Constructing the Shelter (2)

The 50 Bugbears summoned at once and the six Blood Clones of the Bugbear King stood facing each other in this place.

The massive bodies felt strangely cramped in what seemed like a large gymnasium.

Was there a brief standoff?

Then came the thunderous rhythm.

They slowly advanced toward one another, the Bugbears and the Blood Clones of the Bugbear ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠King.

And then, with a thunderous roar, they clashed.

With a crack, a flash, and a thud, the battle turned into pure chaos.

Far different from the earlier exchange of just ten against ten.

Each Bugbear brandished its weapon and went wild.

The fallen ones rose again after receiving Jin-hwan’s heal, rejoining the fray.

At the same time, Kang Hyuk’s buff card and Jin-hwan’s area-wide buff flowed into every Bugbear.

Now it was the beginning of a slaughter.

I too gripped my knife and stood at the front line, beginning to deal with the Blood Clone Bugbears.

With a slash, a slash, the Blood Clone Bugbears were sliced apart like meat on a cutting board.

My body instantly turned into blood and poured onto the floor. There was no Blood Clone Bugbear left that could withstand my overwhelming physical strength and knife.

As their numbers dwindled, the Blood Clone Bugbears grew even more frenzied.

They no longer distinguished friend from foe and began swinging their axes wildly.

And after a short while,

The Bugbears buffed by our side wiped out the Blood Clone Bugbears entirely.

Only the single Bugbear King standing on the raised platform remained.

With a mighty roar, it seemed to be rejoicing in the slaughter rather than angry at its subordinates’ deaths.

Clutching its enormous axe, it slowly approached me.

Its thick arms twitched with the desire to fight.

The Bugbear King charged toward me.

Faster than its size suggested.

But honestly, that was all it could manage.

Perhaps it had spilled too much blood summoning the Blood Clone Bugbears.

The moving Bugbear King looked exhausted.

With a heavy thud, its massive axe met my knife.

The axe’s weight felt no different from a normal Bugbear’s.

No special difference.

It was nothing special.

With a slash, I cut off its head.

In an instant, the Bugbear King died without even a scream, its head and body separating as blood sprayed everywhere.

The mighty Bugbear King had perished without showing its full power.

Its enormous body collapsed to the floor, marking the end of the battle.

‘The Golden Key again. Just like that.’

The Golden Key given after clearing a dungeon.

I still didn’t know its exact use, but if I used it, it would surely be helpful.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

While staring at the dead Bugbear King, the summoned Bugbears’ status looked strange.

The 10 minutes had passed.

As the item’s effect vanished, the additional Bugbears summoned at once collapsed and died on the spot.

‘Damn, what a waste.’

The corpses of the summoned Bugbears were useless even if I ate them.

Perhaps because they were not treated as monsters.

I couldn’t gain stats or summon them again.

After all, if I could, I could summon infinite monsters, which didn’t make sense.

‘Is that even possible?’

The biggest reason I caught this Bugbear King was to obtain the item that would allow me to build a shelter.

While staring at the dead Bugbear King’s corpse, something sparkling like a crystal caught my eye.

‘Could it be that?’

I approached the Bugbear King and picked up the sparkling crystal.

“Shelter Creation Crystal!”

It looked different from the other items.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The grade display used a different symbol, not stars.

Plus, the effect.

I didn’t know how it protected us from monsters, but it matched the note’s description.

After a short while, the situation calmed.

The students and I slowly approached me, carefully stepping over the scattered Bugbear corpses.

“Ssaem! That was amazing!”

“Min-seong. You really carried it.”

“Wow, I’m in awe.”

Exclamations poured from everyone’s mouths.

I simply shrugged my shoulders.

Honestly, it was all thanks to the cheat.

“Everyone, turn around.”

The people naturally turned their gazes.

Because they knew what I would do.

Well, it was becoming familiar now.

I slowly walked toward the Bugbear King, waving my knife.

Then, after slicing the meat nicely with the knife, I began grilling it enthusiastically with a fork.

Just like preparing a meal.

Chiiik~

Slurp, slurp,

The taste wasn’t much different from the Bugbear’s.

Perhaps a little better?

It was samgyeopsal, but if I thought of it as a slightly more premium samgyeopsal, it was fine.

‘Oh, Blood Clone.’

It was the technique the Bugbear King had used earlier.

The ability itself was incredibly powerful.

It meant I could summon one more of myself.

‘Should I test it?’

I raised my knife and lightly cut my hand.

A bright red blood began to flow from my hand.

With it, my clone appeared before me.

‘My head feels a bit dizzy.’

Perhaps because I had consumed quite a bit of blood, my head felt dizzy.

Summoning just one had this effect. Summoning many like the earlier Bugbear King would be impossible.

‘Still not bad.’

It meant I could use 50% of my base abilities.

Since I had eaten monsters and my base stats were superior, 50% would still be quite strong.

“Ssaem, what is your job exactly? Summoner? Clone Master? Warrior?”

“What does that matter? Surviving here is important.”

Even I found it difficult to distinguish the traits, skills, and stats I obtained.

But as long as I could get stronger, it didn’t matter.

First, I quickly moved back to the building where the students were.

Fortunately, no Bugbears had invaded there, and the door was firmly sealed.

“It’s Ssaem!”

“Quickly open the door!”

Fortunately, the students were safe.

When we arrived, the students began removing the things blocking the door.

Once inside the building, we collapsed onto the spot, relieving the tension of the earlier intense battle.

After a short rest, I examined the crystal I had obtained earlier.

‘Can it really protect us from monsters?’

An area protected from monsters.

If this was true, it was truly amazing.

“Is that the Shelter Creation Crystal?”

“Yeah. Let’s try using it once.”

While turning the crystal over in my hands, wondering how to use it, I placed it on the floor and a message appeared.

“Will you use the F-Rank Shelter Creation Crystal? Y/N”

“Of course.”

Since I needed a safe area from monsters, I immediately used the crystal.

“Uuuuung!”

At the same time I used the crystal, strange sounds began echoing from around me.

“What’s that sound?”

“Is it another monster?”

“No way! We just killed the Bugbear King!”

Everyone became flustered and began guarding their surroundings.

People scanning their surroundings, wondering if a monster would come.

To those people, I pointed to the small purple crystal fixed in the center of the classroom and calmed them.

“What is that?”

“A crystal?”

“Wait and see. It’s not bad.”

Honestly, I didn’t know what it was either, so I couldn’t explain in detail.

Everyone fixed their gazes on the crystal and began watching.

“Uuuuung!”

The crystal began vibrating with a stronger sound.

It grew larger and larger.

At the same time, it began emitting a strong light.

“Wow, it’s beautiful.”

A faint purple light.

The crystal, now almost human-sized, illuminated the gradually darkening surroundings and stopped growing.

‘So many?’

The message was so numerous that it was hard to process.

But each one was something I couldn’t miss.

Because it was necessary for survival, I had to read every word.

‘There are people besides us who formed shelters.’

Four already formed shelters.

Despite this apocalyptic situation, humanity was not easily giving up and was searching for ways to survive.

“Ssaem! Look outside! What is that?”

“Why?”

Was Jin-ri looking outside and seeing something?

At that, everyone scanned their surroundings.

“Wow, what is this?”

“It seems like something is covering this building.”

Like the blue protective shield I had seen before, it enveloped the entire building.

Was that the shield I mentioned earlier?

‘Can this protect us from monsters?’

According to the description, it was written that way, but I felt a slight doubt.

And at that moment,

A Bugbear approached the entrance of the building.

It seemed to be the one that had remained inside the school.

With a mighty roar, it gripped its axe tightly with eyes as if it had found delicious prey and charged toward us.

We immediately took combat stances, but it was unnecessary.

With a crack, the Bugbear that collided with the blue curtain looked like it had been electrocuted and soon collapsed on the spot.

We had obtained a shelter that could clearly protect our bodies.