770

 [Chapter 197]

[Long-Cherished Wish (3)]

Monsters appeared during the night.

Taking advantage of the time when players were asleep, they flew in quickly and infiltrated the buildings.

They were so fast that even the players on guard duty couldn't detect them, and they were skilled at concealing their presence.

That wasn't all.

Grrrr!!

Kieeek!!

From that point, monsters started swarming towards Shinhan University.

At first, people didn't pay much attention even hearing the sound of windows shattering, but eventually everyone had to wake up.

We won't be able to sleep comfortably.

Sleeping is out of the question tonight.

Eun-ha woke up too.

Cursing, he grabbed his sword and got up.

It seems they've adapted to some extent now.

Clan members were also preparing for battle, gathering their devices.

"Ha-yang, can you check what the situation is like?"

"Yeah, just a moment."

Eun-ha called Jeong Ha-yang.

She was already examining the surrounding geography with her witch's model garden.

There were many red dots.

Monsters had infiltrated from the outskirts of the university, and a considerable number had already penetrated deep into the grounds.

"400... it doesn't seem to be that many. The average rank of the group is about 7th rank over-rank. At this scale, we should be able to suppress them soon. Looking now, it seems the attack unit is battling on the outskirts..."

"Then that means we don't have to worry about more of them swarming in from the outskirts. If the attack unit is focusing on defending the outskirts now, then we should focus on dealing with the monsters that have infiltrated the grounds."

"They'll have infiltrated the buildings too. Judging from the sound of windows breaking, there's a high possibility flying monsters are mixed in."

"So we need to defend the grounds, defend the buildings... and deal with flying monsters..."

Eun-ha listened carefully.

He also used sonic waves to feel for monsters' presence nearby.

It seemed the attack unit was dealing with monsters on the grounds.

For monsters that entered buildings, it looked like the communication and supply units were fighting.

"Let's leave the grounds to others, and we'll subjugate the monsters inside the buildings. And while we're at it, deal with flying monsters that are still swooping in from the air."

""""...""""

"Min-ho, you command the clan members. Make parties of at least 3 people and thoroughly search inside the buildings. Seo-na, broadcast my instructions to the squad leaders now."

"Got it. I'll do that."

"Okay. I'll contact them right away."

"Supporters treat the injured. There will probably be quite a few people hurt since it was a surprise attack while they were sleeping."

After finishing his thoughts.

Eun-ha quickly gave instructions.

Clan members who had known him for so long followed smoothly.

"And Kaede, Gu-rae, Ga-yeon. All snipers including you three follow me. Seo-na, send telepathy to squad leaders to send snipers to the rooftop too."

"We'll subjugate flying monsters, right?"

"Are we fighting together with you?"

「Yes, I'll get ready quickly.」

I want to hurry up and sleep.

The thoughts of clan members woken from sleep were all the same.

They nodded without complaint.

☆

Monsters fly through the darkness.

Those in the form of bats, crows, and owls had bodies suitable for blending into the night sky.

The darkness needed to be illuminated.

Whoosh!

Eun-ha who climbed to the building rooftop immediately snapped his fingers.

Small sparks encircled the rooftop, faintly illuminating the night sky.

As the ground suddenly brightened, monsters circling the night sky cackling showed surprised expressions.

Eun-ha had no intention of giving them time to adapt to the illuminated environment.

"─I'll provide cover, so annihilate those guys without leaving a single one."

It was the 2nd Supply Platoon commander's order.

Not just Pandora Clan members, but snipers who quickly gathered at the summons responded to his instructions.

Load one bullet

Lock On

Unescapable

Snipers activate magic.

Some load bullets out of ingrained habit.

Snipers like Bong Gu-rae immediately designate targets.

Others cast magic to prevent monsters from escaping the area.

Soon they aimed at monsters and pulled triggers.

Bullets leaving gun barrels pierce through the darkness and penetrate the monsters.

Kieeeeek!!

Monsters fall after being hit by bullets.

Those disappearing into mana were relatively fortunate.

Most that fell to the ground with injured wings had broken something.

Before they could rise into the sky again, they had to be attacked by people waiting on the ground.

No monsters that survived like that remained.

Swoosh!!

Occasionally there were monsters that avoided attacks.

Those with agile bodies and abilities to resist magic evaded snipers' bullets.

Then they chose to boldly charge in rather than flee.

They were quite troublesome for snipers.

─Gift <Metabolism >

At this, Son Ga-yeon stepped forward.

She who activated her gift calmly captured a monster in her scope.

The monster faced her too.

Swoosh!!

As if saying you're the next target.

The monster lowered its altitude and approached.

An appearance like a mix between a crow and pterosaur.

Son Ga-yeon tracked the 6th rank monster approaching at high speed with her eyes.

The monster left her scope.

She didn't panic.

The lock-on magic was tracking the target that left the scope.

The magic moved her rifle muzzle.

The monster came into view again.

By then the distance had closed and─

─Heat Beam

When the monster entered a range it absolutely couldn't avoid.

Son Ga-yeon sniped it.

A brightly heated beam flashed.

The monster charging with its mouth wide open was pierced by the beam.

Just one shot.

That was the number of bullets she used to subjugate it.

But she didn't take much pride in her skill.

She fired at other enemies as if nothing happened.

Afterwards, she continued to show the power to kill 6th rank monsters with just one shot.

Now that she's <Silent >'s <The Seed>, she should show at least this much skill.

Her habit of not getting distracted at all once battle starts remained unchanged.

Eun-ha was satisfied evaluating Son Ga-yeon's skill.

Currently Son Ga-yeon didn't have any notable alias.

She would probably gain a new alias by the end of the Uijeongbu Recapture War.

Meanwhile Eun-ha didn't forget to assess Bong Gu-rae's skills too.

Bong Gu-rae was doing well too.

Ga-yeon and Gu-rae have different styles.

The difference is whether they take down in one shot, or safely take down even if it takes multiple shots.

Son Ga-yeon specialized in dealing with high-rank monsters.

<Double Penetration> Bong Gu-rae specialized in infiltration and sniping missions.

Either way, they were good talents.

Eun-ha was satisfied to have obtained weapons with non-overlapping tendencies.

Is it about wrapped up?

Now there weren't many monsters visible flying in the night sky.

"Gu-rae, I'll leave the rest to you."

"Got it, honey. Just trust me. I'll clean it all up."

Eun-ha decided to leave the situation to Bong Gu-rae and go check other places.

Just then, he saw players battling monsters below the rooftop.

Cold Rain Technique

Silver Wind

Just then Ryu Yeon-hwa came into view.

Eun-ha immediately stepped on the rooftop railing and dropped down.

Phantom Transformation

Phoenix's Wings

He spread wings to stop falling midway.

As soon as he landed, Eun-ha folded his wings and ran towards Ryu Yeon-hwa.

A monster was charging at her from behind.

Ox Step

Blaze Crasher

Cold Rain Technique

Waterfall

Ryu Yeon-hwa didn't mind her back.

She sensed Eun-ha's presence.

So Ryu Yeon-hwa faced the monster in front while exposing her back.

Meanwhile, Eun-ha cut down the monster aiming for Ryu Yeon-hwa's back.

"Thanks."

"You could have killed it yourself, noona."

"Still."

"Is the cleanup here done?"

"Almost done. Just need to kill the monsters visible now."

"Then let's finish quickly and get some sleep. I'm tired now too."

"Okay."

Flames arise.

Ice surges.

The two fought while covering each other's backs.

☆

1 hour after battle started.

All monsters were eliminated.

Damage was minor.

"Other than those caught in the initial surprise attack, no one was seriously injured?"

In a way it was a siege battle.

Players took advantage of the buildings to avoid and block the monsters' attacks.

Moreover, they even reduced the potential for danger by quickly defeating flying monsters.

"It's fortunate the damage wasn't severe. The supporters can sleep early too."

"Yeah. It's good we're not heading to Uijeongbu without being able to sleep like this. Well, I'll go check on the new members. Though they may act like it's nothing on the outside, they're probably very startled from the sudden surprise attack."

"You're diligent about taking care of the new members. Alright, Eun-hyeok, you take good care of the kids instead of trying to take care of them unreliably like Cheon-seo."

"...Cheon-seo takes care of them pretty well in his own way? We know his personality, but the new members don't know well."

"Then just spread it. Tell them to be careful because Cheon-seo has many ulterior motives."

"Cheon-seo has an image too. He wants to look good to his juniors, so it's not right to expose Cheon-seo's dark history while telling kids to be careful."

"Well, that's true."

"We should let the kids judge for themselves. Of course, I heard from Seo-na last time that his name was put on the blacklist."

"Blacklist?"

"She said the blacklist Min-ji and the girls made at the academy is being shared quietly."

Players clean up the surroundings.

Navigators were gathering mana stones as if gleaning.

Eun-ha left the work to them and conversed with Choi Eun-hyeok.

"I'll be going now."

"Okay, sleep well."

"You too, Eun-ha."

Soon Eun-ha sent Choi Eun-hyeok off.

Taking care of Pandora Clan's new members wasn't his job.

It didn't suit his personality.

Eun-ha preferred rolling them.

So he decided to entrust the new members to Choi Eun-hyeok.

Eun-ha had a separate role.

I should quickly receive reports from squad leaders, exchange words with platoon leaders, quickly report to unit commanders, and get some sleep.

As platoon leader, he needed to check the damage to squads.

So he was still moving around here and there even after the battle ended.

He was probably the busiest among clan members.

It's fortunate Yeon-hwa noona came along.

She keeps me company too.

Fortunately Ryu Yeon-hwa was beside him.

Though her role had long since ended.

She said she would help and followed along.

Meanwhile─

"─KK Clan Lord?"

"Looks like he's assessing damage over there too."

While listening to squad leaders' reports.

Eun-ha spotted KK Clan Lord Hwang San-gun receiving reports from clan members in the distance.

It was noticeable with two huge tigers there.

""...""

Then the tigers spotted Eun-ha too.

Hwang San-gun's head connected to the tigers by a leash whipped around.

The two made eye contact.

Soon Hwang San-gun turned his back.

Seems he doesn't like me.

Hwang San-gun's attitude as if displeased.

Eun-ha just smiled faintly.

He was used to it now.

A few years ago, when Eun-ha raised <Great Tree> Seon Gi-jun to Twelve Seats in the guardian division.

And after experiencing several incidents afterwards.

The two often had friction.

But it's not a completely bad relationship.

There was no emotional competition between clans.

Though the two had a bad relationship.

The relationship between clans wasn't bad.

Since Mapo-gu is next to Yongsan-gu, there was exchange between clan members.

It was a very subtle relationship.

"He seems very conscious of you."

"You're right, noona. He's probably like that since he always messes up because of me."

Eun-ha somewhat understood Hwang San-gun's current feelings.

He probably wants to achieve great merit in this recapture war.

Especially since Donghae Group has recently surpassed even KK Group.

KK Clan is in a pretty subdued situation these days.

Donghae Clan in Eunpyeong-gu.

Myeongwang Clan in Seodaemun-gu.

Pandora Clan in Yongsan-gu.

While the influence of these three clans grew, KK Clan's influence in Mapo-gu was gradually decreasing.

So he's probably aiming for a foothold for revival in this recapture war.

"But it would be good if he doesn't get too greedy."

Greed tends to blind the eyes.

Not only unable to objectively assess one's own state.

Sometimes it leads to arrogance.

And arrogance without power to back it up will bring much loss.

"Let's go finish our work. Are you sleepy too, noona?"

"No. I'm fine."

"You're not sleepy? Not tired?"

"I was tired until earlier... but seeing you, it seems to have all flown away."

"...How am I supposed to respond when you say that?"

"Beep beep beep boop boop boop!"

Just as Hwang San-gun underestimated 4th rank monsters in Uijeongbu in the previous life, resulting in losing his phantoms.

Starting with that, KK Clan suffered near annihilation.

Arrogance can bring down everything built up until now in an instant.

Of course─

"─Noona, do you like me that much?"

"Yes."

Arrogance backed by power was an exception.

Eun-ha asked Ryu Yeon-hwa directly and clicked his tongue.

While feeling subtly good.

And also gaining baseless confidence.

On the other hand, he feels like he's been flustered by Ryu Yeon-hwa lately.

He doesn't know how to deal with it.

Eun-ha let out a groan.