Episode 85
085. Crimson Tide
Kang Moo-jin’s statement was a declaration of absolute trust in Geumson. That alone would have been sufficient, but Kang Moo-jin did not stop there. It was as if he had been aiming for this moment from the very beginning.
“In fact, I rather hope Craftsman Golden Hands sells the ‘Colossal Chain of Silence’ to Panteria.”
“To the American Panteria? Wouldn’t that shake the unrivaled position of ‘Yeokcheon’?”
“Indeed… would it? Our Yeokcheon?”
Kang Moo-jin was Level 120. He had grown another stage by subjugating the Nightmare King. Having announced this, Kang Moo-jin spoke with a leisurely, victor’s smile.
“I also hope Panteria’s Cain succeeds. Well… that is, if he can succeed. I’ll be cheering for him from afar!”
Kang Moo-jin’s blatant provocation. His final words instantly began spreading across the world.
Panteria’s Cain—he was undoubtedly watching this broadcast live.
Geumson paused on the streets of Airtos, watching Kang Moo-jin’s press conference through Repion’s system. However, Golden Hand’s expression was somewhat subtle.
‘He’s hiding quite a bit of information. The ‘treason’ surely doesn’t just mean acquiring territory, right?’
If it ended simply with gaining territory, as Kang Moo-jin said, that would be fortunate. But the reality was different. The myriad kingdoms existing within Lepione had now begun to seriously watch the outsiders, the players.
Kang Moo-jin’s subjugation of the Nightmare King was not a legitimate succession to the throne. It was a forced seizure of territory using violence. Even though the Nightmare King was a monster, they were wary. There was no guarantee they wouldn’t be next. So, all the power holders in Lepione had begun to watch the players.
‘Conversely, there are also movements to seriously start using the players.’
Relevant information must have been displayed to Kang Moo-jin. Yet, he was hiding it. In the past, he would have disclosed such details accurately.
But this time was different. Moreover, there was another change.
‘Territory development…? He didn’t do that before.’
In the past, Yeokcheon did not develop territory. They merely focused more on ‘character growth’ centered on Kang Moo-jin. But this time had changed. It seemed this subjugation had caused a significant shift in Kang Moo-jin’s mindset.
‘Well, territory development itself isn’t bad. It’ll help other players grow.’
From Golden Hand’s perspective, it wasn’t a bad thing. He almost wanted to praise Kang Moo-jin. The more a player-owned territory developed, the more rewards would typically flow to ordinary players.
Plus, the provocation towards Panteria. He liked that very much. The competition between the nation-representing mega guilds, just as Geumson planned. This would undoubtedly accelerate their growth even further.
However, there was one uneasy point. For some reason, the master of the Asura Guild, Choi Jin-woong—Mad Brain Choi Jin-woong—was remaining silent.
‘His silence is making me anxious… What exactly is he plotting?’
With Kang Moo-jin performing such feats, Choi Jin-woong should definitely have reacted. But Choi Jin-woong maintained his silence. The silence of a man who remained active until the latter part of the Age of Ruin was clearly a point of unease. The more you thought about it, the more deadly he was—Mad Brain Choi Jin-woong.
golden hand’s thoughts grew complicated. But he soon shook his head, forcibly brushing them aside. He was busy enough with the quest from Astrid and didn’t want to entertain complex thoughts.
“Walker?”
— Tia…
Seeing Geumson’s troubled expression, Iron Walker and Tia seemed worried. Giving them a small smile, Golden Hands looked around Airtos again. It was still a peaceful Airtos.
“Strange… Astrid wouldn’t just say something like that for no reason. What exactly is the problem?”
Looking around Airtos, nothing seemed particularly wrong. Just in case, he scanned the city with ‘Resolute Intuition’ and ‘Insight of the Veins’, but it was the same. He couldn’t sense any particular anomaly.
But then.
Iron Walker pointed a finger in one direction.
“Wooalker? Walker?”
The direction Iron Walker pointed was towards the market. The bustling central market where players gathered.
“What’s up? Nothing seems particularly stran—”
Golden Hands face contorted. At first glance, the central market seemed unchanged. But upon closer inspection, he felt something subtly different.
It was the players’ attire.
Players who usually used the central market wore simple robes. But now was different.
‘They’re almost fully armored? Did a war break out or something?’
Players were geared up in all sorts of armor. Moreover, the popular items they were selling seemed to have changed as well.
“Selling effective potions! Different from cheap potions! Instant effect guaranteed! No refunds!”
“Repairing weapons or armor! Buying destroyed gear cheap!”
“Selling Return Stones! You all know how reliable it is to have one of these, right? Limited stock! Line up! Line!”
Sale items that didn’t match the peaceful city. The atmosphere was reminiscent of a dungeon city. And once things felt odd, the players’ conversations also sounded suspicious.
“Is the road to Airtos like breaking through a dungeon? Don’t they do regular purges here? Why are there so many monsters?”
“On the way, I saw merchant groups getting wiped by monsters too. There were ogres?”
“What nonsense. It’s a desert terrain, what ogres are there?”
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.
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The conversations of passing players. They whispered upon seeing golden hand. They seemed to recognize him but couldn’t bring themselves to approach. However, golden hand couldn’t pay attention to such details. He had heard something strange.
‘A lot of monsters around Airtos? And… ogres?’
Around stable cities like Airtos, there weren’t many monsters. High player traffic naturally reduced monster numbers.
Moreover, the Forest Lord Ogre.
This made even less sense. Airtos was fundamentally a desert terrain. Sighting reports of a being that shouldn’t exist. This couldn’t be just passed over.
‘Don’t tell me…’
Something clicked for golden hand. He quickly activated the skill Astrid had given him.
‘Perception of Boundaries!’
The moment golden hand activated the skill, his senses sharply expanded. All surrounding sounds, smells, even the subtle flow of air poured into his consciousness. And the system map unfolding before his eyes.
[No threats detected.]
A message nothing out of the ordinary. So he had felt reassured. But this time, he began pouring in magic. All 99 points of his stat-based magic.
Then, the system message began to react.
[Consuming magic to begin a wider range scan.]
[Player Golden Hand’s information processing capacity has reached its limit.]
[Scan halted for Player Golden Hand’s safety.]
Drip—
Thick blood trickled from golden hand’s nose. Simultaneously, his head began to throb. Golden Hand staggered momentarily, feeling dizzy. But he gritted his teeth.
‘Information processing capacity? Then…’
Golden Hand opened his player details and invested all 50 of his remaining stat points into Wisdom.
[Investing all 50 remaining stat points into Wisdom.]
[Wisdom: 60 → 110]
The Perception of Boundaries skill activated again. It began outputting a different message than before.
[Consuming magic to begin a wider range scan.]
[Marking potential threats with color.]
[Scan completed.]
The wave of magical spreading out from golden hand. When it returned like a modern sonar, golden hand was left speechless.
‘Wh-what… is this?’
The map indicated by the system. Originally, safe zones should have been marked in green. But the map of Airtos reflected in golden hand’s eyes was entirely covered in a vivid, bloody red. Moreover, red dots scattered around Airtos.
‘If each red dot signifies a monster…’
The red dots scattered in concentric circles, like ripples from a stone thrown into a calm lake. It was like looking at a crimson tide.
This phenomenon.
golden hand knew it.
‘A monster wave… is going to occur in Airtos?’
The Age of Ruin.
The monster wave that devastated Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
That endless tide of monsters was silently surging towards Airtos.
[Warning: Undetectable threats are spreading throughout the city.]
[Warning: Gaze directed at Player golden hands has been detected.]
[Warning: It is recommended to evacuate the area before the monster wave is fully formed.]
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.
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Warning messages from the system scrolled up. He had received warning messages before, but never like this. However, there was a hopeful part: the message recommending evacuation. It meant escape was still possible.
‘Is it slightly different from the monster wave that scorched Seoul?’
Back then, gates had opened around Seoul. Hundreds, thousands of gates opened simultaneously. And the monsters pouring out of those gates. The capital’s defense lines collapsed helplessly before the endless monster procession.
But the monster wave in Airtos had a slightly different nature. Monsters gradually tightening their grip, surrounding the city. They hadn’t perfectly encircled the city yet, and there were clearly still loose parts. That’s why players could break through and reach Airtos.
