Strength

What was strength?

What was strength?

At the young man's words, scenes from Irin's life over the past dozen years flashed through the girl's mind like a revolving lantern.

Six years ago, when her father went berserk, lost control, and became a "Corrupted Corpse" monster before the Church shot him dead, she was too young to understand what strength was. She only knew it was the devil that had taken her father from her.

When her mother was expelled from the Church and their family's wealth was plundered, leaving mother and daughter to depend on each other through days of poverty and hardship, she began to understand her father's actions. She realized how important "strength" was.

Then, as the latent effects from six years earlier erupted, her mother—whose body had accumulated Corrupt Calamity contamination—suddenly fell gravely ill. Faced with steep medical bills, Irin felt helpless and realized how weak she was.

In the Relic Cave, when the Kalleva gang tried to kill her to silence her and a dark gun barrel pointed at her, she had yearned for strength. When the Kobold monsters poured into their lair and a bloodstained shovel swung viciously at her, she had yearned for strength.

That was why she had begged the young man back then, and he had answered her plea. In exchange for her freedom, she had gained the strength she wanted.

It was only through strength that she had gone from prey to hunter and wiped out every Kobold monster in the underground cavern. It was only because she had strength that she could stand up to Kalleva when they tried to extort her and seize the Haisha Bar, protecting what she cherished.

And yet now, her mother had been swept into an even greater maelstrom, and Irin had become the weaker party once again. Her strength still wasn't enough. If she had never seen the light, she could have endured the darkness. But that fellow had already opened that door for her, so...

Irin admitted it was addictive, but—

"I want it!"

Her voice rang out, firm and unwavering. The revolving scenes had flashed through the girl's mind in an instant, but in reality, Irin spoke almost as soon as Liao Ji finished.

Liao Ji felt both helpless and a little reluctant.

If this [Damaged Corrupted Source Essence] weren't damaged, he would definitely have saved it for a four-star Corrupted. After all, one was going from four stars to five, while the other was going from three to four. Giving it to the latter would be a colossal waste.

If this were a game, Liao Ji could have gone ahead despite the sixty percent failure rate. After all, there was always the tried-and-true method of saving and reloading.

But this was the wonderful Second Playthrough. There were no what-ifs.

"You need to think this through, Irin. If you really take this, I won't be able to let you go so easily afterward. Our contract's term will have to be extended indefinitely. The happy, peaceful life you hoped to have as an ordinary person probably won't happen."

Liao Ji wasn't joking.

He could accept dismissing and giving up a three-star character. But if she became a four-star character after consuming one of his [Corrupted Source Essences], even if it was damaged, then no matter how solemnly Liao Ji had sworn before the Second Playthrough began that he wouldn't be a min-maxer anymore, he'd still have to make up for this lingering regret later by working the girl down to her last drop.

That was why Liao Ji was asking Irin a second time. He feared the girl was acting on impulse, and wanted to paint a picture for her of the miserable life she'd lead as his employee in the future.

But Liao Ji had underestimated Irin's

The girl clearly didn't care anymore.

And perhaps it was just her imagination, but once the Scarlet Star was in Liao Ji's hands, it no longer seemed terrifying to her at all. In fact...

Irin felt that the Scarlet Star yearned for her, too. It shared the same feelings she did: rage and a desire for revenge against Kalleva!

They—

Would surely get along!

Irin was certain of it.

So—

"Give it to me!"

The girl still said only two words. In the right circumstances, they were enough to make almost any man give in.

Liao Ji didn't know if this counted as the right circumstances.

But when he read the message in Irin's eyes—that she didn't care about the contract, and would devote her whole life to serving him—he nodded.

"As you wish."

A lot of people didn't like raising characters in games. They didn't understand what was so great about raising someone else. If Liao Ji had to answer, he'd say it was the feeling of being needed. He'd been alone ever since he was born, and he enjoyed that feeling. It filled a void in his heart.

Some people liked being peerless and sweeping away all opposition. Others liked building empires, developing their lands, and growing their domains. Liao Ji was clearly the latter.

And he had rather lowbrow tastes. He only liked cultivating fields on beautiful girls.

Just as he had the last time, Liao Ji tried to shove the Corrupted Source Essence in his hand into the girl's body through her chest. This time, however, he hit a small snag.

[Unable to use. Corrupted level insufficient.]

Looking at the prompt that appeared before him, Liao Ji almost forgot that the prerequisite for ranking up was reaching the level cap for the current star rank.

The level cap for three stars was thirty. Feeding the girl his last three [Small Corrupted Crystals] would be more than enough, but any excess experience would go to waste. That was the downside of low-star characters: they required fewer resources, but their caps were lower, too.

"Great. Looks like you've drained me dry first."

After muttering under his breath, Liao Ji flipped his left hand over. Three dark-red crystals floated above his palm.

Irin wasn't particularly affected yet. She only felt a fire smoldering in her lower abdomen, stirring as soon as the dark-red crystals appeared, as if she'd just seen a delicious feast. Her throat bobbed with a gulp.

But the others present—the Kalleva gang—reacted very differently.

Unlike the girl, who was already used to Liao Ji's [Corrupted Crystals] and had even "eaten" one, the gang members weren't accustomed to them at all.

The fear that had only just begun to fade from their faces immediately returned. They stared at the dark-red crystals in Liao Ji's hand with dread, just as their former leader, Grey Wolf, had once done. Everyone could feel the Corrupt Calamity radiating from within them.

Pure Corrupt Calamity.

Corrupt Calamity concentrated to its absolute limit!

"Wh-what is that? Dr. Loka! I'm talking to you! Answer me! What is that thing?!" Falmu stumbled backward and roared into the grey-coated man's ear.

As the leader of Kalleva who studied the power of Relics, Falmu was a Corrupted himself. That was precisely why he could sense just how incredible the dark-red crystals in the young man's hand were.

Dr. Loka, who had been kneeling on the ground for some time, paid no attention to Falmu's shouting.

He stood up unsteadily in his grey coat, and began to pant. It was as if he'd seen a naked beauty. His gaze was glued to the Corrupted Crystals in Liao Ji's hand.

"There's no mistake. There's no mistake! Those are... those are crystals—crystallized Corrupt Calamity!"

Loka frantically tugged at his hair and clawed at his scalp. He was like a scientist who'd spent his whole life researching without making a breakthrough, only to have someone suddenly place the formula for the universe's greatest truth right in front of him.

Yes, the truth.

In Dr. Loka's heart, crystallized Corrupt Calamity was the truth he had pursued.

"Beautiful... so beautiful. This is it. There's no mistake. The most beautiful existence in the world..."

"I can't believe I've seen them... I can't believe I'd get to see such perfect creations of Corrupt Calamity in my lifetime—and three of them, hahaha!"

"How fantastical, how marvelous! I know! I must be in heaven—in heaven! Hahahaha!"

Before, Liao Ji holding the Scarlet Star had only shattered Dr. Loka's worldview.

But now—

When Liao Ji pulled out [Small Corrupted Crystals], and took out three of them at once, the grey-coated man clearly went completely mad. His mind had snapped.

Perhaps that was what being a scientist was like.

After all, if you really thought about it, science was a kind of Corrupt Calamity, too.

Meanwhile—

Although Dr. Loka had gone mad, Falmu had at least learned from him that what Liao Ji was holding was crystallized Corrupt Calamity!

For comparison, Falmu pulled out the "precious" reagent he had carefully hidden against his chest. It was the most successful, most concentrated batch of [Corrupted Reagent] Kalleva had developed in decades.

Falmu had been resisting the urge to use it. He even took it out every day to admire the beautiful reddish-brown liquid inside and polish the bottle.

But now, when Falmu held it up and compared it with the dark-red crystals in the young man's hand—

He wasn't a scientist, but anyone could see it.

Trash!

Utter trash!

The amount of Corrupt Calamity stored in the two wasn't even on the same level. Falmu was terrified, but at the same time, it felt as if a cat were scratching at his heart, stirring up greed and desire. The appearance of those three dark-red crystals even made him momentarily forget that Liao Ji still had their Great Emperor's Relic in his grasp.

After all—

In Falmu's mind, the Relic was a promise of future riches: something he could see but not touch, with its potential far exceeding its practical usefulness. But those dark-red crystals were real, and even he knew how to use them!

If—if he could get his hands on those crystals...

By absorbing the dense Corrupt Calamity inside, his strength as a Corrupted would soar. He might even reach the legendary Danger Rank!

Corrupt Calamity affected people's reason. That was why many Corrupted became obsessive and deranged.

But there was a benefit to science.

At least Loka had retained his basic rationality and judgment.

He sensed Falmu's greedy, sacrilegious thoughts beside him, and Dr. Loka let out a scornful, furious sneer.

"Hehehehe, you're not worthy! No—better yet, no one is worthy of using them, except for those five supreme beings!"

"Our lowly, inferior bodies can't contain such exalted things. The moment they enter your body, the high concentration of Corrupt Calamity will tear you apart and take over your soul. You'll explode and die, then become one of those ignorant Corrupted Corpse monsters!"

"No one can absorb them all at once. They should be enshrined by me... I should study them. Let me analyze them bit by bit, peel away their outer shells bit by bit, and unearth their power bit by bit... That's right! Yes! That's their true purpose! That's what they deserve—"

Before Dr. Loka could finish his fervent speech, the young man beside the boiler seemed to deliberately provoke him by shoving the Corrupted Crystals into the girl's body. And he shoved all three in at once!

"No!"

Dr. Loka let out a heart-rending scream.

In his eyes, Liao Ji was wasting them, treating such precious, miraculous things like some crude savage. It was as if the goddess of his dreams had been handed over by some blond pretty boy to a homeless man on the street.

Even though the three dark-red crystals had been brought out by the young man—

Even though the "goddess" had nothing to do with him—

Dr. Loka was still furious. This was a desecration of a priceless treasure! A defilement of the greatest work of art in the world!

He threw himself forward without a second thought, as if possessed, and charged at Liao Ji with his arms flailing. He wanted to demand an explanation from the young man. He wanted to cut the girl open and rescue the dark-red crystals—

"What—"

The power surging through Irin, rising higher and higher like a rocket, made Dr. Loka stumble and fall flat on his face. When he quickly scrambled back to his feet, he shook his head nonstop, even more stunned than he'd been when Liao Ji held the Scarlet Star.

"Impossible! Why... why hasn't she exploded? Why hasn't she turned into a mutated Corrupted Corpse? No, this isn't scientific! It can't be! A crystal with such a high concentration couldn't possibly be absorbed in an instant! What... what are you people? What kind of monsters are you?!"

Irin, for her part, had no time to bother with the madman who'd come out of nowhere.

This wasn't her first time absorbing [Small Corrupted Crystals], and perhaps because she'd already grown accustomed to them, the process went unusually smoothly this time. She felt as if she were soaking in a hot spring, warmth spreading through her whole body, every pore opening in bliss.

In a word, it felt amazing. In two words, it felt so amazing!

But soon, that bliss reached some sort of bottleneck. When she tried to go further, an invisible wall stopped her. Heavy shackles encircled her body, binding her tightly and preventing her from advancing.

Then—

After leveling Irin up to the cap, Liao Ji once again sent the [Damaged Corrupted Source Essence] into her body through her chest. This time, the Source Essence didn't meet any resistance. It quickly sank in and merged with the girl.

Buzz!

Dark-red light burst out around Liao Ji and the girl, illuminating the factory beneath the night sky. The Kalleva gang shielded their eyes, and then a fierce gust of wind swept everything around them aside.

Irin returned to the blood-sea-like mental world she had visited when she first became a Corrupted.

In that world, chains bound her arms and legs, while the shackle around her neck had been unlocked. A new crimson star appeared there. It fell like a meteor, then came to rest floating in front of Irin.

The girl gathered all her strength, trying to reach for the star despite the shackles. The star seemed to sense her determination, especially her desire to escape her restraints and break free.

Its shape began to change. At last, the four-pointed star transformed into a crimson greatsword.

It aimed its blade at Irin's outstretched right hand—or, more precisely, the heavy shackle cuff binding that hand—and then swung down hard!

Crack!

The shackle snapped. The cuff fell open, and the girl's freed right hand could finally reach forward and grasp the Scarlet Greatsword!

At the same time—

A system panel appeared before Liao Ji's eyes.

[Your Corrupted, "Irin," has successfully advanced to ★★★★ (Danger Rank). Maximum level cap increased to 50.]

[Your Corrupted, "Irin," has triggered the "Corrupted Deviation" effect. The "Super Berserk" ability normally gained upon advancement to Danger Rank has been replaced.]

[Your Corrupted, "Irin," has learned a new Danger Rank skill—"Great Annihilation."]