A Veteran in a Dead Game - Chapter 210



Only Krnovel

210. Mole Hunting (1)

The next moment, Kyle felt his body starting to deteriorate.

I felt a sense of helplessness, like I had just fallen into the sea in winter or was walking through mud.

My legs feel heavy like damp cotton, my fingertips and toes start to tremble, and it feels like my whole body is wrapped in a blanket, making it hard to breathe. My forehead is already starting to feel hot.

polygonal, polygonal-

The Plaguebearer did not attack directly. He just loitered around in some underground bunker, waiting for humans to collapse from the disease.

If you try to run away, then I will take action myself.

“…Should I throw it away?”

Sarah’s voice was stiff as she spoke. She was so tense that you could see the strength in her hand holding the handle of the sword.

Of course, Kyle was also nervous.

Even though the difficulty of subjugation is relatively low. In any case, the opponent is a disaster. If that monster wants to do that, the lives of the three people will be in immediate danger.

“No. I’ll see what happens.”

However, Kyle held off on retreat.

Escaping is not difficult. Just take a step back and you will be in a position to re-enter the ark, so even in the worst case scenario, you won’t die.

How many opportunities would there be to investigate a disaster when safety is ensured to this extent?

‘Of course, I don’t plan on staying long.’

Anyway, the disease is eating away at my body. Fortunately, everyone here is a high-level user, so this is the extent of it. An ordinary person would have collapsed without even being able to breathe long ago.

“…The seal was released sooner than I thought.”

In the midst of this suffocating standoff, Kyle spoke in a small voice.

“The Golden Edict has been destroyed. It was cut with five-colored thread.”

The one who answered here was Beryl. He slowly lowered his body and swept the floor with his palm to gauge the state of the seal.

“These were insurance policies that would be activated in the event of a problem with the seal. But that’s strange. Those traitors probably didn’t have the luxury of touching the seal here.”

“It must be a werewolf.”

Kyle came up with the answer right away.

“They don’t get sick. They can move around without any problems even in this environment. It seems that Saladan has also come into contact with werewolves.”

“So when the chaos broke out inside the ark, the werewolves were already tampering with the seal.”

The disease that flows from the Plaguebearer is terrible. As a regeneration society that must somehow preserve its power, it would not have been possible to closely observe its dynamics.

In the midst of this gap, it seems that the werewolf Berko has sneaked a hand. He may still be nearby.

“Hehe. I guess you really prepared a lot of things.”

Sarah laughed.

“Even so, I ended up getting stabbed and dying.”

At this point, Kyle realized one more thing.

“I see. So Saladan originally intended to survive alone?”

“Huh?”

“Except for Saladan, none of the other traitors were transformed into mechanized werewolves. If the others had the same byproduct of the disaster as before, at least one of them would have tried it in a situation like before when they were on the verge of defeat.”

So, it would be more correct to say that it wasn’t that I didn’t do it, but that I couldn’t do it.

In other words, the liquid that could transform into a mechanized werewolf was something that only Saladan had from the beginning. Since it took a long time to produce, it is possible that they haven’t prepared the shares for the other traitors yet.

‘Or, perhaps he was keeping his achievements a secret even from his colleagues.’

After everything was over, was it also the intention to destroy the remaining traitors through the Plague Riders?

Traitors aren’t fools. They had their own reasons and some kind of agreement among themselves to cooperate with Saladan.

But, if they had known that the item that could turn them into a mechanized werewolf was in Saladan’s hands… … things would have been different.

“From the beginning, Saladan was planning to throw everything away.”

Why did he make that choice? Kyle, who knew something about Saladan, could guess his psychology to some extent.

“If there are multiple traitors, they will compete with each other.”

The number of quality positions that a disaster can provide is limited, so perhaps Saladan wanted to eliminate all future competitors from this position.

Or maybe he wanted to appeal to the disaster guys about his rarity.

Anyway, as Sarah said, all the arrangements were done, but since he died, it was meaningless in the end. As a result, only the people left will suffer because of what Saladan did.

On the other hand, it was also an opportunity for Kyle. As I had previously recalled, he could use that power to strike down the Plaguebearers before the Regeneration Society could be confined to the Ark.

At this point, Kyle’s thoughts stopped.

Multifaceted.

Because the continuous sound of horse hooves suddenly stopped.

And soon.

The sound of those hooves echoed through the bunker again. Not in the direction of the surrounding area, but toward Kyle and his group.

“…come.”

A light ball floated up by Beryl. Beyond the boundary where the light reached, a shape appeared.

The Rider of the Plague.

As its name suggests, the creature basically resembled a man on horseback. However, it was similar, but it could not be called a man.

Because it looked like a human upper body was attached to the horse’s side and back.

Also, if you look between the horse’s four legs, you will see that there are four additional human legs there. The sight of all eight legs fluttering like the tentacles of a jellyfish swimming in the ocean was extremely grotesque.

It was as if the horse and the person had been thoroughly disassembled, piece by piece, and then the pieces were scraped together and crudely reassembled.

A disgusting sight that makes you feel nauseous just by looking at it.

Moreover, the whole thing was sticky and tattered, as if it had just been soaked in hydrochloric acid and then taken out, or like a rotten corpse, so the horror was beyond description.

“…….”

“…….”

Three people and one disaster faced each other at a distance. People saw the disaster with their own eyes, but the disaster perceived the world through its rotten and worn-out skin.

And then, after about three breaths, the plague rider moved. One of the upper bodies of the person who had been slumped over jerked unnaturally, raised itself up, and opened its mouth wide.

The Plague Rider stamped his horse’s hoof over Chester’s rotting corpse, then thrust one of his own flailing right hands into his gaping mouth.

For a moment, the throat gurgled and the body convulsed to match. Finally, the human figure pulled its hand back out of the throat.

What he held in his hand was a double-edged sword. It was a weapon with a single-edged sword on each side of the handle.

Horribly, the double-edged sword came out, tearing through the human’s upper body. The upper body was split left and right, and the long neck was caught on the handle of the double-edged sword, causing the head to dangle like a pendulum.

Chul-chul.

And then, at last, the moment the man’s head hit the ground, the arm of the man holding the double-edged sword moved.

Squeak-

Everything in the dark bunker was torn apart. The solid floors and walls were cracked like rice fields in a drought, and the furniture that had been strewn about in no particular order was smashed like tofu that had been hit with a hammer.

The moment the double-edged sword was swung, the blade split into hundreds of whips that slashed in all directions.

And at that point.

Kyle, Sarah, and Beryl had already returned to the ark through the dungeon entrance right behind them.

Phew!

And then, all at once, a huge amount of pure white powder poured down from all directions. The powder poured down so much that it piled up on my shoulders, making it difficult to even breathe.

“Ugh, kuluck!”

While Sarah was groaning, a green circle was drawn under her feet. The silver spoon potion that Kyle had used earlier was also scattered all over the place.

All of these were means to eradicate disease. It was a natural measure, as it was necessary to prevent disease from spreading inside the ark.

The situation outside was being relayed in real time, so other members were already preparing for quarantine at the entrance to the dungeon.

“Ahhh.”

While Sarah was struggling with the pouring powder and potions, the quarantine measures were completed.

“I’ve been waiting.”

“This way.”

Then, Kyle and the three others headed to another location with guidance from other members.

It was a temporary meeting room set up right next to the dungeon’s entrance.

Previously, we would have used the conference room in the Central Tower, but now that the building has been destroyed, we have set up a temporary meeting place.

Anyway, even though it was temporary, the conference room was built quite neatly.

It was the result of Saladan quickly building pillars and a roof using all sorts of materials scattered through his super-power. It was quite a magnificent building, built in just 5 minutes with the help of his skill. At first glance, it was also reminiscent of a Greek temple on Earth.

And as Kyle entered the place, the eyes of the people there turned to Kyle. There was anticipation in their eyes.

When dealing with traitors like Saladan, the only thing he could do was to exert his strength. However, everyone knows that when it comes to suppressing disasters, there is no one as expert as Kyle.

“The preparations you requested are almost complete.”

“I met the minimum requirements.”

“So, what’s next?”

They got straight to the point. There was no time to talk about anything else.

It has already been confirmed that the plague rider has begun to move. If we don’t hurry, a catastrophe will occur.

No, to be exact, the catastrophe has already begun.

Now that the plague rider has been released, the contagion will have already begun to spread through the air. That is what a disaster is. A monster created solely to kill or subdue humanity.

“Let me check first.”

Kyle continued, looking around the conference room.

“What do you want to do?”

“What does that mean?”

Peña asked back.

“As you probably already know, I want to conquer the plague. But you don’t have to either. If you want to give up on fighting the Plaguebearer and just want a little more freedom to close the ark, then there’s nothing I can do for you-”

“no.”

Peña shook his head in firm denial.

“We can’t just close the Ark like this. Didn’t Saladan destroy everything? If we close the Ark like this, not only will we not be able to look forward to eternity, but even the next few generations will be uncertain.”

The Ark is a small, independent ecosystem. It will require a lot of careful coordination, but even before Saladan’s betrayal, the Ark was barely able to meet the minimum requirements.

It may not have been a fatal blow to the point of immediately collapsing the ark, but it will definitely need to be repaired and replenished.

“It looks like you have no intention of abandoning the ark and running away.”

“What good will it do to abandon this place now?”

Peña laughed bitterly.

“Those who think that way are already dead traitors. So, without further ado, please tell me a way to subdue the Plaguebearers.”

The words he wanted to say came out. The plague riders were defeated sooner than expected, and there was a risk involved. Still, Kyle almost laughed.

Isn’t that the moment you’ve been waiting for?

Disaster suppression.

It’s something I’ve never forgotten since I fell to this earth.

‘Of course, it is not right to suppress all disasters.’

If all five disasters are wiped out, then the system will simply erase this world. But at this moment, there is no need to think about that.

For now, I just do what’s right in front of me and what I have to do.

“The Plague Rider is not someone you can communicate with. It’s not even clear if he has any intelligence. So, it’s better to think of yourself as dealing with a powerful beast.”

“…….”

then.

“I’m going on a hunting expedition.”