Chapter 78: Solo-Quad. The Invincible Epic Monster
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 78: Solo-Quad. The Invincible Epic Monster
—Kwahaaaaa!
Seo-un grimaced, throwing himself aside as a black net unfurled with a chilling, metallic screech.
—Sshhhk!
“Damn it!”
Jin Long unleashed a burst of Sword Qi to shred the mesh, but the pitch-black, shadow-like threads knitted themselves back together instantly.
“We have to get out of range! Conserve your internal power!”
At Seo-un’s shout, Jin Long retreated a significant distance. Immediately, a volley of arrows whistled through the air, forcing them to stay on the move.
Parrying and dodging the projectiles, the two continued to back away. They exchanged a sharp glance, then pivoted and bolted.
After running long enough to shake their pursuers, Seo-un immediately pulled up the map.
“That’s the third guerrilla attack today. It seems…”
As Seo-un’s voice trailed off, Jin Long finished the thought.
“We’re being tracked.”
“Yes. Based on their tattoos, they belong to a guild.”
“I heard a new rule was added recently. Just how many of them are there? There were only thirty or forty people in the waiting room.”
“They likely didn't want to reveal their full strength by gathering everyone in the lobby. Judging by their coordination, their total numbers could easily reach triple digits. I noticed several of them had the same patterns tattooed on their hands or necks.”
“This isn't good… The encirclement is tightening. It’s not quite a Heavenly Net yet, but…”
“In this situation, we have no choice but to push ourselves and stick to the edge of the force field. Since they have the numbers, they won't risk being caught outside the circle just to hunt the two of us.”
For the past few days, the two had been camping effectively, avoiding major encounters while sticking to quick farming—moving between sparse, minor resource spots. They had only started being tracked like this after they had picked off a four-man guerrilla team.
Recalling that moment with a hint of regret, Jin Long looked worriedly at Seo-un’s suggestion.
“If we go at full speed in a straight line, it’s a two-day journey. But if we run into enemies along the way…”
“It’s better than being surrounded here and beaten to death. Instead of staying in this death trap where we’re constantly getting pinched from two or three sides, we should eliminate the threat from behind by sticking right to the force field and looking for an opening.”
“Sigh. This is going to be difficult.”
“Don’t overthink it. We just need to play to our strengths. We have better mobility than a full squad, so we just need to stay mobile and seize the right moment. We’ve managed to stay within the safe zone for now, anyway.”
Nodding, Jin Long pulled a small bottle from his subspace. He extracted a brown pill the size of a fingernail and offered it to Seo-un.
“I’m fine. You should take it, Sahyung, just in case.”
The pill, known as a Blue Dragon Pill, was a rare item that rapidly restored internal power. For Seo-un, taking ten of them would completely refill his dantian—equivalent to two cycles (120 years) of cultivation—without the need for meditation. It was a stroke of luck that they had managed to obtain a bottle of ten.
“Let’s go.”
After Jin Long tossed a Blue Dragon Pill into his mouth, Seo-un leaped forward, with Jin Long following closely behind.
Cutting across their current location in a straight line toward the force field was a gamble. However, Seo-un believed it was a gamble with a high probability of success.
By now, both the boss monsters that had been hunted and the remaining buff monsters were located in the center of the force field.
It’s about time for the buff mobs to be taken down. The psychological warfare around them must be brutal right now.
Players would naturally congregate there, driven by the tension of competing for the buffs. Seo-un judged that the caliber of players lingering near the rear, close to the force field, wouldn't be particularly high.
After running for half a day without rest, Jin Long consumed two more Blue Dragon Pills.
—Let’s take a short break.
Using lightness skills while expending internal power for half a day was no easy feat, even for someone of Jin Long’s caliber. If they had moderated their speed, it wouldn't have been so taxing, but running at full tilt was a different story.
Seo-un also felt the need to replenish his energy and nodded.
—You meditate first, Sahyung. I’ll take the first watch.
As darkness fell, Seo-un handed the Cloak of Stealth to Jin Long and leaped onto a nearby tree. Jin Long, now veiled by the cloak, sat down immediately and began his energy circulation.
Since they belonged to different squads, accepting Jin Long into a regular squad under the pretext of communication had been a wise move.
The justification was clear, and it felt natural.
Jin Long lacked nothing in terms of ability or reliability. While it wasn't easy to trust someone so quickly, their bond as members of the same sect made the partnership seamless.
Less than an hour into the meditation, Seo-un’s voice cut through the silence.
—Sahyung! Enemies!
Seo-un called out while nocking a pyeonjeon into his tonga and drawing his bowstring. Jin Long snapped out of his meditation and asked, his voice calm and practiced:
—Direction?
—140 to 150.
Seo-un had set pings based on the sunrise, dividing the horizon into precise increments. Having grown used to this system, Jin Long looked exactly toward the coordinates Seo-un had sensed.
—The distance is a bit over five hundred paces. I think I’ve been spotted, so I’ll move first. Until the enemy numbers are confirmed…
—I know.
The two began their probing maneuver: Jin Long used the Cloak of Stealth to scout the enemies, while Seo-un moved to draw their attention. As Seo-un turned his back and began to run in the direction they had come from, the hidden enemies sprang from the brush and gave chase.
—Three pursuers. Five guarding.
The enemies, totaling eight, had split into a 3-to-5 ratio for pursuit and backup. Coincidentally, the three players chasing Seo-un stopped exactly where Jin Long was hiding.
—It looks like they don’t intend to chase further.
It made sense. If they moved too far from their main force, a team whose numbers were already less than half of a standard squad risked being wiped out. They wouldn't pursue a small target too deeply.
Hearing the briefing, Seo-un stopped immediately and drew his bow again.
—I’ll try to lure them in a bit more.
—It’s eight against two. Wouldn't it be better to just pass them by?
—If we quickly take out the three martial artists in front, the rest don’t look like much trouble.
As soon as he finished speaking, he released the string. The pyeonjeon flew with a whistle, shattering the shield of the lead martial artist, who was wielding a dagger.
—Jjang!
Startled by his shield breaking, the martial artist ducked behind his companion and redeployed his defenses. As they scanned the surroundings, another pyeonjeon, pulled from Seo-un’s subspace, streaked toward them.
—Shhh—Zzzzt!
The area-of-effect pyeonjeon wreathed the area in intense electricity, neutralizing the shields and barriers of the three martial artists in an instant. Seeing this, the three vanguards and the main force approaching from behind charged forward.
Normally, against such a provocative long-range attack, enemies would retreat or probe from a distance, but these opponents fell for Seo-un’s bait far too easily.
The moment the five players of the main force passed the hidden Jin Long, Seo-un fired an Ice Lance followed by a pyeonjeon and gave the order.
—Strike as soon as you take their rear!
Wrapping Hamit around his hand and expanding his form with the Muryeong Phantom Step, Seo-un charged. The moment the Ice Lance shattered the martial artists' new barriers, the following pyeonjeon pierced one of them through the shoulder.
—Fwoosh!
Simultaneously, flames erupted from the struck martial artist, engulfing him instantly. The faces of the remaining two contorted as they saw Seo-un, who had now multiplied into twelve flickering figures.
—Boom! Whoosh!
A fire spell, amplified by wind magic, exploded toward Seo-un. An intense wind mace followed, erasing his clones one by one. As the mages of the main force prepared new spells and released waves of mana, all eight enemies were fixed squarely on Seo-un.
At that moment, Jin Long appeared behind the mages, sweeping his Cloak of Stealth into his subspace and swinging his blade.
“Gah!!”
The skulls of two mages were split open as they collapsed instantly. Only the mage slightly further ahead took a shallower wound, letting out a ragged death rattle.
With their casters down, the two knights guarding the front turned a beat late and charged at Jin Long.
—Kakang!
It didn't take long for Jin Long, in a two-on-one, and Seo-un, in a three-on-one, to finish off the remaining enemies.
*
“Yes! A surprise commando strike!”
Gi-chan shouted in exhilaration, clenching his fist as he watched the screen. Behind him, about thirty players cheered in unison.
“I told you, letting Jin Long live was the best move!”
Li Lingwei nodded in agreement with the female player who had invited Juriel.
“He isn't called the Yugok Prodigy for nothing. He’s certainly living up to the name of Ipseon’s disciple.”
At those words, the martial artists present nodded. Regardless of their faction, everyone in the room was rooting for Jin Long and Seo-un. Behind them, quite a few martial artists stood watching the duo’s play. Among them were those who had already been defeated by Seo-un.
Having secured their survival by entering the safe zone, they were a mix of those observing a potential future rival and those curious about the skills of the Yugok Prodigy.
Juriel wanted to stop them from watching, but since no one could exercise authority in the waiting room, there was no way to prevent others from spectating.
The team members were watching the two successfully dispatch the eight enemies when their attention was drawn to a shout from across the room.
“What is this! This makes no sense!”
The player’s voice was so loud that everyone turned. He was staring at his screen, eyes wide with shock. Naturally, curious players began to swarm toward the commotion. Before long, even the casual observers began to freak out, and a crowd gathered like a storm cloud.
Gi-chan, Juriel, and their group joined the throng.
“This is…”
“Is that…?”
“No way… Is something like that really possible?!”
As the martial artists spoke, the murmuring grew into a deafening clamor.
*
A strange stone, shaped like a human figure, was wrapped in black cloth covered in mysterious white script.
The expressions of the twenty players who had gathered around the stone brightened. A moment later, someone sliced through the cloth with a single sword strike. The severed bindings fell to the ground.
Cracks appeared in the white stone, and an intense blue light poured from the fissures. The moment a being emitting a faint blue glow emerged from its shell, the squad—which included a Sword Emperor—attacked all at once.
In less than a minute, they were completely wiped out.
It was an overwhelming power that completely ignored any semblance of game balance. The moment the squad was slaughtered without being able to put up a fight, a notification was delivered to all surviving players.
[Ding! The seal on the Epic Monster, the ‘Abandoned Nascent Soul,’ has been released.]
[Ding! The Epic Monster, the Nascent Soul, has hunted twenty members of Oliver Kalitz’s squad.]
*
Seo-un, who had filled his dantian significantly by absorbing the vitality of the dead players, locked eyes with Jin Long, who was busy looting the boxes.
As the notification sounded, the two looked at each other. Jin Long tilted his head, bewildered.
“How can twenty people be hunted so soon after the seal release notification?”
Instead of answering, Seo-un activated the map with a grim face. In the very center, labeled 'Ascension Site of the Forgotten Immortal,' he saw the zone for the Epic Monster. He checked the force field, and sure enough, a notification confirmed his ominous premonition.
[The resurrection of the Nascent Soul is complete. The game moves to Phase 2.]
The only silver lining was that the force field wasn't shrinking endlessly like last time. The problem, however, was that the Nascent Soul’s zone had begun to move across the map at a steady pace.
“Sahyung. If it’s a Nascent Soul, could it be…?”
“Yes, it’s that Nascent Soul—the immortal body made of pure Qi when one’s enlightenment reaches the heavens.”
“…”
Even Seo-un, who usually made decisions quicker than anyone, needed a moment to process this.
“Can a human actually fight and win against a Nascent Soul?”
“I’ve never seen one in person, so I can’t say for certain, but I don’t believe it’s possible within the human realm.”
“Right? Even Nam Sa-gwang wouldn't be able to do it, would he?”
“I think it would be impossible even if a squad was filled with people like Nam Sa-gwang.”
Even as they spoke, notifications of the Nascent Soul hunting players continued to ring out.
“Is this game going to be the Marathon Meta?”
The thought crossed his mind that the game would become a race to avoid the Nascent Soul’s zone at all costs, with the winner being the one who encountered it last.
“Marathon Meta? I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Ah… I just mean it feels like the game will end with us doing nothing but running away all day.”
“That’s not bad for us.”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to see if this variable turns out to be a curse or a blessing. We have to find a way to use it, though…”
As he spoke, Seo-un’s eyes gleamed.
“Sahyung! It might actually be better to stick close to the Nascent Soul!”
At those words, Jin Long’s eyes widened, his expression practically screaming, Are you insane?