Chapter 55: Overwhelming Inaction (1)
TL: Hanguk
I gave a fairly plausible name, but because Kang Yi-sol called me Seo ***, the people around us tilted their heads in confusion.
However, before long....
“!!!!!”
“Huh?”
“No way.”
Everyone looked at me with astonished expressions, and even the trio of thugs who had seemed ready to pounce flinched visibly.
Kang Yi-sol, seemingly realizing that calling me Seo *** in a public place was a mistake, covered his mouth in shock and embarrassment.
“It’s fine.”
But I didn’t particularly care.
My face was covered anyway, and once the actual battle began, the strength I possessed would inevitably draw everyone’s attention.
‘And what I’m worried about isn’t being known as Seo *. What I don’t want is people finding out that Seo * is Seo baek-ho, and that Seo baek-ho is the son of Colonel Seo In-ho.’
The reason I’m reluctant to reveal my identity isn’t anything complicated.
It’s because I’m worried the government and military might start bothering my family.
‘Originally, personal safety was my biggest concern, but honestly, I'm not exactly in a position to worry about that anymore.’
If my parents weren’t at Gyeryong base, I wouldn’t even need to bother hiding my identity.
At my current level, I have enough strength to break through interference from any group.
At that moment, Kang Yi-sol, bowing his head in shame, offered me an apology and words of gratitude.
“Thank you so much for coming. I was really worried you might not show up.”
“I’m Korean too, of course I should help.”
They were just nice words for show, but Kang Yi-sol looked deeply moved.
The truth is, I had calculated the situation thoroughly and judged that it would be highly profitable to come.
The weapon I’ve been using as my main weapon for a long time, ‘Zerka’s Sword’, was obtained after killing an Elder Monster that appeared on Gauido Island.
The new weapon I acquired, ‘Akan’s Saber’, is of the same grade, but while the Elder Monster that dropped Zerka’s Sword was Level 30, Akan’s Saber came from a Level 55 Named Monster.
Which leads me to only one thought.
‘I’m still using a weapon I got from a Level 30 Elder as my main, so what kind of gear would drop from an Elder evaluated at over Level 70?’
There’s even a chance that a ‘Rare grade’ weapon might drop.
If it turns out to be a sword, I might not have to worry about weapons all the way to Level 100.
Who in their right mind would give something like that away?
Of course I’m going to claim it.
“Seo *** made a splash early on, sure. But these days, most first achievements are being made by foreigners, aren’t they? Doesn’t that mean he’s already outdated?”
Maybe he didn’t like my polite response?
[Yang Yi-tae / Level: 30]
I glanced at Yang Yi-tae, one of the trio of thugs spouting nonsense, and let out a snort of laughter.
It’s barely been three weeks since the Great Catastrophe hit, how can anyone be called outdated already?
Honestly, I don’t really understand what people like this are thinking, but there’s one thing I know for sure.
‘If you let guys like this think you're weak, they become a real pain.’
So I reached out my hand toward him.
Yang Yi-tae seemed to think I wanted a handshake and grabbed my hand without a second thought.
-Crunch!
“Aaargh!”
Using my high Strength stat, I bent his hand in half.
His bone snapped, and his hand flopped uselessly. His buddies rushed over.
“Y-Yi-tae!”
“You okay?”
But none of them dared say anything to me.
They immediately realized the gap in our stats.
I glanced at them casually, then asked Willia to heal him.
With one cast of her Heal, the injury was completely restored.
“Let’s go.”
Then, as if nothing had happened, I walked straight into the gymnasium.
Kang Yi-sol hurried after us with Willia and spoke.
“Please come this way. I’ve prepared a seat for you.”
It seemed he didn’t like Yang Yi-tae’s thuggish behavior either, because even though he was the one leading the meeting, he didn’t question my actions at all.
In the past, hurting someone like that would’ve brought the police and lawsuits, but the world really has changed a lot.
“Should I call you Seo-ah nim from now on?”
“Seo-ah?”
At Kang Yi-sol’s question, I tilted my head in confusion for a moment, not immediately understanding what he meant.
Then, I suddenly remembered that I had introduced myself earlier as “Seo-ah Aznable.”
It was obviously a fake name to anyone, but I couldn’t just keep being called Seo *** forever.
‘The name Seo-ah does sound a bit feminine, but it’s just a temporary alias, so it doesn’t really matter.’
“Yes, please call me that.”
The inside of the gymnasium resembled a wedding banquet, with tables and chairs arranged by hunting teams, and an abundant spread of food, desserts, and drinks that looked quite elaborate.
Since such a sight was rare after the Great Catastrophe, everyone entering the gymnasium let out small exclamations of awe.
The seat Kang Yi-sol guided me to was in the very front row, but it was in a corner spot that didn’t draw much attention.
“I wanted to prepare a seat right in the center, but I figured you wouldn’t like that, so I arranged it this way.”
However, unlike the other seats, this one had partitions around it, the table and chairs looked significantly more luxurious, and even the food gave off the impression of being specially prepared.
I thanked him for the considerate arrangement.
‘Thanks to the partition, I should be able to take off my mask and eat.’
I glanced at Willia, and she was already in combat mode at the sight of the food.
“Then please rest for a bit. We’ll begin the strategy meeting and briefing shortly.”
Once Kang Yi-sol stepped away, Willia and I immediately took off our masks and began eating.
Willia was always enthusiastic about food, but I was also quite hungry, having come straight from a hunt.
‘They managed to get their hands on these ingredients somehow.’
At other tables, foods that had become difficult to find, like bossam, chicken, and pizza, were the main fare, but in addition to those, we had traditional banquet dishes like bulgogi, japchae, and jeon.
“Ooh?”
“Wow...”
As I ate bossam kimchi with bulgogi and Willia tore into the chicken, we both let out words of admiration at the same time.
With just one bite, I could tell that a very skilled person had prepared it.
In a situation where most citizens were worried about getting enough food, we were being treated to such a luxurious meal just for having high levels.
It was a clear example that in this new world, level equaled power.
After eating enough to be satisfied, I peeked over the partition to observe the people occupying the front row.
[Kim Hyun-soo / Level: 34 / Suwon Team 1]
[Yoon Si-ah / Level: 35 / Seoul Team 1]
[Park Haeng-gi / Level: 31 / Seoul Team 2]
[Kwon Mi-young / Level: 30 / Seoul Team 3]
[Yang Yi-tae / Level: 30 / Incheon Team 1]
The most notable were those five individuals and the parties they led.
Even Yang Yi-tae, whose hand I had just crushed, was considered high level within this group, enough for him to act tough.
Among them, Kim Hyun-soo from Suwon, who calls himself my swordsmanship rival, and Yoon Si-ah, who had given me a hint in the Underground Labyrinth, stood out for their fast growth compared to the others.
‘My level-up speed is definitely abnormal. No one here is even over Level 40, and I’m already hitting Level 50 by myself.’
I quickly counted the number of people gathered in the gymnasium, it looked to be at least 200.
That meant they were the elite among the hunting teams currently operating in Seoul, Incheon, and Suwon.
[Attention, we will now begin the briefing and strategy meeting, so please take your assigned seats.]
How long had I been scanning the crowd?
Once Kang Yi-sol stepped onto the platform and said that into the mic, the noisy gymnasium, filled with people eating and drinking, quickly quieted down.
Satisfied, Kang Yi-sol began the briefing.
The content of the briefing was a more detailed explanation of what I had already heard beforehand.
How the Elder Monster had been discovered, what the current situation in Seoul was, and what risks could arise if this subjugation failed.
There were two types of reactions from the people.
One group believed that with such capable people gathered in one place, nothing could go wrong. The other took Kang Yi-sol’s words seriously and understood the severity of the situation.
But the former group clearly outnumbered the latter.
‘Are they feeling proud of how well they’re adapting and surviving even amidst the catastrophe?’
Overall, they seemed to lack a proper sense of crisis.
As if he had expected this kind of reaction, Kang Yi-sol played a video of a battle against the Elder Monster before the strategy meeting began.
‘A mass of tentacles that looked like a bundle of threads.’
That was my impression of the Elder Monster when I saw it.
“I’ve never seen a monster shaped like that. Do you know what it is?”
“I don’t really know either. But it definitely looks like a very unique type, even among Elders.”
Willia, who was about to put a slice of pizza in her mouth, shook her head in response to my question.
The monster, as unusual as its appearance was, also had exceptional combat capabilities.
The barrage of tentacles it launched looked almost like a machine gun.
Thanks to that, the relaxed expressions of the hunting team members quickly turned grim.
[Upon confirmation, we found that modern weapons of moderate power were completely ineffective at wounding it. However, combat skills that use Magic Power, including Sword Aura, did inflict damage. While the military will be supporting you in this battle, don’t expect them to make a significant impact.]
That’s actually better.
If the military dealt unnecessary damage, the monster wouldn’t give us experience points or rewards.
Then Kang Yi-sol began explaining the operation.
[The operation is divided into three major phases.]
Phase 1 is Luring.
A special unit will enter the underground sewers first, locate the monster, and use explosives to collapse the tunnels while guiding the Elder Monster to a preselected battlefield.
Phase 2 is Combat.
If Phase 1 succeeds, the monster will appear at a sewer entrance in front of the Seocho Courthouse.
There, hunting teams waiting in ambush will begin a full-scale raid.
The best-case scenario is that we succeed in hunting the Elder Monster as planned. If not, we move on to the final phase.
Phase 3 is the worst-case contingency.
The hunting teams will retreat, and a Hyunmoo-4 ballistic missile will be launched at the Elder Monster.
[Using the Hyunmoo-4 will cause severe collateral damage in the area. There will undoubtedly be many innocent casualties. Launching a ballistic missile in the middle of the city is truly a last resort. That’s why we absolutely must succeed in the hunt.]
The operation wasn’t very complicated.
In fact, it was relatively simple.
[Some of you may die in tomorrow’s battle. Personally, I believe there will be a significant number of casualties. But if we succeed, you will become heroes remembered in history.]
Kang Yi-sol’s solemn expression weighed heavily on the minds of those who had come here light-heartedly.
[The operation will begin tomorrow at 9 a.m.! So please get plenty of rest and prepare yourselves accordingly.]
He might have scared them too much.
At this rate, some people might run away.
*
The day of the final battle dawned.
“Fucking cowards.”
“I figured a few people might flee, but I didn’t expect a whole third of them to vanish.”
-Murmur. Murmur.
Just as I had predicted, deserters appeared.
A staggering seventy of them.
The only saving grace was that all the high-level main hunting teams remained.
So we moved to Seocho as planned.
The destination: the courthouse.
We would wait there for the Elder Monster to arrive, and once it appeared, the subjugation would begin.
The reason this location had been chosen as the battleground was due to the possibility of using the Hyunmoo missile.
The courthouse is located near a small mountain, which would hopefully help contain the blast if the missile were deployed.
“Hmm?”
The remaining 130 hunters were divided into defense and DPS teams, but two additional people were assigned to the free role team that Willia and I were in, making things awkward.
“What are you staring at?”
“S-Sorry.”
Those two were Kim Hyun-soo (Level: 34) from Suwon, who had declared himself my swordsmanship rival, and Yoon Si-ah (Level: 35), Seoul’s top hunter.
To be honest, the people I least wanted to see right now were Kim Hyun-soo first, then Yoon Si-ah.
Kim Hyun-soo is someone who knows my real name and face.
Yoon Si-ah was the one who had given me information about the Underground Labyrinth in return for saving her life. Since yesterday, Willia and I had been enthusiastically clearing the government-controlled Underground Labyrinth, so I felt guilty toward her in several ways.
When I snapped at Yoon Si-ah, who kept tilting her head while staring at me, she immediately backed down.
She was known for her usual bold and daring demeanor, but for some reason, she became timid in front of me.
‘But why is Kim Hyun-soo showing no interest in me?’
What was especially unexpected was that Kim Hyun-soo, whom I thought would react more suspiciously than Yoon Si-ah, remained silent and reserved.
Whether he was pretending not to know while being fully aware, or just tense because of the upcoming raid, I wasn’t sure, but either way, it made things a bit less uncomfortable for me.
“Seo-ah nim, is there any signal or sign we should know about between us?”
At Yoon Si-ah’s question, Kim Hyun-soo finally turned his gaze toward us.
I shrugged.
“Well. At first, test the waters, and once the pattern becomes familiar, we unleash the attacks.”
At this moment, I was deliberately deepening my voice more than usual, a conscious act because of Kim Hyun-soo.
If he did know who I really was but was pretending not to, I might end up cringing in bed over this later.
“But... just one thing. Don’t rush in the moment the Elder appears.”
“Come to think of it, the raid leader (Kang Yi-sol) did mention that to us beforehand, but why is that?”
“You’ll see.”
“Huh?”
After that, I shut my mouth.
Like that, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes passed with the uncomfortable party gathered in one place.
-Rumble rumble rumble!
“We’ve successfully lured it! Everyone, prepare for combat!”
Kang Yi-sol’s voice rang out, filled with both tension and relief, and everyone swallowed nervously.
“Get ready.”
“Yes.”
I gave Willia the signal to prepare for the attack, and she nodded firmly.
And then.
-Kieeeeehk!
With a sharp screech that shook our entire bodies, the creature appeared.
[Elder Crimson Lord / Level: 81]
“L-Level 81?”
“What?”
“Gasp!”
At my muttered words, Kim Hyun-soo and Yoon Si-ah’s pupils shook uncontrollably.
We weren’t the only ones shaken by the monster’s level.
Just like the thugs from Incheon yesterday, there were other people here with Exploration-type skills.
“It’s coming.”
Even amid the chaos, Willia alone carried out her assigned role without the slightest hesitation.
“Explosion.”
Extending her beautifully designed Special grade staff, the Sapphire Wand, she activated a new, powerful long-range skill.
Compressed Magic Power left Willia’s wand.
Then it struck the tentacled monster.
-KWAHHHHH!
“Uwaaah!”
“W-What is that!?”
An intense explosion, as if a missile had landed, shook the ground.
“Wh-What the...?”
Not only Kim Hyun-soo and Yoon Si-ah, but all the hunting team members turned their eyes toward Willia.
Each and every one of them had expressions of sheer shock.
As if in response to their reactions, Willia began bombarding the monster with her explosive skill indiscriminately.