When I Returned to Farming, National-level Big Juniors Flock - Chapter 102



Only Krnovel

102. Forgotten Place

Crunch.

Oh Hyun-seong took out the greatsword from its case and lifted it up.

A heavy weight that even an Awakened cannot easily swing.

It was identical to the weapon he knew, Theranos, of his former colleague, down to its unique appearance that was hard to find anywhere else.

But he felt his energy draining away.

‘This is a fake.’

The appearance is the same, but the essence is not the same as the one he knew.

Not only is it not a national treasure, it is a fake weapon with less than a tenth of the output.

It was very difficult to determine the level of a relic by only feeling its magical power without tools, so while most other hunters might be fooled, they couldn’t fool him.

‘… It’s absurd. But it’s also unusual for such identical relics to come out.’

Oh Hyeon-seong stared at the great sword.

Although it is not easy to perfectly mimic the appearance, it is possible.

But this fake wasn’t just about the appearance; it was also faithful to the composition of the relic.

It goes beyond simply starting or not, and reproduces the effects of the original weapon.

Even the traces found in the basement showed the original Theranos’ effects.

‘Even if it’s a downgraded version, it’s unprecedented to create an artifact that perfectly copies the effects.’

How could such a counterfeit product be created?

Also, there are probably very few people who know what the weapon looks like in the first place, so who created this weapon?

I had questions in many ways.

Naturally, his gaze turned to the man sitting in an awkward position.

“Please, save me!”

“That depends on how sincere your answer is. Did you just answer the question I asked you earlier?”

“I’m… sorry! I was in a hurry… Could you say that one more time?”

“Where did you get this?”

What Oh Hyun-seong was curious about was not the man’s identity.

The scene where a homeless person was killed using a large sword.

Just by looking at the traces found there, it was easy to tell that it had probably been picked up by someone insignificant.

Because it only relied on the effects of the weapon itself, it was extremely clumsy.

All he wanted to know was how he got it and where it came from.

“Uh… I, that… that…”

Thud!

“Cough!”

Oh Hyun-seong grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall.

The frightened man looked on, trembling, but Oh Hyeon-seong had no intention of taking advantage of the other man’s convenience, whether he was scared or nervous.

Now he was even feeling a little uncomfortable.

“Whatever it is, you’d better tell me quickly. I’m starting to run out of patience.”

*

“… hmm.”

Baek Ji-soo stood there dumbfounded.

She stands in front of a subway entrance in the middle of the city.

However, the passages and stairs that were supposed to lead down were completely filled with concrete.

It would have been a sight worthy of a news topic in the distant past.

Citizens passing by now did not even glance at the sight as if it was completely natural.

Instead, he just glances at her strangely as she stands blankly at the subway entrance that is completely full, and passes by.

Then the man standing next to him, Kim Soo-hyuk, the head of the overseas division of the National Security Agency, opened his mouth.

“Why are you here all of a sudden?”

“It reminds me of old times.”

“…A place like this?”

“Most of the subways currently in operation are aboveground. Do you know why?”

“Of course… Even if a gate were to occur in an underground space, the detection rate of the wavelength would be lower, so the probability of missing it would increase. It was also a very suitable place for monsters to build nests.”

“That’s correct.”

After the Gate incident became full-blown.

Not only in Korea, but also in all of humanity, strict regulations have been imposed on underground spaces to ensure safety.

If there is space, the occurrence rate is no different from that on the ground, but the detection rate of the wavelength is significantly lower, making it more difficult and dangerous to manage than on the ground.

In particular, the subway that runs through every part of the city could not be left out of the target.

Up to large scale and complex structures.

It was an underground facility with the worst safety standards when it came to gate problems, and most of the subway in Seoul is currently filled in with cement.

“But… there was a time when I didn’t know that.”

Baek Ji-soo said, looking down at the ceiling.

On the concrete floor that filled the space where she had stood and where the stairs had been, there was a phrase clearly engraved.

Citizens on the street just pass by without paying any attention.

It is to commemorate someone who left no name and whom no one remembers.

“In the past… was there an incident here?”

“My senior is buried down here.”

“If you are Director Baek’s senior…”

Ring ring ring!

At that moment, a bell rang in Baek Ji-soo’s coat pocket.

When she nodded and winked, Kim Soo-hyuk nodded and left his seat.

Then she sat down on the ledge at the entrance and answered the phone.

“senior.”

– How about it, have you checked it?

“Oh, I came and checked it out myself, but there’s no sign that anyone had dug it up, and the CCTV footage from the area says it’s clean. At the very least, it doesn’t look like anyone tried to access it from the outside.”

– That’s right.

“To begin with, outsiders don’t even know what exactly happened here. Only those of us who are deeply involved among the first generation of hunters know about the incident.”

And almost all of those people died.

However, the question is how the replica of the weapon that should have been buried deep beneath this place ended up wandering around the back alleys more than ten years later.

“Then, is it possible that Senior Ahn came back alive, just like Yun Seol-ha, who was thought to be dead in China?”

– … No, that’s impossible.

A short sigh was heard from the other end of the phone.

It was because old memories came to mind, and after talking for a few more minutes, they hung up the phone.

Baek Ji-soo stared at the black screen of her turned-off cell phone.

“hmm…”

She tapped the screen and stood up.

*

Oh Hyun-seong got the answer from the man.

And then I realized why he hesitated before answering.

Weapons sprouted from the ground.

This was his answer.

A truly absurd story of accidentally encountering a weapon rising from the ground while passing by.

Normally I wouldn’t have believed it.

But this time it wasn’t like that.

“Is this it?”

Oh Hyun-seong stopped.

All around was an empty lot with nothing but bare ground.

But when I looked around carefully, I saw something unnatural, a sunken mark.

It was as if something was gushing out.

‘It’s just bare ground now, but if you look at the map, there used to be a subway station that was completely demolished. And that’s where this fake appeared.’

Thinking that it couldn’t be a coincidence, Oh Hyun-seong approached right above the sunken mark.

And then he deeply inserted the counterfeit product he had brought, Theranos.

Of course, nothing bad would happen if I stuck a single sword into the ground.

However, Oh Hyeonseong started the relic weapon, and the greatsword responded to his magic.

Kookookookookook!

Oh Hyun-seong, who dug a deep hole leading to the floor.

The sight of the ground being completely hollowed out was hard to believe as a mere fake effect, but this was a much weaker output.

National treasures, especially weapons, were not only effective to this extent.

He picked up his greatsword again and tried to enter the deep hole.

“senior.”

“hmm?”

His gaze turned to the voice heard from behind him.

It was his junior, Baek Ji-soo, and Oh Hyeon-seong asked about her unexpected appearance.

“What are you doing here? You’ve already helped me more than enough.”

“I’m curious about this too, I just want to check it out for myself.”

Baek Ji-soo approached and stared at the great sword.

It looked exactly like the weapon she remembered.

“It looks like an original even though it’s a fake.”

“So, you want to go with me?”

“As long as it doesn’t make you uncomfortable, senior.”

“… There’s no way it won’t work.”

Oh Hyun-seong said, scratching his forehead.

“Then let’s go.”

They threw themselves into the hole.

It was so deep that if they jumped in without a plan, they would have fallen to their deaths, but they went down using the footholds that had been made while digging the hole, and the two were able to safely land on the bottom.

What unfolded before them was pitch-black darkness.

Oh Hyeon-seong created a sphere of light by borrowing the power of the spirit, Alisa.

“Here…”

A subway passageway extending long on both sides.

There were old railroad tracks laid beneath their feet as well.

“Was there a less filled place on this side too?”

“I couldn’t help it because I was working in a hurry at the time, but even so, doesn’t this place look so fine?”

Oh Hyun-seong looked around and said.

A facility that is hard to find these days.

It felt strangely like I had come back to the past, but I had to investigate the interior because I had an original purpose.

They walked down the passage, following the light that rose and illuminated the way ahead.

“I don’t feel any turbidity, so it doesn’t seem like a nest.”

“Well, that’s good. It looks like there’s a lot of unblocked area, so I hope it’s over by the end of today.”

Oh Hyun-seong said, frowning slightly at the stuffy air.

The purpose was not to defeat monsters, but to investigate how a replica of an old comrade’s weapon came to be found here.

If it is reported that such a space exists under the city, it is an issue for the government to handle.

“If the original is inside here…”

“for a moment.”

At that moment, Oh Hyeon-seong stopped in his tracks and stretched out his arms.

It was a reaction to something felt in the deep darkness where light could not reach, and soon Baek Ji-soo flinched and placed her hand on the sword.

Kookookookook!

What appeared before them was a giant monster’s mouth filled with thousands of teeth.

This is the ‘Death Worm’, a monster that once appeared all over the world and struck fear into humanity.

At his appearance, they lowered their hands that had been holding their weapons and stepped back hesitantly.

“This… this is crazy.”

“Senior, run!”

They turned their backs and started running at full speed.

Surrounded by a thick shell, Deathworm possessed an absurd durability that made it impervious to external impacts.

A guy who is extreme in many ways, with many areas such as intelligence and senses deteriorating and only focusing on the physical aspect.

This is a guy who can only be attacked by targeting his weaknesses.

The problem is that in these narrow passages, you can’t attack a weak point when the guy is charging straight at you.

It was also one of the main reasons why subways all over the world were closed without exception.

Kookookookook!

“Keeeeeek!”

The sight of a monster chasing after you so loudly and persistently.

The speed of the guy chasing his prey was amazing, and the distance between them and those who were running with all their heart was gradually decreasing.

“Senior, over there!”

The direction she is pointing.

There was a small passage leading off to the side, and they ran straight into it and threw themselves into it.

Kookookookookung!

“Ugh… gasp…”

“Oh, that was close.”

Oh Hyun-seong and Baek Ji-su catching their breath.

Deathwing’s figure, which had passed by with a loud thud, disappeared in a flash.

They were the type of people who could easily cut down and pass over monsters without being bothered by strategies or anything like that, but there was no answer for that guy just now.

“Damn, I just remembered why I hated those missions where I had to roll around underground.”

Oh Hyun-seong got up, dusting his knees.

He reached out and helped Baek Ji-soo up, then looked around.

“But… where is this?”

Judging from the appearance of the passageway they had rushed through, it did not appear to be a passageway to an official facility that had been there for a long time.

It looked like a crack that had formed from a collapse or split.

But that passageway was connected to another facility.

Once again, the light was shone around them, and they were able to see the space they were in.

It looked old and dusty, but the pillars and floors were cleaner than expected.

Squeak.

A charred station nameplate hangs tilted on the wall.

Along with the word Seoul Station, which had been long forgotten.

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