“You mean we’re going to fight worms?”
“Huh? That looks like a boring expression. If they were just ordinary worms, do you think this horde of big guys would have been waiting for me so eagerly?”
This is a different kind of incident from the small “preventive measures” I’d been dealing with all day.
‘I plugged every hole, but one still leaked.’
I’d prevented the omen, blocked the trigger, but in the end one event still activated.
“Ugh, that’s why I told you not to go too deep.”
In the grand scheme, it wasn’t a bad situation. It was the same as when I cleaned out Sangbulsa.
But I wanted to do it under more controlled circumstances, and because of Yeom Geumja’s reckless behavior, it started at an unexpected time.
I grumbled as I walked through the ruined complex with Jang Hyundeok, where the Bongilcheon faction’s thugs had gathered.
“Hmm, I can’t get the right angle.”
A sprawling apartment complex I couldn’t take in at a glance—dozens of skeletal concrete buildings.
Huge holes in the ground here and there (big enough for a train to pass through), widespread bloodstains, and bodies abandoned in the distance because they couldn’t be retrieved.
This “event” wasn’t confined to a single building.
The entire map was being used for a large-scale event.
If I wanted to clear it in twenty minutes like I bragged to Yeom Geumja...
‘No, clear time isn’t the priority.’
Even if I ignore clear time, minimizing damage and preventing any follow-up events required a good start point.
‘Shall I start around here?’
The angle was decent, the sightlines good, and my connection to the Bongilcheon faction wasn’t bad. Even if someone tried to slip away that way, I could strike them immediately.
“This is perfect. Right here.”
I stopped moving and slowly released mana.
Ssss...
Without light or sound, the mana seeped into the ground, taking root and beginning to build a magical foundation that would affect the entire area.
‘Careful not to draw aggro...’
I couldn’t produce flashy lights or obvious effects yet. If the worms lurking in that apartment complex sensed my presence, they’d start moving.
So to anyone watching, me preparing for battle would just look like I was resting with my head slightly bowed.
Because of that, Jang Hyundeok, misunderstanding my posture, relaxed with a relieved expression and resumed his usual chatter.
“Wow, but they really did gather a lot.”
He began to look around and spout trivial talk as if nothing important was happening.
I focused on the magic circle and answered.
“Yeah.”
Nearly 300 members of the Bongilcheon faction had gathered here.
‘At first there were only about eighty.’
And 300 wasn’t the end. Counting forces deployed elsewhere, Yeom Geumja could muster nearly 500 people now.
“Ahem, ahem—this is all thanks to your help.”
Ryu Jaegun approached, bowing as he spoke.
“Hmm, ahem. Our big sister’s expression can be rough, but you know? She really values this.”
“Mm... I know.”
Despite all his complaints and curses, Yeom Geumja had gained a huge share of power by doing exactly what I told him.
With increased influence, his faction had grown at breakneck speed. And excited by his rapid rise, Yeom Geumja ignored my warnings and overreached.
“So, for our big sister’s sake... please take care of us. Really... this is the first time I’ve seen anything like that... We can swagger against weak opponents, we’re just dumb thugs. We can’t face a monster like that.”
Ryu Jaegun trembled with hunched shoulders. It was a bit annoying... but I couldn’t just ignore what he said.
“Understood.”
The magic circle was roughly ready.
Yeom Geumja should be preparing too, right?
“Creak, creak! Creak, creak!”
“Creak, creak! Creak, creak!”
Sounds too grotesque to come from human mouths. But regrettably, they were people.
Knowing the situation, I tried to ignore them... but then—
“Uh, uh! Let me go! Wait a second!”
“Ugh.”
That was Jang Hyundeok’s voice. I raised my head and looked toward the sound.
“I saw it. I saw it! I swear I saw it! Staggering, stumbling, teetering, walking over—its head exploded! Its head exploded! Horrible monsters, worms or tadpoles, poured out everywhere! They screamed that creepy ‘creak, creak’ sound and burrowed into the body of the guy in front of me!”
Bloodshot eyes, drool at his mouth, fingers trembling like claws.
What they’d experienced before I arrived wasn’t an ordinary fight. It was an assault by monsters that destroyed cognition and induced madness.
Those unable to withstand the shock had gone insane. They grabbed Jang Hyundeok and babbled madly.
“With a shhh—shhh—grrr—grrr it moaned! It vomited a bucket of blood! A whole bucket of blood! Then staggering, stumbling, teetering, it shouted, ‘I have opened my eyes! I have opened my eyes! I can see the [Fear Eater]! I can see the [Fear Eater]!’ three times! There! There! Over there!”
They pointed at the long-abandoned gray ruins, shouting.
“There! Into that pit gaping like a black maw it went! I saw it! I heard it! Don’t you hear it too? That creak, creak sound! Creak, creak!”
“Creak, creak! Creak, creak!”
“Creak, creak! Creak, creak!”
The fanatics swarmed around, screaming “creak, creak” blindly.
“Destructor! You saw it, right? What these trash saw to go crazy like this. You know what I mean?”
Yeom Geumja’s shout.
“I know.”
“Thirty people were dragged off by those worms! What the hell are those worm bastards? And how the hell does Jeokdu control things like this?”
“It’s not Jeokdu’s doing.”
“It isn’t?”
“It was summoned by Jeokdu’s cultists under contract.”
“Damn, so they’re monsters? Fuck, this sucks. You said something about risk on the phone earlier, right? You knew something like this could happen and still sent me into this death trap?”
I knew this could happen, and I was the one who sent Yeom Geumja here, but one crucial detail was missing.
“But you didn’t ask me to bring so many people inside the apartment complex. Right?”
“Ugh—ugh, that’s...”
What I’d requested was to seal off the entrance of the complex. It was more of a recon operation, not something for 300 people.
“I know what you were thinking. When you heard this was one of Jeokdu’s strongholds, you planned to subdue and secure it outright, right?”
Excited by past successes, Yeom Geumja had led his forces deep inside and fought Jeokdu’s operatives.
‘They probably shed a lot of blood. I told them not to fight here.’
And because of that, the start condition for the prepared event here had been met.
“Fuck... But... if you’d told me from the start that such monsters would appear, I wouldn’t have done it.”
Yeom Geumja answered with a shrunken expression.
“That’s true. I admit that was my mistake.”
This event had a low activation probability. That’s why I hadn’t issued a clear warning here like I would elsewhere.
“Oh...? Really?”
Yeom Geumja gave an awkward look and watched me closely.
Yes, when I took his call I was unnaturally irritated, so I might have said too much.
“Yes. That’s why I came—to handle this problem. And I’ll rescue those dragged off.”
“Rescue, you say? You can rescue them? I saw those worm bastards burrow into those guys’ bodies. How can you save them?”
“I can save them. Treatment will take some time, but I know a doctor... he should be able to treat them.”
Those dragged off by the worms—or rather, the monsters—weren’t exactly innocent.
And anyway, they went into organized crime in Paju knowing they’d get hurt, beaten, or die.
“Ha, damn. Can’t even curse freely. If you really can do that... Destructor, fine... it was my fault. So, save my guys. Among those dragged off are idiots I’ve known since the beginning.”
[Quest Complete!]
But I wasn’t doing it for them; I was doing it simply because I could.
“All right.”
I immediately moved a bit and checked the items Yeom Geumja had prepared.
He hadn’t asked for anything extravagant.
Just twenty metal harpoons and twenty “toy guns”—no, “magic crystal guns.”
“Hmm. This should be sufficient.”
We were facing worm monsters, but they weren’t driven purely by instinct.
Like the amphibious humans of Sangbulsa, these had leaders, commanders, and even ones granted special power by the [Fear Eater].
We had to eliminate those first.
“Mage, what are you planning?”
“I’m going to do something similar to what you saw earlier.”
I shoved a roughly fifty-centimeter metal harpoon into the barrel of a magic crystal gun and activated the spell.
[Mana Infusion: Piercing]
A stream of mana shot out from my body at incredible speed, wrapping around the gun and harpoon.
Crrr-ck-
The mana lines took root on the barrel and shaft, forming a complex magical circuit.
This spell breathes mana into a mundane tool, temporarily granting it artifact-level power.
[Mana Overload]
Through the rooted mana lines, I overactivated the magic crystals attached to the gun.
Whiiirr-rrr—
The crystals in the barrel emitted the mana within them, creating an absurd racket.
“And then...”
[Power Boost]
[Hardness Enhancement]
[Defense Pierce]
[Range Increase]
[Critical Rate Boost]
[Explosive Impact]
[Weak Point Strike]
Kkkrrrkkk!!
Not only the crystals, but the gun and the harpoon lodged in the barrel shook as if they were about to explode.
“What... what is that?”
“Is it going to blow?”
Murmurs stirred around me. Ah, I should have given a warning. But it was too late.
“Goddamn... this monster of a tool.”
Yeom Geumja could handle some mana himself. Seeing the amount I was channeling, he stepped back in shock.
“Miss, could you tell me the time?”
“What? It’s 9:25.”
“Then that’s perfect.”
[Protection Field]
[Invisible Hand]
[Impact Nullification]
I raised the gun and aimed slightly upward at the exposed apartment complex—almost at a diagonal—and fired.
Kwoooom!
The harpoon tore through air with a rending explosive crack, pierced the apartment wall, then the ceiling—back through a wall, ceiling, wall, ceiling—repeating until—
On the seventh floor of the unfinished building, I obliterated the [ཆོས་ལུགས་གཙོ་འཛིན།], the worms’ so-called high priest.
“Uchachacha...”
Good thing I was holding it with telekinesis instead of my hand. The shot was perfect, but the gun itself was destroyed by the sheer force.
“Ahhhh! Mage, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I feel like I keep asking you this all day, but what did you actually do this time?”
“What else? I told you I’d do something similar to earlier. It was a snipe.”
“Snipe? You shot through a wall? You killed someone?”
Yeom Geumja asked again.
“A medium with clairvoyant traits—ah, I’m busy, questions later!”
At that moment,
A horrific noise erupted from all around the complex.
Creak, creak! Creak, creak! Creak, creak! Creak, creak! Creak, creak! Creak, creak! Creak, creak! Creak, creak! Creak, creak! Creak, creak! Creak, creak! Creak, creak! Creak, creak! Creak, creak! Creak, creak! Creak, creak! Creak, creak!
This time it wasn’t a human sound. It was the deafening clamoring of hundreds of monsters.
“All right, they’re coming.”
I spread all ten fingers and generated nineteen strands of mana simultaneously.
Shharararararack!
[Invisible Hand]
[Spell Boost: Multi-Cast]
“This time, it’s all at once.”
The mana, converted into telekinesis, began manipulating nineteen harpoons and nineteen magic crystal guns at once.
