Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: The Underheart King
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Jin was heavy.
With ultra-high-density muscles packed into his frame, his body weighed far more than it looked.
But even so, Natasha carried him along at a solid clip.
She had that slender build, but it turned out her core was stuffed full of muscle—an endurance and strength that defied simple explanations.
In truth, psychics generally had physical abilities superior to regular humans.
They couldn't compare to DNA-modified enhanced humans, but they were still tougher than they appeared, all the same.
Even so, Jin was heavy.
With his 100-plus-kilo body dangling limply, Natasha's breathing grew more labored as time wore on.
She was trying her best not to show it, but everyone had their limits.
Finally, even Jin could hear her ragged gasps. He lifted his head.
"...Hey, put me down."
"We're good? Your gut, got a hole, in it, got it?"
Her reply came in choppy bursts as she ran.
Jin placed a hand on his lower belly.
"It's healed. For real."
"What? That doesn't make any sense..."
Since the other Natasha couldn't check, Shotgun Natasha twisted her head around instead.
"...It really is."
She peered through the tear in his clothes at his smooth, scarless side and muttered in stunned disbelief.
Jin peeled her hand off his thigh and dropped to the ground.
The moment he did, monsters—zombies? Vampires? Something in between—lunged at him from both sides.
Kieeeek!
Jin flung his arms wide and seized the backs of their heads, slamming them together with a resounding crash! like a pair of cymbals.
A face-smash that went way beyond a kiss.
He leaped over the monsters as they crumpled, their mashed-together visages stuck fast, and chased after the group pulling ahead.
Then he staggered for a moment.
He barely managed to right his tilting body.
Truth be told, he was still dizzy as hell.
The piercing wound in his lower abdomen had closed up, but the real issue was that the vampire's hand—which had shredded his peritoneum—had melted into bloody sludge inside him at some point...
It feels so gross. Why's my body so damn hot?
Jin gritted his teeth and picked up the pace.
Plowing through the monsters blocking his path.
From the looks of it, these were probably Underheart crew members from their living days.
Check it out. That one's still in pajamas.
Jin shattered the pajama-clad corpse's jaw with a flying knee.
In the midst of it all, he spotted Maximo sprawled on the ground.
His ankle had been grabbed, and now a swarm of corpses was piling onto him like a school of piranhas.
Jin raised his right arm high.
Pzzt-zzt-zzzt!!
He drew lightning from the polestar, shaping it into a slender spear. Gripping it tight, he hurled it before his airtime ran out.
BOOM!!
The upper bodies of the clustered monsters detonated in unison.
From Maximo's perspective, his vision—swamped with corpses—suddenly cleared amid a deafening blast. Flesh rained down on his face like a storm as he scrambled to his feet in a panic.
Jin let out a relieved sigh once he confirmed the mercenary's bald head was unscathed.
He shook out his hand vigorously to甩 off the lingering electricity.
A projectile forged from polestar lightning: Thunder Spear.
It was a technique Jin usually ignored completely.
Because the cost-performance was abysmal.
The mana needed to form a Thunder Spear could've kept him wrapped in self-generated lightning for over two minutes, spin or no spin.
So why bother firing off a few shots when he could just cloak himself in lightning and beat the crap out of them instead? Way less hassle.
That was Jin—someone who'd always dismissed the techniques etched into his mind.
Still, it'd earned its keep this time around.
The problem was the massive mana drain.
Which was why he drew Gravis.
Bang—!!
He kept running, punching holes in the foreheads of the sticky monsters clinging to him, until suddenly the Natashas came into view up ahead.
What do you even call this?
Leftasha? Rightasha?
Whatever. The two Natashas were blasting, punching, and kicking their way through the vanguard.
Then, from the teeming heart of the enemy horde, a massive roar erupted out of nowhere. The next instant, a hulking corpse barreled through the bodies blocking its path, using its shoulder like a battering ram.
Grraaaah!
A bear beastman.
Looked like it'd died in its beastified state.
Natasha (Right) immediately blasted it with her shotgun, but even with half its head blown off, it didn't stop charging.
Beastmen were the epitome of toughness, after all.
And without the ability to feel pain? Its breakthrough power was off the charts.
It closed the gap in a flash, barreling toward Natasha (Left) like a dump truck.
That's when Jin—racing in from the rear at breakneck speed—slammed his shoulder into it.
The impact sent Jin and the bear beastman ricocheting in opposite directions.
Jin recovered his balance first and fired Gravis: bang! bang! bang!
The bear beastman's body slumped to the ground, its head completely gone.
That's when a voice rang out.
"Jin! Natasha! Duck!"
The three of them dropped low on instinct as three grenades arced overhead.
Followed by the explosions.
And a suddenly thinned-out front line.
"Let's go!"
Jin took point, with the others right behind.
How much time passed?
After running frantically for what felt like forever, the group finally found a staircase leading even deeper underground.
No time to hesitate—they leaped down. But by then, the corpses had closed in right up to their heels, their putrid breath brushing their napes.
"Uwaaaah!! Uwaaaaaah!!"
The mercenary's pitiful screams were just icing on the cake.
He'd somehow ended up at the rear, inches from being grabbed, but he'd thrown himself forward in a tumble and saved his skin.
Problem was, sprawled on the ground, all he could do was crawl. He was moments from being overrun by the wave of shrieking undead.
Then came the sound of a clap.
And something exploded.
Kwaaaang!!!
A massive boulder plummeted from above, piling up at the stairwell entrance and sealing the path.
"Over here. Hurry."
The group whipped their heads toward the gravelly old voice.
Even the toppled mercenary shone his flashlight over.
There stood a wild-haired old man, beckoning them closer. Hesitating here would just make things harder.
Better follow him.
They trailed the old man through the twisting dark tunnels until they reached a dead-end chamber—sealed on all sides save for a small entrance. The group collapsed in a heap.
Everyone was covered in wounds big and small.
Even so, their eyes stayed fixed on the old man who'd guided them here. He met their stares wordlessly, then plopped down awkwardly on the floor.
"Kill that noisy light first."
Maximo snatched the flashlight from the mercenary's hand and clicked it off.
The old man snapped his fingers.
"Ooh."
A soft orb of light floated into being, bathing the area in perfect illumination. Jin let out a small murmur of admiration and turned.
"...So, who are you?"
The old man slowly raised his head.
His right eye was a milky white ruin, his left growing cloudy by the same measure. Both fixed on Jin.
"The king."
Anyone hearing that would've scoffed.
In a world where cars flew and skyscrapers scraped the clouds, king? What a load of bullshit.
But this was a special place.
A kingdom forged by criminals holed up in tunnels.
Underheart Kingdom, wasn't it?
So what was this old guy's deal?
"Damir Habo...vich?"
Jin recalled the notes from Drandre's notebook. The old man nodded.
"Yeah. That's me."
Damir Habovich.
A 2nd-circle mage who'd mastered explosive spells, known as the Bomb Mage.
The mastermind behind Underheart—and an old monster who'd spent over 30 years holed up in these tunnels.
Though his body had weakened severely in old age due to extreme implant rejection.
Thanks, Drandre.
Jin wiped the cold sweat from his neck with the back of his hand as he mentally reviewed the notebook's contents.
"Your kingdom's a total mess."
"I know."
Maximo let out a hollow scoff at the curt reply.
One of the Natashas—sitting with her back against the wall—fixed her gaze on the old man and spoke up.
"...Do you even realize what you've done? Vampires. Monsters extinct for centuries—what were you thinking, waking them up? No sense of crisis at all?"
"Wasn't me."
"What?"
"The traitors' doing."
Deep wrinkles furrowed the old man's brow as he spoke.
"Damn fools ignored my warnings and cracked open the sarcophagus. Just because it was found in the ruins, they convinced themselves it held some grand artifact."
Anyone from Jin's hometown would've thought of a certain movie right then.
Tomb Raider.
The one about something nasty waking up underground.
A mega-hit with 11.9 million viewers.
Of course, Jin had no clue.
He'd been dragged away before it even hit theaters.
So he just asked without a second thought.
"...So you smelled something fishy?"
"It reeked of ominous magic. Should never have pried it open. Absolutely not."
The old man trembled with rage, spitting out the last words.
Here's what had happened.
During tunnel expansion, they stumbled on an underground ruin.
Hearts full of hope, they investigated—and found a massive stone sarcophagus.
You warn people not to open something, and it just makes them want to all the more.
Obsessed with the idea of an artifact inside, the fools murdered the guards and forced it open.
Anyway, open it they did. The ignorant bravehearts smashed every magical seal inscribed on it.
And out came the pureblood clan.
Of all things, a Lord-class one.
Lord-class meant a specimen specialized in spells and blood manipulation—capable of expanding its forces by infecting others with its own blood—
Maximo chimed in with a quick explanation midway.
Hm, yeah. Thanks.
Anyway, the thing woke up.
First order of business: restoring its millennium-rotted body.
It created followers to offer up sacrifices.
Enveloped the entire tunnel network in a blood barrier.
Did a bunch of other magical crap, anyway.
There were detailed explanations, but Jin couldn't focus.
He'd never cared much for this kind of talk to begin with.
And now his fever was spiking weirdly, leaving his eyes and ears in a haze.
What's wrong with me, seriously.
He blinked through the mild vertigo—and the status window filled his vision again.
What now.
Too frantic earlier to read it properly, Jin forced himself to scan the lines one by one.
[Pureblood accepted?]
He glared at the sentence testing the identity he'd staunchly guarded through every crisis.
If glares had physical force, the window would've been shredded to bits.
At the same time, fury blazed up like wildfire.
You vampire bastard. We weren't even done settling scores from almost killing each other—and you pull this sneaky infection shit?
You're dead.
Even if I die, I'll kill you first.
Veins bulged on Jin's forehead.
His temperature was already boiling over, and now rage piled on top—his vision spun for a second there.
He rubbed his eyes roughly to clear it and whipped around to the old man.
"So you're just gonna hide out like this?"
"...What?"
"Your kingdom's fallen to outsiders. Criminals? Vassals? Doesn't matter—all your underlings turned into monsters. You're the king, right? Gonna take that lying down? Time for revenge."
Jin didn't wait for a reply before pressing on.
"Got any plans? You're a 2nd-circle mage."
"...Gonna rally the survivors. Hit it before it regains its full power."
"How do you find the survivors?"
The questions came rapid-fire.
Technically, intruders grilling the owner.
But the old man buckled under Jin's faintly glowing eyes and moved his lips almost unconsciously.
"...Life-detection spell."
"Good."
Jin nodded and swiped the status window away.
Then he sorted his thoughts.
Time limit. Confined space. Boss wandering randomly.
Maybe it was the death sentence hanging over him.
Either way, the game-like elements didn't trigger panic this time around.
Just irritation amid the haze of fever.
With that, Jin ground his teeth and muttered.
"Alright, then. Let's raid this thing."