Chapter 104

Chapter 104

[King of the Lizards (5)]

It had been a week since the Gwacheon Monster Cluster had been cleared.

The media has been busy reporting on the events underground in Seoul Land, and the public has been shocked by the news.

The only good news is that survivors have been found in the cages that the monsters must have made.

All of the rescued survivors were reportedly mentally exhausted and hospitalized at Severance Hospital in Gangnam.

It will be a long time before they can return to their normal lives.

Uh-uh-uh, Eunhyeok, what should we do?

First, get you up, and Ill do something about it!

The kids were camping at a horse racing park not far from Seoul Land.

<After the End of the Century> , horse racing parks have completely lost their former prestige.

The park is now deserted and overgrown with weeds, leaving only the traces of its former life as a racetrack.

Even the children, who were initially intrigued by the racetrack, quickly lost interest.

Hey, look out!

Well done! Ill handle the rest

Ill take care of this.

The kids went to the badminton courts that remained in the park, where they were given balls.

Hayang, who was chasing after the ball, quickly scooped it up, and Eunhyuk jumped up to pass it to the other side of the court.

Thud!!

Seona, who was at the far end of the court, quickly ran out as soon as the ball soared into the middle of the net.

Leaping into the air past Minji, she bent down like a shrimp and hit the ball.

The spiked volleyball left a red mark on Eunhyuks face.

Oh, sorry.

That hurts! Are you Jin seoma or Kim Minji?

Why are you tripping over me? Why? Is it because you want to know how much it hurts when I hit you?

Guys, dont fight. Eunhyuk, doesnt it hurt?

The children played well among themselves.

Eunha watched them play in the distance.

Eunha, were done here. You can go play now.

Its okay, I dont feel like playing that much.

Ill help make the curry.

Eunha shook his head.

He finished unloading the camping gear from the trunk. He helped set up the tent and make the curry.

This camp was his idea.

Of course, his parents said it was dangerous to go camping in Gwacheon City at this time of year.

If he hadnt mentioned that Bruno was going too, he probably wouldnt have gotten permission.

Bruno granted his request without a word.

So, even though he felt sorry, Eunha helped with the camping preparations.

You dont have to be sorry.

What?

Youre my boss, you dont have to be sorry.

Hahaha.

Even if he denied it, he wouldnt listen.

Eunha laughed awkwardly.

Switch teams! Ill team up with Seona this time!

Dont try to steal Seona from me! Its not fun when you and Seona team up!

I want to team up with Seona too~

Then how about this? Me and Minji team up with Hayang, and Eunhyuk plays by himself.

How am I supposed to play volleyball by myself!

I could hear the kids chattering away.

Eunha wandered in as he sliced potatoes.

Eunha, whats wrong?

Oh, nothing, Im done with the potatoes.

Bruno thought that Eunhas mind was somewhere else the whole way to the racetrack.

So did the kids. They could vaguely sense that he was in a different mood than usual.

So they didnt ask him why he suddenly needed to go camping or drag him along to play volleyball.

Uncle Bruno.

Putting down the potato peeler, Eunha called out to Bruno.

Even as he called out to him, his gaze remained fixed on the cloudless sky.

I have to go somewhere for a while.

Hmm.

Can I borrow your knife?

Bruno understood what Eunha meant by the knife.

It was because he had personally asked for it before they left for the camping trip.

It should be in the trunk. The combination is same as last time.

Okay.

Eunha pulled a bag out of the trunk.

Inside the bag were auxiliary equipment, potions, and the player device.

He put on the device holster. Even if he tightened the belt around his young body, it kept slipping off.

He had no choice but to wrap the holster worn on his wrist around his waist.

In the holster pocket, he had a Beretta and a Mangosu (a type of handgun).

Eunha gulped down the water he brought. He drank until the sound of the plastic bottle shrinking was heard.

Can you put some curry in here?

Hmm.

Bruno poured the curry into the 500-milliliter bottle Eunha handed him.

Not long ago, Eunha had seen the news about the Gwacheon City Monster Swarm and remembered the Lizard King.

Eunha had two choices: stay ignorant or intervene for the sake of the future.

In this life, he wanted to live in peace with his family and friends, not as a player.

Whether or not Seoul would be invaded by a monster army in the future was none of my business.

I didnt want to go through the hardships I experienced then.

When the time came, I would find a good reason and get my family and friends out of Gangbuk.

There was no need to suffer, but it kept bothering me.

Sigh.

Even when I graduated from the academy and became a player, I still had thoughts of crazily killing monsters.

I fought to die.

So, monsters werent terrifying.

But the helplessness I instinctively felt when facing commanders couldnt be avoided.

The helplessness I felt back then continued to flicker before my eyes as time went by, even as I developed skills comparable to the Twelve Chairs in the future.

If the Kraken was a presence that brought despair, the commanders who invaded Seoul were a presence that brought helplessness.

It was a barrier that I ultimately couldnt overcome.

Because there were no commanders to overcome during the time I needed to.

Even in this lifetime, I wont feel helpless against you.

Until I heard the news, I didnt know.

I still perceived myself as someone who needed to overcome that barrier, even in my second life.

Of course, the version of myself during this time was not yet capable of a third-tier Overrank.

To recreate that version of myself from that day, I had to wait until the Lizard King invaded Seoul.

Call me crazy, but Im not crazy enough to believe I can take down that guy alone.

It was a kind of handicap.

The version of myself during this time couldnt fully unleash the power of their prime, and I was far from reaching my prime as well.

Its just a little challenge, after all.

Eunha drew the mangoshu sheathed at his waist.

He loaded the blade with mana.

The mangoshu that Bruno had prepared was a player device that could extend its blade by infusing it with mana.

Isnt that right?

Kieeeek!!

He had felt the eyes on him since he entered the botanical garden.

Nevertheless, Eunha waited for the Lizard King to appear close by.

Eventually it did, and he moved his mangoshu toward the creature that had jumped overhead.

The creature had not yet reached adulthood, but the thick armor that made up its body blocked the mana-coated blade.

Tougher than I thought.

Beneath the scales, bones were scattered in small patches. The bones, which would grow into one in time, were doubly defended by the scales.

Eunha did not panic.

This was a monster that would become a disaster in the future.

He knew it wouldnt be easy to kill.

Vent your resentment towards your previous self.

Human

The thing understood the humans words, and somehow used them.

Though its rank was far below that of a third-tier Overrank, it had the qualities and intelligence to become a third-tier Overrank someday.

The lizard flattened itself on the ground, completely concealing its movements.

This was one of its abilities, Camouflage.

Even before the regression, players had to pay a high price to attract the creature, which blended in with the colors of its surroundings, completely hiding its presence.

Facing an invisible foe was terrifying.

Is this all?

Thats all he was before the regression.

It was clumsy. The creature hadnt fully concealed its condition.

He was openly shedding his flesh.

Perhaps due to the excessive emotion behind his surprise attack, he revealed his intent to kill just before his crooked nail touched its target.

Kiaaaaah!

The Lizard King was counterattacked.

Half-turning to dodge the attack, Eunha slammed his mangoshu down on its neck.

Thats hard.

So what?

Eunha looked down at the creature on the ground with a sour expression.

A wall that wont come down can only be pounded until it does.

Cant even conceal your presence properly. I brought this for no reason.

Eunha pulled out a plastic bottle from his back pocket.

While nimbly avoiding the attack of the creature that burst out from the ground after being teased by his steps, he opened the lid.

Seizing the moment when the creature passed right in front of him, he emptied the contents of the bottle.

Kieck?

The creature, which was about to attack again while clinging to the tree, abruptly stopped

A thick, yellow liquid dripped from its head.

Lizard curry, I dont know if youve heard of it.

Kieh-keh-ekh!

The creature realized why liquid had been sprayed onto its body.

Even if it blended with the colors of the surroundings, it couldnt effectively hide its appearance.

Even if it wiped off the liquid that had splattered onto its body and tried to erase the smell that seemed to clog its nostrils, it wouldnt be able to completely remove the odor.

Its delicious, eat up, its your last meal.

Meanwhile, Eunha tossed the wrapped bottle on the floor.

He pulled out a second mangoshu.