Chapter 33. 23:59:15 (1)
“Yumil. How’s the ocean?”
“It’s blue.”
“Well, that’s obvious.”
Yumil dashed across the ocean beside me. After gulping down saltwater a few times, she seemed to have gotten used to it, so much so that she wasn’t sinking even when I was talking to her.
“It’s humid and my body is itchy. I want to jump into the water.”
“We’re already in the water.”
“You do know that it’s because of that water that I’m like this, right?”
Her reply dripped with sarcasm, a bit prickly in tone.
She’s unexpectedly amusing. The way she asked to be killed yesterday feels like a lie now.
She’s cold to me, but there’s a childlike innocence that shines through in her actions.
Even now, when I’m not looking, she’s gazing at a school of fish with sparkling eyes.
Maybe it’s because she only exists in knowledge and has never experienced it.
I thought to myself that she’d probably get along well with my students, and started swinging my legs.
The sky, the blue sea.
The countless trash scattered here and there, the boats floating on the surface, the green islands.
It’s not a bad sight.
Sometimes, it wouldn’t be so bad to lose myself in solitude in such a serene place.
Should I catch some fish as a gift and head back?
While I was enjoying my relaxed holiday with such light thoughts,
whiiirrr
An unnatural noise echoed in my ears.
It was the long-lost sensation of communication magic.
If there was someone who could use communication magic, it could only be one person.
“What’s up? Unho. What’s the matter?”
“Where are you right now?!”
Unho’s loud voice exploded right next to my eardrum.
Could you be a bit quieter? What’s all this ruckus?
“I’m on my way home from the Pacific Ocean.”
“Why there… No, it doesn’t really matter. Release all limits as fast as you can! Otherwise… zzzt!”
Noise in communication magic?
Is it mana interference at a time like this? Who on earth? What are they thinking?
“Unho? Unho?”
Unable to use communication magic, I called out my ally’s name, hoping that Unho’s communication would come through again.
But the answer didn’t return.
A sense of foreboding washed over me.
“Yumil. Prepare for battle.”
And even before Yumil could react to my words, a new voice rang out.
(Official Designation Issued)
My head spun.
It was the voice of destruction I hadn’t heard in years.
A voice different from the calm information relayed by the Otherworld Advisory Committee, sounding urgent as if everything was going to end.
The physical manifestation of destruction echoed in the ears of every hero within the designated area.
Official Designation.
By itself, it’s not an issue.
Many know Official Designation as the appearance of a 0-Rank entity, but that’s not exactly true.
It is issued as soon as a hero reaches a level where they cannot cope with the enemies in the story.
That’s why in the past, Official Designations were issued endlessly.
Heroes died, heroes fell to corruption, heroes were lacking in power.
The Association decided to view Official Designations differently. Not a warning issued due to urgency, but as a warning issued when it becomes impossible for a hero to single-handedly end the story.
The Association made it their top priority to eliminate Official Designations.
To ensure all heroes somehow finish the stories, so Official Designations wouldn’t be issued.
Heroes passed on their know-how to the new heroes.
They formed dedicated teams to rescue the new heroes.
They reduced the enemy numbers to a level that wouldn’t create gaps through Free Extermination.
They adjusted society’s view of heroes.
They investigated the mana density of the Otherworld globally and imposed methods to forcibly end stories from safe places.
Even with all their efforts, it ultimately led to the issuance of an Official Designation today.
The situation that the Association feared most — the invasion from the Otherworld had escalated again.
By now, the Association must have declared a state of emergency and issued mobilization orders to every hero within the designated area.
Any area at all.
I began to prepare to increase my speed towards the designated area.
I felt lucky to be out in the Pacific Ocean.
If the designated area was tight, I might not have received the Official Designation alert in time, delaying my rush.
If the Pacific Ocean, where countless areas overlap, I can dash to any place…
(Designated Area: The Entire Earth)
What?
Who? What kind of hero can create a story on a planetary scale?
(Adversary: Crimson Hammer – An impossible situation arises. This story is communicated to all. Exterminate the enemy. Survive.)
No,
This is a situation that shouldn’t have happened.
(I will send detailed information. Please survive.)
A flood of information poured in all at once, causing my head to ring.
As I endured the headache, I sifted through the minor details, extracting only the necessary information.
A leading entity penetrating solo.
A horde invasion.
The designated danger zone is the entire world.
Attack route is the sea.
That ^1-
ding dong
I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.
That word implies that even an enigmatic figure who issued the official alert couldn’t grasp all the enemy’s information.
Last time that word popped up, humanity lost the Atlantic Ocean.
I steeled myself.
bang
With a sound like a bursting water balloon, a column of water rose beneath me.
Now is not the time to be enjoying the sensation of floating on the ocean. I need to contact the Association as fast as I can and discuss countermeasures…
…It’s too late.
A chilling dread pierced my mind.
It’s been ten years.
The awful stench of rot. The sensation of concepts and common sense decaying.
They’re coming. My story’s enemies, beings that transcend physical force.
I once wished that if those who existed back then would come, it would be great, but…
I instantly realized that was arrogance. Ten years had erased even the fear of those entities from me.
They are definitely not weak beings.
Even non-command units were nightmares capable of wiping out humanity.
Their corruption and infiltration matched them as invaders, and now it was the command-level units emerging.
(The beings of the sea have a single life)
(The power crosses distances)
Multi-Otherworld Infiltration.
A black shadow emerged beneath me.
Instinct from countless battlefields warned me. That was the entity that had penetrated the sea for this invasion.
“Run, Yumil!”
She could not handle that existence.
The monster that had quietly followed me spoke in a mischievous voice.
“Run to Korea! Hide there and find the Danger Rifle! Hurry up and escape! You’ll die!”
I must hold onto at least one commander-level existence here. Even if I can’t defeat it, at least I need to halt it.
There is no branch of the Association here that can manage to stop such a being. So I must.
“I’m coming with you.”
She was holding a red hammer in her hand.
Maybe because she inherited everything from me, she must have figured out what I was planning to do.
But everything is lacking.
Experience, accumulated time, the blood that’s possessed.
“As Linshua’s father, run! Quickly!”
I can no longer hold back.
They’re coming.
clang
I command!
The hammer in my hand transformed at an incredible speed. Stake and afterburner. And an overwhelming size.
whoooosh
The afterburner screamed.
A massive pillar of flame erupted.
The hammer’s overwhelming shockwave spread outwards.
The heat swirled.
The surrounding seawater evaporated, leaving a sticky moisture of salt within my body.
The places touched by the heat hollowed out, and to recover that water level, the sea water rushed in.
Stronger. This isn’t enough.
Even with stakes burying countless enemies, my instincts warned me that it wasn’t sufficient.
clang
The hammer, as if it sensed my thoughts, pulled out numerous cylinders around the afterburner.
Devices meant to explode all the mana I’ve accumulated in a moment.
One main engine and secondary strikes for damage delivery after,
Tons of containers assembled together and transformed, like a rocket.
My hands trembled with overwhelming power.
But it cannot be launched just yet.
The best moment to wield it is when I can stop the being beneath me.
In an instant, all the cylinders rose, warning me of an overload.
That means I am concentrating my mana.
The shadow below me darkened further.
It’s rising.
The narrative I yearned for, the next chapter of the public monster.
“Die!”
A gigantic horn broke through the sea.
I swung down the hammer beneath it.
bang
The seawater met the hammer and vanished.
It scattered into thin air, dodging the shock as I moved sideways.
Thus, within the hollowed arena carved by the sea, the existence that had been hiding in the water revealed itself.
Covered in eyeballs. Gray-shelled.
With sharp horns that ran from head to tail, along with limbs and fins, a giant monster.
Its shape resembled a typical 0-Rank giant monster, but the lava-colored tentacles writhing between its shell indicated it was my story’s enemy.
I couldn’t tell if the monster and the tentacles were one body, parasites, or if the tentacles were the main body, but the writhing was undoubtedly my foe.
Numerous tentacles lunged at me, seeking out my existence threatening theirs.
But they were just tentacles.
The overwhelming physical force of the hammer crushed them as I moved forward.
However, my hammer wasn’t perfect either, and the surviving tentacles slid into my body.
It was hot.
These weren’t ordinary tentacles; the flesh near the punctured places melted away.
The tentacles twisted, forcing me to cease my attacks.
A tangible sensation. At least, I might be able to definitely immobilize this commanding level…
blub blub blurb
What the hell?
Water columns erupted around me.
A blood spout, mixed with seawater, rose into the ocean.
That deep red was beautiful, like a water magic show, but my eyes caught the chunks of flesh mixed in.
Could it be? Are all attacks being absorbed by the commander instead?
That’s when I realized my first attack had made a fatal mistake.
Too hasty.
Intense pain.
In an instant, the giant monster’s teeth tore into my abdomen.
The teeth that pierced through my body couldn’t be satisfied with just penetrating,
The hooks attached tore away my flesh.
A piercing wound. Internal damage.
Numerous eyes on the monster’s head stared back at me.
Inside those eyeballs, I could see countless other eyeballs.
The giant pupil was made up of numerous little eyeballs, each rolling in different directions.
However, this was all before I was pierced by the monster’s teeth.
The eyes within eyes, the eyeballs inside those looked at me.
Recognizing me as an adversary, an intelligence was sensed.
A loud horn blast resounded.
The one making it was the monster that had bitten me.
As its roar echoed out, declaring the start of war, I took my gaze off the eyeballs and turned toward Yumil’s location. My vision reached the edge where a black monster was racing across the sea.
Countless gray-shelled beings chased after her, but they weren’t fast enough to catch up.
She had turned away from the enemies and, following my orders, set her feet toward Korea.
That’s the right decision. A hero must be able to flee when it’s time to retreat.
I turned my gaze back to the monster.
Despite the attack, it was still my story’s existence.
Was it trying to finish me off?
I tightened my jaw.
“Get lost.”
I pressed the hammer back against the monster’s teeth, trying to deflect it.
The hooks sank into my palm, tearing at my flesh, but that was all.
I injected my power.
Releasing all limits, igniting forgotten sensations.
It’s a good thing I’m in the middle of the ocean.
No matter how much power I channel, there’s no presence to get caught up in.
The monster seemed to realize this opportunity wasn’t easy either; I could feel the overwhelming force it was pouring in to kill me.
“Pure power won’t defeat me, you little lizard!”
You can’t just tear through dimensions with sheer physical force.
bang
The shockwave radiated from my two empowered hands, forcing open the monster’s mouth.
An incomprehensible roar erupted. Was it pain, was it anger?
Doesn’t really matter to me.
I just need to take down my enemy.
swisssh swish
As I set my mind, my clothes tore automatically, wrapping around the wound.
Makeshift bandaging to stop the bleeding.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen this special ability. No wait, it’s been a while since I bled myself.
This bizarre ability presses the wounds down but has no healing effect.
Let’s see.
I was punctured in the abdomen, and various joints melted away, my flesh falling apart.
While I assessed my injuries, I glanced at my left hand, which was wrapped in white cloth and tied with a blue ribbon.
The bones that had already become exposed didn’t seem to need any gauze, but the visible claw bones stood out significantly.
Still, it was manageable.
How much time can I buy?
If only I could make contact with the Association, I could precisely gauge how long I’d have to endure, but since it’s an urgent situation, I need to hold this thing off by myself.
Let’s see.
In situations like this, what’s the maximum time stated in the Association’s basic guidelines for constructing a defensive line?
Was it 24 hours?
Just need to hold out for a day.
As I opened my right hand, I thought I might drop the hammer, so I hid my left hand in my bosom and pulled out a white spear and bit on it.
clack
“Round 2 begins.”
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