Chapter 387

Chapter 387

Chapter 69: The Path to the Tiger’s Den (1)

The battle erupting in the heart of the city at midday quickly turned chaotic.

The monsters crashing down left debris from shattered buildings scattered everywhere.

Players gathered to hunt these creatures, filling the area with magic and mana.

Behind the explosions and acrid smoke, the ruins of buildings and roads were visible.

It only took three hours for an intact city to crumble.

When the brief but intense battle, akin to a storm, was over.

“What, what’s this, it’s over already?”

Players expressed their bewilderment.

Kim Youngwoo, the first to arrive and confront the rock monsters, felt the same way.

She took a deep breath, steadying herself, and looked around.

The asphalt and sidewalks were completely overturned.

Vehicles were horribly crushed, and streetlights were bent at odd angles.

Black and red blood flowed over them.

“Ha, damn it…”

It felt as though she had returned to that fateful day.

The day when a Hole first opened on Earth, creating chaos.

‘The situation seems even worse than back then.’

The size of the Hole was enormous, something she had never seen before, and its location was far from ideal.

‘Of all places, why in the sky…’

At first, it seemed they were attempting entry with the help of wind-type players.

But now, no player was attempting to approach it alone.

“Did the association give up on entering?”

“Looking at the situation, it seems that way.”

“Why on earth?”

“Then what do we do now?”

“If we can’t enter, we’ll have to wait until they come out.”

“Should we continue fighting here? If so, seoul might…”

The already ruined city might be completely destroyed.

The player who swallowed those words looked grim.

The other players’ expressions mirrored his.

Thinking about what might emerge from that enormous Hole left them feeling desolate.

Kim Youngwoo sighed deeply and wiped the blood off her sword.

Meanwhile, the association’s information was shared among the players.

Those willing to help with civilian rescue could volunteer; the others were instructed to regroup with their affiliated guilds or clans to reorganize.

Kim Youngwoo relayed this to the party members she had joined during the battle.

“Who wants to handle the civilian rescue?”

They all shrugged, casting glances at each other.

Even after waiting a bit longer, there were no volunteers.

Kim Youngwoo’s expression darkened slightly.

‘Is it like this…?’

Everyone was stressed from the weeks of oppression and hostile public opinion aimed at players.

Of course, Kim Youngwoo felt the same, but she hadn’t realized how deep the resentment ran.

“Wouldn’t it be better to leave them and join the guild? If we save them, they’ll just scream at us for doing so.”

Some were openly hostile towards civilians, even mocking them cruelly.

“Lee Ji-hwan, watch your mouth!”

Kim Youngwoo shot him a fierce glare, but Lee Ji-hwan chuckled coldly in response.

“Am I wrong?”

Voices supported him from various corners.

“Leader, honestly, we don’t want to get involved with civilians either.”

“Right. Civilian rescue is just a recommendation, isn’t it? I don’t want to step up.”

“See? Let’s just leave them. If they haven’t evacuated by now, they might be injured, and maybe we could use them as bait for the monsters later…”

Smack.

Kim Youngwoo finally raised her hand to strike Lee Ji-hwan for crossing a line.

“Would you say that if it was your family?”

Despite the stern rebuke, Lee Ji-hwan maintained his sarcasm as he replied.

“Ah, it’s because those bastards smashed my family’s heads with stones.”

Spitting blood from his mouth, anger boiled in Lee Ji-hwan’s eyes.

“I heard from witnesses that the perpetrator shouted that players and their families should all Die while assaulting… My younger sibling ended up in a coma, you know, a coma.”

The party members’ expressions hardened at the news they hadn’t known.

Kim Youngwoo was no different. She closed her eyes tightly and dragged a dry hand over her face.

Now that she thought about it, Lee Ji-hwan had been skipping training for hospital visits since last week. He only mentioned that a family member was sick, so they had excused him from training, considering his situation.

‘I didn’t realize there was such a backstory…’

However, regardless of the tragedy he faced, Lee Ji-hwan’s attitude was wrong.

It wasn’t the civilians waiting for rescue somewhere in this chaos that attacked his family.

Nevertheless, knowing his circumstances now, forcing him to rescue civilians would be too cruel.

“You all join the guild; I’ll participate in the rescue operation.”

The guild assembly points had already been shared in the group chat.

Finding their way there shouldn’t be difficult.

The party members protested against Kim Youngwoo’s declaration.

“Leader! Why even for those people…”

“Quiet! Go and join the gathering!”

In truth, she also wanted to ignore the civilians.

She remembered all the curses, insults, and cruel taunts they faced over time.

However, she made a different choice from her party members because she believed it was necessary.

‘At the very least, after reaching this age, one should be able to differentiate between what they want to do and what they have to do.’

Heading to the battlefield and fighting, even if unwanted.

Saving those who have hurt you, even if unwanted.

Thus, maintaining and protecting the world with her given power.

She believed this was her responsibility and duty as a member of society.

Her current party members, however, were engrossed in what they wanted to do, neglecting what needed to be done.

Though they were cherished comrades who once saved each other’s lives, at this moment, she couldn’t hide her disappointment.

So, she resolved to start searching and rescuing civilians alone.

“Well, looks like the search hasn’t started here yet?”

A voice came from above.

“If there’s no volunteer, we’ll do it, so everyone else move.”

The face familiar due to various media seemed expected as it descended to the ground.

“Kim Yul…”

“The Palao Guild.”

As soon as the murmurs identifying him faded, Kim Yul continued.

“If no one is volunteering for the search, go ahead and move along. You don’t have a joint point? You’re with a guild, right?”

Kim Yul’s finger pointed at the emblem on their chests.

Opposite them appeared others who seemed to be from the Palao Guild.

While they were disputing verbally here, it seemed the others had already proceeded with the search.

“A, we were just about to move.”

Kim Yul’s urging prompted the party members to gather their equipment.

Though Kim Youngwoo also began packing, she didn’t leave with them.

“I’ll assist with the search.”

“Very well. You have a detection magic, yes?”

There wasn’t much left to discuss.

Given the numerous urban battles they’d experienced, she was well-versed in how to rescue civilians from rubble.

Kim Yul and other Palao Guild members skillfully proceeded with the search, and Kim Youngwoo dedicated herself to her role.

As time passed, they discerned another player group gathered in the ongoing search area.

“Only the road to the avenue remains; the rest has already been covered by our guild.”

“You’re fast.”

“Our leader is rather strict about this.”

“Leader…?”

“Hyunwoo, our Guildmaster.”

Kim Youngwoo recalled what she had overlooked.

‘Come to think of it, there were always noticeable articles about Palao Guild rescuing civilians.’

After civilian rescue became a recommendation rather than a mandate, the number of discovered survivors understandably decreased.

Some intentionally ignored or neglected civilians they found, while others cruelly waited for civilians to Die before entering.

In contrast, the Palao Guild always organized rescue personnel for civilians.

Consequently, the number of civilians rescued from battle scenes was significant.

‘And that was due to K’s stern stance?’

Though as the Guildmaster, he naturally held some influence.

Remembering Hyunwoo’s demeanor from the media, it was surprising.

‘Based on the way he spoke, it wouldn’t have been strange for him to advocate eliminating all civilians who hindered battle…’

Not one to hide disdain for foolish actions, he openly scorned them, so the surprise was natural.

Contemplating deeper, it seemed plausible his actions aimed to minimize civilian casualties.

Recent reports about the bunker inspection came to mind.

‘K insisted on maintaining the bunker.’

As a player, he personally wouldn’t need such a facility.

It was only civilians who utilized it.

‘Yet he insisted…’

Now evidence of his efforts to protect civilians on different fronts became apparent.

Kim Youngwoo unconsciously bit her lip.

Complex emotions surged, stirring unexpectedly.

The demeanor of the party members earlier contrasted starkly with it.

‘K didn’t let personal emotions swindle his sense of duty and responsibility, did he?’

Although she always admired him, today her respect grew to revere him almost.

While his choices enraptured individuals like her, not everyone warmed to them.

‘Ah, I really don’t want to do this. After changing it to a recommendation, why not practice it?’

All the while, Kim Yul grumbled inwardly during the search.

Hyunwoo had indeed coordinated with the association to amend the civilian rescue guidelines.

But thereafter, he consistently emphasized civilian rescue to guild members.

He tracked who participated and how often, offering bonuses accordingly.

He even provided guild-owned items or relics for free rental or transfer.

Offering additional benefits to those engaged in civilian rescue.

‘Initially, I thought it was for guild image…’

However, the explanation he heard when he couldn’t squelch his curiosity sounded quite different.

– Did you think I seriously said to stop?

– If left unchecked, players would explode with dissatisfaction, and civilians would cluelessly wander into battlefields, so I had to take a hard line.

The policy change came during a period where many players died due to civilians.

A necessary time for revising the association’s policy.

– There weren’t many options in that situation.

Granting voluntary choice to ease the situation before players outright refused participation, and warding off reckless civilians in advance.

Despite that, civilians still trespassed forbidden areas occasionally.

– I also dislike those empty-headed idiots’ actions.

– I feel like just flipping everything and killing them out of frustration, but that’s what kids who can’t control emotions do.

– In anything less urgent than a dire survival situation, they should be rescued.

Civilian lives on the battlefield weren’t a top priority.

But Hyunwoo’s stance insisted they couldn’t be completely ignored.

– There’d be more dead because of me than alive, so I need to make up for it somehow.

Hyunwoo’s expression as he said it looked quite bitter.

As if he bore guilt.

‘Was it because of the Moscow incident? Or because he couldn’t participate in the rescue scene?’

Given his frequent involvement in critical battlegrounds, Hyunwoo rarely joined rescues.

Thus, he might have emphasized civilian rescue more to his guild members.

Thanks to him, a standard practice of performing rescue operations in Palao as capacity allowed solidified, applied to Kim Yul alike.

Recently, despite unfavorable perceptions of civilians, Kim Yul engaged in searches habitually.

Even muttering his reluctance, the moment detection magic indicated civilians, he rushed forth.

Kim Yul learned how to differentiate between what needed doing and wanted through Hyunwoo, and now practiced it.

Having concluded the search with Kim Youngwoo, Kim Yul reunited with the guild members.

“Um…”

Having transferred the rescued survivors to Palao Guild’s side, Kim Youngwoo asked carefully.

“Could, um, that person over there, be K?”

Kim Yul followed her finger pointing upward.

On a distant rooftop, a tiny figure was undoubtedly Hyunwoo.

He, having initiated rescue operations immediately after the battle, seemed to have concluded and returned.

“Yes, that’s correct. Then I’ll be off! Great work today!”

Leaving Kim Youngwoo with a bow, Kim Yul leapt into the sky.

It took mere seconds with Windwalking to reach Hyunwoo.

“Hyun…!”

Kim Yul halted mid-call, shivering.

A terrifying aura emanated from Hyunwoo’s back as he gazed toward the sky.

Swallowing dryly, Kim Yul internally screamed.

‘Why on earth is he maxed with fury?!’

**New Elements/Characters:**

– 김영우(Kim Youngwoo) – 김영우(Kim Youngwoo)(she/her)

– 이지환(Lee Ji-hwan) – 이지환(Lee Ji-hwan)(he/him)

– 협회(Association) – 협회(Association)(it)

– 홀(Hole) – 홀(Hole)(it)

– 바위 괴물(Rock Monster) – 바위 괴물(Rock Monster)(it/they)

– 팔라오 길드(Palao Guild) – 팔라오 길드(Palao Guild)(it)