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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: The Game Board (3)
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-At this rate, the nightmare of ten years ago could repeat itself.
"..."
I stared blankly at the article, reading it over and over.
Then I sighed.
Ten years ago... A time when our response systems were still immature.
A time when countless people died at the hands of monsters.
The situation is just that bad.
"It's not against the rules to mention the game, right?"
[Correct. After all, you will bear all the responsibility yourselves.]
"...Do they still not know?"
I scrolled down the screen.
Lately, it's been nothing but stories like this.
Evolving monsters, so-called mutants.
To those who don't know, it's certainly confusing.
But if you want to get technical, they aren't mutating.
They're growing, interacting, and learning.
There haven't been any reports of such mutants in Korea yet, but they could appear at any time.
"How's the Legion? How much bigger does it have to get before it can interact with me?"
As the situation grew more urgent, I couldn't help but feel desperate and bit my lip.
I asked if I could insert a part of a higher-level entity's body to extract information, but the only response I got was that the Legion's current analytical capabilities made complete restoration impossible.
It meant that even if I sent my blood, containing my genes and cells, the Legion couldn't clone a human from that alone.
[When communication will be possible... no one knows. It could be now, or it could be in the distant future. But I can assure you, it is your role to control it.]
My role.
I checked the sample slots that were still available.
I had steeled myself to some extent.
If monsters appeared, I planned to find them and take a picture.
"...Huh?"
Just then, the loud wail of a siren echoed from outside.
*
"It's definitely around here?"
Amidst the chaotic street atmosphere, Cha Ji-yeon, who had driven her own car, pulled over to the side of the road and placed a small stone on her palm.
The stone was humming, vibrating.
She had scoured more than half of Seoul, her initial search area, to finally catch this signal.
Based on this signal, she had narrowed down the target's location to a certain extent.
[Pinpointing the exact location is impossible. However, if you get close enough, you should be able to find suspicious individuals.]
"Understood."
She got out of the car.
Thanks to her distinctive looks, people around her began to recognize her, but wearing a hat and sunglasses, she did her best to ignore their gazes and kept walking.
Two schools, numerous apartments and shopping centers, a subway station, and more.
She had narrowed the range, but there were still too many potential targets to find.
"..."
But someone was watching her.
Another entity, unknown to her and even to her backers.
The creature, sharing its vision with a sparrow circling the sky, bared its sharp teeth and grinned.
"...The location's been fixed for hours now. Does that mean it's not someone in transit, but someone at home, school, or a business owner?"
Walking through the neighborhood, Cha Ji-yeon racked her brain, trying to deduce the possibilities.
This area was a typical bed town, so if someone stayed put in one place on a weekday morning, she could at least narrow it down to a few candidates.
[Tch.]
But in an instant, the peaceful morning calm was shattered.
She lifted her head.
A scream came from the distance.
"It's a surprise Gate!"
"G-Goblins! But the way they look..."
A Hunter's keen hearing caught the faint screams perfectly.
From the people's shouts, she realized what was happening.
[A coincidence? No, this is definitely not a coincidence. Get to safety. They came for you.]
"...So you just had to make it obvious, didn't you."
Clicking her tongue, she reflexively ran toward the screams.
It was only natural. She was a Hunter, someone who hunted monsters.
And at the same time, she was someone with a duty to save people.
[No, retreat immediately. It is Kaltas's will that no variables be created.]
"People are dying! It's because of us!"
[Unfortunately, such things are not a consideration for your Player.]
"Khk..."
She staggered from a sharp pain that shot through her spine.
It was a warning.
Her Player was a clear powerhouse, possessing a mysterious power.
From the beginning, they had placed a restriction on her when granting her their grace, to make her their pawn.
[Fall back and observe the situation. Once their strength is confirmed, you can join in and build your reputation.]
She had to obey the command.
In the end, she bit her lip and hurried to hide, regardless of the growing screams.
"What kind of goblins are..."
As Cha Ji-yeon took cover.
From the distortion in space, the creatures poured out and began to attack people indiscriminately.
About the height of a lower-grade elementary school student.
Dark green skin, a distorted face.
Small, pack-dwelling monsters called goblins, instead of their official designation, because their appearance resembled the goblins of fiction, much like orcs.
In truth, they were the lowest of D-rank monsters, pathetic creatures that an ordinary person could supposedly defeat in a one-on-one fight.
"Th-This is... Ghk."
But the ones pouring out of the Gate now were different.
They were no longer a mere pack of beasts.
A crude flag, a tattered cloth with letters written in blood, fluttered in the wind.
"●●●!!"
A few police officers who rushed over firing their pistols were shot and killed by arrows fired from powerful bows.
They were already an army.
Letting loose the creatures who ran about for plunder and slaughter, a long-bearded commander directed the army from behind, following a well-organized formation and structure.
"..."
The creature sniffed the air and looked around.
One of its eyes was linked by a spell to a bird currently flying in the sky.
It was one of its methods for finding the target.
However, the target it had been tracking had suddenly vanished.
"●! ●●!"
Of course, it didn't matter.
After all, the reason it had come here wasn't simply to hunt one of the opponent's Units.
The creature swung its baton, scattering its soldiers.
"Kyaaak!"
"L-Let go of me!"
Even as they continued their indiscriminate slaughter, they captured certain targets instead of killing them.
Their targets were women of childbearing age.
Goblins were, after all, a species incapable of reproduction without the females of other races.
"●..."
A warrior at the forefront sniffed the air.
People were hastily evacuating from a large building.
The scent of prey was strong there.
"H-Hey, everyone! Stay calm and follow the manual! Get to the shelter! Don't go outside now!"
The once-calm school descended into chaos.
Sirens blared like crazy and screams could be heard from afar, but the evacuation faltered from the very beginning.
"Everyone...!"
When a real situation broke out, the teacher's control faltered.
It wasn't a lack of safety awareness.
It was just extreme terror.
"What are you doing? Let's go."
"You're oddly calm, aren't you? But I think we should reconsider going to the shelter."
In the midst of that chaos, Kang Do-yeon had no choice but to stick close to Oh Yoon-ah.
But Oh Yoon-ah dawdled, despite Kang Do-yeon urging her to hurry to the shelter.
"What are you talking about?"
"One wrong move and we could all be wiped out. It's not that I don't trust the manual. It's that I can't be sure 'what kind of things' will pop out of that Gate."
Seeing her friend smirk in this situation, she furrowed her brow at the mention of being wiped out.
She already knew about the app and the game, but no matter what, they were just ordinary high school girls right now.
"I'm not so sure. Even if I wanted to side with them, making contact with monsters crawling out of a Gate doesn't seem like a great choice."
"Kyaaaaak!"
While Oh Yoon-ah was rambling on, something flew through the chaotic hallway, shattering a window.
An arrowhead carved from an obsidian-like ore.
Seeing it, Kang Do-yeon felt goosebumps crawl up her skin.
"It's a goblin!"
Someone let out a piercing scream.
The goblins, having targeted the school, ignored everything else and began swarming over the walls like a colony of ants.
"Let's run."
"Right."
In that moment, the two of them were in agreement.
One might think a mere goblin couldn't do anything to the shelter's steel doors, but the two of them knew these goblins were no ordinary creatures.
"Everyone, run outside... What are you doing?!"
"You've been so smart up until now, don't make a stupid decision at the end. If we all rush outside together, it'll be hard to get away properly. And we don't have time for that."
Kang Do-yeon covered Oh Yoon-ah's mouth as she tried to tell the other students and staff to evacuate outside.
Stunned that she would do such a thing, Oh Yoon-ah was shocked.
"...They're our friends. Are you saying we should use them as bait?"
"Use them as bait? Bait is for hunting. This is just struggling to survive."
She was resolute.
Even though she was clearly the one with the upper hand, Oh Yoon-ah was overwhelmed by her intensity and nodded.
After that, they sprinted madly down the hallway.
Goblins that had already infiltrated from the rear began killing those who resisted and capturing the students who couldn't escape in time.
"Hiiik..."
Then, as they were heading down the stairs, a goblin stood before them, grinning, holding a blood-stained sword.
The victims were the school's principal and the head of student affairs.
While even the new teachers were staying to protect the students, these two had abandoned them and tried to flee on their own, only to be killed by a monster that got ahead of them.
"P-Protect me! That's why I gave you power!"
"I know."
Terrified, Oh Yoon-ah trembled, hiding her small body behind Kang Do-yeon's back.
Kang Do-yeon finally stepped forward.
If she couldn't get out of here, she would die.
Or perhaps, suffer something even more horrific.
At least now, she had some power, however faint.
"●●."
The goblin grinned and pointed its sword at her.
It was a goblin's sword, but it was still the length of a machete.
'Get a grip.'
Kang Do-yeon forced herself to compose her mind.
Whenever she saw a monster, directly or indirectly, the trauma would bring back memories of that day.
A terrible memory from her childhood that haunted her to this day.
"Hoo..."
The incident from that day had affected her mental state in many ways.
While it could sometimes throw her into a panic in certain situations...
"You fucking disgusting monster!"
"●!"
...it also gave her a seething hatred and rage.
The moment her rage overwhelmed her fear, she kicked off the ground.
At the same time, she snatched a nearby fire extinguisher with one hand and, with unexpected force, smashed it squarely into the goblin's face.
The sound of tearing flesh and crushing bone mingled with a clear, metallic clang