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[Chapter 175]
[Cocoon Retrieval (3)]
Before the regression, 2nd Uijeongbu Recapture Battle.
The recapture forces' concern was not only how to treat the Uijeongbu residents, but their biggest worry was weeding out Baek Myeonsang hiding among the residents.
All residents must be killed.
Accept the residents as citizens and weed out only Baek Myeonsang.
There were really divided opinions at that time.
Uijeongbu Station where the Uijeongbu residents would be.
The recapture forces who set up camp there argued with conflicting opinions.
At that time, the person who ended their argument was Bae Subin of the Misty Flower Party.
"Huh, really. We can just kill them all, why are they like this? Leader, I'll take care of this."
The recapture forces had already captured the residents and confined them in cages.
Bae Subin, who suddenly rushed out of the tent, killed one person trapped in a cage with magic.
With that, the Uijeongbu recapture forces could no longer turn back.
One death became the beginning.
Moreover, as the reins of 2nd generation players with many grudges from the Uijeongbu Recapture Battle were loosened, voices calling for their execution echoed everywhere.
"Ah, that feels good. If you're suspicious, you can just kill them all, why waste time here?"
One by one.
Bae Subin killed diligently.
When a person hit by her magic still had breath, she killed only that person until they died.
"P-please spare me!!"
"Please save us!!"
"Shut up! Why should we save those who sided with monsters!?"
"Are you even human? You're monsters."
It was terror.
People trapped in iron cages were terrified watching others die.
They cried out wailing.
People who defended Bae Subin's massacre shouted with grim faces.
"Player Bae Subin. It's not too late even now. Stop this immediately."
Watching people die without being able to resist at all.
Looking at 2nd generation players consoling their lost comrades' souls.
Players were unable to move due to an incomprehensible eeriness.
Nevertheless, there were people whose reason wasn't paralyzed and who were angry at the ruthless massacre.
Of course, they─.
"─Oh, really? Are you perhaps Baek Myeonsang? Why are you trying to protect those people?"
"What?"
"No, it's strange. There are more reasons to kill those people than to keep them alive, so why are you trying to save them? Are you telling us to save them because you're Baek Myeonsang?"
"What nonsense..."
"Then prove it. Prove that you're not Baek Myeonsang right now. I'm proving I'm not Baek Myeonsang by killing these residents like this."
"What are you saying!? Are you really crazy!? How can you kill innocent people..."
""""Prove it.""""
""""...."""
It was madness.
Those swept up in the whirlpool of madness became obsessed with killing someone.
Also, to justify their crimes, they made those who didn't participate in the massacre and watched, or those who still opposed the massacre, join in.
Thus, people who got blood on their hands continued to create accomplices and continued to massacre the residents.
And so─.
"─Now, name and age. If you want to die painlessly, you'd better tell me."
"...Yoo Inhoo. 13 years old."
Bae Subin found Baek Myeonsang.
Selected force 20 years, Yoo Inhoo, 13 years old.
The information of the person Baek Myeonsang transformed into as a human at the end was recorded in the 2nd Uijeongbu Recapture Battle log.
Later, the Mana Management Organization analyzed that his mistake was composing the village differently from the 1st Uijeongbu Recapture Battle, and for some reason, making the residents have names unlike before.
☆
Day broke.
Eunha packed his belongings with his companions.
"Follow me! It's not far from here!"
Buildings had collapsed in places, blocking the roads.
The condition of the roads wasn't good to begin with.
In the end, they had to take detours.
People walked on paths that were barely paths, guided by Yoo Inhoo.
"It's here. We can go in here!"
"Huh? You're telling us to go into the manhole?"
"Everyone lives down here!"
""""...."""
About 1 hour and 30 minutes had passed.
People arrived at Beomgol Station.
Then they went deep inside and stopped in front of a manhole.
Jin Parang and others seemed flustered at Yoo Inhoo's words that they lived in underground waterways.
"There's no choice but to hide underground to avoid being detected by monsters. We learned at the Academy how Uijeongbu residents were living..."
"Is hearing about it the same as seeing it directly? ...We have to go in, right?"
"What else can we do if we don't go in?"
When Eunha chided.
Bae Subin protested with a sulky voice.
She didn't seem to welcome going down into the underground waterway.
But there was no choice.
She couldn't stay outside alone on guard against monsters while everyone else went underground.
Eventually, people followed Yoo Inhoo down the ladder.
I don't sense any monsters, but I do sense people's presence here and there.
It wasn't as dirty as I thought.
Just the stench was severe.
Eunha was able to not smell the odor thanks to magic activated by Bae Subin.
They walked through the waterway as is.
"The village chief is a really good person. He probably knows what condition the place you're trying to go to is in now. There's no one among our villagers who knows the geography better than the village chief!"
The path wasn't very complicated.
People turned a few corners guided by Yoo Inhoo.
Eventually, they were able to meet the villagers in a widened area.
"Inhoo! Hey! Where have you been until now!? We were worried!"
"Hehe, sorry mom."
""""...."""
The residents of Uijeongbu.
The gazes of dozens of people turned to Eunha and his companions.
Soon, a woman who seemed to be his mother recognized Yoo Inhoo and ran out, hugging him tightly.
Yoo Inhoo acted cute to his mother in a way befitting his age.
Then he pointed to Eunha and his companions and introduced them to the residents.
"They're people from outside the barrier! They protected me from being eaten by monsters yesterday!"
""""...!!""""
At the words that they came from outside the barrier.
Those who were already showing wariness at their completely different appearance widened their eyes.
The woman quickly picked up Yoo Inhoo and ran to the residents.
It's understandable for them to be wary.
It's the same for us too.
Eunha understood why they were wary of them.
No, they were afraid.
In the 1st Uijeongbu Recapture Battle, they sided with monsters and threw the recapture forces into confusion.
So they were afraid that they might harm them because of what happened then.
In the meantime─.
"─You've come from far away. Seeing how Inhoo follows you well, it seems you didn't come to meet us with bad intentions."
""""...."""
"I am the chief of Beomgol Station village. Thank you for bringing Inhoo. I will welcome you as guests."
☆
The old man who called himself the village chief guided them.
Listening to the chief's story, the place where the villagers were gathered earlier was the village entrance.
He said the adult men were about to form teams to search for Yoo Inhoo since he hadn't returned after a day.
"A few years ago, people who came from the barrier killed the master and our daily lives changed a lot."
Saying that large-scale monster movements are currently being observed in the direction of Uijeongbu Station.
The chief advised the group to observe the trends for today and move tomorrow.
While doing so, he was guiding the group saying he would prepare a place for them to sleep.
"Uijeongbu Station is no longer habitable, and there are many monsters around, so the survivors formed a village at Beomgol Station."
""""...."""
"The first policy the villagers decided was not to submit to monsters and to live by our own strength from now on. And to build self-reliance and increase unity, we decided to have our own names."
The chief talking about the changes that occurred to Uijeongbu residents after the 1st Uijeongbu Recapture Battle ended.
The group listened silently to the chief's story.
Because the story the chief was explaining would become information for Korea to grasp the situation in Uijeongbu.
Meanwhile, Eunha quickly scanned the living space.
Then he discovered a blackboard hanging on one side of the wall and stopped walking.
"It's a status board."
"So it is."
People who were moving forward turned to look at Eunha who stopped in the middle.
Kaede approached and looked at the blackboard Eunha was looking at.
She said.
Eunha nodded.
The blackboard had information about Uijeongbu residents recorded in rows.
Year
Gender
Name
·
·
·
-F5
Female
Lee Deokhee
·
·
·
·
·
·
F2
Male
Yoo Inhoo
·
·
·
·
·
·
F6
Male
Jang Haneul
·
·
·
Year, gender, name.
Besides these, various information was written on the blackboard.
Other companions were curious too and had approached Eunha by now.
"This is the status board of Beomgol Station village. It's a status board we made to keep track of our numbers. In the case of children under 5 years old who haven't been given names yet, we didn't write them here."
"Why did you do that? Couldn't you give them names right after they're born?"
Jin Parang expressed doubt.
The old man laughed.
"Because we don't know when they'll die."
""""...."""
"I don't know what it's like beyond the barrier, but children born here easily get sick, and sometimes get eaten by monsters living in the waterways. How can we give names to children when we don't know if they'll continue to live or not?"
It was a reasonable point.
Nevertheless, it was just unpleasant for the companions who had never lived in Uijeongbu.
The old man didn't mind.
Then he threw glances at the companions asking if they had any more questions.
"By the way, what's this F here? Is it an era name used among Uijeongbu people?"
"Yes, it's an era name we use among ourselves."
"What's it an abbreviation for?"
To this, Han Changjin put his hand on the blackboard and asked.
The F under the year.
It was a symbol the companions were also curious about inwardly.
They waited for the chief's words.
Then the chief said─.
"─Well, I'm not sure why we use the abbreviation F either."
""""...."""
"The previous village chief decided it. We started using it as a starting point when creating a new village for us, but I don't know what it means. We can't call back the deceased village chief now."
"Didn't you ask when you first decided to use the era name? Wasn't there anyone curious?"
"Should we be curious?"
""""...."""
"For us, an era name is something that doesn't matter whether we have it or not. We just need a unit to count time, why would we care about that when we might die today or tomorrow?"
It was a calm yet cynical statement.
The group fell silent at the old man's answer.
"If you have no more questions, I'll guide you on the way again."
Soon the old man changed the topic.
He decided to guide the way again.
The group resumed moving.
Nevertheless, Eunha was still rooted in front of the blackboard.
"What are you doing not going?"
"Howoo."
"I told you not to call me by that name."
"What do you think F stands for?"
"How would I know when even the chief doesn't know. I think it might be 'Foundation' in the sense of establishment. What do you think?"
Yoo Inhoo's birth year F2.
Eunha drew a circle around F2 written in chalk with his finger.
Kaede, who didn't follow the companions, frowned at Eunha's action.
On the other hand, Eunha chuckled.
"Fermentation."
"Fer...what?"
"You don't know? Haven't you taken classes at the Academy like naming magic in English?"
"...I didn't, so what? I'd rather learn more skills that are more helpful in battle than take such classes."
"Ah, so that's why your magic is in Japanese or Korean."
"Shut up."
Kaede grits her molars.
Eunha tapped her head and followed the companions going far away.
"Fermentation. It means fermentation. Doesn't it seem like that somehow?"
"There's no way they'd use such a word as an era name. Don't say weird things trying to show off your English knowledge to me."
"It's not a weird thing."
Kaede following behind grumbles.
Eunha shrugged.
Kaede didn't seem to believe it, but Eunha believed it without a doubt.
With this, I'm certain.
─Baek Myeonsang is definitely alive. Because he said in my previous life that he created the era name 'F'.
Baek Myeonsang is alive.
Eunha was able to be certain through the few clues.
☆
At that time.
Eunha, who was assigned lodging, didn't sleep and gathered his party members.
"Changjin hyung. Can you make a barrier so sound doesn't leak to the residents here?"
"Got it. Just a moment."
Han Changjin put up a sound barrier.
After checking the state of the barrier, Eunha soon spread a map on the floor.
"Our current location is here. The place we need to go tomorrow morning is right here."
Connecting the current location and Uijeongbu Arts Center with his fingertip.
Eunha asked Kaede and Bae Subin a question.
"But if monsters have already noticed our existence... how would the monsters act?"
"Hmm..."
"Why are you asking that? I really don't understand."
"We have to consider the worst case scenario too. This is Uijeongbu where we don't know what will happen."
""""...."""
Would Baek Myeonsang really let them go like this?
Eunha thought there was absolutely no way.
For monsters, players would be appetizing prey.
He won't just sit by sucking his thumb.
So Eunha decided to prepare to some extent.
On the other hand, Bae Subin, who still didn't know about Baek Myeonsang, grumbled saying he was just spouting nonsense she couldn't understand.
Nevertheless, she also looked at the map and fell into thought following Kaede.
At that time, the answer came from elsewhere.
"If I were a monster, I think I'd aim for when we let our guard down."
Han Changjin said his thoughts with a serious face.
Eunha and the party members raised their heads.
Eunha gave him a look as if telling him to say more.
Then Han Changjin spoke shyly, unlike before.
"It's the same when ambushing. There's no gain in ambushing when the enemy is on guard. Well, because the enemy will be prepared too."
""""...."""
"So the key to ambushing is to aim for when the enemy's guard is down. If we assume the monsters are intelligent, I think they'll wait until we let our guard down."
It was a reasonable point.
Eunha and the party members all agreed.
Meanwhile, Jin Parang expressed curiosity.
"Then when is it that we let our guard down?"
"Well... I think it's when..."
"It would be when our objective is accomplished."
Kaede, who had been lost in thought until then, cut off Han Changjin's words.
Han Changjin nodded with a dejected smile.
"When our objective is accomplished..."
Eunha softly muttered the words Kaede had spoken.
There was something that struck him.
If they were to launch a surprise attack─.
"─They'll ambush us here at the Arts Center, where we'll obtain the cocoon."
""""...."""
Bae Subin pointed at the Arts Center on the map.
The party members responded to her observation with heavy silence.
Everyone seemed lost in thought.
Eunha gave a bitter smile.
That's good.
This way they won't let their guard down.
There was a big difference between him just saying it and the party members realizing it by thinking for themselves.
By guiding questions like this, they wouldn't let go of their tension even when they reached the Arts Center.
Surely, even at the moment they discover the cocoon, today's conversation won't be forgotten.
As for the Blaze Clan... I can't tell them because what they're thinking shows on their faces. That might alert Baek Myeonsang.
Priscis Memory... That person will do well without needing to be told.
Eunha looked at his friends who were considering the worst-case scenario.
Leaving them to continue pondering.
Eunha infused mana into the skill stone he took out of his holster.
Whoosh
The skill stone that now fit in one hand.
When he infused mana, the skill stone shone and the providence seeped into his body.
Soon after─.
─It's done.
I've finally embodied it.
The skill stone in his hand disappeared.
The providence that flowed into his body gave Eunha a new realization.
Eunha raised the corners of his mouth.