Chapter 328

Chapter 328. Trap (5)

“Is it reasonable to ask someone to find something the size of a human head in this vast sea?”

Yun Jihye cursed both mentally and verbally. Despite her complaints, when the actual search began, she dedicated herself more than anyone else.

Thanks to her efforts, they managed to locate the disk that the monsters had abandoned in the sea after four days.

Naturally, mages affiliated with the Palao Guild were summoned afterward.

“Um, to put it simply…”

I listened to Ahel’s explanation.

“It’s kind of like a hub.”

Initially, the explanation seemed nonsensical, but it didn’t take long for me to understand.

“Are you talking about a network device?”

“Yes, like the devices you connect to a LAN, such as a computer or printer.”

For a moment, I thought I might be speaking to a fellow earthling.

What exactly had Ahel been up to for him to have acquired knowledge in such areas? I couldn’t help but ask, feeling both amazed and incredulous.

“Where did you learn those terms?”

Ahel held up the tablet PC that he carried everywhere like his lifeline and said,

“Besides the tutor that K assigned to me, I also have a wonderful teacher named Wikki Wiki Encyclopedia.”

Being able to look up knowledge anytime and anywhere without carrying around books was indeed impressive.

“The internet is truly a great revolution!”

Ahel didn’t stop there and went on to praise the internet and all online services. If left unchecked, he would have continued endlessly for days, so I had to stop him.

“Enough, enough, let’s get back to what we were discussing.”

“Alright then.”

Ahel resumed explaining as if it was nothing important, pointing back at the disk.

“This is usually used to carry a magic circle, but it’s so dreadfully difficult to make, and it costs a fortune that it’s rarely used even at the Magic Tower.”

For it to be described as expensive by the Magic Tower…

Would it take the annual budget of a small nation to make just one of those tiny disks? While I examined the disk with my eye, Ahel’s explanation continued.

“With just this, it’s hard to figure out exactly what the main body magic is. All we know immediately is that the enemies tried to expand the influence of their main body magic here by installing various hubs.”

“So does that mean the main magic is installed somewhere?”

“Whether it’s already installed, being installed, or just about to be installed, nobody knows.”

The only certain fact was.

“This auxiliary tool, which functions as a hub, is certainly not the only one. This is really only used for large-scale magic.”

Upon hearing that, I finally understood why I had been feeling anxious.

‘The seabed cannot be confirmed by the naked eye.’

Unlike the sky or land, it was impossible to scout it with satellites. Up to now, it hadn’t been a significant issue.

‘It was manageable.’

The movements of enemies invading the sea largely depended on the exploration magic of players who actually travel there.

Even if they were not detected early, the holes burst open, allowing monsters to flood in, thus getting discovered soon.

Given that countless monsters couldn’t sneak in undetected, this was nearly impossible.

But that was under normal circumstances.

‘What if monsters didn’t flood out of the holes?’

Would they have been discovered swiftly then?

Discussing the possibility was not timely.

I already knew of a case where a hole appeared, allowed monsters through, and then disappeared after only a few managed to slip through.

‘If a hole was generated before being detected by players and swiftly opened and soon destroyed…’

Adding the most terrible, terrible, and dreadful elements together created a rather horrendous assumption.

The area where the problematic hole occurred was under the sea, where general-rank or higher monsters hid in the deep sea, scattering items like these disks everywhere.

‘… It hinges on how far the situation has progressed.’

While it was still a hypothesis, I tentatively concluded that it had advanced to some degree.

‘Initially, the nemesis-rank monster didn’t come through to attack the ship or to resume a large-scale invasion.’

The originally appearing nemesis-rank monster had emerged from the hole to set this up and merely encountered the ship with Yun Jihye on it at that moment.

From the nemesis-rank monster’s perspective, it truly was extremely unlucky.

‘It probably attempted to eliminate the witnesses right after.’

Yun Jihye and other water-type players might have prevented the cover-up.

‘If a support request was made immediately because of that…’

It would then explain why additional monsters started flooding through.

Having seen the Magic Tools Fabian had, there was no doubt.

The enemies indeed had a method to communicate across dimensions without being hindered by distance.

Finally, I started grasping the situation.

Thanks to this, the anxiety that lingered in the back of my mind vanished.

Instead, alertness surged, knowing that it might already be too late.

“Oh, and one more thing.”

Following Ahel’s next comment, I was able to take a bit more relief.

“The most important aspect of installing this is the location.”

Every disk must function as a passage in each area for the wide-scale magic to be properly implemented.

The meaning of those words was simple.

“This means this place is an essential area for them.”

“Yes, exactly.”

From that point, my task became simple.

While guarding this place, I needed to find all the other disks.

Before the critical large-scale magic could be executed.

Immediately, I pulled out my phone and dialed Lily’s number.

* * *

Upon receiving the news of the South China Sea, Lily promptly issued another summons.

All shipping was halted, and water-type players dispersed across the world’s seas.

Guided by their continued efforts over several days under the sea,

‘From the South China Sea to the Arabian Sea, nearly 19 nemesis-rank monsters were discovered across the Indian Ocean encompassing Southeast Asia and India.’

Nearly 20 nemesis-rank monsters had quietly and secretly crossed over to hide and install the disks.

The issue was that these 20 or so weren’t the end.

By marking and observing the nemesis-rank and disks’ locations, new insights emerged from the mages.

– With this scale, it seems like a 9-star magic scale.

The anticipated area of the magic’s influence was broadly expected to cover the entirety of Southeast Asia and India.

The necessary number of disks was roughly estimated at about 50.

Only about half had been found.

‘It’s chilling.’

Had it not been for the encounter with the nemesis-rank monster by the ship that Yun Jihye was on…

Had all the members perished without survivors, allowing the enemies more time…

‘I would have been caught unaware.’

Occurrences of nemesis-rank monsters and disk discoveries continued today, over two weeks since the South China Sea incident had concluded.

“Move it, move it!”

“Everyone, get out of the water!”

“Move quickly!”

“Don’t rush me!”

Battles with the discovered monsters ensued as an obvious outcome.

Nemesis-rank creatures hidden in the depths quickly called for reinforcements upon realizing they’d been spotted.

The nemesis-rank summoned a legion commander to guard the corresponding area.

During December’s last week, with the year-end nearing, a battle broke out near the Arabian Sea following the same pattern.

“K, we’re ready!”

At Ethan’s shout, who had come to support, I immediately hurled Kerax’s spear.

Boom!

The receding tide was soon blocked by high-soaring rocks or ice.

This was the most efficient method to minimize the mana waste of the water-type players.

Then, it was the turn for ordinary players, who had been on standby on flying ships, to spring into action.

“Sweep them away!”

Each player who leapt into the empty seabed brandished their weapons.

The black blood spilled by the monsters steadily filled the void left by the sea water.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, it wasn’t entirely bad that such battles had been ongoing for several days.

‘Three more today.’

Thanks to that, I was able to increase my status, which had been stagnant for quite long, substantially.

With Gilenios present, I could traverse the entire world without being restricted by time.

Others thought it was through the power of teleportation magic, but in reality, it was a much better performance of a dedicated mobility device.

This meant I could collect nemesis-ranks found worldwide.

‘Although less efficient than Legion Commanders.’

In my situation, I was not picky whether the meal was cold or warm. I bustled around the world to plunder the nemesis-rank’s status relentlessly.

I even pleaded with other guild leaders to allow me to land the final blow on monsters of nemesis-rank or higher.

About 80% accepted my request.

Naturally, it wasn’t out of pure goodwill.

Most of them demanded spirit stones, legendary weapons, or even high-quality corrupted areas currently managed by the Palao Guild.

I had to negotiate, managing guild losses and internal opposition accordingly.

Thanks to this, the status I collected before the South China Sea incident was nearly equivalent to what I gathered after.

While I hunted nemesis-ranks separate from the battlefield, the battle between player corps and monster corps was coming to an end.

“We’ll carry the corpses!”

“Lift them! Upwards! Move it up more!”

Judging by the ongoing cleanup process, it seemed fair to say the battle was over.

After battles like today’s, cleanup was essential.

Leaving monster corpses in the sea would inevitably cause various problems.

I observed the busy cleanup and reached for a spot near my chest.

‘It won’t be long now.’

I had never known before how much status was needed to move to the next stage. But now, I knew naturally that it wouldn’t be long.

It was just before stepping into the realm that ordinary life forms refer to as the level of gods.

The more I seized status from the monsters, the more I was convinced.

A significant transformation would soon occur within me.

* * *

“I told you this would fail. Didn’t I say it would?”

“You were so stubborn…”

“At a point where it’s already hard to input additional resources… How do you plan to recover from this loss?”

Amidst the expected pouring of criticism and scorn, the former Magic Tower Master of the Atar Empire, Vecarm, wore a grim expression.

However, he couldn’t brazenly open his mouth with the failed plan he had initially advocated for right before his eyes.

Vecarm’s pride was far too exalted for him to escape situations through such cowardly means.

“I won’t deny the failure.”

Therefore, Vecarm acknowledged his failure in a composed voice.

“But whether you have the right to criticize it is another matter.”

He didn’t intend to remain in the status of failure or a defeated party.

“I believe my attempts for vengeance exceed the empty words of those who did nothing, despite their disciples being slaughtered at the enemy’s hands.”

At the very least, he had tried to avenge.

“What? What did you just say?!”

“Are you calling us cowardly?!”

“How dare you, as a failure, speak!”

Here, the individuals who once served as magic tower masters of various countries collectively raised their voices.

However, Vecarm was the type who wouldn’t yield to such a level of reaction.

He leaned back in his chair and spoke in a chilling tone.

Damned System