Episode 116
116: The Hidden Ones
Crunch, crunch.
In the snow-covered city center of Prelia, the only sounds that filled the air were golden hands footsteps treading on the snow and the distant wails of the undead.
Fortunately, the creatures were solely focused on the icy wall Ma Jincheol had erected. They passed so close to golden hands without noticing him that they could have brushed against him.
Occasionally, they encountered a few stragglers with keener senses, but those creatures were no match for golden hands.
Crrk…….
A ghoul lunged from around a corner of an alley. Without even breaking his stride, golden hands swung his hammer.
Crunch!
[Weak point strike successful.]
[Critical hit confirmed.]
[Ghoul has been eliminated.]
A single blow. The ghoul’s head shattered under the hammer, dissolving into dust. Geumson didn’t even glance at the remains, instead checking his map.
“It should be around here…….”
He stopped walking. The location indicated by the system’s first blue dot. But all he saw before him was a white, snow-covered ruin. Debris of collapsed buildings and skeletal trees. Not a trace of human presence could be found.
‘Did I see it wrong?’
That couldn’t be. The system didn’t lie. Just then, a message appeared before his eyes.
[Iron Worker has eliminated ‘Skeleton Soldier’.]
[Experience gained.]
[Iron Worker has eliminated ‘Torn Ghoul’.]
[Experience gained.]
.
.
.
[Level has increased! Lv. 82]
Seeing the messages, a faint smile touched golden hands lips.
‘This is practically auto-hunting.’
It seemed his distant Iron Worker was diligently doing its part. Originally, the Iron Worker was created to supplement golden hands lack of combat prowess. But until now, it had truthfully been more focused on assisting with crafting or acting as a pack mule. Now, however, it seemed to be faithfully fulfilling its original purpose.
‘Still, being separated for too long could be problematic.’
He trusted the Iron Worker. But there were system limitations Geumson didn’t fully understand yet. So, staying apart for too long didn’t seem wise.
‘I’d like to experiment, but… now’s not the time for that.’
The fate of not just Ma Jincheol, but the entire city of Prelia was at stake. This was no time for leisurely testing the Iron Worker’s limits. Setting aside the pleasant notifications, Geumson refocused on the ruin before him.
Someone was definitely here. The system said so. Then, there was only one answer.
“Resolution’s Intuition. Pulse of Insight.”
As he activated the skill, his vision changed. Within that sight, Geumson’s gaze fixed on one point. The wall of a collapsed building, a corner obscured by snow. The flow of magic was subtly twisted there, making it undetectable by ordinary senses. And that flow led underground.
‘People’s thoughts… are all quite similar.’
Memories of the past suddenly surfaced. The Age of Ruin. People had hidden in deep underground shelters, sewers, and sealed subway stations to survive. But that waiting didn’t always lead to salvation.
When rescue teams arrived, it was common to find the survivors already cold corpses. Or sometimes, they had hidden so well that rescuers passed them by entirely. The Age of Ruin was like that. The memory left a bitter taste in his mouth.
‘This time, I won’t make a mistake like that!’
Without hesitation, golden hands raised his hammer. There was no time to leisurely search for a secret mechanism or try to persuade those inside to open the door. At this very moment, the undead were ceaselessly multiplying.
“Sorry, but I’ll skip the knock.”
BANG!
With a dull, crushing sound, the iron door crumpled and was torn from its frame. golden hand pushed his body through the torn opening.
Whoosh—
The moment he entered, a stench assaulted his nose. golden hand’s face contorted involuntarily. A vile odor—a mix of blood, sweat, and excrement. A dark, damp underground space. Hundreds of people were huddled in that cramped area.
“S-save us!”
“Don’t come in! Don’t!”
“Undead! The undead have broken in!”
“Ah, God! What sin have we committed to be subjected to such a harsh trial…….”
Startled by the sudden intruder, the people screamed and scrambled back. Most were women, children, and the elderly. Among them were wounded men groaning in pain.
The survivors were in a pitiful state. Malnourished to the point of being skeletal, their eyes filled only with terror and despair.
‘Their condition is worse than I thought.’
Especially the wounded lying in the corner. Wounds from the undead weren’t just about bleeding. The injury sites blackened with rot as the corpse poison spread. Without timely treatment, they would turn into the same monsters in agony.
‘If I leave them like this… it’ll be chaos.’
If the wounded turned into undead in this enclosed space, the result was painfully obvious. This shelter would become a hellscape of carnage. As Geumson frowned, assessing the situation, someone staggered forward from among the wounded.
“Everyone, step back. It’s a player… no, an outsider.”
A voice firm yet gentle. A woman in white armor. The armor was dented and bloodstained, but it was unmistakable. She, too, was a player. And undoubtedly of a paladin-class profession. And Geumson knew one such person.
‘Could it be… Baek Jinju?’
In the Age of Ruin, she was called Humanity’s Last Paladin. The one who always raised her shield in the most dangerous places to protect the weakest. The very Baek Jinju who had given him the hint to use the ‘Divine Whistle Scroll’ on himself.
She was here. In this hellish underground shelter in Frelia, just as in the Age of Ruin, she was still protecting people.
“I thought all players had already abandoned Frelia… Did you side with the Witch? Did you take a quest or something?”
Baek Jinju asked warily, her expression sharp. Her hands trembled slightly, but her gaze remained unwavering. Geumson gave a wry smile, lowering the hood of his Shadow Robe.
“The Witch? Nothing like that. Let’s just say… I’m a rescue team for now.”
At his words, Baek Jinju seemed to relax, nearly collapsing. It seemed she recognized golden hand at a glance. His fame made her lower her guard. Someone of his stature wouldn’t be doing anything crazy here.
“A rescue team, alone? Just help with the wounded if you can. We’re short-handed.”
Baek Jinju struggled to her feet and approached the wounded, pressing her hands against their rotting wounds. She was squeezing out her own divine power to halt the spread of the corpse poison. Exhausted herself, yet willingly sacrificing for others. She was exactly as golden hand remembered.
‘Ha… really stubborn. I guess people don’t change.’
She was a player. She didn’t need to go to such lengths for NPCs. But that was Baek Jinju. That was why she was called Humanity’s Last Paladin.
‘This goes against protocol…’
In the Age of Ruin, the first principle of rescue protocol was:
Prioritize mobile survivors.
It was a cold but necessary choice to save more people. Caring for the wounded could endanger the rescue team and other survivors. golden hand habitually recalled that principle.
But watching Baek Jinju’s actions, he erased that thought. Her stubborn, seemingly foolish actions moved him instead.
‘Well, this isn’t the Age of Ruin anymore.’
golden handchuckled to himself. Then, he opened his inventory.
“I am a rescue team. And don’t worry. I’ll get everyone out.”
What he retrieved were glass bottles shimmering with a blue light. The ‘Supreme All-Purpose Potions’ he had crafted while training at Astrid’s cabin.
“Have them drink this. Apply it to the wounds too.”
“Potions won’t work. These are wounds from the undead……”
“Just try it, you’ll see.”
Geumson handed the potions to Baek Jinju. She took them with a puzzled look. The moment she opened one, her eyes widened.
“Th-this is……!”
Just the aroma flowing from it invigorated her weary body. More than anything, the energy contained within was extraordinary.
‘Divine power? There’s divine power infused in this potion?’
As a paladin, she could tell immediately. This was no simple healing potion. It contained a holy aura, as if a high priest’s healing miracle had been concentrated within it. Moreover, golden hand treatment didn’t end there.
“Left Hand of the Moon.”
As golden hand murmured, a chilling energy emanated from his left hand. The cold instantly invaded the wounds, purging the toxins and stopping the bleeding. It was only first aid, but at least the wounded wouldn’t turn into undead now.
“Y-you… weren’t you a blacksmith? I’m sure I heard that…….”
Baek Jinju, a paladin who wielded divine power, could sense it. The chilling energy golden hand wielded contained a potent purifying power beyond what even a high-ranking priest could muster. And mixed within it was the power of powerful divine energy.
“Just… what are you?”
Divine power could only be wielded by paladins or priests. Just as mages handled magic. That was the common knowledge she knew in Lepione. But her common sense shattered helplessly before golden hand. All too easily.
