110 – The Nymphs and Haildo of Darkness #2
This was a T-Rank Rift.
A remnant of evil in modern times, yet also an opportunity for instant riches, it was a world both cursed and sought after.
This rift, “T-771,” saw the appearance of numerous giant knights wielding colossal flaming swords, with a danger level so intense that only S-Rank Awakeneds could enter.
Gooooh-!
A giant knight of flame, its sword likely standing at least five meters in height, struck down with immense force.
“Hey! Ye-rim! Watch out! Wall of Ice!”
Chaaak-!
When Cha Yura extended her hand, a massive and thick ice wall formed from the ground.
An ice barrier as sturdy as a rebar of the same thickness managed to block the knight’s sword, but the impact fully struck Seo Ye-rim standing behind.
Kwaang-!
“Guuh-!?”
Seo Ye-rim was forcefully pushed backward.
The moment she fell onto the ground, she became infuriated by the abrasions and skin rips on her palms, and that anger transformed instantly into an unbearable blaze.
“Spirit of the Sword! Inferno of Hell!”
Hwaaaah-.
A blinding white light erupted around Seo Ye-rim.
The flame giants were subordinates of “The Land of Fire – Muspelheim.”
Ordinary flames would merely strengthen them, but Seo Ye-rim’s flames had grown much stronger recently through various experiences, surpassing red and blue to approach a white-hot intensity.
“Fi, Flames! How could I, the essence of fire, burn?! What nonsense… Aaah… Surtur… your knight Kénazjörm is… vanishing first…”
Hwaaallrrrrk-!
The leader of this rift, the “Knight of Flames,” was eventually consumed by the flames and reduced to ashes.
Only then did Seo Ye-rim exhale, her breath heavy.
“Nothing special, making such a fuss about it.”
“Hey! Are you okay?”
Cha Yura approached Seo Ye-rim.
Seo Ye-rim’s specially made suit was melting from the intense heat, and the shockwave of the giant’s sword had cracked some of her ribcage on her side.
“Damn… We still have two more T-grade rifts to deal with.”
Seo Ye-rim hissed through her teeth in pain. During the time she and Cha Yura were on leave for the Telos executive meeting, a number of T-Rank rifts had accumulated in Korea, and dealing with them ultimately fell to Cha Yura and Seo Ye-rim.
Sss-.
Cha Yura calmed Seo Ye-rim’s suit with her cold hands and applied a cold compress to her wounds.
“How about it? Should I go to the next rift alone? You should get treated, don’t you think?”
“No. These days, the T-Rank rift situations are anything but normal. The leaders are getting stronger, and if you go alone, you might end up hurt even worse.”
“Well, that’s true. A rank with damage like this doesn’t get anywhere as an Awakened.”
Despite the pain, Seo Ye-rim managed to grin as they later dealt with the rest of the pending T-Rank rifts.
Though Cha Yura and Seo Ye-rim were both injured and bruised, such injuries were never highlighted in newspapers.
S-Rank Awakeneds were humanity’s hope and beacon. If they falter, the peace rebuilt through countless sacrifices could be shaken.
“Others only see our glamorous side. Do they know how hard we work?”
Cha Yura was the President’s daughter.
As someone who stood above others, she understood the weight of her duty, yet there were moments when she felt drained.
To such a Cha Yura, Seo Ye-rim spoke.
“Anyway, we’re not doing this to get praise, right? Cha Yura, if you’re going to talk about being weak, I’d say just stop.”
“What? You go stop too! Your ranking is lower than mine, even! Of course, don’t actually leave! There are only two S-Ranks in Korea—quit, and I’ll be the only one suffering!”
There was, at some point, the option of borrowing an S-Rank Awakened from abroad, like the “Outlaw-Cash,” but that would create national debts.
Ideally, Cha Yura hoped for the emergence of more domestic S-Rank Awakeneds.
“Hwal Do is such a great guy in terms of strength, even if his personality is a mess. Ah, it’s such bad luck.”
She took a honey candy made by the nymphs and chewed on it.
Ssss.
She could feel her body recovering.
The reason they could manage their tasks with only two people, instead of three, was due to the immense help they received from the nymphs.
Cha Yura and Seo Ye-rim stood up once again, tidied up their faces and hair, and stepped out of the rift to wave enthusiastically at the waiting journalists.
Pang, PangPangPang-!
Among the dazzling flashes, Seo Ye-rim thought to herself,
‘Who knows how long we can keep managing with just the two of us? Haildo, you slacker. Stop fooling around and get here soon!’
# # #
Drurrrk, drurrrk-.
Inoi shook a piggy bank filled with mysterious coins.
“This Inoi feels so much gratitude toward the mysterious supporting coins that have accumulated heavily, making the piggy bank heavy…!”
Gubok, Gubok-.
Inoi bowed in all directions.
According to Inoi, these mysterious coins appeared in places like under beds or behind refrigerators, though I hadn’t witnessed it myself. Nevertheless, Inoi didn’t seem to be lying, and if it were true, it would indeed be quite astonishing.
“This Inoi…! The dream is to collect coins diligently to create a swimming pool in the yard…! Bringing many nymphs to splash around would be wonderful!”
Inoi was earnestly saving coins for the dream. I decided to support her, but I also realized that I couldn’t stay idle forever.
“Let’s see if there’s any news.”
“Complete Annihilation of T-Rank Rifts!”
“With the upcoming adjustments to S-Rank, attention is focused on changes in the rankings of Korean top-tier S-Rankers….”
It was reported that Seo Ye-rim and Cha Yura had successfully wiped out all T-Rank Rifts.
Someday, I want to appear on the news like this. With hope, I searched for my name on social media.
However, there it was—a post with my name among the top-rated articles. With a pounding heart, I clicked on the post.
“Title: Haildo is soon going to make it to the S-Rank, don’t you think?
The government should support him unstintingly.
And this squirrel is so cute, also, the new tiger owl is impressive!”
“Comment: What is making someone keep recommending this post? Is there a fake click-bot running?
Next S-Rank Awakened, isn’t Joo Ryeon from Group A the most likely one? Haildo is still miles away from getting recommended like this lol.
Is it true the government operates a comment army in the Awakened Community?
No faking it, I hit 15 likes alone hahaha!
That is called faking it, idiot haha!”
It seemed that my name was gradually becoming famous again.
There was even this nickname, “Puppy-lover,” posting one article a day.
Were they a squirrel fan?
Perhaps they were someone who fell in love with my feats.
Shw-.
I typed a comment on the keyboard.
“ThrowSquirrels: I’m not Haildo, but I think Haildo is the best.”
“Reply: Haildo himself coming through haha.
Reply: Is it really true that tiger owls have appeared in Taecho Village? My friend recently upgraded to C-Rank with a lightning squirrel. If there are tiger owls, they might reach A-Rank no joke.
Reply: Carrying honey ants with you makes life much better hahaha, they do all the housework and are simply sweet.”
Replies flooded in.
I enthusiastically liked the replies.
I felt closer to achieving my dream of becoming the top S-Rank Awakened.
TelTalk!
At that moment, my phone rang.
“TrueFriend: Hey, my friend almost fully hacked that bag you told me about. I’ll pick you up, so wait outside.”
“Oh.”
Has the hacking of the bag taken from Ki Seung-jae finally finished?
I trembled with excitement.
There must surely be some amazing secret weapon inside.
Shw-.
I moved to the yard.
Hoooh, huuuuu-.
Hoohoo, huuuuuu-.
At the sound of flapping wings, I turned my head to see a group of tiger owls sitting on various trees and hooting.
“They are the followers of the ultimate tiger owl, Kalilnoi! Even smaller than Kalilnoi, yet all magnificent tiger owls!”
Indeed, the tiger owls were smaller, barely larger than regular owls.
But they were incredibly strong, with each individual reportedly exhibiting the physical capabilities of a C-Rank or higher monster.
“Mr. Yi Do. How does one tame a tiger owl?”
“Since you’ve become close to the tiger owl Kalilnoi, could you share some tips?”
Hearing rumors about the tiger owls, the footsteps toward Taecho Village remained constant.
Thanks to the people coming here to capture these animals, the village now had a café and even a 31-variety chain ice cream shop opening.
“Companionship is key. Tiger owls are wary and don’t easily trust others. But they say once trust is established, they’d give their lives for their companions.”
“Ooooh…!”
Kalilnoi was hopping around near me. He was rubbing my body or face with feathers and his beak, making the onlookers exclaim, “Truly Haildo with the squirrel…” and “Is it okay to upload videos of this to MeTube?”
It would be nice to mix with them, but Lee Jin-A’s old truck arrived for me shortly after, and I went with her to the Makcheon City gang.
“These guys are called the ‘Net Speeders,’ specializing in IT items and hacking-like activities. They look shady like they spend their whole day hammering away on computers, right? Their hideout’s a PC café.”
Lee Jin-A grinned at the hooded men and women.
Sure enough, even a socialite like Lee Jin-A perceived the IT specialists as shady.
A hooded gangster approached me.
“Mr. Yi Do, right? My name is College Hacker.”
“Is your last name Gong and first name Daenam?”
“Yes.”
“Is that so?”
“Nice to meet you. We’ve managed to decode around 97% of the security lock on the item you commissioned. It should be completely done in about an hour. But first, there’s something I want to show you.”
I followed the gangster inside the PC café.
There was a glass case resembling an aquarium where a single black rat, crrrll-lll, was making noises.
“Is this the rat from the video? The one that came back to life.”
“Yes. Covered by a parasitic creature, it became greatly enhanced. Originally just an ordinary rat, now it reacts to mana like the squirrel. These black portions are the parasitic creatures.”
A parasite capable of raising an ordinary rat to the awakened squirrel level of mana is truly remarkable.
“It reacts to emotions and mana, and it seems to heighten the host’s violence. This results in an overall increase in combat power. The data indicates that.”
“Where was something like that found?”
When I asked, College Hacker created a shadow over his face and spoke eerily.
“We found information on DeepWeb and beyond, in a deeper DeepDeepWeb area… Hmm. It’s hard to say much since the Mega Corps are involved but, anyway, this could be incredible if used properly. What do you think?”
What do you think?
“Can it be tamed?”
At College Hacker’s question, I looked at the rat in the tank. Just then, my Bang Bang perched on my shoulder, letting out a crrlllng- sound, showing clear signs of suspicion.
Right then,
Pap-!
Changrang-!
The black substance clinging to the rat suddenly leaped like a jelly monster and burst through the glass, latching onto my body!
“Kyaaaa-ah!”
—
