Chapter 47: Seoul (2)
TL: Hanguk
After Kang Yi-sol was eaten by the creature boa, a grotesque scene unfolded.
It was hard to tell exactly where the snake's neck began and ended, but around three meters down from the head.
The snake’s skin bulged outward.
-Kiiaak!
The massive snake, at level 55, let out a shriek.
Soon, as if something was lodged between the flesh and skin, the bulging part began to move.
It was a sight much like when, in a horror movie, a bug burrows into a person’s arm and then moves under the skin.
Even Willia, who had been watching, groaned lowly and flinched in fright.
Soon, through the thin but tough skin of the creature boa, the shape of a human body emerged clearly.
Soldiers from Seoul and Kang Yi-sol’s comrades shouted.
“That, that’s the captain!”
“Looks like the captain is attacking from inside!”
“We knew we could count on him!”
Inside the snake’s unpierced skin, a person could be seen thrashing about.
Judging by the shape, it looked like he was slashing with a sword.
Though it was true he had been eaten by the snake, it seemed he had impromptuly decided to attack the creature boa from the inside as part of a tactic.
Thanks to that, his comrades were invigorated and set a clear target.
“Sniper team! Attack that area beside him!”
“We need to pierce the skin to rescue the captain!”
A reckless captain and loyal subordinates.
No, more than that, how did such a reckless person manage to obtain a scenario shard?
But it was then.
“Crazy bastard. I knew he’d end up like that, acting cocky.”
With a harsh curse, a woman in her twenties passed by me, clad in a tight leather armor set with long black boots reaching up to her knees, and long flowing hair.
Judging by the fact that she was apart from Kang Yi-sol’s unit, she seemed to be from a civilian hunting team.
[Yoon Si-ah / Level 31]
Looking at her, Willia whispered to me.
“Baek-ho nim, that woman looks strong.”
“She might be the strongest in Seoul.”
Though I hadn’t checked all the survivors in Seoul, she had the highest level of anyone I had met so far.
‘Well, it makes sense for someone like her to be here. Just think about how big Seoul’s population is.’
Then the woman named Yoon Si-ah pulled a javelin from her inventory that appeared to be for throwing and gripped it in her hand.
“First, we’ve got to open an air hole, don’t we?”
As Yoon Si-ah readied herself, a blue aura like a sword aura began to gather around the spear.
But the aura wasn’t ordinary.
I couldn’t say for sure, but it didn’t seem like a skill that consumed just 1 magic power.
“Hup!”
As she threw the spear with all her might, a streak of blue light extended like a tail and pierced through the air.
-Thud!
-Kieeeek!
The spear pierced precisely next to the area where Kang Yi-sol was struggling.
It was a powerful throw, with the spear shaft sinking in more than halfway.
The creature boa, which had been writhing from Kang Yi-sol’s internal attacks, twisted its body violently.
“Come back.”
At Yoon Si-ah’s gesture, the spear embedded in the creature boa trembled slightly, then returned to her hand.
‘It changed direction mid-air, so there must be some auto-aim correction, and it returns to its owner?’
That javelin looked at least like a special-grade equipment.
Thanks to that, Kang Yi-sol, who had been struggling inside the creature boa, now had a sizable air hole.
“You guys, attack from below.”
“Yes!”
Then Yoon Si-ah put away her spear and pulled out a large two-handed axe from her inventory, gripping it tightly before charging forward like a bullet.
‘A javelin and now a two-handed axe? She’s tough.’
Behind her followed around 20 members who seemed to be her comrades.
[Nam In-guk / Level: 27]
[Choi Dong-woo / Level: 27]
[Han Mi-ra / Level: 26]
.
.
However, all of her party members had lower levels compared to Yoon Si-ah.
It seemed she had been fighting alone for a while before forming a team later on.
“Wait, our captain is still fighting inside that snake…”
“Bullshit! If you waste time, your captain’s gonna die.”
The Nation Revival Agency’s hunting team tried to stop Yoon Si-ah’s team, but they were left speechless by her response.
“Have the archers and soldiers stop wasting arrows and bullets trying to save Kang Yi-sol. Just shoot it in the head and draw aggro. We have to make sure it doesn’t dive into the water.”
“Y-yeah, got it.”
Like a commanding officer, she smoothly gave orders to the government’s hunting team, then immediately clung to the creature boa’s body.
Then Yoon Si-ah began leaping up along the creature boa’s body.
It wasn’t as convenient as Kang Yi-sol’s Stepping Stone + Leap combo, but it looked like a Wall Climb + Leap combination.
“Kang Yi-sol, are you alive?”
At the woman’s question, Kang Yi-sol’s indignant voice echoed out through the hole pierced in the creature boa.
“This isn’t enough to kill me!”
“Then get out on your own.”
“...Please save me.”
“Stupid bastard.”
Then Yoon Si-ah began swinging her axe like chopping a tree.
As expected, sword aura was also enveloping the axe, and she began widening the air hole she had made earlier with the javelin.
-Bang! Bang!
Of course, the creature boa didn’t just sit still in the meantime.
It whipped away the soldiers and hunting team members attacking it with its tail, and as Yoon Si-ah swung her axe, it slammed into Hangang Bridge and rubbed its body against it, trying to shake off the foreign object clinging to it.
Because of that, ominous cracking sounds echoed throughout Hangang Bridge, but Yoon Si-ah deftly moved around the creature boa’s body, dodging them all.
“Oh?”
She eventually succeeded in piercing the skin wide enough for a person to escape.
But the scene that followed once again made Willia frown.
“Looks just like...”
“You don’t even have to say it, I know.”
It was like watching an animal giving birth.
Kang Yi-sol, wriggling with difficulty, squeezed his way out through the torn skin and fell beneath the bridge.
“Help! No magic power!”
Normally, Kang Yi-sol would be able to escape using his Stepping Stone skill, but it seemed he had exhausted all his magic power by overusing skills inside the creature boa.
In the end, Yoon Si-ah hurled herself forward and grabbed hold of Kang Yi-sol, and just then, the excited creature boa opened its jaws once again toward the two of them.
This time, it wasn’t to swallow, but to chew them up.
With Kang Yi-sol slung over her shoulder, Yoon Si-ah narrowly dodged the attack by leaping away.
“Haha, as expected, I’m not someone who’s going to die just yet.”
“Crazy son of a bitch, you’d be long dead if it weren’t for me.”
Kang Yi-sol was too shameless and Yoon Si-a seemed used to this sight.
Apparently, this wasn’t the first time Kang Yi-sol got into trouble and Yoon Si-ah had to save him.
At her scolding, Kang Yi-sol wiped the sticky fluid from his face and readjusted his weapon.
The battle wasn’t over yet.
Even with the chaos he caused from inside and the hole Yoon Si-ah made in its neck, the damage wasn’t enough to be considered fatal.
-Kieeeek!
In the end, government hunting team and civilian hunting team gathered around the two of them and began a proper raid.
The earlier battle hadn’t gone anywhere due to Kang Yi-sol’s intense troll behavior.
But once they took their positions and coordinated their attacks, they were able to steadily inflict damage on the level 55 creature boa.
The fierce assault from the hunting teams and soldiers.
Especially among them, Yoon Si-ah’s presence stood out remarkably.
Her throwing spear attacks were as powerful as the anti-tank missiles that the soldiers were hesitating to use after calculating various risks.
-Bang! Kwaang!
With her attack, the creature boa lost one of its eyes, and whenever it opened its mouth, a spear would immediately be thrust inside, preventing it from opening its jaws again.
Yoon Si-ah had eliminated one of its attack patterns.
‘The creature boa isn’t a Named or Boss Monster. And it’s not an Elder Monster either. We might actually be able to take it down like this.’
So there was no choice but to view the situation optimistically.
However.
‘It’s taking too long.’
The creature boa wasn’t a Named, Boss, or Elder Monster, but it also couldn’t be described as a purely normal monster.
The reason was that it was a water-dwelling monster.
They all had massive bodies, and their durability was just as immense...
“Damn it! Why won’t it go down!?”
Attacking its body was pointless.
They had to destroy the head, but aside from Yoon Si-ah’s attacks, there were no blows that could be called critical hits.
“Damn! It’s trying to dive into the water!”
“Don’t let it escape! Spread the net we prepared!”
“Shit! That cheap net we rushed to get won’t do a thing!”
As the creature boa’s situation turned unfavorable, it tried to hide its body in the Han River. Unable to stand by any longer, Yoon Si-ah ran toward it and leapt onto its body again.
She seemed to be planning to directly target the head from close range.
‘She’s really fighting all on her own.’
She was bold, had great judgment, and an exceptional combat sense.
Kim Hyun-soo from Suwon and Choi Do-gyeom from Seongnam weren’t bad either, but frankly, they couldn’t compare to Yoon Si-ah.
Which made it even more frustrating.
If only she had just one more person to support her...
‘Instead of someone to support her, the leader of the government hunting team is a complete mess.’
With no other choice, I pulled Willia and hid in a nearby alley.
“You’re going to step in?”
"If we let the Creature Boa escape like this, all of Seoul's bridges might collapse."
Even though I was an independent force not affiliated with anyone, I wasn’t heartless enough to turn away from a national crisis right before my eyes.
“Understood.”
Willia cast the Bless skill on me.
All of my stats increased by 30%.
As I changed my outfit to something less conspicuous, I said,
“Also, quietly cast Bless on that woman who threw the spear earlier.”
“Yes.”
After quickly changing my outfit, I launched myself up to the rooftop of a building.
And while everyone’s attention was focused on Yoon Si-ah and the creature boa, I used Blink into a blind spot.
***
-Ping!
‘Kuh!’
It might’ve been a bullet fired with good intentions, but Yoon Si-ah grit her teeth when she saw it graze her own thigh instead of hitting the creature boa in front of her, and charged toward the giant snake’s head.
But then.
[Your wounds and fatigue are being healed by Intermediate Heal.]
[All stats increased by 30% from Enhanced Bless.]
A message appeared in front of her eyes, and power surged through her entire body.
‘Who in the world...?’
Healing from a distance was one thing, but this kind of massive buff?
She had never heard of anyone in Seoul using skills at this level.
So Yoon Si-ah wore a puzzled expression for a moment, but soon let out a small chuckle and moved her body busily.
‘No need to think too hard. It’s a good thing, after all.’
With quicker and more agile movements, she managed to climb onto the creature’s head.
“Ohh!”
“Yoon Si-ah!”
Cheers erupted from below as they watched her.
Yoon Si-ah clung to the creature boa’s head using Wall Climb and raised her javelin.
“At this range, I should be able to do real damage.”
Standing on the wildly thrashing creature boa’s head like a rodeo rider, she drove the javelin down with all her strength.
-Bang! Bang! Bang!
One strike, two strikes, three strikes.
But the creature’s skull was so tough that it didn’t pierce easily, and as the creature boa hurled itself toward the Han River, the water was now right before her.
Caught off guard and in a panic, Yoon Si-ah suddenly heard.
“Step aside.”
“Huh?”
A man’s voice came from nowhere.
She should’ve been pulled into the river at any moment, yet nothing was happening.
Cautiously scanning her surroundings, she realized she was currently floating in midair.
‘Stepping Stone skill?’
And before Yoon Si-ah could even process the situation.
-KWAANG! KWAANG!
-Kieeek!
With deafening blasts, the house-sized head of the creature boa erupted from the Han River again.
“You’ve nicely opened up the attack point for those coming after you.”
Yoon Si-ah clearly saw it.
A man whose face was covered with a jet-black mask and hood drove a sword into the hole she had made earlier with her javelin.
-Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
With low-impact sounds, what appeared to be a piercing-type skill continuously slammed into the creature boa’s head.
[You have participated in the joint subjugation of the creature boa. 10,500 experience has been distributed.]
[As the first to jointly subjugate the creature boa, 52,500 experience has been distributed.]
Before long, the subjugation message appeared.
It was a perfectly clean finish.
“Who are you? I didn’t know someone like you existed in Seoul... Ah, don’t tell me, you’re also the one who used Heal and Bless on me just now?”
The man only gave a small nod in response to Yoon Si-ah’s question.
He carried her like luggage under his arm and dashed through the air.
Once they neared land, the man in black clothing spoke to Yoon Si-ah.
“I heard there’s now an item that allows you to use a waypoint with someone else. Are you aware of it?”
“Sorry? Oh, well... yes.”
“Which dungeon did you get it from?”
“It’s a dungeon directly managed by the Nation Revival Agency, so I don’t know the location. But that idiot over there told me it’s a dungeon with mummies.”
Yoon Si-ah pointed at Kang Yi-sol, and the man seemed intrigued.
“If you’re feeling grateful to me, please forget I asked that question.”
“Understood. I won’t tell anyone. Thank you for saving me.”
“No need to thank me.”
Then the man gently pushed Yoon Si-ah toward the ground, and she landed nimbly like a cat.
“Yoon Si-ah!”
“Si-ah noona!”
Her party came running toward her at the same time.
But she turned her gaze to look for the man from earlier.
Soon realizing that he had completely vanished from sight, she wondered if she’d imagined the whole thing and asked her party members.
“We saw him too. But after he set you down, he suddenly disappeared. Even when he appeared, it was out of nowhere, it surprised us.”
“What...?”
It was like seeing a ghost.
She’d hoped to talk with him a little more, which made it all the more frustrating.
“That guy looked seriously strong.”
“Yeah, I thought our Si-ah noona was the strongest person in the world.”
Someday, when the time is right, they’d probably meet again.
Yoon Si-ah shook her head as she watched Kang Yi-sol approach with a grimace on her face.
“I was going to finish it off myself, but who was that bastard just now?"
“You dumbass.”
***
“So this is why kill-stealers never disappear from games?”
[The first subjugation reward is granted to the individual who made the greatest contribution.]
[You made the greatest contribution to the first subjugation of the creature boa.]
-You have obtained the Creature Boa Cloak Robe.
[Creature Boa Cloak Robe / Outerwear (Cloak) / Grade: Special]
-A cloak robe made from the pitch-black hide of the creature boa. For leather, it is surprisingly light, and has a defense rating greater than most metal armor.
-Body temperature maintenance function
-Can deploy Advanced Shield three times per day
-Agility +2, Magic Power +2
I only stepped out for a bit and swung my sword a few times, and yet I got a reward like this.
‘And I even got information on the item that enables joint waypoint usage as a bonus.’
Humming a tune, I crossed the Hangang Bridge.
Before long, we entered Yongsan Park, where Mr. Kim’s family was supposed to be.
“Look at how many people are here.”
“It’s overwhelming.”
The largest survivor zone in the country.
That was Yongsan Park.
It felt even larger than Suwon or the National Cemetery.
What stood out most was how the residential areas were formed with temporary tents.
In Suwon or the National Cemetery, people either used nearby buildings or, if they were unlucky, lived in conditions not much better than being homeless. But here, it looked like real effort had gone into planning.
Holding onto the residential number my father gave me, I set out to find Mr. Kim’s wife.
“D-0392, D-0392, D-0392. Ah, there it is.”
But I wasn’t able to meet Mr. Kim’s family there.
I arrived at the place where his family was staying, but when I called out, there was no response. I asked a nearby resident.
“Kim-gun and his mother?”
“Yes. Do you know where they went?”
“...You just missed them.”
Damn it.
What was I supposed to tell Mr. Kim?
With all my fancy-looking equipment stored in my inventory, I had changed into the plainest clothes possible. The neighbor, feeling sorry, offered an explanation.
“If you’d come just a bit earlier, you could’ve gone with Kim-gun’s mother to the food distribution. What a shame.”
“Sorry?”
“Kim-gun and his mother went to get food.”
What a startling neighbor.
*****
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