Chapter 8

Kim Chul-soo nodded with a look that said, "Of course."

"So, are you using magic or something?"

"Really? Who plays such games these days? I'm just incredibly strong and incredibly fast."

I held up the frying pan and smiled.

Ding! Ding!

Halt.

The sound of gunfire echoed through the quiet forest.

The leading riot police officers extended their hands backward.

'Gunfire?'

Then they pointed to their eyes and gestured forward.

'It's orcs.'

Three orcs, wielding massive double-bladed axes, were running somewhere.

The orcs, about 170 cm tall, were covered in green skin and muscular bodies.

The riot police officers attached silencers to their guns.

Kim Chul-soo poked me.

'Good.'

The riot police officers led the way, following the orcs without being detected.

"Damn you, die! Die already!"

With the sound of gunfire, a loud scream echoed.

Two riot police officers exchanged glances.

Swish.

The speed at which they cut through the forest increased.

'Could it be the comrades who entered the Seocho portal?'

If so, it would be an interesting conclusion.

If entering any portal that spawns the same monsters leads to the same land, various strategies can be used.

The sound of gunfire grew closer.

Roar!

The three orcs running ahead leaped toward a cliff.

'It's humans.'

Five people in special riot gear stood with their backs to the cliff, firing at the orcs from behind the trees.

In a small basin-like terrain, one riot police officer lay bleeding.

"Damn it. Dong-wook!"

Muttering a curse, the riot police officers quickly got into position.

Pew. Pew pew.

Bullets were quietly fired from the silenced guns.

Roar!

The orc hit by the bullet stared straight at the direction we were hiding.

'What, why isn't it falling?'

If it were a human, it would already be riddled with bullets.

The orc only bled a little and continued to glare at us.

"Roar!"

The orc raised its axe and pointed at us.

With a roar, orcs hiding in the forest emerged.

'Damn, where are they coming from?'

"Strike Team 1! Identify yourselves!"

A cry like a scream was heard among the orcs' roars.

"I'm the leader of Strike Team 1, Lee Jang-ho! Hyung-ju, is that you?"

"Team leader! Why are you here? This place is hell. There's no exit!"

"Shut up and fight! What about Dong-wook?"

"He seems to still be alive!"

"Prevent anyone from getting close to Dong-wook!"

Judging that their position was exposed, the conversation between the team leader and the other officers continued.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The orcs, judging that it was difficult to break through the cliff, charged at us.

"Team leader, our firepower seems insufficient. We need grenades."

"What about Dong-wook? Kid! Do something!"

Two of them, having removed the silencers, took turns emptying their magazines while shouting at me.

'It's not a job for a frying pan. Let's give it a try.'

I recalled the new skill I had obtained.

'Within a 10-meter radius, right?'

Taking a deep breath, I calmed my racing heart.

'Strength Increase.'

The surroundings slowed down.

I ran to the area near the fallen riot police officer.

"What, what's so fast."

I heard the team leader's surprised voice from behind.

'At least this area is flat and clear.'

I checked if the GoPro was recording properly.

The suited Kim Chul-soo, still not participating in the battle, observed the situation expressionlessly.

'Territorialization.'

Thud.

A slight pressure and a cloud of dust rose.

- A 10m radius has been designated as a temporary territory.

- Time remaining: 9 minutes 59 seconds.

- Cooldown: 29 minutes 59 seconds.

'Facility Summon'

- Select the facility to summon.

The status window showed my territory, with the facilities I had built glowing green and red.

'I can't summon a research facility.'

I chose the defense tower.

- Select the location.

A grid pattern appeared in front of me in AR.

'Ah, it's a bit tight to place two within 10 meters.'

At least one is better than none.

I chose an empty spot, avoiding the fallen riot police officer.

Flash.

An intense light filled the entire forest.

"Roar?"

The charging orcs and the firing riot police officers all shielded their eyes.

Rumble.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Clank. Clank.

Materials appeared in mid-air and automatically assembled into a building.

A gemstone was placed on the completed tower.

The orcs and riot police officers stared at the tower in a daze.

"Come on, orc bastards."

With the tower, I am invincible.

The legendary strategy that always works.

I hesitated to quickly press Y.

'What if it kills our allies?'

I couldn't calmly register the territory residents in the middle of this.

'Foreigner, foreigner...'

I searched the menu and pressed the foreigner registration.

Like when Sujin first came.

A crosshair appeared.

'When did I press them one by one?'

In a hurry, I pressed the map on the status window.

'Oh, I can just press on the map!'

I quickly registered all our allies as foreigners and pressed Y to select the kill option.

'If the tower research improves, it might get smarter.'

Despite not having a high APM (actions per minute), I was acting like a pro gamer.

Flash.

Boom!

The dazed orc's body exploded.

"Roar! Ugh!"

The orcs pointed at the tower and screamed.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

The orcs, who were about to attack our allies, stopped and charged at the tower.

'Oh, did they implement a building durability system?'

If the tower breaks while under attack, it's game over.

Better to be prepared for anything.

"The tower is drawing their attention! Attack now!"

There was still some time left before the Strength Increase ended.

I turned the frying pan and struck the charging orcs.

Flash!

Ding! Ding!

Clang!

The battle was one-sided.

The orcs, with their eyes wide, charged at the tower.

Our allies, taking advantage of the opportunity, fired bullets.

I, as usual, circled the tower and swung the frying pan.

Twelve orcs were quickly torn apart by the tower.

The ground was covered in blood after the battle.

"Huff. Huff."

Thud.

As soon as the Strength Increase ended, I sat down.

'Phew. It was worth the crazy effort. First, I need to recover.'

Energy filled my body.

"Dong-wook!"

The team leader quickly ran over to check on the fallen officer.

"The wound is deep, and he's lost a lot of blood, so he's unconscious. I've applied strong pressure, so he should hold on for a while."

"Phew. As long as he's alive, anything is possible..."

Thud.

The team leader also sat down.

"But, team leader, how did you get here?"

"Ah, this person is an Awakened. We came in together."

"An Awakened? So you came to save us on purpose? There's no way back through a portal..."

The officers' eyes filled with admiration.

Especially, the large man's expression was like he had seen a god, looking at me intensely.

'It's not like that.'

I came here for my mission.

I had no intention of saving anyone.

Of course, I wouldn't leave a fellow human in front of me.

Still, it seemed like a good misunderstanding, so I let it be.

The team leader, about to say something more, stopped.

He seemed to decide it was better to leave it alone.

A slender officer stepped forward.

"So, you're the person on TV. The one who uses superpowers to fight monsters! And this surveillance post is also your ability?"

"Right. Thanks to the Awakened, we all survived."

The officers' eyes filled with admiration again.

"We shouldn't have come here in the first place. Such unbelievable abilities... Anyway, thank you for saving our lives."

Another officer, amazed, took off his glove and touched the tower.

"It's not concrete, but it feels like marble. What does it attack with from up there?"

"It's like magic."

'What do you know.'

With the portal to another world, the principle is irrelevant.

The officers shared water and reorganized.

The team leader, away from the others, approached me and bowed deeply.

"To be honest, at first, I was skeptical when I received the call from the center. A young guy going into the portal without fear..."

"Ah, yes."

"But I was wrong. I saw you come to protect my fallen team member, whom you didn't even know. Thank you again."

The team members also bowed slightly in gratitude.

'Ahem. Hmm.'

A part-time worker living in a container, where would I ever receive such sincere gratitude?

I scratched my cheek, feeling embarrassed.

"Ah, this, this is disappearing. Awakened sir!"

The officer, who had been touching the tower, was startled and made a worried face.

"Ah, it's okay. It's just that the time is up, so it returned."

"Really? Returned? Where to?"

"It seems I can summon it from Seocho."

Kim Chul-soo, who had been watching from a distance, suddenly interjected.

"Officer, even if you're from the center, isn't this too much? Everyone is risking their lives, and you're just watching... I will definitely file a formal complaint!"

"Go ahead."

"Tsk. Hmph."

A large officer spat, muttering loudly.

Kim Chul-soo's eyebrows twitched.

"We can't just sit here. We caught 12, but it's not over. We need to find the village."

In the case of goblins, killing the shaman would have been enough.

This time, the mission was to destroy the village, a somewhat broad task.

'It means to destroy all the buildings.'

We need to find it first to know.

I recalled the mission to resolve the conflict.

"I'll stay behind."

The large officer, looking at the fallen comrade, said calmly.

"We don't know when or where something might appear."

"Pick us up on your way back."

"It's not possible."

My firm refusal drew everyone's attention.

"After completing the mission to kill the shaman, we immediately returned to Seocho Station."

If there's a return radius?

These two would be trapped here forever if they were outside the radius.

'Even if the portal disappears and all humans leave, they might return together like players in a game lobby.'

But this is reality.

We can't risk human lives on uncertain possibilities.

"I'll stay behind."

"Team leader, it's not possible."

"Shut up!"

Comradeship is good, but time is being wasted.

"Um... How about this?"

Once again, all eyes were on me.

It's difficult to search with an injured person in the mountains.

The initial group can hide and wait.

When we find the orc village, we'll switch to surveillance mode, and one of the officers will return to move the injured.

If any situation arises, we'll signal with flares.

"Good. No, it's a great idea!"

The mission has no specific conditions, making this plan possible.

If there were a time limit, we wouldn't have this luxury.

"Stay hidden."

"Don't worry."

We reformed our initial group and dispersed.

* * *

It was just a normal mountain path, except for the lack of animals and insects.

After more than 30 minutes of descending the mountain, we saw neither the village nor any orcs.

'Is there anything useful?'

- Level: 7

- Rank: Pioneer

- Points: 3

- Developable: [Defense Tower Upgrade: 3 points] [Food Storage Upgrade: 3 points] [Sanitation Facility Upgrade: 3 points] [Research Facility Upgrade: 3 points] [Defense Tower Construction: 1 point] [Residential Facility Maintenance: 1 point]

- Registered Territory Residents: Park Sujin

- Researchable: [Flame Arrow] [Healing] [Strength Increase] [Archery] [Swordsmanship] [Territory Development] [Territorialization] [Explosion] [Defense Tower Research]

'Residential Facility!'

Finally, I can leave Nanguna.

- Residential Facility Maintenance: Expand the residential facility.

- Required Points: 1

- Do you want to acquire it? Y/N

'Huh?'

I don't understand what it means to expand a residential facility that doesn't exist.

I decided to think about it later and looked at the new research list.

- Explosion: The defense tower fires a powerful bomb at the target, causing damage to spread nearby.

- Maximum Range: 40 meters

- Required Points: 1

- Do you want to acquire it? Y/N

'Splash damage.'

Basic attacks, ice, and splash are the early game trio.

- Defense Tower Research: The tower detects hostile entities in the vicinity and automatically attacks them.

- Required Points: 1

- Do you want to acquire it? Y/N

'Ah, this is useful too.'

A skill that doesn't require manually registering foreigners.

I have 3 points left.

I decided to save them and continued moving.

Halt.