I Became a Disaster-Class Newbie by Stealing Abilities - Chapter 37

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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 37. Matching Manipulation (2)
Two men and one woman.
Demons with black skin and yellow eyes were perched atop Burning Rock Mountain.
“One of our minions just died.”
A demon standing nearly 190 centimeters tall, with a lean, sinewy frame, spoke up.
Black hair cascading down to his waist.
He was a striking male specimen—beautiful in the way of the gods in Greek mythology.
“Interesting.”
“What? Is there actually someone in this dungeon capable of defeating our marked slave?”
A heavily muscled demon well over 2.5 meters tall and a lithe, Western-featured female demon each added their own remarks.
Their faces brimmed with intrigue.
Small wonder.
The minions had been culled from those possessing genuine skill and ruthlessness within this dungeon.
And each had been given a weapon suited to their hand.
Unless a knight arrived, there should be no surprises.
That’s what he’d thought.
“Impressive, really. The way he searched for an escape in that situation and came out to face me—it left an impression.”
The long-haired demon.
Barkan’s lips curved into a smile.
Anticipation for his prey.
“What’s he look like? What’s his Rank?”
“Oh my. Jeroxar. Surely you’re not thinking of poaching Barkan’s marked prey?”
“Shut it, Lizerna! I was merely asking about the creature’s particulars!”
The two demons snarled at each other.
“In ten hours anyway, we’ll be hunting the humans in this dungeon one by one. You’ll meet him soon enough. Judge for yourself when the time comes.”
He would have liked nothing more than to draw blood—a single drop—from his own body.
It had been so long since he’d felt the thrill of a fight that genuinely tested him.
* * *
“Damn it all. Why the hell is this happening to me!”
Boradoli cursed at the sky.
The profanity came unbidden.
This entire dungeon was nothing but one injustice after another.
-Tee-hee. This is my first dungeon! Looking forward to working together!
-As for me, I was once the Empire’s foremost swordsman. So I believe it’s only fair that I take ninety percent of the proceeds?
-I’m a tank build, but I have no armor. Lost it all gambling. *Hiccup!* So before you ask me to take the front line, *hiccup!*, let me get some armor first. Come on! Hand it over!
Every single one of them was a one-star Rank troll.
Fine. Not that it mattered.
He’d never planned to rely on anyone anyway.
A dungeon like this was something he could clear alone without breaking a sweat.
So he’d planted bio-bombs in the bodies of the four matched idiots, used them as bait, and worked them skillfully to his advantage.
But.
The misfortune didn’t end there.
Every path forward was blocked by lava waterfalls.
And even when he hunted monsters, not once did he get a single useful byproduct.
He only encountered monsters that seemed constipated—their innards packed with nothing but waste.
And that was far from all.
His Subspace Pouch had suddenly gone dark.
The Curse Talisman he’d brought from the Immortal Cult had been stolen by rats.
Even the traits he’d received as penalties were among the absolute worst.
[Intermediate Narcolepsy has been added!]
[Severe Dehydration has been added!]
[Frequent Mood Swings has been added!]
Ha.
This was the kind of injustice that would draw nothing but curses if made into a film.
-Hey there, partner. You weren’t born under the star of misfortune, were you?
For even that clown to make such a comment—things had gotten dire.
“Damn it. The moment I cross paths with that bastard, my luck goes to hell.”
Jung Jusang.
That brat had irritated him from the very first meeting.
Whenever he got entangled with him, everything that should have gone smoothly invariably fell apart.
But that’s all right.
Trials exist to be overcome.
This time, I’ll clear this Dungeon first and wash away the shame of that day—no matter what it takes.
Boradoli took another heavy step forward.
Trusting without a doubt that where there was descent, there would also be ascent.
But right then.
“Hey! Boradoli!”
Someone in the distance waved their hand.
Jung Jusang. It was him.
“You…!”
Boradoli’s face crumpled in disgust.
He looked as though he’d just spotted an insect.
“That’s harsh. We’re precious comrades who’ll have to walk this difficult road together—surely you can be more civil than that.”
“Comrades? You and me?”
“That’s right. The four of us—me, you, Amy, and Hyangpyeong-jak—we’re bound to travel together.”
The clown and Boradoli.
These two, who moved as a package like hamburgers and fries, were also top recruitment candidates.
Their utility was boundless, and they were easy to manage.
“Don’t talk nonsense. Why in the world would I have to travel with someone like you?”
“Well, that curse spreading up your neck—you need to treat it quickly, right? Lucky for you, Amy is a holy knight. She should be able to mitigate the curse by controlling her Sacred Power.”
The trait Divine Punishment.
An even more terrible version than divine retribution—when Sacred Power was forcibly injected into the heart, it ultimately caused the entire body to explode.
‘I knew the penalty would give me Divine Punishment….’
With such low fortune, his luck was absolutely abysmal.
It wasn’t easy to deteriorate to this degree at such terrible timing.
“There’s not just one priest or healer in this Dungeon. You could find one of them and ask for treatment.”
“What do you think the odds are of meeting someone who handles Sacred Power in a place this vast? Looking at you, your luck seems absolutely rotten.”
“…….”
Struck by a fact he couldn’t refute, he fell silent like someone with honey in their mouth.
From the start, Boradoli had no choice.
The moment he entered this Dungeon, his fate was sealed as a slave.
[Matching Manipulation App has been activated!]
[The fourth companion has been added!]
At the same time.
Whoooosh!
The penalty weighing on all four of them lightened considerably.
Using the brief window that appeared, Jusang explained the current situation to Boradoli.
“Damn. Got completely caught. If it’s a high-ranking Demon, that’s the level of monsters the 2nd Knight Order should be mobilized for.”
Boradoli’s expression grew serious.
The playful clown was nowhere to be seen. He felt tension grip his entire body.
He was afraid.
Because this time, he really could die.
“Did he say he’d give us ten hours?”
“Around eight hours left now.”
“Hopelessly short. No matter how fast we move, it’s impossible to kill the boss and escape the Dungeon in that time.”
“Right. That’s why he gave exactly that much.”
If I’d gotten the full two days, I would’ve thought about escaping.
Fighting the boss was a thousand times easier than fighting Demons.
But with eight hours remaining, the plan would have to change completely.
Boradoli read his intent.
“You’re thinking of fighting them. Aren’t you?”
“There’s no other way.”
I had to create variables somehow.
“Are you serious? I heard there’s more than one Demon.”
“Up to two is manageable.”
The odds were only about eight percent at best, but it wasn’t zero.
“What if there are three or more?”
Then….
We’d be finished.
Someone would die—there’d be nothing strange about it.
“Sigh. Fine. Let’s give it a shot. But understand—the strongest among us calls the shots. I don’t yield command to anyone.”
Had the Divine Punishment really weakened that much? He’d lost his mind all of a sudden.
He was clearly misunderstanding something.
The Matching Manipulation app had a ‘conditional command authority’ function, after all.
Now that we’d agreed to share the boat, he could forget about playing alpha male.
“Sit.”
Boom!
“Aagh!”
Boradoli dropped to his knees.
“Roll left.”
Tumble-tumble.
“Roll right.”
Tumble-tumble.
“Push-ups eight times. Fourteen times. Then waddle like a duck to that wall and back. Begin.”
“Gaaahhh! You bastard….”
Brief but brutal instruction complete.
Normally, such a rank gap wouldn’t permit commands this severe.
But with his body weakened by Divine Punishment and his luck utterly depleted, it had become possible.
“I’m giving the orders. You follow without complaint.”
That was my final decision.
-Listen, partner. I think we’re screwed.
“I know. I know, damn it! Do whatever you want, just don’t drag me down with you.”
Boradoli’s neck muscles tensed with rage.
Fury blazed to the crown of his head, yet he barely clung to reason’s thread.
Well, he’s got patience after all.
But unfortunately, the real test of that patience was only just beginning.
“I look forward to working with you, Great and Mighty Guild Master. Now, copy what I do. Go on.”
“Don’t push it. You keep this up and things won’t be fun anymore.”
“Ha-ha. Still got some fight in him, I see? They say the plight of underpaid temporary workers is a social problem these days. We’re adding another case study right here in this dungeon.”
There’s a saying: if you hate the temple, leave.
A perfectly fair and righteous bit of wisdom.
The only problem is that this temple’s exit opens onto a cliff.
“I… look… forward… to… working… with… you. Great… Great… Great… Guild… Master.”
Boradoli surrendered, swallowing tears of blood.
The moment dopamine flooded my system.
* * *
At that same moment.
Whoooosh.
On the vast Snowy Plain where knife-edged winds howled, an entirely different kind of battle was unfolding.
“Seolgi!”
“More coming from this side!”
The Baek Gwi screamed, pouring their all into every sword stroke.
Over ten hours of bloody combat already.
Like a place where human footsteps had long since ceased to tread, Kangwon Province’s ecosystem was brutally harsh.
“Raaaagh!”
“Screeeagh!”
Dozens of ice-giants, each standing five meters tall, advanced with massive ice clubs and logs in their claws.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Every last one of them was at least rank seven.
Powered by a Field Buff that raised their stats by ten percent.
Under perfect conditions, it might have been manageable….
But in their current state—already drained of mana to the breaking point—these were enemies no one could afford to ignore.
Except for one.
“There’s real satisfaction in cutting here.”
Everyone except Baek Seolgi.
Slice!
Crash-crash-crash!
Cutting and cutting again.
Until the white canvas turned crimson with blood.
Baek Seolgi swept through all the ice-giants in an instant and pressed forward alone.
How long had they been walking?
At last, the party reached the ice palace Jung Jusang had told them about.
Whoosh!
A dreamlike place where pale blue flames flickered here and there.
Strangely, the flames were cold.
As if they didn’t belong to this world at all.
“From here, I’ll go alone. Please wait outside.”
Baek Seolgi said to the rest of the Baek Gwi.
“Of course!”
“Y-yes, that’s what we were planning anyway!”
The Baek Gwi nodded immediately.
The aura flowing from inside the palace was far too ominous.
Crunch.
She stepped on the thin layer of snow beneath her feet and entered, only to be struck at once by a terrible blizzard.
“This is….”
Baek Seolgi’s eyes narrowed.
This was no ordinary cold.
Absolute Zero—a bitter frost that reached that extreme.
The chill was so severe that even one’s breath would freeze, and it pierced through to the bone.
Had any of the other Baek Gwi been here, they would have been encased in ice long ago.
No—anyone at all would have collapsed before this killing frost.
—I thought that creature entering through the Northern European gate would be a suitable vessel for me. Never did I imagine I’d find a jewel in such a remote corner.
Not long after, a mysterious woman’s voice drifted through the air.
At first, she wondered if the bitter cold had put her to sleep briefly, letting her dream.
There couldn’t possibly be any living thing in a place like this.
But.
The voice rang clear at the edge of Baek Seolgi’s ear, like a whisper.
—Child. You possess the power to unmake the world. Should you hone it well, it won’t be long before you carve out a place in legend.
The tone dripped with longing.
A deep hunger echoed in every word.
—So surrender it. That body of yours.
That was when the blizzard became a blade and came slashing down.
Crash! Crack-crack-crack!
Baek Seolgi drew her sword and countered.
“Kyuuu!”
Seltang-i, perched on her shoulder, batted away the shattered ice fragments.
Cold against cold.
Frost clashing with frost.
In an instant, Baek Seolgi’s body was covered in wounds.
It was nearly one-sided violence, yet she didn’t retreat a single step—only endured, and endured again.
—Eyes so hollow and empty… yet hiding such a burning fire within.
—Is that faith? Or yearning? Or perhaps…
—Yes. That’s love. There’s someone else already occupying the place I was meant to take.
Disappointment bled through every syllable of the voice.
For there was one condition that absolutely had to be met to claim such a vessel.
But so long as a third person held a place in Baek Seolgi’s heart, seizing the vessel was impossible.
At least, not now.
—The love you feel will never be returned. Those who walk the path of bitter frost are always alone. Even if not this moment, you are destined to be solitary in the end.
Had it been the past, those words would have shaken her.
But since walking alongside Jung Jusang, much had changed.
Someone she could trust and lean upon….
Someone who treated her warmly for the first time, beyond all calculation.
She had come to understand that such people existed in this world.
And so.
“I don’t regret it. I never will.”
Baek Seolgi spoke with conviction.
As if swearing an oath to herself. Etching those words into her heart.
—So you would make the same mistake as she did. Truly. What a foolish child.
As if chewing over the past, the voice grew distant.
—But I confess, I do not hate such fleeting romance.
With those words.
Whoosh!
A cyan flame materialized in the empty air.
It was beautiful.
Like a form that held captive all the cold of the world.
Without thinking, Baek Seolgi reached out toward that flame.
[Niflheim’s Ice Flame has been absorbed!]
Crackle.
A crown adorned with pure white jewels appeared over Baek Seolgi’s heart.
—This is a blessing yet not a blessing; a curse yet not a curse.
—Child. Let it be known to all the world that you walk this earth with my favor.
[You receive the backing of a Transcendent Being!]
[Your Rank shatters its former limits!]
Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!
The cold radiating from Baek Seolgi’s blade split the palace in two.

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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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