Chapter 80: Solo-Quad. Reversal
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 80: Solo-Quad. Reversal
"Ah! We’re screwed!"
Watching the screen, Gi-chan clutched his head and collapsed to his knees.
It wasn't just him; the rest of the team watching the broadcast wore expressions of pure despair. The situation was hopeless.
"Wh-when did the survivor count drop this much?!"
[249 / 2000]
.
.
.
[Nam Sa-gwang → Taylor (Kill via Hand Aura)]
Only a few days ago, there had been over a thousand survivors. One player let out a horrified scream as they realized the number had dwindled to a mere two hundred.
"They’re teaming!"
At that shout, Juriel nodded grimly.
"For those two large groups to converge on the Nascent Soul at the same time without attacking each other..."
"It means the guild and Nam Sa-gwang’s group have joined forces," Gi-chan finished for her.
It was unexpected. Nam Sa-gwang, who had wiped them out while hunting the buff monster alone, had somehow managed to gather and subjugate that many players in such a short time.
Li Lingwei, who had been standing silently with clenched fists and a pained gaze fixed on Seo-un, suddenly flinched and forced her expression into a mask of composure.
* * *
"It looks like a large-scale alliance."
Jin Long nodded at Seo-un's words.
"I'm impressed they managed to coordinate a teaming effort with this many players."
Both of them had seen teaming many times, but never on a scale like this.
"It was likely only possible because of the variable known as the Nascent Soul."
As Seo-un spoke, he saw the madness swirling in Nam Sa-gwang’s eyes with vivid clarity.
—I finally found you!!
Even with the considerable distance between them, the man's roar thundered in their ears like a bolt of lightning. Jin Long shook his head at the sheer intensity of it.
"He seems to hold quite a deep grudge."
"I suppose so."
Jin Long chuckled at Seo-un, who spoke as if it were someone else's business. By now, Jin Long also sensed the end was near. The momentum radiating from Nam Sa-gwang as he strode forward made his entire body tingle with dread.
"Jin Seo-un! It really is you. I prayed fervently that it wasn't just someone with the same name."
"..."
"Why so silent? I’ve been dying to meet you."
"It’s not like we have some grand destiny together," Seo-un replied flatly.
"Heh heh heh. You’re going to regret the choice you made that day."
"I earned quite a few coins that day, so I doubt it."
At the mention of coins, a murderous light erupted from Nam Sa-gwang’s eyes.
"I'm still curious how many coins I would have gotten that day if it weren't for you. Do you think I could ever forget?"
"How petty. For a man, anyway."
Those words were the fuse. The last trace of a smile vanished from Nam Sa-gwang’s face as he bellowed.
—Attack!
At the command, the hundred or so players behind Nam Sa-gwang charged.
—Mujin Guild, advance!
Simultaneously, the guild side began their charge with a cringeworthy shout. It was a spectacle one couldn't see even for money—two hundred people charging at once.
Seo-un and Jin Long began to move in response.
—Do we really have to do this?
—It’s the only way.
Jin Long asked anxiously as they ran toward the Nascent Soul. If this was the end, he wanted to die fighting bravely rather than showing his back to the enemy.
But Seo-un refused to give up. Jin Long had no choice but to follow the orders of the man who had brought him this far.
With Nam Sa-gwang radiating bloodlust as he closed in rapidly and two hundred players following behind, the two of them looked like generals leading a vanguard into a suicide mission.
The moment they stepped into the Nascent Soul's range, the creature—which had been sitting peacefully looking at the sky—surged with power and lunged toward them.
Please!
Did Seo-un’s wish reach the heavens?
Just as the Nascent Soul closed the distance and prepared to swing its fly-whisk, massive waves of mana rippled through the air, and a barrage of magic rained down upon it.
The Nascent Soul’s fly-whisk, originally aimed at the two men, instead tore through the air to slash the incoming spells.
A sigh of relief escaped Seo-un’s lips as he confirmed the Nascent Soul’s aggro had shifted. The aftermath of the magic barrage swept over them, but they pushed past the Nascent Soul, tanking the shockwaves with their bodies.
—Senior! Break through!
Searing flames and blade-like tornadoes erupted behind the Nascent Soul, but there was no time to hesitate.
"I won't let you get away!"
With Nam Sa-gwang screaming and chasing them like a madman, there was no other option. The moment they entered the flame-infused tornado, a groan escaped Jin Long.
"Urgh!"
Even Seo-un, whose magic resistance was high, was bleeding heavily from the blade-like winds. It was naturally even harder for Jin Long to endure. Seo-un grabbed Jin Long’s lagging arm and hauled him forward.
Just as Nam Sa-gwang, who was hot on their heels, was about to enter the tornado...
The Nascent Soul reacted to his intense bloodlust. Ignoring the falling magic, the creature swung its fly-whisk at him—an attack that even Nam Sa-gwang couldn't dare to ignore.
"You mere husk!"
—Boom!
The moment the fly-whisk collided with his Hand Aura, Nam Sa-gwang was pushed back several meters.
In that interval, Seo-un broke through the tornado and tore a scroll along with Jin Long. The moment he used the Intermediate Recovery Scroll he had been saving for an emergency, the lacerations and burns covering their bodies began to knit shut.
They accelerated away from the Nascent Soul, but Seo-un could feel Nam Sa-gwang—who had left the monster to the other players—resuming the chase.
A certainty flashed through his mind: Nam Sa-gwang's Lightness Skill was overwhelmingly superior. They couldn't outrun him. He had hoped that pitting the monster against him would create an opening, but the man had no intention of letting him go.
—Senior! Go on ahead! You must not follow me!
—I can't just—
—Senior!!
The moment he saw the look in Seo-un’s eyes, Jin Long couldn't remain stubborn. Something hot welled up in his chest; he wanted to say they should fight and die together, but Seo-un’s eyes were not those of a man who had given up.
Only then did he realize he was becoming a burden to his junior.
Clenching his teeth, Jin Long ran past Seo-un. Seo-un, in turn, spun around and charged toward Nam Sa-gwang.
If it’s going to end anyway, I need to at least score some points.
Even in this desperate situation, he calculated that it was more beneficial to look ahead and secure Jin Long’s loyalty. Besides, there was still a sliver of hope.
The trump card Seo-un had been hiding from Nam Sa-gwang began to unfold. Nam Sa-gwang’s lips twisted as he saw Seo-un’s form flicker and multiply.
"Muryeong Phantom Step!"
Seo-un’s heart sank when the man recognized the technique instantly. By the time Seo-un—whose clothes were now little more than rags—had multiplied into twelve figures, Nam Sa-gwang’s hands erupted with a terrifying Hand Aura.
—Slash!
His movements were so fast they couldn't be tracked even from up close. He cut down ten clones in an instant. It was a move that made one's face turn pale just by witnessing it. Seo-un couldn't even be sure if it was just a single strike.
This is the only way left. If it doesn't work or if I fail, it's over.
Even in that moment, he felt he had made the right call by sending Jin Long away. He couldn't gamble Jin Long’s life on such a low-probability bet.
The moment he had brushed past the Nascent Soul earlier, he had felt a brief, sweet sensation of energy. It was hard to put into words, but that energy—which tickled the senses he had honed by absorbing countless amounts of Vitality—made him want to open his Qi Absorption Gate despite the situation.
I can't do it from a distance.
He knew it was insane, but he felt he had to physically touch the Nascent Soul. He instinctively understood that because there was a core holding the Nascent Soul's energy together, he couldn't absorb it like Vitality without direct contact.
To attempt that gamble, he first had to get past this monster of a man who had just sliced through ten clones in a heartbeat.
The odds were 50-50.
As two Seo-uns split to the left and right toward the Nascent Soul, Nam Sa-gwang’s eyes gleamed.
"I'll make you beg for your life!"
The moment the man lunged toward the right, Seo-un thought it was the end.
Shing!
He couldn't figure out why the man, who clearly seemed to be targeting him, had instead slashed the clone on the left. He hadn't even seen the movement.
He used a feint in that split second...
Pushing himself to the limit with the thought that this was his last chance, he closed the distance to the Nascent Soul. The moment he reached out to touch the back of the bluish creature fighting off dozens of players, an agonizing pain erupted in his own back.
The sight of his back splitting open and a fountain of blood erupting was enough for anyone watching to think it was the end.
Everyone in the waiting room thought so.
Everyone except Seo-un.
You bastard!
The extreme pain and the damage to his Qi Channels caused his internal qi to spiral out of control. But he wasn't going to let it end with just a slash from a Hand Aura.
"Urgh!"
Blood sprayed from both his flanks simultaneously.
Thud.
His calves gave out against his will, and both knees hit the ground.
"Cough!"
"I'm definitely going to make those words 'save me' come out of your mouth," Nam Sa-gwang sneered.
The Nascent Soul turning around to attack the demon-faced man bought Seo-un a little more time before his suffering continued.
"You damn husk! Get lost!"
—Clang!
Based on his brief experience fighting it, Nam Sa-gwang defensively blocked the Nascent Soul’s fly-whisk and leaped back. In that time, the swarming players drew the Nascent Soul’s aggro once again.
A player who was about to drive a spear into Seo-un’s neck flinched at Nam Sa-gwang’s shout.
"That one is mine! If you touch him, I won't let you die easily!"
The ground where Seo-un knelt was already soaked with the blood pouring from his body. In the midst of the chaotic battle between the players and the Nascent Soul right beside him, Seo-un’s trembling hand touched the Nascent Soul’s calf.
—KUHAAAAAAA!
A resonance similar to a scream erupted from the Nascent Soul’s mouth. As a wind of aura whipped around it, most of the players fighting it were swept away.
"Fall back!"
By the time the players, panicked by the sudden area-of-effect attack, retreated, more than twenty casualties had already occurred. Amidst the continuing storm of aura, even Nam Sa-gwang could only watch with a furrowed brow, unable to grasp the situation.
Seo-un was losing his mind as Immortal Qi flooded through his Qi Absorption Gate, instantly filling his dantian and overflowing into the Qi Channels throughout his body.
D-dangerous...
He wanted to let go, even if it meant death. Unlike Vitality, this was a completely alien type of True Qi. No, calling it alien True Qi wasn't even accurate. Immortal Qi felt like it was on an entirely different dimension from regular True Qi.
Before his own internal qi could even clash with the new energy, it was suppressed by the Immortal Qi. Unable to put up any resistance, his internal qi was pushed back and shriveled away into his dantian.
After filling his solar plexus, the Immortal Qi finally began to fill his Baihui Acupoint.
The Jump Rule flashed through his mind. The fear that if his body was destroyed here, he might not be fine even after returning to reality grew within him. Regardless, the Immortal Qi pouring through his hand filled his entire body.
—Vroooooom.
With a strange resonance, the swirling winds of aura died down, and the thick cloud of dust began to settle.
"Wh-what kind of sorcery is this?"
Someone’s voice was laced with a strange sense of unease. When the dust finally cleared, the sight that was revealed made Nam Sa-gwang’s eyes waver for the first time.
"Were you eaten? Or did you eat it?"
Seo-un was the only one present who understood the meaning of his cryptic words.
"I feel like I ate it, but also like I was eaten..."
"You madman. I never dreamed you were someone who had received the Great Blood-Born Demon Method. What kind of lunatic performed that ritual on you?"
"Ah. So the name of the ritual I received was something that sinister? A wonderful person living somewhere did it for me."
The surrounding players remained silent as they watched the two men exchange words like old acquaintances. The mages preparing spells in the back and the knights and warriors standing firm in front of them could only listen, unable to even think about moving.
"I suppose you have no intention of telling me."
"You already know, so why ask? That’s not what’s important. What’s important right now is that you’re fucked."
Nam Sa-gwang’s expression crumpled at those words.
Seo-un, who looked as if he were covered in a translucent blue film, radiated an extraordinary aura just by standing there. Blue energy rose from his body like steam, and his revitalized form showed no trace of the wounds from the Hand Aura.
Seo-un thought of the chainsword that had once brushed his hand.
Hamit.
—I obey, Master.—
As he reached out his hand, the chainsword appeared in his grasp, and blue energy instantly enveloped the weapon. At that simple action, dozens of players flinched. Nam Sa-gwang screamed.
—Everyone, attack!
At that shout, dozens of spells rained down toward Seo-un.
—BOOM!
—Whoosh! Roar!
—CRACKLE!
Magic poured down incessantly as the players widened the distance, retreating out of the spells' range. Nam Sa-gwang didn't stay idle either, relentlessly firing off Hand Auras through the rising dust and flames.