Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: 85. King (4)
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I had no way of knowing what new facilities the government had planned to build in the empty lot next to Sejong City, but it was easy enough to tell from the unfinished structures that one of them was a stadium.
The land was spacious, so the buildings weren't particularly tall.
At most six stories high, balanced out at that height.
The main roads were planned as an impressive sixteen lanes, and even the smallest side streets between blocks were kept at six lanes.
True to a city under construction, there were no vehicles on the roads, but instead, there were these grayish-white walls—things that were hard to even call part of this world—arranged in shapes that defied normal human understanding.
It was the signature maze of the Spider type.
Having festered for three years, this maze looked vaster and more complex than any I'd seen before.
Before entering, I checked my weapons and unspooled a long rope I'd gotten from the armored vehicle, tying it securely to a metal protrusion whose purpose I couldn't guess.
King watched my actions with curious eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"Asterion knot."
"What's that?"
"You know the Greek myth about the Minotaur, right?"
"The one where they unspool thread in the labyrinth so they don't get lost?"
"Classic method, but useful. Even for someone with top-notch memory and spatial awareness, Spider-type mazes are easy to get lost in, and monsters won't cut the rope."
It wasn't my go-to, but this was a three-year-old monster den.
No harm in being cautious.
I'd also brought a spray paint can in case the rope snapped.
Marking spots where it's easy to wander helps in a pinch.
"Wish we'd left the armored vehicle here."
"Why?"
"You need an escape option. When hunting monsters, always keep something with wheels nearby."
"Calling it now would bruise my pride."
"Life over pride."
King pondered for a moment, then radioed the armored vehicle.
"Can't switch drivers?"
"Why?"
"He's deaf. Can't communicate properly."
"Discriminating against the disabled?"
"Discrimination's a luxury for when you've got spare time."
King turned to me.
"Internet's different from the real thing, huh."
I checked the rope and spray.
The rope was strong and long enough, but I'd prepped two for emergencies.
The spray was old and finicky. Shaking it like a bartender mixing a drink got it sputtering usable marks.
While I prepped, King spoke up.
"At first, when they said SKELTON was coming, I was disappointed. But I'd heard a real hunter might show, so I hoped maybe that SKELTON guy was the one. Before meeting you, I gave it less than ten percent odds, but seeing your face... yeah, this guy's a hunter. Gut feeling."
I wouldn't deny there's such a thing as a hunter's look.
Not so much facial features, but a certain vibe.
We old-school hunters were drilled to disregard our own lives and move like machines for the team.
Forcing down the strongest human instinct—survival—naturally gives off a weird aura different from civilians.
Even after years out of the game, hearing this confirmed the hunter vibe had stuck deep.
"How long you been waiting?"
I asked, spotting the armored vehicle approaching from afar.
"A while. Plans were in motion long before. Right after Jeon Si-hoon bailed, they even considered sending in the military."
"Your intel network's impressive."
King pulled off his gas mask slightly, lit a cigarette, and took a deep drag.
"When we were small-time, we got treated like common thugs. But with the city population over thirty thousand, attitudes changed. People come crawling without us lifting a finger. Guys in shaky spots, horny bastards, folks needing a stable shelter. Reasons vary, but they all want something from me."
"Why'd Jeon Si-hoon run here?"
"Kids like him have that moral purity complex. Probably hated my city. Streets full of drunken brawls, warriors beating and cursing slaves day in, day out. Must've looked like shit to his prissy eyes."
The armored vehicle arrived.
The driver was a civilian with a slightly terrified face.
He looked tough—harsh features, muscled arms—but anyone would quake in this gray-white domain.
I asked King to hold him with a solid reward and grabbed the rope.
"Ready to start?"
Spider types were a pain, as past hunts showed, because of their filthy mazes.
True to monsters from another world, they didn't stop at dizzying walls. Paths would suddenly drop like cliffs, then turn into near-vertical climbs like rock walls, or narrow passages.
The maze itself was made of the Spider type and its minions' grayish-white wax-like secretion, blurring edges and corners, making navigation hell.
"This path's a real bitch."
King kept up well.
He reeked of zombie a bit, but as gang boss, he was agile and fit.
Above all, that gangster grit—courage—earned my respect.
Average joe would've freaked out from uncontrollable fear by now, demanding to turn back.
Only gripe: he carried a pistol instead of a rifle. But I didn't push it.
His true value was Awakening, not marksmanship.
Chiik-
At a three-way fork, I sprayed red paint on the floor.
"How long we gotta slog through this crap?"
King asked.
"There's an open plaza inside. This is like the outer wall."
"Real deal hunter, huh. Honestly, I trust you way more than those Legion goons."
"You okay with this?"
"With what?"
"Dead serious: push further, and you might die."
No spiderlings—Spider's minions—yet.
Game hadn't even started.
King removed his gas mask.
His face was noticeably more withered than at dawn.
Not normal.
No way a face changes that fast in half a day.
Neither old nor young—an eerie in-between—King said,
"Going back now is death anyway."
"Something waiting inside?"
"Nah. Killed 'em all before. But the guys below? They'll laugh."
"More important than your life?"
"Damn right."
King sighed, scanning the hazy gray-white world.
"My city holds because of one king: me. Without me, it'll splinter into dozens of gangs like Incheon and vanish."
"I get it logically, but pushing on risks death. Won't that trigger exactly that future?"
"A king who loses face is a dead king."
King stated flatly.
"Under me: a few loyal dogs, mostly wolves. Can't let 'em see weakness before the dogs outnumber wolves. Never know when they'll bite."
Heart said no, head said yes.
His city barely held on his strength and charisma.
Following me was about kingly dignity.
Calling in the Legion meant this headache had long chipped at his rep.
"Why pick me?"
I asked straight.
"Could've requested a full Legion team."
"Legion vibe's off."
King smirked meaningfully.
"You know those types? The backstabbers."
"Yeah?"
"Plus, seeing you hit me right. SKELTON. Don't know you, but gut said: this guy's got it."
I chuckled.
"...You read people well."
I smiled back.
"That's how you became king."
A clattering sound approached.
Spiderlings.
"Unless they're right on us, save bullets and powers. I'll clear the path."
I slung the rifle, pistol in one hand, axe in the other, advancing cautiously into the hazy gray.
At an ambiguous corner-wall, a silent killer lunged.
Spiderling, Spider-type minion.
Not strong, no powers, but legs like sharp spears that pierced flesh easily, plus quick leaps.
As inferior minions, patterns were simple: leap from range or ambush en masse. But those spear-front legs, paired with the chilling maze, claimed countless hunters and soldiers.
Bang!
Best virtue against spiderlings: calm and cool-headedness.
Those breed accuracy.
"Flank!"
King yelled. Two spiderlings leaped from blind spots.
Bang! Bang!
I shattered the head-like protrusions with pistol rounds, then axed one from the opposite side.
Splat!
From an awkward angle, it flailed. I stomped it dead with my boot.
King eyed me impressed.
"SKELTON! You got moves!"
"Move. Before more swarm."
"What? More?"
"Even a one-year Spider den has hundreds of spiderlings. Three years? No data, but thousands probably."
"More than my city folk?"
"Don't worry. Kill the boss, minions lose aggression, idle till they vanish."
Fighting spiderlings meant the Spider type knew we were here.
Now it was a race.
Reach the central plaza, kill the head before minions flood the narrow maze.
Alone? Impossible. But with an Awakener beside me.
Spot the main body, he nulls the barrier, and I snipe it from afar with the rifle—no fancy gear needed.
Overs level 5 Awakener King could strip the reflective field bare.
Issue: the mid-sized one the Legion claimed to see.
I didn't buy it.
Seen countless liars whine impossible odds to cover failures.
Legion team probably fled the three-year maze, made shit up.
Jogging, I told King,
"Signal, you neutralize the barrier. Experience?"
"Monsters? No. People? A few times."
"Cultists?"
"You know 'em."
"Here too?"
"Not much in Incheon, but south's crawling. Government does jack, they peddle 'believe and monsters won't touch you' bullshit, grew fat."
"Doctrine's befriending monsters, right?"
"Korean remix. Creepier, huh?"
"Maybe."
Mid-chat, two more spiderlings charged. Axes dropped 'em limp.
Twisted, sloped path over ambiguous edges—pitch black yawned ahead.
Central plaza.
Spider-type stronghold.
Never seen one this huge.
Was there always such a big one?
Diameter at least 2km.
Spiders usually topped at 50m inner chambers.
Probably endless expansion, fortifying and remodeling, carved out this vast space.
True to small-type infiltration zone depths, surroundings matched the rift world's vista I'd glimpsed.
All gray-white.
No light entered, yet an eerie glow let us discern shapes, chillingly enveloping us.
Weirdest: sound.
No worldly noises.
Vacuum-like. Only breaths and heartbeats echoed vainly.
In that bizarre realm, I scanned decaying buried buildings for the Spider type.
Nothing.
Instead, hundreds of spiderlings ahead, front legs raised, slowly advancing.
"Damn it!"
King moved to use power.
"Save it here."
"Plan?"
Chiik-
Sprayed the last red mark at our feet.
Visible from afar—for our exit.
"Run."
"Where?"
"There."
Full erosion zone or not, tactical basics held.
High ground advantage included.
Jang Gi-young's rare good advice: can't spot foes? Climb high, search.
I bolted for a half-built skeleton frame.
Scaffolding dubious, but only one far from spiderlings with visible innards.
Kiiik!
Foot hit, platform wobbled perilously.
King hesitated, but followed without bitching when I didn't stop.
Up to five stories in one go.
First, spotted our red paint entry mark.
Tough.
Spiderling horde marching that way.
Next, hunted the Spider type.
Several buildings below.
One's gotta house it.
While eyeing likely hides for the sly bastard,
A figure near a window of a gently tilted building—not quite The Hope-scale.
I stared.
A woman.
Girl, precisely.
"Jeon Si-hoon a chick?"
"Dude."
"Oh."
King stared at the girl.
"That's the kid mixed in with the cultists."
Another appeared beside her.
Tall, skinny, glasses—average boy.
I looked at King.
"Him?"
"Yeah. That punk."
King glared, yelled at Jeon Si-hoon.
"Hey! Still alive?!"
Jeon startled, mouth agape, looking down.
"Came to get you, punk. How long you gonna hole up in this dump?"
The girl whispered to Jeon.
He yelled back at us,
"Come this way!"