Proceed to Ulsan (2)
Day one on the road to Ulsan.
Wary of the monsters that prowled the skies, we left the cars behind and made our way on foot. We ran into a few packs of Goblins along the way, but those were nothing — a walk in the park.
Day two on the road to Ulsan.
Doubt had started to creep in. My legs ached with every step. We had cars. Actual cars. So why the hell were we walking?
Day three on the road to Ulsan.
We were still in Busan. No matter how far we walked, Ulsan refused to get any closer. Between fending off the monsters we ran into and picking our way along roads that had been torn to pieces, our pace had slowed to a crawl. Exhaustion was starting to settle into all of us.
"Aargh! Ssaem, I can't take it anymore. Let's just take a car."
"You know what happens if we take a car, right?"
"Yeah, but still. We haven't seen a single monster in the sky the whole way here."
He wasn't wrong. The ground crawled with monsters, but the sky was empty — not a single one in sight, for reasons none of us could explain.
Are there really none?
Back at the school, Harpies had shown up now and then, along with a handful of other flying monsters. Out here, there was nothing. Timing-wise, it had to have been sometime after the Shelter Invasion. A mass migration of monsters that large must have done something to the ones in the air.
"Ah-ra, Jin-ri — you two are exhausted too, right?"
"I'm fine, though? Oppa, that's why I keep telling you to work out."
"She's right! I had you pegged from the moment you started sitting in the back taking it easy with the heals."
"Hey, that's not—!"
To be fair, Jin-hwan was a Healer. He couldn't exactly be up on the front line swinging a weapon. That didn't stop Ah-ra and Jin-ri from tearing into him over it, though. A little much, if you asked me.
"Tch. If I'd just awakened as a Swordsman, I wouldn't have to put up with this crap."
Personally, I thought the Healer class suited him. Almost like he'd been born for it.
"Still, Jin-hwan's got a point. If there's nothing in the sky, there's no real reason not to take a car."
"Exactly. And it's not like the only dangerous monsters are the flying ones. If we need to run from something on the ground, a car might actually be better."
Fair enough. If something showed up that we couldn't handle on foot, we'd have to run anyway. In that case, a car would be the more efficient option.
"Alright. Let's see if there's an abandoned one around here."
Jin-hwan lit up at that and started scanning the area. Ah-ra and Jin-ri fanned out to look as well.
"I might as well take a look myself."
I sent a Venom Fairy up into the air to scout. It didn't take long. One car, sitting not far off, with the keys still in the ignition. No reason we couldn't use it.
"Found one."
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah. Come on."
A short walk brought us to a yellow kindergarten bus, sitting off on its own.
"Ssaem, do you know how to drive this thing?"
"Please. What do you take me for?"
I'd never owned a car — too busy paying off my loans — but I'd had my license for ten years. I climbed in and took the driver's seat like I owned it.
"Get in. Let's go."
"Yes, Ssaem."
Once I'd confirmed all three students were aboard, I turned the key. The engine came to life with a cheerful rumble. Still plenty of fuel, by the sound of it. I reached for the gearshift to slot it into drive — and froze.
"Wait. This is a stick?"
Manual transmission. Not automatic. I'd driven my parents' car a handful of times, but that had been an automatic. I hadn't touched a stick since the day I took my driving test.
"Haaah. Ssaem. Switch with me."
Jin-hwan was looking at me like I was a lost cause.
"You have a license?"
"Of course I do. Got it the second I finished the college entrance exam."
"You're serious?"
"Just move."
I got out of the way. Jin-hwan dropped into the seat with a little nod, then put his hands on the wheel. Clutch, gearshift, gas — he worked them like a man who'd been driving a village bus for ten years, and the kindergarten bus rolled smoothly forward.
"Whoa, oppa. I'm seeing you in a whole new light!"
"You're actually really good at this."
Ah-ra and Jin-ri both shot him a thumbs-up.
"Alright. Not bad."
I didn't particularly want to admit it, but the kid really was an ace behind the wheel. I gave him a thumbs-up of my own.
"Next stop, Ulsan — nonstop!"
Jin-hwan put his foot down and the engine roared. The road was a wreck, all broken asphalt and bone-jarring ruts, but with driving like this I wasn't going to complain.
We'd been rolling for about ten minutes. The occasional monster that spotted us couldn't even come close — Jin-hwan's driving left them standing there in the dust, staring.
"At this rate, we'll be in Ulsan in no time."
"Right? We should've just taken a car from the start."
"Keep your eyes on the road ahead and behind — and the sky, too. No telling when something might show up."
"Yes, Ssaem."
I left the driving to Jin-hwan and took a look around.
It's completely desolate out here.
The streets were barren. No people. No animals. Just the odd monster wandering through the wreckage, and nothing else.
We drove a little farther.
"Ssaem! Something's moving over there!"
"What? Where?"
"There! I think it's people!"
I followed Ah-ra's pointing finger. Sure enough — a small, distant flicker of movement.
"People? Jin-hwan, take us that way."
"On it!"
He swung the bus around and gunned it. As we closed the distance, the figures came into focus. They were in the middle of a fight — against a pack of orcs.
"Orcs, huh."
Honestly, they weren't even worth our time anymore. But for these people, even orcs looked like more than they could handle.
Jin-hwan stomped the brakes and the bus shrieked to a halt. I was about to summon a few trolls to give them a hand when someone beat me to it.
Fireball
Summon a sphere of flame
A massive orb of fire bloomed at the head of Jin-ri's staff, then streaked toward the orcs.
It detonated on impact — and the damage didn't stop at the blast. Flame caught in the orc's fur and spread, roasting the still-living creature where it stood. The orc's howl tore through the air as it burned.
"Roa, I need you."
Water droplets gathered and swelled in front of Ah-ra, and then Roa was there — a spirit in the shape of a little puppy. It charged the orc without hesitation and clamped a giant water bubble over its head.
A wet, choking gurgle. The orc thrashed, clawing at the bubble, trying to tear it off. Wasted effort. It hit the ground with a heavy thud and didn't get up.
Seven orcs left. The moment their packmate went down, they came at us. That was as far as they got. Between Jin-ri's magic and Ah-ra's spirit, the rest of them were cleaned up in seconds.
"Guess I don't even need to step in."
"Of course not. Do you know how hard we've been working?"
"That's right!"
Ah-ra and Jin-ri had awakened later than most. That hadn't stopped them from hunting enough monsters to hit level 8. Orcs like these weren't even a contest for them anymore. Naturally.
Once the last orc was down, I walked over to the people they'd been fighting. A man and a woman — they looked like a couple — and both of them were marked up with wounds from the battle.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes. Nngh—"
Jin-hwan was already moving, closing the distance in a few quick strides.
Heal
The wounds covering their bodies closed over in an instant.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it. How did you end up fighting orcs out here?"
"Ah, well. We were driving down from Ulsan — running, really — and we ran out of gas around here, so…"
"From Ulsan?"
Coming down from Ulsan to Busan wasn't strange in itself. But one word stuck out.
Running.
"What happened in Ulsan?"
"You don't want to be there. It's not a place for people."
"Why? What's going on? There's a shelter there, isn't there?"
"There is a shelter, yes."
"Then what?"
The couple started to shake, as if even remembering it was too much.
"Take a breath. Tell us what happened."
"Please. We need to know. We're on our way to Ulsan right now."
The two of them went rigid, a look of raw horror passing over their faces.
"You're going to Ulsan?"
"We are."
They glanced at each other, then, carefully, they started to talk.
"You remember the day of the Shelter Invasion, don't you?"
"Of course."
"That's when it happened. The thing is…"
What came out of their mouths next made no sense. Not by any logic the world was supposed to run on. Beside me, Ah-ra and Jin-ri had gone pale, trembling so hard I could see it.
"That— that can't be possible."
"It's true! Why would we lie about something like that?!"
"Even so, that's…"
I couldn't even finish the sentence.
"If you're going to Ulsan, don't. We barely made it out."
"Have you heard anything about a Minotaur?"
"A Minotaur? No. I don't know anything about that."
They shook their heads. Never heard of it. Kim Ha-jin had no reason to lie to us, though. A Minotaur, plus whatever "that" was the couple had just described — honestly, those two things alone were enough to call Ulsan hell and mean it.
"What's Busan like right now?"
"Nothing like that has happened in Busan."
"Is that so. Then we made the right call."
They started gathering their things, getting ready to move.
"We'll be going. Think it over one more time before you go any farther."
"We will. Travel safe."
They packed up and headed toward Busan. We watched them go, then climbed back onto the bus. Ah-ra and Jin-ri were still shaking from what they'd heard.
"Ssaem. Do you think that couple was telling the truth?"
"I don't know. Could be a lie. Could be they meant every word."
"Should we even be going there?"
Jin-hwan looked just as shaken as the girls. But turning back wasn't an option. Ah-ra's parents might still be there. And there was a scenario quest waiting for us.
In Ulsan.
"We're going. Drive."
"Yes, Ssaem."
Jin-hwan eased the bus forward. Maybe it was the weight of what that couple had told us. Whatever the reason, none of us said another word. The mood had shifted completely from only minutes before. Inside the bus, the silence was total. The engine's drone was the only sound that filled the cabin.
We drove a while longer. Then a sign came into view, telling us we'd arrived.
WELCOME TO ULSAN
We pushed a little farther in. And then we saw it.
The Ulsan we knew was gone. What lay ahead of us was ruin — nothing but ruin. Just what the hell had happened here?