The Spatial Ability User Who Puts Safety Above All Chapter 42

The Drake Legion’s Counterattack (1)

 

Not all elite-grade drakes possessed the same level of strength. Even within the elite rank, they could be divided into lower, mid, upper, and special tiers.

The elite drakes that usually roamed the outskirts of the mana field zone were generally in the lower to mid tiers.

Naturally, the drakes Seon Yul had been casually hunting at a rate of roughly one every thirty minutes also belonged to those tiers.

“Hmm… A joint research project between Japan’s Gate Management Bureau and the Hutta Group’s Magitech Development Team has developed a magic stone energy amplification technology… They expect roughly a 10% energy amplification effect.”

Reading the latest internet article, Seon Yul nodded as he followed the headline.

“Magic stone prices are going to rise again.”

The more magitech advanced, the more diverse the applications of magic stones became, which ultimately meant an increase in demand.

If demand increased while supply remained the same, prices were bound to go up.

At present, the world’s magitech technology is advancing at a considerable pace. Of course, many challenges remained unresolved, but it had already become more than sufficient as a support technology for users’ abilities.

Even the magic stone smartphone Seon Yul used now looked almost identical to an ordinary smartphone on the outside.

Just about a year ago, magic stone smartphones had been ridiculously large, and the energy consumption of the magic stones inside them was so excessive that they were used only in emergencies.

Now, however, if one could afford a call charge of about 5 grams of mid-grade magic stone per hour (500,000 won), it could be used continuously without much inconvenience.

And that was just the mass-produced version. The actual technology was likely far more advanced.

After finishing the article, Seon Yul once again checked both sides of the sky.

Since drakes, once they appeared, tended to circle for a while, there was no need to stare at the sky continuously.

Seeing nothing, he returned to browsing the internet.

“Cheon Li Yu departs for LA to attend the Grammy Awards ceremony…”

‘Will she win this time?’

As he read the article about Cheon Li Yu, Seon Yul wondered whether she might finally win a Grammy this time.

In the past, he had supported her purely as a fan. Now, though it had only been once, he also cheered for her as a comrade-in-arms who had fought alongside him.

‘Come to think of it, she’s doing a pretty good job hiding the fact that she’s a mana user.’

Mana users usually showed signs in one way or another, making it difficult to pretend to be an ordinary person.

For example, with the automatic translation ability, what one saw and heard was automatically translated and perceived as one’s native language. However, writing and speaking were not affected by the automatic translation ability at all, making it impossible to use it actively.

As a result, conversations with foreigners often produced awkward moments.

Beyond such differences, their physical abilities were also significantly different from those of non-awakened individuals, so even the slightest lapse in attention made it obvious.

‘Well, anyway, I’m rooting for her.’

With a faint smile, Seon Yul once again silently cheered for Cheon Li Yu.

Putting everything else aside, he genuinely liked her music, and he hoped that this time she would win a Grammy.

Meanwhile, while Seon Yul continued his effortless ‘click-hunting,’ other users were also hunting elite drakes in their own ways, gradually stabilizing the situation in Jeju.

The elite strike force urgently dispatched by the Bureau performed admirably, and the Hero Guild and Hell Raid Team, who had accepted the Bureau’s request for cooperation, also lent their strength.

Of course, the one who played the biggest role in this situation was Seon Yul.

Since he was one-shot killing an elite drake every 20 to 30 minutes, the drake population rapidly decreased, making it much easier for other forces and users to stabilize the situation.

But this was stability only by human standards.

The special lair that had formed in Baengnokdam.

And inside it, the newly reborn ‘Elite Drake Queen’ already knew that most of the elite drakes she had birthed in the first laying had been killed.

At most, only around twenty drakes remained.

The only ones left were those assigned to protect the lair and who had not left Baengnokdam.

In terms of legion roles, the elite drakes she had produced in the first laying were mostly ordinary soldiers.

‘As expected, soldiers alone aren’t enough… I need larger and more powerful commanders.’

For the second laying, she resolved to produce not only soldiers but also commander-class elite drakes who could lead them.

Ultimately, she needed to birth a ‘king’ who would lead all drakes into a new species… but for that, she needed to accumulate more mana.

Fortunately, the mana vein beneath Baengnokdam, where the lair had settled, was not bad, and mana was steadily accumulating.

If she could properly secure soldiers and commanders to defend the lair, she believed she could endure until the birth of the king.

With that thought, the Elite Drake Queen began her second laying.

She produced hundreds of eggs along with five massive ones, beginning to rebuild an even stronger legion.

 

***

 

After most of the hundred or so elite drakes born in the first laying were hunted down, drakes were rarely seen outside the vicinity of Baengnokdam.

This was partly because the Elite Drake Queen had intentionally summoned all remaining drakes back into the lair…

As a result, Seon Yul had not seen a single drake for nearly half a day.

‘I should move my point.’

Though he did not know the exact reason why drakes had vanished, he did know that the remaining drakes were concentrated near the summit of Hallasan.

‘Should I move in a bit closer?’

Seon Yul understood very well that the most dangerous moment for him was when he was relocating to secure a new point.

But at the same time, the location of that point was the most critical factor in his hunting.

So sometimes, even knowing the risk, he needed to be bold.

‘If it gets dangerous, I can escape into Absolute Space… and if it really comes down to it, I have the Absolute Space tattoo…’

Considering various factors, he contemplated a bold move.

In the past, any action described as “bold” would have been an option he would never have chosen.

But recently, things had changed.

Seon Yul himself admitted that he had become more proactive than before.

He suspected it was the influence of mana… but having already awakened through its power, he could not reject this change.

More precisely, it wasn’t that he wouldn’t reject it… he couldn’t.

All he could do was acknowledge it, accept it, and adapt.

‘Let’s go as far as I can safely manage.’

With his specially enchanted safety helmet and stab-resistant suit, combined with the mithril stealth cloak, he believed he could buy enough time to either escape into Absolute Space or activate the Absolute Space tattoo.

So he began moving more boldly toward Hallasan.

He advanced slowly.

Since all the drakes had withdrawn into the lair at Baengnokdam, nothing obstructed him.

In fact, it was so smooth that it made him uneasy… but in the end, his bold choice proved correct.

Even so, he continued to move cautiously, advancing 10 meters, scanning the surroundings, advancing another 10 meters, scanning again, so the relocation took quite a long time.

Normally, one might have seized the opportunity and sprinted forward, but already uneasy about making a bold decision he rarely made, Seon Yul could not go that far.

‘The fact that I haven’t seen a single drake on the way here… Did something happen? But if something had happened, the Bureau would have contacted me.’

Having reached Neunghwa Oreum halfway up Hallasan, his intended destination, Seon Yul tilted his head and surveyed the surroundings again.

‘I got here much more easily than expected… Since it’s come to this, should I go a bit further?’

Arriving at his target location too easily stirred greed within him. He unfolded his map.

‘Samgakbong… If I reach here, I really won’t need to go any higher.’

From the start, he had never intended to go all the way to Baengnokdam, where the lair was.

In fact, even Samgakbong had only just come to mind… realistically, Neunghwa Oreum had been his final point.

But with the sudden disappearance of drakes, he wondered if now might be the chance to aim for Samgakbong, which offered a much better vantage point.

‘…Yeah, let’s go.’

After sitting at Neunghwa Oreum pondering while staring at the empty sky, he finally made up his mind.

He set off for Samgakbong.

Thus, his final target point became Samgakbong.

 

***

 

Three days after the drakes had suddenly vanished,

The Bureau dispatched not only the elite advance strike force but also the main strike force, seven companies in total, to fully conclude the situation.

The strength of strike forces varied slightly by country. South Korea, classified as a definite powerhouse in the mana civilization era, possessed relatively strong strike forces.

While strike forces were more about overwhelming with numbers than elite quality, they were equipped with the latest magitech gear through full government and Bureau support, so no faction could afford to disregard them.

At the same time, the main strike force arrived, and the eggs laid during the Elite Drake Queen’s second laying were finally hatching in Baengnokdam.

First, from among the hundreds of eggs, the soldier-class drakes hatched.

They were mostly identical to the elite drakes born during the first laying.

But the true focus was on the five massive eggs placed behind them.

Once all five hatched, the Elite Drake Queen planned to completely seal the lair and enter full-scale mana drain, preparing for the third laying… producing a single egg.

An SS-grade monster, the Elite Drake Queen, would squeeze out all her abilities to gather mana to its maximum limit and use that immense mana to birth a single, special ‘drake.’

It was impossible to imagine what rank such a drake might possess.

If it turned out to be a high-grade raid monster, it could even trigger a raid event.

That would lead to the worst-case scenario.

No matter how unfavorable the current situation in Jeju was, neither the Bureau nor the other users felt a true crisis yet because it was still in the “normal” gate stage, with no official event triggered.

In the normal gate stage, once the mana field’s range was designated, it remained fixed.

The mana field acted like a wall of lamentation, blocking nearly all types of human weaponry. But conversely, if monsters crossed beyond the field, humanity’s response capability skyrocketed.

All civilians had already evacuated outside the mana field’s range, and in Jeju’s coastal cities outside the mana field, the South Korean military was on standby.

Naval vessels floated at sea, and at the boundary where the mana field ended, the 27th Division and 8th Division, specialized monster-response units, were deployed throughout.

If monsters stepped outside the mana field?

They would be riddled with bullets by the concentrated firepower of the prepared troops.

No matter how powerful the drakes were, they could not withstand the firepower of two fully equipped modern divisions.

Thus, outside the mana field, humanity was strong.

And this was why, despite repeated gate invasions, humanity had endured.

But raid events were different.

Not only were raid monsters themselves extremely powerful, but more critically, raid events continued in stages.

If the initial event was cleared and the raid monster defeated, it ended there. But if not, second, third, fourth events would follow… and simultaneously, the mana field would expand.

When the system labeled something an ‘event,’ it almost always functioned this way.

The South Korean Gate Management Bureau was eager to resolve the Jeju situation quickly, precisely because they feared a transition from a normal gate stage to an event gate stage.

Especially since unusual anomalies had been occurring repeatedly, making the Bureau even more uneasy.

 

***

 

As intended, Seon Yul opened the entrance to Absolute Space at the summit of Samgakbong and set up camp.

Having not seen even a drake’s tail on the way up, he reached his final destination very safely.

After setting up camp, he opened two entrances in opposite directions as he had during his first hunt and continuously observed the surroundings.

Still, no drakes appeared.

He could faintly see traces of drakes near Baengnokdam in the distance, but none flew outside of it.

The straight-line distance from Samgakbong to Baengnokdam was roughly 1.5 kilometers.

If they revealed themselves, he could easily snipe them from that range.

‘Why is it so quiet? Even the Bureau can’t give a clear explanation… Surely the lair’s power hasn’t already run out?’

Even a queen backed by a lair could not produce monsters infinitely.

Depending on the lair’s and queen’s rank and type, the number of monsters they could produce was roughly predetermined.

But there was no way the ‘Elite Drake Queen’ had already reached her limit.

‘Is something big coming?’

Instinctively, Seon Yul felt that this calm might be the prelude to a great storm.

‘No matter how I think about it, this feels uneasy. I should prepare in advance.’

Having lived his whole life prioritizing safety, his instincts in such matters were fairly sharp.

So he decided to ask the Bureau to obtain something he had previously considered but failed to acquire.

If he prepared those…

He felt his mind would be more at ease.

“What did he ask for?”

Director Jeong tilted his head at Cha Seong Hyeon’s unexpected report.

“He’s requesting a GAU-8 Avenger Gatling gun. The monstrous Gatling mounted on the A-10 attack aircraft.”

“Is that… even obtainable?”

“There are reportedly some aircraft left behind by the U.S. Forces Korea. But even if we detach the Gatling gun from an A-10 and send it, its size and weight… including the ammunition feed system and drum, it’s close to a ton.”

“Even if we secure it, delivering it will be the problem.”

“Yes. To attach something weighing around a ton to a community mail, the minimum level required would likely be over 60. And the fee would run into the hundreds of millions of won.”

“Still, it’s a request from an SSS-grade management subject. Secure it first. And explain the situation to AbsoluteSafetyFirst and ask for understanding that immediate delivery may be difficult.”

“Understood.”

“Any other requests?”

“He also asked for detailed information on the SGE-30 Goalkeeper or Korea’s domestically developed CIWS-II, and if possible, what technology or equipment would be needed to install such systems.”

“What are those?”

“You can think of them as the latest close-in weapon systems. Advanced automated Gatling guns equipped with tracking radar.”

“…What kind of awakening ability does AbsoluteSafetyFirst even have to require modern weapons like these?”

“I have no idea anymore. But one thing is certain… he seems capable of using these weapons inside the mana field.”

“At this rate, he might ask for tanks or attack helicopters.”

“That’s possible… In fact, the close-in weapon systems he mentioned cost over 10 billion won per unit. Providing them under simple support would be burdensome.”

“…I never thought we’d have to worry about the limits of supporting an SSS-grade management subject.”

“He really is unique.”

“Still, let’s support him as far as we can.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And the situation in Jeju…”

Their discussion continued.

The Bureau had always provided generous support to SSS-grade management subjects.

But no matter how generous, limits existed.

And Seon Yul’s requests were anything but ordinary… each one pushed the Bureau to the edge of its limits, or beyond.

“…What a shame.”

After receiving Seong Hyeon’s reply, Seon Yul scratched his head and muttered.

He felt it would have been reassuring just to have a GAU-8 on standby, so it was disappointing that he couldn’t get one immediately.

Still, the reply was positive, and it felt like they really would obtain it if given time.

‘Maybe I should have requested it earlier?’

Of course, Seon Yul had no idea that this response was because he had been designated as an SSS-grade management subject.

He simply thought, ‘The Bureau treats me better than I expected?’

There was no reason to refuse goodwill, so he quietly accepted all their generous support.

‘I failed to get the insurance… but I still need to be careful.’

Although he couldn’t secure the GAU-8 as he had wanted, he set up weapons in various locations in advance to prepare for potential emergencies.

And then, after another day passed…

Finally, change began.