Chapter 697

Slash!

'No. This shouldn't be the case.'

A gigantic slime made an appearance as half of the abandoned warehouse was blown away.

Even though slimes seemed to be weak, low-level monsters, the one in front of them was a well-known monster in Alf Online, and it was far from ordinary despite its seemingly harmless appearance. In fact, it was a high-level field boss monster that needed to be fought by ten or more players to be defeated.

All four of the Alf Online players knew that this slime was a General Slime, a vicious and notorious monster that carried thousands of slimes in its body and could ignore both physical and magical attacks. As for its attack pattern? They had heard about it so often that they were already so sick and tired of it.

This General Slime was actually one of the main culprits behind the destruction and fall of all the cities in the area. Why was this high-level monster even chasing after them so persistently? It was because of this thing, this item, that it was trying to take!

"What the..." Yoon Tae-Gang grumbled, an annoyed expression on his face as he tried to slowly stand up.

Everybody was surprised that the General Slime was trying to devour the factory. But the voice just calmly urged them to get down over the radio.

-Chk, Chk! I repeat. If you don't want your name to be written on the list and drink the Tea of Forgetfulness[1], then get down.

Boom!!!!

Once again, the entire place was rocked by a huge tremor. It was only then that the four Alf Online players were able to see white bullets shooting in from unknown directions and hitting the General Slime squarely.

If the attack had occurred any later, the General Slime would've devoured them, along with the building. But the bullets that struck the General Slime were enough to stop it from moving. It even caused severe and irreparable injuries.

"Oh my god... What is that..."

-Guwoooooooo...

The General Slime fell down and collapsed.

But that was not the end. Multitude of light rays rained down and pierced through the wings of the White Wyverns that were flying in the sky.

While the Wyverns possessed thick and hard armored skin and powerful breaths, they also had one weakness—the thin film of their wings. So, if one could accurately hit their wings, then it would not be difficult to force them to drop from the sky.

That was right. It would be easy to handle them as long as one could hit them accurately. But Wyverns were famous for their overwhelming speed, which made it possible for them to evade even the fastest attacks. So, the most basic approach to hunting Wyverns was to bombard them with attacks until they were forced to fall to the ground.

Wyverns weren't the kind of monsters that could easily be killed through such a foolish method, just like the players of Alf Online were currently witnessing. Yet here they were, lying on the ground as they stared blankly at the sky and watched the rays of light blow away the gigantic monsters in the area.

-Bzzt!

The radio in their hands rang once again after the light rays stopped shooting down from the sky.

"Ha!" Heo Jin-Woo, who activated the equipment on instinct, crawled forward and grabbed the radio. "Who, who is this?"

"Reinforcements."

The voice rang from the side. It made everyone who was on the ground, staring intently at the radio, flinch. They then raised and turned their heads in a panic, looking in the direction where the voice came from. Before their blank gazes, three figures materialized. One was of a young man, the other was of a little girl, and the third one was of a woman in her early twenties.

"Just, just now, there was no one there just now..."

"Your injuries... Never mind, it's meaningless to ask," Davey said as he stretched out his hand toward Ji-Min, who was sitting blankly on the ground. Then he touched her stiff arm with his hand, which was emitting a white light.

"It's still amazing every time I see it," Hyun-Ah mumbled as she shook her head. She still could not wrap her head around the huge disparity in power between Davey and the typical Awakened.

Meanwhile, Ji-Min continued to stare at Davey. Her eyes then grew wide when the stinging pain she felt slowly began to vanish.

"Are these all of the survivors? Didn't you say that there were eight?"

Silence enveloped the entire area after Davey's question.

Park Doo-Sik, the middle-aged man who was virtually the leader of the group, responded with a trembling voice, saying, "The other four... died in action, sir."

Honorifics and polite speech were not something that Park Doo-Sik was originally fond of. But for some strange reason, he felt like he could not talk casually to this young man, who looked like he was only in his twenties.

"No... Impossible... Are you saying that we came too late?" Hyun-Ah said as devastation marred her face.

"And what about their bodies?"

"We left them behind where we got this damn thing. Perhaps they had all turned into minced meat by now..."

Hearing Park Doo-Sik's answer, Davey nodded silently.

"That's strange." Davey stroked Rinne's head and went on to say, "Rinne, take these people and get out of this place. I've got the entire area covered, so there won't be any more problems here."

Rinne immediately grew sulky when she heard Davey's orders. She then said, "Rinne declares that she will also follow Davey."

"Stay with them. I need someone to protect Hyun-Ah."

Rinne pouted but still ended up nodding in agreement.

"Wh-where are you going?!"

"There's something that I want to find out, so I need to collect the remains of the other four."

When Ji-Min heard Davey's words, her hand darted to her lips. She was reminded of the deaths of her dear and precious teammates, causing her to start crying again.

"Fuck you. That's enough!!! Just take us out of here!!!" Yoon Tae-Gang shouted in annoyance as he jumped to his feet from where he was on the ground. He then approached Davey, saying, "It's all because of you! Four people died because you gave us the wrong information during the briefing! And now you want to go and look for corpses instead of taking care of those who are alive?!"

"If there's something that you need to say, just spit it out. There's no need to go around in circles," Davey replied.

"Yoon Tae-Gang! What are you talking about?!"

Despite the threat lacing Park Doo-Sik's voice, Yoon Tae-Gang remained annoyed and angry. He shouted, "Fuck you! I almost died!!! If they had such a strong guy with them from the very beginning, then we wouldn't have to come here! What?! Did they think that we're nothing but cannon fodders who don't care about our lives, huh?!"

Yoon Tae-Gang was acting all agitated and angry. Perhaps he had fully shoved the relief of surviving the catastrophe into the back of his mind because he was so enraged and upset with the national agencies for abandoning them in such a dangerous situation.

"Oy."

"Yes, I am very grateful for your help but I am still furious! We have the right to be furious! We're fighting for our country, but they are treating us like we're nothing but dispensable pawns!"

Slap!!!

Yoon Tae-Gang was suddenly sent flying into the air.

Bang!!!

Everyone turned to look at Davey in shock after seeing Yoon Tae-Gang sprawled on the floor.

"Ugh... God, my nose..."

"You got two things mixed up. One, I don't belong to whatever national agencies you are talking about."

Upon hearing Davey's claim, everyone's eyes were filled with shock.

"And two, I have already saved you once. I have no reason to continue doing so for someone so ungrateful."

"Wh-what? Keok!"

"I'm saying that I won't be bringing you along," Davey said with a face devoid of any emotions, stomping on the now terrified Yoon Tae-Gang. He then pointed at Hyun-Ah and gave instructions to Rinne, saying, "Rinne, go quickly. That idiot's job is already done."

Hyun-Ah's job was to save and take these people away. While her original purpose was to help by giving them supplies so they could use their powers and leave the place, there was no way for her to do that anymore because all of the supplies were already lost.

"W-wait!!! What do you mean?! You're leaving me behind?!" Yoon Tae-Gang shouted as he got back on his feet.

"Do you have any objections?"

"Of course, I have!!! Who was the one who sent us here, huh?! I can't die just like this!"

"Hey," Davey said with a tone that had turned flat, just as the air around them turned chilly.

It was only then that Yoon Tae-Gang realized to whom he was venting his anger. Even if he were to die in this place, no one would dare question or say anything. So he hesitated, realizing that his life was in danger.

Seeing the hesitation in Yoon Tae-Gang's eyes, Park Doo-Sik hurriedly kicked his leg and forced him to bow his head. Park Doo-Sik then said, "We-we're sorry! This guy just survived a catastrophe, so he's still quite confused! Please pay him no heed and let it go just this once!"

"Kghhk..."

Yoon Tae-Gang stayed in his hunched position, realizing that he would die if he spoke one more word, while Park Doo-Sik bowed his head and begged Davey's forgiveness.

"This guy is still out of his mind. Please show some mercy..."

Seeing Park Doo-Sik lower his head and plead for Yoon Tae-Gang, Hyun-Ah turned to look at Davey with a gaze that was obviously asking him to show mercy. She then said, "Just let it slide this one time."

"Fine. I'll spare you this once. You should count yourself lucky."

When he heard Davey's words, Yoon Tae-Gang remained silent. What he failed to notice because of his bowing position was that something had started to grow inside of him.

"A human with almost no resistance like him will probably never know what is happening to him. May a forest grow all over your body," Davey muttered with a playful tone as he turned around and left.

***

After leaving Hyun-Ah under Rinne's protection, Davey followed Park Doo-Sik's explanation and managed to reach the place where the survivors did their mission.

According to Park Doo-Sik, it was a very important item. But because of a sudden attack in the area where the important item was stored, their team of eight members was dispatched on a secret mission to retrieve it.

The problem was the item itself. What was it? Why were the monsters chasing after it? And were they trying to use Hyun-Ah to open it?

But there was actually no need to complicate this matter.

It was definitely an item, an element, with the potential to destabilize Korea's powerful force, the Sacred Group, and confound the current affairs of the country.

But there was something Davey could not understand.

"It's as if the monsters were helping."

Because of that, Davey had no other choice but to check things out.

And what greeted him when he arrived at the scene was an area filled with monsters' corpses. He then quietly walked around the plane wreckage and observed the traces left behind from a fierce fight.

-Roaaaaaar!!!

At that moment, a gigantic troll jumped up from beneath the mountain of corpses and moved to punch Davey in the face.

Grab!

Of course, Davey was able to easily block the troll's fist with his hand. Silently, he grabbed the troll's fist and slowly uncurled its fingers.

"Hey, do you know that it hurts more to bend and press the finger by the joints than to twist and break it?"

Even though a troll's vitality and survivability were very high, that did not necessarily mean that they could no longer feel any pain.

-R-roaaaar!!!

As soon as Davey started to press on the troll's fingers, it started to scream and struggle to break free from his hold.

-Roar!!! Roar!!!

The troll, which had been wailing and struggling to be freed, hurriedly backed away the moment Davey let go of its fingers.

'As expected, these monsters seemed to be created differently from the ones in the game.'

"I thought they're like the familiars created by the Malicious Spirits, but from what I can see, they're just simple monsters," Davey mumbled to himself as he approached the troll.

But the troll, which had fallen to the ground, backed away in fear.

"Hey. Where are the humans who fought here with you before?"

Davey wasn't sure if the troll could understand what he was saying, so he had no choice but to use Mental Magic. He delivered the image of what he wanted to know, and the troll immediately reacted. It jumped up in fright and began to lead him somewhere. Then it started to extract a few men and women from the mountain corpses.

Among the many bodies were a headless man, a little girl whose arm had been severed from her body, and a man who was nearly gnawed to the bone. There was not a single corpse that was left intact.

Ignoring the troll's stare at him, Davey crouched down and silently placed his hand on the unearthed bodies.

'Come on, there should still be a bit of your spirit left here, no?'

Davey hoped that there was still a bit of their spirit left. But unfortunately, there was nothing. All the lingering spirits in the area seemed to have been driven away by some kind of power.

"Then... I have no choice but to hijack it."

Davey stood up and clapped his hands slowly.

Fwoooooooosh-

A black stream of energy gradually gathered in front of him. After a few moments, a spirit finally materialized in front of Davey.

"Well then, I believe we have a lot to talk about."

The spirit, which was a young man, yelled in response to Davey's words, his face contorting into an ugly expression.

[Yoon Tae-Gang!!! Yoon Tae-Gang! He's a fucking traitor!!!]

The spirit's spiteful scream was enough to confirm Davey's suspicion about Yoon Tae-Gang.

"No wonder. So, that's the reason why he went nuts when I said that I would go and check the bodies, huh?"

Yoon Tae-Gang's behavior was unusual compared to the others.

Davey sent back the spirit that was furious with Yoon Tae-Gang before summoning another one. This time, the spirit had a smart look in their eyes as they looked at Davey and cried out...

[You must never open that box!!! That box carries a seed that will bring disaster upon the world!]

"It seems like you've watched far too many movies. Can't you explain in a way that is easier for me to understand?"

Feeling the pressure of the Imperfection Death Lord, the spirit froze for a moment before proceeding to explain.

[That box contains a Malicious Spirit Summoning Core! South Korea has fallen into a trap! It's not the core that we have exchanged with the Church of Neltarid! The core has been replaced by the Illuminati!]

"Is that so? How did you know that?"

[I overheard Yoon Tae-Gang talking on the phone. He's not speaking in Korean, so only me and Song Tae-Yoon understood what he was saying, but... From what we heard, they have to activate it in the defense line set up in the Nakdong River to summon the Malicious Spirit... They said that if that plan fails, then they should activate it anywhere...]

So the spirit that showed extreme hostility for Yoon Tae-Gang was Song Tae-Yoon.

Although Davey knew that the Illuminati had not been wiped out completely, he still found it surprising to hear about them here. And if they were truly on Earth, then that meant that his enemies had grown from two to three: the traitors of humanity from the Peslisa Continent, who desecrated the body of Death Lord Rho Aias; Eclipse, the being closest to Thanatos who crawled out of the Abyss; and the Malicious Spirits and the side of Neltarid that aimed for destruction.

"What about the other two?"

[They... They were sacrificed.]

"Did you die because that bastard drove you to death?"

[When we tried to tell them the truth, he killed us and summoned the monsters. It was a surprise attack.]

"Interesting."

Davey began to have a rough idea of what happened back then.

Scared for his life, Yoon Tae-Gang tried to open the box and unleash whatever was inside it. However, after realizing that he would survive and remain alive, he decided to continue to transport the box.

"But why did he have to provoke me in that situation?"

Davey mulled over the matter. But Davey realized that it didn't really matter if Yoon Tae-Gang would live or not. Either way, the box would still be opened.

"Go. You should rest in peace. I will deal with that box."

When the spirit, who was a girl, heard Davey's words, her eyes widened.

[You...]

"Do you know me?"

[Saint... of Tionis...]

"That's right."

[Why did you come here? Why did you put humanity at risk?]

"What nonsense are you spouting now?"

The girl frowned.

[It seems like you don't know the situation you're in. You are quite notorious on Earth. From what people had claimed, you're a human being from Tionis, and you destroyed Alf Online on purpose to destroy Earth.]

"I destroyed Alf Online?"

[There's a video, and it showed the fight you had with a little girl. And your fight destroyed the entire world of Alf Online.]

Others would usually be careful in asking a question like this, so Davey did not know if that guy did not have any fear or not.

[Our situation is also getting worse because the number of Awakened could no longer increase. After all, we can only awaken if we log in to Alf Online. So everyone thinks that you're trying to destroy Earth and humanity.]

"Bullshit," Davey dismissed the spirit's words.

[You're... not?]

"Let's make things clear. If the humans on earth die, then there will also be trouble on our side. That's why I came here—to protect you."

[That's... a relief. But, Yoon Tae-Gang, that...]

"Just go. Trust this oppa."

[That... uhm... No matter how you look at it, you're at most in your mid-twenties... Even if I look like this, I'm still older than you...]

"What? Let me ask you this: have you lived for thousands of years?"

[Eh... Huh?]

Davey clicked his tongue when he saw how flustered the girl was. "Youngsters these days, tsk, tsk... Back in the day, you wouldn't be able to imagine something like this happening."

[Wow... That's a bit... No, you're right.]

"Just go in peace. At the very least, I can promise you that I will punish the sinners."

[Thank you.]

The girl replied, but then she looked at Davey and hesitated. It seemed as if there was something she wanted to ask Davey.

[That... uhm... Unc... No, oppa.]

The girl whined and acted cutely as she asked for a favor.

[I know that I look a bit hideous, but... can you please retrieve the necklace from my body? If possible, can you please bring it to my younger siblings?]

"A keepsake?"

[Yes. No matter what happens, I can't just leave my younger siblings without any news about me.]

In response to the girl's words, Davey nodded and assured her, saying, "Don't worry."

She was a warrior who fought and died for her country. If this brave young lady was left forgotten and never given the credit she was due, it would be an utter joke.

"Don't worry. I will make sure to take care of everything."

The girl looked relieved when she heard Davey's words. Quietly, she turned into ashes and disappeared with the wind.

The current situation on Earth seemed very interesting.

'A core that can call for a Malicious Spirit, huh...'

Davey waved at the troll, which was quietly hiding nearby, its head poking out from behind the rubble. When the troll ran up to him, he snatched its club and pretended that he would let it go.

"I'll spare you, so get out of here."

The fact that Yoon Tae-Gang did not want Davey to come here meant that, if he were the main culprit and the reason for this situation, he would try to either tie up or murder Davey in this place and then pretend that everything was an accident.

-Grrrrrrrr...

Just like now, when the gigantic monster tried to swallow him in one bite, Davey swung the club in his hand and whacked it.

"No matter where you go, the problem always lies with the humans."

Because there were always traitors to be wary of at all times.

1. Tea of Forgetfulness - The tea that one would drink to wipe their memories of their past life so they could reincarnate without carrying the burdens of their past life. This is also a reference to Goblin (the drama) ☜