Everyone’s expression changed.
Yonghoon and Instructor Seo, who knew well about E-Rank monsters, naturally looked serious, while those unfamiliar with E-Rank monsters seemed shocked by the appearance of a high-rank monster.
Some might have wondered how the company created a rank for a monster they hadn’t even seen, but the chaos of the situation left no room for such thoughts.
Instructor Seo looked around at the people. His expression darkened.
“Damn it, if only we had an E-Rank Strike-type.”
There was an E-Rank Strike-type Awakened.
But Yonghoon felt puzzled. If he stepped up, they would have both a Defense-type and a Strike-type Awakened.
But what they truly lacked was an assassin-type.
From E-Rank and up, it was difficult for a Strike-type Awakened to kill a monster of the same rank. That was exactly why assassin-types were favored in the other world.
Yonghoon looked around at the people. He was checking to see if there was an E-Rank Assassin-type Awakened he didn’t know about.
But they were all people who had come from the Training Center with him.
There was someone who looked like they belonged to the assassin-type, but he was definitely F-Rank.
On top of that, the mercenaries’ firepower was too weak, so the effectiveness of an assassin-type was uncertain.
Yonghoon decided not to step forward for now.
Instructor Seo came to a decision.
“We go down first. Then, depending on the situation, we retreat. Look out for your own lives.”
At Instructor Seo’s words, everyone headed back down. This time, instead of rushing down, they moved quickly while keeping watch ahead.
Another person died. This time, they were bitten by the ant and torn in half.
“Damn it! Everyone fall back! We’ll retreat while fighting!”
Junghyeon shouted to his team members and also began to retreat. But the few rubber rounds they had were completely useless.
The ant was so big that it didn’t even flinch.
Taking advantage of the moment when the ant was shaking the corpse in its mouth, a Strike-type Awakened dove underneath it.
And he thrust his hand up toward the ant above.
“Agh!”
But he screamed and clutched his hand. His fingers were bent unnaturally.
The ant, startled, looked down, and then its leg came crashing down on him.
“The Strike-type can’t pierce the shell! We have to run!”
Another Awakened shouted.
Junghyeon checked the remaining members.
Two Awakened and four mercenaries-everyone else was either dead or severely injured.
The initial acid attack from the ant’s mouth had taken out many, greatly increasing the damage.
Junghyeon had to make a decision. At this rate, they would all be wiped out. And with no communication with the people who had gone up, they couldn’t afford to wait.
He decided to retreat.
“I’ll take the rear. Everyone else, run the other way!”
He pulled a grenade from his bag. It would mean jail time if caught, but survival came first.
He pulled the safety pin and stared at the ant. The ant monster was shaking its leg to dislodge the corpse stuck in it.
He threw the grenade at the ant.
Boom!
A blast sounded from below. It was the sound of a grenade or explosive going off.
“As expected of the mercenaries-they must have hidden them.”
Instructor Seo praised the mercenaries as he ran.
The others were focused on running. With a new monster appearing, there was no room for other thoughts.
They ran down the stairs ahead and soon arrived at the platform.
The platform was a mess.
It looked like a battle had taken place on the tracks toward Yeouinaru next to the platform. Some of the safety doors on that side had been blown open, and the once-transparent doors were now stained with blood.
People ran toward the blown-open safety doors. On the tracks were many corpses and a few injured.
People rushed to the ones still alive in shock. They did everything they could to save the wounded.
“Still no signal!”
Eunseo turned off her phone and spoke to Instructor Seo.
“It’ll be a while. The aftermath of Dimensional Movement doesn’t settle that easily.”
Instructor Seo responded to Eunseo’s words.
Among the injured, someone groaned and spoke toward Instructor Seo.
“The monster… cough, cough… chased the others toward Yeouinaru.”
It was Junghyeon, the captain of the mercenary squad. His abdomen was torn wide open. It looked like he had been cut through even with his Anti-stab Clothing on.
The Awakened checking him shook their head. It looked like he wouldn’t make it.
While the others who had come down were frantically helping the injured, Yonghoon stood a little apart from the group, staring toward Yeouinaru.
After seeing the wounds on the injured, he could guess what kind of monster it was.
‘Ant-type E-Rank monster.’
It was the kind that sprayed acid from its mouth and attacked with strong jaws and legs. Without weapons, its insect-like shell couldn’t be damaged. On top of that, it was incredibly strong-even among E-Ranks, it was a high-tier monster.
But the most notable trait of ant-type monsters was that they always carried the bodies of the animals or people they killed back to their nest.
Of course, there was no nest here, but there were plenty of corpses.
“What! An ant?!”
Instructor Seo’s shocked voice rang out from behind.
It seemed the mercenary captain had informed him.
Yonghoon narrowed his eyes and looked ahead. In the distance, he began to see the ant.
“It’s coming back!”
Yonghoon shouted loudly to the others.
The people tending to the wounded all looked at Instructor Seo.
Instructor Seo spoke to everyone with a stern face.
“We’re escaping. Leave the injured and get out of here. And–“
Suddenly, he stopped mid-sentence and grimaced.
“N-No. Let’s take the injured into the station. If we block the stairs and hold our position, we can stop it.”
Instructor Seo abruptly changed his words. The people were relieved by the change, but Yonghoon glared at him.
He couldn’t understand. His personality suddenly shifted, turning a competent monster hunter into a bumbling neighborhood guy.
Then Instructor Seo grimaced again.
“Damn it! You crazy bastard! Fine. We’ll take everyone who’s still alive upstairs. A few will stay behind to block the ant.”
He shouted angrily at himself. It was a complete split personality.
Yonghoon ended up being one of the few to stay behind. It seemed his combat instincts were needed.
He even considered running away, but his heart pounded at the sound of the approaching ant monster.
‘Am I addicted to combat?’
Yonghoon felt his mind and body growing more excited and gave up on fleeing. Even if he ran now, it would only cause problems later.
But he couldn’t afford to die here either.
He asked Instructor Seo,
“If we have an E-Rank Strike-type Awakened, is there a way?”
Instructor Seo stared intently at Yonghoon.
After a moment, he bared his teeth in a grin. He had figured it out.
“There is a way. If you do your part well.”
Yonghoon nodded.
It wasn’t easy to trust someone whose mind kept flipping, but this version of Instructor Seo seemed reliable enough.
“Then let’s go.”
Yonghoon took off his bag, held it in his hand, and walked forward. Instructor Seo, wearing a fierce smile, followed him, along with Eunseo and another Awakened who looked confused.
These four had become the ones to block the ant monster.
Instructor Seo pulled a grenade from the fallen mercenary captain’s bag.
“This guy’s definitely crazy. He had two left.”
He handed the grenade to the male Awakened. The Awakened carefully took it in his hand.
Instructor Seo looked pleased, his face full of smiles.
“It’s been a while since I fought with a proper team. Now we just need the dumb one to do his job.”
The four Awakened stood in a line at the edge of the platform by the tracks.
Behind them, people were carrying the injured on their backs and climbing up.
Yonghoon opened his bag and began connecting the iron rods he pulled out. The rods transformed into a spear.
Eunseo’s eyes widened as she watched.
“You were E-Rank?”
“I guess I leveled up fighting alone.”
Yonghoon gave the excuse he had prepared in advance.
Instructor Seo chuckled.
“No way you’ve only fought twice. There are crazies like you everywhere.”
Hearing that from a lunatic made Yonghoon feel annoyed.
“I bet you I’d survive a month, but now I think I could last six.”
Instructor Seo gave Yonghoon a thumbs-up.
Yonghoon let out a small laugh. Thanks to Instructor Seo, he felt like he was back on the battlefield.
Eunseo blankly stared at Yonghoon and Instructor Seo, then lowered her head and muttered.
“The world is full of lunatics.”
Before they knew it, the ant monster had approached them.
Instructor Seo shouted.
“Form up! Hyuktae! Fall back to the rear. When the green glow disappears from the ant, throw the grenade!”
Eunseo and Instructor Seo raised their shields and stood at the front. Yonghoon naturally stood behind them, and the Awakened named Hyuktae stepped back.
The ant arrived in front of them.
Somehow, it had three corpses clamped in its jaws. When it saw the group blocking its way, it carefully laid the bodies down.
At that moment, Instructor Seo shouted.
“Raise your shields!”
The ant shot its spit like lightning. Thankfully, Instructor Seo’s timing wasn’t too late.
The ant’s acidic spit hit Eunseo and Instructor Seo’s shields.
Hiss~
Smoke and a sour stench rose from the shields. The steel shields were melting.
“We can’t block many more of those!”
Eunseo checked her shield and shouted.
“Advance!”
Instructor Seo yelled and charged forward with his shield raised. They needed to close the distance.
Eunseo matched Instructor Seo’s pace and ran forward.
As the ant monster had been spitting, it stopped and opened its jaws wide when people approached.
The ant tried to bite the instructor in front of it, but Instructor Seo slammed his shield into its snout.
Thud.
The ant flinched, and Instructor Seo was pushed back. In that opening, Yonghoon dashed in.
‘The leg!’
Yonghoon slipped past the ant’s side. His spear swung, leaving a trail of light, and partially severed the ant’s front leg.
Green blood splattered on the ground.
“Kyaaagh!”
The ant monster screamed and retreated. It hadn’t expected that attack.
But Yonghoon frowned.
As expected, monsters of the same level were hard for Strike-type Awakened to overpower. Even though it was a surprise attack, he had failed to fully sever the leg.
“So you were holding back when we sparred. Damn, you really fooled me.”
Instructor Seo grumbled as he watched Yonghoon move.
Then he noticed the ant monster had crept close to the side of the platform and his eyes lit up. Instructor Seo shouted to Eunseo and Yonghoon.
“Draw its attention! Just 30 seconds!”
He ran behind Yonghoon, shouting as he went.
“If I go down, pull me out!”
Yonghoon tilted his head. He’d heard that line somewhere before.
Eunseo clung to the ant monster. Yonghoon didn’t know why, but he took position behind her again and began attacking the monster with his spear.
Yonghoon gradually got immersed in the fight, relishing the familiar sensation. The spear felt like an extension of his arm. It was like his arm and the spear were striking as one.
The ant monster’s shell was being torn apart.
“Yonghoon!”
Eunseo shouted at him.
Yonghoon snapped out of it. He had gotten too excited. He rolled his body and retreated behind Eunseo. The spit aimed at him was blocked by Eunseo’s shield.
Regaining focus, Yonghoon frowned at the still-unfamiliar flow of Dimensional Power. His body and movements felt the same as in the other world, but the Dimensional Power felt different.
Shaking off the thought, Yonghoon kept the ant monster in check from behind Eunseo and looked around. At some point, Instructor Seo had moved away, opened the safety doors, and climbed up onto the platform. He was unarmed, without even a shield.
He moved quickly and reached the side of the platform next to the monster. Ten meters ahead, he could see the ant monster’s back. The safety door ahead had been destroyed by the monsters’ attacks.
“I can do this, I can do this.”
With a pale face, Instructor Seo began running, eyes fixed on the ant’s back.
Watching him run without a sound reminded Yonghoon of scenes he had often seen in the other world.
“No way!”
As Yonghoon shouted in surprise, Instructor Seo soared through the air and landed on the ant’s back.
Yonghoon regained his focus and attacked the ant. Either way, he had to keep the monster from noticing Instructor Seo.
Instructor Seo placed his hand on the ant’s back and focused. His Dimensional Power began searching for the monster’s Dimensional Core.