Chapter 155
Since there was nothing to gain from staying here, I started the engine again. The moment it turned over…
“Hey, look at that.”
Something went plop in the middle of the sea and rose. Or rather, instead of popping up, it felt more like it slid upward.
Like the periscope of an old submarine in cartoons suddenly jutting out… only, even from this distance, its size was… off.
It looked closer than it actually was. In reality, it was over 100 meters away, but it was so massive that perspective broke, making it seem like it was only 50 meters in front of us.
Frowning, I quickly glanced back and spoke.
“Hold on tight.”
I shifted gears and was about to slam the accelerator when Lee Hoin shouted.
“It’s coming, fu—!”
The periscope-like thing started rushing toward us at insane speed. Or rather, it wasn’t exactly fast…
More like a tall person jogging lazily but still overtaking everyone else.
Screeech!
The car lurched forward violently, throwing my body back. The back of my head slammed into the headrest. Something clattered loudly in the back seat.
Hoin scrambled to grab something.
“We need more speed!”
Kim Taekjin shouted while looking back. But since we were on sand, the tires kept slipping and spinning uselessly.
I knew I should ease into it slowly… but panic made me keep pressing the accelerator, and the car wouldn’t move forward.
Boom!
The vibration that shook the ground snapped me back to my senses. I switched gears, reverse first, backed up, then into drive again.
Gradually, I built up speed and moved forward.
Boom!
Boom!
The sound rang so loudly it made my ears ring.
“Holy shit, what is that?!”
Hoin shouted, glancing back in horror. That thing wasn’t walking. The thunderous noise came solely from its rising.
Every time it crawled from sea to land… boom, boom. Louder than when I’d heard Ernst’s footsteps right behind me in that mansion.
SPLAAASH!
A massive wave surged forward, crashing near the car.
The sudden swell shoved the vehicle sideways, and the two behind me went completely silent.
Maybe panic.
—
[Even if they scream, it just means we all die together, doesn’t it?]
—
Or maybe that thought.
Screaming would only burden the driver anyway.
I glanced back again.
That thing… didn’t look like a living creature.
It looked like a city condensed into a single form.
Like those animated castles that move on their own…
A massive fortress, crawling up with countless arthropod-like legs.
Each leg was absurdly huge.
It climbed onto land and paused, as if searching for stable ground.
Boom!
A leg slammed down in front of the car. I jerked the wheel hard to avoid it.
If we crashed into that, only we’d lose. Like hitting a building, cars break, buildings don’t.
—
[Well, you never know!]
—
Yeah, right.
‘…I’m driving with everything I’ve got.’
But the distance wouldn’t widen. Waves from its rising legs kept rocking the car, making high speed impossible.
If we flipped, we were done.
I twisted the wheel, dodging the falling legs. The motion became rough, with no smooth trajectory, and the waves kept shoving us sideways.
“Ugh!”
As the car tilted, Hoin slammed into the door, then instinctively pressed against Taekjin to stabilize himself.
The tilted car barely regained balance. Even then, I didn’t slow down.
—
[Imagine flipping over and getting crushed flat.]
[Funny.]
—
I couldn’t slow down. If I hit the brakes, we’d flip. And braking wouldn’t improve anything anyway.
But I couldn’t go faster either.
All I could do was maintain this… pray we didn’t overturn.
I exhaled and kept pushing forward.
Again and again, massive legs slammed down ahead of us.
After a while, the fortress that had been crawling out of the sea… stopped.
All its legs had reached the shore. It stood there, as if preparing something.
But that didn’t help… we were still inside its shadow.
It was just too big.
‘…This isn’t reassuring silence.’
The legs began moving again, slowly.
“Hey… what the hell is that…”
Hoin muttered as I watched.
Boom, boom–
It stepped forward slowly, pressing the ground.
Completely different from how it strode out of the sea.
Now it moved cautiously, as if preparing for something.
Some legs advanced, others tested the ground.
What kind of behavior was that?
—
[Maybe it’s looking for a nest?]
—
Clenching my teeth, I finally escaped its shadow and checked the side mirror.
The massive fortress.
A fortress with legs.
I knew what it was.
The thing we had to “repel” in Chapter 30 of the Apocalypse.
‘The City of Wanderers… Moving Gilkir.’
Chapter 30 was simple.
We could choose one of three worlds to enter.
But unlike before, this time, it wasn’t just about cutting off pathways.
We had to learn something.
Something that would allow us to repel Gilkir.
Each of the three worlds held one piece.
Collect all three… and we could destroy it, or force it to retreat.
If not…
Gilkir would remain in Seoul.
—
[The worlds are merging.]
—
Of course, Gilkir wasn’t purely an enemy.
In this apocalypse, everything was tangled in interests.
Gilkir… was surprisingly easygoing.
And since they’d already experienced destruction once, there were benefits to letting them stay.
“We’re here now, so this is our city too!”
They were cheerful, casual types.
Even after fighting, once you were on the same side, they’d approach without hesitation.
It wasn’t that I disliked them.
It wasn’t about rejecting them outright.
But…
‘If a world gets fully integrated…’
The cracks in our world deepen.
The more worlds settle in, the more those cracks stabilize and widen.
‘If we repel it, the apocalypse slows.’
If not, it accelerates.
The benefits you gain from Gilkir come with equal penalties.
Why did I bring up that world where the Named died by Chapter 12?
Because once you start thinking, “A little more acceleration is fine,” and keep crossing the line…
The difficulty skyrockets exponentially.
Behind us, I could hear Gilkir’s steps shaking the ground.
At some point, it had reached beyond the town. Something collapsed.
Explosions. Crashing. Deafening noise.
“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!”
Hoin shouted, covering his ears.
‘We need to open Chapter 30. Fast.’
What would Sa Jaeheon do?
Would he try to repel Gilkir?
‘…Or strategically let it stay?’
Gilkir was full of crafters.
Letting them stay meant advantages.
But I was skeptical.
We’d lose more than we gained.
They weren’t here to help Earth.
They weren’t here for us.
They’d just maintain friendly relations… nothing more.
Gilkir’s citizens would stay inside their city, preparing to migrate to another world once Earth collapsed.
They’d take spirit stones, bring in useless junk through the cracks, increase difficulty…
‘We lose way too much.’
Grinding my teeth, I glanced at the shrinking Gilkir in the side mirror and sped up.
Chapter 30.
We were almost there.
‘The cooperation part is tricky, though.’
We needed people who had properly learned something from each of the three worlds.
If we exclude the easy worlds where success is guaranteed…
‘I need to split up with Sa Jaeheon and enter separately.’
The problem?
Sa Jaeheon didn’t even care about Gilkir.
Seriously… he’s useless when it matters.
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