Somewhere on an island quite far from the Deoen Continent.
Kia-a-a-aak!!
Kia-a-a!!
“First! Dodge and think!”
“Get inside the house! You can’t enter the designated safe zone!”
“Wah, what the heck is that bird…?”
The ‘Cheongbaek’ Guild, a mid-sized guild with an average level of around 100, was flabbergasted by the flock of birds filling the sky.
Normally, this would be the time to participate in a siege war, but the Cheongbaek Guild was well aware of their situation.
‘Destined to be tormented by a guild that merely flies around.’
In that case, it was better to do a ‘hidden quest’ that guaranteed certain growth.
The guild master of Cheongbaek, armed to the teeth, arrived on this ‘Island of Plagues’ with 15 high-level guild members.
The Island of Plagues had about ten large and small islands surrounding the central island.
The goal of the hidden quest was to investigate the source of the foul ‘plague’ and ‘blight’ spreading across the island.
Investigating wasn’t particularly difficult, and they figured out the cause of the situation just a day after arriving on the island.
Kia-a-a-a!!
“These birds are really insane…”
“Are they eating corpses?”
“Eww…”
It’s birds.
They’re larger than average hawks but resemble crows in appearance.
The black flock staining the sky with darkness was turning the central island and nearby small islands into graves.
Their combat power was around level 80-90, so even the slightly lower-level guild members could take them on.
Once they realized that the birds were the main culprits of the plague, they banded together and took down over 100 birds.
Kia-a-a-a!!
“You can kill them endlessly.”
“……”
The problem was that merely taking down 100 birds didn’t even make a dent in the flock.
The guild master, Cheongcheong, sighed while huddled in the green-glowing safe zone.
Cheongcheong now had only 7 guild members left.
The remaining 8 members were dead due to the flock, unable to return to this place.
During the hidden quest, entry to the island was restricted.
This meant that everyone inside couldn’t come back unless they succeeded or abandoned the quest.
Cheongcheong’s hand pointed towards the flock of birds outside the window.
“That bird is harmful.”
“I know.”
“I was making a joke…”
“Is this really the time for jokes?”
“……”
“What do we do, Guild Master? Five have already died. Should we just charge in, die, and retry?”
“Hey, what’s the death penalty? If I die here, I’ll lose levels!”
One of the guild members crouching in the house snapped as a woman stood up, agitated.
She was the vice guild master, possessing strong abilities and levels just below Cheongcheong.
“…Tsk! If the flock wasn’t so dense, we’d have a chance!”
If the problem is that even she can only catch dozens of birds, that’s an issue.
With that much effort, they couldn’t even scratch the surface of the seemingly endless army of birds.
The vice-guild master sighed and looked at Cheongcheong, who was deep in thought.
“Hey.”
“Uh, uh?”
“What are you going to do? It seems like catching those birds is reaching its limit. Don’t you think there are more of them now than on the first day?”
“…They’re harmful birds.”
“Stop talking nonsense. Are you just going to give up? If you’re going to quit, just say it. I’ll open the road as much as I can.”
“……”
Cheongcheong pondered.
They had invested quite a lot into this hidden quest.
They had spent expensive elixirs and various items, and even managed to borrow a ‘Mythical’ equipment from an older brother who knew about it with great difficulty.
If they gave up now, the loss would be huge.
Above all, if they gave up on a quest that wasn’t ‘death’, they would never be able to participate in this island’s hidden quest again.
‘That can’t happen!’
“…No matter how I think about it, ending it here doesn’t make sense. Everyone knows how much we’ve spent here. It’s seriously outrageous.”
“That’s… true.”
“That’s right! We’ve almost broken a thousand units, and now you want to just…!”
“So what do we do? Just die and regroup for a retry?”
“……”
There had to be a way to clear the hidden quest.
‘The purpose of the hidden quest is to find the cause of the plague and poor crops. There must be a reason for the quest not to clear, despite knowing that the flock of birds is the culprit.’
Is it simply because they haven’t exterminated the flock?
That seems a bit odd.
No matter how much Deoen is known as a balance-breaking game, it’s nearly impossible for a mere guild to take down thousands or tens of thousands of birds at levels 80 to 90.
Well, if it were someone insane like Leo, the Sword Saint, or Lily, known as the transcendent ones, it might be possible, but for a regular user, it was impossible.
“Everyone, pull it out.”
“Huh? What?”
“There must be something you investigated. The island maps.”
Before Cheongcheong lay a total of 11 island maps.
As he connected the maps, he soon discovered an artificial continuity.
“Wait.”
“They all look similar… why?”
“Here. Doesn’t this look like a circle?”
The place where the flock of birds was mainly gathered.
When he connected the irregular clusters of black spots, they formed a round shape.
And at the center of that circle.
“Something is here.”
“…Like a main body?”
“That could be it.”
The important thing is that they needed to go there.
After some time passed, Cheongcheong and the guild members dashed to that location when the flock of birds disappeared.
Unlike their expectations that the flock would swarm as they approached the center, it was surprisingly calm.
Isn’t it common sense that there are more subordinates the closer you get to the main body?
It was a bit suspicious, but they thought good things are good and kept running.
And in the middle of it all…
“Here, it is!”
The lord of the birds with strange eyes was looking down at them.
Caw caw caw…!
[The End of the World Bird, the Plague Bird is looking at you.]
[Restore or eliminate the three pillars to weaken the Plague Bird.]
[LV. 180]
“1, 180?”
“180? Isn’t that Kraken-level World Boss?”
“How are we supposed to take this down!!!”
“Let’s just die and call in mercenaries…”
The guild members were thrown into chaos.
Even if it’s a hidden quest, does it really make sense to defeat a level 180 boss?
As everyone was in a panic, the only one to regain composure was the Guild Master, Cheongcheong, who gathered everyone’s attention.
“Wait! Everyone, read the message properly.”
“Huh?”
“It says to restore the pillars for weakening. That must be it.”
Three black monoliths spread out around the Plague Bird.
They looked completely ruined and rusty, but according to the system, maybe they could be restored.
Cheongcheong took out the ‘Useful Stones from Somewhere’ that she had previously collected from her guild members.
To the untrained eye, they looked like ordinary rocks, but one user, a dog beastman from a hidden race, recognized the stones’ uniqueness.
Upon hearing the report from the beastman, Cheongcheong instructed everyone to gather all similar stones.
Even in the middle of battle, they risked dying while picking up rocks, and half the guild members had actually died, but if this worked…
Clank…!
“It fits, perfectly.”
“Really? Hey! Bring everything you have over there!”
“Yes!”
The guild members began bringing the stones lying on the ground closer to the monoliths.
Like magnets, the pieces stuck right away.
Fortunately, the Plague Bird only stared ferociously and didn’t seem to attack for now.
Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank…
“One piece is missing, Guild Master.”
“What? No one? Check all the inventories!”
“Uh-oh…”
The guild members meticulously examined their inventories, but no stones appeared.
Searching the surrounding area yielded the same result.
The Vice Guild Master shook out her pocket, ruffled her hair, and asked Cheongcheong.
“What should we do? Should we go out a bit further to find one?”
“…We’ve searched this island completely. To find it, we’ll have to go to the outer islands.”
“We still have to find it. It’s dangerous, but if we go quickly with Gangju…”
“Huh?”
“?”
Clank.
[All three pillars have been restored.]
[The ability of the Plague Bird will be greatly weakened.]
[LV 180 ▶ LV 150]
“D-Did it work?”
“What? There was one more? Who put it in?”
“Not me!”
“Huh?”
Cheongcheong’s eyes widened.
There was clearly no one near the monoliths.
Only herself, and behind her were Vice Guild Master and the dog beastman, Gangju, but they had no stones in their hands.
“Suddenly… a rock flew out of nowhere and hit me.”
Unexplained assistance.
Cheongcheong’s mind was in turmoil, but one thing was clear: there was something that needed immediate action.
Kyaaaah!!!
[Eliminate or neutralize the Plague Monster Bird.]
“Damn it! Just kill it! Use everything we’ve got!”
“Got it!”
“Let’s have some chicken!”
“This damn bird… Kraaak!!”
Flap!
With a single flap of the Plague Monster Bird’s wings, the three guild members who had been leading the charge lost their lives.
And yet, the bizarre situation remained where the Plague Monster Bird looked entirely unscathed.
‘Is it still that strong even after being weakened?’
Cheongcheong gritted his teeth.
He had to somehow make up for the sacrifices of his guild members and cast his technique at the cost of his own stats.
Bulgilma and Gangju, right behind him, didn’t hold back either.
And then…
“Dieeee… Huh?”
“Huh?”
“???”
It vanished.
The Plague Monster Bird had disappeared without a trace.
There was definitely a hit, but the bird’s figure had completely vanished.
Bulgilma gasped and shouted irritably, “What, what is going on? Is it teleporting?”
“No…”
“Damn it! I already used my ultimate and all my cooldown buffs on it, why now…!”
“No!”
[You have defeated the Plague Monster Bird.]
[You have cleared the Hidden Quest – ‘Bird of the End of the World’.]
Cleared.
They had caught the Plague Monster Bird and completed the quest.
“What on earth just happened…”
■
Caw!
“What just happened?!”
Kyaaaah! Kyaaaah!!
“Why are you getting mad when we’re in the same situation? You know, right? That we can only move in relation to the ‘user’ like this.”
Kyaaaaah!!!
“Hmm? Is that so? That sounds kinda fun.”
In the sky above the Plague Monster Bird’s island, the Black Lily looked down at the small crow in her hand and smiled, making the people below look like ants.
Beside her sat a small girl with red eyes, using a big rock as a chair.
Blodia and Iron Devourer.
All monsters brought along after contact with ‘Lily.’
The Black Lily smiled joyfully at another monster in her grasp.
“It’s time to start preparing. That day will be here soon.”
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