Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: The Second Wave
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As the party stepped inside the temple, Gawain's priests hurried to bolt the doors shut.
A bear of a man, who had entered the temple just ahead of them, approached Kang-seok.
“I’m Baek Gi-hyeong. Thank you for your help.”
Up close, his build was truly immense. He stood nearly two meters tall, and the bearskin he wore from head to toe concealed muscles as hard as rock.
He had amiable eyes and a friendly face, but his sheer size and presence made even that face seem intimidating.
‘What game is he from? A racing game, maybe?’
It was hard to guess. Throwing banana peels, driving a dogsled… It was impossible to tell.
Kang-seok shook Baek Gi-hyeong’s hand and introduced himself.
“Choi Kang-seok.”
Once the two leaders had exchanged greetings, the other players began to state their names.
A silver-haired girl in a white dress smiled brightly and spoke.
“I’m Oh Su-jeong. And this is my brother, Oh Su-min.”
As Oh Su-jeong pulled on the arm of the boy standing next to her, the boy—Oh Su-min—scowled.
“Why are you introducing me?”
“Oh, come on!”
Oh Su-jeong growled and pulled on his arm again. Oh Su-min puffed up his cheeks in annoyance but didn’t complain further.
‘A buffer and an archer.’
It seemed the two of them were from an MMORPG.
Since a Player’s appearance and physical abilities didn’t always align, he couldn’t dismiss them just because they were young and small.
After their introductions, a bald man stepped forward. He laughed heartily, thumping his chest with his fist.
“Oliver Stone. You can call me Oliver.”
He was shorter than the bear-like man, Baek Gi-hyeong, but perhaps because of his exposed torso and bald head, he gave off an even more solid impression.
His face, which looked to be in its early forties, had strong Western features.
Seong Yu-jin stood to Kang-seok’s left and gave everyone a silent nod.
“Seong Yu-jin.”
“Choi Yu-ra.”
Not to be outdone, Choi Yu-ra stood to Kang-seok’s right and gave a small wave. The bald man, Oliver, seemed to like her cheerful attitude and cracked a smile.
There were seven Players gathered here. But there were still more.
“Kang-seok!”
As if he’d been waiting for the introductions to finish, Park Hyeong-sik appeared right on cue. He was breathing heavily, having rushed over.
“Pant, pant… what? Did a fight already happen?”
Daniel Kim gasped for air as he looked around. John, who appeared right after, furrowed his brow.
“Didn’t they say seven Players went outside? Why are there only four of you?”
It was utter chaos. Oliver sized up the newly arrived group, then spoke to John.
“We split up. We were hunting in parties of three and four.”
His expression soured as he finished. It seemed he was worried about the three who hadn’t joined them.
Baek Gi-hyeong comforted him.
“It’s okay, Oliver. They’re all skilled. They’ll be fine. More importantly, this first wave came out of nowhere…”
Luminous letters had appeared the moment they defeated the ogres and gnolls.
The first wave was over. That meant a second and third wave were sure to follow.
And just then.
[The second wave is expected in 20 minutes.]
[Furthermore, it is estimated that there will be a total of seven monster assaults.]
[Players, please prepare yourselves.]
The faces of everyone present hardened at the heartless message.
Oh Su-min, unable to take it any longer, threw his arms wide and shouted.
“Wouldn’t it be better to just abandon the temple and run? If this is like a defense game where the difficulty keeps increasing, who knows what kind of monsters will show up later!”
He had a point. They didn’t know how long the intervals between waves would be, but it was entirely possible that an enemy they couldn’t handle would appear later.
If they were going to run, now was the time. Later, they might not even have the chance to escape.
At Oh Su-min’s cry, Oh Su-jeong shrank her shoulders as if suddenly frightened, and Park Hyeong-sik couldn’t hide his anxious expression.
Baek Gi-hyeong shook his head.
“No. We can’t abandon Kudo’s party. And the idea of running is dangerous in itself. We could get surrounded in the forest and be trapped. You know why we returned to the temple instead of fighting out there.”
His tone grew more placating toward the end. Oh Su-min grimaced but knew he was right.
Watching the exchange, Kang-seok covered his mouth with his hand and whispered into the air.
“Iris, be honest with me. Is it impossible to abandon the temple and escape?”
Only Kang-seok’s party could communicate with Iris right now.
If the other Players, already on the verge of panic, found out about Iris, who was on the side of the quest-givers, it could cause even greater chaos.
Iris replied in a somber voice.
[I cannot say for certain. As I mentioned, my information gathering is restricted due to my active intervention… In my personal judgment, Player Baek Gi-hyeong is correct. Rushing into the forest could be far more dangerous.]
It was the answer he had expected. Instead of getting angry at the situation, Kang-seok tried to regain his composure.
Seong Yu-jin asked Park Hyeong-sik.
“Where are the people of the temple?”
“They’re gathered in the chapel. Priest Jade should be here shortly.”
There were quite a few young men in Gawain’s temple. Perhaps they could expect some surprising combat prowess.
As if in response to that hope, Daniel Kim rallied everyone.
“As befits those who worship a god of war, the priests of this temple seem to have undergone regular combat training. Plus, there are ten of us Players. We’ll manage somehow. This could even be a chance to earn a lot of Kron.”
He even managed a smile at the end.
Ten Players, each with different abilities.
Moreover, as Daniel Kim said, with Gawain’s combat-trained priests, this might not be a crisis but an opportunity to earn Kron.
Daniel Kim’s encouragement was successful; Oh Su-jeong’s and Oh Su-min’s expressions brightened considerably.
Sensing the shift in mood, Park Hyeong-sik quickly introduced himself to keep the momentum going.
“I’m Park Hyeong-sik, a swordsman from the Amaranth Guild.”
“As you can see, I am the warrior, Daniel Kim.”
“John. A, a magic warrior.”
For some reason, John seemed embarrassed. It appeared saying the words “magic warrior” out loud was quite difficult for him.
Seven waves were estimated.
Ten Players were gathered here.
Kang-seok looked up at the air. The glowing letters counting down to the second wave were mercilessly shrinking.
* * *
[3 minutes until the second wave begins.]
Standing before the firmly sealed main gate, Gawain’s priests glanced back at Kang-seok.
Kang-seok nodded on behalf of the Players, and the priests took a deep breath. Steeling themselves, they unsealed the main gate.
There were ten Players in total, including Kang-seok.
And twelve of Gawain’s priests, armed with swords and shields.
Beyond the wide-open main gate lay a makeshift barricade constructed from various pieces of furniture.
Kang-seok’s plan was simple. Since defending the entire temple with their current numbers was impossible, they would open the gate to funnel the enemy’s attack into a single point.
Perhaps because it was a temple to a god of war, Gawain’s temple was built with a surprising focus on combat.
While it wasn’t like a castle, capable of simultaneously defending and launching counterattacks, it was decent in terms of pure defense. Once the main gate was sealed, there were no other obvious points of entry.
Behind the barricade, Gawain’s priests, armed with spears, took their positions alongside the ranged attackers, Choi Yu-ra and Oh Su-min.
They had gathered all the weapons stored in the temple, yielding a considerable number of bows and arrows.
On either side of the barricade, the warrior-type Players, including Kang-seok, took their places.
Kang-seok stood on the left with Seong Yu-jin, while Park Hyeong-sik's party took the right.
As Kang-seok had guessed, Baek Gi-hyeong, who came from a racing game, waited in the rear on his dogsled with Oh Su-jeong, the only buffer, riding it.
The formation was designed to absorb the frontal assault with the barricade while flanking the enemy from both sides.
[1 minute until the second wave begins.]
Anxiety and tension crept onto the Players’ faces. Seong Yu-jin, standing beside Kang-seok, muttered softly.
“Is this really going to work?”
“For now.”
In a situation requiring continuous battles, conserving stamina was paramount.
Fighting outside the temple would likely waste more energy than fighting from within a prepared formation like this.
His lips were parched with tension. Kang-seok tightened his grip on Durandal.
[The second wave begins!]
[Rat Scavengers: 40]
As the luminous text faded, the bushes beyond the main gate began to rustle violently.
The first to react were the ranged attackers, Choi Yu-ra and Oh Su-min.
With every pull of Choi Yu-ra’s crossbow trigger, a Rat Scavenger fell to the ground. Oh Su-min was firing three arrows at once.
But there were simply too many Rat Scavengers. Moreover, living up to their rat-like appearance, they were incredibly agile. Before they had even taken down six of them, the vanguard had already begun to pour into the temple.
“Mass Taunt!”
Seong Yu-jin shouted, raising her shield. Several Rat Scavengers turned toward her at once, and Kang-seok, at her side, began to methodically cut them down.
“Uooooh! Hold the line!”
Jade shouted encouragement from behind the barricade.
Some of the priests chanted prayers, thrusting their spears imbued with holy power, while Oh Su-jeong, standing on the dogsled, cast another mass buff.
Choi Yu-ra and Oh Su-min were now firing arrows almost without aiming. The entire area in front of them was swarming with Rat Scavengers anyway.
“Argh! I can’t take it anymore!”
Oliver, who had been holding back the Rat Scavengers alongside Park Hyeong-sik, let out a roar. There were so many of them that it was becoming difficult to defend their section.
“M-Mr. Oliver?”
Park Hyeong-sik, who was also struggling against the creatures, was in no position to stop him.
Leaping from his spot, Oliver jumped into the midst of the Rat Scavengers and slammed both fists into the ground.
“March of the Raging Tiger!”
He roared the name like a character from a martial arts novel, and a powerful shockwave erupted in front of him.
With a sound that shook the very earth, several Rat Scavengers near Oliver were sent flying.
↓↓↓↓↙←+P
March of the Raging Tiger.
Kang-seok gritted his teeth. Taking out several at once was good, but there were still too many. As if filling a void, a large number of Rat Scavengers rushed toward Oliver simultaneously.
‘Skill recovery lag?’
Oliver, his fists still planted on the ground, was sweating profusely, unable to move.
Seeing the Rat Scavengers charge, Kang-seok finally kicked off the ground. He performed a mid-air dash, instantly closing the distance to Oliver’s side, and executed the skill.
↓↓↓↓↙←+P
March of the Raging Tiger.
He didn’t shout the skill name, but the motion was almost identical.
Though the shockwave was smaller, the effect was similar, blowing away all the Rat Scavengers that had been charging at Oliver.
“Urk!”
But the backlash was severe. Not only was he stuck in recovery, but the strain on his arms was immense. It might have been a side effect of forcibly copying the skill.
“Huh! You’re from Chakra too?”
Even in this situation, Oliver’s eyes widened as he asked.
Still stuck in recovery, Kang-seok didn’t answer, instead glaring at the Rat Scavengers in front of him. As expected, they were starting to swarm again.
The strategy of facing the Rat Scavengers in a relatively narrow entrance had its pros and cons.
With the creatures throwing themselves forward in a frenzy, heedless of death, the lack of area-of-effect attacks was keenly felt.
‘The recovery time is too long!’
In reality, it was probably only a few seconds. But with Rat Scavengers rushing at him, even one second felt like an eternity.
The other Players noticed that both Kang-seok and Oliver were stuck in skill recovery. The first to move was Seong Yu-jin.
“Hah!”
Practically throwing herself forward, Seong Yu-jin reached Kang-seok’s side, let out a sharp cry, and unceremoniously shoved Oliver away.
Though Seong Yu-jin looked delicate, her physical strength was nearly on par with Kang-seok’s.
Oliver was sent flying sideways as if he weighed nothing, and Seong Yu-jin immediately wrapped her arms around Kang-seok. She shielded his crouched form with her body and shouted.
“Yu-ra!”
“Fire in the hole!”
The moment Seong Yu-jin embraced Kang-seok, Choi Yu-ra had already pulled out a fire grenade.
A wave of flames erupted over Kang-seok and Seong Yu-jin’s heads, instantly incinerating a dozen Rat Scavengers.
“Don’t get your hopes up, I only have a few of these!”
Choi Yu-ra yelled, ducking her head behind the barricade.
The flames subsided. Freed from his recovery lag, Kang-seok grabbed Seong Yu-jin’s slender waist and leaped up. He performed a series of backward air dashes, flying over the barricade to safety.
This time, John shouted.
“Uooooh! Fire—ball!”
John thrust his hands forward, and a massive sphere of fire shot toward the front.
It flew past the area scorched by the fire grenade and exploded further out, burning the Rat Scavengers that were preparing to charge.
“I can’t use that many times either!”
Choi Yu-ra laughed cheerfully at John’s shout. Kang-seok set Seong Yu-jin down and looked over the barricade. There were hardly any Rat Scavengers left.
‘And this is only the second wave!’
What Choi Yu-ra and John had just shouted wasn’t an exaggeration. With at least five more waves to come, they couldn’t afford to waste their stamina and skills recklessly.
“This is the last one!”
Oh Su-min’s arrow pierced the back of a Rat Scavenger that had hesitated before choosing to flee. As if in response to his shout, a new line of luminous text appeared.