Chapter 6
<The Shaman’s Dagger>.
The knife that the goblin handed to me.
This is the means to defeat the final boss of this quest, the demon.
I must continuously attack its chest to expose the core and then stab it with this knife to achieve a complete kill.
Without this, the demon will resurrect, and the quest will remain incomplete.
If I had come here alone, I would have had to break through a room full of traps to get this knife, solving puzzles along the way.
However, thanks to sparing the goblins, all those processes were omitted.
‘Originally, I should deal the finishing blow with this…’
Yet, strangely enough, the demon shows no signs of resurrection despite not being stabbed with the knife.
Only the core is left behind.
Moreover, the system message says I have ‘consumed’ the demon, and that there’s an error in the quest…
‘For now, let’s finish this.’
I plunged the dagger I held in a daze into the core.
After all, the story needs to progress.
Swish.
A blue light began to seep out of the core, and its form started to change.
It soon transformed into the shape of the goblin shaman.
The dagger was still embedded in its chest.
“Kyii! Kyae!”
The goblin jumped back in surprise and hurriedly tried to pull out the dagger.
But the shaman stopped it.
It then spoke to me.
“Human.”
From here, the unfolding is all familiar.
The shaman will blame itself for its corruption, leave various last words, and seal its own soul within the dagger.
The reward for this quest is precisely that dagger with the shaman’s soul sealed inside.
I came here to obtain it, so I planned to listen to the story and wrap it up.
“Thank you… for freeing me from the cycle.”
“…What?”
However, it spoke something strange again.
“I have been suffering continuously. In this repeating world… and finally… you have freed me.”
Like the previous demon, this one also seems to speak as if it is aware of the timeline of reality, not bound by the quest’s narrative.
I only knew that this quest had a certain storyline.
Do they say this to others as well? Is this unfolding unique to me?
Such questions inevitably arose.
“With this, my sins come to an end. Human… I sincerely thank you. This will be my final… essence of my soul.”
Then, mana began to flow from its eyes and mouth, surrounding the dagger lodged in its heart.
Soon, the shaman’s breath ceased.
The blade of the dagger was engraved with shining rune patterns.
‘What is this…’
System error.
The message of having consumed the demon.
The shaman’s words about being freed from the cycle.
So many questions were left unanswered as I was flung back into the reality dimension along with the dagger.
***
<The Dagger Sealed with the Shaman’s Soul>.
Anyway, I successfully obtained what I originally came for.
Its use is to acquire the mana recovery skill.
Without delay, I moved to obtain it.
Whoosh.
In the still chilly weather, reminiscent of an early winter despite it being September, I arrived at the northernmost region of Siberia, Russia.
“Is that it?”
I spotted a lone container sitting on the mountainside.
That place seems to be the control centre for managing the portal’s entrance.
“Excuse me.”
I opened the container’s door and spoke in English.
Inside were three young white men and one woman gathered around a campfire, chatting.
One of them spoke to me in Russian, but I couldn’t understand, so I continued asking in English.
“I came to use the portal; is there anyone who can speak English?”
As an Awakener, I often find myself going abroad or encountering foreigners.
So, most Awakeners, including me, can manage a decent level of conversation in English.
But for some reason, it seems none of them can speak English here.
They were all conversing in Russian.
‘Ah… this is unfortunate.’
I only need to pay the portal fee.
While I contemplated whether to show my card and use body language to pay, the white woman, who had been quietly sitting, spoke up.
“Would you like me to translate for you?”
She had just been conversing in Russian with the men but suddenly began speaking in English.
“Hmm?”
“You want to use the portal, right?”
“Ah… yes. The portal.”
Then she spoke to the men again in Russian.
It became apparent that she was someone entirely different from them.
While the three white men wearing shabby jackets seemed like locals, the woman looked like she belonged to a completely different world.
With a model-like appearance, adorned with flashy accessories and wearing a designer coat and luxury boots…
She was unmistakably someone who came from a wealthy background.
“Admission fee is 500,000 rubles. Will you be paying by card?”
“Yeah.”
She took my card and processed the payment.
Then, adjusting her coat, she opened the door to the container office and said, “Let’s go together.”
“Hmm?”
“I was thinking of going in too.”
The woman spoke to the men again in Russian, then led the way up to the portal, gesturing for me to follow her.
The white men watching the scene seemed to exude a strange hostility, or was it just my imagination?
“I’m Leah. What’s your name?”
“Shin-woo.”
Pat.
As we introduced ourselves and shook hands, we boarded the portal and moved to the dungeon.
***
Sanctuary of Mana.
This place is a special location accessible only from remote regions around the world, a dungeon where monsters do not appear.
Instead, it is rich in mana, allowing various magical creatures and spirits to manifest.
Because of this, many Awakeners visit for various reasons.
The reason I came here was because of the massive tree at the centre of the sanctuary.
“Wow, this is my first time at the Sanctuary of Mana in Russia… Look at that! It’s so beautiful.”
Click, click.
Leah continued to chatter behind me, snapping photos of the scenery.
This place indeed had a unique atmosphere.
The flowing mana in the air was visible, and the river extending beside it sparkled like jewels.
Occasionally, spirits would appear, adding vibrant colours to the enchanting landscape.
As we crossed through the scenery, Leah kept taking pictures nonstop.
After capturing enough photos, she finally turned to me.
“Shin-woo, you’re Korean, right?”
“Hmm? How did you know?”
“Just by looking at you. I’m a K-pop fan.”
She then started rambling about groups I didn’t even know.
The repertoire was one I’d often hear when working with foreigners, so it didn’t surprise me much anymore.
Whenever she mentioned such things, she’d always add that I resembled someone from a certain group.
At first, I thought it was a compliment, but then I realized that the person she compared me to varied each time.
They simply couldn’t distinguish between Asian faces.
“I enjoy traveling to places where no one else goes. Meeting new people too. How about you?”
“Me too.”
I casually replied to her as I had no intention of seeing her again.
“Wow! Really? It seems we have something in common.”
With such trivial conversations, we soon arrived at the gigantic tree in the centre of the sanctuary.
“Leah.”
“Yeah?”
“I have something to do now.”
“Ah, okay! You want me to step aside?”
She quickly understood and moved aside to allow me to proceed with my task.
I then pulled out the Shaman’s Dagger from my pocket and lightly stabbed the trunk of the massive tree.
Thick blue sap began to ooze from the wound.
I swept it with the dagger and ingested it.
{The source of infinitely generated mana becomes part of your body.}
I felt a hot energy travel down my Esophagus.
It felt like I had drunk some potent alcohol, as if I had swallowed a blazing fire.
Soon, that hot energy began to spread through the blood vessels of my entire body.
“Ha.”
Eventually, the flowing energy gathered in my lungs, and I expelled it all at once.
Breathing out, filled with overflowing mana.
I repeated this inhalation and exhalation several dozen times, pouring all my mental energy into that breath.
In an effort to become accustomed to the flow of energy as quickly as possible.
How much time passed like that?
{Active skill <Mana Breathing> acquired.}
At some point, a message appeared as the fiery energy inside me disappeared.
The Shaman’s Dagger that had pierced the tree also melted away, leaving only the hilt behind.
‘Got it.’
I checked the information on the skill I had acquired.
───
<Mana Breathing>
Generates mana from the source within the body through special breathing. While in use, all active characteristics, powers, and skill usages are suspended.
Mana generation rate: 1%/second
Proficiency: 1/100
───
An active skill that restores 10% mana per second upon reaching maximum proficiency.
As stated, there is a weakness in that the Evil Dragon Magic Arts will be disabled while using this skill.
However, it’s the same in that being out of mana will make me vulnerable, so it’s not a huge disadvantage.
In any case, simply having a means to recover mana is an enormous benefit.
‘This means I can fight without resting.’
Now, even if I run out of mana, there’s no need to stop hunting.
I won’t be limited by the constraints of mana potions.
This means I can maintain the Evil Dragon Magic Arts and fight all day.
“Are you done? Let’s take a picture together!”
“…Sure.”
With that, my objective was accomplished.
I had no more business here.
Feeling good, I listened to Leah and headed outside the sanctuary.
***
Click, click, click.
Andrei repeatedly pulled the trigger of the mana gun, his finger going back and forth.
This was a habit he had developed to amplify his hatred toward the target he wanted to kill while dwelling on his anger.
“That monkey bastard…”
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
If only he had talked a little longer, that amazing woman could have come over, but suddenly she appeared and disrupted everything.
Not only that, but she took the woman with her.
This was absolutely unacceptable.
“How dare that coloured-skinned bastard hold hands with a white woman? How ridiculous!”
“I haven’t even been able to hold hands!”
Yuri and Boris chimed in from the side.
The three had spent their lives in these backwoods, engaging in petty crime without ever leaving.
All the women in the neighbourhood had left for the city, and they had never even experienced a romance.
When they got jobs guarding the portal, they hoped to meet outsiders, but the foreign women who came here were all with scary brutes, unable to say a word.
The first time a warm person like Leah had spoken to them, then a damn Asian showed up and took her away.
Their frustration at losing an incredible opportunity, combined with the deeply ingrained racism from their closed society, multiplied their anger.
“I’ll never forgive him.”
“When I saw that guy earlier, he didn’t even have a weapon.”
“Really?”
“If we just fire a few rounds, he’ll go down in an instant, so don’t hold back, Andrei. Just kill him.”
“Of course.”
Andrei fiddled with the mana gun in his hand.
Boom!
“Here they come!”
At that moment, light burst forth from the portal.
Andrei, who had been waiting for this moment, gripped his gun and dashed out of the container.
“Andrei! Don’t shoot the woman! Just kill the man!”
“Just trust me!”
Tatatatatatata!
NAK-29 non-attribute mana gun D type.
The mana bullets, crafted from the expertise of Romanov Corporation, struck the silhouette of the man with precision.
“What the hell!”
The sudden hail of bullets left him startled.
Thanks to the talisman’s protective barrier, he was still alive, but if they hit him a few more times, the barrier would break, and the bullets would directly impact him.
“Dieeeee! Kihihihi!”
It was exhilarating.
Being able to unleash bullets at a living target.
How long had it been since he felt this sensation?
Memories of when he had shot a person with a gun flooded back.
Just like back then, that guy would be drenched in blood…
“Hmm?”
But something felt off.
He was certain he was over ten meters away.
Suddenly, the man’s face popped into view.
In an instant, the sky turned yellow.
When he briefly closed his eyes and opened them again, the world had flipped upside down.
Next to him, Yuri and Boris were all tied up and hanging naked, looking ridiculous.
And Andrei was in the same predicament.
“Idiots.”
“Wow, you’re really strong!”
The three of them hung there, watching as Yoo Shin-woo and Leah drove away in a car.
—
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