World's Strongest Survivor

Chapter 12

Chapter 12 - 12The Enraged Mage

As the cold air filled his lungs, Seowoon's eyes opened, his energy having been gathered and stilled.

He began approaching the mansion as slowly as possible, careful not to break the concealment spell of darkness.

'Map!'

Fortunately, the next shrinking safe zone included the mansion.

Swallowing nervously as he stared at the brightly lit house through countless windows, Seowoon thought to himself:

'You can't judge whether a house is empty just by whether the lantern's on anymore.'

Of course. It was already day 20 of the game. Any player who had survived this long would naturally be capable of psychological tricks, such as deliberately leaving a lantern on inside.

He carefully climbed over the mansion's tall iron gate. Rather than enter right away, he tried to sense any presence inside.

'If it were me, I wouldn't make a sound either.'

Sensing nothing within, Seowoon eventually circled the mansion and tried opening the windows with thin curtains.

Most were locked, but one unusually large window gave way to his touch without resistance.

Drawing his concealed weapons into both hands, Seowoon stepped onto the window frame and dove inside without hesitation.

-thud.

He made every effort to stay silent, standing on tiptoe, but to his tense ears, even that tiny sound rang loudly.

Crouched low, he scanned the area. The grand dining room, with its long table and bright chandelier, was empty.

Then his eyes landed on a wooden box sitting on the elegant, old-fashioned table—something straight out of a movie. As if hypnotized, Seowoon walked toward it and reached out.

Was it the subtle scent the box seemed to give off? Or was it his intuition telling him it was an item, since its crude design clashed with the luxurious surroundings?

As his hand touched the box, a pleasant chime echoed.

[Ding! You've acquired the Cheongun Pill. Increases the user's inner power when consumed.]

"Hah!"

Was it because he had finally obtained the elixir he had so desperately desired? Without meaning to, Seowoon let out a breathy exclamation.

He quickly covered his mouth with his hand, but he couldn't stop his lips from curling into a smile.

Staring at the box with momentary excitement, Seowoon came back to his senses, his expression turning serious.

'If an item of this level is just lying around, it must really be an empty house...'

He wasn't sure whether to continue looting or to move to a safer location and consume the elixir.

Had he not found the elixir in this dining room, he would've definitely

He had never imagined that someone could summon not just a single bolt of lightning, but a rain of lightning and reduce a massive mansion to ruins in an instant. He remained frozen, unable to move, only swallowing hard as he watched the dust and smoke rising through the moonlight of the black night.

"If I could learn that kind of large-scale magic, I'd have a huge advantage in the next game..."

Sure enough, human greed knows no end. Even after witnessing such a terrifying scene, he still coveted the power behind it.

It was a moment when something inside Seowoon seemed to come loose—different from anything he'd felt before.

Rather than being gripped by fear that his corpse could've been buried in that wreckage, his desire to possess such powerful magic grew stronger. He stared for a long time at the place where the enraged wizard had stood before slowly coming back to his senses.

"Fist technique ."

A new piece of knowledge that had pushed its way into his mind and taken root.

As he quietly recalled the term, a detailed information window appeared before Seowoon's eyes.

[Fist technique ]

A martial art created in the twilight years of a man known by the nickname fist technique (Ten Thousand Defeats). Based on a lifetime of martial duels, he poured his soul into creating an unbeatable fighting technique. He fought 1,429 duels and lost 1,429 times. People mocked the martial art he created late in life, and no successor ever carried it on, leaving it a discontinued technique.

"Sigh..."

A sigh escaped Seowoon's lips without him realizing it.

He felt a wave of self-pity—of all the things he could've learned, why did it have to be this?

Of course, it was better than learning nothing at all, but it didn't seem to be the peerless martial art he had dreamed of.

Seowoon thought that in order to understand how fist technique interacted with his inner energy technique, he'd have to practice it enough to get used to it.

The problem was, he had no idea where he could find a place to train safely in this dangerous area.

He lay face-down for a while, unable to move, turning things over in his mind. Then suddenly, his face brightened.

"Maybe...!"

Cautiously standing up, Seowoon walked toward the place where the mansion had been reduced to rubble.

"Hoo. There must've been a mountain of loot I didn't get to collect... Tch."

Looking over the scorched remains, Seowoon muttered regretfully.

But only for a moment. He then started rummaging through the debris, looking for something.

"This was the dining room... and this was the living room..."

After rummaging for a while, the corners of Seowoon's mouth curled into a smile.

"I knew it!"

Beneath the blackened remains he had cleared away, a steel door stood intact and proud.

"Even if the building collapsed, the basement should be fine!"

It had been a half-hearted hope that maybe something was there—but luckily, he had found the entrance to an underground space.

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