SSG 266

Episode 266

“Before anything else, the items first.”

Mad Hammer reached out his hand. Seeing that Willy didn’t say anything, it seemed their negotiation was over.

“Here they are.”

Yuseong took out various items from his inventory. They consisted of money and rare items. Willy and Mad Hammer quietly gathered them up.

“This feels like shit. I could’ve gotten crap like this whenever I wanted in the past.”

Mad Hammer grumbled, like a ruined millionaire reminiscing about better days. Considering their situation, it was not much different.

“And to think I have to accept this from the guy who ruined us.”

“It’s karma, isn’t it? After all, you’re the ones who started the fight and ended up like that.”

“Bastard.”

Even as he cursed, Mad Hammer didn’t stop collecting supplies.

“…The supplies are lacking, Mr. Yuseong.”

“Hm?”

On Willy’s words, Mad Hammer hurried to check the remaining quantity. He scowled instantly.

“Hey, this isn’t funny.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not planning to hold anything back.”

Yuseong placed the rest of the supplies on the table. However, he didn’t slide them forward to Willy and Mad Hammer.

“Half for now. I’ll give the rest after I get the information.”

“Is this really necessary?”

“I don’t think our relationship is built on trust.”

A short silence fell around them.

“…Understood. But please keep your promise.”

“Of course.”

In the end, it was Willy and Mad Hammer who had to back off. No matter how they thought about it, they realized they were the ones in the weaker position.

Of course, Yuseong was only bluffing; in terms of urgency, he was far more desperate.

Still, the reason Yuseong was engaging in useless power games was because he was desperate. He was struggling to reduce the possibility of not getting any information.

“About that boss, he’s really unbelievably strong.”

Willy started talking in earnest.

“Have you tried fighting it again?”

“We gathered all our teammates.”

“And lost.”

Willy nodded.

“As you know, our teammates are talented. Those C.O.T.S.-selected talents received the best support to develop. In terms of quality, I think they’re not that much worse than your freewheeling lot. Yet, even they couldn’t put up a proper fight and died.”

“I’m honestly not sure if that thing was made to be beatable at all.”

‘Looks like the plan to borrow the guild members’ strength is out of the question.’

That’s what Yuseong thought.

“But it seems the thing can’t leave a certain radius from City Hall. Still, since there were several of us, a few barely managed to escape, and after a certain point, the pursuit stopped. After hearing that, we did some experiments.”

“How far can it come out?”

“It doesn’t seem completely confined within the City Hall fence, but it’s about a 1km radius centered on City Hall.”

With that restriction, Yuseong wondered if there might be a way to conquer it.

“If you’re thinking you could use the distance to catch it, forget it. We tried everything.”

“From long-range sniping to hit-and-run tactics at the boundary, nothing works.”

Apparently, all attempts failed.

“Plus, that boundary is expanding exponentially. When we tried hit-and-run using the boundary, it was definitely an area it couldn’t enter yesterday, but the very next day, it moved freely up to there.”

“Thanks to that, one teammate who let his guard down got smashed to pieces.”

“And it’s not just the boss’s activity range increasing. That hideously disgusting landscape keeps spreading too. Honestly, it’s like watching cancer cells multiply.”

Neither Willy nor Mad Hammer looked pleased.

“And those weird monsters—at this point, I’m not even sure they’re actually orcs—keep increasing.”

“Honestly, I thought this was just a normal quest, but at this point, it feels like a hidden event that changes Arc’s entire universe. Arc has a lot of that, doesn’t it?”

Yuseong knew it was not like that but didn’t contradict them.

‘Still, you knew all that and decided to share the information?’

If it were truly that kind of quest, the reward would obviously be huge. Normally, you’d keep it secret or proceed carefully with your own group.

‘It must be because of their own misgivings.’

They hesitated to monopolize the information and proceed with the quest alone because of Hades’s ominousness and the menace of the area.

After listening to everything, Yuseong handed the rest of the supplies to Willy and Mad Hammer.

“Here they are.”

The two immediately checked them.

“…It’s more than promised.”

“It’s a service. The information was quite interesting.”

In the past, they might have been offended and asked if he thought they were beggars. But now, Willy and Mad Hammer quietly took the supplies.

“Well then.”

They stood up from their seats. Though their conversation had become somewhat familiar, Yuseong, Willy, and Mad Hammer were never really close enough to chat without a reason.

“What do you plan to do from now on?”

“I’ll keep pursuing the quest. Either level up or find another way.”

“If you come across any special information, please keep us informed. We’ll definitely pay you for it.”

“Understood.”

Perhaps because they’d received more money and items than promised, Willy cheerfully agreed.

“Good luck.”

“Thank you.”

Words with no sincerity, just empty formalities. Yet, that was what best suited their relationship.

---

Yuseong devoted himself entirely to leveling up. With the help of Messiah, he discovered many previously unknown dungeons, earned bonus points, and slaughtered monsters.

He’d always regarded leveling as important, but it was the first time he’d prioritized it to this degree.

Because of his overwhelming physical ability and many bonus points, Yuseong had always leveled up far faster than others. Now that he was focused, the speed was astonishing.

There was one clear reason for this: to defeat Hades.

‘He was strong, but it’s not like he was completely untouchable.’

At least, for a short time, Yuseong, Willy, and Mad Hammer had been able to fight together. That meant he could catch up if he raised his level.

‘Both he and I have game injuries reflected in reality. If I kill him in the game, maybe I can weaken him in reality—or maybe even kill him outright.’

He now had the possibility of harming his enemy. All that remained was preparation.

He also kept in frequent contact with Willy and Mad Hammer to get information about Hades.

Of course, most of the time there was nothing new. They, too, weren’t about to challenge a boss that was nearly certain to kill them every day.

Then one day, an odd piece of information arrived.

-In the past, he would spring out the moment you approached his area, but lately, there’s been a delay. Once, he only appeared after someone had entered inside City Hall itself.-

Willy speculated this might be a clue to a strategy. But Yuseong, who knew the truth, didn’t think so.

Instead, what caught Yuseong’s attention was something Willy mentioned offhandedly.

-They say Mad Hammer’s like a player who was busy doing something in real life and only rushed over after the guild was attacked.-

He probably meant it as a joke. But knowing that Hades’s real body existed in the real world, Yuseong couldn’t take it as a joke at all.

‘If that’s true, it means Hades is interested in something in the real world.’

Yuseong swallowed dryly.

Hades was a monster. And monsters’ primary object of interest is humans.

And the only human in this world was Yuseong.

‘Could he be looking for me?’

That thought sent chills down his spine.

‘Calm down. Calm down, Lee Yuseong. There’s no way he can find me.’

After landing on the American continent, Yuseong had avoided going outside as much as possible.

Messiah also seemed to know that moving around in America was dangerous, and stopped pestering him for more technology or information.

In a situation where Hades was already starting to influence this world, even Messiah understood what was more important.

The robots he operated were only used for small-scale reconnaissance.

‘Still, just in case, I should bring all those inside too.’

He planned to live as inconspicuously as possible for now.

‘No, I should do it thoroughly.’

He called up the purchase window and checked the otherworld migration item. It was still grayed out, cooldown remaining, but not for much longer.

‘Once it’s ready, I’ll move to the other world and then head to Asia.’

He already had a base in America, but there was no need to stay on this continent. Asia, being farther from the continent where Hades was, would be safer.

Thinking that brought him a bit of relief.

But that relief came too soon.

Beep!

An emergency alarm rang inside the hideout. It signaled the loss of connection with one of the robots.

Yuseong’s body froze.

‘…No, it can’t be.’

He hurried to sit in front of the monitor linked to the robots and external cameras.

Beep!

Another robot signal was lost.

‘Where were the robot signals cut off?’

First, he checked the locations.

‘Southeast, shit!’

He desperately hoped it was nothing, but southeast was the direction where Hades was.

‘No, it could just be another giant monster.’

He’d only encountered two until now, but both had been extremely difficult fights. But now, he almost wished it was just another giant monster.

But the moment he saw a certain being captured on the external camera, Yuseong could only clutch his head.

‘Hades!’

He looked exactly the same as in the game. Human-like shape, body completely covered in shadows—everything.

‘What do I do?’

Should he run? But how? Even with his superior in-game stats, Yuseong had only been able to self-destruct; he hadn’t been able to escape. He didn’t think he could run away with just a reinforced exoskeleton suit.

‘Hide.’

That’s all he could do. If Hades found him now, he’d be dead on the spot.

‘I just have to hang on until the otherworld migration is activated.’

Yuseong ordered all robots to sortie. Their target was obviously Hades. He planned to buy as much time as possible.

His legion advanced on Hades with railguns.

It would be a staggered deployment, but he didn’t care. He didn’t expect the robot legion to do any real damage to Hades anyway. Honestly, he would be lucky if they weren’t all wiped out in an instant.

In that sense, staggered deployment was actually more efficient at buying time.

Yuseong’s calculations were correct.

Boom!

A black beam, just like in the game, shot forth. One robot aiming at Hades was instantly destroyed. The beam erased the object along its trajectory, as cleanly as in the game.

The only thing left to prove a robot had stood there were the two legs that slumped onto the ground.