Chapter 268. Underground (2)
Tiamet looked back at Jang Oh expressionlessly.
“I understand that you didn’t forget the fact that we’re taking care of you outsiders. Well, shall we call what we have a contract, like how you guys call it?”
Jang Oh made a bitter expression at the condescending words of Tiamet.
‘I know. That’s why you treat us this way.’
Horrible living conditions.
This special area that was created near the extravagant capital always told them.
That they should be thankful to at least be treated this way before going up.
His friend, Clementine, tried very hard for their survival.
But was the life given to them satisfactory? That was a different story.
Reality was harsh.
Especially in this damned world created by ‘God’.
Tiamet spoke towards Jang Oh.
“We’ve been nice to you so far. We’ve protected you from the players and kept you alive but… I don’t like to keep things that are undeeded.”
He and the natives of the Kingdoms and the Empire had a hard time going into the Spirit Land.
Since for them the Ain’s Blessing was an impossibility and the Protection Elixirs were not working.
This is why he had kept these guys alive.
These parasites that passed by his world momentarily.
But if they didn’t do their job, there was no need to keep them.
“Don’t worry. I’ll solve this problem.”
Tiamet laughed towards Jang Oh who surrounded himself in bits of shadows as if he was about to move out.
“Take them all. Everybody who’s just sitting around and eating.”
Jang Oh’s expression froze.
“Don’t you trust me? I’m more than enough.”
These weren’t empty words.
He had been doing well by himself.
And though he heard that the new guy was strong, he had confidence in winning.
Since he had seen the other’s skills over the hole.
Then.
Whoooosh!
“Kuhuk…”
Jang Oh groaned at the powerful hand grabbing onto his throat.
And Tiamet, the owner of this hand, slowly tightened his grip as he spoke with a cold expression.
“I’m telling you to do it properly you fucking scrub. Don’t you understand? It seems you don’t want to take them because it’s dangerous but… Know this. If you fail then you guys don’t have any value left. If you still have a brain then you should know what is better, all of you dying versus just a few.”
“Ugh…”
“Stop him no matter what. From going over the mountain range. Don’t let a single person cross it.”
Smash!
‘Mudusella. Things won’t go the way you want.’
Tiamet mumbled after he threw Jang Oh on the ground.
***
Rummmmble.
Hansoo continued to drop as he got hit by the avalanche that fell from above.
At that moment.
He heard something from below.
The sound of the black marble created from the Nine Dragons Spear smashing against something.
It had succeeded in melting the snow but something was blocking the energy.
Hansoo focused his sight as he fell.
Soon.
Through the mist that had been created from the ice and snow melting, he could see some blackish things.
A steel wall that had been half destroyed by the Nine Dragons Spear.
No, it shouldn’t be steel.
Steel wouldn’t be able to withstand the Nine Dragons Spear.
Some sort of alloy.
Despite it being half smashed apart, he could still see faint traces of light running through it.
And Hansoo could somewhat guess what this was.
‘This looks similar to the things from the Golden Dragon Formation… Why is this here. Hmm…’
The wall of the Azure Dragon’s Seat that was surrounded from the mana node’s energy.
The feeling of the metal and the energy that was emitted from it were similar to it.
‘Jang Oh told me he went through the entrance. Hmm.’
Hansoo thought of the words of Jang Oh from the past but merely shook his head and then raised his spear.
And used his falling momentum to smash into the wall.
Boooooooooooom!
‘Not bad?’
Despite it being half destroyed already, the wall did a good job of withstanding Hansoo’s attack.
The issue wasn’t the material but rather the energy flowing through it.
The wall that was about a meter thick started to heal itself with the energy flowing through it.
Then.
“Ahhhh!”
“You bastard! This isn’t anywhere close enough to kill us!”
The voices of the players from above could be heard.
This was within expectations.
Though they got pushed away from the avalanche, this wasn’t enough to kill them.
It was just to push them away and buy some time.
‘Hmph. It’ll be annoying if you chase.’
Hansoo looked at the hole that was too small for him to go through and nodded.
Then his mana was sucked into the Nurmaha’s ring.
Kiiiing!
Hansoo saw the shining ring on his finger and then smashed the ring into the alloy wall.
Boooom!
The wall still stood but there was a difference this time.
Whooosh!
The Power Nullification of the ring erased about a two-meters-radius’s worth of energy from the wall.
This wouldn’t last long since the wave of energy was flowing back into this area.
But this was enough.
Hansoo smashed his spear down onto the wall again.
Crunch!
Without the protection of the mysterious energy, the wall could not withstand Hansoo’s attack from just the toughness of the alloy.
A hole about Hansoo’s size was created and Hansoo jumped through the wall.
“Huh? Hey you bastard! You’re running?”
“Hold him down!”
Boom!
Booom!
The players ran towards the hole Hansoo disappeared through.
But it was too late.
Shhhshshshh!
“Uh?! What the… This thing is shrinking!”
The Power Nullification had long worn out because of the waves of energy that rushed back in.
The hole in the alloy wall that was barely enough for Hansoo to get through was already getting smaller.
“Fucking hell!”
“Damn!”
Boom!
Boooom!
The players attacked the shrinking hole in panic but it was useless.
The energy flowing through the wall was too powerful for them to break through.
“What in the…”
“What the hell is hidden here? Jesus…”
Some people sat down and gave up but some still held on.
“Get back up and try looking around! There might be an entrance somewhere! Even a castle has doors!”
Some of the players heard this and nodded.
And then started to slowly use their skills to search around.
Chiiiiiiiiiik.
Despite the tremendous amount of ice, which had accumulated and condensed over tens of thousands of years, it could not withstand the combined heat from the skills of thouasnds of players.
And as they started their search, a question surfaced into their heads.
‘What is this?’
The players made confused expressions.
The game, Exodus, was set in medieval times.
Building up walls with stones and the royalty fighting with swords and spears.
Though these stones and weapons were far beyond normal ones because of magic but the level of science was indeed very low.
An alloy like this, which should only exist in some Sci-Fi movies, should not be present here.
‘Is this for some major update… Or something?’
The players came up with the most befitting answer.
Why else would something like this exist below layers of ice thousands of kilometers away from civilization?
At this moment the eyes of the players changed.
Curiosity started to replace the rage inside them.
And the speed of them melting the ice sped up from this.
At that moment.
“Uh?”
One of the players exclaimed out loud while he was melting the ice and proceeding in a twisted path.
Though it was very muted, it could not stay undetected from the focused perceptions of the other players.
“Did you find something?”
“Entrance? Did you find the entrance?”
Everybody started to rush towards where the voice came from.
But then the one who made the noise shook his head.
“No… It’s not the entrance but…”
The eyes of the players naturally looked towards where the man was looking at.
There wasn’t an entrance there but a strange letter.
— A…
‘What the hell is this now…’
It was so large that despite the player having melted a 30m radius, only a single letter could be seen.
And the players who had gotten curious decided what to do.
“Shall we… Try digging it out carefully?”
“Some should provide support with skills so things don’t fall on our heads and the others should melt it!”
Everyone nodded as they spread out.
Chiiiiiiik.
Chiik.
They dug around it like an ant’s nest in fear of things collapsing but in order to excavate everything, they would need to clear an area several times larger than a football field.
So everyone carefully enlarged the area while making sure things didn’t fall.
They were still master level players and were the most powerful out of those.
The ice melted away very quickly and soon an underground cave was created.
Of a size that could allow thousands of people to live.
And then they read what the letters said.
— ASTRO-17.
‘… What is this.’
An english word that symbolized space.
Though they knew what it meant, it didn’t belong here.
The game’s main concept was unveiling the unknown while traveling through the lands, something like this didn’t fit the game at all.
***
Whoooosh!
The moment Hansoo penetrated through the wall.
He thought that a tunnel or a small space would appear after going through the 1m thick wall.
But things were completely out of his expectations.
“… Amazing.”
Whoosh!
Hansoo mumbled as he fell towards the ground far below.
A cylindrical space that was several kilometers wide and tall.
And Hansoo was shocked as he saw the giant world that spread out below his feet inside this space.