Chapter 102
I took everyone with
and headed ho, going to the central park in front of the DMC Riverview Xi.
Whoa. Boss Hyukjin, this is where your house is? Its great! The park in front is super big too! And there are a ton of flowers.
Choi Sung-gu jokingly pinched his nose. Eurgh. Whats with this intense middle class sll? Its heavy af. Have rcy on this poor bastard with boujee allergy.
After Yeonseo and Sung-gu briefly gave their opinions, we entered the park. A lot of people were gathered and murmuring amongst themselves, and a yellow police line had been put up.
A dead body was found in front of our house.
I ca imdiately after getting word from my sister.
Apparently, the body is black from head to toe.
A blackened corpse. A grotesque corpse that was severely decomposed even though the death was recent. A corpse that almost completely matched the appearance of the ones discovered on Plum Blossom Island.
On the way here, I contacted Song Kiyeol. When I asked him if it would be possible for us to go past the police line, he said, Its still tricky for a Player to act at their own discretion. That would an the police would be handing over their authority to the Players.
By now, Players should have been given the reins to hunt monsters a little more independently, but the process of change seed a little slow. It was likely closely related to
preventing the Seoul Station dungeon break.
One of the policen ca up to us, looking displeased. What company are you reporting for? Show so restraint, please. Stop trying to get closer.
A black corpse was found in a park in the middle of Seoul.
And two of them, no less.
I could feel it with Eye of Perception. There were two corpses that had lost all traces of life.
Its dangerous here.
This was no place for regular civilians to be gathering around. It was dangerous for the reporters, and even the policen containing the site. Yoohyun went up to the policeman at the front of the line and said what I told him to say.
Do you know , by any chance?
At tis like this, the Tutorial Enders fa was helpful.
Ah you are!
My na is So Yoohyun. This place is dangerous.
The police knew, too. They knew what kind of danger monsters posed, especially after what happened recently at the DMC Lucentia Tower. Many of their comrades had died because of the Orcanthropes.
Do you believe that this is the doing of monsters?
Upon hearing the policemans question, many reporters flashed their caras at Yoohyun.
Players must take an active role here, Yoohyun said.
The reporters began to pepper him with questions.
Are you, the Tutorial Ender, confirming that this incident is related to monsters?
Mr. So Yoohyun, do you think that this was not caused by human hands?
Are you claiming that this is not a murder, but an accident?
Yoohyun didnt answer the many questions. He probably didnt really know, eitherhe was just doing what I told him to do.
I could definitely feel it with Eye of Perception.
Its sowhere underground.
My proficiency [2] Eye of Perception was definitely picking up the presence of a monster sowhere underground. I couldnt sense what it looked like or its approximate size, but it was moving. It was definitely moving.
Focus.
More people could die. If it was the monster I knew, the list of casualties would not end here.
A weak bloodthirst.
I could feel the bloodthirst. It wasnt bloodthirst exuded by a human. It was definitely a monsters bloodthirst. But because it was obscured by energy from the earth, earth ki, I couldnt get a good read on it.
Regarding this monster, the Great Explorer Jackson said:
The Pearl Centipede will suddenly erge from a hole in the ground, snatch a person with astonishing speed, and burrow back into the ground. The hole it made will then disappear. After sucking out all the humans vital ki using the tentacle at its tails tip, it returns the body to its original position. A corpse created by a Pearl Centipede will be blackened and undergo instant decomposition.
At so point, the monster would suddenly burrow out of the ground.
Even through cent.
The holes created by Pearl Centipedes were different from the physical holes we knew. It didnt actually make a hole and co out. Almost like a magic warp portal, a hole would appear for a mont, and the monster would erge from that hole. Then, it would snatch its prey with extre speed.
How can their response be this slow?
By now, the police should have pushed the civilians as far back as possible. But they were treating this like a regular murder scene and were investigating after rely putting up a police line of limited range.
They still havent gotten their act together.
It seed it would take so ti for people to co to their senses. I decided to do the best I could in the current circumstances.
[Activating the power Future Sight.]
[You are within Observers Domain.]
[You are using Observers Eye.]
[The mana and ntal power consumption of Future Sight is reduced.]
Using it for a long period would tire . I could only hope to be lucky and have it pop out before long. At that mont, I felt it.
That policeman.
There was no ti to explain. Future Sight only showed
less than one second in advance. I grabbed Yeonseos hand and imdiately surged forward.
[Using the special skill Flash Step.]
It wasnt far, only about three ters away. I used Flash Step to cut through the distance instantly.
Wh-What?
Shock passed through Yeonseos eyes, but she rapidly assessed the situation and pulled out her sword from her Inventory. Faint black light leaked out of her transcendent godsword, Asura.
Yeonseo swung her sword.
Slice!
Sothing was cut off.
People scread.
KYAAAA!
Wh-Whats that?!
Sothing large was writhing on the ground. A piece of an insects body about thirty centitres large was wriggling on the ground like an earthworm.
Sizzzzzzzle!
Green fluid oozed out of the cut piece, and smoke rose from the dirt that ca in contact with the fluid.
It slls terrible.
The stench of rotten wastewater pervaded the air, and the surrounding earth turned black.
Pearl Centipede poison.
It was only for a brief mont, but I saw the Pearl Centipede, a massive centipede one ter in size. Because of its ability to freely move through the ground, it was a very tricky creature to hunt. Yeonseo cut it quickly, but it had already bitten the policeman.
The policemans face started turning pitch-black, along with his arms and legs. He flailed in agony on the ground.
A bite like that wont kill you.
Though it would most likely have him suffering horrific pain for about two weeks.
But
Why did a Pearl Centipede show up here?
There was no record of that in the past.
Did I just not know about it? Or did sothing change? I didnt know. I would have to look into it more.
We have to find the gate entrance.
* * *
* * *
After getting word from , the Guildmaster of Taeguk Shield personally ca over, which helped things go a little more smoothly for us.
Once again, Sunhwa played a key role.
Oppa! Theres sothing weird over here!
Sunhwa discovered sothing in a flowerbed blooming with yellow flowersa black larva about thirty centitres large. It was the thing Id been looking for.
Sunhwa clutched the hem of my clothes.
Eurgh. It looks gross. Thats gotta be at least a thousand legs.
The larva didnt move. It just lay there, completely still.
Its exactly the sa as the one that appeared on Plum Blossom Island.
This thing couldnt really be called a monster. It didnt give items or EXP when killed. What it did do was activate a gate.
Yeonseo.
Got it, Boss.
Yeonseo stabbed the black larva.
[A special condition has been fulfilled.]
[The gate Centipede Cave has been generated.]
A shimring black space appeared. We could click it with our eyes and open the description.
[Gate - Centipede Cave]
The entrance to a cave inhabited by centipedes. There is no entrance condition, and there is a high chance there is more than one entrance.
Centipede Cave was a familiar na. It was one of the gates that showed up in my study notes.
Plum Blossom Islands Centipede Cave. Entrance to a cave inhabited by centipedes. Having no entrance condition is its distinct characteristic, also has various entrances. Inhabited by a large number of Pearl Centipedes. A gate known to be nearly impossible to clear without a fire magician.
Sothing was weird. Sothing had changed from the past.
Its an established theory that there are no gates with the sa na and structure
It was just like how there were no two sa faces out of seven billion people. Gates and dungeons could be similar, but they could never be the sa. Then did that an Plum Blossom Islands Centipede Cave moved here? But that couldnt be; the sa corpses had been discovered on Plum Blossom Island as well.
I turned to Taeguk Shields Guildmaster, Song Kiyeol. The last part ans theres a high chance there are entrances other than this one.
Which ans Thankfully, the Guildmaster was pretty quick on the uptake. Well need to make sure the other entrances arent opened.
Yes. When clearing gates or dungeons, its good to eliminate as many variables as possible.
The Taeguk Shield guild mbers assembled quickly after getting contacted. Good of you to co, my business partners in na but subordinates in truth.
First of all well clear this place.
It was true that the Centipede Cave was a place we had to clear before going into the U-Plex Dungeon. It was weird it appeared in the central park in front of the DMC Riverview Xi instead of Plum Blossom Island, but that didnt change the fact that we needed to clear it.
Sung-gu. Lets go in.
* * *
We decided to have my party mbers and the Taeguk Shield guild mbers focus on containing the situation outside. Only Sung-gu and I went into the Centipede Cave.
Gosh darnit, seriously? Why are we the only ones going in when Im already scared af?
Sung-gu shivered all over. I suddenly noticed that hed gained a little weight. The future Choi Sung-gu was extrely largehe was famous as the Superobese Fla Lord.
Dont shout. They might react to sound.
Mmph!
Sung-gu covered his mouth with his hand. From the way he was trembling like a leaf, he seed pretty scared of this dark cave.
Just kidding.
Sung-gu gave
a tearful look. Im scared of bugs, darn it.
The bugs are scared of you, too.
Im being serious. Im fuckin scared of bugs. Bugs are the scariest things in the world to . Especially ones with many legs. Eurgh. Terrible.
Lets quickly get to work.
You heartless jerk. Im about to croak from fear right now, but you? You have steel for blood, dont you? No, I bet you dont even have blood or tears. You damn robot.
Despite muttering a stream of complaints, he listened obediently.
I just have to go that way, right?
He pointed to one side of the dark cave passage, the opposite direction I would be going. Sung-gu inched forward, peering uneasily into the darkness. The reason I picked the other direction was because I felt sothing there.
As we moved away from each other, the sound of Sung-gus footsteps grew quieter.
Whoosh!
There was the faint sound of wind. I plucked a hair and held it up. Even a feeble wind would send it fluttering.
The wind is coming from that way.
It was the direction Sung-gu had gone off into. Apparently, the exit was over there. Feeling the wind on my nape, I walked a little more, keeping my guard up.
Theres no knowing when or where theyll pop out.
Pearl Centipedes excelled at surprise ambushes. If I was poisoned by just one of them, at least two more would show up to completely drain
of life essence.
Eye of Perception captured sothing.
Corpses?
More corpses were littering the passageway. They were most likely people who had co inside from a different gate, people who discovered the gate before we did. It was more than just a few.
I think there are about five corpses.
The bodies were already completely rotten. They were victims of Pearl Centipedes.
Just when did they co in?
Because there was no entrance restriction, regular people could freely enter the gate as well. The sll of rotting corpses was thick in the air.
There must be a den nearby where theyre all gathered.
Resolving myself, I focused on Eye of Perception, since it should be able to detect the monsters before they attacked .
But just then, soone Eye of Perception didnt perceive at all grabbed my throat, closing off my airway.
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