Hiding a Logistics Center in the Apocalypse - Episode 20
(Fire Ball (2))
A gloomy palace where not a handful of light could enter.
In the audience chamber lined up along the long corridor, a lonely being sat alone, guarding the throne.
Flap.
With his steps, the black mantle he wore scraped the floor.
Clank, clank.
The armor shook and rattled.
Above it, the red glow of a skull’s eye sockets cast down.
“Ha…”
He let out a short sigh.
He had heard ill tidings from his subordinate.
Of course, it was not true death.
The knights of Camelot lacked the very concept of life.
The word phantom alone was sufficient to describe them.
That very phantom, the soul of the skeleton knight Gwein, had returned to him.
The soul conveyed its message.
—Beware the mage.
But the Knight King denied it.
“Nonsense. A mage? Those arrogant bastards wouldn’t come poking around some hole-in-the-wall place like this already.”
It was the Earth dimension, where “pioneering” had only just begun.
The highest rank the Interdimensional Chamber of Commerce permitted entry was merely from the Ninth Rank to the Eighth Rank at best.
To meet these stringent conditions, even the Knight King, originally of the Fifth Rank, had endured a humiliating rank decrease.
On the other hand, what sort of beings were mages?
They were a race bound together by aristocratic pride, cherishing rank and honor more than life itself.
It was unthinkable that they would seek out Earth through as servile a method as he had.
Ssssh—
Another soul circled around him.
It was Lancelot, the most powerful soul among the phantoms following the Knight King.
“It seems he is as bold a one as Your Majesty.”
“Naturally… He means to seize this place before the opening is fully underway.”
“How do you intend to deal with him?”
“Hmm…”
The Knight King pondered for a moment.
There was no way anyone would conduct such dimensional-level feats while enduring a rank decrease.
It was undoubtedly the reckless solo action of a money-mad mage who had gone mad with greed.
He briefly considered gathering his knights to deal with the intruder, but soon shook his head.
“Leave him be. It happened outside the castle anyway. Above all… now is not the time.”
“…You mean the ‘Harvest.’”
“Yes. It is a shame what happened to Gwein… but enhancement stones can simply be obtained again. The ‘ripening’ is nearing completion, after all.”
Camelot, the castle built in the heart of Seoul.
It was a kind of crucible of life.
For it could produce enhancement stones in exchange for the life forms contained within.
That is, for the Knight King, rather than dealing with some fly that had wandered in, harvesting enhancement stones through Camelot was a far more urgent matter.
“A little more… just a little more. This time, I’ll make a real killing.”
The Knight King was wrapped in excitement unknown to others.
Meanwhile, Lancelot, sensing something, reported to him.
“…Something has entered the castle. They appear to be humans.”
“More of those playthings, no doubt. Their curiosity knows no bounds, even though they are all fated to die in the end…”
“What shall we do?”
“Leave them. The roof will soon close anyway. It simply means more food for Camelot.”
After all, the humans in this castle were all rats in a poison jar.
Once the “ripening” was complete, they would become offerings on their own.
And so, the Knight King forgot.
He forgot the visit of unfamiliar guests.
***
Thump-thump-thump-thump—!
The Black Hawk’s rotors blasted a deafening sound.
Screech!
A few wyverns appeared, circling nearby, but…
Whoosh!
After I swung several blazing bowling balls around us, they quickly fled.
Since the Knight King’s castle spanned from Namsan to Myeongdong, it took less than ten minutes to arrive.
And so, the fortress loomed before our eyes.
However, the castle walls were desolate.
If it had been the widely known medieval wall style, there should have been troops guarding the top, but the Knight King’s castle seemed to have never been designed that way.
Thump-thump-thump-thump—
We reached Euljiro 4(sa)-ga, where my little sister’s studio was.
Relying on Lee Yongsu’s fluid driving skills, we slowly slipped through a large ceiling hole in the wall shaped like a sports stadium.
Shadows poured over our heads in an instant.
And immediately, the attack began.
Clack-clack-clack-clack!
It started with the rotors.
Screech!
Screech!
Black bats flocked like mad, charging at the rotors.
The rapidly spinning rotors tore their flesh, but they did not fear death.
Thump-thump-thump-thump—!
We fired rifles to knock them off, but there were far too many.
It was impossible to attack the ones clinging to the rotors.
We might end up damaging the rotors ourselves.
Snap!
Whump-whump-whump!
The helicopter couldn’t overcome their strength and continuously swayed.
Lee Yongsu showed his resourcefulness, gradually drawing closer to the old officetel that was my sister’s studio, but…
Crack!
The tip of the wing caught on a credit card company building towering over the Jongno 4(sa) intersection.
Whoosh!
The helicopter swayed…
In the end, our fate was a crash.
Whir!
I quickly used
The targets were Lee Yongsu and me.
Swoosh!
The two of us were in subspace in the blink of an eye.
Meanwhile, through the portal, the outside scenery flipped over again and again several times.
And at the end of it…
Boom!
As if finishing an action movie scene, the Black Hawk we had received from the military met a glorious end in an explosion.
Obviously, the explosion did not flow into this subspace.
A landing was still a landing, any way you looked at it.
Even if it wasn’t a successful one.
[Standard household powder fire extinguisher, 3.3 kg. Price: 19,900 won.]
Holding fire extinguishers each, we slowly escaped the burning helicopter, suppressing the flames.
Perhaps thinking we had died in the explosion, the bats had vanished without a trace.
Bat carcasses littered the area.
I efficiently collected magic stones using
Lighting stores filled every corner of the intersection.
Rounding one of them and entering, the path toward my little sister’s officetel appeared.
It wasn’t far, but…
unfortunately, it wasn’t open either.
Not only the skeletons I had seen before, but also dogs rotting like zombies welcomed us.
They were even human-sized, dripping green drool incessantly, making me reluctant to approach.
Of course, they weren’t a threat.
I could burn them by throwing bowling balls.
“Now then…”
But just as I was about to start the attack…
Whack!
Swish-smack!
Cheerful sounds echoed from the other end of the path.
In time with that rhythm, a skeleton’s skull spun round and round before shooting into the sky.
Squeak!
Clang!
Below, the zombie dogs were kicked to either side, spraying green mist around the alley.
The creatures filling the alley turned their gazes toward the back all at once, but…
Clatter!
Clank!
Before long, they all became cold corpses decorating the ground.
And so, I could face the source of the sound.
“…Kim Sol!”
She was Kim Sisters No. 2.
My little sister.
.
.
.
In childhood.
If my big sister had simply been bad at studying, my little sister had truly destroyed every academic expectation with catastrophic grades.
Instead, her athletic ability was so outstanding that no one could rival her, and having discovered her talent early, she had been active as a fighter since she was young.
Her fame was so great that throughout my middle school years, my nickname was fixed as “Kim Sol’s little brother,” and no matter what delinquent high schoolers I ran into on the street, the moment I mentioned the name Kim Sol, the road would part like the Red Sea.
With great power comes great responsibility, as they say.
Kim Sol never used her strength recklessly, and thanks to that, I had never heard of her being called in for beating someone up.
Of course, whether that was true or not, to me personally…
“Kim Jeonggyeom, if you don’t want to die, put down the computer and come out.”
She was the most sibling-like presence of all.
.
.
.
Two women facing each other.
The Kim Sisters had reunited.
“…Long time no see, No. 1.”
“You’ve gotten stronger in the time we haven’t seen each other, No. 2…”
The two shared a light hug and bumped fists.
It was the moment the two lost legs of a combining robot finally became one.
While my big sister had been fighting the tyranny of the chief of internal medicine, my little sister, Kim Sol, had been dealing with the sudden apocalypse by beating skeletons and zombies like mice.
Both were strong women who could firmly make their way through this apocalyptic era.
Kim Sol said she had rushed out of her house after seeing a helicopter crash out of nowhere.
“Well… I usually take a walk around this time anyway. I came out while I was at it.”
“A walk…?”
Taking a walk in the apocalypse.
Kim Sol was living in a completely different world.
Of course, it didn’t seem like everything had been pleasant for her either.
“Have you heard anything about Mom and Dad? Some weird wall was put up here so the phones don’t work either… You remember the last time I contacted you?”
“It’s the same outside; phones don’t work. That’s why we’re slowly making our way up now.”
I explained my awakened subspace ability along with an introduction of Lee Yongsu, who was with me.
She reacted with surprise.
“Wait, you can do something like that…? What level are you?”
She spoke in an excited voice, as if this were all a game.
But I was the one who was truly surprised.
“…You’re level 5?”
“Why are you so surprised? You only need to gather 250 magic stones…”
She said 50 magic stones were required per level-up, and even now, the required amount had not increased each time she leveled up.
It seemed the amount of magic stones required varied from person to person depending on their awakened ability.
Since Lee Yongsu also needed 50, it seemed my side, which required 100 or 1,000 magic stones, was the special case.
But no matter what, I couldn’t help but acknowledge Kim Sol’s monstrous strength in having gathered 250 magic stones all by herself.
I had just witnessed her clearing the path filled with monsters with my own two eyes.
Anyway, there was no reason not to pick up money lying on the ground.
While I used Product Retrieval to quickly suck up only the magic stones, Kim Sol regarded me with narrowed eyes.
“…Did you hack the system by yourself? How can you do something like this?”
“It’s a long story if I explain.”
“It’s totally broken, seriously…”
She made an expression as if the world was unfair, grumbling as she kicked a bone on the ground.
That was when it happened.
Swhoooosh!
A sharp object flew toward me, but—
Ta-dahng!
Kim Sol punched it away.
It was truly ghost-like speed.
According to Kim Sol, the name of her awakened ability was
It was an ability that allowed her to freely generate a defensive barrier up to the parts of her body touched, and Kim Sol was cleverly utilizing it for both offense and defense.
Sure enough, her fist was dyed golden.
The sharp object was a hand.
To be precise, another skeleton knight in armor had elongated both hands like whips.
Zzzzt!
Perhaps imbued with electrical properties, blue sparks flew from its needle-sharp finger joints.
Surprisingly, Kim Sol seemed acquainted with the creature.
“It’s out again. Did you know? This one can even talk.”
I already knew that, but I was amazed she had survived this long even after hearing it.
I asked.
“…Can you win?”
“No? No matter how much I hit it, it won’t die. Still…”
Clang!
Kim Sol deflected its sharp attack.
Then she answered.
“…I’ve never lost.”
Despite its attacks being blocked several times, the skeleton knight stubbornly continued its offensive.
Attacks rushing toward Kim Sol.
Kim Sol lightly bent her posture and drove a low uppercut into its stomach, but…
Thud!
It didn’t appear to take much damage.
Kim Sol shouted at me.
“I can keep trading blows if I have to… but what should we do? Should we hide in that subspace thing of yours?”
As expected, this was another skeleton knight, possessing monstrous toughness like Gwein.
Of course, there was the option of taking my little sister and hiding in the subspace, but coincidentally, I had acquired a new weapon in the meantime.
“Can you pin that guy’s feet down for a moment?”
“Why?”
“I think I might be able to catch it.”
Bam! Bang!
Kim Sol threw consecutive punches, and each time, chewy popping sounds tore through the air and spread.
Attacks that didn’t do much damage from the start.
The creature gave up on defending entirely, focusing solely on waiting for an opportunity.
The timing to stab its fingertips in.
But there was another timing as well.
The moment I signaled, Kim Sol lightly stepped away from it…
Swhoooosh!
Four flaming bowling balls charged toward it.
On the other hand, the creature seemed surprised.
Gazing at the flying flames, it muttered blankly.
“Fire Ball…?”
Kwa-kwa-kwang!
Following explosions.
“No, this is……”
By the time its hollow voice slowly scattered with the dust-filled smoke…
It had collapsed with its armor shattered.
I, too, muttered blankly.
“…It dies just like that?”
Between the gaps in its armor, a glowing blue enhancement stone caught my eye.