Cheers for Jaeha and the Second Wave
“……?”
Kang Hanbit paused as he exited the fortress, noticing the sudden shift in the chat window. Messages urging him to hang in there were flooding the screen.
“What's going on all of a sudden?”
“My name's popping up too?”
Kim Jaeha voiced his confusion as well. This was way too weird for reactions while they were just walking along the road.
Ding-
[LittleSorcerer donated 100,000 won.]
[For real, it was a total shitshow ;]
[SwordGod donated 1,000,000 won.]
[Fighting.]
[Spirit donated 5,000,000 won.]
[Hang in there.]
Donation messages started pouring in one after another. As Hanbit's bewilderment deepened, Riwei's voice came from beside him.
“So that's what happened?”
“What?”
“There's a post about it on the RPG forums. No wonder that guy reeked of garbage.”
“……?”
By "garbage," he meant the Department Head. Hanbit exchanged a glance with Kim Jaeha and immediately checked the community boards.
“...Ah.”
Skimming the popular posts, he quickly pieced it together. An article from a media outlet detailing the blackmail against Black Dragon. Below it was an exposé naming Ihojung, the Department Head. Judging by the timestamp, Juyeonu had beaten him to the punch.
“Gonna make a quick call.”
Hanbit muted his mic and dialed Juyeonu right away. After a brief ring, his voice came through.
(Hyung, I was just about to call you.)
“What the hell happened? The bodycam footage ended up in a news article.”
(If we posted it ourselves, it'd look bad. There are reporters hanging around the police station, so we tipped them off quietly.)
Hanbit had left the blackmail issue entirely in Juyeonu's hands. He'd known about the legal action, but not that the media would get looped in.
“How's the Department Head reacting? With that guy's personality, he'll cling on like a mad dog.”
(He's probably too busy right now. We dug into a few things during the investigation and hit the jackpot.)
“Jackpot?”
(Tax evasion, embezzlement, illegal funding crimes. The guy's got a mountain of 'em. With the materials Jaeha hyung provided, we kept pulling threads, and all these charges just piled up.)
“...Are you some kinda detective?”
Hanbit had only been aiming to make him pay for the threats and extortion, but the bastard had way bigger skeletons. It was impressive that Juyeonu had sniffed them out.
(Oh, and if you have any more evidence to submit, send it over.)
“More evidence? Not enough?”
(You can never prepare too much. Threats and extortion details are great, and any smaller screw-ups help too.)
“I've been forwarding you all the messages... Don't think there's anything else special.”
“Other evidence? How about this?”
Suddenly, Riwei chimed in from the side. It was so out of left field that Hanbit shot back immediately.
“We're talking about the Taeyul Corp Department Head right now?”
“That's the trash I'm talking about. Not sure if it's criminal, but I got a message like this.”
Riwei forwarded a message right away.
「Black Dragon lied to you earlier. This deal happened because that bastard assaulted me. I'll dig up dirt on him, so cut out the trash and let's team up. I'll make the terms generous.」
“...What a piece of work.”
Hanbit sighed after reading it. It was so typically Department Head—devious and slimy.
“But how'd he even message you? Didn't you block everyone except friends?”
“If I block 'em, how am I supposed to get challenge invites? Pioneers are already dodging me left and right.”
“......”
His unwavering dedication shone through. As a pioneer, he'd get all kinds of messages, yet he handled it. Pure, unadulterated madness.
“I'll put it to good use.”
Hanbit forwarded Riwei's message to Juyeonu. Not sure if it'd stick as a crime, but better to send everything.
Step-
Hanbit turned his mic back on and headed toward the exit. Once they were out of the snowfield, he looked at Riwei beside him.
“That's the end of the Wish Ticket favor. Thanks for the help.”
“Cool. See ya. Hit me up for a good matchup sometime.”
-Look at that cool dude ;
-What a difference from the others.
-Big bro ㅠㅠ
-I won't forget.
-But no more matches....
-One more time at this point.
Riwei really turned and vanished into the forest. Who knew when they'd cross paths again, but it'd probably end in another duel.
“Oh, right.”
Then Kim Jaeha, who had been behind him, spoke up. He pulled a small, snowflower-shaped crystal from his inventory and handed it to Hanbit.
“What's this?”
“Found it when I went underground using the card. Picking it up triggered some warning about treasure or whatever.”
“Ah.”
The unexpected treasure from the Snow Drake. But its appearance gave no clues. Hanbit crouched down and reached out to inspect the snowflower crystal's info.
[Trace of Glacier]
Rank: ?
Grade: ?
Description: A fragment fallen from the Ice Spirit King Glacier. Activating it wrong might freeze your whole body eternally.
-Whoa?
-Spirit King trace?
-Another one here?
-JaehaHam scored big.
-Knew he would.
The chat buzzed at the Spirit King's name in the description.
“Whoa, Glacier? First time hearing that!”
Avant-garde, with his trivia knowledge, was shocked by the unfamiliar name. Hanbit knew of Glacier's existence, but this was out of left field.
'Ice is a first.'
He'd encountered traces of various Spirit Kings in past regressions, but never Glacier's.
“It's a Spirit King trace, so it works with Attribute Manifestation, right? Do it quick.”
Kim Jaeha urged him, recalling Hanbit's skill. The hidden skill gained from absorbing Salion's trace, which upgraded with more traces per its description.
“On it.”
Hanbit drew his cyan-blue sword and stepped away from the others. He placed the snowflower crystal in his palm and slowly brought the blade to it.
At that moment.
Kwa-dud-!
A massive chill surged up, freezing everything around Hanbit.
'So this is it.'
Like Salion's flames that had enveloped him, this cold was absolute. Not biting, but a pleasant coolness.
Sruruk-
The raging chill naturally gathered on the blade, then flowed through his hand into his core.
Once the cold fully vanished, an alarm rang in his ears.
Ding-
[Hidden Achievement: You've obtained the second Spirit King trace.]
[Hidden Spirit Skill Attribute Manifestation (3-rank Epic) has upgraded to (4-rank Epic).]
[You may select an attribute matching your owned traces.]
-Oh.
-Evolution whoa
-What if we collect 'em all?
-How high does it go?
-Myth grade?
-Legend alone would break me. lol
The messages scrolled up as the snowflower crystal vanished from his hand. As expected, Attribute Manifestation's rank had evolved. No idea how many Spirit King traces existed, but he'd collect them anyway—this was a power worth pursuing.
'Ice, huh...'
Each attribute had its strengths. Ice excelled in one-vs-many fights, like monster waves swarming in.
“Hyung, thanks to you, I got another trace. Seriously grateful.”
“You picked it up without knowing what it was. Glad it helped.”
“Helped? This is huge.”
Kim Jaeha scratched his head, but it was an absurd gain. With this unexpected power boost, Hanbit's steps felt lighter as he headed toward Ifrit.
“Hey, there they go.”
“How many pioneers did they screw over?”
“Weren't they walking into it themselves?”
Players were scattered along the return path, murmuring their takes.
“We're here.”
After a short walk, Hanbit's group reached a spot where the city walls came into view.
At that moment.
[Transitioning to cutscene.]
***
Hanbit's darkened vision quickly sharpened. The scene was Ifrit's walls. The view zoomed in on a few soldiers up top.
“Heard there was chaos back then? Something about a monster wave.”
“I was off-duty, so just rumors for me.”
Sunset hung on the horizon. The two lounging in chairs casually swapped stories they'd heard.
Then the soldier on watch sighed and spoke up.
“I was there. The walls crumbled, nearly wiped us out—adventurers saved our asses. You know that?”
He'd subbed for night shift and witnessed the monster wave firsthand. Trolls moving like undead smashed the walls; the guild master couldn't even kill them. Without that out-of-towner with the golden bracelet, the outcome didn't bear thinking about.
“That was Black Dragon, right? Some rumors floating around.”
“Let dwarves into the city? Hygiene nightmare.”
They were more interested in Black Dragon's antics than the wave. Everyone shunned dwarves, yet he'd dragged them inside.
“Necessary to repair the walls. Building pointless walls was the real issue from the start.”
“Don't worry about it. Safer than anywhere—wave was just a fluke.”
“Mayor knows best. Walls draw tourists; city's booming.”
Wave dangers vs. wall safety—night and day perspectives. The two in chairs weren't worried anyway.
The watchful one sighed. “Mark my words, more monster attacks are coming. This wall will be the problem...”
Drdrdr-!
A strange noise pierced the air. He whipped around to the forest.
“Damn...!”
Black monsters poured from the treeline—far more than last night.
Tak-!
He slapped the magic stone on the wall. The magitech device blared—a relic of the sages' knowledge.
Dang-!
Dang-!
The bell-like alarm spread across the city in seconds.
“Whoa, all monsters?”
“Wait, didn't adventurers go on recon?”
The two rose lazily from their chairs. Veteran adventurers, including the guild master, were out scouting. No sweat.
“Just use the turrets well.”
“How do you operate this? Sign's somewhere...”
“Move!”
The alert one shoved past and dashed along the wall-top path to a disc-shaped turret's crystal.
Then a massive impact shook the walls.
Kwagwang-!
He grabbed the wall to steady himself. Looking down, a huge rock was embedded in the glass wall's center.
“...Ogre?”
Colossal monsters emerged from the forest, each hurling massive boulders.
Whoosh-!
Kwang-!
“Ugh!”
More rocks shattered sections. Last night's breaks were nothing—this was multiple spots at once.
Gritting his teeth, the soldier bellowed.
“Everyone, man the turrets!”
Sruruk- Hanbit's vision blurred with the man's shout. When the scene shifted again, he stood with his party.
“Second wave already?”
“Faster than the known timeline.”
Kim Jaeha and Avant-garde were stunned by the accelerated pace.
Zenon and Gorik reappeared beside them. The adventurers bolted first.
“Nia...!”
Tat-!
Zenon raced off calling his daughter's name. Hanbit gripped his sword and followed, trailing cold mist in his wake.