Invasion (2)
Feeling the chaotic waves all at once, Seon Yul shot up from his seat.
“Yul, what’s wrong?”
Normally, any ordinary person caught in the mana waves emitted by a gate would exhibit abnormal reactions.
But although Seon Yul clearly felt multiple mana waves, all the nearby civilians were perfectly fine.
This was not a good sign.
“Something… this feels really bad.”
If something was different from usual, it meant something unexpected was about to happen… and that would likely lead to damage in one way or another.
“Aunt, please stay still for a moment.”
In this situation, the first thing Seon Yul worried about, of course, was the safety of his aunt, Lee Hyun Ah.
His own safety was already secured through various means, so it was only natural that the next most important thing was ensuring hers.
And at that very moment.
Just as Seon Yul had expected, the unexpected incident unfolded.
[The Invasion Event will now begin.]
[Because you are inside the Invasion Event area, you are automatically registered as a participant.]
[A total of 16 large and small gates will be created within the Invasion Event area. Participants who leave the event area will receive severe penalties.]
[If a non-participant enters the area, they will be afflicted with the ‘Bystander’ debuff.]
[The clear rewards for the Invasion Event are extremely good, and there are numerous sub-rewards and achievement rewards.]
[The event will end in 8 hours. If the main gate of the Invasion Event, Gate No. 1, is not destroyed by then, all living beings within the invasion area will die.]
The system message was heard only by users.
Even the final words, ‘will die,’ were spoken slowly and distinctly, as if delivering a stern warning.
“An Invasion Event? What the hell is this…?”
To grasp the situation better, Seon Yul quickly accessed the community.
As expected… it was in complete chaos.
The Invasion Event was naturally pinned at the very top as an official notice, and countless posts were being added beneath it in real time.
[1st Invasion Event]
—> Location: Central Seoul, Republic of Korea
—> Participants: 116
—> Destroyed Gates: None
—> Time remaining [7 hours 55 minutes 16 seconds]
[Real-time Contribution Rankings: Not yet calculated.]
- What is this? Invasion Event? Was there something like this before?
- Uh… looks like something new got added?
- Holy shit, I’m in Seoul right now, and it’s chaos. They say 16 gates have been created? And if you try to escape, the penalty is insane… and if it fails, everyone inside the region just dies.
- Damn, this feels like when the first raid event happened in New York 7 years ago.
- The damage back then was massive… those of you in Seoul, please be careful.
- If anyone near Seoul wasn’t auto-registered for the event, hurry and come support. If this goes wrong, there could be millions of casualties!
- Even if you don’t get rewards, if you’re human, you should go help.
- I’m not human, I’m a superior New Human user, so I’m not going.
- Hey, read the room. Because of idiots like you, NEU gets hated. I’m NEU too, but I’m going to support in cases like this.
- But can this even be stopped?
- It’s not about whether it can be stopped. It has to be stopped.
- If we fail, we’re seriously screwed… I’m in Jeju right now. Should I head to Seoul even now?
- I’m in Gangwon Province. My team is already on the way.
- I’m heading up from Mokpo, too. This is practically a national-level disaster. Even if I get the Onlooker debuff, I’ll go in and help as much as I can.
- Shouldn’t we evacuate civilians first? The event area is way too big. It’s going to be hard to respond properly.
……
……
Comments kept pouring in under the Invasion Event notice.
That alone showed how urgent the situation was.
“This is the worst.”
Seon Yul immediately understood how serious the situation was.
“At least… the one silver lining is that I’m with Aunt right now.”
It was truly a case of finding a bit of fortune amid disaster.
Beep beep beep. Wooooong. Wooooooong.
Smartphones began ringing everywhere.
It was a disaster alert sent by the Bureau.
Unlike users, ordinary civilians had no awareness of what was happening, so the Bureau had moved quickly. As a result, the panic now began spreading among civilians as well.
“Yul, what’s going on?”
Lee Hyun Ah, of course, was staring at her phone with a startled expression.
In truth, the Bureau had little choice.
Once the gates were fully formed and monsters started pouring out, civilians would realize what was happening anyway.
So it was far better to send out a disaster alert and issue evacuation orders before heavy mana waves disrupted normal communication networks.
“Aunt. Just a moment.”
Seon Yul grabbed both her arms to calm her.
“Please listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
She could only nod, staring at him in shock.
“Actually… I awakened. I became a mana user, like Jun Hyeok.”
“Aw… awakened?”
“I didn’t tell you because I thought you’d worry. But things are urgent right now, so I’ll skip explanations.”
“But Yul, what on earth just happened?”
“I think something big has occurred. But don’t worry. You’ll definitely be safe.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’ll explain everything later. For now, please do exactly as I say.”
Since he had already decided to bring her into Absolute Space, Seon Yul opened the entrance behind her without hesitation.
Ziiiiiiing!
There were still a few people inside the café, but because of the disaster alert, they were all crowding toward the exit in a rush to leave.
The situation was chaotic.
Thanks to that, no one was looking toward where Seon Yul and Lee Hyun Ah stood.
Even if someone had been, it wouldn’t have mattered.
In an emergency like this, Seon Yul had no intention whatsoever of wasting time trying to hide his abilities.
“Yul… wh-what is this…?”
“Just follow me.”
He immediately led her into Absolute Space and closed the entrance.
It was the first time he had ever brought someone other than himself into Absolute Space… but since it was his most precious person, his aunt, it didn’t matter.
“Aunt, just stay in this room. There’s drinking water and food. That door—I’ll close and lock it, so it won’t open. I might use the outer area for combat, so just stay here.”
He settled her into the residential area of Absolute Space and spoke firmly.
“This place is absolutely safe, so please don’t worry and just stay here. Okay?”
“Yul… what in the world is this place…”
She murmured, looking around the interior in shock.
“I’ll explain later. Oh! And where did Jun Hyeok go to work today?”
“Jun Hyeok left two days ago on a week-long business trip to Jeju.”
“Whew, that’s at least fortunate. Okay. Then please stay here. I’ll go out for a bit.”
As Seon Yul turned to leave, Lee Hyun Ah quickly grabbed his arm.
“Yul! If this place is that safe, can’t you just stay here too?”
Her words weren’t entirely wrong.
If safety alone were the priority, hiding quietly here would indeed be a good option.
But Seon Yul considered that the worst possible choice.
“I can return here anytime. If it’s truly dangerous, I’ll come back and hide just like you said. But before that, I think I should at least do what I can.”
He spoke calmly.
She looked at him for a long moment, then slowly released his arm.
“Our Yul… you’ve changed a bit.”
“Me?”
“Yes. You definitely have. And somehow… I think I like the change.”
“Really?”
He grew shy at her praise.
“But promise me one thing.”
“What promise?”
“It’s fine to be a good person. But don’t try to become a hero.”
“What’s the difference between a good person and a hero?”
He asked, suddenly curious.
“If you help others within the range where your own safety is secured, you’re a good person. If helping others takes priority over your own safety, you’re a hero.”
Seon Yul laughed broadly.
“Ha, by that standard, it won’t be easy for me to even be a good person. Don’t worry. My own safety is the most important thing to me.”
That wasn’t empty reassurance meant to calm her. Even if mana gradually changed aspects of his temperament, his core personality would not shift so easily.
Safety first.
Seon Yul had no intention of ever forgetting that principle.
***
After leaving his aunt inside Absolute Space and equipping his basic gear, Seon Yul returned to the café and stepped outside.
People were already running wildly in near-panic, desperate to flee the city.
And amid that chaos, one gate was slowly forming.
The number 9 was clearly marked above it.
It was forming in the middle of the Apgujeong Station intersection.
“For now… let’s do everything I can.”
As he had told his aunt, he could flee anytime if he truly wanted.
But the system had clearly warned that severe penalties would be imposed on those who ran.
If for no other reason than that, he had already resolved to clear this Invasion Event.
Of course, if clearing it proved truly impossible, he would run at the last moment… but until then, he would do everything he could.
And that effort would begin with Gate No. 9 before him.
Tzztzztzzt.
The gate grew larger and larger, eventually reaching the size of a large building’s main entrance.
At this scale, it looked at least C-rank.
And once it finished forming, monsters from beyond the abyss did not manage to crawl out.
Click, whiiiiing! DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU!
Bullets poured madly toward the gate.
The monsters had clearly tried to emerge… but the moment they did, they collapsed into bloody pulp.
The monsters coming through were Orcs.
But the firepower of two M134 Miniguns was greater than the speed at which Orcs could emerge.
From the two miniguns mounted through the entrance of Absolute Space that Seon Yul had opened to his left, 8,000 rounds per minute were pouring out.
Just as they had cleanly erased the Mana Hornets that had spilled out of an S-rank ant-type gate recently, they now erased the Orcs poking their heads out of this C-rank gate.
KWAGWAGWAGWANG!!
With overwhelming firepower, Seon Yul completely sealed off the gate entrance.
The Orcs attempting to exit were shredded the moment they appeared, like spinach pulverized in a blender, scattering in pieces.
In truth, Orcs were different from Mana Hornets in terms of defense and vitality, so they weren’t quite as easy to grind down.
But.
In front of two M134 Miniguns, everything was equal.
Whether Mana Hornet or Orc, Seon Yul simply crushed them under insane firepower. This was an overwhelming force that didn’t care about compatibility at all.
He even kept two segments of his left fingers slightly inside the entrance to Absolute Space, prepared for possible counterattacks, and held a chained wire in his right hand.
If an Orc somehow broke through the minigun barrage and emerged, he intended to casually finish it off with the wire.
But not a single Orc managed to come out. All of them were shredded.
Thus, Gate No. 9, which should have released at least thirty Orcs, was completely depleted and shut down in only ten minutes.
Crack!
The gate split apart and shattered mercilessly.
In the end, Seon Yul cleanly eliminated one of the sixteen gates in just ten minutes.
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