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Chapter 233: Your Hyung is here (1)

It was slumped over with closed eyes, as if it had fallen asleep. Its chest also rose and fell slightly, resembling a real person. But neither its breathing nor heartbeats could be heard.

Sigma stared at the doll and reached out a hand. The way it barely budged when poked was dull. But the fact that the doll remained alone was anything but dull.

“It seems I underestimated it.”

His mouth curved into a smile.

He hadn’t expected the rank C to just sit there quietly. But neither had he expected a clean getaway.

He had confirmed that the rank C didn’t have the ability to undo the sealing choker of the inventory.

However, who knows what method he had used, but he had managed to remove the choker from himself and put it on the doll, and then flee, all while the rank A guard watched over him.

He couldn’t have used an item, because he had been thoroughly searched and couldn’t access his inventory. Nor would it be a skill. Nor was there external cooperation.

‘I don’t know how.’

He couldn’t find the answer with the knowledge he had. At least, for an existence with skills in this world, it should be impossible to escape. His heart raced slightly at that fact.

He was at most a rank C. So, how?

“These are items believed to have been left by the rank C.”

The objects brought by the rank S guard were placed one after another on the table. Several A-rank or lower objects, and a sleeping bag. Sigma’s eyes narrowed when he saw that.

“Wow, it wouldn’t be good for him to catch a cold, sleeping outdoors.”

“…Yes?”

The rank S guard was momentarily bewildered by Sigma’s words, which sounded like he was concerned about the fleeing rank C.

“Well, there are a total of seven missing items from the S-rank dedicated equipment room. We’ve identified five as S-rank and two as SS-rank.”

Only when one of the rank S guards returning from patrol entered the equipment room to supplement his gear did he realize something was amiss with the items. When Sigma took the report of the stolen items by the rank C, the corners of his mouth lifted.

In just a handful of days, he had devoured them slowly and had fled.

“We’ll issue another search notice. This time, we even have his photo, so…”

“No, you won’t find him anyway.”

The first time, he had walked in on his own. A search notice or something like that would be useless. And there was a good chance he had already left Sollemnis.

Sigma glanced again at the report on the whereabouts of the rank C.

A report made shortly after the search notice was issued said that the rank C had shown interest in Alpha of Akates, a guard with flame abilities. He had also inquired about Akates City at the watchtower. The distance between Sollemnis City and Akates City was a two-day drive.

‘A scooter using a concealment skill, and rations for two days.’

Those had been on the rank C’s shopping list. Combining those facts, it wasn’t difficult to guess the rank C’s destination.

“He’s probably left the city.”

“Really? But he’s a rank C without attack abilities, right? He has the ability to hide, but a rank C without a mana tank won’t be able to sustain it even for a day without a mana footprint.”

Furthermore, it was estimated that the concealment ability was at least of S-rank. The higher the rank of a skill, the more mana it required, so an ordinary rank C would last at most half a day. When the rank S guard said it was akin to suicide, Sigma’s smile grew deeper.

“Normally that would be the case, yes.”

“…Do you think someone went with him?”

“No.”

“Then, what exactly…”

The rank S guard seemed puzzled. If a rank C Desperate crossed the barrier alone, there was no need to find him. Because they would have died before the night was over. But Sigma seemed to be thinking something else. Just before he opened his mouth.

¡Kwaang! ¡Kwang!

Not far away came a loud explosion. Then, with the sounds of a building collapsing, the tremors reached where they were. Shortly after, the door opened and a guard with headphones came running in and reported.

“Bombs have exploded in building B-2! About 10 explosions were heard in succession… and because their firepower was concentrated on one floor, the building is now…”

Collapsed. The guard who was about to report stood gaping. Sigma burst into laughter.

His low laughter spread through the booms of falling concrete blocks.

“He’s getting revenge as he should. This is quite harsh.”

If it had been a rank S, even just a rank A, he wouldn’t have been so delighted. But a rank C, someone who wasn’t even recognized as a Guard, had not only strutted around and counterattacked at will, but had even emerged unscathed.

“Contact Akates City. I’ll accept their request to suppress Alpha.”

“Pardon? Are you going to Akates City yourself?”

“Yes. Make the preparations.”

If it had been up to him, he would have set out immediately, but leaving one’s city wasn’t so simple.

Above all, it was only possible to supplement one’s mana through the engraving in the corresponding Mana Hall. Since the mana itself was the same in any Mana Hall, they could make use of the affiliated fuel tanks elsewhere whenever possible, but the problem was that those places could refuse to provide fuel tanks.

Therefore, they needed to prepare enough fuel tanks, as well as ensure they were properly equipped with combat capability.

In particular, Akates City was not a welcoming place for Guards, so they needed to be even more cautious.

“It’s been a long time since you left. Unless there’s another anomaly like in Goldberg Park, we can do without you for a week.”

“Ask for help from Lambda of Lancea. Tell her I personally went to Akates City.”

“…Honestly, I can’t understand why you’re going to such lengths.”

Although the rank S guard was perplexed, he followed his orders. Both guards left the room.

The building might have collapsed completely by now, because their surroundings were still.

Amidst the silence, Sigma’s gaze turned to the doll sitting in the chair. In its once lifeless eyes, a light now glimmered.

***

Tweet!

I heard a bird singing. A flock of birds flew over the forest, illuminated by the dawn light.

‘I wonder if they’ve already exploded.’ 10 time bombs costing 20,000 points each. I hid them well and set them to detonate at dawn; neat, right? They weren’t that powerful, but since I placed each one on a different floor, ideally, the building would collapse.

It would be great if fixing them made them stop chasing me.

I took a can of food from my backpack and opened it. Using a fork, I ate what looked like a meatball. The taste of the meat here was definitely good. It was worth eating even if it wasn’t hot.

‘It’s probably safer during the day than at night.’

Despite being prepared to lose a few lives, it was surprisingly safe outside the barrier. Thanks to my stealth ability, which became rank S with the object upgrade, monsters didn’t even notice me, and the high-rank ones were busy hunting the mid and low-rank ones.

The stealth applied to the scooter was rank B, and even if it was compatible with my abilities, I was worried about the A-rank and similar ones, but basically none of the monsters cared about a small scooter. Some S-rank monsters saw me, but soon after, they went on to chase low-rank monsters.

Fortunately, I didn’t encounter any SS-rank monsters.

During the day, low-rank monsters disappeared, and the high-rank ones filled their stomachs and rested, or probably slept. Have they established their own ecosystem? After a simple meal, I tossed the empty can and bottle of my drink to the side of the road.

Littering without permission isn’t right, but this world is fake. Just then, a message window popped up.

[☆★Hidden Mission Completed!!☆★]

What, another one? Hidden missions to escape from the Sollemnis Defense Agency and empty the equipment room had also appeared. Was exploding bombs the hidden mission this time?

‘…Could it be that newbie guy is doing missions based on what I do?’

I suspected. He must be writing skills and description windows afterwards.

That was likely true for hidden missions. And the same went for the wild shoes that matched the rest of the set.

Well, that was better than nothing. I opened the mission completion window, full of gratitude for Newbie’s efforts.

[Daring Bomber! You used bombs to destroy one of the Sollemnis Defense Agency buildings, packed with high-ranking guards. You have the audacity to risk your liver!

Reward: 100,000P, 3x Dragon’s Breath Bomb (SS)]

Dragon’s Breath Bombs? The items were SS-rank. They were bombs, so they would be single-use, but why would they give me 3? Even though this wasn’t the real world, I felt like I was living too recklessly; I had to rein myself in.

[Dragon’s Breath Bomb - SS Rank An explosive containing the power of a dragon’s breath of the highest rank. Comes with a timer and remote control. Single-use]

It would be a waste to use this. If nothing happened, I would take them with me. If we couldn’t take items out of the game, I would cry.

Putting the bombs in my inventory, I started the scooter again. A slight yawn escaped me from having been awake all night. Day or night, it was impossible to relax; I had to keep going for two days. It was a relief that my stats were rank C.

If I had been rank F like before, the worry of having an accident while driving would probably have made me rest my eyes for a while. The road was tough, so just driving the scooter also required quite a bit of stamina. It would be nice if when I got to Akates City, Yoohyun would welcome me and tell me to rest a bit, hyung.

‘I miss the kids. I really want to see them.’

It had been a long time since I was alone like this. After my regression, there was almost always someone around. Anyway, this wasn’t my real body, and there was nothing that could kill me, so I could relax.

Otherwise, with my Fear Resistance rank lowered, I might have been uneasy.

…Really, if our world had had the applied virtual reality system- As I had that thought, I unconsciously clenched my teeth. Even though virtual reality had risks, many things would be different.

But maybe it was just that the grass was greener on the other side of the fence.

‘..Let’s think about what we can get out of this while we’re here.’

I would meet up with Yoohyun, find the others, and rack up points. We should gather enough to buy new weapons for Yoohyun and Yerim before leaving. And some skills would be good too. Ah, I wanted to see my kids. I longed not only for Hyuna-ssi but even for Sung Hyunjae. How lonely.

A tall defensive barrier, similar to Sollemnis’, came into view. The height of the wall, as well as the shapes of the watchtowers built at regular intervals, resembled theirs. Were the other cities built at the same time? I gazed at the barrier under the morning sun while still hiding.

I had been told it would take two days to drive from Sollemnis to Akates, but even though the scooter was working fine, it was naturally slower than a car. It had taken me two days plus another half day, but since I had left at night, I ended up staying awake for three full days. I sighed with heavy eyelids.

‘Should I jump the wall or enter through the main gate?’

They had said that the watchmen at the Sollemnis barrier were mainly composed of B-rank guards during the day. And at night, when there were many new monsters, they were replaced by A-rank guards. Would Akates do the same?

“Escaping from the B-ranks won’t be difficult.”

I took out my well-guarded identification card and, hiding behind a tree, deactivated my stealth ability. To hide that I didn’t have engravings, I took a scarf from my backpack and tied it around my neck.

Maybe Yoohyun had told the guards defending the city entrance in advance. That if a person named Han Yoojin came, they should welcome me and bring me in. Maybe he had even ordered them to notify him so he could come pick me up himself.

Yoohyun, Your hyung is here. Excitedly, I approached the gate, tiny in relation to the wall. The gate was big enough for a car to barely squeeze through.

“Excuse me, please open the gate!”

When I waved and shouted to the watchtower, the gate opened shortly after. An armed B-rank guard approached me, not losing an ounce of vigilance.

“I’m Han Yoojin, from Medsang City. Here’s my ID and pass.”

“Ah, you’re from Medsang?”

Hearing my words, the B-rank guard’s expression visibly relaxed. Medsang seemed to have many healers and support guards; were they easily accepted by other cities because of that? It seemed like Novato had taken care in preparing my identification card. The guard, checking my ID and pass with a machine, said I was welcome and let me in.

Yoohyun... seemed not to have said anything. On the other hand, it could be that he didn\'t say anything for my safety. In this place, someone valued by an SS-rank guard could be taken as a hostage.

"It was hard for me to come all the way here; I\'m glad I\'m being received like this, really, thank you. And thank you for working hard to protect the city."

Smiling friendly, I took out a drink from my backpack and offered it. Thanking me, the guard accepted the drink.

"You\'re registered as a support rank C, so I\'ll accompany you to the city center. The outskirts of the city are dangerous. You have a scooter instead of a car, so it\'s likely to be stolen."

"Thank you. I\'m sorry to bother, but please."

"You came just in time for the shift change, so don\'t worry."

How kind. The guard brought a military jeep with a trunk in the back. I put the bike in the trunk and sat next to the driver.

"Seeing that you\'ve come here safe and sound on your own, the scooter must have a high-rank stealth ability."

"Yes, I bought it at a high price. How could I have come here without a stealth ability?"

It seemed that the reason for his kindness was that they had caught the scent of money. If you guide me well, I can give you a good tip. I don\'t have money, but I have many items. How much could I earn by selling just one piece of A-rank equipment? And my brother must be even richer than me. If you\'re good to me, I\'ll be good, and I\'ll tell him about you.

"So, about Alpha-nim from Akates."

After chatting about this and that, I brought up the topic I was most curious about. Alpha. As soon as that word came out of my mouth, the guard\'s face hardened.

"You must have already heard the news."

News? I hadn\'t heard anything, but I nodded eagerly.

"Ah, yes. Of course, I\'ve heard. But I don\'t know the details, since I\'m an outsider."

"It was such a big accident that it\'s no wonder it leaked. Even so, they safely suppressed Alpha when he went out of control, and he\'s being well supervised by the Defense Agency, so you don\'t have to worry too much."

...Losing control and being suppressed? What nonsense was this?