Chapter 119: First Round (3)
“Manager!”
“What?”
“There’s an emergency.”
Park Ju-Jin leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Elder Lord’s system was thoroughly managed by Albino, the core system, which was so advanced it didn’t even require human support and rarely encountered emergency situations. So when the researchers came running to him in panic, he knew there could be only one reason.
“Is the system locked again?” asked Park Ju-Jin.
“Ohh...that’s correct.”
“Ohh?” Park Ju-Jin furrowed his eyebrows. “Ohh?”
The researcher smiled. “Well, you should just accept the situation since we can’t do anything about it.”
“You dumbass...when I hear the kind of nonsense you spout, I can’t help but get frustrated.”
Park Ju-Jin picked up a pile of documents and stood up from his chair. He then spun around and punched his subordinate’s side. He was imitating a goal celebration ceremony of a soccer player.
“Ah, Manager!”
“Ohh?!” Park Ju-Jin swung the pile of documents at the researcher, who ran away.
‘How far is the manager’s hysteria progressing? Is this not an instance of workplace violence?’ wondered the researcher.
But when Park Ju-Jin beckoned him, his body betrayed his mind, and he found himself obediently returning to Park Ju-Jin’s side. It was the instinct of one who conformed to the system.
“Do you know what you need to do when the system is locked?” asked Park Ju-Jin.
“No...?”
“Get the fuck out and monitor the system!”
“We did, but it was useless.”
“Shut up and just do it! I think it’s because of that guy Choi Han-Sung or something. He’s popular these days. Check him first and search through the famous clans!”
“But Manager, there’s nothing we can do even if we find out who. We can’t sue him for his assimilation rate...”
“What do you mean there’s nothing we can do?” shouted Park Ju-Jin as he raised the pile of documents.
The researcher backed away. Park Ju-Jin furrowed his eyebrows as he estimated the throwing range and dropped the documents back on his desk. “You don’t know?”
“Yes.”
“You really don’t know?”
“I’m not...”
“Fine. Think about what we can do once we find them and submit a report.”
“What?”
“Think about it and submit a report! By tomorrow!” yelled Park Ju-Jin.
“Ah...uh...yes.”
The researcher trudged out the door. Park Ju-Jin crossed his arms as he watched the researcher leave. In truth, he wasn’t sure what to do either once they found the mysterious player who had exceeded a ninety percent assimilation rate.
Even if they found him, Park Ju-Jin had no idea how to deal with the situation.
But he thought there could be a clue in the error message, ‘The system is temporarily inaccessible because a player has exceeded a ninety percent assimilation rate.’
There could be a clue to approaching the core system Albino that was currently beyond reach.
“There’s something to it...something...” muttered Park Ju-Jin as he shook off the image of Yoo Jae-Han’s face that circled in his head.
***
Shireuga opened his eyes wide. He had experienced a series of unbelievable events back to back.
With a sudden explosion of energy, Crockta had dealt with the chieftain and the Great Warriors.
When he came to his senses, the chieftain tried to subdue Crockta, but the dark elves regained their morale with Crockta’s exceptional performance and began to push back again.
Shireuga had to do something.
“What are you looking at, orc?” said the dual sword wielder as he approached Shireuga after defeating all of the Great Warriors in his way.
The swordsman was in a wretched state and limping, but he paid no heed to his battered body and raised his dual swords with a fervor that seemed to be infected by Crockta’s indomitable fighting spirit.
“I will kill you,” declared Driden.
Shireuga grew afraid of the dark elf even though he looked like he would collapse any minute.
The gnome on the wyvern also recovered his strength and began to sing a weird song as he fired his artifact. “We are~! Men Who Protect! Beautiful~Juolaideh! With Vigor!”
During decisive moments, Tiyo’s magic bullets would intervene and cause the Great Warriors to lose. Shireuga looked up at the sky to watch the gnome when the dark elf came swinging his dual swords at him.
“Don’t look elsewhere!” he shouted.
The dual-sword wielder displayed versatile skill with unpredictable movements, but he lacked power because he was out of energy. Shireuga fended off the attack, flinging the dark elf backward.
The dark elf panted on the ground as he tried to catch his breath. He was clearly exhausted.
Shireuga knew this was his chance to charge, but for some reason, he didn’t feel like he could win against the dark elf. If he attacked right now, he felt as if his throat would be pierced by the dark elf’s blades.
As if to prove his point, the dark elf was fiercely glaring at him with his hands tightly gripping his swords as he sat on the ground.
But the dark elf wasn’t the only thing he needed to pay attention to.
“...Ah!”
An arrow came flying at him, prompting Shireuga to swiftly swing his axe and deflect the projectile.
The soldiers of Juolaideh had recovered their fighting spirit and were now initiating guerilla warfare. Those without arrows engaged in close combat, brandishing their rapiers.
The chance of dark elves winning against the Great Warriors in close combat was extremely low, but the dark elves still raised their weapons. Everyone was risking their lives to buy some time so the civilians could evacuate.
Shireuga couldn’t bring himself to swing his axe in the face of such desperate resistance.
“Honor...” he muttered. He had chased after it at one point, but now that word felt distant to him.
A Great Warrior approached him with more news. “Shireuga!”
“What is it this time?”
“It’s an emergency,” announced the warrior urgently. “An army from Mount Luclan is heading here!”
“...!”
“Orcheim, Dejame, and Altanas’ coalition forces are marching toward here. They are already very close to Juolaideh.”
“What about the troops guarding the mountain?” asked Shireuga.
“They lost and retreated.”
Shireuga nodded, realizing what was happening. Everything was heading in an unfavorable direction. They had to retreat now.
Although they had been unable to capture Juolaideh, they had managed to inflict huge damage and decimate most of their military forces. The chieftain’s primary goal was to destroy the World Tree, the dark elves’ sacred relic, anyway. All of their battles were just stepping stones toward seizing hold of Spinora.
Shireuga approached Calmahart, “Chieftain.”
Calmahart didn’t respond.
“An army is descending from Mount Luclan. The civilians have already evacuated Juolaideh. We have gained enough of an advantage, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to retreat...” began Shireuga, but he was unable to finish.
Calmahart looked down at him. His eyes were completely crimson. Murderous intent gushed out in strands from his body. There was a red sign on his forehead. It was a bizarrely twisted and inverted cross.
Calmahart swung his axe at Shireuga.
“Ahhhhhh!” Shireuga blocked it by reflex, but the attack sent him flying into the air. His body trembled as it gushed blood. It was as if his intestines had been damaged from that single blow. “Ugh...! Chieftain...?”
The chieftain began swinging his weapon in a craze. His body was swallowed up in red energy so dark it was visible to the eye. He was the epitome of a killer consumed by madness as he attacked his own warriors.
The Great Warriors around him collapsed from the force of his blows. A few lost their heads. Even the orcs were trembling in fear.
“Ch-chieftain!”
“Ahhhhhhhh!”
Then, the chieftain’s bloodthirsty eyes turned toward Crockta as he roared. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
The earth shook as Calmahrt’s body swelled and expanded. The chieftain was no longer an orc. He was a monster.
***
“Are you okay?” asked Tiyo.
“No...” replied Crockta.
Lying in bed, Crockta was now in a hospital in Juolaideh, moaning and groaning in pain.
Tiyo gleefully slapped Crockta’s thighs with a smirk on his face. “The chieftain did a number on you. Hehehehe. This is a rare sight.”
Anor agreed. “Crockta isn’t invincible after all. Hehehehehe.”
“...”
‘Since they only negatively affect each other, wouldn’t it be best to separate them?’ thought Crockta as he watched Tiyo and Anor laugh obnoxiously.
“Anyway, what a relief. We bought some time,” said Anor.
In the end, the chiefdom’s army retreated from Juolaideh. After the chieftain turned into a horrendous monster, he began attacking his own army and then approached Crockta.
Even Crockta, who had always been brave, was frightened by the chieftain’s terrifying transformation.
The red energy that emerged from all over his body smelled like blood. Crockta thought he could really die this time. He even started reminding himself that he was a player and couldn’t really die in this world—something he usually didn’t think about.
That’s when the chiefdom’s sorcerer suddenly appeared. He was wearing a hood to cover his face, but the atmosphere completely shifted as soon as he appeared. Crockta felt a powerful wave of magic that he had only felt from Tashaquil before.
Once the sorcerer chanted a spell, Calmahart’s red energy began to gradually subside.
The chieftain came to his senses as the red energy dissipated, but he still looked at Crockta viciously.
His lips twitched as he spat out, “We will see each other again. Trash orc from the continent.”
Then, he ordered his warriors to stop fighting.
The sorcerer said something to the chieftain, and he nodded slowly in response. The chieftain appeared to be in poor shape as a side effect of the frenzied state. He was limping slightly.
The sorcerer chanted a healing spell, and a faint light surrounded the chieftain.
Subsequently, the chieftain and all of his Great Warriors swiftly withdrew from Juolaideh. With the skills of an elite force, they disappeared in no time.
When the reinforcement from Mount Luclan arrived, the Great Warriors were already gone. According to the information they received later, the chiefdom's main army was rallying support between Nameragon and Spinora.
“Rest first and focus on your treatment. Boro is even faster now,” said Anor with concern.
He wasn’t joking anymore. Since they now had Boro as a means of transportation, they planned to rest first and then resume their travels after Crockta got better.
Suddenly, someone barged into the room.
“Hahaha! Nice to see you again!”
Crockta saw an unexpected, welcome face. It was Kaburak!
He still spoke in his usual breathy tone because he was missing a few teeth, but he was energetic as always. He came up to Crockta’s bed and heartily slapped his shoulder.
“Ack! Not there!” yelped Crockta.
“Oops! Hahaha!” laughed Kaburak.
It wasn’t just Kaburak. Even Yona, the gnome beauty who had an odd chemistry with Tiyo, was there.
“Crockta, are you okay? I heard about what happened. I heard that, as always, you were impressive,” she said.
“Thank you, I’m okay...”
But before Crockta could even finish his sentence, Yona locked eyes with Tiyo, and then the two disappeared from the infirmary.
They were eager to engage in the long-awaited conversation that had eluded them until this moment.
Crockta was filled with sorrow. “...”
He tried to put his sadness aside and ask Kaburak about the things he had been curious about. Crockta had a lot of questions about the sorcerer, who seemed to be controlling the chieftain.
“Kaburak, I saw someone strange while fighting against the chieftain.”
“By someone strange, you mean...?”
“The sorcerer of the chiefdom.”
“The sorcerer...”
Crockta told Kaburak everything he knew—how the chieftain grew stronger through unknown powers, that the symbol on his forehead resembled Zelkyan’s, and how the sorcerer seemed to be controlling everything behind the scenes.
Kaburak’s mischievous face grew serious.
“Oh my...! No way...!” Kaburak stood up with a shocked face. He sighed as he looked at the sky out the window. “How could this be...?”
Crockta’s face turned serious. “Do you know something?”
Kaburak slowly turned his head away from the window and looked at Crockta with worried eyes. “That is...!”
“That is...?”
Kaburak swallowed and said, “I don’t know either.”
“Wh-what...?”
“Hahaha! I don’t know! Haha!”
“...” Crockta gave up and collapsed onto the bed.
“Don’t wake me up,” he said as he pulled the sheets up to his head.
Kaburak laughed out loud. “Hahahaha! Are you mad at me?”
“...”
“You are! Hahaha! Warrior Crockta is sulking!”
“Shut up. I’m going to sleep.”
“Hahaha!”
Crockta was filled with sorrow again as he heard Kaburak’s laughter. Where were those genuinely concerned about the future of the North?
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