Episode 153
‘… What is this?’
Various seaweeds and rocks harmonize to form a wide cavity, and an unidentified gigantic structure built to fill it is visible.
Immediately after securing the view, I thought for a moment that it was a palace under the sea, so there was no need to explain how absurd the scenery was.
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Maybe I wasn’t the only one who felt that way, and Cheongju-hwa and Seo Ji-an were also quite embarrassed and uttered mixed words.“I wonder if such a space is hidden under the ground… … .”
“Honestly, it’s a sight that is out of the scope of my expectations.”
It felt like being sucked into the ground emotionally, but perhaps this kind of space was not really created under it.
A kind of barrier created by the powerful power contained in Yeouiju. I wanted to understand it that way.
“… Oh, I guess that’s right. It makes no sense physically.”
And this type of space is not so unfamiliar to me either.
‘… It’s like an event map.’
Similar to the Mirror Forest we visited before, an event stage that can be entered when certain conditions are met.
Of course, it would be wrong to use such a classification method here, which is absolutely real, but it was simply the feeling.
And through him, I was able to infer one fact.
‘Maybe this is a place that hasn’t been released yet and was scheduled to appear at the time of the next project?’
It made sense enough.
The Blue Dragon’s Yeouiju itself was something that had been sprinkled with rice cakes before, knowingly and unknowingly, because there were already too many hypotheses to go over the non-existent count.
If so, it is reasonable to assume that some kind of event was originally scheduled to take place here after a longer period of time has passed.
The problem is that we found it at this point.
‘… … .’
First of all, my footsteps, which were going forward and looking, stopped for a moment.
At the same time, an ominous imagination engulfs the mind.
‘Is it really okay to be like this?’
A perfect female heroine is usually not a precious treasure.
No matter how excellent an elixir is, it cannot be compared to him, and the jugus called specials also fade in front of them.
As such, if there is an event related to Yeouiju, it can be simply predicted that the difficulty will not be extraordinary.
‘If there are prepared difficulties here, can we overcome them now?’
That was the part I was worried about.
“Can you provide oxygen?”
“Is it possible. There’s a layer of air up there.”
To be honest, the situation is not positive.
I don’t even know what lies ahead, and it’s not an environment conducive to fighting in case of an emergency.
But since you’ve come this far, it would be ridiculous to just go back and give up.
Thinking that I would need help from the Blue Dragon when I was driving, I led the two of them and slowly headed towards the inside of the cavity.
“I don’t know how it came to be.”
When viewed from a distance, I thought it was caught, but when I approached it, it was surprisingly rough and crude.
In all directions, burrows were made as if they were dug by living things, and it was the same with towering rocks and ground.
Perhaps such things created an optical illusion like a building from a distance.
“… It seems like something is alive, right?”
Cheongjuhwa opened her mouth with a shaky expression as if she wanted someone to deny it, but no one objected to that.
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Me and Seo Ji-an were instinctively thinking the same thing.Did it move like that for about 20 minutes?
Seo Ji-an, who was concentrating on looking at Yeoui-ju’s presence, suddenly frowned.
And at the same time, he hurriedly opened his mouth.
“The place where you can feel the energy is changing in real time. I don’t know why, but it’s moving.”
“Are you moving? That means… … .”
“It must be the influence of the barrier, or it must mean that something has a shape.”
Something with a form, the meaning of the expression was simple.
Right here, there is a monster who swallowed Yeouiju.
***
At the same time, the monitor room of the 4th Naval Squadron of Exorcism Headquarters, which manages the maritime area in association with the Navy.
Yoon Ji-won, a second-class exorcist who was working there, complained to Baek Chang-su, a second-class exorcist and his superior as well.
“Senior, but does this mean?”
“yes? what?”
“Anyway, if you have to observe a monster with equipment, you can’t catch it right away, and since it’s a fixed type, you can’t take it with you when you go out on patrol. I honestly don’t know why it’s needed.”
Yoon Ji-won’s complaints were not just nonsense. To be sure, their current job was quite inefficient.
If the equipment made by the Huang (黃) family detects the energy of the monster, it extracts the data as it is and reports it.
However, no dispatch order has been issued, and they do not have the authority to clear up.
The only way to directly exterminate the monsters was to meet them face-to-face when going out on sea patrol.
“If you’re going to miss everything like this, do you really need to bring in expensive equipment?”
“… Well, it’s a little tricky.”
Baek Chang-soo nodded his head with a sympathetic attitude as if he had often thought about it.
However, his playful expression soon changed sharply.
“I also thought it was useless when I was a freshman. Until I saw the ‘what-if’ that the old people were tired of talking about in front of my eyes.”
“What if?”
“okay.”
Baek Chang-soo knew now. Why are these things necessary?
“Actually, the javarians don’t matter.”
It was an inconvenient truth, but even now, there must be a few low-level youkai that have not been discovered in this sea.
However, it doesn’t really matter If that was enough, whether it was a cargo ship or other ship, the exorcists hired in it could easily defeat it.
“You, you still don’t know how this base works when a high-level youkai is observed?”
“I heard a lot about it in education, but it certainly is.”
“It’s really upsetting. A scene reminiscent of a war unfolds.”
On the same day that an A+ rank monster appeared in the East Sea three years ago, Baek Chang-soo went to subjugation with the combat troops of all nearby bases.
The memory of that time was not easily forgotten, even if I tried to forget it.
“It would be better on land. I can’t even use my magic to my heart’s content at sea.”
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Moreover, even in such a desperate fight, if you lose your opponent, the damage is enormous.Unfortunately, in this sea, such things are not uncommon.
“You don’t know either, that right now, it’s not easy to catch even the lower B ranks at once without making a mistake.”
“… … .”
“That’s why high-ranking youkai are called disasters in the sea.”
At the explanation of the senior, who was more serious than expected, Yoon Ji-won also asked the last question while erasing the playfulness from his face.
“… Have you ever seen such a monster in our jurisdiction?”
“Well. The one who appeared 3 years ago was also in the neighborhood itself under jurisdiction. Still, you might not know.”
In other words, the work they are currently in charge of exists just for that inadvertent occasion.
Yoon Ji-won nodded and exclaimed anew.
“Investing this amount of resources just by the possibility of discovering them in advance… … . It is definitely a neighborhood worth living in Korea.”
“That means that when you make a mistake, a lot of damage occurs. It’s not like I’ve left the 2nd graders here for nothing. It’s because I really need it.”
“yep. Sorry for complaining. Would you like some cup noodles?”
“good.”
At that very moment, a huge reaction appeared on the screen they were watching.
However, it disappeared immediately after only a second or two had elapsed.
“Did you just see it? What do you think came out?”
“Well… … .”
Usually, when a youkai appears, there is no such lukewarm reaction.
At first glance, it seemed highly likely that it was a misguided observation.
but.
‘I think the size was quite large… … ?’
Baek Chang-soo analyzed the reaction displayed by the observation equipment relatively accurately even in that brief moment.
If Baek Chang-soo didn’t see anything in vain, his reaction was obvious.
“It seems to be an error. There is no log left.”
“… right?”
Rather than it should be.
If this fleeting observation is true, then, once again, the forces of the nearby navy and naval forces will have to unite and head to the battlefield where their lives cannot be guaranteed.
bubbling bubbling.
trurr.
Hearing the sound of boiling water in the coffee pot, Changsoo Baek stared at the screen quietly with anxious eyes.
While trying to ignore the memories of that day that slowly began to come to my mind.
***
“How is the route?”
“There is no regularity. They’re not chasing us.”
It was fortunate out of misfortune. Whatever it was, it meant that we had not yet been found.
Seo Ji-an continued to look at the direction of the energy and asked me for directions.
“… What should I do, keep moving forward?”
There is too little information to make a definitive judgment. However, after thinking for a while, I started walking again.
“Let’s go.”
Even if I run away from him now anyway, an S-rank monster called Myodosa is waiting in front of me.
There was no reason or room to avoid this difficulty.
‘The fighting power will be enough.’
Fortunately, each of the current members is no less than an elite.
Seo Ji-an, who can fully unleash the power of natural magic in the sea, Cheongju-hwa, who already has flawless skills as an exorcist, and Blue Dragon and I.
To be honest, with this lineup, I am not afraid of any high-ranking yokai.
Hoyaukamui, whom I met last time, will also be able to get rid of it easily if we meet now.
But as I advanced further and began to enter the depths of the cavity, I sensed some kind of anomaly.
And I had to admit that I was somewhat mistaken in my thoughts so far.
“What, what is this? All of a sudden I got goosebumps.”
“… Strange. It’s my first time feeling this way. There is something unusual.”
As they said, I too was feeling the tingling sensation that climbed all over my body.
Also, the Illusion Delay perk continues to send warnings through shadows.
Turn your back right now and run away from this place as soon as possible.
‘… It’s difficult.’
It was seldom that the hallucination delay characteristic showed such a reaction.
At most, when I couldn’t even use intermediate techniques, when I met Yoo Ah-in, Seo Ji-an’s bodyguard, or at the time of the revival ceremony held in Yeongwol-do, it was all.
‘… … .’
So at least two things were certain.
No matter what the identity of the guy lurking inside right now, it’s more dangerous than you think.
In order to overcome him, he might have to risk his life.