Absolute Dweller-Chapter 193

After the inspection was complete, I relayed the current situation and operation details to each commander, then personally transported them to their assigned combat zones.

I deployed Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie artillery batteries to the outposts closest to the frontlines and placed them on standby.

There was still time before the main force of the Corrupted Corpses, which were advancing in tight formations, entered our firing range.

‘The problem is the vanguard.’

According to Kim Geon’s reconnaissance, the barbed-wire fences at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) were holding them back for now.

However, barbed wire alone wasn’t enough to completely halt their advance.

In fact, some corpses had already breached the barriers.

The first breach occurred in Paju, but I wasn’t worried about that area.

I had stationed Lee Joon-hyuk at Imjin River.

With his Control Water ability, Lee Joon-hyuk was the most dominant force among all my retainers when surrounded by water.

He was one of the few fighters I had trained up to Level 60, and even when I first met him, his combat sense was unmatched.

And now—

Swoooosh—

The rainy season had begun, and heavy rain was pouring across the entire country.

With the Imjin River swelling and downpours falling from the sky,

It was the perfect battlefield for Lee Joon-hyuk.

In real-time—

[You have hunted a Corrupted Corpse (Lv. 31).]

[You have hunted a Corrupted Corpse (Lv. 29).]

[You have hunted a Corrupted Corpse (Lv. 26).]

......

......

He was dominating the battlefield.

Three massive water dragons rampaged through the enemy ranks, slaughtering the Corrupted Corpses.

And these weren’t summoned water spirits—they were fully controlled by Lee Joon-hyuk himself.

‘If he contracts with a water spirit, his power would skyrocket...’

Even during our battles in the Otherworld, his synergy with Elquines had been exceptional.

And yet, I had never pushed him toward a Spirit Master class.

There was a reason for that.

‘If only he didn’t have the [Mage] title, I’d consider the Spirit Master path.’

One of Lee Joon-hyuk’s passive ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) titles was [Mage].

The [Mage] class wasn’t officially available in the Job Research Facility yet,

But the existence of the title suggested that it might become an unlockable class in the future.

Many of the classes introduced so far had been based on titles held by my retainers.

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‘Is there a way to form a contract with a water spirit without forcing him into a job change?’

Even if we ignored the potential class benefits, simply contracting with a water spirit would increase his power by at least 30%.

Right now, he was rampaging because of favorable environmental conditions.

Since he didn’t have to generate water with his own mana, he could focus all his strength purely on manipulation.

But with a water spirit, he could retain some of this power even in dry environments.

‘I’ll have to think about this carefully.’

Watching Lee Joon-hyuk effortlessly obliterate the Corrupted Corpses left a deep impression on me.

‘But no matter what, I must not let my guard down.’

Death Infection.

During our scouting missions, we encountered a Steel Armored Worm—a Level 43 monster.

The fact that weaklings in their early Level 20s had corrupted such a creature meant...

That their infection ability was capable of overcoming a 20-level gap.

The Steel Armored Worm likely had no knowledge of the Corrupted Corpses’ ability and was caught off guard.

But regardless of the circumstances, the result was the same—a low-level foe managed to turn a higher-level monster into one of their own.

Strength alone wasn’t enough.

A single moment of carelessness could lead to disaster.

I sent another warning to Lee Joon-hyuk.

[Do not engage in close combat under any circumstances. Even if it’s frustrating, keep fighting from long range.]

[Understood.]

Even as I spoke to him, my senses were heightened, scanning everything around me.

‘My role here is support.’

Lee Joon-hyuk wasn’t the only one battling the Corrupted Corpses.

All my retainers were engaged in combat across different fronts.

I kept Absolute Eye fully active, monitoring all available battle data.

Standing quietly beside me was Shin Dong-hoon.

He was on standby in case anything went wrong—ready to rewind time the moment an emergency occurred.

‘I can’t afford to relax.’

Not only were my long-range combatants, like Kim Ga-young and Yang Ha-young, deployed,

Even my regular retainers, such as Park Sae-rom, had been mobilized.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

Aside from Oh Eon-ju and Ha Dong-geon, who needed to manage the territories, every single retainer was on the battlefield.

The only exception was Moon Byeong-ho, since most of Daegu’s survivors had chosen to relocate to Busan or Seoul.

With Daegu’s territory essentially abandoned, Moon Byeong-ho was now free to fight on the frontlines.

Each retainer had been equipped with a +10 enhanced assault rifle, and they were delivering incredible results.

Tududududu—!

From atop Kellican, they rained bullets down on the battlefield.

Their enhanced physical abilities made their marksmanship elite-level.

Especially Lee Jun-young, who had clairvoyance, making him the most accurate shooter on the field.

Tududududu—

Even with rapid fire, his aim was deadly precise.

[You have hunted a Corrupted Corpse (Lv. 23).]

[You have hunted a Corrupted Corpse (Lv. 19).]

[You have hunted a Corrupted Corpse (Lv. 21).]

......

......

Most of his shots obliterated their heads.

And these weren’t just weak human-type zombies—they included Corrupted Goblins and Orcs, enemies that were normally resistant to firearms.

By fully utilizing his enhanced vision, his hunting efficiency skyrocketed.

And whenever the cooldown for his rifle’s skill was up—

{Citizen Lee Jun-young has activated [Large-Caliber Rounds].}

He perfectly timed his skill usage to take down high-difficulty targets.

[You have hunted a Corrupted Corpse (Lv. 36).]

And—

‘As expected, Jung So-ra is the undisputed queen of mass slaughter.’

Water, fire, wind, earth.

The favored one of all four elemental spirits was, without a doubt, dominating.

Even without the Safe Zone buff, she was still the top contributor in total kills.

Particularly her highest-ranked fire spirit—

Ryan Flameheart.

Every swing of his sword incinerated dozens of corpses.

Not only that, but he was setting entire areas ablaze, amplifying the fire spirits’ power even further.

And above all—

‘The greatest weapon of them all...’

Was me.

To be precise, the most outstanding performance on the battlefield wasn't mine—it was my Avatar's.

After halting dungeon raids, the Avatar had been deployed to the frontlines, and its rampage was more spectacular than anyone else's.

Since the Avatar could revive within three days, there was no need for self-preservation—it fought at full force, directly colliding with the Corrupted Corpses.

Using teleportation, the Avatar moved unpredictably, appearing and disappearing across the battlefield.

It fought barehanded.

However—

Fwoosh!

Dark blue flames surged across its entire body.

The evolution of its defensive aura, enhanced by Black Energy, now enveloped the Avatar completely.

During my time in the Otherworld, I had discovered a hidden feature when applying Black Energy to my Avatar.

Unlike my retainers, when the Avatar was enhanced, something unique happened.

Its domain expanded.

Granting Black Energy to my Avatar exponentially increased the area in which I could summon Absolute Eye.

Instead of being closely bound to the Avatar, the effect radius became even wider than that of my retainers.

As a result, using Absolute Eye became far more convenient.

This also meant that telekinesis and other abilities to support the Avatar became much easier.

Not that it needed my help.

It was ripping through Corrupted Corpses with its bare hands.

Then, suddenly—

After clearing out the immediate area, the Avatar turned its gaze toward the approaching horde in the distance and shifted into a stance.

‘What is it trying to do?’

It spread its feet shoulder-width apart and pulled its right fist to its waist.

I was curious, but since it looked focused, I left it alone.

‘It’s not just resting.’

It was clearly preparing something.

Otherwise, there was no reason to take such a specific stance while standing in the pouring rain.

Swoooosh—!

Just as it seemed on the verge of striking forward, the Avatar took a deep breath.

"Hnnngh."

At that moment—

[13,300,000,000 won has been consumed.]

‘...?’

A bizarre system message popped up.

Then—

Fwoosh!

The dark blue aura, which had been spread across its body, began spiraling inward, converging toward one point.

That point was the Avatar’s fist, still pulled back at its waist.

It was as if the fist itself had become a black hole, devouring every ounce of energy radiating from the body.

Vwooooooom—!

And the moment that power reached its limit—

The Avatar took a step forward and thrust its fist outward.

And then—

BOOOOOOOOM!

The condensed energy in its right fist detonated instantly, surging forward in a devastating shockwave.

A fan-shaped blast of dark blue destruction erupted, obliterating everything in its path.

Trees. Earth. Rocks. Corrupted Corpses.

It didn’t discriminate—it erased everything in its way.

‘...What the hell?’

I had guessed what the Avatar was attempting midway through—

But I never expected the result to be this overwhelming.

The energy wave was so powerful that, for a brief moment,

It seemed as if the rain itself had stopped around the Avatar.

Swoooooosh—!

Then, as the shockwave dispersed, the suspended raindrops suddenly crashed back down, washing away the lingering dust in an instant.

Revealing the aftermath.

The ground had been carved into a massive cylindrical crater.

And at the end of the trail of destruction—

‘Holy shit.’

There was a gaping hole in the mountain.

"Tch."

At that moment, the Avatar clicked its tongue and muttered—

"The efficiency is terrible."

I immediately asked—

[What did you just do?]

"This?"

[Yeah.]

The Avatar grinned.

"I was inspired by Ga-young’s attack style back in the Otherworld."

[You mean Light Arrows?]

"Yeah, those. Seeing them through Absolute Eye and witnessing them in person were two completely different experiences. So I thought... what if I tried something similar?"

[So this... is the result of that?]

"That’s right."

A strange feeling washed over me.

Was I feeling foreign to myself?

‘Did I always have this kind of talent?’

Simply imitating someone else’s technique shouldn’t have produced something this absurd.

This was pure innate talent.

Of course, this was a good thing.

A deathless Avatar possessing a technique like this was nothing but an advantage.

But there was still one thing bothering me.

[What’s with the money?]

"Money?"

The Avatar tilted its head, then suddenly asked me a question—

"Wait... don’t tell me the money came from my wallet?"

[Yeah.]

"How much?"

[133 billion won.]

"......Well, that explains why the attack was so goddamn strong."

Judging by its reaction, even the Avatar hadn’t expected this.

‘Come to think of it, Black Energy already consumes money as a resource.’

This technique must have compressed that energy cost into a single, concentrated attack.

"My bad. I didn’t mean to waste that much money."

[It’s fine. I’ll earn it back in no time.]

If anything—

It was a welcome discovery.

Because I had just gained another overpowered attack technique.

‘With this level of power... it might even work against the Ice Dragon.’

This was a weapon meant for slaying giants, not mowing down weaklings.

Rather than using it to wipe out hordes of fodder, it would be far more effective against strong single targets.

At the very least, I was sure this could one-shot something like a Cyclops.

‘This needs further testing.’

I turned to the Avatar again.

[Can you do it one more time?]

"...That’s gonna be rough."

[Let’s try it one more time.]

"......."

[? Why are you making that face?]

"...I was just thinking, is this what people mean by karma?"

[You’re still talking nonsense. That means you’re not tired yet. Let’s move and test it again.]

"......Fine. Let’s do it."

As I pushed the Avatar to its limits, testing this newly discovered ability—

[Jaehyun-nim, the main force of the Corrupted Corpse army has entered Alpha Battery’s firing range.]

Kim Da-bin’s message confirmed that the experience-farming session was about to begin.

[Are the artillery units ready?]

[Yes. We can fire at any moment.]

I activated Absolute Eye, scanning the Alpha Battery outpost.

The K-9 howitzers, upgraded to +10, had been lined up perfectly, their barrels all pointed in the same direction.

In that case—

There was no reason to hold back.

[Commence the first barrage.]

Kim Da-bin immediately relayed the order via telepathy to the artillery crews.

BOOOOOOOM!

The self-propelled howitzers all roared to life, spewing fire into the night.