62. First Return. The First Wave (3) [Special Quest Start] [Defeat the enemies and survive.] Monsters appeared from four directions.
At the same time, a colorless barrier fell from the sky with a loud roar.
Kugugung!
It blocked the four directions, preventing them from interfering with each other. Taesan slowly approached and struck it.
Jjeo-eong!
The vibration spread along the colorless wall. The wall didn't even have a scratch.
"Even with these Stats, it's no use."
'Do not interfere with the other directions.' That was the meaning of the barrier. After striking it for a moment, Taesan turned his gaze to the Monsters.
Gurgle. Gurgle.
A multitude of Monsters appeared. If Taesan's memory served him right, there should be 100 F-class Monsters. He calmly raised his sword.
Unlike the composed Taesan, screams and terrified shrieks were erupting from the other directions.
"Kyaaaaah!"
"Save me!"
Although they had come out with some resolve, the number of Monsters was too great. Faced with what seemed to be at least a three-digit number of Monsters, people fell into a panic and tried to get back inside the City Hall.
"What!"
"Why can't we get in!"
But the path into the City Hall was also blocked by a transparent barrier. While they were flustered, the Monsters closed in.
Three directions.
The nearly thirty thousand people in each were all terrified and struggling. Hwi-yeon desperately tried to soothe them.
"Don't be scared! They can't kill you!"
She tried to calm people down somehow, but they wouldn't listen. They were running around in confusion, trying to escape from a space with no escape.
"Damn it."
Hwi-yeon grit her teeth and ran towards the Monsters. It would have been easier if there were others on her level, but Jung-geun and Lee Tae-yeon had both gone to support different directions. A Monster with a giant tentacle stopped trying to strike a person's head and counterattacked.
Gurgle.
She blocked the swinging tentacle. The difference in strength pushed her back little by little, but she covered it with her Skills and quick movements.
[7 Damage dealt to Monster 5446654451.]
Gurgle.
She barely managed to take down one Monster. But she couldn't block all of them. One Monster attacked a person.
The young man, sensing his death, let out a shrill scream like a woman's. "Kyaaaaah!"
[7 Damage dealt to Jung Joon-yong.]
"Kya... ah?"
The young man's eyes widened as he was hit. Hwi-yeon, while facing a Monster, shouted.
"The Monsters' Attack Power isn't high! If you're just a little careful, you can survive! We have to fight back!"
People were terrified by the Monsters' gruesome appearance and had given up on fighting altogether, but the Monsters themselves were only as strong as low-class Monsters, not very powerful. At their current level, even Jung-geun and Hwi-yeon could handle them. Their Attack Power wasn't that high, and their speed and strength were not completely overwhelming.
Their base Health was 100. They wouldn't die even if a Monster struck them more than ten times. Those who were running away began to realize this.
"They said we'd be rewarded based on our performance."
"Then isn't it worth a try?"
Greed slowly began to spread. They started to step forward and fight. They stabbed the Monsters' necks and pounded them with Gauntlets.
Those who got hit would hastily retreat, drink a Health Potion, and then return. Hwi-yeon thought they were easy to read and gave a bitter smile. But it wasn't bad.
She and a few others from Hard Mode were fighting hard, but they were bound to be pushed back by the difference in numbers. This made things much easier. The other areas were not much different.
In the zone Jung-geun was in charge of, people swarmed in as soon as they realized the Monsters' Attack Power was low. The places managed by Junhyeok and Lee Tae-yeon were similar.
"Get them!"
"Kill them!"
Seeing them charge in on their own, Junhyeok whistled.
"This is convenient."
"I know, right."
Lee Tae-yeon replied as she moved her hands. A Monster's neck was split open in a triangular shape. Those fighting alongside her couldn't hide their admiration.
"You're monstrously strong..."
The man who muttered this was a relatively high-ranking Player in Hard Mode. Though not on the level of Jung-geun and Hwi-yeon, he was strong enough to somehow win against a single Monster. He thought he was quite strong.
He believed that even Hwi-yeon and Jung-geun couldn't easily defeat him. But the two from Alone Mode were even stronger than him. For him, who had inwardly looked down on Alone Mode, it was a huge shock.
Junhyeok gave a bitter smile.
"We're not that strong."
"What do you mean, not...?"
The man, about to say, 'What do you mean, not strong,' shut his mouth.
"Well, I guess there's a real monster over there."
Lee Tae-yeon looked beyond the barrier. Over there, Taesan was all alone. Hwi-yeon had said they should win quickly and go help him, but from what she could see, there was no need to help.
Taesan nonchalantly threw a punch.
Kwajik.
A Monster's head was crushed. He kicked out. A Monster's lower body exploded and disappeared.
Gurgle. Gurgle.
Dozens of Monsters lunged at Taesan all at once. Taesan indifferently drew his sword.
Kagak.
For a moment, afterimages formed, and the Monsters were sliced into pieces and vanished. He swiped away the Damage Window obscuring his vision and thrust his sword. A Monster hiding in the shadows was skewered.
When Taesan put his strength into it and swung upwards, it was split in half.
Gurgle.
One Monster, using its comrade's corpse as bait, barely managed to strike Taesan's chest.
[Kang Taesan’s Block has been activated.]
[0 Damage dealt to Kang Taesan.]
Kwajik.
Before it could rejoice in its success, the Monster's head exploded. Every time the sword moved, a Monster died, and every time his body moved, several of them exploded. It was a truly overwhelming difference.
In terms of Stats, these were at most 13 or 14. By simple calculation, there was a nearly twenty-fold difference between them and Taesan.
[This is strange.]
The Ghost, who had been watching intently, muttered.
[Those numbers must refer to their quantity.]
"That's right."
Later, a truly countless number of Monsters would appear. Some people even suffocated, buried under the sheer volume. It wasn't just simple strength, but a great threat in terms of numbers.
[It must take a significant expenditure of power to send this many into someone else's world. What for?]
"You said the same thing when we talked about the gods. What is this power you're talking about?"
[Your Soul Rank, domain of interference, worth, and so on... Things that are in some way connected to a Transcendent being.]
"So you have to use that to interfere with someone?"
[Simple things are possible without using it. A reward less valuable than dust can be provided without any loss of power, assuming it's a fair trade. You know the Items you received when you cleared Trials. To the gods, they're on that level.]
They were of great value to him now, but it seemed they were truly worthless to the gods. Considering the Items one would get at the end of Alone Mode, it was understandable.
[But to give a reward that has even a speck of value to a Transcendent being requires a permanent loss. The Apostle’s Contract and the Skills given to you are like that.]
Gurgle.
He crushed an approaching Monster. He threw his sword at the head of a Monster looking for an opening on the left. The sword shattered the Monster's head.
With that, the last Monster was finished. Walking over to pull out his sword, Taesan said.
"Keep talking."
[To put it simply, as much as they have become Transcendent beings, it becomes difficult for them to interfere with mortals, and for any meaningful interference, they must offer something of themselves. And that power is not easily recovered.]
"Then what are these things?"
Taesan pointed at the Monster's corpse. A hundred Monsters. According to the Ghost, this meant a considerable amount of power had been lost.
But as Taesan remembered it, new Monsters continued to appear even as he was dying. The Ghost let out a groan.
[I'm not sure either. It's not a typical Transcendent being. It seems to be something higher... I'll have to see more to know. But why isn't it ending?]
Taesan had killed all the Monsters, but the quest completion message didn't appear. Taesan kicked a Monster's corpse and sat down.
"Because I have to wait until the other areas are finished too."
It wouldn't end just by clearing one direction. Taesan waited patiently. They're probably all celebrating right now.
The time for that joy to turn into despair was not far off.
"Hah, hah."
Hwi-yeon, having defeated the last Monster, wiped away her sweat. Joyful shouts echoed from all around.
"We won!"
"Victory! Hooray!"
Everyone was celebrating, raising their hands high. They embraced each other, savoring the victory. There were some deaths, but they were very rare.
Except for those who had crossed the line and charged forward, everyone had survived. As if to celebrate their victory, the quest was also completed.
[Special Quest Success] [Rewards will be distributed differentially upon returning to the Labyrinth.]
This meant that all four directions had been victorious. As they hugged each other with faces full of expectation and joy.
[Special Quest Start] [The Second Wave will begin.]
[Defense zone: North, South, East, West, with the City Hall at the center.]
[Defeat the enemies and protect the City Hall.]
"Huh?"
"There's more?"
They turned their gazes in confusion. From the direction the Monsters had appeared, a single Monster showed its face. The tense faces of the people began to relax.
"Ah. Just one?"
"One shouldn't be a problem..."
Unlike the relaxed crowd, Jung-geun's face hardened.
"...Wait a moment."
While moving with Taesan, he had seen a much larger and more massive Monster. A Monster whose movements he couldn't even properly follow, a truly out-of-spec Monster. A Monster that would have killed him and all hundred others if Taesan hadn't defeated it.
The Monster that appeared now had a similar appearance to that one. He tried to warn the people that something was wrong, but someone else acted first.
"It's just one!"
A man stepped forward with a confident face. The man was a high-ranking expert from Normal Mode and had managed to land the final blow on a few Monsters. This time, he intended to fight one-on-one with dignity to prove his strength.
The man's sword pierced the Monster's chest.
[1 Damage dealt to Monster 54612154.]
"...Huh?"
Kwajik.
[52 Damage dealt to Choi Min-sik.]
"Uh, uhh?"
[54 Damage dealt to Choi Min-sik.]
"Uh..."
The man collapsed. The Monster moved its feet. At that moment, everyone except for Jung-geun and a few from Hard Mode lost track of its movement.
Kwaaang!
With an explosion, people were sent flying. They were as helpless as ants blown away by a strong wind. With this attack, people realized.
The Monsters hadn't been ranked yet, but they could still tell. This was a higher-class Monster, different from the ones that had appeared so far. The long-forgotten fear belatedly resurfaced.
People started screaming again and began to flee in a panic.
"You can't run away!"
Jung-geun shouted, clenching his teeth. There was nowhere to run from the Monster. Only by fighting with their lives on the line could a path be opened.
The moment Jung-geun stepped forward and ran towards the Monster, the Monster's arm moved. Jung-geun felt a chilling sensation and quickly ducked his head.
Kwaaang!
"Aaaargh!"
The people behind Jung-geun were sent flying. A shiver ran down his spine, and Jung-geun clenched his teeth.
"What is this..."
It was absurdly fast. Dodging it was half luck. He couldn't guarantee he could dodge it again if he had to.
It was absurdly strong. 'They expect us to win against this?' Despair settled on Jung-geun's face.
The Monster began to move silently.
Kwajik.
[43 Damage dealt to Monster 78541212.]
The Monster fell. Taesan flicked his sword. An E-Class Monster, on a completely different level from the F-class Monsters.
It was certainly strong, but the current Taesan was even stronger than those who had cleared Easy Mode. It was no problem for him. The problem was the others.
They were not yet at a level to overcome an E-Class Monster.
"Such a cruel being."
The only way to win was, literally, to throw their lives away. Since it took at least 1 damage, they could win if they attacked with the resolve to die. Even if he wanted to help, he couldn't, as he was blocked by the barrier.
All he could do was hope they won on their own. Still, since he was handling one direction by himself, the others had more people, so they should be able to defeat it with fewer casualties than in the previous world.
"I should do what I have to do."
The barrier only prevented interference between directions. It didn't stop him from moving far away. Taesan left the City Hall and headed for the half-destroyed city.
Leveling up through battle