The Blood Apostle Awakens
Even Yoon So-i, who was investigating Cartibes’ cathedral, received the same message.
Field Boss ‘Murcielago’ Defeated [1/1]
📍 Location: Cartibes’ Cathedral
🎁 MVP: Unregistered
“The Heavenly Hunter has already left.”
It seemed Unregistered had intervened.
The power that had overwhelmed Haedong, the one whose identity remained unknown, was this power once more.
Yoon So-i had no immediate interest in what kind of battle had taken place. What mattered now was that one Apostle had been defeated.
—Shuuuuk.
“As expected.”
The statue of the First Apostle began to materialize on the pedestal.
A chilling bat-like silhouette.
Yet the entire structure was severely damaged.
“So this thing has been rampaging in Seoul. It returned looking quite the wreck.”
According to the report, it had already caused considerable civilian casualties. Yoon So-i had wanted to leave the cathedral and lend her strength, but
She could not.
Monitoring the barrier here might very well be for the survival of all of Seoul.
“The ‘Blood Apostle’ has become a statue and returned to the pedestal.”
She reported to the Bureau.
“—How is the barrier?”
“Under analysis.”
Following Team Leader Kim Chun-gyu’s question, she was performing a fine analysis of the barrier, but so far there were no anomalies. The barrier itself showed no change at all.
It should start fluctuating soon.
—Shuuuuk.
“!”
Yoon So-i, feeling an unusual flow of energy, clasped her hands together and
—Uuuung…
compressed a miniature sphere of divine power at extreme speed.
Divine
Orb of the Holy Spirit
—Uuuung… uuuuung…
The Orb of the Holy Spirit, which normally unleashed devastating destructive power, was now thinned intermittently to release only a portion of the divine energy.
Yoon So-i’s application of divine power for wide-area detection.
—Swoooaah…
—Swoooaah…
Divine radiance spread from the orb between her hands, maintaining an appropriate line while remaining in spherical form.
“Team Leader, a flow of Cartibes’ energy has been detected from the pedestal. I will analyze it in detail without touching it.”
Then,
“!!!”
Yoon So-i frowned deeply, drew the divine power back into the orb, and
—Chilling
instinctively compressed the orb further, preparing for an explosion. The reason was
—Thump. Thump.
the heartbeat from the Cartibes’ Egg.
Has the First Apostle achieved its purpose?
She could not be certain. But what was immediately noticeable was
“The barrier has become noticeably hazy, Team Leader.”
If the change was this visible, then when all five pedestals were filled, the barrier would reach a level where it could be released or destroyed.
Another striking point was that the statue had been severely damaged.
She could not confirm it yet, but judging by the unstable flow emanating from the statue,
the condition of the returned statue appeared closely related to the density of the barrier.
If it had returned in a perfect state, would the barrier really have become hazy?
The thought was a little chilling.
The barrier showed no change, and there were cases where only the Cartibes’ Egg progressed.
“Shall we proceed with the strategy as is?”
“There are no unsettling parts.”
She reported in detail that a heartbeat had been heard from the Cartibes’ Egg.
Overall, it seemed the First Apostle, Murcielago, had achieved a certain degree of its objective,
but the key lay in the degree of that achievement.
It was not a matter of simply obtaining a single drop of blood.
There was undoubtedly a definite quantity.
Has the First Apostle filled that quantity?
She could not confirm it. Therefore,
the overall conclusion was surprisingly simple.
“Nothing will change.”
Destroy the Apostles as quickly and surely as possible. That was all.
“We must make the Apostles return without completing their objective. Find them quickly and kill them quickly. That is the only solution right now.”
An incomplete hatching attempt, complete barrier release.
Since immediate destruction was difficult at the moment, that was the goal.
Having analyzed this far, Yoon So-i began working with divine power throughout the cathedral to prepare for any unforeseen situation.
“Huu.”
She was always calm, but…
this time she was troubled. Sweat beaded on her forehead.
Even if it was undead, it was definitely a dragon.
Interpreting the sorcery or magic used against something of that level was a tremendous burden.
That was why, no matter how hard she tried, she could only confirm fragments. However,
it was a matter that would determine the future of the Republic of Korea beyond Seoul.
She would not give up.
Seoul
Korean Hunter Management Bureau — Emergency Mobilization Situation Room
No overtime.
Team 1 — High-Ranker Boss Operation Control.
“Report the Code 2 situation in real time!”
“Yes! Kim Chi-gon Hunter is currently…”
Team 2 — General Personnel Deployment Control.
“C-Rank units are being partially organized and expected to arrive at Gwanghwamun infiltration area within three minutes!”
“A-Rank support is coming in?!”
“Ah, um, they will arrive in five minutes!”
“Don’t dawdle in your answer!”
“Yes!!!”
Team 3 — Recovery and Rear Support for Human and Material Damage.
“Thirty-seven casualties. More will be counted!”
“At least we avoided the worst! So! How long until we can separate the injured from the deceased!”
“That will take about twenty to thirty minutes…”
“Make sure to identify the list accurately. Don’t forget that you cannot make corrections!”
“Yes!”
The noise in the situation room was no different from the screams of the field.
And at its center,
“Huuu.”
Team Leader Kim Chun-gyu’s report, which he had received from Yoon So-i, was still at a fortunate level.
Focus on eliminating the Apostles as they were.
The Apostle sighting points confirmed in the situation room were not Seoul this time.
Are the Apostles spreading to the provinces!
Perhaps they are trying to disperse the forces that can affect the Cartibes’ Egg.
But right now the baton has passed to us.
Of course, the damage had been enormous thanks to the difficult Murcielago. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but
thanks to Unregistered’s sudden reinforcement, they had secured Cheon Seung-hyuk faster than the planned route.
His mere presence greatly bolstered their forces.
—Kwaaaak.
Kim Chun-gyu unconsciously clenched his fist. Sweat poured down.
The location of the egg found at a terrifying speed.
The barrier being analyzed to the maximum based on divine power.
Cheon Seung-hyuk, who had gained time ahead of schedule,
and the Unregistered Hunter who appeared to be fighting on their side, even if not entirely reliable.
Most of all, the strength of the Korean Hunters competing in world rankings.
We can do it.
We must.
At that moment,
Director Baek Moon-seong, the white-haired old man, participated in the world Hunter Management Bureau video conference.
The cigar he always smoked was not in his hand.
Instead, Baek Moon-seong maintained his poker face as the Director more than ever.
Information people would know nothing about this.
It was only natural that interest was focused on the Cartibes issue.
He was unfazed by the expected attention. However,
the doubts forming in Baek Moon-seong’s mind were different.
There is a traitor among them.
The Necrophilia cult had long been eradicated. A group that had disappeared from history.
Like cockroaches, there would naturally be some remnants left, but
establishing a cathedral on the top floor of World Tower in Seoul.
Of that scale. With that level of precision.
It was something a single force of a villain group that had once been banished could never accomplish.
“……”
The meeting was still about Cartibes.
At this level, it would be classified as a Catastrophe by international standards, with few precedents and difficult to categorize clearly.
Accordingly, the discussions of the world Directors were ongoing.
“We are resolving it as much as possible within South Korea. If the situation becomes critical, we will request support.”
They could not provide support while pretending to come domestically and stir up internal affairs.
Some countries are suspected, others are not, but I have a feeling.
It was a matter to be solved with time.
***
[LV 21 → 31]
I finally achieved it.
The first thing given was a skill,
Invisibility
Colorless, odorless, formless.
Become a state where no one can identify you for 1 minute.
(Cooldown 10 minutes)
※ Detailed description (view in detail)
It was definitely a good skill.
Since it would kill me instantly if hit, it was more important than anything to create a situation where I would not be hit.
According to the details, it should be free even against high-level identification skills (magic).
It even included the detection effect of artifacts.
During invisibility, although the speed was significantly slowed, small movements were allowed.
Most of all, the fact that duration and related effects increased as Hunter level rose was very attractive.
When I reached high level later, the cooldown restriction would hardly be felt, and my movement speed would also increase.
It felt like a core skill for growing into a strong sniper.
Good. I’ve confirmed it.
After using the Invisibility skill,
Invisibility Active (00:59 ···)
A small penetrating message appeared, and I felt a slight sense of air escaping from my body.
When I looked in the mirror, I was gone.
I can’t see anything at all.
It was like becoming an air bullet.
Of course, the moving speed was significantly slowed.
I need to get used to it. I’ll need to level up more too.
I planned to properly use it in training to see how it could be applied in actual combat.
For now, the review ends here.
What was more important for my survival was the long-awaited moment of agent hiring.
[You must open the ‘Agent Quarters’.]
As soon as I saw it, I checked my gold balance.
I was planning to hit it hard and make it sting, so I was mentally preparing as a skilled HP 1 sniper.
?
It wasn’t as expensive as I thought. 30,000,000 gold.
Since my brain was already seasoned from being squeezed by the 100 million squeeze, 30 million felt cheap.
My balance far exceeded that.
Thanks to YouTube (+ Haedong’s aggro), small donations still came in occasionally, so for now I could spend that much gold without feeling much bleeding.
[Agent Quarters Opened]
[30,000,000G Deducted]
I hesitated not at all. This was my hope.
Overly optimistic? I’m going to backfire.
A man whose blood flowed with kimchi soup. That was me.
[Searching for a suitable location to install the Agent Quarters…]
But this time it took much longer.
Were there no suitable places?
Looking at it, the Training Ground was the same, and the Supply Depot was the same.
It had been applied to existing furniture like the closet or refrigerator.
But what? Now in my room, the only furniture was a small table and the toilet in the bathroom.
If you want to try, go ahead…
No. Please do.
I was about to fight the system and spirit without regard to timing. Now was hope time. I made a mistake.
Then,
[Unable to search for a suitable location.]
“No, please. No way.”
A sudden dizziness overtook my brain.
Because there was no suitable furniture at home, agent hiring was impossible?
Just as I was about to fall into despair,
[Shelter ‘Function Improvement’ is required.]
A message appeared that function improvement was needed. Was it an analysis result?
No hesitation. If it was to be done, it would be done.
Entering [Function Improvement],
new functions were again given in LV 5 units.
So far [Air Purification], [Temperature and Humidity Control], [Pest Extermination], [Surround Sound].
What would come out this time was very important.
A function that would directly solve HP 1?
Of course I was expecting it to backfire, but
even if not, something related to the quarters. Please.
■ LV 25 = Cleaning
■ LV 30 = Furniture Placement
“……”
Every time the shelter function was improved, I felt full welfare satisfaction and got angry,
but this time I got chills.
LV 30 was definitely a branching point, wasn’t it?
Furniture Placement
This would be a problem directly related to the ‘Agent Quarters’.
I would check the cleaning function later and start with furniture placement.
Then, a rather crude menu appeared compared to other shops or supply depots.
It was probably because the function concept was simple,
······(View more)
I was genuinely happy.
It was possible to purchase and place furniture directly in the shelter. Moreover, relocation was free, so it was always possible,
and it seemed the system would automatically move it so that the HP 1 character would not die while moving furniture.
I immediately clicked the bed.
Obviously, the bed was related to the quarters.
[Do you want to select detailed options?]
When I clicked, I could select the bed option.
The first price shown was the average, and it could be more expensive or cheaper depending on the option.
The lowest was the military bed, military two-tier bed,
and the highest was even a king-size princess bed.
But I could not put a military bed in the space where my agent would sleep, and it would be funny if it was too flashy and spacious,
so I chose a basic 1 million gold general bed.
Just looking at it, it was very similar to my bed.
[General Bed Purchased]
[1,000,000G Deducted]
At the same time, suddenly in front of me,
—Chwaaaak!
“Ooooh!”
The structure map of my shelter appeared.
Same as placing a new facility in Tycoon game. But the problem was,
I couldn’t place the furniture.
My house was too narrow.
The bed model was dyed red and the message said it could not be placed, and I could see it could not be placed.
Was it over?
[Shelter Reinforcement – Area] [1 UP]
Impossible.
[Shelter Reinforcement – Area] [1 UP]
[Shelter Reinforcement – Area] [1 UP]
Enough to upgrade so that the bed would fit properly and there would be enough space for me to move around without spatial constraints.
A- Now I understand.
I thought area was just fine, but this thing enabled furniture placement.
At the same time as realizing that area reinforcement was very important,
It’s done.
The bed model floating in front of me changed from red to green.
Location right next to my bed.
After pressing ‘Place’,
—Shuuuuk…
“Ooooh!”
Without any fanfare, a system pixel effect appeared, and in an instant one bed was created.
Wow. This is really no joke.
A sudden thought: Shelter reinforcement was quite delicious.
It was because I hadn’t solved HP 1 yet, so the real bugs had disappeared and the air was clean.
This time I admit it.
No need to stall time and immediately open the [Agent Quarters].
[Searching for a suitable location to install the Agent Quarters…]
Again, a dazzling light settled on the bed
[Agent Quarters Installation (100%)]
[Installation Complete]
The installation was completed without much delay.
Agent Quarters
A very faint light was faintly wrapped in green on the bed.
When I touched it with my finger, of course
[Do you want to enter the Agent Quarters?]
It was like the warp concept that had become the refrigerator → supply depot.
“I’ll enter later.”
With a new agent, of course.
—Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart was beating faster than ever.
Who was it? Who would solve my HP 1!
------------------------
[Shelter Reinforcement] [Agent Hiring] [Function Improvement] [New Opening]
------------------------
Now agent hiring was definitely possible. Because the guide message had appeared.
I touched [Agent Hiring] with a grand heart.
At that moment,
[Proceeding with the First Agent Hiring.]
—Chwarararak!
A ‘card’ that was probably over a hundred sheets was unfolded in front of me.
[Draw one Agent Card.]
It was an important moment.