contractor
Monsters do not appear suddenly at any moment.
It appears after a phenomenon called a portal in which space is distorted or the laws of physics change, and the number and quality of monsters that appear are proportional to the size and strength of the portal.
‘This is the best ever!’
I couldn’t tell the scale because I was within range of the portal, but I was sure about the intensity.
A world where the outlines of objects and the space completely shattered like grains of sand have melted to the extent that it is impossible to distinguish them from each other.
It wasn’t like this even with the appearance of the super-large monster Hyeonmu, which is said to have created the largest and most powerful portal ever officially observed.
-… … .
An unidentified voice echoed in my head.
At first, he thought it was an auditory hallucination caused by fear and ignored it, but soon after, Kang Do-hyeon realized that it was not just an auditory hallucination.
The sound was repeated over and over again, and I could understand what it meant even though it was a language I had never heard before.
As far as Kang Do-hyeon knows, there is only one word that can describe this phenomenon.
‘contract?’
The reason why people such as warriors, wizards, priests, and psychics are called contractors rather than people with abilities or awakened people is because they acquired abilities through contracts with unknown beings.
One day, an unknown voice in my head suddenly asks if I would like to sign a contract, and if I answer yes, I can become a contract holder right away.
‘Extinction, survival, union? is this correct? Wasn’t it something like taking something like karma or karma in exchange for lending power?’
A suspicious expression appeared on Kang Do-hyeon’s face.
Something subtly different from the reviews of the contractors I saw on the Internet.
But the worry was only fleeting.
Where is the need to worry when you can become the contractor you wanted so much?
‘would! I will make a contract!’
“Ahh… … .”
A moan escaped from Kang Do-hyeon’s mouth.
At the same time as accepting the contract, endless strength began to build up in every muscle and every cell.
It wasn’t just the body that changed.
A lot of knowledge was filling up in my head.
Kang Do-hyeon’s expression slightly distorted as he smiled in satisfaction at the omnipotence that seemed like he could do anything.
‘How long will this go on?’
Both the body and the mind were gradually approaching their limits, but the power and knowledge injected showed no signs of diminishing.
The food is up to the throat, but the food continues to come in.
It is impossible to vomit or keep your mouth shut.
And when the body and mind reached their limits, Kang Do-hyeon let out a sigh of relief.
There was nowhere else to go, so I thought this would be the end.
However, that was just Kang Do-hyeon’s wish.
“Turn it off!”
More at noblemtl com
Just like squeezing a full garbage bag to contain more contents, the unknown being squeezed power and knowledge into it, regardless of its circumstances.
The word “contain” was no longer appropriate.
Rather than containing the contents of power and knowledge, the expression that was swept away by the waves of power and knowledge was more appropriate.
Kang Do-hyeon put an end to his consciousness as he felt his existence being shattered.
Ugh!
“… … uh?”
“Shut up, is it over?”
Everything returned to normal with the huge echo I felt at first.
The broken space and the melted world regained their original appearance, and the sound of grass insects and wind that had disappeared began to be heard again.
how much time has passed
Someone’s voice rang out.
“… … Did nothing happen?”
When a portal is created, either the appearance of a monster or a change in the environment occurs.
However, the scene unfolding in front of my eyes did not correspond to either of those two.
Obviously, a portal of the highest level was created, but no goblins appeared, let alone monsters of the Hyeonmu level, and even minor changes from stumbling stones to huge trees did not occur.
While everyone was bewildered, leader Seo Chang-hoon sighed in relief and said,
“It seems to be an empty portal.”
“An empty portal? What is it?”
“It’s a word that refers to a case where a portal is created but nothing happens. Whether it’s monsters, the environment, or anything else, nothing comes out, so it’s called an empty portal.”
“I’m hearing it for the first time.”
“It doesn’t happen that often, so it’s natural that you don’t know. I know an empty portal like this happens about once in a thousand times.”
“Once in a thousand. Is it good luck or bad luck?”
Rogers smiled bitterly at the fallen barrel and at the puddle of blood on the floor.
It was fortunate that the monsters did not appear, but the blood of the black trolls they had caught was ruined.
Rogers’ eyes stopped in one place as he looked around to see if there was any other damage.
“mister. I think today’s hunt should end here.”
“I know you’re surprised, but how about grabbing a few more and going? At most, we have new equipment, but it’s a little bit difficult to catch only one… … .”
Seo Chang-hoon, who followed the direction Rogers pointed out, looked at the person lying on the floor and immediately shut up.
That day, the Chain Guild’s hunt ended like that.
Seo Chang-hoon, who paid for the treatment of the injured porter by disposing of the black troll with little blood left, immediately informed the Contractors Association of what had happened that day.
However, there was no significant harvest.
“I found a party about 500 meters away from the location you testified to. According to them, they say they haven’t found any abnormalities, let alone portals.”
“I can’t believe it. It was definitely the largest portal ever, but you didn’t feel it?”
“Is there any video of the situation at the time?”
Seo Chang-hoon let out a small sigh.
I’ve been filming videos to cover up misunderstandings or mistakes that occur during information gathering and battles, but I only filmed them while hunting and didn’t film them in other situations.
As there were several witnesses, it was possible to prove that the portal had occurred, but it was impossible to prove details such as size or strength.
After a long discussion, the association staff presented a fairly plausible opinion.
“Wouldn’t it be an empty portal with a microscopic scale and low strength?”
“So it wasn’t like that? I’ve seen more than one or two portal videos, but I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Most of the portal videos were filmed outside. Couldn’t it be that he felt it was more dangerous when he saw it from inside the portal?”
“Um… … .”
It made sense.
I’ve seen numerous portal videos, but most of them are just the exterior, and there are very few videos of the inside of the portal, and even those are all with lost data.
“Certainly it could be.”
“But a portal is a portal, so I’ll send an investigation team first.”
Seo Chang-hoon nodded and stood up, and the association staff saw him off with a smile.
If a monster had appeared or if the environment had changed, they might have taken it more seriously, but the fact that it was an empty portal made the two of them less alert.
A few days later, Seo Chang-hoon, who received a message from the association saying ‘nothing wrong’, pushed the memory of the portal into a corner of his head.
As a guild leader leading one of the largest guilds in Korea, there were many other things to worry about besides portals.
“Is the introduction of new equipment completed within three months and establishment of new tactics tailored to the increased ability? We can leave this to Rogers.”
As he read the report, Seo Chang-hoon’s eyes twitched.
‘missing?’
The only person injured during the portal incident.
A person who had not been able to find consciousness for several days, possibly due to a head injury, suddenly disappeared.
“There’s no way anyone will kidnap the porter, and there’s some debt, but not enough to run away. What is it?”
Seo Chang-hoon, who had been thinking for a while, scratched his head and put the paper aside.
It’s a bit nerve-wracking, but finding missing people is the job of the police, not yourself or the guild.
Shortly thereafter, Seo Chang-hoon forgot that he had even read the report on missing persons.
Thus, the porter named Kang Do-hyeon was forgotten in the world.
* * *
“It was strange from the beginning. It’s not even a shaman, what kind of shaman is a prophecy? Oh, maybe it was a martial god, not a martial god? Then I think I can understand a little bit.”
Kang Chang-seok spoke in a low voice to Yoosung’s diss that continued without a break.
“This is the first time I’ve been wrong. Everything was right before that.”
“I don’t know how it was before, but the important thing is now. How much time have you wasted on that bastard’s prophecy?”
“waste of time… … .”
Yuseong snorted as he looked at Kang Chang-seok, who was making a bitter expression.
Fortnight has already passed since the day Musin prophesied.
At first, I thought there might be some errors and passed, but even so, 15 days was too much.
‘How many quests can I clear in 15 days?’
Some quests take a long time, so generalizations cannot be made unconditionally.
If you calculate with an average of 5 million karma per quest, it means that you have lost nearly 100 million karma.
Of course, not doing the quest was a decision made by Yooseong himself after worrying about various things such as fame and time multiplier, but in the end, the reason he made that decision was because of a prophecy left by a god of war, so it was only natural that he was in a bad mood. .
“no more. Now I have to go on a quest soon.”
“Other users don’t know when something will happen, so they’ve been keeping a vigilant posture since 15 days ago until now. Do I really have to do it alone?”
“alone? God of War is also on a quest, so why leave him out?”
It’s funny when you think about it.
All users are anxiously believing that a crisis will come, but the culprit behind all this is that they are leisurely carrying out quests.
‘Did this bastard leave such a message to slow down the growth of other users?’
Did you even think of something like this?
Unlike other users who have known God of War for a long time, Yoosung, who had never encountered God of War, had no choice but to judge God of War based on this one incident, so such an extreme assumption was inevitable.
It was safe to say that Yoosung’s affinity for Musin is currently at the bottom.
“Even if the real shaman warned of a crisis, I wouldn’t be of much help except to boost people’s morale. In that case, I think it would be a more reasonable choice to just do the quests and build up your skills.”
Was that word decisive?
Kang Chang-seok let out a long sigh and nodded faintly.
“It is true that you are not very helpful right now. Yes, you go on a quest.”
“… … Admitting it so meekly makes me angry for some reason.”
“If the enemies are few or gathered in one place, even you will be useful enough. But if there are many or spread enemies, ordinary contractors will be more useful than you.”
One hand cannot be defeated by ten hands.
Although Meteor could deal with powerful monsters that the contracts couldn’t deal with, he couldn’t defeat the contracts in terms of the number of monsters he defeated.
It may be infinitely weak compared to the user, but without the contractor, mankind would have suffered incomparably more serious damage.
this is not a game