Chapter 18: Invaders from Outer Space (2)
He hadn't expected Jane Reiner, whom he was supposed to escort, to be a soldier.
And not just any soldier, but from a special unit.
With their wary eyes fixed on him, he had to say something.
Hyeon Su-ho shrugged and replied, "Jane Reiner is pretty famous in this field."
Was that the right answer?
Their gazes grew more suspicious.
Jane threatened to fire her flamethrower at any moment.
"Who are you? Where do you belong? And what's with that weird drone? Speak the truth."
There was no way Hyeon Su-ho, who was from another world, had any affiliation here.
Feeling uneasy, he swallowed hard, but then Nova spoke up.
[Master, please repeat after me exactly as I say.]
Following Nova's instructions, Hyeon
Su-ho said,
"I am Phantom, leader of the multinational mercenary guild SA."
In a situation of national disaster, who would believe in a mercenary?
Though he was skeptical as he repeated Nova's words, their reaction was unexpected.
"Phantom? Are you really Phantom?"
"No way. Phantom is a ghost. No one knows his true identity."
"I heard there's a huge bounty just for a photo of his finger..."
They seemed more shocked by this than by the monster.
He didn't know who Phantom was, but Nova had chosen a good fake identity.
Hyeon Su-ho added with a smirk,
"I even have business cards. If you want, I can give you one."
Surely no one would actually ask for one, right?
The soldiers exchanged hesitant glances, unsure whether to believe him or not.
Was Phantom really that frightening?
Suddenly, Bipo moved forward.
*Beep boop!*
Bipo approached them like a cheerful puppy, beaming.
⸜(♡'á—œ'♡)⸝
Naturally, they jumped back in fright.
"Whoa!"
"What the fu..."
He thought he heard some untranslated words, but it must have been his imagination.
Fortunately, Jane examined Bipo closely before taking a deep breath and speaking,
"The world's greatest psychic, Phantom... You truly use unique abilities."
This time, it was Hyeon Su-ho's turn to be surprised. He asked Nova,
'Psychic?'
[Yes, Phantom is well-known as a psychic.]
'But isn't this a world without mana? How?'
[Psychic powers like telekinesis use mental energy instead of mana.]
'Is that even possible? Without mana?'
[Innately developed brainwaves can be used similarly to mana. Some in Eos have exhibited psychic abilities.]
Now that he thought about it, his world had magic that could summon meteors. From their perspective, mana might seem more wondrous than psychic powers.
He now understood why Nova had chosen the fake identity of Phantom.
(๑ᵔᗜᵔ๑)
Bippo's actions and his use of nanotechnology could pass off as psychic abilities.
Without a real ID, the fact that he had instantly overpower the monster was enough to convince them he was Phantom.
No one in this world could overpower a monster with sheer physical strength alone.
Jane's expression softened slightly as she asked,
"Why is Phantom here? Are you involved in this situation?"
Having been here less than ten minutes, he knew nothing about the situation. Drawing from the earlier conversation and Nova's information, he replied,
"I sensed suspicious activities from the Foundation. They’ve always been secretive, but something felt off..."
"You came to investigate?"
"And to do some sightseeing. I never expected this to happen."
"...."
Of course, she wouldn't fully believe him. But what proof could he offer in this situation?
"Do you really need to be so wary of me? Right now, there are only humans and monsters here. You’ve confirmed I'm not a monster."
After contemplating for a moment, Jane gestured, and the soldiers lowered their weapons.
Hyeon Su-ho nodded and said,
"Good choice. Where are you headed? I'll come with you."
The goal of the dimensional quest was to escort Jane to her destination. He needed her permission for that.
But Jane, being a soldier, wouldn't easily accept a civilian's offer.
"We're on a top-secret mission. Even if you’re Phantom, I can't have a civilian accompany us."
As she turned away firmly, Hyeon Su-ho said softly,
"Sorry, but the joint operation has already begun."
His cryptic words made Jane sharply retort,
"What do you mean by that?"
"What does that mean?"
"It means we're already surrounded."
Startled, Jane and the soldiers finally looked around and began to keep watch.
The thickening fog obscured their vision more and more.
Beyond it, strange sounds echoed.
Rrrrat! Rrrrat!
Srrrat! Srrrat!
[Hisssss!]
Had they smelled them, or heard their voices?
Hundreds of monsters had already surrounded them.
Their bodies twisted and crushed as if kneaded and trampled like clay.
Just like the old man who had turned into charcoal, their bodies were swollen and their skin had hardened like a shell.
"Oh my God!"
"So many monsters!"
On Earth, encountering this many monsters was common, but that wasn't the case here.
Even the specially trained soldiers were trembling with fear.
Fortunately, Jane, their leader, assessed the situation calmly.
"Damn! The thickening fog has blocked the sunlight. That's why the monsters can come out!"
It seemed the monsters avoided sunlight.
Except for that old man, no humans or monsters had shown themselves.
As the thickening fog blocked the sunlight, the monsters began their activities in earnest.
"Lieutenant! We need to retreat...!"
Seeing the overwhelming numbers, the soldiers wanted to flee to a safe place.
But how could they escape when they were already tightly surrounded?
Hyeon Su-ho spoke to Jane.
"We're already completely surrounded. We need to break through. Where should we go? If you tell me the direction, I'll clear the path."
"You?"
"Are you seriously thinking about the civilian thing in this situation? We need to work together to survive!"
Jane hesitated for a moment, then nodded reluctantly.
"You're right."
Good!
Everything was going according to plan.
In fact, he had already been informed through Nova that the monsters were gathering here.
Despite knowing this, Hyeon Su-ho deliberately dragged out the conversation.
The reason was simple.
To create a situation where they had no choice but to cooperate.
Of course, given the circumstances, they would have had to work together eventually anyway.
"Borrow this."
Hyeon Su-ho approached a soldier and snatched the flamethrower he was holding.
"Hey!"
The soldier, caught off guard, fumbled, but Hyeon Su-ho had already thrown the flamethrower to Bipo.
"Catch!"
Beep!
The flamethrower arched through the air and was absorbed into Bipo's body.
Bipo wobbled like a slime swallowing its prey, completely dissolving and absorbing the flamethrower.
Gulp!
Why does that sound effect even happen?
Of course, Hyeon Su-ho didn't throw the flamethrower just to feed Bipo.
Soon, Bipo's round shape transformed, sprouting... arms.
No, they were flame nozzles, not arms.
Whoosh!
As if testing, Bipo sprayed a long stream of fire into the air.
It was much more powerful than the flamethrowers the soldiers had used earlier.
The soldiers stood in awe, dumbfounded by Bipo's sudden fire show.
Jane, equally bewildered, asked Hyeon Su-ho.
"Is that... also your power?"
"Something like that. Let's get started."
With a gesture, Hyeon Su-ho directed Bipo, who quickly flew around, spewing fire.
Whoosh!!
It was like a dragon attacking a village.
The monsters could only be helplessly defeated by Bipo's relentless flames.
[Hissssss!]
If fire was their weakness, Bipo's prowess alone could solve the situation.
But things weren't that simple.
"Some are still fine."
Some monsters moved unharmed through the flames, while others didn't catch fire at all.
Just as their appearances differed, they seemed to have various characteristics.
"A 4-star difficulty wouldn't be that easy."
"What?"
"Never mind! Follow me!"
Holding his Genocide and Chainsword, Hyeon Su-ho began running in the direction Jane had indicated.
The area was already ablaze with the fire Bipo had spewed.
Despite the rising heat currents, the peculiar fog grew denser instead of dispersing.
It was an unusually sticky and heavy fog.
Would it feel like this if fog were made of mercury instead of water vapor?
[Hissssss!]
The monsters that narrowly avoided Bipo's fire and those resistant to flames quickly approached.
Luckily, faced with a real battle, Jane's troops fought bravely without trembling.
"Enemies at 3 o'clock! Fire!"
Whoosh!!
As expected of a special forces unit, they were well-trained.
If only they could use mana, they could easily overpower most hunters.
‘What should I do now? Should I use plasma?’
Using high-temperature plasma, I could easily take down those monsters.
The problem is my mana consumption.
The quest has just begun, and I can't waste all my precious mana on these monsters.
Then, Nova spoke up.
[I recommend combining Genocide and the Chainsword.]
‘Is that possible?’
[Heh! There's nothing I can't do.]
Nova's cocky mode after a long time. It meant the situation wasn't that dire.
Following Nova's suggestion, I combined Genocide and the Chainsword.
The method was simple. I just had to insert Genocide into the Chainsword.
The solid form of Genocide quickly melted like mercury and was absorbed by the Chainsword.
And then...
Whoosh!!
A blue flame started rotating along the Chainsword's teeth.
"Wow!"
[This is the Flame Sword mode. Although its power is lower compared to its flashy appearance, it's perfect for the current situation.]
A custom weapon from Nova, considering the enemies' attributes.
Simply generating high heat consumes less mana.
"With this...!"
There was no need to wait long.
I swung the Flame Sword at the monster charging at me like a beast.
And then...
Rrrratatat!!
Whoosh!!
Grinding and burning.
It was the perfect description.
The monster, which had resisted Bipo's flames, couldn't withstand having its insides burned.
As the hard shell was ground away, the inner flesh quickly turned to ash.
Whoosh!
"In the end, fire is the answer."
The soldiers, being smart, shot the ones resistant to fire with bullets first and then used the flamethrowers.
Ratatatatat!!
The guns, slightly more advanced in appearance than those in our world, quickly heated up because they were made of metal, not monster materials.
Impressed, I asked Nova.
‘Can you get the design of those guns?’
[I will try my best.]
Normally, nothing acquired from the Dimension Gate could be taken back except the rewards.
But maybe Nova could transfer the knowledge.
After all, I got Nova that way before.
Since I was already in the Dimension Gate, I intended to get as much as I could.
"This way! Hurry!"
The quest's goal was to escort Jane, but I planned to save everyone if possible.
Even within the same dimensional quest, the rewards vary based on performance.
Not only the outcome but also the process is crucial.
For example, in a quest to save a village from a monster invasion, the final reward depends on how many villagers survived and how much damage was done to the houses and facilities.
So, it was best to ensure the safety of everyone here if possible.
"Over here!"
Following the path Jane indicated, we arrived at an abandoned factory.
I looked around and asked.
"Where are we? Why did we come here?"
"There's an entrance to a secret facility of the foundation here. Wait a moment while I report to the superiors."
Jane said and went to a corner to make a call.
In the meantime, I asked Nova.
‘By the way, what is this foundation? It's not a charity or scholarship foundation, right?’
[The foundation they're referring to is the PCS Foundation. It stands for Protect, Contain, Secure.]
‘Protect? Secure what?’
[It's a secret foundation that prevents the spread of supernatural entities found in this world to the public. It's a direct agency under the world government.]
‘Such a thing exists here too?’
[According to the data, yes.]
Just because there are no monsters doesn't mean it's a peaceful world.
Already far from peaceful with humans turning into monsters.
At that moment, Jane approached me with her communicator.
"General Kernel wants to speak with you. He says you conducted an operation together before."
General Kernel?
I don't know such a person.
Phantom is a fake identity. If someone who knows Phantom appears, it will be quickly exposed.
While looking for a way to escape, the problem escalated.
Jane brought out a video communicator.
In the video, General Kernel with a thick white beard made eye contact with me.
‘What should I do?’
It was too late to ask Nova to manipulate the video.
Caught in a lie, I was thinking of another excuse when...
[Honestly, I thought it was someone else's made-up story.]
Surprisingly, General Kernel recognized me.
[Phantom, Hyeon Su-ho, my friend. It's been a long time.]
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T/N: I'm thinking of changing the name of our MC Hyeon Su-ho to Hyun Suho.
"Hyeon Su-ho" is closer to the Revised Romanization system, which is the official system used in South Korea.
But "Hyun Suho" is easier to pronounce and for ease of reading.
What do you think about this? Please let me know by commenting below."
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