"Pubu! Bubu!!"
Abort? How the hell could he abort from this situation?
'I can't... just leave everyone here to die...!' Yeon Yujun turns behind him, his unconscious fellow teammates... None of them deserve to be left behind in this vortex. In fact, they're still alive but unconscious.
Whenever Yeon Yujun tries to keep himself under control and activate his skill, the mana coming from the creature is too strong that he couldn't seem to stand up from the ground at all.
[ The Gods senses your overwhelming emotions. ]
'The audacity to greet me with nothing the moment I entered this vortex but THEY decide when to appear?' He's so fed up by the Gods of the system to do nothing but watch everyone struggle and die — Yeon Yujun never forgot the helplessness he felt back at the Great Vortex, the Gods refused to even lend a hand.
All Yeon Yujun feels towards them is nothing but a gnawing and grudging rage.
'I... I can do this...'
Yeon Yujun repeats that mantra in his mind as he slowly gets up from the ground despite the tremor in his legs, he forces his body to comply with his mind no matter how strong the mana the monster emits.
If he handled the last time, then he can handle this one.
He swiftly accesses the inventory system, tapping on the
"Pouch... emerge,"
Pouch flinches at the command, but it knows that they have to follow Yeon Yujun's orders as his manifested familiar.
With a reluctant noise, Pouch jumps down from his shoulder and merges with Yeon Yujun's weapon as it glows and expands in a way he hasn't seen in years now.
Yeon Yujun's eyes shone in purple, feeling himself compose a little bit now that he's actually holding the weapon he had when he was just a kid despite resurfacing some of the unwanted memories.
He chooses to ignore them and focus on his task — defeat the vortex boss... the deja vu he feels was overwhelming.
He just gotta hold on till rescue comes.
Yeon Yujun decides to use his skill at the large monster in front of him who just came out of its eggshell.
( "[SS] The Mind's Eye" is now activated! )
Yeon Yujun's eyes scan the creature before him in a fast speed unlike before.
[ VORTEX BOSS: (Lvl. 289) [S+] "The Ashen Harbinger" ]
[ Weakness: Unknown. ]
[ Health: 500000/500000 ]
Yeon Yujun's eyes widen in shock before it lands on the last message in front of his hologram screen.
[ WARNING: This creature carries unstable dark matter energy.
Direct contact may destabilize your mana. ]
It's not as strong as the one he had fought back at the Great Vortex, but the mana it's emitting is way too strong for an [S+] rank.
Is this because of the frequent appearance of the vortexes it completely corrupted the mana the monsters emit? He couldn't help but think of that possibility.
Either way, even if it's strong or not — he has to defeat it to get him and his teammates out of this vortex as soon as possible.
If he handled the years of surviving in the Great Vortex, then he also can in this vortex.
With a determined gaze and sigh, Yeon Yujun steadies himself and faces the dragon, [The Ashen Harbinger] despite the weighing mana he senses.
But he's reassured by the humming energy from his blade as if Pouch is comforting him from this battle.
"ROOOOOOAAARRRRRR!!!" the dragon flaps its wings, its shrieking vocals shake the ground that Yeon Yujun's standing at but he holds his ground completely.
[ The God, Numbing Disciple, gazes upon you. ]
A notification pops out in front of him — 'now's not the time!' Yeon Yujun grits his teeth before another screen appears.
[ YOU HAVE RECEIVED A TEMPORARY LUMINARY PASSIVE SKILL. USE IT NOW? ]
'A… Temporary luminary skill?'
[ The God, Slumbering Abundance, opens HER eyes. ]
[ YOU HAVE RECEIVED A LUMINARY SKILL. USE IT NOW? ]
Huh?
Isn't this… way too abnormal? Yeon Yujun's hand trembles as his weapon shakes in his firm grip.
'Why couldn't the Gods interfere back at the Great Vortex?' But there's no time to dwell in the past.
[ YOU HAVE ACTIVATED BOTH OF YOUR LUMINARY SKILLS. ]
( "[???] Still ■■■■" luminary skill is now passively activated! )
「 Still ■■■■ absorbs some of your shock and boosts your mana resistance! 」
Yeon Yujun suddenly feels at ease and calmer more than he should, the gnawing feeling from the overwhelming mana slowly subsides.
'The [Numbing Disciple] gave me this passive skill… but why?'
Just what do THEY gain from this?
( "[A] Stigma" is now in effect! )
( The skill enhances all of your stats by 10% and speed increases greatly! Use it well. )
"What the hell are they doing…?" Yeon Yujun mutters as he shifts his focus back on the vortex boss who seems to notice him stalling way too long and now preparing to attack him.
Though, thanks to the Gods, he can finally be able to fight the monster with the skills and boosts he received.
[ The Gods extends their tearful sincere apologies and hopes for you to forgive THEM. ]
As if.
Yeon Yujun ignores the message, they just have to give him more time to do so or not, he'll completely bring the anger to his grave.
The vortex boss dragon, [The Ashen Harbinger] lets out another loud and rumbling roar that shakes the landscape once more.
( "[A+] Levitate" is now activated! )
Yeon Yujun jumps higher with the help of his skill and the double the effect it has that he reaches the monster so high up.
It's time to do something different. Instead of using his <[S+] Reoccurrence> skill, he's going to kill the monster a different way, unlike what he did back at the Great Vortex with [The Hollowed Graveshell].
He aims his sword and uses it to slash right at the dragon's firm scaly skin — it lets out a painful roar as blood seeps out from its wounds.
When the dragon, [The Ashen Harbinger] flaps its wings to try and hit Yeon Yujun, he dodges it swiftly and stabs it with his weapon deep.
Slicing to the left, right, up, and down. Yeon Yujun uses every ounce of his strength to take the dragon down without relying on his <[S+] Reoccurrence>.
Every time his blows and hits land on the dragon, it would shriek in pain and try to attack him — but with its large body, it can't seem to do it.
Yeon Yujun pierces his
A grotesque sound mingles with the dragon's painful roars as it flaps its wings and tail, trying to push Yeon Yujun.
Yeon Yujun's eyes scans the creature, the stats appearing in front of him.
[ Health: 43089/500000 ]
'Almost there…!'
His eyes gleam with hope but before he can celebrate his incoming victory, [The Ashen Harbinger] manages to get its other wing to flap at Yeon Yujun's direction —
—SWOOOOSSSSHHHH!
He didn't have the time to even act fast so he finds himself getting knocked to the ground with a loud thud that he swears that he just feels a sickening crunch of his bones snapping.
"Urrk…!" Blood seeps out from the back of Yeon Yujun's head as he lies there… He can't use his regeneration skill if he didn't activate <[S+] Reoccurrence>. So it's futile.
The blade,
'Is… Is this the end…?' Yeon Yujun's eyes can't seem to open wide at all as he feels every pain in his entire body, from the inside and out. It was almost unbearable. Something so similar back at the Great Vortex.
'How could I be so… weak?'
He shouldn't have let himself get direct contact from the dragon.
He can barely clench his fist as he watches the dragon roar from its injuries, stomping and roaring wildly.
( All of your skills are deactivated! )
[ WARNING: PLEASE REFRAIN FROM USING YOUR MANA. ]
[ WARNING: MANA IS CRUCIALLY LOW. PLEASE REFRAIN FROM USING YOUR MANA. ]
Now that he thinks about it, he should've just died a long time ago with the others. He shouldn't have been alive at all.
From the sword, it returns back to its normal look and Pouch emerges from the weapon. It shakes its entire fluffy body before trotting towards Yeon Yujun's motionless body.
"Pupu…! PUPU!!!!" Pouch shrieks in terror as it tries to rub its fluffy body against Yeon Yujun's cheek, as if attempting to give some of its warmth to the cold Yeon Yujun who seems to be at death's doorstep.
He couldn't seem to remember how many times he had been close to death.
"P…Pouch…" Blood drips from the corners of his lips as he trembles from the overwhelming pain.
[ The God of Creation looks at you in pity. ]
Pity? Why pity? Were THEY also pitiful back at the Great Vortex after watching everyone suffer and die?
[ The God of Life bids THEIR farewell to you and waits for your depart. ]
[ The temporary passive skill, "[???] Still ■■■■" is now expired. ]
He'd survived so many things he shouldn't have. Maybe the universe was just correcting its mistakes.
Stupid. So pitiful. So weak. How could he let himself die like this?
When Yeon Yujun is about to close his eyes and welcome death, the dragon releases another loud and shrieking roar before it falls to the ground after being hit by a powerful strike.
'What the…?'
"Bubu…!"
Before he can react, Yeon Yujun feels his body being lifted by a familiar pair of warm arms, he feels cold. Way too cold. But the chest against him wasn't so he unconsciously welcomed the touch.
"You're… not… to…"
"die...You'll… okay…"
He can barely hear the person speak at all as his eyes start to droop, he can't control it. His entire strength feels like it just drained from him. He was at the mercy of the man who carried him.
The sounds of the dragon and the vortex fade into a deep silence as he finally slips to unconsciousness.
Will everyone at the vortex really be okay?