Chapter 5: Lost Technology (5)
‘...I don't even know what's what anymore.’
Maybe I was beaten to death by Park Kwang-yeol earlier.
Now, I’m dreaming after death.
It feels like I'm possessed by a ghost.
Anyway, there was no other option now.
‘You said to find that thing in the next room, right?’
[Given the current situation, this is the best way to significantly increase your chances of survival, Master.]
‘I don’t know! Damn it, let’s give it a try!’
Thanks to moving quickly, the captain’s cabin of this gigantic spaceship was now within reach.
I thought I couldn’t be surprised by anything else in this spaceship, but as we entered the next room, the hunters’ eyes widened again.
"What is this?"
The room was filled with the corpses of astronauts.
Unlike those who had helplessly died in the cryo-capsules, these had fought against monsters.
Half of the corpses were melted, and the other half had clear signs of being eaten.
Despite being armed with alien rifles, it seemed they couldn’t defeat the monsters.
"There are... more corpses."
The more corpses there are, the more fully-grown monsters there are.
Hunters, well aware of this, frowned and cautiously moved forward.
Monsters could move not only through regular passages but also through ventilation ducts, so there were several more things to worry about.
Hyeon Su-ho scanned the surroundings more thoroughly than anyone else.
‘Where is it?’
Although there were plenty of alien rifles scattered on the ground, the pistol shown by the voice was nowhere to be seen.
Luckily, there was no need to rummage through corpses to find the pistol.
The voice kindly created a holographic arrow pointing to the target.
[It’s over there.]
The pistol was tightly gripped in the hand of a dead astronaut.
Wearing a square captain’s hat and a fancy uniform.
‘Is he the captain?’
After quickly checking his surroundings, Hyeon Su-ho swiftly picked it up.
Anyway, items obtained from the gate cannot be taken back to the original world. No other hunters cared about what was obtained here.
‘Now, what do I do with this?’
[Model R2D2, Quark-Gluon type Plasma Gun confirmed. Current charge level is at 21%. A charge of 125% is required to achieve necessary destructive power.]
The voice said it needed 125% energy, not 100%.
[Starting charge.]
At that moment, Hyeon Su-ho felt the gun in his hand sucking in his mana.
The sudden drain of mana made his legs buckle momentarily.
"Ugh!"
Despite squeezing out all his mana, the result was disappointing.
[Current charge level: 28%.]
‘...It only increased by 7%?’
Of course, mana gradually replenishes over time.
But how could he fill 125% like this?
‘Mana potion. If only I had something like that…’
With a mana potion, he could replenish it much faster, but mana potions are incredibly expensive items.
Even a small mana potion easily costs over a billion won.
For a support profession, who can treat most wounds with bandages unless they are fatal, a mana potion is a dream beyond reach.
Would Jin Seo-yeon help if asked?
As he was contemplating this, the creatures reappeared.
[Kiieeek!]
Perhaps because the captain’s cabin was near, the monsters launched an all-out attack.
Not only the fully-grown monsters but also numerous small creatures that he saw at the beginning appeared.
“There they are! We have to break through!”
They tried to move forward quickly, but it was too late.
The path was already blocked by numerous monsters ahead.
Jin Seo-yeon gritted her teeth and shouted.
"We’ll break through with force! Moonlight Field!"
As Jin Seo-yeon shouted, a gentle glowing magic circle formed on the ground.
An area buff skill that increases the abilities of allies.
As expected of an S-class supporter, the magic efficiency was incredible.
Hong Chang-sik responded quickly as well.
"Fire Wave!!"
Fwoosh!!
Other hunters also unleashed their skills and abilities, attacking the approaching monsters.
Hyeon Su-ho suddenly realized this was an opportunity.
‘If I want to replenish mana, even a little…’
With the plasma pistol tucked at his waist, Hyeon Su-ho picked up a plasma rifle from the floor.
‘If it still has any charge left…’
He pulled the trigger, aiming at the approaching monsters.
Pew!
A blue light flashed, and the plasma beam hit the monsters.
It felt different from using live ammunition but wasn’t hard to hit. In fact, it felt easier.
Fortunately, the power wasn’t low, dealing damage even to the monsters’ tough exoskeletons.
‘Alright!’
After using up the rifle’s charge, Hyeon Su-ho switched to another gun to continue firing.
He targeted monsters already weakened by the hunters’ attacks.
It was taboo for a support role to kill monsters.
Especially if they dealt the finishing blow and stole experience points, hunters could get furious.
Fortunately, the hunters had no time to pay attention to Hyeon Su-ho’s actions now.
Even if they did, he wouldn’t have stopped.
‘Just one, just one more level…’
Amidst the frantic weapon switching and attacking monsters, Hyeon Su-ho finally achieved the level up he had dreamed of.
[You leveled up.]
"Finally!"
With the level-up, his stats nearly doubled, and his health and mana were fully restored.
Though he wished he could repeat this and level up once more, unfortunately, this was the end.
"The path is clear! Move forward!"
Using all the mana he gained from leveling up to charge, he heard a positive response from the voice.
[Charge level 71%. Adjusting mission success probability to 49%.]
‘So it’s roughly a fifty-fifty chance?’
Now, there was really not much left of this dreadful place.
The group finally arrived at the control room.
Hoping for a smooth ending, they were instead met with the greatest challenge yet.
"What are all these?"
"Eggs? They're monster eggs! Be careful, everyone!"
Eggs were stuck everywhere—not just on the floor, but also on the walls and ceiling—encased in sticky, web-like substances.
There were at least hundreds in sight.
Even more terrifying was the massive creature standing in front of the control panel.
[Keeeeeck!!!]
The largest creature they had encountered so far was about 2 meters tall.
But this one looked over 5 meters tall.
"Is it the queen?"
Surrounded by countless eggs and much larger than any other monster, it seemed to be the mother of all the creatures they had faced so far.
It was already wary of the group inside.
[Grrr!!]
When it opened its huge mouth, thick saliva dripped out.
The saliva was so acidic that the floor began to sizzle and melt on contact.
This was the same space alloy that had withstood even the attacks of the Ranker Hong Chang-sik.
This was truly dangerous.
Hyeon Su-ho quickly asked.
‘Where is the self-destruct activation button?’
[I will display it on the screen.]
Again, a holographic arrow pointed to the self-destruct button.
The protective cover was already partially open, as if someone had attempted it before.
But it was behind the queen monster, making a direct approach impossible.
Hong Chang-sik stepped forward again.
"Flame Spear!"
As he chanted, a huge spear appeared in mid-air and shot forward like an arrow.
It seemed he intended to deal with the creature before it could react.
This spell had a small area of effect but contained extremely high heat.
This should easily melt space alloy.
The flaming spear struck the queen monster’s chest with pinpoint accuracy.
BOOOM!!!
The spear exploded on impact with a deafening roar.
The shockwave was so strong that even the hunters at a distance stumbled.
Hong Chang-sik kept his hand extended, watching the monster’s reaction.
Clicking his tongue in disappointment, he spoke.
"Tch! Its fire resistance is too high."
Unfortunately, the monsters had high fire resistance.
While they had previously melted away under Hong Chang-sik's magic due to the vast difference in power, the queen’s durability matched its size.
[Kieeek!!]
The queen's shell looked relatively unscathed, aside from some slight scorching.
If it had been damaged, they might have followed up with more attacks, but such a straightforward approach seemed unlikely to succeed.
Someone muttered in disbelief.
"Is this right? It’s supposed to be 3.5 stars, right?"
The expedition team included a Ranker. Even considering the special nature of being in space, it should have been an easy clear.
Something was definitely wrong.
Others felt the same, but there was no turning back now.
Not only the queen but also the eggs, sensing danger or detecting prey, began to hatch simultaneously.
Crack-crack-crack!
Nearly a thousand newly hatched creatures emerged. The sound of the creatures that hadn't been dealt with before rushing through the vents thundered.
Sensing the danger, Jin Seo-yeon urgently shouted.
"This is the end! If we break through here, we can go home! Don’t lose focus until the very end!"
Was it the boost skill of the S-rank supporter?
Or did the mention of home touch everyone’s hearts?
The hunters fought with their last reserves of strength against the monsters.
"Waaah!!"
Despite the hunters’ efforts, the situation remained dire.
The newly hatched creatures kept coming, and the ones through the vents joined them.
[Keeeeeck!!]
Hong Chang-sik fought like a demon, but it seemed impossible to handle the countless monsters swarming from all sides.
Eventually, the monsters broke through the hunters’ defensive line and reached right in front of them.
"Argh! Get away from me!!"
Small monsters climbed up hunters’ legs, forcing their way into their stomachs, while larger monsters dragged hunters away alive.
"No! Someone help me…"
As comrades were dragged away by monsters right before their eyes, no one could help.
Hunters had to fight on with tears of fear and guilt over their fallen comrades.
As time passed, the situation grew increasingly desperate.
Aside from Hong Chang-sik’s initial magic attack, they hadn’t been able to launch a significant attack on the queen monster, nor could they get close.
Hong Chang-sik continued casting attack spells while shouting to Jin Seo-yeon.
"Miss! We can’t go on like this! We need to activate the self-destruct, even if it means taking damage!"
On the verge of panic from the dire situation, Jin Seo-yeon regained her composure at Hong Chang-sik’s words and replied.
"I’ll go! Cover me!"
She decided to take the risk to activate the self-destruct device.
The odds were incredibly low, but it seemed like the only way.
At that moment, Hyeon Su-ho stepped forward.
"I have a way. But I need help."
In a situation where even the Ranker Hong Chang-sik had no solution, the sudden statement from a support member was surprising.
Even if it wasn't worth listening to anyone, Jin Seo-yeon was different with Hyeon Su-ho. He had provided help that even the other hunters couldn’t.
"You have a way in this situation? What is it?"
"I’ll skip the details. I need mana. Do you have any mana potions?"
"Mana potions? What are you…."
"There’s no time! Quickly!"
Prompted by Hyeon Su-ho, Jin Seo-yeon looked around again and handed over the mana potions she had.
One intermediate mana potion and three lower mana potions.
"Here."
Without further explanation, Hyeon Su-ho downed them all in quick succession.
Gulp, gulp, gulp!
[Charge level 114%, success rate 87%.]
Despite consuming the expensive potions, it was still slightly insufficient.
"Do you have any mana buffs?"
"Yes."
"Give it to me quickly!"
"Understood. Lunar Awakening!"
The S-rank supporter's buff was truly exceptional.
And this was not a range buff, but a single-target buff.
It was a moment when even giving all the buffs to Hong Chang-sik might not be enough, and she gave it to a mere porter.
"Please!"
Jin Seo-yeon said with a desperate expression.
He couldn’t let down that expectation.
[125% charge completed.]
Thanks to Jin Seo-yeon's generous support, the charging was finally complete.
‘Now what?’
[You need to move to the designated spot, Master.]
With those words, a holographic marker indicated the position he needed to go to.
It was the frontmost position of the group, the most dangerous spot in this battlefield.
But now was not the time to worry about that.
"Damn it! Cover me!"
Would they listen to a request from a support member like him?
Especially when it was already hard enough to protect themselves?
But there was no time to wait for an answer.
With a do-or-die determination, he ran forward.
The fear turned into reality.
As Hyeon Su-ho dashed forward, monsters sprang at him as if they had been waiting.
The small monsters leaped towards him like fleas, in slow-motion.
Probably trying to devour his insides.
But just seeing it didn’t give him any way to react.
‘Even if my guts get eaten….’
All he could think about was reaching that spot and pulling the trigger.
Fortunately, the support came just in time.
"Fire Wave!"
Fwoosh!
A strong stream of flames burst out around Hyeon Su-ho, incinerating the approaching monsters.
Hong Chang-sik’s attack magic.
The heat scorched his skin black, but thanks to the adrenaline, he felt no pain.
He finally reached the exact spot indicated by the voice.
‘Now what…!’
At that moment, a green wave, about 2 meters tall, rose beside Hyeon Su-ho, and then began to take on a distinct form.
Swish!
Long, flowing emerald hair down to her waist.
An extraordinarily beautiful face, as if it had been crafted by combining the features of the world’s most beautiful women.
Red eyes that contrasted with her hair.
Her tight space suit accentuated her beautiful curves.
Was this what an angel descending from the heavens would look like?
He was so stunned that his thoughts stopped, but a familiar voice spoke.
[Aim, Master.]
Was this not a hologram?
As she gently took his wrist and raised it, the muzzle was fixed precisely on the queen.
[Now.]
With a soft voice, Hyeon Su-ho reflexively pulled the trigger.
What came out of the small gun was an unimaginable plasma laser beam...
The massive amount of energy poured forward, enough to obscure his entire view.
Bzzt!!!
The gigantic energy beam engulfed all the monsters and the queen monster ahead.
[Keeee...]
The result was complete annihilation without even a cell remaining.
"We... did it?!"
But the joy was short-lived. He realized something he hadn’t considered.
The laser hadn’t just eliminated the monsters.
It had also obliterated the space alloy of the spaceship’s external armor, which had withstood Hong Chang-sik’s magic.
"What?"
A hole was created in the spaceship.
What would happen as a result?
Naturally, both monsters and humans inside started to be sucked out through the hole like a vacuum cleaner.
"Waaah!!"
It seemed they were destined to be lost in space, but at the perfect timing, Hyeon Su-ho’s hand moved on its own.
Flying precisely to the captain's seat, his finger pressed the self-destruct button.
Click!
At that moment...
《Dimensional Quest Clear》
.
.
.
"......"
How much time had passed?
When he opened his eyes again, he saw the blue sky.
"……Damn it."
