Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Frozen World - 6
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Na and Dajeong tried leveling up by hunting monsters near Bucheon Stadium Station.
The ghouls would locate the monsters, alert Dajeong, and then pass the baton to me.
Thanks to the freezing weather dulling the monsters' senses, they weren't hard to take down.
A day and a few hours later, I'd wiped out nearly every monster around Bucheon Stadium Station.
"...Dajeong."
"Yeah? A dimension gate I can enter popped up? Spill it quick."
She pressed right up against my side, ear to my mouth.
Just hearing "Dimension Prison" made it sound far from what she wanted...
Instead of explaining, I decided to just show her.
"Dimension Prison."
A dimension gate unlike the usual rippling one exclusive to me appeared—one crossed with tight bars.
This gave off a bad vibe.
Dajeong poked at the space in front of me, and when her hand suddenly slipped through, she cheered gleefully.
"It goes in!"
She whooped and dove into the Dimension Prison.
And five minutes later, she burst out of it like she'd collapsed.
"Aaaahhh!"
"W-What's wrong?"
I rushed to support her.
She grabbed my shoulders fiercely.
"I-I fell! From the sky!"
"For real?"
"I thought I was gonna die! Waaah..."
She clung to me, bawling like a seal pup.
If she'd really just been falling from the sky for five minutes, yeah, that'd rattle anyone.
I tried entering the Dimension Prison myself but got rejected.
"Seems it's only for others... Wanna try again?"
Dajeong shook her head vigorously.
"No way in hell. Never."
Yeah, I could kinda guess.
The Dimension Prison dumps you into some random hellhole uninhabitable for long.
If the sky came up, it could just as easily be the ocean, a volcano, or a polar wasteland.
Getting dropped in one of those? No thanks.
For me, though, it was a chance to sideline an enemy for five minutes.
"...You do come back, but pretty demoralized. That's the effect."
Dajeong grumbled in disappointment after my explanation.
"I thought it'd let me into the shelter this time... No dice. Next goal: level 30."
"Hold up, before that."
I pulled up the auction house to check Seok-hyun's comment.
He'd rescued four survivors in under two days.
Now he was heading back to the shelter with the last one.
We needed to be near the government shelter ahead of time.
Time to get Poongdeongi back.
While we'd been hunting, the stag beetles had fixed up the sled.
As I tied ropes to the ghouls, Dajeong said wistfully,
"Their numbers are way down... I should recruit more, but all the ones out there are such weaklings. Kills my motivation."
"True..."
Her Domination trait could only be used once a day.
Dominate just any old monster, and it'd match your stats—which was a problem.
It grew with added effects, but that took time.
In this frozen hell with scarce food, dominated ghouls were just liabilities.
I handed Dajeong a PET bottle filled with hot water and tucked a sleeping bag into the frame.
"Curl up in there. Should be toasty."
"Lemme see... Ooh... It really is. So cozy."
She wriggled inside like a happy larva.
I hopped in the back seat and cracked the reins hard. The ghouls took off.
Destination: around Yeouido.
Less than 30 minutes along Gyeongin-ro, and a ghoul was spotted.
It was stiffly chowing down on a roadside zombie frozen solid.
Dajeong glanced at it, then turned to me.
"Hold on, how's that thing even moving?"
"It's adapted."
I unbuttoned the sleeping bag for easy exit and hopped off the sled.
We hid behind a building to observe it.
"Moves pretty good... Tempting."
"Skin's blue, right? Proof it's adapted to the cold."
"These always been around?"
"Yeah. Never paid much mind."
To a vet like me, ghouls were just trash mobs anyway.
Not easy for level 50 to properly scout a level 10 monster's traits.
Why waste time when a few whacks dropped them?
I pointed at it.
"Looks useful, but something's gotta be lacking. Adapted to cold means some other part degenerated."
"Better not be combat power."
"That's what we're checking. Send a ghoul."
"Got it."
Dajeong snapped her fingers, sending one ghoul at it.
The blue ghoul bared its teeth and charged.
Pretty agile.
It held an edge briefly with speed, but once Dajeong's ghoul landed hits, it didn't last.
Kyaak!
The blue ghoul got flung aside.
Dajeong looked disappointed.
"Pfft. Pathetic."
"It figured survival beat fighting brain spores."
"Tch, dump it."
"Nah. Slow might be all, but it's fast, right? Gotta be useful."
I convinced her to dominate it.
Easy peasy: ghouls pinned the sacrifice, Dajeong snapped—done.
We called back the ghouls and raced along Gyeongin-ro.
At Yeongdeungpo E-Mart, Poongdeongi waited at the checkout counter.
Togong must've dropped it off.
I parked it at the shelter entrance and scouted the first floor—no loot worth taking.
Dajeong returned from the clothing store, clicking her tongue.
"They really stripped it bare. Just dust left."
"This is central Seoul. Tons of survivors."
Now, wait for Seok-hyun.
Reason for coming here: get Poongdeongi back, and back up Seok-hyun.
If Seung-cheol got too aggressive, Seok-hyun might charge right in.
Guy acted before thinking.
Sipping coffee with Dajeong while waiting, a commotion erupted near Yeongdeungpo Station.
"Sex!"
We exchanged looks.
Togong never disappointed.
"Gasp!"
Joo Seung-cheol's eyes bulged in the Yeongdeungpo Park parking lot.
Good thing he had a revival scroll—any closer, and he'd be toast.
He scanned his body and spat out his rage.
"That bastard stabbed me? Fine, I won't kill you easy."
Gritting his teeth, he shot to his feet.
Post-revival dizziness hit, but faded quick.
Now what?
'Going back to the shelter won't calm things...'
People were starting to suspect him. No point returning.
His underlings would bail soon anyway.
Better observe from here, then head to Hannam-dong.
"C-C-Cold..."
Outside the shelter, it was bone-chilling.
He cupped his ears with his palms and hid nearby, waiting for his men.
Then a booming voice rang out.
"Sex!"
Only one nutjob yelled that.
Seung-cheol gritted his teeth to step out but flinched.
'He confirmed ability seal, right?'
Yet he came out anyway—meant he was confident.
Backup maybe?
'Crazy bastard, better play careful.'
Snow eased up.
Seung-cheol spotted his men cautiously crossing the road and nearly teared up.
"Here!"
"Boss!"
They rushed over.
To lead his sturdy crew physically, Seung-cheol had poured in nonstop effort.
Even pre-apocalypse, he'd given endlessly, hyping his stockpiles.
That earned their loyalty as leader.
Togong's kill might've shaken it, but not broken.
Plus, Hannam-dong bunker needed his say-so.
Ditching all those supplies? Idiotic.
Seung-cheol greeted them and asked,
"Where's Togong now?"
"Seems he went elsewhere. Shelter's chaos."
"Hunt him down and finish it? Sealed abilities—he's helpless."
Seung-cheol shook his head.
"...Nah. Back to the bunker first. Looks like he's got backup."
"Backup... You mean Kimbap Lover's here?"
"Find him and smash!"
Stabbing their boss had them riled.
Seung-cheol smirked inwardly.
They were just at the shelter with him, said nothing...
Pointing it out would just embarrass them, though. Dumb move.
"To the bunker. You all rushed out unprepared. Plan once we're back."
"Wise, sir."
The trek to Hannam-dong bunker was no picnic.
Follow Olympic-daero to the Han River, find a boat, row forever.
Seung-cheol brushed snow off a window frame and mused,
"This weather? Han River's probably frozen solid, yeah?"
"Likely."
"Then two hours tops. Grab packs—we're outta here."
Seung-cheol had stashed supplies around the government shelter as backup.
Wasteful to use 'em here, but no choice.
Soon, the four exited the building toward Olympic-daero.
His men managed okay, but Seung-cheol was dying.
Thigh-deep snow sapped his stamina in real time.
"Huff... huff..."
He lagged, eyeing them warily; they bore the snow-plowing brunt.
They grinned.
"Treat on return?"
"Heard Kim boss brought some cuties. How could we say no?"
"Brainwash trait's killer. Turns 'em into dolls."
"Lying there for pounding? No fun."
"Kid knows nothing."
His sleazy crew chuckled.
Seung-cheol waved lazily, annoyed.
"Fine. I'll hook you up—let's go."
"Yes, sir!"
At Han River Park, sure enough, the Han was thickly iced.
Crossing the frozen river, a blizzard hit again.
"Ugh... c-cold..."
"Huff! Huff! Huff!"
The lung-piercing chill was no joke.
Shelter-bound slugs, they rubbed ears and noses nonstop.
Or they'd freeze off.
"Didn't expect this cold..."
Seung-cheol regretted skipping earplugs.
Thought no need to leave shelter—damn Togong ruined it all.
Back at bunker, how to deal with him?
Fun fantasies swirled as he huddled in his collar.
An hour later.
They finally reached Gangbyeonbuk-ro.
But trouble at the end.
Ghouls charging from far across the Han.
Eyes popped wide.
"G-Ghouls!"
"Insane... in this cold?"
Unbelievable monsters dashing in weather tough for humans.
Dajeong's ghouls maybe?
'Nah... not that blue...'
New recruits? Hard to imagine her out in this.
She'd whined pre-blizzard.
Anyway, Seung-cheol deemed fighting here stupid.
"Run!"
"Got it!"
Truth: lead blue ghouls specialized in survival/speed, weak in combat.
But clueless, they panicked and fled.
Chased, they veered into a residential area by collapsed apartments.
Almost tagged—super desperate.
"Ugh..."
Seung-cheol even stumbled at a small building entrance.
Two hours in blizzard had drained him.
Men half-dragged him upstairs.
Dajeong's ghouls surrounded the building.
Na and Dajeong linked up with Seok-hyun, who'd been roaming yelling "Sex!"
He said chase Seung-cheol first.
Let him go, endless trouble.
Wanted details, but speed mattered more.
Blizzard masked us perfectly—crossed Han undetected.
Seok-hyun perched on the sled frame hollering "Go go!"—hilarious sight.
Anyhow, post-Han, Dajeong used new ghouls to herd them.
Panicked, they ducked into a small building.
Catching breath, Seok-hyun dropped a bomb.
"I stabbed Seung-cheol. That's why he's running."
"Uh... mind clarifying? Not computing."
Dajeong couldn't grasp it.
Rescue folks, enter shelter, then stab and chase? What?
"What happened was..."
Seok-hyun's tale left her jaw dropped.
"Crazy... You know violence in shelter gets you booted, right?"
"Just a lil provocation."
"Provocation's punching and stabbing? You psycho."
He shrugged.
"He started it. Had to swing first, see what happens."
Dajeong eyed me skeptically.
"This wasn't all calculated, right?"
"Expected Seung-cheol to pick a fight. Seok-hyun overreacted a tad, threw things off."
"My bad?"
Seok-hyun sounded deflated; I rushed to deny.
"Nah, no mistake. Actually perfect. Learned his trait, burned his revival scroll. Now he's freezing and scared. Nailed it."
"Heh, knew it?"
Seok-hyun perked up; Dajeong muttered in disbelief.
"Not a puppy getting pets... Anyway, now what? Ghoul siege looks suspicious."
I sorted my thoughts.
"Just scout the bunker spot here."
"That's it? Let 'em live, they'll be pains later. Whose bunkers you think those are?"
She had a point.
Hannam-dong was bunker central.
How much did they pay media to hide this?
Heard chaebols lived there, but this prepared?
Most empty probably, but survivors tied tight to Seung-cheol.
"That's why prep needed. Bunkers mostly vacant but sturdy. Too risky to storm now. Need setup."
Dajeong nodded; Seok-hyun disagreed.
"Best way? Sung-ho slaps a dimension wall under my feet. I leap to that building, wipe 'em, suicide. Perfect."
His idea had us sweating.
Damn, hot-blooded.
Frozen World - 6 END