Chapter 46

Chapter 21. Two Hearts (4)

[You have cleared E Sector in solo play.]

[You have achieved an accomplishment that few can easily attain. Additional merit points have been provided.]

[You have earned 3,000 merit points.]

[You have earned an additional 2,000 merit points.]

[Your health and mana have been restored.]

[All abnormal statuses have been cured.]

[You have entered F Sector.]

Yeonwoo noticed he had entered F Sector as he saw the messages filling his field of vision.

Nearly a thousand badges were still in his possession. The badges would be converted into merit points after the tutorial ended and the final settlement was completed, or when he cleared F Sector.

'Indeed, this place is much more desolate compared to E Sector.'

Yeonwoo lightly clicked his tongue as he looked around.

Compared to E Sector, which was designed with various environments, F Sector was filled with nothing but a barren plain.

There was nothing around.

No forests, no monsters, no players. There were no landmarks to determine which direction to go.

At that moment, a new message appeared before his eyes.

[Starting the trial of F Sector.]

[You have been randomly dropped into a place where all you can see is a barren plain. Here, you cannot determine your position, direction, or path. You cannot even obtain food or water. Do whatever it takes to survive and find a way out.]

Yeonwoo lightly snorted as he read the message.

'Survival, huh. Indeed, they're throwing something even more troublesome than E Sector right at me.'

When he first entered F Sector, the only word he and his companions uttered was one.

"Shit."

How could such a place even exist? E Sector was filled with troublesome things, but if there was something you wanted, you could easily get it by trading with other players.

However, in F Sector, that was completely impossible. The sector was much wider than E Sector, yet there was nothing.

No monsters, no trees, no forests, no water. Thus, there was no place to obtain food or water...

Moreover, the biggest problem was that it was extremely rare for players to clear F Sector, making it impossible to meet other players and trade within it.

What would it feel like to suddenly be dropped into such a vast, empty plain?

You would probably be dazed. And you would likely wander aimlessly and die of starvation.

Even if you were a player, it was impossible to move without food and water.

It might be better to not waste your strength and find a place to lie down, like a cave, and wait for the tutorial to end.

However, these characteristics were not necessarily all bad.

'This is the optimal place for those who want to hide from the outside, like the Arangdan or the Scavenger organization.'

For players, the sector was a place where they aimlessly wandered, but for a solid-backed Arangdan, it would be an excellent place to hide.

But do they know?

That their confidence in never being exposed could, in fact, become the noose around their necks.

'They won't even bother with vigilance or defense.'

Yeonwoo laughed coldly and began to activate his senses to the maximum.

Finding a way in F Sector was certainly difficult.

But the tower never gave impossible trials, and no matter how difficult the challenge, there was always a solution.

Yeonwoo lowered his posture and placed his hand on the ground.

Then,

He closed his eyes and poured all his senses into the ground below.

The five-colored gem from the monster hanging at his waist also began to glow.

['Cobalt's Ear' has been activated.]

There was nothing to feel below the ground, just like above.

All he could feel was rock, rock, soil, soil, sand...

Then, faintly, he heard the sound of underground water trickling along the hard bedrock.

It was so minimal that it might just be a small pool of water.

And as he concentrated his senses,

Rumble...

As expected, a faint but distinct sound of the ground trembling was heard.

Something was approaching from the direction of the underground water.

It looked like a mole.

A monster that dug with its front legs and moved quickly with its hind legs. However, its skin was made of hard needles.

It was about two meters in size.

'Spike Mole.'

The only living creature you could encounter in F Sector.

The method to obtain food and water here was simple.

You had to catch the mole, strip off its skin, and use the meat as food and the blood as water.

Alternatively, since they often appeared near underground water, you could collect the water from around there.

However, in reality, catching a spike mole was far from easy.

'After all, they live so deep. It's almost impossible to hunt and pull them out.'

Spike moles can't see in front of them, so they rarely come to the surface.

Their habitat is mainly 15 meters deep, making it difficult to pinpoint their exact location.

But he couldn't give up on finding the spike moles.

Not only were they an important food source,

'They are also guides to the path.'

Spike moles mainly live in groups near the exit of F Sector.

In other words, the closer you are to where spike moles frequently appear, the closer you are to the exit.

And there,

'The base of the Arangdan must be hidden.'

The Arangdan, unless they received support from Cheonghwa Island, would need a place where they could self-provision food and water.

Yeonwoo began to follow the spike mole as it moved along the water vein.

* * *

Build placed his palm on the pad installed on the prison door.

The door opened with a metallic clank as his fingerprints were automatically recognized.

Inside, two people were securely bound with chains and restraints fixed to the wall.

Kan and Doyle.

"Are they here? Blood Sword, Fox Tail?"

Build burst into a sinister laugh as he looked at the two, who were slumped over.

At that moment, Kan lifted his head and glared at Build. His face was gaunt from prolonged torture.

Then he twisted one corner of his mouth.

"Why? Do you still have something to say to us? Do you still lack threats to use against the elders?"

Build couldn't easily eliminate Kan and Doyle after subduing them.

The backers behind the two were too powerful, even in the tower.

And at times, they could be used as a good card to pull them up to Cheonghwa Island after a war.

But,

His thoughts had changed.

At a time when he couldn't see the next day,

Build needed to find a way to save himself immediately.

"No. I'm here to tell you one thing."

"What is it?"

Build's eyes turned dark.

"You will soon become the material for 'stones.' I came to tell you that."

"Stones?"

Kan's expression contorted.

"Damn bastards...!"

Kan didn't know exactly what 'stones' were, but he knew what they were made of.

Players captured by the Arangdan and Scavengers, like himself, were sacrificed to create the material.

The main product and result of a despicable experiment.

Something that should never exist.

"Originally, you were to be slowly refined over time... but, damn it, our side is in a hurry. Consider yourselves lucky. You'll be able to end your suffering a day earlier."

Build took a step back and nodded to the subordinates who followed him.

It was a signal to start.

Kan clenched his teeth as he saw the men approaching him and Doyle.

He couldn't avoid his own death. He had brought it upon himself through reckless bravery and arrogance.

But he felt terribly sorry for Doyle, who would share the same fate.

A kind boy who had run away from home, believing only in his older brother.

He felt he had led him down a terrible path.

He wanted to somehow free the boy, if only him.

But he was powerless.

Helpless.

'This time, I'm the same as back then...'

Painful memories flashed through his mind, but he had no way to change them.

The men approached.

"..."

Kan clenched his teeth.

* * *

'I found it.'

Yeonwoo, while chasing the spike mole, searched the area several times and finally found the place he was looking for.

On the surface, it looked no different from the other barren plains of F Sector.

But,

'Dragon Horse Eye.'

The moment he used his new eye, a completely different scene was revealed.

Countless threads gathered and dispersed like a web in the sky.

And beyond that,

A cluster of dozens of buildings stood on a wide plain.

A large-scale concealment magic array had been installed to hide the entire cluster of buildings.

While the Dragon Horse Eye couldn't be deceived,

Yeonwoo examined the composition of the magic array and quietly slipped through the gaps between the threads.

Originally, an alarm would sound when an intruder was detected.

But Yeonwoo had passed through the threads and suppressed his presence to the maximum, so he wasn't detected.

Was some emergency situation happening?

The base of the Arangdan was in chaos.

Many players were running busily between the buildings.

"Damn it, just at this time...!"

"Hurry up. The tutorial doesn't have much time left. If the island sends an inspector, we're all dead. The damage is too great."

"Damn it!"

Yeonwoo hid behind a building corner, avoiding the players, and overheard their conversation to roughly gauge the situation.

'It's because of the monster rush.'

Indeed, most of the Arangdan's forces and information network were concentrated in E Sector.

With the monster rush, E Sector had turned into a mess, and it seemed to have affected them as well.

'An unexpected harvest.'

It wasn't intentional,

But since he had decided to wage war against the Arangdan, their confusion could be a great weapon for him.

'Shall I start now?'

Yeonwoo laughed coldly, dispelled his stealth, and blocked the path of two players who were passing by.

"W-What?"

"Never seen you before. What organization are you...!"

The two players, who hadn't expected an intruder, stopped shouting at Yeonwoo mid-sentence.

Because Yeonwoo was fiercely swinging a dagger of Karsuna, with mana densely condensed.

Swoosh-

The mana on the blade exploded.

Boom!

It swept away everything in front of it like a violent wave.

The two players,

Even the building.

Crash!

* * *

Rumble!

The building suddenly trembled slightly.

"What's that?"

Build lifted his head sharply.

Dust from the ceiling rained down.

This place was designed to withstand even a moderate earthquake.

What was happening?

The players who were about to take care of Kan and Doyle looked at Build.

Build's expression darkened with an inexplicable sense of unease.

He was about to tell one of his subordinates to check what was happening outside when,

Bang!

Another subordinate rushed in, opening the door in a panic.

"Sir Build! It's a big problem! An intruder has appeared outside!"

"What?"

Build's expression hardened.

Since the formation of the Arangdan, there had been intruders.

Some had grievances against the Arangdan, some wanted to start trouble, and some had caught a whiff of something.

The reasons varied, but there had always been at least one team of intruders in each session.

Kan and Doyle were among them.

But all of them, without exception, became the material for 'stones.'

So it wasn't strange for a strong intruder to appear.

'But why now?'

An inexplicable sense of unease gripped Build's heart.

He turned to his subordinate and shouted,

"Where? Where is the intruder?"