Chapter 25 – What He Truly Desires (1)
“Oh Yu-na is currently in Chapter 2, in the midst of the tribal unification war, gaining victory and expanding her forces. The population is roughly around 10,000?”
“Speaking of which, what did she actually give to her people?”
“From what I’ve heard, it was food and weapons. Not guns, but gear for hunters. However, based on what she told me, becoming a unit seems to come with some perks?”
“…That makes sense.”
I listened carefully to the information my younger sibling was asking about while being cautious of specific keywords.
What is likely given just for becoming a unit must be a racial trait.
[That’s right. Racial traits are the most basic strength and benefits.]
“After all, it’s about the draw being a skill.”
When I returned to my room, I clicked my tongue.
Countless races are connecting and interacting with players and units.
Thus, those who could communicate with each other from the beginning must quickly advance forward.
I thought of the little rats that the legion trampled and almost annihilated in victory.
Those who were created as a player must inevitably be slow.
[Well, is that really the case? The potential held by a race is something no one knows.]
“No, ignorance is ignorance.”
Shaking my head, as this was half true and half false.
The harsh reality and nature do not wait for indecisive growth.
[Look at the screen. Now we have the second branch. It’s the 21st level, a place where we can branch out into countless others.]
“Are there guardian spirits here too?”
I snorted.
“Graah!”
“Grk…”
There were indeed.
The guardian spirits of the second branch gathered in numbers, displaying terrifying teeth and sniffing the air while their blue irises gleamed.
“Fortunately, they don’t seem to be grotesque monsters.”
[It seems they’ve recognized our presence and were already gathered. Their appearance is overall four-legged, covered in soft fur, with sharp teeth…]
“It’s a saber-toothed tiger!”
I could summarize them in one word.
Finally, a large mammal other than bats and rats had appeared in this crazy cave world.
The saber-toothed tiger that lived during the Cenozoic era on Earth.
Expressing those with pale fur, they could probably be called “white saber-toothed tigers.”
They merely looked larger, though.
[They have entered battle formation. But don’t worry; fire has no effect on the legion that has already experienced it from below. They were not frightened.]
“…Right.”
Of course, the saber-toothed tigers that lived on Earth wouldn’t have spewed flames like flamethrowers.
Leading the legion was a large lizard clad in dark blue armor on its head.
They met the flames head-on and burned to death.
[Legionnaires dangling from the claws of large flying types fell from the sky and struck them.]
The sky collaboration tactic was a long-established strategy attempted since the moment the legion got its wings.
While drawing the enemy’s attention from the ground, the flying types that soared into the sky fortifiably struck down the soldiers they had seized.
[The creatures were flustered. While their front paw strikes were sturdy and powerful, the legion grasped that characteristic immediately after taking a hit.]
“That makes sense; I had also included cats.”
[Avoiding the kick, I offered my arm to their mouth. Then, another legionnaire thrust a sword deep into the exposed flank.]
They were intelligent, tactical, and combat-capable cats.
But in the end, that was all there was to it.
It was insufficient to stop us, which spread endlessly.
I was convinced of victory as I watched the other legionnaires rush towards the wounded foes and relentlessly cling to them.
Something glimmered in the hands of the goblin-type legionnaire at the forefront.
The lunch I had provided… was being fully utilized, soaked in blood.
It hadn’t even taken 30 minutes.
[Great Branch Guardian Spirit: 4c1557]
“These guys are also guardian spirits. What on earth do these beings known as guardian spirits do?”
[Do you have any other thoughts about them?]
“Of course. They seem distinctly different from other beings.”
Having experienced it twice already, I couldn’t help but doubt it.
Certainly, the existing cave creatures were quite bizarre in appearance, but these were particularly so.
The saber-toothed tiger looked magnificent compared to the monster from code 0080 we encountered in the first branch.
“Their behavior is also strange. I’m not specialized in this area, but they exhibited behavior that is uncharacteristic of living beings. Could they possibly be units as well?”
[The discomfort you feel is also felt by the legion. Unlike the instinct of survival being paramount, they dared to stand against us, knowing they might die. And they were particularly strong.]
“This cave certainly seems to have something more.”
For a while, I couldn’t see beyond the trees before me, but as I began to look around the forest, a few concerns surfaced.
For instance, the probability of an intelligent being comparable to a human living in this cave.
[The legion evaluated all possibilities. And the conclusion drawn was unknown. There is insufficient data. Therefore, we will act in order of priority. Devour the 21st level and all the branches associated with it.]
“How convenient.”
While I was grunting, the legion seemed to have deduced every conclusion based on a transcendent processing power incomparable to mine.
That their conclusion, no matter how it was, was at worst at the level of goblins was beside the point; it seemed that for now, the legion’s conclusion was correct.
By tonight, they would probably say everything was cleaned up.
I closed my mobile phone there.
“Gkk…”
“…”
At the moment Shin Woo closed his phone and drifted to sleep, a massacre was taking place in this great branch, one of the branches heading towards the stream.
The main trait here was an extremely sensitive sense of smell through its long snout.
And it was a hoofed animal similar to a pig with a stout shoulder and neck.
The legionnaire who downed that pig casually raised his knife and struck its neck.
With the artery cut, the green blood gushed forth and soaked the legionnaire’s body.
Before long, the writhing flesh wall and tentacles were overtaking this great branch and turning it into a nest.
The legion, mimicking the reproduction method of mushrooms, could root itself and make a part of itself anywhere it found nutrients.
Tentacles connected to the bodies of the legionnaires.
The supply of nutrients for all soldiers was directly provided by the nest that handled digestion and absorption.
[Do you still have doubts?]
A voice of inquiry echoed through the minds of the entire legion.
“…”
It hadn’t been a day or two since the voice started to be heard.
Naturally, the legion couldn’t understand what was being said.
However, now they could at least tell that the voice was trying to communicate with them.
[From the beginning, you have been thinking of him.]
The legionnaire lifted the blood-stained lunch knife to eye level and wiped it.
Red irises glimmered on the shining blade.
At this moment, the entire legion was watching this sight.
[I can feel it. Emotions, deep curiosity, wariness, and interest.]
Emotions.
The entire legion was agitated.
Since the first time it awakened to this, the legion had continued to accumulate experiences.
They explored and pondered over what was stimulating them.
Thanks to their growing brains, that variation had vastly widened compared to before.
Joy, passion, arrogance, and more.
[The opportunity to resolve your curiosity is not far off. There are still many opportunities left.]
The voice cut off there.
From that moment on, the legion’s movements became somewhat more radical and swift.
The legion was now fast and strong enough to handle this radical movement.
*
“Oh Yu-na asked to see you?”
“Yes. More precisely, it was a summons from Chae Yeon.”
“Could it be?”
“It seems they have found a new ally.”
Kang Do-yeon came to my room early in the morning.
Waking up, I reached for my phone.
There were no notifications. That meant nothing unusual had happened.
“Regardless of anything else, I think it makes sense to attend that meeting.”
“I’ll go alone.”
“Don’t say something crazy. I’d rather go alone.”
I cut off my sibling’s nonsense.
In the end, the concluded decision was that both of us would go together.
“Since mom’s out for work anyway, let’s go.”
“…Is it okay to skip class again?”
“Is a lecture really important in this situation?”
We promptly boarded the bus.
At the destination we arrived at, there were other people besides Chae Yeon, just as we expected.
“This is Park Joon-seok.”
“Hello?”
“…Could it be these people?”
Seeing Chae Yeon again, she introduced the young man.
He looked at us with a peculiar expression before nodding.
“Is the proof done?”
“Of course,” Chae Yeon promptly replied to Oh Yu-na’s words.
Park Joon-seok, as he introduced himself, revealed his information.
The place where his units were located was undeniably a perfect third world.
“And my player would like to make a proposition to you all.”
However, today’s purpose was not merely a meeting.
Chae Yeon pulled out her phone from her pocket.
“I’ve found the target.”
The information displayed on her phone showed an ordinary middle-aged woman.
According to Chae Yeon, this woman had units in Seuhanxia, where her player resided.
“How on earth did you find that out?”
“…I’m not sure either, but my player possesses very diverse skills. It’s likely reverse tracking.”
Reverse tracking.
That word made the players’ expressions harden.
Even if they didn’t reveal their information, capturing a unit to extract information would allow them to know all past interactions.
This meant they deduced the subject based on that.
“Oh Yu-na… Did you tell them anything about yourself?!”
“Well, um…”
In that moment, Oh Yu-na’s face turned pale in response to the hurrying questioning from her mother, whom she had taken into a corner.
She must have said something. But she couldn’t help but understand.
How much had her mouth itched?
Both Kang Do-yeon and I let out small sighs.
