The next day. Broad daylight, with the sun high in the sky.
“......What is that?”
Ghost noticed “it” first. It was hundreds of meters away. Something was writhing on a half-destroyed four-story commercial building.
It looked like shadows clumped together. An endlessly black stain was squirming. It was large enough to completely cover an entire floor.
“Is it some kind of mutant?”
“All monsters are mutants. Still, the form of the creature they originated from usually remains....”
“A creature? That thing?”
Pavl and Leila exchanged lines from the game. Kim Yi-hyeon also stared in that direction.
A familiar scene. Tense background music played in his head.
‘Has it started?’
The opening of 0-4 Stage.
If the preceding battles had been meant to confirm the Professor’s command ability, this one had a completely different purpose.
It was so-called buildup.
The one and only stepping stone leading to the boss stage. Here, the group became aware that an unidentified enemy existed.
‘Seeing it in person is kind of scary.’
Shadower.
The so-called “Shaeboong” was not an enemy they could deal with at this stage. To put it in game terms, their equipment, levels, and operative lineup were all poor.
‘When he appears again later, he gets even more brutal.’
Threatening normal attacks. A special attack with insane power and range. On top of that, extremely high physical resistance.
‘Even so, he’s still Shaeboong.’
If you formed a team with certain operatives, he could be cleared without much difficulty. To veteran players, he was even treated like a punching bag.
‘Though that isn’t even his main body......’
A moment later.
From within the shadow encroaching upon the building, dozens of large eyes appeared. The eyeballs moved in different directions, as if each had its own will.
It was quite a grotesque sight.
‘Thank God it’s far away. If I’d seen that right in front of me, I would’ve passed out.’
He heard people drawing in sharp breaths from the front and back. It seemed Leila’s group, who were residents of Polaris, found it just as ominous.
“Let’s change our route. I don’t know what that is, but... I don’t think anything good will come from approaching it. We will have to make a slight detour. Is that all right with you?”
“......”
“Mr. Hyeon? Are you listening?”
“Ah, me?”
Since they were lines exactly as he remembered, he had half let them pass through his ears. Until yesterday, every single line had made his heart stir, but had he already gotten used to it?
This would not do. He needed to keep a firm grip on his mind.
“Do whatever’s convenient. I have to follow you anyway, don’t I? If I want to go to that Selv, whatever it was.”
“...Selvlogics Lab. Do you really intend to come?”
“You’ve been nitpicking me nonstop since yesterday.”
Mine slave Pavl. He was a character Kim Yi-hyeon had no particular thoughts about. Since he had no personal affection for him, and Pavl kept talking as if picking fights, it was starting to get on his nerves.
‘Still, he is the most normal one.’
Leila and Ghost were simply far too good-natured. Even in his own opinion, the vagrant named “Kim Yi-hyeon” was extremely flimsy and suspicious.
“I’m not saying I’ll definitely join. I just want to get a taste of what kind of place it is.”
“I’m sure you’ll like it.”
He was about to say, “I’ll know once I go,” but stopped. Seeing Leila’s smiling face made it strangely difficult to respond harshly.
It felt like he was bullying a child much younger than him.
“Then let’s first return the way we came.”
Following Ghost’s words, they drew back.
But there was no way things would go as they pleased. The moment they discovered the shadow, the stage had already begun.
‘Was the setting that it detects gazes?’
That was not Shadower himself. It was a special ability drawn out through his Spell. A kind of radar.
And the four gathered in one place had looked at the shadow at the same time. At least one of those many eyes must have caught Leila’s group.
The information obtained by the shadow would be conveyed to Shadower.
They were in an alley where filthy water had pooled on the ground. It had not even been thirty minutes since they decided to take a detour.
“......Damn it. Are we surrounded?”
Once again, Ghost announced the situation first. Between his face mask, his eyes moved busily.
The rooftop of a two-story villa, the railing on the lower floor. He could feel presences outside the alley, and even at the corner of the road they had just passed through.
“Ash Wolves...?”
Mutant wolves with ash-gray fur and three eyes. To combatants, they were creatures so familiar they were sick of them. They could distinguish them by scent alone.
There were six of them. They were not threatening. However, there was one point they could not ignore.
Every Ash Wolf’s body was half painted over with black stains. An abnormal amount of saliva dripped from their mouths.
‘It starts now.’
Kim Yi-hyeon’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He had prepared the “strategy” last night. While trying his skill in various ways, he had even finished checking the conditions.
Even so, he could not help but feel tense. No matter how much Shadower was ignored as Shaeboong, he was still a strong figure in Polaris’s world.
If he made a mistake, he would die.
Not right now, though.
“...Get out of the alley. Ghost, Hyeon. Please.”
The order came from behind him. It was spoken by the Professor, still being carried on Pavl’s back.
For a moment, Kim Yi-hyeon was overcome by a strange feeling.
‘As expected, the player is still the player.’
It was not even something grand enough to call command. Still, the fact that someone who should be even more confused than Kim Yi-hyeon himself had given an order was surprising.
“Understood.”
Did Ghost have his own thoughts as well? His tone of reply sounded uplifted. After exchanging glances with Kim Yi-hyeon, he began running first.
Slither.
[Mubyeong Spear] was gripped in Kim Yi-hyeon’s hand. He crossed the alley while taking a stance that would let him thrust the spear.
In the middle of it, he was inwardly stunned.
‘Did he turn on 2x speed? How is a person that fast?’
The distance between them opened wide. Ghost, who had already covered more than half the path, cut down the two Ash Wolves before him. He carved their heads off with a single stroke.
His charge did not stop. When he swung the arm hidden by his sleeve, THWACK! A dagger lodged in the head of another one leaping down from a building.
Already three. Now half remained.
“Hyeon!”
An Ash Wolf dropped from the iron stairs as well, into the space that had formed between Kim Yi-hyeon and Ghost.
CRACK!
The spearhead drove into its black-stained head. Kim Yi-hyeon shook the spear shaft as if flinging it off.
When the spear was pulled free, the Ash Wolf tumbled and struck the wall.
‘No matter how I think about it, this is broken.’
The special ability of [Mubyeong Spear], increased normal attack damage. Because it was simple, it was effective.
‘It feels like a correction is applied to my muscle strength itself.’
It was only “when attacking,” and there was even a three-use limit, but... that had to be considered with the fact that it was 1-star.
In any case.
Once he became used to handling [Mubyeong Spear], he could deal with Ash Wolves without much difficulty. Kim Yi-hyeon, who had been an ordinary person until yesterday, could do that.
‘Sorry for grinding you down every time you showed up!’
Those heretics who maligned it by calling it [Mubyeong Dumbass Spear] were wrong. Damn fake gamers. They should all be thrown straight into the world of Polaris.
This time, he made up his mind. If he ever went back, he would absolutely max refine it.
THWACK!
Kim Yi-hyeon swung the spear shaft upward in an arc. One Ash Wolf that had leaped to pounce on him was struck and sent flying.
It was probably still breathing, but he did not care.
‘Leila will handle it.’
Including the one he had just struck, there were two Ash Wolves left in the alley. If she was an operative around 4-star, she could deal with them while protecting the Professor.
‘How many were left again?’
There were ten enemies that appeared in 0-4 Stage. Four had yet to show themselves. Kim Yi-hyeon felt the sensation of the spear shaft in his hands and left the alley.
A roadside covered in trash. The four had already been butchered.
“There do not seem to be any enemies left.”
Ghost pulled up the bridge of his mask. A moment ago, he had said damn it and all that. Now, he could not have looked calmer.
At that moment, a certain curiosity arose in Kim Yi-hyeon.
How to clear a stage in-game was up to the user. Because of that, it was not shown exactly how the battle played out.
Of course, there were parts described in detail. But at least in 0-4, it was glossed over vaguely.
In that case.
Assuming the developers had not skipped the battle. Even in the official development, would Ghost have acted this way?
“Ghost. I’m not complaining or anything, but could you not have moved a little more safely? I thought you’d deal with them one by one as you went.”
“Is there a need to do that?”
Ghost looked around. After confirming their safety once more, he began wiping his kukri. As it happened, the remaining three were also coming out of the alley.
“It was a situation where each of us only needed to do our part. This was my part. You are also someone capable of doing your part sufficiently.”
“......Ah, I see.”
“The things you can handle will quickly increase. Yesterday and today, that is what I felt. If we return safely to the Lab, there are many things I would like to teach you then.”
Indeed.
People who were about to die always planted flags.
‘No, he won’t die, though.’
***
Night arrived without fail.
After clearing 0-4 Stage, no battle occurred. They no longer saw monsters roaming the area without gathering in groups either.
Lukewarm peace. Rather than relief, Leila’s group felt a tension like the calm before the storm.
“What on earth... was that thing we saw during the day?”
Leila opened the conversation while looking out the window. Pavl and Ghost groaned almost simultaneously.
“I do not know. It felt ominous.”
“The Ash Wolves’ condition was strange too. They do have a habit of moving in groups, but climbing all the way up to rooftops to lie in ambush? No matter how I think about it, that doesn’t seem like behavior a monster would take.”
“And they were covered in that black stuff too. Considering the timing of when they appeared, isn’t it related to ‘that thing’ stuck to the commercial building?”
At Pavl’s opinion, Leila nodded. It was a conversation that had gone back and forth several times even before night fell.
“They were being controlled... Is that how we should see it?”
“It is not good to make conclusions. When we return to the Lab, we should share opinions with the researchers.”
“And of all times, the Professor is in that state.”
“Mr. Pavl.”
“...Mm.”
At her sharp glare, Pavl backed down.
The Professor was not there. Because she had fallen asleep almost as soon as they entered the house, they had laid her down in a room. It seemed being carried around the whole time had been difficult for her as well.
“What do you think, Mr. Hyeon? You’ve looked deep in thought for a while. Does anything come to mind?”
Had it shown on his face?
That made sense. Just imagining what would happen tomorrow was already enough to make cold sweat seep out.
Kim Yi-hyeon shrugged and answered casually.
“Well. It might be someone’s Spell.”
“What? Does that even make sense?”
A snort. Of course, it was Pavl.
“A Spell powerful enough to cover a building? I’ve never heard of or seen such a thing. Whatever ability it is, one hundred times out of one hundred, the Spell would go berserk. How could a person endure that much output?”
“She asked me. I answered. Why are you picking a fight?”
Haa. Leila let out a deep sigh.
“Mr. Pavl. Truly, please stop.”
“......Got it. I’m sorry.”
He scratched his head roughly and closed his mouth. Since Pavl’s eyes were already sharp to begin with, when he frowned, he looked exactly like a thug.
“I think, yes. I think there is a possibility.”
“That is not good news for us.”
“If we assume the worst, it becomes this. Someone with such a threatening Spell used Ash Wolves to attack us. It probably isn’t a coincidence that other monsters have stopped appearing either.”
Silence settled. It was literally the worst case.
There was no need to waste breath talking about Ghost’s skill, and Kim Yi-hyeon was improving rapidly, but that was where it ended. Pavl and Leila had to protect the Professor.
Until now, things had gone smoothly. But if the offensive grew fiercer, someone might be injured. Perhaps it might not end at the level of injury.
Just as the air in the living room became heavy,
“Ah, this is a little awkward to say in this atmosphere. Leila, what time is it?”
“It is 21:37. It has been a long time since I adjusted it, so it may be off by a few minutes, though.”
Leila checked her analog wristwatch. She was touching the worn leather strap when it happened.
“Then I’ll step out for a bit.”
A calm tone, as if he were tossing the words out while passing by.
“Yes. Please be careful on your way... Yes?”
Leila’s natural reply slipped right back into her mouth. A gaze like she was looking at a madman shot toward Kim Yi-hyeon.
Had he even heard the conversation just now? Had they not clearly discussed together how dangerous the situation was?
“What do you mean by that? Where are you suddenly going?”
Kim Yi-hyeon’s answer was simple.
“A walk.”
About 17 hours until 0-5 Stage began.
It was time to prepare to greet Shaeboong.