“Shoot! Keep shooting!”
“The bullets aren’t even penetrating, what are we supposed to do!”
Jeon Dongwook couldn’t comprehend the situation unfolding before him.
The Storm Dragon Tempestra, which he thought was nearly dead, began to wreak havoc, its body crackling with lightning. Its power was on a completely different level than before.
[3★ Wanderer Knight Albert activates the skill 「Iron Wall」.]
Jeon Dongwook’s calamities moved swiftly, trying to protect the soldiers from behind, but it wasn’t enough.
Tempestra’s claws tore people in half, and the lightning enveloping its body rendered the calamities’ attacks useless. It was practically invincible at this point.
“Tsk.”
Jeon Dongwook quickly assessed the situation.
This was unwinnable.
“…Director! We need to retreat!”
Jeon Dongwook shouted towards Team 1’s Yoo Jun-seo, but he scowled.
“Are you insane? If we retreat now, what then? Should we just announce that Seoul is doomed because we failed? Who’s going to take responsibility? I sure as hell won’t!”
“Then how the hell are we supposed to defeat that thing?”
“We’ll figure it out!”
Yoo Jun-seo’s eyes were filled with madness.
He was no longer in a state to make rational decisions.
Jeon Dongwook sighed inwardly.
This is why someone with a history of mental instability shouldn’t be made director. Cursing the absent government officials in his mind, Jeon Dongwook turned around.
Amid the chaos of the nest, he directed the awakened ones.
“Spread out! Minimize the damage as much as possible! Buy time for now, and then…”
“No.”
Interrupting Jeon Dongwook was Nam Jooyeon, one of the awakened.
[3★ Faded Specter Lucifen uses the skill ‘Shadow Shake’.]
Nam Jooyeon skillfully used the 3-star calamity to divert Tempestra’s attention.
A brief respite was created.
He looked around and spoke.
“…If we don’t kill that thing after entering the nest, it’s going to erupt.”
“…Erupt?”
“Don’t you know about the berserk status effect? That thing is already beyond rational thought. Even if we run, it’ll chase us to the ends of the earth and tear us apart.”
Jeon Dongwook frowned.
He wasn’t much of a gamer, so he couldn’t understand, but the other awakened ones in his team nodded in agreement.
Nam Jooyeon remained eerily calm even in this chaotic situation.
He pointed at Tempestra with his chin and explained.
“Let’s try to lure that dragon into the building. I’ll handle the rest.”
“Handle it how?”
“I have a way, trust me.”
Nam Joo-yeon spoke with absolute confidence.
Jeon Dongwook stared at his face, lost in thought.
Nam Jooyeon.
He was a suspicious figure.
Frankly, there were so many questionable things about him that even having him around was cause for concern.
But in a situation like this, desperate times called for desperate measures.
Even if it was Nam Jooyeon, there were no exceptions.
Jeon Dongwook nodded and gave orders to Team 2’s awakened ones.
“Everyone, gather the calamities and divert Tempestra’s attention. Head towards the first exhibition hall.”
Fortunately, the location where Tempestra had nested was the Ilsan Convention Center.
Its size was more than enough to contain a dragon.
As soon as the orders were given, the awakened ones moved in perfect unison.
Jeon Dongwook turned to Nam Jooyeon and asked.
“So, Nam Jooyeon, what’s your plan once we get that thing inside the building?”
“Well, I’ll handle it with a gamer’s intuition.”
“A gamer’s intuition?”
As Jeon Dongwook tilted his head in confusion, Nam Jooyeon smirked and replied.
“In games like this, you need to know the elemental weaknesses.”
“Elemental… weaknesses?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
Nam Joo-yeon shrugged with a wry smile.
“I’m a bit of a gaming addict.”
It wasn’t exactly a convincing statement.
Following Jeon Dongwook’s orders, Team 2’s awakened ones used their calamities’ skills to divert Tempestra’s attention.
I positioned Lucifen in front of Tempestra’s face and then slipped into the building.
The former Kintex location.
The exhibition hall was large enough.
I checked the ceiling.
‘Good. It’s all here.’
Crash!
Right on cue, Tempestra, lured by Lucifen, burst through the wall and charged into the building.
Purple lightning crackled around its body.
If those claws touched me, I’d be electrocuted before being torn apart.
It was impossible not to feel tense.
I wasn’t exactly the type to handle such dangerous situations with ease.
“It’s all because of Mirien.”
But regardless of the reason.
I was the one who unleashed these calamities.
So, I had some responsibility to clean up the mess.
With a bitter smile, I looked around.
Inside the building, it was just Tempestra and me.
Confirming that no one else was around, I manipulated the status window.
After dismissing Lucifen, I selected the gray-haired woman in the formation window.
The calamity feared by all of humanity.
The pinnacle of flames that even burned gods.
[5★ Charred Saint Selene is summoned.]
Whoosh.
And so, Charred Saint Selene descended before me.
Her ashen hair fluttering, Selene drew her flaming sword and pointed it forward instead of greeting me.
“…Master, the situation seems quite dire.”
“You were watching, weren’t you?”
“Yes. I was considering intervening immediately. But I held back because of your orders.”
“Good job.”
“…Heh.”
Selene’s lips curled slightly at the praise.
But remembering the urgency of the situation, she flicked her sword and continued.
“Master, should I just kill that ungrateful salamander charging at us?”
“No, if there are traces of you killing it, things will get complicated.”
Jeon Dongwook had already been giving me suspicious looks.
“Then what should I do?”
“Just spew fire. That’s what you do best, right?”
Selene tilted her head.
“Fire?”
“…Preferably towards the ceiling.”
I looked up at the densely installed fire detectors and sprinklers on the exhibition hall ceiling and smiled.
If this world operates like a game, then elemental weaknesses should apply.
Tempestra was originally a sky-attribute calamity, but now, blessed with thunder, it was weak to water.
Moreover, Tempestra had already taken significant damage.
In gaming terms, it was at low health, with its HP bar in the red.
“Master, so I just need to shoot fire at the ceiling?”
Selene still seemed half-doubting.
“Selene, who do you think I am?”
“You are my flawless ruler and master, Actor-nim.”
With a slightly embarrassed expression, Selene raised her flaming sword.
[5★ Charred Saint Selene activates the skill ‘Infernal Flame Pillar’.]
With a single swing of her sword, a massive pillar of fire erupted before us.
Perhaps it was the intense heat making my head feel like it was cooking, but I spread my arms and declared.
“Let there be light, no, rain.”
The fire detectors activated, and water began pouring down like a torrential rain.
Soon, the lightning surrounding Tempestra’s body exploded.
[4★ Storm Dragon Tempestra roars in agony.]
*
Yoo Junseo, the director of the Awakened Management Bureau, couldn’t comprehend what was happening before his eyes.
Just five minutes ago, Tempestra, crackling with lightning, had charged into the exhibition hall.
[4★ Storm Dragon Tempestra has been defeated.]
[Reward: 20 Exp]
Ding!
[Dungeon ‘Tempestra’s Nest’ has been cleared!]
[Reward: 150 Exp]
In those five minutes, what on earth had happened?
How had that thing been defeated, and how had the dungeon been cleared?
The answer became clear the moment a man staggered out of the exhibition hall.
B-rank Awakened, Nam Jooyeon.
His hair was singed, and his clothes, having taken a direct hit from the lightning, had both sleeves completely burned off.
Yet, he was alive, walking out unscathed.
That fact was utterly incomprehensible.
“…This makes no sense.”
How had he managed to defeat that calamity, which dozens of awakened ones couldn’t even touch and were forced to flee from?
As Yoo Junseo stood there, mouth agape, someone placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Director, that’s what you call a monster.”
It was Team 2 leader Jeon Dongwook.
He seemed to enjoy Yoo Junseo’s dumbfounded expression, smirking as he continued.
“Did we ever set the criteria for S-rank when we established the Awakened ranking system?”
“No, we didn’t.”
“Good. Perfect timing.”
Jeon Dongwook pointed at Nam Jooyeon and furrowed his brow.
“That guy over there will now be the standard for S-rank.”
Jeon Dongwook’s face was filled with certainty, and Yoo Junseo could only nod reluctantly.