Episode 21
Episode 21
The area in front of the ladder had become deserted.
Just a moment ago, it had been a place where people were lining up to go down.
Now, it was just the two of us.
I glanced at her standing beside me and asked.
"Shall we go?"
She turned to look at me.
Her gaze narrowed slightly.
It felt like she was sizing me up as if something was off, or perhaps it was just habitual wariness.
A moment later.
"Fine. But first, let's introduce ourselves. I'm Han Min-ah."
"Choi Han."
Short and concise. There was no need to drag it out.
We immediately grabbed the ladder and went down.
The underground passage had a distinct smell.
Soil, rusted iron, and old dampness.
The lighting was cut off in places, and the ones that were on were flickering or dying out in a sickly yellow hue.
While walking through the narrow passage, Han Min-ah carefully examined her surroundings.
Her gaze was steady.
It wasn't the look of someone who had come here for the first time.
"You're used to this."
It was close to a mutter, but she heard it.
"Must have come here a lot?"
She didn't stop walking, just gave a slight nod.
"That's right. I needed money, for one thing."
"Hmm."
I replied briefly.
I didn't pry further.
I could feel that she was someone who had lived in the shelter for quite a while.
The way she walked, the way she scanned her surroundings, the fact that her shoulders didn't tense up even in the narrow space.
It was all evident.
'But why didn't she reveal that she was an Awakened?'
Being an Awakened was a form of power in this world.
There was no need to go around rummaging through places like this to earn money.
Just by going to the massive shelters in Seoul, the treatment would be different.
"But why didn't you tell the Shelter Manager that you're an Awakened?"
"Hmm..."
"If it's a burden, you don't have to say."
Han Min-ah was silent for a moment, then let out a bitter laugh.
"No, there's no grand reason. Just... because there's no one to trust?"
"For instance?"
"Living as an Awakened in a shelter is quite annoying. Do this for me, do that for me."
She trailed off.
Her tone was light, but it felt like there was something heavy behind it.
'Looks like... she's been hurt by something?'
I didn't ask further.
It was a part that didn't need to be touched.
We walked through the passage in silence.
As we went deeper, the tunnel split into several branches.
In front of the popular tunnels, people were inevitably gathered.
The light from torches and lanterns tangled together, and the various voices overlapped to create noise.
And somewhere, without fail.
"You son of a bitch! Can't you see we were here first?"
"What? Where's the spot! Is this tunnel yours?"
"Wanna fight, you fucker!"
Two groups were posturing towards each other.
An atmosphere where it wouldn't be strange if a knife came out at any moment.
I turned my head and pointed to a quiet tunnel further inside.
"How about that one?"
Han Min-ah looked that way for a moment, then nodded.
"Sure, that's fine."
The tunnel entrance was narrow.
As we stepped inside, the noise peeled away.
Instead, a thicker darkness and smell rushed in.
The cold seeping from the dirt walls, and the smell of something rotting.
It was as expected.
"Ugh..."
"Grrr..."
Silhouettes were moving inside the tunnel.
Irregular gaits, limp arms. They were zombies.
Beings that seemed to be everywhere, annoyingly familiar.
"Leave it to me."
Han Min-ah stepped forward.
Flames bloomed from her fingertips.
Small, sharp lights gathered and condensed into the form of a fire arrow.
Hwareuk—
Ping!
The arrow cut through the darkness.
It struck the zombie's head accurately, and it collapsed without even a scream.
The next one, and the one after that. Three or four arrows flew in succession.
It was an instant kill.
And strangely enough.
The arrows didn't disappear.
They slowly spun in the air before returning to her hand.
"Oh..."
An exclamation came out first.
Han Min-ah turned around, unable to hide a somewhat smug expression, and clasped her hands behind her back.
"Well, it's nothing special."
Someone who pretends it's nothing but can't hide the expression on their face.
They say praise makes even whales dance.
Even an Awakened like this was the same in the end.
But there was something else I needed to see.
"Can you use that often? Is it okay to use it like that on regular zombies?"
You only need to play a game a little bit to know the weakness of the mage class.
Mana and willpower.
It's flashy, but the consumption is just as high.
"You're not supposed to use it, technically."
She admitted honestly.
"But I needed to show you my skills."
For the sake of team play, she had revealed her hand directly.
She had good sense.
"Then I'll show you mine too."
Two zombies were walking towards us after hearing the sound.
I didn't use my ability.
Revealing that I was an Awakened was a premature judgment.
I had no assurance that I could trust her, and above all, she was someone who could become an enemy.
Knowing my ability was the same as knowing my weakness.
So, I just moved like a physically fit ordinary person.
I grabbed one guy's head and twisted it.
Snap.
At the same time, I finished off the other one by smashing its crown with my fist.
"That's impressive."
Han Min-ah said slowly.
"You're one of the best ordinary people I've ever seen, seriously."
"Is that so?"
Honestly, it was a bit unexpected.
Is there someone like me who ate the Adult Elixir?
At my surprised expression, she smiled slightly and said.
"It's a small world. I've seen a man take down five zombies with a pencil."
"...With a pencil?"
"Yeah."
Anyway, the assessment of each other's combat power was roughly finished.
I looked inside the tunnel and said.
"I'll handle the regular zombies. If a variant appears, or if there are too many, then you step in."
"Sounds good."
It was simple.
Either way, to catch the variants, we had to break through the zombie horde first. The division of roles was natural.
We moved further inside.
While we were repeating the battles like that.
"Keureuk! Kkeureuk!"
A strange sound was heard.
My gaze went to that sound automatically.
"Did you hear that?"
"It's a variant."
The variant that appeared in front of us.
It looked disgusting, just as the Shelter Manager said.
"And besides."
"There are a lot of them."
"I see them."
It seemed like Han Min-ah's firepower would be needed.
At the same time as that thought occurred.
She was already moving.
Before she even reached out, fire arrows floated in the air.
One shot, two shots.
And perhaps judging that it wasn't enough, her arm drew a large arc.
Hwareureureuk—
A wall of fire stood up.
A massive wall of flame crossing the narrow tunnel.
The heat spread instantly.
It was hot enough to make me turn my face away.
"Damn."
I stepped back without realizing it.
"Kieeeee!"
"Kieek!"
The variants shrieked, thrusting their disgusting insect-like maws forward.
But all they could do was stomp their feet in front of the wall of fire.
'Insects have always had fire as their natural enemy.'
The more surprising thing was what came next.
Han Min-ah didn't stop at just putting up a wall.
The wall of fire began to slowly push forward.
The variants retreated, were pushed into the corner of the tunnel, and in doing so, the entire space was cleared.
It wasn't an attack; it was area control.
"Is magic... all like that?"
Naturally, the unexplored regions remaining in the Fantasy Dimension Gallery came to mind.
'I want to try mass destruction like that too.'
If I bought just one bomb from the Cyberpunk Dimension, it would be possible right now.
However, the problem was that we were inside a tunnel right now.
Because the moment I used it, the ceiling would collapse first.
Plus, it lacked the romance of magic.
"Anyway."
Chiiiiii...
The surroundings were cleared.
The charred variants were rolling on the floor like insects with their backs turned, their legs twitching.
"Ugh, disgusting bastards."
I finished off the remaining ones by stepping on them one by one.
The sensation of the thick, hard exoskeleton being crushed wasn't very pleasant.
Soon, we were the only ones moving in the tunnel.
"Let's take a break."
Han Min-ah said.
Fatigue was evident in her voice.
The smugness from earlier had already vanished.
"Good work. Go ahead and rest first. But what are you going to do with these corpses?"
"Just leave them, I guess. Anyway, I'll be resting for a bit."
Answering as if it were obvious, she moved towards the makeshift shelter.
After confirming her back disappeared inside, I quietly scanned the surroundings.
No one was there.
I slowly opened the shop window.
"These corpses... they might be worth quite a bit?"
Without expecting much, I sold one random corpse.
-Variant Worker — 5 million Ether.
"Wow."
Honestly, I thought I'd be lucky if it was even 1 million.
Seeing the number 5 million, I checked the window again for a moment.
'Just the ones lying around here... there are hundreds of them.'
I scanned the tunnel floor.
Being insect-types, there were many of them.
Six-legged ones, eight-legged ones, ones with half-melted wings. They were packed.
'She wouldn't notice if a few hundred disappeared, right?'
"Let's gather them little by little so she doesn't notice."
I slowly started selling the ones Han Min-ah had taken care of to the shop, one by one.
The numbers piled up.
And finally.
-Ether Balance: 1 billion Ether.
"Wow..."
It was 1 billion after disposing of about 200 of them.
You wouldn't get this much even if you searched the trash mountain for half a day.
Why search the trash mountain and suffer like a dog?
When I can just pick them up from the side.
I felt good.
"How much was the one-arm implant again?"
The feeling of having some leeway.
I opened the shop window and scrolled down.
"Oh."
Something caught my eye.
[Name] : Black Core Prosthetic Arm Implant
[Category] : Body Modification
[Function] : 1. Strength Amplification
Module Slot: Electric Shock / Wire Ejection
Combat Assist AI (Low-level)
[Required Ether] : 1 billion Ether
It was the perfect item for my current situation.
I pressed purchase without hesitation.
I activated the Alchemy skill.
-Implant connecting.
-Nemesis Prosthetic Eye, Black Core Prosthetic Arm.
The sensation in my right hand changed.
It wasn't heavy.
It was the opposite.
The feeling of muscles being pulled taut, the sensation of tension and power entering at the same time.
It was my hand, but it also felt like it wasn't my hand.
As an experiment, I took a piece of rebar out of the Dark Room.
I placed it on my palm and squeezed slowly.
Kkigigigigigik—
It made a sound.
The rebar shrank.
It wasn't bending.
It was being compressed.
I kept squeezing.
The rebar gradually became a ball shape.
"Crazy."
The words came out before I could think.
A heavy lump was sitting quietly in my hand.
It was a piece of rebar the size of a forearm just a moment ago.
"Then."
"You... what are you?"
I turned around.
Han Min-ah was standing there.
From the entrance, she was looking at me.
The tired look was nowhere to be found, and now something else was filling its place.