Stronghold

[I know you've all missed me!]

The pygmy started talking with a belated expression. The corner of his lips were upturned as if he had just gotten a promotion at his job.

[The current number of survivors in Seoul is 3,980,761]

For a second I was surprised. The number was stupidly high. Did the people adapt too quickly? Or was it another external factor? I hoped the pygmy would answer my questions.

[It's never too much fun when there are a lot of people, right?]

The pygmy had a distorted expression on his face. He laughed on with a disgusting smile.

[I have come to announce the beginning of the third calamity. The tutorial is over.]

Tutorial? It considered the first two calamities a tutorial, huh? The first calamity, which was considered mankind's original sin. To those in the heavens, it was a tutorial.

I looked at the pygmy with an expression filled with rage. They just had to wait. Before I dragged them down from that fucking heaven.

[Ah, the use of ethos is available now!]

The pygmy didn't bother to explain what ethos was. Of course, I already knew. Ethos was the magical power linking a host with its Lunals. It allowed the host to use its Lunal's power and vice versa. I was bummed out since I didn't choose a lunal. Ethos was useless to me.

The pygmy snapped its fingers and a blue screen appeared in front of us.

[Third Calamity - Mist]

Category: Main

Difficulty: B

Clear conditions: Find shelter before suffocating to death by the poison mist.

Time duration: 8 minutes

Reward: 1500 coins

Failure: Death

+

[Continue to show us an interesting story!]

The pygmy vanished after saying those words. More importantly, a shelter...

"Haneul-ssi, we have to find a shelter."

"Let's go to the nearest station."

By now, Seoul's population would've gone into hiding in the train stations. It was a development I had never seen. A calamity I had never heard of. Someone was purposely interfering with the Cosmos. Who?

I signaled the child to climb onto my back and we started running. The closest station was Suyu station. I had never been to Gangbuk, I wasn't sure how far it was.

[4 minutes are remaining till the calamity ends.]

Shit. We were running short on time and not a single station was in sight. I had originally thought about hiding in the buildings but the mist would enter through the cracks and broken windows.

Jung Eunji went forward and scoured the area to find a station. Luckily, we weren't too late. We found one of the entrances of Suyu station and ran towards it.

"It's... Closed."

We ran some more. We found other entrances, but they were closed too. Who was closing off all the entrances? Don't tell me... I looked around my surroundings and realized no soul was in sight.

"Bunch of cowards..."

The Gangbuk population had gone into hiding long before the calamity began...

"Haneul-ssi! Come here, quickly!"

I raised my head to see Jung Eunji waving from a distance. With 1 minute on the clock, I dashed to her location with all my strength. There it was. An open entrance.

In the next second. My hopes would be shattered.

The gate of the entrance started to descend.

"No! Wait, there's still people left!"

"N-No! There are only 40 seconds left. We can't do it!"

"Open the gate!"

I started banging on the gate. I was desperate. I couldn't fail the calamity. What would happen if I failed? I wasn't Yoo Jinsun who would regress. I took out the sky-splitting sword and started slashing at the gate.

[15 seconds are remaining.]

I could feel my blood pressure rise. Jung Eunji sensing the dreadfulness of the situation started banging on the door too. The child simply watched with dead eyes... Creepy.

Copious amounts of sweat trickled down my face as I felt the muscles of my forearms tighten.

[8 seconds are remaining.]

I gritted my teeth and stabbed the gate with all my remaining energy. It went through. I continued the downward motion of the sword and tore open an opening big enough for us to enter through.

"Hurry!"

The three of us jumped through the opening and the poison mist finally appeared.

"W-What have you done!"

"The mist is going to kill us!"

Due to the opening in the gate, the mist started to make it's way inside the station.

"Stop panicking and start running. We'll drop the next gate as soon as everyone has made it through."

The group of panicking old men started to gain their senses after I talked some sense into them. It wasn't the time to panic. Half of Seoul's population would fall victim to the poison mist, we had to survive.

This was all a test. A test to see if I was worthy of being his companion. Damned bastard.

Everyone hurriedly began to ran. I had hoped to find someone familiar in the group but most of the faces were foreign to me. I needed a lead on the Jungwoo alliance.

"Drop the gate."

A large cackling sound was heard and the gate quickly fell. Well, we were safe for now.

I decided to open the system window I had on mute.

[You have completed the third calamity.]

[You have received 1500 coins.]

I checked my current balance.

[Coins owned: 8500]

It wasn't a big sum but more than what others had. The boss fight made me grasp my current strengths and what to improve on. I was undoubtedly stronger than the people here, for now. The gap would begin to appear soon...

"Where is your group leader?"

"Eh? W-What are you talking about?"

"Don't joke with me. A group this large can't be operating without a proper leader."

Nervousness and fear began to appear on the old men's faces. They gave a few glances to our side and went back to gossiping... Were they a bunch of aunties...?

Jung Eunji began to walk deeper into the station while holding the child's hand.

"Eunji-ssi, why are you going on ahead?"

"You still haven't noticed? Those guys are not going to give you a concise answer. It's best to leave ourselves."

She was surprisingly quick to catch on. But, I had some unfinished business.

"You can go on ahead. I still have to explore."

"...Suit yourself."

I waited a bit until Jung Eunji's silhouette faded in the dim station. I turned to face the old men.

"What's wrong, Ahjussi? Hehe, don't tell me you want to join our group?"

"Ahjussi...? I'm half your age bastards."

"Oh! Look at the way his tone changes! Kids these days."

They were starting to get on my nerves.

"What's with the serious look?"

The group slowly began to approach me. Were they stupid? They hid the weapons behind their backs. An old man that seemed to be in his late 70s was the first to approach me. He had a mischievous look on his face, almost as if he had been plotting this for quite some time.

Swoosh—!

A sharp dagger grazed my left check and blood struck on the old man's face.

"That's rude."

Should I take out the sky splitting sword? No, it was best to observe for a while. The dagger old man faded into the group and two new guys prepared to attack, was this their strategy? If so, they highly underestimated me.

I dashed forward to the old man that seemed nervous. Surprised by the offensive strategy he lost his composure and opened up a chance for me to attack. I delivered a punch to his solar plexus and elbowed his chin. With a dull sound, the old man fell unconscious.

"One down."

"So you know a bit of martial arts..."

Their group was starting to crumble. Now, if I could defeat this one quickly I'd get the answers I need. The infuriated old man lashed at me with a kitchen knife in his hand.

"Really? That's your weapons?"

I was a bit disappointed. I kicked his shin causing him to drop the knife and hold his leg while tears started to form in his eyes.

"I'm honestly disappointed in you all."

Bam—!

Dyed in scarlet hue a disgustingly mortified face soared through the dim lit station and splattered on a wall. It slowly slid down the wall leaving a giant trail of blood smeared onto the grey wall. By now, the magic should've worked.

"So, is there anyone still interested in a fight?"

"M-Monster..."

"How is he so strong..."

"Is that him...?"

"Hey, quiet down about that!"

What? What were they gossiping about so disgustingly? Dammit if only I had a skill that allowed me to listen to other's thoughts. Oh, wait.

[The exclusive skill 'Narration' is activated.]

'Is that him?'

'I'm not sure...'

'Does anyone remember what he looks like?'

'Uh, strikingly handsome? But, this guy doesn't look strikingly handsome. How is he so strong then?'

Bastards!

'Who's this guy you all keep talking about?!'

'Moron, did you already forget? It's–'

'The progenitor of this tragedy. The regressor Yoo Jinsun.'