Chapter 80
3.
When conspiracy theorists discussed Earth's crisis, not many people listened to their stories.
Rather, most conspiracy theories were refuted, and those refutations were founded on humanity's technology.
Therefore, humanity was confident.
"humanity is already building an amazing track record against the Mogs in Space. There's no way such humanity would easily fall to Mogs!"
Those words were not wrong.
The military power of Humanity spread throughout Space was strong enough to eliminate all the Mogs, even if they were numerous enough to fill the Earth.
Nevertheless, the reason earth collapsed so quickly upon the Mogs' appearance was a combination of problems.
First, their appearance itself was unexpected, and because the Gate stopped working, not a single military force could come to support them from humanity's Space Force spread across space.
In the midst of that, the Space Peace Activists committed global acts of terrorism, and the leaders fled.
Furthermore, the Mogs, which were expected to hatch only using Beta Gas, hatched, consuming oil.
It was as if the worst imaginable situations had occurred one after another.
The survivors, of course, still said:
"Even so, there's no reason to be defeated so helplessly! earth has plenty of weapons!"
Crying out for peace, they still had on earth powerful weapons like nuclear bombs, but the weapons humanity had stockpiled over the years still overflowed on earth.
Every nation had a military, and in places like America, every household had a gun.
In fact, it was chaotic at first, but once the military mobilized, humanity slowly reclaimed its territory in the war against the Mogs.
Kim Hye-eun was the same.
When she picked up a gun to protect her family, she was scared, but at the same time, she felt a sense of hope.
What changed those thoughts was none other than a creature called the Tunnel Snake.
As the expression suggested, it was a snake that moved by digging tunnels underground, though it was closer to an earthworm than a snake.
And it was a massive entity.
It was massive enough to reign as a nightmare for the Space Marines operating in space!
When the existence of the Tunnel Snake was first revealed to humanity, when its massive size was revealed, humanity was gripped by fear.
And some said.
"If something like that appears on earth, human civilization is finished that very day."
The Tunnel Snake would become a natural enemy to humanity living on earth.
It was no exaggeration.
As technology advanced, humanity built taller buildings.
At the same time, they dug deeper into the ground.
By the time the Space Age arrived, the ground beneath humanity was emptier than humanity thought.
Thus, some scholars said.
"What happens if you stand a pencil upright and put about ten books on top of it? That's the state of humanity's cities right now."
humanity's cities were barely holding on.
And the Tunnel Snake destroyed those precarious human cities all too easily.
The first place to fall was none other than Tokyo.
Even Tokyo, which had essentially been rebuilt after the Great Tokyo Earthquake of 2055 and had more complete seismic preparedness than any other city in the world, could not hold out against the Tunnel Snake creating massive tunnels underground.
Such a Tunnel Snake had recently appeared in Seoul, and that news was delivered to everyone on the Korean Peninsula.
Kim Hye-eun heard it too.
She saw the pictures too.
The sight of the massive Han River and the towering apartments that had stood radiantly on both sides, the riverside apartments she had heard called Korea's Tower of Babel, turning into mere lumps of concrete, was a scene.
A sight like falling dominoes.
The wish of every Korean person who saw that was simple.
"Please go north!"
We were hoping that the Tunnel Snake that appeared in Seoul would advance north instead of south.
However, that wish was shattered.
A Tunnel Snake appeared in Sejong City, and the moment she heard that, Kim Hye-eun wore a truly childish expression.
"Oppa, we have to run away right now!"
Seeing Kim Hye-eun telling him to run away, Kim Seojun's expression also hardened.
It wasn't because of the Tunnel Snake.
It wasn't that Kim Seojun didn't know the terror of the Tunnel Snake.
Far from not knowing, Kim Seojun knew the terror of the Tunnel Snake so well that few among the Space Marines knew it better.
Because he had even committed the crazy act of entering the tunnel created by the Tunnel Snake to lure it out.
However, the reason his expression hardened now was that his younger sister was wearing the expression of a soldier, the expression Space Marines made facing the space monsters, Mogs.
The fact that his younger sister—who used to say things ignorant of reality, like how she would become an idol and buy a house for her oldest brother, buy a piano for her nephew, and tell her second older brother to get lost—was now seeing the same reality as him made Kim Seojun sadder than ever.
At the same time, he was furious.
"There's no problem."
That was why, the moment he spat out those words, Kim Seojun didn't say anything more superfluous.
He didn't explain either.
He merely spoke.
"We are starting the Tunnel Snake Hunt."
4.
Tunnel Snake Hunt!
The moment Kim Seojun gave that order, his Comrades moved quickly.
It wasn't simply because Kim Seojun gave the order.
Everyone, including Kim Seojun, knew.
The Tunnel Snake was a creature that would cause uncontrollable property damage if left alone.
"To catch a Tunnel Snake, we have to catch its tail as quickly as possible."
And the most certain way to catch such a Tunnel Snake was to quickly get behind the moving Tunnel Snake and catch its tail.
The terrifying thing about the Tunnel Snake was its size, but conversely, its weakness was also its size.
If they just caught the tail, the worry of being attacked by the Tunnel Snake was practically nonexistent.
In many ways, they had to move swiftly.
Of course, just being fast wasn't the end of it.
First of all, the Tunnel Snake had tougher skin and a larger body than a Tank Beetle.
The problem was that blindly increasing firepower was a suicidal act.
Would a massive explosion occurring inside the tunnel created by the Tunnel Snake be tantamount to burying themselves?
At the same time, very fast mobility was required. If it seemed like the tunnel was suddenly going to collapse while they were following it, they had to run away.
Regarding that, Kim Seojun's group wasn't worried.
Their firepower was sufficient.
Bombs were bombs, but Kim Seojun's group had weapons that could deal effective damage, like the Gauss Rifle.
"Status Window."
[Kim Seojun]
- Strength: 138+41
- Stamina: 138+41
- Magic Power: 137+41
- Owned Skills: Clairvoyance (B), Inventory (SS), Stealth (B), Teleport (A), Telekinesis (B), Haste (A)
- Transcendent Skill: Warp
- Owned Talents: Dynamic Visual Acuity (B), Hawk Eye (A)
- Owned Points: 27,491
- Owned Tickets: Skill Upgrade Ticket (B) x1, Talent Upgrade Ticket (B) x1
Furthermore, after the last Behemoth Hunt, Kim Seojun had leveled up his specs once again.
With all his stats reaching 130 points, he now had to open a 30,000-point Platinum Ticket to gain stats, but even so, the extent of his spec-up was astonishing.
Now, his basic physical specs were better than Major Lee Hyena's while she was using the Prophet's Relic.
At this level, catching a Tunnel Snake just by running without any notable equipment posed no problem.
Furthermore, she was in Kim Seojun's group.
"Seojun, should I handle it? One shot is all it takes."
Noah Winston, who could instantly neutralize the Tunnel Snake's thick outer hide
To which, Kim Seojun answered.
"I am enough on my own."
After saying that, Kim Seojun spoke to Private First Class Park Boseop.
"Approach the direction of the sound."
"Yes, Sir!"
At those words, Private First Class Park Boseop, riding the Uryong, began to pass quickly through the city center with Kim Seojun on its back.
Dudududu!
And at some point, the sound of something massive moving underground began to reach Kim Seojun and Private First Class Park Boseop.
"Here, it's right below us! It's passing beneath us!"
It was then.
Kwakwakwakwa!
Suddenly, the road where the Uryong passed began to collapse, and soon a single hole opened up.
The moment he saw that, Kim Seojun said.
"Let's meet up in a bit."
Finishing his words, Kim Seojun got off the Uryong and simultaneously moved toward the hole visible in the collapsing ground.
Alone.
If an ordinary Space Marine had done that, it would have been a crazy act, but right now, Kim Seojun is not an entity like an ordinary Space Marine.
He was someone who could easily surpass even a decent Psycher Agent now.
Therefore, Kim Seojun entered the hole the Tunnel Snake had passed through without hesitation.
A short while later, Kim Seojun could hear it.
[Eliminated the Tunnel Snake. Acquired 10,000 points.]
5.
The moment Kim Seojun went with Private First Class Park Boseop to catch the Tunnel Snake, the rest of the group also moved quickly.
First, they evacuated the people, including Kim Hye-eun.
Because of the appearance of the Tunnel Snake, Sejong City was no different from a castle built on sand that wouldn't be strange if it collapsed at any moment.
Of course, there was a belief that drove their swift action.
The belief that if it were Kim Seojun, he could catch the Tunnel Snake alone.
On the other hand, she was different.
"What about my brother?"
"Your brother?"
"Where is my brother? Don't tell me he's going to catch the Tunnel Snake right now?"
From Kim Hye-eun's perspective, she was appalled that her brother wasn't among this fleeing group.
Of course, Kim Seojun had said there was no problem before he left, but from Kim Hye-eun's perspective, there was no way that could be interpreted as 'no problem' even if Kim Seojun caught the Tunnel Snake alone.
"Don't tell me he went to the Tunnel Snake just now?"
Rather, she thought like this.
"As bait?"
Kim Seojun was trying to become live bait for the Tunnel Snake to buy time for everyone to evacuate.
That he was trying to commit a crazy act.
"It's dangerous!"
From Kim Hye-eun's perspective, she couldn't just stand by and watch her brother, whom she had barely reunited with, charge into the jaws of death like this again.
In front of her, Kim Seojun's comrades didn't really have anything to say.
To be exact, they lacked confidence.
‘How should we persuade her?’
Even they themselves couldn't tell if this was reality or a dream every time they saw Kim Seojun's abilities or drank cola from his inventory, so how could they explain Kim Seojun's marvels to his younger sister?
But if they tried to just leave silently, it was obvious that Kim Hye-eun would immediately turn around and go save her brother.
Then they had one of two choices.
Either forcefully subdue her and take her away, or persuade her using another method.
That was when Noah Winston stepped forward.
"Seojun's younger sister."
"I'm Kim Hye-eun."
"Right, Hye-eun."
As she spoke, she immediately took off the helmet of the Agent Suit she was wearing.
Then, letting her blonde hair flutter, she revealed her face.
"Huh?"
And the moment she saw that face, Kim Hye-eun spoke in astonishment.
"No, Noah! No, Noah Winston!"
At the appearance of the star actress representing Hollywood, Kim Hye-eun's pupils trembled.
To her, Noah Winston smiled and said.
"Trust your brother. Nothing you're worrying about will happen."
At those words, Kim Hye-eun nodded without realizing it.
Because if Noah Winston, of all people, said so, it seemed there must surely be a reason.
Of course, that didn't mean she was completely convinced.
Her mind was still full of worry.
‘Will he really be okay?’
However, that worry did not last long.
Deudeudeudeudeuk!
‘Huh?’
Not long after Kim Seojun moved, less than ten minutes later, the earthquake stopped.
That meant the Tunnel Snake that had been moving restlessly had stopped, and there was only one reason a Tunnel Snake stopped.
"He got it."
Only when it died.
"What? It died?"
In front of Kim Hye-eun, who was appalled by that fact, Kim Seojun appeared and said.
"The Tunnel Snake Hunt is over. However, since the Tunnel Snake has already passed through here, this place is not safe. We must quickly evacuate to another area."
At the sight of Kim Seojun uttering those words so plainly, Kim Hye-eun spoke with half-dazed eyes.
"Oppa."
"Kim Hye-eun."
To his younger sister, Kim Seojun said.
"Take the people and evacuate to Busan."
After that, Kim Seojun turned his head and said.
"I'll take care of the rest."
At those words, Kim Hye-eun couldn't say anything more.
After that, Kim Seojun spoke to his comrades.
"The situation is more serious than I thought."
"Yeah, I didn't expect it to be this bad."
At those words, everyone immediately nodded.
They had heard it was bad, but the situation they actually saw with their own eyes was much worse than they thought.
"Even a few years won't be enough to clean up the current situation."
It was obvious, but returning such an earth to its former state was impossible in just a few years.
Therefore, it was no longer possible for humanity to return to the peaceful era of the past.
Kim Seojun thought so.
"So I will give up on cleaning it up."
He couldn't waste time going here and there playing the savior clumsily.
There was a realistic reason for this too.
‘The blessings will end soon.’
The reason Kim Seojun could show such ridiculous abilities right now was largely due to the influence of the blessings.
In particular, having his inventory at SS-Rank due to Hera's blessing was hugely significant.
‘With the points obtainable right now on earth, it's practically impossible to maintain the blessings.’
And gathering the points by catching Mogs on earth to maintain those blessings was impossible.
That made sense, as Kim Seojun now had to pay a whopping 30,000 points to draw a single ticket, which meant he had to catch 30,000 Mogs by a simple calculation.
Anyway, from Kim Seojun's perspective, he had to achieve something right now while multiple blessings were still active.
"What do you mean you're giving up?"
"I have no intention of playing the savior, traveling all over earth to save people in danger."
"Then?"
"You can think of it simply. What do you do when you first start planet development?"
"Planet Development?"
Everyone answered that question.
"Setting up a headquarters base?"
"Yes, first you set up a headquarters base and concentrate all your forces there. It's the same now. If we say we are developing the planet called Earth, which is overflowing with Mogs, the answer is simple. We just need to secure a headquarters base and concentrate our forces. Currently, it would be appropriate to make Busan the headquarters base."
At those words, naturally everyone asked a question.
"Then what do you mean by concentrating our forces?"
Even while asking, everyone had their doubts.
Even if they gathered forces there, they could only gather the forces of Korea and Japan across the sea.
There was no possibility of gathering a force large enough to meet expectations.
Above all, in the current situation, there was no reason for them to trust a name they had never heard of, Kim Seojun, and come to Busan.
Kim Seojun knew that too.
"Gathering them on Earth is meaningless. Not only is it difficult to gather them, but they won't be that helpful in the battle against the Mogs. So we have to gather them from Space."
As he spoke, Kim Seojun raised his head and looked at the sky, that is, distant Space.
And then he said.
"I will secure the Core Cube from the Zero Gate."