Chapter 55: Episode 9-Liberators of the Oppressed (1)
I stumbled and crawled away from the Toy Master's dead body. As I did, mana evaporated from its carcass in the form of steam. Once every drop was gone from its body, I received this message.
[The Toy Master's magic has animated every item in the applicable location.]
[Each individual may take two items.]
[All unpicked items will revert to their former state.]
[You have received a bonus item for killing the Dungeon Boss.]
[Extra mana is allocating for your selection.]
[You have received a payout of 60,000 coins.]
I slumped against a wall and looked at my broken hands. The skin was torn, and I could even see the bone underneath. I flexed more muscles when I held the lightsaber, causing more of my skin to tear and peel. My blood didn't even come out - it started to congeal and clump. As I sat alone, I heard people speaking, screaming, or grunting.
(There must be wounded...)
It seems not everyone was lucky. The Banana man from Fortnite must've been formidable.
[Fragment of the 4th Wall is suppressing your pain.]
I didn't feel the gravity of my wounds. Fragment of the 4th Wall was cutting off the sensation, sparing me from the excruciating agony.
(Thank you...)
My head slumped to the side. I was going to fall unconscious. My eyelids drooped, and I felt my breathing slow. I wouldn't mind sleeping...
As my vision blurred, I heard footsteps approaching me. I turned to see what it was, and I saw the blurry face of a concerned, caring man. I couldn't fully register their face because of the tears of exhaustion that clouded my vision. They spoke to me, but my head might as well have been submerged in the ocean. I couldn't hear a thing. The gunshots from earlier deafened my hearing. I saw lips moving, but they were just flaps of flesh that carried no meaning. After a moment, I felt a pair of strong, calloused hands grab my damaged ones.
[Fragment of the 4th Wall is making you lucid.]
I felt a little refreshed as if I woke up. Fraggy made me awake enough to feel what was about to happen next.
"GAAAH!! Fuck!!"
I kicked my legs out from the pain. Where the hell was my wall? The red liquid was pouring onto my hands. It was a healing potion. Right now, it was the equivalent of running rubbing alcohol onto my wounds. Still, instead of simply cleaning the injury, it healed it. It accelerated the conjoining of flesh, regulated blood floor, and mended my skin. If I paired this with an Ellain Forest Essence, my hands would be healed by the evening.
I felt someone unbutton my jacket and pour the healing potion into the wound in my side. I grunted from the pain, but my wall came back soon after. The pain was now just a dull ache.
"It's okay, Ethan."
I heard a gentle voice speaking to me. I closed my eyes for a short moment. After I opened them, I saw numerous messages from the Constellations.
[Multiple Constellations admire your comradeship.]
[Absolute Good Constellations admire Incarnation "George Machen" and his kindness.]
[You have been sponsored 1000 coins.]
[Absolute Evil Constellations say that true evil isn't dependent on others.]
[Some Absolute Evil Constellations are cringing from this moment.]
[Some Constellations have clipped this moment.]
[Constellation "Anti-Confederacy" is proud of his Incarnation.]
After the messages came and gone, I spoke out.
"George, it's okay. Tend to the others. There must be other wounded."
A short pause.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Go. You need to save them."
[Absolute Evil Constellations are confused with your sudden altruism.]
I saw nodding in my peripheral vision. I felt a heavy hand pat my shoulder as if to ground me in reality.
"Alright. Call me if you need anything."
I heard George stand up and walk away. As I did, I pondered on what to say.
(I need to give exposition.)
I looked up to the ceiling, hopefully staring at the invisible cameras placed by the Dokkaebi.
"Everything I do is calculated. This dungeon gives two items to each person that cleared it. If there are more people, it means more items can be claimed. So, it's in my best interest for everyone to survive."
[Some Absolute Evil Constellations are chuckling.]
[Constellations of materialism approve of your answer.]
[Some Constellations of selflessness and altruism are disappointed in you.]
[Some Absolute Good Constellations hope you are lying.]
Either way, I said my piece and garnered attention.
[You have been sponsored 3400 coins.]
I decided to rest for a moment. I evened out my breathing and stretched my legs, which improved my blood circulation. I just sat in place, doing nothing but thinking. I let my mind wander but decided to be productive. I tentatively pulled my smartphone out of one of my jacket pockets with my newly healed hands and opened the file. I had plans already, but I needed to refresh my knowledge and see if I needed to change anything. As I scrolled downwards, I realized that I had lost myself in my reading. I checked the time on my phone and saw that thirty minutes had passed.
(Damn.)
***
Some of the men were lying down on mats. I saw them covered in bandages soaked in blood. It seems the bullets were extracted. In the end, they were alive, even if they were a little damaged. I saw Rupert Williams with a bandage around his arm and leg. I looked at him and stared into his eyes.
(Why?)
Why did he save me? It was his mission to kill me. He wouldn't have violated our agreement by letting me die. Our contract stipulated that he couldn't kill me, but it didn't compel him to save me as well.
I didn't want to dwell on it for now. I had to proceed with my original plan. Right now, there were ten people alive. That included George and me. The other eight were Rupert and his men. In total, we could acquire 21 items. Nine people would be able to take two, and I would take three because I was the major contributor. As of this moment, Rupert and two other men were conscious.
"Get up. Let's claim the items while we're at it. The others will do the same when they wake up."
Rupert Williams sighed but relented.
"Alright."
"George! Is everyone else okay?"
I saw George tending to the others while they slept.
"Yeah. You guys go ahead. I'll make to keep watch."
"Okay. Come when we call you."
I turned my back to George and began to walk the aisles. I didn't pay much attention to them in our fight, but they were filling to the brim with toys.
"Okay, so this is the plan for now. Find the aisle with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys."
We spread out, and it only took a few minutes for one man to find the aisle. We gathered in the corridor and perused it. I passed the fancier toys: Leonardo's katanas, Donatello's Bo staff, Mikey's nunchaku, and Raphael's twin sai. These could be powerful weapons, but they were not the items I was trying to find. When I did find them, I bet my eyes were glistening with a cunning light, as if I was some anime protagonist. I turned to look back at the three men behind me and decided to ask a question.
"Humor me for a moment. I want your thoughts on this matter. In war, what do you think is the most important thing to have?"
As I shot my question, I saw pondering looks on their faces. They didn't have to answer my question, but I bet they were curious as well.
One man said, "Soldiers and weapons?"
Another man said, "Rations and supplies?"
Rupert said, "Proper leadership?"
After I received all of their answers, I nodded.
"Yes, those are correct, but not what I was thinking. Yes, properly trained and well-equipped soldiers are integral, as well as having the necessary supplies. Proper leadership is also invaluable. But none of those factors can coalesce without this."
I picked up the item I saw and held it out for everyone to see. It was a TMNT toy walkie talkie.
"In my opinion, communication is the most vital thing an army needs."
[Constellation "Anti-Confederacy" agrees with your military wisdom.]
[Constellations with military backgrounds agree with Incarnation "Ethan Nakamura."]
Rupert Williams heard my answer and replied with a simple, "Oh."
(Try to act a little bit enlightened...)
"Anyways, you are to choose these walkie-talkie sets as the items you want."
"Hey, I thought we could choose what we want?! Didn't you have us clear this dungeon as an act of goodwill?!"
The man's objection was valid.
"Yes, I did say that. But you already received a hefty coin payout of 60,000 coins. It is more than enough."
The man wanted to object, but he held himself back.
"Fine."
The three men chose two sets of walkies. Two would be in each package, so that would be four for each man. We had twelve in total.
"Hmm, it would be better to have sixteen."
I called George over to us. He chose two sets as well.
"Okay, everyone, head back and monitor the status of the injured. I'll choose my items and return."
They walked away, and I was left alone. I perused the store by myself and found the section I was looking for.
(Star Wars.)
I saw the numerous toys I could pick. I went to one specific area and saw the myriad of choices. Lined up in front of me were lightsabers, dating back to the original, the prequel, and the sequel trilogies. I saw Luke Skywalker's, Mace Windu's, and Obi-wan's lightsabers. Those weren't the ones I was looking for. In Star Wars, all lightsabers have a design flaw: they possess no crossguard to protect the hands. The actor who played Obi-wan Kenobi - Ewan McGregor - actually talked about lightsabers on the Conan O'Brien show. The prop lightsabers would occasionally slide down and hit their hands whenever he dueled Hayden Christensen in the Prequel movies. In the Star Wars toy industry, there was only one lightsaber with a crossguard.
(Kylo Ren's lightsaber.)
It was a red blade, denoting the user's connection to the dark side; this connection was forged with the wielder's most volatile emotions: anger, hate, resentment.
(It's pretty fitting for an Anger Lord like me.)
I grabbed the toy lightsaber and saw a prompt.
[Do you wish to animate this item?]
"Yes."
[Applicable item is animating.]
I turned my attention away from my lightsaber and found the next item. As of now, I was fighting unprotected. I had no armor, and I needed something to protect the most vital part of my body. I needed a helmet.
I discovered the following toy. It was a plastic mask, laced with red lines. It was Kylo Ren's second helmet, which was reformed by Albrekh, a blacksmith who worked for the Knights of Ren. It was forged with Sith Alchemy and Sarrassian iron; this caused the helmet to be heavier and smell like molten iron. I grabbed it.
[Do you wish to animate this item?]
"Yes."
[Applicable item is animating.]
I set the two items next to each other as the spell proceeded. The very atmosphere came alive, and I saw blue wisps of mana seep into the toys. As they absorbed the mana, the plastic fluctuated, pulsed, and flickered. As I watched, channel messages flooded in.
[Chuunibiyou Constellations are proud of your choices.]
[Absolute Good Constellations are disappointed in your decision.]
[You have been sponsored 1000 coins.]
Soon, those messages were replaced with prompts related to the dungeon.
[Due to copyright, "red lightsaber" has become "Crimson Mana Sword."]
[Due to copyright, "Kylo Ren's Mask" has become "Helm of Darkness."]
[Your items are ready for acquisition.]
After that prompt, I saw the two objects. They completely transformed, no longer resembling their trademarked counterparts. The Crimson Mana Sword no longer had the two ignition ports on the side of the hilt, so there was only one blade. The tubes transformed and became a rectangular crossguard, which elongated to a proper length. The exposed wiring of the lightsaber vanished, and it was now one smooth hilt. Instead of a bare metal handle, there was a synthetic wrap to cushion the hands from shock.
I looked at the Helm of Darkness and saw a change in design. It still had the red laces, but there was a symmetry to it. The mouthpiece resembled industrial respirators and had a triangular shape, similar to Darth Vader's. The singular lens was much larger, which increased vision. The silver inlay was gone, and it was completely black.
With tentative hands, I grabbed the items and saw their descriptions.
+
[Item Information]
Name: Crimson Mana Sword
Rating: A+
Description: The Crimson Mana Sword is a convenient weapon that can be concealed quite well. The blade itself is formed from a focused mana crystal inside the hilt.
+
It wasn't S-grade, but it was still a sufficient weapon. I felt grateful for its current rating. This moment felt akin to a video game when the player finds a chest and discovers the loot inside. There's a rush of excitement when you find something valuable. For the longest of time, I thought I forgot this simple joy. I turned to the next item in higher spirits.
+
[Item Information]
Name: Helm of Darkness
Rating: A+
Description: This helmet allows the wearer to sense the negative intentions of sentient lifeforms in a 10-meter radius. If the lifeform is oversaturated with negative energy, there is a 51% chance for their thoughts to be heard in the form of whispers.
As an additional option, the helmet gives 49% in damage reduction. You also have increased enemy detection.
+
"Noice."
[Constellations find your reaction underwhelming.]
(What, you want me to jump up and down like a sixteen-year-old girl who gets a car for her birthday? Sheesh.)
[You have an additional selection due to your significant contribution.]
(Of course.)
I turned to the last item and grinned. I don't know how something this large could be animated, but there was a first time for everything, right?
***
I returned to the group donning the Helm of Darkness. As I emerged from the shadows, I saw some of the men panicking from my sudden appearance.
"Wait! Everyone, stop! Ethan, is that you?"
George yelled out while motioning everyone to put away their weapons.
"Yes," I answered.
It was such a simple phrase, but it sounded sinister coming from the vocoder in my helmet.
"Uh, okay. You picked your items?"
"Yes. Although, I'm not finished yet."
I looked at every man. They were all awake. I addressed the ones that didn't pick their items yet.
"Hello, everyone. The coin payouts you have received are substantial enough. As of this moment, all the items you pick will become the property of George and me."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
EnderGolem997
EnderGolem997 Hey, everyone. Lately, I've been thinking about NOT putting the names of voters in the Author's Thought. Not because I'm ungrateful, but because I think it might break the immersion of the novel but seeing text unrelated to it. If you want that to change or not, please comment below. (Although, I don't get a lot.)
Also, there will be a mass deletion of chapters. As I said in an Author's Thought in an earlier chatper, I accidently placed these chapters in a volume I didn't mean to make. It's been annoying me as of late.
On a webnovel forum, there is a solution that involes deleting the chapters, restoring them from draft, and placing them in the correct volume. This will also save the comments all of you made. I just wanted to tell you to give you a warning. I also apologize for any readers that are currently reading.
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