The End of Paradise (2)
There is a saying about an Asari-pan—a chaotic mess. It comes from the word Asari, referring to high-ranking monks who gather to debate. Since they are all high-achieving monks, it’s not easy for them to reach a consensus, and they rarely bend their own opinions. Thus, to the common folk, the scene can appear quite noisy and disorderly. Just like it was now.
“I’m telling you, we need to reorganize the entire team!”
“The fuck? You think I wanted this? Forget the teams, let’s just put the tanks in the front first!”
“Do you want all the tanks to die? Are you saying tanks are just cannon fodder?”
“Then what, you want to put the healers in the front, you idiot?”
“What? Idiot? You said enough, you bastard?”
“Now, now, we’re all respected hunters here, let’s not do this and just plan the strategy again.”
“I’m saying we should stick to the three-team system!”
“We’ll all die if we do that! We need to herd them into one place!”
“And if we get hit by an area-of-effect attack, we’ll all be crossing the River Jordan together, you moron!”
“We shall meet across the River Jordan~”
“Which bastard is singing at a time like this, for fuck’s sake...”
Due to the two unexpectedly generated special conditions, the safe zone was filling up with shouting and despair.
“Hmm.”
In a situation like this, only one thing matters: if you get swept up in the atmosphere, you die. A professional must be able to do their job at any moment.
“First, we have to block the entrance.”
“Huh?”
“Now that the quest has started, they’ll be swarming in soon. We have to block the entrance.”
“Uh, uh...”
Cha Il-do, who had been wallowing in despair, and Park Hyung-tae scrambled to their feet.
“Right. Sitting here won’t change anything.”
“We have to do it! We can’t die here!”
At their words, the surrounding hunters also began to regain their senses little by little. The commotion gradually subsided, and several people headed to their positions with determined expressions.
Eun-seo returned, perhaps because the meeting of the guild leaders had ended. In the safe zone, where tension and despair were intertwined, Eun-seo held her final briefing.
“As you all know, this defense battle will be composed of three teams.”
She drew three circles on the dirt floor.
“Main Team 1 will block the entrance. Team 2 will scatter across the cliffs to prevent infiltration. Team 3 will intercept the flying monsters. We are Team 1.”
To think that a third-rate group would be included in the main team.
“We’re screwed...”
“It’s our lucky day.”
Park Hyung-tae and my opinions diverged.
“Eh? Kid, you must not know, but the main team is the most dangerous one, you know?”
“...”
I gave Park Hyung-tae a look of pity and picked up a twig. I began to explain while drawing a simple terrain structure on the dirt floor.
“Look here. Team 2 has to defend this entire wide cliff.”
They have to defend this vast basin with only a small number of people. That means.
“Team 2’s members will be far apart. The moment their power is dispersed...”
“It’s perfect for becoming monster food, that’s what you mean.”
I nodded at Cha Il-do’s words.
“Right. Besides, if monsters are climbing the cliffs, it’ll be hard to save anyone who gets attacked.”
“Then what about Team 3? Team 3 sounds like a sweet gig, doesn’t it?”
“Flying monsters can only be attacked by magic or ranged types in the first place, right?”
At my words, Park Hyung-tae smacked his lips.
“True, we only have two supporters, a tank, and a swordsman.”
“And.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Team 3 will have the highest mortality rate.”
“..?”
“Because once a flying monster catches you, it’s over.”
I held the twig with only my index finger and thumb, then dropped it to the ground.
“Half of the hunters who die or get injured are because of flying types.”
“...”
“They’re fast, and humans are helpless in the air.”
I used my index finger to press down on the twig on the ground until it snapped. In reality, many hunters had died or been left behind in this exact way. So, I had to hope that luck would be with the Mirae Guild, who were in charge of Team 3.
Park Hyung-tae looked at the broken twig and nodded.
“Let’s go to the entrance!”
“...Pfft.”
Eun-seo let out a snicker.
“Ah, sorry. It was just cute.”
At Eun-seo’s words, Park Hyung-tae’s cheeks turned red.
“Ahem.”
Oh, what is this vibe? Am I starting to feel annoyed?
I frowned and wedged myself between the two.
“Mr. Il-do, can I slit this guy’s throat?”
“...That wouldn’t be too bad, actually.”
As Cha Il-do and I glared at Park Hyung-tae with terrifying eyes, Park Hyung-tae waved his hands.
“It’s not like that! What are you thinking!”
Following Park Hyung-tae’s rebuttal, Eun-seo spilled out her words.
“That’s right. I like neat, office-worker-type middle-aged men! Someone with no excess fat on their body, enough to look good in a suit! Someone with a dignified weight that makes a wristwatch look good on their wrist! Someone who looks like they’ve endured the passage of time but manages themselves with maximum effort—that’s my type!”
Eun-seo’s sudden confession of her type. And a quite detailed one at that, which left two men, including myself, speechless.
“...”
“...”
“...”
At that silence, Eun-seo’s face turned bright red.
“T-that, please forget what I just said.”
Eun-seo wiped her face, looking embarrassed, and Mr. Cha Il-do cleared his throat as if he felt awkward.
“Hyunseo, what should we do? I’m already married.”
“...”
I scanned Cha Il-do up and down with an absurd look. Do you even have a conscience?
“You don’t have the physique to look good in a suit, so shut your mouth and just hold your shield.”
“...Tsk. Is that so?”
“Eun-seo said her type was someone who looked like they’d endured the passage of time, not someone who looked like they’d been beaten by it.”
At my words, Cha Il-do’s shoulders slumped.
“Wow...”
Park Hyung-tae looked at me with his mouth agape.
“Kang Hyunseo... you, you’re really ruthless, aren’t you?”
“Huh?”
Only then did I see Cha Il-do’s deer-like eyes moisten.
“Oh, what is this. Y-you don’t have to be that disappointed. No, I was just saying... Ah, geez, Mr. Il-do, I’m sorry.”
“Forget it. The old-looking Cha Il-do will just go hold his shield.”
“Mr. Il-do! You have a wife!”
Cha Il-do’s shoulders slumped even further. What’s with him? He looks even more miserable when I mention his wife.
“I’m going! Follow me or don’t!”
Ah, Mr. Il-do is sulking. When people in their 40s sulk, it lasts a long time.
I quickly followed behind Cha Il-do and arrived at the entrance of the safe zone. As soon as we reached the entrance, Park Hyung-tae cursed at the murderous atmosphere he felt.
“Shit, I’ve done plenty of entrance-blocking when I was younger, but I never thought I’d be the soldier doing it.”
Park Hyung-tae’s voice trembled slightly. He must have been very nervous, as his face had turned deathly pale.
“It’s okay. The entrance will be the safest place.”
I recalled the clear conditions and added,
[If even one person survives, the safe zone is confirmed]
“If the difficulty is normal...”
“That sounds like you’re saying this isn’t normal.”
I shrugged at Park Hyung-tae’s words and looked up at the red sky. The clouds of war were gathering at the entrance.
“Supporters, please step back for now!”
“Tanks to the front! Dealers, pull back to the rear!”
“Frontline classes other than tanks, stand in the middle!”
“Among the tanks, those who are Grade 3, take the very ends!”
“We will maintain a -shaped formation! Hunter Park Jungsoo will protect us from the lead, so don’t worry too much!”
Confused voices and people running around in circles.
‘This is doomed.’
I’ve lived in the Tower for over 20 years. Just by looking at people’s expressions and the atmosphere of the day, I could see the outcome. The smell of death was spreading among the people. They would be whittled away little by little, unable to block the enemies’ attacks, and once the entrance was breached, everyone would die.
“...Ha. Survival, huh.”
Only then did I understand the condition of the quest. This quest, from the very beginning, had no intention of letting people live. The story that they would confirm the safe zone if even one person survived within the time limit meant:
‘It means they don’t intend to let anyone survive if they can help it.’
The Tower had clearly gone insane.
I patted Cha Il-do, who was standing in front, on the shoulder.
“If the front formation breaks, don’t hesitate and run to the back.”
“What?”
“Otherwise, you’ll die. If the formation breaks, run to the back.”
“...”
Mr. Cha Il-do nodded at my words. Honestly, I didn’t know how long I could hold out without skills or stats, but it wasn’t any different from when I cleared the Tower of Heaven.
“Let’s go. If we can’t break it...”
If you die, that’s it. It was time to get close to ‘that person’ for the first time in a while.
*
When the tanks received the rushing monsters, the dealers in the back dealt with them. It was a simple and good strategy, but as time passed, some tanks became isolated, and some dealers were attacked by monsters. Since time was not on the humans’ side, the battle gradually turned into a slaughterhouse.
“Block them! Hold out!”
Cha Il-do swiped aside a rushing Skrinter. If you ignored the fact that blades popped out of its legs and its head split open like a flower, it was a monster you could consider similar to a spider. Was it like an evolved version of the Arachnid from Starship Troopers? It wasn’t a high-grade monster, but there were too many of them.
As its head split open and tentacles were revealed, Park Hyung-tae and the kid’s swords were plunged into the split head.
“Haa. Haa.”
Cha Il-do, who had been trying to catch his breath as he felt his mind fading, blocked another rushing Skrinter.
“Aaaaargh!”
“S-save me..!”
A hunter whose abdomen had been pierced by a Skrinter was thrown into a swarm of monsters in the back. Cha Il-do, who didn’t have the courage to watch the next scene, squeezed his eyes shut. That friend wouldn’t make it out alive, would he? He would have been torn to shreds by the monsters’ hands. He looked young, too.
“Mister!”
The kid’s sharp voice rang out from behind. Her sword cut off the tentacles of a rushing Skrinter, and she plunged her sword into the Skrinter’s head with a fluid motion, as if she were being sucked in.
“H-Hyunseo!”
The Skrinter’s green blood flowed down the blade of the kid’s sword.
“Don’t lose focus on the front line! If you want to die, go home, hang yourself, and die!”
Cha Il-do, who had come to his senses at the kid’s words, bit his lip. A small girl standing in front of him, a tank, had started blocking the enemies’ attacks without fear.
“W-what is that.”
A level of swordsmanship on a different dimension. To Cha Il-do’s eyes, that was all he could see.
The kid shouted.
“I told you to pull back if the formation breaks! Why didn’t you pull back! Do you want to die!”
“But if I do that, the guys in the back will die!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Tell everyone to survive on their own! Who’s worrying about whom right now!”
Four D-grade Skrinters. The kid, who had easily taken care of all those monsters, pressed her index finger firmly against Cha Il-do’s chest.
“If you die, it’s over. Do you understand?”
Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle.
“Don’t think about dying in front of me. It feels like shit.”
The moment Cha Il-do pulled back from the front with Kang Hyunseo, the formation that had been broken by the swarming enemies collapsed completely.
“I-I thought Hunter Park Jungsoo would be at the lead.”
“You think that guy couldn’t hold out against this much? If he couldn’t, he would have died a long time ago.”
Just like rough Kang Hyunseo’s words, I could see Hunter Park Jungsoo far away, without a single scratch even though he was surrounded by monsters.
‘From the start, the moment my skills disappeared, it was an unbeatable difficulty. You fucking bastards...’
The kid muttered quickly to herself. Her eyes were gleaming.
‘That’s not human.’
The energy she exuded, the murderous intent gleaming in her eyes—it seemed more like that of a ghost or a demon than a human. Just by the look in the kid’s eyes as she stared, my heart felt like it was being squeezed in pain. Only then did Cha Il-do understand that this small kid had lived in the Tower.
‘How hard must this young thing have had it.’
She was only twenty. About the same age as his son. They said such a child had endured her whole life in the Tower. Right, she had to have at least one or two monster-like traits to survive in that slaughterhouse.
“We’re building a second defense line!”
“Everyone gather!”
“Block them!”
In front of Cha Il-do, the surviving hunters began to build a second defense line.
“Hyunseo.”
“Yeah.”
“Is this possible?”
Words that slipped out inadvertently.
“...”
The kid didn’t answer. Cha Il-do, who understood the meaning of that silence, nodded.
“Right. Still, we’ll get a lot of prize money. Since we came in treated as a second-rate group.”
As Cha Il-do lifted his heavy shield, the kid snickered.
“Must be nice. Some people even have kids to carry on their bloodline.”
“Kid, I told you that’s what you say to beasts!”
At Cha Il-do’s words, the kid shrugged.
“Are we any different? We’re the same as beasts. Struggling like this just to live.”
At the kid’s words, Cha Il-do let out a breath and said,
“Still, it’s different.”
“..? What is?”
“We’re dying to protect others. That’s where we differ from monsters.”
“...”
At those words, the kid’s face crumpled.
“I don’t like dying for those guys.”
The kid’s fingertips pointed toward the numerous hunters.
“Hahaha, then just pretend you’re dying for my wife and son.”
“Sheesh. That’s not a good trade.”
The kid, who had been muttering, lifted her sword.
“Still, consider it an honor.”
The kid smiled bashfully.
“Just now, I got a little motivated.”
“..? Then was this all just morning gymnastics until now?”
“I’m just saying, that’s all.”
*
My wrist, which had been bent at an abnormal angle earlier, throbbed. The ligaments must have been stretched. At some point, I had been swinging my sword frantically. I compensated for my lack of stats with technique, and my lack of skills with experience. A path of the sword that bordered on a miracle continued. I could hear people’s voices behind me.
“While that friend is b-blocking them, build the second defense line!”
“My god, that’s D-grade?”
“S-she’s fighting almost on par with the Guild Leader..?”
“It’s a miracle, a miracle...”
“G-gather the survivors! Call Teams 3 and 2 as well! It’s over if this place is breached anyway!”
Dodging what flies, letting what rushes slide by. Cutting what stabs, swiping what slashes. With a single strike of the sword, one monster fell. Is this what that ‘person’ called the state of selflessness?
A gruff voice cut through my thoughts.
“Did your ability return?”
It was Park Jungsoo. I snorted and said,
“No.”
“Then what is this?”
Park Jungsoo looked at me as if it were absurd.
“Stats with technique, skills with experience. If you fill them in one by one like that, this is how it ends up.”
“...Crazy bastard. No, crazy bitch.”
I pointed my sword at Park Jungsoo like flowing water.
“Anyway, there are a lot of them, but their level is only about D-grade. If you don’t want to die, provide good cover, understand... huh?”
As I swallowed the breath that had risen intensely, Park Jungsoo nodded.
“Right, so you weren’t a monster either.”
“Fucking hell, if I only had stats.”
“Huh, wow. That much without even stats? I don’t get it, I don’t get it.”
I still had enough leeway to talk to Park Jungsoo for a moment. Right, keep going. I will definitely survive and let you know. That things won’t go your way. I recalled the [Defense Quest] and [Inheritance Quest] that were still in progress. Suddenly, emotions welled up and spilled out of my mouth.
“There’s still leeway, you fucking bastards. Keep going, keep going! I will never die! If you want to kill me, you’ll have to do this for decades!”
Just as I was screaming like a madman, something terrible happened, and the earth shook. In the distant forest, a giant human figure was raising its massive body. It was a large A-grade species, a Teramoc.
A giant humanoid over 10 meters tall was staring at this safe zone.
“...”
Wow, seriously. You guys are too much. You want me to block that giant giant without stats or skills? And an A-grade monster at that?
“Fucking hell... is it time for reincarnation?”
I gripped the hand holding the sword tightly. A new legend that would be talked about for a long time. It was the beginning of the [Abyssal Defense Battle].