Chapter 164
Chapter 164
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: Swarming Survivors - 7
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ROOOAAAR!
The ogre's roar echoed thunderously through the surroundings.
The survivors felt their legs go limp, their stats dropping across the board.
This effect wouldn't lift until the ogre that unleashed the roar was dead.
They had to kill the ogre, but with their stats lowered, it had become even harder.
Kim Hyun-woo forced strength into his trembling legs and stood up.
His men were laying down suppressive fire to buy him time.
'Just one shot.'
If he could land this one shot.
He glanced over at Sung-ho.
Sung-ho seemed to be preparing something, but that had nothing to do with him.
He had to kill the ogre with the rocket, no exceptions.
'With a gun, monsters are nothing.'
How thrilled he'd been when he first pulled a gun from the armory vault.
Hyun-woo had felt something like euphoria shooting monsters with bullets.
Maybe it was a backlash from all the suppression he'd endured.
But...
'That damn ogre...'
Hyun-woo glared at the ogre with eyes full of malice.
The thing had killed two of his men.
His Striker Team, which he'd built and trained himself, was on the verge of falling apart before it had even properly formed.
That was tied to his own honor.
If he couldn't produce results here, what would the president think?
'I'll kill it for sure.'
He bore the responsibility of commanding the world's military forces in a world free of the metal plague.
This was no small matter comparable to a few veterans running wild.
'I have to finish it with this rocket.'
It'd be great if he could shove the warhead right into its mouth, but he lacked the confidence to get that close.
This ogre moved with agility that belied its massive bulk.
It was faster than his men.
Tat-tat-tat-tat! Boom!
The Striker Team focused their fire on the ogre and lobbed grenades.
The ground shook repeatedly, dust billowing up.
The precious time his men had bought him.
Hyun-woo didn't miss the chance and shouldered the rocket launcher.
He pulled the trigger. Fwoosh! The warhead shot out.
The ogre's cry rang out.
Had he gotten it?
That thought flashed through everyone's mind.
But the creature slowly rose from its crouched position.
In its hand was the warhead Hyun-woo had fired.
Incredibly, it had caught the rocket mid-flight.
"No way..."
Hyun-woo and the Striker Team couldn't believe the scene unfolding before them.
The ogre casually crushed the warhead in its fist.
ROOOAAAR!
Its eyes turned red.
Berserk mode.
The already powerful monster had grown even stronger.
Sung-ho, having finished his preparations, bolted without hesitation.
"Run if you want to live!"
But no retreat order came.
The ogre stomped the ground. Thud. Hundreds of concrete chunks lifted into the air.
Its roar sent the fragments flying everywhere.
It was like a massive grenade exploding.
The soldiers surrounding the ogre were turned to mincemeat in an instant.
Hyun-woo, being a bit farther back, survived but took a critical hit and tumbled away.
"Gah!"
Lee Beom-seok appeared behind him and whisked him away.
I fled to the rooftop of a nearby building.
As I watched the ogre rampage from afar, Mi-kyung appeared with Soo-yeon in tow.
"Soo-yeon?"
She looked bewildered at first, then bowed her head upon seeing me.
"M-Mi-kyung said she had to come help right now, so..."
"Hehe."
Not exactly something to laugh about.
In this situation, there was nothing she could do even if she came.
Truth be told, it was the same no matter who showed up.
I beckoned them over to the railing, and Yoo Hyun climbed up to the rooftop.
Time to open a dimension gate.
Seok-hyun and Da-jeong emerged and gaped at the berserk ogre.
"Any way to take that thing down?"
"We have to wait for the berserk to end."
Berserk mode slightly lowered its defenses but massively boosted its attack power.
With both its roar and strength enhanced, facing it head-on was nearly impossible.
If Kim Hyun-woo hadn't poked it, the opportunity wouldn't have vanished entirely.
GRRROOAR!
The ogre was tearing the entire museum apart, its bellows shaking the air.
Every time its fist slammed into a wall, the building tilted visibly.
Stomping the ground cracked the asphalt in a radial pattern.
Even mid-game monsters could alter terrain to some degree.
But none did it as thoroughly as this ogre.
Given time, it would flatten the whole area.
"It's seriously strong..."
"Is that the final boss?"
Da-jeong jerked her chin at me in response to the question.
"According to Sung-ho, no. Apparently even stronger ones show up later."
"Ugh..."
Everyone looked queasy.
Werewolves and trolls were already tough enough, and now an ogre.
And it wasn't even the final boss.
Seok-hyun fidgeted like a dog desperate to poop.
He wanted to throw down but couldn't muster the nerve.
Truth be told, even all of us charging in wouldn't cut it.
We'd needed a rocket for the kibble dog, let alone an ogre...
That's when Lee Beom-seok showed up with Jang Won-taek.
The chief of staff's trait was Blink, right?
They were startled to see us, then even more shocked looking down at the ogre.
"...The ogre I've only heard about. Truly chilling. And modern firearms don't work..."
"No. Right now it's enhanced by the Cataclysm Dungeon and further boosted by berserk. It's not normally that strong."
When I corrected him, he rubbed his eyes.
"All the soldiers are dead. Captain Kim retreated too. What should we do?"
With all his men gone, Hyun-woo wouldn't handle the guilt.
That's why I told him to run.
"Running is the best option."
"Hoo..."
Facing the ogre was nearly impossible.
But it wasn't entirely without solutions.
I looked at the former president's face.
His trait had some ambiguous aspects.
Definitely not simple telepathy.
"I don't know your trait well enough to analyze it. Tell me."
Jang Won-taek sighed and revealed his trait.
"My trait is... Commander. I can buff those who trust me. And give them orders, of course."
"Aha."
So that's what it was.
Lee Beom-seok chimed in excitedly.
"The president's trait is no joke. Stats surge almost 1.5 times."
Huh?
Stats boost by 1.5 times?
I glanced at Soo-yeon.
Clueless, she smiled brightly back at me.
The good idea hit when Da-jeong kicked my butt.
Battle Instinct and Primal Fury... plus buffs from Soo-yeon and Jang Won-taek. How strong would that make me?
The Cataclysm Dungeon's effects wouldn't last forever either.
Berserk would end soon, leaving the ogre in a brief exhausted state.
In that case.
I came up with a solid plan.
"Over here for a sec."
Everyone gathered around.
The area around the museum was surprisingly quiet.
Excluding the ogre's rampage, calling it peaceful wouldn't be an exaggeration.
The survivors had all hunkered down, intimidated by its presence, and every other monster was dead.
Monsters had poured out when the dungeon burst, but most got caught and killed by the ogre.
The zombie raid had targeted the ogre as the biggest threat, only to get obliterated.
One ogre had completely flipped the situation.
Right now, it was panting and resting after berserk wore off.
A whale-like snort came from its flattened nose.
Suddenly, a small paper airplane flew in and exploded.
The ogre was so tough it barely scratched, but the annoyance made it leap up, breathing heavily.
GRRR!
It stomped, sending fragments exploding outward.
Paper airplanes rained down, and it seemed satisfied.
But then a pesky new foe appeared before it.
Seok-hyun.
He shoved a fist potato into the ogre's face.
"Hey, ogre! Feel the spiciness of a small pepper!"
GRRROAR!
The ogre charged without roaring, surprisingly nimble for its size.
But Seok-hyun, with all skills active, buffs stacked, and even tangerine effects, was faster.
He rolled aside, then used the momentum to leap onto the ogre.
"I rolled to build momentum!"
Thwack!
The punch landed solid, but the ogre barely flinched. Its head just tilted slightly.
The ogre reached for its shoulder, but Sung-ho's dimension wall blocked it.
Seok-hyun kicked off the wall, retreated, and shook his hand.
"Ow ow, even with gloves it doesn't work."
He wore gloves Sung-ho had lent him.
They'd stun most monsters, but this one shrugged it off.
That only fueled Seok-hyun's fighting spirit.
No Tier 3 skills or gear, but the fight thrilled him.
If he could just land one proper hit, he'd die without regrets.
Well, he could respawn, so he could afford such luxuries.
Meanwhile, arrows flew in.
They did no damage but annoyed it enough to swing its arms wildly.
Seok-hyun charged again, got knocked back. Then Da-jeong arrived leading her ghouls.
The locust darted nimbly, disrupting the ogre's vision, while the tank blocked head-on.
Of course, even the enhanced tank couldn't fully stop the ogre's attacks.
Soo-yeon's healing waves mended it each time it flew back limply.
She looked stunned that she was healing ghouls.
It all meshed together like gears.
The ogre faced relentless attacks and hits.
No major damage, but it was accumulating.
Especially from the early blows.
GRR, GRRR!
Its eyes reddened again.
Back-to-back berserk prolonged exhaustion, but it had no choice.
It roared again, blasting everything around.
Seok-hyun, locust, tank—all flew limply and tumbled.
With the area quiet, the ogre finally sat heavily, satisfied.
That's when Sung-ho fired the M72 rocket from inside the dimension gate.
Fwoosh!
A heavy explosion rocked the ogre's abdomen.
The shockwave swept the area, flipping it over.
Mi-kyung brought Sung-ho above the ogre's head.
Her foot tapped the dimension wall lightly before vanishing.
All that remained was Sung-ho plummeting with an adamant spear loaded with grenades.
Squelch.
The adamant spear pierced the ogre's mouth.
GRRROOOO!
The ogre swung its arm full force, and Sung-ho deployed another dimension wall.
Crack! Like shattering glass.
"!"
Sung-ho hadn't expected the wall to break.
The ogre's arm smashed through and hurtled toward him.
He barely raised his arm to guard his head, but couldn't dodge the impact.
As he flew like a cut puppet string, an explosion erupted in the ogre's mouth.
BOOM!
Four grenades blew its mouth to shreds.
GRRRROOOO!
It rolled in agony.
Sung-ho was out of it too.
He'd snapped a tree trunk on the way down and lay crumpled.
"Ugh... Hah!"
His head spun, body limp.
Stamina regen activated, but the damage was too severe to help much.
Soo-yeon's healing wave enveloped him.
"Ah..."
Stamina recovered rapidly, vision clearing just enough.
Even with every buff stacked and stats exploding, blocking one ogre hit had been too much.
And he'd struck during exhaustion, with a wall. Yet this.
"You saving your serious punch just for me...?"
As he stood, the ogre glared, blood pouring from its mouth.
Gurgle.
Foam bubbled out, bloodlust thickening in its eyes.
It was dead set on killing him.
Blood-soaked upper body, it charged.
Crunch crunch!
Asphalt flipped like plowed earth.
Under continued attacks, it halted its charge, collapsed, then rose again.
It'd been fine moments ago.
"You're getting tired too, huh."
Hundreds of bullets, grenades, a rocket. Being unscathed would be weirder.
Time for the finishing blow.
But someone needed to hold it a moment.
Seok-hyun landed beside Sung-ho.
"Seok-hyun."
"Tank and I'll hold it. Shove a rocket in its mouth."
Rockets were the only thing dealing real damage, no choice.
"You sure?"
"I die? Fine. You get my Tier 3 skill. An ogre one too."
"We could retreat and try again."
Seok-hyun shook his head and finger.
"Cataclysm effects fade, it weakens. Better kill it here before someone else claims it."
Da-jeong then shrieked.
"You two gonna whisper forever?!"
She was holding the ogre with every ghoul.
Others attacked too, but she was keeping it pinned.
"I'm going first."
"Yeah."
Seok-hyun charged.
Dozens of arrows stuck in it, ghouls swarming, it thrashed.
One locust clinging to its head was fatal.
Chewed by ogre teeth, it still blocked vision.
"Earth Strike!"
Seok-hyun latched onto its back then too.
He jammed two long knives into its temples.
As it writhed in pain, tank and ghouls grabbed its arms.
GRRRROOO!
Mouth gaped wide.
Sung-ho, hidden in the dimension gate, quietly pulled the trigger.
The warhead streaked through the air, slamming into the ogre's mouth.
BOOM!
Ogre's head and locust exploded.
Green blood fountained; Seok-hyun flew back from the shockwave.
Left was the headless, twitching ogre corpse and a few ghouls.
+ 500 Points
+ New Skill: Primal Life Force
[Swarming Survivors - 7] End