844
[Chapter 211]
[Seven Devils (4)]
It was difficult to expect support from players.
Jin Seo-na confirmed there was no hole to escape the department store while carrying her mother and running.
A terror of this scale has occurred.
They would have noticed the situation outside and sent reinforcements, but could they really break through all those monsters?
It's impossible.
The average rank of the monster swarm seemed to be about 6th rank overrank.
There were quite a few 5th and 4th rank monsters mixed in.
With such creatures filling the department store interior and blocking the way, it seemed it would take time for players to infiltrate.
"S-Someone help...!"
Crunch crunch!!
The situation was that dangerous.
Even she was barely managing to protect herself.
She turned her eyes away from the sight of a woman who came out from under a table to ask for her help getting eaten by monsters.
It's not a Caesar Hopper.
What on earth is that thing's identity?
She had to escape for now.
Jin Seo-na gritted her teeth.
The man following behind at a terrifying speed was truly terrifying.
She felt the presence persistently tracking her as she came down to the lower floor and moved her feet.
Fortunately, it seems less agile than a Caesar Hopper.
The one somewhat reassuring point was that the man currently chasing was slow.
Actually, it was ambiguous to say he was slow.
The man was clearly fast.
It's just that the man was distracted eating humans he saw while chasing.
It's fortunate his intelligence is low, but...
Ordinary attacks were useless. If caught by that guy, my limbs would be torn apart.
I don't know how many have died already.
And she was extending her life by sacrificing them.
It wasn't a particularly good feeling.
Guilt pricked at her chest.
But she had no choice, lacking the power to face the man.
Moreover─
"─S-Seo-na... Is that person still chasing us now?"
"...I've shaken him off for now, but he won't just quietly withdraw. Seems he's taken a liking to me."
"I-I see..."
Jin Seo-na was protecting her mother.
Her course of action was clear.
Protect herself as the top priority, then protect her mother.
Protecting the people being bitten by the locust swarms was the next priority.
...I guess I do feel some affection for this person after all.
In that sense, it was surprising that Jin Seo-na was protecting her mother even while fleeing to survive.
If she abandoned her mother and ran, she could break through the locust swarms and escape outside the department store.
But Jin Seo-na couldn't do that.
While avoiding the man's pursuit, she tried to save people she could save, and was trying to protect her mother.
She had no sense of justice.
What moved her was affection.
Or it could be called compassion.
Either way, she harbored a desire to absolutely not give up on her mother.
"Mom, listen carefully."
"...Huh? Seo-na, you just..."
"I was just able to contact the outside via telepathy and convey the current situation. But there's a limit to explaining the situation with information transmitted by telepathy. I don't have the leisure for that either. So I'd like mom to tell the players in detail about the culprit who caused this disaster when you meet them."
"Wh-What are you saying?"
"Players will soon make a hole in that wall over there. Temporarily, a way out will be created as a hole forms in the wall."
"Then shouldn't we escape together through there!?"
"I'm a player too, after all."
They came down to the children's clothing section.
A scene from hell was unfolding.
Parents were lying on the floor trying to protect their children.
Of course, most parents met their deaths with their backs exposed.
The children's cries were loud.
Jin Seo-na realized she couldn't run away anymore as she confirmed the number of people still alive.
It wasn't that her sense of justice raised its head, but that compassion sprouted in her who liked children.
"So please, mom."
"No, Seo-na! Together with...kyaa!!"
Jin Seo-na signaled the player she contacted outside via telepathy.
One, two, three.
The outer wall she targeted exploded.
As fragments from the outer wall scattered, the Hopper-type monsters were startled and moved away.
In that moment, she ran towards the hole and threw her mother whom she was carrying.
It was 5 floors high.
She was inwardly worried, but surely the player below would catch her well.
If not─
─Then I won't let it go.
She didn't want to admit it.
No, now she had to admit it.
The fact that she didn't have just one mother, but two.
Now Jin Seo-na glared at the monsters with her back to the hole.
"I just need to buy time until reinforcements enter inside."
Jin Seo-na told herself.
She was a telepath.
Often paired with navigators, she was knowledgeable about monsters.
She had faced Hopper-type monsters a few years ago too.
Of course, she knew well what attacks they were most vulnerable to.
Whoosh!!
Jin Seo-na raised flames.
Pandora Clan members now knew how to handle fire magic to some extent.
Their understanding of fire magic increased in the process of uniting their will with Eun-ha.
She manifested her mana and burned the flying creatures.
Of course, her flames were weak.
High-ranking monsters weren't fazed by her fire.
But that was fine.
Gift
Mode: Komorebi Kitsune
Jin Seo-na activated her gift.
Her body grew.
Her clan uniform transformed to match.
Jin Seo-na, whose tails increased to three, waved her hand.
The flames grew fiercer.
Whoosh!!
5th rank Komorebi Kitsune.
Jin Seo-na, whose monster factor strengthened, excelled at magic.
Especially in illusion magic and transformation magic, she showed excellence.
So the flames growing fiercer was just the beginning.
Polymorph
She activated transformation magic.
Her transformation magic allowed her to handle the power and providence of a target she knew well to some extent.
Of course, the power was greatly reduced.
I need to transform into someone who can overcome this situation.
Someone overwhelmingly strong with good compatibility against monsters.
Jin Seo-na concentrated.
There was no need to ponder.
From the start, the person she mainly transformed into was decided.
Now she could transform comfortably without even needing to concentrate.
A symbol that seems like it will never lose.
A strong person who seems able to overcome any crisis.
Someone who can be relied on anytime.
─Blast Cross
She transformed into Noh Eun-ha cloaked in flames and immediately swung her sword.
Though the power was nerfed, the sword strike burned the monsters.
"Fox... I wanted to eat..."
Around that time, he appeared.
Jin Seo-na made a hardened expression seeing the man wearing Caesar Hopper armor.
How long can I hold out?
Reinforcements need to come quickly...
☆
The terror that occurred in the subway.
All Son Ga-yeon could do was check the monsters while waiting for ordinary people to find a way up to the ground.
"It's done! Quickly run this way!"
"Player-nim, please come quickly too!"
Fortunately, people found an exit.
They climbed up trampling on piles of debris.
Son Ga-yeon faced the monsters with them behind her.
I'm no match alone.
Especially that person causing disturbances over there, I can't do anything.
There wasn't even time to reload bullets.
In the end, she was in a situation of making bullets with mana and pulling the trigger.
Snipers were vulnerable to close combat.
She learned gun kata, but couldn't expect much effect.
At best, she could push back monsters and create safe distance.
In that state, there was no way she could face the man on the opposite track.
"Lalala..."
「I'm fine. More importantly, Lala, you hurry up there too.」
"Lalala!"
She realized her role.
Her role was to guard the path so people could go up to the ground.
Son Ga-yeon, who was starting to feel quite strained, decided to send Lala up too.
But Lala shook her head vigorously and refused to leave her pocket.
Expressing her intention to go up together.
She gave up on persuading Lala.
He's not human.
There's no way a human could freely handle disturbances.
But he's not a monster either...
Meanwhile, Son Ga-yeon's thoughts turned to the man.
The man with dyed hair was creating disturbances with both hands and intensifying the chaos.
Players faced the man, but couldn't handle him.
It was then.
The man jumped up.
"...!!"
A hole opened in the ceiling.
The man went up to the floor above.
Son Ga-yeon was flustered seeing that.
Judging by the man's ability, he's trying to cause disturbances above.
No.
Just now, people went up there.
Surely the situation above is chaotic too.
Monsters must be appearing above too, feeding on people's anxiety.
If the man's ability is added to that, the upper floor would become hell.
I have to go up and stop him.
The players all noticed too.
They climbed up through the ceiling hole.
Son Ga-yeon sent the last remaining person up, then climbed to the upper floor.
Kyaaaaaaah!!
Kieeeeek!!
People scream and flee.
Monsters chase excitedly.
And the man was creating disturbances and producing monsters.
"This is chaos! Do you know how hard it's been for me hiding quietly all this time!?"
The man bursts into laughter.
Son Ga-yeon kicked the side of a monster chasing a fleeing woman.
Grrrr!
The monster recognized her as prey.
She struck it with her rifle, then shot the monster as it left the ground.
Leaving the disappearing monster behind, she drew the monsters' aggro to buy time for people to escape.
"...Ugh..."
Monsters came endlessly.
There was no way to overcome the situation unless the man was taken down.
But it was difficult to even approach the man.
It was then─
"─Mom!!"
"Be quiet! Stay hidden there with your mouth shut tight. I'll see you later."
"Mom, no! I want to go together!"
"You're good at hide and seek, right?"
"..."
A mother and child caught her eye.
The woman put the child into a fire hydrant cabinet, avoiding the monsters' gaze.
It was a wise method.
With monsters spread everywhere.
If she ran while urging a slow-footed child, or ran while carrying the child, both mother and child could lose their lives.
So confining the child in the fire hydrant cabinet was unexpectedly effective.
If they endured, reinforcements would come, and when they cleaned up the situation, the child would be safe.
Ga-yeon, you understand what mom's saying?
You must absolutely not make a sound.
But that triggered Son Ga-yeon's trauma.
Witnessing that scene, she couldn't take her eyes off the woman who was loudly luring monsters.
"...N...o..."
The woman overlapped with her mother.
The child confined in the fire hydrant cabinet reminded her of herself as a child.
And the monsters chasing that woman were the ones that devoured her parents─
"─No..."
When her thoughts reached that point.
Son Ga-yeon awakened herself as she was about to be consumed by trauma.
Her voice burst out.
Words came out intermittently.
Without even realizing she had spoken, she took a sniping posture.
Her eyes sharpened.
I don't want to be powerless like back then.
I'll kill them.
I'll eliminate all those monsters that harmed our parents.
Why did she become a player?
To kill monsters.
She became a player to not repeat the past of powerlessly hiding in a closet trembling.
Yet how could she blankly watch a situation similar to the past?
She absolutely didn't want to do that.
Gift
Heat Beam
To say goodbye to that past.
Son Ga-yeon pulled the trigger.
The moment she pulled the trigger, the trembling child in the closet was gone.
In her heart, the child vigorously jumped out of the closet and was shooting the monster trying to attack her mother.
─Whoosh!
Crunch!
Guns are good weapons.
Because they can put holes in the eyes of hated monsters.
Son Ga-yeon blew out the eyes of the creature that pounced on the woman.
The bullet that blew out one eye instantly blew out the opposite eye too, cutting off the monster's breath.
"Phew..."
"Lalala!"
「I'm fine, thank you.」
Without realizing she had unconsciously spoken.
Son Ga-yeon smiled at Lala's cheer from inside her pocket.
Soon she received the woman's eye greeting and walked to the fire hydrant cabinet.
She decided to protect the child inside the fire hydrant cabinet like her life.
To do that─
─I need to take down that person after all.
She had to kill the man causing disturbances and suppress the situation.
Son Ga-yeon shouldered her rifle, then aimed at the man overwhelming the players.
"Hm? What? You're going to shoot me? Yeah! Go ahead and try shooting! Ahahaha!!"
The man entered her scope.
The man noticed her gaze.
He was smiling.
He even pointed to his forehead with his finger, telling her to try shooting there.
Son Ga-yeon wasn't fooled by the psychological warfare.
She steadied her breathing.
Calmly loaded a bullet.
"Lalala♪"
Then, Lala sat on top of the rifle.
Her body emitted light.
────!!
Suddenly a pass connected with Lala.
Son Ga-yeon quickly accepted the changes occurring to her.
Starting from the rifle, part of her body is covered in machinery.
As she transforms into a form equipped with weapons, wings sprout from her back.
They were wings reminiscent of a butterfly.
Fairy Transformation
Machina Sniper
Lala was a unique familiar.
She would lend her power to clan members whose hearts connected with her.
Her power was reminiscent of fairies, and acted to transform players into forms matching their characteristics.
Son Ga-yeon, who became one of Lala's contractors, immediately sniped at the man.