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Chapter 291: The Black Goats (1)

“Salamander.”

At Jinhyuk’s call,

Wooong!

A dimensional space opened up.

Soon after, a fire lizard that was much larger than the spirit beast Johannson had summoned appeared.

The gloss flowing along its scales.

Sharp fangs and luscious flames.

“Kaooh! Master! I have arrived! What’s going on?”

Flames roared high.

“Right. Just called you to see something. There, can you make that blaze even stronger? Yeah. Make it burn fiercely.”

“A mid-tier… no, with that size, it’s closer to upper-tier spirit beast?”

Johannson’s eyes dilated with shock.

What kind of melee fighter summons an upper-tier spirit beast?

It was beyond belief.

Even existing spirit magicians struggled just to maintain lower-tier spirit beasts—that was the reality.

But the shock was only momentary.

“Kuk! Stop joking around. I can handle more than just one spirit beast.”

Johannson focused his magical power once more.

Wooong!

This time, a water spirit emerged together with a bright light.

“Did you call for me?”

A female-formed spirit bowed politely with both hands together.

A spirit magician capable of controlling two spirit beasts.

This would be enough to prove his greatness.

However,

“Undine. Come out for a moment too,”

As Jinhyuk spoke, the situation began to change peculiarly.

Johannson’s spirit beast flinched and gingerly lifted its water-made skirt.

“I-it is an honor to meet you, the great water spirit.”

“You know me?”

“I’ve seen you once in the spirit realm. Of course, you wouldn’t remember since I only watched from afar. It’s truly an honor to meet you.”

“Oh well.”

Undine nodded.

“What brings you here?”

“What else, I’ve been captured by a terrible demon. If I don’t come out when I’m called, hell awaits me.”

Undine bit into candy made of water.

Steam trailed long from her mouth.

“Ha… Don’t live like my sister. Find a good master and walk the flower path. Every day is hard.”

“It must be very… difficult for you.”

“Yeah, could this be what they call ‘life’? The water candy tastes rather bitter today.”

A long sigh seemed weathered by the harshness of time.

“No, you guys… what on earth…”

Johannson’s lips trembled violently.

It’s only when a spirit shows reverence to another spirit, and it’s a much higher rank.

In other words,

It means the opposing spirit’s magic is far superior.

“What is happening right nooooow!”

A cry close to a scream echoed.

***

About an hour later.

“…….”

Johannson, who had been full of himself, had completely lost his spirit.

During the subsequent battle against the bugs in the passage, he painfully realized how weak his spirit beasts were.

-Ah, just two spirits, and that’s it? Both lower-tier? I see.

-Haha. Of course, being a spirit magician is just a hobby, right? Not the main job?

-Oh my, your main job? Wow. Despite the hard times, looks like even the unemployed are being hired at the Titan guild. Even if spirit magicians are rare, this is a bit much.

-Could it be that you have a hold over the guild master of Titan? Maybe hiding a video or something. Or having taken photos of secret ledgers.

-It’s just a joke. Don’t give me that look. I’m itching to slap you, honestly. Anyway, it’s actually really great you became a spirit magician. Otherwise, you would’ve had to run around on floor 1 goblin raids.

Jinhyuk ostentatiously summoned all five of his spirit beasts.

Watching the bug pests being taken care of with previously rehearsed poses of the spirit special forces and combined techniques simply drew awe.

It was hardly conceivable how rigorous their training must have been to achieve this.

“Do you also have something like a trump card? Oh, maybe not since it’s just two.”

“…I have, I do have a trump card…”

“Ah. Right, your spirit magic itself must be the trump card. Lulling the opponent into carelessness thinking this is all you got. Enough to make your allies clutch their necks and collapse from high blood pressure.”

Jinhyuk grinned.

“Master. That guy over there is crying.”

A gnome with the shape of a small golem pointed at Johannson.

“If you guys play and lounge around all day, you’ll grow up and end up contracting with someone like that.”

“No way. Such a weak master.”

“Right. His magical power is so weak, it feels like a burden to even be in this realm.”

“I would rather bite my tongue and die.”

“We will train more diligently, Master!”

“Quiet down everyone. My head hurts.”

The spirits unanimously came together to praise Jinhyuk.

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Though their natures were rowdy, a contractor with sufficient magical power was much more reliable.

On the other hand, Johannson, who had to listen to all this in person, felt every second like hell.

Humiliation and disgrace.

Beyond that, his dignity as a human felt like it was reduced to a cockroach’s hind leg.

“You are really mean.”

Aidan forced a smile.

It was supposed to be a reminder to an overconfident newcomer that the world was not easy. But the ‘lesson’ had been shockingly harsh.

To the point of even breaking his will to live.

“Ha… Damn stagnant water, damn talented bastards. Die, all of you. Please just die. Die. Die.”

Muttering to himself, Johannson walked from the back of the raid group…

The psychological damage was severe, it seemed.

Maybe it was a bit much?

…As if. He had to plant PTSD deep in their bones so they would never dare to rise again.

‘Looking at those spirit beasts, they seem to take a liking to my Undine and Salamander, so might as well break the contracts now and recruit some new slaves.’

Once they’ve shown their teeth, you have to press them down so that they never dare again—that’s the principle.

And that’s when it happened.

Ding!

A notification rang out, a little different from usual.

Not the personal status window.

A status window appeared in front of all the Titan guild players present in that hallway.

[A ‘partial’ breach has occurred in the system.]

[Communication with the outside has been established.]

[Conditions have been met.]

[Something indescribable manifests!]

The reddish status window was incomparable to anything seen before.

Chilling.

The air seemed to freeze.

“…Could this mean.”

In this place, only Jinhyuk knew exactly what it meant.

At the same time.

[A message has arrived from player Cheon Yooseong.]

[A message has arrived from player Theresa.]

[A message has arrived from resident ‘Andria’.]

An avalanche of messages filled his view.

…It has begun.

Much faster than expected.

“Player Kang Jinhyuk, what on earth is going on?”

Aidan asked urgently.

He, too, was in the midst of receiving a barrage of messages from the main group of the guild.

“We have… there should still be a week left according to the prophet from Japan…”

Yes, that’s what Takeshi had said.

However, Takeshi’s prophecy meant that the main body of the ‘Black Goat’ would come down a week later.

He must not have foreseen the vanguard-like minions coming beforehand.

‘…It’s a little dangerous this time.’

Jinhyuk’s heart began to beat rapidly.

***

Same old repetitive days, wheels spinning in a loop.

In a way, life had been boring and bland.

Yet, seeking stimulation was human nature, after all.

But.

All of that collapsed at this moment.

Wooong! Wooong!

Cracks simultaneously erupted both inside and outside the tower.

Black smoke streamed out from beneath the fluctuating surface.

5th floor of the Trial Tower. ‘The Arena’.

The border region between the martial world and the empire.

Including the United States, France, China, Australia, and Korea.

A total of seven gates at their entrances trembled violently, as if something would burst out any moment.

“Everyone in the tower from the fighting guilds, gather at Daejeon. Yes, Daejeon! To Daejeon!”

Kim Gitae of the Fight Guild screamed like a madman.

Han Sangjin, the chairman of the Korean Awakened Association, along with rankers from other large guilds, moved quickly.

“Please gather the necessary people. Alert the police and the military to initiate citizen evacuation procedures. And what’s the status on the international support?”

“It’s chaotic over there, too. Can’t get in touch because everyone’s dealing with the gates in their own countries!”

There’s no support.

Realizing this, the atmosphere among the employees at the Awakened Association became tense.

Though it wasn’t a direct measurement, just a wide-area scan,

The magical power at the gate that appeared in Korea was far beyond measurable ranges.

And that’s when.

“Japan…! The Samurai Guild has promised support!”

One of the communications officers shouted urgently.

“Japan?”

“Yes. A ranker named Takeshi, who predicted this event, had received great help from our Kang Jinhyuk player. He said he’d send support immediately and asked us to hold on a little longer.”

Kang Jinhyuk.

Again, a person who owed a debt of gratitude to that player appeared.

Gratitude and self-mockery spread deep across Han Sangjin’s face.

Even as the head of the Korean Awakened Association, he felt the shame of being inferior in influence to a single player, and

During this crisis, having that reliable player by their side filled him with pride.

“Where is Kang Jinhyuk now?”

“It’s confirmed he has entered the 16th floor.”

“Keep looking. It’s the highest priority.”

If there was anyone who could resolve this situation…

…There was only one person.

Han Sangjin clasped his hands. They trembled as they pressed together.

As such,

The situation raced against every minute and second.

The Samurai Guild of Japan moved to help South Korea.

The Gandhara Guild of India moved to help China.

While they usually acted in their own interests, when an insurmountable enemy emerged, everyone united their strength.

Under the name of humanity.

And because,

If the front line fell, they would be the next.

*** The current location of the gate that appeared in Korea is the center of Daejeon over Gapcheon.

Above the flowing river, an incredibly huge gate hovered.

“Is this… a dream?”

“Why is there such a thing here? What on earth…”

Regular citizens gazed blankly at the water.

With such an unreal sight, time seemed to have stopped.

“Don’t just stand and watch, move away. You there! We’re running out of time, hurry!”

“Please move swiftly. Make room for the guilds, leave vehicles aside, and board the military buses.”

Police and soldiers controlled the roads.

Players from guilds continued to gather as well.

“Hyung, have you seen something like that?”

A fighter from the martial arts world gulped down dry saliva as he looked at the gate.

“Damn it. I thought I’d had my fair share of the Trial Tower over the past year, but this is a whole different dimension. Not just the size of the gate but… even from this distance, the magical power is suffocating.”

“How are we supposed to stop that, haha… Ha…”

“We have to buy time. Until stronger rankers come.”

That was the best they could do.

With barely 100 people gathered, they had no chance against whatever came out of there.

And then.

“Wooooo…”

With a bizarre wailing sound,

An outrageous something began to emerge from the cracks.

“They’re coming!”

“Damn. Civilians haven’t fully evacuated yet…!”

“Form up! Damn it, we have to hold on!”

Kukukuku!

Ripples spread slowly as the gate opened completely.

A giant lifeform in the shape of a black goat appeared.

And the moment they faced it.

“Aaaahh!”

“Aaahh!”

Screams of terror burst from the throats of the players.