Chapter 7: Acceleration

“……A stone?”

I closed my eyes and opened them again, thinking I must have been mistaken, but all that appeared between the rays of light was a dull, ordinary pebble.

A pebble smaller than a golf ball.

Just one.

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

“Hey, miss! Some chunk of metal just came out. Do you know what it is? It’s so heavy I could die!”

The woman in the tight skirt suit was handed a sword with a sharp blade, while the elderly security guard with cloudy eyes received what looked like a bulletproof shield used by special forces.

“Whoa! Brother! Look at this!”

Even Jaehyuk was holding a shiny armor that looked like something medieval knights would wear!

“Ugh, Eunho! You’re saying only a pebble came out?”

At Jieun’s words, everyone’s attention focused on the box floating before me.

“Young man! Only a stone came out, just now?”

“A stone? Hah, I thought the cloak was the worst, but I guess not.”

“Uh, um, hang in there……”

Everyone was holding something that, broadly speaking, could help with survival.

Of course, since it was random, there was a gap between the shield and the cloak, but still.

“Brother! Want to share my armor? We can take turns wearing it!”

“Are you planning to stop fighting just to take off armor for each other?”

“W-well…….”

“……Hmph. It’s okay. If you throw the stone well, it might be alright.”

A stone is just a stone no matter how you throw it.

I tried to comfort myself, but the hand gripping the golden cord trembled uncontrollably.

‘I needed to make up for the poor reward……’

A Random Box is exactly that—random.

There is a saying that luck is also a kind of skill, but since this isn’t something that comes from effort, what else can I do?

— Even trying to think that way, my shoulders naturally slumped.

“…How about you, Jieun?”

“I got this……”

Jieun pulled out a dagger from inside the box that looked to be about the length from wrist to elbow.

Her eyes sparkled with a strange expression, clearly pleased with it.

“You handle it well.”

“Yes. Somehow it just fits perfectly in my hand. This is the first time I’ve held a blade other than a kitchen knife.”

She fiddled with the grip, turning it this way and that.

The size fit her small hands so perfectly that it felt like it was custom-made.

“That’s good. It’ll be useful in many situations.”

At least it was a relief that Jieun and Jaehyuk got something decent.

Especially the dagger would be handy in everyday life, even if not in battle.

I hoped she’d get used to it quickly.

‘Would it be good if I get used to the pebble too? Throwing it or rolling it……’

With a hopeless heart, I touched the pebble with my hand.

Then.

— Flash!

[‘Absorbing Abandoned Range Diamond.’]

The surface of the pebble suddenly liquefied as if melting in blazing fire upon contact with my fingertips.

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

[Absorption amount is small, so initial activation range is limited.]

‘A skill? All of a sudden?’

After all that data collection.

The skill I’d been building up to 99% after running back and forth a hundred times was nowhere to be seen, and now a skill just popped out from a Random Box?

— Sssrk.

The liquid—once a stone—crept up from my fingertip.

The burning heat seeped deep into my skin, muscles, and bones.

Petrification.

Feeling my fingertips hardening from within, I realized.

My body was changing.

[Target: Eunho Lee. Initial activation range of Petrification (Lv.1) skill is……]

How far?

Leg? Arm? Fist?

[‘Right hand index finger.’]

‘……Hmm?’

— Ploof!

“This is amazing!”

Jieun clapped her hands like a seal and continued.

“This isn’t your average stone.”

The Abandoned Range Diamond.

I was suspicious just because the pebble had a name.

But to think it could pierce through concrete walls and marble floors.

“It’s so fascinating. I bet it’ll be great for popping cans too!”

“Oh, you open can lids with your thumb, not your index finger.”

“Really?”

I nodded silently, and Jieun shrugged with a “Is that so?”

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

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

「Activation range: Right hand index finger」

Since I confirmed its strength, expanding the range would make it very useful.

For now, items like swords or shields that can be used immediately seemed better, but raising the base stats was best.

“Mission reward.”

[Please select your mission reward.]

“I’ll use the remaining 1 point to upgrade Petrification skill.”

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

[Please select additional activation range. Right hand thumb, middle finger, ring finger, little finger, left hand thumb……]

“Right hand thumb.”

Without hesitation, I said it.

I often used thumb and index finger together, and when gripping something, I might be able to crush it.

[Skill upgrade complete.]

“Eunho, are you trying to open a can lid or something?”

“……Of course not.”

I shrugged off Jieun’s puzzled look and scanned the crowd.

Wondering if anyone else got a skill like me.

If so, that person would likely be my rival.

‘Except for Jieun and Jaehyuk, the rest got sword, shield, cloak, bomb……’

Items from the Random Box varied wildly.

But the reactions of those holding them were mostly the same.

Like, “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Oppa! How are we supposed to carry all this? It won’t fit in the bag.”

“Huh? Minjeong, why are you putting my money in your bag?”

“What do you mean? It’s our money. We’ll use it as part of buying the newlywed home, right?”

Meanwhile, a couple was happily celebrating the 500 million in cash.

Though their excitement escalated into a lovers’ quarrel, which was the problem.

“A newlywed home? We’re not even thinking of marriage!”

“You said we’d settle down and get married! This money’s enough!”

“Phew…… Minjeong, that’s……”

“Ha! Enough. Get lost.”

— Rattle roll.

Then.

When the man looked troubled.

The sulking woman walked to the corner.

When the man followed her.

A palm-sized figure from a display cabinet rolled to my feet.

‘Hmm?’

The floor was slippery, so it rolled and tumbled easily.

“Now that I think about it, the manager said earlier the floor was slippery……”

— Thump. Thump. Rattle roll.

Next was a tumbler someone had left after drinking.

“Oppa!”

“Ahhh! M-Minjeong!”

The couple heading away from the crowd towards a corner slipped and screamed.

They fell forward.

Objects rolled one after another.

This was……

“The floor is tilting! Everyone be careful!”

Even as I warned, as soon as I finished, the exhibition hall floor shook and tilted to one side.

“Ahhh!”

“What’s going on!”

“Hyung! It’s tilting more and more!”

The tilt grew steeper.

From a gentle hill to a steep mountain, then to the level of rock climbing.

People lost their balance one by one and fell.

Some rolled off the tilted floor.

“How far is it going to tilt?!”

— Thud. Boom boom boom. Clang.

Flowerpots and decorations fell and shattered everywhere.

Large furniture and display cabinets crashed down the slope from all directions.

“Jaehyuk! Grab a pillar!”

“Ahhh! What about you, Hyung?!”

While Jaehyuk clung to a pillar standing in the exhibition hall, I had nothing to hold onto near me.

Then.

“Petrification!”

[Using skill.]

— Ploof!

I stabbed my right thumb and index finger deep into the floor.

‘Will this work?’ I didn’t even have time to hesitate.

Others were already rolling and falling.

“Ahhh!”

Clack!

In the chaos, I barely caught Jieun’s wrist as she was falling.

“Are you okay? This must be heavy……”

“I can hold on. But—everyone! Are you okay?”

I asked the people piled up in the corner like they’d rolled there, but all I got were screams and groans like “Aaaah! Eek! Ugh!”

— Crackle!

To make matters worse, flames began to flicker near the couple pushed into the farthest corner.

“Damn it! What is this!”

“F-fire! What do we do……!”

‘Fire suddenly? Why?’

The flames grew without a point of origin and burst into a blazing inferno.

“How do we put this out! Aaaah!”

The fire spread from the man’s feet up his legs.

Even while falling, he held onto a large bundle of yellow bills tightly.

“Drop that! Quickly!”

“Oppa! Drop the money! Waaah……”

“Help meeeee……!”

Before anyone could react, the fire swallowed the man whole.

A fiery demon devoured the person without giving a chance to escape and then coiled sideways.

“Ahhh……!”

It happened in an instant.

Two people were reduced to ashes.

— Roar!

“Hyung!”

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

— Thud! Thud! Thud!

“Above your head!”

A wooden table easily over two meters long was coming straight down onto the top of my head.

‘If I pull my fingers out here, I’ll fall! Then the flames……!’

Below was the blazing fire, jaws wide open as if the next target was us.

[Data collection necessary for skill unlock complete.]

[Searching for suitable skill for the user.]

“……!”

The skill stuck at 99%.

I prayed with desperate longing.

“Anything, please…… Something I can use right now!”

[Congratulations! Unique adaptability, intense desire to run until your heart bursts, and imprinted memories of overtaking have created a unique skill!]

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

‘Acceleration……’

— Swish!

‘It just makes me faster!’

I’m hanging on a tilted floor, struggling to keep my balance, let alone run.

‘Moving faster won’t help!’

“Hyung! You have to dodge!”

Would I die from my head splitting open or burning alive?

There was no way to run.

I had no choice but to try it.

“Acceleration!”

[Using skill.]

I increased my speed to dodge as much as possible……

‘Huh?’

But I didn’t feel any faster.

Just as I tilted my head in confusion, Jieun parted her lips.

Very, very slowly.

“Euuuuuhhhh Euunhooooooo-!”

‘Whaaat?’

This Acceleration skill—

It’s not making me faster…… is it?