I Became a Disaster-Class Newbie by Stealing Abilities - Chapter 19

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 019. Starfield (3)
Crash!
The Elder Corpse Golem’s body crumbled.
With the hidden card that promised victory rendered useless, morale among the Immortal Cult followers plummeted.
“What kind of swordsmanship was that? It looked like lightning striking down.”
“The power was… extraordinary.”
The believers murmured uncertainly, hesitating.
The martial display Joo Sang had demonstrated was overwhelming enough to strip away even madness itself.
As a result, the battle had temporarily reached a lull.
For the Vatican side, it was an answered prayer.
Otherwise, the priests and holy knights whose Holy Power had been depleted would have been half-slaughtered by now.
“So… it really was you who was Joo Sang all along.”
Kang Su Hyeok spoke slowly, opening his mouth.
The stagnant water that the jester had warned him to be careful of.
All the jester had said was that he’d understand once he saw it.
But now, witnessing this with his own eyes, the certainty had crystallized.
“You know me?”
“Heard about you through the grapevine, more or less. Seeing you in person is even more impressive than I imagined, though. My back’s soaked with cold sweat.”
“Don’t be melodramatic. You haven’t even brought out what’s really dangerous yet.”
“Ho. You know that much?”
Kang Su Hyeok’s eyes narrowed.
His expression suggested he was wrestling with something complex.
“Since we’ve come this far, how about you and I play a game? You won’t regret it. If you win, what you gain will be incredibly sweet.”
He unexpectedly laid out a proposal.
“You’re not suggesting we deepen our friendship in this situation, are you?”
“Ha. Of course not.”
“Stop dancing around it. What do you want?”
“I’d like to recruit you to our side. But just making the offer wouldn’t work—you wouldn’t listen. So I need to dangle some bait like this.”
Whoosh.
From Kang Su Hyeok’s bosom emerged a scale shaped like a skull.
[Scale of Subjugation]
[Acquisition Difficulty: BB]
[If you lose composure and your emotions waver, the scale gradually grows heavier. Whichever side touches the ground first loses, and the winner receives a one-time absolute command authority.]
[However, it does not respond if a lie is spoken.]
It was a method of pitting truths each person knew against the other, probing for weaknesses.
Whoooosh!
The scale’s size expanded until a person could stand on it.
“If I win, you keep an open mind and begin a new religious life with us. If you win instead, you can command us to do whatever you want. Tell us to step back from here, and we’ll do it immediately.”
Two cunning players competing smartly through an information war. That was the implication.
High risk, high return.
And precisely because of that, it held appeal.
“That’s bold. Not bad.”
Joo Sang stepped onto one side of the scale.
Kang Su Hyeok stepped onto the other.
Thud!
The scale achieved perfect equilibrium.
From the skull-shaped ornament, blue flames erupted.
“Since I’m the one proposing, I’ll at least yield first move. You can start.”
“No. You go first.”
“Are you sure? If you refuse my goodwill carelessly, this could end in one stroke.”
“I doubt it. Don’t worry—that won’t happen.”
Joo Sang shrugged his shoulders.
Then Kang Su Hyeok opened his mouth with a meaningful smile.
“I was impressed to learn that your purpose in coming here was to search for a Calamity.”
The words that emerged were shocking.
“H-how did you…?”
Joo Sang’s expression turned to complete surprise.
The composure that had covered his face moments before was instantly distorted.
“There exists a Divine Messenger who can hear the words of the Evil God. For you, it would be something utterly impossible to predict, so don’t fall into despair too deeply about it.”
Kang Su Hyeok held up a communication Mana Stone.
The surface of the Mana Stone was inscribed with a sentence written in bizarre characters.
[What Jeong Ju-sang is after is a ‘Calamity’ capable of destroying an entire nation, and that entity exists right here within this.]
This is precisely why he proposed the game.
“And one more thing—I never lose a game.”
Kang Su Hyeok declared with absolute confidence, certain of his victory.
But then.
Creak….
The Scale of Subjugation barely trembled.
It showed no sign of tipping toward either side.
“This… this can’t be right….”
Bewilderment escaped Kang Su Hyeok’s lips.
He’d been certain this move would end the game. Yet somehow, the Scale barely shifted at all.
But there was a reason.
“That’s because I sent it.”
Ju-sang pulled out his smartphone.
On the screen was the exact same message Kang Su Hyeok had received.
“That’s… that’s impossible. You knew I was going to propose this game? Wait. Hold on.”
Kang Su Hyeok’s words faltered as something dawned on him.
“For this to make sense, you’d have had to know beforehand that there was a Divine Messenger in the Cult…. Tell me. Just how far ahead were you thinking when you set up this board?”
“There’ve always been a lot of half-baked newcomers clinging to the Immortal Cult, thinking they know something.”
People who believed a handful of knowledge gave them complete understanding of this world.
For such incomplete fools, the Scale of Subjugation was an incredibly attractive card.
A means to subjugate an opponent through information alone.
So I turned it around.
To show them that there’s always someone faster than the fast.
“Now it’s my turn.”
Ju-sang calmly produced one of his past accomplishments.
“I’ve summoned a Calamity before.”
After awakening all the Holy Relics, I manifested it on the altar of the temple.
And furthermore.
“Though it took considerable effort, I ultimately eliminated it.”
In the late stages, after countless attempts, I achieved one of the impossible feats.
“Ha, haha…. You should lie more carefully. You expect me to believe that? A mere human summoned and eliminated a being of divine rank?”
What is a Calamity?
A being beyond the heavens.
Because humans could do nothing against it, they revered it as a god and held it in awe!
Kang Su Hyeok gazed at the Scale of Subjugation, denying reality.
If he were lying, the Scale wouldn’t move.
But.
Crash!
“Ahhh!”
Boom!
The Scale plummeted to the ground in an instant, proving Ju-sang’s words true.
[One-time Absolute Command Authority has been activated.]
If commanded to breathe, one must breathe.
If commanded to die, one must die.
“Now then, hand over the Bell of Spirits from what you’re carrying.”
“The Bell of Spirits? Why that one….”
The Bell of Spirits is an item capable of summoning certain Urban Legends and Specters.
Kang Su Hyeok tilted his head, having expected Ju-sang to demand something far more difficult and troublesome.
“You don’t need to understand. Just do as you’re told.”
“Fine. I’ll hand it over. I said I would.”
Kang Su Hyeok readily surrendered the Bell.
Even as he mocked Ju-sang for making such a foolish decision.
But.
Ju-sang was mocking his opponent just the same.
‘Of everything you possess, this will hurt the most.’
Ju-sang immediately produced the items he had prepared.
‘Queen Elizabeth’s Autographed Degree’, ‘Urban Legend Publisher Contract’, ‘Moonlight Ink’.
All of them intended for a single person.
Ding-dong!
The moment the Bell of Spirits rang, a specter materialized before them.
[The Great Dramatist of the British Empire manifests.]
The owner of that title was none other than Shakespeare.
Born in the age of Elizabeth I, the legendary playwright whose works had echoed through the centuries.
“Ha ha ha! And here I was wondering what you’d summon. Shakespeare, of all things? A specter that’s utterly useless in combat—I can’t fathom what you’d possibly need him for.”
Kang Su Hyeok couldn’t help but laugh.
Which was hardly surprising.
Shakespeare’s Urban Legend centered on scholarly and philosophical debates of his era.
It posed no danger, but conquering it demanded an enormous expenditure of time.
And even if you managed to clear it, the reward was laughably meager on top of that.
Whoooosh!
A library materialized, its shelves lined with countless books.
The stage was being reconfigured for the full Urban Legend encounter.
“It would be an honor merely to converse with you, but I’m afraid time is short today. Instead, let me offer this as a token of my gratitude.”
The specter laid down a completed document.
It was a degree from Oxford University’s Faculty of Humanities.
And it bore the Queen’s own signature in her hand.
Then.
Crack-crack-crack-crack!
The entire library, half-finished, convulsed violently.
[The Great Dramatist of the British Empire grows deeply troubled!]
Shakespeare had a fatal weakness.
His very station and education—or rather, the lack thereof.
In Shakespeare’s case, that inferiority ran deep.
He’d endured ridicule and contempt from rivals, dismissed as nothing more than a player-turned-playwright.
This would strike true.
[A lifelong wish has been fulfilled.]
[The great dramatist’s spirit voluntarily dissolves the Urban Legend.]
Poof.
The library crumbled to ash and vanished.
[To the one who released his resentment, he leaves his most precious possession.]
[Shakespeare’s Fountain Pen]
[Acquisition Difficulty: AAA]
[Description: The power woven into written words can alter the very laws of the world. The scope of what is possible depends on the wielder’s proficiency and capacity.]
[However, once all five uses are expended, it reverts to an ordinary fountain pen.]
Despite the patina of ages, it remained an artwork of luminous sophistication and precision.
Perfect.
He had obtained what he sought.
The specter gripped the fountain pen gently.
‘Rewriting the characters themselves is beyond my current skill. But reordering them…’
Still.
‘…that should be perfectly feasible.’
The letters of “Immortal Cult” groaned and shifted beneath the pen’s influence.
Then, their positions rearranged.
“Talmoi Cult.”
From this moment forward, it would no longer be the Immortal Cult—but the Talmoi Cult.
[The power woven into written words shakes the very foundation of the world’s laws!]
Thump-thump.
The strange phenomenon erupted then and there.
“What?!”
“What is this…?”
“My hair! My hair is falling out!”
Screams pierced the air from all directions.
Those with luxuriant locks clawed frantically at their heads, writhing in agony as they felt something precious slipping away.
Of course, it wouldn’t reach the high-ranking officers with substantial Curse Resistance…
But the lower initiates had no escape from this curse.
Not until they invoked some Holy Relic capable of countering Shakespeare’s Fountain Pen would this bizarre calamity cease.
“Aaaaaahhh!”
Kang Su Hyeok too ran his hand over his head, now as smooth as an egg.
Perhaps the shock hit twice as hard because he’d originally been Korean.
Tsk, tsk. So be careful, will you.
“Even the Immortal Cult couldn’t preserve their hair. Looks like they’ll have trouble recruiting new members going forward.”
People wanting to join the Talmoi Cult…well.
Safe to say there won’t be many.
“Are you insane? How do you plan to handle the fallout from this!”
Kang Su Hyeok’s praise came gushing out.
For my part, it was something to be grateful for.
[Ability Theft successful!]
Thanks to that, I’d achieved yet another objective.
I steadied my trembling heart.
Well then. What will emerge?
Since it targeted the entire organization, I was hoping something worthwhile would come from it.
In that very moment.
“This can’t be.”
Ping!
Something far beyond my expectations burst forth.
* * *
At the same time.
Baek Seol Ki, moving alone, encountered Sweet Home.
“Consume. Consume. Consume. Consume.”
As befitted a superior being that dominated Starfield, it had devoured numerous Urban Legends and Specters in the interim, evolving into something beyond comprehension.
Countless eyeballs and teeth appeared in the wake of the shadow.
Crack-crack!
Screech-screech!
Sparks scattered in all directions.
The surrounding area dyed dark red beneath an ominous, foreboding wave of power.
Any creature possessed of reason….
Any being with even the faintest notion of what fear meant.
Would never dare approach such a thing.
Yet Baek Seol Ki smiled faintly before this natural calamity.
“Found you at last.”
Her eyes crinkled softly, gently.
Behind them lurked an unbearable madness.
Shing.
As the blade was drawn, snow flowers bloomed in profusion.
Petals painted the world white, drifting endlessly.
“Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!!!”
Sweet Home erupted with all its power.
It would tolerate no further violation of its domain—a scream that seemed to tear the very fabric of reality tore through the air.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
A wave of Specters surged forward.
A tide of death that would corrupt the mind and strip flesh from bone bore down upon the small girl.
Right then.
Baek Seol Ki’s blade touched the sky.
Frost Flower Divine Sword Technique Form 2.
One snow flower joined with another.
Thousands of flowers formed a single colossal bloom.
The Heavenly Flower White Lotus.
It was a mountain of snow.
Linking heaven and earth.
“Kiiee…eeeeee….”
Sweet Home exhaled white breath.
Its form convulsed as it tried to shriek something, but its entire body was already frozen solid.
[The ruler of Starfield dissipates!]
[Trait ‘???’ acquired!]
“Surely you’ll be pleased with this? Perhaps you might even praise me.”
Baek Seol Ki held up the luminescent orb, smiling brightly.
Merely imagining his delight was enough to warm the emptiness in her heart.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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