Chapter 17 – Actual Combat (Part Two)

The first-floor hall was quite spacious. It was a place that should have been staffed 24/7, but aside from them, it was empty.

They walked straight into the staff corridor, which was open behind the front desk. On the way, Ghost picked up a square slice of cake and popped it into his mouth.

“They haven’t been identified yet, so there’s a high chance they’re a new type of monster. Be careful, and take good care of the rookie.”

“Of course.”

They caught an elevator, and Lee Soo-yeon spoke before getting off on the fifth floor.

The group split, heading to the 5th and 17th floors.

Upon arriving on the 17th floor, Il-hyeon and Ghost opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

“There it is.”

A gate, far more crimson than the one he had seen before, pulsed in the middle of the corridor.

Facing the gate, Ghost dragged two chairs out from a guest room and sat down across from Il-hyeon.

The feeling of waiting for monsters to emerge right in front of such an ominous-looking gate was quite strange.

As they sat and waited, he listened to various stories from his industry senior.

Things like how Aegis operated and how other companies were run.

No matter how interested he was, there was a lot of information that was hard for a civilian to come by.

It was only natural, of course, since these were stories born from the experience of a veteran who worked in the field.

Ghost lifted the corner of his balaclava and placed a cigarette between his lips.

Il-hyeon thought the mask looked quite uncomfortable and wondered why he even bothered wearing it.

“You don’t smoke?”

“No, I quit a while ago.”

“You’re an Awakened now, you might as well indulge.”

A few packs of cigarettes wouldn’t even tickle the lungs of an Awakened, so most of them smoked freely.

There was even special, incredibly potent liquor made just for the Awakened.

But Il-hyeon’s reason for quitting wasn’t just about health.

“I just don’t like being tied down by anything.”

“Ah.”

Ghost nodded and lit his cigarette.

With a soft hiss, smoke began to rise.

“To be honest, I didn’t used to smoke either. I started after getting into this line of work. You’ll probably be reaching for one of these when you see what it’s like out there.”

“Out there?”

“I’m talking about other countries… It’s probably better if you see it for yourself.”

Ghost exhaled a puff of smoke.

Il-hyeon had heard that the damage from Gates was more severe in other countries compared to Korea.

It was inevitable, given that Korea had an abnormally high number of Awakened and was institutionally well-prepared.

However, he’d also heard that as the number of internationally active corporations and Awakened grew, major incidents with large death tolls had drastically decreased overseas.

Il-hyeon was curious about what Ghost meant, but judging by the atmosphere, it didn’t seem like he was going to elaborate.

“By the way, are you not going to tell me your real name?”

“Even the team leaders don’t know. I can’t just tell someone who joined two days ago.”

“The team leader doesn’t know? Is that even possible?”

Il-hyeon asked in surprise.

From what he knew, Ghost had been in Alpha Team for several years.

It was hard to believe that they wouldn’t know his real name or true identity after all that time.

“Haha, what’s the point of digging into each other’s private lives? We’re not interested enough to go that far.”

Even after hearing his laughing reply, Il-hyeon still wore a look of disbelief.

Ghost chuckled and continued.

“It’s a strictly business relationship here. This is a place where the best in the industry have gathered. People who were treated like superstars at major corporations are just rookies on the team here, so we try not to step on each other’s pride as much as possible. There’s less of a hierarchy, and we keep a certain distance.”

Ghost sniffled once before continuing.

“Honestly, that kind of thing doesn’t really suit my personality, but well… I’m satisfied with Alpha Team. The atmosphere is good, and the people aren’t bad. I like the team leader’s style, and I got along well with Taesik, who just went on vacation.”

Ghost rambled on.

As Il-hyeon listened silently, he was once again surprised by the fact that every person he mentioned was someone he had heard of at least once.

“If you ever have to switch teams later, don’t go to E-Team. The atmosphere there is terrible. At least, that’s how I feel…”

Just then, the gate quivered with a bizarre noise.

The two Awakened reflexively shot up from their chairs and drew their swords.

Monsters with horns on their foreheads charged out, running on all fours.

They had a foul appearance, like a half-mix of human and monster, with vacant eyes and sharp teeth.

But the problem was that another species of monster had also appeared from the gate.

“Hey… I think the analysis team gave us the wrong information.”

– *What? What’s wrong?*

Ghost raised his left hand to his ear and spoke into his comms unit.

Unlike the others, two monsters with blue skin and multiple tentacles on their backs had appeared.

Two B-rank ace monsters had shown up here, contrary to their predictions.

The creature roared savagely, and a tentacle shot forward with incredible speed, piercing through Ghost’s neck.

Il-hyeon was startled, but he let out a sigh of relief when he saw Ghost turn his head, completely unharmed.

The attack had passed straight through him thanks to his Ghostification ability.

“Damn it! I’ll take these two. Can you handle the gate for a bit?”

Ghost, having dodged the attack’s trajectory, swung his sword and shattered the floor, dropping nearly three stories with the two B-rank monsters.

On the 17th floor, only a gaping hole in the floor, the gate, and Il-hyeon remained.

The sounds of a fierce battle echoed from below.

“This is insane.”

Facing the horde of monsters staring him down, Il-hyeon raised his sword.

D-rank monsters were not something the forces at the barricade could stop.

He had to prevent them from getting out of here.

In actual combat, unpredictable situations often arose.

“When this is over, I’m gonna feast on cores.”

***

In front of a gate continuously spewing D-rank monsters.

Il-hyeon first stomped his foot, mending the gaping hole in the floor.

He also sealed the window at the end of the hall by altering the adjacent walls.

A determined monster could break through, but it was a temporary fix for now.

In that brief moment, a monster lunged at him.

It leaped with incredible leg strength, flying through the air with its mouth wide open.

Feeling disgusted by the creature’s approaching, expressionless face, Il-hyeon swung his sword forcefully, and its head was cleanly split in two.

The monster was sliced open with satisfying ease. This was a world apart from the temporary sword he had been using.

“Wow… Fighting with good gear feels amazing.”

The sword cut even better than when he had fought E-rank monsters.

He felt like he could handle this.

But at that moment, reacting to the smell of their kin’s blood, the monsters charged at him like mad.

Twenty of them already filled the corridor, and with more continuously emerging, they all turned towards Il-hyeon.

“Crap!”

In a hurry, Il-hyeon used his ability.

A giant foot formed from the ceiling and came down, stomping on the creatures.

*Thump!* A few of the crushed monsters’ bodies burst horrifically, but the ones behind them smashed through the foot blocking their path and continued their charge.

They crawled like insects along the walls and ceiling, approaching like a crazed zombie horde.

Quickly, Il-hyeon altered the floor and the walls on either side, and the form of a sturdy golem, large enough to almost fill the entire corridor, appeared.

Il-hyeon then infused it with his summoning ability.

The moment it gained a will of its own, the golem instinctively knelt, protecting Il-hyeon from the charging monsters.

*Crash!*

The golem and the monsters collided violently, creating a deafening noise.

Taking the attacks head-on, the golem was damaged in several places but did not collapse.

Instead, it swung its fist, crushing one monster’s head.

Even though it was made simply from the building’s walls, Il-hyeon’s alteration ability could harden the same material to a degree incomparable to before.

Overlaying it with his summoning ability strengthened it even further.

Having bought some time, Il-hyeon quickly altered the right wall to create an additional wolf-like figure.

It wasn’t as large as the golem, but its standing height alone surpassed Il-hyeon’s.

Unlike the one he had summoned as a test before, this one had no horns.

He had chosen to pour his power into one or two summons rather than dividing it among many.

“Grrrr…”

The wolf let out a low, threatening growl, lowered its body, and then suddenly leaped.

It ran along the ceiling, over the golem, and pounced on a monster. They tumbled to the floor together, and the wolf tore out the monster’s entire upper torso with its sharp teeth.

Il-hyeon wasn’t just watching, either.

He dealt with the monsters crawling along the walls one by one.

He struggled a bit with the higher level of the stronger monsters, but Il-hyeon’s own combat strength had also increased significantly compared to the past.

*Swish!* Il-hyeon simultaneously sliced the necks of the two monsters he was facing.

The two monsters lost their balance and collapsed to the floor.

“Ugh…”

Sensing something was wrong, Il-hyeon looked down.

Poisonous fumes were seeping out from the wounds of the fallen corpses.

A poison potent enough to be visible spread through the air.

It was strong enough to melt the skin of an ordinary person on contact.

Il-hyeon quickly activated the purification function of his Defensive Coat.

Thanks to his enhanced physique, he wouldn’t collapse immediately, but the accumulated damage from the poison could be dangerous.

A small white circle appeared on the left side of his coat’s collar.

It was a sign that it was purifying the surrounding air.

– *How are you holding up? Think you can handle it?*

“It’s manageable.”

A call came through the comms unit in his left ear, constantly asking about his situation.

It was Lee Soo-yeon, who was handling multiple ace monsters and a gate by herself without even breathing hard.

– *What about Ghost?*

– *I’m fine too!*

– *That’s not what I meant. When are you going to be done over there? Are you planning to leave the gate to the rookie?*

– *Geez, one left. I’ll be there soon.*

*Boom!* A loud noise accompanied by a vibration came from below.

It sounded like Ghost fighting the B-rank monster.

But Il-hyeon had no time to worry about that.

*Crack!*

During the fight, Il-hyeon took a blow from a monster and was hit in the abdomen.

He was sent flying, crashing through a wall and tumbling across the floor of a guest room.

“Damn it.”

Fortunately, the coat’s protective function had activated, so there was no direct impact.

His stomach ached, but it wasn’t nearly enough to hinder his fighting ability.

The problem, however, was that the monsters’ counterattacks were fierce, and his wolf’s flank had also been shattered during the battle.

These were creatures that would serve as ace monsters in most other situations, so they were by no means easy opponents.

Il-hyeon closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and stood up.

In that short time, the number of monsters that had gotten past the golem had increased.

If this continued, some monsters might escape the scene.