Chapter 43: Marina’s Grudge

Irim’s gaze was fixed not on Marina, but on the wall behind her.

The wall engraved with a cross shape.

He could see the death point on that wall.

‘No way……..’

Irim checked Marina.

She was busy dealing with the NPCs.

Irim looked back at the cross-engraved wall.

‘There’s something inside there.’

He needed to approach and break the wall, but it was questionable whether he could avoid Marina’s eyes.

The NPCs’ HP was rapidly decreasing.

Since no attacks were landing on Marina, a proper battle couldn’t even continue from the start.

Marina didn’t defend at all and just unleashed attacks relentlessly.

With a single gesture of her hand, blade winds arose.

When her foot stomped the ground, fragments of the shattered stone floor flew like hidden weapons, embedding into flesh.

Her strength was immense too; getting hit by her swinging hand or thrusting foot felt like being struck by a blunt weapon.

At this rate, it was game over.

He had to seize the opportunity while the NPCs were still alive.

If those drawing aggro disappeared, he couldn’t do anything.

While Irim kept watching for an opening, Maengho, whose HP was fully recovered thanks to Mio, jumped back into the battle.

“I’ll kill you, you witch bitch!”

Four people surrounded Marina.

‘Now!’

Irim’s eyes flashed.

He dashed past the people engaged in fierce combat toward the cross wall.

But Marina, spotting this, approached at terrifying speed.

Her movement was as fast as a ghost leaping through space in a movie.

However, Irim hadn’t prepared no countermeasures.

He flung what he held in one hand right into Marina’s eyes.

“What kind of prank is this!”

Marina, who hadn’t budged from any physical attacks, furrowed her brow and closed her eyes.

What Irim had thrown was chili powder and pepper powder.

He had secretly taken them from his inventory and held them in one hand.

While Marina hesitated, Irim swung his Boning Sword at the wall.

KWAANG!

CRACK!

A crack appeared in the wall.

“One-Point Thrust!”

This time using the skill, he thrust at the visible death point.

KWAANG!

CRACK! CRACK! KWARUNG!

The cracks in the wall spread wildly in all directions, and it completely collapsed.

Beyond the crumbled wall, a small space was revealed.

“No!”

Even in the blinded situation, Marina, realizing what was happening, screamed.

Irim froze upon seeing what was hidden inside the wall.

It was a gaunt woman with pale complexion, eyes closed, and above her head, this was written:

[Marina’s Corpse]

“This…… is Marina’s corpse?”

The death point was marked on that corpse’s head.

That’s what he had seen from beyond the wall.

“Huh? The boss name is changing!”

Maengho shouted.

Marina’s name, who had been fighting the party, changed from ‘Witch of Grief Marina’ to ‘Marina’s Soul’.

‘So that’s it.’

They had been fighting the soul all this time.

No wonder damage wasn’t landing.

To subdue the soul, you had to damage the flesh.

He didn’t know what trick she used to make the soul guard the dead body, but since it was a fantasy world and Marina was a witch, it wasn’t impossible.

Irim regripped his sword.

At that moment, Marina, barely recovering her vision, charged at Irim.

“Rice!”

Luke threw himself to protect Irim.

Karen and Xyle did the same as Luke.

At that time, Irim snapped his thumb and middle finger, aiming at the charging Marina—snap.

From the flicked middle finger tip, an inky black droplet flew and splashed on Marina’s face.

In an instant, Marina’s movement stopped dead.

What Irim had launched was paralyzing poison.

He had the skill ‘Poison Sac F’, acquired as a reward for clearing the ‘Red Queen Spider’s Grudge’ quest.

It produced poison in the body and could be emitted from the fingertips; monsters 2-star and below became paralyzed for 3 seconds upon hit.

Irim was convinced Marina was a 2-star monster no matter how strong.

Because the death point was clearly marked on her corpse.

“What trick did you pull?”

Panicking as her body stiffened, Marina asked.

Instead of answering, Irim turned his back, gripped the Boning Sword, and cast the skill once more.

“One-Point Thrust!”

[One-Point Thrust!]

Huge letters BAM! exploded in front of his eyes, and the Boning Sword’s tip extended precisely toward the corpse’s death point.

STAB!

“Ah, no!”

With Marina’s tearing scream, the Boning Sword pierced into the corpse’s forehead.

“Ah…… Aaaah.”

Marina lost strength and collapsed to the floor.

Everyone’s eyes widened in astonishment at Irim’s sudden feat, staring at him.

“Wow…… insane. So that cross was marking the grave. How did you figure this out, Rice-nim!”

Maengho made a fuss, but Irim didn’t think it was anything special.

It was because the game was still in its early stages that people didn’t know this trick. 

And since there wasn’t much to gain, not many attempted it, so the trick hadn’t been uncovered quickly.

He got lucky.

If even a week had passed, someone would have figured it out.

‘Anyway…… the game developers are sly.’

Looking at Marina’s soul sobbing on the floor, shaking her shoulders, Irim thought that.

The NPCs who had been with him so far were basically in the companion position.

So even when facing Marina’s soul in the boss room, which couldn’t be damaged no matter how much they hit, it felt natural.

But the NPCs were set to have come here not once but multiple times.

Then, high-AI guys wouldn’t have failed to suspect another trick like Irim did.

In other words, the AI becomes dumb only during the boss fight.

The reason was simple.

To make the accompanying users focus only on Marina’s soul so they couldn’t discover the trick.

“Tch, you filthy witch.”

Maengho cursed at Marina.

Then Marina sneered and muttered.

“Yes……. filthy. I hoped people would curse me like that. That’s why I did this.”

“What?”

“A few years ago. An unnamed plague spread in Tirko Village. Adults got it and recovered cleanly after a few days of illness. But all the children died. Every single one. They died before we could do anything.”

Maengho and the NPCs were left dumbfounded by Marina’s sudden story.

Her story continued.

“The parents who lost their children were filled with resentment. Some followed their children in death, others became wrecks, losing the purpose of life. For those who lost what was most precious, the reason to live faded.” 

“I…… couldn’t bear to watch the people of my beloved village break. So I decided to become a witch. Because I had that power.”

Mio, who had been away recovering Maengho, climbed up Irim’s body and sat on his head.

“I said I cursed and killed the children. I said I’d kidnap many more children and grind them into materials for spells. And I left the village and hid here.”

Only then did Irim understand why there were no child NPCs in Tirko Village.

Listening to Marina’s story, Maengho asked in a trembling voice.

“No, why on earth did you……?”

Irim thought Maengho was simple, going from wanting to beat Marina to death to believing her words without a shred of doubt.

Marina looked at Maengho and said.

“If people have at least someone to resent. They’ll try to live somehow with the power of that hatred.”

In the end, she had taken on the villain role to make the villagers live somehow.

“Simple calculation. If one mage living in hiding transforms into a cursed witch, she can save many people.”

Then Luke interjected.

“We thought we died here multiple times. But when we came to, we were back in Tirko Village.

……. You never intended to kill us.”

“But in the end, I ‘really’ died? You won.”

The moment her words ended, a system message appeared.

[Profession Quest – Subjugating Marina’s Hideout]

-CLEAR!-

Reward: Acquire skill ‘Earth Splitter’ (Warrior limited), 500,000 Won

500,000 Won entered Irim’s inventory.

Maengho acquired 500,000 Won and the Earth Splitter skill.

And that was it.

Irim felt strangely empty.

Normally, being the first to defeat a boss monster of this level should trigger at least one achievement.

But no such message appeared.

‘Is this really the end?’

Irim was suspicious, but the others were excited about completing the quest.

“Ooooh! Insane. We cleared a quest no one could! It’s all thanks to Rice-nim! My hero! My god!”

Maengho hugged Irim tightly.

The NPCs gathered around the two.

“Good job, Rice.”

Luke gave Irim an admiring look.

Karen shook her head.

“Really unimaginable development. Rice, you’re really…… I can’t. I can’t find words to express how cool you are.”

Xyle put Rice in a headlock.

“This guy! I thought you were just good at cooking, but you’re an all-purpose solver!”

“Ugh. Xyle. C-can’t…… breathe.”

Irim tapped Xyle’s arm.

At that moment, in Irim’s shaking vision, Marina’s corpse with a hole in its head came into view.

And from behind, Marina’s soul sobbing could be heard.

‘What’s this?’

Even though the quest was completed, Marina’s soul wasn’t ascending.

‘Weird.’

The moment suspicions piled up.

Something Irim hadn’t seen before came into view.

‘A ring?’

Marina’s corpse had a ring tied with string around its neck.

“Wait a sec.”

Irim shook off Xyle’s hand.

“Urk.”

Xyle was easily pushed back by Irim’s strength.

“W-what? Why is a cook so strong?”

Xyle, who hadn’t seen Irim’s true capabilities and thought he was weaker, was surprised.

Regardless, Irim approached the corpse and examined the ring closely.

The ring was very small.

Too small for an adult woman’s finger.

‘At most, it’d fit a four- or five-year-old child’s finger.’

Irim’s eyes scanned every corner of the ring.

Then he saw ‘Elise’ engraved on it.

‘This…… isn’t Marina’s.’

In an instant, everything from entering the dungeon to reaching the cavern flashed through Irim’s mind like a panorama.

Sensing something, Irim turned to the crying Marina’s soul and asked.

“Marina. You had a daughter named Elise, right?”

“In that instant, Marina’s crying stopped abruptly,

[Hidden Quest – Marina’s Grudge]

Clear Condition: Soothe Marina’s soul.

Reward: ???

Failure: All stats permanently -5

A hidden quest appeared.