Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: The Result of Choice (6)
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“The gate…!”
No one knew what would happen because of the ritual.
But they all felt it instinctively.
They couldn't let that ritual succeed.
“Tch!”
Kim Ji-hyeon clicked her tongue and quickly used a skill to move.
Flash Step.
It seemed she intended to ignore the goblins and aim directly for the shaman, but a specter, capable of flight, blocked her path, easily thwarting her attempt.
Lee Seon-yul, who lacked such a movement skill, was in the same boat.
“Damn it! There are too many goblins! It's hard to get close to him!”
It was the same for the others who had joined the battle late.
They couldn't take a single step forward because of the swarming goblins.
Whenever they managed to thin the numbers, more would emerge from blind spots, their ranks swelling once more.
“No wonder we barely saw any after coming in here…!!”
“That's because I thinned them out! The ones coming out now are probably respawning!”
“Respawning!? There's only that one gate!”
“This happens when a gate has been around long enough to become a dungeon! Just assume enemies can appear from anywhere at any time!”
With Nam Sang-jin explaining, there was no need for me to step in.
It was a welcome development. If I were the one explaining everything, questions like ‘How do you know that?’ would inevitably arise. But when someone like Nam Sang-jin, who had been a player for a long time, said it, no one would be suspicious.
“U-uaargh! A monster over here too!”
A specter, using its ability to pass through walls, had circled around to the rear and was attacking the people there.
Is it about time I brought it out?
I've stalled for long enough.
*Bang!*
I pulled out my gun, aimed, and fired in an instant.
A speed that would have been unimaginable for my past self, but a dexterity stat over 50 made it possible.
The noise is a bit of a drawback, though.
Maybe I should have bought a silencer too.
“Wow, you're a good shot.”
“Well, most men in Korea receive some training.”
Even though a rifle and a pistol are different.
High stats were more than enough to overcome that.
Her surprise at me using a gun was brief; Jeong Ha-yeon soon turned her gaze toward the specter with a troubled look.
“But physical attacks don't work on it, so a gun… huh?”
*Fssss…*
The specter, struck directly by the bullet, crumbled and vanished.
Truly shocked, Jeong Ha-yeon's eyes widened to an unprecedented degree.
“Silver bullets. They're fatal to undead and ghost types. You've probably seen them in vampire movies.”
And they weren't just ordinary silver bullets.
Right after buying them from Old Master Wang, I had modified them.
Hollow Point.
Also commonly known as dumdum bullets.
This greatly increased the destructive power upon impact, allowing the anti-undead properties of the ‘silver’ to penetrate deeper.
On top of that, holding the Sa-in-geom in my left hand added an effect that dealt greater damage to the impure.
There was no way a mere specter could withstand that.
[You have completed the achievement, ‘Perfect Weakness Exploitation’.]
[You are awarded 1500 coins.]
Normally, I wouldn't have needed to use a gun with silver bullets.
The Sa-in-geom's ‘power to cut the impure’ would have been enough to nullify the specter's physical immunity.
But that was for a scenario where I came here alone.
With this many people around, there was no need to reveal the Sa-in-geom's power.
“By the way, where did you get the gun?”
“I bought it at a shop.”
“So they sell things like that…”
Jeong Ha-yeon nodded with a complicated expression.
It was a real shop, not the system shop.
I’d omitted that detail, but if she was satisfied with the answer, that was enough.
Speaking of which, she was swinging her sword quite well for someone with an injured arm.
Has it almost healed?
“I just bought a potion and used it right away. It was a big expense, but it's better to recover quickly and get a bigger cut of the rewards.”
Jeong Ha-yeon answered, as if sensing my question.
A wise decision.
I gave a faint smile and turned the muzzle of the gun.
*Bang!*
I used up the rest of the silver bullets to take care of the remaining specters.
With them gone, Kim Ji-hyeon could move more freely, and amidst the chaos she created, Nam Sang-jin and Lee Seon-yul steadily advanced.
However, they couldn't get past a certain point.
“We have to stop the ritual…!”
“There's no end to these goblins!!”
The distance seemed to close, yet it never did.
As the ritual neared its climax, the ominous energy intensified, and the gate pulsed ostentatiously.
“Kim Se-hyeon! Isn't there anything we can do!?”
Kim Ji-hyeon called out to me while sweating profusely and dealing with the goblins.
It's not easy to advance while protecting others.
There was a way to stop it.
I still had regular bullets, and just hitting the goblin shaman would have been enough to interrupt the ritual.
But I was waiting for the ritual to succeed.
There was no reason to stop it. No, I *couldn't* stop it.
“I can't get close either…!”
“What about the gun!?”
“I'm out of ammo!”
“Damn it!”
Thinking they had to do something themselves, Kim Ji-hyeon and Lee Seon-yul pushed themselves too hard, and the number of wounds on their bodies increased.
Nam Sang-jin was no different.
Though not obvious, he was clearly anxious.
Seeing that, I felt relieved.
If they were here for the Trait, they wouldn't be trying to stop the ritual.
It was safe to say that no one here knew about ‘that Trait’.
*Whoooosh.*
The wind began to blow with increasing ferocity.
It was an unnatural wind, as if being drawn into a single point.
Without a word, everyone's attention was fixed on the gate.
“What… is that…?”
“Is it… spinning…?”
The gate was a distortion in space, shimmering like the surface of water.
For something like that to suddenly start spinning and changing color…
Even those who didn't understand what was happening couldn't help but feel a sense of dread.
“Hey, Lee Seon-yul! Do you know what that is!? Why is it doing that!?”
“I don't know either! I've never seen anything like this!”
“You don't know either!?”
“Then why are you asking me!? You're the leader, you should know better!”
“This kind of thing is your specialty!”
“That's why I keep telling you to read the data I give you…!”
While everyone was in a state of confusion, I took a slow, deep breath.
This was what I had been waiting for.
The ritual the goblin shaman was performing was meant to make the gate rampage.
Once the gate went berserk, that's when it would begin.
The trial to obtain ‘that Trait’.
*Kiiiiing!*
A sound like a high-speed train screeching to a forced halt echoed out.
At the same time, the color of the gate changed.
A giant, red vortex of light.
A rampaging gate.
Also known as a ‘Red Gate’.
“What in the… ugh!?”
*Fwoosh!*
Darkness exploded from the gate, covering the floor.
The goblins right in front of the gate were swallowed by the darkness before they could even react, vanishing completely.
Seeing this, the people were startled and tried to flee the spreading darkness, but there was no need.
The darkness only covered the ground in a thin layer and caused no harm.
“W-what is this? It swallowed the goblins, but we're fine…”
“There's no way the gate would help us…?”
As the people stood in confusion, the darkness on the floor began to change.
It vanished as if absorbed into the ground, and the original floor was carved into square platforms.
I stopped fighting the goblins and assessed the situation.
The gate was still there.
Glowing red, it was becoming more and more ominous.
Since this was the result of the gate’s rampage, there had to be something more.
It was obvious that failing to quickly grasp what this meant would be dangerous.
‘It’s starting.’
I took a deep breath.
As planned, I had succeeded in letting the gate rampage without stopping the ritual.
Now, I had to use this situation to achieve three objectives.
*Flash!*
Suddenly, a few of the platforms lit up, and images appeared on them.
Pictures of footprints, all the same shape, but with a different number on each platform.
What did it mean?
Wasting time trying to figure it out would be too late.
“Get on the platforms! Match the number of footprints!”
I shouted instructions to the group as I moved my own feet.
The others, who had been glancing at each other, scrambled to follow us onto the platforms.
However, some still hesitated, doubting if getting on the platforms was the right move.
Others wanted to get on but couldn't because the number of footprints was already maxed out.
And the price for that was horrifying.
*Gurgle.*
“Huh…?”
The ground beneath those not on the platforms turned to darkness, and they began to sink.
Slowly, as if being submerged in a swamp.
“Uwaaaaaaah!!”
They struggled, trying to move onto the platforms too late, but it was impossible to escape the darkness.
All they could do was wait helplessly as they were pulled under.
A few seconds later, they had all vanished into the darkness.
The darkness receded back into the ground as if it had never been there, revealing the floor once more.
There were no holes anywhere in the ground.
And yet, people had been sucked in and had disappeared.
The people who had stood on the platforms without knowing why finally grasped the gravity of the situation, their faces turning deathly pale.
‘They never trusted us from the start.’
Those who had just vanished had one thing in common.
They were the ones who had been swayed by Yang Gyu-hyeok's words at Dongdaemun and betrayed us, only to rejoin our side later.
As expected, they didn't follow my instructions and paid the price dearly.
Though not all of them were dead yet.
I turned my gaze to one spot.
To the one person who drew the most attention.
The coward who had somehow managed to follow us since the apartment.
His face was ashen, and his teeth were chattering.
“To think a single gate could have this much influence…”
“Damn it, new platforms are about to appear! Can't we just ignore this and close the gate!?”
“I don't think we can handle the gate on our own! We need to analyze this first!”
Since it was just the beginning, there were many platforms with footprints, and many footprints on each platform.
But as the patterns progressed, those numbers would dwindle.
However, the patterns wouldn't repeat indefinitely.
‘Five more times.’
If we could endure all the patterns, the rampaging gate would exhaust its power and close on its own.
But I had no intention of simply enduring.
The situation was no different for the goblins.
The ones that happened to be on the platforms survived; the ones that weren't were swallowed by the darkness and annihilated.
This was why letting the gate rampage was much more convenient.
It allowed for mass slaughter without having to kill the goblins directly, and it even counted towards the final rewards.
Could there be a sweeter deal?
*Flash!*
Just then, the existing platforms disappeared, and new ones appeared.
With a visibly reduced number of footprints, people desperately tried to squeeze onto the platforms.
“No! Let me on too!”
“What are you talking about! We'll exceed the number of footprints!”
“Still, somehow… uwaaargh!!”
Even if you were on a platform, if your feet weren't on a footprint, you were forcibly ejected.
The result was the same.
“How can this be…”
Jeong Ha-yeon's lips trembled.
The idea of having to powerlessly watch people die was clearly hard for her to accept.
Right, that was her personality.
And I didn't want her to die just yet.
“Jeong Ha-yeon-ssi. For now, just focus on your own survival.”
“But…!”
“That's the best you can do.”
I glanced toward the gate.
Although many goblins had disappeared, many still remained.
The gate's pattern prioritized expanding its territory around people.
Because of that, there were larger areas on the goblins' side unaffected by the pattern.
To easily eliminate the goblins using this pattern, I needed to expand it over there.
‘And if I'm the one who caused the pattern to expand.’
I could even get an additional coin bonus for my tactical contribution after clearing the gate.
In other words, the basement of Sinseol-dong Station was a veritable treasure trove.
A golden vault where one could obtain a top-tier Trait and a massive amount of coins.
The timing to move was midway between the end of one pattern and the start of the next.
Now.
*Thump!*
I channeled strength into my legs and dashed forward at top speed.
[Looks like you're up to something interesting. Hehehe.]
And at that moment, a familiar figure materialized in mid-air.