Chapter 90: 8-Quad. The Blue Dragon Appears
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 90: 8-Quad. The Blue Dragon Appears
Seo-un split into three forms and sprinted at full speed, activating Gale Step. The moment he crested the cloud hill, a gunshot cracked through the air, and his barrier shattered.
Rat-tat-tat!
The enemy had ditched the sniper rifle and was now spraying bullets with an assault rifle. Seo-un moved in a sharp zigzag, closing the distance in an instant.
In the process, one of his clones vanished and his shield broke, but he reached his target. The rifleman’s head burst open, and he died instantly.
What was that?
The enemy’s skill level was surprisingly low for a Regular Player. A sense of dissonance washed over Seo-un as he looked down at the foe who had fallen so easily. He turned his gaze to find the other hidden enemy, but not a single trace remained.
"Hyung!"
Lyle and the rest of the group approached quickly, with Lyle casting a fresh barrier over him.
"Hmm... is this what they call an assault rifle? They brought a ton of ammo. This one looks like a sniper. Grenades, too... impressive."
Gi-chan rummaged through the crate of modern firearms, inspecting the loot.
"They look like formidable weapons," Jin Long remarked.
Dump shook his head. "I’ve run into guys using similar weapons before. They were utterly crushed by knights. They’re completely defenseless against close-quarters attacks."
Li Lingwei looked at the rifle in Gi-chan's hand with great interest. "It looks like a weapon from your world. Do you know how to use it?"
Gi-chan, who hadn't served his mandatory military service yet, looked at the gun with a conflicted expression. "I know the basics of how to fire it, but... Seo-un hyung would know better than me."
As Gi-chan glanced at Seo-un, Li Lingwei’s gaze naturally followed.
"I don't know much beyond the K2. I fired the M16 a few times during training... I can handle the basics, I guess. Why?"
"As a hidden weapon, it seems quite excellent. I was wondering how it would perform if used with poison."
"It's too loud to be a hidden weapon. It's not suited for ambushes," Seo-un replied. "More importantly, there are too many enemies here that can't be suppressed with bullets."
At those words, the curiosity on Li Lingwei’s face vanished.
"The fact that they used such loud weapons must mean they were confident they were the only ones on this island, right?"
Seo-un nodded at Juriel’s sharp observation. "Most likely."
"Then we should be able to clear them out easier than expected."
Gi-chan shook his head at Juriel’s remark. "After meeting those players who looked like Korean soldiers in the last game, I did some research in the real world. These players are likely from a guild called 'Asia Seal.' If it's them, they won't be easy to wipe out."
"Asia Seal?" Seo-un tilted his head, hearing the name for the first time.
"I didn't bother telling you because they didn't seem like a major guild. It's a guild made up of Asians that used to exist as a fixed party called 'Commando.' They specialize in farming profitable items while armed with modern weaponry. They don't focus on top rankings; they just focus on staying within the survival bracket. Their playstyle is centered on camping—focusing on farming items that make money rather than becoming strong."
Seo-un understood why Gi-chan hadn't felt the need to mention them. "Then they've already..."
"Yeah. They've probably gone into camping mode. It would be an endless struggle trying to find them on this massive island. It's better not to waste time—we should just activate the Seondong Stone and move on."
"But if we do that, the Seondong Stone will be taken immediately."
Gi-chan nodded at Juriel’s counter-argument. "Probably. But we were already prepared for that. Our goal isn't to monopolize the Seondong Stones, but to destroy the Seondongun."
Juriel nodded and stepped back, and Seo-un gave the order.
"Let's activate the Seondong Stone quickly and move. The stones we've activated across the island haven't been attacked yet. If we activate the second one now, stronger guardian monsters will appear."
After finishing their preparations, they arrived at the center of the island where the Seondong Stone was located. As expected, Stage 1 Dokkaebi were guarding it.
"I'll take this one."
As Lyle stepped forward and extended his staff, Juriel gave the boy a warm smile.
Crackle!
Lyle, confident in his mana capacity, unleashed Chain Lightning. The electricity pouring from his staff branched out, continuously electrocuting the Dokkaebi. Then, the moment Gi-chan’s staff slashed vertically, a massive bolt of lightning struck down.
K-boom!
As Call Lightning fell, drastically boosting the power of the Chain Lightning, the four martial artists—Jin Long, Li Min, Li Lingwei, and Seo-un—charged into the hundred Dokkaebi.
Juriel and Gi-chan poured out more spells, while Dump scouted the perimeter, protecting the three mages from any potential flankers.
They quickly cleared the Stage 1 Dokkaebi and activated the Seondong Stone. As expected, there were no attacks from other players. Dokkaebi with bright red skin and slightly taller statures appeared around the stone.
"There are roughly three types. Ones with axes, ones with hammers, and occasionally ones with staffs. They’ve got a decent composition."
"Their attack patterns have diversified. I'm not sure about their total power, but they look like they'll hold out much longer than Stage 1."
"Everyone must be tired, but let's move to the next island before we rest."
When Seo-un expressed his intent to move immediately, everyone stood up.
"At least we got quite a few Recovery Scrolls from this farming session."
Seo-un nodded at Juriel’s words as he installed a Mana Explosion Scroll beneath the Seondong Stone. "Indeed."
After finishing the installation of the Mana Explosion Scroll—which only reacted to players—Seo-un shouted the activation word from outside the range and led the way, his teammates following close behind.
To be more precise, that was exactly how Seo-un had played during his first round. However, even if the playstyle was the same, their goals were vastly different. While he had played that way to become stronger and increase his survival rate, the enemies' goals were solely survival and money.
Items that were worth money in reality were cheap in terms of Coin price compared to their value. If one specialized in farming such items, they could acquire plenty with just the survival reward Coins. Thus, players who came to Cloyd for money were highly likely to avoid any risks whatsoever.
Until the moment they summoned the Seondongun and left the island, the players who had initially revealed themselves by sniping never showed their faces again.
Seo-un replied through the clouds as he moved.
The conversation through the Team Voice Chat was cut short by a single sentence from Seo-un as they passed through a patch of particularly thick clouds.
His sense for danger was something every player who had played with him acknowledged as extraordinary. The team’s reaction was swift; they tensed up and prepared for battle. Eventually, Seo-un came to a complete halt and scanned the surroundings.
Despite Li Min’s words, Seo-un didn't move. In a sky where there was nothing but an endless stretch of clouds, it was hard to imagine something jumping out.
Could it be?
The anxiety that had started with Hamit’s comment about feeling uneasy didn't take long to manifest as a real threat.
A roar that could never be mistaken for a human voice startled everyone.
At Hamit’s warning, Seo-un shouted simultaneously. "Everyone, scatter!"
Without a moment's hesitation, the team dispersed in all directions. In that instant, their faces turned deathly pale.
The sight of a gargantuan dragon's head piercing through the clouds was enough to trigger a primal, instinctive fear. It had the antlers of a deer, glowing blue eyes, and a red mane reminiscent of a lion. Though it seemed entirely mismatched with its scaled body, the team watched in a daze as the dragon's torso ascended toward the heavens in a majestic, bizarre display.
Even though it had surged upward for quite a while, its thick body was still writhing right in front of them. Seo-un shouted, "Follow me at maximum speed!"
As the team followed behind Seo-un, the bright surroundings suddenly turned pitch black.
Seo-un replied with a hardened expression. On the map, a blue circle was flashing around them, displaying a danger signal: 'Blue Dragon's Territory.'
He gritted his teeth, thinking the notification was a bit late, when red lightning struck down right in front of him.
"Whoa!" A gasp escaped his lips as he desperately steered the Seondongun.
At the same time, a hideous screech came from below. He glanced down to see a black snake, at least 30 meters long with small wings, falling toward the ground, screaming after being struck by the red lightning.
As the team followed Seo-un’s gaze, their faces froze. The sight of dozens of Winged Snakes flying through the clouds made them realize the situation was turning dire.
No sooner had he shouted than the team veered their Seondongun. Just as they frantically changed direction, lightning began to fall again, punctuated by the Blue Dragon's roar.
Dozens of bolts of lightning struck down simultaneously, momentarily turning the darkened surroundings blindingly bright. Several more snakes were struck and fell, but only a few within the swarm were actually hit.
Those clever bastards!
The Winged Snakes were cunningly moving beneath the players, trying to use them as shields to avoid the lightning. Seo-un grabbed about ten Pyeonjeon from his subspace. Narrowing his eyes, he looked up and saw a portion of the massive Blue Dragon's body moving through the black clouds.
The map showed they still had quite a distance to go to escape the Blue Dragon's range. As he watched the dragon's body writhing in the mist, Seo-un spotted red sparks igniting.
Simultaneously with his warning, he threw one Pyeonjeon above his head and looked back to see several snakes positioned directly beneath Li Lingwei. The moment he confirmed it, he fired another Pyeonjeon like a hidden weapon.
At that moment, the red lightning fell. As dozens of bolts struck down, the two Pyeonjeon Seo-un had thrown made contact with the lightning, creating intense sparks. The red lightning, absorbed by the effect of the Pyeonjeon—which created a magnetic field charged with intense electricity—made the surroundings glow even brighter.
Li Lingwei couldn't help but be flustered when a magnetic field that had absorbed the intense lightning appeared right above her head. Her Seondongun wobbled violently.
It looked like they could escape the Blue Dragon's territory if they held out just a few more times. Seo-un furrowed his brow deeply as he watched the swarm of snakes still using them as shields.
Even without a detailed explanation, Gi-chan understood what Seo-un was aiming for. He also felt certain that a single mistake would mean his Game Over. Gulping, Gi-chan put some distance between himself and the teammates and began casting.
Seeing the red sparks igniting, Seo-un gave the order.
The moment Gi-chan’s magic spread through the swarm of snakes, Seo-un scattered his remaining Pyeonjeon downward.
One of the falling red lightning bolts struck one of the magnetic fields Seo-un had created, and inevitably, the Chain Lightning connected.
Seo-un’s lips curled into a smirk as nearly twenty snakes were electrocuted by the red lightning, screaming as they plummeted to the ground.
Encouraged by his words, the team found their strength and followed behind Seo-un. Two more lightning strikes fell after that, but by some stroke of luck, no team member was hit.
As they exited the Blue Dragon's range, the dark surroundings brightened, and the mist cleared away completely.
"Whew! I thought I was a goner."
At Dump’s words as he panted and wiped away cold sweat, everyone nodded, their hearts finally settling.
"The dragons of your world are truly terrifying. It felt like standing before an invincible force of nature."
The martial artists gave bitter smiles at Juriel’s remark.
"It is our first time seeing a dragon as well. We have heard rumors of hidden Imugi, but a massive dragon like that..."
"But how does it fly without wings?"
Li Min responded to Dump’s joke, which showed he had finally relaxed. "If you're so curious, why don't you go back and ask?"
Dump shook his head vigorously as he looked back at the still-dark Blue Dragon's territory. "I never want to see it again."
At his voice, which was laced with a fear one wouldn't expect from him, even Li Min nodded in agreement.
Storing the Seondongun in his subspace, the group landed on the fourth island and immediately took up battle positions, wary of their surroundings.
"Let's rest early today."
Seeing the sun beginning to set, Seo-un took out two new Cubes he had acquired and threw them, unfolding two large tents. He then brought out ramen, portable burners, and several large pots. Lyle and Dump, now familiar with the process, began pouring water into the pots to prepare the ramen.
"The food from your world is truly delicious."
Dump had become completely obsessed with the Pu-ramen he had tried for the first time yesterday, despite Li Min’s initial skepticism.
* * *
Splat!
The moment a flaming red lance punched a large hole through a mage’s chest, the bleeding man screamed.
"I-it's the Devil Twins! Everyone, run!"
"Do you think you can escape?"
A man in compact red armor, who had single-handedly charged into the enemy lines and disrupted their formation, spoke leisurely as he removed his helmet. At that moment, a man in blue armor fell from the sky and slammed a long-handled hammer into the ground.
BOOM!
With a thunderous roar, the ground where the players stood surged. The players who were trying to turn and flee lost their balance and were stunned.
"You always use area-of-effect attacks without hesitation, even when I'm right there."
At the red-armored man's words, the man who had just crushed the heads of two stunned mages with a unique weapon—a hammer on the end of a thin rod—replied as he took off his helmet.
"Who told you to charge in first and act all cool?"
The two men, identical in appearance but differing in armor color and weaponry, looked at each other with smirks. What followed was a massacre.
As the two rummaged through the crates of the squad they had annihilated without the victims even being able to lift a finger, players who appeared to be their teammates emerged around them.
"The alarm magic I set to the east went off."
"It went off in the south, too."
"Looking through the Eye of Distortion, those guys who use those 'guns' have started loitering around our Seondong Stone again."
At the final briefing, the man in red armor frowned. "What guild did you say they were? They're persistent little pests."
"It's probably some pathetic strategy where they split their squad members to activate the three Seondong Stones on the auxiliary islands simultaneously, then time it to activate the one here. We just need to guard this main island and faithfully hunt down anyone who comes."
The surrounding teammates smiled at the man's words. They were the players who considered themselves lucky to be in the same squad as the Devil Twins, famous as the vanguards of the Cueren Madmen.