World Awakening: The Legendary Player-Chapter 77: Core Integration

Nox stared at the list of rewards laid out in his vision, the quiet of the small room feeling a million miles away.

’Holy shit. This is fucking insane.’ The thought wasn’t just a whisper; it was a loud, incredulous shout inside his head. ’Legendary? Mythic? From a stupid ten-spin? My luck stat is trash, this has to be a bug.’

But he didn’t care if it was a bug. The loot was real, and it was his. The gacha, the dumbest, most predatory system mechanic imaginable, had just paid out bigger than anything else. He almost laughed. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

He flicked through his new acquisitions, his mind racing. A teleport skill. A permanent stat boost. A title that made him luckier. And that Seed of Corruption... it sounded dangerous as hell, which meant the payoff had to be huge.

’No point letting this stuff just sit there,’ he decided. His eyes locked on the Vial of Dragon’s Blood in his inventory.

He thought, ’Use it.’

[You have consumed the Vial of Dragon’s Blood!]

[The potent energies of a dragon course through your veins, reinforcing your very being.]

[Strength has permanently increased by 5!]

[Endurance has permanently increased by 5!]

A wave of heat washed through him, not painful like the mana awakening, but a deep, powerful warmth that settled in his bones. He felt stronger, more solid. It was a good feeling.

Next, the stat points. He had 30 from the Lola fight, plus another 20 from the gacha. Fifty points. A small fortune.

’Lola kicked my ass because she was tougher and faster,’ he analyzed. ’Strength is good, but it doesn’t mean shit if you can’t land a hit or take one back.’ He didn’t hesitate.

’Dump twenty into Strength, twenty into Endurance, and ten into Agility.’

His body seemed to hum as the new power settled in, a subtle but definite upgrade.

He pulled up his status.

[Status]

[Name: Nox]

[Level: 18]

[Title: Anomaly Slayer, Dungeon Conqueror, Mercenary Hunter, Favored by Fortune]

[HP: 110/290]

[MP: 5/55]

[Strength: 74]

[Agility: 59]

[Stamina: 27]

[Endurance: 69]

[Perception: 37]

[Luck: 24]

[Unallocated Stat Points: 0]

’Much better.’ His Endurance was way up, which meant his HP would be higher and his Regeneration skill would work better. Almost 70 points. Not bad at all.

He then equipped the new ring.

[Ring of the Silent Walker equipped.]

[Your footsteps are now completely silenced.]

He wiggled his toes inside his boots, then stood up. He took a step on the dusty wooden floor. Nothing. Not even a creak. He took another. Silence.

A vicious grin spread across his face. ’This is gonna be fun.’

He had one last piece of instant gratification left. The Unique Skill Box from beating Lola.

’Open it.’

[Unique Skill Box opened!]

[New Skill Acquired: Shadow Sculpt (Active) - Lvl 1]

[Description: Shape your Corrupted Mana into a simple, non-projectile melee weapon (e.g., dagger, short sword). The weapon’s durability and sharpness scale with user’s level and mana control. Sustained via MP drain.]

He felt a new trickle of information settle into his mind, the knowledge of how to use the skill. He held out his hand, palm up, and focused. He pictured the mana in his core, pulling a stream of it up his arm and into his hand.

The air above his palm shimmered. A black, smoky mist bled from his skin, swirling and condensing. He imagined a dagger, simple and sharp. The mist solidified, darkening into a blade of pure, light-absorbing black. It felt solid, real, and cold to the touch. It didn’t gleam; it was like holding a piece of a starless night.

He closed his fist around the hilt, a low laugh rumbling in his chest. This was real power. His power.

His eyes drifted to the last, most tempting prize from the gacha. The Seed of Corruption.

’Warning: The process is extremely volatile,’ the description replayed in his mind. ’May have unpredictable results.’

’Yeah, a risk,’ he thought. ’But it could upgrade my whole mana core. Skip all the slow grinding and just leapfrog to the good stuff.’ He looked over at Serian. She was still dead asleep, her breathing soft and even. ’She’s out. No one to interrupt. This is the perfect time.’

He knew it was a stupid, reckless idea. His body was still a wreck from the last time he’d messed with his mana core. The System itself would probably flash a dozen warnings at him.

But the thought of that much power, that big of a leap forward... it was an addiction, and he was already hooked.

’Fuck it,’ he decided, the thrill of the gamble overriding every shred of common sense. ’Go big or go home.’

He sat back down, crossed his legs, and pulled the Seed of Corruption from his inventory. It materialized in his hand, a small, pulsating orb of black energy that felt warm to the touch.

He activated his Core Integration skill, focusing its power on the seed in his palm. ’Let’s do this.’

The seed dissolved, flowing into his hand not as energy, but as a physical, oily black liquid that soaked into his skin and shot up his arm toward his chest.

The instant it reached his mana core, his world exploded into pure, absolute agony.

It wasn’t a burn or a pressure. It was a feeling of being torn apart from the inside out, atom by atom. His own Corrupted Mana, the very power he had just been wielding, went into a frenzy. It attacked the new energy from the seed, and his mana core became a battlefield.

His back slammed against the wall, a strangled scream caught in his throat. His vision went white with pain, every nerve ending shrieking.

A series of red, frantic notifications flashed in his vision.

[WARNING! CORE INTEGRATION FAILURE IMMINENT!]

[Anomalous energy signature rejected by host core!]

[Cascading energetic collapse detected!]

[Catastrophic meltdown in T-minus 10... 9... 8...]

The agony was absolute. His vision was a screaming whiteout, the system’s red warning text barely registering through the haze of torment.

’So this is it,’ he thought, his mind a panicked shriek. ’This is how I fucking die. Choked on a power-up like an idiot.’

[Catastrophic meltdown in T-minus 7... 6...]

His own Corrupted Mana was at war with the raw, chaotic energy of the seed. His mana core, the epicenter of the conflict, felt like it was about to tear itself apart. He tried to use his will, to force them to calm down, to submit.

It was like trying to stop two freight trains by standing between them. The energies just slammed into his consciousness, threatening to shatter it.

The god chat was a frantic, useless blur.

[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks] ...

[Baron Von Cynic] And there it is. The inevitable result of greed and recklessness. A spectacular failure. I’m almost impressed by the sheer stupidity of it.

[Catastrophic meltdown in T-minus 5... 4...]

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