Chapter 124
Chapter 124
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: Deep in the Mountains: Ongdalsam Spring
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Originally, Da-jeong and my plan was to head to Bucheon Stadium Station on a sled.
But Seok-hyun delivered the president's message.
"Let's meet sometime. As soon as possible would be best."
He added that a direct, in-person meeting would be preferable.
Da-jeong wanted to ignore it.
"We don't have to give them any information, right? Who knows what that old geezer is thinking."
"...No. This time, we have to meet."
"Because of those shady guys?"
"Yeah. Those guys who know about us... The president must have caught on too. We need to hear what he's thinking."
"A direct meeting means our identities will be exposed, though?"
"If that guy wanted to, my info would already be circulating in the auction house by now. He's definitely someone who keeps his mouth shut."
"It could be a trick to expose us during the meeting?"
"What does the president gain from that? Revealing my identity doesn't benefit him at all."
"True... That old geezer seems like the type who calculates things pretty coldly..."
"And even if he sees my face, it won't matter. I'm not walking around with 'Kang Sung-ho, Kimbap Lover' tattooed on my forehead."
"You're traveling with me, so it's like advertising 'Kimbap Lover.' If he mentions you're big and have short hair..."
"The weather's so damn cold. Everyone's holed up—who's going to spot us?"
"Hmm, fair enough."
The awful weather was helping with hiding our identities.
No one ventured outside unless it was absolutely necessary in this sub-zero-20-degree chill.
Windows were sealed tight to preserve every bit of warmth.
Just to avoid freezing to death.
Thanks to that, I'd been able to move around with Da-jeong without getting caught.
So far, at least.
"Once the weather warms up, the Metal Plague should subside too. I've got guns, resurrection scrolls, and even Ongdalsam—who's going to mess with me? I can just shoot them all and revive."
Da-jeong patted my back with a smile.
"Our little scaredy-cat's grown a bit bolder. Good thinking."
"I'll still be as cautious as possible. I'm just saying it's an option if there's no choice. Like how even a gentle retriever bares its teeth under stress."
"Sung-ho, you're no retriever—you're a rabid pit bull..."
I couldn't deny it.
But I don't strike first.
"And right now, no one would mistake you for Duck Down Quack."
The ghoul was kept at a distance except when pulling the sled, making it perfect for deception.
She looked down at her outfit and pouted.
"I've turned into a total puffball."
"You're still pretty, so don't worry."
"Heh. I am pretty cute, aren't I?"
Her mood lifted, and she gifted me 10,000 points and grabbed an extra resurrection scroll.
Remembering the time I'd stabbed her in the chest, she insisted I take it.
"I'll go farm some ghouls, so you focus on recovering your levels."
There were also shelter organization and Ongdalsam issues piling up.
"Let's see..."
Turning Joo Seung-cheol's bunker had been great, but now the shelter was packed.
Even after expansions, it was like this.
"Just looking at it makes me proud."
The stockpiles neatly stored in the sandwich panel warehouse were enormous.
Enough for one person to last over ten years.
Considering the near-infinite resources of the otherworld, it wasn't necessary.
But I had no intention of stopping the farming.
"Gotta stock up while I can."
Urban farmable resources were dwindling even now.
In a few years, many would be impossible to find—so grab them while available, that was my philosophy.
"No more sandwich panels, though..."
Barbed wire stocks were depleted too, making shelter expansion tough.
Leaving it to the beetles would take too long, and I needed sturdy fencing.
"But fences are too weak..."
Brick walls narrowed visibility fatally.
Maybe wooden palisades?
I recalled the adage that the best defense is a good offense.
If monsters swarming the shelter were the issue, just kill them all, right?
"It used to be hard, but..."
Now I had thousands of bullets.
I should conserve them if possible, but raiding Incheon and Bucheon subways would yield more.
Honestly, I just wanted to mow down every monster baring its teeth beyond the barbed wire.
"Showing your yellow fangs, you bastards?"
I loaded a magazine into the Russian AK-74 rifle.
Click.
Holding this durable rifle that worked forever without maintenance made the world feel like mine.
"Get lost, you shits."
Pulling the trigger sent flashes from the suppressor.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Monsters dropped like flies under the 5.45mm rounds' power.
Kieek!
Kaaak!
"Feels damn good."
Watching monsters flee in panic from the gunfire was like relieving a decade's worth of stress.
I stayed vigilant, taking Dingo and Dingo-soon to track and finish them off.
After shredding dozens, the area fell quiet.
Guns truly are the king of all remedies.
Without the Metal Plague, humanity would've exterminated the monsters and ushered in a new era.
"Only issue is cleanup."
Not knowing when a Bone Creeper might smash the barbed wire meant digging with the forklift.
"Come on, ease up. Let me live easy."
Shoving monster corpses into the pit naturally drew curses.
Was there no way to block intrusions at the source?
"Zombie raids or this—similar, so maybe something exists..."
Swordsmen were the experts on that.
I covered the pit and drove the forklift back to the shelter.
"Hot... so hot."
Unlike the real world's blizzard, the otherworld forest was heating up.
I stripped off my stab suit to short sleeves.
Even with my sturdy body, heat was unavoidable.
Parking the forklift, I saw the well-tended garden.
Much larger and more varied than when the beetles managed it.
Stag beetles didn't like me much but loved modern hybrid seeds.
"And I'm their boss."
They grew the crops themselves, so I just harvested.
Watermelons were thriving now; I'd eat some in midsummer.
"But you guys, stop fighting already."
I separated the boss dung beetle and boss stag beetle, who looked ready to rumble.
They were great otherwise but growled and fought at every chance.
Not just beetle wrestling—full-on deadly clashes with swords and arrows.
Dung beetles had numbers, size, and toughness, but stag beetles excelled at hit-and-run.
Their open battles in front of the cave looked like war.
They didn't kill each other, but it frustrated me.
We're family now—why fight?
"Were you enemies in a past life or something?"
Placing the two bosses on my palm, they desperately avoided eye contact.
Time for a warning.
"No emperor honey or Sun Apples for three weeks."
That—that's!
They clung to my fingers desperately.
I endured the tickling and lectured them.
"Hey, I come to manage the shelter in a good mood, and I have to watch your war? No fighting for three weeks, and I'll give them back."
The boss dung beetle sulked and dropped to the ground.
I took the boss stag beetle to Ongdalsam.
The acrid gunpowder mixed with foul muck stench was chaos.
The boss stag beetle saw the polluted spring and clutched its head with front legs.
Hieeek!
Like Munch's Scream in picture form.
It approached, checked the black sludge, and shuddered.
Looking at me, its eyes overflowed with resentment—like Did you have to go this far?
"I didn't do it. Woke up and it was like this."
I explained in detail.
The boss stag beetle jumped at the death-and-revival part.
Really?
"Yeah. All I did was find it and leave it alone. Is that a crime?"
Hmm... I guess so.
It scratched its head with its jaw, then drew with a twig.
Pretty drawing, for sure.
It depicted some energy flowing into Ongdalsam.
"So... this is qi? Energy? Essence? Something like that?"
Nod nod.
According to the stag beetle, this forest had a unique essence flowing through it.
Ongdalsam was where it gathered—extremely rare, hard to find elsewhere.
"I polluted that essence, so I need to restore it... But I didn't do it on purpose."
Zzt.
I felt it glaring.
Unlike dung beetles, this one was defiant.
I decided to think positively.
"If Ongdalsam returns to normal, great for me—another life. So, how?"
It drew collecting sap from a massive tree root.
"That root's huge—like a building. Does it even exist?"
Not even the main root, yet house-sized.
Ignoring me, it drew a sharp shard wounding the root.
These patterns look like elementium material?
Elementium was like emerash—poor for combat but colorful for looks.
Red, blue natural hues—perfect for fashion.
Only veterans hunted with it.
"Where do I get this..."
It pulled a map from my backpack and pointed to the snowy mountains' northern mine.
The spot dung beetles taught me.
"Elementium might be here?"
Nod nod.
Then we go.
I geared up at the shelter and headed to the snowy mountains with the boss stag beetle.
Leaving the forest on the ATV revealed sunlit peaks.
Crossing the plains, a herd of Valley Deer raced excitedly beside us.
Damn, they're fast.
.
.
.
I found the black forest cave.
The dung beetle's tip about rare ores was spot on.
Cave walls sparkled with raw ores.
"Whoa... jackpot."
No elementium yet, but tons of glowstones.
Flint chunks embedded, black coal overflowing.
I flashed light inside.
"No nest, good."
Soft walls and floor—easy mining.
Clang! Clang!
Echoes rang out.
I sweated for the first time in ages, mining intently.
Boss stag beetle rolled ores into pouches.
Unlike dung beetles, no metal extraction—but ace at finding raw ores.
Mark with white pen, mine there.
Hours later, I unearthed an elementium lump.
"Finally, you bastard."
Pouches full of glowstones, flints, coal.
Plus emerash, mithril, adamantite rares.
"Process into weapons, sell—points galore."
Da-jeong's 10k gift eased me, but greed stirred.
Needed points before Tier 3 shop.
Sun at midday outside.
Time to find the root.
Loaded pouches on ATV, left mine with boss stag beetle.
Tree root spot was deep black forest—highly dangerous.
Farther north than where I found dung and stag beetles.
Vast swamp teeming with monsters, poisonous mist plants lurking.
Amateurs wouldn't survive.
Kiiiik!
Stone monkeys above fled something.
Glanced up: Black Serpents.
Not huge snakes, but spat venom meters away—deadly.
"Snakes that glide too..."
No wings, but membrane from body for gliding dozens of meters.
"Had to bring me here."
Poking boss stag beetle, it ignored and pointed direction.
You have a gun, you're fine.
I cleared charging monsters northward.
Spraying bullets restored level to 25.
"Bonus effect still Dimension Prison."
Other summons at 30—wait for it.
Finally at the root, jaw dropped.
"What the hell, so huge..."
One root thicker than a house.
No trunk visible; animals in/out like homes.
"This a monster?"
Boss stag beetle yanked my hair hearing that.
"Hey, talk it out."
I chipped elementium lump with hammer/chisel.
Blunt like emerash—easy handling.
Wrapped shard in cloth/tape, wounded root as directed—white sap flowed.
Surprisingly, sap had buffs.
Two effects.
Pain Resistance reduced pain—great buff. Skin Regeneration new.
More shocking: the tree's name.
"Elderwood...? Don't tell me Elderwood Longbow's made from this?"
Hadn't brought it due to guns, but useful bow.
That beauty from this tree.
Guess I'll take some.
Pulling saw, boss stag beetle desperately stopped me.
"Why? Just a tree?"
Saw to root—black forest animals/monsters stared.
Prickling sensation like needles all over.
"..."
Couldn't breathe, lowered saw.
Gazes returned to normal.
What forest is this.
Better not touch the tree itself.
"...Elementium prevents this."
Nod nod.
Should've said earlier.
I bottled Elderwood sap.
Tasted with pinky: bland milk-like.
Like skim milk.
"Hmm. Not bad."
Greed tempted, but one bottle full—flow stopped.
Wound healed instantly; boss pulled my hair tuft.
No more, meant.
"Got it, got it."
Greedy me, but take only what's given here.
Packed bottle/saw in backpack, mounted ATV.
Leaving root, felt waving goodbye behind.
"Nah, imagination."
Back at Ongdalsam, sprinkled Elderwood sap.
Milky liquid hit—water cleared transparently.
Miraculous.
Stag beetles held front legs, circled me joyfully.
Happy spring's back.
Sap refill? Needs time.
"Can't restore on demand."
Disappointed from infinite revival hopes, crossed to reality.
Da-jeong not back—still farming.
Auction house: government shelter comments had place/time.
Close by.
Timing decent.
But not just Jang Won-taek wanted to meet.
—The swordsman wants to meet too. Okay?
"Why that swordsman guy again..."
Still sore from gun threat?
Should be grateful for life.
"No... Maybe changed mind after defending Seok-hyun."
Better clear it up.
I commented.
—Fine. Let's meet.
[Deep in the Mountains: Ongdalsam Spring] End