A Taste of Modern Civilization
Yujin laughed.
He really hadn't seen this coming at all.
After Zygot and Didascalia, even the Flower Keeper had shown up. Forgetting about Vivian's existence entirely wasn't all that unreasonable. Or rather, he simply hadn't been able to imagine a situation where he received help from anyone else.
It had always been that way. From the first round until now. So this experience felt completely foreign to him.
Still.
Not bad.
At the first backup from a companion, Yujin smiled inwardly.
Ah, right—not a companion. A slave.
He dusted off his rear, rose to his feet, and raised a hand.
Kuuuuung—!
The fist larger than his own body came to a dead stop. Against nothing more than a single palm.
The hidden boss monster of the flower garden had just had its all-out strike blocked.
"Kill him! You have to kill him now!"
Didascalia buzzed around like a mosquito, shouting urgently. Then he glared at Vivian.
"How in the world did you get here?! One of my children should have stopped you!"
At those words, Yujin kept his hand pressed against the Flower Keeper's fist and glanced back.
If it's that repulsive angel's child, it'd be something like the Twisted Cupid of the Netherworld, right?
Not a boss monster, but still stats that far surpassed ordinary players. Vivian, with no proper means of attack, shouldn't have been able to break through something like that…
Ah.
It clicked.
She had taken one of the rewards from the Underworld of Phantasm.
"Buried under 24K gold bars and died."
Gold Rush [B].
In the end, Vivian had pulled out not only dollars but gold as well.
"Aigoo, what a waste."
He didn't know how much she'd used, but it couldn't have been a small amount. Converted to money…
Ugh.
His stomach seemed to ache for no reason. But the smile on his face wouldn't fade.
"What now, Didascalia? Looks like every plan you prepared has gone completely off the rails."
"Kill him, I said!"
At Yujin's taunt, the creature shrieked as if having a fit, and the Flower Keeper moved again.
Kugugugugung—!
Its enormous body was a powerful weapon in itself. At least twice as large as the Underground Dragon. The Flower Keeper's movements even created the optical illusion that space itself was wavering.
But.
"Slow."
Yujin drew up his mana.
The Heavenly Silk Thread [C] that had settled on the dead earth rose into the air. Like living snakes guarding Yujin.
In an instant they wrapped around both of the Flower Keeper's legs and pulled taut.
Crunch—, crack—!
The threads dug into its skin. But that was all. A mere C-grade item couldn't easily sever the body of a boss monster like the Flower Keeper.
It didn't matter. What Yujin wanted wasn't to slice it apart, but to bind it so it couldn't move.
"Stay right there. Don't run."
The words were for the Flower Keeper, but his gaze was fixed on Didascalia.
"Y-you…!"
The creature trembled and ground its teeth. It looked quite pissed.
Yujin smirked and lifted Chunbae.
Time for another appearance.
"Chunbae Cannon."
"Kkyaaaaaang—!"
With a resounding cry, something shot out of its mouth.
Two massive steel crates. Metal monsters forged of olive-drab steel.
The incarnation of destruction known as the M270 MLRS Multiple Launch Rocket System slowly raised its head, cradling twelve rounds of ruin.
"Fire!"
A brief silence fell.
Then…
A deep, low roar that seemed to pierce the earth itself rolled out slowly.
As the first destruction split the air, the ground shook. Behind the rapidly spreading gunsmoke, the remaining destruction launched in chain succession.
In a sensation as if time itself were being dragged along, silver parabolas charged toward the Flower Keeper, cradling fire.
Kwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwang—!
Blinding flashes swallowed his vision, and ear-splitting detonations hammered his ears.
Flames that could burn the world rose up and engulfed the Flower Keeper whole.
Grrraaaaaaagh—!
A scream burst out.
The power of a weapon stronger than most skills began to destroy its body.
It's strong, sure.
But at the end of the day, it's a 20th-floor monster. There was no way it could withstand the destructive power of an MLRS.
Well, this only worked on the lower floors. Higher up, nothing short of nukes would even leave a scratch.
Just look at Didascalia, mouth hanging open as he stared at the Flower Keeper.
A rocket like this—even if you poured twelve thousand of them instead of twelve—would it even leave a mark on him?
So better to use them freely while he still could.
Yujin looked down at the Flower Keeper writhing in agony on the ground and opened his mouth.
"How's that? The taste of modern civilization."
Naturally, no answer came.
Same for Didascalia. His face had gone deathly pale as he looked back and forth between Yujin and Chunbae.
"That is…"
Did he know something?
His pupils were trembling rapidly as he stared at Chunbae.
Yujin was a little curious about the reason, but he didn't bother asking. He clearly wouldn't answer anyway.
Better to focus on the problem right in front of him.
Using Heavenly Demon's Footsteps [B] again feels a bit much.
The thing was already near death. No need for a high-mana skill—just land the finishing blow.
After a moment's thought, Yujin chose the easy way.
"Heavenly Myriad Slaughters [D]."
Shhhhhhhhh—!
The Heavenly Silk Thread [C] gripping its legs began mercilessly dismantling its body.
Earlier it had only dug into the skin, but now it was different. The Flower Keeper, already suffering massive damage, couldn't stop the threads ravaging its entire form.
You have defeated the Hidden Boss: Flower Keeper.
Guess the rank was a bit lower than the Underground Dragon, so only one achievement.
And only one level up, too.
Still, he wasn't disappointed. He'd gotten another B-grade skill and ten Coins this time as well.
Heavenly Demon, huh…
This one looked like it would show terrifying power too. Just like Heavenly Demon's Footsteps [B].
Some kind of set skill?
It was the first time he'd seen something like this, so it was too early to judge, but the identical naming made the possibility high.
Well, later for that.
Yujin raised his head.
Didascalia, who had finally closed his gaping mouth, was glaring this way.
"Got anything else prepared?"
Of course not.
This level of interference was probably the absolute maximum an Administrator could manage. If more had been possible, he wouldn't have used such a complicated method in the first place. He would have simply summoned something Yujin couldn't handle from the start.
So this was the end.
A mocking smile settled on Yujin's face.
"Y-you—"
The creature ground its teeth hard. But as expected, it couldn't do a thing. All it managed was to radiate murderous intent with that bloodless, ugly face.
Yujin opened his mouth.
"If you've got nothing, get lost. You're disgusting."
He wanted to kill the thing right now, but there was no way.
I need to raise my level faster.
Apocalypse or whatever.
First he was going to crush every last one of these Administrator bastards.
For that, he needed to level like a madman.
The trembling Didascalia finally bolted. Using something like Dimensional Leap [A], he vanished in an instant.
Yujin stared in the direction the creature had disappeared and let out a sigh.
This time he'd been lucky.
If Vivian hadn't been there.
If he hadn't obtained Gold Rush [B] yesterday.
If, instead of Didascalia's bastard child, the hidden boss monster itself had blocked her path.
It was all thanks to countless strokes of luck and coincidence that Yujin had overcome this dogshit situation.
"You okay?"
Yujin approached Vivian and asked.
"I'm fine."
Fortunately she didn't look seriously hurt. There was blood on one arm, but she seemed to have treated it herself.
"Must've spent a lot of money."
"Not really."
She said it casually, but he didn't believe her.
Just recovering an exhausted Yujin would have cost a fortune, and on top of that she'd used gold. At the very least, she might have spent hundreds of millions.
Yujin scratched his head.
He wanted to say thank you, but unlike earlier, the words wouldn't come out. So he asked something else instead.
"You level up?"
"One."
"Skill?"
"One skill too."
"What is it?"
"Not telling."
Vivian's attitude hadn't changed much. Even though they'd overcome a crisis together, it felt like she could have warmed up just a little.
"Then let's head back. Time to eat."
"Okay."
The two of them walked slowly toward Unmonghyang.
"…I failed."
Didascalia spoke in a subdued voice.
"Failed, did youuu? Youuu?"
"Oh? How interesting. Didn't you claim this time you would deliver unavoidable death?"
"Amusing. You stepped forward so confidently, yet… From now on, spare me your useless chatter."
"I'll kill him! I'll kill him myself!"
The usual voices answered.
Didascalia sighed and continued.
"Player Seong Yujin used one of the hidden abilities of Gluttonous Avarice [A]. He brought something in from outside."
"That little bearrr?"
"Growing more interesting. If it's Gluttonous Avarice [A], wasn't that the child Cupiditas the Alchemist cherished?"
"Are you wasting my time just to report something like that? Variables of that level can always occur."
"I'll kill Cupiditas too!"
His ears grew noisy.
Gluttonous Avarice [A] was an important existence even to the Administrators. Right now it seemed to be serving as nothing more than a subspace, but…
"There's a bigger problem."
Didascalia let out a small sigh and went on.
"Player Seong Yujin is inheriting the legacy of the Heavenly Demon. He's obtained one for certain, and he may have more."
"……."
"……."
"……."
"……."
No one said a word.
Heavenly Demon.
That existence possessed such lofty status and danger that even mentioning it was not easy. Even the Administrator seized by madness and craving the death of every living thing kept his mouth tightly shut.
"So we need a countermeasure. If Player Seong Yujin obtains all five legacies……"
One of the usually taciturn Administrators conveyed her will.
The one who managed floors 21 through 30.
"You intend to act personally?"
When Didascalia asked, the answer came at once.
A voice laced with firm conviction.
Only then did Didascalia smile.
Omophnes.
An ancient calamity that carried the breath of cruel slaughter.
If it was her, Player Seong Yujin would never survive.