Chapter 158
[Observing with Observers Eye.]
As if I were transfixed, I unconsciously continued to stare down at the notes.
Three fire demons shall descend.
I could almost see sothing like a hazy video. It was a similar feeling to when I experienced Precognitive Eye. A feeling I couldnt concretely describe, but could just barely capture.
This sensation.
My knowledge of the past and this subtle sensation ca together.
This is definitely...
The three fire demons were definitely referring to the Gwanghwamun Dungeon break. From it, three calamity-class monsters would erge, incredibly strong monsters our current selves couldnt do anything about. These monsters, which we could only evade and hope would disappear on their own, were described as fire demons in Ham Sohyuns precognitive dream.
Guildmaster Song Kiyeol. Please listen to
very carefully.
I couldnt save everyone. I had neither the obligation to do so, nor the ans. However, I would do the best I could from my current position.
The Gwanghwamun Dungeon will break.
...
We couldnt clear the Gwanghwamun Dungeon with our current skills yet. All we could do was clear the Gyeonghoeru field. Just clearing the Gyeonghoeru field didnt an we cleared the dungeon.
The problem is
I was getting an extrely ominous feeling from these notes penned by Ham Sohyun. I knew that a Precognitive Drears precognitive notes possessed a special aura, but I didnt think it would be this ominous.
The Gwanghwamun Dungeon break I know was indeed a calamity.
No one could resist the Gwanghwamun Dungeon break. The Korean Players just layed low at that ti. The opponents were far, far stronger than the monsters that ca out of the Seoul Station and U-Plex Dungeon breaks that were supposed to have happened. They were called Fire Giants.
I did know they would co out.
I, of course, didnt intend on fighting them. It was too dangerous. If I clashed 1v1 with one, I would die with almost 100% certainty. I fully recognized that.
I know and recognize that. But I still have a bad feeling.
It felt like foreboding was embodied in snake form, slithering up my leg. The snake wrapped itself around my neck, its tongue flickering at my jugular.
The Gwanghwamun Dungeon will break?
I think the three fire demons are referring to the monsters that will erge from the break.
Big dungeons like the Seoul Station and U-Plex hadnt broken yet, but small dungeon and gate breaks were happening all the ti. Guildmaster Song was well aware of what I was saying.
He seed to have picked up on the severity of the situation.
A dungeon even you cannot clear will break
I continued to stare intensely at the precognitive note. My eyes itched, like a worm was wriggling around in my eye.
One fire demon and---.
What was it?
[Cannot comprehend because the proficiency of Observers Eye is too low.]
I attempted to comprehend it multiple tis, but the result was the sa.
[Cannot comprehend because the proficiency of Observers Eye is too low.]
After a long ti, I was able to get a very tiny clue.
[Can only partially comprehend because the proficiency of Observers Eye is too low.]
I could read a little more of the --- parts.
One fire demon and another fire demon---.
One fire demon and another---.
One fire demon and a---.
At the crossroads of incantation and incantation and incantation---.
It was said that you could only see as much as you knew, and you could only know as much as you saw. That applied to
right now.
I have a bad feeling.
Even when clearing the Tutorial, a field that normally had a terrible survival rate, or when I encountered and fought monsters stronger than , I never had as ominous a feeling as I did now. It wasnt just dangerous; it was ominous. After comprehending more of the precognitive note, that feeling of impending doom only grew.
Thanks to Ham Sohyuns note, I realized sothing.
My preparations so far arent enough.
I didnt make any big plans in preparation for the Gwanghwamun Dungeon break. First of all, the DMC Riverview Xi was a relatively safe place. And in the past, the Namgajwadong area was mostly unhard by the Gwanghwamun Dungeon break. That was why I planned on waiting it out, laying low and recovering my stamina until the Fire Giants disappeared.
The mont I comprehended Ham Sohyuns precognitive note, I changed my mind.
That alone wont be enough.
There was a high chance this calamity would be a little different from the break I knew. I had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
By doing my best, starting right now.
* * *
* * *
So Yoohyun jabbed his phone screen with his finger.
Darn it.
With his formidable build, even his finger seed to be made of strong muscles. Next to him, Sunhwa looked like a tiny cicada sticking to an old tree. Holding a cup of cola with both hands, she slurped from the straw as she asked, Whats wrong, mister?
Ive got a ton of DMs.
DMs?
Yoohyun showed her his screen. DM: direct ssage. It was a ssaging function from the social dia Yoohyun was diligently partaking in these days.
Whoa. Are these all demands that you pay compensation?
Looks like it.
Sunhwa shook her head. Idiots. The Guardian Tower is a good thing; they dont even know.
It hasnt been proven yet that its a good thing, after all.
Even so, why are they asking you to pay up? Sungshin is doing all the reconstruction.
Mm. Yoohyun scratched his head. No idea.
Ahn Seohye, who was quietly eating a hamburger next to them, volunteered the answer. Youre an easy target.
Yoohyun frowned, but nodded shortly afterwards. Yeah, youre right. I must be an easy target. In any case, theyre all screaming at
to pay up, saying theyll sue
or whatever
His gaze suddenly moved to Sunhwa and Seohye, alternating between the two.
Hey, you two.
Sunhwa and Seohye looked up at Yoohyun at the sa ti.
Yes?
...
The two of them were still chewing. They were on their third hamburger. Yoohyun pointed a very aty finger at Sunhwa.
Would you sit on your thumbs if sothing like this happened to Hyungnim?
These two girls were just chomping on hamburgers while remarking on his hapless situation like idle spectators. They didnt seem to have an inkling of interest in his sorry plight.
Answer , would you?
Sunhwa scowled. You could feel intense rage from her expression alone. I would beat them all up to a pulp.
...
Yoohyun was dumbfounded into speechlessness. Girl, wipe the ketchup and mayonnaise off your lips before you get all worked up.
What about you, Seohye?
After thinking for a mont, Seohye said quietly, ...That oppa wouldnt get into such a situation in the first place.
And then, she returned to the task of eating her burger. At that mont, Yoohyun realized that to these two girls, the hamburgers before them were much more important than his trivial predicant. He realized that they were just giving him absentminded answers, and that he wasnt Kim Hyukjin. That he could never elicit as much interest from these girls as his hyungnim.
And he realized another thing.
Co to think of it, youre right.
Seohyes words were right. Sothing like this wouldnt have happened to his hyungnim to begin with. That was why Hyukjin put up Taeguk Shield as a dia barrier, wasnt it?
As expected of Hyungnim. He nodded with a sage look. But then, he suddenly picked up on another oddity.
Hey, Seohye.
...Yes?
Didnt this girl call Hyungnim oppa just now? She said it so naturally that it almost flew under his radar, but she really did say it.
Nothing.
No, but how co he was mister all the ti and Hyungnim was oppa?
Seohye. I wasnt gonna bring it up, but
...
How co you called Hyukjin oppa?
When did I do that?
You called him oppa earlier.
I never said that.
Seohyes face went hard, to the point that if Hyukjin had seen, he would have said that was the face of the Red Demon. Yoohyun wiped the sweat trickling down his forehead.
Fine, fine, dont glare at
so coldly. Im about to piss myself.
...
Yoohyun didnt notice that the tips of Seohyes ears were red, and that the hamburger she was clutching had a finger-sized hole in it. Feeling embarrassed by Seohyes silence, Yoohyun averted his gaze, rubbing his stomach.
Sohow I feel a bit bloated today.
He might as well eat so hamburgers. Today, he would take it easy and only eat nine.
* * *
Taeguk Shield issued a warning.
The Gwanghwamun Dungeon will break.
However, they didnt know when.
Please be sure to look up the shelters in the Gwanghwamun area and prepare for the dungeon break.
The current number one guild in Korea, Taeguk Shield, was working hard to publicize and warn the people. Half a year after the Tutorial, people knew that the world was no longer a safe place.
I an, I do know its dangerous, but
We still have to go to work.
And yet, they couldnt completely block off the Gwanghwamun area. That wasnt what Kim Hyukjin wanted, either. If the Gwanghwamun area was evacuated and blocked off, loss of life could be avoided in that area. But that would only open the doors for even greater damage elsewhere.
So people accepted Taeguk Shields warning.
I heard Sooyoung asked for ti off after hearing what Taeguk Shield said?
They made preparations just in case. But many others knowingly ignored the warning. They disparaged and cursed the people who heeded the warning.
What kind of nonsense is that? And tell , how do they know when a dungeon will break? What, would you start hiding now from a typhoon thats coming next year?
Exactly. Argh, theyre just being selfish. They only think about themselves.
A few days passed after Taeguk Shield gave the warning about the Gwanghwamun Dungeon break. It was the middle of November, and the weather had suddenly turned cold. There were many companies clustered around the Gwanghwamun, and countless people would pour out of the buildings at noon for lunch.
Brr, its cold.
Yeah, seriously. Whys it so cold all of a sudden?
People closed their jackets, walking in groups of two and three to go eat their lunch.
Hm? Whats that?
Soone pointed past the statue of Yi Sun-sin.
Has there been a fire?
Huh? Fire?
People recalled Taeguk Shields warning.
As a sign of the Gwanghwamun Dungeon break, flas will start to burn on the three doors.
The burning doors had appeared in the precognitive dream of a Precognitive Drear.
Taeguk Shields warning was real?
Y-Yeah, guess so?
If you see flas, run. You must find out where the nearby shelters are in advance.
Please be sure to run away.
The people who had looked up where the shelters were started running towards them, heading for the underground subway. Commotion broke out in the Gwanghwamun area.
So people were very out of the loop. Even though Taeguk Shield publicized their warning very extensively via social dia and mass dia, they still didnt know what kind of situation was occuring. More people were disinterested in the world than one might have expected.
Excuse , why are you running all of a sudden HEY! If you bump into soone, you should apologize!
So people just started running along with the others, while so stood about in a bewildered daze. Everyone reacted differently to the portent of the break.
[The Gwanghwamun Dungeon has not been cleared.]
The flas surged up even more fiercely. Black smoke filled the Gwanghwamun area. The Players in the area heard notices.
[The Gwanghwamun Dungeons break is beginning.]
The Gwanghwamun. It was the southern main gate, one of the four gates of the wall enclosing the Gyeongbokgung Palace. The gate with three doors blazed with three flas.
At the sa ti, the Precognitive Drear Ham Sohyun had a nightmare.
AHHHHH!
She woke up with a scream. Her back was completely drenched in sweat. Her hand began to write down a precognitive note like it was possessed, shaking terribly.
It has changed.
Sohyun knew why. It was because she wrote the precognitive note, and that note went into soones hands. In other words, because she divulged the future.
In the first future she saw, the three fire demons disappeared automatically after a set ti. But in the dream she just had, it was different. It was a future where they didnt disappear on their own. Where soone had to extinguish them.
A little ti passed.
The world ca to know that three monsters erged due to the Gwanghwamun Dungeon break.
A constant stream of shocking news that the Gwanghwamun area had beco a sea of blood was relayed. Even a helicopter was shot down. Neither the military nor the police could do anything. Taeguk Shield, of course, did not make an appearance. The casualties hadnt yet been totaled, but the bodies on the streets indicated that there were at least hundreds of dead.
Hyukjin heard of the tragedy through the news, and he realized. He realized what had changed and how, as well as what he had to do now. He didnt see anything with Future Sight or Precognitive Eye, nor did he have a precognitive dream. He simply instinctively knew what was happening.
He gathered his party mbers. They were all living in the sa building, so it didnt take long to get everyone together. He began talking right away.
Sung-gus eyes widened, and he trembled from head to toe. Cold sweat ran down his back.
Fuck. Are you serious, Hyukjin?!
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