Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: The Nightmare Returns
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“Hyung, are you okay?”
As I focused solely on running without reacting, Jo Min-woo also fell silent and concentrated on running.
He must have guessed something from the sweat pouring down like rain.
He kept glancing back, worried about Jo Min-ah, but the area outside the stadium was also crawling with monsters.
Unable to relax about his own safety, he eventually turned his head away.
He had completely entrusted Jo Min-ah to me.
That wasn't bad. It was proof that his trust in me was quite high.
At some point, the monsters became scarce, giving me a chance to look back.
Only a very small number of people had followed.
Without a doubt, the strongest person here was Kim Ji-hyeon.
Naturally, following her group offered the highest chance of survival.
Nevertheless, most people had moved aimlessly in a panic, while others couldn't withstand the monsters or fell behind due to lack of stamina.
If I hadn't played the game, would I have ended up like that too?
The thought suddenly crossed my mind.
“But why are we going to Jeungsan Station? We already passed that place!”
“There's an intact subway train stopped there! It's been serviced, so it should run!”
Kim Ji-hyeon's group had already prepared for the possibility of having to abandon the stadium.
That's why they made such a quick decision.
Damn it. Was going down the stairs always this hard?
After a difficult descent to the platform, I saw a relatively intact train under the dimly flickering lights.
“Where does this take us!?”
“Line 6! It passes by Korea University and goes to the Korea Military Academy! If we go there, there will be soldiers, so we can get help!”
At Lee Seon-yul's words, people exclaimed in awe.
In a disaster like this, it's not easy for soldiers to do their jobs, but if you're asking whether they're helpful or not, they are.
Now that people had gained supernatural powers like stats and skills, modern weapons weren't a huge help, but they were better than nothing.
They wouldn't arrive directly at the academy, so they would get off at Hwarangdae Station, just before the last stop, Bonghwasan Station.
‘That is, if we can get there safely.’
I had never once reached the Korea Military Academy while playing the game.
Once things were somewhat resolved, there was no reason to go.
Catching my breath, I looked toward the platform entrance.
Only about 20 people had boarded, and no one else was getting on.
In the end, it was always around this number at this point.
At least this time, it was a larger group. My early efforts hadn't been in vain.
“Hey, you. Do you know how to operate a train?”
“How would I? I'm just going by feel, thinking this might be it. I can make it run and stop, but I probably can't control it well.”
“Then figure it out.”
“What?”
“If you can't, we're all dead. And before we die, I'll kill you first.”
“...”
The man's face instantly turned serious as he focused all his attention on driving.
Knowing that he could operate the train just fine, contrary to his words, I leaned back comfortably in my seat, unlike the others.
Even though I tried to be as comfortable as possible, I kept feeling an uncomfortable sense of mismatch.
The inside of the train was as quiet as a tomb.
With gloomy faces, everyone was staring down at their feet.
The horrific massacre that had unfolded inside the stadium was still vivid in their minds.
I also saw Go Yeong-jun and Jeong Su-ji.
Did they survive because the twins shared the advice I gave them?
Jeong Ha-yeon, who hadn't fully recovered from her injuries, was also clutching her chest in pain.
I looked around the train to see if there were any other familiar faces, but there was no one particularly noteworthy.
“Hic, sob...”
Finally, Jo Min-ah burst into tears.
Someone had died brutally right before her eyes.
And it happened while he was trying to save her.
It wasn't something an ordinary middle school student could endure.
Lee Seong-chan.
I thought of him for a moment, then slowly erased him from my mind.
“Jo Min-ah.”
“...Hic, yes?”
“You have to get stronger. That's what this world is like. It's too late after you've already lost someone.”
“...”
“Lee Seong-chan-ssi didn't die because of you. That was his choice. But if you feel any guilt or responsibility for his death... then you know what you have to do from now on.”
I didn't offer any clumsy words of comfort.
Knowing the personality of the character Jo Min-ah, this would be enough.
I could see her hands, which had been resting on her lap, clench into fists.
“The same goes for all of you.”
After watching her, I turned my back and faced the others.
“Get stronger. It's the only way to survive, the only way to avoid losing the people you care about.”
No one answered.
But I could feel that the atmosphere had definitely changed.
The look in Jo Min-woo's and Go Yeong-jun's eyes was particularly satisfying.
As an older brother, Jo Min-woo had to protect his only sister, and Go Yeong-jun... well now.
I followed Go Yeong-jun's gaze and let out a small laugh.
No wonder he seemed to be sticking close to Jeong Su-ji.
These kids.
I could feel the gazes of the two who had decided to trust me turn my way.
It was a look mixed with half-doubt.
Is this really the right way?
What are we going to do about what comes next?
I looked at them and curled my lips into a smile.
There were a few variables, but nothing that would disrupt the next stage of the strategy.
The reason Chapter 3 was so reviled by people hadn't appeared yet.
But we would face it soon enough.
I unconsciously fiddled with my Sa-in-cham-sa-geom and turned my gaze out the window.
[Dongmyo Station]
I was staring blankly out the window when the station's name came into view, and my nerves immediately tensed.
It's almost time.
The biggest challenge of Chapter 3.
A crisis that was impossible to survive without having made all the right choices.
I gently closed my eyes and pieced together the puzzle.
Hunter Set. Location tracker. Queen Ant's neurotoxin. Remnants of White Flame.
I hadn't missed a single thing.
My stats and traits were also far superior to any previous playthrough.
There was nothing I couldn't do.
“Everyone.”
“Yes?”
“Grab onto something tight. So you don't go flying.”
Just a few seconds after I said that.
*CRRAAASH!*
The forward-moving train was suddenly struck, and it shot upward, crashing through the ceiling.
“Kyaaaaah!”
The train is rising.
I felt the air currents of something nearby rushing upward.
“Hey! Can't you drive properly!?”
“Y-you know it's not my fault!”
Whatever had moved was already past us and out of sight, but its trail was clearly visible through the window.
A round, circular hole.
I could feel my mouth go dry.
I knew it would appear.
The thought struck me, and I turned to look at the kids.
Just as I expected, their faces were stiff, the old terror seemingly reviving.
Jo Min-ah was especially affected.
“N-no way, is this...”
They had been attacked by it, and in the end, they had almost fallen into a bottomless pit.
They had somehow survived, but only by watching me sacrifice myself.
It was only natural for the trauma to be severe.
“It's that thing! The one that attacked us!”
“It's a Death Worm!”
Jo Min-ah's shout and the driver's scream rang out at the same time.
The faces of those who had heard the story instantly tensed up.
I moved to the front and checked the window by the driver's seat.
Above the train, which had shot up toward a sky that looked like it might rain black water, the Death Worm was falling back down with its mouth wide open.
As it got closer, the inside of its mouth became more detailed.
My eyes happened to fall on one spot in the lower part of its jaw, and something glinted.
A familiar shuriken.
The one I had thrown and lost when it ran away.
So that one was this one.
Of course. There was no way two of these monsters, which claim excessively large territories, would exist so close to each other.
“Why is this thing here...!”
Kim Ji-hyeon clicked her tongue, tch, and drew her sword.
Kim Ji-hyeon was an A-rank player, and the Death Worm was a C-rank monster.
On top of that, not only Kim Ji-hyeon but also Lee Seon-yul was on this train.
Normally, a Death Worm shouldn't be that much of a threat.
But the problem was that it wasn't the case.
“Ugh!?”
Kim Ji-hyeon, who was about to smash the train window and leap out, staggered and fell.
The same happened to Lee Seon-yul.
“Damn it, my strength...! Lee Seon-yul, you... Damn it. You too!?”
When breaking through the monsters swarming the stadium, and when moving to the station after getting out.
The two of them had been at the forefront the entire time.
Overusing one's abilities causes an overload, making it impossible to exert power for a certain period.
The previous monster wave had created the conditions that would take these two out of the fight.
“W-we're going to be eaten!!”
The panicked driver screamed.
Kim Ji-hyeon and Lee Seon-yul also bit their lips, looking as if they had given up.
The two players who had decided to trust me also had a resigned look, as if thinking, 'Of course.'
The thought that their expressions would soon change 180 degrees almost made me laugh.
*CRASH!*
While everyone was frozen, I, fully prepared, jumped out the window just as Kim Ji-hyeon had intended to.
“Hyung!?”
“Oppa!!”
Various screams followed me.
Even without looking, I could picture the twins' faces, pale with fear.
The massive mouth of the Death Worm was open before me.
The same situation as before.
No. It's different.
It has to be different.
[Character Information]
Name: Kim Se-hyeon
Gender: Male (26)
Strength: 30(+9) Stamina: 24(+9)(-9) Agility: 36(+9) Mana: 10(+9)
Unique Ability: ???(EX)
Trait: One Who Started from the End (S), Accustomed to Battle (C)
Skills: Extreme Eye (S)
Unlike back then, when I would have had to run from a proper D-rank monster, not something like a Ghost Shadow, now I had a decent chance of winning a one-on-one fight with a C-rank monster.
*SHWING!*
Twisting my body at an angle, I swung my sword horizontally.
An attack aimed not at the inside of the Death Worm's mouth, but at the skin around it.
[Kyaaaaaak!?]
Struck by the attack, the Death Worm let out a bizarre scream and thrashed about.
The joints, its weak points, have thin skin, making it easy to affect the flesh beneath.
I had already applied the Queen Ant's neurotoxin before jumping from the train.
The Queen Ant's neurotoxin has a monstrous effect, capable of paralyzing an entire elephant in one second.
Even for a Death Worm, its entire body would be completely stiff in about ten seconds.
Not stopping there, I shoved the Sa-in-cham-sa-geom once more between its joints and climbed onto the Death Worm's back.
“O-Oppa!”
“Se-hyeon-nim! Are you alright!?”
Twisting the sword embedded in the Death Worm's body, I shifted my gaze toward the train.
Someone in Kim Ji-hyeon's group on the train had a barrier skill.
Even if the train were to crash to the ground, no one would be injured.
“I'm fine.”
I could feel it through the location tracker.
That he was rapidly approaching.
He's close. I could probably see him if I just turned my head.
“Because a reliable reinforcement has arrived.”
Crimson flames erupted, decorating the surroundings.
***
Authority of Flames.
As the name 'Authority' suggests, it is a power that can be called the highest among fire-manipulating abilities.
It's a condition for getting past the Death Worm in Chapter 3, but it's also a good ability to use continuously until the late game.
Not acquiring it is a shame, but it's an investment for the future.
*FWOOOSH!*
“F-fire!?”
“The train is engulfed in flames, what is this...!”
The people fell into another state of panic.
They were already about to become monster food, and now they were surrounded by fire.
It might seem like one bad thing after another, like adding insult to injury, but that's a misconception.
Because the fire from the Authority of Flames can distinguish between friend and foe.
[Kuoooooo!]
The Death Worm, which had been trying to swallow the train, let out a pained scream and immediately spat it out.
In the aftermath, the train was thrown haphazardly to the ground, but thanks to the relatively low height, they only suffered minor injuries.
I, too, pulled out my sword at the right moment and landed on the ground.
The Death Worm, thrashing about with its head on fire, captured my attention.
And below it.
Seeing a figure standing with his back to me, a smile unconsciously formed on my lips.
“Han Hyeok-jun.”