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[ (side story) Are you all idiots? ]
“This place….”
“It looks like an abandoned city.”
The group that crossed the gate looked around with wary eyes.
The place they arrived was a lifeless city covered in gray fog.
The walls and concrete floor of the building had cracks that looked like spider webs, and weeds were growing luxuriantly through the cracks.
There were abandoned cars on the road with broken windows or overturned. Traces of the door being torn off and traces of dried blood remained here and there like evidence of some incident.
“Has there been a war? Looking at the condition, it doesn’t seem like it’s been like this for a long time.”
So Shinhan sniffed and looked around.
Although he was not currently using ‘Wolf Transformation’, his sense of smell was dozens of times better than others even when he was not transformed.
Sniff.
Sosinhan, who smelled a human scent through the smell of dried blood, said.
“I think there are still people in the city.”
“It looks like there are any survivors left. “Then how about we find them and find out about the situation here?”
Gerold suggested, and the other party members nodded, saying it would be good.
The group started walking towards the inside of the city.
“But I can’t see the guys from other teams.”
“Each team would have set a different starting point. Otherwise, it’s obvious we’ll start fighting right away, right?”
“It’s more convenient for us.”
“that’s right. “If we kill them all in one go, there won’t be any interruptions later.”
“Would it be better to find another team first?”
The girls, who had become close friends in just a few days, walked side by side and chatted.
“really?! “You guys were in that cave too?”
Anna had a more cheerful and easy-going personality than expected.
Anna, free from the Duke’s brainwashing, was no longer jealous of Wendy. Instead, what filled that space was curiosity about girls similar to herself.
Wendy didn’t push Anna away either.
Above all, because they shared similar pain.
“huh. “Pandemonium had laboratories in many places.”
“I see….”
“It was one of the landlord’s will. Find and destroy all remnants of Pandemonium. That’s why empires and kingdoms conducted large-scale search operations. I didn’t know there would be a victim like you in the process, but…”
“The Duke…”
As Anna’s expression darkened, Lily clenched her fist and joined the conversation.
“don’t worry. Because my friend scolded the Duke! And I’m going to scold you again!”
“Just saying thank you. Anyway, the landlord was truly a great hero…”
“Hehe.”
“…Why do you like Lily?”
“Hehehe!”
There was no longer a noble lady who looked arrogant and insecure. Her face now often showed various expressions typical of a girl her age.
“let me know! What!”
“Hehehehe! It’s a secret! Wow! “It’s foul if you tickle me!”
The girls didn’t stop chatting. Despite being dropped into an unfamiliar environment, no one was nervous.
Soshinhan, who followed and watched, could only do so. He was half liberated.
‘No matter what comes out… it won’t happen to Lily anyway.’
It was when the group entered the inner part of the city as if they were on a picnic.
A message appeared in front of everyone at the same time.
[Welcome to the 8th final main mission area, ‘City Infested with Plague.’]
At the same time as the message, the manhole cover opened under the car in the collapsed building, and monsters began to crawl out from inside.
“Grrr….”
“Grrr….”
People engulfed in black darkness.
No, the monsters, which were presumed to have once been humans, had bodies that were distorted or deformed in strange ways.
[Find the cause of the epidemic in the city and solve the problem.]
[Many people are suffering due to the epidemic. Do what you must.]
The number of monsters appearing from all directions quickly increased to hundreds. Even then, it did not stop and continued to increase.
However, none of the surrounded group was surprised or frightened.
“Ah, I guess it’s time to start.”
“Do you want to make a bet on who can catch the most?”
“Then get ready!”
““Lily, you foul!””
The girls, who raised their magic power as if competing, poured out attacks towards the charging enemies.
-Bubbubbung!
-Blah blah blah!
Anna’s fire magic exploded in the middle of the enemy lines, and Wendy’s ice magic froze everything that moved.
Above all, the highlight was Lily’s performance.
“The martial arts girl is here!”
-Baba baba bak!
Lily dug into the middle of the enemy lines and took down any monsters she could find. The monster’s body exploded as soon as the small fist touched it, and the monster flew away with a single kick and hit the building, causing it to collapse.
“Gerold. What should we do…”
“Let’s prepare lunch.”
The two adult men on the team cleaned up their surroundings as if it were natural, took out cooking utensils from their bags, and prepared lunch.
When the girls returned from completely destroying the area, there was a bubbling stew in the pot.
“for a moment! “You should wash your hands first before eating!”
“Same nagging as you….”
“Didn’t you hear that there’s an epidemic going on here? “Washing your hands is the first step in preventing disease.”
Lily pouted at Soshinhan’s nagging and washed her hands.
After a while, the group sat down to eat lunch and talk about future plans.
“But the difficulty isn’t that high?”
“No, it’s high enough. “This party is abnormal.”
“The stew is so delicious! Did Gerold make this?”
“I made it simply with ingredients I had available.”
“Wendy’s uncle is good at cooking. I’m jealous…”
“But where do we go after we eat?”
In response to Anna’s question, Lily raised her spoon and pointed in one direction.
Have you ever solved a problem once or twice while traveling through numerous dimensions with other people?
Now, if you pretend, you pretend.
“Do you think we can go there?”
Everyone’s eyes moved in the same direction.
The towering tower was vaguely visible through the thick gray fog.
***
[This is an inaccessible area. You can enter after completing the prerequisites.] A
transparent curtain blocked the party with a system message.
“It looks like we can’t go in here anymore?”
“It’s a prerequisite… I thought it was too easy up to this point.”
“Isn’t there a hint around here?”
It was time for the group to look around to see if there were any clues.
-Plump!
After knocking on the transparent membrane a few times, Lily seemed to be thinking about something and nodded.
“I have a way.”
“method?”
“Haaaab…!”
Lily spread her legs with enthusiasm and lowered her posture. I put both fists to my sides and raised my energy.
The girl’s eyes, looking at the transparent membrane, burned with a competitive spirit.
“The Five Righteousness of the Heavenly Demon Fist Law….”
-Kwakwakwakwakwakwa!!
A storm of magic swirls around Lily. A terrifying power began to focus on Lily’s power.
“stop!”
Soshinhan and Wendy, who were startled, clung to Lily’s arms from both sides.
“Didn’t you see the message? “This wasn’t made to be destroyed!”
“Why go to school if you’re going to beat everyone up!”
“Oh, I heard you can do it!”
““You can’t do everything you can!””
After a while, the group finally stopped Lily and began to investigate the surroundings.
Soshinhan gave Lily a firm warning.
“Lily you don’t do anything from now on! “Just follow me quietly from behind!”
“Huh… okay.”
At that time, I felt a sign of popularity not far away. Incheok approached them first.
“Are you… by any chance, superhumans?”
A boy appears from inside a dark alley.
The boy had bandages wrapped all over his body, including his face. There were black blood stains here and there on the bandages.
The eyes revealed between the bandages showed a look of fright.
‘It looks like an NPC appears to proceed with the game.’
The group thought so. Gerold spoke as he stepped forward as the representative.
“We are the ones who came to eliminate the infectious disease here.”
“ah…!”
Surprise flashed across the boy’s face. So Shinhan smiled softly and asked.
“Do you know anything about that tower? “I need to get in there, but some force is blocking me.”
“…Oh, I know.”
The boy hesitated a little and then continued. The voice was trembling with fear.
“Before that, please heal me first. “Then I’ll let you know.”
“you?”
The boy nodded and half removed the bandage covering his face.
It looked so terrible that it was difficult to look at it properly. More than half of the skin, with red boils and oozing blood, was turning black.
“It’s an epidemic going around in the city. After just one month, it turns into a complete monster. It’s been over 3 weeks since I got it….”
“…….”
Soshinhan’s face, which had a weak stomach, turned pale, and Gerold’s expressionless expression also cracked slightly.
Rather, the girls looked calm.
Considering what I saw and experienced in Pandemonium’s laboratory, it was only natural.
“If you heal me, I will tell you how to enter that tower.”
“…….”
“There is no use in torturing him. “I’m not scared at all because I’m going to die anyway…”
Although he said he wasn’t scared, the boy’s expression showed fear that he couldn’t hide.
“Treatment…”
Soshinhan and Gerold looked at each other and looked troubled. There was no suitable way to treat the boy’s illness.
“For some reason, they didn’t let me in with the potion.”
“The goal wasn’t just to prevent us from using it.”
When the adults were in trouble, Anna stepped forward.
“I know how to do healing magic to some extent.”
Unlike Lily and Wendy, who specialized in fire and ice, Anna also had an aptitude for most other types of magic.
-Srurr….
White light flowed from Anna’s hand and enveloped the boy’s body. And slowly, the boy’s body began to heal.
After about 10 minutes, the boy’s body completely returned to normal.
A few scars remained, but the boils all over my body disappeared and my skin color returned to its original state.
“Whew… it’s a pretty nasty disease.”
I must have been a little tired, and there was a little cold sweat on my forehead after the treatment.
“ah…!”
The boy touched his body here and there, as if he couldn’t believe he was completely cured, and then bent his back to 90 degrees.
“Thank you! thank you so much!”
“Now tell me. “How can I get in there?”
“sorry. I don’t know.”
“what?”
“what?”
“I lied because I wanted to make a living.”
The boy lowered his head like a criminal. My small, shrunken shoulders were shaking.
“The adults tried everything, but no one could get in there. In the end, everyone ran away, and now the only people left in the city are the monsters and the people who couldn’t escape…” “
…….”
The party had no choice but to remain silent at the unexpected development. Some people’s expressions were distorted as if they were angry.
The boy spoke while looking at the group’s thoughts.
“I’m really sorry… there are a lot of people like me. “Can you treat those people too?”
“Do any of them know how to get into the tower?”
Anna asked with a stern expression.
I was angry that the other person had lied to me as I had spent a lot of magical energy and mental energy treating the boy’s infectious disease.
The boy seemed conflicted for a moment, but this time he spoke honestly.
“Probably not.”
“…….”
“I’m sorry. But maybe there is! I’ll go and ask again. So, just a few more people….”
“I’m sorry. “We have no more time to waste.”
Gerold spoke clearly.
Other teams were also here now.
While they’re wasting their time here, their competitors will figure out a way to get into that tower.
Although I feel sorry for the patients suffering from infectious diseases…
‘This is a created virtual world anyway.’
‘Even if I try to help, it won’t help anything.’
‘I can’t waste time on something like this…’
‘If I were alone, I would have helped you, but we are a team…’
It was a moment when everyone, for one reason or another, turned away from the boy’s earnest gaze.
“…are you all idiots?”
A voice full of chills.
Everyone looked back in shock.
Lily was glaring at them with an expression they had never seen before.
“A sick person asks for help. “How can you pretend not to know?”
The child who was always smiling has a straight face and gets angry.
For their cowardice and pettiness.
Lily’s anger made them feel twice as guilty and made them look for excuses.
Anna hesitated and made an excuse.
“But we have something to do…”
“What happened in the cave. “Have you already forgotten everything?”
Anna kept her mouth shut. Wendy’s expression also hardened.
“Lily.”
Gerold gave a realistic reason and said that the boy should be ignored.
“The reason for the epidemic is most likely in that tower. There might be a cure. In the end, getting there quickly will save more people.”
“What if there’s nothing in the tower? What if everyone dies between the trip and the return?”
“I choose the one with the higher possibility….”
Hesitant.
Lily was looking at him, smiling.
With a cold smile I’ve never seen before.
“Isn’t it just annoying? Aren’t you angry that she lied because she wanted to live? “It’s not because you want to get first place on the test, is it?”
“That’s…”
“Don’t make excuses. “If you had been sincere, I wouldn’t have been angry.”
“…….”
Looking at the unfamiliar appearance of Lily, Soshinhan recalled one of the messages he had seen earlier.
[Many people are suffering due to the epidemic. Do what you have to do.]
Lily probably doesn’t even remember that phrase.
‘There’s no need to remember.’
The little girl already clearly knew what she had to do.
Soshinhan looked at himself.
‘I wanted to enroll here because I admired the landlord…’
Can someone who ignores the weak in front of them for the sake of their own goals be called a hero?
‘What would the landlord do in this situation?’
– When you have to make a choice, what value you choose… everything is subject to evaluation.
– Please act thinking that the world inside is ‘real’.
Before coming here, Wang Guho said that to the test takers.
‘If this is the real situation.’
Is it right to climb that tower and quickly find the cause of the epidemic and eliminate it?
Or is it right to treat patients first?
‘I do not know.’
I don’t know what the exact purpose of this test was, but Soshinhan decided to do as his heart told him to do.
he asked the boy.
“Where are the others?”
He couldn’t ignore the people who needed help right now.
“…Let’s go help people.”
“…I think the same thing.”
“…my thoughts were short.”
So did the two girls and Gerold. They blushed, as if they felt embarrassed by Lily’s words.
“Where are the people?”
“Over there…”
The boy said that patients were gathered in an underground bunker not far away.
“Guide me!”
Lily told the boy to take the lead.
His expression was as resolute as ever and his actions were full of confidence.
“don’t worry. We will heal all the sick people. And I will save this city too.”
“I’m really grateful….”
“It’s something I do every day.”
The other group members began to quietly follow the back of the girl, who looked bigger today.
[ (side story) Are you all idiots? ]End
ⓒ Ganjjajang
