episode_0160

160.

A crack that covered the sky over Seoul.

Monstrous creatures were pouring out through the gaping crack.

In all shapes and sizes, the creatures began to drool and wreak havoc in the streets of Seoul, eyeing the people as their prey.

“Scream, aaaaaah!”

“Monsters? Call the heroes!”

“Damn it! Get away from me?! Aaaah?!”

“Aaaah, mom!”

The screams of the people echoed endlessly throughout the city.

Some heroes and police officers were busy trying to rescue the people.

“Well, we’re out of here.”

“You son of a b*tch! Yoo Dahee!”

Yoo Dahee and her group took advantage of the chaotic situation to slip away and head towards the 36th Street Gang.

Lee Jinhyuk grimaced and immediately tried to track down Yoo Dahee and her group.

And then.

“!”

The body stiffened in an unknown, intense aura.

Lee Jinhyuk, who was using his supernatural abilities, could feel it. The overwhelming and ominous aura that was almost suffocating.

“What, what is this?”

“I can feel it coming from beyond the crack.”

“Wait, could it be a monster? Is this the aura of a monster?”

It wasn’t just Lee Jinhyuk.

All the heroes present were exposed to an unknown aura, causing their bodies to tremble uncontrollably.

It was an overwhelmingly powerful aura that none of them had ever experienced before.

What in the world was this?

Finally, something unknown fell from the crack and landed near the heroes.

Thud!

Rising dust from the impact.

It began to reveal its form within the dust.

“Eeeek, eee, eee.”

A sticky, black liquid oozed out as the monster let out a low wail.

Its appearance resembled a human made of pitch-black mud.

Its height was similar to that of a human, much smaller compared to other monsters. The creature walked on all fours, carefully scanning the heroes.

“What, what is that?”

A new type of pitch-black monster never seen before.

The heroes tensed up, swallowing dry saliva, as they had no information about this monster, but one thing was clear.

That monster was dangerous.

It was a common thought among them all.

“…Damn it.”

“Jinhyuk?”

Lee Jinhyuk cursed under his breath.

He was the only one who knew the true identity of that monster.

“Why does it have to be that one? It shouldn’t be appearing now.”

“Do you know what that is?”

“Huh.”

Lee Jinhyuk nodded slowly.

He knew. He had suffered so much because of that monster during the 1st round. Damn it.

“The name of that monster is Fear That Crawls.”

“Oh, that name… I think I saw it in your notebook.”

Fear That Crawls.

If it followed the original story, it would be the monster that appeared in the final battle.

It possessed such a powerful force that even the main characters, who had grown to their full potential, almost had to retreat.

To be honest, with our current strength, it would be difficult to defeat it.

If we were in full condition, it might be a different story, but right now, we are exhausted and injured.

“That thing is much stronger than the Ouroboros we faced in Busan.”

“What, what?”

Jin Soyeon was taken aback.

The small humanoid monster was much more powerful than the building-sized Ouroboros?

“Krrrrr? Krrrrr.”

Fear That Crawls suddenly turned its head towards where it sensed the presence of many people.

And then it opened its mouth wide.

It began to concentrate magical energy in its mouth.

Compressing the high-density magic into a round shape, it suddenly shot it towards the people… no, wait, what?!

“Soyeon! Block that! Don’t block it head-on, deflect it upwards!”

“Got it!”

Jin Soyeon swung the shield of Aegis that had been separated.

Quickly running towards the magical sphere, she angled the shield of Aegis and deflected it.

Soon, the magical sphere and the shield of Aegis collided.

Jin Soyeon twisted the trajectory of the shield a bit more and directed the high-density magical sphere towards the sky.

The high-density magical sphere soared into the sky, reaching up to the height of the sky.

For a moment, the magical sphere that had been swirling in the air began to tremble and soon exploded with a bright light.

Boom!

With a deafening roar, intense heat and shockwaves were released, causing all the nearby buildings’ glass to shatter.

The heroes turned their heads towards the powerful light and noise, preparing for the impact.

The civilians who were trembling in fear inside apartments, mansions, and buildings couldn’t calm their startled hearts after the sudden explosion.

It was a massive explosion that could be seen throughout Seoul.

“W-What kind of power is this…?”

Jin Soyeon swallowed dryly, staring endlessly at the space where the explosion had just occurred.

Wow, hundreds of meters were blown away.

It was powerful enough that if it hit where people were gathered, it could cause thousands of casualties.

That thing is dangerous.

That monster is too dangerous.

“Ugh?! Lee Jinhyuk! What was that explosion just now?”

“Jinhyuk? We’ve arrived! But what was that just now?”

Suddenly, Yoo Seolhyun, Seonari, and Roksanu and their group arrived at the scene.

They, too, had surprised expressions at the powerful explosion just now.

“It’s because of that.”

“That monster is of a type we’ve never seen before…”

They were puzzled, and Lee Jinhyuk quickly shouted to the other heroes.

“You can’t shoot it up close, you’ll get caught in the blast! So we have to stop it! We can’t let it go towards where people are.”

“…Alright.”

Baek Ilnam, who was relatively unharmed, nodded his head.

“Cough, cough, phew… Alright, that’s how it should be.”

Han Inchul, who had regained his senses, was spitting out blood every time he spoke.

He had taken the healing potion given by another hero, but his injuries didn’t seem to be getting better.

“Elder, your body is not well. Please leave this place to us and take a break…”

“Noisy, you. How can I rest in a situation like this?”

Ignoring Baek Namil’s dissuasion, he picked up the broken Yeouibong and took a step forward.

“Even Baek Yeonghyun wouldn’t have retreated in a situation like this.”

“Elder…”

He elongated the broken Yeouibong slightly to make it a normal size staff.

“All heroes who can fight, stand up. We have to tie that thing down until the reinforcements arrive, right?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, sir!”

When Han Inchul, a legendary figure from the past, took the lead, the heroes who had regained some morale stood up.

“Oh, what’s going on, really.”

“W-We’ll help too, Jinhyuk. Give us orders.”

Yoo Seolhyun, Seonari, and Roksanu and their group decided to help.

“Rrrrrrrr!”

Did the heroes sense the enemy’s hostility?

The creeping fear immediately rushed towards the heroes.

Han Inchul and many other heroes, dragging their tired bodies, began to fight against the creeping fear.

***

“Ugh?!”

“S-Soyeon! Jin Soyeon!”

Jin Soyeon, who had been fighting desperately to protect the other heroes, was eventually hit by the creeping fear and flew far away.

She flew dozens of meters and crashed into a building far away.

Lee Jinhyuk hurriedly ran towards where Jin Soyeon had been thrown.

“You pushed yourself too hard, Soyeon.”

With accumulated damage from the fight with Yudahee, it seemed futile to fight against the creeping fear.

“Soyeon, are you okay? Snap out of it.”

“…Ah, sorry. Ugh.”

Jin Soyeon lay half-collapsed inside the crumbling building, gazing quietly at the ceiling.

She tried to sit up, but a pain in her abdomen furrowed her brow, and she spat out a bit of blood.

“Healing potion! We need a healing potion…”

*Gulp, gulp, whew… Thanks, Jinhyuk, I think I’ll be okay now.”

After finishing the healing potion Jinhyuk handed her, Jin Soyeon forced a bitter smile and reassured him that she was fine, but honestly, it didn’t seem to have much effect.

It seemed like the healing potion’s regenerative effects had reached their limit.

“Ugh, I must have let my guard down a bit… *Cough, cough* Don’t worry, Jinhyuk. I’m fine. I’m fine… I’ll take care of that monster in no time.”

“…No, it’s okay.”

“Jinhyuk, what?”

“…You’ve done enough so far, now it’s time for you to rest.”

Pressing down on Jin Soyeon’s shoulders, who was determined to keep fighting despite being battered, Jinhyuk shook his head nervously.

“Now it’s my turn to fight.”

“W-what?”

He couldn’t rely solely on Jin Soyeon anymore.

No matter how much of a protagonist and genius she was, both physically and mentally, she must have reached her limits by now.

She could really get hurt if they continued like this.

So Jinhyuk thought.

Now it was his turn.

“You’ve done your part well enough. So now, leave it to me and take a break, Soyeon.”

Jin Soyeon had done her best as the protagonist.

But Jinhyuk hadn’t.

The situation had come about solely because of Jinhyuk’s mistake, and unlike Jin Soyeon, he hadn’t fulfilled his role.

So all he could do now was clean up the mess.

Of course, well, it didn’t seem like it would be easy to just take down that monster.

Still, now that the barrier’s reuse time was almost up, should he try using the technique he had originally intended for Yudahee on the monster?

Just in case?

Maybe it would work?

“Because of the circumstances, I’ll borrow your coat and sword.”

“Ah.”

Jinhyuk casually took off the black trench coat, Chilseonghoe, that Jin Soyeon was wearing.

“Is it because it’s an artifact? The size adjusts automatically when worn.”

Putting on the Chilseonghoe, it fit perfectly.

“Alright, now I need the sword.”

“Hyuk…”

“Yeah?”

“…You really never give up, do you?”

Just as he was about to take it to the extreme.

Jinhyuk flinched for a moment.

Something was off.

Was the atmosphere different from usual?

It was hard to put into words, but it felt like he was looking at someone he had known for a long time, but not quite like a childhood friend.

What on earth? Why this sudden feeling?

With a puzzled mind, Jinhyuk looked down at Jin Soyeon.

And then.

“Soyeon, what about you?”

“I’ve been thinking about it. Whether I should get involved directly or not. But…”

Slowly rising from her seat, Jin Soyeon.

“Because you didn’t give up and kept going until the end, I was able to make a decision too.”

Just a moment ago, she couldn’t move properly due to the pain of a broken rib and ruptured organs.

“If you decided to keep going without giving up, then I won’t give up either. I’ll help you until the end.”

But the current Jin Soyeon, with a nonchalant expression, just brushed off the dust and dirt on her body.

When their eyes met for a moment.

Jin Soyeon’s golden eyes, unlike usual, were very decadent and cynical.

It was a gaze that seemed to have been worn down by years of hardships and battles.

It felt like looking at someone who had been through decades of war.

As if their heart and soul had been worn down.

“어떻게 해야 할까?”

However, in the gaze that looked at Lee Jinhyuk, there was a subtle warmth that seemed to emanate.

“In the end… we’ve come this far. Well done, Hyuk.”

“What’s gotten into you?”

“Do you know who I am?”

Jin Soyeon, who had been wearing a dry expression, soon showed a faint smile.

“You know. You know who I am.”