SSG 241

Episode 241

‘A black… sphere?’

That’s how it could best be described, what appeared after the crystal was destroyed. It floated above the broken base of the crystal, looking like a hole pierced in the air or a shadow cast onto empty space.

‘Could that be a passage connected to our world?’

If so, it needed to be eliminated immediately. Yuseong pulled the trigger again.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!

But it was no use. The bullets passed through the thing and embedded themselves in the wall behind it.

‘No distinct form?’

It might be an amorphous object or some kind of energy entity.

‘Would a potion affect it?’

But Yuseong’s dilemma was quickly resolved.

‘It’s shrinking on its own.’

Perhaps it was because the black crystal had been destroyed. Yuseong observed the shrinking sphere.

‘If that disappears, maybe this whole situation will come to an end.’

Even so, hoping desperately for that outcome, Yuseong didn’t take his eyes off the sphere. It was a habit born from years of fighting.

It was thanks to that habit that he was able to avoid the sudden threat.

Whoosh!

He turned his head to the side. Something black brushed past where his head had just been.

Crack!

There was a sound of something breaking, and his right cheek felt cool.

‘My helmet broke!’

He didn’t need to look to know. Most likely, the part protecting the right side of his face had been destroyed.

‘The Arc armor broke this easily?’

In terms of basic strength, this armor was tougher than even the external plating of the enhanced exoskeleton. And yet, it had been shattered just by a glancing blow. Alarm bells were ringing in his mind.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!

He reflexively pulled the trigger toward the sphere.

Bang bang bang bang!

Unlike before, this time the bullets struck something. Something had clearly changed. The problem was that the bullets didn’t stick—they didn’t penetrate properly.

‘It’s deflecting everything!’

Whoosh!

He quickly bent his body backward. Normally, Yuseong would never lose his balance in a position like that, but this time he didn’t have the luxury. He rolled backward rather ungracefully.

But it was a splendid move for saving his life.

Whoosh!

Again, something brushed past the spot where his head had just been. If he’d hesitated, his head would have been blown to pieces.

But he couldn’t save his weapon.

Crack!

The machine gun that had been at his side was smashed by the unidentified attack. Its fragments and internal parts scattered right before his eyes.

Thud!

His body hit the ground. He twisted as much as he could before falling, landing on his side to protect the backpack strapped to his back.

Thanks to his armor, he didn’t feel the shock, but that wasn’t the problem right now. Yuseong scrambled up and put some distance between himself and the sphere.

But he wasn’t just running away. The attack wasn’t something he could escape just by retreating a few steps.

Thunk!

The potion he’d thrown before getting up landed on the ground beneath the sphere.

Boom!

There was an explosion. Flames engulfed the black sphere. Yuseong threw a few more explosive potions.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Cooking Day-brand explosive potions were incredibly powerful. They went off one after another. Still, he didn’t think a single blast would have taken care of his mysterious opponent.

Yuseong pulled more potions from his backpack.

They weren’t explosive potions.

He drank them one after another. It happened just as he took his mouth off the last potion.

Whoosh!

As he’d suspected, the enemy wasn’t dead—a fresh attack came flying at him.

But now Yuseong’s movements were different from before.

Fwish!

He dodged the attack. Unlike before, when he had to focus all his abilities solely on evasion, he wasn’t on the verge of getting caught. He wasn’t full of composure, but he also wasn’t flustered.

The potions he’d just drunk boosted not only his strength, but also other abilities.

Aside from the ones that increased intelligence and mana—which had little effect in reality—these potions boosted his stamina, agility, and dexterity.

He hadn’t brought many of these compared to others. He’d had to prioritize attack potions and strength potions, which allowed him to wear the armor and mount an attack.

Naturally, not to mention attack potions, even the strength potions had to be taken regularly as their effects wore off, so he’d had to bring a set minimum.

So, potions increasing abilities other than strength were packed in only small amounts for emergencies.

And now was clearly an emergency situation.

With the potions, Yuseong’s dexterity had definitely improved. He dodged the incoming attacks in quick succession and checked what was attacking him.

‘A tentacle…?’

A single black tendril was protruding from within the black sphere. With its undulating, wisp-thin form, it looked more creepy than threatening.

But considering the air-rending sound with each attack and the way it so easily destroyed experimental equipment, it was not merely dangerous—it possessed excessive lethality.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The tentacle kept attacking Yuseong.

Dodging, Yuseong pulled something else from his backpack.

‘I didn’t want to use these…’

Ideally, he would have mowed everything down with the machine gun he’d had. But he’d lost the machine gun, so he had to use his backup plan.

These were weapons brought from Arc.

A small shield, two pistols, and two daggers.

He secured the shield tightly to his left arm, and attached the daggers in front of the pistols’ barrels to make bayonets.

Bang!

A tentacle stabbed through the air, making a ripping sound. Despite having the shield, Yuseong didn’t dare raise it against the tentacle.

‘My armor is already broken—how could I risk it?’

Of course, the shield’s defense was higher than the helmet’s. But not by an overwhelming margin.

The shield was a last bulwark to be used only as a last resort. He put it on because it was better than having nothing.

Having finished preparations, Yuseong aimed his gun at the tentacle.

The tentacle’s movements were incredibly fast, and it was also thin, making it a very difficult target.

But it wasn’t something Yuseong couldn’t hit.

What’s more, there was an easy target.

Right where the tentacle met the sphere. Because it moved within the small sphere’s range, the tentacle’s movement was limited.

Bang!

He pulled the trigger.

Thud!

The bullet hit the tentacle dead-on. It shook severely, showing that unlike with the machine gun, this attack was effective.

‘The raw firepower is better than the machine gun’s.’

The gun was Arc’s weapon, so its power was influenced by Arc’s stats just like the armor. Unlike the modified machine gun, which only dealt enhanced bullet damage, this gun’s innate damage was added as well.

The only reason he’d used the machine gun was because of its overwhelming rate of fire.

Given how the number of monsters had increased, he’d needed the higher fire rate.

‘And I’m also limited in what weapons I can use.’

Unlike game characters who could wield massively powerful guns at will thanks to boosted stats, real-life Yuseong had limits to his strength.

The guns he was using now, which required incredible strength in the game world, were ones he wouldn’t have bothered with in the game due to their low damage.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He fired at the tentacle repeatedly. The tentacle writhed, trying to dodge, but with one end stuck in the black sphere, it couldn’t evade completely.

‘Just a little more…’

The tentacle was already thin, and now the area where the bullets concentrated became even thinner.

Fwish!

Apparently deciding it couldn’t take anymore, the tentacle attacked again.

But this was a familiar pattern to Yuseong—a desperate last-ditch attack.

Of course, Yuseong didn’t get caught up in such a reckless charge.

‘Please let it end with this.’

He wanted no more surprises.

But when he saw something writhing inside the black sphere, he let out a spontaneous curse.

Four more tentacles were about to emerge.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Without even thinking, he unleashed a hail of bullets. With difficulty, he’d gained the upper hand against just one tentacle. With four more about to join, he was bound to be overwhelmed—wildly so.

Click! Click!

He was out of ammo. Instead of reloading, Yuseong pulled out potion bottles and threw them.

Crackle!

The freezing rounds iced up the tentacles. He’d thrown several at once, and they seemed to have some effect.

‘Still, they’re not completely frozen.’

Even if these were weaker than the monsters from his world, the freeze potions had completely frozen two monsters before. He’d used about the same number on the tentacles.

But the tentacles, though slower, were still moving.

‘Damn it.’

What’s more, the one that had first attacked him, stretched out longer than the others, was still moving fiercely.

While the part near the sphere was frozen, the unfrozen part still lashed out with deadly force.

But at least he’d bought enough time to reload.

‘I’m low on potions too.’

He’d packed his huge backpack full, but there was still a limit.

Just as he was racking his brains for a way out, it happened.

Crack!

He didn’t miss the faint sound of something breaking.

‘Is the hole still shrinking?’

That sound was the ice on the tentacle being broken by the shrinking hole.

That was a bit of good news amidst misfortune.

If the hole kept shrinking until it disappeared, the situation might resolve itself.

Judging by the breaking of the ice, the shrinking hole seemed to be exerting physical force. It might even cut off the tentacles completely.

‘And the hole is shrinking faster than before.’

Maybe it was because more tentacles had emerged. Whatever the reason, it was welcome.

‘Then I just have to buy time until it closes.’

The best method was still to retreat.

Some would call it running away or fleeing and jeer him, but Yuseong didn’t care. However he won, was all that mattered.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Yuseong threw all his remaining attack potions. He planned to use those to buy time and then escape up the stairs.

Boom!

But when a tentacle intercepted a potion in midair, Yuseong realized his plan had been foiled.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The two types of potions canceled each other out, so Yuseong had thrown all the explosive potions first and then, after a short delay, thrown the freeze potions. But they all exploded together in midair.

Of course, the tentacle that had intercepted all those potions wasn’t unscathed. It was battered and tattered from alternating waves of explosion, heat, and cold.

Still, using its long body to absorb the blast in different places, it managed to deal with all the attack potions alone.

Meanwhile, the other four tentacles were still going strong.

‘Shit!’

Before he could even curse at what he knew would happen next, Yuseong hurriedly raised his gun and pulled the trigger.

But he managed only four shots.

Whoosh!

The tentacles attacked.

Fwish!

He dodged the first attack. But there were still three more tentacles left.

Fwish! Fwish! Fwish!

They bore down on Yuseong from all sides. He tried his best to dodge, but quickly reached his limit.

Boom!

“Gah!”

He raised his shield to block the attack coming from the front. But the tentacle’s power was too much for the shield to handle.

He managed to glance the attack off by angling the shield, but the top part of the shield was torn away as a result.

‘I can’t keep blocking forever!’

But he had no choice. Yuseong checked the hole. It was still shrinking. But it needed more time to close completely.

Right now, his only chance of winning was to keep evading until the hole vanished.