Chapter 84

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The red moonlight herb, an ingredient item capable of repelling Swallows, has been prepared in about 15 tons. This was much more than Hyun-wook had anticipated.

‘To gather so much in such a short time, he really is a big player in the black market.’

The red moonlight herb is rarely used, so its circulation is usually low. However, coincidentally, a broker's warehouse in the black market was stocked with a large amount, and Red Hole bought it all.

‘Good, this will make it easier to obtain anything I need in the future.’

This was the greatest advantage of forming an alliance with Jun-cheol, a major player in the black market.

“Now, what should we do with this?”

Jin-hwa asked.

The most effective method to repel the Swallows that had overrun Amazon was to create and install a kind of ‘relic object’ that would inflict a ‘debuff’ only on Swallows. This would transform the entire area into an environment where Swallows could not survive.

‘But we don’t have time to develop such an item now.’

Instead, there was a somewhat physical method: force-feeding the herb.

“Just grind and boil this red moonlight herb until it becomes a sticky substance. Since it’s a simple mixture, even non-alchemist players can create it with a few materials.”

“Ah… so we’re supposed to spread it like a herbicide on those black vines?”

Jin-hwa asked. Hyun-wook shook his head.

“No, just sprinkling it with water is only a temporary fix. They’ll retreat for a while, but once it evaporates, they’ll advance again. To completely eradicate them, we need to inject it directly into the core of their colony.”

At this, Jin-hwa felt puzzled.

“Huh? Inject it… how do we inject it into those monsters? I can’t even imagine it.”

Jin-hwa looked at the Swallows, which were writhing and advancing from a distance.

Rumble—Rumble—Rumble—

The black vines were slowly advancing, churning the ground. She vividly remembered the scene where a few villagers were dragged away when the vines approached.

The black vines, like tentacles, grabbed people and inserted fine roots into every orifice—eyes, nose, mouth, and anus. Within a few seconds, all bodily fluids were drained.

‘Damn…’

She closed her eyes tightly.

Indeed, approaching them to do anything…

‘…is like walking into the jaws of a monster.’

However, Hyun-wook nodded as if he already knew and replied easily.

“Ah, I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry.”

…It was as if he was saying he would handle it himself.

He then explained in detail where the ‘Core Line,’ the core of the Swallow colony, was located and how the massive colony moved.

Jin-hwa listened to all of this, feeling amazed at every moment.

‘…How does this man know such detailed information?’

He seemed like a scholar who had studied the monsters for a long time.

Strangely, she began to trust and rely on him.

‘Dad has never praised someone so highly… he must be something special.’

Her father, Jun-cheol, had instructed her to watch Hyun-wook carefully.

“…Jin-hwa, that man is someone who could one day control this country.”

Jun-cheol had a keen eye for people, which was widely acknowledged as accurate.

This was a necessary trait for him to establish himself as a major player in the dangerous black market.

Even after just a few words, he recognized Hyun-wook.

‘Maybe Dad… is dreaming of escaping to the surface world through this man.’

After being driven out of the real world, they had established a new base inside the dungeon.

However, this recent incident made them realize that this was an unstable world.

Jun-cheol believed that they could not let their descendants live in such a place.

In other words, they, the entire Red Hole village, were looking forward to the day when they could walk on the surface again.

‘Yeah, I don’t really want to live here forever either…’

Hyun-wook might be their lifeline.

Of course, grabbing that lifeline wouldn’t come cheap.

***

Five hours had passed.

“Here, as requested, the ‘extract’ is complete. And I’ve also gathered 500 iron stakes.”

The ‘red moonlight herb extract’ that Hyun-wook had requested was now ready, along with 500 iron stakes made of ‘Dungeon Steel’ that he had ordered.

Hyun-wook checked the two items.

“Good, that’s perfect.”

Using ‘Metal Deformation,’ he carved a long hole inside the iron stakes and immersed them in the container of extract. Bubbles rose as the extract seeped into the holes.

‘And now, let it harden.’

Hyun-wook planned to drive these stakes into the core of the Swallows and then ‘shatter’ them.

This was the method of ‘forced injection.’

“Now, load all of these onto the hidden airship.”

Jin-hwa followed Hyun-wook’s finger and looked at the massive object standing to one side.

The shield and hidden airship,

She marveled at it even though she had seen it hours ago.

‘How does this man have so many things, and all of them are top-tier items?’

Indeed, he seemed to have an endless supply of impressive items, like La Puta and Friedwen.

Meanwhile, Jun-mo and Sang-min were inside Friedwen.

Hyun-wook had instructed Jun-mo to ride inside the hidden airship with Sang-min.

‘From what I know, Sang-min has otaku tendencies and would be interested in equipment like the hidden airship.’

He was planning to have Sang-min manage not only the hidden airship but the entire La Puta.

To nurture such talent, it was necessary to spark his interest as soon as possible.

That’s why he intentionally let Sang-min explore the interior.

Inside Friedwen, Sang-min was inspecting things excitedly while talking to Jun-mo.

When Hyun-wook entered, Sang-min looked at him nervously, like a six-year-old caught playing with a friend’s toy.

“…Jun-mo, we’re about to take off.”

“Ah, yes! I’ll get ready.”

Friedwen took off, and the eight Red Hole players involved in the operation marveled. They had grown up in this place and had never experienced flying.

‘And the ride in the hidden airship is much smoother than an airplane.’

It rises steadily and smoothly, almost like riding a super high-speed elevator.

“Friedwen, ascend to 1,000 feet.”

Whoosh—!

And Hyun-wook could give voice commands for basic operations, though he planned to practice manual control for more precise maneuvers.

Soon, something writhing like black veins appeared in the hazy sand below.

Looking down at the hellish scene, the Red Hole players sighed.

“Ugh, I can really feel that our land is dying. Damn…”

“Damn, when we climbed the back mountain two months ago, everything was green…”

And on that back mountain, hundreds of Red Hole residents, including Jun-cheol, were watching.

“…Our entire village is counting on you. Please do your best.”

Hyun-wook nodded at Jin-hwa’s words.

He didn’t want to disappoint them.

‘If I succeed, there will be a definite reward.’

At that moment, the interior of Friedwen was bathed in a bluish light.

Beep—! Beep—! Beep—! Beep—!

The rear of Friedwen began to open, like the cargo door of a military transport plane.

Whoosh—!

The wind rushed in, signaling the start of something.

Everyone looked at Hyun-wook.

“…Now, let’s start Operation 1.”

Hyun-wook walked to the ‘ramp door’ and looked down.

– Swallow: 1st Stage Tentacle (LV. 61)

– Swallow: 1st Stage Tentacle (LV. 60)

– Swallow: 2nd Stage Tentacle (LV. 63)

– Swallow: 1st Stage Tentacle (LV. 61)

...

Through the Insight Lens, hundreds of pieces of information began to appear.

‘The Swallow colony is a single entity and a multitude of monsters at the same time.’

However, attacking them would be a waste of time.

No matter how many you cut, they would regenerate.

In other words, without knowing the strategy, you would only suffer.

“Now, we’re going to ‘rain’ on it to properly attack it.”

The rain he was talking about wasn’t a steel rain.

“Mages, focus water magic on that spot!”

At Hyun-wook’s command, the six mages on Friedwen approached the ramp door and lined up.

Immediately, Water Balls, Water Cannons, and various water-related spells were cast, scattering in the air and pouring down on the Swallow colony.

Boom— Boom— Boom— Boom— Boom— Boom—

Additionally, a water tank was prepared, and a hose connected to it was lowered to the ground.

Swoosh—

A large amount of water rained down.

The Swallow tentacles stretched upward, as if trying to absorb the water.

Hundreds of tentacles writhed toward the sky, resembling a colony of black worms.

“Ugh, it’s so disgusting…”

At that moment,

Rumble—Rumble—Rumble—

“Hey! Look at that!”

Jun-mo, who was monitoring the ground, noticed something.

It was a thick bundle of vines, coiled in a circle like a giant black pumpkin.

“—Hey! Something is emerging from where you said to rain on it!”

This was the reaction Hyun-wook had anticipated.

‘Sure enough… the Core Line emerges when it rains.’

Hyun-wook examined it closely through the Insight Lens.

– Swallow: Core Line (LV. 99)

The Swallow colony detects water with its tentacles and moves to absorb it. The absorbed water flows to the center, the ‘Core Line,’ where new vines are generated.

The Core Line is a crucial organ, always hidden deep underground.

However, there was one situation where the Core Line would directly absorb water…

‘When it rains.’

The reason is that it saves the unnecessary energy of transporting water from the tentacles to the Core Line through a long channel.

Thus, Hyun-wook induced the Core Line to emerge by raining on it.

Understanding the monster’s ecology is also part of a ‘raid.’

“So, if we hit that and inject the herbicide, the colony will die?”

Jin-hwa asked, somewhat excited. Hyun-wook nodded and reached out his hand.

“Now! Mages, move aside! Box 1 and Box 2 are dropping!”

At Hyun-wook’s shout, the mage players near the ramp door moved to the sides, and two metal boxes slid out and fell from the hidden airship.

As they fell to a certain height—

‘Shatter—’

Crack—!

The boxes shattered, and 500 iron stakes scattered inside.

They were aimed, and Hyun-wook extended his left hand.

Rumble—

Dozens of iron stakes aligned, their sharp ends pointing downward.

Then, they accelerated,

and plunged into the Core Line, which was absorbing rainwater—

Pierce—Pierce—Pierce—Pierce—Pierce—Pierce—

Sang-min watched the scene, his tongue tied.

‘…Crazy! How can he hit them all so accurately?’

But that wasn’t the end.

Crack—Crack—Crack—Crack—Crack—Crack—

The 500 iron stakes exploded, creating a storm of metal fragments.

Rumble—Rumble—Rumble—

The top of the solid Core Line was blown off in a spectacular scene.

‘Huh… I’ve seen this somewhere before!’

Sang-min recalled.

It was probably a scene from an old war movie he had seen on DVD.

That was… an aerial bombing, a precision bombing.

The destructive power of modern weapons, capable of devastating a wide area with a single strike…

However, he knew that such overwhelming firepower was ineffective against monsters.

No matter how powerful the bombing, it couldn’t penetrate a troll’s barrier…

‘But this is all the power of players, so it works on monsters!’

It meant that he could inflict modern weapon-like destructive power on monsters!

‘Crazy, can such a scene… be possible alone?’

And Hyun-wook’s attack wasn’t over. Following his senses, countless metal fragments moved like insects and squeezed into the wound of the Core Line.

‘Good, the extract should have seeped in sufficiently.’

Hyun-wook instinctively knew that the operation was a success.

“Wow… that mass of vines seems to be screaming.”

Gurgle—Gurgle—

As Jun-mo said, it writhed like a mass of insects doused with insecticide.

“Wow… it really worked. It has stopped moving and is burrowing deep into the ground.”

“Yes