Episode 32
#32
I immediately headed toward Seomyeon.
The estimated rank was intermediate, and since the monsters pouring out were at least Rank 6, it was certainly a gate that the current Choi Sihun couldn't handle.
Of course, to me, it was simply a means to earn points.
A gate that was little different from a disaster to someone else was merely a means to earn infinite points for me.
I immediately got to work.
“Noah.”
[Yes, Master.]
“Block the entrances to all the gates in Busan using 100 Meradons.”
[Yes, understood.]
The first action I took was no different from what I had done in Ulsan.
Blocking the entrances to all the gates in Busan with the strongest of my robots.
Even so, while there were many robots, this time, I had no intention of using the robots to clear it.
“Noah. Let me know when we arrive in Seomyeon.”
[Yes, understood.]
Since I planned to raise my level and stats as well, I intended to go personally.
* * *
The streets of Seomyeon, once bustling with people, were quiet.
No trace of human presence could be felt; only the low, subdued growls of monsters echoed quietly.
It was literally a wasteland of a street.
Yet even on this desolate street, there were people who hadn't evacuated yet.
“Is this really happening…….”
A man stood before his apartment veranda, sobbing with a face full of despair.
The man, Jin Seho, had survived until the very end even in this desperate situation.
When monsters first appeared on the streets, when he was caught in the bizarre situation known as the Sacred Fire War, and even several months after the Sacred Fire War ended, he had somehow barely clung to life.
But now, he felt his end approaching.
Thud! Thud!
Something massive was heading toward the apartment he lived in.
It was something that looked like an elephant.
Of course, it was a grotesque monster with a body larger than a normal elephant, two trunks, and six legs. It was collapsing the surrounding buildings as it ran straight toward the apartment.
It was a situation sufficient to make him feel despair.
“This can't be real…….”
Plop—.
He sank to the floor in futility.
Could he really survive even if he escaped the apartment?
As time passed, the monsters on the streets had doubled in number.
He had hunted monsters that occasionally strayed from the pack to earn points and survive, but now he felt nothing but exhaustion.
He simply couldn't see any hope of moving forward.
“Ha…… let's just die.”
He made up his mind.
What was the point of living longer?
The world was already ruined.
Rather than being trampled to death by that creature, it was better to take his own life.
The moment he thought so and pulled a small dagger from his inventory.
“!?”
An unexpected event occurred.
Kukukukung!!
Something was storming down the street.
Every time it swept through the street, the corpses and blood of monsters flew in all directions, clearing a path.
The next moment, when it reached close to the elephant-like monster.
Thud!
It leaped high enough to meet the giant creature's eyes.
The moment it jumped, Jin Seho could see.
What had swept through the street was a person, and that person was swinging a fist at the giant monster.
Kwang!!
A tremendous roar shook the surroundings.
The shockwave briefly whipped Jin Seho's hair, and the next sight he saw was a huge hole pierced through the monster's torso.
Thud!
The monster toppled over to the side without even letting out a final scream.
The moment he saw that sight.
Thump.
Jin Seho's heart pounded.
His heart beat wildly, and a strange light began to fill his eyes.
He saw hope.
Hope that he could survive in this desperate situation.
* * *
Meanwhile, I hunted the monsters on the streets smoothly and looked around.
“Excuse me! Sir! Please take me with you! I'll help too!”
“Please let me help too!”
Somehow, people gradually began gathering around me.
I was sure something like this had happened in Ulsan before too…….
Anyway, the situation had become a bit annoying.
With people gathered like this, I couldn't hunt with peace of mind.
After thinking for a moment, I reluctantly took out some robots from my inventory.
“Huk!”
“Wh-what is this!?”
“Don't panic. It's my skill.”
At my words, the gathered people stared at the robots floating in the sky with dazed eyes, then shifted their gazes back to me.
When the people's attention was focused on me again, I opened my mouth.
“I won't stop you from following. However, only hunt near the robots. I can't guarantee your lives.”
At those words, a strange light rose in the people's eyes, and soon the street filled with heated shouts.
“Waaah!! Let's take down those damned monsters!”
“Let's follow him! Let's get through this crisis together, everyone!”
Everyone raised their weapons high and began raising morale.
Their morale grew even greater thanks to the substantial number of robots.
Well, I had planned to release the robots after hunting to a certain degree anyway, so it didn't matter if I released them now.
I dashed through the streets again, hunting the swarming monsters.
Since they were all superhumans who had survived the Sacred Fire War, once I cleared a path for them, they rode the momentum and began hunting monsters on their own.
* * *
To put it simply, clearing Seomyeon ended much faster than I had expected.
It hadn't even been a day; it ended in just five hours since starting.
Well, of course the people helped, but in the end, using the robots was likely the biggest factor.
The moment the clearing ended, I tried to go straight to Haeundae where Choi Sihun was, but since it was already late at night, I spent a night at Sky Island, then went back to Haeundae where Choi Sihun was early the next morning.
Of course, I hadn't come alone.
I had brought Lee Sina and Lee Hayun, who were currently in Ulsan, using Eria.
“Haaahm…… Mister, what's going on?”
“Mr. Hancheol, did you finish talking with the King of Busan?”
“Yes, fortunately it ended well. More importantly, I'm sorry for not telling you in advance.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I'll tell you the details once we're inside.”
With that, I took them and approached the building where Choi Sihun was.
Soon, a security guard waiting in front of the building spotted me and opened his mouth in surprise.
“Please wait a moment. I will inform the Chief right away.”
At his words, I nodded and waited outside the building for a moment.
In just a few seconds, Choi Sihun dashed out of the building and opened his mouth with a puzzled face.
“Mr. Kim Hancheol, what brings you—”
“I came to tell you that everything is finished.”
At my words, he made a blank expression for a moment.
After the blank expression, Choi Sihun opened his mouth in shock.
“A-already?”
* * *
Inside the building, as we moved to the reception room, the people around bowed their heads respectfully toward me. At that sight, I looked at Choi Sihun with a slightly bitter face and spoke.
“You don't have to go this far.”
“I didn't order them. Everyone knows what you are trying to do, so they are expressing their gratitude. Of course, they don't know that you've already finished the work.”
Well, it wasn't like Choi Sihun would order people around for something like this.
I entered the reception room with Choi Sihun and sat facing each other on the sofa.
Before starting the story, I looked at Lee Sina and Lee Hayun with a rather serious face and opened my mouth.
“From now on, we will be raiding a gate.”
“Huh? A gate? Aren't you using it to earn points this time?”
“Wow! Is it a new gate?”
However, their reactions were a bit strange.
I had thought they would be at least a little nervous…….
Soon, Lee Sina, who noticed my puzzled face, opened her mouth.
“It's because we all trust you, Mr. Hancheol.”
“This gate is more dangerous than the kind of gate you're imagining, Ms. Sina. Honestly, if you refuse, I have no intention of forcing you to come on the gate raid.”
“I am nervous, but I don't want to do nothing when I've received so much. I've grown stronger too.”
It was Lee Sina saying so while looking at me with a serious face.
Honestly, it was a somewhat unexpected sight; one could say she had changed a lot.
I grinned and nodded.
“Um, Mr. Hancheol. I can understand Ms. Lee Sina, but this child…….”
At that moment, Choi Sihun spoke while looking at Hayun.
I felt like I knew what he was going to say even without hearing the rest.
Hayun was simply too young to be taken on a gate raid.
Even Lee Sina, who had spoken so confidently, was looking at Hayun with a slightly worried face.
At that sight, Hayun pouted her lips and looked at me before opening her mouth.
“Mister! You're taking me with you, right?”
“But aren't you scared?”
“What's there to be scared of? It's not like I've only entered a gate once or twice.”
At those words, I was so dumbfounded that a snort of laughter escaped me.
Had I taken her into Ulsan's gates too often?
I opened my mouth toward the two of them.
“You don't need to worry about Hayun. To be honest…… Hayun is stronger than the two of you right now.”
“Yes?”
“What?”
At those words, the two of them opened their eyes wide in surprise.
In contrast, Hayun only raised the corners of her lips smugly at my words.
I was a bit dumbfounded too.
Just what had she done in the gates for her stats and level to rise like this?
I opened my mouth honestly.
“Well…… I can say this for certain. Even if the two of you combined your strength, you'd probably lose to Hayun.”
At those words, their mouths only opened even wider.
* * *
In front of the gate opened at the center of Haeundae beach.
I was waiting in the air for a moment together with the three people needed for the gate raid.
There was no need to take a boat out.
There were robots capable of flight, and I too could fly through the sky thanks to the Ring of Levitation.
Of course, we couldn't enter the gate together with the robots carrying them, so I needed to put the robots away in my inventory for a moment.
I spoke to Lee Sina.
“Ms. Sina, I'll leave it to you then.”
“Yes. I got it.”
With those words, Lee Sina reached her hand toward the seawater.
The moment she did, the seawater began freezing starting from her hand.
She had frozen the water all the way up to right in front of the gate.
Since a foothold had been created, the four of us temporarily descended onto the frozen ground, and I opened my mouth toward the three of them.
“Be on your toes from now on. In my estimation, there probably won't be a foothold beyond the gate either.”
“Yes? Really?”
“It's only an estimate, so I can't be certain, but it's possible.”
Of course, despite saying that, I was certain.
There would probably be no foothold beyond this gate where a person could stand.
Because that's how it was in the game.
I continued speaking to the group again.
“Also, I think it'll be a bit difficult for me to take down the boss monster alone.”
“Even you, Mr. Hancheol?”
“Yes. It'll likely be the strongest one I've met so far.”
At my words, Lee Sina and Choi Sihun made slightly nervous expressions.
However, only Hayun wore a light smile.
“Mister, when you say it'll be a bit difficult, that doesn't mean you can't take it down, right?”
At those words, I could only let out a short laugh.
I spoke to them.
“Now, let's go in.”
At my words, everyone entered the gate with tense faces.
The next moment.
“!?”
“Uwah!?”
“Waaah!”
The moment we entered the gate, gravity reversed.
Before we knew it, the entire party was falling downward.
I immediately took out three Erias from my inventory and ordered them to grab the three, and I too flew into the sky using the Ring of Levitation to look around.
Soon, the party members who looked around with me muttered one by one in low voices.
“Huh…… there's certainly no ground.”
“It's all…… ocean.”
Just as Lee Sina said, the surroundings were nothing but sea.
It was a place that felt as though we had fallen into the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
“Mr. Hancheol, shall I make a foothold?”
At those words, I shook my head and opened my mouth.
“No, please conserve your strength, all three of you. We probably won't need to go down and fight the monsters anyway.”
“Huh? Monsters? Where are the monsters…….”
“Below us!”
It was then.
Together with Choi Sihun's urgent shout.
Plung!!
Something massive opened its maw from beneath the water to try to swallow the party.
Thud!
I immediately struck the creature's maw. A circular hole formed in its head, it sprayed blood, and then sank back into the water.
I spoke to the party.
“Everything teeming below the water is a monster. Be careful.”
They all fell silent for a moment with ashen faces at the scene that had just unfolded.
I spoke to the party.
“You can rest easy. If we fly a bit higher, the monsters in the water shouldn't be able to reach us. More importantly, Mr. Sihun.”
“Ah! Yes, I'll take it from here.”
Soon, Choi Sihun reached his hand toward the water and quietly closed his eyes.
Choi Sihun's S-rank skill, 'Lord of Water'.
With his skill, he would probably be able to quickly locate where the boss was.
That was also the reason I had brought him.
Soon, he opened his eyes gently and spoke to me.
“I found it. This way.”
At his words, I nodded and moved in the direction he pointed.
As we moved in the direction he had pointed, Choi Sihun opened his mouth toward me.
“Mr. Hancheol, I have a request.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“As I mentioned before, there is a party that entered first. I think I found the boat they were on. I'm sorry, but—”
“Yes, I understand. It's not an urgent situation, so let's go take a look.”
At those words, Choi Sihun bowed his head to me with a bright expression, conveying his gratitude.
“Thank you, Mr. Hancheol.”
Seeing Choi Sihun's bright face, I let out a bitter smile.
I couldn't help but feel apologetic receiving his gratitude.
Because I knew the contents of this Choi Sihun episode.