Chapter 51: Red Zone (1)
Kuuuuuuu.
<sky road>, the stage which held the second tutorial.
And the giant tower that was located above at the island at the top.
A large amount of water was rising up to the tower.
To be specific, all the islands were falling beneath the sea at a very fast rate.
It had already been a while since the water came up to the first floor of the tower and the slowly rising water seemed like it would go over the third floor soon.
Chiiiiiizik.
The blazing third floor started to get flooded by the poisonous sea as all the flames started to get extinguished.
A situation where it won’t be long until the whole tower would be submerged beneath the sea.
And a small door that was located at the top of this tower opened as somebody came out.
A man in a mess who was covered in blood.
“Goddamnit… for that thing to come out at the very end. It took way too long.”
Hansoo grinded his teeth.
There weren’t any artifacts that weren’t damaged either.
A few seemed to be in good condition but they all turned into dust that scattered as if they had a problem with them.
‘It seems I must renew them all’.
These artifacts couldn’t be used in the Red Zone, where he will be soon, anyways.
And it wasn’t really a waste if what he had gained was taken into account.
Hansoo, who threw out every artifact on his body other than the Nurmaha’s Ring, estimated the time and then clicked his tongue.
‘…There’s two hours left now.’
90th day.
2 hours before the tutorial ends.
After seeing the way the water was rising, everything would be submerged after two hours.
Most people would have already set off.
Hansoo jumped off as he looked below the tower and dug his hand onto the wall of the tower.
Kwadududuk.
The red, and not colorless, runes started to twist the laws of Hansoo’s body and his hands, which had been strengthened by this, started to smash the walls.
And Hansoo kept that speed, from the rebound force of his action, constant as he rode down the tower.
Hooooooong.
‘Go through from the 4th floor.’
The entrance which Ralph Lauren had come out from.
And the tower’s topmost floor.
‘It’ll be a bit tight. To make the Ship.’
You needed the Ship prepared by the fairy in order to go from the Colorless Zone to the Red Zone.
Since this place would completely sink.
Hansoo ran towards the <preparation area> on the 4th floor as fast as he could.
***
“Goddamnit! Those bitches from the Clan Alliance! For them to really leave us and go!”
Gumchan and the seven others grinded their teeth as they searched around the insides of the jungle.
‘Those crazy bastards… they leave even when they had room to spare?’
There wasn’t much resentment about the Ship made by the Free Alliance, which had set off 4 days ago, since they were the ones who chose not to get on but they didn’t know that the guys of the Clan Alliance would act like this.
And because of that they were searching around the jungle like this.
“Hurry! We need to find the Kuron Parasite and get it over there!”
Kuron Parasite.
They had gathered all of the other materials for the Ship in the 2 days after the departure of the Clan Alliance but they didn’t acquire the Kuron Parasite yet.
And the fairy would only make the Ship for them if they give the Kuron parasite to it.
But one of the people running spoke while making an anxious expression.
“Hey! But the Kuron Parasite is…”
Then Gumchan shouted as he grinded his teeth.
“Dammit! Then what! We can’t make the Ship without that!”
Kuron Parasite.
There wasn’t much about it.
It was so weak that it would die if you tapped it around a bit.
The problem was where they parasited on.
<galapagon crocodile>.
A 30m big giant crocodile that lived in the swamps of the inner parts of the wide 4th floor.
It had kindly been written in the catalogue for making the Ship by the fairy that it lived in the inside of the Galapagon Crocodile’s mouth.
Since there were basic explanations about the Ship and the places to gather the material for it.
They had promised themselves that they would never come back here after seeing an adventurer, who was trying to get the material, get his leg torn off but for them to come back here like this.
‘Dammit… there’s nothing we can do.’
Gumchan grinded his teeth.
They had to make the Ship.
A few people, who had gotten anxious after the Clan Alliance left, cut off a few trees in the jungle and tried to get to the <red zone> by making a raft and getting onto the sea.
The result was misery in itself.
They had all died after getting infected from the waves of poison.
You could stay afloat for a while but if you sink then your whole body will melt.
The fairy giggled at that as if it was extremely funny and spoke.
— Oh my. i told you to bring the materials because of this. i didn’t even tell you do make it. i said we’ll give it to you if you get the materials. though the ship made by us looks a bit flimsy, it’s the greatest consideration towards the comfort of the adventurer. theres… 39 hours left now.
And everyone who had seen this started searching the <preparation area> all around the 4th floor.
Since they might really melt down if they aren’t able to get the materials in time.
This was already 2 days ago.
And now there were probably less than 2 hours left.
The Free Alliance and the Clan Alliance each made a giant Ship that would still have space left after holding 2000 people.
They had become like this because they saw each of the 500 Free Alliance and the 600 Clan Alliance make a Ship to carry 2000 and had thought that they would take them and had leisurely hunted.
If they had faithfully prepared the Ship for a month then they wouldn’t have fallen into such a dangerous situation.
‘Dammit… We should’ve gotten the materials despite the dangers. Or we should have followed the Free Alliance.’
After a bit of running, he could see the shady swamp in the distance.
“…Why did they make such a large Ship if they weren’t gonna take us with them.”
He had run in a hurry but then he felt anxious again.
If the monsters they needed to kill in order to get the materials were easy then they would’ve done so already.
But as if it wasn’t only him who had thought this, the footsteps of 6 others behind him were slowing down as well.
And at that moment a voice was heard above them.
“You aren’t going to kill it? Then I shall do it.”
“Uuk?”
When they looked up after getting shocked they could see a man running between the branches of the jungle.
And there was a very unique thing about him.
‘…He has nothing on his body?’
To have nothing on his body.
Unlike the third floor of the tutorial where everyone had been separated, the fourth floor was a large area where all the survivors could stay together.
Of course it was a huge area but they had seen a lot of different kinds of people due to the fact that the areas weren’t isolated.
And a few people out of the 2000 survivors caught the eye.
Like Park Gyungmi’s special force clan that was famous for being a small group of elites despite her being a Lord.
The incredibly strong guy with a strange mask.
But it was the first time he had someone run about without anything on their body.
‘No. He has a single ring on.’
They didn’t have any solutions but this guy was something else.
No, he didn’t even know how to deal with this because such a unique guy had suddenly popped out.
“Well yeah. Since there’s more than one of them.”
Even before they could do anything, the guy who had finished talking ran into the swamp.
They gazed blankly for a moment and then asked Gumchan.
“What are you going to do?”
Gumchan pondered for a moment and then opened his mouth.
“It seems like he’s going to fight, we should go and see the situation as we…”
Boooom!
Before he could finish his words, a dark golden light penetrated through the swamp along with a giant noise.
Kuuuuaaaak!
And then a very loud scream that vibrated throughout the swamp exploded out.
Galapagon Crocodile’s Scream.
When the surprised group ran over, they saw an unbelievable sight.
The giant crocodile had its skull crushed and the man was pulling out the Kuron Parasite from the insides of its mouth which he had split apart.
‘…the fuck. What did he crush it with? Skill?’
The thickness of his skull that they could see between the broken bones were over 50 cm thick and it seemed like it wasn’t normal bones from the shininess.
But it had been broken apart like tofu.
The fourth floor was indeed very large but it wasn’t so wide to the point where a rumor wouldn’t get spread around.
If he was that strong than they should’ve at least heard about him at least once but they had never heard about him.
‘Is that him? He doesn’t have the chain scythe and dagger…’
And as they heard, that guy did not use any skills ever.
There was probably a reason why he couldn’t use it.
But that shining light was definitely the effect of a skill.
‘Dammit… I don’t know who he is. Did he gain something through a fortuitous encounter or something.’
While Gumchan was shocked, one of the people with Gumchan shouted out even before he could stop him,
“Hey! Wait a moment!”
“Hmm?”
When the guy turned around one of the people behind Gumchan shouted loudly.
“It seems like you don’t have a Ship either, how about going with us? We have everything but that parasite!”
Though they wanted to get a free ride only a single Kuron Parasite lived within each crocodile.
And he didn’t know what that guy did but for him to have the strength to crush that giant crocodile with a single strike meant that opposing him in terms of strength was impossible.
The Galapagon Crocodile itself was burdensome, it didn’t make any sense to go up against such a person who killed it with a single strike.
But there was no need to actually fight.
The Ship they could make with the materials they had and the Kuron Parasite could easily hold ten people.
It was enough for them seven and that one man to get on.
“Oh…!”
While Gumchan made a satisfied expression, a few people came through the swamp while gasping for air.
“What? You gained the Kuron Parasite?”
They were all gasping for air and had lights shining in their eyes.
They could only be anxious since they didn’t make the Ship while the toxic water was rising by the minute.
They had gained all the easy materials in the two days after the Clan Alliance had left but there were more people who had been wandering around the swamp due to the fear of it than they had thought.
They had all gathered here as they heard the scream of the Galapagon Crocodile dying.
The man standing in the front shouted loudly at Hansoo.
“Hey! Did you kill it for those guys? Then help us kill it too!”
And then Gumchan shouted in confusion.
“What are you talking about! We didn’t tell him to kill it but rather gave a proposal! Do you think we’re trying to get a free ride? We’re willing to give him all the other materials!”
Then the man standing in the very front smiled.
“Then that’s even better. Does it really need to be you guys?”
“What?”
The man ignored Gumchan and then shouted at Hansoo.
“We have all the other materials as well! But our Ship is a 20 man Ship! We just couldn’t get the Ship because we didn’t have the parasite that the Galapagon Crocodile was guarding over! Isn’t it better for you guys to go to a bigger Ship?”
The man spoke with confidence.
As he saw it, the amateurs over there had only seven people.
The Ship they were preparing were probably a 10 man.
On the other hand they had 13 people and had a bit more leisure so the Ship they had prepared was a 20 man Ship of a slightly larger size.
Wouldn’t they be better.
Gumchan grinded his teeth at those words.
It was just as he said.
They looked at the Ships that were crossing the dangerous looking sea on the direction that the fairy had pointed to.
It wasn’t an issue of people on board.
It was just that they would be safer the more materials they invested in order to get a bigger Ship from the fairy to travel much more safely.
The fact that a lot of people could get on was just a side effect.
But it wasn’t only Gumchan who had become desperate at those words.
There really wasn’t much time left anymore.
“You bastard! If you do that then we have the materials as well! Let’s go with us!”
“With us!”
“Dammit! Then at least get one for us each! We’re all going to die!”
‘Hmm…’
Hansoo watched the chaos around him as he shook his head and spoke.
“I don’t need those materials.”
“…What?”
“I’ll be making a 500 man Ship. You guys use that by yourselves.”
‘…Isn’t this guy just a maniac. Making a 500 man Ship for himself?’
Yohan, who had been making the 20 man Ship, was speechless.