wasn’t just because I felt it was a waste to throw away something that could earn me a huge sum of money.

I knew very well that the skill book here contained an ability that could change the world. Perhaps it could help someone reach the max level, kill the Black King, and return the world to its original peaceful state.

But it was difficult to expect a mere human to endure the pain of dying and coming back to life and pursue the salvation of the world rather than their own desires. I didn’t have the confidence to endure the pain alongside them and take on the risks.

If it hadn’t been for Heesoo hyung, I would have just thrown it into the river. But because Heesoo hyung was there, because I knew he had been abandoned by the White Goddess and was trapped in the demon den as if he were waiting for me, in the end I couldn’t throw away the skill book and acquired Resurrection.

All of that was something only I knew. I don’t know if Yaksha used necromancy to summon the soul of the dead assassin and find out about the existence of Resurrection, but he didn’t know the most important part. Even though he had messed with my body and mind so much, I never said a single word about the risk.

I didn’t even tell Heesoo hyung everything. It was a story I especially couldn’t tell Heesoo hyung, more than anyone else. It was my secret, my responsibility, my price, and my weakness.

When I mentioned that part, Park Gyu showed a look of genuine conflict. In exchange for telling him what Heesoo hyung went through in the demon den, he must have thought that learning the full details about Resurrection wasn’t a bad deal.

He was an information broker, and what was important to him, after all, were the secrets the world held.

I thought Park Gyu might accept my proposal. But Park Gyu gave a bitter smile, as if it were a great pity.

“I’m not a human trafficker who captures and sells people. In most situations, I would have upheld my credibility as an information broker.”

“Does that mean you’re refusing?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry.”

I let go of any hope I might have had. It might have been different if Park Gyu were a simple information broker, but he was a person belonging to the giant shadow organization called the Hyeopjukdohoe. He was not in a position to move without Seol Woochan’s orders.

Understanding his situation, I nodded. I hadn’t expected much anyway. I decided to just stick to my original plan of grabbing the guy and making him talk.

A trap, you say. As I’ve said repeatedly, I was an A-class magic swordsman. I might seem relatively incompetent because I’m always next to monsters like Yaksha or Heesoo hyung, but I still had enough ability to protect myself. This was especially true in a situation where all the ability-control devices were off, allowing me to use my abilities to their full 100%.

Ordinary people had all evacuated due to the monster break alarm, and the entertainment district was empty. The only ones here were enemies. Thinking I could go on a rampage as much as I wanted, I began casting.

“Get him before he finishes the activation word!”

Seeing me form the hand signs, Park Gyu shouted. From the darkness behind him, ten Awakened leaped out like shadows.

Dressed in black suits and wearing goggles that looked like sunglasses, their aura was anything but ordinary. I recognized them as the bodyguards of Seol Woochan, the chairman of the Hyeopjukdohoe. They were guys who normally did nothing but protect Seol Woochan, but it seemed they were dead set on it today.

Before they could rush in, nerfs and buffs poured out from both buildings at once. Their aim was very precise, and all sorts of nerfs weighed down on my body. Conversely, the buffs aided the bodyguards. Their movements became so fast they were invisible to the eye. They reached me before my casting was even finished.

My magic went off at almost the same time they arrived.

“Rain of Lightning!”

With a deafening roar of falling thunderbolts, lightning sparked in all directions. In the fleeting moment a bolt of lightning flashed, I saw that the bodyguards were holding something unusual in their hands.

It looked like a chain at a glance, but it didn’t seem to be an ordinary metal, as it didn’t react to the electricity. I instinctively felt that if I were restrained by it, it would be difficult to escape.

I dodged the bodyguards by throwing myself backward while simultaneously drawing my magic sword. I was about to use Offering without a second thought, but the guys, still under the effect of the buffs, were faster.

Five of the ten swung their spears and swords, blocking the Offering, and through the gaps where the weapons flew, chains shot toward my arms and legs like snakes. I turned invisible with Invisibility, but the bodyguards were definitely different from monsters. Their goggles, which covered half their faces, must have had some kind of function, as they accurately read my movements even though I had become invisible.

I was in a bind, looking for an opportunity to use Offering. Just then, arrows rained down from above my head. Pat pat pat. They weren’t ordinary arrows. Light shot up from the arrows that stuck in the ground in a circle around me. It surrounded me like bars, and through the gaps, chains hit the ground and bounced up.

I leaped in place to avoid the chains aiming for my legs and parried the chains aiming for my arms with my magic sword. But I didn’t see the chain winding its way above my head in time. It tightened around my neck like a noose.

“Keuk!”

With the chain wrapped around my neck, I crashed into the glowing bars. I felt pain where I touched the bars, and my clothes burned, sending up smoke.

The passive skill Golden Scales was holding up, so I gritted my teeth. Then, bracing myself for a large consumption of magic power, I tried to nullify all skills in the area. That would give me an opening to use Offering, and I intended to borrow the power of Lævateinn to escape this place.

“Abyss.”

Just then, someone’s low voice echoed in my ear.

My vision instantly went dark, and I couldn’t distinguish between friend or foe.

I wasn’t the only one, as panicked voices erupted from all around.

“What the!”

“I can’t see!”

“Light a torch!”

“Light!”

“He’s getting away!”

I knew it was a chance to escape, but I couldn’t move either since I couldn’t see anything. It was even more so because the chain was tightly wound around my neck. I tried to cut the chain with my magic sword, but it was a longsword and stuck to my neck, making even that difficult.

After struggling with the chain for a moment, it suddenly went slack and my neck loosened. As I staggered back, someone grabbed my hand. I was so startled that I flung the hand away. In doing so, I hit the back of his hand, making a slapping sound. Smack.

“Ouch.”

The person, who spoke briefly as if joking, grabbed my hand again. This time, I didn’t shake it off. I had a feeling he was trying to help me.

“Let’s go.”

The hand holding mine lightly pulled me. With the chain dangling from my neck, I ran with him through the darkness.

It was hard to call it simple darkness. In the pitch-black abyss, I couldn’t see an inch in front of me and ran relying solely on the hand that led me. As I ran like that, I thought I knew who was guiding me now.

Slowly, very slowly, my vision began to brighten, and I stopped running when I was out of breath. I hadn’t escaped Hyeopjukdo-gil yet, but it seemed I had broken through the encirclement.

I rubbed my sore neck and looked at the man who was still holding my hand. He looked back at me, and I frowned upon seeing the face I had expected.