Chapter 126
Chapter 126
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: Meat Shield (3)
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Kim Minsoo, positioned at the very rear of the meat shield formation, spotted a shadow standing tall near the castle's spire.
He couldn't make out its form, but it was a massively muscled figure with something gleaming on its shoulder.
'What the hell is that?'
Kim Minsoo rubbed his eyes.
'Hallucination?'
As various thoughts crossed his mind,
"Minsoo! Head down!"
Kim The Heavenly Demon-sik pressed down hard on Kim Minsoo's head.
Whoosh!
With the sound of air slicing through, a sharp scythe dug toward Kim Minsoo's head that had popped up over the shield.
"Argh!"
Startled, Kim Minsoo retracted his head into the shield like a turtle.
"You idiot! Where the hell are you spacing out!"
Under Kim The Heavenly Demon-sik's stern gaze, Kim Minsoo hurriedly bowed his head.
"S-Sorry."
That had been close.
Without Kim The Heavenly Demon-sik's help, Kim Minsoo's skull would have literally been split open.
'Not the time to be daydreaming!'
Hiding his body behind Aegis, Kim Minsoo gritted his teeth once more.
* * *
Atop the castle in the A-rank haunted house dungeon.
The Heavenly Demon had climbed to the top of the spire and was overlooking the Awakeners' battle.
With Hidden Shadow Stealth Technique deployed, his presence and form were completely erased, though occasionally the flashing lightning from the sky revealed his shadow.
[Those Awakeners are done for.]
The Heavenly Demon narrowed his eyes at Nameless perched on his shoulder.
"What nonsense. The fight's just getting started."
[Their strategy is wrong. Having tanks hold back the skeleton horde while rear Awakeners attack might work against a Skeleton Duke, but not this.]
"Skeleton Duke?"
[The monster you one-shot right after entering the core of this haunted house dungeon, Heavenly Demon.]
"Then what's that?"
The Heavenly Demon pointed at the skull staff floating in midair, and Nameless replied in a regretful tone.
[That's the Skeleton Duke's superior species and a Hidden Monster: the Skeleton Lord.]
"Strange name."
The Heavenly Demon stroked his chin nonchalantly, prompting Nameless to rub its round forehead.
[Didn't you just incinerate the Skeleton Duke to ashes this time? That seems to have been the trigger for the Skeleton Lord's appearance.]
The Heavenly Demon dispatching monsters in one go with Murim martial arts.
Each time he unleashed that mysterious, overwhelming power, Hidden Monsters appeared with high probability.
It even looked like the act of the Heavenly Demon smashing monsters was itself a ritual summoning Hidden Monsters.
[They need to realize something's off and run soon.]
"No big deal. Their tactics are working fine."
The Heavenly Demon surveyed the battlefield again.
Contrary to Nameless's worries, the meat shield Awakeners were holding off the pouring skeleton horde well, and Clan team's Awakeners were relentlessly attacking the Skeleton Lord with close- and long-range skills.
[According to the codex, the Skeleton Lord itself has a threat level nearing 20,000. They can't take it down with their skills.]
"I see."
The Heavenly Demon replied with an indifferent expression, as if it were none of his concern.
In truth, he had come to harvest 'corpse-stench grass' growing in the haunted house dungeon's graveyard.
But when a Skeleton Duke leading an army suddenly appeared from the castle, he burned it to nothing with Demon Flower Blaze Extreme Finger.
Then, as he was diligently plucking more corpse-stench grass, Awakeners swarmed in, forcing him to deploy stealth and hide atop the castle.
Clang! Boom!
The battle between the skeleton horde and Awakeners grew fiercer.
But in the endless fight, the tanks holding shields groaned, and the rear Awakeners firing skills grew fatigued.
"Attacks not landing?"
[Damage is steadily going in. It's just that the Skeleton Lord's health is on another level compared to the Duke's, so it doesn't look like it.]
Nameless, observing from above, spoke firmly.
[Probably ten minutes. No, five, and the meat shield front line collapses, or the attacking Awakeners fall to the Skeleton Lord.]
"Ugh!"
As Nameless predicted, the meat shield line was gradually crumbling.
Moreover, no matter how much they attacked, the boss monster Skeleton Lord floating in midair showed no sign of falling.
Eventually, Clan's team members began subtly retreating, then openly falling back from the front line.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
Only after securing their own safety did Clan's leader, Jang Jaehwan, finally call for retreat.
The watching Awakeners trembled with rage and shouted.
"Why the hell are those bastards pulling back first?"
"Hey! You can't just leave us?"
Pretending not to hear the shield-bearing Awakeners' cries, Jang Jaehwan bellowed.
"Retreat! Regroup at the rest area we passed earlier!"
"Those crazy bastards!"
Even Kim Minsoo, glancing back, spat curses.
In battles deploying meat shields, attackers were supposed to buy time to cover the tanks' retreat.
But Clan's members had sneaked away first, fearing they might not escape.
"The line's broken anyway—everyone fall back on your own!"
At Kim The Heavenly Demon-sik's shout, the shield Awakeners nodded one by one.
Boom!
Kim Minsoo shoved back an attack, folded his shield, and retreated like mad.
But the skeleton horde persistently chased the scattering Awakeners in all directions.
"Huff. Huff."
Fleeing breathlessly, Kim Minsoo escaped the dungeon core, retreating all the way to the entrance lined with brick houses.
"Minsoo!"
Then, a tearing scream echoed from afar.
Turning, he saw Kim The Heavenly Demon-sik collapsed between houses, blocking skeleton attacks with his shield skill.
"Uncle!"
Kim Minsoo rushed over and smashed a skeleton's skull hard with his Aegis shield.
With a crack, the shattered skull spilled bones everywhere like toppled blocks.
"You okay?"
Kim The Heavenly Demon-sik's thigh, pierced by the skeleton's scythe, was soaked in blood.
Staggering to rise, he groaned and flopped back down.
"Damn. Leg won't move."
"I'll help you up."
As Kim Minsoo slung his arm over his shoulder, Kim The Heavenly Demon-sik snorted a laugh.
"Thanks to you, I survived. Appreciate it."
"No biggie. You've saved my ass plenty too."
But as they trudged along painfully, Kim The Heavenly Demon-sik's face hardened.
-Kikikikiki...
Dozens of skeletons creaked from the opposite alley, charging toward them.
'Damn! Damn!'
Realizing they were cornered, Kim Minsoo gritted his teeth.
Abandon the injured uncle and run?
Or block those things somehow and evacuate him first?
"Go on."
Kim The Heavenly Demon-sik smiled resignedly.
"I'm fine. Hurry. Your siblings are waiting at home."
Kim Minsoo clenched his teeth.
Though they met at the labor office, Kim The Heavenly Demon-sik was a kind uncle who had helped him countless times.
'But without me, my sisters...'
Recalling his beloved little sisters' faces, Kim Minsoo released his support.
He then unfolded the Aegis shield strapped to his right forearm.
Clank.
Maximizing the shield, Kim Minsoo turned back with a smile.
"I'll hold them. Get out of here, Uncle."
Boom!
He swiftly blocked the charging skeleton's attack.
The heavy impact transmitted through the shield to his forearm.
"Already broken?"
The cheap shock absorber on Aegis seemed busted already.
Boom! Boom!
"Ugh."
He endured gritted teeth, but soon buckled under the force.
-Kikii.
The skeletons glaring at the fallen Kim Minsoo seemed to mock from their hollow eye sockets.
"Don't mock me!"
Springing up, Kim Minsoo blocked with all his might.
But alternating scythe strikes to the shield forced him to one knee.
"Minsoo! I'm fine—get out first!"
"How can I? You've helped me so many times."
If Kim Minsoo fled, the leg-injured Kim The Heavenly Demon-sik was as good as dead to the dozens of skeletons.
"You'd regret surviving like that forever."
Turning, Kim Minsoo grinned.
"Lucky it's a narrow alley. I can hold this alone."
Though not a formal team, camaraderie existed among day-labor Awakeners.
Deep bonds forged sharing hardships, supporting each other.
"Go quick. Fire a signal flare on the way."
"Got it."
Kim The Heavenly Demon-sik pulled a round metal orb from his pocket and gripped it hard.
Squeak.
With a shrill noise, a red light shot up to the dungeon ceiling, flashing.
Communications cut out in dungeons. For large teams, signal flares requested aid from other Awakeners inside.
"Minsoo! We'll come back with others—hang on!"
Kim Minsoo nodded, watching Kim The Heavenly Demon-sik limp away desperately.
"Don't worry."
But the flare was useless.
Awakeners obsessed with the Skeleton Duke retreated frantically. Even dozens of flares wouldn't bring help.
No matter how long he held, no reinforcements came.
'No one's coming?'
Boom.
Another skeleton attack surged in.
Minutes after his bold stand, his right arm numbed, nearly toppling him repeatedly.
At this rate, the skeletons' blades would soon shred him.
'Damn. Damn!'
As his vision blurred, a strange voice came from the ground.
[Is your head empty 'cause you ran away from it?]
Looking down, a round machine peeked from under the shield.
A nanobot, the kind only rich folks had.
Click-clack.
Sprouting arms and legs from its spherical body, the nanobot swiftly climbed to Kim Minsoo's shoulder.
[I personally taught you, yet you don't use it?]
"W-What?"
It advertised AI capabilities, but really just mimicked human speech from inputted data.
Yet this nanobot spoke laden with human emotion.
[Clean your ears and listen. When blocking with a shield, rotate and deflect at an angle.]
'Rotate to deflect?'
Memories flooded of spinning tires like mad.
Simultaneously, a bizarre rotational force surged from his arm gripping the shield.
[That's the shield operation essence, Coiling Silk's power. Rotate to deflect incoming force. Unless you wanna die...]
Pausing, the nanobot—Nameless—flashed its eye sensor.
[...as Heavenly Demon said.]
The chattering nanobot rolled away swiftly after.
'Rotate... deflect attacks?'
Boom. Boom.
Dazed, the skeleton's scythe hammered the shield like an anvil.
"Eek."
Kim Minsoo lightly rotated his wrist and forearm holding Aegis.
Instantly, rotational force from wrist, shoulder, and body neutralized the pressure.
"It works?"
Kim Minsoo stared blankly.
-Rotate and deflect.
Hearing that simple advice made it real?
Boom! Boom!
Consecutive skeleton attacks came, but he now blocked leisurely, even shoving some back.
-Enlightenment peaks in desperate duels. Practice alone won't unlock secrets.
Suddenly, Kim Minsoo grasped what the Heavenly Demon once said.
'So that's what he meant!'
Practice is just practice.
Only in life-or-death struggles does mind and body evolve for survival.
-Krurrr.
How much time passed?
In a trance, a low growl reached Kim Minsoo's ears.
Looking up, a gorgeously clad skull spewed black mist, floating midair.
Skeleton Duke.
The dungeon's boss had approached, targeting him.
Whoosh!
Lightning-fast, the Skeleton Duke swung at Kim Minsoo's head.
Boom!
Instinctively blocking with shield, massive vibration echoed.
"Keok."
Shock shot from arm to legs; red blood spurted from his mouth.
In truth, not Skeleton Duke but Hidden Monster Skeleton Lord. Threat level 20,000. Blocking with Aegis alone was miraculous.
'Is this the end?'
No, he couldn't die here. Who'd care for his beloved sisters?
"Ptooey!"
Spitting blood, Kim Minsoo gritted his teeth.
"I... can't die here!"
Boom!
But the next Skeleton Lord strike shattered Aegis to pieces.
Crack. Clatter.
Staring at the fragments, Kim Minsoo's eyes twitched.
He couldn't hold anymore. He'd truly given his all.
"Best I could do."
Exhausted, Kim Minsoo knelt.
-Krurr!
Growling, Skeleton Lord descended from midair again.
As Kim Minsoo slowly closed his eyes watching it,
"Heavenly Demon Supreme Power!"
Boom!
With a thunderous shout, red clouds from the distant sky plummeted onto Skeleton Lord's head.
* * *
The 'Skeleton Lord Meat Shield' incident caused quite a stir.
The meat shield tactic: hiring tons of shield Awakeners with cash to hunt monsters.
But Clan team abandoned their hires and fled, leading to massive casualties.
Media condemned the spoiled rich kids treating dungeons like playgrounds; ultimately, Clan members lost Awakener registrations.
The Association issued notices to labor offices nationwide.
-Henceforth, prohibit meat shield tactics hiring masses of Awakeners to force unmanageable monsters. Violations will...
This underhanded strategy was outright banned due to Clan's cowardice.
Some grumbled about the Association limiting jobs.
But as TV replayed victims' gruesome states from the Skeleton Meat Shield fiasco, complaints vanished.
One month later.
To celebrate his hiring, Kim Minsoo visited the Awakener Labor Office with a gift.
"Whoa, long time."
The director sprang up, grinning welcome as he entered.
"Heard you joined Dungeon Defense Team 7 as a tank? Even ranked up?"
Kim Minsoo, mastering Coiling Silk from Heavenly Demon.
He blocked better than most tanks even with standard shields.
Association staff, impressed by his feats, recommended him for Dungeon Defense; he passed.
"Yeah. Still probationary."
"Still, you made it."
The director grinned, poking his side.
"Minsoo, teach me too. How'd you rank up? Secret academy?"
"Well... just found another way."
Tire-spinning epiphany? Or life-risking battle?
Kim Minsoo wryly smiled; director sighed.
"Ah, if it were like games—hunt monsters, level up auto. This world's upgrades are random as hell."
"Jobs lately? Plenty?"
"Nah, fewer since no more Clan cash-fests. Oh yeah, Kim The Heavenly Demon-sik talks about you daily. Says he'd be dead without you."
"Nah. He helped me more..."
"Yeah? You know it. Treat us then—Association pays well."
"Next time. Got somewhere today."
"Where?"
Kim Minsoo smiled quietly at the warehouse mats instead.
Exiting the taxi, he approached a roadside building slowly.
Warm hanok-style, topped with a big 'Bokbok Interiors' sign.
"Hey, you!"
Inside the glass door, Heavenly Demon and Go Eunjin pointed at each other, yelling.
"Why'd you eat the last sweet-and-sour pork?"
"I took the last chop fair and square."
"Bull! Two left—you should've left one!"
Heavenly Demon snorted low.
"Feelin' wronged? Eat faster next time."
"Eat fa—? Wanna get beat, musclehead?"
Jang Chaewon, stuck between, grabbed the jjajangmyeon bowl again.
"Thought we were good, now fighting? Not bored yet?"
The ruckus suggested bad timing to enter.
"...Hmm."
Watching awkwardly outside, Kim Minsoo quietly set his gift by the door.
"Thank you. For teaching me, saving my life."
Bowing politely to Heavenly Demon, he smiled softly and left.
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