Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: Gumiho from North Korea
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Kiaaaah!!!!"
Ri Ju-ha's form began to change. Her hair turned pure white as beastly ears sprouted from her head. Her nails lengthened and sharpened, and a series of cracking sounds came from her tailbone as three tails emerged.
"Y-You bastards!! Goddamn it!! What the hell is this now!!"
"A bitch who's low on mana should just surrender quietly!!"
"Shut your traps!! You tiger-nosed freaks!!"
Soon, they clashed. Ri Ju-ha, now awakened as a three-tailed fox, raked her claws across an approaching ethnic Korean's arm, tearing off chunks of flesh before igniting his body with her yokai energy.
"Gaaahhh!! Fire!! It's on fire!! Uwaaaahhh!!! "
Ri Ju-ha scowled at the burning man.
Her class was Gumiho, exclusive to the Korean Peninsula. Though her level was still low—only three tails—she possessed stats far superior to ordinary humans, befitting a class that transformed one's race.
"Gaaahhh!!! "
The ethnic Korean whose throat was shredded by Ri Ju-ha's claws clutched at it desperately to stem the gushing blood, but her relentless talons tore into his face next, leaving him to die in vain.
'Damn it...! '
She had taken down one of the five. But her expression didn't brighten.
She doubted she could kill the remaining four before her mana ran out. She was already short on mana. She barely had enough left to maintain her beast form.
Unless she fully awakened as a complete Gumiho, sustaining the beast form required constant mana expenditure. Once it depleted, she'd revert to a normal human—and then the ethnic Koreans would surely kill her.
Up until now, Ri Ju-ha hadn't gotten proper rest while protecting her non-awakened little sister from the forest's threats. She hadn't eaten or drunk properly, nor slept. When they'd entered the forest, all she had were two boiled potatoes, expecting to forage something along the way.
In truth, entering the forest had been a gamble for Ri Ju-ha.
Her homeland, North Korea, had collapsed in an instant when the disaster struck. Now, few survivors remained, huddled only in the mountains. She and her sister were among those who had fled to the hills to survive.
North Korea had been a country where concepts like "awakener" or "player" were utterly foreign, so in the early days of the disaster, those who awakened powers were branded as demons or devils.
This tragedy stemmed from the Great Leader's eternal vigilance against revolution, viewing zombies and awakeners alike as foreign invaders plotting to overthrow communism.
He branded players as enemies of the people and unleashed absurd propaganda, leading to the absurd spectacle of non-awakeners hunting or reporting awakeners to the government. Low-level early awakeners were powerless against the North Korean military's guns and blades, facing brutal suppression.
Thus, North Korea squandered the crucial first week of the disaster—when awakeners needed to grow strong—on pointless purges. Countries where the government collapsed quickly, leaving awakeners unhindered, fared far better.
After eradicating awakeners so meaninglessly, North Korea crumbled helplessly against ever-strengthening zombies as updates rolled out.
The deranged update abolishing modern weaponry rendered firearms useless and nukes unfireable, leaving Pyongyang defenseless as zombies overran it.
Only then did the Dear Leader realize awakeners were the disaster's only hope—but it was far too late.
Lacking any real understanding of the game, they perished without a fight. Africa and some developing nations suffered similarly, though North Korea fell the fastest.
North Korean citizens, long conditioned to exploitation by the regime and passive thinking, fell for the propaganda labeling awakeners as enemies of the people. Even after the puppet government collapsed, they shunned and rejected awakeners as devil spawn.
They clung to the delusion that the Dear Leader would solve everything and restore order. That foolish faith lasted less than three weeks before shattering.
Believing the army would handle it, the masses were torn apart by zombie jaws and died. The unintelligent perished first—a fitting end for those incapable of independent thought.
'I have to survive. If I make it back with a divine idol, everyone can live. '
One of North Korea's rare surviving—and even rarer—awakeners, Ri Ju-ha clenched her fists with renewed resolve.
She would survive and return home. She would find the divine idol and bring it back.
Not long ago, ghosts had possessed and killed her uncle. To ward off those insane spirits invading their home, they desperately needed a divine idol. It was essential for gaining acceptance in the group and earning trust too.
Though the "home" she longed to protect and return to was little more than a crude mountain shack, she considered it home. Because her family was there. In this godforsaken world without a single reliable anchor, family was something to cling to.
Yet her family had essentially discarded Ri Ju-ha and her sister Ri Eun-ha as expendable pawns, sending them into the forest.
Her father prioritized only his youngest son due to ingrained son-preference, her mother saw it as natural, and her naive little brother accepted their sacrifice as obvious. Despite experiencing Ri Ju-ha's powers multiple times and benefiting from them, they still viewed her—fooled by government lies—as a monster tainted by devil's blood.
Her father, who always despised Ri Ju-ha for admiring South Korea, openly scorned and bullied her after her awakening. He even beat her mother, cursing her for birthing a demon's spawn. The others in their mountain community treated Ri Ju-ha like a freak too.
Feeling their cold rejection, Ri Ju-ha had volunteered to enter the Missing Persons' Forest to earn their recognition. Ri Eun-ha had followed, unwilling to let her sister go alone into danger.
Though she'd only been a hindrance.
"Haa... haa... fuck... you worthless shits... come at me!!! Hurry up!!!"
About five minutes of combat. Ri Ju-ha was drenched in blood. A sashimi knife protruded from her side, stabbed in by a dying ethnic Korean, and blood trickled from her head where a blunt weapon had struck. She looked ready to collapse any second.
Despite such wounds, she'd torn apart two more ethnic Koreans just moments ago. Her vision spun, death felt imminent, but she endured. The thought of her escaped sister being caught kept her on her feet.
Regrettably, that was her limit.
Three of five down, but she had no strength left for the rest. No mana, low level.
Her transformation would end soon. Wandering the forest without rest, protecting her non-awakened sister, had taken too great a toll.
No chance to recover mana.
Her defeat was, in a way, inevitable.
"Haa... haa... kuhuk..."
Ri Ju-ha's stance crumbled as she vomited blood.
The ethnic Koreans fighting her couldn't smile despite her imminent fall. Catching one girl had cost three lives, and they were badly wounded too. With Ri Ju-ha about to die anyway, the losses outweighed any gain.
Staring at her venomous glare, the two thought she was one tough bitch.
"Filthy, repulsive wench. Just die already!!"
One ethnic Korean met her glare and raised his hand axe. Ri Ju-ha, spewing blood, lacked the strength to dodge or block.
An axe to the head would end it. She squeezed her eyes shut.
And pictured her little sister's face—the only family member who'd stayed warm toward her even after gaining powers. The girl who always said she'd become strong like her big sister.
'Is this it... When I go, I wanted to at least clear your path, Eun-ha... '
She prayed her sister escaped this forest unharmed, divine idol or not—just out of this hellish place.
'So I'll take you bastards with me. '
Dying or not, she still had a way. She decided to use her final resort.
The Gumiho class's ultimate skill. A one-time move with a high chance of killing the user too.
Fox Bead Detonation.
The Gumiho's life essence, infused with yokai power, pulled from within and shattered by her own hand. The hallway would erupt in foxfire, incinerating all life. It was the Gumiho's self-destruct.
Though her low level, depleted mana, and scant yokai meant she couldn't level the building, the bead held enough power to burn these ethnic Koreans to ash.
'You tiger-nosed scum deserve worse than being chewed up. Feel the agony of burning...! '
A thousand flames flickered in her gut. The yokai-infused fox bead was about to rise to her mouth.
Just as she prepared to unleash her final gambit...
Creak...
A door connected to the hallway swung open.
"What the fuck... This building's a total mess. No monsters either. Just gives me the creeps."
"Right? Weird-ass building! Huh? Lord... I smell blood over there."
"Yeah? What the hell are those?"
Jang Jojun's group appeared behind the ethnic Koreans.
The two about to finish Ri Ju-ha panicked at the sudden intruders.
"Who the hell are you?!"
"Huh? Why's that guy talking like that?"
"Oppa, those guys look like ethnic Koreans?"
"Ah... Korean-Chinese scum..."
Even before humanity's fall, Jang Jojun harbored deep resentment toward ethnic Koreans. Especially those relentless 070 spam calls every holiday morning, ruining his sleep-ins and driving him mad.
To him, ethnic Koreans were joy-killing assholes. Add their litany of crimes, and he despised them as much as mainland Chinese.
Almost reflexively, Jang Jojun activated his skill—no thought of enslaving or talking. Darkness erupted from his hand.
An Abyssal Maw materialized beside the ethnic Koreans, jaws gaping wide.
Crunch.
The two men's upper bodies vanished. They were devoured before realizing what hit them, souls claimed by Indicron and Kashnax.
Splurt!!!
"Wh-What the..."
Lower bodies remained, blood fountaining from the torsos.
Ri Ju-ha, splattered by the spray, stared blankly at the newcomers.
A tall man and a woman with beast ears like hers. A bizarre blonde and a bespectacled ugly guy.
Enemy or ally, she couldn't tell—but watching them dispatch her would-be killers in a blink, she knew she stood no chance.
"Oh? One more over there?"
The headless legs staggered and fell, revealing the woman they'd hidden. Jang Jojun spotted her.
"You an ethnic Korean too?"
"Y-Yes!! I am a citizen of the Democratic People's Republic of..."
"Okay, stop. North Korean, got it?"
"Ah... Y-Yes..."
"Name?"
"Ri... Ri Ju-ha..."
"Ri Ju-ha... Jeez. Chinese, Japanese, ethnic Koreans, and now a North Korean? Quite the buffet. Right?"
Jang Jojun brushed off Indicron's complaint about the aftertaste as he drew the Ghost Wailing Sword from his belt. He approached the terrified Ri Ju-ha slowly.
'What... the hell is that guy...? Ahh... my mana... '
Her mana fully depleted, Ri Ju-ha's transformation ended. Legs giving out, she slumped into the blood-soaked floor.
"Not bad-looking. But too scrawny, like a kid. Hey, how old are you?"
"Tw... twenty-two..."
"For real? Definitely an adult?"
"Y-Yes... that's right..."
"Class?"
"Gu... Gumiho..."
"Gumiho? The class name's just plain Gumiho?"
"Yes... it just said Gumiho..."
"Huh, weird class. Level?"
"N-Nine... level nine..."
"What? Just 9? You're not brain-dead from North Korea... What balls does it take for a level 9 to crawl in here?"
"I... well..."
"Impressive you're still alive. But where's your group? You didn't come alone."
"Ah..."
"Eyes shifting like that—probably not dead. Still alive, huh. Where's the rest? Not those ethnic Koreans I just killed, right? Obviously."
Ri Ju-ha hesitated—should she reveal her sister's existence?
Uncertain of this man's nature, she couldn't recklessly expose her sister. She might share her own info, having lost the will to fight, but her sibling's could invite trouble. Especially after he obliterated two torsos in an instant—terrifying power.
She felt inescapably trapped by this monster-like man. She couldn't drag her sister into it.
"Don't wanna talk? Fine. I'll make you."
Jang Jojun didn't wait for her answer.
No need to.
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