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#Episode 48. Anyang Station: Underground Shopping Mall (1)
The two of them went down the dark stairs from the rooftop, shining their flashlights down the stairs.
Jaehee, who was following Zion, asked quietly.
Her voice echoed down the stairs.
“Choi Myeong-jun, what are you planning to do?”
Squeak-.
Zion remained silent until he reached the first floor, then opened the stairwell door and answered.
“It’s not a discarded card. It’s being trained.”
“Training?”
“huh.”
Zion carefully observed the situation outside the building.
There was nothing outside.
The entrance to the building was blocked by snow.
The first and second floors were covered in snow and were dark without even moonlight.
All I could do was rely on the light of a flashlight.
But soon, Zion, who was faced with a wall of snow, turned off the flashlight, thinking of Nepenthes.
Now it was completely dark.
They had to adapt to the darkness and rely on their senses.
Zion memorized the distance from the window to the entrance of the 6th underground passage.
He carefully opened the window and began to dig his eyes.
It was only five steps from the window to the entrance of the subway.
“Do you think training him will actually work? In my opinion, Choi Myung-jun, that bastard, was just… … selfish and did whatever he wanted.”
Jaehee, who was looking at Zion from behind, asked with a worried tone.
Thud-thud-.
When Zion dug into a part of the ground, the wall of snow collapsed.
Zion looked into the fallen snow.
It was wide enough that I could walk while bending over.
Zion went in and answered.
“I know. He’s a tough guy to deal with.”
“Then? Just leave it as is?”
Jaehee also followed him and dug out his eyes from the side.
They walked a few steps through the snow wall and soon reached the entrance to the underpass.
The entrance to the underpass was covered with a roof, so there was no snow on the stairs leading down.
It was just dark.
Zion exhaled sharply and shined his flashlight down the stairs of the underground passage.
Now that we were out of Nepenthes’ habitat, I turned the flashlight back on.
Frozen human corpses were strewn all over the stairs, and the glass door at the entrance was shattered and broken.
Several corpses were visible inside as well.
Zion said, shining a flashlight on the corpses.
“No. I’ll trample on you so you won’t ever do it again. I expected that. Just because Choi Myung-jun let you out of the detention center, you won’t obey me right away. That’s why I’ve always brought you along, even though you’re useless. Both I and Choi Myung-jun needed a chance.”
“ah…….”
“If you dare attack me like this, I’ll just throw you away. Let you freeze to death in the detention center. But that won’t happen, right?”
The two slowly walked down the subway stairs.
I felt like I was walking into the jaws of a giant beast.
“Choi Myung-jun has a reason to survive. Just like me. No matter how much he begs, he has a reason to survive. That’s why he’ll eventually submit to me. I’m the only one who can save him. Time will tell. He’ll bow to me on his own. I guarantee it.”
Zion came down the stairs and turned the corner.
Something kept getting caught under Zion’s feet.
When I looked down at my feet, I saw piles of frozen corpses.
Zion illuminated the long underground shopping mall corridor with his flashlight.
And when faced with it, Zion couldn’t help but frown.
“I think this is the right place.”
“… … Yeah. That’s right. That’s how ogres store food.”
Jaehee also came next to him and looked at it.
At first I thought it was a huge wall.
But it was a pile of frozen corpses, stacked one on top of the other.
The piles of corpses were piled up so high that they felt like a wall.
Ilbeonga underground shopping mall.
I wondered where the ogres, who spent all day collecting corpses, stored all those corpses.
Now that mystery has been solved.
This was the ogre’s food storage warehouse.
* * *
‘It’s terrible.’
I walked slowly towards the pile of corpses.
The frozen human expression was truly eerie.
When I shined the flashlight on the pale, hardened, blue human face, I felt a queasy feeling rise up in my stomach.
There may be some who couldn’t come out of the underground shopping mall, but most of them will be food items that the ogres have collected one by one.
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Humans, who were the masters of the Earth, have become food for beasts.
From afar, the ogre’s loud snoring could be heard.
And almost simultaneously with the snoring, a notification window popped up before my eyes.
[Dungeon: Ogre’s Food Warehouse]
A notification window appeared in front of me, then quickly faded and disappeared.
“Dungeon?”
“There are hidden quests all over the city. Do you remember the artifact?”
“Oh, this? Open.”
I immediately summoned the ball at her words.
Boohoo-.
When the ball was summoned again, Jin Jae-hee opened her eyes and looked at it, then answered.
“Right. That’s it.”
Implementing the artifact seemed difficult for her, but for some reason it wasn’t difficult for me.
Jin Jae-hee said that this was a natural talent, but honestly, I don’t know yet if this will be of any help in battle.
If you try, it’ll only be a small sphere.
It wasn’t sharp or explosive.
“While you were rushing to work on the boiler, I also checked something inside.”
“What is it?”
Jin Jae-hee started looking for a way out in a different direction ahead of me.
“Player who unlocked the artifact.”
“Was it there?”
“No. Fortunately, there wasn’t any.”
fortunately?
I looked at her, questioning the word.
Jin Jae-hee discovered a small gap leading to the opposite hallway.
Even if it was a small gap, it was only a small gap in a pile of frozen corpses.
“Artifacts are abilities given to selected players. That’s how special they are. Even in my previous life, I couldn’t know the exact number of those chosen, but roughly speaking, it was one in ten thousand.”
Jin Jae-hee was the first to squeeze his body into the gap.
I followed her and squeezed my body into the gap.
I was staring right in front of the pale, frozen face of a corpse.
I tried my best not to look at it.
The small gap didn’t last long.
Soon, I was able to emerge from the pile of corpses again and face the wide hallway of an underground shopping mall.
The bastard’s snoring continued to be heard from nearby.
“Then does that mean the number of selected players is small? When the second round begins, the surviving population of South Korea will be less than 5 million at best. If we calculate based on that number, there are currently about 500 surviving players?”
“I wish that were true, but no.”
Jin Jae-hee, who was walking ahead, turned his head slightly and met my gaze.
“The selected players will be chosen as soon as the first round begins. That is, about 5,500 people.”
“… … .”
“And most of the players who are chosen will make it through the first round unless they are really unlucky. Because they all got chosen.”
We still walked through the dark underground shopping mall.
In the direction where the bastard’s snoring is heard.
“Anyway, there will be more than you think. And this dungeon. It’s where the materials for strengthening artifacts are hidden. It’ll be different from the crocodile turtles we saw last time. Field monsters and dungeon monsters are clearly different.”
The conclusion was that in order to strengthen artifacts, you have to clear many dungeons.
To put it simply, achievement points are necessary for the monarch, and dungeon raiding is necessary for the player.
And the key to conquering dungeons was killing monsters.
The snoring was loud.
Jin Jae-hee stopped walking and held out his hand.
It was a signal to stop.
And then I looked over her shoulder at the grotesque sight of the thing.
-Drrrrrr! Kuuung. Drrrrrr! Kuuung.
The bastard’s huge belly moved up and down.
The surrounding area was filled with human bones that looked like sucked-off chicken bones.
This is the central hall of the underground shopping mall.
Four ogres were lying asleep.
Jin Jae-hee, who was looking at it, turned towards me and said.
“It’s not like I’m going to kill them right now. But since your plan comes first, decide. Should I kill them now? Or later?”
I looked at her once, then at the ogre again.
The grotesque breathing of the monster was terrifying just to hear.
But the goal is to capture, to capture.
I said, taking out a piece of paper and a pen from my bosom.
“Later.”
I’m going to capture those monsters.
Not killing.
Jin Jae-hee nodded immediately at my words.
Agak.
After saying that, he put a flashlight in his mouth.
Then he spat out the flashlight again and asked Jin Jae-hee.
“Will they even react to the light of a flashlight?”
“No, the only thing he reacts to is sunlight. Don’t worry.”
“okay.”
Agak.
I asked for the flashlight again.
I started writing down my observations on paper.
Their detailed appearance, gestures, and even behavior.
I wrote about ogres thoroughly and persistently, making sure nothing was left out.
At that moment, Jin Jae-hee suddenly came out from the corner and started approaching the ogre.
I just looked at her in surprise.
Flick.
She first climbed onto the ogre’s forearm, then onto his chest.
And then he looked back at me from above.
Her voice rang out.
“Isn’t it better to look closely than to hide and watch?”
“… … .”
I silently put the pen and paper I was holding into my inner pocket.
“okay.”
That was right.
According to her words and observations, ogres do not move unless sunlight enters them.
Like a stone statue.
I ran up to the ogre in one breath and tried to climb up while struggling.
But the bastard’s forearms were slippery and taller than I thought.
When I was struggling and struggling to get up, Jin Jae-hee came back down.
Then he came up to me sideways and put his hand behind my back.
Jin Jae-hee asked me without immediately grabbing my back.
“are you okay?”
“huh.”
Jin Jae-hee put his hand under my armpit and hugged me only after asking for my consent.
She jumped onto the ogre’s body in one breath, holding me in her arms.
And then Jin Jae-hee immediately took his hand away from me.
I tried to keep my balance by spreading my arms out like a tightrope walker.
Because the ogre’s skin was more slippery than expected, like ice.
“Phew-.”
Jin Jae-hee calmly took out a cigarette and lit it.
I was on top of the monster’s chest.
Due to the ogre’s breathing, its body moved up and down steadily.
When I looked closely, it was truly bizarre.
Is this what it would feel like if ants climbed onto a human body?
Anyway, it wasn’t a very good experience.
It smelled like cigarette smoke, along with the rotten stench of the ogre.
“Observe the eyes first. That’s the bastard’s biggest weakness.”
Jin Jae-hee exhaled cigarette smoke and pointed at the bastard’s eyes with his other hand.
I turned my gaze in the direction she was pointing.
Then he slowly came down from the chest and placed his foot on the neck.
The skin on the neck was weaker than I thought.
And I could get past the hill-like Adam’s apple and up to the chin.
Looking at the chin, it didn’t seem like it would be easy to climb up.
Then, before I knew it, Jin Jae-hee was approaching me again.
“are you okay?”
“You don’t have to ask next time.”
“huh.”
Jin Jae-hee hugged me again and lifted me up onto his chin.
Even though Jin Jae-hee used all his strength, I was the one who was left breathless.
The rotten flesh passed between my vibrating lips, up my philtrum and into my nose.
The ogre was about the size of a five-story building, and its eyes were so large that each pupil took up half of its head.
I put the flashlight down again and took out my notebook.
Every time I exhaled, a puff of breath escaped my lips.
Minus 20 degrees.
Even though I had placed the hot packs Jin Jae-hee had given me on every corner of my body, I was still cold.
Still, I had to do what I had to do.
“Until 3 a.m.”
“huh.”
I took a breath and started writing again.
The observation continued for hours.
I didn’t forget to mark it with a picture.
I also examined the muscles around the bastard’s eyes by tapping them with my fingers.
I went down to his lips and tried to spread them apart, but it wouldn’t budge.
I also checked the inside of the nostrils of the flat-nosed creature, which looked like a pig’s nose, by shining a flashlight into them.
The nostrils were wide enough for a crawler to fit through.
And although I felt bad, the bastard’s breath was warm and stink-smelling, but I wanted to breathe it into my nostrils and rest.
“It’s as tough as a rhinoceros skin. No, it’s even tougher than that.”
I took out a military dagger from my bosom and stabbed it into the skin of my nose.
Sigh.
It does go in, but only about 1 or 2 cm at most.
It went in so thinly that no blood came out.
If I had skin like this, I thought I would be fine even if I got hit by a shell.
I turned my head and looked at Jin Jae-hee.
She was sitting on the edge of the ogre’s jaw, smoking a cigarette.
I turned my head again and pulled out the dagger.
‘… … There were no particular results.’
There have been no notable results yet.
I had to find something suitable to capture the bastard.
‘You said your eyes were your weak point.’
I thought of Jin Jae-hee’s words.
Ogres were said to have only one eye as their weak point, so it was necessary to examine the eye closely.
I approached slowly, examining the muscles around his eyes that were trembling slightly.
It was incredibly weird.
I squatted down and shined the flashlight on the muscles around my eyes.
“… … .”
It was strange.
While the skin tissue in other areas has been shaped like regular hexagons, the skin tissue around the eyes is different.
It was rough and there was no sign of organization.
It was a material that looked like a curtain.
‘You look weak.’
It’s a weakness, so it’s obvious, but it seemed weaker than expected.
He held a dagger.
Ogres cannot move without sunlight, so they won’t move even with this level of injury.
That’s what I thought.
Phew-! Gulp.
When I stuck the dagger into the skin around my eye, blood came out thickly, unlike the other skin.
I touched the blood with my hands.
It was warm, pungent, and sticky.
At that moment, the electronic clock rang.
Tick, tick, tick.
It was the signal for 3 o’clock in the morning.
It was time to go now.
When the sun rises, the ogre will move again.
“… … .”
I raised my head to call Jin Jae-hee without thinking.
But at that moment, my heart sank.
Boohoo-!
Just then, something huge flew towards me from the immediate left of my field of vision.
It was the bastard’s huge palm.
It was so big that the sound of it cutting through the wind was dull.
At that moment, I felt like time was passing slowly.
‘Dying… … ?’
As soon as I saw the bastard’s palm, that word came to mind first, and the palm immediately flew towards me.
Toouk-.
But Jin Jae-hee came first.
Jin Jae-hee pushed me away from the ogre’s head, and the giant palm struck her body straight away.
Like a human palm swatting away a mosquito while sleeping.
Taaak-!!!!!!!!!!
(Continued in the next episode)