The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-81

Seol was only able to find the culprit infecting the town through an unexpected clue.

It was because Gunt’s face was different from the face on the child’s drawing.

If Seol hadn’t luckily looked at the child’s drawing, he could have spent a long, long time before uncovering that Gunt was behind it all.

“Hehehe… I knew I should have killed you that day. In the end, you followed me to my base and caused a huge commotion…”

“Were you behind what happened in Twilight Town too?”

“Who else would it be? Hehehehe!”

Snap!

As Gunt snapped his fingers, the cries of monsters could be heard around the town.

Guaaaaaarghh…

Gurrrrr…

“D-Dr. Gunt!”

“How could this be… What did you do…”

“Kyaaa! Th-there are monsters outside!”

Not only were they outside, but they were also slowly closing in on where Seol was. Seol then asked Gunt a question.

“Where did you get those monsters from?”

“Hold on, hold on! It’s a bit unfair if you’re the only one asking questions, alright? What do you think about this, then? I like making trades… What do you think about taking turns asking each other questions?”

“Whatever works for me. Answer me now.”

“Obviously, they’re the corpses of the sick. Is that a sufficient answer?”

“...It is.”

The townspeople were all shocked by Gunt’s changed behavior.

“Dr. Gunt! How could you do something so horrendous…?”

“Didn’t you say that you were staying here to save us?”

Gunt laughed.

“Save you? Hahahaha! I was your guys’ savior?”

“W-Were you not?”

“You idiots. This is happening specifically because you left your own salvation to others!”

After saying that, he pulled out something from his pockets.

It was a vial filled with black liquid.

Seol had seen something like that before in the scroll Chao gave him.

“I was the one who spread Fog Disease. This medicine right here was used to put people to sleep before eventually turning them into my corpses. Regrettably, for you, this is the grim reality beneath the facade of salvation you sought so desperately.”

“No way…”

“Dr. Gunt, wake up! I don’t know why you’re acting like this, but…”

“If you don’t know, then shut up! Hehehe!”

Seol quickly realized that the vial of medicine that Gunt was shaking was the ‘Sleeping Medicine’ that he had been searching for. However… he was more shocked after realizing that this very medicine was the root cause of all the events that had transpired.

‘Why does Chao need something like that?’

It was difficult for Seol to come up with other potential effects that the horrible medicine could have.

“Now, it’s my turn to ask a question. How did you know that I was the mastermind behind all of this?”

“......”

“If you don’t answer me, the conversation's going to end.”

“I was looking for you.”

“Why?”

“I’ve already answered a question.”

“Damn it, I should’ve just asked them all at once. Fine.”

“...Is there a cure for the Fog Disease?”

Gunt gave a wide smile and laughed.

“What the hell?! Hehehe! Yeah, I bet you need that! Of course! Of course, there’s a cure!”

“Your turn.”

“Why were you looking for me?”

“Because I was interested in an item that you had.”

“Look, I’d prefer it if you gave me more specific answers, alright? I’m pretty sure the ‘item’ that you’re talking about is the Fog Disease’s antidote though… Is someone you know afflicted by it?”

“One question at a time. How were you able to fool the townspeople?”

“Simple deception and illusion spells. I guess I could call it the culmination of that, my understanding of anatomy, and the strange techniques I’ve learned over the shoulder? Still, it’s too high-level for someone like you to understand.”

The conversation continued for a while.

And Seol could sense that Karen, who was by his side, was slowly nearing the limits of her patience.

“This question is probably my last question. So, how did you know that I was the person you were looking for? I changed my face too…”

“That drawing.”

The drawing that Seol pointed at had Gunt’s old face on it. Gunt, after realizing how he was caught, laughed.

“Kehehehe! Look at me! I forgot to release the suggestion spell after changing my face! So that’s why I got caught… hm… so it was something so simple. Alright, what are you going to do now? Ah, I only had that one question left…”

“It’s fine, I can tell you that much.”

Karen stepped forth.

And she answered in place of Seol.

“I’m going to crush you to dust.”

“Hehehehe! Well, that could be fun too!”

Crunch…

Snap… Twist…

Gunt’s face was suddenly covered in veins.

The black veins, which continued to grow and spread in a disgusting manner like the roots of a rotting plant, pierced through his skin.

“Kyaaaa!”

“Hehehe! I don’t need this face anymore now!”

Rumble…

“R-Run away!”

“Where would we go? There are monsters outside!”

“Just get outside for now! This house is about to collapse, are the monsters really the problem right now?”

Glow…

Seol created a black energy in his hands.

Fwirl!

And then a massive troll, Jamad, revealed himself.

“Take care of the townspeople.”

“Got it.”

Jamad followed after the townspeople, who were more shocked by his appearance than Gunt’s, outside the building and to the town hall while carrying Sarah over his shoulder. There were a lot of people still there in the town hall and it was much more sturdy than a small house like this.

Jamad slowly followed them while killing any monster in his way.

Crush…

During that time, Gunt slowly grew.

“I should have killed you then… hehe!”

Seol, using Eyes of Perception, quickly read through the information.

[[Gunt, the Hypocrite]

Rank: Rare

Estimated Level: 13~18

A person who uses their various knowledge in medicine, pharmacy, and poison as their weapons. Their most fearsome weapon are the corpses they control.

Basic Skills: [Energy Potion 1], [Drug Connection 1], [Hypnotism 1], [Face Steal 1], [Physical Enhancement 1], [Poison Spray 1]

Unique Skills: [False Salvation 1]]

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

Seol was shocked after seeing it.

‘...Why is he so weak?’

Since Seol had to fight him with only Jamad in the Expedition System, he wasn’t aware of how powerful Gunt exactly was.

Gunt, unaware of what Seol was thinking about, started mocking him.

“Now, this is my real face. Ta-dah! What do you think? Frightening, huh?”

Gunt’s face looked like a mashed apple, it didn’t look human at all. His eyes, nose, and lips were all warped strangely and his skin was festering with wounds.

“Hehe… First, I’ll take care of this annoying girl—”

Slash!

Gunt noticed that his vision was… tilted? He quickly inspected himself.

Before he realized it, both of his legs had been cleanly cut off.

Sizzle…

He felt an immense heat and pain climb up from his severed legs.

“Guaaaaaargh!”

Karen waited, not finishing him off.

“Show me what else you’ve got. I’ll wait.”

“Y-You’ve made a huge mistake! Wait just right here, I’ll end you!”

[Gunt used Energy Potion.]

[Gunt’s regeneration increases immensely.]

Chrsfrsrs…!

Legs grew out of Gunt’s body like threads unraveling from a spool.

Guaaaaargh…

During that time, Karen was quickly killing the corpses running to Seol.

“They’re all so damn weak.”

“How insulting…”

“Try harder. Take responsibility for getting me this pissed.”

“...I’ll kill you.”

[Gunt used Physical Enhancement.]

[Gunt’s Strength increases by 50%.]

[Gunt’s Dexterity increases by 20%.]

[Gunt’s Constitution increases by 10%.]

Fwooosh!

Gunt punched the air, creating a gust of wind.

Even so…

Slash!

Gunt lost the sensation of anything below his elbows. Once again, he lost his limbs.

Karen had cut his arms off the moment he swung them.

“Grrrggghh… Aaaaargh!”

“...Why are you like this?”

“Th-this can’t be… Come, come to me! Come to your master!’

Guaaaargh!

Thud!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The corpses, covered in a strange, sticky fluid, started leaving the town hall and running to Gunt.

Fwoooooosh!

[Gunt used Unique Skill: False Salvation.]

[As long as this skill is active, Gunt absorbs the stats of all of the corpses absorbed.]

The corpses were sucked into Gunt’s body like a boat being swept up by a hurricane. And after a few seconds, Gunt’s body turned red like blood.

“Hehehe! It won’t be the same this time~”

Once again, Karen waited for him.

Dash!

Gunt was definitely faster than before.

It was clear that it was on a completely different level than how he moved earlier.

“Now, die! Die!”

Once again, Gunt unleashed a punch with both fists.

Fwoooosh!

However…

Fwirl!

Fwoosh!

Karen easily dodged Gunt’s attack, almost like she was playing around before as well.

Gunt, seeing that, was in complete shock.

“N-No way… No way…”

“...Are you done?”

Even while dodging, Karen looked at Gunt with malice-filled eyes.

“Aaaaaargh! Don’t look at me like thaaaaaaat!”

Fwooosh!

Fwooooosh!

Gunt floundered around like a person who couldn’t swim.

In truth, Gunt really did become extremely fast.

He was almost as fast as Karen.

However, his attacks were too simple and too obvious. There was no way an attack like that would ever land on Karen.

Karen started to fight back, like she was ready to end it.

Fwoosh!

Slash!

Sizzle…

One of Gunt’s legs was cut off again.

“Guaaaaaargh!”

“Why…”

Slash!

Sizzle…

“Aaargghh… Argh… It hurts…”

“...Why?”

Stab!

Stab!

SLAAASH!

“AAAAAARGH!”

Karen had cut off all of Gunt’s limbs.

However, because of Gunt’s increased regeneration, he only continued to bleed. Gunt neither fainted nor died.

“Aaaaargh! Why?! Why?! Why?!”

Stab!

Staaab!

“Khrgh…”

Karen then asked Gunt a question while keeping her sword in his stomach.

“Why would you do something so horrible… when you’re this weak…”

“Cough… Hehehe… Was I-I weak? That’s unfortunate!”

“Shut up!”

“Kehehe… Hehehe…”

Gunt continued to talk while blood spilled out of his mouth.

“But you know… Am I not allowed to?”

“...What?”

“If I’m weak… do I lose even the right to be evil?”

“What are you—”

“So since I’m weak, I should just be nice and obediently live the life that people make me live?!”

“You bastard!”

Karen grabbed the dying Gunt by his collar. Even so, Gunt simply laughed. He had given up all hope.

“Hehehe… You can’t kill me. I’m saying this for you, you know?”

“Bullshit.”

“Aren’t you… looking for the antidote? You won’t be able to find it if you kill me~”

“...You fucking bastard.”

Karen took a step back.

She knew that if she lost control of her emotions and simply hit him, she would never be able to hear his response.

Step…

But in place, Seol stepped forth.

“Gunt, where’s the antidote?”

“Oh? Is this a trade? Alright! However, I’m going to be changing the rules now. If you listen to my story until the end… cough… I’ll tell you where the antidote is!”

“Even now, you—”

“If you refuse, I’ll just die like this.”

Gunt made an eerie, expressionless face. Seol scowled.

“Fine.”

“I had never been able to tell anyone about my existence because I was scared of getting caught. I also killed whoever listened to my story too!”

“You don’t have a lot of time. You’re going to die soon. Talk faster.”

“Okay, okay…”

Gunt continued.

“My face has looked like this since the moment I was born. When I became able to walk, my parents sold me to slave traders. They were quite patient parents, how were they able to hold on for that long?”

“......”

“I just had to get unlucky too. I ended up in an old magician’s research room. Do you know what happened to me there? Ah, wait! I don’t want to talk about that, hehehe.”

The more they listened to his story, the more they learned about his true nature.

And it was also the unfortunate truth.

“During that hell, the old magician was kind enough to give me some free time. And luckily, there were also books to read there. Thanks to that, I learned about a lot of things. Do you know what books I loved the most?”

“No.”

“Cough… It was the religious texts of the religion that the old man believed in and the stories of heroes. Do you know why I liked them the most?”

“Why?”

“Hehehe… because it felt like I would be saved too. Whenever I read those books, I believed that a god or a hero would show up, destroy that damned research room, and rescue me from there. I know, I sound exactly like those stupid townspeople from earlier.”

Gunt kept going.

“But salvation didn’t come, and the thing that let me break out of my cage was my own power. That old man let his guard down. If I knew that killing him was that easy, I would’ve killed him earlier. Look, when all of this settles, you guys are going to become the town’s heroes, right?”

“......”

“I’m jealous of them. They were able to be saved at the right time. Hehe… I wonder… should I have waited a bit more?”

“Gunt.”

“Heroes are lazy. They didn’t save me. They… They…”

“Tell me where the antidote is.”

Gunt swallowed his bloody spit and gave an answer.

“If you rip into the handle of the bag that I brought, you’ll find a powder. Mix it with water, there should be enough in there to save the townspeople.”

“What about the other towns?”

“All dead. I was on my way back after killing them all.”

“Why did you do this?”

“I was just… curious. I wondered if salvation really existed… if it was just something that people made up. But… it really did exist… salvation did exist.”

Stand…

Seol stood up to grab the antidote.

“Could I ask you something?”

“......”

“Do you… cough… think that… I could be forgiven?”

Karen listened carefully for Seol’s response.

She wanted to hear what Seol would say.

Seol responded with cold eyes. Like it was something that was already predetermined.

“No. You’re going to hell.”

“Hehe… then I bet I can find my way there without any issues~”

“Let me ask you a question as well then.”

“......”

“What you said about Sarah… were you telling the truth then?”

“Ah… that.”

When Sarah fell asleep, Gunt cried and poured out his heart.

- But you were different, Sarah. Your existence itself made so many people happy and you bravely overcame your misfortune alone. With just your actions, you have taught me so much.

“Nah, I don’t want to say.”

Thud…

With those as his final words, Gunt’s eyes became dull.

And then, messages popped up.

[You have defeated Gunt, the Hypocrite.]

[You have earned the achievement 'Find the Difference'.]

[You have earned the title 'Savior'.]