Chapter 174

As expected, the situation was close to the worst, but there were also some fortunate aspects amidst the misfortune.

The first of these was that my level had clearly risen significantly compared to before.

‘Honestly, it’s beyond what I imagined.’

Of course, I understood it numerically. Nevertheless, experiencing combat in a real battle like this made the difference feel even more stark.

In reality, the Horse-Head Six-Arms I encountered earlier would have been an entity I could only capture after considerable struggle originally.

‘Now I can definitely solo subdue A-Rank Specters.’

Considering Keuseundae as my trump card, I probably wouldn’t be completely overwhelmed even by an A+-Rank Specter.

However, complacency and arrogance were forbidden.

After all, all of that was based on the premise that I maintained my maximum skill and concentration.

If I made even a momentary mistake, I too would follow the precedent of countless Exorcists and lose my life right then and there.

‘There’s no need to push myself recklessly right now, to begin with.’

The Night Parade of One Hundred Specters Crisis was indeed a massive crisis, but it was also an opportunity.

Just as Yoo Haon’s party did in the original work, I could also capture the overflowing Specters and repeatedly grow at a rapid pace.

‘Raise my Level as much as possible before the real formidable enemies appear.’

That was my current goal, and it was also the reason I accepted Hwang Gwang-seon’s proposal to lead a search team.

Upon arriving near the first destination, I gestured for the Exorcists to stop and spoke quietly.

“Specters are scattered everywhere. We’ll run into them no matter which route we take.”

“I can’t sense anything here though…”

“That’s because they’re quite a distance away.”

Of course, part of it was because my Detection Spell was much more systematic, but there was definitely a noticeable skill gap between them and me.

Except for the middle-aged man Lee Chang-soo, who introduced himself as a 2nd-Rank Exorcist, they probably couldn’t handle Specters above B+-Rank.

‘…It’s been quite a while since I’ve felt like this.’

After falling into this world, in almost all situations, I was the one lacking in strength.

But now, the experienced Exorcists of the Guard Unit felt cumbersome, making me more acutely aware of the changes I’d undergone.

‘There are three main destinations.’

The course goes from Bongcheon-dong, through Nakseong Grand Park, to Yuhan Hospital, the largest hospital in the vicinity.

That alone should probably allow us to expect news of the missing persons and acquire effective information.

Thinking it was too early to let my guard down already, I stopped the group and summoned Sorisoe and Black Yin from the shadows.

“I will secretly eliminate only the Specters on our movement route. If a commotion occurs, all the ones nearby will swarm us, so I’d appreciate it if you could conceal your presence as much as possible.”

“I-Is that possible?”

It’s possible with these two who are skilled in covert action. I enhanced Sorisoe and Black Yin through the Dark Noon’s Mist I had in my pocket, shared my vision with them, and quickly eliminated the enemies.

“Yes. It’s done.”

“……”

The Exorcists looked utterly bewildered, but upon encountering Specter corpses during the movement, they looked at me with astonished eyes.

A gaze as if looking at a monster that defies common sense. It’s a look I’ve gotten quite sick of receiving from them.

We effectively avoided the Specters and arrived at the destination, promptly beginning the search for the missing persons.

“A-Are you Exorcists?”

“Yes. Your family is waiting. We’ll escort you to a safe place.”

Naturally, we didn’t find all of them, but surprisingly, a considerable number of people were staying in their homes, as indicated by the citizens at the shelter.

Furthermore, their testimonies were consistent.

They said a sudden commotion occurred, communications were cut off, and they hid in their homes out of fear.

“Wasn’t it said that communications were functioning normally?”

“Yes. We’re getting a signal even now…”

However, even though one Exorcist tried contacting several other people multiple times, no one responded.

“T-This is… Sorry. It seems actual communication is blocked.”

“…I see. Understood.”

Then there’s probably a Specter with some kind of ability to interfere with it somewhere.

Since I had already eliminated the Specter at the game center, I thought a similar incident wouldn’t occur, so this was also my oversight.

‘Well, in reality, Specters that didn’t appear in the original work must be piled up like a mountain.’

Moreover, as I’ve said several times, this is a world of Hell Difficulty. You can’t predict what will happen where and when.

We proceeded with our search, exercising even greater caution.

During the process, we also found several people for whom it was already too late.

“T-Thank you. Sob. I have no family at home, and I can’t even make contact…”

To the girl with tear-filled eyes pleading in fear, I fired a Cursed Technique without hesitation.

Whoosh,

Ssshh!

“Clear Chain Binding.”

“W-What are you doing?!”

The Exorcists were startled and tried to stop me, but to my eyes, which possess Appraisal ability, the identity of the Specter that had taken over the girl’s body was clearly visible.

【Face-Eating Specter】

▶Level: 43

In the end, as the girl revealed her true nature and swung her sharp claws, the Exorcists could only watch her final moments in stunned dismay.

“…You must think that anything can happen. Complacency is forbidden.”

“Sorry. We never imagined there would be a creature like this.”

The Exorcists’ eyes, which had retained a somewhat lax attitude until just moments ago, began to change completely, becoming like those of soldiers who had entered the battlefield.

They had realized once again that their lives could be lost in an instant.

“This place seems roughly cleared. We’ll now move to Yuhan Hospital.”

And so, we headed towards our final destination before returning to the shelter.

The scene at the hospital we finally arrived at was clearly not normal, as anyone could see.

Specter corpses were scattered everywhere, and among them were also several bodies of what appeared to be Exorcists.

Moreover, the hospital interior was like a ghost town, with no one present at all.

At that bizarre sight, the Exorcists gulped.

“…What on earth happened here?”

“This is… truly horrific.”

If a situation of this scale had occurred, word should have reached our ears somehow, but at the shelter, we hadn’t heard any such information.

The reason wasn’t hard to figure out.

“Communications aren’t working here either. That’s probably why no one knew.”

In other words, it meant we were essentially the first discoverers.

“W-What do we do about this?”

Currently, we were given two choices.

Either take the secured citizens to the shelter and relay this information to others, or immediately find and resolve the cause of the situation.

Regarding that, I reached a conclusion without hesitation and gave instructions to everyone.

“First, we’ll return to the shelter once to reorganize. It won’t be too late to act afterwards.”

The moment I saw it, I felt it—this place is not ordinary.

And for good reason; despite what seemed like some kind of attack, the hospital interior was completely empty.

If a battle had taken place, at least the corpses of either Specters or humans should have remained.

‘But here, it’s as if everyone teleported away, leaving it empty.’

I don’t know the details, but it was clear that something beyond common sense had occurred here.

And I already knew of beings capable of causing such an event.

‘At least A+-Rank.’

A Specter of that level is lurking somewhere nearby.

‘Encountering it in this state is dangerous.’

There are many accompanying citizens, and I also don’t particularly want to fight a Specter of that grade alone.

Well, originally, battles against high-grade Specters were fundamentally group fights.

Unless you’re like Sophia or Cheong Soha, who can output firepower surpassing a group even alone, it’s better to avoid solo subjugation if possible.

‘In my case, I have Shikigami, so it’s not like I couldn’t do it if I had to…’

But there’s no need to take risks. In the midst of this war, that is a very important principle.

However, unfortunately, right at that timing, the situation unfolded.

“Everyone. There’s something strange here…”

A beautiful flower with crimson leaves.

But it wasn’t in a pot or anything; it was sprouting from the floor of a hospital room.

Since the floor is made of hard material, it was obviously not a normal phenomenon.

The moment I confirmed it, I could immediately grasp what had happened here.

“Do not approach!”

But by then, the Exorcists, drawn by the strange sight, had already approached near the flower, and immediately a powerful wave of force surged from there, causing my vision to flash.

Soon, what unfolded before our eyes was a massive garden filled with a sinister aura.

“W-What on earth is this…?”

“What just happened?”

The surroundings had already darkened as if the sun had set, and a moon tinged with a red aura unlike usual hung in the sky.

As I expected, it seemed clear that this very place had swallowed the people from the hospital.

‘…I had a suspicion, but it was true.’

When I went to find Cheong Jong to inquire about information regarding Myeongyool, he said this: During the Night Parade of One Hundred Specters Crisis, very occasionally, unidentified otherworldly spaces or structures would reveal themselves.

He also said that the Forbidden Curse Myeongyool got entangled in also existed within an unidentified shrine.

‘I didn’t know I’d experience this firsthand.’

I was aware of the information too, but honestly, I wasn’t paying much attention to it.

Because it was such a rare occurrence that even the protagonist Yoo Haon’s party only encountered it once in the entire story.

And near the entrance of that massive garden, for some reason, dozens of people who looked as if they’d lost their souls were huddled together.

They also noticed us and, with startled expressions, approached and spoke.

“Y-You are? Where did you come from?”

“We were searching for citizens who couldn’t evacuate and got caught up here. What happened here?”

However, at our response, the man showed a noticeably despairing expression and hung his head.

“Damn it, you shouldn’t have come here.”

“……”

“A-A Special-Rank. We need a Special-Rank Exorcist. Otherwise, we’ll all die here without being able to move a muscle.”

Glancing at his information, the man’s Level was 50. Absolutely not a low level.

Nevertheless, he had completely lost his will to fight and was terrified.

Seeing that, we had to consider that his words were also likely true.

‘This is troublesome.’

Of course, the reason they’re holed up at the entrance is probably because there’s no way out of here other than eliminating the cause.

“…There’s a monster in the form of a woman up ahead. That thing turns everyone who enters the garden into its own nourishment.”

“Then how are you all unharmed?”

“It’s that thing’s whim. It says it won’t touch those who don’t set foot in the garden.”

From the man’s words, I could discern two facts.

First, it possesses intelligence sufficient to communicate with humans.

And second, although he calls it a whim, it skillfully controls its desires as a Specter enough to spare them.

What that fact implied was clear.

‘…Damn it, isn’t this S-Rank?’

It was the moment, just one day after the second Night Parade of One Hundred Specters Crisis began, that I encountered an unforeseen obstacle.