Chapter 67
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 67 - How to Deal with Abnormal Situations (16)
Behind her, I saw Calmy trapped by Shin Bareun and the hunters.
The harpies who lost their leader scattered and flew, creating shadows.
The lively voices of Min Jaeyoon and the group were heard beyond the shadows.
Shin Bareun frowned at me, sighed, and began to take control of the situation.
“Let’s take care of the situation first and then have a talk.”
After defeating the monster, Shin Bareun checked the status of the hunters.
“What about student Min Jaeyoon? Did she not hurt people?”
…Although the question she asked first was full of her own prejudice.
Fortunately, the clueless hunters who was asked the question answered brightly.
“No! Jaeyoon helped us a lot! Although I’m embarrassed, I received a lot of help.”
“Mm, I mean, if she hadn’t created some kind of sphere with magic, all the civilians would have died, you know?”
“When a strong monster appeared, I thought I was going to die!”
Shin Bareun spoke after hearing the answer.
“It was a crisis situation.”
“Pardon?”
“If she was strong alone, she could escape.”
“Well, if she had tried to escape on her own, she would have been able to. She didn’t, that’s why she’s so awesome. Right?”
Min Jaeyoon smiled as if she was embarrassed by the hunter’s words.
“Because it was something I had to do…”
In front of her refreshingly kind smile, Shin Bareun tried to answer something, yet she ended up keeping her mouth shut.
Choi Garam brought the situation under control by clapping her hands.
“Now. Then, it looks like everything has been roughly checked, and the restoration of the barrier has been roughly completed. Now, shall we think about what to do with our troublemakers?”
Even though I was being stabbed, I quietly avoided her gaze.
Calmy glanced in my direction. As if asking for consent to what will happen from now on.
I nodded as I watched him quietly point his sword.
“Please wait.”
Calmy, who was freed from the trappings of the hunters, approached Choi Garam and Shin Bareun then thrust out his sword.
“Is this another ‘hero talk’?”
“No.”
Despite Choi Garam’s tone of being fed up, Calmy didn’t react and pulled out the holy sword, Blue Twilight, from its scabbard.
The Blue Twilight was humming and emitting a very strong light.
“It’s about bigger things to come.”
I looked out the window. Before we knew it, the blue evening had turned into a dark night. The deep, black midnight was coming soon.
It’s too late, Holy Sword!
“Something bigger?”
When Shin Bareun asked Calmy back, he spoke.
“A ‘level boss’ will appear.”
Hunters nearby responded to those words.
“What?”
“Is that true?”
“Captain, we’re overwhelmed just maintaining the site right now.”
The hunters were agitated and afraid.
It was natural. The ‘level boss’ is a monster that can only be encountered when climbing the tower.
The ruler of each floor lurking in the tower. The tower’s will to prevent humans from climbing the tower.
In terms of the game, it can be said to be a boss in charge of a kind of boss stage. Of course, it’s strong.
In addition, when a level boss appears, I heard that a ‘monster raid’, a situation in which you have to deal with one huge group of enemies, and a ‘monster wave’, with multiple groups of enemies, occur simultaneously.
Therefore, the emergence of a level boss wasn’t good news to hear in the current situation of the fortress, which was barely maintaining the status quo.
Even so, doing this while civilians are watching just isn’t it.
As if she was thinking the same thing, Shin Bareun’s cold voice cut through the fearful confusion of the hunters.
“Stop! What does it mean to become a hunter!”
The hunters flinched and all fell silent at the harsh words, like frost. Shin Bareun glanced towards Calmy and asked again.
“What is the basis? Is only that one holy sword?”
Calmy glanced at me and then answered.
“Yes. But you know it too, Captain. The fact that ‘Blue Twilight’ shines when a level boss appears is clearly recorded in the savior’s records.”
Right.
I asked Calmy to tell them about the level boss.
Because we can’t face the final phase alone without any preparation.
At that time, someone suddenly intervened.
“Lie! It’s a lie! How can I believe what you say is true!”
He was a person who seemed to have turned around in fear. The problem is that there were some people who sympathized with him.
“That’s right. Didn’t you just make it up?”
“W-Why are you lying about something like that appearing!”
It was really ugly to see some hunters going crazy with fear and calling people liars.
Shin Bareun, who was ignoring them and looking into Calmy’s eyes, immediately spoke in a strong voice.
“Stop!”
With those words, the commotion died down once again.
Everyone’s eyes turned to Shin Bareun’s mouth. They seemed to be waiting for the judge’s decision.
And fortunately the judge sided with us.
“Preparing to attack the level boss.”
“Then…!”
Just as Calmy was about to say something in response to Shin Bareun’s words, she continued.
“But! Students will wait in the shelter.”
Calmy protested at those words.
“Why? I will definitely be of help in defeating the level boss. Don’t you know the compensation given to heroes?”
No, don’t fight back from the front. Let’s just go secretly.
“I remember the Vice Captain already told you the reason? Remember, you’re a student before you’re a hero.”
Shin Bareun sighed as she looked at Calmy, frowning as if he wasn’t convinced.
“It means you have no need to shoulder the obligation already. And…”
Shin Bareun’s eyes turned to us who were quietly observing the situation.
“Even if that were the case, you didn’t have to carry it alone.”
Then she turned around without hesitation while speaking.
“I’ll be going. Join student Shin Baran and go to the shelter. It’s an order.”
Choi Garam, who was trying to follow Shin Bareun, approached me again as if she remembered something.
“Give me all the teleportation items.”
“Pardon? What are you talking about?”
I made an excuse.
“Another hunter said he saw you teleporting, where would you get an excuse? And even if you look at time, there’s no answer other than teleportation.”
“I used it all.”
“Really?”
“How expensive teleportation items are!”
Despite my shameless answer, she gave me a suspicious look.
“Try getting caught, it’s a seizure.”
“Whoa, a hunter is robbing a student of an item.”
“I’ll exchange it for money.”
Uh, can I take out the travel ticket and give it to you now?
After being momentarily shaken, I regained my composure. Come to your senses, man.
“…There really isn’t any. Just go quickly.”
“Your silence is long, eh? Phew… Alright. Use only when evacuating. Do you understand?”
“Ah, I told you I don’t have any.”
In the end, when Choi Garam, who hadn’t reaped the harvest due to my refusal, tried to follow in Shin Bareun’s footsteps,
BAAAM—!
The fortress shook.
When I raised my head, I saw a long leg that was darker than the night sky above the barrier.
As I followed the legs, which were thin and gradually became thicker as they reached the body, there was a body resembling a spider emitting a pitch-black aura.
After I was stunned for a moment at that unrealistic scene, Choi Garam grabbed my shoulders tightly with both hands and shouted.
“Hurry and go to the shelter!”
Only then did I come to my senses and run to the inner passage of the fortress, led by Min Jaeyoon’s hand. Fortunately, Calmy didn’t run away and was running right next to us.
After running for a while, Shin Baran was waiting for us anxiously inside.
“Let’s go!”
Because the southern area had already been breached once, we were recommended to move to the northern area where the barrier was still as strong as possible.
I was thinking about using a travel ticket, but decided to save it just in case.
Although we ran hard, the southern area was quite large, and occasionally we could see holes in the walls due to monster attacks.
While Calmy was running, he saw a hole, stopped in his tracks, and muttered.
“It’s dangerous. We’re surrounded.”
Just as he said, a spider web had already formed surrounding the barrier.
A strong spider web surrounded the fortress like a cage. And the small spiders that protruded from the gate spread throughout the barrier, climbing their webs.
At that moment, the fortress shook once again.
BAAAAAM—!
Because of the strong vibration, I almost got thrown out of the fortress, but fortunately Calmy caught me.
“What is it?”
Since this had already happened, I stuck my head out. The startled Shin Baran pulled me back and shouted.
“It’s dangerous!”
“Got it. Sorry.”
“Be careful…”
I patted Min Jaeyoon, who was hugging me.
I only looked out the window for a brief moment, but thanks to that I was able to get a general idea of the situation.
“But guys. I think we’re f*cked.”
That obnoxiously large and obnoxiously leggy class boss had created a hole in the barrier.
And that’s right around the center where we have to pass.
I cursed inwardly as I remembered the image of a single, thin spider leg breaking through the barrier. Holy shit.
“There’s a hole in the barrier?”
“Yeah.”
“S-Should we go to the southern shelter…?”
“Let’s take a look at the situation first.”
I nodded at Calmy’s words. And after discussion, I, who has the highest level of Clairvoyant, decided to look at the situation.
“I’m going to look outside, so please guard me.”
Looking outside, I saw Shin Bareun and other hunters going on a spider raid, yet the situation didn’t seem to be going well at all.
In addition to Shin Bareun’s party, many hunters were seen fighting the monster wave. However, perhaps due to a lack of manpower, most were concentrated on that area.
“…There’s a big problem.”
I saw monsters rushing to this barrier as well.
These were monsters that came out of a previously opened gate, which was different from the level boss gate.
The gate close item was the first item to drop from the fortress. That’s why the situation became this mess.
And the hunters fighting against the regular gate were significantly fewer compared to the level boss gate.
“I-Is it so bad?”
I nodded seriously at Min Jaeyoon’s words.
The fortress is too long. The monster attacks widely, yet there’s an absolute lack of hunters to respond to it.
I realized once again why the Will-O’-The-Wisp can help overcome this situation.
It turns off the monster’s aggro and then teleports the caster’s allies. As a bonus, there is also a self-destruct function.
Things will be easier if we can gather all the monsters and allies in one place to fight.
Moreover, the self-destruct function…
“Sister is being pushed out.”
My thoughts were interrupted by Shin Baran’s trembling voice.
Her expression was distorted, like a child who wanted to throw a tantrum because of an impossible situation.
“Right.”
When I answered calmly, Shin Baran just looked sad, as if she had swallowed something she had been holding in. I tried to offer words of comfort, but I didn’t know what to do, so I stayed silent.
At that moment, Calmy opened his mouth.
“I’m going to support Captain Shin Bareun. You go to the shelter.”
“What?”
“S-Siwoo?”
“Siwoo, don’t be jolking.”
I sighed as if to make it obvious, took out my guns from my inventory, and mounted them.