Chapter 55
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: The Best Choice (4)
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The "Atlnak's Labyrinth Garden" that we'd roamed with my colleagues for several weeks took on a fortress-like structure.
Our hideout and the outer keep where Atlnak's daughters lurked.
The inner keep lay within the opaque curtain encircling Garak Market.
From the outside, the opaque curtain serving as the fortress walls appeared to be nothing more than a flimsy membrane dangling there.
But since that curtain forming the fortress outright forbade any human passage, it functioned just like a proper wall.
Try to pass through the curtain draped over Garak Market, and you'd get bounced right back out.
Attempt to exit beyond the outer keep's curtain—to leave Atlnak's Labyrinth Garden altogether—and you'd get yanked right back inside.
All of it stemmed from the illusions woven by Fraus.
Sure enough, peering at the Labyrinth Garden's true face through the glasses handed over by Jeon Byung-chul revealed a massive dome piled high with layer upon layer of spiderwebs.
Even the sky that had always looked perpetually overcast was one of Fraus's illusions...
We'd had our suspicions, but the bitter taste in our mouths lingered at the realization that we'd been battling them atop the very spiderwebs they'd spun.
"Hmm."
I turned my gaze from the sky to find Jeon Byung-chul standing beside me, his eyes now clear.
The Purification skill hadn't just reset the demons—it had wiped his Karma clean, too.
I'd had my hands full stopping him from throwing himself flat on the ground in gratitude.
For me, absent any mission from the Savior, Karma had always been little more than "some potential restrictions on quest performance."
But Jeon Byung-chul—shunned by other survivors for his red eyes—had seen it differently.
In any case, purifying him had cost me Holy Power level 3 and 15,000 hours of Survival Time.
Sure, I'd get more than that back from him in return, but I needed to recover that dropped Holy Power level as quickly as possible.
'Even down 3 levels, I've still got 10—that meets the bare minimum for taking them down...'
It stung all the same. I knew the level system demanded exponentially more resources every 10 levels.
Clutching my aching gut inwardly, I called up the item details on the glasses I'd earned for that price.
「[Cyclops' Eye]
Grade: Rare
Required Stats: None
Info: Seeing correctly is thinking correctly.
These glasses reveal not only the hidden underside of what the eyes behold but also shield the wearer from mental corruption.」
Glasses that exposed the other side of reality.
No wonder, then. As I scanned our surroundings with them on, the Labyrinth Garden's secrets weren't all that imprinted on my retinas—other oddities started appearing, too.
Empty air that should have been void rippled like gentle waves.
Gazing at my colleagues, each harbored a glow of varying intensity in their chests.
Mine burned the brightest by far, followed by So-hee.
Staring too long left me queasy, my eyes aching, so I quizzed Jeon Byung-chul on what the Cyclops' Eye revealed.
"But Byung-chul, aside from shattering Fraus's illusions, isn't it showing other stuff too? Like the air shimmering, or light pouring out of people...?"
"Huh? No way. Here, give it a try."
He plucked the glasses from me, slipped them on himself, and peered around.
"...Hmm. I'm not seeing any of that."
Classic used-goods salesman spiel. I couldn't shake the feeling I'd been had.
'This is exactly why I never touched secondhand stuff even before the end times.'
My stomach twisted for a whole different reason now, but what could I do? I'd already paid full price.
A smooth deal was just basic etiquette for future trades.
I snatched the glasses back and slid them on, muttering loud enough for all to hear.
"It's fine. Just makes my stomach churn and eyes hurt—probably wrecking my vision. But hey, the main function works as advertised..."
Not that I was holding a grudge or anything.
This was just a buyer's rightful review, right...? Ugh, forget it. My bad for not checking the condition first.
"Leader, so what's the plan for resupply today? Byung-chul showing up, their attacks hitting harder than usual... Feels like they sniffed out our mart run. Pushing straight there feels iffy now.... And if he's right, heading to camp with our position blown is risky too, isn't it?"
My head throbbed.
Spiders knew our spot, and we needed temporary cover from their illusions without tipping our hand.
No clue how they'd pinned us, but countermeasures came first—debate later.
'Hide somewhere besides the safehouse to throw them off? Or stick to the mart plan and play dumb about being onto them?'
I mulled it over, but no option shone clear. Caught between a rock and a hard place.
When stuck in these messy no-win gridlocks, I had exactly one go-to move.
Bull-rush straight ahead.
"Plan change. We're charging Fraus's gateway right now."
"What? Didn't you say we need Holy Power level 10 to fight them? You're the only one who qualifies at the moment..."
"No time. Position's locked down—they'll ramp up the harassment if we sit tight, and be ready the second we go on the offensive. Better to hit them now."
"But—"
"No time. Blitzkrieg's all about speed. Byung-chul, can your wife and daughter hold their own in a fight?"
"Wife can manage. Daughter's still not quite there for killing spiders."
At his words, I eyed Dan-woo—or more precisely, the dagger in his grip.
"Dan-woo. While they're focused on us, get these two back to the safehouse."
"Me alone?! No way, I wanna fight!"
"You're the only one I trust for this, Dan-woo. You hit [Shadow Step] level 5, right? Use it if things get dicey."
"Fine... Then I'll drop 'em off quick and haul ass back—don't you dare try to stop me. Got it?!"
"Yeah, yeah. Be careful."
With that, we sent Jeon Byung-chul's wife and daughter to the safehouse, then let him guide us to Fraus's gateway in Song Dan-woo's stead.
Fraus's gateway sat in the "World Cup Town Apartment Complex" south of Garak Market. To deny them any prep time, we bolted there at top speed.
We'd all long since shattered ordinary human limits, so the complex wasn't far—but whatever gave away our game plan, a spider swarm already lay in wait at the entrance.
Rough count: over 200 regular apostle spiders, 20 massive ones playing centurion.
And two who screamed "demon."
I pulled alongside So-hee as we sprinted and issued orders.
"I'll peel off with the two demons—handle the rest. Cool?"
"Piece of cake. You sure you don't need backup, Min-jun?"
"Psh, it's me, Lee Min-jun! Wanna bet who cleans up first?"
"Ha?! Stakes? Item gift card, maybe?"
"Whoa, you're on—and high-grade counts too, right?"
She smirked, one corner of her mouth quirking up as she tied back her bob that now brushed her shoulders.
"What's this? I'm not your student anymore, spoon-feeding you every trick!"
"You're on! Let's roll!"
With that, I left the first real friend I'd ever made in the dust and surged ahead even faster.
The sky hung heavy and gray, but my spirits didn't match.
Another monster brawl loomed, but this wasn't some hopeless dead end.
The more of them I killed, the longer I'd live—and with more people at my side. That much I knew.
'This time, too... I'll survive for sure.'
The spiders and demons sharpened into focus, hazy no more.
Through the [Cyclops' Eye], they glowed too—just a different hue.
A gloomy, malignant crimson? It clashed hard with our crew's radiant shine.
'Guess that's their color. Which means—'
The two pitch-black ones, dark enough to trigger depression just looking at them? Those were the heavy hitters.
Lee Min-jun barreled toward the male and female demons belching that sinister glow.
'These bastards have abandoned their humanity entirely.'
They looked nothing like the shooting club captain Baek Ki-hyuk from before.
No scraps of clothing anymore—just a thin exoskeleton sheathing their whole bodies, plain as day.
Their lower halves bulked out 1.5 times the upper, human legs swapped for long, razor-sharp blade limbs jutting out. Like pole-vaulters mid-stride.
"...?!"
"...!!!"
Our gap had shrunk to around 100 meters.
They spotted me late, scrambling into position.
What I wielded? The dagger I'd bought recently—and my sawed-off shotgun.
I'd learned the hard way fighting Baek Ki-hyuk: against people, a clumsy greatsword just didn't cut it.
For humans or small fry, this stubby shotgun shone.
At first, I'd been slamming Holy Power into it like a cannon, but that guzzled stamina and limited my options too much.
So I'd racked my brain for efficiency—and bingo.
Just load shells and fire like normal.
Coat the shot with Holy Power for lethal punch, with way less drain.
*Click.*
I snapped open the break-action shotgun and chambered two buckshot rounds.
Our distance dwindled further, but no sweat.
Lost in Fraus's illusions, their eyes glazed vacant, minds shot.
They probably hadn't clocked what I'd drawn.
"Time for intros?"
*Boom! Boom! Click—*
Even mid-sprint, I planted a faceful of buckshot in each—one slug apiece—then reloaded.
The kick thrummed satisfyingly through me.
They shielded their heads with their arms; blue ichor oozed from the wounds.
"Nice! Let's play!"
I'd stacked prep on prep to guarantee victory, but in the end, these fights weren't something I could dodge just 'cause I wanted to.