042. Vertex (2)
It was during this time that I first met the Taylor ladies. While wandering alone in search of the raid boss emerging from Shinrim, Luke approached and spoke to me. This was the first connection I made since the game began, and I learned a lot from Luke. A former soldier, Luke knew many combat and survival techniques, all of which were essential for my survival. That’s why I called him ‘Teacher.’
“I hate you.”
The piercing blue eyes that glared at me were unforgettable. Had I made a different choice back then, could I have reached a different ending, not a bad one? ‘I don’t know.’ At least this time, I would prevent such a situation from happening.
“Wow, it’s shining.”
Rin’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the incubator beginning to operate, emitting a soft light. It’s true what they say; kids are kids after all.
“Uncle, is the egg going to hatch now?”
…Uncle?
“Do I look that old?”
“Oh, no. Not like that…”
Rin laughed awkwardly.
“Brother, aren’t you 10 years older than this girl? Why ‘brother’? Just call him uncle. Ah, now that we’re at it, should I call you uncle too?”
“Don’t.”
“Why~! I’m four years older than you, after all.”
Mina suddenly felt eyes on her back. When she casually looked behind her, Jisoo was staring intently at her. There was no particular emotion in that gaze, but the mere act of being watched made her feel chilled. ‘That lady is scary just by standing there,’ Mina grumbled to herself.
“Ahem, of course, I’m just kidding. Anyway, did you come here today because of that egg? Are you going back to Daejeon now?”
“No.”
Even if I returned right away, there was nothing I could do.
“There’s no point in going back now if we can’t catch the raid boss.”
No matter how wounded the archer was, it was a raid boss. It was not something we could face without special preparations.
“Of course. The time isn’t right yet.”
“No. We’ve already encountered the raid boss.”
“What?”
Mina looked back and forth between Jisoo and me in disbelief.
“How did you meet it?”
“Well…”
I briefly explained what had happened in Daejeon. We encountered the raid boss by chance, and when we followed where it appeared, we found the corpse of a girin. This egg was one of the things we took from there—a succinct explanation. Details like going to Daejeon to get the girin’s horn were omitted because explaining them would only scrape old wounds.
“So raid bosses are that big. I thought they were like Sentinel level.”
“Sentinels are actually stronger. It’s just that raid bosses have higher defense and health, making them harder to kill, right?” I once said that while Sentinels are the ‘leave this one alone and avoid it’ type, raid bosses are ‘if we all work together, we can defeat it.’
“But because raid bosses have a much larger range of action than Sentinels, if left unchecked, the damage cannot be compared.”
“I see. So there’s a raid boss hiding somewhere here too then?”
“Well, yeah. But there’s no advantage in disturbing it first.”
“Why? It’s better to hurry and catch it.”
“Because the players are not yet prepared.”
There were still many who hadn’t cleared the third main quest.
Considering my previous life, the best course was to wait for the time when the boss would appear. ‘On the other hand, there’s a variable with the raid boss in Daejeon.’ In my previous life, was the archer also wounded by the girin’s horn? Was there some change at the time I went down to Daejeon?
Originally, in my previous life, I never went down to Daejeon. However, it seemed as though it was waiting for me, staging an ambush. Looking back, there were obvious signs: feathers and claw marks.
‘Thinking about it, the timing of engaging with the girin was also abnormally fast.’
At that time, I was too flustered to think deeply, but the more I thought about it, the more it felt odd. It was an anomaly for the archer to invade the girin’s territory just 3 days after the announcement of the raid boss. Girins are not easy targets, being corrupted divine beasts.
The deep wounds were evidence that the archer had engaged in a reckless battle. ‘There are still many uncertainties.’ Therefore, it was better to prepare as much as possible rather than going down hastily.
I also considered the possibility of the system’s involvement, but I assumed another being. ‘GM Akathus.’ The Game Master in charge of the South Korean server, a lazy and cruel monster who detests troublesome matters.
***
“Indeed, that guy is no ordinary one.”
GM Akathus mumbled to himself, recalling the two players who had gone off to Seoul. It was surprising they managed to escape unscathed from the raid boss’s surprise attack.
Though tempted to induce battle, Akathus was hesitant because of the player’s nonchalant demeanor. Moreover, the archer was not fully recovered from battling the girin.
‘Looks like he brought something back from the girin’s dungeon.’ Akathus thought as he remembered the scene observed through the observer. It was indeed an egg. ‘Girin’s fruit, is it?’ That aging girin could have left behind its offspring before dying.
But Akathus was not particularly worried. ‘Even if he has the ability to fly and dig, there’s no way he can hatch the fruit of a divine beast.’ For the fruit to revive, it required a massive amount of energy and certain conditions. For players, it was infeasible to hatch it, and even if consumed by a player, it would have no significant effect. Just a shiny fool’s gold. ‘But it seems like he’s planning something.’ Akathus couldn’t confirm what it was as the player evaded the observer’s view midway.
Annoyed, Akathus flicked his finger into the air, and a large screen appeared. On the screen was the image of the archer, groaning in pain. “Ah, this dumb creature. Why so fragile?” he muttered.
Akathus had pushed the girin into action, but now he looked ridiculous and shameless. “Well, as long as the horn is absorbed into his body, that’s enough.”
The energy flowing from the girin’s horn embedded in the creature’s side was being slowly absorbed into the archer’s body. ‘What’s making this non-avatar act so arrogantly?’ Akathus couldn’t understand how Cara was defeated, but it was clear there was an error. Otherwise, it was incomprehensible.
It was frustrating, though. So, Akathus had made some adjustments to this main quest. Since Sehan took the train to Daejeon, Akathus planned to empower the raid boss.
‘I’d have preferred to enhance it comfortably.’ But once they reach Sentinel or raid boss levels, even a GM can’t just strengthen them out of hand. The system wouldn’t allow it. Therefore, Akathus slightly interfered with the archer’s psyche—making it more vicious and obsessed with strength.
Naturally fierce, the archer was easily manipulated with this simple play, storming into the territory and nest of the girin to claim its land and power. Meanwhile, Akathus busied himself with placing the archer’s feathers and claw marks strategically, awaiting Sehan’s arrival. Unfortunately, the first ambush failed, and the archer’s wounds were more severe than anticipated. “I’ll have to help out a bit more.” Akathus decided to heal the wounds and ensure the archer could fully absorb the girin’s power.
With this level of intervention, he could manipulate the raid boss into becoming significantly stronger without the system’s notice. ‘It might even become an absurd monstrosity.’ Whether the Daejeon players could prevent an annihilation was irrelevant to Akathus. His own avatars, the dead gods, might fume with rage, but they’d never know that he had a hand in enhancing the archer.
“All I need to do is watch now.” The fur on the archer, projected on the screen, gradually darkened, matching the color of the corrupted girin’s fur.
***
Two weeks later, in Daejeon.
Near Daejeon City Hall, many people were swarming. Players had gathered in anticipation of the raid boss’s spawn time. The area was already under personnel control.
“But why are there soldiers and police here?” Indisputably, there were significantly more soldiers and police than during my last visit, even tanks. This was clearly a stance to fight the raid boss.
“They must be trying to show that they couldn’t fight properly due to the sudden ambush last time.”
“Don’t munitions not work on monsters?” “It’s not that they don’t work at all. Earth-made weapons don’t contain magic, so they cause minimal damage, though they still deliver some impact.”
Yet, when it comes to a raid boss, most weapons are moot. Nuclear missiles might cause damage, but using them is impractical—unable to kill the target and only destroying the city.
“They probably tested their weapons against the monsters roaming the streets.” That must have been the reason for the street control during my last visit. Since that area was a spawning ground for monsters, they tested their weapons and thought they’d be effective.
“Why not just leave it to the players?”
“The more they do, the more power shifts to the players.” Power fundamentally comes from force. They couldn’t just watch as players started stepping into the realm of superhumans. “They don’t want to lose the power they barely reclaimed with the open world.”
“Yeah, I think so too.” The soldiers wore expressions of solemnity. Knowing that the raid boss would appear today, they had a right to be serious.
“Sigh.” Jisoo seemed displeased. If anything went wrong, it wouldn’t be those who ordered it but the soldiers here who would suffer.
“Let’s move to where the players are.” “Yes.” It would be highly awkward if we stayed near the soldiers and ran into someone we met during the last encounter.
“Looking for party members to face the raid boss! We have a healer here, a healer!” “Urgently seeking someone with a skill to heal wounds. Come, and you’ll be rewarded with points!”
Healers are a treasured resource in any game, and the ability to heal others was possessed by only a few talented players. ‘Thinking about it, wouldn’t it be good to network with the saintess in advance?’ In my previous life, the player known as the ‘Saintess’ could heal hundreds, even thousands of people at once. Her overwhelming power led some to believe in miracles and even sparked a religion.
‘No, not the saintess. That’s a problem.’ Despite the saintess’s image of kindness and sacrifice, she was not like that. She enjoyed helping others and was like a celestial nurse, but there were significant issues. “She got a little too much flattery around her.” “Huh?” “It’s nothing.” By now, she was likely still trapped on Jeju Island. I couldn’t meet her even if I wanted to.
“Hey there, bro. How about joining our party?” Many people approached me as I walked. “Sorry, but I have no intention of partying.” “Look at him, trying to show off in front of a girl. He’ll die like that!” They called it a party, but it was different from the ‘party’ Jisoo and I had formed. They meant a group that hunted together, a term that became part of reality through gaming.
“No, it’s really okay.” “Always going to learn the hard way.” Several men clicked their tongues, but their eyes were full of regret. ‘Just ask Jisoo to party, not me.’ They had clear ulterior motives, and my presence wasn’t holding them back. “People like that are everywhere.” Jisoo’s face grew colder, seemingly spotting the red hue in her eyes. ‘She’s angry.’ If I left her be, she might start a fight. And it wasn’t surprising, given the constant attention like this.
“If the raid boss appears, those guys will be the first to…” I opened my mouth to calm Jisoo down when I spotted a familiar face—stern features with both reliability and cunningness, a necklace shining with a silver ring around his neck. It was the very ring I had given as a gift. “Huh? Isn’t that Park Dongguon?” The guy who was supposed to be with Hyunkyung was unexpectedly here.
042. Vertex (2)
It was during this time that I first met the Taylor ladies. While wandering alone in search of the raid boss emerging from Shinrim, Luke approached and spoke to me. This was the first connection I made since the game began, and I learned a lot from Luke. A former soldier, Luke knew many combat and survival techniques, all of which were essential for my survival. That’s why I called him ‘Teacher.’
“I hate you.”
The piercing blue eyes that glared at me were unforgettable. Had I made a different choice back then, could I have reached a different ending, not a bad one? ‘I don’t know.’ At least this time, I would prevent such a situation from happening.
“Wow, it’s shining.”
Rin’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the incubator beginning to operate, emitting a soft light. It’s true what they say; kids are kids after all.
“Uncle, is the egg going to hatch now?”
…Uncle?
“Do I look that old?”
“Oh, no. Not like that…”
Rin laughed awkwardly.
“Brother, aren’t you 10 years older than this girl? Why ‘brother’? Just call him uncle. Ah, now that we’re at it, should I call you uncle too?”
“Don’t.”
“Why~! I’m four years older than you, after all.”
Mina suddenly felt eyes on her back. When she casually looked behind her, Jisoo was staring intently at her. There was no particular emotion in that gaze, but the mere act of being watched made her feel chilled. ‘That lady is scary just by standing there,’ Mina grumbled to herself.
“Ahem, of course, I’m just kidding. Anyway, did you come here today because of that egg? Are you going back to Daejeon now?”
“No.”
Even if I returned right away, there was nothing I could do.
“There’s no point in going back now if we can’t catch the raid boss.”
No matter how wounded the archer was, it was a raid boss. It was not something we could face without special preparations.
“Of course. The time isn’t right yet.”
“No. We’ve already encountered the raid boss.”
“What?”
Mina looked back and forth between Jisoo and me in disbelief.
“How did you meet it?”
“Well…”
I briefly explained what had happened in Daejeon. We encountered the raid boss by chance, and when we followed where it appeared, we found the corpse of a girin. This egg was one of the things we took from there—a succinct explanation. Details like going to Daejeon to get the girin’s horn were omitted because explaining them would only scrape old wounds.
“So raid bosses are that big. I thought they were like Sentinel level.”
“Sentinels are actually stronger. It’s just that raid bosses have higher defense and health, making them harder to kill, right?” I once said that while Sentinels are the ‘leave this one alone and avoid it’ type, raid bosses are ‘if we all work together, we can defeat it.’
“But because raid bosses have a much larger range of action than Sentinels, if left unchecked, the damage cannot be compared.”
“I see. So there’s a raid boss hiding somewhere here too then?”
“Well, yeah. But there’s no advantage in disturbing it first.”
“Why? It’s better to hurry and catch it.”
“Because the players are not yet prepared.”
There were still many who hadn’t cleared the third main quest.
Considering my previous life, the best course was to wait for the time when the boss would appear. ‘On the other hand, there’s a variable with the raid boss in Daejeon.’ In my previous life, was the archer also wounded by the girin’s horn? Was there some change at the time I went down to Daejeon?
Originally, in my previous life, I never went down to Daejeon. However, it seemed as though it was waiting for me, staging an ambush. Looking back, there were obvious signs: feathers and claw marks.
‘Thinking about it, the timing of engaging with the girin was also abnormally fast.’
At that time, I was too flustered to think deeply, but the more I thought about it, the more it felt odd. It was an anomaly for the archer to invade the girin’s territory just 3 days after the announcement of the raid boss. Girins are not easy targets, being corrupted divine beasts.
The deep wounds were evidence that the archer had engaged in a reckless battle. ‘There are still many uncertainties.’ Therefore, it was better to prepare as much as possible rather than going down hastily.
I also considered the possibility of the system’s involvement, but I assumed another being. ‘GM Akathus.’ The Game Master in charge of the South Korean server, a lazy and cruel monster who detests troublesome matters.
***
“Indeed, that guy is no ordinary one.”
GM Akathus mumbled to himself, recalling the two players who had gone off to Seoul. It was surprising they managed to escape unscathed from the raid boss’s surprise attack.
Though tempted to induce battle, Akathus was hesitant because of the player’s nonchalant demeanor. Moreover, the archer was not fully recovered from battling the girin.
‘Looks like he brought something back from the girin’s dungeon.’ Akathus thought as he remembered the scene observed through the observer. It was indeed an egg. ‘Girin’s fruit, is it?’ That aging girin could have left behind its offspring before dying.
But Akathus was not particularly worried. ‘Even if he has the ability to fly and dig, there’s no way he can hatch the fruit of a divine beast.’ For the fruit to revive, it required a massive amount of energy and certain conditions. For players, it was infeasible to hatch it, and even if consumed by a player, it would have no significant effect. Just a shiny fool’s gold. ‘But it seems like he’s planning something.’ Akathus couldn’t confirm what it was as the player evaded the observer’s view midway.
Annoyed, Akathus flicked his finger into the air, and a large screen appeared. On the screen was the image of the archer, groaning in pain. “Ah, this dumb creature. Why so fragile?” he muttered.
Akathus had pushed the girin into action, but now he looked ridiculous and shameless. “Well, as long as the horn is absorbed into his body, that’s enough.”
The energy flowing from the girin’s horn embedded in the creature’s side was being slowly absorbed into the archer’s body. ‘What’s making this non-avatar act so arrogantly?’ Akathus couldn’t understand how Cara was defeated, but it was clear there was an error. Otherwise, it was incomprehensible.
It was frustrating, though. So, Akathus had made some adjustments to this main quest. Since Sehan took the train to Daejeon, Akathus planned to empower the raid boss.
‘I’d have preferred to enhance it comfortably.’ But once they reach Sentinel or raid boss levels, even a GM can’t just strengthen them out of hand. The system wouldn’t allow it. Therefore, Akathus slightly interfered with the archer’s psyche—making it more vicious and obsessed with strength.
Naturally fierce, the archer was easily manipulated with this simple play, storming into the territory and nest of the girin to claim its land and power. Meanwhile, Akathus busied himself with placing the archer’s feathers and claw marks strategically, awaiting Sehan’s arrival. Unfortunately, the first ambush failed, and the archer’s wounds were more severe than anticipated. “I’ll have to help out a bit more.” Akathus decided to heal the wounds and ensure the archer could fully absorb the girin’s power.
With this level of intervention, he could manipulate the raid boss into becoming significantly stronger without the system’s notice. ‘It might even become an absurd monstrosity.’ Whether the Daejeon players could prevent an annihilation was irrelevant to Akathus. His own avatars, the dead gods, might fume with rage, but they’d never know that he had a hand in enhancing the archer.
“All I need to do is watch now.” The fur on the archer, projected on the screen, gradually darkened, matching the color of the corrupted girin’s fur.
***
Two weeks later, in Daejeon.
Near Daejeon City Hall, many people were swarming. Players had gathered in anticipation of the raid boss’s spawn time. The area was already under personnel control.
“But why are there soldiers and police here?” Indisputably, there were significantly more soldiers and police than during my last visit, even tanks. This was clearly a stance to fight the raid boss.
“They must be trying to show that they couldn’t fight properly due to the sudden ambush last time.”
“Don’t munitions not work on monsters?” “It’s not that they don’t work at all. Earth-made weapons don’t contain magic, so they cause minimal damage, though they still deliver some impact.”
Yet, when it comes to a raid boss, most weapons are moot. Nuclear missiles might cause damage, but using them is impractical—unable to kill the target and only destroying the city.
“They probably tested their weapons against the monsters roaming the streets.” That must have been the reason for the street control during my last visit. Since that area was a spawning ground for monsters, they tested their weapons and thought they’d be effective.
“Why not just leave it to the players?”
“The more they do, the more power shifts to the players.” Power fundamentally comes from force. They couldn’t just watch as players started stepping into the realm of superhumans. “They don’t want to lose the power they barely reclaimed with the open world.”
“Yeah, I think so too.” The soldiers wore expressions of solemnity. Knowing that the raid boss would appear today, they had a right to be serious.
“Sigh.” Jisoo seemed displeased. If anything went wrong, it wouldn’t be those who ordered it but the soldiers here who would suffer.
“Let’s move to where the players are.” “Yes.” It would be highly awkward if we stayed near the soldiers and ran into someone we met during the last encounter.
“Looking for party members to face the raid boss! We have a healer here, a healer!” “Urgently seeking someone with a skill to heal wounds. Come, and you’ll be rewarded with points!”
Healers are a treasured resource in any game, and the ability to heal others was possessed by only a few talented players. ‘Thinking about it, wouldn’t it be good to network with the saintess in advance?’ In my previous life, the player known as the ‘Saintess’ could heal hundreds, even thousands of people at once. Her overwhelming power led some to believe in miracles and even sparked a religion.
‘No, not the saintess. That’s a problem.’ Despite the saintess’s image of kindness and sacrifice, she was not like that. She enjoyed helping others and was like a celestial nurse, but there were significant issues. “She got a little too much flattery around her.” “Huh?” “It’s nothing.” By now, she was likely still trapped on Jeju Island. I couldn’t meet her even if I wanted to.
“Hey there, bro. How about joining our party?” Many people approached me as I walked. “Sorry, but I have no intention of partying.” “Look at him, trying to show off in front of a girl. He’ll die like that!” They called it a party, but it was different from the ‘party’ Jisoo and I had formed. They meant a group that hunted together, a term that became part of reality through gaming.
“No, it’s really okay.” “Always going to learn the hard way.” Several men clicked their tongues, but their eyes were full of regret. ‘Just ask Jisoo to party, not me.’ They had clear ulterior motives, and my presence wasn’t holding them back. “People like that are everywhere.” Jisoo’s face grew colder, seemingly spotting the red hue in her eyes. ‘She’s angry.’ If I left her be, she might start a fight. And it wasn’t surprising, given the constant attention like this.
“If the raid boss appears, those guys will be the first to…” I opened my mouth to calm Jisoo down when I spotted a familiar face—stern features with both reliability and cunningness, a necklace shining with a silver ring around his neck. It was the very ring I had given as a gift. “Huh? Isn’t that Park Dongguon?” The guy who was supposed to be with Hyunkyung was unexpectedly here.
