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Chapter 554: The Aesthetics of the Circle (5)

Even if a severed leg could grow back, that didn’t mean the pain disappeared.

— Aaaaaaargh!

As the Lizardman whose leg Yeongwoo had cut off rolled on the ground screaming, the atmosphere froze.

— W-wait…

— H-he just cut it off?

Yeongwoo picked up the Lizardman’s severed leg and tossed it into the limb-insertion slot of the escape point.

Thunk.

Like throwing a log into a furnace.

“Of course it hurts when your leg’s cut off. Did you think I’d use anesthesia or something?”

Then, with a detached look, he turned to the next in line — the mechanical man.

“Still, it should hurt less for you, right?”

— Th-that’s…!

The startled android backed away, then grabbed his own left arm and twisted it clockwise half a turn.

Click!

A locking sound, and the arm came off neatly.

— It has a coupling module… this is a cleaner way to remove it.

If it had been forcibly cut like the Lizardman’s limb, it would’ve required external reinforcement afterward.

“Oh? Experiencing my sword would’ve been an honor, though.”

Yeongwoo nodded, took the mechanical arm, and threw it into the escape point.

Then he picked up the human’s severed arms and legs one by one and tossed them in.

Thud.

Immediately—

Bzzt!

The cylindrical escape device shone brightly, one side unfolding entirely to reveal its interior.

— Huh?

— Wait, this thing’s an airship?

Lady Kanaph blinked wide-eyed.

Inside was a surprisingly spacious compartment with seats for evacuees.

“…Four.”

As expected, each escape point could hold four people.

“Good. That means exceeding the quota isn’t impossible.”

He knocked on the outer shell as a signal to get in.

The android scrambled to take a seat first.

Then—

— I don’t know what you are, but living like that… you won’t last long.

The one-legged Lizardman hopped in after him.

Tap!

Yeongwoo grinned wickedly.

“Ha-ha, that’s why I decided to live a hundred million years a day.”

He turned to the nervous android.

“Now get lost. Don’t ever set foot in a place like this again.”

— Y-yes, sir…!

The android fumbled near his seat and found a small lever.

— This must be it…

Click.

The outer plates began to close.

Whoooosh!

High-output energy flared from below, launching a brilliant white beam upward.

‘Ah, so that’s the signal for an escape.’

As Yeongwoo stepped back from the light, the hatch sealed shut.

Clang!

And then—

BOOOOM!

With a thunderous blast, the escape point shot straight up, following the pillar of light through the ceiling.

— Wow…!

Lady Kanaph sighed with envy.

Because of that damned “over-completion,” she was fated to be among the last to escape.

— So that’s how they leave.

She stared blankly at the blue sky where it had vanished, while Yeongwoo resumed moving.

Tap, tap!

The dungeon’s barrier wall was closing in fast.

“We’ve got maybe five or six minutes.”

— …What?

“That’s all the time before the escape point gets swallowed by the barrier.”

He glanced toward the direction where other escape points had appeared.

The window was so short that most hadn’t even activated before being consumed.

“And those five or six minutes include the time to find a point. It’s tight.”

In other words, to escape, teams had to pre-arrange everything —

how many would board, who’d sacrifice an arm or leg, and so on.

— …

While Yeongwoo ran toward the dungeon’s center, Lady Kanaph looked back.

— It’s already sealed.

“Told you — only about six minutes. That’s why no one else escaped this round.”

But next time would be different.

Now everyone would know the escape point’s traits:

it appeared near the dungeon’s outskirts and lasted only six minutes at most.

“So when the next ones appear, everyone will rush there. They’ll also try to… resolve their issues fast.”

— Resolve?

Yeongwoo shot her a sidelong glance.

“They’ll have to take or trade limbs, won’t they?”

In theory, everyone could detach one prosthetic limb and share peacefully —

but who would choose that?

Ten out of ten times, there’d be fights over whose limbs to take.

“If over-completion means saving everyone, we’ll have to stop them from killing each other first.”

Clink.

After running a while, Yeongwoo stopped and looked back.

“The barrier’s stopped moving. Guess the partial collapse ends here.”

The dungeon stretched endlessly ahead — a vast horizon with a thin blue line above, the barrier itself.

“Hmm.”

He dropped the gear he’d been carrying.

— What now?

“Putting it into the Catalog. But first, I want to see what I’ve got.”

He’d taken four pieces of gear from the two who’d escaped earlier:

a sword hidden in the android’s arm, the Lizardman’s laser pistol, a small dagger, and one last sword the Lizardman had kept hidden to the end.

— Catalog? What’s that?

“There is such a thing. You wouldn’t get it. Just know it’s a reward you get whenever you over-complete a place like this.”

He roughly answered while he nudged each item with his toe.

Tap.

First, the weapon the machine had carried.

「Gelka-4988」 - Relic One-Handed Sword

【Physical Damage +15%】

【Gain +1% damage per #Gelka item】

“A relic…? He brought a relic weapon into the dungeon? He must have been seriously poor.”

For the first time, Yeongwoo regretted highway robbery.

From the tooltip, it looked like a mass-produced weapon supplied to robots on some backwater frontier.

“That bastard… he’s missing an arm now, too. How’s he going to make a living?”

It was already done, though.

Yeongwoo immediately moved his foot to the next weapon.

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Tap.

「Flash Baptism」 - Epic Pistol

【Three-round burst】

【Apply +25% additional damage to a target previously hit】

“…Oh.”

True to his sly nature, the Lizardman had been relatively well-off.

The very first weapon was Epic tier.

‘Three-round burst won’t apply to Bastard, but that second line is pretty unique.’

The hallmark of Epic gear was at least one native effect.

‘Let’s check the next one.’

He shifted to the dagger, and the tooltip popped into view at once.

Flash!

「Crimson Assault」 - Epic Dagger

【Perception +1,000】

【Inflicts Bleed on hit】

Another Epic.

Of course, for Yeongwoo—who had already reached the stat cap—the Perception didn’t mean much.

‘But Sword-mountain will get a bit bigger.’

Next was the final piece: a sword.

A thin, long blade—the weapon the Lizardman had hidden until the last moment.

‘Probably the highest tier. The first two he handed over were basically bait.’

Stroking his chin, Yeongwoo set his foot on the last trophy.

Thock.

At once, golden light flooded his view along with the tooltip.

Flaaash!

「Fiard」 - Legendary One-Handed Sword

【Paralytic Venom】

【Fiard’s Extract】

‘As expected.’

Seeing the word “Legendary,” Yeongwoo nodded as if he’d known.

【Paralytic Venom】

| Reduces the target’s Perception by 10% and nullifies all Strength-increase effects.

【Fiard’s Extract】

| Reduces attacks from targets affected by Paralytic Venom by 15%.

‘So it’s a poison-type weapon.’

For some reason, it fit the Lizardman.

But he hadn’t even had the nerve to try it on Yeongwoo.

The difference in base power was overwhelming.

‘Nullifies all Strength increase effects…? That’s insane.’

Even to Yeongwoo, who had brushed the stat limit, it was a rather threatening effect.

For instance, Yeongwoo’s Strength rose by 25% when he was Bleeding.

But if he was afflicted by this Paralytic Venom, that increase would vanish.

‘I thought I’d reached a decent level, but gear keeps appearing that’s still dangerous to me.’

Well, that’s how “myths” happen—where a lesser being fells a transcendent.

“…….”

Having checked all the gear, Yeongwoo registered all four into the weapon Catalog.

Whoo!

[Weapon Catalog]

〔149〕

‘One hundred forty-nine blades.’

Of course, among that rain of blades, one pistol was mixed in.

‘So when Sword-mountain pours down, someone’s going to get their head smacked by a pistol grip…?’

As Yeongwoo tilted his head toward the ceiling, Lady Kanaph looked somewhere and blinked.

— Uh—just now.

“What? What did you see? Since when do frogs have eyes that sharp…?”

Lady Kanaph drew Aratubank taut and shook her head.

— I didn’t see anything.

“Then what?”

— The temperature… from over there, it’s dropping.

“Temperature?”

With 「Clairvoyance」 activated, Yeongwoo looked in the direction she indicated.

Ping!

「Clairvoyance」 - Mutated Earring

【Magnifies vision up to 5×.】

And he soon found it with ease.

“What the hell is that.”

A hulking knight was roaming about with a steel-blue greatsword—

and the ground around him was freezing stark white.

“He’s not a dragon… how is that even possible?”

While Yeongwoo stared with his mouth agape, Lady Kanaph tapped the nape of his neck with her palm.

— We should probably avoid something like that… shouldn’t we?

But Yeongwoo was already striding toward the mysterious figure.

“Avoid it? No.”

— …Why? Left alone, he looks like he’ll make it out just fine.

Clicking his tongue, Yeongwoo raised four fingers.

“That guy has four arms.”

— What.

“But only one sword. His arms are far too many. Time to correct the ‘balance.’”

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