Chapter 30: Underworld (3)

Before entering Seoul Station, Kwon Oh-Jin stopped by a nearby shop to pick up essential gear.

First, two smoke grenades and two flares.

He fastened the grenades and flares on his belt; these were the only useful modern weapons against monsters.

Next up...

He strapped knife holsters to both his thighs, securing three throwing knives on each side.

“

Oh

, and I’ll need this too.”

He grabbed a headlamp from a corner of the display. This was going to be essential for exploring the sewers.

“And lastly...”

His hand trembled as he reached toward the display. Even glancing at the price tag made him feel sick, but he had no choice.

Mid-tier potions.

He could skip on whatever else, but he absolutely had to buy these.

When he brought the items to the counter, the clerk scanned them and tallied the total.

“Two flares, two smoke grenades, six Starstone-coated knives, one LED headlamp, and three mid-tier potions. That’ll be 7.32 million won.”

“Good grief, you damn daylight robbers.”

Kwon Oh-Jin felt like throwing up. The potions alone cost about six million despite being barely more effective than fast-acting ointments.

Fuck. Damn these potion dealers.

Kwon Oh-Jin didn’t have a choice. Having the right potions made a huge difference.

“Pardon? What did you just say...?”

“

Oh

, I said the knives look really good in daylight.”

Ring!

[Lame Excuse Lv2 has been activated.]

Shut up.

The clerk smiled brightly and nodded.

“

Haha!

Our products are known for their quality~”

Fortunately, he hadn't caught Kwon Oh-Jin's murmurs.

“Will you be paying by cash or card?”

“I’ll pay in cash.

Oh!

But the thing is... I only have six million won on me right now...” Kwon Oh-Jin softly stated with a sigh, waving the envelope of cash he'd prepared in advance.

The clerk smiled brightly and replied, “That’ll be 7.32 million won.”

“But I’ll be paying in cash, so...”

“The exact total is 7.32 million won, thank you.”

“You’re really doing this to a regular customer? I’ve been shopping here for years!”

“Our shop opened up only a week ago.”

Fuck.

“What I mean is that I

will

be a regular for years to come.”

The clerk let out a deep sigh, then nodded.

“I’ll give it to you for seven million won.”

“6.5 million.”

“I really can’t go any lower than that.”

“Let’s meet in the middle at 6.6 million.”

“How is that the middle?”

After a few more rounds of haggling, Kwon Oh-Jin purchased all the equipment for 6.7 million won.

Damn it, I could’ve gotten it for less.

He'd felt that spending more time here would be a waste.

“... You’re truly relentless when it comes to money.”

“I have to save where and when I can.”

He had no problem spending freely when it came to

paradise

, but for trivial gear like this, the more he saved, the better.

“

Hmm.

If I had known money was so important to you, I would have found a way to get some... I’m sorry I couldn't be more of a help.”

“

Haha

, you’ve already helped plenty.”

They weren’t empty words; Kwon Oh-Jin had made more money than he'd ever imagined after becoming her apostle.

“Even so...” Vega furrowed her brow, still upset.

Oh goddess of mine, you really do love your apostle, don't you?

Kwon Oh-Jin smirked and turned around.

“Let’s go.”

After finishing his preparations, he followed the map provided by the association and made his way toward the sewer beneath Seoul Station.

“By the way, are you sure you can handle that flesh monster under the station?” Vega expressed her concern.

The flesh monster in Lee Shin-Hyuk’s memories flashed through Kwon Oh-Jin’s mind. The massive thing was around twenty meters long with eight sinister arms. It controlled hundreds of smaller monsters as it ravaged Seoul Station.

Well, if I fought that thing head-on right now, I definitely wouldn't survive, but...

“That monster’s sealed up right now.”

“Sealed?”

The creature was supposedly bound somewhere, unable to move or resist. Its immense strength was meaningless if it couldn’t fight back.

It’ll just be a giant punching bag.

He made note of Lee Shin-Hyuk’s memories once more.

He clearly said that if he had known about the monster earlier, he could’ve stopped it when it was still sealed.

There was no reason Kwon Oh-Jin couldn’t make that a reality in the present. Even with fragmented information, he knew he was far stronger now than Lee Shin-Hyuk had been back then.

“

Oh

, so, that’s why you seem so confident. You plan to deal with the monster before it awakens!” Vega said, nodding. She was elated that Kwon Oh-Jin always had a plan, as expected of a Regressor.

“Anyway, let’s go find that monster.”

“You don’t know its exact location?”

“When the monster awakened in my first life, this whole place had collapsed.”

“I see. That would definitely make it hard to know where it is now.”

“I’m certain it’s somewhere beneath Seoul Station.”

He hoped that he'd at least find a clue if he searched thoroughly enough.

“Alright then.”

Kwon Oh-Jin took out the manhole cover and went down into the sewers. As soon as he entered, the stench stung his nose.

“Ugh.”

Vega also frowned and covered her nose.

“What an awful smell.”

“If it’s too much, you can go back inside the pendant.”

“No. I might be able to help you, after all. The restrictions aren’t taking a heavy toll yet, so I’ll stay with you.”

That’s better for me.

“Let’s head further down,” Kwon Oh-Jin communicated.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

“Alright.”

They descended deeper into the maze-like sewers.

Kwon Oh-Jin wanted to use the Stigma of Canes Venatici to track down the monster, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so surrounded by this vile stench.

I’ll use it later if I really can’t find it. For now, let’s just keep going down.

Splash, splash.

The sludge against his shoes felt deeply unpleasant.

I should’ve bought boots, too. It didn't even cross my mind.

They continued down with the help of the headlamp, and when they were close to the lowest level...

“My child, I sense something ominous over there,” Vega observed. She pointed in a certain direction.

“Hmm?”

Kwon Oh-Jin pulled out the map to check.

There’s no path in that direction, though?

According to the map, it was a dead end.

“Let’s check it out.”

Since Vega had sensed something, he couldn’t just ignore it.

“Does it feel like the energy we encountered in that cave before?”

“It’s not identical to that, but it is a similar feeling,” Vega remarked, nodding as she crossed her arms. “Back then, it was a sticky and suffocating feeling, but this is more like a piercing unpleasantness.”

“Really?”

Either way, both were supposedly unpleasant. Kwon Oh-Jin guessed that the power of the Black Star was at play again.

That fleshy monster also had a black Starstone embedded in its head, nearly the size of a basketball.

Mutated Starstones, though exceedingly rare, had been appearing with increasing frequency. It was highly likely that the power of the Black Star was tied to this.

“Let’s check it out.”

Kwon Oh-Jin gripped his spear tightly and moved forward. When they finally reached what should’ve been a dead end—

“What the...?”

—they were met with a tunnel made of crimson flesh.

A sly grin spread across Kwon Oh-Jin’s face.

Bingo.

It seemed like they were in the right place.

Suddenly, low growls echoed through the air as two dark-red lizard-like creatures emerged from within the fleshy tunnel.

Krrrk, krrrrrk.

While their heads bore a striking resemblance to lizards, their bodies were grotesquely human-like.

Reptilians.

They were rare three-star monsters that occasionally appeared in gates.

Are they mutants, too?

Reptilians normally had green outer skin, but these ones were crimson red.

Before he could finish his thought, the two Reptilians hissed, flicking their long tongues.

“Krrrrrrrrrr!”

White needle-like bones jutted out from the back of their hands.

Whoosh!

“Well, this'll be a good warm-up.”

Kwon Oh-Jin grinned and gripped his spear tightly. It was time for his new weapons to have their debut; his heart raced with anticipation.

With a bizarre cry, the two Reptilians charged along the walls.

“GuRuuuuuu!”

Their speed was incomparable to the Anthorns from before. However, they weren't fast enough to pose a threat to Kwon Oh-Jin, a rising talent that had astonished even the Celestial of the North Star.

A silver streak rapidly shot toward one of the Reptilians, aiming for its neck.

Whoosh!

The Reptilians thrust their spike-like bones forward as they jumped off the wall. One of them managed to block Kwon Oh-Jin's spear with its bone before twisting mid-air in an attempt to hit Kwon Oh-Jin with its long tail. However—

“That’s not happening.”

“Kaaaa!”

Blue Thunderbolt coursed through the spear.

Crackle!

Unlike Lee Shin-Hyuk’s spear, where the Thunderbolt was only concentrated at the tip, electricity spread throughout the entire silver spear, burning through the Reptilian’s bone and frying its entire body. The Reptilian let out a horrendous screech as it was flung backward.

“Karu!”

The other Reptilian that was charging at Kwon Oh-Jin suddenly froze. Its yellow eyes darted around nervously as it slowly backed away.

“What, scared already?”

“Karaaaa.”

As Kwon Oh-Jin approached the Reptilian with a smile, it turned around and fled inside the tunnel.

“Are you not going to chase after it?”

“There’s no reason to.”

“Huh?”

Vega cocked her head in confusion.

“Just give it a minute or two.”

Reptilians were naturally communal creatures. Known for their rudimentary organization and moderate intelligence, the two stationed by the entrance were likely nothing more than sentries. It was obvious what would happen if one of them died and the other fled back inside. “This is the perfect time to do some fishing.”

“Fishing?”

“Well, it’s closer to casting a net.”

Kwon Oh-Jin chuckled as he aimed his wire shooter at the walls.

The three anchors on the left shooter and three on the right were all shot out.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

“I see. So you have a plan,” Vega remarked, understanding what Kwon Oh-Jin was about to do.

After a quiet three minutes, the tunnel shook, and nasty screams reverberated throughout.

“Karaaaa!”

“Gruaaaaaaa!”

From the far end of the tunnel, dozens of Reptilians charged along the walls, roaring ferociously.

Thump, thump, thump!

“Even if they’re a bit intelligent, monsters are still just monsters in the end.”

He smiled as he looked at the horde of Reptilians. Spreading his arms wide and crossing them, he poured the mana from his Stigma into them.

Ksshhhh!

With a sharp metallic sound, the six wires he had embedded into the wall covered the tunnel.

“Kraaaa—?”

Sensing danger, one of the Reptilians at the front tried to stop, only to be pushed forward by the swarm that followed behind. The six wires wrapped around them like a net.

Azure Lightning.

Crackle!

Blue lightning fiercely surged through the wires, followed by the acrid smell of burning flesh that quickly filled the tunnel.

“Kaaraaa!”

“Grururururururu!”

The Reptilians struggled to free themselves from the wires, but every movement only tightened their binds.

Kwon Oh-Jin watched with satisfaction as the Reptilians writhed as they were burned alive.

Ha! This works great!