The Regressed SSS-Rank Supporter Who Turned Dark - Chapter 41

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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 41
Fundamentally, ether is energy in particle form.
Etherium is a mineral formed when ether clusters together into crystals—a major resource of this era utilized in various applications.
Etherium distinguishes its properties by color.
And its grade is determined by the number of striations that form within the crystal.
One striation equals 1-star.
Two striations equal 2-star.
Three striations equal 3-star.
When Cha Eun-sung defeated the zombie attacking Ra Si-hyun—more precisely, the Drowned Specter—and looted the green etherium from its corpse, the number of striations inside was a staggering five.
In other words, it was a 5-star green etherium.
“It’s not entirely unheard of, but….”
That observation came from experience.
Etherium doesn’t necessarily drop only from monsters matching its grade.
Occasionally, what people call “trash mobs”—ordinary monsters—yield exceptionally valuable runes or items, and this was one such case.
Still, for a mere 3-star Drowned Specter to drop a 5-star etherium was extraordinarily rare.
The odds were no different from winning the lottery….
‘Is this because of the Lucky Card?’
I couldn’t think of any other explanation.
Without it, I’d never experience such windfall luck.
[You have acquired Green Etherium (5-star)!]
“That… what is it?”
“A 5-star green etherium.”
“5-star?!”
Ra Si-hyun gasped in genuine shock at my answer.
Yes, she’d be shocked.
Even a complete novice would know how precious a 5-star etherium truly was.
“How could something like that appear here….”
“I have no idea either.”
I was equally bewildered, so asking me was pointless.
“What will you do with it?”
“Why are you asking? Do you want it?”
“Absolutely not.”
Ra Si-hyun took a step back, her denial emphatic.
I decided not to bother warning her further.
As long as she didn’t leave the boat, she couldn’t cause trouble anyway.
And… if she did, I’d be grateful for it.
I’d gain justification to kill Ra Si-hyun again without a shred of guilt.
“I was just curious. So please don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Not exactly glaring, but… it’s just frightening. Like you might kill me suddenly. Without warning.”
“Me? You?”
“Yes.”
“Heh.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“No reason.”
She’s perceptive, I’ll give her that.
Anyway, where am I supposed to use a five-star green Etherium….
I need to think about this carefully.
Since my understanding of my own role and profession is still lacking, I can’t afford to waste high-grade Etherium carelessly.
“Why did you throw away the gun?”
“…It wouldn’t fire.”
“Give it here.”
Ra Si-hyun picked up the rifle from the ground and handed it to me.
“There’s a shell casing jammed in it. You don’t know how to clear a malfunction? You learned this.”
“I, I panicked….”
Yeah, that makes sense.
Considering she was a greenhorn, I decided not to say anything harsh.
“In situations like this, first remove the magazine, pull the charging handle a few times, reinsert the magazine, then press the bolt catch.”
Click, clack clack clack, click, clang!
“There. Now it’ll fire. Since there are no enemies right now, keep the safety on.”
“Th, thank you.”
“What about your ether?”
“I’ve run out completely.”
“Drink this and follow me.”
I tossed an Etherium ampule to Ra Si-hyun and moved forward.
It was an ampule made by refining Etherium into liquid form, used for recovery when ether was depleted.
“Just to be safe, don’t point the muzzle at me, and give me a heads-up before you fire….”
I turned around when I noticed no footsteps, only to find Ra Si-hyun had fallen nearly ten meters behind.
“What are you doing? Come on.”
“Pl, please go a little slower….”
Thud!
Well, well.
“What’s wrong?”
“I, I’m exhausted….”
“Just stay down.”
She looked fine at first glance, but on closer inspection, she was in terrible shape.
Her ribs were protruding unevenly—clearly several were broken—and her ankle was twisted, definitely fractured.
For a mage to have survived being swept away by a tidal wave in this condition was nothing short of miraculous.
“Hold on.”
I pulled out a [Heal] card to treat Ra Si-hyun, when a five-star green Etherium floated to mind.
‘Ah.’
Now I understood.
Green Etherium’s purpose was to enhance healing-type abilities and increase addiction resistance.
If I strengthened the [Healing] card with this….
Whoooosh!
The [Healing] card absorbed the 5-star Green Etherium as if it had been waiting for this moment.
[Card enhancement successful!]
* * *
The [Healing] card, enhanced from 1-star to 3-star, transformed into [Gentle Breeze] and floated before my eyes.
Considering that I’d fed it a 5-star Green Etherium yet the grade only rose two tiers, it seemed the grade increase from enhancement wasn’t a 1:1 ratio.
Well, that’s something I’d have to learn gradually anyway.

[Gentle Breeze]
★★★
Greatly restores the target’s vitality, stamina, and ether while granting a temporary blessing.
Soon after, the woman depicted on the card stepped out of it and stood before me.
“It is an honor to meet you, Master.”
Like a breeze itself, a beautiful woman with a pale, translucent jade-green hue bowed respectfully to me.
Flinch!
Just as it had been with Lumos, I still couldn’t get used to being called “Master.”
“Please call me Young Master instead. I’m begging you.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
She answered with a gentle smile.
“What’s your name….”
“Undina, my name is Undina.”
“Alright, I’ll call you that from now on.”
“Shall I heal your companion?”
“Yes, please.”
Whoooosh!
The moment I answered, Undina transformed into a translucent pale jade-green breeze and enveloped Ra Si-hyun.
“Whenever you or your companions need healing, Young Master, please call upon me anytime.”
“Alright, I will.”
“Then….”
Whoooosh!
Undina returned to the [Gentle Breeze] card and vanished.
“W-what was that just now?”
Ra Si-hyun, now completely healed, asked me.
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
….
Ra Si-hyun clamped her mouth shut.
“You’re using your hands too much. Are you a mage?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Ra Si-hyun apologized in a meek voice, bowing her head deeply.
In any case.
Mages were undoubtedly formidable beings, but it was undeniable that they required considerable attention in various ways.
“Never mind. Follow me. And I’ll say it again—watch the gun barrel, and if you need to fire, tell me first before you do.”
“Yes.”
Ra Si-hyun trailed behind me and asked.
“What do we do now?”
“We need to find the people first.”
….
I’d been prepared to abandon her if she spouted any nonsense, but seeing her remain silent suggested she’d at least developed some basic sense of awareness.
Yes, people should change after being scolded.
Perhaps there was still hope for her redemption….
I’d have to keep observing to know for sure.
* * *
Moving through an area covered by the Fog Maze wasn’t easy.
But thanks to the [Search] card, I could navigate effortlessly and encountered almost no monsters.
This time, I hadn’t summoned Lumos.
Lumos was remarkably powerful for a guide, but his presence consumed a tremendous amount of my ether.
Just ten minutes of traveling together had depleted about a fifth of my ether reserves….
As a result, I learned a bit more about how to use the cards.
Using only the cards themselves didn’t consume much ether.
But when the people who emerged from the cards—Lumos and Undina—were summoned, ether consumption spiked dramatically.
In exchange, the card’s effects became far more powerful, so it was a trade-off.
‘But… what should I call them.’
I suddenly found myself wondering how to define Helkiyan, Lumos, and Undina.
‘They’re not human. Spirits? But they seem different from spirits.’
What were they, exactly?
Entities dwelling within the cards?
Or should I call them avatars, since the card’s power was personified?
‘Huh?’
A single word suddenly crossed my mind.
‘Card spirits…perhaps.’
I couldn’t even explain why such a word had occurred to me.
I didn’t even know Chinese characters well.
Yet somehow, that term felt perfectly fitting.
‘Yes. I’ll just call them card spirits.’
That was when it happened.
“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”
“Run, hurry!”
“Jenzaaang!”
Oh Tae-kwon, Kim Seung-hye, and Park Seok-ho burst through the fog.
“Oh! Hyung!”
Oh Tae-kwon recognized me and his face lit up with joy, but only for a moment.
“Just run! Quickly!”
Kim Seung-hye shouted urgently.
It was obvious they were being chased by something.
‘What could they be running from?’
Skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter-skitter….
A sound utterly devoid of pleasantness.
As if countless tiny things were crawling rapidly, the sound tickled my ears before tens of thousands of palm-sized cockroaches poured out from the fog.
‘I can see why they’d run.’
They were monsters called [Carnivorous Roaches].
They weren’t actual cockroaches.
They were amphipods native to the Coastal Area that had undergone mutation after exposure to corrupted ether.
The problem was that tens of thousands of them swarmed together and devoured anything in their path.
The moment you were surrounded by them, you’d be torn apart alive, and within the blink of an eye, only bones would remain.
No wonder they were counted among the most notorious monsters from the dimensional rift that occurred in the Coastal Area.
“Uuugh!”
Rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat!
Oh Tae-kwon unleashed a barrage of machine gun fire, but it was insufficient to stop tens of thousands of Carnivorous Roaches.
I didn’t run.
With a natural predator of these roaches standing right beside me, there was no reason to flee.
“Why are you just standing there?”
“Pardon?”
“Deal with them.”
“Ah, yes.”
At my command, Ra Si-hyun drew out her spirit blade.
Ra Si-hyun’s spirit blade was a golden staff nearly as long as a spear, with a golden ring apparatus resembling an armillary sphere attached to its tip.
With a smooth motion, Ra Si-hyun pointed her staff toward the Carnivorous Roaches.
The golden rings at the staff’s tip began to rotate.
Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh!
Crimson flames erupted explosively from the staff’s end, engulfing the Carnivorous Roaches.
Though numerous in quantity, the Carnivorous Roaches had pathetic defense, making a mage’s area-of-effect spell the most efficient pesticide against them.
[Ether absorbed!]
[Ether absorbed!]
…
[Ether absorbed!]
Thanks to the contract I’d established with Ra Si-hyun, ether poured in ravenously.
The result was sweet.
[Your grade has increased!]
Ether enveloped me.
[Cha Eun-sung]
Guide
Collector of Madness
★★★
(0%)
Thus, I ascended from a 2-star Hunter to a 3-star Hunter.
And….
[A new card has been created!]
I could now use the new card as well.

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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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