Finally, an ability I could fight with appeared.
Park So-yul truly recognized me as an ally.
Actually, I thought it would take more time, or happen after experiencing a stimulating event that could compress time.
It was worth repeatedly showing Park So-yul aspects of a rational and logical personality, and that money was merely a means.
'In the drama scenario, I died as an incompetent person because I couldn't buy anyone's trust. But this time is different.'
In front of me, the vine man who was hit by me was staggering while clutching his blood-stained nose.
The stone knife man moved to support the stiff vine man.
The stone knife man reached out his arm long to try to cut me.
"Get a grip! Yu Jin-cheol will notice the anomaly and come here soon!"
Noticing the anomaly.
Coming here.
It was a restrained remark, but for me, it was full of valid information.
The stone knife man's remark soon meant that Yu Jin-cheol had a tool to know the locations of the thieves.
And that it was a tool that could obtain limited information.
Just as there was a tool for the thieves to find gems, it wasn't strange even if a tool to find thieves was prepared for the cop.
"I think worrying about whether you'll be abandoned by Yu Jin-cheol comes first, doesn't it?"
After finishing my words, I spat out a strong mouthful of thin saliva from my mouth.
The saliva spat toward the stone knife man dispersed in grains and immediately turned into sharp blades according to my will.
The ability to turn bodily fluids into blades.
The particles of the spat saliva were as small as dots, but each of the actually generated blades was the size of a fingernail-sized razor blade.
This ability's blade size varies depending on the concentration of the bodily fluid.
I knew that the size of the blades compared to the amount increased in the order of sweat, saliva, tears, and blood.
Swish.
There was almost no sound.
However, dozens of razor blades flew vigorously at the stone knife man's face and drew fine scratches.
"Argh!"
Some of them scratched the stone knife man's eyes.
The stone knife he was holding fell to the floor with a clang.
He won't be able to open his eyes for a while. Maybe he won't be able to open them for his whole life.
I put my hands together so that my palms met.
"Moving around busily was to find the compass. But the aim wasn't just the compass alone."
Thanks to moving around without rest, sweat was beaded on my hands.
In addition, the tension provided by this pressing situation also played a part in making a large amount of sweat bead on my hands.
I tried using the ability by gathering the sweat on my hands.
The slimy sensation in my hands disappeared, and the cool hardness characteristic of metal was felt.
When I opened my overlapped hands, a dagger was generated in my hands.
I gripped the dagger in a reverse grip and swung it as if shaking it off.
Slash!
While his eyes were injured, the stone knife man instinctively covered his face and neck with his arms.
The dagger ended up scratching the stone knife man's wrist.
A bloodline formed on his wrist, and then thick blood flowed out.
I thought I swung it skillfully, but I almost dropped the dagger at the moment of cutting.
I realized anew that there is a big difference between knowing it in theory and actually doing it.
While neutralizing the stone knife man, the vine man, who had reformed his posture, took out a rolled bundle of vines from his pocket and threw it at me.
"Damn it! Do you think you're the only one who knows how to use an ability?"
The bundle of vines split into three and each turned into a venomous snake.
However, there was no case of the venomous snakes touching my body.
Between me and the vine man, a long hwando shot up from bottom to top.
Park So-yul had intervened.
The hwando caught the venomous snakes in one trajectory and threw them far away.
Considering it was a favorable factor that Park So-yul came out to support voluntarily, I shouted confidently.
"Ms. So-yul! Cut his legs!"
Subsequently, Park So-yul cut the vine man's right thigh while bulging her fine muscles.
"Aaaaagh!"
Following the stone knife man's scream just now, the vine man screamed noisily.
It was a scream mixed with calculation.
It was a signal sent to Yu Jin-cheol, who would be somewhere, that an unexpected situation occurred, so come quickly.
It wasn't entirely ineffective.
The sound of thumping running, moving a heavy body, was heard from afar.
I ran while grabbing Park So-yul's arm.
"This is enough. Let's widen the distance in this gap."
"There's a reason for not finishing them off, right?"
"When shaking off the enemy's pursuit, it's standard to create an injured person in the pursuit team. Because they become unable to pursue while taking care of the injured person."
"Aha."
Even though I copied a 2nd-rank ability, facing Yu Jin-cheol with a body that just started gaining practical experience carried a high risk.
It's skin that didn't even have a single crack when hit by a hard steel pipe.
I didn't think I could pierce it just by striking with a thin knife.
For now, it was desirable to prepare to face Yu Jin-cheol strategically after widening the distance.
Around the time we escaped the south of the game site and reached the western edge, I caught my breath and fixed my focus in the distance.
"Signs of pursuit are... none as expected."
The relief lasted only a moment, and a stinging glare flew from Park So-yul.
Park So-yul crossed her arms and tapped the ground irritably with her right foot.
"The ability you used just now. That's my ability, right?"
Since I used her ability openly in front of her, she had no choice but to notice quickly.
It was a procedure I had to go through.
Because I was prepared that the time for explanation would definitely arrive, I could reply nonchalantly without being flustered.
"Yes, that's right. I used the ability to turn bodily fluids into blades."
The positive point was that the copied ability was still being maintained.
It seemed she accepted it as 'competent' rather than thinking 'I was used' even after experiencing my ability partly.
Park So-yul made a high-handed snort and then sharpened her eyes.
A cold feeling was added to her natural fox-like face, changing it into an impression where contempt looked suitable.
"You mean you copied my ability. Exactly how much was part of the plan, Ju-seong?"
"It's the opposite. There's not a single thing that wasn't part of the plan."
"There's no way you can use an ability as great as copy for free... In my gut, it feels like there are difficult conditions attached, how about it?"
"I can't reveal all my cards. Please understand that part."
The dagger I was holding disappeared while I was speaking.
The generated blades disappear when it's time for the bodily fluids to dry.
On the other hand, the hwando Park So-yul held was still emitting a blue reflection.
A scratch wound made by a fingernail remained on Park So-yul's forearm.
Since it was a blade made using blood, it lasted longer than my blade made with saliva.
I did not give a single look to Park So-yul's hwando. Instead, I spoke clearly while devoting my eye power to making eye contact with Park So-yul.
"But I can promise this one thing. I will never be the first to betray you, Ms. So-yul. For the most part."
A stare-down between me and Park So-yul continued for 10 seconds.
The one who turned her gaze away first was Park So-yul.
Park So-yul tilted her head slightly to the side and then let the hwando hang down.
"Your speaking skill is at the level of a 1st place winning paper. Copying and speaking skills, you didn't receive two abilities by yourself, did you?"
"Hahaha, I'll take that as a compliment."
When I replied slyly, Park So-yul muttered quietly while keeping her gaze on empty space.
"If you were unlikable, it would be easier to hate you."
For someone speaking in a snapping tone, there was no sign of her avoiding me.
It was the opposite atmosphere from when she judged Yu Jin-cheol as overtly disgusting.
I clapped my hands to refresh the atmosphere.
"Now, shall we talk about something more constructive? According to the information obtained from the battle just now, it seems necessary to revise the strategy."
"I was thinking the same thing. It seems Yu Jin-cheol has a tool exclusively for the cop?"
"Nine times out of ten, it's something that tells the location of the thieves. Of course, it won't be all-powerful, and a function to know only the approximate location will be installed."
The vine man had expected Yu Jin-cheol to notice the anomaly and come to support.
In other words, it was highly likely a tool that does not provide any information other than the location of the thieves.
Just as the thieves' tool had no information it could know other than the location of the gems.
Park So-yul muttered while scratching her forearm where a blood scab had formed.
"If Yu Jin-cheol knows our location, it means he has the right to ambush us at any time... This has become a headache. Since the only thieves left are the two of us, from now on, he'll be able to use ambush operations that take a lot of time without any burden..."
The moment I heard Park So-yul's words muttered without any thought.
A spark flew in my head.
"That's good."
"Pardon?"
"Ambush, I mean. Before that side ambushes us, let's ambush them first."
Park So-yul tilted her head.
It meant that since the opponent knows this side's location, hasn't it become something that can't be called an ambush anymore?
However, whether Park So-yul was suspicious or not, I finished the operation check in an instant and spoke in a tone full of conviction.
"Let's go to the north of the game site. Let's prepare to land a blow there on the guy who considers himself the strongest in this game site."
***
At the same time, in the south of the game site, Yu Jin-cheol was quietly watching the two men.
"It hurts... it hurts so much... Is my eyeball okay? Please, tell me it's okay."
The stone knife man was suffering with a look where blood flowed like tears.
"Yu Jin-cheol! Don't just watch, help stop the bleeding! At this rate, I'll die from excessive bleeding!"
The vine man was crawling on the floor with his thigh deeply gouged.
Both were in a physical state where it was hard to expect complete movement anymore.
Yu Jin-cheol turned the skin of his right arm to stone and pulled it behind his shoulder.
It was a precursor to a punch.
"Your eyes must hurt a lot? But it'll be okay soon."
Crunch!
The punch swung indifferently and smashed the blind stone knife man's face.
Between the heavy forearm like a stone pillar and the ground, the stone knife man's head was crushed like it was pressed by a presser.
Although it was short, he was once a comrade, but Yu Jin-cheol's attitude toward the dead stone knife man was very dry.
"It doesn't hurt anymore, right?"
The vine man witnessed the end of the stone knife man whose head was crushed and trembled.
A clattering sound was made as his upper and lower teeth collided.
"D-don't do this. Catching the four thieves thanks to us earlier... even considering that achievement..."
Yu Jin-cheol secured 30 million won by catching six thieves, and the two thieves secured 30 million won per person by sharing ten gems half and half.
They had joined hands after making a promise to leave with 30 million won per person beforehand.
But as soon as the two thieves became useless, Yu Jin-cheol set out to dispose of them.
Yu Jin-cheol placed his foot on the vine man's chest.
And he spoke while slowly turning his skin to stone starting from his toes.
"You guys did well. But a question suddenly occurred to me. When this game ends and the cop merit disappears, will you guys still look up to me? Thinking like that, I thought I should earn as much as possible while I can."
As Yu Jin-cheol's weight grew in real-time, the pressure applied to the vine man's chest became stronger.
The vine man screamed to save him, but Yu Jin-cheol didn't even pretend to hear.
The sound of ribs breaking under his foot became louder.
In the end, blood bubbles swarmed in the vine man's mouth, and his eyes rolled back.
Yu Jin-cheol smirked while enjoying a sense of superiority.
"Look at this. I wasn't the one who was wrong. I was someone who could do it if I had everything from the start."
He wondered if it was always his fault that he was treated like a loser by his parents and the people around him for the reason that he was old and couldn't get a job.
Those who have a lot from birth would have many choices, so there would be many things they could do.
But Yu Jin-cheol was not.
Ugly appearance, parents without ability, meager talent with nothing to show.
It was a fate where he couldn't catch a clue on exactly how he was supposed to live.
Anyone is bound to have at least one condition that is helpful for living life, but Yu Jin-cheol didn't have even that one piece of talent.
Would it have been different if he were given a lot from the start just the same?
He had thought about it countless times.
Through this game, he proved that the delusion that one can live a superior life any time if what is given from the start is different is actually possible.
What was left was to prove that his becoming a loser was due to his parents or the difference in natural talent by accumulating wealth in this Money Game enough to play and eat for the rest of his life.
Yu Jin-cheol took out a pocket watch-shaped machine from his pocket.
"Now, shall we check where the remaining two runts are?"
When he activated the machine, a green screen with a Go board arrangement appeared on the LCD.
A single dot was marked on the screen.
The position of the dot meant the location of a thief inside the game site.
"One dot? Oho, an internal conflict finally happened while fighting among themselves over the distribution of gems. Dull things. That's just like you."
It was annoying to deal with both at the same time, so this was good.
If it's one-on-one, I can't lose.
To think they would destroy themselves on their own while fighting each other when it's not enough even if they cooperate.
Yu Jin-cheol felt certain of victory as he moved his steps to the position pointed to by the radar exclusively for the cop.
"Misters from the organization, you made a mistake. You should have picked players with at least a human level of intelligence. They're too low-grade to be opponents."
The dot marked on the radar pointed to the northern edge of the game site.
In other words, it was pointing to the place where the pond was.