Mad Dash Through the Golem Hive
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Sergeant: Baek Jaesung 19
The residential district was laid out like a perfect grid, a checkerboard of streets. Wide avenues crossed it in a neat X, with single-family homes arranged in orderly rows around them. Strangely enough, every single roof was painted bright red.
The road connecting our hill to the district ran straight to its heart, right down the central avenue. Keep following it, and we'd hit the bullseye. Perfect spot to get surrounded. Strolling down there without a plan would land us in deep shit for sure.
"That neighborhood's a goddamn beehive. Packed to the brim with scrap golems and spider golems inside those houses."
Everyone nodded at the company commander's words. We had to clear out this hive as safely as possible. No easy feat.
"Getting encircled by golems would suck. They're emotionless machines—no fear, no self-preservation. They'll just swarm us like lemmings. They've done it before."
Just like Rina said, one slip-up leading to encirclement, and the monsters' sheer numbers would chew us up bad.
We were only six strong. Hundreds of golems lurking in that district could snap a net around us in seconds.
Surrounded, we'd have to watch attacks flying from every direction. That alone would tank our combat effectiveness.
And these encirclement pros? Cold, unfeeling machine legions. They'd charge like disposable pawns. Drag it into a prolonged fight, and we're toast.
"Then we punch through before they can even form that net."
Jang Gun-gi nailed it.
"Gun-gi's right. We're just six. Our mobility trumps those rustbuckets every time."
Scrap golems and spider golems weren't speed demons to begin with. Outrunning them wasn't rocket science.
"What's the movement plan, sir?"
Han Seungjin asked the company commander, who traced the terrain with his finger, outlining our route.
"Our goal's maximum monster kills. So we'll cut right through the district's center. Tons of them clustered around there."
Our eyes followed his fingertip. The village sprawled below, littered with toppled utility poles.
A place meant for people, now crawling with cold, scrap-skinned golems. Felt like staring at a machine empire's occupation zone.
"See that big mansion on the right? Monster hotspot. We'll smash it, then barrel straight through and out."
Route was dead simple: straight ahead, right at the major intersection, then straight again.
Even a total direction-dyslexic couldn't get lost. Key here wasn't the path—it was the speed.
"Eyes sharp, everyone. Let's move!"
With the company commander leading, 3rd Company surged forward again.
This time, we pushed the pace harder than usual. What we were attempting now was a flat-out race against time.
We hit the district entrance. Roads were cratered everywhere—watch your step or eat dirt. And with that, our time trial kicked off.
Screeech! Screeech! Screeech!
The eerie symphony of rusted joints grinding filled the air. Scrap golem racket.
Wrapped head to toe in scrap metal plating, just moving made a nails-on-chalkboard screech.
"Here they come!"
Like bees sensing intruders, a massive wave of scrap golems lumbered out from the houses. Without mental prep, it'd rattle anyone.
"Am I imagining it, or do these feel scarier than the last batch?"
Maybe they hated us interrupting their sweet downtime?
Hwang Cheolmin had a point—their red eyes glowing around us burned brighter, fiercer. Emotionless scrap piles? Bullshit. If these tin cans were pissed at us, that'd be groundbreaking.
"Smash their line before more pile up!"
Company commander's order. I burned mana crafting Holy Missiles.
A barrage of condensed light bullets formed behind me. Homing shots. One per rustbot oughta do it.
Shwooo!
Han Seungjin's Darkness Arrows sliced the air too. His aim as deadly as mine—he loosed over ten, perfect hits. Every arrow nailed the exact same spot.
Scrap golem weak points: torso and head junction. Like a human neck. No real difference there.
"No time to stand around! Move!"
Han Seungjin and I fired on the run. Zero misses. Golems were slugs anyway, but we were both gods at range.
"Seungjin! Cut off those golems spilling from the left mansion! I'll take right!"
"Got it."
Two mansions vomiting scrap golems, one left, one right of us.
Han Seungjin handled left. Golems—scrap and spider—pouring through the gate got shredded by his Darkness Arrows, half-wrecked in a blink.
I mirrored him on the right, just swapping Darkness Arrows for Holy Missiles.
Gate clogged with scrap wreckage—classic bottleneck. Still, more golems forced through the gap. Zero brains in those actions.
Holy Missile has leveled up!
Holy Missile Lv 2 (A-rank)
↳ Consumes stamina and mana to create light missiles.
Blasting that many Holy Missiles pushed the skill to level up.
Each missile packed a bit more punch now. Small tweak, but those add up—can swing a fight. Level-ups are always a win.
While Han Seungjin and I sealed two houses and thinned the herd, the rest of the company breezed past the golems' flimsy blockade.
Rina the ranged DPS, tanky company commander, melee Hwang Cheolmin, Gun-gi—all chipped in on golem count.
High physical defense, sure, but hit weak spots and melee could wreck 'em easy. After all these scraps, 3rd Company knew scrap golem playbook cold.
"Nice! Front line's history! Push!"
We bolted for the district core, zombie horde of scrap golems shambling after.
Vrrrrooom!
A sinister black orb formed in Han Seungjin's palm, mana surging ominously. His Darkness Cannon from yesterday—the one that wowed with raw power.
Unlike yesterday's 10+ minute charge, this was a 5-second rush job. He hurled it rearward.
BOOM!
Rushed or not, it still wrecked. Trailing scrap legion exploded skyward. Lacked yesterday's molten steel flair, but solid.
Lead squad crumbled, tripping the followers over their own debris.
Dumb AI kept blindly chasing 3rd Company, clueless to the why. Gap between us? Massive now.
"Good—right at the intersection ahead."
We'd reached the district heart. Monster swarm waiting.
Mostly scrap golems, but new faces too. Fan blade on the head like a propeller, huge battery pack on the back. Slimmer than chunky scraps.
Perfect horror game creep. Fan Golem fit the bill.
"What the hell are those?"
Rina blurted, spooked by the mad-scientist vibes. Her hand swept forward—dozen thick chains erupted, throttling monsters blocking our path.
Whirrr!
Fan golem's head fan spun up. Not just blades—mana-infused.
Screee!
It headbanged wildly, blades shearing Rina's chain off a scrap golem ally. Sparks flew; cracks spiderwebbed her thick links.
"Ngh! These ain't normal!"
Rina yelped, face twisted in shock.
No denying it—fan golems outclassed scraps. Fluid, cheetah-quick moves no sluggish scrap could match. And mana blades? Nasty.
Melee better watch out. Get grazed by those fans, even dungeon hunters eat serious damage. Ranged needed to prune 'em early.
"Seungjin!"
"On it!"
No words wasted—we nodded mutual intent and sniped the fan golems together. Lucky few: about ten total.
"We'll handle these!"
"Roger! Keep moving!"
Chase pack closing from behind. More houses vomiting monsters by the second.
Hesitate like the commander warned, and numbers overwhelm. Nets doubling, tripling—gotta blaze.
Han Seungjin and I each tagged five fan golems. Company commander and Hwang Cheolmin punched the path. Seamless teamwork.
"Raaargh!"
Suddenly, a head-fan psycho burst from a side house, spinning berserk, barreling to shred our torsos. Holy Missile straight to it, no hesitation.
"Monster variety's getting dynamic."
Slipped out casually. We bulldozed onward, carving the road. Scrap defenses? Laughable.
3rd Company cleared the district in 10 minutes flat. Must've dropped 100+ in the frenzy. But unease lingered. Mechanical footsteps chilled our spines.
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