Chapter 221

Kim immediately got to work.
“There’s no way that guy back there.”
First and foremost, categorize.
“We should be able to catch him somehow, but it’ll take too long. Unless we catch up, we’re ruling him out. Even if we do, it should only be to tie him up for a while.”
Separate the enemies you can handle right away from those you can’t. The key is: how much does it cost? You have limited health and time, so you need to be efficient.
A typical gamer’s mindset, in a way.
You must move as both a player and a character.
“Get that spider bastard up ahead.”
“Okay, so I’ll go to…….”
“No, you should keep driving.”
The ‘spider’ was a troublesome creature to say the least. In the game, they’re enemies that move around at high speeds, stabbing you in the back and forth, and have a ranged attack that spits out threads.
In short, it’s all about nimble, erratic movement.
Conversely, a weakness is low defense, which makes you vulnerable to physical attacks.
“So what,” I thought, “I’m going to have to be Leila Solpla.
Leila, like Asterike, is a spell buster. She doesn’t even have a decent physical attack. You can’t force her to be a physical dealer by giving her equipment.
But it’s a meaningful weakness.
Yay!
The spider began to spit out threads, blocking the exit.
“I’m getting in the way!”
“It’s okay, just keep running.”
Stopping the car is not an option. If you delay, you’ll be swallowed by the worm. Even if you use a flamethrower to clear the threads, you may catch fire while passing through.
An elongated cylinder appeared in Kim’s hand. He flipped a switch and threw it out the window, and it rolled all the way to the exit, opening the top of the cylinder.
-Cheap Profit!
From the open barrels, a blast of air shot out like a steam engine. An “air bomb” that pushes enemies and allies out of the area. A five-star secondary used by newbies and old-timers alike.
As soon as the thread was pushed through the exit, Kim shouted.
“Drill it!”
“Yes!”
The car picked up speed and sped away, tearing through the tunnel like duct tape at the finish line. Once outside, I could see the spider sitting on top of the tunnel.
Kim plucked at the thread outside the window. The spider’s entire body came into view. Soon, a tiny straw doll and an awl formed in his grasp.
6-Star Support, [Astrakhan’s Curse Doll].
Inflicts “Freeze” and “Debilitate” effects on a single target for 7 seconds.
Poof!
The moment I stabbed the thread and the doll overlapping, the spider descending from the tunnel lost its balance and fell to the road with a loud crash. Completely defenseless. A few shots would have taken care of it, but Kim turned his head away.
You don’t have to finish it yourself.
Boom!
Writhing, the worm crawled out of the tunnel and crushed the spider’s body.
It’s pretty much a formulaic strategy. You’re supposed to use Leila’s spell to remove the threads and electrocute the spider, but I tend to retry an average of five times due to hitbox issues.
‘Because I can’t even do that now.
You need to tread more firmly.
The road was constantly shaking. This shouldn’t be surprising as the worms chased them, smashing the railings and the ground, but Kim noticed an unnatural “vibration” coming from the front.
He stuck his upper body out the car window and Leila winked at him.
“Mr. Hyun?”
“Keep moving forward.”
Bang, bang!
Kim pulled a pistol from his waistband and fired it into the ground 50 meters in front of him. A seemingly unintelligible act. But the consequences were immediate.
The ground shook violently for a moment, and then thorns shot up like grates from the front. Chapter shuddered, and Leila jerked the steering wheel into drive. She swallowed dryly, involuntarily.
“Oh, my God, how did you know?”
“By feeling. What a bunch of weirdos.”
Kim’s hands didn’t stop moving as he spoke. This time, he pulled out a semi-automatic rifle and mounted it on the window sill. With each pull of the trigger, the bird’s wings were impaled and shot down.
“Damn, that was close.
It’s a dangerous tightrope to walk, with something as big as a building closing in behind you, and you never know what might jump out in front of you.
You have about 3 kilometers to go.
One mistake or unforeseen event can quickly tip the balance. You have to push a little further while you can.
And 500 meters further on.
Kim and Leila felt the gaze of “it.
“Holy shit.”
For a moment, a chilling silence descended.
To the left of the road, there was an object that merged with a bombed-out high-rise apartment building; it was like paint on the walls of the apartment.
Immediately after a large eye blinked into the center of the black wall.
The ink began to cascade from his pupils.
Each drop was a waterfall of paracites. Countless tanks lay on the road. Unable to withstand the impact of the fall, their bodies were smashed, piled up, smashed again, and piled up again to form a mountain.
This one, I don’t know.
“-Mr. Hyun, please change the driver!”
“Is there a way?”
“We’re going to have to force our way through.”
Kim and Leila swapped places in a hurry with acrobatic moves.
Sparks flew from Leila’s body as her hair floated up in the air. A blue orb compressed in her hand propelled itself into the air.
Kurrrrrr!
A thick thunderbolt fell over the pile of parasites.
“Huh.”
It was a Chapter that surpassed Asterique’s. It was worthy of a final stage-exclusive Scamper. Leila’s spell, nourished by absorbing all manner of pollution, could only be described as magical.
Power is power, but Kim realized that the enemy had stopped moving.
A 10-second, area-wide electric shock. It was the crucial reason Leila was able to clear the final stage on her own. It may not be able to be used in a combo, but its value is ridiculous.
“Ha, ha, now!”
As soon as Leila sat back down, Kim threw a grenade and closed the car window. He stuck to the left lane, the least obstructed, and slammed the car into the monster barrier.
Thump, thump!
The chassis lurched frantically. Halfway through, a worm crashed into the Parasite’s forces from the rear. The ‘eye’ continued to spit out ink, sweeping them all away.
The side mirrors and bonnet were torn off from the impact. Smoke billowed from the engine and the windows shook like they were about to shatter.
Kim pushed the car forward, forgetting to breathe.
Your vision will be covered in ink, and your experience will take forever.
Next,
-!
An unmistakable wail from Polaris signaled the end of the ten seconds. After a brief interval, the car cleared the last of the ink. After clearing the obstacle, the road ahead opened up.
The mountain of Parasite rumbled and crumbled, chasing their butts. Even as their bodies exploded in a heap, there were still others who remained intact.
The parasites left behind were devoured by the worms. The survivors jumped up and clung to the rear window like leeches. It was a sight that brought hell to earth.
Things went from bad to worse.
“Up ahead!”
You swerve to avoid a flying object. Something like a lightning rod struck the road. As he approached the suspension bridge, he saw countless eyes leaning over the steel beams.
People near and far were gunning for it.
“I can’t do this anymore.”
Kim made a decision.
“Get ready to jump.”
“What? Jump, uh-oh!”
Leila looked over and gagged. Kim had just pulled out the dynamite. But after a moment of panic, she quickly realized the plan and thought it through.
Cheat!
The spark that ignited the fire burns.
The doors on either side of him flew open as the car slowed sharply. From nowhere, a parasite on the roof of the car extended its tentacles into the driver’s seat, its sharp tips scratching Kim’s arm. The blood rushed to her veins.
It’s not a big wound. She yanked the tentacle out with all her might and slapped it. Kim wasted no time in jumping out of the car and grabbing Leila by the left arm as she ran to the railing.
“Don’t bite your tongue.”
“Ugh, ugh. I get it……!”
Boom!
I hooked the hook on the railing and jumped without hesitation.
There was a wire coming out of the top of the bridge. Even to the naked eye, it wasn’t long enough to reach the ground. Kim let go of the [tactical hook] and began a free fall.
“Gahhhhhh!”
Below is the ground. Six-star agent or not, if we crash, we’ll be dead. I might be able to survive if I put in a helixibir, but I’m not that experimental.
It’s not going to crash.
Boom!
He squeezed the handle that appeared in his grasp. The canopy of the parachute unfolded. An auxiliary device that could instantly change an agent’s deployment position once during an operation.
In the real world, it’s an ordinary parachute, and as such, it has ordinary uses.
We were down to the right altitude.
-Kaaaaaah!
An explosion occurred in the midst of countless parasites and worms. Flames consumed everything on the suspension bridge in equal measure. An intense shockwave propelled the parachute.
Kim rolled on the ground with Leila wrapped around him. A dull ache shot up his back, but not enough to impede his movement. He sat up and looked at his leg.
“Spectacular.”
Parasites were falling like hail from the broken bridge.
“I, I, I, I’ve never, ever, experienced, this, in, my, life, woohoo….”
“You get used to it after two or three times.”
“Uh, do I need to do this two or three times? No, thank you once.”
Leila staggered to her feet. She let out a whoosh and took a deep breath to calm her stunned chest, though she was unharmed, though her brain seemed to fail for a moment in surprise and bewilderment.
“……I’ll have to walk from here on out.”
“I’m glad I don’t have to worry about getting lost.”
They both looked away, not sure who was first.
I could tell where it was by following the flow of pollution. In the distance, a hole in the world jutted out higher than the buildings of a high-rise apartment complex. It was enormous, a far cry from the fist-sized hole it had been before.
“Let’s proceed with caution.”
The goal is not far away.
* * *
As Leila watched the backs of those ahead of her, she harbored a fleeting sentiment.
“Something, a little bit like traveling.
It was a stupid idea, even for me. The slightest misstep could cost them their lives. It’s not an exaggeration to say that hundreds of millions of lives rest on their shoulders.
Despite knowing it in your bones.
For some reason, I’m not as anxious as I thought I would be.
“It’s a strange feeling.”
“What?”
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about a similar situation for a long time.”
I said under my breath as we walked down a shady alley.
“It was a strong premonition, not that I predicted exactly what the rift was going to be like, but I’ve always wondered if there would be a role for me one day, because my background is not typical.”
“It’s not ordinary.”
“Yes. Neither my professors nor my two directors chose their research themes casually, like, ‘I can do this.’ There was a clear intention behind my birth.”
Leila summarized what I had to say.
“So, you had something you wanted me to do.”
She has always felt a sense of mission. It was the underlying reason she wanted to help others so badly. For the first time in her life, she opens up. She continued, embarrassed by herself.
“I’ve been choked up sometimes, but I’ve never hated it, because I’ve loved my life so far, and all I can say is, um…….”
I smiled awkwardly.
“It’s just amazing to have someone there for you, even when you’ve been determined all along.”
“Hmm.”
Kim glanced behind him and stopped walking abruptly.
“I said it was out of the ordinary, which was probably a little misleading.”
“Oh?”
“I’ll put it this way: there must have been a lot of researchers involved in your birth, a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of trial and error. Whatever the ulterior motives, one thing is clear.”
With his usual nonchalance, he adds.
“The moment you came into the world, you were truly blessed by all of them.”
“…….”
“People like you are rare, so live long and well. Don’t be a sad face on a fictitious day like somebody else, and don’t fall off a cliff because you forgot your own name like somebody else.”
After saying that, Kim put on his mask. Leila remained silent for a long moment, her mouth agape. After a moment, a crooked smile spread across her face.
“Yes.”
Like holding back a tear.
It was a look I hadn’t seen on Polaris.
And about two hours.
Kim and Leila saw the cracks.
Surviving Mangem as a 1-Star – Chapter 222 (of 222/223)