Chapter 21: Game Board (4)
“Ugh… Ah…”
“Run quickly.”
Kang Do-yeon pulled on her friend’s frozen wrist.
She was still holding the fire extinguisher in her hand.
“Damn it!”
The first one is hard, but the second is easy. Already in a state of excitement, she hurled the fire extinguisher at another goblin that appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
The fire extinguisher flew with tremendous force, crushing the goblin’s face, and she frantically stomped on the fallen creature.
“Damn…”
She wiped the blood that had splattered on her clothes.
However, there was no time to linger in the aftermath.
She picked up the fire extinguisher again and urgently pulled Oh Yu-na’s hand, running away.
There were goblins everywhere.
They barely escaped the chaotic scene from the building.
Hearing the screams from behind, fleeing was definitely the wise choice.
“Ah…”
“What should we do? What should we do?”
Oh Yu-na, screaming loudly, clung to her in fear.
They were surrounded.
Before long, a dozen goblins had gathered, approaching with their teeth bared.
There was no one nearby to help.
‘…Hah.’
Kang Do-yeon gasped for breath as she held up the fire extinguisher.
Some of the goblins were brazenly brandishing rough ropes they had prepared.
“Hey!”
But just then, the sound of a car horn that would make your ears ring blasted, and a car came speeding across the playground.
“What the hell.”
Slamming on the brakes, I gritted my teeth at the horrifying sound.
Throwing out a dead driver, shot by an arrow, and stealing someone else’s car to reckless hit-and-run?
Of course, what mattered now wasn’t that.
“Get in quickly!”
Having just run over a few goblins, I shouted at the dazed ones.
It was only then that Kang Do-yeon seemed to snap to her senses, smashing the head of a staggering goblin with the fire extinguisher, then clutching her small friend beside her as they sped away.
That’s Oh Yu-na. Just leave her behind.
“How… How did you get here? What’s this car?!”
“Is that important right now?”
I stepped on the accelerator again.
For now, getting out of here was the priority.
But my complacent thinking was wrong.
Just as I was about to back up, something flew in.
“That’s impossible.”
“Is this…?”
I sighed in disbelief.
Was it a bullet that just came flying in and popped the tire?
“Kyaaah!”
Bullets followed one after another.
That goblin standing out front, with others trailing behind, waving its beard.
That thing aiming a gun that was stolen from the police at us was the commander of these goblins, a unit of someone.
“Brother…”
“You stay here.”
It dropped the gun and pointed a large staff in hand at us.
In an instant, flames erupted, coalescing into a fireball.
It intended to shoot that at us.
I looked at my gloved hands.
Even if I used the execution authority to kill that thing, what about the others?
The inquiry about ‘units and players’ cannot be processed as the app’s basic function. That’s the rule.
So taking a picture was impossible.
“That…”
But there was always hope.
With a brilliant flash of lightning, someone appeared behind the goblins.
“Chae Yeon!”
“The step-up hunter?”
Oh Yu-na and Kang Do-yeon recognized her.
A woman in a black suit with light blue hair whipping about, surrounded by lightning.
With a thunderous sound, a series of flares erupted.
I watched in silence as she slaughtered the goblins.
Hearing the commotion, it seemed hunters and police were already moving in from behind as well.
“She’s strong…”
The kids gaped in awe.
Right. She is strong.
With the successive strikes of electricity spreading, dozens of goblins fell in a single blow.
The goblins had definitely become outside common sense strong, but her power was overwhelming.
It seemed the chief goblin threw a fireball at her, but Chae Yeon split that massive fireball with her hand sparking bright blue lightning and sent a powerful jolt that fried it.
She walked towards us through the charred corpses.
“Is anyone injured?”
We locked eyes.
In that moment, I sensed something.
Her eyes, holding something.
Could it be that she suspected my identity as a unit?
“There are still people in the back!”
“…Behind?”
At that moment, Oh Yu-na pointed at the school building and shouted.
But she just stared blankly at her without moving.
At that moment, I locked eyes with Kang Do-yeon.
There were only two players here after all.
“Don’t worry. Armed police and hunters have been urgently deployed. You managed to escape well. If you had stayed in the shelter, it would definitely have been breached.”
“…Do you have business with me?”
The atmosphere turned tense.
Oh Yu-na and Chae Yeon’s gazes, each hiding secrets, met in the air.
“Kasa Mandis.”
“…?”
“Say it once. Kasa Mandis.”
The first to speak was Oh Yu-na.
I noticed she was conducting her own verification process.
“Kasa Mandis.”
“Seems clear? If you had received power from someone in this world, it would be a cursed incantation.”
Chae Yeon seemed to have caught onto something and willingly revealed it.
Simultaneously, she pulled something out.
It was a small stone that shone brightly like a pebble.
“Unit.”
“Player.”
Oh Yu-na and Chae Yeon spoke simultaneously.
As expected, Chae Yeon was someone else’s unit.
A different world from Oh Yu-na’s.
Kasa Mandis… I made a note of that incantation.
“So, what’s your position as a player over there?”
“The goal was to find players from different affiliations and form an alliance.”
“Ah, I see.”
Where did she find this confidence? Just a moment ago, she had been on the verge of tears, but now she stood tall, shoulders back and chin up.
Well, despite appearing a bit naïve, she’s cunning enough to brand her friend, so she must have some plans.
“Actually, I’m in the same boat. I can definitely offer help.”
“Then there’s no reason to hesitate.”
Chae Yeon chuckled, effectively formalizing the alliance.
Our siblings had no choice but to become bystanders.
In any case, at this point, that was probably for the best.
“First, let’s get to safety… Wait a moment.”
Then, Chae Yeon, who had been leading us, suddenly stopped.
Her face turned pale.
“W-What’s happening? Is your player…?”
Confident Oh Yu-na instantly crumpled and hid behind Kang Do-yeon.
Chae Yeon closed her eyes tightly and trembled.
Then she staggered.
As if enduring pain.
“It can’t be. These are innocent people..!”
“No way.”
The staggering woman generated lightning anew.
The problem was that the red lightning didn’t seem to be manifested by her intent.
“The secrets of the game… must be maintained… cough…”
“W-Wait!”
While we were frozen in shock, contrary to our expectations, Oh Yu-na stepped forward.
“These people are mine. They already know everything. No need to silence them!”
“…Thank goodness.”
At Oh Yu-na’s clarification, her lightning gradually subsided.
Chae Yeon, sweating coldly, seemed genuinely relieved.
“Now let’s escape to a safe place.”
We ran after her.
There was nothing more behind us anyway.
The gathered hunters and armed police had chased away all the goblins.
The surviving ones fled through the gate.
Along with countless victims and kidnapped captives.
This was a calamity that would go down in the history of South Korea, returning after ten years, and the beginning of a disaster.
*
“So, what did she say?”
“She said to explain everything well to you and smooth things over.”
“Is that all?”
In the chaotic and disordered atmosphere, I sat dazed with Kang Do-yeon on the curb.
“Seems clumsy.”
“She’s just okay at studying, but she’s a bit lacking.”
She chuckled.
Just as she said, Oh Yu-na indeed had a clumsy side to her.
Just looking at how she interacted with me showed that.
According to Kang Do-yeon, she would let me go, saying she couldn’t brand me anymore.
And then about silencing me, rather than killing me, she’d simply urged her sister not to say anything.
Of course, from her standpoint, her sister had become a hostage, so it wasn’t entirely ineffective.
In any case, we had both saved each other’s lives.
From the goblins for me, and from Chae Yeon for her.
“Still, Yu-na and that Chae Yeon don’t know anything about you. That’s good.”
“Right. Guess we got through it well.”
“Do you know where your units’ world is?”
“No.”
I sighed.
We hadn’t even gotten out from underground, let alone knowing about the world.
“Let’s just go home. I… can’t stay here any longer.”
“Okay.”
I no longer wanted to hear the cries and shouts.
Oh Yu-na had disappeared with Chae Yeon, so there was no reason for me to stay.
We headed straight home.
“You’re really not hurt… Sob.”
“Ah, mom, stop… Ugh.”
As soon as we arrived home, our mother, who I had called earlier, rushed over and hugged us tightly, crying.
After barely calming her down, I hurried into my room.
Today, I realized firsthand.
Time isn’t very patient, and that danger is real.
“Is it confirmed?”
[Yes. The legion is currently fully dissecting and analyzing the new specimen. This will be recorded in history. Perhaps this specimen may bring a leap in our evolution.]
On the phone screen.
There were several goblin corpses lying on the nest being burned.
I had captured a few of the corpses of those I had run over before leaving the scene.
Surprisingly, even though they were units, their corpses were transferrable.
