Chapter 37
Chapter 37
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Bratsk's Frozen Slimes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Lee Ha-yoon staggered up to the scanner in front of the building, her face deathly pale, and placed her hand on it. Authentication complete. The door slid open, and Lee Ha-yoon vomited up another basin's worth of blood from her mouth.
"How's your body holding up?"
A man wearing a hood and military fatigues was waiting there.
"Captain... I'm sorry..."
At Lee Ha-yoon's words, the man let out a small sigh. Her body trembled faintly at the sound of that tiny breath.
"You're back in one piece. That's enough."
Lee Ha-yoon clenched her fists tight at the captain's words. In truth, it wasn't enough.
"Good work out there. Blocking Lee Se-eun's attacks must've been tough, even with your seal. Focus on recovering."
Lee Ha-yoon replied with a crisp "Understood," bowed, and turned to leave.
"It's just a small setback. Trips are bound to happen when you're aiming for the horizon. Since when did the Korean people cower like drowned rats after one failure?"
Gojoseon, Goguryeo, Balhae... Lee Ha-yoon nodded at the captain's words.
"Thank you. I won't fail next time."
"That's all I needed to hear. Don't lose your pride."
After Lee Ha-yoon left, the man checked his watch, stood from his seat, and headed to a certain room. Kim Ji-hyun sat on the bed, looking exhausted.
"How's your body feeling?"
Kim Ji-hyun pulled off her respirator just enough to reply.
"Getting better... little by little."
Yoo Chan-seok's Paradox Flame had burned away every ounce of her muscle power, but raw strength could be rebuilt through training. In other words, it was possible to regain it.
Even if it had all burned to ash, Kim Ji-hyun had clung to life with the captain's help and kept pushing forward. Her body was improving, bit by bit.
At the very least, she could speak and make expressions again. That much was a relief.
"But I still can't walk properly."
Recovery wasn't easy. Her heart and lungs still required him to force mana through them, gradually reducing their dependency.
"I believe you'll overcome it."
"That bastard... I'll kill him with my own hands."
She burned with rage toward Yoo Chan-seok, but she'd already lost too much. By the time Kim Ji-hyun regained her former level, Yoo Chan-seok would likely be in a realm she could never catch.
But he didn't say any of that.
Revenge, huh. The man checked the bow slung across his back as he left Kim Ji-hyun's room. He could head to Siberia right now and take him out with one arrow, but that wasn't an option yet. He needed the mana pattern unique to Yoo Chan-seok the hunter.
"If I can just find a way."
Seals or restraints wouldn't work. With Yoo Chan-seok's abilities, he'd shatter them effortlessly.
Stealing it was the only path. The man descended underground.
"Dr. Seo Hyun-woo."
In truth, Dr. Seo Hyun-woo didn't quite fit the image of a "doctor." His lab coat was caked with sauce and food scraps.
His plump body couldn't be fully hidden by the coat, and he wasn't even wearing a shirt on top. Thick hair clung densely to his hefty torso in a wild mess.
The doctor had been chomping away at a massive uncut pizza with both hands when he finally noticed the man and stood up.
"Urp."
A fanfare-like belch echoed out. He wiped his mouth—staining his coat further—and belatedly greeted the man.
"What brings you here?"
He wasn't the type to inspire affection at first sight, but looks didn't matter. He might resemble something inhuman, but that head of his was a treasure chest brimming with sparkling gems.
"How's the progress?"
"It'll take time, but it seems possible."
If "seems possible" came from Seo Hyun-woo's mouth, it was worth banking on. He was the type to say "impossible" outright if it was.
"That said, it'll still require ample funding and time."
He chugged from a massive plastic bottle of soda, belched again, wiped his mouth, and added his thoughts.
"Can we count on support?"
The man nodded at Seo Hyun-woo's question.
"No need to worry about that. Just hurry it up."
"I'll do my best. Still, such a shame about that barrier generator. If we'd cracked its principles, it would've helped a ton."
"The journey across Siberia is a long one."
Dwelling on a failure offered no nutrition. There'd be more chances anyway—one success was all it took. Their conversation ended there. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Once the situation wrapped up, the train resumed barreling along the tracks, and we were holding a briefing in the command car.
This train had passed Khabarovsk. Next up: Irkutsk, then on to Novosibirsk. And one major problem lurked along that route.
"It's the biggest reason the Trans-Siberian Railway isn't running properly anymore."
Lee Se-eun's expression was far more serious than before. She pointed to a spot on the map projected on the screen.
"Bratsk. The city where a Grade 1 Erosion Core—nicknamed the Refrigerator—sits nearby."
Jasper picked up where Lee Se-eun left off.
"It's similar to Canada's Winter Closet, one of the Great Eight."
Fortunately, its danger level wasn't on par with Winter Closet. Thanks to countless efforts to reconnect the Trans-Siberian line, we had decent intel on Bratsk's Erosion Core.
"Our goal this time isn't to clear a Grade 1 Erosion Core."
The objective was to ride this train safely through the Erosion Zone it controlled.
"We'll enter that Erosion Zone right after passing Ulan-Ude."
Not much time left, then. What kind of monsters would we face?
"Slimes."
"...Those are slimes?"
The screen showed house-sized transparent slimes undulating like waves.
Their body temperature was around liquid nitrogen levels. Getting hit wouldn't end in mere frostbite.
"Be careful—our gear could get wrecked if we're not. Frozen metal shatters easily, and those slimes are insanely cold."
"But they have a clear weakness."
Jasper shared the data from Emargo Tower.
"The core."
Inside those ultra-cold gelatinous bodies was a core that controlled the slime.
"The problem? Other slimes can absorb the leftover goo after you destroy the core."
With some additional details, Jasper played a video.
It showed hunters fighting two slimes. When they took one down, the survivor devoured the dead one's goo and grew massive.
"Grade 1s are always a pain."
The more you killed, the stronger the survivors got.
I had plenty of experience with amorphous monsters. Of course, how much of my knowledge applied here was anyone's guess...
I replayed the video and clicked my tongue.
"From the footage, impacted areas harden up."
These weren't normal slimes. Regular ones were squishy, making it easy to pierce the goo and hit the core. Not these.
"They have mana resistance too. Plus, they've been observed enveloping creatures in goo to digest them and heal."
So, to sum up: mana and physical resistance, heal by killing foes, and even if you succeed, the others power up?
"We'll have to shake them off. Not worth fighting."
Everyone nodded at my words. Grade 1 Erosion Zone monsters would drop good loot, sure. But they didn't look easy enough to greed over.
Forget scary or dangerous—their traits were just filthy annoying.
"We enter the problem zone in 20 minutes. Steel yourselves."
Minimizing damage would be ideal, but passing a Grade 1 Erosion Zone? Casualties were inevitable.
After the briefing, we headed to our assigned positions.
"Just looking at it chills my eyes."
Up on the freight car of the speeding train, I circulated mana to ward off the cold while scanning our surroundings.
An endless white world stretched out. Reports pegged the current temp at nearly -30°C. The Erosion Zone kept this chill constant, seasons be damned.
"Canada's Winter Closet averages -70°C in its zone."
That was Han Sang-ah, up here with me on the freight car.
-70°C. Tuna freezers hit around -50°C—that was worse. Compared to that, this was mild.
No one lived here anymore. The weather was brutal, but...
"There they are."
That's why.
Slimes the size of small houses—5 meters at least—were approaching the train.
Before I could grab the radio, sirens blared; someone had already reported in.
"Catching a moving train at that size? Insane speed."
Their velocity was no joke. They extended dozens of gooey tentacles, stabbed them into the ground, and pulled their main bodies along.
Leaking white frost from every inch, using tentacles like rails—the sight was incredibly intimidating.
"Get ready! Long-range attackers, fire now!"
With the shout, a barrage of mana-forged spells rained down on the incoming slime wave. Flames, fireballs, darkness, light...
"Impressive."
I shook my head at Han Sang-ah's words.
"Won't even scratch 'em."
Mana resistance, huh. Not for show—it was real. Once the dust from the explosions cleared in the wind, the slimes pressed on unscathed.
Unless we stripped that mana resistance, meaningful damage from range would be tough.
"...What a pain."
Paradox Flame relied on mana too. Mana resistance was a non-starter for burning it away.
'Like wet fuel.'
That's what mana resistance was. I could burn their elasticity, their vitality—Paradox Flame was built for that.
But all those targets were soaked by mana resistance.
Like drying wet wood before lighting it, Paradox Flame needed to incinerate the mana resistance first to burn anything else.
I grabbed the radio and addressed everyone.
"I'll handle stripping their mana resistance."
Even without it, their bodies would harden against impacts beyond a certain threshold.
No one-shots, but solid hits? Definitely doable.
"Anyone with a long-range weapon like a bow, mind lending it?"
I mainly used spears. To light up those slimes, I'd have to jump off the train. I'm nearby. Happy to assist. A response came right away, and I borrowed a bow and arrows. Han Sang-ah tossed an obvious question at the sight.
"You know how to shoot a bow?"
"University PE elective."
"...First I've heard of it."
I ignored Han Sang-ah's unnecessarily serious face and picked up the bow. Been a while since I last held one.
```