Possessing Nothing Novel (쥐뿔도 없는 회귀)

Chapter 27 - The Mountain of Mush

"Would you like to get a penalty?"

The priest asked. Sungmin stared at the priest. In the 4 days on the way here, he thought about what penalties he would take.

"Taste."

Sungmin pointed to his mouth.

"Also, I would like to take a penalty on the weight i feel."

"I see."

The priest nodded. He didn't use magic or pray. He only moved back a few steps and opened the way to Sungmin.

"We won't give you anything. You will eat, drink, sleep...living is on your own. Young trainee."

Sungmin didn't answer and moved past him.

He had heard about this place before but had never actually been there. There was no reason to.

The Mountain of Mush. Everything was up to the person. He could be wasting time or could even be losing things. Usually, it was the person's life. Mush didn't allow others to harm others and didn't care about the trainees dying alone.

But there was a reward after suffering. Seeing what penalties the trainee took, the hardships and sufferings would be more intense, and if the person passed it, Mush would give a reward.

Sungmin wanted that. It would be hard to reach the limit with the same method as other who had more talent than him. Therefore, he came here.

As he passed the temple.

[I welcome you.]

A voice passed through Sungmin's ear. Sungmin let out a sound without even knowing.

His body was heavy.

It was hard for him to even move a step. Sungmin bit his lips. He had gotten a penalty for his weight. Not only his body, but everything would be heavier to Sungmin.

'My taste...'

He had no taste in his lips. Sungmin pulled out his pocket. It was heavy. The bread that he pulled... felt like rocks. Sungmin stared at it and opened his mouth.

Bak.

It felt like he was eating stone. No, this was...Sungmin wrinkled his face. He didn't lose his taste. Just everything that he tasted, the taste changed. It felt like he was chewing dirt, and the bread wriggled like a corpse of a bug. The taste became worse and worse as he chewed.

"Ugkkk!"

Sungmin couldn't swallow the bread. He thought that he had been pretty masterful at eating terrible food, but this wasn't something that he could eat in his normal mind. Sungmin spits out his bread and retched a few times.

"HCk...Huhh...!"

After a while, Sungmin pulled out the water bottle from his pocket quickly. As he tried to pour the water inside his mouth to clean the taste away.

"Ckdf!"

It wasn't just the food. The water... changed. It felt like dirty water. Sungmin bit his teeth. Taste and Weight. He didn't think it wouldn't be that hard. If he had to choose which one would be harder, he would have chosen the weight.

No.

The strongest penalty that he had gotten was the lack of taste.

He wanted to give up.

Was there a reason to continue? If he could have gone to Behengeru, he would have been a D-rank mercenary. If he did a few requests, he would be a C rank, and his growth would continue. Therefore, he would be expected to become a first-rate soon.

If he became a first-rate, then he could become a B rank. That would be better than his previous life. The opportunity that he missed before? What was that? He had already surpassed his previous self and gotten the first step to a better life.

Not too much greed... just live. With the flow. Goal? Living happily. Isn't that good enough? He could get money through mercenary work. He wouldn't have to do the hard work if it seemed too dangerous. Then he would get a nice girl and marry, have kids, then live long.

Isn't that a great life? That's normal, but having a normal life as a No Class in this world was hard. Yes... he could live like that and be happy.

He didn't need to have any greed.

He could just leave.

Go to Behengeru. There was no reason to suffer. The food that he would eat would be hell. His body would be heavy and he wouldn't be able to use his martial arts. Even if he lived like that, he didn't know what Mush would give him. He could waste his time here. He could kill himself being depressed about his lack of talent.

Let's give up.

When he thought about that.

Sungmin thought about Wijihoyun.

His first teacher, and only friend. The promise that he made to meet in 10 years.

Sungmin pulled out the bread from his pocket. He wrinkled his eyes and pushed the bread inside his mouth. His body had already remembered the bread's disgusting taste. His body had already rejected the bread as it came in. His stomach was dying. He chewed the bread. He forced himself, repeatedly, to chew up the wriggling worms that were inside his mouth. His taste completely changed. The worms blew up with secretions and the secretions scratched his mouth.

His cheek blew up strongly. He shivered slightly as he poured the water into his mouth. The water... was hot. As it went inside his mouth, the water turned boiling hot. Sungmin forced himself to drink it up.

"HG! Hg!"

He thought he had suffered a burn. His mouth was bitter and burning. But when he checked, there were no burn marks. It was only in Sungmin's mind.

"Idiot...Mush..."

Even if Sungmin had wanted this penalty, he didn't know it would be this bad. Sungmin cursed repeatedly at Mush.

[Rude Human.]

Mush whispered in Sungmin's ear.

Apparently, this god had really good ears.