Chapter 25: Two Options
*
Gang-ho continued to generate a protective barrier without any special attacks, layering it over himself.
Pah!
Whoosh!
He moved minimally, creating a small circle as he spun around.
Grrraack!
Hiss!
Crash!
As expected, the horde of undead zombies closed in on Gang-ho, and their attack power was not much different from the zombies he had encountered underground.
‘But they have some intelligence; they try to form ranks, and they come up with ways to outmaneuver me.’
Of course, for Gang-ho, who had grown significantly stronger now, the zombies were no longer a threat. Thus, without any real danger, he could lead the entire horde to follow him as per his plan.
While spinning around and buying time, their numbers had dwindled considerably.
‘Their lethality is even better than I expected.’
Satoshi, maintaining his stealth, was able to attack too. This was thanks to his ninja trait, “Surprise Attack.” However, his attack power was bound to be weak.
He had to concentrate on hiding his presence, so it was an unavoidable disappointment.
That had been the case until now.
[Special Skills]: Stealth, Throwing Techniques. (New) Critical Strike.
Perhaps due to the newly added Critical Strike to his special skills, he could now achieve what people termed a “one-shot kill.” Therefore, despite his relative weakness compared to his agility, he had achieved a sufficient balance to take down these monsters.
In other words, the new skill combined perfectly with his stealth, and he was showing enough potential as a damage dealer.
Swipe.
Thump.
Thud.
Silently, one by one, they fell.
‘At this rate, I could be called an assassin without a doubt.’
Ultimately, the number of undead surrounding Gang-ho had decreased by almost half, leaving fewer than twenty.
Gang-ho stopped moving. He crouched slightly, fending off enemy attacks while raising his voice.
“Electromagnetic release. Thunder-Quake!”
It wasn’t quite like a wizard casting a spell, and he felt a bit cheesy saying it. However, it served as a signal for Satoshi.
Stay back.
Crackle!
Zing!
In an instant, the discharge barrier surrounding Gang-ho vanished, replaced by a strong spark of electricity. Its intensity quickly amplified and surged through his feet into the ground.
Zzzap!
Then came the roar.
Graaah!
Hisssss!
The zombies all raised their heads and, as if raising their arms in triumph, started flailing their limbs wildly.
Pah!
Crackling!
Gang-ho, still in a semi-crouched stance, exhaled sharply and stood straight.
Huff!
At that moment, Satoshi’s figure materialized in the distance.
Slither.
Gang-ho met his gaze and nodded, and Satoshi returned the greeting. There was a hint of excitement and exhilaration in his expression.
‘Hope this was a good experience for him.’
As Gang-ho looked around, contemplating how to handle the scene, Satoshi kicked up some black dirt with his foot and remarked.
“By the way, there’s a weird smell coming from this ground. It doesn’t feel right at all.”
Turning to Satoshi, Gang-ho replied.
“Oh, I forgot to mention. This is land of the dead.”
“What? Land of the dead? Does that even exist?”
“Where the undead tread, that’s the land of the dead. They call it Blight.”
In fact, this was the first time Gang-ho had heard that term. Though he had seen something similar in the Disaster Manual.
[Blight]: A cursed land marked by the ashes of those who died with vengeance, darkened and altered by the blood that was spilled. A type of area created from the death energy that undead emit.
[Features]: Absorbs life force. Plants wilt, and birds die upon resting. The absorbed life force expands its territory.
“Ugh, you should have told me sooner! My life force!”
After hearing the explanation, Satoshi grimaced and awkwardly scrambled away from the dark earth.
His somewhat comical actions made Gang-ho chuckle.
‘He’s a different person when it’s not a battle.’
After that, the two completely destroyed the site that had seemed like a construction zone. They filled in the dug-up areas with dirt from around, burned the erected wooden posts, and cleared away the gathered piles of stones.
“Wow, you can use that superconducting power for heavy lifting too, huh?”
Satoshi was astonished as he watched Gang-ho effortlessly handle the cleanup with his superconductive abilities. Given his lack of scientific baseline knowledge, it was a rather simplistic admiration.
‘Wait, maybe he’s just happy I’m doing all the work and is trying to crack a joke.’
Gang-ho took a moment to gather his thoughts as he surveyed the area he had cleaned up. In reality, he had been contemplating two choices. Either to ignore the undead and return or to deal with them and destroy the site.
He chose the latter primarily because of the Lich. It was a kind of provocation to keep its attention on him for a while.
‘Hopefully, everything goes according to my plan.’
*
After completing their patrol, Gang-ho and Satoshi returned. However, for some reason, Lisa and Reina were awake.
‘I was worried about their hangovers, but they’re already up?’
They looked far too composed, to be honest.
Feeling Gang-ho’s confusion, Reina spoke up without being asked.
“Gang-ho, you haven’t drunk since you got your powers, right?”
“Um, probably.”
“You’ll understand once you try it.”
Reina’s cryptic remark was followed by Lisa’s addition.
“The alcohol breaks down really quickly. Both for me and Reina.”
“Oh.”
No further explanation was needed. It was clear now.
Gang-ho thought it might actually be for the best. He immediately explained what he had witnessed and experienced during the patrol.
The first to react was Lisa.
“So, the Lich keeps turning people into undead to gather workers?”
“Even if that’s not the sole reason, it could definitely be one aspect.”
Reina nodded in agreement. Inder remained silent with a serious expression.
“What do you think, Doctor?”
Finally opening his mouth, he said, “It’s more serious than I thought. It’s only been a month since the dimensional portal opened, and they are already preparing a base.”
His related knowledge and information gave credence to his worries. Gang-ho wanted to hear more of his thoughts.
“Do you think their movements are fast?”
“I believe so.”
He explained with an example.
Several years ago, there was an incident that directly led to the disbanding of NASA in the United States. The complete destruction of the Mars base and the disappearance of all personnel there was something else.
“They took political responsibility for it and disbanded, but in reality, they are still conducting research and exploration under the radar.”
“Really?! Wow, I can’t believe I was fooled so easily.”
Lisa was genuinely surprised, as if she had never suspected it before. Reina looked equally taken aback, hearing about it for the first time.
“I figured you knew about it.”
“Yeah.”
As Inder had said, Gang-ho learned about it through the updated version of the Disaster Manual. The new edition contained information about major organizations and groups worldwide.
‘This would probably be a great help in gathering and organizing strength to unite forces.’
Though that was a concern for the future, Gang-ho thought along those lines.
Inder continued his explanation.
“I’ve seen unofficial documents. An internal report marked as confidential stated that although the cause was said to be unknown, there actually was a small dimensional portal there.”
“…….!”
This was news even to Gang-ho, causing him to perk up his ears.
“There was an attack, and NASA concluded that it was a planned invasion rather than an accident.”
He added that it was a judgment made after sufficient investigation. Surprise after surprise filled the room.
Curiosity got the better of Gang-ho, and he asked, “Were they undead?”
Inder quietly made a humming sound.
“Hmm. It wasn’t mentioned in the report, but judging by the surface observations of Mars, which is no longer red…”
“Oh, it’s gray, no, black!”
Reina exclaimed, her voice rising in astonishment. It seemed she had seen it herself.
The thought of the land of the dead, Blight, crossed everyone’s mind, including Gang-ho.
After a brief silence, Inder continued. “The reason I mentioned that incident…”
Was that the purpose of the invasion was not merely plunder but to seize Mars itself. Inder explained that they had planned to capture it and yet had not turned it into a base even then.
“How many years ago was that? And now they’re trying to create a base here in just a month—how concerning.”
“……”
Gang-ho fell silent for a moment. His thoughts began to spiral. The possibilities and scenarios that he could consider seemed to have increased dramatically.
In this moment of reflection, Inder asked, “What are you thinking?”
Everyone’s gaze was fixed on Gang-ho. Curiosity and anticipation shimmered in their eyes.
Huff.
Taking a short breath, Gang-ho spoke calmly.
“I have two options.”
One was an immediate urgent goal. To go to a large city before the Lich and prevent mass slaughter.
Not only was it a problem if innocent civilians were murdered, but their deaths would also lead to an increase in the invaders’ forces.
The second was a long-term goal of consolidating and expanding their allies.
“As you hinted earlier, we five aren’t enough to stop them. Moreover, there are seven open dimensional portals.”
Thus, he thought they must also secure and establish a base of their own. And his plan was to find more people with abilities like his, to gather allies and organize them.
“Of course, I know it won’t be easy. But what choice do we have?”
At Gang-ho’s words, Inder nodded silently. Satoshi looked at him with a sense of awe.
“Gang-ho, I’ll help you. Just tell me what you need.”
Reina’s eyes sparkled with determination. Lisa looked at Gang-ho with a gaze full of affection, and rather than getting overly excited, she calmly expressed her encouragement.
“Right. We still don’t even know why the world has become so desolate. Let’s tackle it one step at a time.”
From their glances and voices, Gang-ho could deeply feel their warm support. In truth, he already knew this in his heart without needing to say it.
‘So we are comrades, aren’t we? You are now my allies.’
As he soothed his grateful and regretful feelings, he shifted the atmosphere by bringing up their schedule for the next day.
“Okay, we should arrive in Pyongyang tomorrow. As always, I ask for your cooperation.”
*
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