Chapter 5
Lee Min-ho and his companions loaded the truck with ample provisions and set off on their return journey. Kim Min-seok, buzzing with excitement from the driver's seat, kicked off the conversation with his usual chatter.
"Man, this is a total windfall, right? Black Horn Bear materials, no less. And check out all this food we scored. We'll eat till we burst for the first time in ages!"
"Lucky we met such a kind person. This should hold us steady for at least two weeks."
Even Yunsia, usually so composed, nodded with a satisfied smile this time. The group basked in the warm atmosphere. But Tier, trembling slightly at the shoulders and stealing glances, finally piped up.
"B-but... she was kinda scary, in a weird way."
Her hesitant words dragged the uneasy feelings everyone had been ignoring to the surface. The party fell silent, each lost in thought, but they all nodded in agreement—politeness to their benefactor be damned.
"Yeah... I get it. No clue why, but my heart kept pounding like crazy. Wasn't even this bad during horror flicks."
"Hmm, she did save us, so she's probably not a bad sister-type, right?"
The mood shifted to something heavier. Lee Min-ho sat with arms crossed, silent. Kim Min-seok, fidgeting restlessly, tried to brush off the tension.
"Nah, must be our imagination. If she were really bad news, we wouldn't be rolling out alive like this, yeah?"
Yunsia and Tier nodded after a moment's consideration. Fair point. That nameless girl. Her combat prowess was on another level entirely. A destroyer of common sense, transcending human limits. If she'd harbored ill intent, not just them but the whole Seongsu-dong area would've been flung back to the Stone Age.
"When you think about it, yeah."
Yunsia chewed her lip. In this era where national power hinged on players' strength, a single ranker-level player counted as strategic national asset. Even an A-rank at level 5000+, where EXP gains skyrocketed, could solo shatter a mid-sized nation—assuming no interference from other players.
As the three debated back and forth, converging on consensus, Lee Min-ho leaned on the truck bed railing, gazing at the scenery, deep in thought. His index finger drummed his temple at steady intervals.
I didn't see it.
His level: a solid 4300. Not quite ranker tier, but frontline caliber. Yet even he hadn't caught the girl's attack. No—couldn't even track her movements with his eyes.
Why?
Not even in the VR days of Astria Online. Not during the legendary Sertina raid, where hundreds of rankers gathered. He'd never witnessed movement like that.
Wait...
No. There was one.
Not a regular player, not a ranker. An entity that left him powerless, throat severed before he could react. Staring at those flickering blood-red eyes through blurring vision, unable to stifle awe and terror.
Yeah. How could he forget?
Sertina...!
Lee Min-ho's thoughts halted there, a chill seeping through his body. His face drained pale, terror disrupting his breathing.
Sertina. The unparalleled boss surpassing all world bosses, with absurd stats and patterns—a glitch in gaming history. Her extreme speed from those overwhelming stats felled even top rankers before they could blink.
End of Life. Charging users shredded in an instant, vortex of spurting blood. Crimson blades of blood whipping through the carnage. A merciless predator reducing all life to nothingness. That was how Sertina earned her moniker.
And rumors swirled that not even Phase 4 at 25% HP was revealed—Phase 3 at 50% remained unseen. The only monster in Astria Online hiding its own HP bar. Thanks to her unique skill.
Source of Blood (Passive Skill)
Sertina's HP is perpetually hidden.
This skill cannot be dispelled.
If that Sertina had truly descended to Earth—in cramped little South Korea, no less. And if the power those users witnessed was just a fraction of hers...
"Gulp..."
Lee Min-ho clutched his racing heart. Cold sweat trickled down his spine.
No, can't jump to conclusions yet.
If she really was Sertina, Seongsu-dong wouldn't be standing— the whole peninsula would be a bloodbath by now. Death's crimson storm would've swept north, storming the continent.
Yeah, probably just a player who looks like her.
Steeling himself with that thought.
The rooftop garden of a high-end apartment clad in premium glass reflecting the sun. A cool spring breeze tousled Sertina's hair as she perched on the railing, gazing toward Seoul Forest Station. Her blood-red eyes narrowed.
"Closer than I thought."
Arms crossed, she quietly sensed the humans' movements. People hustling food from the truck into the basement—including Lee Min-ho, Yunsia, Kim Min-seok, and Tier.
With her hyper-developed senses, tracking them was child's play. She pinpointed their destination in real-time.
"About twenty members, huh..."
Faint scents on the wind. Subtle air vibrations. All data to her. Recognizing them was the hard part—now, she could detect anything happening there.
"Looks like no issues yet."
Stockpiling food, checking defenses, preparing for monster attacks. Routine stuff.
"Hoo..."
Exhaling, she closed her eyes, slowing her breath. Like a pebble rippling still waters, her senses expanded. Info beyond sight flooded her mind.
Soon, she spotted an anomaly she'd overlooked.
What the...? Monsters are acting weird.
The survivor base near Seoul Forest Station. Oddly, monster traces thinned inside the forest. Nearby monsters seemed to shun it, drifting away.
Explains the lax defenses on that side. Probably chose the spot for fewer beasts.
Hmm, nagging feeling.
She rubbed her chin with thumb and forefinger. In Pandela, monitoring monster flows was routine. Trace weaklings' flight path backward, find the apex predator lurking.
She scanned Seoul Forest just in case—nothing pinged. Maybe just paranoia. Earth wasn't Pandela.
Am I overthinking...?
Battlefield instincts from eons past still pulsed with her heartbeat. Scratching her head with a deep sigh, she crumpled the empty juice carton—sucked dry as paper—and kicked it off the railing.
Isn't that the Raid Boss from the capital siege? NATO's forming a coalition 'cause they're short on manpower.
└ At this rate, World Bosses next?
└ Field, dungeon, regional bosses all out already. Raid Boss means World Boss incoming too...
└ Sertina in real life??
└ Outta nowhere?
└ Yeah, vids show rifts cracking space, boss emerges.
— Why manpower shortage already?
└ Haven't reclaimed cities yet, gotta punch through to stop it before a whole district's razed.
(Attached: Graph photo comparing monster behavior to Earth wildlife)
Analysis shows near-perfect match across land/sea/air. They're basically real animals. Hunt smart, stay safe.
└ Already tons of talking monsters lol
└ Lmao fr
└ Duh, stats only on non-talkers
└ Upper commenter's never fought. Any A-on vet spots the smart patterns.
└ Can't win
└ I'm popping Dodge God anyway
└ Silver lining? Talk 'em down.
└ You know Sertina's lore? Lololol
└ Nope
└ Blood-lust goddess of slaughter.
└ Already wrecked another dimension in backstory lol
└ We're fucked;;
A-on vets might've noticed, but there's a pattern. Remember the big updates splitting Season 1/2? Everything spawning now is pre-expansionpack Season 1 mobs only.
└ Turns out they're the B-team lololol
— So World Bosses are the weak ones too?
└ Yup probably
└ O
└ Oasis in this heat, thx T_T
— Confirmed. 3900 Holy Knight here, swapping sweat with stone-age scrubs daily.
└ Thx for watching our backs.
└ Humanity's light...
— But Sertina's from super early Astria...
└ Wait wtf?
└ Yup?
└ Just uncleared.
└ We're doomed lolololololololol
└ KKYAAAAAK!!!
└ Why's a heavyweight champ in the kiddie pool!!!