Episode 100.
Jung Si-woo’s had less mana compared to other players. To begin with, it was already small, but he even spent more trying to create the five senses skills. Of course, he had consumed Mana stones and raised it to the level of a 120-level player, but given that his other statuses were far above level 200, the imbalance was serious!
Nevertheless, he was already firing his rage rifle’s fourth bullet while consuming an absurd amount of mana. As it had filled the earth, he had learned how to accept and recover mana from nature at the same time.
“You recovered so fast!”
“I must be very special.”
Jung Si-woo responded harshly to Soo Ah-rin’s frightening criticism, but he actually knew the reason. It was because of his five senses, more precisely his visual and touch skills. It’s only his skin that accepted outer mana. It was surprisingly effective when he focused on the idea of identifying the mana of the earth by sight and creating a channel to accept it to the skin with the touch skill so that it could be absorbed more naturally.
As the skin was an organ to protect the internal body from external stimuli, it was able to classify threatening stimuli and helpful stimuli to control which one to accept and which one to reject.
‘But if I tell them this, they’ll treat me like a madman.’
For those who had yet to make the touch skill, it wouldn’t be well understood if he told them that they accepted mana by allowing their skin to accept it. He aimed at the rifle again with a bitter smile. Now there was a group of them coming in.
“Large dragonflies?”
“It’s a species that has never been seen in the Sky Castle dungeon. Maybe they occurred naturally on earth!”
“It’s not a natural occurrence.”
Jung Si-woo swore and pulled the trigger. The group of dragonfly monsters avoided it as if they were used to it now, but the bullets crazily turned at right angles to penetrate two of them at the same time. The remaining number was exactly 12. At that point, Jung Si-woo stowed his rifle and grabbed the hammers. No matter how fast he recovered, he couldn’t shoot indefinitely.
“It was too obvious, but I can feel a foreign power from them. The power doesn’t originate from them…it’s the power of a god.”
Most monsters believe in their god. However, some of them had the power of gods, such as the priest who he fought in Mt. Seolark and the monsters guarding the temple of Laia, the thunder god. Unlike monsters who blindly sought destruction and slaughter, these monsters moved under the direct orders of a god, and it was likely they had been blessed. That was a weak assumption, but he was certain of it.
“…Did they notice our plans and try to interrupt? Where and how did they find out?”
“I was expecting it, but I guess there’s a lot of monsters who’ve already set foot on the planet, right?”
Moreover, if the plane was accurately spotted and attacked, there was nothing strange, even if humans had collaborated with them.
“There’s a strong candidate…but I’m disappointed if they thought I’d be frustrated by that.’
Jung Si-woo smiled unintentionally and, at the same time, made both of his hammers big. Jung Si-woo’s balance wasn’t shaken at all even when he held the hammers weighing more than a thousand tons in each hand. He looked back at Seria, who looked worn out.
“Seria, can you assist me?”
“Of course, it’s an honor!”
“Okay, here we go. Keep your body safe!”
The phantom bike raced through the air. Surprised by his speed, the monsters unconsciously opened their mouth and tried to fire energy bombs. Jung Si-woo lightly hit the head of the dragonfly monster, and it fell with a terrible roar! At the time of Jung Si-woo’s blow, the dragonfly monsters who had already gathered spat out mana with their mouths open, but Jung Si-woo wasn’t going to foolishly take it, not like when he was trapped in the plane.
“Huh!”
The phantom bike didn’t only have the ability to race through the air; it was able to vertically descend and climb like helicopters!
[Keayaa!]
[Kiiiiii!]
When he controlled the bike and soared up, the dragonflies that couldn’t respond properly were hit by each other’s attacks and crashed. Jung Si-woo took his place on top of their heads and swung his two giant hammers at the same time as if he were laughing at the dragonfly monsters.
[Kiiiii!]
[Kii!]
Two more monsters were hit by the terrible attack that could be called a hurricane. Jung Si-woo tilted his head at the sight of those who broke whenever he swung a hammer.
“They’re all aggressive but lacking in defense.”
“You’re just too strong.”
More precisely, they were strong in mana-based attacks but couldn’t use physical force. This was because Seria quickly sprinted through the air and shot off a golden energy beam, but the dragonfly that was hit by it didn’t die and was holding on.
“Hold on, but they died from the mana bullet that Oppa used.”
“You said it yourself. It’s because I’m strong.”
“Oh, what a jerk.”
Jung Si-woo constantly moved the bike while talking. It was possible to move around with only his feet and manipulate the bike’s rising and falling options to avoid attacks.
[Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…kahakkk!]
“Home run! Home run again!”
[Kyaaaaah]
“Others must think that this man must’ve been fighting in heaven all his life.”
“Si-woo, I’ll shoot to the left!”
“Okay!”
The giant hammer he held in both hands came around the next moment and crushed the back of the monster’s heads. Seria, who roughly grasped the dragonfly’s mana defense, also actively supported them by neutralizing their wings or blocking attacks for Jung Si-woo. They soon managed to get rid of all the dragonflies.
“I’ll take care of all the fallen bodies. Fortunately, it looks like we’re near San Francisco, so I’ll be able to work something out.”
“Thanks. Now I’m thinking about how we can get to New York from here…huh?
Jung Si-woo instinctively stretched his arms in front of his head because of his senses. PATT! Something clung to his arm with a sticky sound. It was a long mucous tongue.
[Khhiiiiiii]
“Invisibility powers…look at these guys.”
A group of monsters appeared, filling the void in the air as if they had been waiting for the dragonfly monsters to die! These monsters with eagle bodies and the faces of frogs were disgusting.
“It’s a chimera. I’m sure those dragonflies from earlier were also chimeras.”
“I know about these monsters. There was only one in the 32nd stage dungeon. Terrible resilience, blood poisoning…I just thought that was its only characteristic.”
Seeing it now, it was just a feature of the chimera. Soo Ah-rin gritted her teeth. Jung Si-woo listened to her and lifted his free arm to hold Soo Ah-rin.
“You’re going to feel a little dizzy, so don’t move and stay inside. Don’t stick your head out.”
“I have to watch the battlefield to assist you, Oppa.”
“I would let you do that if I could…”
Jung Si-woo grabbed the frog chimera by its tongue, ripping it at by the roots. Looking at the green vapor erupting in the air, unlike the dragonfly monsters, they certainly seemed to have poison in their blood.
[Keuhooooooong!]
[Kuoooong!]
[Kiikkuoouuuu!]
When the tongue was pulled out of the chimera, it screamed out loud, and the other chimeras howled in response. Soo Ah-rin’s complexion turned pale when she realized the meaning behind it.
“I think these guys are determined. Not by quality, but by quantity.”
Of course, it was a monster that exceeded level 200, so it would be an attack that no player in the world would be able to encounter, but it was a shot for Jung Si-woo.
“No other player in the conference could have taken this kind of attack.”
“If a group of monsters of this size had stayed on earth longer than this, the world would have ended…if it weren’t for Sky Castle, that would have happened.”
On the contrary, it can be interpreted that there were so many monsters and god’s forces that couldn’t be controlled by the Sky Castle alone now. Beyond the Sky Castle, beyond the Ant Cave on the ground…their invasion was as subtle, horrid, and fast as metastatic cancer cells. Perhaps soon, it would be impossible to distinguish between monsters that occurred naturally on earth and monsters that had invaded the world.
“Well, there’s no choice but to kill them all.”
“That suits you…”
Jung Si-woo swung the slimy tongue, which he had just recovered from the chimera, around two more monsters that had been approaching him. Where on earth did he learn to whip? Leaving the admiring Soo Ah-rin behind, he pulled them in and hit them with his hammer, smashing their heads.
[Kyiiiiiii]
“There’s no problem with killing them…”
The number of chimeras was increasing. He wondered where all these numbers were hidden, but if they wanted to kill all of them and head to New York…
“The schedule is going to be incredibly tight…”
“Not necessarily!”
“Hmm?”
Jung Si-woo tilted his head at the lively voice coming from right behind. After crushing the heads of the frog chimeras who tried to attack his gap, he looked back and saw Lee Seo-hee, Yong Se-ha, and Marina.
“Do you know you’re making a scene? Everyone’s just watching from down there!”
“No matter how loud we were, how were you able to find us?”
Jung Si-woo was genuinely surprised by the appearance of Marina, who he thought would be in New York. Marina smiled with remorse and pulled the trigger of her pistols. A wind hole was drilled into the heads of chimeras that had been attacking Jung Si-woo.
“I’ve got a gate to the B&Y’s New York office! If I knew there would be this kind of attack, I would’ve just taken the gate with you at Seoul.”
“You can’t rely on the gate every time. But anyway…yes, I owe you a favor.”
Whatever the identity of the group that attacked Jung Si-woo was, their purpose would never be achieved. Jung Si-woo raised his fighting spirit and smiled. Active battle-ready mana strengthened his whole body.
“Let’s wipe them out and go to the meeting!”
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