Radiation Monster.
There existed a monster believed to be the cause of the abnormal radiation levels following the explosion at the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant.
The worst part? It was multiplying at an alarming rate.
"It’s using the explosion of the nuclear facility as a catalyst to reproduce into thousands."
Through Yoo Han-gil’s clairvoyance, it was observed that fragnts of the shattered monster each acted independently, possessing their own will. These fragnts were spreading in all directions, gradually expanding their domain.
There was a slight difference in speed, though. Fragnts moving on land were reported to be rather slow.
But.
"The fragnts that flowed into the sea are spreading incredibly fast."
With liquid-like properties, the fragnts were rapidly dispersing through the ocean.
The destruction of the village where Baek Seung-min was stationed had been caused by this proximity to the sea.
The radiation-contaminated fragnts traveling via the ocean had reached the Gangdong coastline, leading to rapid radiation exposure in the area.
I asked Yoo Han-gil, "Exactly how far has it spread?"
"I’ll check."
There was a mont of silence as Yoo Han-gil fully activated his abilities. As ti passed, his face grew increasingly pale.
Drenched in cold sweat, with his abilities pushed to the extre, he began to bleed from his nose.
“Haaah!”
Opening his eyes wide, Yoo Han-gil caught his breath and reported.
“Haah, haah. Currently, the fragnts moving on land haven’t made it past the surrounding mountain range. However, the ones in the ocean have already reached the lower regions of the Taehwa River in Ulsan. At this speed, they are expected to reach Busan within half a day.”
Kim Da-bin, who had been listening to the report by my side, let out a short groan and spoke up.
"Jae-hyun-nim, if that’s true, all of Korea is in danger."
I could already guess why.
"In just a few days, the other nuclear power plants will also be at risk."
"Exactly."
All of Korea’s nuclear power plants were built along the coastline.
Constructing the plants near the ocean had been for a stable supply of large amounts of cooling water, but now, that decision had beco a curse.
‘At this rate, it’ll only take a few days for the fragnts to reach the Hanul Nuclear Power Plant.’
If the fragnts reached that location, the sa tragedy that occurred at the Wolseong base would repeat itself.
Within a month, the entire land of Korea could very well beco a radioactive hell.
No, it was certain.
All of Korea would transform into a land of death.
‘I have to stop this.’
The best course of action would be to eliminate the radiation monster as quickly as possible, but that was easier said than done.
‘It’s not that there’s no way…’
There was one definitive solution.
‘If I use Descent, I might be able to resolve the situation.’
Using a divine power would make erasing the radiation monster a simple task.
However, the skill required both trust and loyalty stats to be maxed out at 100, and currently, only Moon Byeong-ho, Kim Ga-young, Ha Dong-geon, and Kim Da-bin t those conditions.
On top of that, Descent required approaching the radiation monster directly. Considering that even the fragnts alone were lethal to humans, getting close to its main body was unimaginably dangerous.
‘I’d most likely die.’
It was essentially a trade-off—sacrificing one life to resolve the crisis.
The only saving grace was that, thanks to the retainers’ levels being maxed out and the power of the stars enhanced to the current maximum of three stars, their physical durability far surpassed that of ordinary humans. But even so, they weren’t invincible.
‘I need more information.’
Thankfully, there was still a way.
"Ye-jin."
"Yes, oppa?"
Yoo Han-gil’s clairvoyance was extrely useful, but it had a critical flaw: I couldn’t directly see the situation myself.
I could only rely on the information he relayed to .
However, Seo Ye-jin’s ability was different.
‘By using the reconnaissance of her mice in conjunction with the Absolute Dweller’s Eye, I can observe the situation directly.’
No one else paired better with the Absolute Dweller’s Eye than her.
Since she had been listening to both the eting and Yoo Han-gil’s report, I didn’t need to explain further.
“Can you head to the Wolseong base? I need to see it with my own eyes.”
"Okay. I’ll try."
The mont Seo Ye-jin closed her eyes and linked herself to one of her connected mice, the perspective of the Absolute Dweller’s Eye shifted drastically.
Although I didn’t know the exact location, it appeared to be a forested mountainside.
I asked Seo Ye-jin, “Where is this?”
She could roughly sense the location of her tad mice, so I thought she might know.
“It seems to be sowhere in the mountains about 10 kiloters away.”
"Can you make it to the Wolseong base?"
“Hmm… Honestly, I’m not sure. It’s my first ti trying to send them that far… but I’ll do my best.”
One might wonder how a mouse could possibly reach such a dangerous place when humans were dying instantly, but I believed it was possible.
Seo Ye-jin’s tad mice were on a completely different level from ordinary ones.
Not only did they gain levels, but thanks to her skill Evolution, they continually grew stronger over ti.
The giant evolved mice were, on average, level 7 or higher.
This was remarkable, considering that level 7 matched the average level of an ordinary adult man when integrated as a citizen.
In other words, these mice, as absurd as it sounded, were as strong as adult n.
As Seo Ye-jin grew stronger and leveled up, so did her tad mice.
Moreover, her Enhance skill further boosted their capabilities.
Being a skill of a higher grade than Kim Geon’s Rapid Growth, it was possible that the mice could even withstand radiation for a while.
And most importantly…
「Tad Giant Zombie Mouse (Lv. 16)」
Among Seo Ye-jin’s tad mice were so that had acquired the “zombie” attribute.
Naturally, those with the zombie attribute possessed far greater vitality than the others.
The fact that one of these mice was level 16 and roughly the size of a dium-sized dog ant it was comparable in strength to an orc.
Rustle—
Watching the giant zombie mouse push through the underbrush and run ahead, I activated another skill.
Summon Retainer: Kim Geon.
I summoned Kim Geon, who had been waiting in the administrative headquarters eting room, and spoke to him.
“There’s sothing I need you to do.”
While we gathered information on the radiation monster, I couldn’t just sit idly by.
“Head to the Hanul base in Uljin.”
Before the radiation monster’s fragnts reached the next site, I planned to secure every nuclear power plant across the country.
Sizzle—
The giant zombie mouse had co across an unidentified green liquid.
The Absolute Dweller’s Eye defined the green mass as follows:
「Radiation Sli (Lv. 26)」
The fact that the monster had a na and level ant only one thing:
‘It’s sothing I can defeat.’
Inside the green mass of liquid were various tallic fragnts.
Bullets and dumbbells were visibly dissolving within the liquid.
This was evidence of experintation.
Dozens of bullets stored in the warehouse had been fired at the sli, but they were completely ineffective.
Even when heavy dumbbells were launched at high speed using gravity, the result was the sa.
The green liquid burst out from the sli’s body, causing its size to shrink slightly, but there was no significant damage.
Moreover, the sli absorbed the scattered fragnts of its body as it crawled around and returned to its original size.
‘It’s safe to say it’s completely immune to physical attacks.’
If physical attacks had been effective, the problem would have been far easier to resolve.
At level 3, the Absolute Dweller’s Warehouse had a capacity of 500 kilograms.
One teor strike using the Seodaemun Gate from the Vampire War could have resolved it in an instant.
However, judging by the current state of things, physical force was utterly useless.
‘No choice, then.’
I wasn’t particularly disappointed since this was sowhat expected.
Warehouse Summon.
I reopened the warehouse and pulled out a weapon to launch at the sli.
It was an ordinary supply-grade spear.
But the spearhead…
Fwoosh!
…was engulfed in a black fla.
It was a spear imbued with Ha Dong-geon’s skill, stored for later use.
Thud!
The mont the spear pierced the body of the radiation sli…
BOOM!
A brilliant explosion ripped the sli’s body into pieces.
[You have hunted 「Radiation Sli (Lv. 26)」.]
[You have gained experience points.]
[₩20,112,754 has been deposited into the Absolute Dweller’s Wallet.]
The sli, consud by the black fla, was utterly destroyed.
‘So this is the only way to get rid of them.’
At the mont, Ha Dong-geon’s power seed to be the sole solution.
That was sowhat reassuring, but the problem was that the sli I had just dealt with was rely a fragnt of the larger entity.
‘Can this thod take down the main body at the Wolseong base?’
According to Yoo Han-gil’s description, the main body was hundreds of tis larger than the fragnt I just faced.
It was impossible to predict how many of Ha Dong-geon’s spears would be needed to destroy it.
‘Still, this isn’t a bad thod.’
Although it was slow, it had the distinct advantage of causing no casualties.
Just then—
Splat!
A radiation sli fell onto the head of the giant zombie mouse running through the dark forest.
Sizzle.
Every ti the ominous, fluorescent green liquid wobbled, it lted away chunks of the zombie mouse’s rotting flesh.
I had no choice.
Warehouse Summon. Ha Dong-geon’s Spear.
Crash! BOOM!
Summoning Ha Dong-geon’s spear once again, I dealt with both the radiation sli and the zombie mouse simultaneously.
[You have hunted 「Radiation Sli (Lv. 24)」.]
[You have gained experience points.]
[₩18,003,127 has been deposited into the Absolute Dweller’s Wallet.]
[You have hunted 「Tad Giant Zombie Mouse (Lv. 16)」.]
[You have gained experience points.]
[₩1,502,111 has been deposited into the Absolute Dweller’s Wallet.]
As the linked mouse died, Seo Ye-jin opened her eyes with a calm expression.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Since the zombie ones don’t transfer pain even when linked, I’m fine."
Thanks to the zombie attribute of her tad creatures, Seo Ye-jin’s biggest risk had been completely eliminated.
Moreover, unlike before, she could now maintain the link until the very mont the mouse died, significantly increasing its utility.
Seo Ye-jin apologized.
"Sorry, oppa. I didn’t expect it to fall on its head."
"It’s fine. You did well. We gained more than I expected. Do you think you can try again?"
"Sure."
Even after that, we made several more attempts to infiltrate the Wolseong base, but each ti ended in failure.
As we got closer to the Wolseong base, the frequency of slis appearing increased exponentially, but that wasn’t the only problem.
It was impossible to even approach beyond a certain distance.
Even with their zombie physiology, the mice couldn’t last long in the severely radiation-contaminated air near the base.
The environnt near the Wolseong base was truly hellish.
‘If only we had mice with better durability…’
Unfortunately, the ones we were currently using were already the highest-level creatures Seo Ye-jin had tad.
‘Is there any other way?’
Without a clear solution, I consulted with Kim Da-bin.
Then—
[Jae-hyun-nim, I have sothing to ask.]
[Go ahead.]
[Is it possible for Ye-jin-nim to ta all the mice in the area?]
We had found a way.
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