Sanctuary 03: What's Going On?
Yeonwoo gazed up at the sky of the sanctuary. Of course, nothing came to mind.
……Is this how it's supposed to be?
She couldn't say for sure. There was no prior experience to compare it to, so she couldn't distinguish right from wrong. In the end, it was all meaningless speculation.
"Does this feel normal to you?"
"Hm."
Clutching at straws, she asked Shin Gaon, but...
"Then wanna try rolling that one this time?"
She just pointed at the unused spiked log and spouted nonsense.
Why? Am I the only one feeling weird?
Something nagged at her unusually. Yeonwoo paced back and forth, deep in thought.
If more come, maybe it'll end faster. Could be a good thing.
Her aimless steps led her down the stairs.
But that hut attack earlier... the way it ended felt off.
After pacing the second floor back and forth.
Something about the timing when the hunters vanished... it lagged a beat?
With that frustrating, just-out-of-reach feeling bottled up.
Thwack! She kicked the cannon.
Kaboom—!
The cannonball shot out in a satisfying arc, slamming right into the restarted first wave of wolves.
Kaaaa-BOOOM—!
Flames erupted spectacularly, wolf remains popping like popcorn in all directions. An incredible hit. And incredible power.
……No way.
Just to check, Yeonwoo tapped the cannon. But it neither went into her bag nor fused with her weapon.
"Lady boss, nice shot!"
Shin Gaon's shout from upstairs came with sharp, resounding claps.
It was pretty rowdy, but...
"Ahem—"
Truth be told, she felt good inside, so a pleased noise slipped out. Watching things explode right in front of her eased that stuffy feeling.
The castle definitely had plenty of leeway. Cannonballs with that kind of power were piled up like a mountain, ready to fire again and again.
"Lemme kick one too."
Shin Gaon bounded down to the second floor, loaded a shell, and waited for the second wave—the torch wolves.
Thwack!
She kicked the cannon with those long legs of hers.
Boom! The barrel spat fire.
Kabang!
The shell hit off to the side of the wolf pack and exploded. A few got caught and roasted crisp, but that was it.
Lousy accuracy. And mediocre power.
"What the fuck!"
Shin Gaon scowled, of course. Leaning hard out the window in disbelief.
"What?"
She reloaded, then pointed at the cannon with her arm, staring challengingly at Yeonwoo.
No choice—Yeonwoo kicked it.
Why does it have to be a kick to fire?
She couldn't understand, but anyway—thwack! Fwoooom—! Whoosh—Kaaaa-BOOOM—!
Yeonwoo's kick sent the shell arcing beautifully, piercing a torch-bearing werewolf dead center. Then explosion. Total wipeout, clean and neat.
The power was worlds apart from Shin Gaon's shot.
"Aha."
That confirmed it for Yeonwoo. There were countless differences between her and Shin Gaon, but only one related to weapons.
This counts as a weapon too, huh.
A new discovery. If the gate's environment could be treated as a weapon, it meant her options' power applied.
Shin Gaon's shot had decent power too, but combined with Yeonwoo's options, it more than doubled—enough to sweep the pack in one go.
But what was the condition that made it a weapon? If she could weaponize environments in other gates too?
Roguelike, Labyrinth of Oblivion... maybe even Shuffle Purple Shuttle.
Three gates came to mind where it'd be a huge edge. Places with shifting environments that veterans especially hated.
What's the trigger? Ownership, probably.
The house was hers. So the castle's parts—its weapons—were hers too.
"Ownership gives authority and influence, huh."
"What? Then why didn't mine count?"
Shin Gaon reacted to the mumble. But explaining in detail was a hassle, and Yeonwoo had no intention of it.
"Guns don't hurt if you don't kick 'em hard, right?"
"I kicked the shit outta it!"
"Jokes don't land with you."
Anyway, the second wave was cleared in a flash. Leisure time returned.
With nothing else to do, her body naturally drifted to the rooftop. She scanned the surroundings lazily.
"What a mess."
That was all she could say.
Blue wolf waves surged over other hunters' zones. Even the hut builders' area was just wolves now—house and hunters gone.
Repeated attacks had piled them up past sixty.
"That one's ending soon too."
Shin Gaon, who'd followed up, leaned on the wall, head tilted back, eyeing one side.
It was the wood-house zone. But skimpy wood meant a flimsy fence. It burned to ash in seconds, and now torch wolves and werewolves shredded the wooden house with claws and teeth.
"Still, gutsy as hell."
Shin Gaon tossed out words that could be praise or not.
The hunters there were in dire straits. Surrounded the moment the fence broke, torn at from all sides.
"You crazy bitch! That's dangerous!"
Yeonwoo followed her gaze and yelled in shock. Even if event pain was halved, that level of mauling made it pointless.
The hunters twisting desperately amid the attacks looked so pathetic it furrowed her brow.
"But they ain't quitting."
"……Yeah. True."
Shin Gaon had a point. Events let you quit anytime, unlike anomalies.
So maybe they were holding out for a higher rank?
Watching curiously...
Rumble!
The wooden house finally collapsed. Timber turned instant kindling, flames roaring fiercely.
Wood burned. Hunters mauled.
……Blood smell.
The metallic tang hit her nose. Yeonwoo had the special option Blood Hunter from wolf claws, so she was sensitive to it.
Aren't the zones fully blocked?
They should've been isolated by translucent walls. Why the smell?
A bad premonition hit. Yeonwoo looked up.
"……Huh?"
The sanctuary's moon was redder.
Tick. A crisp chime.
"It's over."
As Shin Gaon muttered, the mauled hunters vanished. Left: charred house ruins and packed wolves.
Eerily desolate.
"Is the event supposed to feel like this?"
Doubts wouldn't stop. But she'd never properly done one, so no way to check.
Rumors said events were low-stakes chances to go all-out. Why were they premium info?
Pain halved, yet that was like 4-5x amplified cruelty.
Something was wrong. Especially here—watching hunters defend against wolves felt off.
And then.
Event 'Sanctuary' begins.
For Yeonwoo, one more cannon shot and done. For those still defending, it was a death sentence.
But.
Event 'Sanctuary' begins.
"……Why?"
It didn't end there.
Event 'Sanctuary' begins.
Event 'Sanctuary' begins.
Event 'Sanctuary' begins.
Event 'Sanctuary' begins.
Event 'Sanctuary' begins.
Event 'Sanctuary' begins.
Indescribable. Pure anomaly, plain as day.
Soon, blue wolf waves poured from the fallen-tree zone's edge.
In a residential neighborhood in Eunpyeong-gu.
Fwoosh!
A sudden ripple. Not far from Bulgwangsa—the gate entrance—two people appeared out of nowhere.
A hunter team just in an event.
They stared at each other, baffled. Because of their location.
They'd entered at Bukhansan trailhead gate.
But they opened their eyes in a dead-silent city center.
"Where the hell is this...?"
"Uh."
No time to panic. The expanding forced zone shoved them out in real time.
"L-Let's move! We'll get crushed!"
The zone pushed them toward buildings. Worst case, crushed flat.
As they fled the city...
Fwoosh!
More hunters ejected nearby. But in bad shape.
"Urk, ugh..."
"Hah, huff."
One clutched a bite wound. The other panted, blood-soaked.
Grave injuries.
"H-Help... me..."
"You okay? What kind of injury is—!"
"Zone's expanding! Hurry, move 'em!"
The first two hoisted the wounded and bolted down alleys, calling Hunter Support.
One wound especially nasty—needed first aid stat.
"How'd it get this bad!"
Injuries like this from an event? Unthinkable.
The first two had been ejected when their hut dismantled instantly—no context.
"......No."
"Huh?"
"Can't... quit......"
The less hurt one rasped on. Surrounded by wolves, they'd tried quitting. No dice.
Only freed after some condition met, post-mauling.
"Then how...?"
"......House."
"Oh."
The carriers got it. Same as them.
"Only freed... after house broke......"
Hearing that, their gazes synced on the forced zone's heart.
Gate Battle on the Eve of the Wild Sanctuary Gate entrance.
"......A house."
A massive house fully covered the distant gate.