<[Episode 22] Parasite (1) >
The Hadonggun party was enjoying a long vacation after the fight against the vampires ended.
It was the complete opposite of the days when he diligently devoted himself to hunting monsters without a single day of rest, and there were several reasons for this.
First, their pockets were deep.
They were chosen by Kim Jae-hyun and gained power, and while hunting various monsters, they accumulated enormous capital.
As an ace party, they were able to deal with powerful monsters and become wealthy individuals with billions of won just with their base salary.
In the case of Oh Eun-joo, who personally finished off Jinjo, he had assets worth over 100 billion won, so there was no reason for them to be obsessed with hunting monsters.
Second, there was a lack of suitable hunting grounds.
The current main hunting grounds for people have moved to Ulsan because the territory ruled by Kim Jae-hyun has expanded so much.
Now that the entire Busan area is surrounded, you have to go about 10km to hunt.
You have to go all the way to Gimhae, Yangsan, or Gijang to hunt monsters.
Things would be better if we could use a car, but the areas where roads have been maintained are only a few, mainly in Seomyeon.
In short, to go hunting you have to travel a really long distance.
In that situation, since Jeonpo Station in the center of Seomyeon and Homeplus in Ulsan are connected, parties that were hunting monsters outside the area were all forced to move to Ulsan.
At first, he hunted down the mid-level vampires that remained in the city, but that was only for a short while.
The vampires, having lost their center of gravity, scattered in all directions in search of their own way out, and instead, various monsters from the surrounding mountain ranges poured into Ulsan.
It was as if he had a ghostly feeling that Jinjo, the leader of the realm, had disappeared.
As a result, Ulsan became filled with countless monsters, most of which were goblins or orcs, and were not worth taking the time to hunt.
Crucially, this was because there was work that Kim Jae-hyun had separately instructed.
Hadong Geon asked Kim Geon, who had just finished his reconnaissance while flying in the sky.
“Did you find it?”
Kim Geon answered, returning to human form.
“…No, senior. There was nothing that looked like a dungeon entrance.”
The mission that Kim Jae-hyun gave them was to explore and conquer the dungeon.
“Dong-Geon, are you okay?”
Kang Deok-su, who was standing next to me, asked in a worried tone.
“what?”
“That’s not it….”
Not only Kang Deok-su, but also Kim Geon’s expression when looking at Ha Dong-geon was similar.
Because the place they are exploring now is Jangjeon-dong, where the three of them were born and raised together.
Their hometown was right nearby.
An apartment complex occupied by Black Oaks.
Kang Deok-su and Kim Geon-yi, whose house was just a mess, had at least some hope that their family might be alive, but Ha Dong-geon was different.
In his case, the whole house was covered in blood…
“I’m fine. I’m fine.”
Kang Deok-su let out a small sigh.
As a friend of 20 years, I knew very well that Ha Dong-geon was just trying to act strong.
‘That’s why I told you to go somewhere else.’
Hadonggun’s party was divided into two groups and was exploring, and Kang Deoksu had intentionally tried to send Hadonggun far away from here.
But Ha Dong-geon was stubborn and insisted on coming here.
It was simply because ‘I know the geography of this place well, so it would be efficient.’
‘Foolish guy’
Of course, it was not that I didn’t understand my friend’s feelings.
No matter how bloody the house looked, you still wanted to believe that your family was alive.
“…I’m not that different.’
Except for the blood, he was in no different situation from Ha Dong-geon.
I clearly knew that my family could not survive in this world.
Still, I couldn’t give up even a glimmer of hope.
That’s what family was like.
furthermore.
‘The entire city of Busan has become a safe zone, so if we do well…’
If you’re really lucky, you might be able to survive.
Maybe you’ll come across it by chance while exploring a dungeon like this.
I used to keep imagining things like that.
I know it’s realistically difficult, but I can’t give up hope.
At that time, Ha Dong-geon said.
“Geon, you rest for a bit and then after the sun sets, look up at the sky again. If there’s a dungeon entrance, you’ll notice it.”
“…Okay, senior.”
“I’ll take line 3, so Deoksu, you look after line 4.”
“okay.”
The place they were now was inside the Busan Campus of Pusan National University.
Since it was inside a university, each building had a number, which made it easy to divide up the work.
Kang Deok-su let out a small sigh as he faced the beige building with the words ‘416 Biology Building’ written on it.
Like any other building, its interior was full of traces of the struggle for survival.
I walked through the hallways that were stained with blood and reeked of rotting corpses, carefully examining the interior.
Then, Kang Deok-su, who was entering the bathroom, was startled when he saw something moving inside, but soon confirmed that it was a mirror reflecting himself and let out a small sigh.
‘Surprise.’
Kang Deok-su didn’t feel the need to go inside the bathroom.
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If the dungeon entrance was here, light would have been pouring out from inside the dark bathroom.
There was no need to look all the way inside.
I just took out my smartphone, turned on the light, and took a quick look inside.
The bathroom was a mess.
Not only was it filled with feces and urine and gave off a foul odor, but there were also several human corpses rotting around a single monster corpse.
It was a wolf-like monster, as big as an adult man, and was being discovered all over Pusan National University.
‘If these guys were running wild, it would be hopeless to survive. Then what about that guy..?’
I could feel anew that I was really lucky.
‘If Dong-Gun hadn’t come to the housewarming party that day…’
Instead of goblins, you might have encountered monsters like that.
‘No. If I had stayed home, I would have died at the hands of those damned Black Orcs.’
There would have been no such thing as being chosen by Kim Jae-hyun and gaining power.
‘…This really is a fu*king world.’
The place where such monsters were running wild was right near his house.
‘Even if my parents successfully escaped…’
It is highly likely that they were eaten by monsters.
Kang Deok-su frowned and was about to leave the bathroom when he stopped in front of the mirror for a moment.
‘…They look alike.’
His face, with its unruly beard that grew out of nowhere because he had never shaved, resembled his father’s.
“father….”
As I looked at myself, who resembled him, the scent of longing seemed to grow stronger.
‘i miss you.’
That was when.
CLANG!
A rattling noise was heard from inside the bathroom.
Kang Deok-su immediately reacted to that sound.
‘Get up.’
Now it was possible to summon the Silver Knight without even saying a word.
A silver knight rose from in front of the rattling toilet stall.
And then I tried to open the door right away.
Rattle rattle!
The door was locked, as expected.
“Gyaaaah!”
A high-pitched scream erupted from inside.
Kang Deok-su shouted, realizing too late that this was inside the safe zone.
“Calm down!”
He immediately summoned the Silver Knight.
Then he moved forward and continued speaking while shining the light of his cell phone.
“It’s okay now. Please open the door.”
“Poem, I hate it!”
From inside the partition, a frightened woman’s voice could be heard.
“You can rest assured.”
“go away!”
There was deep distrust in the woman’s voice.
‘I can’t help it.’
It was something I couldn’t coax or appease until the door was opened here.
The sooner this happened the better, so Kang Deok-su grabbed the partition and tightened his grip.
Snap!
Immediately the lock broke and the door opened.
“omg!”
A gasping sound could be heard from inside, and he tried to block the door with his whole body, but he was no match for Kang Deok-su, who had reached level 50.
The woman who had the door forcibly opened looked up at Kang Deok-soo with a pale face, and Kang Deok-soo indifferently shined the light of his cell phone at her.
“Don’t worry. I won’t harm you.”
The moment you reach out to pull the woman out.
“Don’t touch me!!”
A scream-like voice burst out, and Kang Deok-su tilted his head in confusion at the strange familiarity.
and.
“…uh?”
I soon realized what that familiarity was.
“Yesol?”
“How long do you think you can last?”
I asked with a nervous face.
Director Lee Seong-min, who was examining the grandfather’s condition, said.
“All four of you are simply asleep, so if you receive proper care, you could probably survive for months or even years. In fact, there are many cases where people can survive for years in a vegetative state. However…”
Director Lee Seong-min looked at the grandmother and continued speaking cautiously with a voice filled with concern.
“Despite being provided with sufficient nutrients and receiving top-notch care, my grandmother’s condition is worsening.”
It’s been a week since the family lost consciousness along with the light emanating from the grandmother’s body.
Director Lee Seong-min, who at first boasted that she was simply asleep, was also bewildered when he saw the grandmother’s condition worsening.
“At the current rate, it could become dangerous in a month at the longest, or within a week at the shortest.”
I felt Lee Seong-min looking at me after he finished speaking.
It seems like I wasn’t controlling my facial expressions very well.
‘We have to find a way within a week.’
The family’s current state was not simply sleep.
A transparent aura was taking hold of their bodies and was eating away at their life force in real time.
As for Mom, Dad, and Grandpa, there hasn’t been much to worry about yet.
Because all three of them had level 50s.
They have physical abilities and vitality that far surpass those of ordinary people, so they survive on just water and nutrients.
But my grandmother was different.
Even though he had received the bloodline buff, he was only level 21, and had already been asleep for several months.
This happened at a time when my physical condition was already gradually worsening.
Now that Grandfather’s strength is gone, Kim Da-jeong tried to replace it with his heel, but it was no use.
Over the past week, my grandmother has been losing weight rapidly.
‘shit.’
I was in a hurry.
‘Should I try?’
I also thought about forcibly burning out the area of transparent energy.
It was a very risky method, but if I continued to do nothing, I would lose everything.
‘If only I could give quests, I could try something.’
It was at that time that my feeling of frustration grew.
Woof-
The grandfather’s right hand, which was sleeping comfortably, began to blink briefly.
Woohoo-
It was that moment when the light flashed as if it was vibrating.
Kuuung!
With subtle vibrations felt throughout the area.
[Unauthorized person attempts to enter.]
A system message that had become all too familiar appeared before my eyes.
‘The Eyes of the Absolute.’
I used the Eye of the Absolute straight towards that place.
The identity of what has been knocking on the transparent barrier.
“White Dragon (Lv. 63)”
It was a giant monster that had visited this place once before.
<[Episode 22] Parasite (1)> End
