The Barrier Shatters
Right at that moment, the barrier rippled. It was just like tossing a pebble into a viscous liquid.
The ripples gradually widened, reaching the edge of the partition wall.
Another set of ripples grew even larger, shaking the wall with far greater force.
The instant the seventh ripple spread across the barrier, the alloy structure collapsed without a sound. Only the faint patter of sand pouring onto the floor followed.
Choi Muhyun glanced at Go Cheolmin.
“H-how did you do that?”
“Don’t you have something more urgent than that question?”
Go Cheolmin peered inside the barrier. Only then did Yoo Min-jeong snap to attention and shout.
“I’ll go first!”
“Me too.”
Yoo Min-jeong and Choi Muhyun dashed through the crumbled partition. Hwang Myeong-su stayed by Go Cheolmin’s side.
At that moment, Go Cheolmin spat out a glob of blood.
“Master!”
“Don’t make a fuss. I’m fine.”
His face pale as death, Go Cheolmin forced a smile.
“Kim Jun!”
Yoo Min-jeong called his name periodically, careful not to let the distance grow too wide between her and Choi Muhyun, who followed behind. She consciously suppressed the urge to find him even a second faster.
“What the hell is that?”
Choi Muhyun pointed at the wall.
A Magic Creeper clinging to the wall was slinking toward them. The moment it sprang, Yoo Min-jeong’s Fire Arrow pierced it clean through. It writhed on the floor, burning away.
Choi Muhyun nudged it with his foot and looked at Yoo Min-jeong.
“It’s a Magic Creeper. What’s it doing here?”
“Let’s go.”
Yoo Min-jeong said.
Rounding the corner, Yoo Min-jeong spotted a body sprawled on the floor and picked up speed. As she drew closer, its condition came into view.
It was a charred corpse.
Face-down, it was hard to gauge the build. Not Kim Jun or Lee Sang-taek, but she couldn’t rule it out entirely.
Steeling herself with a deep breath, Yoo Min-jeong flipped the body over. A Magic Creeper hidden beneath sprang out.
Thud.
Choi Muhyun kicked it away.
Infused with inner power, the strike smashed it against the wall, bursting its body and spilling fluids.
Yoo Min-jeong pictured Kim Jun over the corpse, its skin burned away to reveal the skull’s outline.
Not him.
She let out a huge sigh of relief.
“I don’t know what the hell’s going on, but we need to find Jun and Sang-taek fast.”
Choi Muhyun was staring ahead.
They pressed on.
Magic Creepers could spring from anywhere. They switched to a defense formation with the tanker up front, slowing their advance.
A figure approached from afar.
“What the hell is going on here……”
Choi Muhyun trailed off. It barely qualified as a living person anymore.
“It’s an Angry Root.”
Yoo Min-jeong said from behind.
Choi Muhyun glanced back.
Yoo Min-jeong gathered mana in her outstretched hand and launched a small fireball at the shambling security guard. It exploded in his gut, engulfing the body—and the Angry Root inside—in flames.
Pink Team slipped past cautiously.
In the lounge where four corridors met, Yoo Min-jeong shouted Kim Jun’s name. A swivel chair by the window spun toward her.
“Long time no see.”
Kim Se-wi waved with a smile.
“Senior.”
“How’s the team leader? Heard he went to Jirisan.”
Kim Se-wi had once been part of Yoo Wan-seop’s team, so he still called him “team leader.”
Yoo Min-jeong stood still, eyeing Kim Se-wi. The raider looked utterly at ease amid Magic Creepers and burning corpses—terrifyingly calm.
“How’d you get in here? It’s under lockdown.”
Kim Se-wi chuckled softly.
“Where’s Kim Jun?”
“Seriously? You came here for that guy? I didn’t believe the rumors about you—they were too ridiculous. But it’s all true. What a letdown. How’d the great hope of Jushin end up like this?”
“You’re Jushin’s future, Senior.”
“Is that a compliment?”
Kim Se-wi rose and approached Yoo Min-jeong. He spared Choi Muhyun not a glance.
“I’ll give you a chance. Leave now. Quit Uramata Guild, and even if not Jushin, you could join a decent one. Brave’s fine, Miracle’s not bad either. Last courtesy from your senior.”
Kim Se-wi was a DD4 raider.
A level 4 Death dealer—retreating made sense.
But Yoo Min-jeong couldn’t.
“The Magic Creepers—you released them, Senior?”
“I debated Angry Root or Red Boom, picked this. Maybe Red Boom would’ve been better.”
Yoo Min-jeong was speechless at his smile.
She’d heard rumors about Medici Team but hadn’t believed them.
How could anyone……
Confirming the truth, she sorted her thoughts swiftly.
“Defense formation.”
As Yoo Min-jeong stepped back, Choi Muhyun’s golden barrier enveloped them.
“Moon Wall still holds up? Still practicing that outdated relic?”
Kim Se-wi kicked the barrier.
It shuddered violently, but Choi Muhyun didn’t budge.
“Oh ho, not bad?”
As Kim Se-wi moved, Choi Muhyun pivoted slowly, glaring.
Yoo Min-jeong placed her hand on Choi Muhyun’s back and began counting down with her fingers.
Five, four, three, two, one.
The barrier vanished. Yoo Min-jeong surged forward, firing a Fire Arrow at Kim Se-wi.
He dodged with minimal effort. The table, chairs, and vending machine behind shattered in flames. He ignored it, eyes locked on them.
“You think you two—barely level 6 or 7—can take a Jushin level 4 dealer?”
“Yes. That’s the plan.”
“If you were still in Jushin, you wouldn’t dare. That third-rate guild ruined you.”
Kim Se-wi extended both hands. Black energy swirled from his palms, barreling toward them.
Boom!
The Moon Wall held, but the heavy impact pushed Choi Muhyun back.
Kim Se-wi flanked and kicked relentlessly. Once, twice—the gold barrier rocked but endured. The third shattered like a burst balloon.
Yoo Min-jeong fired a Fire Arrow in haste.
Grinning up close, he dodged and side-kicked Choi Muhyun into the wall.
“No matter how you squirm, you can’t touch me…… Whoa!”
He barely evaded the blazing fireball, but the heat singed some of his hair.
Kim Se-wi hadn’t expected such instant fireballs. He glared at Yoo Min-jeong—realizing the boss’s daughter wasn’t one to spare.
Dodging a presence lunging from the left, he heard the heavy whoosh of air. The golden-glowing kick’s wind shear tore his Italian bespoke pants.
Geumganggak? Not to be underestimated. Just like his old man—power’s insane.
Kim Se-wi, now at five meters, dropped his underestimation. This wasn’t a foe to toy with.
He channeled mana into his left eye.
For the first time in ages, Heaven’s Eye awakened. Kim Se-wi moved.