Sha Wujing (1)
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
On the ground,
Monster Rush is intensifying!
Beware of the Black Death.
Kim Min-jung stood atop the city walls, gazing at the vast plain teeming with a black tide of rats, and clicked her tongue in disbelief.
There had to be tens of thousands of them at the very least. Enormous rats, the size of large dogs.
Just looking at them sent chills down her spine.
‘How the hell are we supposed to stop all of that……?’
The unease of the locals was palpable.
“W-what the hell, there’s so many!”
“S-shouldn’t we run away right now?”
“Are you insane!? If we run, how are we going to find the missing children!”
The locals had prepared by blocking the gates and bringing boiling oil, but ten minutes was nowhere near enough time.
“Damn it! This is all the mayor’s fault!”
Soon, the blame began to converge on one target.
The mayor jumped in place.
“What did I do!?”
“This all happened because you refused to pay the piper and drove him out! The children disappeared, and the rats we barely chased away came back in even greater numbers!”
“You all agreed to that at the time!”
“A-ah, I don’t care about that! How exactly are you going to take responsibility for this situation!?”
The citizens had split into two factions and were now openly arguing.
Kim Min-jung wondered if she needed to draw their attention again, but when the rat swarm reached the moat, the citizens moved in a panic.
“The rats are coming! Get ready to pour the oil!”
The rats plunged their heads into the river flowing through the moat all at once.
They died in droves far too easily, but the real problem was that their corpses were rapidly filling the moat.
It was nothing short of madness.
Kim Min-jung clenched her teeth and pulled the trigger repeatedly.
Taang! Taaang!
‘Legacy: The Tale of Janghwa and Hongryeon’ has been activated. The killing intent infused in the bullets has transformed into calamity and spread in all directions.
The rats have fallen into great calamity and begun suffering from measles. The ‘Rat Trap’ has been completed.
Kim Min-jung meticulously targeted only the leader rats that seemed to be commanding the swarm from the front.
Disrupting their movements would buy time, and the calamity they spread upon death would hinder the swarm once more.
Thanks to this, she managed to slow the Monster Rush, but—
‘No. This is nothing more than buying time. How the hell did Senior Jang claim he could stop this!?’
Ultimately, her ammunition was limited.
A fundamental solution was needed.
—How are you going to handle all of that alone when I’m not here?
For a moment, Lee-hyun’s words before he left flashed through her mind.
—Haha. Why do you think you’re alone? There’s a very grateful ally waiting for you.
‘When the hell is that damn ally going to show up……!’
Kim Min-jung wondered if there were other reinforcements, but seeing none, she grew increasingly anxious.
Just then,
‘Wait, what’s that?’
The black wave that had been surging toward them suddenly began to veer slightly in another direction.
Kim Min-jung turned her gaze that way and let out a hollow laugh.
Because there stood people she had never expected in the slightest.
Atop a hill piled high with rat corpses.
A pillar of fire erupted.
Kuwaaaang!
“These goddamn bastards!! Die alreadyyyyy!”
Team Leader Jeong of Z-Team roared, his body wrapped in crimson flames!
‘Legacy: Ghost Moon’s Red Lantern’ has manifested and spews forth crimson ghostly flames!
Paaang! Paang!
Every time Team Leader Jeong swung his fist, flames erupted and swept away waves of rats.
Filth splattered everywhere, but his eyes had already rolled back in fury—he paid it no mind.
Thanks to him, the other Z-Team members could move in a hurry as well.
Various skills ran rampant.
‘Don’t tell me the ally Senior mentioned was……?’
Kim Min-jung let out another hollow laugh.
‘He even predicted this far ahead?’
But because the aggro had been properly drawn, she was grateful nonetheless.
‘Even if it’s tough, I should at least provide cover fire.’
Since the more aggro Team Leader Jeong drew the better, Kim Min-jung began providing supporting fire so he could rampage even more freely.
Of course, she carefully timed her shots to ensure he wouldn’t have the luxury of using an emergency escape item.
Taaang!!
Just as a faint smile began to form on her lips,
Error! An entity that does not belong in this dungeon has appeared!
Error!
Suddenly, a red message appeared in one corner of her vision.
‘Error?’
Kim Min-jung snapped her head up, a sudden chill running down her spine for reasons she couldn’t explain.
The other hunters and locals were the same.
They all looked up at the sky.
The sky was thick with dark clouds.
Flash!
Two stars suddenly twinkled, and pillars of light slammed into the ground.
Kwaaaang!
‘……The rats have been completely wiped out.’
The pillars of light had obliterated every rat within a radius of dozens of meters, leaving two men standing in their place.
Though the dust cloud made it hard to see their faces clearly,
“……!!”
Kim Min-jung instinctively sensed that they were extremely dangerous beings.
Error!
Error!
And she realized something.
Even Lee-hyun probably hadn’t anticipated their arrival.
The two men silently scanned their surroundings before vanishing like the wind.
The presence that had dominated the dungeon disappeared as if it had been a lie.
‘What the……!’
She had to report this immediately.
Kim Min-jung pressed her mouth to the communication brooch.
Chijik.
『Senior, can you hear me? Senior!』
Chiiiiiik.
* * *
“Katkatkat. Where should I begin so that our senior brother finds it most entertaining?”
Sa Oh-jeong stroked his chin with one hand, lost in thought.
“Ah, that would be perfect!”
Then he clapped his hands and grinned.
“Ever since Senior Brother relinquished the title of Victorious Fighting Buddha for ‘that reason’……”
「Do not mention that.」
“Huh? Don’t tell me the temporary apostle beside you doesn’t know? It’s such an important matter.”
「He is merely a temporary apostle.」
Sa Oh-jeong glanced sideways at Lee-hyun.
“He carries Senior Brother’s scent so strongly, yet he’s only temporary?”
「Enough pointless talk! Just start from after I was betrayed by those bastards!」
“Can’t be helped. Then, to cut straight to the point—after Senior Brother left, the chief gods immediately……”
The title of Victorious Fighting Buddha was the position Sun Wukong obtained after concluding the Journey to the West myth.
By rank alone, it was equal to the Jade Emperor or Shakyamuni Buddha.
He gave that up?
There must be an incredibly complicated story behind it.
Lee-hyun filed it away in his mind for now and listened to Sa Oh-jeong.
The story, as he said, wasn’t particularly complicated.
After slaying Sun Wukong, the chief gods feared that his comrades would harbor grudges and decided to eradicate them root and branch.
Under the Jade Emperor’s leadership and Shakyamuni’s tacit approval, a massive tragedy unfolded.
A massacre of enormous scale occurred within the group of gods, one of the most prominent factions in the heavens.
“……A massacre?”
“Katkatkat. Indeed. The surprise attack came so suddenly in the dead of night that there was no time to respond. By the time we learned the truth…… my wife and children had already perished in the disaster.”
“……!”
“I was no different. If even Bajie and the Master had already fallen, what could I possibly do when I had already retired and was living in peace?”
Sun Wukong asked through gritted teeth.
「Who came looking for you?」
“It was that fellow Nezha.”
“……That guy?”
Even Lee-hyun was surprised at this part.
‘If it’s the Pagoda-Bearing Prince, he was the god closest to Sun Wukong among the heavenly generals, wasn’t he?’
「I see……. So that’s how it was.」
Regret and fury mingled in Sun Wukong’s muttered words.
“Still, we were fortunate that our myths weren’t completely destroyed. We managed to send at least the ‘remnants’ down to the mortal realm.”
“…….”
“But even that could be tracked at any moment, so we had no choice but to hide. And the place we happened to discover was—”
「My myth?」
“Indeed. Whether by coincidence or fate, there happened to be a fragment of Senior Brother’s myth connected to me.”
Katkatkat. Sa Oh-jeong burst into laughter and continued.
“So I slipped right in. It seemed like an arrangement painstakingly created by Senior Brother’s people. I thought that if I stayed here, perhaps someone connected to Senior Brother would eventually arrive.”
Lee-hyun nodded from the side.
It had certainly been the right choice.
‘So that’s why the coloring was so exaggerated. That’s also why the black skulls were so blatant.’
He now understood why Sun Wukong had seemed so different from the Sa Oh-jeong he knew.
Having worked so hard to create a hiding place, Sa Oh-jeong wouldn’t have wanted this dungeon to be cleared by people unrelated to Sun Wukong.
‘Still, that doesn’t justify keeping the children trapped for ten years or turning hunters into undead.’
Even Sa Oh-jeong, driven to the brink, had ultimately changed.
“But now that I’ve met Senior Brother in person like this! Katkat. It seems the heavens are truly watching over us after all. Katkatkat.”
Sa Oh-jeong let out a sharp laugh and looked at Lee-hyun.
“And this child is merely Senior Brother’s temporary apostle?”
「What are you trying to say?」
“If Senior Brother has no interest, may I take him as my apostle?”
“……!?”
「What did you just say!?」
Lee-hyun’s eyes widened slightly, while Sun Wukong’s face twisted in fury.
Sa Oh-jeong smirked.
“Well, as Senior Brother knows, I have almost no believers, let alone apostles. So until Senior Brother is fully ‘restored,’ I’ll have to follow him around like a shadow. And wouldn’t you know it, there happens to be a very fine candidate right here. He seems to have good aptitude as well……”
「Absolutely not! This one is mine!」
“Eh? He’s only a temporary apostle. How can he belong to Senior Brother? That depends entirely on his own will.”
「I said no!」
While bickering with Sun Wukong, Sa Oh-jeong gave Lee-hyun a quick wink with one eye.
It meant he would help.
He had instantly grasped the relationship between Sun Wukong and Lee-hyun and intended to tilt things in Lee-hyun’s favor.
‘Trying to score some points, huh.’
Lee-hyun couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
「If you keep spouting nonsense, I’ll kick you out……!」
Sun Wukong started to speak, then suddenly raised his head.
In an instant, his excited expression cooled rapidly.
「Junior Brother. It seems we’ve picked up a tail after all.」
“……!?”
Sa Oh-jeong’s face also hardened.
Error!
Error!
Red message windows suddenly clung to the ceiling like barnacles.
‘Something’s coming!’
Error messages only appeared when an entity completely unrelated to the dungeon intervened.
“When the hell……!”
「After falling from heaven, one’s senses dull considerably. The perspective is completely different from when one was immortal. There’s no need to be discouraged.」
The way Sun Wukong calmed the shaken Sa Oh-jeong made him seem less like a snack-loving, childish monkey and more like a dignified deity.
「They probably attached eyes to monitor you, thinking they might discover me as well…… What do we do now?」
Error! Unauthorized entities have begun searching the dungeon. They will arrive here in 3 minutes.
00:03:00
00:02:59
……
The surrounding area has been designated as a combat zone for unknown reasons.
Escape skills cannot be used.
Three minutes was far too little time to escape.
Moreover, the fact that escape skills were blocked made their malicious intent to trap them here crystal clear.
「Judging by the scent…… I see. They’re apostles of Nezha and Indra respectively?」
One corner of Sun Wukong’s mouth twisted.
Each was the right-hand man of the chief gods who had been most active in slaying him.
[Nezha]
The right hand of the chief god ‘Jade Emperor.’ A high-ranking divine general even revered in folk religion. A heroic god who wields countless weapons with ease.
-Origin: Myth ‘Investiture of the Gods’
[Indra]
The left hand of the chief god ‘Brahma.’ Once held such high status that he was called the King of Gods. A warrior god who primarily commands thunder and lightning.
-Origin: Myth ‘Vedas’
“I…… I’ve done something foolish, Senior Brother……! If only I hadn’t been so stupid……!”
「It’s fine! What’s done is done. Let’s focus on how to deal with them first.」
The silver lining was that the ones who had come weren’t the real Nezha and Indra.
It was probably due to the law of causality separating the heavenly and mortal realms.
In that case, dealing with mere apostles would be no trouble at all.
However, the problem was that the apostles’ [eyes] were connected to their gods…….
‘How do we handle that?’
Just as Sun Wukong’s eyes sank deeply, Lee-hyun suddenly stepped forward.
“Both of you, hide for a moment. I’ll handle this.”
「What are you planning to do?」
Sun Wukong and Sa Oh-jeong both turned to look at him.
Lee-hyun smiled as he spoke.
“Facing two apostles at once would be tough even for me right now, but we just need to hide the fact that you two are here, right?”
Sun Wukong’s eyes widened as if he had realized something.
「Don’t tell me, you?」
“As luck would have it, I just learned a rather useful technique a little while ago.”
Pajik! Pajijik!
Lightning crackled around Lee-hyun.
Thunder Response.
But it was different from the Thunder Response he had used until now.
Using the Ice Jade Heart, the body and mana circuits have taken on a cold property. Cooling system fully equipped.
Mana circuit efficiency has increased.
Mana has increased by 5.
Dexterity has increased by 4.
……
Thunder Response’s density has exceeded previous limits. Its temperature has risen dramatically and entered a new stage.
Pajijijijijik!!
The blue-white lightning had now turned completely white.
Diovis has been learned!
Zeus’s signature technique, Diovis.
The first stage of its three phases, Keraunos, had awakened.
“……!”
“If I disguise myself as Zeus’s apostle, it should be quite convincing, don’t you think?”