Chapter 68
The alarm screamed without pause.
The Overflow has occurred in the Sharp Fang Orc Tribe. Citizens in the surrounding area are urged to evacuate to the nearest shelter. I repeat, the Sharp Fang Orc Tribe...
Screams tore through the air from every direction.
Green-skinned monsters built from bulging muscle burst out from beyond the industrial complex. Orcs charged anyone who had not managed to flee in time.
One swing of the clubs in their hands cut through the air, and a middle-aged man who had been running while screaming had his head burst like a smashed watermelon.
Bang. Bang.
Cars that tried to flee the orcs by ignoring the signals and weaving across lanes crashed into one another in a chain reaction. Orcs leaped onto the roadway, ripped the roofs from the cars, and dragged the people inside out.
"Kraaaagh-!"
The orcs bit savagely into their victims' necks without mercy. They chewed and swallowed the limp flesh with wet, grinding sounds.
Hell had begun.
Many people never made it to the shelters and instead ran for the surrounding buildings. The orcs flared their nostrils and stormed inside after them. Pain-filled screams rang out everywhere.
The orcs that had been hunting the people nearby scattered in all directions in search of more prey.
Creeeeak-
Several buses ground to a halt in the middle of hell. Their doors opened, and players poured out.
"This is insane!"
The commander who had brought the players here thrust his wand toward an orc chasing a woman.
"Fire Spear!"
A massive spear of flame slammed into the orc. As it was sent flying, the woman it had been chasing bowed her head in gratitude.
"Run!"
The commander shouted as if in despair. The woman had just been thanking him for saving her when an orc burst through the window of the building behind her and turned her into a heap of meat with one brutal swing of its club.
"Kill them all!"
The furious commander's roar echoed across hell.
"Why the hell isn't the Phoenix Guild here yet, those bastards?"
The Sharp Fang Orc Tribe was the area assigned to the Phoenix Guild. A guild responsible for a dungeon had to stand guard around the clock. The fact that the Mobile Assault Unit from the Players Association had only been contacted after the orcs had breached the perimeter and attacked the city was a clear failure on the Phoenix Guild's part.
"Hold them back no matter what! The orcs cannot be allowed into the residential district!"
* * *
Explosions kept roaring without end from the summit of the Steel Mountains. The once-flat peak had been completely transformed. Deep pits had been gouged into it, and the ground itself had split wide open in places.
Yoon Sang-hyuk's foot skimmed the ground as he shot forward. There were broken scraps of metal all over the floor, but they did nothing to hinder his movements.
Spat-
Just before he reached the White Knight, Yoon Sang-hyuk's foot swept across the ground. Shattered metal fragments surged toward the knight like a spray of shrapnel. The White Knight ignored them and drew a straight line downward with a greatsword from which a brilliant white aura blade had shot upward.
Yoon Sang-hyuk's path shifted ever so slightly. There were larger fragments of metal among the rest. Those fragments hid the subtle change in direction so well it would have gone unnoticed by anyone else. It was a small difference, but to beings who transcended human common sense, it produced enormous results.
A streak of red burst from the opening created by the fragments of metal, or rather, the opening Yoon Sang-hyuk had deliberately made.
Clang-
The White Knight hastily pulled back its attack to block Yoon Sang-hyuk's strike. But it failed to defend perfectly and gave up its wrist instead. The White Knight's wrist was cut halfway off.
Yoon Sang-hyuk moved to the right. Once he'd created a weakness, he attacked it relentlessly. With one wrist nearly severed, the White Knight's movements were no longer as smooth as before.
Yoon Sang-hyuk drove into that opening. He pressed hard against the White Knight's left side and nothing else. The White Knight was barely managing to block his attacks, and even that looked tenuous.
His sword carved toward the White Knight's upper body. The White Knight hurriedly raised its sword vertically to defend.
"Fake."
He swung his right leg into the knight's calf. The White Knight staggered, unable to absorb the impact, and then failed to block the follow-up, losing its left wrist once again.
Thud-
The White Knight's severed hand on the ground twitched as it tried to seize something. Yoon Sang-hyuk smiled and kicked the hand away. The White Knight, which had swatted away the incoming hand with its greatsword, leaped back.
Mana roiled around the White Knight. Cracks spread across the ground centered on the knight. The fissures widened at terrifying speed.
White light surged up through the cracks.
The White Knight's ultimate skill, and its area attack, Destruction of the Land. In an instant, it turned nearly the entire surrounding space into the skill's domain. Destruction of the Land swallowed Yoon Sang-hyuk whole in a heartbeat.
Even Yoon Sang-hyuk would have suffered severe injuries if he had been struck head-on by a raid boss's ultimate skill built on aura blade.
It was just as a white flash shot skyward from the summit of the Steel Mountains. A single red streak split the white light in two. The white flash vanished as if it had never existed.
Yoon Sang-hyuk held his hand in front of his chest, forming a circle with his fingers. The crimson energy that had been pouring from the dragon's maw embossed on his breastplate was slowly gathered back in.
The special skill Dragon Emperor's Wrath, usable only when all pieces of the Dragon Emperor set were equipped. That power, which had proven itself even in the real world, had erased the White Knight's ultimate skill, Destruction of the Land. Not only that, it had blown away half of the White Knight's upper body.
The White Knight, who should have collapsed at any moment, slowly took a step forward. It raised its greatsword with difficulty and lifted it high as though it meant to cleave Yoon Sang-hyuk in two.
Thud-
But the White Knight never made it to Yoon Sang-hyuk. In the end, it toppled over.
"Haa-."
Yoon Sang-hyuk exhaled heavily and tapped the White Knight's head after it fell.
"Good work. Thanks to you, I actually broke a sweat for once."
He looked around. The summit was a complete wreck, and Yoon Sang-hyuk let out a dry chuckle. When the White Knight respawned, this place would return to its original shape.
It was time to collect the White Knight's corpse. Just thinking about the basement family, who would be thrilled at the sight of a mass of mithril, made him smile.
"Did I use Dragon Emperor's Wrath for nothing?"
The Dragon Emperor's Wrath he'd used to block Destruction of the Land had shattered the White Knight's upper body, scattering even the broken fragments everywhere.
Gathering them up would be a pain. But he couldn't throw away even the smallest piece. Mithril had strategic value in the real world comparable to nuclear weapons.
"I'm going to get an earful from Brother Cheol-woo."
Traces of the battle with the White Knight remained all over the Dragon Emperor set. Even for legendary-grade gear, repairing it wouldn't be easy.
"Huh?"
As Yoon Sang-hyuk gathered the White Knight's corpse, he stared blankly at one spot.
It was a cube of metal. Since it shone with a dazzling white light, it was obviously mithril. But its shape was unusual. The outside of the cube was covered in emerald-colored patterns. He had never obtained one himself, but he had seen one at auction, so he knew its appearance.
"A golem's heart."
Yes.
It was a golem's heart.
Suppressing his surprise, Yoon Sang-hyuk picked up the golem's heart and immediately used Appraisal.
Materials: Mithril, Supreme Mana Stone, Supreme Emerald, Supreme Ruby, Supreme Diamond, Supreme Sapphire.
A golem's heart infused with the very essence of magic engineering.
"Legendary?"
To his surprise, the grade was Legendary.
The black knight's golem heart that had appeared in the Eternal World world auction had clearly been Super Rare grade.
"But what's a Supreme Mana Stone?"
Not only the mana stone, but the gems were all Supreme grade as well. During the twenty-two years he had spent in Eternal World, he had never once seen a Supreme Mana Stone or Supreme gemstones.
The highest grade Yoon Sang-hyuk had ever seen was Top-tier. That was why he had assumed the highest grade among consumable items was Top-tier.
A strange smile crept onto Yoon Sang-hyuk's face.
For some reason, it felt like he'd obtained something incredible.
* * *
After he returned to Masked Castle having killed the White Knight, he was greeted by news that was not at all pleasant.
"Overflow?"
"Yes, Lord."
The members of the Masked Mercenary Group, who should have been resting after the Black Knight raid, had all gathered at Masked Castle.
"It seems an Overflow occurred in the Sharp Fang Orc Tribe area of the Incheon Namdong Industrial Complex."
"Which guild is in charge there?"
"A place called the Phoenix Guild, operating in the Incheon area."
"Guild size?"
"It's a guild that manages only one orc tribe, so it isn't large. The average level of its members isn't all that high either."
Baekjeong gave a brief report on the Phoenix Guild.
"Isn't a guild responsible for a hunting ground supposed to guard it twenty-four seven? And they have to keep hunting it continuously so Overflow doesn't happen."
"That's right."
Dungeons and hunting grounds did not disappear once they had been cleared. Monsters respawned after a certain amount of time. If the periodically respawning monsters were not slain, Overflow would eventually occur.
"What did the Phoenix Guild's guild master say?"
"Well... they say he can't be reached. Not only the guild master, but the guild's executives are the same."
"So this was deliberate?"
"It certainly seems that way."
"How bad is the damage?"
"A lot of civilians were killed. Many buildings were destroyed, and public facilities were wrecked as well. A transmission tower was destroyed, so nearby areas have no power supply."
Yoon Sang-hyuk shook his head.
"That's not the bigger problem."
"A bigger problem?"
"Yes, Lord. Strange articles are going up. They're claiming that you and Masked Castle monopolize profitable hunting grounds while neglecting the ones that don't make money, and that this is what caused the disaster."
The corners of Yoon Sang-hyuk's mouth twisted beneath the mask.
"Interesting articles. Where were they posted?"
"On internet tabloids, basically. Some of them were created just a week ago."
"Judging from the circumstances, it sounds like someone wants to screw me over. Am I wrong?"
"It seems that way."
Someone was targeting him. And not with a blade drawn openly in front of him, but with one aimed from some unseen place, hidden in the dark.
In Eternal World, Yoon Sang-hyuk's existence had been special. He had been a boon to everyone, but at the same time he had been a burden to everyone.
So this wasn't the first time he'd had to deal with something like this. At first it had irritated him, and anger had flared up, but with repetition he'd grown used to it.
"It's been a while. This is very entertaining. Bring me the Dark Merchant."