Chapter 38
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Defense
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A vast plain stretched out wide, under a pink sky sparkling like jewels. It was no different from the place where we'd done the treasure hunt. I scanned my surroundings and turned around—behind us loomed a massive village.
"Looks like everyone's scattered. No one's here! It's totally empty!"
"Yeah."
Geltan glanced at me as he said it. Wondering what nonsense he'd spout next, I met his gaze, and he flinched in surprise. I tilted my head slightly, as if to ask what was wrong.
"Why."
"Uh, nothing! I just wondered if people break down sometimes too."
What kind of ridiculous nonsense was that?
"Cut the crap and focus on the situation."
"Oh, you're back to normal."
I ignored Geltan's incomprehensible babble and stepped forward to check things out. That's when I sensed something odd and reached out.
Thud.
"It's blocked."
Just as Geltan said, a transparent wall blocked the way, quite a distance from the village. Probably to prevent escapes, or maybe the event hadn't started yet.
'Anyway, it's blocked, so no point looking further.'
There was nothing more to see or go toward on the plain side, so I turned back toward the village.
Ding.
An alert sound chimed from behind. I turned to see massive letters floating on the transparent wall.
[LV. 1]
"Level?"
But then it glitched, the text flickering as a voice leaked through.
—What the hell, why didn't the edit go through—
Click. The voice cut off, the flickering text reformed, and a new number appeared.
[LV. 50]
"......"
The number had jumped straight to 50. And this likely meant the difficulty level. The sudden spike was probably due to the bet.
Then, with a colorful whoosh, the text shifted.
[Ready?]
[Go!]
The final letters vanished, and with a boom! came a massive roar on a fierce gust of wind.
"......"
"......"
A colossal shadow swallowed me and Geltan whole. I slowly looked up from its feet, taking in its enormous body until it filled my view.
Fur the color of poured sand. A head and face like crumbled stone, covered in hundreds of pale blue eyes. The four-legged behemoth monster glared at us, exhaling frigid breath from its maw.
'They threw balance out the window for this difficulty.'
Boom. The ground shook as the monster took a step. And since it wasn't the only one—we weren't the only pair facing this—the tremors amplified.
'Looks like the same monster everywhere.'
I glanced around to see giant silhouettes in the distance. Other hunters were probably there.
'Protecting the village is the core of this game.'
A simple, brutal game. All you had to do was slaughter the monsters.
'I can't gauge exactly what level 50 means, but it's gotta be tough. The tower lord prepared thoroughly. With that massive body, probably thick hide.'
But most giant monsters...
Thud. I nudged Geltan, who tilted his head questioningly.
"Jump onto that monster's head."
"Out of nowhere?"
"Or you wanna take a direct hit and get flattened?"
"I wouldn't actually get flattened even if I died here."
"......"
No need to waste words on trivialities. I refocused on the monster.
Boom. It took another step, then opened its mouth. Before I could even judge—
Kawhoosh! Ice shards erupted from the ground, lunging at us. I leaped into the air.
"Up top!"
At my shout, Geltan tilted and slammed—boom!—himself and me onto the monster's body.
—Kreeek!
The monster bucked like it had bugs on it. It thrashed to shake us off, but we weren't going anywhere that easily.
I took a step toward its face. Gazing down from the sheer cliff of its head, I saw eyes that looked soft compared to its thick hide. Thunk thunk. Tapping its head with my scythe confirmed it—solid as expected.
After testing the hide's toughness, I gripped my scythe tighter, raised it high, then swung with a whoosh. Countless eyes burst open, spewing sky-blue sparkling liquid.
—Kreeeek! Kreeeeek!
The monster shuddered in agony.
'Obviously won't kill it like this.'
Giant monsters with thick hides are usually weak in the eyes or internals. All that reinforcement goes to the surface.
'Size-wise... think I can fit?'
Whoosh. I readjusted my scythe, blade down. As I poised to slam it into an eye—
Kaching! Ice sprouted across the monster's body. I launched myself up to evade, getting a full view. Ice—its ability—blanketed its form.
"Tch."
I dropped briefly to the ground for another attack, but before landing, its maw gaped again, unleashing a barrage of massive icicles at us.
Kaching! I blocked the icicles, only for an ice dragon-like assault to surge from below. We got swallowed by the icy drake, then shattered its innards—crunch boom!—and burst out.
"You gonna do something too."
"But I'm melee. You blocked the icicles, right?"
"What, reluctant to kill your own kind?"
"Own kind? It's a totally different creature. Coded versus free-roaming—no comparison."
Whatever. I brushed it off and kept blocking attacks. Melee, huh?
"You said you're melee, right?"
"Uh? Yeah."
"Then your body's tough too."
Grab. I seized Geltan's field cap and leaped. Ignoring his flailing, I bounded near the monster's mouth. It promptly opened wide and fired ice.
I shoved Geltan in front. He yelled something while blocking with his tail. Meanwhile, I hurled a single star into its gaping maw.
Whoosh. The tiny star burrowed deep—pop pop pop. The monster belatedly clamped shut, but too late.
Boom boom boom! A massive explosion rocked its insides. Light blue liquid leaked from its mouth, and thud—it collapsed.
Text flashed above its head.
[YOU WIN!]
Confirming the clean kill, I glanced around. Geltan, looking a sight, asked,
"If you were gonna stuff its mouth, couldn't you have skipped using me as a shield...?"
"It noticed and shut when I tried from afar."
"...Right."
Alone, I'd have blocked icicles with stars to fire one in, but why waste my energy? It was just a 'game.'
Ding. A hologram popped up.
[Will you go help?]
Below it, a map-like diagram. Around a circular edge, numbers—like clear percentages—were marked variously.
'Start with the A-Rank hunters...'
But nothing to worry about. As I eyed the numbers, they suddenly dropped fast.
'Others are helping.'
No need for me to butt in. Even if my body had grown enough to use a lot of power, better save some. Who knows how many floors.
Ding. Minutes later, another chime, text on the wall.
[ALL CLEAR]
[LV. 51]
[Ready?]
[Go!]
All clear, and the next level kicked off immediately.
Countless monsters spawned. Not as tough as before. Nor particularly strong. Roughly, bosses every 10 stages, I'd guess.
'Doesn't mean take 'em lightly.'
The stage 50 boss was about A-Rank boss level. Later ones were like minor mobs from A-Rank dungeons.
But their numbers were insane. Could sweep them at once, but some were decoys. Endless small fry from a main body—wasted effort without hitting the core. Better to target that and conserve power.
Abandoning due to numbers meant abandoning lives, so I cleared them.
51, 52, 53... up to 60.
Weeeen! A siren-like wail echoed. Text appeared.
[WARNING]
Everything tinted red. The map enlarged before my eyes. Unlike before, a red dot blinked at one spot.
'Boss fight?'
Tap. I pressed the dot—teleported instantly.
'Single-spot boss defense...'
I scanned where monsters might spawn. Nailed it—a bunny-shaped glass craft floated in the sky.
Whoosh. Others gathered fast. Not full count—maybe twenty-five. Wait, twenty-five?
"Melee up front, ranged back—form ran—"
A hunter started organizing as boom! a giant boulder crashed where people clustered, disrupting.
No casualties, of course. But formation was gonna be tricky.
So they charged the glass bunny. But it screamed, and they all flew off before reaching it.
'Twenty-five is about half, roughly.'
Decent number, but too many for control. Ten, maybe.
'And not a single familiar face.'
No brother, no Ji Hwa-yeon. No Park Woo-yun or Yun Sia.
'...Knowing them, they'd be helping others. Top helpers blocked from here?'
Kawhoosh! Attacks flew everywhere. So many attackers—timing sucked.
'And that's not even the real body.'
All hammering the glass bunny. No point yelling it; no one'd believe me.
'Gotta solo it.'
Shouting now was pointless—others yelled too, but might as well talk to the wall. Everyone fixated on the bunny.
Their attacks on it were solid. S-Ranks and A-Ranks aplenty.
'This firepower... if the real body pops out, it's done. So...'
I glanced at Geltan beside me.
"Just follow my lead."
He nodded faintly.
I raised my hand high. Hated burning power, but needed the aggro.
People kept blasting the glass craft.
I sighed, gaze sharpening. Power drained as tiny stars rose skyward. A black circle formed above, darkness spreading like ink—then stop.
"What the—!"
Darkness fell. Panicked, thinking enemy attack, I flicked my wrist. The pitch sky twinkled with stars, filling out until—stop. Last star in place, I clenched my fist.
'Dodge on your own.'
Swing! I slashed my arm down—kaboosh! Countless stars plummeted like meteors.