Chapter 271.
The Forest of Occupied Territory No. 32, Twisted and Shattered.
Scattering with all manner of debuffs, it was a scene of hell itself.
Crunch!
Snap!
In the third level of the fractured forest, a group of players was being torn apart by monsters.
Escaping from enemies over level 700 was impossible.
However, the bigger problem was the players' bizarre state.
“K-Kebmo! What are you doing…!”
“Where are we? Where is everyone?!”
“Everyone die!”
While being swarmed by monsters, the players were waging their own wars.
Those shocked by a comrade’s surprise attack.
Those groping in the air while looking around. Those screaming and
attacking everything around them.
It was a phenomenon created by debuffs such as confusion, hallucinations, and madness.
'What a mess.'
Hanbit, watching the horrific scene from close range, let out a short sigh at the sight that was exactly as he had expected.
It looked even more bizarre than when he had kept his distance.
—It’s fucking dizzying;
"-Is this right?
" "-Black Dragon, where are we?
" "-Save me…"
"-You're punishing the viewers, right?
" "-We're sorry. "
The viewers, too, could not escape the area effect cast upon the space.
They had to change their viewpoints to share Hanbit's vision, who was immune to debuffs.
However, it wasn't the right time yet.
"Please wait a moment. I'll turn it back on."
Hanbit, having turned off the screen and sound, looked around.
'They died so fast.'
Many players of the Adult Faction had already died, killed by monsters and colliding with one another. Even if left
alone, the chances of a total wipeout were high, but it was too wasteful to let that happen.
Just then, a message arrived.
Ding-
"Breaker"
"All members have escaped. We will proceed immediately to the assigned capture point."
The Alliance players had successfully escaped using the method instructed in advance.
Now, the only things truly remaining were the targets to be killed.
[Occupied Territory No. 32]
Owners: Hardliners
Occupation Points: 10
Area Effect: All Stats +10%, Damage +15%, Movement Speed +10%
'Good.'
The buff granted to the occupied territory was concise and useful.
Although he wasn't dealing with monsters this time, power was necessary even when facing people.
Ta-da!
Hanbit drew his sword and charged straight into the group of players.
He then began to easily sort through the panicked crowd.
Swish!
Slice!
Already amidst screams and chaos, they showed no particular new reaction.
From their perspective, it must have looked like a monster or a comrade charging at them.
Now, only the message announcing the result appeared.
Ding-
[Experience increased by 21,500,000.]
[Faction Points increased by 91.]
[Experience increased by 25,300,000.]
[Faction Points increased by 100.] [
Experience increased by 24,000,000.]
[Faction Points increased by 106.]
… … .
The continuously accumulating Experience and Faction Points showed no signs of stopping.
The amount of Experience was substantial, especially thanks to the overlapping Faction effects within the occupied territory.
Whoosh!
Having eliminated all visible players, Hanbit stepped onto the fragmented ground and moved upward.
The people below had been blown away by the rising earth.
And standing firm on the battlefield was a player who was slightly different from the others.
Snap!
Crash!
A man wielding an arcing white light like a whip.
It was Glitch, ranked 141st.
'The numbers don't lie.'
He was striking down everything around him amidst the chaos and confusion.
His stats were built up to match his high rank.
On top of that, he was able to endure thanks to a whip that seemed to embody the unique techniques of the Holy Kingdom.
Killing him, however, was difficult.
'The debuff… is it because of that?'
Glitch seemed to have been somewhat relieved from the debuff's effects.
The cause was the golden sphere glowing by his bedside.
It was an object he had never seen before, but it felt strangely odd.
"It is the power of a spirit. Unpleasantly."
Just then, a voice echoed in his head.
It was Ariel, who had been away for a moment.
'You're finally back.'
"Thanks to you, I have a lot to worry about. I do have something to say about the Goddess, but for now, take that away."
Ariel, who usually never showed emotion, now
directed hostility toward the sphere at Glitch's bedside.
"If you mean the power of spirits, are you referring to the kidnapped spirits?"
"It wasn't just the spirits of the sanctuary that disappeared. There are children residing throughout the world as well. What the wind witnessed was the loss of some light and darkness." This was
information Ariel had obtained through the sound of the wind.
Spirits of the higher rank and below were unique beings who were both one and the whole, yet they could also emerge independently, like Sylphs.
However, considering the special nature of the spirits of light and darkness, kidnapping them didn't make sense.
There was no way to find them other than through communion.
"I will bring them back."
The answer to that mystery, or the clue, lay with Glitch.
In this situation, the method of taking it was all too simple.
*Pow!
* *CRASH!*
"Ugh!"
Monsters surrounded Glitch in a circle, shooting strange waves. Their mouths,
gaping in a grotesque shape, were bizarre to behold.
No matter how well they held on, it was difficult to shake off the danger closing in.
Swoosh—
lowering his stance, Hanbit quietly closed the distance.
Thanks to Aerial's wind completely concealing his presence, there was no risk of being detected.
“Tsk.”
Glitch, surveying his surroundings, was glancing sideways at the fragmented terrain above.
It appeared to be a plan to lure the monster here and then escape.
*Pow!
* *CRASH!*
The monster had now reached its limit.
Glitch lowered his stance little by little, preparing to jump.
And the moment the nearest monster stomped its feet and approached.
*Thump!*
Glitch, who had been bent over, leaped high into the air. *
Whoosh!*
His body moved rapidly toward the terrain.
However, reaching it was impossible.
*Smack!*
Hanbit, who had reached it before him, stomped his foot on Glitch's shoulder.
“Ugh!”
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, he quickly reached out and grabbed the fragmented ground.
The man, completely taken aback, widened his eyes and looked up.
There, a Black Dragon stood nonchalantly on the ground, looking down.
“Black Dragon…!”
Glitch gritted his teeth and let out a voice of rage.
Kneeling, Hanbit silently reached out his hand.
*Thump!
* A golden sphere was suddenly caught in his hand.
Glitch frowned and said,
“It’s no use. That’s an item bound to me…?”
*Thump—*
Suddenly, his eyes widened as he continued speaking.
An item that clearly belonged to its owner had fallen into the Black Dragon’s hands.
“I’ll take this.”
“Wait… Ugh!”
Glitch, who had been flustered, began to have his vision begin to waver.
It was because he had been exposed to a debuff as the sphere vanished.
“You’re going to suffer.”
*Thump—
* Hanbit grinned and pried Glitch’s hand, which had been clinging desperately, off the ground.
“Black Dragon!”
A man fell, letting out a sound bordering on a scream.
Below, the area was filled with monsters with their mouths gaping vertically.
“Aaaargh!”
His distorted vision and twisted senses made him forget that he was inside a game.
What he was feeling right now was pure terror.
Crash!
Crunch!
Surrounded by monsters, Glitch was drawing near to death under a one-sided attack.
He probably didn't even know where or what kind of attack he was taking, or what state he was in.
“Ah, experience points.”
Suddenly struck by the thought, Hanbit looked down and assumed a sword-drawing stance.
And the moment Glitch’s neck was exposed between the monsters.
Whoosh!
He unleashed the Wind Sword, honed into the shape of a spear.
Thud!
The attack pierced precisely through the nape of the neck.
A message announcing the result popped up immediately.
Ding-
[Experience points increased by 101,500,000.]
[Faction points increased by 552.]
“That’s a lot.”
The reward for killing the 141st ranked player was quite substantial.
There were no particularly useful items left in the spot where Glitch’s body had turned to dust.
"Give me the sphere." "I'll check it out."
"Understood."
Whoosh—
as I nodded, a peculiar breeze enveloped the golden sphere on my palm.
Then, it quickly vanished into a small opening.
'Let's go.'
Turning his head, Hanbit pushed off once again and ran through the fragmented forest.
As the space was quite vast, searching the entire area for surviving players was no easy task.
However, Hanbit had a reliable partner by his side.
“Cheonho.”
Grrr—!
The tiger, having reappeared, let out a cheerful growl and began to run.
The reason Cheonho was excluded from direct combat was that he still lacked the strength.
Since there was a risk of serious injury or death if things went wrong, it was the right course of action to receive his help in this manner for now.
Swish—!
Splat—!
After an hour of thoroughly searching the forest, excluding the fifth floor,
Hanbit stood gazing at a pile of vines at the entrance of the fourth floor, having eliminated all the players.
'Is that a strategic base?'
The only people he hadn't found in the forest so far were Xiaohui and Max's group.
Xiaohui seemed to be strategizing to deal with the boss on the fifth floor.
The absence of combat noise suggested that they were responding cautiously to this change.
From the start, the situation on the fifth floor was so extremely dangerous that no one could stand there without her.
And the place for Max and his subordinates to be was right inside.
*Thump!*
Hanbit kicked off his leg and pushed through the gaps in the vines.
The structure, seemingly designed to protect against threats from external monsters, was sturdier than expected.
*Swoosh*—a
faint light appeared from deep within the dense vines.
There stood a wooden building resembling a mountain lodge.
“Brother, are we really sure we can just stay here?”
Just then, a voice reached Hanbit’s ears as he approached.
Judging by how calm they seemed, it appeared to be an area free from debuffs.
Lowering his stance, he decided to observe the conversation.
“It’s fine. Xiaohui will come here after defeating the boss. We can just hand over the strategic base then and be done with it.”
“…Does that woman move well even in a place like this? She’s a real monster.”
“Ranked 9th, she’s a monster. Or did she take some strange drug?”
“There is a possibility. I’ve had a bad feeling every time I saw those Seongche-pa guys.”
The conversation, which had turned into gossip, lacked any substance.
They had already made contact with Xiaohui, and she would hand over the strategic base after defeating the boss.
If that happened, it would be a victory for the Adult Faction.
“But where did that Black Dragon go? The broadcast has stopped.”
“I don’t know. There’s no news from the dead players. Judging by the fact that there are no calls in real life, he probably can’t even log out.” Just as
the meaningless conversation continued, useful information emerged.
The clause prohibiting resurrection upon death, which had been written in the announcement.
It seemed to ban not just simple resurrection, but any action that interfered with the invasion event.
It felt like they had reinforced the penalty for death.
In that sense, streaming was an element that was far too convenient for the enemy.
Of course, most of them used it as a means to exploit it in reverse.
'This is… …'
Hanbit, having moved away from the base, gazed at the vines surrounding him.
In a way, it felt like excessive protection, enough to make an invasion impossible.
But this was part of hell.
A giant plant that chewed up and crushed everything that entered it after a certain amount of time.
In other words, the entire vine was a single monster.
This strategic base must be a fake, meant to be used as bait, too.
Ta-da!
Leaping upwards, Hanbit grabbed the vines woven into the ceiling.
Squeezing through the gaps, he discovered an object resembling a grotesque eye.
It was a weakness capable of forcibly silencing the monster's mouth.
'Found it.'
Having confirmed his target, Hanbit moved further forward and stood outside the vines.
Immediately starting his stream, he held his sword downward and said,
"I’m going to introduce you to an interesting monster. I’ve switched to my point of view, so it should be easier to watch."
