novelraw Chapter 266 CHAPTER 265
Chapter 266 CHAPTER 265
Ten minutes before the incident happened.
That is, before Bardin melted the undead with radiance, and before Gobang and Major Bae, unable to hold back after seeing that sight, rushed out.
Juhyeok activated a concealment veil on the 6th floor of the White Tower and stepped outside.
Spot!
He was in the middle of a downtown area.
Tall skyscrapers stretching straight up, Hangul signboards, Hangul traffic signs.
He knew he had come to Earth No. 843, but still.
"… Seoul?"
It seemed right.
'But why isn't there a single car on the road?'
In traffic-hell Seoul.
There were hardly any people, either.
Could it be that it had already fallen?
At that moment!
Kwa-kwa-kwaang! Kwa-kwang!
The sound of explosions echoing from far away.
"Hmm."
An explosion was heard in the capital of the Republic of Korea.
Whether war or terrorism, it seemed to be a serious situation.
First, the blood summons.
"Designated summon, Group Two."
Spapapap!
The blood summons also seemed startled, their eyes widening.
It was only natural.
It was a very familiar city.
"Oh! Seoul?"
"Is this 843 Seoul?"
"Thankfully, it's still intact."
"It hasn't fallen yet—"
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaang!
"Has it fallen?"
"Did it fall?"
"Is it falling?"
"It's falling."
"A missile didn't drop or something, did it?"
"Looks like all the people have evacuated."
Juhyeok had been wondering the same thing.
What was going on?
"My lord, Bardin will fly up high and check."
A paladin who flew around at the slightest excuse now that he had wings.
"Please do."
Whoosh!
He soared high into the sky, flew off in that direction—
Whoosh!
Then returned and landed with a thud, Bardin.
"So?"
"My lord, there is a sinkhole ahead."
"What? This is Seoul…"
Ah! Right.
This wasn't our Earth.
It was another world.
Earth No. 843, a parallel universe.
Here, it seemed a Black Tower had appeared in the middle of Seoul.
Like Tokyo Tower on our Earth.
But it collapsed and formed a sinkhole.
"That's not all. Tower monsters were crawling out from inside the hole."
"Heal!"
Tower monsters?
This was a full-blown apocalypse.
So that's why there were no people or cars.
"At present, military units and players are holding the monsters back."
"Is it dangerous? Are we being pushed back…?"
"They're holding fairly well."
That was a relief.
They had to hold.
Wasn't Korea a military powerhouse?
Earth No. 843 should be the same.
Still, civilian casualties were worrying.
More urgent than acquiring citizenship.
"Let's go quickly."
Spapapap!
Gobang and Kosak were already moving ahead.
As they went, they saw tanks, armored vehicles, and self-propelled artillery units forming a defensive line.
Many soldiers as well.
It seemed to be a rear blocking line to stop monsters coming out of the sinkhole.
'There are people here.'
Then—
"Dimensional farmhand?"
"Huh?"
"Put on the perception-disturbance talisman."
They might be misunderstood for no reason.
As monsters, perhaps.
After putting a talisman on Rajiks, Juhyeok approached the rear blocking line.
Soldiers stepped in front of him, blocking the way.
Their expressions were very grim.
"Halt. Stop right there."
If they said stop, he had to stop.
If not, he might get shot.
"Are you players?"
"… Yes."
"Entry is not permitted at this time."
"Why not?"
"Haa… It looks like a withdrawal order will be issued soon. A Dark Wave alert has been declared."
Dark Wave?
"Yes. An undead Dark Wave. Fall back to the rear. We may have to abandon Seoul."
Undead, too.
In the past, even on our Earth's Black Tower, monsters with dark auras were like the Wall of Lamentation.
Lethal to civilians and players alike.
But—
'What's so special about undead?'
Just look at Bardin.
The moment he heard the word undead, he was already excited.
He was itching for it.
"My lord!!!"
Juhyeok chuckled softly.
"Go ahead first."
"Thank you for granting me this opportunity."
Paat!
He spread his wings.
Whiriririt!
Bardin soared into the air.
"H-hek!"
"W-what?"
"Oh my god!"
The soldiers were shocked.
A person… flying?
"We'll pass through as well."
"It's dangerous—"
"Don't worry. Prepare to withdraw slowly."
Leaving the soldiers behind, Juhyeok moved forward.
Then Rajiks said—
"Huh? … Nuke?"
A nuke, of all things.
Good grief.
Our dimensional-explosion maniac had gotten a taste for nuclear drops.
"Not here. If you use a nuke, it'll be a disaster."
"Huee…"
Rajiks drooped dejectedly.
Well, there would be another chance.
"Light!!!"
Bardin flying through the sky.
Brilliant radiance.
He was already slaughtering undead.
…
Gobang seemed unable to hold back either.
After getting permission from Juhyeok,
Swoooosh! He enlarged his body through gigantification.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud! He charged out.
Major Bae followed after him.
She probably didn't even need attribute absorption.
In the environment of the White Tower, the mana she had trained with would already include immortal energy and holy power.
"Anyone else going out?"
"This old man, too…"
"A 9th Circle archmage is always ready."
"Me too!"
Even Crackers.
"Greenie, no true-body transformation allowed."
"Why? One breath attack would—"
"Look at the sky. Don't you see the fighter jets? Don't get hit by a blind missile. It's better to stay humanoid and only use magic."
As expected, Kosak was smart.
He had been about to say the same thing.
But you're not joining the fight?
"Summoner Bong, you must guard. I'm Chief of Security Kosak, ain't I? Hehehehe."
Chief of Security, my ass.
He was someone who roamed the battlefield wielding a judge's hammer.
Yet he was still treated like a flower in a greenhouse.
What could he do?
Might as well watch.
Bardin's momentum was terrifying.
Flying through the sky, he melted the undead crawling out of the sinkhole in an instant with the majesty of radiance.
Even undead that had fully climbed out and were approaching players—
"Evil beings, return to hell!"
Kwa-jijijik!!!
A gigantic shield of radiance slammed down onto the ground.
Crack-crack-crack-crack!
Golden lines engraved into the earth's surface.
Light flowing along those lines.
The moment the undead touched that light, they melted away in streams.
Gobang?
He unfailingly displayed his abilities to the fullest.
Honestly, he was the most impressive.
"Kuuooooooo!!!"
Beating his chest with massive fists, he let out a thunderous roar.
"Come! Come to me!!!"
A terrifying decibel, enough to tear eardrums.
A majestic roar spread far and wide through the air.
At that very moment!
Freeze, flinch, rustle!
The undead and monsters reacted.
They turned their heads toward Gobang and charged at him like mad.
"Kraaaaaah!!!"
A wide-area, large-scale taunting shout.
The monsters stared only at Gobang.
It was on a completely different level than before.
Wasn't this almost transcendent?
With a taunting roar, he pulled in all the aggro of every monster scattered across Seoul.
Like a vacuum cleaner.
Not a single one left behind.
Undead monsters, trolls, ogres, minotaurs, basilisks, even griffins and wyverns that had been flying.
All of them clung to Gobang.
Yet Gobang stood there with arms spread, not moving a single step.
Come.
Come to me.
I am the party's tank.
I will take it all.
Ahhh!
The appearance of a true alpha male.
He had thought he was slowly shedding his own beta-male image, but—
'Compared to Gobang, I'm just a ha-ha-ha-beta.'
Thanks to that, McKenzie could cast spells comfortably.
The archmage floated in the air with a Fly spell and poured extreme white fire rain into the sinkhole.
Humanoid Crackers joined in as well.
He summoned a massive poisonous cloud and made Poison Rain fall into the sinkhole.
Fire rain and poison rain.
Precisely controlled so nothing leaked out.
Only into the sinkhole opening.
As a result, no more tower monsters climbed out from inside the hole.
Major Bae, too.
Targeting monsters trying to cling to Gobang, she fired small-caliber rounds in full-auto with the selector switch.
Pa-juk! Cha-ju-ju-ju-juk! Pa-ju-juk!
Puh-buk! Pu-beo-beo-beo-beok! Pu-beo-beok!
As for the Crescent Moon Sword Energy of the Mad Demon, it went without saying.
Woooong, tsu-pi-pit! Tsu-pi-rit!
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
Wherever the crescent passed, heads and torsos were severed.
However, the protagonist of this battle was not them.
It was our supreme dignity, Gobang.
The bizarre taunting ability he demonstrated.
Monsters looked only at Gobang.
Tower monsters surged exclusively toward Gobang.
Dealer blood summons leisurely dealing damage while standing still.
Gobang smashed the charging ones with his giant fists, grabbed and snapped them, and slammed them into the ground.
'I should start, too…'
Grab.
Gyeondallae gently caught hold of Juhyeok's sleeve.
"Please restrain yourself."
Ugh!
That word again—restrain.
"The princess is right, sir. Just turn on auto-hunting."
At that instant!
"Huhh?!"
Pointing backward with his finger, Juhyeok acted shocked.
"C-crazy! Th-there!"
Whip! Whip!
Kosak and Gyeondallae turned their heads.
Spot!
Juhyeok seized the opening.
Spapapapap!
Quickly stepping and dashing out.
With the judge's hammer, he smashed the wyvern's head as it dove down aiming for Gobang's head.
Whiiit!
Crack!
Psssssss!
One wyvern vanished.
'Ahh, finally warmed up.'
Beating monsters outside the tower really did feel different.
Kosak shook his head back and forth.
Gyeondallae let out a deep sigh.
So what?
What about it?
Colonel Lee Minseon simply couldn't accept this situation.
'Does this make any sense?'
The other Awakened Forces players felt the same.
They could only stare blankly.
There was nothing they could do.
At present, there were eight units forming the sinkhole wave defense force.
Radio transmissions came in from them.
All the tower monsters from the Seoul sinkhole were suddenly moving toward Colonel Lee Minseon's unit.
Undead—and even specters.
It was dangerous, so retreat.
They had retreated as well.
Retreat?
Was there really any need?
The monsters were charging at only one being—the giant.
Just like a tank in a game.
A warrior using a taunting shout.
'How… how is this possible?'
But the monsters couldn't even get close to the giant.
They were being shattered to pieces before that happened.
By unidentified players who seemed to be the giant's companions.
'Just who are these people…'
They were definitely players.
But their nationality?
Korean? Chinese? American?
'Is the commander watching too?'
There was no need to report it separately.
The higher-ups would already be watching everything through unmanned reconnaissance drones.
The fighter jets that had sortieed toward the sinkhole for air support had also turned back.
Lee Minseon continued to stare at the battlefield with a vacant gaze.
She couldn't tear her eyes away.
Then she noticed something strange.
The people who were playing with the tower monsters as they killed them—after using a skill once, they would turn their heads and look at someone.
With expressions like, I did well, right?
As if seeking praise.
Lee Minseon followed their gaze.
There stood a young man.
A man with a very ordinary-looking appearance.
…
'… Who?'
Was that man also a player?
Seeing the wooden hammer in his hand, he even looked like a carpenter.
Anyway, whenever those terrifying players(?) sent looks begging for praise toward the young man, he would clap his hands as if satisfied.
'What is this?'
Is that man the real leader?
Some of the others looked much older than him.
The more she watched, the clearer it became.
Those players wanted praise from that man.
When they received it, they became even more excited and slaughtered monsters with greater fervor.
'Just standing there, he doesn't look particularly strong…'
At that moment!
Spapapat!
The man dashed out at a speed too fast to see.
Crack!
A wyvern's head exploded in a single blow.
'… He's strong.'
He was incredibly fast.
His movements were far from ordinary.
Judging by how he dealt with a wyvern using nothing but a wooden hammer, he had to be extremely high-level.
Right then!
A signal runner rushed toward her.
"Colonel."
"… Huh? What is it?"
"We've received a transmission from headquarters."
"What did they say?"
"They say to keep those people here for a moment."
They must have seen everything through the reconnaissance drones.
An emergency would have been declared on their end as well.
"Tell them we'll try."
She couldn't give a definite answer.
If those people decided to leave, how could they possibly stop them?
It was gradually coming to an end.
Juhyeok took out just one wyvern, and after that, he only clapped his hands.
Sometimes he even gave a thumbs-up.
Wasn't this a refreshingly satisfying battle after so long?
The blood summons were engaged in a massacre.
They were thoroughly loosening up.
That aside—
"There seem to be players among the soldiers as well."
"And quite a few, by the looks of it."
"They can use their abilities in reality too… it's not Liberation Rune necklaces, is it?"
"It's rune necklaces. Looks like the boundary between the tower and reality has already collapsed."
Of course.
Tower monsters had come out into the real world.
"This kind of phenomenon doesn't happen with just a few tower collapses. It must have collapsed at least fifty times globally."
Then—
"It must be Kabalon."
"There's a high probability it's the Curse of the Average."
"That bastard…"
Unlike Diamat, a demon bound to the tower rather than a free contractor.
You had to catch the original.
More precisely, it couldn't really be called an original.
In truth, they were all copies.
Among those copies, one held the key to the Curse of the Average.
That's what they called the original.
Because this was like a game.
'I need to acquire nationality and enter the tower as soon as possible…'
Smash Kabalon's head in.
Then a curse like that would end quickly.
Right then!
Someone caught Juhyeok's eye.
A female soldier.
Judging by her shoulder insignia, a commander.
And she was looking at him too.
'Ugh, this popularity—am I really that handsome?'
Well, being loved by both elves and succubi—
"Huh?"
Something felt off.
The female officer's face looked extremely familiar.
'No way.'
Juhyeok walked toward her step by step.
The female officer stepped back hesitantly.
"Holy—!"
Now he knew who she was.
'Team Leader Lee Mina.'
No—why was she here?
And why was she in uniform?
'Did she get dragged along when we took the elevator?'
That couldn't be it.
"Team Leader Lee Mina, how did you end up here?"
She jumped in surprise.
"I-I'm not Team Leader Lee Mina."
"What?"
Then who was she?
"I'm Colonel Lee Minseon, commander of the Awakened Forces Special Unit."
"Ah!"
A different person, then.
But her face, voice, and way of speaking were an exact match.
The only difference was one character in her name.
Was it because this was a parallel universe?
Were people here all so similar?
Let's check.
"By any chance, is your superior Commissioner Jeon Gwangil?"
"… No."
So not him.
"It's General Jeon Seongil. The martial law commander and corps commander of the Awakened Forces."
"… Pardon?"
Jeon Seongil?
Not Jeon Gwangil?
Again, just one character different.
This was fascinating.
"Do you have a photo of General Jeon Gwang—no, General Jeon Seongil?"
Lee Minseon was baffled.
First he called her Lee Mina, now he was asking to see a photo of the general.
"Please. This is a serious matter."
After hesitating and thinking for a moment—
"… O-okay. I'll show you."
Orders had already come down from above.
To keep these people here.
Then it was better to be cooperative.
Colonel Lee Minseon showed him a photo on her smartphone—one taken together with General Jeon Seongil.
Juhyeok took the phone.
He zoomed in on the photo with his finger.
"… Oh my."
Exactly the same.
Commissioner Jeon Gwangil from Earth No. 1001.
General Jeon Seongil, corps commander of the Awakened Forces on Earth No. 843.
'Unbelievable.'
Not only was civilization similar, but even people were alike?
If that was the case—
'Is there someone similar to me too?'
Bong Junhyeok, maybe.
Or Bong Juhyeon.
'Surely not Bong Jupal or Bong Jubal… right?'
If such a person existed, would he also be a summoner?
Had he awakened as a player?
Suddenly, he became extremely curious.
Before he knew it,
the explosions had died down.
"Major Veronica Caliber! Enemy extermination complete! No more are climbing up!"
It seemed the cleanup was finished.
"Good work, Major Bae."
"Victory!"
At that, Colonel Lee Minseon tilted her head.
"A major? Which unit—"
"… Yes? Um."
Major Bae flinched, startled.
She shrank back after noticing the colonel's rank insignia.
Juhyeok also noticed the three dung-shaped insignia on Lee Minseon's shoulder.
Lee Minseon was a colonel.
Veronica was a major.
Soldiers lived by hierarchy!
No matter their ability, they couldn't escape rank.
That wouldn't do.
What if our Major Bae got pushed around by rank?
So—
"Major Bae!"
"Yes! Major Veronica Caliber!"
"Effective today, you're promoted three ranks. Brigadier General Bae."
Colonel Lee Minseon stared in disbelief.
What was this?
A joke?
Major Bae certainly looked like a real soldier—
disciplined movements, speech, and excellent marksmanship.
But this was ridiculous.
Promotions didn't happen just because someone said so.
She was about to laugh it off.
Surely it was just banter between them.
"Brigadier General Veronica Caliber! Thank you, Commander!"
… For real?
"Magnificent, Brigadier General Bae."
Snap! She saluted crisply.
"Attention—!!!!!"
She looked genuinely delighted.
As if she had truly been promoted.
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