Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Prison Liberation
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Kim Yeonhee had found the key.
I wandered through the prison, asking the players locked inside.
“Want to join our alliance?”
The answer to this question was the same from everyone.
[Yes.]
It was the obvious choice.
Better to break out of prison and die fighting these bastards than rot as Japanese POWs and get tortured to death.
I freed the players from their cells one by one, then headed outside.
“…No sign of Chakan i.”
Chakan i hadn’t been caught.
She might be in another prison, but there was no way someone of her skill had been taken alive.
“Cheonjae.”
“What?”
“Someone’s waving a torch from that building up there?”
I looked up at the building in front of us.
That was where the Korean alliance’s snipers were posted.
They were waving it in a figure-eight pattern.
“Distress signal? Figure-eight means enemies incoming.”
“Enemies? From where?”
“No idea. Let’s hide first.”
We led the Korean alliance into the nearest alleyway.
We couldn’t move far without knowing where the enemy was.
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da!
A figure in a brown robe rode up on horseback and stopped in front of the prison.
I peered cautiously from behind a dumpster, sizing him up.
“…That’s the guy.”
The owner of the northern prison.
He pulled off his hood.
A mage who looked exactly like Yi Okhan. So the rumors were true—the wardens of the south and north were twins.
Nearly a hundred Japanese soldiers followed behind him.
Upon arriving at the prison, they scanned the surroundings warily before sending a search party into the building.
‘…Jeong Ha-gyun’s group must’ve failed.’
The Korean alliance that headed north had apparently botched the mission.
Otherwise, they’d be here by now.
“Damn it.”
If they were moving, that meant command had been alerted too.
‘…’
Meat cut, bone severed.
No choice but to sacrifice flesh to claim bone.
I deliberately stood up, letting them spot me.
A Japanese player searching the area saw me and shouted.
-Enemy spotted!
With a metallic cha-rung sound, they swung their gun barrels every which way at blinding speed.
I yelled.
“Yi Okhan!”
Bang! Bang!
They opened fire toward where we were hiding.
Some drew swords, dropping into defensive stances.
Bracing for a possible enemy ambush.
Everyone but me hunkered down low, melting into the shadows.
Yi Okhan, now my summon, charged straight at the Japanese soldiers.
The Japanese players confirmed his face and stopped shooting.
-Huh? Isn’t that Warden Yi Okhan?
-Yeah. What’s he doing coming from there?
-Wait. That inverted cross on his neck. No way…
Yi Okhan whispered.
“Fireball.”
Boom!
Amid the pouring rain, flames erupted skyward. For a brief moment, the area lit up bright as day.
The Japanese scattered in panic, dodging his attack.
-Yi, Yi Okhan! It’s us! US!
Yi Okhun stepped forward.
“Everyone, stand aside!”
He thrust his hand toward Yi Okhan.
“Ice Bolt.”
Shiiiik—
An ice shard the size of a melon sliced through the rain and struck Yi Okhan.
Crack! His body froze solid.
Seizing the moment, I pulled the torch I’d been given from my inner pocket and lit it.
Crackle. Crackle. Sizzle!
I waved it in a Z shape.
The snipers on the building poked their rifles out.
“…Let’s end this.”
Bang!
One Japanese soldier dropped.
Thud.
The enemy’s eyes turned to the building. But it was too late to react.
The Korean alliance had already surrounded the area, cutting off escape routes.
Bang! Bang!
Bullets kept flying. Japanese soldiers fell one by one. Without orders from Yi Okhun, they milled about in confusion.
-Wh-what do we do? Aaaagh! My hand! My hand!
-Pl-please… spare me…
-Warden! What now?!
Yi Okhun scanned the surroundings, then barked a retreat order.
“Into the prison!”
The Japanese players bolted toward the prison at top speed. We didn’t bother chasing.
We knew it was a ploy to hold out until reinforcements arrived.
“Quick thinker.”
With business here done, I waved the torch in a T shape, signaling withdrawal.
“Fall back!”
* * * * *
We returned to the hideout beneath the temple.
I stripped off my rain-soaked clothes, hung them on a chair, and shook out my hair.
“Damn it. That bastard Jeong Ha-gyun…”
Ma Jeongwoo replied with a sour look.
“I should’ve gone instead of that prick…”
“No. Then you’d be the one eating Japanese lead.”
“…Huh? Me?”
I leaned back on the sofa, lit a cigarette.
Sizzle. Sizzle.
Suck. Puff—
“Jeong Ha-gyun, that bastard. He was a spy.”
“…For real? I hoped it wasn’t true, but damn…”
“Yeah. Confirmed it straight from that mage prick.”
Jeongwoo got pissed, stood up, and punched Yi Okhan in the gut to vent.
Thump!
“Urk…”
“Fucking hell. And why’s this guy got a Korean name?”
Korean name?
“…Beats me.”
Yeah, why did Yi Okhan and Yi Okhun sound Korean?
I racked my brain, but no answers.
They’d seemed so damn Japanese when we talked, too Japanese to just call traitors.
“Kim Cheonjae.”
“What?”
“Don’t we need to move the hideout? If Jeong Ha-gyun’s a spy, the enemy’s gonna swarm this place.”
“True. I’ve already scouted a new spot, so no worries.”
“…You mean that place? From yesterday.”
“Yeah. Feed the rescued folks first, then we move.”
“…Okay.”
I gathered the players we’d freed from the prison.
“Everyone hungry?”
They all nodded sheepishly.
Their cheeks were sunken—they were one step from skeleton mode.
I pointed to the storage room inside.
“Anyone needing a meal, grab what you need in there.”
The players’ eyes lit up as they rushed the food warehouse.
The fruits and rations we’d stockpiled for days vanished in seconds.
Should’ve hoarded more…
“Michael. Hit us with Angel’s Hymn.”
“Hymn? Right here?”
“Yeah. Higher vitality means faster healing.”
“Oh! Okay.”
Michael grabbed his grenade launcher, chanted a holy spell, and fired at the ceiling.
Boom!
Too close.
The flare lit the room like a terrorist suppression strobe—blindingly bright.
My eyes burned; I couldn’t see.
People yelped, hunching over with food in their mouths.
-Aaagh! What, what is it?
-Enemy ambush?
-N-no… My body. The wounds are healing.
As the light faded, cheers erupted.
The tight space meant everyone got bathed in it—their health bars filled in a flash.
-Woooah! Suddenly bursting with energy!
-Who cast that recovery spell? Insane!
Michael grinned ear to ear.
I beckoned Kim Yeonhee over with a finger while lounging on the sofa.
“Kiddo.”
“…Don’t call me kiddo.”
“Fine. Anyway, where’s Chakan i?”
Kim Yeonhee shrugged.
“No clue! I was locked up, remember?”
“She must’ve secured a hideout before getting nabbed.”
“Nope. We got jumped by Japanese players right at the entrance. Just kept running.”
“…So what area were you running around in?”
“No idea. I don’t even know where we are.”
I pulled out the map and showed her.
“Point to anywhere that rings a bell. Only south entrance, so you came in here. You must’ve seen the terrain while moving.”
“We were running.”
“…Then think back to what you saw while running. Find something similar on the map.”
Kim Yeonhee studied the map.
She poked around with her finger, scratched her head.
“Here?”
“…Here?”
“Yeah. Pretty sure.”
Problem.
The spot she pointed to was near the ‘barracks.’ Teeming with Japanese soldier NPCs.
Truth was, the biggest issue: two of the strongest Japanese players in this land were stationed there.
Subordinates of Gunkichi, the king of this place.
Mukai and Noda.
With today’s incident, security in the city would be tight. If they spotted us, it wouldn’t end easy.
“You sure it’s here?”
“Yeah. No other spots with that many buildings nearby.”
“…Sigh.”
Jeongwoo, who’d been listening, chimed in.
“Let’s ditch Chakan i. Going near the barracks means getting tailed for sure.”
“…No can do. She’s too valuable to abandon.”
“You weren’t gonna add her to the group anyway, right?”
“Doesn’t matter. We can still use her for our goals.”
“We can just recruit someone else who fits.”
“What if no one like that shows up?”
We were split.
This happened sometimes.
Ma Jeongwoo nodded reluctantly and said to me.
“Then let’s do this.”
“…What?”
“You got a coin, right?”
“…Ah!”
I pulled a coin from my pocket, placed it on my palm, and asked Jeongwoo.
“Heads or tails?”
“Heads.”
“Tails for me.”
Flick—whirr!
The coin spun lightly into the air.
It rose to chin height, then landed on my wrist.
Clink.
Tails.
I won.
“…Tails. So we do it my way?”
“Goddamn it. I never win. Luck’s shit.”
I grinned and offered him a cigarette.
“Smoke?”
“…Yeah.”
Sizzle. Sizzle.
Suck. Puff—
Ma Jeongwoo sulked.
I snapped my fingers at him.
“Ma Jeongwoo.”
“What.”
“Keeping Chakan i alive means she’ll be useful down the line.”
“…Fair point.”
“Give and take. We help first, collect later. Solid plan, right?”
“…You talk a good game.”
Ma Jeongwoo blew smoke in my face and poked my cheek.
“Fine. While we’re at it, let’s scout for other Korean players too.”
“Sounds good.”
Da-da-da-da-da!
Someone was racing down the stairs.
I peeked through the door slot: a Korean player on watch duty up at the temple.
He pulled back his robe hood to show his face, then pounded on the door.
Bang! Bang!
“Open up! Hurry! Emergency!”
Clank.
The door flew open, and he shouted.
“The Japanese bastards are heading here! Everyone, run!”