Hidden Park (2)
"Nam-hoon!"
Had Nam-hoon even been wandering the Hidden Park for more than a few minutes? The voice came from somewhere inside this seemingly deserted park, and he spun around — and there she was. Seol-hwa. The girl he had been desperate to find.
"Seol-hwa!"
"Get over here, now! It's dangerous if you stay out there!"
"Huh? Why?"
Nam-hoon couldn't make sense of her panic. This park looked perfectly peaceful. What could possibly be dangerous here? Still, he hurried toward her. Danger could wait — this was the girlfriend he had been aching to see.
"Get in here, quick."
"Okay."
They ducked into one of the park's play structures, a spot just large enough to hide a pair of bodies.
"Seol-hwa!"
He pulled her into a fierce embrace. It had been nearly two weeks since they had last seen each other. Nam-hoon held her tight and let out a long, shuddering breath of relief that she was alive and in one piece.
"Are you okay? You're not hurt anywhere?"
"I'm fine. I got here late, luckily, and some of the others helped me out."
"Thank god. But what even is this place? And what did you mean, it's dangerous?"
The gate that had appeared when he'd opened that door — what was it, exactly? Why had those people been kidnapping others and dumping them in here? And why was it dangerous? It just looked like an ordinary park.
"I don't know for sure either. I got pulled in during the fourth gate opening. The ones who kidnapped me seemed to be looking for something in here."
"Looking for something? They said a game of hide-and-seek was going on when I came in. Is that it?"
"No. That's just a means to an end. They said they're looking for a key, but I don't really know the details."
Seol-hwa laid it out for him. The people who had kidnapped her had promised that anyone who found the key and brought it out would be sent home immediately. Most of the people here would rather take their chances searching than remain under mind control, so they had come into the park — but so far, not a single person had found the key. And once Seol-hwa had entered, she had understood exactly why.
The monster roaming this place. The Grim Reaper.
Nothing touched it — not physical attacks, not magic. One brush of its scythe, and you were dead. And then there was the hidden presence they were supposed to find. People had scoured every inch of the park hunting for it, and no one had turned up a thing. At least a food shop existed inside, so no one had starved over the past few days. But the Grim Reaper was the real problem.
"Isn't there a way out?"
"If we find that key they mentioned, we can probably leave. Other than that, I have no idea. You can come in, but an exit gate has never opened."
In other words, they had to find the hidden presence and get the key, or they were never getting out of here.
"So we just have to find that thing, right?"
"That's the idea. But I think we should wait."
"Why?"
"Look over there."
Nam-hoon followed her pointing finger and saw a group of familiar faces.
"Those guys?"
"This must be the last gate opening. Looks like they came in themselves."
The same people who had locked Seol-hwa in here had entered the park. They assessed the situation fast — they already knew about the Grim Reaper — and started hiding.
"Anyway, what even is the Grim Reaper?"
Nam-hoon still didn't understand why they were so terrified of it. He was about to find out.
A wet, shearing sound cut the air. A Lizardman died right next to them, its life snuffed out by the Grim Reaper's scythe. Nam-hoon had no idea where the creature had come from, but it was clearly a high-level monster — and a single swing of that scythe had killed it anyway. Fighting a Grim Reaper whose level didn't even display was clearly a death sentence.
But staring at it, apparently, was enough to get you targeted. The Grim Reaper, scanning its surroundings, locked onto Nam-hoon.
"Nam-hoon! Just run. Once you get far enough away, it'll drop the target, okay?!"
"Got it. Don't worry — you stay hidden and don't move!"
"Be careful!"
Nam-hoon figured Ghostification would let him slip away from the Grim Reaper easily. But if he used it right here, the targeting might shift to Seol-hwa. So he bolted first.
"Come on, then! Follow me!"
He ran at full speed, putting as much distance as he could between himself and the Reaper. Once he was far enough from Seol-hwa, he activated Ghostification with the Grim Reaper right in front of him.
◈ Immune to all physical and magical damage
◈ Body becomes invisible
◈ Can pass through walls
◈ Can fly
◈ Cannot attack while Ghostified
The skill was practically absolute invincibility. Not being able to attack was a shame, but at least he could get away from the Grim Reaper now.
I'll head back to Seol-hwa...
He'd assumed the targeting would drop and the Grim Reaper would wander off. Instead, it kept coming straight at him.
Can it see me?
Nam-hoon had a sinking feeling. Ghostification wasn't true invincibility — there were things that could still affect him, like the weapons those people had used. But he never imagined the Grim Reaper could too.
He froze for just a second. That was all it took. The Grim Reaper was right in front of him.
The scythe whispered through the air.
Ghk—!
The blade grazed his leg. He'd expected no damage at all — but even that light brush sent searing pain tearing through his left leg. He scrambled back.
"Damn it! Ghostification doesn't work?!"
He couldn't attack in this state. And with his leg injured, his movement speed had dropped sharply. Even as a ghost, he could only move as fast as his actual body allowed — which meant the Grim Reaper was catching up no matter how hard he tried to pull away.
"Shit!"
Nam-hoon dropped Ghostification and flung a dagger at the approaching Reaper. The blade flew true — and passed straight through. The Grim Reaper seemed to exist in a state much like Ghostification itself. Untouched, it closed the distance in a flash and swept its massive scythe toward Nam-hoon's body.
This is it...
Nam-hoon squeezed his eyes shut. He'd finally found Seol-hwa — and now he was going to die. Even if he didn't make it, he hoped she would get out of this place. He braced himself for the end.
No pain came.
Something hit the ground with a heavy thud. Nam-hoon cracked his eyes open. A Lizardman lay at his feet, cut down by the Grim Reaper's scythe in his place.
"Are you all right?"
The voice was familiar. Min-seong — the same Min-seong who had come to Gopchang Alley with him — had just saved his life.
"Yes. I'm all right. Thank you."
"Don't mention it. More importantly — how do we deal with that thing..."
I'd gotten Nam-hoon out of there because he'd looked like he was about to die, but I had no idea how to actually fight the Grim Reaper. Nothing seemed to land on it. We could run, using monsters as bait, but if we never found the hidden presence, this thing would just keep killing people.
Two more wet, shearing cuts. Two more Lizardmen dropped dead while we stood there.
I was about to tell Nam-hoon we should just run when he looked at the Grim Reaper and used a skill.
Materialization
Forces a non-corporeal enemy into physical reality.
Was this the skill Nam-hoon had mentioned before? The one that could catch Wraiths?
Then...?
If the Grim Reaper had been materialized, something should have changed. I looked — and something had.
Now that it had a physical form, its level was clearly displayed. A bit high, but not unbeatable.
All right. Let's see how this fight goes.
Identify Monster Weakness[Lv. 1]
Reveals one of the target monster's weak points.
Analyzing the Grim Reaper's weakness...
Weakness identified.
Weak point: the Grim Reaper's scythe
The scythe is its weak point?
That was a strange weakness. How could a weapon be a weak point? But the skill had been right with the Minotaur last time. I trusted it, dropped into a combat stance, and sent my remaining Lizardmen charging at the Grim Reaper.
They shrieked as they rushed in. Even materialized, the level gap was enormous. The Lizardmen were carved into lizard meat before they could even get close.
Bomb Placement
A high-yield explosive is planted on the designated target.
I planted bombs on the Lizardmen's bodies. The Grim Reaper, oblivious, swung its scythe at them anyway.
The blasts went off in a chain of thunderous detonations, the shockwave rolling through the entire park. Everyone in here would know a fight was happening now.
Did that do anything?
I hadn't expected the bombs to kill it. This was just a test — to see if Materialization actually made it vulnerable. It seemed to have worked. The Grim Reaper had taken some of the blast.
It hissed, a low sliding sound of rage, and started toward me with that massive scythe raised.
"You've still got plenty of opponents over there."
The Grim Reaper must have been confused. Hadn't all the Lizardmen just died? It sounded absurd — but it wasn't.
Reborn as skeletons, the Lizardmen lunged at the Grim Reaper and clung to it. For a brief moment, it couldn't move.
That moment was enough.
I yanked a knife from my belt and swung it hard at the scythe in the Grim Reaper's hands.
Wind Pressure
Unleashes a violent gale.
The special ability I'd taken from the Minotaur. The instant I swung the knife, a tremendous storm roared toward the Grim Reaper. A direct hit packed the force of a full-blown typhoon.
The gale slammed into it. The Grim Reaper's high level meant its body didn't take much damage — but the force knocked the scythe from its grip.
And in that instant, brilliant light erupted from the fallen blade.