Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Something Too Big to See (2)
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📍 LOCATION [At that moment, Jeju Island's S-Rank Tower. Boss room entrance.] "Hey, shouldn't we head down right now?"
"It's already too late."
Two hunters—a man and a woman—faced off just before the boss room of the S-Rank Tower.
"An American aircraft carrier's circling near Dokdo right now, and they're saying stuff like that. Don't we need to go to the East Sea so civilians can feel safe?"
"We just follow the orders we've been given."
The young man suggested retreat.
The woman demanded they push forward.
"Argh, we've made it to the boss room— we can just come back next time! The monsters aren't gonna respawn all the way back here!"
"Even that time is too precious. They've probably already opened betting pools outside on which side clears their S-Rank Tower first."
"Bet... what?"
"Something like that."
Blue Lightning tilted his head at Iron Blood's blunt words, but she had no intention of explaining. Instead, she pointed at the others milling about nearby.
"We're one step from the boss room. You really wanna turn back now?"
"......"
"If you value your life, go ahead and retreat. But make sure to tell everyone outside the tower loud and clear: that Iron Blood chick chickened out right in front of the boss room and gave up the challenge."
"What the hell...!"
"Otherwise, shut up and join in. This is a life-or-death operation—no thanks to cowards getting good people killed."
"......"
The A-Rank hunters glanced awkwardly between themselves and the one worst injured.
The A-Ranks were mostly unscathed.
Those who'd taken heavy damage had already retreated to the tower entrance. The ones left were those still fit for battle.
The only one covered in cuts or cauterizing wounds to keep moving was—
"Blue Lightning. What about you?"
"Ugh, damn it. This is insane."
He had wounds all over, but Blue Lightning scratched his bandaged head and stepped forward.
"You're gonna regret pushing like this. How long you gonna keep relying on the government's muscle?"
"No individual is greater than the nation."
"What if the government collapses someday?"
"That'd be the end of the world. Is that what you're hoping for?"
Iron Blood pointed to the choker around her neck.
A tiny camera lens gleamed in its center.
"You're a total dictator. That's why cosplay hunters like that one are teaming up with America to ditch Korea."
"I have no interest in traitors fleeing the country."
"...You're gonna get yours big time someday."
"Hearing that from some punk who calls his senior 'hey' and 'you'? Hilarious."
Blue Lightning's gut twisted at her attitude, but he sighed deeply and headed for the boss room entrance.
"Maybe I should think about going overseas too. Sigh, shit."
"D-Dalram. If you leave too...!"
"You're the worst, sis. S-Rank and just sitting pretty doing what the country's telling you."
The other S-Rank hunter reaching for Blue Lightning froze in panic.
"Wh-what?"
"Me playing the idiot hero like this is dumb as hell, but how long you gonna keep being the government's puppet?"
"Th-that's..."
"Hmph."
Iron Blood ignored them and strode toward the boss room.
The A-Ranks following behind shook their heads or clicked their tongues at the sight of the top hunters bickering right at the entrance when they should be uniting.
The moment Iron Blood and Blue Lightning stepped onto the magic circle leading to the boss room—
"...Damn it, I don't wanna go overseas."
"America? Long-term stay or something."
"You think the country'll approve that?"
"If we threaten to immigrate and change citizenship, maybe."
Grumbles started spilling from the A-Ranks one by one.
"If we cosplay too, America might not give us a carrier, but at least a private jet."
"What're you gonna cosplay as? Bat guy? Spider dude?"
"Dunno. You could go as that wrestler-looking one."
They all vented frustration, but no one was fully committed.
"Hey. What if the cosplayer actually clears Dokdo and we fail here? Then what?"
But.
One thing was clear.
"Dunno. Head to the safest spot, I guess."
"Wasn't Korea supposed to be safe 'cause it's small but packed with strong hunters?"
"Ugh, whatever. They keep trying to leash us with that crap. If I go where the strongest hunters are, even if the land's vast, I'll have some peace."
Something in their hearts was chipping away bit by bit.
What to call that feeling?
If a round something kept getting hacked by sharp blades until it became square and jagged.
No one voiced that patriotism and treason differ by one consonant.
The situation was too messy to define or discuss casually anyway.
"Let's go for now. We've come this far—gotta at least see the boss's face."
"Oh yeah. What'd they say the Dokdo boss is? Here it's that... thing."
With a flash, they crossed the magic circle into the boss room.
"...That giant statue."
A massive statue towered toward the sky, multiple arms extending from its back, each gripping a different gleaming blade.
"Dunno."
The hunters drew their weapons one by one, aiming at the boss.
"Iron Blood said no magic circle or mist to find it once you're in the boss room."
"She scouted Dokdo?"
"Probably. She tried and bailed, so she's sure."
Up front, Iron Blood charged the statue, fists clenched.
"If Dokdo was easier, that government dog would've gone there. She's pushing here first 'cause she's sure Dokdo's impossible."
* * *
Examining the battlefield inside Dokdo's S-Rank Tower through Elaine's vision, I gained a clear conviction.
'Regular physical DPS is damn near impossible.'
The floor.
Or maybe not the floor at all.
Islands like Dokdo look like tiny specks beyond the horizon, but vast terrain stretches beneath the sea, right?
Something like a glacier—no, even bigger.
If this entire landmass is the boss, no purely physical powerhouse can take it down.
'Need nuke-level destruction or some special method.'
Kagagang!
While I pondered strategies, Elaine sliced through Earthworms with all she had.
Not following my inputs—she was biding her time, carving them up to gather mana.
[Elaine: Master. 'Deal time' incoming.] Elaine gathered mana and leaped off the ground again.
She kicked an oncoming Earthworm, adjusting her body parallel to the earth.
Cooldown over—mana surged, begging to be unleashed.
Timing—
'No.'
Not yet.
I didn't input, so Elaine could've panicked, but instead she stomped hard and shot upward.
Kya aaak!!
Several Earthworms burst from the ground.
As if ready to tank her downward strikes with their bodies—and devour her in the process—they leaped in unison.
Sasak.
Elaine bounded higher, stepping on an Earthworm's head.
Step on one, another lunges—she dodged its fangs and kept climbing.
Over 10 meters up, but the Earthworms showed no end, twisting together like ropes.
Now.
Before I even twitched my thumb, Elaine crouched low.
Then, like scaling a building vertically, she ran down their writhing bodies.
The angle she created.
Only a human would miss it.
'Now!'
She positioned before I hit the button.
Unleashed the same combo, pouring in all the DPS.
Gu gu gu gu gu.
The entire ground quaked.
The colossal prone beast shuddered like knives stabbing its back, the earth groaning in agony.
'As expected.'
Two deal times.
'If it were just negligible specs, maybe. But at this level? HP down to 1/4 easy.'
The boss's health bar clung to a measly quarter.
'S-Rank Tower bosses weekly or hardest content? Can't outdo full raid gear.'
Even with buffs, full raid full reforge is strong.
Especially to me.
Unlike dumping Black Card millions into games lately, back then I poured my blood money into gearing up.
Rich folks who full raid everything might not get it, but sinking that into one character across mobiles? That's devotion.
That desperation paid off, maybe.
[Elaine: Master. This should be the last one.] Elaine unscathed.
Standing calmly, sword extended sideways, she walked slowly toward the charging Earthworms.
Sarak.
Dodge on perfect timing—she flashed forward in a burst of light.
Kwaduduk!
Earthworms gaping for her snapped at each other instead.
Far more than before erupted, a veritable wave.
Gu gu gu gu gu.
The screen shook wildly.
For a second, I thought the carrier was rocking—and it was.
'Boss thrashing inside the tower affecting reality too, huh.'
I glanced at the monitor showing outside.
Waves surged like they'd beach any lesser ship.
Weeeing.
"!!"
A popup on my smartphone.
"Shit...!"
Earthquake alert. 5.4.
Location: Dokdo.
Luckily, my summoner app phone didn't blare.
But my sub phone—for work back at the office—did.
Knock knock knock.
Knocking from the window outside.
"Are you alright, Master?!"
Patrick pounded the glass, face pale.
"The ship fi—"
"Patrick."
"Yes?"
"One minute."
I cracked the window, raising one finger.
"I'll smash the tower in one minute. Just hold for that long."
"...Yes!"
Patrick nodded vigorously. I shut the windy window and hunched over.
"......"
Elaine was auto-dodging flawlessly without my input.
She eyed timings amid the boiling worm wave, visibly annoyed.
'Boss knows it.'
The moment her strikes landed, she swung toward the ground.
Stretch Earthworms high, and she'd take splashback—so it forced ankle-biting waves instead.
[Elaine: Master, at this rate—] 'Ride the wave.'
Position locked.
I dodged her into place.
Tadadak.
Signaled the special unactivated.
She gathered mana, posed amid the worm surf, evading.
"If I gotta DPS downward, doesn't have to be straight vertical."
A worm head rose like a wave crest—Elaine planted her foot behind it, body sloping downhill.
The incline she made.
Button down—the sparkle underground undeniable.
Real or illusion? Didn't matter.
Gamer instinct screamed.
Everyone knows: whiff or solid hit?
Which now?
[Elaine: Ah...!] Elaine gasped.
Joy or despair? Results would tell.
There.
Beyond the glass.
Dokdo's S-Rank Tower erupting in brilliant light.