After hesitating, the lieutenant finally gave Sinhyeok the information.
“Building 26 in Naun-dong is urgent. They said two civilian Awakened are isolated there with ordinary civilians.”
Sinhyeok accepted the rifle and put on the combat vest. He refused the ballistic helmet the soldier held out to him.
“That’s fine. It won’t make much difference whether I have it or not anyway.”
He took only a radio, then called the Blue Jjam Tiger hovering around the potions.
“Blue.”
At that, the Blue Jjam Tiger whipped its head around and came chasing after him.
“Let’s go together.”
He tucked Blue inside his combat vest and stood at the head of the company led by Lieutenant Lee Hyeongchan.
“If you’re ready, let’s move out.”
Lieutenant Lee Hyeongchan had naturally been deprived of the lead.
“Huh? Hey, hey, everyone, let’s go!”
Sinhyeok moved toward Gunsan City at a brisk pace.
As they drew closer to Gunsan City, he spotted roads blocked by cars and giant insects wandering here and there.
He raised his fist and stopped the marching group.
Sinhyeok pointed ahead with his finger. Up ahead, a giant mantis was slicing through a car with its legs.
Silently, he shouldered his rifle.
“I’ll clear it out before we go.”
The mantis’s gaze snapped toward them. Everyone flinched, and their fingers hurriedly moved to their triggers.
“Set to single fire. Don’t aim for the limbs, only the head and torso.”
Kyaaaak.
The mantis discovered the approaching soldiers.
Pabat.
It immediately sprang forward and charged with agility.
Sinhyeok calmly aimed for its neck and fired.
Bang.
Then the shooting began.
“Kiiit.”
Thud.
When the mantis, reduced to rags, collapsed to the ground, the company made up of non-Awakened soldiers let out a small cheer.
“Holy crap. That worked?”
Seeing how severely chaotic the situation was, Sinhyeok spoke to the lieutenant behind him.
“I’ll enter first. I think it would be better for you to distribute your forces from the outside and gradually move toward the center.”
Lieutenant Lee Hyeongchan nodded and waved at Sinhyeok as he went on ahead.
“Uh, yeah! Got it!”
Sinhyeok ran toward the city center. The farther in he went, the more monsters there were.
“There are a filthy lot of them.”
Once inside, he saw Awakened soldiers and guild members fighting swarms of insects.
Moths flying through the sky, ants, spiders, even dragonflies. It was a whole damn variety set.
“First, Building 26.”
He moved toward the building they had said was urgent.
Avoiding the giant insects positioned all over as much as possible, he arrived at the building.
“Damn.”
He understood why they had said it was urgent.
Spiders had taken up positions there.
Perhaps because of that, every entrance had collapsed.
‘At this rate, I can’t even deliver them.’
Aiming his rifle at the spiders, he looked for a way in.
‘There isn’t one. It’s impossible from ground level too…….’
He closed his eyes and spread out his mana. The spiders’ gazes immediately snapped toward him.
‘Ugh, damn, sensitive bastards.’
He hurriedly scanned the area.
From what he could tell, there were no people above the first floor.
He opened his eyes and immediately spread his mana far away.
The spiders’ gazes were drawn in that direction.
‘They’re gathered underground.’
“This makes things awkward…….”
He would only be able to enter after dealing with every monster outside.
‘If I have to clear them, I can clear them.’
The problem was how long it would take.
And if he started fighting, he would also have to worry about the ones that would come swarming in.
“Sssup.”
He opened his bag, took out the potions, and pondered for a moment.
“If it’s underground, do I have to go through the sewers?”
He set the red potion aside for a moment and looked around.
Swish.
Blue, tucked against Sinhyeok’s chest, saw the potion and wagged its tail.
It stealthily slipped out and stretched out an arm.
The arm extended long and reached the potion.
At that moment, Sinhyeok caught it.
“Blue?”
Flinch.
Caught in the act, Blue quickly slurped down the potion.
“Hey!”
Blue hid deep inside.
“Hey, how far in are you going?”
He shoved his hand into his underwear and pulled Blue out. Blue was dragged out while still holding the red potion inside itself.
Dangle, dangle.
Hanging there, Blue made the most pitiful expression it could and acted cute.
“Hey, no. Spit it out already.”
Blue let out a deep sigh, then spat it onto the ground.
“You little—”
Sinhyeok was about to clean up the potion spat onto the ground when he flinched.
‘Wait. It can store potion and spit it out as it pleases?’
It was incredibly funny and absurd, but a tempting thought occurred to him.
Sinhyeok held Blue and spoke seriously.
“Can you hold potions, go in there, and distribute them to the people?”
Blue only stared at him with bright, sparkling eyes.
Sinhyeok chuckled at that gaze.
“Right, as if you’d understand.”
Blue stretched out its arm again and pointed at the potion.
At that movement, Sinhyeok thought, No way.
“Blue? Do you understand?”
Nod.
Soon, it wore a vague expression. It was as if it were saying, “Why should I? What about mine?”
He had found hope.
It made no sense, but it was worth trying.
“Ah! I’ll give you some later. You remember that basin earlier? As much as what was in there!”
“Woof woof!”
Blue’s tail wagged back and forth.
“When I give the signal, go right away.”
He immediately took out enough potions and fed them to Blue.
“Drink plenty. Don’t absorb them, though.”
Blue still looked satisfied at being able to drink potions in abundance.
Once things were more or less prepared, Sinhyeok looked ahead.
‘Then let’s leave that building to Blue.’
Sinhyeok shouldered his rifle and slowly approached the spiders.
“Look over here.”
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, and the head of a two-meter-long spider burst apart, making it stagger. At that, all eyes turned toward him at once.
“Blue, run!”
Bang bang bang bang!
Blue ran off with tiny, squishy steps.
Soon after, it seeped into the ground and disappeared.
* * *
The people trapped inside the building.
Hundreds of civilians were trapped in the underground shelter, trembling.
The only ones protecting them were a mere two Awakened.
The two, who had come down to their hometown for the weekend, were trapped with despairing faces.
“Hyeongsik. There are too many injured people.”
“What do we do?”
The two sighed as they looked at the civilians collapsed behind them like corpses.
“Damn it, we can’t even get out…….”
As they waited only for death, blue mucus seeped out through the cracked debris of the building.
“Hmm?”
“A monster!?”
The two hurriedly drew their weapons and aimed, but the rippling Blue dropped onto the floor.
It soon took the shape of a puppy and spat a potion onto the ground.
“Huh?”
At its completely non-threatening appearance, the two looked at each other and cautiously approached.
Blue pointed with its front paw at the especially red potion.
“What is it? Did it throw up?”
At the question of whether it had thrown up, Blue wore a pathetic expression.
The two flinched at the pathetic expression being made by a dog.
“What? What is it?”
Blue explained diligently with both paws.
“This color looks like a potion, doesn’t it?”
“Hold on.”
[Highest-Grade Healing Potion][Rare]
===================================
A potion made from red magic grass that promotes the body’s recovery.
※ Small increase in recovery power
※ A portion of the effect applies just by possessing it
===================================
When the two dispelled their suspicion and touched the potion on the ground, their eyes widened.
“What the hell is this?!”
They stared at the strange explanation with ironic looks.
“What is it?”
After feeling puzzled at each other for a moment, they soon realized the item’s value.
“Hyung! This is a highest-grade red potion!”
When they recognized what Blue had spat onto the ground, Blue went, “Kaaak! Ptoo!” and spat out the rest as well.
“Then could this be…… a mana potion?”
When he picked up another blue potion, he realized what it was.
“Hyung, hurry!”
They picked up the red potion and brought it to the collapsed people.
When they poured the potion over their bodies, they were able to provide emergency treatment for the time being.
“Haa, we’re saved.”
Just then, the building debris blocking the entrance shook with heavy thuds.
The two immediately aimed their weapons in that direction.
Thud, thud.
“Is anyone in there!”
It was Sinhyeok’s voice.
“Ah, yes! Hundreds of people are trapped in here!”
Hearing that voice, Sinhyeok shouted.
“Don’t come out right now. Once the situation is resolved, we’ll get you out! Did you receive the potions?”
“Yes! Thank you.”
Relieved, Sinhyeok stepped away from the entrance.
“Good. This place is taken care of.”
Blue slipped out through a gap in the entrance.
“Blue, good job.”
Sinhyeok picked up Blue, who had come out safely, and tucked it back into his chest.
However, Blue’s expression looked a little gloomy after happily drinking the potions only to spit them all back out.
“Blue, I’ll give you a whole lot later.”
At Sinhyeok’s promise, Blue’s expression brightened.
“It’s a bit hard to evacuate civilians.”
The situation was strange. Monsters were roaming everywhere, so a careless evacuation seemed dangerous.
“Are there really no troops to deal with this?”
After watching the surroundings for a moment, he turned on the radio.
Crackle.
“Lieutenant, this place is complete.”
Crackle.
“Yeah! Good work! They said they’re dealing with the gate boss, so the situation should be resolved soon! Wait there!”
At the words that it would be resolved soon, Sinhyeok felt relieved and sent a reply.
“Yes, sir.”
“Right, you stay hidden too!”
Reassured by the sign that things would soon be settled, Sinhyeok headed to the rooftop of a nearby building, both to take shelter and to get a better look.
“Where could it be?”
He tried searching for the out-of-control gate portal.
After taking a sip of potion, he immediately cast Mapping.
[Beginning Mapping.]
A search orb dropped with a plop and began searching.
It stretched out far.
‘Where could it be?’
He watched silently and then found it.
He found the site where barricades had been built and a monster containment line had been formed.
‘Here it is.’
The portal had grown enormous. Various insect-type monsters were pouring out of the giant portal.
“That’s a lot.”
It did not feel like things were being resolved.
“They keep increasing. Is this really being taken care of?”
Feeling uneasy, he watched for a moment before springing to his feet.
‘Someone came out.’
A person who seemed to be a civilian Awakened came out as if fleeing.
“It’s gone wrong.”
Sinhyeok realized the situation had changed.
The first thing that came to mind was the people in the building.
“Damn it!”
He immediately ran down from the rooftop.
Passing through the deserted street, he headed for the building’s shelter.
Tat-tang!
“Is it already over!?”
“It’s urgent, so hurry out!”
At Sinhyeok’s urgent shout, the two Awakened came to meet him.
“Yes?”
“The situation has gone wrong. Take the people and run right now. Quickly.”
When the two Awakened froze in confusion, Sinhyeok barked at them.
“If you stay here, you’ll die, so run!”
“Ah! Yes, yes!”
The two went inside and began bringing the people out.
“That way. Go straight. Hurry!”
While checking the situation near the portal with Mapping, Sinhyeok immediately sent a transmission.
“Lieutenant.”
“Ah! Sinhyeok! Right! You evacuate quickly too! The portal is about to completely burst!”
“I saw. Are there any more civilians who need help evacuating?”
“Ah…….”
From the other party’s silence, without a single word, he understood the situation.
“Lieutenant, I’ll buy time, so please evacuate as many people as you can.”
“Huh? Uh? Ah! Got it!”
Sinhyeok sighed and ran toward the gate portal that was about to burst completely.
“Haa, I got dragged out here, and now what the hell is this?”
Still, he tried to think positively.
‘The instructors are nearby too.’
There was some distance, but they were still nearby, so he thought it would be resolved somehow.
“I’ll just go help with shooting and Mapping.”
His plan was to quickly find the core and destroy it.
As he moved, he fired at the monsters that had slipped out.
Bang bang!
Fortunately, the monsters burst apart relatively easily.
“Their grade seems low.”
‘I can see it……!’
He saw the Awakened soldiers fighting desperately and the portal.
“Fire! If we fall back, everyone dies!”
He heard the commander’s desperate shout.
“Hold them back! Pour in your skills!”
The commander, who held the rank of major, was trembling.
“Those damn Nightfang bastards! Where are those sons of bitches!?”
“Battalion Commander! We don’t have time to look for those bastards!”
“Auuugh! Fuck! Hey! Contact the artillery! It’s do or die!”
At the words to contact the artillery, Sinhyeok sensed the severity of the situation.
‘They’re at the edge of a cliff.’
They had judged that they would end the situation with a bombardment.
‘That alone won’t solve it.’
Sinhyeok shouldered his rifle and aimed at the portal.
‘An armored bug.’
It resembled a pill bug, but was covered in armor plating.
A considerable amount of firepower was being blocked by that bug.
‘Go.’
First, he sent out a search orb.
The search orb passed through the bug.
‘Ugh.’
Its extremely disgusting insides were vividly transmitted to his senses.
“Whew.”
Bang!
A single faint gunshot rang out and accurately found a gap, piercing into it.
“Grrrrrrrp!”
With a strange scream, the armored bug toppled sideways.
“What, what was that!?”
The startled commander looked back.
“I’m here as support.”