Chapter 244
Chapter 244
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 244
Chapter Title: Sniper
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"You're saying we're fighting worms?"
"Huh? You look disappointed. If these were just ordinary earthworms, would all these tough guys have gathered here, waiting for me so eagerly?"
This was a different kind of incident from the minor "preemptive measures" I'd handled earlier today.
'Even after plugging all the holes, one slipped through.'
I'd prevented the omens and blocked the triggers, but in the end, one event had triggered anyway.
"Urgh, that's why I told you not to go too deep."
On the big picture, it wasn't a bad situation. It was just like when we'd raided Sangbulsa.
But I wanted to handle it in a more controlled setting, and Yeom Geumja's reckless impulsiveness had kicked it off at an unexpected time.
Grumbling like that, I walked through the ruins swarming with Bongil Cheonpa thugs alongside Jang Hyun-deok.
"Hmm, the angle's not quite right."
The apartment complex was too vast to take in at a glance—a skeletal heap of dozens of gray concrete buildings.
Massive holes punched sporadically into the ground (holes big enough for a train to pass through), bloodstains splattered everywhere, and in the distance—corpses too hazardous to retrieve, left where they lay.
The stage for this "event" wasn't just one building.
It was a large-scale event utilizing the entire sprawling map.
Like I'd boasted to Yeom Geumja, clearing it in 20 minutes would require...
'No, clear time isn't the priority.'
Clear time aside, starting from the right point was key to minimizing issues and preventing follow-up events.
'Should I start around here?'
The angle was good, visibility excellent, and linkage with Bongil Cheonpa wasn't bad either. Even if some tried to flee that way, I could hit them immediately.
"Perfect. This is the spot."
I stopped moving and slowly released my mana.
Sss...
The mana seeped soundlessly into the ground, taking root and beginning to establish a magical foundation that would affect the entire area.
'Careful not to draw aggro...'
No flashy lights or direct effects yet. The worms lurking in that apartment complex would notice my presence and start moving.
So to others, my preparations would look like nothing more than me resting with my head slightly bowed...
That was when Jang Hyun-deok misunderstood my situation and relaxed into his usual behavior.
"Wow, they've really gathered in force."
Meaning he started chattering about trivial things while looking around.
Focused on constructing the magic circle, I replied.
"Yeah."
The Bongil Cheonpa members gathered here numbered nearly 300.
'It started with only about 80.'
And these 300 weren't the end. Factoring in those deployed elsewhere, Yeom Geumja could now muster almost 500 men.
"Ahem, ahem—this is all thanks to you."
Ryu Jae-geun sidled up, bowing and scraping.
"Ahem. Our big sis can be a bit rough around the edges, but you know that, right? She thinks very highly of you."
"Yeah... I know."
She'd gone beyond complaints to spewing all sorts of curses, but Yeom Geumja had followed my instructions regardless, securing massive gains in territory.
That influx had let her expand her forces at breakneck speed. And high on her rapid successes, she'd ignored my warnings and pushed too far.
"So for our big sis's sake too... please take care of this. Really... we've never seen anything like it... We're just thugs who can bully easy marks. We can't handle monsters like that."
Ryu Jae-geun shuddered, shoulders hunched. A bit annoying, but... hard to completely ignore.
"Got it."
The magic circle was roughly ready.
Wonder if Yeom Geumja was set by now?
"Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek!"
"Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek!"
Sounds too grotesque to come from human mouths. Unfortunately, they did.
I knew the situation and tried to ignore them, but...
"H-Hey! Let go! Hold on!"
"Urk."
Jang Hyun-deok's voice. I looked up toward the source.
"I saw it! I saw it! I saw, I tell you! It staggered over, stumbling and swaying, head split open! Head split wide! Hideous things—worms or tadpoles, who knows—burst out everywhere! They shrieked that chilling kiek-kiek and burrowed into the guy in front of me!"
Bloodshot eyes, drool at the mouth, fingers clenched like talons, trembling.
The disaster they'd faced before I arrived wasn't ordinary combat. An assault by monsters that shattered sanity and induced madness.
Those who couldn't endure the shock had become lunatics. They grabbed Jang Hyun-deok, spewing ravings.
"It groaned chrrrr, chrrrr, grrrgl, grrrgl! Puked up a whole basin of blood! A basin! Then staggered over, stumbling and swaying, shouting three times, 'I opened my eyes! I opened my eyes! I see the [Fear Drinker]! I see the [Fear Drinker]!' Over there! Right there! Way over there!"
They pointed at the long-abandoned gray ruins, screaming on.
"Into that pit, gaping like a black maw! I saw it! I heard it! That voice still echoes! Don't you hear it? The kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek!"
"Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek!"
"Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek!"
Lunatics swarmed around, blindly screeching in chorus.
* * *
"Destruction Mage! See? These trash turned into this shit because of what they saw. You know what it was, right?"
Yeom Geumja's bellow.
"I do."
"Thirty guys got dragged off by those worms! What the hell are those worm bastards? How's that prick Cheokdu pulling this off?"
"It's not Cheokdu."
"What?"
"Cultists contracted to Cheokdu summoned them."
"Fuck, so monsters, huh? Goddamn it. You were on about risks on the phone earlier? You knew shit like this could happen and sent me into this hellhole?"
I knew this could happen, and I'd sent Yeom Geumja here, but one key detail was missing.
"But I didn't ask you to march this many people deep into the complex, did I?"
"Urk—that's..."
I'd requested a blockade at the apartment entrances. It was reconnaissance-level, no need for 300 men.
"I know what you were thinking. Hearing it was one of Cheokdu's bases, you planned to seize and secure it outright."
High on her gains, Yeom Geumja had led her forces too deep, clashing with Cheokdu's men.
'Must've taken heavy losses. I said not to fight here.'
And that fulfilled the start condition for the event primed in this location.
"Fuck... But... If you'd said from the start monsters like this would show up, I wouldn't have."
Yeom Geumja replied, thoroughly deflated.
"You're right. I'll own that mistake."
It was a low-probability event. I'd skimped on explicit warnings compared to other sites.
"Huh...? Really?"
Yeom Geumja eyed me awkwardly.
Yeah, when she'd called, my irritation had made me snap too harshly.
"Yes. That's why I'm here to clean it up. And I'll rescue the ones who got dragged off."
"R-Rescue? You can rescue them? I saw those worms burrow into those idiots. You saying you can save them?"
"I can. Treatment will take time, but I know a doctor... She can probably handle it."
The people dragged off by the worms—the monsters—weren't exactly innocents.
And they knew the risks of injury, breakage, and death when playing organized crime in Paju, right?
"Ha, fuck. Can't even curse freely now. If you can really do that... Destruction Mage, yeah... I was wrong. Save my boys. Some of those dragged off have been with me since the early days."
[Will you accept the quest?]
But I wasn't doing it for them—I just could, so I would.
"Alright."
* * *
I moved a short distance and checked the items Yeom Geumja had prepared.
Nothing extravagant.
Just 20 iron harpoons and 20 "toy guns"—no, "mana stone guns."
"Hmm. This'll do."
Worm monsters might seem instinct-driven, but they weren't.
Like Sangbulsa's amphibian humans, these had a pope figure, commanders, and ones blessed with special powers by the [Fear Drinker] they served.
First, eliminate those.
"Wizard, what're you planning?"
"Something like what you saw earlier today."
I slid a 50cm iron harpoon into a mana stone gun's barrel and activated my magic.
[Mana Imbuement: Penetration]
Mana threads extended from my body at tremendous speed, wrapping the mana stone gun and harpoon.
Krrrk—
The threads rooted into the barrel and harpoon, forming complex mana circuits.
A spell infusing ordinary tools with mana to temporarily grant artifact-level power.
[Mana Overload]
It overactivated the mana stones attached to the gun via the rooted threads.
Kiiing— Kiiing—
The mana stones in the barrel simultaneously spewed their stored mana, creating an absurd racket.
"And..."
[Power Boost]
[Hardness Reinforcement]
[Armor Penetration]
[Range Extension]
[Critical Rate Up]
[Explosive Impact]
[Vital Strike]
Kiiiiiing!!
Now the mana stones, the gun itself, even the harpoon in the barrel thrummed like it might explode any second.
"Wh-What's that?"
"It gonna blow?"
Murmurs rippled around. Ah, shoulda warned them? Too late now.
"What the fuck. This monster bastard."
Yeom Geumja could handle mana to some degree. Sensing the sheer volume I was manipulating, she backed away in horror.
"Sis, time?"
"Huh? 9:25."
"Then, that direction."
[Protection Circle]
[Invisible Hand]
[Shock Nullification]
I raised the gun, aiming at the exposed gray concrete of the apartment complex—slightly diagonally upward—and fired.
KABOOM!
The launched harpoon didn't just tear the air—it generated a crunching shockwave, piercing the apartment wall, then ceiling—wall pierce, ceiling pierce, wall, ceiling—repeating until it smashed the [Doctrine Holder] cowering around the 7th floor of that unfinished building, their worm pope equivalent.
"Whoa..."
Good thing I'd used telekinesis, not my hands. Perfect shot, but the gun shattered from the recoil of that firepower.
"Whoooaa? Wizard, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Feels like I've been asking that nonstop today—what the hell was that?"
"What else? Like I said, something like earlier. A sniper shot."
"Wha—Sniper? You shot a wall! Who'd you kill?"
Yeom Geumja's question this time.
"A medium-type—ah, busy, questions later!"
That instant,
A horrific cacophony erupted from all across the vast apartment complex.
Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek! Kiek-kiek!
Not human voices this time. Hundreds of monsters unleashing deafening shrieks.
"Good, here they come."
I spread my ten fingers wide, conjuring nineteen mana threads at once.
Shraaarak!
[Invisible Hand]
[Spell Enhancement: Multi-Cast]
"This time, all at once."
The telekinetic mana began manipulating nineteen iron harpoons and nineteen mana stone guns.