Emergency Defense Battle (2)

I was inspecting the groll bone axe, buying a whetstone from the general store to sharpen the nicked edge, when Kim Dokja finally came down to the fourth basement level — the Line 3 platform.

"Dokja-ssi, you're finally here?"

"You're awake. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, just a little tired."

"That's a relief."

Kim Dokja said she was glad to see me, then looked over the weapons the others were carrying. After examining the state of their gear, she let out a small sigh and turned back to me.

"Jinwoo-ssi, do you still have any materials left from the monsters we took down yesterday?"

"Ah, so you want to make new weapons for everyone?"

She nodded. I turned slightly and looked over the weapons the party was holding, the same way she had.

There were clear signs of careful maintenance, but the battles fought on the way to Chungmuro Station had left nicks and scratches everywhere, and some of the weapons even had fine cracks running through them.

"Yeah, it's definitely time for a change. Will groll horns and bones be enough?"

"That should be plenty. Thank you, Jinwoo-ssi."

"Hey, don't mention it. We help each other out."

I finished speaking and handed Kim Dokja a portion of the groll bones and horns. She took the materials from me, then went over to Lee Hyunsung and asked him to forge new weapons with them.

Lee Hyunsung readily agreed and immediately set to work crafting weapons from the groll bones and horns.

Before long, his skilled hands had produced a full set of new weapons. Clubs, swords, and spears carved and sharpened from groll horns and bones. The party took them from Lee Hyunsung, swung them a few times, and nodded with smiles.

Unfortunately, those weapons were only a temporary fix. Making gear from monster materials was fine, but just like the weapons made from mole cricket bones, they wouldn't last forever.

Jung Heewon smiled with satisfaction as she looked at her new sword.

"It's so much lighter and sturdier."

"Ah… Jinwoo-ssi, Hyunsung-ssi. Thank you so much."

Yoo Sangah bowed her head deeply toward Lee Hyunsung and me in gratitude.

"Thanks, Jinwoo hyung, Hyunsung hyung."

Lee Gilyoung followed Yoo Sangah's lead, bowing his head and saying thank you. In the webtoon, Kim Dokja had only obtained the groll's horn, and since the horn couldn't be made into a blunt weapon, Lee Gilyoung had been the only one still stuck with a mole cricket weapon. But the groll bones I'd obtained through my Extraction skill were perfect for making clubs, so Lee Gilyoung got a new weapon without any trouble.

"Jinwoo-ssi, did Heewon-ssi explain the plan to you?"

"Yes, Heewon-ssi went over it in detail. I know what we're doing."

While Kim Dokja had gone upstairs to meet Lee Jihye, Jung Heewon had thoroughly explained the Green Zone destruction plan to me, so I already knew it well. Even if she hadn't, I'd already seen it in the webtoon.

"Then is everyone ready?"

The party nodded firmly at Kim Dokja's words, and she continued.

"All right. From this point on, we proceed according to the plan."

The moment she finished speaking, we split into two teams as planned. Team Two — Jung Heewon, Yoo Sangah, and Lee Gilyoung — moved quickly toward the Line 4 platform. Then Team One — Kim Dokja, me, and Lee Hyunsung — started climbing the stairs at a fast clip to carry out our part of the operation.

As we hurried up the stairs, Lee Hyunsung's uncertain voice came from behind us.

"Um… Jinwoo-ssi, Dokja-ssi. Honestly, I'm not sure if this will work."

Kim Dokja flinched in surprise and looked back. Lee Hyunsung spoke with a dejected expression.

"The others seem to be relying on me more than I expected, and it's weighing on me. I don't know if I can do this well."

"You'll be fine. Hyunsung-ssi is someone worth relying on."

"She's right. In a place like Chungmuro Station, someone as dependable and trustworthy as Hyunsung-ssi is hard to find. So don't lose heart."

Lee Hyunsung listened quietly to our encouragement, then answered in a slightly brighter voice.

"Haha! Thank you both for saying that. Honestly, this is a first for me. Even back in the military, I never had anyone put this kind of trust in me."

I turned my gaze sideways to look at Kim Dokja's face. She looked a little shaken. Lee Hyunsung's story — something never mentioned in Ways of Survival. Hearing it had clearly stirred something in her.

"Once this is over, I'd like to hear more of your story, Hyunsung-ssi."

Lee Hyunsung paused mid-step at her words, stopped climbing, and looked at her.

"Talking with you sometimes gives me a strange feeling, Dokja-ssi."

"Huh? What kind of feeling?"

"Like you've known me for a long time… Ah, I don't mean that in a weird way. I just mean…"

I listened closely to their conversation. But then a voice from the side interrupted us.

"Oh, if it isn't the merchant and his little crew!"

At the voice coming from beside us, we all turned our heads toward the source.

"Come to sell more stuff, have you? And that one next to you — Kim Dokja, was it? Well? Have you finished thinking it over?"

"Dokja-ssi, what's he talking about? What are you supposed to be thinking over?"

I looked at Kim Dokja and asked, completely lost by the Landlord Alliance guy's cryptic words.

"When I went to find Jihye, he asked if all the women in our party wanted to join the Landlord Alliance. Said if we joined, they'd keep us safe…"

"And the price is becoming their sex toys, something like that?"

Kim Dokja's face twisted as she nodded.

"S-save me! Please, help me…!"

"Ah…"

Right. That woman was there too.

I'd been so focused on the shocking conversation that I only noticed her now. A woman whose hair was clenched in the fist of the Landlord Alliance man who'd just said those things to Kim Dokja was looking at us with desperate eyes, begging to be saved.

Noticing our stares, the man snickered.

"Aaah, don't worry about this one. She wouldn't sell her land, you see."

Kim Dokja and I quietly shifted our eyes toward Lee Hyunsung. He was glaring at the man in front of him with a murderous look.

"Let that person go."

Lee Hyunsung said.

"What? What did you just say? Who the hell are you to order us around?"

At the man's snide question, Lee Hyunsung looked at Kim Dokja and me. A look that seemed to be asking for permission. We both nodded at him.

"Hey, when someone talks to you, you at least pretend to listen, don't you? You want to end up like her?"

The alliance members drew their weapons and glared at us with a menacing air. We stood locked in a tense standoff, staring each other down —

KWAANG!

Small explosions echoed from various parts of the subway station, followed by a mix of large and small commotions. It was the signal from the others.

"W-what?! What was that sound?!"

But the alliance members had no way of knowing those explosions were our party's signal. They scrambled around in complete panic.

"Hyunsung-ssi! Jinwoo-ssi!"

Lee Hyunsung and I both nodded. Kim Dokja, Lee Hyunsung, and I charged straight at the alliance members right in front of us.

Slash!

"Gyaaaaah!"

Kim Dokja swung Unbreakable Faith at the arm of the man gripping the woman's hair. Blood sprayed like a fountain from the deep cut, and his scream froze the other alliance members in place as they stared blankly at us and the shrieking man.

We ignored them and sprinted toward the Green Zone where Gong Pildu was. The alliance members, recovering too late, shouted after us.

"Th-those crazy bastards…! Somebody stop them!"

The second basement corridor — we were almost at Gong Pildu's "private property."

"Jinwoo-ssi, Hyunsung-ssi, the operation starts now!"

"Got it!"

"Yes!"

We ran straight for the private property where Gong Pildu was stationed. Then a Landlord Alliance member spotted us and shouted.

"Wh-what the hell are those bastards? Everyone, st-stop them! Stop them!"

"Surround them and take them all at once!"

The alliance members who'd spotted us hastily grabbed their weapons and blocked our path. Just as Kim Dokja was about to collide with the ones in front, Lee Hyunsung stepped ahead of her with his steel shield raised.

KWAGAGAGAK!

"Uwaaaagh!"

"Gyaaaaah!"

Lee Hyunsung charged forward with overwhelming force, toppling the alliance members at the front like dominoes. The sound of bones snapping mixed in here and there, followed by the savage screams of people being crushed under their own comrades.

"Oof, that's terrifying."

Watching Lee Hyunsung's brutal display, I was very glad he was on our side.

Kim Dokja and I raced past him toward Gong Pildu's private property. The moment we arrived, a message appeared.

The moment we trespassed, turrets began rising all across the private property.

Whiiirrr…

Turrets whirred as they charged magic shells. The way they immediately prepared to fire the second we stepped onto the property made it clear Gong Pildu hadn't earned his place among the Ten Evils for nothing.

Once the magic shells finished charging, the turrets swung their muzzles toward us with lethal intent.

"Dokja-ssi!"

Lee Hyunsung flung his steel shield toward Kim Dokja like a boomerang. She caught it cleanly and raised it in the direction of the incoming fire.

BANG! KWAANG! KWAAANG!

With a roar like cannon fire, Kim Dokja struggled to block the turrets' ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠magic shells. Even she was having a hard time holding them off — the arm gripping the shield was trembling violently.

"Jinwoo-ssi! Now!"

"Got it!"

Kim Dokja shouted to me. At her signal, I pulled out the anti-materiel sniper rifle and aimed at a turret.

"Enchant: Explosion."

I enchanted the sniper rifle with the Explosion attribute and fired at one of the turrets.

BANG!

KWAANG!

The turret hit by the explosion-enchanted bullet shattered into pieces with a massive blast.

"Wh-what?! Pildu-ssi's turret…?"

The alliance members' faces hardened in disbelief as one of Gong Pildu's turrets went down.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

"Quite the impressive tenants."

Gong Pildu clapped with a leisurely expression, looking at us with clear interest.

"Faces I don't recognize. Did you come after my land because you wanted it? Amusing! And a gun — a sniper rifle, no less… Where did you get that?"

"Would you tell me if you were in my shoes?"

"Fair enough."

Gong Pildu simply nodded at my words. That actually threw me off.

Why is he agreeing so easily?

Ah, so he was stalling for time. Right — trespassing on Gong Pildu's private property triggers a debuff.

I stared at the message floating in front of me with a flicker of admiration, and Gong Pildu glared at Kim Dokja and me as he spoke.

"I don't leave anyone who eyes my land alive."

Crimson magic began condensing in the glowing-hot barrels of the turrets.

"Hey, aren't you scared of my sniper rifle? I could at least take someone of your caliber with me, you know?"

Click.

I aimed the sniper rifle at Gong Pildu's heart as I spoke.

"Hmph! I'd rather die killing you than lose my land."

"Oh, a real man."

Gong Pildu aimed the turrets loaded with enhanced magic shells at Kim Dokja and me, and I aimed my sniper rifle at his heart. A hair-trigger standoff.

Then, suddenly, screams rang out from far away. Landlord Alliance members covered in wounds came scrambling toward us and ran up to Gong Pildu.

Jihye stepped in right on time.

Sharp sword marks carved into the alliance members' bodies. Lee Jihye had moved after Kim Dokja persuaded her.

"P-Pildu-ssi! Th-the land…!"

"Calm down and explain slowly. What happened? Why are you all so banged up?"

"That little samurai girl, she suddenly…!"

"Samurai?"

Gong Pildu left us hanging and started talking with his alliance members. I considered smashing the turrets in the opening, but right now we needed to evolve Lee Hyunsung's attribute — so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I decided to leave it to him.

"Jinwoo-ssi, Dokja-ssi. Are you both all right?"

Lee Hyunsung arrived behind us at just the right moment, looking at us with a face full of worry.

"Hyunsung-ssi, now."

Kim Dokja looked at him as she spoke. Lee Hyunsung's eyes trembled as he met her gaze.

"Smash it all."

"Blow it all sky-high, Hyunsung-ssi."

Lee Hyunsung nodded firmly at our words, clenched his fist tight, and raised it high. His eyes still held anxiety and tension, but at the same time his expression was set with the resolve not to back down.

A brilliant golden radiance burst forth, and a silver aura began swirling around Lee Hyunsung's body.

"Whoa… what a sight."

I watched the spectacle with open admiration, while Kim Dokja gazed at it quietly with a faintly moved expression.

A massive amount of pure white magic condensed in Lee Hyunsung's fist, and his arm began swelling to a size that defied common sense.

"HAAAAAAH!!"

Then Lee Hyunsung brought that enormous fist crashing down into the floor.

KWAAAAAAAAANG——!

An explosion far beyond anything my flashbangs or grenades could produce thundered through Chungmuro Station. The overwhelming power and destructive force of Lee Hyunsung's stigma split the ground wide open. The alliance members stared in horror and screamed.

"Wh-what?! What just happened?!"

"Th-the ground is collapsing! Everyone watch out!!"

"U-uwaaagh!!"

KUGUGUGUGU!

With a massive tremor, the foundation of the second basement level began to collapse. As the ground gave way, Gong Pildu, the Landlord Alliance members, Gong Pildu's turrets, and everything the alliance had stockpiled all plummeted into the depths below.

"Hah… huff…"

I was watching the Landlord Alliance ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠members plunge into the collapsing ground when labored breathing from beside me drew my attention. Lee Hyunsung looked thoroughly exhausted.

"Dokja-ssi, earlier you said you wanted to hear my story once this was over, right? I… I want to hear your story too. There's a lot about you that I'm curious about."

Lee Hyunsung grinned as he said it to Kim Dokja. She looked flustered.

"It'll be a boring story."

"Haha, I'd still like to hear it. Ah, and of course I'd like to hear Jinwoo-ssi's story as well."

"Mine too?"

"Yes. I've found myself wanting to hear all of your stories."

I hadn't expected Lee Hyunsung to want to hear mine as well. I stared at him blankly for a moment. He scratched his cheek with an embarrassed smile at our reactions.

"Ugh… ghh… P-pull me out…"

Then, from the pit beside us, a pained groan and a plea to be pulled out drifted up.

We approached the pit and looked down into it.

"Th-this damn…"

Sensing people nearby, Gong Pildu lifted his head, spotted us, and muttered a quiet curse.

Kim Dokja looked down at him with a bright, sunny smile and said,

"Well then, shall we take a little trip back to the days before you had any land of your own, Gong Pildu-ssi?"