Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Kakrita Valley (3)
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How much hardship had it taken to figure out that weakness? Suhyun shook his head.
“Creepy as hell. Is it really okay to have zero signs of life like this?”
“No signs is a good thing. Cut the pointless complaining.”
He could hear two squad members chattering. It was only been a short while since they entered, but there were absolutely no ambient noises that you’d normally expect around here. It was as if not a single living thing existed.
‘First things first, I need to find the ruins.’
The way to conquer Kakrita Valley was simple. If he turned back now and told them the monsters’ weakness, things would proceed smoothly. But Suhyun didn’t do that. It was because of the second reason he’d chosen this place.
The ruins.
Deep inside Kakrita Valley lay ruins. Ruins left behind by ancient otherworld races. They held historical and cultural value, but Suhyun wasn’t the type to go through hardship for that.
There was an artifact inside the ruins.
An artifact—a tool embedded with superpowers. They were so rare that when they hit the market, they fetched anywhere from hundreds of millions to tens of billions. The magic book Suhyun had obtained could also be considered an artifact. Though its performance was on another level compared to ordinary ones.
Ordinary artifacts contained just one superpower, and Suhyun had never heard of any with two or more embedded.
Even if word of how to navigate Kakrita Valley spread later and drew crowds, he needed to secure the artifact first. He held the priority rights to anything discovered here right now.
‘It was definitely there back then... a lightning axe, I think?’
“Uwaaaah!”
“!?”
Lost in thought, Suhyun whipped around in surprise at the scream from behind.
“O-over there! What the hell is that?!”
On slightly higher ground stood a single person. With a blank expression, pale as a ghost, staring down at them. They didn’t look particularly dangerous, but the Uncle Jo Company squad members were genuinely spooked. And for good reason—a person standing alone in this danger zone where there’d been no signs of life moments ago.
“Who the hell is that?!”
“Don’t raise your voice.”
“!”
“It’s a possessed one.”
“P-possessed?”
“If you die to the monsters wandering around here, that’s what happens.”
“...!”
Suhyun began explaining the characteristics of the monsters in the area. The squad members’ faces turned as pale as the corpse up above upon hearing the chilling details.
“You turn into that when you die...?”
“Don’t worry. We’ve got countermeasures in place.”
“What countermeasures?”
“We’ve got salt.”
“?!?!”
Only then did the squad members notice the salt sprinkled on them and freak out. Was this really effective?
“That’ll make most of them hesitate to approach. If any still come at us, shoot them. They’ll run if they get hit with a salt round.”
“What if they don’t?”
“Then we fight. You planning to freeload forever?”
“......”
It was now routine for everyone that Suhyun alone knew these unknown facts. They no longer questioned how he knew—just followed orders.
‘How the hell does that guy know about this stuff?’
“So what do we do about that one...?”
“Leave it. Shoot if it gets close, but no need to waste ammo on something way up there.”
Feeling an even eerier chill, the squad members followed Suhyun deeper in.
* * *
As they ventured deeper into the valley, the sprinkled salt alone couldn’t fully keep them at bay anymore. Monsters started breaking through and approaching.
“These are different from before?”
“The ones here are stronger than the ones we ran into earlier...”
Suhyun took aim and fired first. The weaker ones from before had fled at just salt. Their forms were much more indistinct, fleeing at the mere sight of salt.
But now that they’d come this far, it wouldn’t be so easy. Making it this deep was already impressive. These people might not know it, but other teams had to fight attrition wars against swarms of monsters just to reach here.
“Ugh, these things look seriously creepy...”
Most of the ghost monsters here resembled real creatures. The one that appeared now was a ghostly horse. Starting with Suhyun’s attack, the squad members unleashed shotguns. Each hit made its form flicker wildly, and the ghostly horse soon galloped up the cliffside and vanished.
“This place ain’t half bad, right? Better than the Calcutta jungle zone?”
“If we use the salt right, yeah, probably.”
After dumping firepower endlessly in the Calcutta jungle zone just to drop monsters, facing ones that fled from a single hit felt refreshing.
“Cut the bullshit. You think people went missing for no reason?”
Suhyun sharply rebuked them as they started loosening up. They were performing like this thanks to the knowledge he’d given them—if something unexpected happened, they’d crumble. He needed to keep a tight leash.
“Team Leader.”
Lee So-hee whispered softly.
“?”
“If what you said is true, could there be a missing team that’s still alive?”
“That’s... possible, yeah. Why do you ask?”
Ghost-type monsters seemed easy at first, but they’d swarm and surround you in an instant. Cut them off at the right moment and flee, though, and you could hold out for a bit. Escaping entirely might be impossible, but this valley had plenty of places to hole up.
“I was thinking if that’s possible, maybe we should look for the missing teams and rescue them.”
Suhyun made a surprised face at the unexpected suggestion. He hadn’t considered it. Rescuing failed entrants? Truth be told, he’d assumed they were dead somewhere and moved on when entering here.
“Rescue them?”
“Yes. Ah, if it’d get in the way...”
“No, no. There are no other monsters around here anyway, so rescue itself wouldn’t be an issue. Finding them would be the problem, though. I’m impressed.”
“?”
“A team good enough to come here would be well-known, and rescuing one like that means we could saddle them with a massive debt without much effort. I should’ve thought of this first.”
“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant...”
Lee So-hee had meant it purely humanitarian, but Suhyun interpreted it entirely differently. Come to think of it, there’d been no better chance to rack up favors. If any were alive, pulling them out meant they’d owe him their lives.
Lee So-hee panicked watching Suhyun nod in admiration.
“If you have more good ideas like that, speak up right away.”
“......”
Lee So-hee gave up replying and bowed her head. No point ruining his good mood.
‘There might still be survivors. Not a low chance either.’
He’d only been thinking ruins and artifacts, but with luck, he could score an unexpected bonus. Suhyun started pondering how to find any survivors.
“Team Leader, where exactly are we headed?”
The squad members, who’d freaked out at first, now seemed adapted to the hazy monsters wandering about. They even had the leisure to observe their behavior before shooting.
“We need to set up camp first. There’s a good spot.”
“?”
Setting up camp around here wasn’t simple. Even dumping salt everywhere, you couldn’t fully relax. Stronger ones ignored it and charged.
Luckily, there was a perfect safe zone nearby. Suhyun climbed the valley wall and slipped sideways. Spotting the protruding white rock, he knew he’d found it.
A natural rock salt layer. It inherently repelled monsters. This valley had a few such spots monsters couldn’t enter. Suhyun had used one to figure out the monsters’ weakness before.
“We stay here tonight, then head deeper at first light.”
Further in from here were caves. Starting from the entrance, a maze of twisting passages. Break through that section, and the ruins appeared. Ruins built by ancient otherworld races.
* * *
“How do we report? Same as last time?”
“Three months with no return means high chance of failure, six months means confirmed failure. Could shorten it based on headcount, though.”
Those waiting at the forward base ahead of the valley were holding out for reports and evacuation after missions. Having seen other teams fail, they were skeptical about Uncle Jo Company’s entry too.
“They’re still sending people in after all those failures? Can’t figure what the higher-ups are thinking.”
* * *
‘I’ll clear it and get out within a week.’
Unlike the officials thinking in months, Suhyun was aiming for one week. Supplies were ample, but he had no intention of dragging it out.
He already knew all the monsters and terrain here, and exactly how to act. No reason to waste time.
Of course, knowing everything didn’t mean rushing was smart. Taking it slow was safer. But Suhyun had other ideas.
‘To make an impact, it has to be decisive.’
Not just solving an unsolved challenge—real impact. That came from time. Clearing it record-fast would turn shock into awe.
Two days in, two days out. Three days in the caves. That’d suffice. Time for potential survivors was baked into entry and exit. Since rescue wasn’t the goal, he wouldn’t stick around searching forever.
“From here on, stay on high alert. If anyone jokes around like last time, I’ll personally knock some sense into them.”
The squad members tensed up watching Suhyun lecture at the cave entrance. He wasn’t one to say things lightly. If he warned like this, the caves really demanded tension.
“A few precautions. The ones inside don’t flee from a bit of salt. Hear sounds from the walls? Shoot. Your buddy next to you acts out of character? Shoot. Anything feels off? Shoot.”
“Even the guy next to us?”
“As long as it’s not instantly fatal. If they act suspicious, shoot the leg. I’ll heal them. Better than letting possession cause chaos.”
Only then did the squad members recall possession. The thought alone gave them chills. Gorgan muttered while drawing symbols with his fingers. The squad noticed his odd state.
“You okay? Don’t tell me already...”
“What? We came straight from camp—how could I be possessed?”
Suhyun stopped Kim Dong-wook from aiming at Gorgan, asking incredulously.
“What happened?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
“No one acts that spooked over nothing. What is it?”
“W-well... I’m scared of ghosts...”
“......”
The squad members exchanged glances. Ghost monsters were scary, sure, but an orc like Gorgan being this terrified was unexpected.
Now that they thought about it, he’d been off during the approach too. Just hard to notice since he was quiet normally.
Suhyun offered no empty comfort. He wasn’t a kid anymore, and that phase had passed long ago. Besides, leaving him behind was riskier.
“Scared of ghosts?”
Gorgan nodded with a humiliated expression.
“Simple fix then. Kill them before they get you.”
The squad members stared at Suhyun like he was spouting nonsense. But he was dead serious.
“Once you properly kill a few, the ‘ghost’ idea vanishes. They’re just monsters. A bit unique and annoying, that’s all.”
Gorgan gritted his teeth with a hardened face.
“Ready to go in now?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Moving in!”