Chapter 47 – 47. Penalty Turnaround
We didn’t talk much on the way back.
Perhaps because everyone was on the brink of death, no one spoke. Ayun, who was able to laugh and talk even in this situation, fainted from exhaustion, making the mood even worse.
Above all, for some reason, I couldn’t think of anything special to talk about. Should I say that my heart has calmed down? I’m probably so angry at Dongyeong High School that I can’t even think of anything else.
“Ugh… “
“Follow me quickly, you bastard.”
“Ugh…”
The captured bastard from Dongyeong High School was dragged to us with his hands and mouth tied. Yeongsik dragged the guy. Youngsik took every opportunity to kick and push the guy, venting his anger. I watched this in silence. This is the guy who tried to take his life just a moment ago, so of course he wants to kill him.
If I make him spit out information, I will either kill him or imprison him and use him as a blood bag. There was no option from the beginning to just save him.
“Huh..”
“Tongue, Hyuna.. Don’t cry..”
“Yes.. Yes.. I’m sorry.. I can’t control my emotions..”
Hyuna cried, saying she was sorry for not being able to help Ah-yoon properly throughout her journey. Saeyeon’s sister also had puffy areas around her eyes. They had hugged me on the rooftop and cried for a long time. It seemed like he thought he would definitely be captured or killed.
It seems that this was the same for Seunghee, and her body trembled slightly the entire way. She seemed to have a mixture of relief that she survived and anxiety that she might die at any moment. I have mixed feelings…
Junho’s uncle also didn’t have a good impression. Uncle Junho kept coughing because he had inhaled too much smoke, and Seunghee patted him on the back and supported him as if giving him a half-hug back to the apartment.
“Haa.. Haa… Come on, let’s take a break for a moment.. Cough.. Cough… Cough.. Hehe.”
The man slumped down at the entrance to the stairs on the fourth floor.
He looked in very bad condition. He wanted to take her to the hospital, but he couldn’t. If he goes to the hospital, he will only find zombies.
“Mr. Is it serious? “If you’re sick, I’ll give you some painkillers.”
“Oh.. No. Are you okay. Cough! Huh. Joe, you’re coughing a little.”
He waved his hand and said there was nothing wrong with his body. But his voice was half cracked and he looked a little bad.
On the way, Saeyeon gave me a body decontamination remover out of concern that the toxic gas might be bad… But I think I was in bad shape because I inhaled a lot of smoke as I was leaving behind to take care of the women .
“Uh, man.. Here’s the water.”
“Ah.. Collock.. Thank you.”
Sister Saeyeon quickly took out bottled water and handed it to her uncle. Junho drank all 1.5 liters of bottled water in one sitting. It seems that his throat was very dry.
“For now, take a break on the stairs. “I will move it to Ayun’s room and come back.”
“Nope. Nope. Are you okay. I’ll go up on my own. “Don’t worry.”
“No. Yeongsik and Hyunya. “Mian, can you please protect Seunghee and him?”
“Ah, yes. Of course. Haha…”
“Yes..!”
I quickly went into the house with Ayun and Saeyeon, who were on my back. Ayun’s body is like a ball of fire. I had a bit of a fever.
“Sister, Ayun is a bit…”
“Huh. Ah, I’m going to take care of Yuni, so she can quickly go help others. Oh, and thank you for saving me, Inho. “I couldn’t say hello..”
“No. Thank you for enduring well. Then, I’ll go down.”
“Yes!”
Saeyeon undressed Ah Yuni and began wiping away the blood and soot with her wet towel. I ran halfway down the stairs again. Then, I saw a man walking up, supported by his companions.
“Uh.. It’s okay..”
“No. “Pick me up.”
“Oh my.. I’m sorry.. Lol.. Thank you..”
Mr. Junho was staggering up the stairs. Yeongsik tried to carry him up, but it was too heavy for him to handle.
Anyway, I picked up the old man, carried him on my back, and quickly ran up the stairs. The battle continued from the dungeon, so I guess I was a little tired.
The rest of the group followed me up with difficulty. The bastard from Dongyeong High School, who had been beaten the entire way, was now struggling to walk and came up following me.
“I’ll check on the man’s condition first, so Hyuna can go in and rest. Yeongsik, take him with you and wait for him, he’ll be out soon.”
“Yes, brother.”
I brought Junho and Seunghee into room 706, leaving only Yeongsik and the exhausted prisoner from Dongyeong High who sat down in the hallway.
“It might be a little cold first, but I’ll ventilate it so you can breathe in some fresh air. I’ll bring you some water and painkillers, so you can take care of it for your father. “Understand, right?”
“Yes. “I will.”
“Oh, and this…”
I decided to use the ability I gained a while ago.
‘Decreased pain… ‘
[Hypoalgesia (B)]
[Effect: Pain is relieved when you place your hand on a wound or painful body part. The condition is improving, albeit slightly.]
[Penalty: Every time you relieve pain, you will feel the urge to harm yourself.]
This is a skill that relieves pain and improves the condition by placing a hand on a wound or painful area.
Actually, I wanted to try it on Ayun first, but I couldn’t. This is because the penalty for this skill does not specify a target.
‘It is not clearly specified whether the person who feels the urge to harm themselves is the person who used the skill or the person who received the effect of the skill…’
This meant that Ayun, the person to whom the skill was applied, rather than me, the person who used the skill, may feel the urge to harm herself. That’s why I couldn’t readily use it on Ayun. I can’t put any more burden on a child who is already having a hard time.
‘I’m sorry to Mr. Ajae, but… He has a much stronger mentality than Ayun, whose mind is in jeopardy.. So let’s do an experiment..’
I made Junho, who was coughing, sit down and placed my hand on his back. Before using the next skill, I explained the penalty to Seunghee and Ajae in advance. I need to let you know in advance so I can mentally prepare.
“The skills I will use from now on are skills that will alleviate injuries and improve my condition. But the penalty causes people to feel the urge to harm themselves.”
“An impulse to self-harm..?”
“Okay. The important thing is that this is not clearly marked, so I don’t know whether it is I who feels the urge to harm myself or whether it is the man who is receiving treatment.”
“Ah…”
Seunghee is embarrassed. She seemed to hope that she would not use a potentially dangerous skill on her father. However, Junho nodded.
“Good. Let’s do it. As long as my daughter is alive and well, I will never die.”
“Then… I will use it.”
“Good..”
I placed my hand on Junho’s back and activated hypoalgesia.
Soon, a tingling sensation traveled through the palm of his hand and into Jun Ho-jae.
“Um, uncle, how are you?”
“Huh? There’s nothing wrong with me. What is Inho-gun like?”
“Me? Uh.. Me too..”
This is strange. Why isn’t the penalty applied?
‘What…? ‘Is the skill not being used?’
“Uncle, has your condition improved or anything like that?”
“Huh? I wasn’t coughing and my chest was tight, but I felt much more comfortable. Breathing also became easier. It works well.”
“Huh…”
The skill is working properly. Then, I had to assume that the penalty for this skill was not being activated properly for some reason.
‘Could it be that the skills I have are in conflict?’
I haven’t checked any other skills yet except for the previous three. On the way here, I was busy dodging the zombies I met on the street and checking to see if there were any more Dongyeong High School guys. Because there were so many injured, I had to cover almost all of them, so it was hectic.
‘Wait.. Now that I think about it.. I don’t have any random thoughts right now… And I don’t even talk to myself..?’
Now that I think about it, the penalty for observing traces has almost all disappeared. It seems like one of the remaining five skills that I roughly acquired without checking during the battle is having an effect.
One of the skills that I wasn’t able to properly check because I was in such a hurry was clearing my mind.
“Wait a minute… I think something is working among the skills I gained. “Let me check.”
“Uh oh. Okay. Come check it out. “I’m almost fine now.”
I took my hand off Junho’s back to her, whose condition had improved to some extent, and checked the skills I had acquired.
[Place of Origin: Earth]
[Name: Kang In-ho]
[Survival rating: 7]
[Physical ability: 9.5]
[Strength: 12] [Stamina: 11]
[Vitality: 10] [Sense: 10]
[Durability: 8] [Resistance: 6]
[Points held: 0]
[Sanity level: 100/100]
[Health level: 73/100]
[Abilities: Steal skill (+1), steam engine, bioelectricity, crushing blow, ability insight, bullet weaving, trace observation, bastard face, blood absorption recovery, point blood strike, vision block, body odor tracking, pain reduction, blade reinforcement , Stability of mind and body, improvement of constitution, maintenance of quality, iron fist, strong strike]
[Status abnormalities: calmness, fatigue, whole body muscle pain]
“This is..”
Tracking body odor are skills gained in this battle.
‘I roughly checked the effects of body odor tracking, pain reduction, and blade reinforcement… Perhaps this mental and physical stability is what makes my mind clear… ‘
Among the five newly acquired abilities, I confirmed mental and physical stability.
[Mental and physical stability (A)]
[Effect: Maintains a stable mental state without falling into fear, panic, or panic under any circumstances.]
[Handicap: Always activated.]
[Penalty: Decreases physical ability. Expression of emotions decreases and you become insensitive to most things.]
‘Oh my god… ‘
I never thought there would be a skill with this effect. Even like trace observation, it was activated all the time. It literally means a passive skill.
‘The thing that reduces my physical ability… I heard that the muscle pain was severe… But it wasn’t so bad that I didn’t really care… I was less able to express my emotions and became insensitive. . …It’s surprising that there was a little change in my state of mind even after being beat up like that. Was it because of this effect..?’
Still, this was not a penalty that would interfere with daily life. Moreover, if you give this to Ayun, her mania and emotional overload, she can be cured.
‘Ayun, who has much higher physical abilities than me, doesn’t even feel that being physically weak is a penalty at all.. It’s a complete penalty..!’
This was literally a skill for Ayun.
Ayun, whose mind is gradually failing, has found a way to curb her madness.
