Chapter 90: Chaos (13)
Chapter 90: Chaos (13)
In present-day Nepal, mountain climbing was a distant dream. The city had become a hub for Awakeners from all over the world who came for dungeon exploration, resulting in a diverse mix of ethnicities.
Perhaps thanks to the Sherpas who once guided and supported climbers, the local Nepalese Awakeners were exceptionally fast at navigating the high-altitude terrain. Consequently, they made up the majority of the reconnaissance teams.
With reports of portal anomalies surfacing, the Nepalese authorities were on high alert. These teams were currently scouting to identify the state of the portals within their borders.
They had established a base camp for a large-scale expeditionary force and were surveying the surrounding area from that point.
Reconnaissance was inherently dangerous.
Monsters that had poured out of dungeons that weren't cleared in time had now become indigenous to the region.
With monsters lurking everywhere, the scouts had to locate the portals while avoiding combat as much as possible. This required an intimate knowledge of the local geography, as well as the distribution and ecology of the monsters.
Fortunately, the development of reconnaissance drones had slightly reduced the level of risk.
The scouting was proceeding smoothly without any major incidents until the team noticed something strange.
"Why aren't there any portals?"
Since they lived and worked here, they knew roughly how many portals typically spawned in each area.
While there were minor fluctuations, there was usually no significant deviation. Yet, strangely, they couldn't find a single portal in this sector, no matter how hard they looked.
The reconnaissance team gathered at a makeshift hideout they had built to deliberate.
"Isn't this an anomaly too? Don't tell me the monsters came out early..."
"If that's the case, we're in real trouble."
Given the unprecedented phenomena occurring lately, the scouts were tense, assuming the worst-case scenario.
"For now, let's see if any new monsters have appeared nearby."
"Right."
They scouted with extreme caution, wary that a monster beyond their capabilities might appear. They moved far more carefully than usual, focusing on every single trace they could find.
Naturally, this was mentally exhausting and took much longer than their typical scouting speed.
After a significant amount of time, the scouts finished their sweep and returned to the base camp.
The conclusion was that no new monsters had been spotted, and no new tracks were found.
As Awakeners who knew every monster inhabiting the area, they had double and triple-checked, but everything remained largely the same as before.
"No matter how we look at it, this isn't a situation where new monsters have appeared."
Based on the reconnaissance team's conclusion, the Nepal Branch of the Awakener Association and the local clans held another in-depth discussion.
"This means the portals either vanished naturally... or someone cleared them..."
This was a first for the Nepalese Awakeners, leading to a heated back-and-forth.
While searching for similar cases in other regions, they discovered that in Korea, it was recently suspected that dungeons might be vanishing naturally, only to find out that someone had been clearing them.
At the time, they had dismissed the information.
But seeing a similar case firsthand made them wonder.
The problem was that even if their hunch was correct, there wasn't much the Nepalese Awakeners could do.
In fact, they were actually grateful that someone was clearing the dungeons for them. Due to the difficult terrain and other constraints, they were plagued by many dungeons that were nearly impossible to handle.
Furthermore, tracking down whoever was doing it would require too much manpower and be highly inefficient.
Ultimately, the Nepalese Awakeners decided to let the matter rest rather than investigate further.
★ ★ ★
"Shin-a!"
Just like this morning, Noona ran toward me and threw herself into my arms the moment I appeared at home.
Seeing her so intensely happy to see me, just as she had been in the morning, made me feel good. Being loved by such a beautiful woman is bound to make any man happy, right?
Looking at the orange light flooding through the window, I could tell the sun was nearly set.
Time had flown by since I had been busy diving into dungeons until just now.
Noona was wearing a white sleeveless top and hot pants, which complemented her neatly tied black ponytail perfectly.
Seeing her bright expression and vibrant energy, it seemed she had gotten plenty of rest.
"Good job, everyone. I'll go get some fruit. Just a moment."
As if she had prepared it in advance, Noona immediately used her psychokinesis to bring out the fruit.
"Thanks, Noona."
"I'll enjoy this."
"Thank you, Yujin."
Grace and Laysia expressed their gratitude to her.
We gathered in the living room to hear from Noona about the portal anomalies, just as we had discussed this morning.
Each of us picked up a fork and ate the melon Noona had sliced while listening to her explanation.
The sight of three beautiful women, each with her own unique charm, was a feast for the eyes.
I really am a lucky guy.
Noona's explanation began, and I quickly cleared my head to listen intently.
I had heard the gist of it this morning, but now I got the details. It had been proven worldwide that the existing methods for measuring portals could no longer confirm the strength of the monsters inside.
Fortunately, portals containing monsters far more powerful than their apparent rank weren't appearing in large numbers in every region.
According to the investigation so far, there were three main areas where such cases were concentrated.
Korea, Japan, and the UK were the regions seeing a high concentration of portals where the monsters were significantly stronger than the portal's rank.
"Hmm... there must be a reason for this..."
Portals appearing wasn't a natural phenomenon; the Evil Gods were behind it.
I had heard this from Laysia during a break while hunting earlier, but the Evil Gods had groups that followed them. These followers, the ones we generally called demons, were the culprits.
Laysia speculated that the Evil Gods themselves wouldn't handle such minute details.
She believed that demons were likely performing the tedious task of turning dungeons into dimensional bombs and constantly sending them to our world.
She said it was certain that the Evil Gods were recovering their strength after exhausting it in their battle with the Benevolent Gods. Listening to Laysia's explanation, it made sense to me as well.
After all, I was a proxy of Tiamat, and I was moving to stop the Evil Gods' schemes while she was asleep.
Because of that...
I figured the day would eventually come when I would have to face the demons directly.
Since Laysia already had experience fighting demons even before becoming a follower... her words were highly credible.
"So that's why you pushed yourself to clear the dungeons in the southern region yesterday, Noona."
Listening to her explanation, I realized that Korea was also facing many portals with powerful monsters.
I realized Noona had overexerted herself on purpose, fearing a disaster if they weren't cleared in time.
"Yeah..."
At my question, Noona nodded shyly, her face flushing slightly.
With her black ponytail swaying gently, she looked incredibly cute to me.
"Then... the other regions will be the problem."
"Yes. The UK and Japan must be struggling quite a bit right now. Especially Japan, since I used to go there to provide support..."
Hearing Noona's response to Grace's question, it seemed we needed to pay more attention to Japan and the UK.
"Noona, can you find out more news from those places?"
"Sure. If I ask the Association, they'll tell me right away."
Noona spoke with confidence.
Come to think of it, Noona had gained quite a bit of fame as Wolyeong because the Association had promoted her in a positive light.
She didn't like her name being widely known, so they didn't advertise her openly, but looking at the information that was released, it felt like they were shielding her anonymity by mentioning how an S-Rank psychokinetic named Wolyeong was diligently handling the Association's requests.
Considering Noona had spent all night clearing dungeons early this morning, their trust in her must have increased even further.
Clinging tightly to my side, Noona pulled out her smartphone and seemed to be texting the Association.
"Shin-a! they said they'll prepare the materials and let me know!"
Seeing how they responded to Noona's request like clockwork, I was reminded once again of what an incredible Awakener she was as Wolyeong.
"Yeah, thanks, Noona."
Even at my brief praise, Noona looked visibly delighted.