Chapter 114. Cry Out, Metal Spirit (1)

Jiaaaangah! Kyaaaang! Chwaaang! Tuuuuut!

It raged.

What was called harmony.

It charged.

The soul of the Metal Spirit.

It poured out.

A merciless 180-decibel storm of tempest.

Chwang! Toong-toong-tung! Jiaaang! Kkiiiing! Wowyeee—!

It shook.

Everyone's pupils.

They burst.

The eardrums of the farming corps members.

They shot out.

Fountains of blood from their earholes.

...Pwoosh!

Artanis's chains, possessed by the drum beats, hammered the earth, while Largo's bass guitar rumbled their stomachs, Veloce's electric guitar riffs squeezed their eardrums, and Andante's synthesizer dug into their frontal lobes with its sharp tones.

Kim Jangcheol, who unwittingly received the unexpected noise pollution—no, the storm of noise and shockwaves—head-on, thought to himself.

'...What was... sound, again...?'

He couldn't remember.

He couldn't even feel it.

Was it because his eardrums had already blown out?

Because tiny fountains of blood were spurting out from his ears?

Or was it because he had been lifted off his feet by the shockwave created by the sound waves, and was now tumbling and flying for about 30 meters like a balloon doll hit by a typhoon?

He didn't know.

'Wait, they said the performance might be a bit rough... was it this kind of rough?'

This wasn't just rough.

This was a sonic attack, a tactical weapon.

Moreover…

'What? This crap... is supposed to be a healing song?'

Healing?

Heaaaling?

...Tugukk!

Kim Jangcheol barely landed. Even then, his feet dug long trenches into the ground as he slid back for at least five meters.

"Stoopp...!"

He shouted.

At Artanis and the three loyal followers.

At the otherworldly metal band causing this absurd sonic explosion—no, this act of terrorism.

To stop.

To pause the performance for a moment.

That he thought he might have lost his hearing because of them. That maybe they needed to have a serious conversation. About each other's musical tastes, or maybe even redefine what "music" means.

He shouted.

But his shout didn't reach them.

The overwhelming sound pouring from their instruments crushed and drowned out his desperate voice.

Like a lone shaman's candle hopelessly flickering in front of a nuclear bomb.

"...Kweeegh!"

Opening his mouth to shout, to convey his will, came at a terrible price.

Right then, a shockwave of sound rushed into his wide-open mouth. His front teeth and canines resonated at 2080 hertz with the sound waves. His hair stood up from the roots, doing a seven-star eel's ascension dance.

The sound waves entered his throat, high-fived his stomach, duodenum, small intestine, and appendix, passed through his large intestine and rectum, and then, bestowing a seven-octave emotional experience, burst through his unsealed sphincter.

"...Ugh!"

Have you ever had your internal organs forcibly opened by sound waves?

If someone asked him this, from now on he could proudly say, yes.

Yes, I have.

'...That's not the point!'

Finally, a surge of crisis awareness flooded his entire body. Reality finally hit him.

This wasn't a joke.

No, this wasn't even a performance.

This was a full-blown natural disaster!

'Is everyone... okay?'

What about the Four Heavenly Kings?

What about the farming corps members?

He started to worry.

He turned his head to look.

As expected.

Everyone visible within his sight had collapsed with pale faces. Even the fallen ones had blood fountains spurting out from their ears at the peak of fortissimo.

"..."

Ah.

Concerning the mass ascension of the demons' eardrums from the abandoned land to the next world.

'At this rate... the kids will all be carted off before we can even treat the corn, huh?'

This was already a crisis.

Not just for him, but for everyone's hearing.

'My eardrums... must have blown out.'

That seemed to be the case.

Which is why he wasn't hearing through his ears, but rather sensing the sound with the soles of his feet touching the ground.

And then it happened.

Jiaaaang Aaang o—!

The moment Veloce's electric guitar burst into a high-pitched sound wave. The fountains of blood spurting from the eardrums suddenly stopped.

...Ppop!

As if someone had stuffed tissue rolls into his earholes. Or as if the platelets inside his body, driven by sudden duty, had woken up and started working overtime.

'Huh?'

The bleeding stopped.

No more blood from his eardrums.

At first, he thought it was just a coincidence.

But... it wasn't.

Little by little.

Gradually.

He started to hear sounds again!

Kwaooong! Kyaangah! Jaga-jang-jang! Jigeejingjing!

"......Kweeegh!"

And then, once more.

Pyoop!

As soon as he resurrected, he greeted(?) the Metal Spirit and sprayed a modest fountain of blood into the air, dying again through his eardrums!

"..."

Was this... for real?

The moment he thought that, the bleeding stopped again.

His eardrums began healing, as if they were chanting "Maktecasol" while new flesh formed... only to burst once more!

Pyuup!

"...Uhh!"

Now he understood.

Artanis and the three loyal followers' performance—while destructive—definitely had some healing effect. That's why the ruptured eardrums kept getting freshly restored.

Of course, the problem was that no matter how much they healed, the catastrophic sound waves would blow them out again.

"..."

If this kept up, it felt like his mental state would pop and burst along with it.

It seemed the others were in similar states.

"Baal can't hear anything! Ahh, a quiet and peaceful world!"

...so said Baal, smiling with an empty expression. However, tears were endlessly streaming down from his eyes.

The other Four Heavenly Kings were in no better condition.

Asurat had drawn his saw blade as if he would charge at Artanis and his group at any moment. Hartok was trying to stop Asurat, while Sirgi was frowning and blocking Tbong's ears.

The Third Star Master looked ready to molt on the spot, and Zephyros...

'...He has already fainted.'

The rest of the farming corps were also in chaos.

Some were laughing like madmen, some were attempting performance art by spraying beautiful drops of blood from their ears into the air, and others were desperately digging into the dirt to block their earholes.

"......"

At this rate, today, we might really face annihilation.

No, seriously, this apocalyptic performance—was it truly having any healing effect on the corn and crops?

A profound doubt gnawed at him.

Thus.

Amidst the auditory armageddon of rupturing and recovering eardrums, he staggered forward. Then, he glared at the corn in the cornfield.

For 200 seconds.

Straining not to blink.

Ding...dong!

Around the time his eardrums had burst and healed about five times, a welcome notification rang out, striking his frontal lobe along with the sixth bursting of his eardrum.

[Bloodshot Eyes (Lv.1) skill is activated.]

[Observation Target: Corn #717]

[You have perceived the current state of 'Corn #717' and the factors that will change over the next 6 hours.]

Barely, success.

Kim Jangcheol eagerly read the following result message.

['Corn #717' that you observed is currently infected with the fungal pathogen causing corn gray leaf spot. Its mitochondrial structures were being destroyed within the cells... but, it was exposed to a mysterious and powerful healing sound wave from outside. Thanks to this, 'Corn #717' is now extremely excited, and its sympathetic nerves are soaring upward as if drawing a bullish curve.]

[For the next 6 hours, this corn will enjoy enhanced immunity following the dramatic rise of its sympathetic nerves. Furthermore, this experience will grant 'Corn #717' strong resistance against fungal infections.]

"......."

There was.

There was an effect.

Which meant Artanis's group's performance must not be stopped.

"Everyone!"

If the performance could not be stopped?

If they had to continue enduring this apocalyptic sonic storm?

"Run! Far away! Evacuate!"

Kim Jangcheol shoved the backs of the Four Heavenly Kings. He solemnly commanded the farming corps members whose eardrums were bursting again and again.

One of the farming corps members, who happened to hear the command just as his eardrum recovered, asked back.

"Huh? Demon King! You say to run! But where should we gooo!"

"To the cliff! Down below! Get down! Stay hidden until this performance ends!"

"...Then, what about you, Demon King!"

The farming corps members, who heard him amidst the torment that made them seem like they would faint, asked back.

Kim Jangcheol shouted.

"I will! Stay here!"

"Huh? But why...?!"

"Because someone has to stay! To monitor the corn's recovery!"

"...!"

He shouted with all sincerity.

It was truly the truth.

Someone had to stay behind and take care of the corn. To observe what effects the relentless performance of Metal Spirit would have on the corn, to constantly watch and detect any changes.

Thus, he stayed.

Honestly, he wanted to run away.

He desperately wanted to stop listening to this horrible performance even for just one second.

But there was no choice.

'If not me... there's no one else who can properly monitor the corn.'

So he shouted that he would stay.

And that shout seemed to have created a certain resonance(?) in the hearts of the farming corps members.

"...The Demon King... such... kuhk!"

"I will stay too, Demon King!"

"Yes! We don't want to run away cowardly, either!"

"The Demon King is personally sacrificing himself... we don't want to survive pathetically alone!"

"That's right! We can't place such a burden solely on the Demon King!"

"......"

Honestly, it would be better if they wiped the blood spurting from their ears first before saying such things.

But he couldn't bring himself to stop them.

Because of the unnecessarily solemn looks in their eyes. Because he could feel their sincerity. In the end, he foolishly shouted along with them.

"...You stupid fools! Are you really serious!"

"Of course we're serious!"

"But why!"

"Because! We can... be with the Demon King!"

Blazing loyalty! Passion!

We may not have been born on the same day!

But our eardrums can burst on the same day!

Pop!

Every time an eardrum burst, everyone's resolve hardened. Their unity grew stronger.

Thus, everyone endured the sonic storm together.

One day, two days, three days.

They used a group glitch technique.

Burying their bodies and ears completely underground, leaving only their noses and mouths aboveground, they tried to endure. Of course, they failed. Because the sonic waves—or rather, the seismic waves—traveled through the ground and made them feel like they were being tied up and rolled around.

"...Tch! Is it a failure!"

But it didn't matter.

"If you can't avoid it... enjoy it!"

Spurting fountains of blood from their earholes, they struck a ready pose. Understanding his intent, the Four Heavenly Kings and farming corps members formed orderly ranks and struck the same pose.

Thus began the official farming corps group exercise!

They surrendered their bodies to the approaching 180-decibel storm. They put their souls into the apocalyptic Metal Spirit. They sublimated the pain of rupturing eardrums into headbanging.

Thus, four days, five days, six days passed.

And finally, a miraculous message appeared before their eyes.

Ding-dong!

It was the long-awaited, patiently endured, reward message for the corn's full recovery.

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