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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Rain Over the Waves - 1
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Seo Eun-ha still hadn't left the office, even though it was nearly midnight.
The reason was one of her primary duties: writing strategy reports. With the recent string of incidents, the work had piled up to an overwhelming degree.
"Ugh, my back…"
Indeed, the position of Strategy Platoon Leader was grueling, both physically and mentally.
But the trade-off was a surefire path to promotion, a steep upward trajectory.
*Tap- tap- tap- tap-*
Her eyes darted between the keyboard and the monitor as she employed the classic hunt-and-peck typing method.
Sergeant Kang Ik-jun claimed that this slow typing was the real culprit behind her frequent overtime.
She vehemently denied it, but honestly… there seemed to be some truth to his words.
"…through… strategic… post-incident response and, uh, um… securing… the… results report… um, done!"
At the end of that long march, she finally hit Enter, kicked back her chair, and stretched.
"Finally done! Ugh—"
She checked the clock. It was already 11:43 PM.
"Hmm, I can still get about an hour of exercise in."
Yawning, she turned off the office lights and stepped outside.
But just as she was leaving the building…
*Vwiiing—*
A disturbing sensation echoed in her head…
Her footsteps halted.
"…What is that?"
Beyond her conscious thought, an instinctive alarm began to sound.
*Danger.*
…But what?
Even she didn't know.
It was just a vague, inexplicable feeling.
*Fwoooosh—*
She stood still, searching for the reason, and slowly scanned the darkened base.
From where she stood at the entrance of the main building she'd just left, she could see three other buildings.
To the left was the 2nd Barracks for the 2nd Company, the PX in the center, and to the right, the 1st Barracks for the 1st and Headquarters Companies.
And within those two barracks… she sensed an unidentifiable, alien movement.
*This is…*
A certain evil that only Players who could wield holy power could feel…
*The power of darkness. The sinister aura of the undead.*
There were no soldiers or officers in the 1st Battalion who wielded such power.
This meant an outside entity was using some kind of power in the 1st Barracks.
This was definitely a dangerous situation.
She zipped up her combat uniform all the way and dashed down the hill.
*Thud—*
She pressed herself flat against the wall of the 1st Barracks, lowering her stance.
Muffling her footsteps, she slowly entered the building.
"…"
It was darker than usual inside.
It seemed both the emergency lights and the night lights were all out.
And…
*…The smell of blood?*
The feeling of foreboding she'd had was beginning to manifest as a tangible tragedy.
The smell of blood was coming from the first door on the left entrance of the building—the living quarters of the Quick Reaction Force.
She approached it slowly.
Then, she channeled mana into her fingertips and cast a very small 'Holy Light'.
*Vwiiing—*
The handful of white light pushed back the layers of darkness, illuminating the inside of the barracks…
"…"
Seo Eun-ha couldn't speak.
*Slurp— slurp—*
The interior was stained a dark crimson.
It was the flesh and blood of the QRF.
They were…
*Wiped out.*
It seemed they had all been killed instantly, simultaneously, without a chance to resist.
*Slurp— slurp—*
And in that crimson darkness, something was squirming.
A man in a black suit…
*Slurp— slurp—*
He was crouched among the corpses of the QRF, sucking on someone's neck.
*Sluuurp…*
The sound soon stopped, and the man's red eyes turned toward Seo Eun-ha.
***
As he approached Guard Post 5, a familiar voice could be heard.
"Wow, how did all the aces of our squad end up in one place like this?"
"Gasp! How could our company's greatest hero grace such a humble place…"
Ahn Min-tae and Choi Tae-yong. They were the guards on duty before Lee Hyun-wook and Park Jun-mo.
"…Don't overdo it."
Right, four members of the same squad at one guard post was a rather unusual sight.
But in truth, this was what Lee Hyun-wook had intended.
*I need guys who will follow my orders.*
That's why he had asked the administrative clerk who made the duty roster to arrange for them to meet at this exact spot.
He'd easily managed it by vaguely mentioning he might have dinner with Commander Jeong Sang-sik in the afternoon.
"Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, you didn't look so good earlier. You're not going to collapse on duty, are you?"
"You look like you're in great condition. Just try not to trip and fall on your way down while you're bouncing off the walls."
"Hahaha, and whose fault is that? It's all thanks to you, oh my captain, Sergeant Lee!"
"…Please, I'm begging you, don't say that anywhere else."
Ahn Min-tae had been so ecstatic lately he couldn't contain his cheerfulness.
"Well then, your loyal D-Rank subordinate, Ahn Min-tae, will take his leave! Carry on!"
"—Wait."
Lee Hyun-wook stopped the two as they were about to leave the guard post.
"Hm? What is it?"
The two turned to look at Lee Hyun-wook.
"…"
But Lee Hyun-wook didn't answer right away.
He stood perfectly still in the shadows of the post…
"Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook?"
He was just staring at his wristwatch.
11:59 PM—
He slowly raised his head.
"…I just heard a shout from somewhere."
Lee Hyun-wook said, descending the steps of the guard post.
"…"
At that, the playful expressions on Ahn Min-tae and Choi Tae-yong's faces turned serious.
Park Jun-mo also swallowed hard and followed behind Lee Hyun-wook.
"What's happening now… Which direction did it come from?"
They could now intuit the meaning behind even the slightest change in Lee Hyun-wook's demeanor.
That was why a single sentence from him was enough to make their attitudes do a complete one-eighty.
*Fwoooosh—*
Just then, a cold wind swept over the ridge, and the surrounding trees rustled eerily.
"Choi Tae-yong, you have Night Vision, right?"
"Yes, I do."
As an archer, he was equipped with a night-vision scope.
"Check the area around the guardhouse. The sound came from that direction."
"Yes."
From this ridge, they could look down on the base entrance and the guardhouse.
"Uh, um…"
Choi Tae-yong's slowly scanning gaze froze on one spot, and he let out a sharp gasp.
"…"
He slowly turned his head to look at Lee Hyun-wook.
He swallowed once and nodded.
"…Yes. It's a Gate."
"What? A Gate? You said a Gate?"
Ahn Min-tae's face was a mask of disbelief.
But sure enough, behind the guardhouse, a purple shimmer was blooming.
The guards, sensing something was wrong, seemed to be approaching it…
*Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!*
Sharp gunfire erupted, shattering the night's silence.
It was the starting pistol for a race to hell.
"D-damn it! What the hell is happening now?!"
Ahn Min-tae exclaimed, dropping into a low stance and raising his shield to protect his squad mates.
The guardhouse was far, but a stray bullet could still reach them.
*—Kssht! Ksshhk! This is the guardhouse…*
The emergency radio from the guardhouse crackled to life, but there was no need to hear what it said.
Lee Hyun-wook ignored it and gave another order to Choi Tae-yong.
"Choi Tae-yong, get a clear visual on the monsters coming out of the Gate."
"Yes! They're… uh, undead. Looks like zombies."
"Then the guardhouse personnel won't be able to stop them."
"Damn it, what do we do then?"
"…You three go."
A look of bewilderment spread across the three men's faces.
"What? Won't the QRF respond immediately?"
Lee Hyun-wook shook his head.
"The QRF won't have the power to deal with undead—that is, 'holy power'."
Undead were notoriously tricky monsters to fight.
Their tenacity was a given; many of them could even resurrect themselves.
Therefore, there was only one sure way to deal with them.
"But you three happen to be armed with holy weapons."
"Ah…"
According to the original history, these three wouldn't just fail to solve the problem; they'd be wiped out at the very beginning.
*But things are different now.*
Their levels, skills, weapons, and mindset had all changed.
In fact, at this point, no one else was better equipped to handle this situation.
"Uh, but, why just the three of us? Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, where are you going?"
Lee Hyun-wook turned his head at Ahn Min-tae's question.
Below the opposite ridge, buildings stood in rows.
The barracks… where the entire battalion was stationed.
"It seems… there isn't just one Gate."
"…What? No, does that even make sense?"
"That's impossible! You're saying there's a double Gate, of all things, inside the base?"
No, it's not a double Gate.
*It's a Wave.*
A Wave… one of the most hellish events in this game.
Lee Hyun-wook swallowed those words.
Soon, a shimmering purple light near the training grounds, close to the barracks, caught his eye.
*Just as I thought…*
It was the second Gate.
And from it, white figures were pouring out.
*Those are Skeletons.*
The number was unbelievable for an initial spawn.
A quick glance estimated at least eighty of them.
But that wasn't the end of it.
*Gates that open during a Wave don't have spawn limits; they pour out monsters indefinitely.*
The Skeletons would continue to pour out nonstop for a while, and if they weren't controlled early on, their numbers could swell to the hundreds, even thousands. A true legion would emerge.
And the direction they were marching… was, of course, the barracks.
"Ah… You're right! There really is a Gate over there too!"
Choi Tae-yong quickly confirmed it with his Night Vision.
"Now you see? The QRF can't go to the guardhouse. But if we don't stop this initial spawn… those things will head down the mountain to the city. We have to stop that at all costs."
"This is insane…"
"That's why you have to go. I'll head to the barracks, block that Gate, and then bring reinforcements to the guardhouse. Until then, you have to somehow… hold out. Can you do it?"
Lee Hyun-wook said this as he met the eyes of each of the three men.
Now, their eyes held something other than fear.
It was a kind of fighting spirit.
A fighting spirit and confidence built from several successes.
"Understood. Don't worry about us, just go. If this continues, everyone will really die."
Ahn Min-tae slung his shield onto his back and turned, followed by Choi Tae-yong and Park Jun-mo.
They ran down the mountain path toward the guardhouse.
*Yeah, that's right. They all died…*
Then, Lee Hyun-wook also set off.
***
"—Ugh!"
Seo Eun-ha was thrown onto the asphalt.
She landed on her back, the impact shooting up her spine and through her entire body.
But without a moment to register the pain, she quickly got back on her feet.
In that instant—
*Swish—!*
Something flew past, scraping against the ground where she'd just been.
It was a black whip.
It slithered like a snake, retracting into the darkness of the 1st Barracks.
"Eheheh…"
Soon, a pair of red eyes approached from the darkness, and their owner revealed himself.
A tall man in a black suit…
He was already covered in blood.
The blood of the QRF.
"To think I'd run into the Holy Knight Commander's second daughter so soon. And completely defenseless, not to mention fucking beautiful, aren't you? Eheheh…"
"…"
"I can't let a chance like this slip by. I'm going to play with you all night long, so don't be too shy. I do hope you'll enjoy it with me."
A pale face, a blood-soaked mouth, from which a crimson tongue darted out and licked his lips.
Seo Eun-ha caught her breath and slowly backed away.
*What in the world is happening?*
Seo Eun-ha realized the assailant wasn't the only problem.
In her line of sight, to the left, a purple light was shimmering on one side of the training grounds.
*A Gate…*
And from it, a group of Skeletons… no, a legion, was marching out.
*How can so many monsters come out in the first spawn?*
There were already about 120 of them.
As far as she knew, that was impossible.
More importantly, the assailant threatening her was not a monster.
*…He's a Player.*
Players were weapons of humanity, and for that very reason, they sometimes harmed humans.
It wasn't uncommon for some to use their formidable power to commit crimes.
Some even went so far as to form terrorist groups.
But this man, who appeared alongside a Gate to attack the A.M.T…
"…Who are you?"
"Eheheh, don't be in such a hurry. You'll find out as we enjoy the long night ahead."
Seo Eun-ha searched for a way to overcome the situation.
*First, I have to get my weapon out somehow.*
But if she turned her back to run, she'd lose her head.
And it wasn't just her own survival at stake.
The countless soldiers in those barracks…
*The QRF has been wiped out, so an initial response is impossible.*
Of course, mysterious gunfire had rung out from somewhere, and the lights in the barracks had turned on.
The entire force must have woken up and started to arm themselves.
But it was too late.
*Clatter— clatter—*
The Skeletons pouring from the training grounds had already reached the barracks.
If they got inside, it would be a one-sided slaughter before the soldiers even had time to arm themselves.
"Damn it…"
"Yes, yes, you're so very flustered, heheh. Your heart is pounding and your body's getting hot, isn't it?"
Just then, the man lunged, swinging his whip.
*Crack—!*
Seo Eun-ha ducked under the whip and closed the distance, getting inside his guard.
She grabbed both of his arms.
"—Ugh!"
But he was much stronger than she'd expected.
She tried to throw him, but he wouldn't budge.
"Oh! Quite aggressive, are we? I love this style. There's a certain pleasure in breaking you! Uhaha!"
Sensing the difference in their strength, the man leered down at Seo Eun-ha and snickered.
But she didn't give up.
She hooked his inner leg, throwing him off balance, and finally succeeded in a shoulder throw.
*Thwack—!*
His body slammed onto the asphalt with a heavy thud, but at the same time, the nails on his right hand shot toward Seo Eun-ha's ankle.
She let go of his arms and quickly jumped back.
A moment later, and her ankle would have been severed.
*Sizzzle…*
But smoke was rising from the man's arms, right where Seo Eun-ha had grabbed him.
Just holding him with Holy Light active had dealt effective damage.
This meant the foundation of his power was 'the power of darkness'.
"…Well now, I guess you're the next Holy Knight Commander for a reason, eh? Ha, this means I can't hold you close tonight? Ah, right, right. I can just tie you up, can't I?"
The man pushed himself up, cackling, revealing pointed teeth.
*Those fangs…*
He was, for lack of a better word, like a monster. Especially after she witnessed him drinking blood, he felt like one of the undead—specifically, a 'vampire'.
*If that's really what he is… if only I had my weapon, he'd be no match for me. Damn it.*
But there was no time for regrets.
Winning or losing wasn't what mattered right now.
She had to survive, no matter what.
But… she couldn't think of a way.
*For now, I'll focus on dodging the next attack. That's the best I can do.*
It was then.
*Rat-a-tat-tat!*
Gunshots rang out from somewhere,
"Agh! Shit!"
The vampire cried out in pain and stumbled backward.
*Who is it?*
Behind Seo Eun-ha, someone was approaching from the ridge, taking aimed shots.
"Ugh! Fuck! What the hell is this now?!"
The damage wasn't significant, but the pain of his flesh being torn was real, forcing him to back away while covering his head with his hands.
*Bang! Bang!*
This time, the aimed shots were directed at his knees.
The bullets hit his knees and shins, making his body stagger.
Soon, the shooter was right behind Seo Eun-ha.
"Strategy Platoon Leader, are you all right?"
It was Lee Hyun-wook.
"Lee Hyun-wook, how…"
"I'm glad."
"Glad about what? Can't you see what's happening?"
Seo Eun-ha pointed toward the Gate on the training grounds.
Lee Hyun-wook smiled faintly.
"Yes, I can see that. But I didn't arrive a step too late this time, did I? I came to save you right on time."
It was a clear jab at Seo Eun-ha, who always seemed to show up late.
"…Came to save me? You came to save me?"
Lee Hyun-wook shook his head and placed his K2C1 rifle on the ground.
At the same time, two swords unsheathed themselves from his back.
They stood upright in the air, glinting sharply in the moonlight.
Lee Hyun-wook walked past Seo Eun-ha.
He approached the vampire and spoke.
"…I came to save everyone."
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