Chapter 19

Jun-sang turned his head and stared intently at Inia. Inia gave an awkward laugh and said, “A-aren’t you running?”

“…”

Inia seemed to realize it wasn’t working, so she blinked and started acting cute again. Where on earth did she learn to do that? Jun-sang briefly had that thought but then chuckled and said to Inia, “That way?”

“Yes!”

“Hold on tight.”

“Yes, sir!”

With permission granted, Inia gripped Jun-sang’s collar tightly, her expression as serious as a knight about to charge into enemy territory. The moment he saw her, Jun-sang’s lips twitched again, but he forced himself to suppress his laughter and began to run in the direction Inia indicated.

“Whoo! Ooooh…”

“…”

Inia was about to shout but then belatedly remembered Jun-sang’s threat about pulling her wings out, and her voice shriveled. As they ran, a lost zombie shambling around caught his eye. Jun-sang activated Shoulder Charge at his current running speed. As he tucked one arm and thrust out his shoulder, activating Shoulder Charge, Jun-sang’s body seemed to bungee forward, directly impacting the zombie.

Thwack!

The moment the Shoulder Charge directly hit, the zombie rolled on the ground with a strange breaking sound. Jun-sang, who hadn’t lost speed, followed immediately, and with a soccer kick to its neck, the zombie’s neck broke, and its movements ceased.

“…”

Jun-sang habitually crushed the zombie’s head and checked inside. Inia, who had been dazed by the sudden acceleration of the Shoulder Charge and the subsequent violent movements, was still disoriented, but then she came to her senses and asked Jun-sang, “Ugh… what are you doing?”

“…”

But Jun-sang silently rummaged through the zombie’s head and, realizing it was empty again, simply wiped his hands on some dry grass and stood up.

“Tch…”

Inia grumbled, expressing her dissatisfaction at being ignored, but then Jun-sang’s voice came again, “Hold on tight.”

“Yes, sir!”

She quickly clung to his collar again. As Inia got ready, Jun-sang started running once more. How long did they run, feeling the surrounding scenery rapidly recede and the wind whip across their faces with each stride? Finally, Jun-sang could also discern what Inia had called the source of darkness.

“Hmm…”

It was a small lake. Standing in the lake, which was about twenty pyeong (approximately 66 square meters) and located beneath a small, human-height waterfall, its appearance was very similar to the dungeon master he had seen at the end of the tutorial. The only differences were a sinister-looking black gem embedded in its chest and, unlike the dungeon master, it was accompanied by about a dozen zombies. The source of darkness likely referred to that black gem in its chest.

“Hmm…”

Was this why multiple players were needed? While a one-on-one fight might be manageable, if that many enemies attacked all at once, Jun-sang would be in danger. Jun-sang briefly observed the enemy’s situation, then quietly shifted his gaze to Inia.

“…”

“…”

Inia met Jun-sang’s gaze, cocked her head, then after a moment, seemed to have a premonition of doom and began to laugh awkwardly.

“U-um…”

“…”

“Surely… that’s not what you’re thinking, right?”

“…”

Inia sweated profusely as Jun-sang remained silent.

“Ha… haha… S-surely, you wouldn’t do that to such a cute and adorable fairy…”

But Jun-sang silently snatched her wing.

“Aah! W-wait…”

Inia struggled but was soon placed atop the Crimson Wolf’s head by Jun-sang’s rough hand. Jun-sang then took out a pre-prepared shoelace from his pocket, tied Inia’s body, and secured it to the Crimson Wolf’s head.

“T-this… this is a joke, right? Right?”

Inia was now on the verge of tears as she spoke, but Jun-sang said in a flat voice, “Go in and mess things up.”

“B-but…”

“This is a very important mission.”

“That’s…”

Inia’s face crumpled, and she tried to say something else, but Jun-sang immediately commanded the Crimson Wolf.

“Go!”

With the command given, the Crimson Wolf dashed towards the small lake without hesitation.

“Kyaaaaaah! N-no! Save me!”

And then Inia’s scream. The large wolf and Inia’s shriek from atop it were more than enough to draw the zombies’ attention. But even amidst this, the creature with the source of darkness embedded in its chest stood motionless, unresponsive. The zombies flailed their limbs and rushed towards the Crimson Wolf, and Inia screamed as if having a fit, seeing the dozen or so zombies, with their horrific appearances, charging at her.

“…”

He thought she had some courage for provoking a zombie so diligently… but it seemed not. As Jun-sang watched calmly, the Crimson Wolf dashed this way and that, biting and clawing at the zombies, then, perhaps instructed by Inia, it subtly backed away in one direction and began to flee.

Once the zombies were a considerable distance from the lake, Jun-sang finally charged towards the motionless boss. As he charged, the boss finally turned and roared.

-Grrrraaaah!

As he got closer, Jun-sang once again felt how similar this creature was to the dungeon master. The boss charged at Jun-sang and tried to swing its fist, but the moment its arm pulled back in preparation for the attack, Jun-sang activated Shoulder Charge. Then, with his shoulder thrust forward, Jun-sang accelerated rapidly, lunging forward and directly hitting the boss’s exposed side. The boss had its arm pulled back in preparation and was struck in the side by Jun-sang’s Shoulder Charge.

Thwack!

At the moment of impact, Jun-sang felt the incredibly tough texture of its skin against his shoulder. And the instant the boss bounced back from the impact, Jun-sang’s mouth opened again.

“Open Two-Hit Combo.”

As the command was given, the Shoulder Charge, now on cooldown, left the slot, and the Two-Hit Combo card took its place. Jun-sang, having loaded a new attack skill, tucked his arms to his sides and pursued the boss, who was staggering from the impact of the Shoulder Charge. The boss, with its fingers spread, tried to claw Jun-sang’s head.

But, at that very moment!

The boss lost sight of Jun-sang. The moment its arm swung, Jun-sang bent his knees and attempted a duck, and as his center of gravity suddenly lowered, the boss’s vision was blocked by its own swinging arm, preventing it from seeing Jun-sang. There was no reason for Jun-sang to leave the boss, now effectively blinded, alone. He channeled the remaining acceleration from his charge into his punches, unleashing a Two-Hit Combo directly onto the newly exposed side.

Crunch!

As punches repeatedly struck the same spot, the boss’s body twisted sideways for a moment, losing its balance. As its upper body tilted greatly to one side, its opposite flank was widely exposed to Jun-sang’s view. Jun-sang used the momentum of his charge to swing his body in a wide arc. The moment this rotation, reminiscent of a Mobius strip, occurred, intense strain was placed on his waist and knees, causing damage.

“Gah!”

But immediately, Jun-sang’s regeneration activated, beginning to heal the damage itself, and the rotational force thus created was directly transferred to Jun-sang’s punch, once again impacting the boss’s body.

Thwack!

The boss staggered and retreated, unable to withstand the continuous blows. Although distance was created again, Jun-sang had no intention of letting go of the winning momentum. Moreover… Jun-sang saw it. Fear in the monster’s eyes. The boss had fallen into an uncounterable state due to the fear inducement effect.

“Open Shoulder Charge.”

As the command left his lips, Two-Hit Combo was unequipped, and Shoulder Charge was once again equipped in the slot. While Shoulder Charge normally had a 4-second cooldown, due to the skill cooldown reduction effects of the combo card and seeds, it now had a cooldown of 1.88 seconds. Jun-sang activated the off-cooldown Shoulder Charge once more.

-Grrrraaaah!

The boss, directly hit in the chest by the Shoulder Charge that shot out like a cannonball, screamed and tumbled backward. Jun-sang’s body, whose momentum hadn’t diminished at all, fell onto it. Jun-sang slammed his knee directly into the gem embedded in its chest.

-Kyaaaaaaah!

Then, a completely different, horrifying scream erupted from it, like a vengeful woman’s cry. Jun-sang was startled by the sudden shriek but had no intention of letting up his attack. He remained on top of its body and said, “Open Two-Hit Combo.”

The Two-Hit Combo, which now had a 1.41-second cooldown due to the skill cooldown reduction effect, landed on its head. The boss’s will to counterattack Jun-sang was now completely broken due to the fear inducement stacked from the continuous blows. It had truly become nothing more than a living punching bag!

Thwack!

Thwack!

The continuous, merciless punching power of Jun-sang’s successive blows created cracks in the incredibly tough skull and turned the soft brain inside into pulp. And finally, when it could no longer withstand the impact, its skull shattered like exploding fireworks.

“Phew…”

Jun-sang reached out his hand towards the source of darkness embedded in the completely motionless boss’s chest. Then, a strange black smoke began to wrap around Jun-sang’s arm. It was a dark temptation towards a new host to replace the fallen boss.

“…”

Jun-sang frowned for a moment at the ominous yet strange temptation. But it was only for a moment. Jun-sang clenched his fist and slammed it down onto the source of darkness embedded in the boss’s chest.

-Kyaaaaaaah!

Then, a terrible scream once again erupted from the source of darkness. Jun-sang ignored the chilling sound and continued to strike the source of darkness, and finally, unable to withstand the impact, the source of darkness shattered into pieces.

-Crack!

With a loud resonance, as if a glacier was breaking, a black mist rose into the sky from the shattered source of darkness. And as the black mist completely vanished from Jun-sang’s sight… the dark sky of the forest slowly began to let in dazzling light. Jun-sang silently watched the scene, then rummaged through the shattered boss’s head and found a seed. He was about to take out his phone to check it… when he looked up at Inia’s screams from afar.

“Waaaaah! I’m sorry! So stop chasing me, you bad guys!”

“…”

But as the source of darkness that had created them disappeared and dazzling light began to pour down from the sky, the zombies began to melt away like spring snow.

“Huh? Huh?”

Inia finally shut her mouth upon seeing the zombies chasing her melt and disappear, and with the enemies gone, the Crimson Wolf immediately returned to Jun-sang.

“D-did we win?”

“Thanks to you.”

Jun-sang replied bluntly to Inia, who asked with a bewildered expression, not even bothering to wipe her face covered in tears and snot. Then he untied the shoelace that bound Inia’s body.

“Go back.”

And as he unsummoned the Crimson Wolf, a message finally arrived on his phone.

Purify the Forest.

: The forest has been contaminated by the power of darkness. The once beautiful forest has become a hell filled with reanimated corpses. Remove the source of darkness to restore it to its former state.

[Multiple individuals participate in this quest simultaneously.]

• Completed!
• Your actions and achievements in this quest are being calculated. This process will take a moment. Please wait.

Jun-sang waited for a moment, then took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped Inia’s messy face. Inia flinched but dared not shy away from Jun-sang’s touch. As he finished wiping her face, a new message appeared.

Congratulations!

: Your rank is S.

• You played a decisive role in completing this quest. Additional rewards will be given in addition to the basic rewards. Reward: A small amount of experience, special ability ‘Party’, additional reward box (S-Rank) -> Would you like to receive the rewards now? (Y/n) (Caution) Unclaimed rewards will be automatically deleted after 7 days.

Upon receiving the rewards, another new message arrived.

Quest Completed.

: You have completed all assigned quests.

It is now time to return to your original location.

May luck be with you on your journey. (Time remaining: 10 seconds)

As the countdown began, Jun-sang said to Inia, “Well, then, take care.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t fool around and get hurt.”

“What do you…”

Inia looked bewildered, but when the countdown finished and Jun-sang’s figure was enveloped in light and disappeared, only then did she realize his words were a farewell. She stared blankly at the spot where Jun-sang had stood, for a long, long time.