Villain Hides His True Colors

“Keuh…”

Yifret slowly walked out from the dust.

Broken claws and torn fur.

Fortunately it seemed to have worked, as there were traces of the explosion all over his body.

“Gwaaar! I’ll definitely kill you!”

Yifret let out a coarse roar. His fighting spirit had become much fiercer than before.

Perhaps a berserker ability of some kind where he grew stronger the more he was hurt.

Even so, that didn’t mean there was no damage.

In the past, there were heroes with similar abilities, but in the end, they had died at my hands.

In short, anyone could be killed if you beat it to death.

Between the moment he slowed down for a bit, I took a heavy machine gun out of my inventory and placed it on the ground.

Next, looking towards Yifret, I pulled the trigger.

Dudududu–!

The flames emitted from the gun illuminated the dark interior.

Bullet shells constantly fell as the walls hit by the bullet shattered like a cookie.

“Keu-keuk…”

Yifret didn’t avoid my attacks. Instead, he covered his face with one arm and launched a charge.

Damn it.

I thought a heavy machine gun would work, but naturally, the fur encased in mana was difficult to penetrate.

Quickling changing my shape, I dug into the cracks of the fallen debris.

Boom!

The machine gun that had collided with Yifret’s body broke into pieces like a toy. Meanwhile, I crawled on the ground in my liquid state and ran away.

“You little rat!”

I could hear the angry roar of Yifret. Once I was far away from him, I changed back and fired at him again.

Bang! 

Bang!

Yifret charged forward in the hope of catching me, but it was no use.

As such, I hid myself among the debris, gnawing at his health little by little.

“I’ll chew you alive once you’re in my hands!”

At some point, Yifret began to break the debris around him at random.

Boom! Boom!

Thick chunks of cement crumbled like plastic straws. Perhaps because of the added small wounds on his body, his strength seemed to have grown.

As expected, a head-to-head match was dangerous.

Phase Change was a useful skill that could ignore most physical attacks, but unfortunately, attacks infused with mana couldn’t be neutralized.

“Where are you hiding?! Come out now!!”

The cover on the ground broke one by one. There were fewer and fewer spaces for me to hide.

At this rate there was no chance of winning.

Unless I knew how much mana he currently had, I couldn’t just wait for him to run out of mana. 

And before that, it was obvious that my location would be discovered first.

I had to make the first move and create a decisive opportunity.

Cautiously, I approached Yifret who was still breaking down the debris.

Then, when I was at a moderate distance, I immediately threw the grenades I had stored in my inventory.

Bang! Boom–!

“Keeuk!”

A sudden explosion erupted in his blind spot and was hit with no time to defend against my attack.

His fur peeled and ruddy flesh was exposed.

And in the same size as where his fur had disappeared, a gap with no mana had appeared.

It was time.

Instead of stepping back, I rushed at him with all my might.

The shocked bastard swung his claws recklessly. Managing to avoid his attacks, I stuck like a leech to his wound.

Next…

*Drain life.

I quickly absorbed his energy.

“Kueaaak!”

He didn’t stop his attacks even in the midst of me sucking his energy. With only one arm left, he clawed at his back without hesitation.

Keuk.

His back was torn and blood was constantly flowing between it. The same was true for me who was clinging onto him.

The mana infused attacks that ignored the general law of physics were tearing my body apart.

Terrible pain came as my flesh peeled away.

However, this was a pain that I had already experienced in the first round to the point where I had grown bored of it. Just this much wasn’t enough to remove me.

“Keuaak! Get off me! Get off me you punk!” 

Yifret rampaged. The more he did so, the closer I stuck to his back.

It was my first and only chance. I held on with the idea that if I fell here, it would be over.

Whenever he tore my body apart, I regained my stamina by absorbing his energy.

In the end, time was on my side.

His movements slowed down little by little. The mana that shined gradually disappeared.

And soon after, he fell to the ground.

Crash!

“Keuh…”

I slowly swallowed his body. Through the gap where mana had disappeared, a sticky lump of flesh seeped in.

The larger the area of contact was, the faster the rate of absorption became.

His huge body shriveled until it didn’t resemble anything, and the bloodshot red eyes gradually returned to white.

“T-turbak, sir…”

Now he was no longer even making proper sounds.

“Please…Judgment…”

I completely devoured him.

It was over.

And I was sure. This game was my victory.

All that was left now was to slowly absorb his energy until my mana recovers. The moment I tried to completely cut off his breath, suddenly, my back turned cold and I felt an ominous feeling. 

What? Did I miss something?

My intuition was high enough to be called an ability.

Thanks to this intuition, I had overcome several crises in the past, so I couldn’t just ignore it.

I looked around calmly and checked again to see if there were any risks that I hadn’t noticed.

Soon, the bone necklace hanging from Yifret’s neck caught my eyes. Compared to his modern outfit, it felt too old.

It was suspicious…

At that moment, blue light emanated from the necklace.

“?!”

An alarm rang in my head the moment I saw it.

Although I couldn’t figure out what the purpose of the light was, I was convinced that something I couldn’t handle was dormant there.

I hurriedly changed my shape and threw myself back.

As if it was on queue, a white breath came out of Yifret’s mouth.

Then…

Crack!

Countless icicles began to pop out of his body. It gave off the appearance that his fur was made of ice.

This…what the hell?

While I couldn’t hide my surprise, Yifret slowly stood up. 

After looking around for a moment, he opened his mouth with an expressionless face.

“Who killed my lovely children?”

What the hell was he saying?

Naturally, I had killed Feoria, but what does he mean by children? I remember that he had only one child. Was I wrong?

Soon, a new message popped up in front of my eyes.

[Challenge – Suspicious Supporter]

Condition: Defeat Yifret who is being supported by the Savage God Turbak. 

Time: 1 week.

Reward: 1x Random Box (High).

Savage God?

It was a concept I had never heard of before.

I thought I knew most of the things about this world, but it seemed there were still things I didn’t know.

It was hard to keep up with the sudden situation.

“I’m going to ask you again, human. Did you kill my children?”

Along with the voice, the temperature of the cave began to drop sharply. Moisture that was floating inside froze and fell like snow.

I had no choice but to stare at it blankly.

“What…the…”

Did this make sense?

It was unimaginable that there was a monster like this hiding among the drug dealers.

I was so speechless that I thought a dry laugh would leak from my mouth.

“Ha…The game balance is messed up.”

I let out a long sigh.

* * * * * * * * * *

The Savage God Turbak.

An absolute powerhouse that was impossible for me to deal with at my current level.

It was at least B-Rank or higher just by looking at its ability to control such a phenomenon. I could only guess that its power was equivalent to A-Grade.

On top of that…it was a God.

In a world where Devils exist, there was nothing strange about the existence of a God, but even so, I thought this was a little too much.

I was playing in a hunting ground for beginners, and now it felt like a high level monster had suddenly stormed in.

Naturally, I didn’t believe that was its true form.

From my point of view, this situation seemed hopeless. But in a sense, it was the same when I had held the handgun to my head, or when I was gunned down by a machine gun, or when I was just starting out as an F-Rank.

Not only that, my Phase Change skill was completely at odds with its cold ability.

Even so, I pretended to be innocent for now.

“It wasn’t me.”

“Lie.”

It spoke firmly, as if the answer had already been decided. Then why the hell did it ask me?

“Human. The sin you have committed will be purified by the frost.”

Yifret’s mouth opened wide as his words fell. White frost condensed around it and began to be drawn in.

Was he trying to blow out a lot of air?

That’s…really dangerous.

I could tell without having to experience it. If I get hit by that attack, this game would end right then and there.

There must be a way.

Usually, ‘Challenges’ were difficult, but it had never made me do something impossible.

On the contrary, there would be a way for me to get out of the crisis.

At this moment, I quickly racked my brain. Starting with the skills I had to even the items in my inventory.

I looked for a way out by thinking of anything that might help me.

And then suddenly, an idea crossed my mind.

Come to think of it…There was that.

In games, there were sometimes monsters that were set up to be unbeatable right from the start.

***

[ Translator – Yasi ]

[ Proofreader – Karane ]

A gimmick-type stage in which it was impossible to pass simply by fighting.

And usually in the case of such monsters, there were key items tailored just for it.

It just so happens that I had something that could be used.

I opened my inventory and put the item I was thinking of on the ground.

Boom–!

Then…

The cold air that was swirling around Yifret quickly dissipated.

And emotions began to permeate his frozen eyes. Perhaps he was gradually coming to his senses.

It was as I had guessed.

According to the explanation written in the Challenge, he was currently ‘supported’ by a God.

In other words, the ability he was using was the power borrowed from something else.

The blessing used in the demon army had a similar concept.

Recalling that time, there was one fatal weakness to these kinds of abilities.

That was, the ability may be canceled depending on the user’s current mental state.

And…If Yifret sees this, he would never be able to keep his composure.

Sure enough, he looked at the item I had taken out and roared sorrowfully.

“F-Feoria!!!”

I stopped him from approaching by pointing my gun at the corpse on the ground.

“Hold on, ahjussi. Stay still there.”

Yifret halted on the spot. His eyes constantly shook.

“Y-you!!! Wh-what are you doing? Put the gun down right now!”

“Don’t worry. I don’t have any thoughts of holding noona hostage.”

“O-okay…If you’re a man, fair and square…”

“She’s already dead. I don’t need it in the first place.”

I pulled the trigger towards the corpse.

Bang!

“Noooo!!!!”

Yifret fell to the ground screaming. Perhaps because his mind was shaken, the icicles surrounding his body fell off.

The effect was greater than I had expected.

“You, you, you…ah…”

He lost his mind and made a beastly cry. I explained it calmly so that he could understand the situation.

“Ahjussi, you don’t have to get so excited. I’m just confirming that she’s dead.”

“I-I’m going to tear you limb from limb!!”

Yifret’s eyes overturned as he kicked off the ground and lunged at me. In the meantime, I put another bullet into the corpse.

Bang!

“Aahh! D-don’t! Stop it!” 

He was in pain as if he had been shot. The icicles on his body fell off again.

But it still wasn’t enough.

The power I felt from him had decreased a lot, but it was still dangerous.

I thought I needed to make him lose his mind a little bit more.

So I shot at the corpse.

Bang!

Bang!

.

.

.

“Aahh! D-don’t! P-please stop!”

Finally, all of the icicles that surrounded him disappeared. Since then, I had alternated between firing at him and the corpse.

Bang!

Bang!

.

.

.

When he tried to rush at me, the corpse was shot, and when he stood still, a bullet flew at him.

Like that, he slowly collapsed. I thought I could succeed if this continued.

But…

“Huh?”

At some point, Yifret didn’t respond to me shooting the corpse. With a body that was completely worn out, he just glared at me.

Was the effectiveness over? He opened his mouth with a cracked voice.

“…I just realized.”

“What are you talking about?”

“To end this pain…The fact that I have to kill you.”

Ah…Just a little bit more and it would have been over.

The strain seemed to have exceeded its limits. I should have paced myself. It was my source of trouble, always wanting to finish games quickly.

Bloody icicles began to spring out of the body that had become a mess. Immediately his eyes turned red as if blood was dripping.

“You killed my brothers.”

Yifret walked to me at a speed that was neither fast nor slow.

“And…even took away my reason to live.”

Large ice pillars resembling a coffin formed wherever he stepped.

On the pillars were reflections of the bodies that had fallen.

“So…”

Yifret’s words echoed as it collided with the ceiling of the cave.

“Together.”

His voice, which had turned into an echo, resonated grimly like the chorus of the dead.

“Let’s go to hell.”

Before I knew it, the Yifret in front of me had turned into a huge wolf.

Bloody ice which covers the whole body, sharp teeth like icicles, and claws that were harder than ever.

The way he looked now was simply like an ice monster.

“Enough is enough. Die.”

A cold and sinister power was drawn into Yifret’s mouth.

The air swirled like a sharp knife, and the sound of wind resembling a jet engine filled the cave.

Hmm…Doesn’t that look really dangerous?

I wasn’t sure what he was preparing, but at a first glance, it looked like I would die if I got hit.

However, I had no intention of ending this game yet. It was a game that I had just started again, so I couldn’t die here.

It seemed it was time to use that.

I took out the second item I had in mind from my inventory.

Wuung–!

A rhythmic sound reached my ears.

I lifted the chainsaw I had taken out of my inventory so that Yifret could see it well.

Then little by little, I lowered my arms as the chainsaw scratched the ground next to Feoria’s corpse.

Flame scattered from the fast rotating saw blade. I was in a close position where it would touch the corpse if I moved a little more to the side.

“What do you think? Should we continue?”

“…”

Seeing the scene, Yifret hardened as if he was a lump of ice.

Then, he opened his mouth wide as if to tell me something, but no sound came out.

In the end, he couldn’t say anything.

It was over.

I threw a handgun at Yifret.

Thud–

“You know what to do, right?”

Yifret looked at the handgun that fell near him.

In the next moment, he slowly lowered his head and picked up the handgun.

There was no longer a monster made of ice or a swirling storm.

Only a beast standing in a complete mess.

In a completely dry voice, Yifret spoke.

“Y-you…demon…”

He pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang–!

Like that, Yifret died.

* * * * * * * * * *

After Yifret’s death, the ice inside the cave began to melt quickly. As a result, water filled the cave and it reached my ankles.

“My shoes are all wet.”

I became very annoyed at the thought of having to go down the mountain path in wet shoes.

Was everything planned by the Savage God for this moment?

If so, I would like to say that its plan was successful. How did it know that I hate being grimy?

“Ah, but it was still fun.”

Although there was the mishap of my shoes becoming wet at the last minute, it was very satisfying simply in terms of content.

It felt refreshing to feel like a newbie after a long time, and it was quite fun to kill my father who I had missed in my last life.

And…

Did it say its name was Turbak?

Maybe until now I had only scratched the surface of this game.

Even up to the last moment of the previous round I didn’t know that there was a Savage God.

What would it have been like if I had met it in my heyday? Would I have felt this gap then too?

It was hard to know.

Honestly, my skills were so poor right now that even my level couldn’t be properly estimated.

But one thing was for sure.

There was still content left to enjoy in this world.

Suddenly, my heart began to pound. I thought there would be no dull moments in this round.

I knew it would be fun.

And at that moment, a pleasant notification came to my ears.

Ding–!

“Oh, I forgot.”

Diligently playing all day long, it was time for the rewards.

I opened my status window and countless messages began to cover my eyes.