Chapter 95
Chapter 95: Department Store (3)
Yoo Ji-han didn’t just focus on dodging attacks; he actively utilized his sword and magic, advancing forward.
He dodged the maple leaves after a single strike and repeated his attacks.
Continuing this hit-and-run tactic, he was able to knock down one captured hero after another from their branches.
“Th-thank you…!”
“I’ll help too!”
The freed heroes joined Yoo Ji-han’s party to attack the surrounding monsters.
Already, a giant Goemi and a Maple Goemi had collapsed, one from each type.
Boom!
The massive body of the giant Goemi fell over, unable to withstand the combined assault.
“Die! You bastard!”
“Serves you right, jerk!”
Crack! Snap!
The heroes mercilessly struck down on the fallen giant Goemi’s body with their weapons, like chopping wood.
They seemed terribly embarrassed for being captured by the monsters; everyone was snarling as they attacked.
As a result, it didn’t take long for the massive Goemi to turn into mush.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Seeing the death of the nearby Goemi, a Maple Goemi shook its branches more violently.
Sharp maple leaves poured down incessantly towards the heroes.
As fallen leaves kept regenerating, the creature would never be short on weapons.
Thud! Thud!
“Ahhh!”
Maple leaves pierced the bodies of the heroes who couldn’t evade the onslaught.
Some heroes fell after taking hits to less than ideal areas.
They were just as helpless as when they had been captured.
But Yoo Ji-han was different.
Clink! Clink! Clink! Clink!
With every move of his sword, the maple leaves bounced away.
He could have dodged, but the probability of deflecting with his sword felt more reliable.
“Crazy…!”
“Who the hell is that?”
A swordplay that allowed not a single attack to go through.
The ground was already littered with the deflected maple leaves.
The enraged Maple Goemi’s attention was solely focused on Yoo Ji-han.
The heroes who had significantly retreated could only stare at him in amazement.
If it weren’t for him, quite a few would have already succumbed to those attacks.
“Brother! I’ll join you!”
Kim Si-hu and Min Yu-ri, who were clearing the surrounding Goemi, attacked the Maple Goemi alongside Yoo Ji-han.
Thanks to Chilla, the shield-bearer, the two were able to act freely.
Whoosh!
The Maple Goemi’s body ignited as it was hit directly with fire magic.
Although Goemi usually avoided fire above all else.
Since it was focused on the non-dodging Yoo Ji-han, it couldn’t respond adequately.
Boom—!
Finally, the last remaining Maple Goemi fell.
“Ha…”
Yoo Ji-han lightly shook the hand holding his sword in the air.
His hands were numb from defending against the incessantly flying leaves and branches.
Seeing that the surrounding heroes were vulnerable to the Maple Goemi’s attacks, he had no choice but to handle most of them himself.
‘It’s a familiar situation.’
Fortunately, he had experienced being the bait, taking on the monster’s attacks multiple times in the past with Kim Hyun-tae’s party.
That experience was benefiting him now.
Kim Si-hu, who had been away, rushed over to him.
“Brother! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. How’s everyone else?”
“Mostly okay. There are some dead, though…”
A man lay on the floor with his head bent at an awkward angle.
Kim Si-hu looked at him with a sorrowful expression.
‘At least no more deaths.’
Yoo Ji-han was thankful that there had been no additional casualties since he joined.
Min Yu-ri approached from the side.
“It would be wise to contact the Hero Department.”
“I’ll do it.”
There could be a Rank 3 monster hiding somewhere on the lower floors.
Just as he was about to make the call to inform the Hero Department of this fact—
[This area is not serviceable.]
“…?”
For some reason, he saw an unusual message with no signal from his mobile phone.
The internet connection was also cut off.
Seeing that both calls and internet were not functioning, Yoo Ji-han became quite flustered.
“Is anyone here able to use their mobile phone or internet?”
“…Uh? Nah, it’s not working.”
“Same here.”
“Me too.”
He asked the others, but everyone was in the same situation.
All their mobile phones had lost communication.
‘This doesn’t make sense.’
In a bustling area where a large department store was being built.
Even with a barrier, it was hard to believe that communication would be cut off in such a place.
And he distinctly remembered that it had been functioning just moments ago.
One could propose the hypothesis that there was an abrupt failure in the national communication network…
But something just didn’t feel right.
“Everyone! Let’s get out of here for now.”
A man opened the door leading inside the department store building.
And just as he tried to step through the opened door—
Thump!
“…What the?”
Something invisible blocked his path.
*
“One, two, three!”
Bang!
A giant axe swung towards the already opened entrance.
It looked as if the weapon was swung at thin air.
However, strangely, the axe halted upon hitting an almost invisible barrier.
The man who had swung the axe shook his head and said,
“Doesn’t work.”
“Phew…”
Everyone on the rooftop let out a sigh.
No sharp weapons could get through.
Not even strong magical skills could pass through the entrance.
The boundary separating the rooftop and the building’s interior.
The heroes had no idea what was happening over there.
“This side is the same.”
Min Yu-ri walked to one end of the rooftop garden and reached out her hand.
Tap.
But her fingertips were halted just above the railing.
It was blocked off, just like the rooftop entrance.
Min Yu-ri spread her palm and brushed it against it.
The entire surface was very transparent but had a slightly visible translucent film.
It wrapped around the entire rooftop, smooth and flat.
Thus, choosing to exit not through the entrance but out over the rooftop was also impossible.
“Cough…”
“This is just…”
Kim Si-hu, along with the mages, were continuously inspecting the invisible barrier.
They were trying to find the cause of the phenomenon.
Yoo Ji-han approached Kim Si-hu, who was circling with Min Yu-ri on the rooftop.
“Did you find anything?”
“Just a bit.”
“What is it?”
“…”
Kim Si-hu retrieved the wand he had placed against the wall.
Then, crossing his arms, he said,
“Barrier.”
“What?”
“The structure is similar to the barriers set up by the Hero Department in the Monster Area.”
Kim Si-hu’s investigation had revealed that the barrier currently blocking the heroes was akin to the barriers set to contain monsters.
“You’re saying a barrier was set up within another barrier?”
“Seems that way.”
“I’ve never heard of a barrier that has physical properties.”
Barriers are originally used to restrain monsters.
An invisible barrier that confines human entry had never existed before.
“I’m in the same boat. But since it’s right in front of us…”
“What on earth is going on…?”
Only the Hero Department has the authority to set up barriers.
However, it was hard to think that the Hero Department would engage in such activities without warning.
“For now, we should look for a magic stone.”
By structure, a magic stone must be installed internally, rather than externally, for a barrier.
The barrier maintained its structure through the magic power contained within that magic stone.
And considering that this barrier only enveloped the rooftop garden, it was likely that a magic stone existed somewhere on the rooftop.
Yoo Ji-han called everyone to search for the magic stone that might be hidden there.
“Tap?”
About seven minutes into their search.
Chilla, who had been darting around, suddenly froze.
Min Yu-ri approached the suddenly still creature.
“What’s wrong?”
“Tap!”
Chilla, sitting down, stared intently at one side of the floor.
It was a flat stone used to decorate the rooftop garden.
“…?”
Min Yu-ri crouched down to inspect the stone.
Surprisingly, in the middle of that flat stone, a piece of rock with a slightly different color was embedded among the others.
“Si-hu! Ji-han!”
Min Yu-ri hurriedly called her party members.
The two who rushed over examined the suspicious stone.
Kim Si-hu, touching the stone, nodded slightly as he said,
“This looks really suspicious. I feel a bit of magic power emanating from it.”
“Should we break it?”
“Yeah.”
Yoo Ji-han aimed the tip of his sword at the colored stone.
Crack!
Instead of a sound of stone breaking, it sounded like glass shattering.
Shhhh—
“…!”
“It’s disappearing!”
Moments later, the barrier blocking the entrance was lifted.
It was indeed the magic stone that maintained the barrier.
“You smart little guy!”
“Chirp!”
Chilla, delighted by the praise, was in high spirits.
Yoo Ji-han gathered the other heroes for a brief discussion.
After the short deliberation, they decided to go down through the now-open entrance.
“Let’s go.”
More than twelve heroes rushed down from the rooftop together.
As they descended the escalators, the movie theater on the 7th floor, which they had previously passed, came into view.
Just as they were about to move to the 6th floor—
“It’s blocked here too.”
“Damn it…”
They realized that the descent from the 7th floor was also blocked by a barrier within a barrier, just like the rooftop.
Now they had no choice but to hunt for another magic stone.
“Let’s split up and look for it.”
The heroes decided to divide and search for the magic stone.
The injured were assigned to search the ticket booth and concession stand, while Yoo Ji-han’s party and other heroes headed towards the spacious hallway and theaters.
Considering the vast area, it would take a fair amount of time to search everything.
However, since Kim Si-hu and other mages were already analyzing the magical patterns of the broken magic stones, their search speed picked up momentum.
Clang! Clang!
However, while they were searching the hallway, loud noises erupted from the direction of Theater 6.
Could they be a party still hunting?
Whatever the case, thinking they needed to inform them of the current situation, Yoo Ji-han moved towards the sound.
The ground shook and dust fell from the ceiling.
As he approached the cinema, Yoo Ji-han’s expression began to show confusion.
The noise felt too loud for just fighting against the mindflower.
But the moment he arrived at the scene—
“Gack!”
“…!”
Yoo Ji-han spotted a man on the stage being held by the throat by someone, with several lights turned on.
The man, struggling, appeared to be turning blue from lack of oxygen.
‘If I leave him like that, he’ll die.’
Yoo Ji-han acted before words.
He shot forward like a bullet, swinging his sword at the arm gripping the man’s throat.
“Eek.”
However, the woman gripping the neck withdrew her arm and stepped back.
“Gahhh!”
Freed from her grasp, the man gasped for air on the floor, tears of fear streaming down his cheeks.
Confirming his survival, Yoo Ji-han aimed his sword at the woman in front of him.
She, looking incredulous, said,
“What the hell?”
“Why are you doing this?”
“I was determining the rightful victor of the battle. Don’t interfere and get lost.”
The woman, obviously irritated by the interruption, had an appearance that was quite striking.
With a height taller than any average man and bulky muscular arms, she sported a solid upper and lower body.
Her hair, which hadn’t seen a brush in ages, was completely matted, and she wore crudely made leather armor.
Her strength was such that she could easily lift a man clad in heavy armor with one hand.
From the various factors she exhibited, Yoo Ji-han reached one conclusion.
“…Barbarian?”
Barbarian.
Originally a term for a barbarian, it had, however, morphed among some of the other races crossing over to Earth into a word used to refer to themselves.
Generally, the race was known to be muscular, large, and had an affinity for combat and bloodshed.
“You know who I am?”
The woman was intrigued that the human in front of her recognized her kind.
But at the same time, her expression hardened.
“Knowing that, you dare to interrupt me? I’ll tear you apart.”
“…”
It’s known that barbarians hate having their fights interrupted intensively.
