Chapter 327: Gate Open, 11 Hours Before (2)

Deep within the 11th basement level of the Korean Awakened Association building, the rankers from various guilds who had accepted Han Sangjin’s request had all gathered in one place.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen this many members together.’

Jinhyuk scanned the surroundings.

Among the hundreds of players present, most were familiar faces seen often on TV or in the Tower of Trials community.

There were Yoo Yeonhwa and Lee Taemin, as well as Min Jeongwoo and Lee Yuri.

Besides them, the masters and vice-masters who were the faces of their respective guilds were in abundant attendance.

“Hey, bro. It’s really been a long time.”

“Have you been well, oppa? Did you wrap up the work in Murim okay?”

Lee Taemin and Yoo Yeonhwa came up with bright smiles.

“Yeah, thanks to you. Did you take care of the thing I asked for?”

The Spirit Stone of Desire from Vendivia and the Moonstone obtained with the information from the Heavenly Demon.

This was one of the necessary tasks that had to be fulfilled to face Shub-Niggurath, and he had entrusted it to these two people.

“Yeah, of course we cleanly finished it.”

“We had a tough time doing as you asked, but together with noona, we managed it well. There shouldn’t be any problems with it working.”

Good.

If Taemin, who has the Machine Lord ability, said so, there shouldn’t be a problem.

With this, at least one condition was achieved.

That’s when it happened.

The crowd started buzzing.

“Hey, look over there. You see?”

“That’s player Kang Jinhyuk.”

“Yeah, it’s really him.”

“I’d only ever seen him in videos climbing the really difficult floors, but I never thought I’d see him in person.”

All eyes were on Jinhyuk.

If you’re talking about the strongest player representing Korea…

The answer was clear.

With Cheon Yuseong, who wore a long sword, joining, more exclamations erupted among the crowd.

“The Sword Saint… he’s here too.”

“Shh! Keep quiet. There are rumors that if he doesn’t like you, he’ll cut you down without mercy. No wonder the nickname ‘Sword Devil’ is more widely known than Sword Saint.”

“Even the guild masters are just catching each other’s eyes. The pressure is no joke.”

It was no empty talk that the power of Jinhyuk’s Oldbie Corporation was greater than the combined forces of the major guilds.

Just the sight of Jinhyuk and Cheon Yuseong standing together was enough to overpower everyone else.

“Wow, they say you’re a cold-blooded murderer without blood or tears?”

“Don’t spout your true heart’s nonsense. I’ve never gone that far.”

“Uhm. Really? Anyway, what should we eat for dinner? I’m getting a bit tired of combat rations. Got any menu recommendations?”

“Damn it. Do I have to report everything about what I eat? Just go pick up some sea cucumbers from the deep sea to eat. It would be perfect if you died from food poisoning.”

Jinhyuk and Cheon Yuseong bickered as usual.

Of course,

to those who were smitten with them, it was all interpreted in a completely different way.

– Everyone seems to be calling you Sword Saint. It’s reassuring to have you here.

– Stop flattering me. I’m not fond of such cumbersome titles.

– As expected of you. This raid is at sea, so should we expect seafood for dinner?

– The taste of deep-sea monsters is a delicacy, and it wouldn’t be bad to catch some to eat. With you, even boss-level ones can be hunted.

While everyone else hesitated to speak and just watched discreetly, someone stepped forward confidently.

“Hello.”

A woman in her late twenties with a short bob cut.

“I’m Yoo Jinah, the vice-master of the Fight Club guild. This is the first time I’ve greeted both of you directly.”

Korea’s number two, ‘Fight Club.’

Yoo Jinah was one of the two main pillars supporting the large collective, which was composed of about 1,000 members.

Unlike the master Choi Jinho, who focused solely on hunting, Yoo Jinah was also skilled in administration and politics.

In fact, it was thanks to Yoo Jinah, who organically linked the major guilds and built a coalition task force, that floors 17 and 18 were cleared while Jinhyuk was in Murim.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kang Jinhyuk.”

“I’m Cheon Yuseong.”

“The Association President asked me to give you a full briefing. I’ll explain how this raid will proceed from now on.”

Ding!

A holographic map appeared in front of everyone.

A total of four task forces would be deployed from Korea.

The goal was to approach the island from the east, west, south, and north and eliminate the Ether Ore at the center.

With less than 10 hours left until the gate was fully open, they had to increase the success rate, even if it meant dispersing their team’s strength.

“The Dangun Guild will take the east. And Baekje and Hwarang guilds have agreed to take care of the south. A coalition of seven medium-sized guilds is scheduled to infiltrate from the west.”

Yoo Jinah pointed to each location on the map, continuing with her explanation.

The map displayed various magic reactions, but the biggest of them was located at the northernmost point.

Judging from the size of the dots, which represented the magnitude of magic power, there had to be a monster at least five times stronger there than in any other location.

“The toughest northern section seems to be my responsibility.”

“Yes. It’s planned to be handled by a coalition between Oldbie Corporation and Fight Club. To be exact, we will be assisting player Kang Jinhyuk.”

“I understand what you mean.”

Jinhyuk nodded.

“Then let’s get moving with the spatial teleportation. Since it’s a large-scale magic spell, it may cause motion sickness, so please be careful about that.”

At Yoo Jinah’s nod, other guilds also signaled that they were ready.

Patsutststs!

Various runes drawn on the floor lit up brightly.

Soon after…

Their vision went pitch black.

＊＊＊

When their sight returned…

Arriving at the island…

“D-dodge!”

Was a mistake.

Someone screamed at the top of their lungs.

Simultaneously…

“Aaaaaargh!”

Instead of an island, the task force had arrived above the sea.

Amidst the swaying, steel-blue waves, hundreds of razor-sharp teeth were revealed.

If they stayed put, they would be devoured.

“Everyone, stay still!”

[Yoo Jinah activates Lv20 ‘Mentra Taming’!]

With a bright light, the eyes of the dragon wavered.

However, that was only for a brief moment.

Crack!

The giant maw snapped shut like a lie.

Thanks to this, the players avoided seeing the inside of the dragon’s stomach.

“W-we owe you one.”

“Thanks to you, we’re alive.”

The fully armored tanks exhaled a sigh of relief.

If it hadn’t been for Yoo Jinah, they would have been sunk to the sea floor due to the weight of their armor.

The task force, which had narrowly escaped annihilation, regained their composure.

‘Taming ability…’

Jinhyuk found it interesting as he watched Yoo Jinah.

Taming was a rare ability even among unique abilities.

If she could tame a higher monster like a dragon in just a few seconds, she must be a formidable figure.

It would be good to copy that ability this time.

He wasn’t sure about sweet potatoes and water spirits, but the recent Soft Black Crane he acquired still thought it was a noble dragon.

“But where are we exactly?”

“Did the island sink in the meantime?”

The players standing on the dragon’s back looked around.

The sea fog made visibility poor.

“Ah! Over there! I see the island!”

Lee Taemin, who had been searching with his drone, pointed in one direction.

The outline of the original target, the island, was faintly visible about 1km away.

The island had not disappeared.

They were just quite a distance away.

“Why did we land so far away from our destination?”

Yoo Jinah pressed the magic players.

“The coordinates for the spatial movement seem distorted. We definitely invoked the spell with the proper magic power…”

“Something seems to have interfered. We don’t know the reason ourselves. We’re sorry.”

The players responsible for the spatial movement bowed their heads, perplexed.

But at that moment…

The waves violently churned.

All the players on the dragon’s body staggered heavily.

Something was coming.

From the deep depths of the sea.

“Kang Jinhyuk!”

“I’m aware.”

Cheon Yuseong drew his Huamu Mado sword. Jinhyuk also pulled out a Fang and a Twin Dragon Sword from his subspace.

Over a dozen dragons surged to the surface.

Although the dragon tamed by Yoo Jinah wasn’t insignificant in size…

The newly appeared dragons were considerably larger and more massive.

‘Thirteen in total.’

The outbreak had brought forth an island.

It was a known fact that the dungeonization process was advancing in that area as well.

But he hadn’t expected to be swarmed with named monsters right at the entrance.

‘It seems like more mischief has been done than I thought.’

The culprit was the high administrator operating from behind the scenes: Hasting.

Jinhyuk wet his lips with his tongue.

“I can’t tame that many at once.”

Yoo Jinah’s face was smeared with despair.

The other players also paled at the sight of the approaching dragons.

Combat while balancing on the back of dragons would be indisputably disadvantageous, as opposed to on solid land.

“Taemin.”

“Yes, hyung!”

[Lee Taemin activates his unique ‘Machine Lord’ ability!]

Two drones with streamlined bodies appeared.

“I’ll take seven. You can take six, right?”

“I’ll cut down twelve. Just deal with one yourself.”

Cheon Yuseong was the first to step on a drone and leap forward.

Then the drone anticipated his next touchdown point and flew there first.

As always, his pride was unmatched anywhere in the universe.

With a flick and flick…

Cheon Yuseong’s free motion through the air wielded his sword mightily.

The first technique of Suhyeon Geommoo, One Sword.

Swoosh!

His sword, imbued with its edge, sliced through the dragon’s scales in an instant.

“Kraoooo!”

As the sea turned red, the real battle began.

‘It’s time for me to get a proper workout.’

[‘Sword Tomb’ unique ability is activated!]

Black energy flickered along the Fang.

[‘Heavenly Demon’s Divine Power’ unique ability is activated!]

Red energy ignited along the Twin Dragon Sword.

＊＊＊

“Oh my God…”

Yoo Jinah gulped nervously.

She had seen and heard countless times just how strong her opponent was, through videos.

However,

There was an insurmountable gap between experiencing something indirectly and witnessing it directly.

Powerful.

Overwhelmingly so.

‘Cheon Yuseong is impressive too, crushing them.’

Facing the over 20m-long dragons, he wasn’t intimidated at all.

His pedantic yet straightforward swordsmanship even quickened an observer’s heartbeat.

Yet,

Even that caliber was little more than a joke compared to Jinhyuk.

‘Such a beautiful sword style exists.’

Even Yoo Jinah, who was ignorant about swordsmanship due to her focus on taming, couldn’t help but feel it.

It was in a completely different league.

A pair of swords moved with each action…

‘Wind Realm’ and ‘Sword Demon Heavenly Command’ accelerated his body, making him vanish like smoke.

They didn’t even need drones for such speed.

The repeated disappearing act in the sky was almost illusory, like Blink.

Jinhyuk landed on another dragon’s head, crossing his arms.

His sword strike created a crescent moon.

“Kekeke!”

The dragon screamed in agony.

A thick mist of blood spewed, dyeing everything red.

However, when the blood droplets sprayed, Jinhyuk had already vanished from that spot.

Six… seven… ten.

The dragons couldn’t properly retaliate and took their last breaths.

Finally…

With a splash!

Even the last squirming dragon surfaced.

“Once we reach the island, more annoying creatures will show up. Please make sure to do your part then, Fight Club.”

“Huh?… Yes? Yes, yes! Of course.”

Yoo Jinah, still dazed, quickly nodded.