IBMATG 6

Chapter 6

<The Shaman’s Dagger>

The blade the goblin handed me.

It’s the key weapon meant to defeat the final boss of this quest—the demon.

You have to keep striking its chest until the core is exposed, then pierce it with this dagger to finish it off for good.

If you don’t, the demon resurrects and the quest won’t be cleared.

If I had come alone, I would’ve had to navigate a trap-ridden chamber, solve puzzles, and retrieve the dagger myself.

But since I spared the goblins, all of that was skipped.

Originally, that dagger was supposed to be the finishing blow…

Yet, oddly enough, even without stabbing the demon, it showed no sign of reviving.

Only the core remained.

On top of that, the system message said I had “devoured” the demon. Then another claimed the quest had glitched.

For now, let’s just finish it.

Thunk.

In a daze, I drove the dagger into the core.

The story needed to progress, after all.

Fwoosh.

Blue light spilled out, and the core began to shift shape.

It soon turned into the goblin shaman.

The dagger was still embedded in its chest.

“Kiiiii! Kyaaaa!”

The goblin panicked, hopping about as it tried to yank the dagger out.

But the shaman stopped it. Then it spoke to me.

“Human.”

From here, I knew how things were supposed to play out.

The shaman regrets its corruption, leaves some final words, then seals its own soul into the dagger.

That dagger, imbued with its soul, is the quest’s reward.

Since that was exactly what I came here for, I was planning to half-heartedly listen until it was done.

“Thank you… for freeing me from the cycle.”

“…What?”

Again, strange words.

“I was tormented endlessly… in this repeating world. But finally… you released me.”

Just like the demon earlier, the shaman was speaking as if it wasn’t bound by the quest’s script, but aware of real time.

I had only known this quest’s plotline.

But was this what it said to everyone? Or was it only happening with me?

The question naturally arose.

“With this, my karma is over. Human… I am truly grateful. This is my last… the essence of my soul.”

Magic flowed from its eyes and mouth, wrapping around the dagger still lodged in its heart.

The shaman breathed its last.

Runes lit up along the blade.

What the hell is going on…

System errors.

Messages about swallowing the demon.

The shaman’s talk of escaping the cycle.

With nothing but unanswered questions, I was flung back to reality with the dagger in hand.

<Dagger Sealed with the Shaman’s Soul>

At least I got what I was meant to obtain.

Its purpose: a tool to acquire a mana recovery skill.

Without delay, I set off to use it.

Whoooosh.

Though it was only September, the air was bitter and cold, as if winter had come early.

To gain the mana recovery skill, I had come to the northernmost part of Siberia, Russia.

“There it is.”

A lone container cabin sat halfway up a mountain.

It seemed to be the control post for the portal.

“Excuse me.”

I opened the door and spoke in English.

Inside were three young white men and one woman, chatting by the fireplace.

One of them said something in Russian, but I couldn’t understand, so I stuck to English.

“I’m here to use the portal. Anyone speak English?”

Awakeners often had to work abroad or with foreigners.

So not just me, but most of us were at least conversational in English.

But strangely, none of them seemed to know it.

They all kept speaking Russian.

Damn… this is troublesome.

All I needed was to pay the fee.

I was debating whether to just flash my card and mime payment when the woman spoke up.

“Want me to translate for you?”

A moment ago she’d been chatting in Russian with the men, but suddenly she switched to fluent English.

“Huh?”

“You want the portal, right?”

“Uh… yeah. The portal.”

She turned back and spoke Russian to the men.

Looking closer, she didn’t fit with them at all.

The three men looked like shabby locals in worn jackets.

But the woman—she looked like she came from another world.

Model-like beauty, luxury coat, designer boots, glittering accessories…

Anyone could tell she was from a rich family.

“They said the entrance fee is 500,000 rubles. You’ll pay by card, right?”

“Yeah.”

She took my card and handled the payment.

Then, fastening her coat, she opened the door.

“Let’s go together.”

“Hm?”

“I was planning to go in anyway.”

She said a few more words to the men, then stepped up onto the portal.

She gestured for me to follow.

The men’s stares lingered, tinged with something hostile.

Am I imagining that?

“I’m Lea. And you?”

“Shinwoo.”

Fwoosh.

As we exchanged names and shook hands, the portal whisked us away into the dungeon.

Sanctuary of Mana.

This was a special place only accessible from remote parts of the world.

There were no monsters here.

Instead, it brimmed with mana, drawing in magical creatures and spirits.

Awakeners often came for various reasons.

My reason was the massive tree at the sanctuary’s center.

“Wow, I’ve never been to Russia’s Mana Sanctuary before… Look at that! It’s gorgeous.”

Click click.

Behind me, Lea chattered nonstop, snapping photos of the scenery.

It was indeed otherworldly.

Mana streamed visibly through the air, rivers shimmered like jewels, and radiant spirits appeared now and then.

She took picture after picture until she was satisfied, then struck up more conversation.

“Shinwoo, you’re Korean, right?”

“Hm? How’d you know?”

“It’s obvious. I’m a K-pop fan.”

Then she rambled on about some idol group I’d never heard of.

Foreigners always did this when I worked with them.

At first I thought the comparisons to various idols were compliments, but eventually I realized—

They just couldn’t tell East Asian faces apart.

“I like traveling to places nobody else goes. Meeting new people, too. What about you?”

“Same.”

I replied casually. No point making it serious—I’d never see her again anyway.

“Really? Wow, maybe we’re similar!”

With idle chatter, we soon reached the great tree at the sanctuary’s heart.

“Lea.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve got something I need to do.”

“Ah, sure! You want some space.”

She caught on quickly and stepped aside.

I drew the shaman’s dagger and lightly stabbed the trunk.

Thick blue sap trickled from the wound.

I scraped some with the dagger and put it in my mouth.

{The endlessly flowing source of mana becomes part of your body.}

A burning energy coursed down my throat.

Like swallowing fire, like drinking the strongest liquor.

It spread through my veins, igniting my whole body.

“Haah…”

Finally, the heat converged in my lungs. I exhaled it all in one breath.

Mana overflowed in each exhale.

I repeated the breathing dozens of times, pouring all my focus into it, trying to adapt faster.

After some time…

{You have learned the Active Skill <Mana Breathing>.}

A message appeared, and the fire inside me dissipated.

The dagger that had pierced the tree had melted away, leaving only the hilt.

Got it.

I checked the skill’s info.

<Mana Breathing>

Through special breathing, generate mana from the source within your body. While active, all traits, powers, and skills are suspended.

Mana generation rate: 1%/sec

Mastery: 1/100

At max mastery, this active skill regenerates 10% mana per second.

Though it disables my powers while active, being low on mana was already a weakness, so it wasn’t a huge drawback.

The fact that I now had a way to endlessly recover mana was an enormous advantage.

Now I can fight without stopping.

No more downtime when mana ran out.

No more reliance on mana potions.

I could sustain Evil Dragon Demonic Arts all day.

“All done? Then let’s take a photo together!”

“…Sure.”

My goal was complete.

Nothing left to do here.

I humored Lea’s request for a photo and left the sanctuary.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

Andrei racked the bolt of his mana gun over and over.

It was his nervous habit whenever he stewed in anger and thought about killing someone.

“That monkey bastard…”

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

He had been this close to winning over that gorgeous woman, and then this guy barged in.

Worse, he had stolen her away.

Unforgivable.

“How dare a colored freak hold hands with a white woman! That’s insane!”

“Even I’ve never held her hand!”

Yuri and Boris chimed in.

The three of them had never left this remote village, wasting their lives as local thugs.

All the women had moved to the city; none of them had ever dated.

Getting this portal-guarding job, they thought maybe they’d meet outsiders.

But the few women who came were always with hulking men, and they never had the guts to speak to them.

Lea was the first to talk kindly to them.

Then some Asian guy showed up and took her away.

Fueled by a sense of stolen opportunity, mixed with the ingrained racism of their insular world, their rage burned hotter.

“Never forgive him.”

“He didn’t even seem armed earlier.”

“Yeah?”

“A few shots will break his shield, then he’s done. Kill him, Andrei.”

“Of course.”

Andrei stroked his mana gun.

Fwoosh!

“He’s coming out!”

The portal flared.

Andrei charged out, weapon ready.

“Andrei! Don’t shoot the woman! Just kill the guy!”

“Trust me!”

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

The NAK-29 Non-Attribute Mana Gun, Type D.

Romanov Corp’s prized firearm spat mana rounds, raining them on the man’s silhouette.

“What the hell?!”

The target flinched at the sudden barrage.

The talisman shield saved him for now, but a few more hits would break it and tear into flesh.

“Die! Heehehehe!”

Thrilling.

Firing freely at a living human again.

It awakened old memories of blood spraying from victims.

Just like back then, this guy would—

“…Huh?”

Something was wrong.

He had been ten meters away, at least.

But suddenly, his face was right in front of Andrei’s.

Then the sky turned yellow.

He blinked, and the world was upside down.

Yuri and Boris were tied up naked beside him, dangling humiliatingly.

And Andrei was strung up the same way.

“Idiots.”

“Wow, you’re really strong, huh?”

The three hung there helplessly.

Forced to watch Shinwoo and Lea drive away together.