Chapter 45 : Hidden Story
Chapter 45: Hidden Story
=Kyaaak!
A mantis monster that suddenly burst out from between the tree shadows swung its forelegs. The forelegs shaped like sharp scythes cut through the air and aimed at Baek Woohyun. The momentum was as if it would split his head just like that.
However, Baek Woohyun wasn’t flustered even by the surprise attack. He had already experienced similar situations several times, and also because he already knew the mantis monster was trying to ambush him.
It probably thought it was perfectly hidden, but Baek Woohyun’s senses enhanced by [Perfect Being] couldn’t possibly miss a mere bug.
Swish!
“……”
Baek Woohyun, who avoided the attack just by lightly leaning back his waist, immediately counterattacked.
He swung his military dagger toward the waist of the mantis monster that was completely exposed. The sharp blade easily cut through the carapace characteristic of insect-type monsters.
Pink flesh was revealed as sticky mucus spurted out, and the mantis monster let out a metallic scream while coughing.
However, that didn’t mean the mantis monster’s death.
Perhaps thanks to the tenacious vitality characteristic of insects, it swung its forelegs toward Baek Woohyun again even with its waist half cut off.
Of course, it didn’t achieve very meaningful results this time either. If it couldn’t cut him when it was fine, how could it be possible in an injured state?
Slash!
Evasion, and the counterattack that followed.
The military dagger cut through the mantis monster’s neck. The thin neck broke without enduring unlike the waist, and the triangular-shaped head fell to the ground with a thud.
No matter how strong its vitality was, it couldn’t survive having its head cut off. There were types among insect-type entities that could do that, but at least this one wasn’t.
The mantis monster’s body that had been swaying after losing its head soon collapsed to the ground.
Even after eliminating the enemy that had been targeting him, Baek Woohyun couldn’t calmly savor his victory.
A hornet monster with a giant stinger flew at him as if it had been waiting. And with that viciously-looking stinger in front too.
If he were to get stabbed by that, it wouldn’t end with just being pierced. He would suffer from the hornet’s characteristic poison that had become several times stronger.
Buzzzz—!
Baek Woohyun’s response to the hornet monster’s surprise attack was simple.
At most, he just took a big step to the side to avoid the hornet monster, then placed his military dagger exactly on the trajectory where the wings would pass. That was all.
But that was enough to cut through the thin membrane-like wings moving at high speed.
Crash!
The hornet monster with one wing completely torn off immediately crashed into the ground. It was a natural result of losing a wing during flight.
At least it quickly regained consciousness and tried to fly again, but the hornet monster’s such attempt failed without exception.
Because with only half its wings remaining, all it could do was spin round and round in circles on the ground.
“……”
Baek Woohyun approached the wriggling hornet monster and stomped on its head, smashing it. Along with the creepy sound of crack!, mucus that seeped out stained the ground.
The hornet monster wasn’t the type of insect-type monster that could survive losing its head like the mantis monster before it.
In other words, the hornet monster that twitched for a moment before going limp could be considered to have no possibility of being alive at all.
Baek Woohyun, who wiped off the mucus stuck to his shoe sole by rubbing it on the ground, looked at the forest with narrowly opened inverted eyes.
The movements of bugs wriggling in the forest dense with trees were clearly felt. As well as their killing intent directed at him.
Well, dozens of their kin—though the types were different in many ways, anyway their kin—had already died miserably at his hands, so it was understandable.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’
=Kyaaak!
=Hisssss—
Baek Woohyun leisurely crossed through the forest while eliminating the insect-type monsters attacking him.
The large numbers characteristic of insect-type monsters had no meaning to him. What did it matter if there were many individuals? They died without inflicting even a single wound anyway.
His combat of freely weaving between dozens of insect-type monsters while swinging and thrusting his dagger was almost artistic.
During the process, there were times when his level went up as his experience points filled up just from eliminating insect monsters.
Since the next Core Element hadn’t been released yet, there weren’t any big changes, but if he steadily grew like this, he would eventually be able to obtain the same power as on ‘that side.’
He willingly eliminated the insect-type monsters for that purpose. Without caring at all how many of them there were.
“…Hmm?”
Around the time he finished combat with the dozen or so insect-type monsters that jumped out next, Baek Woohyun suddenly tilted his head.
He took his gaze off the corpses sprawled like trash and looked beyond the forest. It was an action as if some sound was coming from that place.
It was after a brief moment from then that he, who had been standing still even stopping the work of wiping off the blood on his military dagger, started moving.
Tap!
“……”
Baek Woohyun with a heavily sunken expression suddenly began running through the forest. It was clearly a sprint with a destination set.
What was surprising was that his speed while running like that was tremendously fast. Fast enough that you couldn’t think he was advancing through a forest.
Originally, a forest isn’t terrain very suitable for moving within. Not only do thick bushes block the view, but there are also many obstacles like trees and rocks.
You could say it was an environment perfect for bumping into something or falling because you couldn’t pay attention to what’s under your feet if you just ran recklessly.
Tadat!
But all of those things were nothing but irrelevant stories for Baek Woohyun.
He crossed through the gray forest at a speed as fast as running across flat ground. Nothing in the forest could become any obstacle to him.
Even when occasionally protruding tree branches tried to interfere, he continued his sprint by cutting them down by swinging his military dagger one step ahead, or avoiding them just by twisting his body.
The same was true for rocks that appeared out of nowhere. He merely increased his own speed by kicking off them and jumping up.
That appearance somehow reminded one of when he performed three-dimensional maneuvering inside the research facility.
Just like that time when he showed off splendid movements kicking off walls and ceilings without distinction, he freely ran using the terrain features in the forest as footholds as he pleased.
Through this, he succeeded in covering a distance that would have taken at least several minutes if he had walked normally in just a few dozen seconds.
“…… …… ………!”
=………!
=……!
=………!
Was it thanks to the distance being narrowed?
Lee Yujin’s voice began to be heard faintly. Along with the sounds of the insect-type monsters presumed to be attacking her.
Considering her strength, insect-type monsters wouldn’t be much of a threat no matter how many gathered to attack, yet Baek Woohyun’s expression stiffened.
He, who gripped his military dagger strongly, sprinted at a much faster speed than before.
Thus, the scene he encountered at the battlefield he soon arrived at was Lee Yujin covered in blood unilaterally retreating under the wave offensive of insect-type monsters.
-Gasp
-Yujin noona is in danger
-What the hell, why is she losing to bugs
-She’s in an injured state though?
“Huh? Originally didn’t we just meet up here?”
“In my memory too. I think it progressed in a way where Lee Yujin would find you on her own if you wandered around the forest appropriately…”
-I did that tooㅇㅇ
-What’s with Yujin noona’s injury? Why is she hurt?
-She’s not weak enough to get hurt here, what is this really
-Anyway save noonaㅐㅐㅐ
Slash!
Baek Woohyun first cut off the neck of the mantis monster that was in front of him. Swiftly so as not to give even time to react to the enemy that appeared from behind.
Before the corpse with its head cut off could fall, he advanced further and struck down his military dagger on the back of a rhinoceros beetle monster.
Only when the gleaming blade pierced through the carapace with a crack! did the insect monsters around react.
=Kyaaak!
However, the number of insect monsters that turned around and approached Baek Woohyun was only four.
Even though he killed two insect monsters simultaneously with his appearance, it could be considered a very meager response, which was because even these creatures that were mere insects knew.
The fact that the danger level of Lee Yujin whom they were surrounding was much higher than the new enemy who just appeared.
“[Spreading Thunder]!”
Rumble!
The proof that the insect monsters’ judgment was correct came faster than expected.
Taking advantage of the gap when the insect monsters’ attention was focused on Baek Woohyun even briefly, Lee Yujin who seized the opportunity poured out a powerful technique.
The pure white lightning that started from her two hands raised high spread in all directions using the insect monsters as stepping stones, and in an instant, a tremendous storm of lightning swept through enough to dye the gray forest pure white.
Finally, the tragedy revealed after [Spreading Thunder] ended was tremendous.
The ones around Lee Yujin had only charred forms remaining, and even the ones far away trembled while having suffered considerable damage.
It was power that mercilessly revealed that she didn’t come to take the position of Team 1 leader inheriting from Kim Cheol, who was the Otherworld Management Bureau’s strongest agent, for nothing.
To the point where it felt strange that she was injured despite having such power.
“I’ll ask you to handle the remaining ones, Junior!”
“Understood. Please rest.”
To Lee Yujin who collapsed with a thud while shouting, Baek Woohyun nodded and answered.
Anyway, since she had properly landed one blow, there weren’t many enemies remaining. Even those were seriously injured, so they weren’t threatening.
Since it was work that could practically be called cleaning up remnants, Baek Woohyun’s cleanup didn’t take long to finish.
‘That wound—’
“……”
Baek Woohyun’s brow narrowed looking at Lee Yujin who was performing emergency treatment. Because he realized her wounds weren’t from insect monsters.
Because he had experience gained from working as a contract worker on ‘that side,’ he could tell. That was clearly a supernatural ability scar. Meaning it was a wound made by an awakener.
If the one who left that wound wasn’t an awakener who was originally inside the Reverse World, it also meant there was an awakener who followed them in.
‘And the awakeners who could follow in first are those bastards.’
Choi Hyeongcheol and his group.
If it was those bastards who were giving off an unconcealable smell of blood, they would do something like this.
Baek Woohyun threw out a question with chilling eyes.
“Was it Choi Hyeongcheol’s group’s doing?”
“…! How did you…”
“It seems they followed in immediately after the incident.”
‘Or… those bastards created the incident.’
Lee Yujin, who had been looking at Baek Woohyun with a startled expression, smiled bitterly.
It was a face that realized there was no meaning in denying it.
“That’s right. They approached pretending to be a rescue team and ambushed me. I barely managed to shake them off and escape, but as you can see—”
Lee Yujin indicated her abdomen where she had just finished emergency treatment with her eyes.
The bandages wrapped around were already dyed bright red.
It was proof that it was definitely not a shallow wound.
“The injury is so severe that I couldn’t eliminate the insect monsters. If it wasn’t for you, Junior, I’d still be struggling.”
Of course, that didn’t mean Lee Yujin would have died by insect monsters.
The reason she was being pushed back was because she was responding within limits that wouldn’t worsen her wounds, and if it really seemed dangerous, she would have just thrown out [Spreading Thunder] recklessly.
In that case, her injury state would have become more serious than now, making it difficult to even control her own body.
“Choi Hyeongcheol ambushes here already? This is just the starting point of the early stages though?”
-Doesn’t he start moving properly in the mid-game
-ㅇㅇ He ambushes during corporate-related story progression
-But that’s coming out already??
-Something… something is happening…
“I wonder what’s going to happen with the story? From the looks of it, it seems like the fact that Choi Hyeongcheol is a hunting dog will be revealed too.”
“I don’t know either. Probably no one knows. The fact that mid-game information is being revealed already means it’s a completely different story from the existing one.”
-Fuck what’s the hidden storyㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-It was an easter egg inside an easter egg!
-What kind of matryoshka is thisㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Could this also be because of the Fully Responsive AI?