Chapter 98 – Hong-sunggoo’s Rush
[Currently, the Dungeon Break is suspected to have occurred at an already cleared Dungeon. This event is unprecedented, and this scene is a recreation of the Dungeon Shock…]
Everyone’s insides became numb as they watched the news flash.
“What the hell is going on?”
How could a Dungeon suddenly break without the 30 day wait period?
When everyone had fallen into a state of panic, the door to the room opened.
“Vice president. We’ve received a request from the Ministry of National Defense. All Roused are order to stop clearing the Dungeons. They are ordered to be on standby.”
“Mmmm. All right.”
After the employee stopped speaking, Minchan’s expression became serious.
This was an unusual Dungeon Break so it was the right move to put everyone on standby, except for those members who was currently in the Dungeon. Sunggoo was here and Haesol was nearby at the newly leased Monster Quarantine center.
“I have no idea what is going on.”
“Shouldn’t we report it to our president first?”
“Mmm. I don’t have any way to contact…”
Woojin didn’t use social media, and he didn’t even check his e-mails that often. The only way to contact him was through the messenger app, but it would be impossible if he didn’t have internet connection.
“First, send him a message. Then try contacting him through the Titan Guild.”
He was with the Holy Maiden. If they could contact her, then they could reach him through her. Of course, even if that didn’t work out, this Dungeon Break would be reported by the world news, so he’ll eventually receive the news.
“Hmmm. What the hell is going on again…”
Minchan’s body shook when he thought about the Dungeon Shock that had happened 5 years ago. Countless people died that day and many cities had been destroyed. They were able to recover in such a short amount of time using the incredible amount of money made from the Bloodstones produced by the Dungeon. However, the population that had been killed off at that time hadn’t recovered yet.
Everyone looked at the news with a serious expression.
*
The buildings in close proximity to Daegoo’s Jookjun Station was razed to the ground.
“Koo-ohhhhhhh!”
The Ice Trolls rampaged like mad men. The clubs they swung blew the vehicles away too easily, and the buildings crumbled when they tapped the clubs against them.
There were no warnings before the Dungeon Break happened, so this was a calamity for city dwellers nearby.
An Ice Troll was huffing and puffing as it wandered around the residential area.
“Koong koong.”
It smelled the scent of humans.
Koohng. Koohng.
It wasn’t as large as an ogre, but it was twice as large as a human. The Ice Troll was tall enough to be able to look through the second floor window of a house. The Troll with the disgusting eyelashes searched by looking through the windows.
“Kyahhhhk!”
A girl made eye contact with the Troll. She covered her head, and she let out a scream.
“Koo-roo-roo.”
The Ice Troll laughed as it stretched out its arm. Young humans were especially delicious.
“Kyahhhhk!”
The Ice Troll had abundant white fur on his body. It used its long arms to break the window, messing up the interior of the room as it tried to snatch the girl. The girl tried to back away, but the wall was at her back. She had nowhere to run.
The door was right next to her, but fear made her feet leaden. The thought of opening the door and running out hadn’t even occurred to her.
“Koo-roo-rook.”
The Ice Troll was close to catching the girl, but she kept eluding the Ice Troll. It became angry and raised its club. It decided to destroy the house, then eat the young child.
At that moment, a muscular man fell from the sky.
“Hahhhhhhp!”
Kwahng.
A human’s fist descended on top of the Ice Troll’s head to strike it.
“Koo-roo-roo-roook!”
“Ah. It isn’t dead.”
He had put all his weight behind the attack yet the Ice Troll hadn’t died. The Troll had a well-deserved reputation. The shaped of the Troll’s head was deformed, as if its skull had been crushed. However, it was twitching as it started to recover.
“If one blow doesn’t work, then I’ll give him a second one!”
The man’s fist turned black.
Kwahhng!
It was as if his black fist had turned into stone. It cracked the Ice Troll’s head, and brain matter spilled out. The Ice Troll was still twitching, but soon, even that came to an end.
“Hey, little kid. Come out.”
Even at the man’s words, the girl wouldn’t move because she was too afraid. A group of people came chasing after the man.
“President!”
“Take care of everything here. There is a kid over there.”
“Yes, sir.”
KH Guild’s president Baek-jongdo walked into the alleyway, frowning when he saw another Ice Troll coming towards him.
“The army isn’t here yet?”
“They are trying to quell the monsters from the east. The civilians aren’t evacuated yet, so you shouldn’t expect any fire support.”
This was a problem. If it was a scheduled Dungeon Break, it wouldn’t have been a problem.
They would have evacuated the civilians, and the army would have concentrated their superior firepower to overwhelm and slaughter the monsters that popped out of the Dungeon.
However, this course of action wasn’t possible since this was an unscheduled Dungeon Break.
Since the evacuation of civilians never happened, it was impossible to bombard the city. Moreover, armored vehicles were too slow to root out the monsters that were now hiding within the city. The Roused were best suited for tracking down and hunting the monsters unleashed within the city.
This was why all the Roused, who had come to raid the Daegoo Dungeons, were given mobilization orders.
KH guild’s Baek-jongdo had an appointment to enter the Daegoo Station’s 6 star Dungeon. However, when he heard about the Dungeon Break, he had come here.
The Roused occupied downtown as they hunted down the monsters.
“Chet. Fortunately, there weren’t too many released.”
A Rank B Roused was capable of facing off against an Ice Troll. If there was a really big one, it was possible to take the Troll down by teaming up with several Roused. This wasn’t the Dungeon where there was a limit on how many people could enter. The Roused held the numerical advantage out here. It was quite fortunate that the big bodied Ice Trolls had come out, as they were quite easy to spot. It would have been difficult to make much progress if small monsters, who were adept at hiding, had come out.
The damage couldn’t be helped, and it wasn’t enough damage to call it a calamity. There had been only one Dungeon Break. The problem was whether this unannounced Dungeon Break was an outlier or the beginning of something new.
“I hope this is a one-off event.”
If one wanted to say this event was a simple accident, they would have to find the reason why the Dungeon Break happened without any warning. However, they had to exterminate all the monsters unleashed here first.
Baek-jongdo looked at the Ice Troll stroll towards him and his fists were dyed black.
*
Shwahhhhh.
As the water fell from the showerhead, it felt as if the water was cooling his hot body and mind.
“Ha-ah.”
Lee-sahngho let out a restless moan. He had gained something incredible.
“I can control it.”
The Roused could only come out after clearing the Dungeon. The Return Stone had to be used to bring down the barrier. It was the same for the monsters. After 30 days, the monsters used the Return Stone to come out of the Dungeon.
This was the Dungeon Break.
“Ha-ah. This power….”
He had become Iello’s vassal. Most of the monsters didn’t even register his presence as he had headed towards the Return Stone. He took the Return Stone and brought down the barrier.
It was like any other Dungeon Break, but this time he had guided the monsters out this time. He had loosed them into the world.
It was without warning, and it was by his will.
“Koo-koo-kook.”
He knew how big of a damage a Dungeon Break would cause if the people wasn’t prepared. He had already experienced it through the Dungeon Shock.
Most people had evacuated to a safe zone far away from the subway stations. However, there were still a lot of people around the Dungeons because of the Dungeon Businesses. Many people still lived near the Dungeons.
This situation was akin to a house of cards.
He just had to manipulate it a little bit, and it would all come falling down.
“Tremble from the fear.”
It was regrettable that he couldn’t control the monsters. However, he’ll be able to get the desired result just by being able to cause a Dungeon Break.
Of course, he had to prepare several things.
It didn’t matter if he had come out immediately after the barrier went down or if he had waited before doing so. People might discover him coming out of the Dungeon with the monsters.
He had to make preparations so he could cover up his activities.
He would begin after he finished setting several things up.
“Kahng-woojin. Wait for me.”
Kahng-woojin.
The bastard had to feel it.
The sadness felt from loss.
“What should I steal from his first?”
Lee-sahngho, who had gained power, laughed. He couldn’t feel any more satisfied with the appearance reflected by his mirror. In recent days, had he ever been as happy as he was today? Endorphin surged just from thinking about how we would destroy that bastard.
It felt as if the stress that was suffocating him was blown away.
“Yes. First, his family…”
Next his friends, guild, underlings, reputation…
He would steal it all from Woojin.
*
There were 47 dead and 512 wounded. An estimate of 50 million dollars worth of damage was done.
The unannounced Dungeon Break held massive implications, and the damage it caused was enormous.
It hearkened the memories of the Dungeon Shock, along with the fear that was felt on that day.
Just this single Dungeon Break prompted an exodus of people out of cities possessing subway stations.
There were some who left, and there were some who stayed. However, the people who stayed were those who didn’t have the means to move. The people with money quickly left to the safe zone, and the rest of the people slowly started getting ready to leave.
It had been only two days since Daegoo’s Dungeon Break had ended.
In just two days, 10% of Seoul’s population had migrated to Kahng-wondoh’s safe zone.
“Hoo-ooh. I’m too restless to stay still.”
Sunggoo and Haesol had stayed idle during the two days, since they weren’t allowed to clear Dungeons. They keenly felt the loss of opportunity. Danger had come calling, but they hadn’t been ready. They felt a sense of powerlessness.
No, they had made preparations.
They temporarily moved all their families nearby Alandal’s office so they could protect them just in case. The real estate prices in the safe zone skyrocketed, but the apartments near the stations were bottoming out.
From Sunggo’s perspective, he felt better knowing his family was nearby.
“We can’t still contact hyung-nim?”
“Mmmm. They said he is in the midst of an operation. He’ll probably call us soon.”
Minchan was also frustrated. Korea was rocking yet the leader of Alandal, who had to be their anchor, was absent.
Sunggoo was frustrated. He wasn’t training or hunting right now. An uneasy feeling grew inside him as if he had taken a step backwards.
“I can’t stay like this. I’m going to go around the nearby low rank Dungeons.”
“Mmm. You do that. When you are done, let’s contact each other immediately”
“Yes.”
“Go with team leader Woo. It would be best if we communicated through team leader Woo.”
“I’ll do as you say.”
He was the chief of the president’s secretary office, but Kahng-woojin was currently absent. This was why Woo-soonghoon joined Sunggoo to assist him. The clearing time of low rank Dungeons was short. Sunggoo thought it was more productive and better for his peace of mind if he cleared some Dungeons rather than doing nothing.
Maybe it was caused by the feeling of unrest, but the usually full Dungeon schedules had several empty spots. However, the lower rank Dungeons didn’t operate on appointments. This was why the employees from the secretary office was sent to the close-by Dungeons to line up and were able to set up a schedule.
“Currently, it is possible to use Leesoo Station’s 4th Exit.”
“Then let’s head towards there.”
It was only one station away, so the location wouldn’t cause any burden. Sunggoo and Haesol headed towards the Leesoo station. Jackson was inside a container truck. When they arrived at the Leesoo station, the saber-toothed tiger Jackson and the knife-beak crows got off.
“I’ll be back within 3 hours.”
“Yes, sir. Please work hard, director.”
He couldn’t clear the Dungeon at a crazy fast speed like Kahng-woojin, but he could solo clear a 3 star Dungeon within 3 hours. Moreover, Haesol was him, so the clear time would be much shorter.
Sunggoo and Haesol disappeared into the Dungeon. Woo-soonghoon started the now familiar waiting game.
“Hah. Should we go to a cafe?”
“Yes, chief.”
There were 20 employee under the secretary’s office. Soonghoon left couple of them to guard the Dungeon Entrance, then headed towards a nearby cafe with the rest of the employees.
“Uh?”
Soonghoon was heading towards the cafe when he saw a man wearing a black robe and a matching black mask. Soonhoon unconsciously came to a stop and tilted his head in confusion.
‘It looks like he is laughing at me.’
He quickly looked around, but this other person was already on his way.
‘Did I see wrong?’
The shape and glint of his eyes made him feel that this person knew him. It felt as if the man was laughing at him. He was wearing a mask, so Soonghoon thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Woo-soonghoon headed towards a cafe and the masked man headed toward Leesoo station’s 8th exit.
