[Episode 09] Gathering (1)
Lee Jun-hyeok was one of the Awakened who led a group of survivors near Seomyeon Station.
Although their ability to create water was limited, in extreme situations this ability was crucial to their survival.
Thanks to this, the group of survivors he led had a significantly larger number of survivors than other groups.
However, the large number of survivors was becoming a disadvantage rather than an advantage as time went on.
Because food was being consumed as quickly as the number of people.
A total of 24 people including myself.
The amount of food eaten by 24 adults was more than one could imagine.
‘Now is the real limit.’
The food we had earned through fierce battles with the monsters around us was slowly showing its limits.
‘I have to go somewhere.’
It was a time when I was having such worries.
Kwarrrrrrrrung―
It was one particularly sunny afternoon when the prelude to despair began to be heard.
Kugugugugugu―
The ground shook with the sound of something exploding.
It was felt even more acutely because he was underground.
‘Is it an earthquake?’
Then a man came down from above and shouted at him.
“Junhyuk! I need you to come up here right now!”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“Oh no! It’s a monster, a monster!”
Lee Jun-hyeok said, seeing the man’s expression dark with fear.
“Calm down and guide me. Where should I go?”
“Follow me.”
Even as I strode up the stairs following him, the ground continued to shake.
‘No, it’s actually getting worse.’
When Lee Jun-hyeok followed the man’s instructions and reached the third floor, the identity of ‘it’ began to appear through the gap between the buildings.
“···What is that?”
The giant was there.
Because he was dozens of meters tall, he seemed to be visible no matter where you stood.
The monster was destroying buildings.
“Junhyuk. What, what do we do now?”
Lee Jun-hyeok answered while staring blankly at the monster.
“brother.”
“Uh, yeah?”
“What can I do about it?”
The answer was already decided.
“Tell everyone to stay underground and hide.”
“What? Ha, but···!”
“Don’t you know? There’s nothing we can do, bro. The best we can do is pray that he doesn’t come here.”
When a predator appears, the prey usually has two choices.
Run away or hide.
However, in Lee Jun-hyeok and his group’s situation, running away was not an option.
“Or where are you going? There are goblins and orcs right outside. Where are you planning on running away to? If you fight them and catch the eye of a giant, it’s all over.”
“I, I understand. I’ll tell him to hide. But what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to watch where that guy goes.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
After sending the man down like that, Lee Jun-hyeok moved to the roof of the building.
When we got to the rooftop,
“Kyaaaaah!”
A goblin rushed at me.
‘There’s still some left.’
He lightly swung his baseball bat at the goblin that was rushing toward him.
Kwajik!
The goblin died instantly in one hit.
The reason Lee Jun-hyeok can hunt goblins so easily is because he is an Awakened One.
The moment you awaken, you gain physical specifications different from those of ordinary people, and the more you hunt monsters, the stronger you become.
Now, he had physical abilities superior to those of people who exercised hard, and all his senses were extremely sensitive.
It is far beyond the specifications of an ordinary person.
‘I don’t feel anything with goblins anymore.’
After reaching a certain level, I couldn’t feel that unique feeling of growth anymore when hunting goblins.
‘I guess I have to be at least an orc.’
This peculiar feeling of growth was completely absent from his colleagues.
‘Perhaps only the Awakened can grow.’
Kuuuung―
Fortunately, the giant showed no interest in this building and was moving further away.
I looked at the giant in the distance and thought.
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
‘If I could just catch something like that, I think I could become incredibly strong.’
I knew it.
That’s just a useless delusion.
But it was inevitable that greed would arise.
This was because he knew very well that if he could just catch that monster, his physical specs would immediately evolve to the next level.
That was when.
-Kuaaaah!
The giant screamed in agony.
‘······hmm?’
I looked closely to see what was going on and it looked like someone was fighting a giant.
‘Isn’t he crazy?’
Who would have thought that someone would actually do what he had only imagined?
‘That guy is definitely an Awakened person like me.’
Although he had yet to encounter an Awakened person like himself, he was certain of it.
Otherwise, he would not have risked his life and taken such a dangerous gamble.
In Lee Jun-hyeok’s eyes, it seemed like he was being too greedy and overdoing things.
‘A pathetic person who doesn’t even understand his own subject…’
however.
-Ahhhh!
Something strange was happening.
‘uh?’
Looking at the giant’s voice in pain, it seemed like the pathetic guy who couldn’t figure out the subject was striking a useful blow.
‘Really? You can catch a giant?’
That expectation only lasted for a moment.
Kwaaaaang!
The giant’s unusually large foot struck the ground like a meteor.
Kukukukukuku!
“Ugh!”
A spectacle was seen where the surrounding buildings collapsed helplessly as the building shook momentarily.
And some of that vibration was transmitted to the building where Lee Jun-hyeok was.
I lost my balance for a moment and almost fell, but thanks to my heightened physical abilities and athleticism after becoming an Awakened, I was able to avoid falling.
‘···He must be dead.’
At that time, we mourned the nameless Awakened One who had been trampled to death by the giant’s foot.
‘hmm?’
The giant started running again, glowing.
But the giant’s steps were strangely slower than before. Looking closely, he was limping on one leg.
‘What? You’re still alive?’
It was confusing.
How great must that awakened being have awakened his abilities to be able to fight on equal terms with that giant?
‘earthly···.’
How powerful.
I thought I had grown by constantly hunting since the day the monsters suddenly appeared, but there is already an Awakener who can fight such monsters.
‘Would it have been possible if I had also gained combat-related abilities?’
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t picture myself fighting that monster.
But then an even more surprising scene unfolded.
Hwarururuk!
“!!!”
A huge stream of flame shot out like a fountain from the giant’s mouth.
A warm wind blew towards where Lee Jun-hyeok was.
A fire that affects this distance.
‘What kind of monstrous ability is that?’
It was clear that the explosion was not a giant’s ability. Of course, if it was his own ability, he would not have shown himself as if he had been hit like that.
That means it’s the Awakened’s ability to fight giants, but on such an overwhelming scale.
‘They are on a different level than me, no, they are in a different class.’
Now, it was not the giants, but the unidentified Awakened beings fighting the giants that looked more like monsters.
If they were on a similar level, they would feel jealous and competitive, but that’s going too far.
It was just a wonderful sight.
One surprising thing was that even the giants survived the blast with incredible vitality.
The giant, who had been punching the floor for a long time, at some point.
Flash!
The upper body was cut off with a brilliant flash of light.
“!?!?!?!”
With that the battle ended, and suddenly the giant’s entire body began to disappear.
“···This is crazy.”
Lee Jun-hyeok, who watched the scene from beginning to end, was able to gain one realization.
‘That’s the guy.’
I have to stick with that guy to survive in this fu*king world.
‘I have to go there right now.’
As soon as he made up his mind, Lee Jun-hyeok went straight down to the basement and persuaded the people.
There was no need for lengthy persuasion.
“If Junhyeok tells me to go, I have to go.”
“Of course not, but is there anyone who would object to what Junhyeok says?”
“None.”
This was because the group of survivors he was with was already revolving around him.
They all knew that they were able to survive thanks to Lee Jun-hyeok, and they also all knew that they would have to leave soon to get food.
Above all, the only people left here were those who actively agreed with Lee Jun-hyeok’s words.
This is because in the first place, Lee Jun-hyeok did not bring along anyone who would contradict his opinions.
It may be cold-hearted, but it was just the right choice to survive a little longer.
“Let’s go.”
Surprisingly, the road to the apartment complex where the giant died was not that difficult.
It was because there were no monsters to be seen around, perhaps because the giant had set up a firework.
Moreover, the group of survivors led by Lee Jun-hyeok were a group of high-level personnel who had experience hunting not only goblins but also orcs.
Of course, it was thanks to Lee Jun-hyeok’s efforts, but what was important was that everyone, without exception, was able to do the work of one person.
For one reason or another, they were able to reach their destination in less than an hour.
“Hey, are you there?”
“I think so.”
When Lee Jun-hyeok agreed, the man next to him looked up at the apartment and expressed his admiration.
“Junhyuk, it looks like there’s something like what you said. Even though it’s newly built, it looks so clean despite all the chaos.”
That wasn’t the only thing that was unusual.
‘It’s exactly as you said, hyung. The surrounding area is so clean.’
Neither the common human corpse nor the monster corpse could be found.
There are almost no bloodstains or anything like that.
It looked as if someone had cleaned it.
That was when.
“Huh? Look over there, Junhyeok.”
About a dozen people were walking towards the place the man pointed to.
The group was heavily armed, mostly with orc spears and bows.
I could vaguely hear them talking, but there was something strange about the content.
“Wow. I was really shocked.”
“That’s right. I was trying to earn some money by hunting goblins, and I almost got caught. A giant all of a sudden.”
“What is that giant’s true identity?”
“I don’t know. But how much money did you make?”
“Me? I caught three goblins today, so maybe ten thousand won? I also gained a lot of experience points, so I should go buy some cup ramen.”
“Good. I only caught two.”
I could understand the expression about gaining experience by catching goblins.
Because the feeling that Lee Jun-hyeok felt himself was exactly suitable for that expression.
‘But what about money?’
You made ten thousand won by catching three goblins.
What on earth does that mean?
I couldn’t understand.
‘No, wait. But if you gain experience, that means they also know that feeling, so does that mean they’re all Awakened?’
In Lee Jun-hyeok’s group, that feeling was something that only he, the awakened one, felt.
But it seemed like all of those people were sympathizing with the story about experience.
‘And what is this sense of discomfort?’
I didn’t feel even a hint of tension from them.
There was no fear of monsters, no desperation for survival.
That’s why I’m convinced that they must be somehow connected to that great Awakener who killed the giant.
“Junhyuk. What’s wrong?”
“Hyunchan hyung.”
“huh?”
“Let’s follow those people.”
At one point, as I was trying to follow them into the apartment complex.
“100 million!”
“what?”
Suddenly a transparent wall blocked their path.
[No entry.]
and.
[Would you like to obtain citizenship?]
[Yes / No]
A strange letter appeared before them.
“What is this?”
“Junhyuk. What should I do about this? It looks like I need to get citizenship to get in.”
Lee Jun-hyeok stared at the empty letters he had never seen before and spoke.
“I will take it.”
Tiring!
[You have acquired citizenship.]
As soon as I received it, the transparent wall disappeared and I was able to enter the apartment complex.
And not long after that.
《Party Quest》
Quest Content: Go to Room 3002, Building 114.
Time limit: 1 hour 00 minutes 00 seconds
Reward: A small amount of experience points.
Failure Penalty: None.
Once again, that holographic window appeared before my eyes.
“Quest?”
“What about experience points?”
Lee Jun-hyuk spoke to the people.
“Since you called, let’s go first.”
There was no need to worry too much about what was happening right before my eyes.
He himself has the superpower to create water out of nothing, so it wouldn’t be strange if someone had the power of a game system like this.
It was when he led his group of 23 people to find the quest area.
“Nice to meet you, Lee Jun-hyeok.”
The moment I faced him, I knew instinctively.
‘This is the man.’
The man right in front of me was the one who had brought that giant to his knees.
The overwhelming presence of the man in front of her made her think that he was more worthy of being called a giant than the giant himself.
“My name is Kim Jae-hyun.”
I had the illusion that something like an aura was emanating from his entire body.
The dignity contained in his small gestures and speech naturally aroused respect.
In the past, weren’t the classes of nobility, royalty, and imperial family meant for people like this?
Lee Jun-hyeok bowed ninety degrees while holding Kim Jae-hyun’s hand.
“My name is Lee Jun-hyeok! Please take good care of me!”
────────────────────────────────────
────────────────────────────────────
────────────────────────────────────
────────────────────────────────────
