19 – The Beginning of Progress (9)
“What is that!?”
“M-Monster! It’s a monster!!”
Residents who synchronized their daily patterns with the sun. An emergency spread through the village early in the morning due to what they had discovered.
In the distance, a gigantic monster was writhing and emerging in the meadow, larger than the makeshift tents they had built. Its overall shape resembled a black beetle with a carapace, but the appearance of parasitic tentacles protruding from all sides—its head, abdomen, and carapace—was terrifying beyond comparison.
“Father!”
“D-Don’t come forward. It doesn’t seem to have any intention of attacking us yet.”
Barun stopped Rienna, who had rushed forward without even wearing armor. As he said, the giant monster showed no interest in the residents.
As if it had its own desires, it shot its tentacles into the air, writhing desperately, seemingly to escape from this place. Even to the eyes of the clueless residents, it seemed as if it could escape from here by doing so.
“…No. We have to stop it.”
“Leona!”
In such a situation, Leona instinctively felt it. If she didn’t eliminate that monster right now, things would go south. She had been attacked twice by similar creatures before.
Glitches and bugs weren’t mere monsters or enemies. Unlike those who hunted for hunger or looted for desire, they felt mechanical, as if they acted only because it was necessary.
Feeling a sense of unease there, she was certain that letting those things have their way was absolutely not an option.
“Oh, my goodness! Everyone arm yourselves and mount the horses!”
Baron, frightened by his daughter rushing out with just a sword in hand, hurriedly grabbed a weapon and mounted a horse himself.
The armed residents followed suit hastily. Each wielding iron weapons they had stored – bows, spears, swords – they rode together, crossing the meadow, heading towards the bugs.
“They’re attacking!”
By now, even the bugs couldn’t ignore them. The bug with its huge, sturdy jaw turned its head, snarling at the dozens of residents riding towards it.
The first tentacle strike from the bug targeted Leona, who had run with superhuman agility.
She evaded the thick tentacle, thicker than her fist, by propelling herself forward with the force of her punch.
‘Why aren’t you helping now?’
Dodging the tentacle’s strike that shattered the ground with shockwaves, Leona bit her lip. The unknown power that used to notify them first in times of crisis. The power that irresistibly lifted them up with flashes whenever danger arose.
Now, that power wasn’t calling for them.
Based on that, she speculated that the monstrous creature behaving inexplicably in the air was influencing that power.
So, this fight wasn’t just for themselves this time. She believed that this time, she had to assist that unknown force.
[Power Strike]
Near the bug with a house-sized body, she smoothly activated the skill she acquired by rolling on the land invaded by the terrifying demon lord.
With a burst of golden light, the skill erupted, causing the bug’s thick leg and tentacle to burst one after another. The bug, making bizarre screams, pushed its massive jaw towards her.
Her slender waist was about the size that could be crushed in one bite.
“Where is this rascal going!”
But at that moment, when the enraged Barun yelled, the trait that was embedded in his body began to perform its proper function.
It was the trait of the goblin shaman he had obtained by killing the goblin shaman in the game, a trait that met with mana and became the power that moved reality.
A pillar of earth suddenly sprang up from the ground and lunged at Riena, diverting the attack towards itself. Thanks to that, she gained another opportunity to counterattack.
“Quick, shoot! Avoid the tentacles!”
“The part where the tentacles sprout seems like a weak spot. Attack there!”
It wasn’t just Riena and Barun fighting. The residents, mounted on horses, dodged the tentacles with the help of their horses, circling around the bug and shooting arrows at it.
It was not a special power-infused attack, but it was not without impact. Arrows and spears that struck the bug’s unprotected areas, where the armor and tough hide did not cover, made the bug scream in pain.
Even Riena, a warrior, had never fought such a fierce and powerful monster, but the residents, who had fought battles on the rough land throughout their lives, thrust their weapons forward with a determination to fight to the death.
“Eek!?”
In the process, the damage accumulated. The tentacles, like whips, struck those who had fallen off their horses, causing them more injuries.
“No!”
At that moment, someone rushed forward and stood in front of their comrades.
Being hit with bare flesh would result in the body being torn to shreds. However, he had small, cube-like objects in his hands, and as he swung them towards the ground in front of him, a cube-shaped pillar, instantly piled up, intercepted the tentacle’s attack and shattered it.
“We did it.”
In an instant, Morin, who had piled up a tall, dense, and heavy stone block but had his strength drained in an instant as the price for piling the heavy stones, slumped down.
Combining their own strength with the mysterious power they had acquired since settling in this unknown prairie, the residents gradually brought down the monster, using every last bit of their strength.
“Finish it off. Quickly!”
However, if time continued to drag on, the damage would only increase.
In the extreme situation, Barun, who had just awakened to his latent shaman trait, managed to catch the bug’s attention, which was haphazardly diverting its gaze, while he shouted to Riena.
“I’ll kill you with this.”
Before her eyes, a dirt pillar rose, created by the force of her stomping the ground. With all her might, she stepped on it and leaped higher, soaring through the air until she reached the top of the black bug’s head.
The bug’s entirely black eyes flickered as if sensing its imminent end upon seeing her. A tentacle growing on the right side of its head shot towards her, but she activated her skill and brought down her sword.
The familiar sensation of her skill. The feeling of cutting through something solid with her sword, severing the enemy’s lifeline.
As the tentacle split the bug’s head in half, splattering its bodily fluids in all directions, Leina fell to the ground, writhing.
Pain engulfed her body, but with the thought of victory, she faintly smiled as she watched Varun approaching her.
***
“W-what in the world…”
The room was a mess, attacked without warning, and I struggled to get up from my seat.
The monster that had sprung from the monitor and tried to grab and kill me, for some reason, suddenly let go and retreated back into the screen.
If I were in my right mind, I would have screamed and run out of the house to call for help, but in my dazed state, I calmly turned on the monitor with trembling hands.
[BUG DEFEATED]
[FIREWALL PROGRAM RECOMMENDATION]
[BUG FIREWALL PROGRAM: 60000P]
“Is this lunatic trying to sell me some medicine?!”
As soon as I turned on the monitor, the window for the master program appeared. Shamelessly recommending a program even in this situation.
And to top it off, there were tens of thousands of points credited, an amount I had never even touched before.
“—!”
“–, —!!”
But the screen didn’t only show the master program.
The residents in the screen were holding weapons, genuinely delighted and cheering. Among the disheveled figures cheering together, there was also the figure of Riena.
And there, in the midst of it all, lay the corpse of a gigantic monster. The black tentacles protruding from the monster’s body were undoubtedly the same ones that had attacked me.
Those horrifying tentacles, which had either been cut into pieces or torn apart, now lay limp and lifeless.
“…Did they manage to kill that monster and save me?”
Muttering hopelessly, I slumped into the chair that miraculously remained undamaged, clutching my head and letting out a bitter laugh.
If the head hanging from my neck was not just an ornament, one could roughly guess what had happened. Occasionally appearing in the desktop world was the unidentified monster, Glitch. And the Bug, a monster that Glitch would transform into as it grew.
Thanks to the villagers successfully defeating the monster that appeared this time as well, I was saved from the monster that was trying to emerge into reality.
“What in the world is this? Why am I in this situation?”
At this point, it was impossible not to have strong suspicions and aversion.
The anomalies that had occurred so far were just amusing events that took place within the desktop, at best. That’s why I had simply left them alone and even enjoyed them.
The mysterious guests that appeared on my desktop, growing and fighting enemies with them through the game… It was undoubtedly the rarest and most enjoyable experience in my life.
But if what was happening inside had an impact on my reality, the story would be different. Especially if that impact was not a good one and posed a threat to my life.
I was not a game character that could be discarded without a care, nor was I a superhuman like Riena; I was just an ordinary person lacking in physical activity.
“I have no choice but to get rid of it.”
In the end, I hardened my resolve.
If it didn’t just shut down on its own, I had no choice but to throw away the whole computer. Since there were still over two years left on the contract for the house, I couldn’t just discard the computer. In the worst case, I could have just thrown away everything in the room.
[Bug Initial Position: 1000P]
[Bug Defeat Reward Selection Available]
[User Manual Recommended]
[User Manual: 0P]
“Is this guy…?”
From Noble mtl dot com
As if understanding my thoughts, the Master Program opened another window in succession.
Whether it was a reward or an achievement point, it didn’t catch my eye.
The program that received the most attention and interest was the user manual. It was certainly a basic program seen somewhere among the numerous files installed on the computer. However, if such a program existed, shouldn’t it be recommended first?
“This is really the last time, for real.”
I was about to shut down the computer immediately, but the reason I hesitated and clicked on the manual with my mouse was not because of something else.
It was because Rienna, who fought desperately despite being injured, and the victorious smile on her face, kept appearing in my mind.
At least, I wanted to know why this was happening right now, and what it was all about. What mistake had they made to be involved in this kind of situation?
The people I observed were nothing more than ordinary individuals struggling to survive.
[Report on the World Devourer Bug Control System]
[Overview]
[Purpose]
[Status]
[Community (Locked)]
Soon, a window opened, showing things with a much larger scale than I had anticipated.
[Overview]
Nervously, I clicked on the overview at the top. I needed to roughly understand what was going on.