Episode 82.
Marina was holding a specially-processed mana pistol. As soon as the bullets amplified and compressed as they passed inside the gun, Marina invoked her skill and added her mana to accelerate it.
“Power shot!”
“I like that it’s a very simple name.”
However, the results weren’t that simple. As the mana bullet swept through the ground, all the skeleton soldiers were swept away and destroyed. Dry wind roared around where the bullet passe.
[Bl-block it!]
[Just until the chant is over…keuaaaag!]
“Whoa, nice shot.”
As she was sweeping the area, the mana bullet hit the target point, causing a huge explosion. As a result, the skeleton mage that was just swinging a skull cane at them died without leaving a trace. Marina grinned and blew the tip of her gun.
“There are some annoying undead that even use magic.”
“Please keep doing that.”
Jung Si-woo, who used to handling Dullahan’s head to fight enemies at range, was no longer there. Of course, he could attack at a distance by other means if he wanted to, but Marina was taking care of that right now. He left all the tricky enemies to her, and he was doing as he wanted.
“Hmm, we work pretty well together.”
“Hmph, the magic of that weak undead won’t be able to damage Oppa! And I can still protect him!”
“Don’t think about jumping off yet. Just save your Mana.”
Soo Ah-rin possessed divine power that can inflict deadly wounds to the undead much like the power of Louisos, the god of light. Her strength had to be saved for when the fragments of Setnak appeared. Soo Ah-rin knew that, too, but…
“Si-woo, this way!”
“Hmph!”
“Nice!”
Marina spread her wings and continued to fire while rising into the air. All the undead that bravely ran toward her were smashed by Jung Si-woo’s hammer.
“As expected, we can be good partners!”
“With just this?”
Thanks to Jung Si-woo, Marina was free to continue shooting because she wasn’t being attacked! Marina smiled brightly even during the battle as she watched Jung Si-woo’s performance. Soo Ah-rin’s expression turned more opaque.
“I don’t want to see her smile so satisfied.”
“You’re so honest, Seonbae. If only you had been honest in a different way…”
“Shut up.”
The Emperor guild was hunting undead not far from them, so Soo Ah-rin and Yong Se-ha were hiding. As Jung Si-woo grew to a more powerful level, Yong Se-ha almost regained his previous strength and had been itching to help him. However, Soo Ah-rin showed more irritation, so she couldn’t stand it and tackled him.
“Happiness isn’t far away, Seonbae.”
“And your misfortune may be relatively near.”
“Yes, I’ll be quiet.”
However, he couldn’t beat Soo Ah-rin, who was more annoyed as he spoke. While Yong Se-ha went quiet, Jung Si-woo actively taunting the undead.
“Is there a chief or head for the armored monsters?”
“These monsters naturally occur on earth, Si-woo. There is no guarantee that there will be a boss like a dungeon.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
There was certainly no boss, but perhaps because they occurred in large quantities in such an area, plenty of elite monsters with the strength of the armored bear could be found, but they were all undead.
“I’d like to catch a living one…”
“It looks like they gain stronger mana while they lose their strength. So they would be more suitable materials for an artifact.”
Perhaps they were now the highest grade of material available on earth. One reason was that it was easy to process because it had the properties of metal, and even though it was undead, it was eventually changed under the influence of the god’s sign, so that could also be why their mana remained.
“I wish I could get this material…”
“Ahhhhhhh!”
“Master, this way! I can feel the stronger energy from here!”
“Tsk.”
As the distance from the Emperor guild shortened, there were also louder noises coming from them. It was only natural because Jung Si-woo and his group were moving towards the god’s power.
“Hurry up, Si-woo.”
“Yes, I’m going to focus on the big guys from now on.”
Jung Si-woo drove his bike to find the strong undead. As the number of monsters with strong power decreased, he felt that Setnak’s power hidden somewhere in the Grand Canyon was beginning to reveal itself. They would probably find the source soon.
The energy of death was such that all living people feared it. He felt like he was going to get sucked in if he focused on it too much. Under the power of Setnak, all living things lost strength, and the undead gradually grew. If Jung Si-woo and Marina hadn’t been so strong, they would’ve gradually lost their energy just by being in this space.
“Uh, I can feel more and more terrible energy. The creatures that don’t have the energy to rise back as undead are dying. Of all things, this guy…”
“I’m glad it didn’t show up in the middle of the city.”
It was terrible that monsters naturally occurring on earth were caught up in it, but they were spared the worst. Jung Si-woo and Marina desperately thought so as they went deeper into the canyon.
[Your level has risen.]
About five hours later, Jung Si-woo had raised one more level after dealing with so many undead that it was impossible to count them all. Marina opened her eyes and looked around at that moment. At first, she didn’t notice it, but she definitely felt Mana flocking around him.
“You just leveled up.”
“That’s why I don’t like such quick-witted people.”
“How did you level up? Without the help of the dungeons, the level isn’t supposed to go up! Did you take the mana and the records of those monsters yourself? Is that possible?”
Marina already knew the structure of the dungeon. Therefore, she was surprised to see Jung Si-woo, who was achieving growth outside the dungeon. Jung Si-woo roughly replied to Marina, whose eyes were wide as she confronted him.
“Maybe it’s only for me. I mean, you can’t do this.”
“I can’t…and I don’t want to try. It’s like accepting the power of god.”
“When your pure self is contaminated, growth and everything breaks down.”
“But I’m not contaminated. You want to check?”
“Huh, yeah?”
Jung Si-woo reached out his hand. Marina suddenly grabbed his hand, blushing a little. She had to hold on with both hands, and even then, they barely wrapped around his entire hand.
“Your hands, they’re really big…”
“Hey.”
“Oh, okay…I can definitely feel a pure and violent mana. How is this possible? This is beyond special…you’re full of mystery. It’s so much fun.”
“Hehehe…”
Seeing Marina’s eyes twinkling warmly with pure curiosity, Soo Ah-rin raised her guard. Marina put her hands down carefully and took a step back with a smile.
“And thanks to you, I realized something new. Until now, all players had the thought that they could only level-up in dungeons.”
“You can’t take a monster’s mana.”
“That’s not it. I don’t want to try that either. But monsters aren’t the only ones now that have mana, right?”
“Now? …Ah.”
As soon as Jung Si-woo realized the meaning of her words, Marina slowly closed her eyes and breathed loudly. As she breathed deeply, he felt a stream of pure mana flowing into her. It was mana produced by the earth that arose after the tectonic shift.
‘Ahhhhh…!’
Seeing the scene, Jung Si-woo felt like he took a hammer and hit his head. The fact that the earth had changed, he must’ve fully anticipated that it will come not only to monsters but also to humans! Why didn’t he think of accepting the Mana of the earth until now?
“Whoo.”
Marina, successfully absorbing Mana, opened her eyes and breathed deeply. The power wasn’t so great, but her eyes were brighter than ever. The important thing was the possibility she proved.
“It was possible to embrace the pure mana that came from the earth and grow from it. The change on earth wasn’t just a disaster. Players, even ordinary people, can now gain strength on their own!”
Of course, it would take a long time for humans who had never handled mana to get used to it. But in the end, it meant some fundamental changes were in store for humanity. Maybe players could coach them.
“Si-woo, I think you will be able to do it too!”
“Yeah, I can do it. Seeing you do it, I think I can.”
“But I didn’t know that was possible so soon. This is a strange sense of defeat…”
Jung Si-woo must’ve had an unusual talent. Shortly after seeing Marina’s breathing and realizing that she could accept Mana from the earth, he was already accepting mana into his whole body.
“And that’s made me realize something.”
As he began his mana breathing in earnest, his already sharp sense of mana was refined. Unlike Marina, he was able to accept all kinds of Mana and make it his own, so he was fully absorbing the energy of Setnak, which was prevalent in this area. As a result…
“I’ve identified a place with signs of Setnak. Let’s go.”
“Wow!”
He got a hint to end the situation in an unexpected way. Jung Si-woo got on his bike with Marina. They ignored all the nearby undead monsters and rushed right to the source!
“Yoooooooouuuu!”
But soon, there were interrupters who followed after them: the elite members of the Emperor guild. Jung Si-woo clicked his tongue.
“They have some good senses.”
“What do we do, Si-woo? Get rid of them and go?”
“Maybe they’ll catch up unless we kill them. But it won’t mean anything even if we kill them.”
Looking back, he saw Seria Wilson chasing them with all her might. The Emperor guild members were also proudly following with their weapons at the ready as if there was nothing more to hide.
“Since this happened…”
Jung Si-woo shrugged.
“It’s a joint battle. It’s good to be able to sort things out before something happens to them, or we’ll end them.”
“Oppa, you just said something that the main character should never say!”
“Don’t you know that these days the protagonist with no mercy is more popular?”
“What are you guys talking about?”
After ten minutes of driving his bike through the air, a dried-up river in a canyon appeared. Previously, there were traces of people as it was a tourist attraction, but now it wasn’t a place to go sightseeing since the tectonic shift completely twisted the terrain.
“Found it.”
“It’s huge…”
[Keuwoeoeoeo!]
In the river, which had dried up to the bottom, tens of thousands of undead were flowing instead of water. Their shouts filled the space with a deafening might!
[They found our campsite…]
[Kill them! Let’s tear them apart!]
[A tribute to Setnak! He wants them!]
Marina recalled the battle on Mt. Seorak when she saw the great army of the undead. What was different from that time was that the level of the undead was far higher this time, and the power of Setnak was directly affecting them. In many ways, the situation was worse than before.
“Found it! The power of the god of death is here!”
“Well, but Master. I think I’ve heard a strange sound in my ear since a while ago…”
“Hurry up before they take it! We need to secure it!”
The last supporting roles came to the battlefield at a good time! It was quite enough to properly imply what would happen to them in the future. If you heard something weird, you should stop and look back on yourself. But look at what happens when you rush in! Holding back his desire to watch more cartoons and movies, Jung Si-woo lifted up his hammer.
“It’s annoying, so let’s just break it all down.”
“That’s always the conclusion.”
At the same time, Soo Ah-rin’s shoulders drooped helplessly. Jung Si-woo pulled the throttle to start sprinting at full speed. At the end of the cruel charge’s trajectory, he found the fragment of Setnak that turned the Grand Canyon into this mess!
