I Became a Disaster-Class Newbie by Stealing Abilities - Chapter 8

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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 008. The White Ghost, Seol Nyeo (1)
With each portal crossed, someone dies.
Playing innocent. Pretending to know nothing, but….
Now even Kailun had to face the truth.
Who was the newbie and who was the veteran.
“I-I’m so sorry! I didn’t know my place and acted foolishly.”
“What? My place? Why are you suddenly being so formal?”
“Please, curse me instead. Beat me. Trample me. You can even break something if you’d like.”
“I don’t follow. Come on, let’s give it our all and clear this final portal together!”
Ju-sang pointed toward the end of the corridor with a thin smile.
The unwillingness to engage in conversation was palpable.
Unable to bear it any longer, Kailun collapsed where he stood.
“Save me, you cursed bastard!”
Truly, a passionate plea for his life.
But.
“Have you ever spared someone who begged like that?”
Ju-sang’s voice was cold as frost.
“I… that is….”
“Don’t worry. At least I won’t deal with you myself.”
Even without direct intervention, he wouldn’t survive the final portal anyway.
Kailun knew this as well.
“Wait! You’re Korean too, aren’t you? By appearance and skill, you seem to be. Seoul? Or Busan? I’m from Wangsimnae. I graduated from Korea University!”
Grasping for any common ground.
Of course, it was pointless.
When there was no response, Kailun’s voice grew desperate.
“You. Killing. Can you really handle that? This isn’t a game!”
He was right.
Games and reality are different.
The weight of taking a life, the guilt that would follow—there was no comparison.
But before coming here, he had already made a vow to himself.
He would show no mercy to those whose morality had become so blurred.
“Use this time to check your gear instead. If you want to raise your chances of survival even by 0.1%.”
Ju-sang turned sharply toward the far end of the corridor.
Shimmer!
A massive chess piece blocked the way ahead.
Perched upon it, wearing a golden crown.
As if foreshadowing a distant battle with an emperor.
[The chess piece ‘King’ summons its unique weapon, the Sword of Lingering Spirits!]
A blade that absorbs the souls of fallen chess pieces.
Dreadful spectral energy pressed down upon the entire corridor.
‘Indeed. Beyond imagination.’
Ju-sang wet his lips with his tongue.
Under normal circumstances, a one-on-one fight would be impossible at this stage.
The King at difficulty level 5 wielded power on a different scale entirely.
Its Power Rank was a staggering 5.
A monster that had reached Peak Mastery at that.
But.
‘This time, my starting position is different.’
He possessed a hidden trump card to bridge the Power Rank gap.
Two ranks of difference—he could carve out an opening if necessary.
Click.
Ju-sang gripped the short dagger in reverse.
Mana spun at high speed, awakening every corner of his body.
‘Annihilation Star Style, First Form.’
Moonlight pools in the blade.
Blue and white light intermingled, painting a path forward for the sword.
Like the arc of a furrowed brow, smooth and flowing curves.
This was the vision that the Empire’s knights beheld.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
“Roooaaarrr!”
King began charging forward on his mount.
From the sword, over two meters long, a dark aura flowed like honey.
He was coming.
Whoosh!
Meeting the slash that the Sword of Lingering Spirits unleashed.
‘Moonlight’.
A brilliant crescent moon carved across the empty air.
Two blades clashed at a single point.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
A terrible shockwave consumed the entire corridor.
The chess pieces standing on both sides shattered to pieces, and the chessboard cracked like a tortoise shell.
“Ahhhhh!”
Kailun’s scream echoed from behind.
At an estimated Power Rank barely past the lower reaches of three stars, there was no way he could have withstood it.
Crack!
The moment the impact ended, Ju-sang seized the opening behind King.
The Sword of Lingering Spirits had exceptional offensive power, but deploying large techniques created a blind spot in the user’s vision—its fatal weakness.
Ju-sang, perched on the horse’s left hind leg, poured the remaining mana from his short dagger into the strike.
Thrust!
And drove it straight into the gap in the armor.
“Kraaaagh!”
A cry of agony tore from King’s mouth.
[Chess piece ‘King’ has fallen!]
[You are now the final ‘survivor’!]
[Rewards are being calculated!]
[You have obtained the ‘Sword of Lingering Spirits’!]
What he gained from passing the final gate was the great sword that King had wielded.
But now something even better had surfaced.
If one knew how to wield it properly, it would be extraordinarily useful.
Ju-sang read the runes inscribed on the sword’s surface in sequence.
“Fildmyol. Kal Diago. Shabpus.”
Forgotten ancient runes received his voice.
And then.
Clang-clang-clang!
One of the shattered chess pieces reformed into its proper shape.
A pawn, armed with a thick shield and short sword.
The most basic soldier in chess had been revived at King’s summons.
“Hm.”
The old saying that learning never ends wasn’t wrong at all.
Learning the Ancient Rune Language had been miserably difficult and tedious, but look at this.
After hardship comes reward.
It felt like compensation for all the time he’d spent.
If he used the low-grade Magic Stones and other items obtained from previous gates, it seemed possible to revive nearly all the chess pieces.
And next.
‘Plunder’ had given him something else to check.
Ju-sang carefully shifted his gaze to the side.
He’d failed to maintain the newbie disguise all the way through, which was slightly worrying…
[You have obtained the item ‘Subspace Inventory (Grade D)’ from Kailun.]
As expected, he’d failed to acquire anything substantial like a unique ability or trait.
Yet this was jackpot instead.
The very thing he’d wanted most had appeared.
A Subspace Inventory capable of storing countless items.
Even at Grade D, it should easily hold a hundred kilograms.
* * *
Sewer Underground Level 3.
Dozens of raiders were fleeing from that place.
“A m-monster. Three-star tanks couldn’t even last a single exchange!”
“We need to call in a major guild for this!”
“Where’s the exit? Why does this cursed Labyrinth Maze never end?”
Just as they were shrieking in despair.
A girl of about 160 centimeters in height appeared before them all.
Hair white as snow, bound in a single braid.
Eyes as sapphire blue as deep water.
A martial arts white robe that seemed to belong to another world.
As if a single snowflake had been lifted and placed among the living.
The girl possessed beauty and purity of feature that took the breath away, yet all around her swirled a tempest of blood and terror.
“I gave you so much time to run, and you’ve only made it this far?”
The words came with a giggle.
Shwish-shwish-shwish-shwish!
From the girl’s shadow, a pure white serpent erupted.
The White Snake bound arms and legs in an instant.
Thunk!
As its fangs sank deep, the wound began to frost over, inch by inch.
The effect of Frost Poison.
“Gaahhh.”
“My… my body won’t move.”
No matter how hard they struggled, their legs would not obey.
“Then it’s time for punishment.”
Shring!
A blade sang from its sheath.
A blade white as ice cut through the air.
“Please… spare me….”
Crack!
The man who had pleaded first for his life was severed in two.
Through a fountain of blood, the girl moved with light, dancing steps.
“Eeeek!”
“Aaahhhhh!”
Terror consumed the space around them.
Some lost control of their bodies. Others collapsed or fell into unconsciousness where they stood.
“Please… don’t give up so soon. Struggle harder, amuse me more. I’m still very hungry, you see.”
The girl’s empty eyes filled with madness.
The blade moved.
Voices ceased.
And this repeated, endlessly.
Soon after, silence consumed the entire area.
Only those frozen alive by Frost Poison remained.
The girl touched the ice statues gently.
Beautiful.
Among them were those who possessed a spark of raw talent.
Among them were those whose cries had left an impression.
Ice sculptures that would endure eternally, even thousands of years hence, carrying within them the fleeting emotions and memories of that single moment.
This was true art.
[Due to the trait Twisted Preference, your inner strength increases by +10.]
Each corpse cut down,
Each obsessive collection gathered,
Made her stronger still.
She had been born for this single purpose. Raised for it.
And so.
All who beheld her spoke in one voice:
The White Ghost, or Seol Nyeo.
-I commissioned the creation of this Labyrinth Maze for you alone. Prey will continue to arrive, so grow stronger. Your cursed bloodline survives for this reason and this reason alone.
Sting.
The loneliness burrowed into her heart spoke those words for the ten-thousandth time.
Yes.
Those called the Ghost Clan could only live in darkness.
And so.
This was happiness.
At least there was purpose to her existence.
At least she did not have to endure scorn and contempt from countless others.
And above all else.
‘I have to protect her.’
The one irreplaceable sibling in this world.
To see her again, I had to prove my worth, no matter what it took.
And then.
Multiple presences stirred in the distance.
New prey had arrived.
“I do hope this time brings someone memorable—someone worthy of becoming a cherished possession.”
Grip.
The girl tightened her hold on the sword and began to move.
* * *
[Entering Sewer Underground Level 3.]
With all preparations complete, Ju-sang descended into Level 3.
This place was a labyrinth itself—pure and absolute.
Once you entered, escape by ordinary means was impossible.
In truth, it would be fair to say this was where Edward Felix—that old man’s very essence—dwelled.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
A multitude of chess pieces followed in Ju-sang’s wake.
“Groooaar!!!”
“Roooowwwl!!!”
Delighted to be alive again, the chess pieces stamped their feet and clashed their weapons with deafening clamor.
“I told you to move quietly. Damn it all.”
Ju-sang raised his fist upward.
Already wound tight as a coil, the noise from these creatures was pushing him closer to the edge.
“Groooar….”
“Roooowwwl….”
The sounds had grown so faint a mosquito could have crept through unnoticed.
The sound effects had diminished so much you’d need a magnifying glass to make them out.
These things were idiots, but at least they were obedient.
How much deeper had they gone?
Soft.
The sound of footsteps—faint but distinct—reached his ears.
Shuffle.
Before long, every hair on his body stood rigid.
Damn it.
He’d thought coming here after such an absurd power-up would at least make things manageable.
It was all a mistake.
It felt as though a dozen reapers were clinging to his back.
Soft.
As the footsteps drew nearer, the temperature plummeted with terrifying speed.
His breath came in white clouds, mist crystallizing in the air.
The ground froze solid beneath hoarfrost, and petals of ice danced and scattered through the darkness.
From within that veil of white emerged a girl holding a white sword.
“Oh my. This time we have someone rather cute, it seems. Judging by all these playthings you’ve brought along.”
There she was. Finally.
One of the great calamities that would someday plunge the entire Empire into terror.

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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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