Homecoming Interrupted
The regional quest (1) — everyone returns home together. It’s the first house I built, but it’s still far from livable. We had only walked a short distance when silhouettes appeared in the distance. Quite a few of them. Everyone stopped at the sudden sight and watched the situation unfold.
“Wait, someone’s coming?”
“Isn’t that Jaehun?”
“Doesn’t look like my brother Jaehun……”
I could only shake my head at Dad’s suggestion. It would’ve been nice if it were him, but the figures were running desperately, as if being chased. Jaehun would never run like that. With his skills, he could handle the monsters around here with ease.
——They drew close enough for their faces to be visible, and as expected, they weren’t Jaehun’s group. Complete strangers……
They spotted us too. Like thirsty travelers spotting an oasis in the desert, they sprinted toward us in a panic, shouting desperately.
“H-Help us——!”
“……?”
The man in the lead was the one who spoke. A firefighter, judging by his uniform. Nine people followed behind him. Family, perhaps…… No, not quite. The middle-aged man in the firefighter’s uniform reached me first, grabbing onto me as he pleaded once more.
“Please, please help us—!”
“What’s going on? Let go of me first and tell me what happened……”
I tried to get a proper explanation, but the reason for their panic became clear in an instant. A swarm of monsters was chasing the firefighter’s group……
『Kak— kak—.』
With sharp mandibles clacking, the creatures scuttled forward on six legs at terrifying speed.
“Ants……”
The difference was that they were as large as big dogs, with razor-sharp features. Their exoskeletons looked less natural and more like steel armor, glowing with a reddish hue. I checked their names and levels first.
Killer Ant Lv.17
“They’re strong…?!”
“Ugh, disgusting……”
Seorin cried out in alarm at the Killer Ants’ high level, while Sohyun shuddered in revulsion. She’d never liked insects……
The Killer Ants stopped about ten meters away instead of attacking immediately.
“We’ll reward you with as many Coins as you want—anything! Please, just help us……!”
Coins……
“For now, take your people and get behind us. We’ll handle this.”
“Ah……”
The man thanked me repeatedly as he and his group retreated to where my parents stood.
“Can we really trust them with this……?”
“Shouldn’t we just run……?”
“No! We agreed we wouldn’t do that! We can’t become monsters ourselves!”
They bickered among themselves, but I ignored it. I wasn’t exactly happy about the situation, but I held back after seeing that they hadn’t fled and hearing the firefighter’s desperate words. Besides, there was something I wanted to ask them. First, though, I had to deal with the uninvited guests!
Seorin, Sohyun, and I naturally stepped forward. From behind, Mom and Dad called out worriedly. It made sense—they’d never seen us fight before.
“Dohyun, will you be okay……?”
“I’m fine, Dad.”
“Be careful……!”
“Don’t worry, Mom. Your son’s strong!”
The Killer Ants’ levels were high, but to me, they were nothing more than walking Coins. It was rare to see monsters of this level traveling in such a large group. There were ten of them, just like the number of people they’d been chasing. 5,100 Coins per ant meant 51,000 for ten……! This would make up for the days I hadn’t been able to hunt!
The Killer Ants approached cautiously. Seizing the opening, I charged forward and thrust my spear. Clang—!
“?!”
The spear was easily deflected by their exoskeleton. Only the tip managed to pierce slightly.
“They’re tough……”
Once I attacked, the Killer Ants retaliated. All ten charged at once, even scaling the walls. The sight of dog-sized ants rushing forward was overwhelming.
“Even I think these are gross……”
“Fall back!”
“O-Okay.”
“Fire.”
As I retreated, Seorin immediately cast her magic to block them. A wall of flames rose to cut off the Killer Ants’ path.
——Or so we thought.
『Tap— tap— tap—.』
The creatures emerged from the flames without hesitation, completely unfazed.
“What the—?!”
“They must have fire resistance! Flames won’t work.”
Seorin clicked her tongue. Her favorite magic had been nullified, so it was only natural.
The ants were nearly upon us now. We couldn’t rely on Seorin’s magic anymore.
“Sohyun, stop complaining and get up here!”
“Ah, got it…!”
It was time for the frontliners to act. We moved forward to intercept the ants. No matter how hard their exoskeletons were, their joints couldn’t be as protected. As I searched for weak points, I noticed the armor only slightly protruded to guard the joints without restricting movement.
These ants were literally wearing armor! Still, with Basic Spear Technique at level 4 and my high agility, I could spot even the smallest openings in monsters of this level. I drove my spear into the joint between an ant’s head and abdomen.
『Kiiiiiik……?!』
One down. Sohyun seemed to be holding her own as well. Hard shells didn’t mean they were immune to damage.
“Full Power Strike!”
One Killer Ant went flying from Sohyun’s punch, slammed into a utility pole, and fell motionless.
No monster was perfect—weak points always existed. Seorin wasn’t idle either. If fire didn’t work, she’d use another element.
“Lightning!”
Electricity shot from her palm, crisping a Killer Ant instantly.
“Nice one!”
“Focus on what’s in front of you, you idiot!”
Now that we each had a method, the rest of the fight wasn’t difficult. We took our time, eliminating them one by one.
“That’s the last of them!”
“I thought I was going to get scolded for complaining so much……”
“This magic isn’t bad either.”
After sharing our thoughts, we returned to the group. Daon had been treating the injured while we fought.
“They handled what we couldn’t so easily……!”
“The difference in strength is insane……”
“I…… couldn’t even follow that boy’s movements……”
“Her magic is strong……”
Mom and Dad came over as well, giving us thumbs-up.
“Our son and daughter are incredibly strong!”
“You kids worked hard!”
They’d been worried about us going out to hunt dangerous monsters. This should ease their concerns a little……?
After a brief chat with my parents, the man in the firefighter’s uniform approached. As I suspected, he was the leader of his group.
“You’re incredibly strong……! On our way here, we accidentally passed through their nest……”
“Could you explain what happened?”
“Of course.”
The firefighter extended his hand, and I shook it.
“My name is Kim Doogang.”
“Kang Dohyun.”
It felt awkward to keep talking outside, so we all headed into the house. Their appearance was rough, so we decided to let them rest and eat before finishing the conversation.
There were a lot of people. So many that even if all our relatives gathered, the house wouldn’t feel this packed. Mom cooked while Seorin helped. Daon, Dad, Sohyun, and I tended to the injured. No one had life-threatening wounds.
Afterward, we ate. The party had to be postponed because of the situation.
“Thank you for the meal. It was delicious.”
“There’s still more food if anyone needs it.”
Everyone had eaten their fill and rested. It was time to hear what had happened. Normally, I wouldn’t have bothered listening to strangers’ stories, but these people seemed different from the others who’d approached us before. Even though they’d been chased by monsters, they’d adapted well to the changed world. That meant they probably had a base like ours. So why had they come here instead of returning to it? Time to find out if my guess was right.
“Mister, tell us what happened now!”
“Yes, of course……”
Everyone focused on us.
“First, thank you for your hospitality.”
“Skip that. Get to the point!”
“Y-Yes……”
“Dohyun……”
Finally, the man began his story.
“It happened two days ago.”
He explained what had led up to it. As I’d guessed, he was a firefighter. Several of his companions had been his subordinates back then.
“We rescued people with my team and managed to hold out somehow.”
I wasn’t particularly interested in that part, but I listened because of Mom and Dad’s glances. This guy sure talked a lot for his appearance……
After that, I finally heard what had actually happened. Two days ago, his group had received a Quest. It was to either defeat or flee from a certain monster, but that’s where the problem started.
“That monster was impossibly strong. We couldn’t do anything……”
The monster had turned their base into a wasteland and killed many people. Originally, they’d had twice as many members. Quite a large group……
“In the end, we couldn’t hold out and had no choice but to flee. Unfortunately, our escape route took us through a Killer Ant nest, leading to our current situation……”
The Killer Ant nest was concerning, but the monster that had destroyed their base seemed more urgent. I listened in silence, lost in thought once he finished. The situation was more serious than I’d imagined…… I hadn’t expected something like this…… If this had happened nearby……
Just then, a message appeared. More precisely, a Quest.
Regional Quest Generated!
📍 A powerful monster, Acid Tentacler (Juvenile), has appeared in this region. Flee or defeat it.
🎁 Rewards:
Top 3 contributors: Class-exclusive quest, Rare Skill Selection Ticket, 10,000 Coins
4th–10th place: Rare Skill Selection Ticket, 9,000 Coins
11th–20th place: Normal Skill Selection Ticket, 8,000 Coins
Others: 7,000 Coins
This was a type of Quest I’d never seen before. One notable thing was the large number of reward recipients, which meant the monster we had to defeat was incredibly strong. And since a Quest had appeared, it meant we were now involved too.
As expected, I wasn’t the only one who received this Quest. Everyone here except Kim Doogang’s group had received it as well.
“Is this what they call a Quest or something?”
“Honey, it seems so.”
“This is my first time getting a Quest……”
Mom and Dad were naturally amazed, and Seorin, Daon, and Sohyun were experiencing their first Quest too. I showed the firefighter the Quest I’d received.
“Is this the one you got, mister?”
“Huh……? Ah, yes! Wait, if you received this too……”
He seemed to have realized what it meant. I voiced what everyone had already figured out.
“Yeah…… This place isn’t safe anymore either……”