Chapter 7: Chapter 7

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Chapter 7: Selection (2)

"…A rock?"

I blinked, thinking I’d seen it wrong, but what appeared amidst the shimmering light was a dull stone.

A single stone, smaller than a golf ball.

“Ah! Is this really a sword? What if I cut myself?”

“Hey, miss! Some chunk of metal just came out, but do you know what it is? It’s heavy as hell!”

The woman in the fitted business skirt got a gleaming sword, and the security guard—whose vision wasn’t the best—ended up with a riot shield fit for a special forces unit.

“Woah! Check this out, hyung!”

Even Jaehyuk managed to get himself shiny medieval-style armor!

"Uh, Eunho? Did you seriously just get a stone?"

Jieun’s words drew everyone’s attention to the floating box in front of me.

“Young man, is it true? A rock came out?”

“A stone? Wow, I thought the cape was the worst, but I was wrong.”

“Well, um… stay strong…”

Everyone else had gotten something useful for survival.

Sure, it was random, so there were differences between items like shields and capes.

“Hyung! Wanna share my armor? We can take turns wearing it!”

“You’ll pause in the middle of a fight to swap armor?”

“Well, I guess…”

“...Sigh. It’s fine. If I throw it well, a rock might come in handy somehow.”

Though, a rock is still just a rock.

I tried to console myself, but my hand gripping the golden string trembled uncontrollably.

‘This was supposed to make up for my setback…’

The random box was truly random.

There’s an old saying: luck is a skill.

But no amount of effort could have changed the result this time.

Still, my shoulders slumped no matter how much I tried to rationalize it.

“…What about you, Jieun?”

“This,”

Jieun replied, pulling a dagger about the length of her forearm from the box.

Her eyes sparkled with curiosity, suggesting she liked it.

“You seem good with it.”

“Yeah. It feels oddly comfortable in my hand. I’ve never handled anything sharper than a kitchen knife before.”

She turned it over in her hand, experimenting with grips, as if it had been tailor-made for her small hands.

“That’s great. I’m sure it’ll come in handy.”

At least Jieun and Jaehyuk had gotten decent items.

The dagger, in particular, would prove useful even outside of combat.

If she got used to it, it could be a great asset.

‘A rock could be useful if I got used to it too… throwing it… rolling it...’

Resigning myself to the thought, I reached out to the stone.

And then—

—Flash!

[You have absorbed the "Diamond of the Forsaken Highlands."]

The stone’s surface, which had felt cool to the touch, suddenly began to liquefy as if melting in intense heat.

[The skill "Petrification (Lv.1)" has been unlocked.]

[Due to limited absorption, the initial activation range is restricted.]

A skill? A

ll of a sudden?

After all the painstaking data collection, I hadn’t seen even a trace of the skill I’d worked for.

Now, one pops out randomly from a box?

—Slick.

The once-solid stone flowed up my fingers like molten metal.

An intense heat coursed through my skin, muscles, and even the marrow of my bones.

Petrification.

As I felt my fingertip hardening from the inside, I realized—my body was changing.

[Initial activation range for "Petrification (Lv.1)" for subject "Eunho" is…]

How far will it go?

My legs?

My arms?

My fists?

[The index finger of your right hand.]

“…Huh?”

* * *

—Thunk!

“This is actually pretty amazing!”

Jieun clapped her hands like a seal.

“That’s no ordinary rock.”

"Diamond of the Forsaken Highlands."

I had suspected something was unusual about a stone with such a grandiose name.

It could punch through concrete walls and marble floors alike.

“It’s so cool! I bet it’s great for opening cans too!”

“Uh, you open cans with your thumb, not your index finger.”

“Really?”

I nodded silently, and Jieun shrugged as if to say, “Is that so?”

“Anyway, I like that it’s a growth-type skill. If you level it up, the range will probably expand.”

「Petrification (Lv.1): Hardens the caster's body for 60 seconds.」

「Activation range: Index finger of the right hand.」

The strength was impressive, so expanding the range would make it extremely useful.

Sure, items like swords and shields were great right out of the box, but upgrading one’s core abilities was always the better long-term choice.

"Mission reward."

[Choose your mission reward.]

“With the remaining point, I’ll upgrade the Petrification skill.”

[Upgrading "Petrification (Lv.1)" to "Petrification (Lv.2)".]

[Select an additional activation range: Right-hand thumb, middle finger, ring finger, pinky finger, left-hand thumb…]

“Right-hand thumb.”

I decided without hesitation.

The thumb and index finger often work together, making it practical for gripping and applying force.

[Skill upgrade complete.]

“Eunho, are you planning to open cans now?”

“…Of course not.”

I glanced at Jieun, who tilted her head quizzically, then turned my attention to the others.

I needed to see if anyone else had gained a skill like mine.

If someone had, they’d likely become a rival.

‘Aside from Jieun and Jaehyuk, the others have a sword, a shield, a cape, or a bomb...’

The items from the random boxes were all over the place.

But the reactions of those holding them were largely the same:

“What the hell am I supposed to do with this?”

"Hey! How are we supposed to carry all this stuff? It doesn’t fit in my bag.”

“Wait, Minjung, why are you putting my money in your bag?”

“What are you talking about? It’s our money. We’re using it to buy a house, remember?”

In the midst of this chaos, the couple who had gleefully received five hundred million won in cash were still buzzing with excitement.

That excitement, however, had spiraled into a lovers’ quarrel.

“What house? I said I’m not thinking about marriage!”

“You said we’d get married once things settled down! This money is enough!”

“…Sigh. Minjung, that’s not—”

“Forget it! Get lost.”

—Thud.

The man wore a troubled expression.

The sulking woman walked toward the corner.

A palm-sized figure from a display case rolled to my feet when the man followed her.

"Hm?"

The slippery floor made it roll smoothly.

“Come to think of it, the manager did say earlier that the floor was slippery…”

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— Thud. Thud. Roll.

Next, it was a tumbler that someone had left after drinking.

"Ah, oppa!"

"Ahhh! Minjung!"

The couple, heading toward a secluded spot away from the crowd, tripped and let out cries of alarm.

The couple toppled forward.

One by one, items began to roll.

This was…

"…The floor is tilting! Everyone, be careful!"

My warning was barely out when the exhibition hall floor trembled and tilted sharply to one side.

"Aaah!"

"What’s going on?!"

"H-Hyung! It’s tilting more and more!"

The incline grew steeper and steeper.

From a gentle slope, to a steep hill, and then to something resembling a rock wall.

People started losing their balance one by one, staggering and falling.

Some were seen rolling down the tilted floor.

"How far is this going to tilt?!"

— Crash. Thud. Clatter.

Pots and ornaments tumbled and shattered everywhere, while large furniture and display cases slammed down, sliding down the slope with a deafening racket.

“Jaehyuk! Grab onto a pillar!”

“Ahhh! What about you, hyung?!”

Unlike Jaehyuk, who clung desperately to a pillar set up in the exhibition hall, there was nothing near me to grab onto.

In that case—

“Petrification!”

[Using skill.]

— Thunk!

I thrust my thumb and forefinger into the floor.

‘Will this work?’

There was no time to hesitate.

Even as my fingers dug into the ground, others were rolling and falling away.

"Kyaaaah!"

Thwack!

In the chaos, I managed to catch Jieun’s wrist just as she was about to fall.

“Are you okay? I must be heavy…”

“I can manage. But… everyone over there! Are you all right?”

I called out to the people who had fallen into a pile at the corner, but all I got back were cries of, "Ahhh! Kyaa! Ugh!"

— Snap!

To make matters worse, sparks started flaring up at the feet of a couple who had been pushed to the farthest corner.

“What the hell?! What is this?!”

“F-fire! What do we do?!”

‘Fire? Out of nowhere? Why?!’

Flames, which had no apparent ignition point, grew larger and began to blaze furiously.

“What do we do? Ahhh!”

The fire climbed up from the man’s toes, spreading along his legs.

Clutched tightly in his arms, bundles of yellow cash became the medium for the fire.

“Throw that away! Quickly!”

“O-Oppa! Drop the money! Waaah!”

“S-save meeeeeeeeee!”

Before anyone could act, the flames engulfed the man entirely.

A fiery demon consumed him as though conquering its prey, then spread to coil ominously at the side.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

In an instant, two people had turned to ashes.

— Fwoosh!

“Hy-hyung!”

There was no time to think about saving or helping the burning people.

— Crash! Crash! Crash!

“Above you!”

A wooden table, easily over 2 meters, was plummeting straight for my head.

‘If I let go of my grip, I’ll fall! And then the flames will…!’

Below me, the raging fire seemed to open its mouth wide, ready to make us its next target.

[Data collection for skill unlocking is complete.]

[Searching for a skill suitable for the target.]

“...!”

The skill that had been stuck at 99%.

I prayed with desperate resolve.

‘Anything will do. Just let it be something I can use right now!’

[Congratulations! Based on your unparalleled adaptability, your intense desire to run until your heart bursts, and the memories of surpassing your limits etched into your body, a unique skill has been generated!]

[The skill Acceleration (Lv.1) has been unlocked!]

‘Acceleration…?’

— Whoosh!

‘It just makes me faster, doesn’t it?’

In this situation, where I was clinging to the slanted floor, struggling to stay on, running wasn’t an option.

‘Just moving faster isn’t going to help!’

“Hy-hyung! You have to move!”

Was it death by a crushing blow to the head or death by immolation?

There was no other way.

I had to try it.

“Acceleration!”

[Using skill.]

I planned to speed up and dodge somehow…

‘Huh?’

I didn’t feel any faster.

I tilted my head in confusion, and Jieun’s lips began to part.

Very, very slowly.

“Whhhhaaaaaatttttt thhhheeeee heeeeeecccckkk!”

‘What?!’

This acceleration skill…

It wasn’t my speed that increased.

Was it?

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