Chapter 214: I’m Here to Help (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 214: I’m Here to Help (3)
“Ur-ya-ah-ah-ah—!”
What kind of sound was that?
Kwon Ye-jin let out a strange, scream-like noise as she stretched her limbs.
It was good that she was energetic, but hearing an unidentified language like that felt a bit bizarre.
As scheduled, Kwon Ye-jin, who had just been scolded by Lee Yu-na, rotated her shoulders and spoke.
“Ugh, I’m so tired today. I think it’d be easier to just destroy three dungeons instead.”
“It certainly is a bit exhausting,” Lee Yu-na agreed with a bitter smile, her usual nagging tone softened by the fatigue of their intense urban warfare training and subsequent dungeon raid.
“Let’s go back and rest. This was just a warm-up, so we’ll head back in for another raid in two days.”
“Yes, sir. Honestly, I think it’s better to just do one or the other—either train or raid.”
Everyone nodded in agreement with Ye-jin’s sentiment.
Hornet and Satomi, who had received urban warfare training for the first time, looked particularly more exhausted than the others.
Hornet had adapted quickly since she had actual field experience, but Satomi was struggling because she had absolutely no prior experience with this kind of thing.
While she had plenty of experience in one-on-one duels and dungeons, her understanding of using terrain features or military equipment was almost non-existent. She would need more education.
For the time being, it’ll be better to keep Yoon A-young by her side during outside combat.
In terms of efficiency, it would be best to pair Hornet with Yoon A-young and Kwon Ye-jin with Satomi, but since they were still inexperienced, having Yoon A-young lead would yield a higher survival rate.
Thinking about the formations to use in an emergency, I stopped by the China Support Base before returning to the inn by boat.
Since this was a dispatch mission, having to report twice was a bit of a hassle.
After sending the members back to their quarters, I headed to the Korean Support Headquarters.
I found it strange that there were so few people around today, but when I entered the office, Song Jae-ah welcomed me.
“Welcome back, Yeon-woo.”
As soon as I arrived, she greeted me by pulling my face into her chest. I appreciated the gesture, fully enjoying the soft sensation before lifting my head.
“Is something going on? There’s hardly anyone here.”
“Ah, some anomalous signs appeared, so everyone went out to investigate.”
The sun was already setting, and they were still investigating?
“Actually, I wanted to get your opinion on that. Come here.”
Sitting on the sofa, I looked at the documents she handed me.
It was data recording observation waves, containing information about Otaki-machi.
Otaki-machi was a place with lush mountains and clear water, filled with campsites—a great spot for healing while looking at nature.
In other words, it was a royal pain in the ass to search.
The readings were strangely high, so several heroes and support teams were investigating, but nothing concrete had turned up yet.
“In Miura City, the observation waves suddenly spiked right before the dungeon explosion occurred.”
“So you’re saying the same thing is happening in Otaki-machi.”
“Yes. Even the China Support Base is concerned enough to request that we measure the observation waves every single day.”
I pretended to look at the documents while my mind wandered elsewhere.
Could it be… is it that?
In the game’s story, a certain villain developed a technology to force a dungeon explosion.
According to the lore, they were a genius scientist on par with Rahiya—the classic mad scientist trope common in various media.
I hadn't worried about it until now because no game characters had actually appeared, but if this was the case, it was a significant problem.
Even if the character wasn't here, the settings created by the developers remained.
For example, Rahiya’s Elixir was originally a poison in my world that would send you straight to the hospital, but here, it was a top-tier booster.
Even if it didn't make sense by my common sense, the knowledge itself existed according to the creator’s settings and could be manufactured.
In truth, the method to blow up a dungeon was simple.
You just had to keep going inside and dying.
Depending on the dungeon rank, the required number of deaths increased exponentially. When dealing with an S-rank like Belarus, you could theoretically attempt it infinitely, but in principle, if you kept feeding the dungeon, the erosion would accelerate and trigger a dungeon explosion.
That was why parties often got cocky with lower-rank dungeons, relying on their Treasure Orbs only to get wiped out. To resolve the resulting erosion, a higher-ranked hero would sometimes have to step in.
Regardless, the method of blowing one up wasn't difficult, which was why Japan and other countries went as far as using the military to protect dungeon entrances.
Civilians could lose their lives if they wandered in, and it would accelerate dungeon erosion, so even low-rank dungeons required management.
However, the spike in observation waves was exactly the method that specific villain used.
There weren't many people stupid enough to try and blow up a dungeon by throwing an infinite number of people into it.
Even if there were, they’d be too conspicuous and suppressed immediately.
But that villain’s method involved injecting mana into the dungeon from the outside, so no human lives were necessary.
How far has the development come?
Can they even make ‘Object X’ as defined in the game?
Object X, a lazily named substance, was a material discovered and created by that mad scientist.
Even Rahiya, who hated that villain for acting like a rival, acknowledged Object X, as it required overwhelming scientific prowess that skipped several generations of technology.
That substance was essential for forcibly injecting mana into a dungeon. Initially, the villain used Object X—a substance not registered in the scientific community—to cause dungeon explosions.
The lore stated it was a substance that fell with a meteorite and didn't exist on Earth. The protagonists thought it was over once they dealt with that, but later, the villain started mass-producing Object X on their own.
Since Rahiya’s setting was that of a genius beyond human limits, such an item couldn't be easily made no matter how hard one tried.
Even the contamination extractor she had whipped up in her workshop out of boredom was something Jane and numerous other scientists couldn't even come close to replicating despite nearly a year of effort.
For now, it’s safe to assume that Object X extracted from a meteorite exists, right?
Even if production was impossible, the setting itself was that it came via a meteorite.
If they could produce it, they would have blown up an A-rank dungeon, not a B-rank one.
They likely had a small amount of Object X and lacked the technical skill to use it with high efficiency.
However, another dungeon explosion would be dangerous.
Having finished my thoughts, I explained to Song Jae-ah.
“It’s almost identical to Miura City. There might be a villain capable of forcibly triggering a dungeon explosion.”
“Is that even possible?”
“Who knows? But it’s already happened once.”
Since Miura City had already been devastated, Song Jae-ah’s expression hardened as she stared intently at the documents.
She had originally sat next to me just to be close, but now she was completely serious, that thought long gone.
“Evacuating the people should be the priority, right?”
“Right. But will the Japanese government listen to the request?”
The Japanese government was currently busy promoting that Miura City—now a ghost town—was safe, trying to get people to move back.
In this situation, if we suggested evacuating people because Otaki-machi was unstable, the southern part of Chiba Prefecture would be completely emptied. There was no way they would agree to that.
After thinking for a moment, Song Jae-ah frowned and cursed.
“Dammit, human lives are at stake. What are they thinking?”
Song Jae-ah was angry, but honestly, I could understand them a little.
Of all places, the Dungeon Impact had hit near Tokyo, the capital of Japan.
While the dungeons hadn't spread into Tokyo itself, the nearby Kawasaki City was within the influence of the Dungeon Impact.
The government had encouraged people to stay, saying it was safe as long as heroes were there, but many had already left, and Tokyo was trembling in fear.
They claimed they would clear the dungeons for free in exchange for the byproducts, but hero parties were money-hungry entities.
The equipment they used cost a fortune, and the number of Treasure Orbs consumed daily was no joke.
Since the Japanese government was supporting all of that, money was hemorrhaging out.
In that situation, the dungeon explosion in Miura City happened.
The Miura area became a ghost town without a single soul, and even those remaining within the zone of influence began to flee.
People in nearby cities outside the zone were also anxious, so from the Japanese government’s perspective, it must be maddening.
Japan, with its capital and surrounding cities paralyzed, was suffering astronomical losses.
From the government’s standpoint, they would want to stabilize the collapsing economy at any cost.
However, I couldn't agree with keeping people in a dangerous area either.
“Let’s make a different demand instead.”
“Huh? Like what?”
“They’ll hesitate and eventually ignore an evacuation order anyway. Let’s use this as leverage to ask them to provide more heroes.”
“We’ve already sent support to the China Support Base. Will they have any to spare?”
“Japan has no choice. They have to squeeze them out and send them. If another dungeon explosion happens, it really might be the end for them.”
Song Jae-ah nodded at my words.
“It’s best to assume Korea will handle the search and receive support from at least an A-rank party. You should also keep a close watch on Otaki-machi until the observation waves stabilize, excluding urgent dungeons, Noona.”
If someone was artificially causing dungeon explosions, just having an A-rank party loitering around would act as a deterrent.
It would be even better if we could root out the New Human Alliance in the meantime.
“And we’ll go out on patrol during our off-days from dungeon raiding.”
“Uh, no, wouldn't that be too exhausting? Black Unicorn needs to rest too.”
“It’s fine. We can’t rest easy in this situation anyway.”
I felt bad for the members, but preventing a dungeon explosion was more important.
Human lives were on the line, so we had to resolve this as quickly as possible.
“I have mana detection, and Alice can sense emotional energy, so we’ll be a big help in the search.”
“True… you were a huge help when clearing out Miura City as well.”
Song Jae-ah nodded as if she had no choice.
“I’m sorry. It feels like I’m always just receiving help from you.”
“It’s about saving people. It’s what a hero should do.”
Gradually, I was adapting to the idea of being a hero.
When I was in the military, I was used almost like a consumable. I had no pride in saving people or patriotism for my country.
I was just a tool used to eliminate other Awakened and clear dungeons according to orders from above.
There were many times I committed acts that were the height of immorality.
Everything was done as ordered.
From the moment one became an Awakened, a device connected to the spine made it impossible to betray them, forcing us to follow every command.
We could get married and live somewhat human lives, but we were treated like dogs wearing human masks, always under surveillance and used as disposables when necessary.
It was a world where Awakened had almost no human rights, so the harder we worked, the more we tasted only bitter reality instead of better treatment.
When I first came here, it was out of that same resentment that I applied to be a hero, with the mindset of just living well for myself.
But as I continued to be praised and respected by people, I felt myself slowly being influenced by the concept of being a hero.
To save people.
It was funny how the lip service I used to give was becoming sincere.
I must have stained my hands with the blood of hundreds, thousands of humans, yet I could still feel this way.
Still, I liked the change.
I felt a sense of accomplishment.
“Thank you, Yeon-woo.”
Song Jae-ah looked at me lovingly and stroked my hand.
Moving her face slowly, she kissed me.
I smiled at the light kiss, which was driven by emotion rather than any lewd intent.
Yeah, honestly, I liked this too.
I thought it was a truly good thing that I came to this world.
My left hand, acting independently of my brain, was fondling her breast.
Hey, wasn't this supposed to be a touching moment?