The Second Cataclysm (2)
The difficulty of the Gate near Taiwan’s University of Science and Technology was D-Class, and it had been about five years since it appeared.
There had been several opinions that the Gate should be closed because it was too close to Taiwan’s central government building, Taipei’s presidential office, and the Executive office, but it hadn’t been acted upon.
The reason was simple. It was the same as the reason why the other countries maintained an opened Gate for as long as they could until it turned to ‘very unstable’ status.
They couldn’t give up the supply of Mana Core.
“Why close the dungeon Gate where the Cores are flowing out constantly? Don’t be ridiculous!”
Taiwan already had a small territory and had fewer dungeons to stably mine Cores from.
In that situation, the dungeon had an adequate difficulty of D-Class, its patterns of monsters were not complicated, and it didn’t have a layout where it took time to solve puzzles and explore mazes. All of those factors made it an excellent mining site.
Eventually, the Taiwanese hunters Cleared the Gate four times. Likewise, that meant it had been expanded four times, and if possible, it would have been expanded repeatedly.
The reason why they stopped at only four times was also evident. They had reached the boundaries of dungeons that were expanded from other worlds.
The Taiwanese were very nervous when they found out, but fortunately, there were no signs of invasions coming over the wall from the other side.
“How about any response? Nothing? Then just let it be! If we close all the Gates for these things, where will we get our Cores?”
All of those circumstances overlapped, so they were forced to let their guard down.
“Taipei 3 Dungeon, confirming current entrant as 0. Everything is clear. I’ll report again after the standby team enters.”
The Gate was always monitored by government personnel. Hunters periodically checked the system message and reported no changes in the number of people entering.
However, the message always showed only the number of Awakened who had entered through our world.
The change occurred when the dungeon was empty. It happened in the split of a second due to a gap between shifts.
Whooooong!
The blue Gate surface shook.
“Oh, what?!”
While the hunters panicked, pale hands came through the Gate. Then they dropped something toward the asphalt floor and disappeared back inside. The speed was enough to make their senses distorted.
“!”
The black sphere that the hand dropped fell to the ground. It was a movement that could barely be caught by the eyesight of hunters outside the Gate.
“Damn it!”
He felt a sense of danger and moved his body. He tried to run towards it with adding force in his leg muscles. It is a reflexive behavior. He felt like he shouldn’t be letting it touch the ground.
He thought he would have to hit it back up and put it back in the Gate.
Tak!
The object collided with the ground faster than the hunter could come into contact with it.
Boosh!
A white flash engulfed the surrounding.
It spread in all directions, forming a half-spherical shape that was placed upside down.
Light seeped into the air continuously. It continued to expand and stopped only when it had surrounded the parts of Taipei. The radius was nearly 10 kilometers.
And everyone near the border saw a terrible sight.
The light that passed through all the objects gained mass suddenly.
Shhhh!
The buildings were cut in a curved line.
Cars, traffic lights, roads, signs, and trees were divided into both sides, showing smooth, round cuts.
Some very unlucky Taiwanese also lost much of their bodies. If one was lucky, his arms and legs were cut off. Otherwise, he had his guts and brain poured on the floor.
Mercilessly slicing all matter placed on the boundary, the light formed a shape. It became an opaque glass bowl-like dome and isolated the city.
Woong! Woooong!
The Gate started to vibrate again.
“#@*&%@#%!”
The one that came out was the owner of the pale hand that dropped the artifact.
The species, named ‘Ogatu,’ revealed itself out of the dimension gate with equipment and weapons unfamiliar to Earthlings.
And he wasn’t alone.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“A-aliens! Hunters! Call the hunters!”
“Someone report…!”
After expanding the dungeon several times from that world as well, the gate entrant limit linked to the world of Ogatu had risen to a few hundred.
Rattling, aliens continued to pour out of the blue door. And without hesitation, they targeted the citizens with their gun-shaped weapons in their hands.
Swish!
Every time a certain liquid was sprayed, it covered a distance of 10 meters in front of them in a fan-shape.
“K-argh!”
Citizens exposed to the substance fell as their pupils dilated.
As if to prove that the aliens’ intention was not murder, those who collapsed didn’t die. Instead, they maintained their breathing.
“T-the phone’s not working!”
“Oh, shit, at this rate… Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”
In the meantime, the ones outside the barrier were in chaos as well.
The central part of the country, where institutions that could be considered the core of the country were located, was put under quarantine in an unidentified dome.
Not only was it impossible to infiltrate, but it was also impossible to communicate using radio waves or skills.
Knowing that immediate outside aid was unavailable, the hunters in the dome gathered by foot and prepared to respond.
“At least we should come forward and resolve this situation!”
It was clear that all of that was the aliens’ work that suddenly appeared from the Gate.
The pale-skinned creature, the Ogatu unit, paralyzed the surrounding citizens at random and suddenly stopped their act at some point.
Afterward, they piled their motionless bodies around the Gate as if they were cargoes.
The intention was clear. The aliens were holding them as hostages.
While the Awakened humans kept watch, alien troops began to set up campsites near the Gate. Their relaxed look seemed like they were waiting for someone.
‘Now, I will use the skill from here.’
The hunters, who were hidden from the enemy’s sight, telepathically spoke.
[Stealth!]
The gathered hunters quietly approached the Gate, performing Stealth of A-Rank as a group.
The hunters trapped inside the dome agreed that the priority was to break down the wall somehow. The source seemed to be the black artifact sprinkling light around it at the center of the campsite.
While they were ever so carefully approaching it…
Beep! Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep!
The devices worn on the wrists of the Ogatu made a sharp noise in unison.
It was similar to a warning sound.
‘N-no! Everybody retreat!’
Sensing the danger, a hunter telepathically ordered them to fall back.
But it was already too late.
“As expected, they’re uncivilized.”
Snickering in their language, the Awakened Ogatu stopped what they were doing at once and put up their artifacts.
Then they pull the trigger along the direction the wrist display guided.
Swiiiiish!
The weapon did not operate in a relaxed manner that sprayed gas according to the atmospheric flow.
Even though there was no pressure sensed that pushed through the air, it filled the front ten meters with gas with each shot.
The effect was also immediate.
“Keup!”
“G-aaargh!”
Thud!
The location of the hunters, whose Stealth skill had been disabled, was revealed as they fell.
As the Ogatu people approached with leisurely steps. Another note rang on their wrists this time.
The aliens who interpreted the meaning smiled satisfactorily.
That caused their sharp, shark-like teeth to be revealed.
“This is an outstanding harvest.”
The equipment they had was indicating that the opponents were Awakened beings that had already activated their Mana Cores.
Whoong! Woooong!
At that moment…
The surface of the Gate shook once again.
And new beings showed themselves.
“Oh, it’s very neatly organized. Good job!”
Several aliens, which matched the exact number of those who first crossed the Gate, traveled to Earth again.
The sequential movement was inevitable since only a limited number of entrants could enter the dungeon at once.
With the surrounding area completely blocked in that manner, the Ogatu gradually advanced their troops to Earth.
*
“The Ogatu.”
Adam saw the video and immediately affirmed it.
“That’s what I warned you about.”
The Senator, who attended through a video conference, spoke with a shadow cast on his face.
“The organization called the Union warned us as well.”
I was having a discussion with those two about Taiwan.
The Senator already knew that Adam was an alien.
Since it was a fact that would be widely known soon as long as we had entered Main Quest, I shared his true identity in advance.
Adam continued to explain.
“As with any other Main Quest race, they’re thoroughly driven for profit. They don’t just kill and destroy at random. It means that they’re of a different level from those cow heads.”
He explained it by comparing it to the uncivilized Botarch.
“But I’m not saying they’re less vicious. Do you know what the most expensive item dealt on the black market between the main dimensions is?”
I replied based on what I heard.
“It’s a race similar to humans. Intelligent creatures. Among them, prospective Awakened who are selected by the system and can activate the Mana Core.”
“Exactly. They’re invading for that.”
Even if they came into contact with the Awakening Stone, those without a minimum amount of Mana didn’t receive the system’s invitation.
However, among the vicious species who had already completed the tutorial, there was a technology that enabled them to inject a small amount of Mana forcibly.
Even if they were forcibly Awakened, they would be around the level of F-Rank hunters on Earth, and the reaction would kill them within ten years since their Awakening.
The Ogatu people did such things to the non-Awakened prisoners and then took them to their parent dimension through a Gate that only the Awakened could enter and sold them.
Of course, they were not intended to be used for hunting. They were to be used as miners who would be enslaved in a dungeon or remove Cores from monsters’ carcasses.
They were turned into slaves with a lifespan of 10 years at best.
“That’s right. They’re slave traders.”
He said the demand for the dimensions that didn’t join the Union was high.
The Senator leaked a hum.
“So, that’s why they didn’t kill them but put them to sleep. Then if their colleagues slowly come over from their mother dimensions, they would prepare the facility for the forced Awakening?”
“Yes.”
“Damn it, if so, quickly….”
The Senator’s words were cut off. It seemed that someone other than us contacted him. Immediately, he showed an irritating reaction.
“What! I told you I was on a very important phone call. I told you that even if the president calls, don’t put him on the… Huh? Really? The president did so?”
He asked for our understanding and disappeared from the screen for a moment.
Then a few minutes later, his face, when he returned, had turned ashen.
“What’s the matter?”
The Senator gritted his teeth and spoke.
“It’s about the shield surrounding Taipei.”
After a dome quarantined Taiwan’s capital, the Taiwanese outside, needless to say, tried to break down the wall by using
After testing it several times, it was concluded that dozens of ballistic missiles must be fired at it all at once for it to be disabled.
Of course, it was only theoretically possible and infeasible.
If that much explosive power exploded all at the same time against the dome, would it solely destroy the shield?
That couldn’t be the case. Even after breaking the dome, the flames and shock waves would sweep the barrier’s interior and exterior, effectively turning the heart of Taipei into ruins.
However, the use of Mana Core bombs currently circulating in the market couldn’t produce enough destructive power to be on par with the missiles.
“What about it? What’s with the shield?”
The Senator’s face was mixed with anger and absurdity.
He gritted his teeth and made a sound.
“I think China wants to get rid of it regardless of the method taken.”
“… What?”
“A suspicious movement was just spotted in the 866th Missile Brigade of the People’s Liberation Army of China. And almost at the same time, the Chinese Communist Party ordered all Taipei citizens to evacuate through the Internet and broadcasting. ‘China’ to ‘Taiwanese people,’ even.”
The direct distance between Taiwan and mainland China was about 130 kilometers in the shortest area.
The Chinese government was keeping a close eye on what was happening in the dome.
As time went by, the number of aliens crossing the Gate increased. Even at that moment, the interior was considered already taken over, but it was apparent why more reinforcements were coming over without stopping.
It was possible to infer that the alien troops would eventually expand the dome, expand its perimeter within the Earth, and declare it their territory.
And China never wanted them to cross the strait.
“… No way.”
“As you know, China and Taiwan claim each other’s lands as their own.”
I felt a headache.
“It seems like they plan to declare it as an act of defense for their territory and not an act of invasion.”
“The act means… Is it what I think it is?”
The Senator replied with a look that told me he had never thought he would say the following words.
“Yes, those maniacs are planning to pour missiles into downtown Taipei before more of the aliens can come over to Earth!”
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