Episode 79.
California was right next to Arizona. Although there was a minor problem that Silicon Valley was located in the western part of California, and at the same time, Arizona was located east of California.
“And when California and Arizona are combined, they are seven times the size of South Korea.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I’m just saying that it’s nice to have a big chunk of land.”
“It’s hard to keep flying, so I thought it’d take a while to get there…”
Marina smiled, tapping the bike saddle with one hand.
“Thanks to this, we’ll be spending less time traveling.”
“My Nir is pretty little fast.”
“You even gave it a nickname…”
“It’s shortened from Slafnir.”
“You don’t have to explain.”
Judging from the sharp response, Soo Ah-rin’s self-reflection time only lasted a few minutes. He grinned and sped up. The phantom bike, with an overwhelmingly faster speed than an airplane, ripped through the wind and ran through the air.
“This bike, you’re not gonna tell me how it was made, are you?”
“You guys can make a gate, so I’m sure you can make something like this in B&Y.”
“Yes, I just realized from your answer that the bike wasn’t made with your power.”
Marina hugged Jung Si-woo’s waist lightly with one hand (it was just a comfortable position when sitting down, but a spark formed in Soo Ah-rin’s eyes when she saw it).
“It’s a completely different concept to invoke the magic of the world on earth and to synthesize the world’s magic engineering with earth’s technology. Which god’s power is it? Or did you gain the power of another god while battling the thunder god?”
“No way. It just happened that the bike was like this when we were fighting outside.”
“It must be hard to figure out the principles…? If we could apply it to small firearms, the police and military would be able to handle these monsters.”
It was possible to go to the kitchen of the resting place, but he couldn’t tell Marina. There was nothing different from the magic that was possible only in one place and limited resources. It wasn’t a systematically established technology.
“Well.”
Jung Si-woo was pondering about the special ability of the resting place that even B&Y, who reproduced the gate, couldn’t figure out. He suddenly came to his senses and looked up. It was because the intense collection of mana stimulated him.
“This is a terrible energy.”
“We’re almost there. Step on it a little bit more.”
Marina didn’t have to direct him anymore. He drove forward, frowning at the canyon below his feet, and the fraudulent energy felt on the plateau. At this point, it was no different from the energy leading him.
“That’s the energy I’ve felt before. Damn it.”
“Yes, the god who rules the monsters, and the god that most players avoid…”
[Kiiiiiiii!]
At that very moment, a huge monster suddenly appeared out of thin air. Wings with only bones left, black rotting flesh, and a blue fire that burned in the hollow pupil of the threatening skull…it was the undead.
[Kiiiiiiiiaaaaaa!]
“It’s a trace of Setnak, the god of the undead.”
Marina calmly raised her hand when she saw the enemy who suddenly appeared. The pistol that popped out of the inventory fit in her hand like it was natural. As soon as she pulled the trigger of the already loaded pistol, mana bullets penetrated the center of the undead. At that moment, it died instantly and began to fall. It was sucked into Marina’s inventory. It was a very good swap technique, but the mana bullet she just used…
“It’s a critical bullet.”
“It’s exactly that, plus the power of other combat skills.”
Indeed, it seemed that Jung Si-woo wasn’t the only one who had gained more than before. Her mana bullet, which was quick and powerful enough to finish off the monster without consuming much mana, was impressive to Jung Si-woo. He couldn’t believe she was copying what he taught her and mixing up that power with other combat skills! He wouldn’t know without trying, but it was clear that it wasn’t an easy job. Jung Si-woo couldn’t believe it.
“Where’s the man that told me this made no sense?”
“That’s how genius I am.”
“Oh, what a jerk.”
Soo Ah-rin thought it was none of her business.
“But it’s an idea I wouldn’t have thought of without you, so I’m just reporting my achievements.”
“Okay, let’s go down now.”
“Now you have to catch up with my skills! I’m sure you can find a better way.”
Jung Si-woo seemed to have a vague understanding of why she was nice to him. Wouldn’t he want to do better in the future since she made a better skill under the influence of his skills?
“Well, if I have time later. Since I’m not your main force.
“Is it defeat?”
“Okay, okay. It is.”
“I’m a little upset about that attitude…”
Jung Si-woo lowered the bike slowly. Meanwhile, several undead similar to the one that just flew arrived, but all of them fell in vain with one of Marina’s mana bullet in their foreheads.
“From where to where is it?”
“We haven’t confirmed that, but maybe at this moment, the territory is expanding. I don’t even want to consider getting rid of every last one. Let’s take out the core.”
It was clear that she recalled what had happened in Mt. Seorak before. Jung Si-woo was in favor of it, but…
“So, where is the core?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s very reliable.”
He picked up speed again while grumbling. It wasn’t flat terrain, and he didn’t have to focus on beating monsters, so he was going to start exploring quickly.
[Giaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!]
[Keugeu, geugeugeugeu! Setnaaak!]
“Oh, it’s on.”
Looking at the undead group calling for Setnak’s name desperately, he couldn’t stand the memories he and Dullahan built in the past.
“Oh, my God, Caina…”
“Wait, what? did you lose your lover to the undead?”
“I’ve lost the undead…”
“What about your lover?”
“There’s no such thing.”
Marina looked puzzled, but her hands diligently gunned down the undead that flew at them. Jung Si-woo played the role of finishing the undead that she couldn’t stop as he held the steering wheel in one hand and the hammer in the other. However, one minor problem was that even though the bike was running fast, Marina swept the undead with such an accurate and fast shot that Jung Si-woo’s turn didn’t come.
Anyway, the level of those who were appearing was low, so it wasn’t too bad to miss the experience, but it felt awkward to keep holding his hammer. Marina also had a delicate expression.
“It’s undead, so there’s not much to get out of the body. I’d like to see a lot of elites.”
“A boss-class monster would have something.”
“Like that bell last time.”
Marina still seemed to remember it. Jung Si-woo ignored her, but she poked her face forward and asked him.
“What was that bell, Si-woo?”
“It’s broken. So, I don’t remember what happened.”
“Look at you trembling. If we get an artifact like that this time… You’re going to give it up for me, aren’t you, Si-woo?”
She seemed to regret that she gave the bell to Jung Si-woo last time. Marina made a cute face and tickled his cheek, waving her nicely scented hair. Jung Si-woo replied with an extremely refreshed look.
“I’ll have to work hard not to lose it.”
“Hmph, you’re not budging.”
“That undead over there might come over.”
“Bang.”
The trigger was pulled. The undead that he pointed at was blown to death. While Jung Si-woo flinched as if he had been shot for no reason, Marina began to suspect that this man might be gay, which was very rude of her. Her face looked like it had changed seasons from spring to winter.
“If this happens, I’ll overwhelm you with my fair play.”
“I wish you were like that from the beginning.”
“You’re such a fool, Oppa.”
Fortunately, the damage when undead monsters first appeared in the Grand Canyon and northern Arizona wasn’t that big. It was because of the tectonic shift that took place, which killed few, and the rest fled to a safer city (the changes in areas where the natural environment was maintained were more intense than the civilized areas). The mana created by the undead crowd was enormous, but unfortunately, players didn’t have time to pay attention to it. This was because they were busy killing monsters created by the earth.
Meanwhile, Marina Bissett was the first to detect the undead. At first, she intended to clean up the traces of god by herself, but a terrible situation occurred before she had a full-fledged clash with them.
“You said it roughly before, didn’t you? The tectonic shift created massive monsters in the Northern Arizona Plateau and undead monsters…”
“The first time you used the word ‘absorption,’ I couldn’t understand exactly what you meant.”
After a few minutes of moving in search of deeper mana, Jung Si-woo found a group of undead filling a canyon. He couldn’t feel the ‘sign of god,’ but they weren’t planning to skip that area. Especially…
“You start to understand once you look at that.”
“Right?”
Indeed, a variety of undead was staying there, including one that stood out. It was a monster that looked like a deer with hard scales all over its body. It was assumed that they were ordinary monsters up until now, and these ones occurred naturally on earth.
[Guuuooooooo!]
“So they’ve been beaten by the undead and became one of them. If they were other gods’ minions, things would’ve been better than this.”
“That’s what I mean.”
Life couldn’t be contagious, but death was. Setnak, the god of the undead, had the edge over other gods in that respect.
“It’s even more annoying that those naturally occurring monsters seem to be the most demanding, except for the trolls in Korea.”
“By the way, those scales…”
Jung Si-woo threw a stone rolling around in his inventory at the monster in the canyon. Although he didn’t give much strength, he could still see the stone containing his power speed away.
[Cough!]
“I couldn’t make it through that armor, but it fainted because it couldn’t overcome the shock! An undead!”
“Don’t you think they’ll be perfect for armor material?”
“…Yes, I think so, too. We’ll take them all back.”
It wasn’t just armor. There was no material of its kind that would be better as the outer wall of a facility that required protection, like B&Y’s laboratory.
‘Or I could give Caina a new body.’
He wished he could have one of those monsters. Jung Si-woo looked at them and gripped his hammer…
“Wait, Si-woo.”
Marina stopped him with a stiff voice. Her gaze was diverted from the canyon, heading elsewhere.
“They’re coming, as Ethan warned me. The Emperors, a group of losers in the western United States.”
“Huh?”
He also sensed mana. Indeed, it was different from the undead. But that mana…
“They’re players…aren’t they”
“Yes.”
“Oh, so that’s what it is.”
Jung Si-woo had a smile on his lips, the fierce smile he made before battle. Marina was momentarily captivated by that creepy look.
“Okay, let’s go for now.”
“Hey, Wait, ahhhhh!”
However, Jung Si-woo didn’t explain the situation to her, and he immediately pitched and pulled the throttle. The bike roared across the sky.
It was a signal that provoked everything in the area.
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