Chapter 17

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No one can touch

Zzzzz!

The dragon's wings that tore through the back.

It was the set effect 'Heavenly Dragon' of 'Mikela.' It activates when the sword, armor, and helmet are all gathered, but in the early stages, obtaining them was as difficult as plucking stars from the sky. I bought them through a secret auction.

‘Fortunately, I had the hardest-to-get Mikela’s sword.’

The armor and helmet were relatively easier to obtain compared to the sword. That’s why the immediate purchase price for the armor and helmet on the secret auction was 200,000 gold each.

‘There were many trap items with the twin talismans equipped.’

Twin Talismans.

These talismans have an option that allows them to share each other's location.

If you buy them without knowing, you end up revealing your location to the seller.

Some even hid the name of the twin talismans as ‘Secret Scroll.’

They were mainly found in items that should be used from level 1 to 5, and their low prices made them perfect for luring beginners.

‘No matter how I think about it, I can’t shake the feeling that they are looking for me.’

But I can’t shake the feeling that those ‘phishing’ items are targeting me.

The top players in the hall would have known that I cleared Main Quest 2, and they would have understood that I need a lot of equipment to complete Main Quest 3 with excellent results.

They would have listed the necessary equipment at very low prices to pinpoint my location through phishing and then move to kill me.

It might be an overreaction, but it’s better to be cautious.

Of course, the secret auction is too tempting to give up.

‘... I managed to get this.’

I smiled faintly as I looked down at the ground.

I was lucky to get this at this timing.

Instantly, related information appeared before my eyes.

【Hermes' Shoes (Epic) (1)】

★ Shoes modeled after the feet of the ‘God of Wind’ Hermes. It is said to have flowed into the Golden Temple. When worn, you can run as fast as the wind, but you cannot enter the ‘Temple of the God of Wind’ while wearing them.

★ Wearing Requirement: All stats 40 (50-10) or higher

★ Talisman (Fairy Queen's Tears): Reduces the wearing requirement (all stats) by 20%.

★ Agility +3

★ ‘Swift’ skill available

An extremely rare item with a socket at the Epic level.

It can be equipped with a talisman, and it has both stat options and skills, making it a versatile piece of equipment. However, due to the wearing requirement, it was originally something beginners couldn’t use.

All stats 50.

Even with a decent talent and class, you would need to be at least level 8 to meet this condition.

Usually, the primary stat increases significantly, while the secondary stats only increase slightly.

But my stats increase by 12 each time I level up. Moreover, the Fairy Queen's Tears significantly reduce the wearing requirement.

‘The performance is a bit lacking for level 8, but for me now, there is no better equipment than this.’

Most importantly, ‘Hermes' Shoes’ work perfectly with Mikela’s set option, ‘Heavenly Dragon.’

- I’ll melt everything.

Chid Mamba spewed a thick cloud of venom, which corroded and melted everything it touched.

Flap!

Whizz!

But the acidic venom couldn’t spread due to the strong wind.

The combination of the Heavenly Dragon’s wings and the Swift skill created small whirlwinds.

Whoosh!

The whirlwinds not only dispersed the venom cloud but also blew away the Chid Worms. Chid Mamba frowned as it faced the intense wind.

- Wind magic? Then block this too!

Chid Mamba pulled out its hidden tail. Like a scorpion’s, the tail’s tip was coated with a deadly poison. It shot out at an incredible speed, making it impossible to see and dodge.

But.

‘Right.’

If you know which direction it will shoot before it’s fired, you can easily dodge it.

Before shooting, Chid Mamba twists its hands. There are exactly 26 twisting patterns, and each one results in a slightly different shooting direction.

‘Roll.’

I rolled, flew, and ran, dodging all of Chid Mamba’s venomous stingers.

- You little rat!

Chid Mamba’s anger boiled.

But with neither the venom cloud nor the stingers working, Chid Mamba was powerless.

I quickly ran up and was now in a position to strike Chid Mamba’s neck.

‘Stop.’

I poured all my strength into my thighs to bring my entire body to an abrupt stop.

Instantly.

Squish!

Numerous thorns sprouted right in front of me.

Hidden venomous stingers in the ground.

- You, you dodged even that?

Chid Mamba’s eyes widened in shock.

‘Charge.’

After using all its patterns, Chid Mamba falls into a brief state of ‘confusion.’

For a very short time. If you don’t finish it off in one go, Chid Mamba will only get stronger over time.

Squish!

I raised my greatsword and expanded all the muscles in my body.

I slowly approached the confused Chid Mamba while charging.

‘Swift.’

The speed at which I swung the greatsword increased dramatically.

Swish!

I cleanly beheaded Chid Mamba like water flowing smoothly.

The moment Chid Mamba’s eyes, filled with despair, touched the ground.

《Elite Monster ‘Chid Mamba’ has been defeated!》

《Contribution 100%》

《Absorbing ‘Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule’ (10 minutes).》

《Remaining time for ‘Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule’ is 47 hours 56 minutes 39 seconds.》

《Darkness recedes for a moment.》

《Pangea’s collapse: 9.1%》

《‘Lucky Dice’ obtained.》

*

“Screeech!”

Hearing Kim Seo-yeon’s scream, Kim Hana finally regained her senses.

Blood splattered on the floor.

Jung Jin-woo’s severed arms.

And...

‘That man from back then.’

The man who saved her from the Giant Mantis was right there.

Wearing a helmet and armor she had never seen before.

Behind him, red-brown wings protruded from his back.

He looked a bit different, but it was definitely him.

“A, Ah...”

Kim Seo-yeon collapsed to the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

A vague fear. She couldn’t move at all.

Crack!

“Snap out of it!”

Kim Hana slapped Kim Seo-yeon’s cheek and shouted.

Staying here any longer was dangerous.

Those who could survive had to survive.

Kim Hana hoisted Kim Seo-yeon over her shoulder and looked around.

‘Where’s Hyun-myeong?’

Park Hyun-myeong.

He was nowhere to be found.

‘Could he have run away...?’

Instantly, a deep frown appeared on Kim Hana’s forehead.

She hadn’t even sensed him running away. He was right next to her when the insects appeared, but he vanished without a trace after the female monster appeared.

Better to die than to stand there dumbly, but even so, to run away alone...

Kim Hana grumbled as she led Kim Seo-yeon.

The priority was to get as far away from this place as possible.

“The back door is also swarming with monsters! Go to the second floor!”

As Kim Hana was about to head for the back door, a staff member on the second floor shouted.

The building’s exterior was already occupied by giant insects.

“Please help!”

Kim Hana’s cry prompted a few people on the second floor to come down.

Whoosh!

Creak! Creak!

A strong wind blew.

The man had instantly dispersed the venom cloud the monster was spewing.

Kim Hana, barely holding onto the railing, turned her gaze.

‘Ah...!’

The monster was shooting venomous stingers.

At a speed too fast to see.

If the man didn’t defeat the monster, the remaining people would be massacred in an instant.

There was no way out.

With their hands clasped, they could only pray.

“Please, please...!”

“Is that person also a Dimension Warrior? Right?”

“But, but another Dimension Warrior, Jung Jin-woo, suddenly went crazy and attacked people. It’s too early to be reassured!”

People swallowed their saliva and watched the situation on the first floor with tension.

That man was their last line of defense.

But another Dimension Warrior, Jung Jin-woo, had suddenly gone mad and attacked people.

It wasn’t wise to be completely reassured about this person.

“It’s okay. That person is on our side.”

Kim Hana reassured the people.

In the current situation, increasing confusion would only make things worse.

Every time the stingers were shot, people flinched.

They were worried that the man might get hit and something terrible might happen.

Squish!

But the man easily dodged the stingers, and with a single strike, he beheaded the monster.

The moment the monster’s head hit the ground, another change occurred.

“D, Did we win?”

“The monsters are melting!”

“We, we’re alive!”

People cheered.

With the queen monster dead, the other insect monsters melted away.

“...”

The man turned his gaze to the people hanging on the railing of the second floor.

Then.

Flap!

He flipped his cloak, and the man vanished without a trace.

“Where did he go?”

“He just disappeared?”

It felt like they had seen a ghost.

Could a person really vanish like that?

Such thoughts were fleeting.

“Are you okay?”

Kim Hana turned her head at the familiar voice from the side, frowning.

“... Hyun-myeong? Where were you?”

“I was in the bathroom.”

In the bathroom?

‘Blood...?’

Kim Hana had keen eyes.

She noticed a small drop of blood on Park Hyun-myeong’s ankle, where his sock had rolled up.

Of course, in this situation, having blood on you wasn’t unusual.

It was from someone else, not an injury.

But the only person who had been seriously injured was Jung Jin-woo.

And Park Hyun-myeong had already hidden himself before Jung Jin-woo got to that state.

If he was in the bathroom, he wouldn’t have had any contact with others.

Whose blood was that?

‘Could it be...?’

Moreover, the timing of the man’s appearance and Park Hyun-myeong’s disappearance, and the timing of Park Hyun-myeong’s appearance and the man’s disappearance, were strangely coincident.

‘Could it be...?’

She shook her head. It was absurd.

Kim Hana alternated her gaze between the place where the man disappeared and Park Hyun-myeong.

“Is there something on my face?”

“No, nothing...”

... Right. It must be a mistake.

Park Hyun-myeong couldn’t be a Dimension Warrior.

But what if, by some chance, one in a million, Park Hyun-myeong was a Dimension Warrior?

What if he was the man in the photo she considered a talisman?

Kim Hana’s eyes became complicated as she looked at Park Hyun-myeong.

*

The next day.

The world plunged into chaos once again.

The second attack from another dimension.

Although the Dimension Warriors managed to fend it off, the intensity of the attacks was increasing.

Some Dimension Warriors warned that such attacks would continue and advocated for cooperation with the government.

But not all Dimension Warriors, or players, felt the same.

“Isn’t this Randolph?”

In a dark, secret room.

About ten people were chasing Randolph.

More accurately, they were searching for ‘Phantom.’

They were meticulously examining all the videos posted on SNS and YouTube.

There were exactly 178 videos from ‘players’ in Korea, a 1.5 times increase from the previous 100 or so. Hidden players were starting to emerge.

Randolph might be among them.

Currently, the screen of a computer showed a steak house in Cheongdam.

“Hermes’ Shoes. The wearing requirements must be quite strict, right?”

“Now that he’s completed Main Quest 2, he shouldn’t be able to wear Hermes’ Shoes.”

That’s true.

The wearing requirements for Hermes’ Shoes were far beyond what a beginner could meet.

Having just completed Main Quest 2, his level would be around 4 or 5.

It was too early for Randolph to wear those shoes.

“But those wings, aren’t they ‘Heavenly Dragon’?”

“Even if the helmet and armor were bought from the auction, how did he get Mikela’s sword?”

“It looks like the same character who had ‘Hydragon’ before.”

Even if it wasn’t Randolph, there were still questions.

Mikela’s sword, which drops with an extremely low probability.

It’s an ultra-rare item, with only about 10 or so in existence.

What about Hydragon’s soul?

It was widely believed that only one person in the server had it.

No one knew who the owner was, but there were rumors that the owner was an admin.

“So, is this person an ‘admin’?”

“Look at how he hunts ‘Chid Mamba.’ He’s dodging all the patterns by a hair’s breadth.”

“... Is there really someone who can dodge like that? Can anyone do the same?”

“...”

All ten people gathered here could kill Chid Mamba, but none