From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 171: Homebound Pt. 8

Boom!

At the loud explosion, the escaping people looked behind themselves.

“The gymnasium…!”

“It’s collapsing!”

The people shouted as they escaped, turning around to see the gymnasium in which they had been trapped for so long go up in flames. The heat and smoke buffeted them from afar.

Their prison, the gymnasium that had kept them confined, had collapsed into ashes.

They, who had barely been able to escape with the aid of the Hunters, looked back at the gymnasium with indescribable expressions.

Seeing them standing there with such a variety of different emotions, the remaining Hunters shouted at the dumbfounded survivors.

“Run!”

There had been an explosion, and the gymnasium had collapsed.

That could only have meant one thing.

“We need to get away from the gymnasium as soon as possible!”

Whatever the cause of the explosion, the aftermath of the battle would soon reach where they were as they were only just slightly away from the gymnasium itself.

Thus, things would become completely chaotic if they didn’t move.

The Hunters helped the people with their own individual abilities.

Some of them protected the residents with shields, while others provided buffs and healing.

“You tough little bastards!”

Others continued to battle against the golden monsters that chased behind them.

–Please continue to move.

Hel was also guiding the people to the safe passageway.

They were going toward a safe area where the monsters had been wiped out two days ago through Lee Jun-Kyeong’s orders. Hel’s role was to lead the people there now.

Its blurry astral figure moved quickly.

“P…please slow down a little…!” the exhausted survivors begged, but there wasn’t enough time for them to have that luxury.

Instead.

–Please entrust me with your bodies.

Something, a chilly aura, began to flow under the survivor’s feet.

Then.

“Huh!!”

The people exclaimed at the strange phenomenon—it felt like their bodies had begun moving on their own.

As the exhausted survivors moved quickly through Hel’s aid, the Familiar urged them once again.

–I can’t hold out for very long, so please hurry.

The survivors were quickly moving toward the safe area, leaving the Hunters behind.

Boom!

In the meantime, explosions continued to rock the gymnasium.

Although the survivors’ only response to the explosions was fear, the Hunters were different.

“...”

They hadn’t learned the mana stream, but since they were Hunters, they were still sensitive to mana.

Feeling the explosions that rocked the gymnasium and the terrifying mana that followed, their expressions hardened.

“This is…”

This was an aura that they had felt for the first time since they had been living as Hunters, and the hairs on their bodies stood on end while their hearts felt as if they were being choked.

Their pulses were racing, and they struggled to breathe.

“What the hell is this…!”

They looked back at the gymnasium with even more anxiety than the human survivors had.

–Grah. Grah.

The golden monsters that had been chasing them had stopped all of a sudden. Then they began to move elsewhere.

“They’re turning back!”

They had started to run toward the collapsing gymnasium.

They ran while destroying everything they could see, as if their only purpose in life was to return to the gymnasium. It looked as if they were sacrificing their life force to run even the slightest bit faster.

In the midst of that strange event.

–You guys should hurry too.

Hel spoke to the Hunters as well.

Now that they had completed their purpose, they also started running madly after the survivors as well.

With an ominous aura that seemed to creep around them, they started to run in the opposite direction of the golden monsters, almost as if they were trying to shake off a horror that was nipping at their heels.

“I have to go back!” some of them shouted.

They were the ones who had met with Lee Jun-Kyeong before.

“They are still inside of the gymnasium!”

After saying so, they set out to rescue Lee Jun-Kyeong and his party, who were still inside the gymnasium. Moreover, there was also a monster that had helped them but had still remained behind.

A monster that was said to be a princess had wiped out the golden monsters and paved the way for them.

A few Hunters joined the ranks of the returners. Looking back at the Hunters, who chose to leave with the people, they nodded at each other in agreement.

Boom!

Explosions occurred again from the gymnasium. As the gathered Hunters were about to throw themselves toward the blaze, a blurry shape appeared before their eyes.

Swish!

It wasn’t a figure that caused them fear, as they were all Hunters who had gone through many battles. Moreover, they recognized the figure as a colleague.

–My master.

It was Hel.

The Familiar spoke as it blocked the path of the Hunters, who were trying to return to the scene of the battle.

–He does not need your help.

“What…!”

–He is someone who has reached the point where he doesn’t need anyone’s help…

Hel turned its gaze toward the gymnasium, looking back in its master’s direction while it spoke.

–He is someone with that much strength.

***

“Are we supposed to see it as some sort of golem?” Jeong In-Chang shouted in the midst of the explosions.

There was a monster rampaging right before their eyes.

“Are we supposed to find its core?!” he said while looking at Aegir, who had transformed into some sort of golden statue.

Boom!

Aegir, who had died and come back to life, had become an entirely new being. He was emitting strange mana while making the entire area around them into a mess.

Larger than an ogre, he was devouring the gold around him and growing larger and larger.

Boom!

Whenever he swung his fist, a storm of mana was formed.

Shhhh.

This storm turned any area it touched into gold.

Screech. Screech.

The transformed gold then melted into liquid again and was absorbed back into his body. In this repetitive manner, the monster that was Aegir was enlarging his body.

“The princess must be doing well, right…?” Jeong In-Chang spoke again, worried about the princess while in the midst of dealing with the monster.

Then, in his ear, he heard the voice of the princess much clearer than before.

“Goongje!”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Footsteps shook the ground, and the owner of the voice that had called out passed Jeong In-Chang right away.

Boom!

Then, the figure collided with Aegir, the human-monster hybrid.

Aegir flew into the air, landing and rolling on the ground.

“Princess!” Jeong In-Chang called out to the figure in a welcoming voice.

“Goongje!”

Although the princess had evolved and began to speak few human words, whenever she changed into a combat state, she was the same as before, only able to seemingly repeat the same word.

The princess waved her hand at Jeong In-Chang as if telling him not to worry, but the blood that flowed from her body was enough for him to guess what she had gone through.

Jeong In-Chang laughed.

“Move aside!” he shouted, abruptly running toward her just like she had done to Aegir, pushing her away.

Jeong In-Chang’s small hand shoved the princess far away in a shocking manner and with an intense roar.

Clang!

“Ugh!”

His groan quickly followed.

He had blocked the incoming golden arm with his greatsword.

“Mr. Lee!” he called out to Lee Jun-Kyeong, who still hadn’t responded to his question from before.

“...”

Meanwhile, Lee Jun-Kyeong and Yeo Seong-Gu continued to look for an answer.

Jeong In-Chang hadn’t seemed to have noticed it, but Aegir was now something completely different from anything they had come across.

This new creature wasn’t a Hunter.

Nor a monster.

‘It’s something that isn’t anything that already exists.’

The bizarre mana it radiated gave Lee Jun-Kyeong, who had his mana stream circulating, a strange sense of uneasiness.

Moreover.

“That thing…”

Yeo Seong-Gu hadn’t learned the mana stream, but he was a powerful Hunter in his own right and seemed to sense something as well.

Unlike Lee Jun-Kyeong, Yeo Seong-Gu seemed to have an inkling of the identity of that creature, even if it was only a slight hint.

He seemed to have been convinced of something by the continually changing Aegir’s appearance, raising his rainbow-colored sword and murmuring quietly to himself.

“It’s just like what I saw there…”

“...!”

Lee Jun-Kyeong turned to Yeo Seong-Gu as if he had noticed something.

“You can’t mean…when you were in Andlangr…” he said.[1]

“You…!”

Yeo Seong-Gu looked over at Lee Jun-Kyeong as if he was even more surprised by his friend’s blurted response.

“How did you know about Andlangr…!”

Andlangr.

This was the first time that Lee Jun-Kyeong had given any glimpse of knowing of its existence.

Andlangr was a place only known to a select number of people, a group that included Yeo Seong-Gu.

‘And Odin…and Zeus…’

This was because it was related to the strength of those Hunters who could rule the world and the Territories that they had.

While Yeo Seong-Gu was bewildered, Lee Jun-Kyeong quickly changed the subject, “So you saw something like that in Andlangr?”

There was no reason to talk about Andlangr right now.

Boom!

Right now, they had to discuss Aegir, who was rampaging around as if he was going crazy.

“How much do you know about Andlangr…” asked Yeo Seong-Gu.

Lee Jun-Kyeong evasively responded, “Just a rough idea.”

“As expected. Yes. I’ve seen that aura be radiated in Andelangr.”

“You didn’t…” Lee Jun-Kyeong said as if he had guessed something. “Did you feel it when you signed a ‘Direct Contract’?”

“To think you know about that as well…” Yeo Seong-Gu said, nodding as he stood with an expression as if he had been hit on the head.

Lee Jun-Kyeong was right.

It happened when he had contracted directly with a Sponsor in Andlangr.

“It is similar to what I felt from the Sponsors.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong and Yeo Seong-Gu’s expressions hardened.

The cataclysm.

‘There’s something I don’t know about it.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked over at Aegir as if he had found a clue.

“If that’s the case, then whatever it is…”

“We have to deal with it right now.”

Aegir’s transformation wasn’t perfect, and the strange mana was circling around him unsteadily.

The moment that thing became completely stable, if things went according to what Lee Jun-Kyeong was thinking….

‘Would it be similar to the descent of a Sponsor…?’

While he couldn’t be sure of it, he was sure that it was a plausible idea.

The transcendent being that was called a Sponsor, or at least something with that power, a being whose identity was still unknown, would descend into the present world.

That could only mean one thing.

‘It would be no different from the apocalypse.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong took a step forward.

He had no time to look for weaknesses.

Even though he was wounded, he would have to figure things out by clashing with it.

“I’ll do it.”

Then, the heavy voice of Yeo Seong-Gu rang out.

“The power that I was reluctant to use until now…”

Until now, Yeo Seong-Gu had never shown his true strength.

He was a pillar that supported Asgard and was renowned even in the distant future.

Lee Jun-Kyeong had never seen Yeo Seong-Gu use the power that matched that reputation just yet, and now, Yeo Seong-Gu was going to bring out that strength.

However.

“It’s fine,” Lee Jun-Kyeong dissuaded him.

He knew very well why Yeo Seong-Gu didn’t use that power–it was like poison to him.

That was why Lee Jun-Kyeong held Muspel’s Spear aloft.

“I’ll do it.”

The cataclysm.

It had brought about numerous changes that he didn’t know about.

‘The Book of the Demon King.’

This would be a new opportunity and a great deal of new knowledge for Lee Jun-Kyeong.

Moreover, as the aftermath of the cataclysm wasn’t written in the book of the Demon King that had given him strength, it would become something else for him as well.

‘A record of history.’

The events in the cataclysm were unknown even in history—he had been able to see them with his own eyes and feel them with his own body.

“Mr. Lee!” Jeong In-Chang, who was tying up Aegir with the princess, shouted.

At that moment.

Crash!

Lee Jun-Kyeong crushed the ground around him as if it had been stepped on by a giant.

A huge amount of mana descended.

The cataclysm was filled with the unknown that Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t know.

But.

‘The cataclysm strengthened the monsters.’

There was something about the cataclysm that he did know about.

‘It had also strengthened the Hunters.’

The cataclysm hadn’t only changed the monsters and the world.

The Hunters, the powerful Hunters, were imbued with new strength.

Jeong In-Chang had grown and learned Gram.

However, unlike him, Lee Jun-Kyeong hadn’t changed until now.

But he could feel a huge energy flowing through his body.

“You…!”

As Yeo Seong-Gu shouted at Lee Jun-Kyeong.

Flicker.

Flames rose from Lee Jun-Kyeong.

They weren’t the same crimson flames from before.

Instead, they were dark, pitch-black flames.

Innread.com".

Lee Jun-Kyeong was being consumed by them.

In his ear, notifications began to be heard.

[The weak dragon heart has consumed mana up to its limit…]

[The weak dragon heart has evolved into the Heart of the Dragon of the Apocalypse.]

At the same time.

Riiipppp!!

The sound of space tearing resounded.

[<The Sky of the Apocalypse> watches the battlefield.]

[<The Sky of the Apocalypse>...]

Lee Jun-Kyeong hated to acknowledge it, but he also heard the most trustworthy voice as well.

[...sponsors its Incarnation.]

1. The second of three heavens of Norse Mythos, above Asgard and below Vidblainn. It’s supposedly to the south and above the realm of the gods and a resting place for those who died in Ragnarok. ????