Absolute Dweller - Chapter 37: Assembly (1)

[Episode 09] Assembly (1)

Lee Joon-hyuk was an Awakener leading a group of survivors near Seomyeon Station.

Although his ability was only to create water, it played a key role in their survival during these extreme conditions.

[Footnote: Assuming it means he can’t attack/fight with it.]

Thanks to this, the group of survivors he led had a significantly higher survival rate than other groups.

However, as time passed, the advantage of having a large number of survivors was turning into a disadvantage.

This was because food was being consumed as quickly as the number of people.

Including himself, a total of 24 people.

The food consumed by 24 adults was more than one could imagine.

 

‘Now it’s really reaching its limit.’

 

Even the hard-fought food obtained by battling monsters in the vicinity was slowly revealing its limits.

‘I have to leave for somewhere.’

It was when he was thinking that.

Rumbleee—

The prelude to despair began to sound on a sunny afternoon.

Boom, boom—

The ground shook with the sound of something collapsing.

Since they were underground, they could feel it even more severely.

‘Is it an earthquake?’

At this time, a man hurriedly came down from above, shouting towards him.

“Joon-hyuk! Come up here right away!”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“Big trouble! I-It’s a m-monster!”

Seeing the man’s face painted with terror, Lee Joon-hyuk said.

“Calm down and guide me. Where should I go?”

“Follow me.”

The ground continued to vibrate as the two climbed the stairs.

‘No, it’s actually getting worse.’

As Lee Joon-hyuk reached the third floor following the man’s guidance, the identity of ‘it’ began to come into view through the gap between the buildings.

“…What is that?”

There was a giant.

Due to its towering height tens of meters high, its figure could be seen from anywhere in Seomyeon.

The monster was destroying the buildings.

“Joon-hyuk. W-What should we do now?”

Lee Joon-hyuk stared blankly at the monster and replied.

“Hyung.”

[Footnote: Brother/Bro.]

“H-H-Huh?”

“What can we do? Against that thing.”

The answer was already clear.

“Tell everyone to move underground and hide.”

“What? B-But…!”

“Don’t you already know? There’s nothing we can do, hyung. Just praying that it doesn’t come here is the best we can do.”

When a predator appears, the prey usually has two options.

Run away or hide.

However, in Lee Joon-hyuk’s situation, the choice to run away was not an option.

“Or where else can we go? There are goblins and orcs outside. Where would you run away to? If you fight with them and catch the giant’s attention, it’s all over.”

“W-Well, that’s… I see. I’ll tell them to hide, but what about you?”

“I will watch where that thing is going.”

“A-Alright.”

After sending the man away, Lee Joon-hyuk moved to the rooftop of the building.

Once on the rooftop.

“Kiieek!”

A goblin rushed at him.

‘Were they still around?’

He casually swung a baseball bat at the goblin rushing towards him.

Thunk!

The goblin died with a single blow.

Lee Joon-hyuk was able to easily hunt goblins because he was an Awakener.

Once awakened, you would gain a physique different from ordinary people, and the more you hunted, the stronger you became.

Now, he had superior physical abilities and senses comparable to athletes.

It far exceeded the specs of the average person.

‘I don’t feel anything when hunting goblins anymore.’

After reaching a certain level, he couldn’t feel that characteristic sense of growth even when hunting goblins.

‘Does it have to be at least the level of an orc now?’

His party couldn’t feel that unique sense of growth at all.

‘Maybe only Awakeners can feel it.’

Fortunately, the giant showed no interest in this building and was gradually moving away.

Looking at the giant in the distance, he thought.

‘If I could hunt something like this, I would grow incredibly strong.’

He knew

It was just a useless daydream.

However, it was inevitable to harbor such ambitions.

If he could catch that monster, he knew that his specs would evolve to the next level immediately.

Then, it happened.

-Graaaaaaaah!

The giant let out a scream of agony.

‘…Hm?’

He focused his gaze and found that someone seemed to be fighting against the giant.

‘Are they insane?’

He never expected someone to actually do what he had only fantasized about.

‘They must also be an Awakener.’

He hadn’t encountered another awakened individual yet, but he was certain.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have taken a gamble like this.

In Lee Joon-hyuk’s eyes, it seemed the person was blinded by a greed for experience points and was recklessly putting the group in danger.

‘A pathetic person who can’t even grasp the limits of their strength…’

However.

-GRAAAAAH!

Something unusual was happening.

‘Huh?’

Judging by the pained voice of the giant, the “pathetic person” seemed to be effectively dealing some damage.

‘No way? Can they defeat the giant?’

Such expectations were only fleeting.

Kwoooong!

The giant’s disproportionately large foot turned into a meteor and slammed down onto the ground.

Rumbleeee—

“Cough!”

The buildings in the vicinity collapsed helplessly, and the vibration even reached Lee Joon-hyuk.

He momentarily lost his balance and almost fell, but thanks to the enhanced physical abilities and reflexes gained as an Awakener, he managed to stay upright.

‘…They must’ve died.’

While mourning for the Awakener with an unknown name who must have died under the giant’s foot.

‘Hm?’

The giant began moving again.

However, the giant’s steps were strangely slower than before. On closer inspection, it seemed to be limping.

‘What? They dealt damage to that extent?’

It was shocking.

How powerful was that Awakener to be able to fight the giant on equal terms?

‘What on earth…’

How powerful must they be?

He had thought that he had continuously grown since the day the monsters first appeared, but there was already an Awakener who was capable of fighting a monster like that.

‘Would it have been possible if I had gained a combat-related ability too?’

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t imagine himself fighting that monster.

However, after that, an even more surprising scene unfolded.

Fwoooshh—!

“!!!”

A massive flame shot out of the giant’s mouth.

The warm air even swept to Lee Joon-hyuk’s location.

Such a far-reaching fire.

‘What kind of monster-like ability is that?’

It was clear that it wasn’t the giant’s ability. If it was, there wouldn’t have been such visible signs of damage.

That meant that the ability used belonged to another Awakener. Such overwhelming power…

‘They’re on a completely different level than me.’

Now, the unidentified Awakeners fighting against the giant seemed more like monsters than the giant itself.

With a similar level of ability, there would be jealousy and competitiveness, but this was way beyond that.

It was simply astonishing.

One remarkable thing was that the giant also endured that massive explosion with its formidable vitality.

After a considerable time of pounding the ground with its fists, the giant suddenly—

Flash!

With a brilliant flash of light, its upper body was severed.

“!?!?!?!

The battle was over, and suddenly, the entire body of the giant began to disappear.

“This is insane.”

Watching the spectacle from start to finish, Lee Joon-hyuk realized something.

‘It’s them.’

In order to survive in this damned world, he needed to stick close to them.

‘I have to find them right away.’

With his decision made, Lee Joon-hyuk immediately went underground and persuaded the others.

There was no need for a lengthy discussion.

“If Joon-hyuk says we should go, then we should.”

“Of course. Is there anyone opposing Joon-hyuk’s words?”

“None.”

It was because the group of survivors he led revolved around him.

They knew that they were only able to survive thanks to him, and everyone understood that they had to leave soon anyways to secure food.

Above all, those actively supporting Lee Joon-hyuk’s decisions were the only ones left.

That was because Lee Joon-hyuk didn’t take anyone who opposed his views in the first place.

It might seem cold, but it was a natural choice for the sake of surviving longer.

“Let’s go.”

Surprisingly, the path to the apartment complex where the giant died wasn’t too dangerous.

Perhaps due to the giant’s rampage, there were no monsters in sight.

Furthermore, the group of survivors led by Lee Joon-hyuk was composed of skilled individuals who had experience hunting not only goblins but also orcs.

Although Lee Joon-hyuk played a major role, the fact that each person was capable was crucial.

For various reasons, they reached their destination in less than an hour.

“Oppa, is it over there?”

[Footnote: Another word for (Big) Brother.]

“I think so.”

When Lee Joon-hyuk affirmed, a man beside him observed the apartment complex and shared his appreciation.

“Joon-hyuk, there seems to be something as you said. Even though it is a newly built complex, it looks too clean.”

However, that wasn’t the only peculiar thing.

“Hyung is right. The surroundings are so clean.”

There were no human or monster corpses to be found.

Even traces of blood were nearly nonexistent.

It looked as if someone had cleaned up everything.

At that moment.

“Huh? Look over there, Joon-hyuk.”

There were about a dozen people where the man pointed.

Most of them were well-equipped with orc spears and bows.

Their conversation could be faintly heard, but the content seemed unusual.

“Wow, I’m really shocked.”

“Seriously. We almost died while trying to earn some pocket money by goblin hunting. A giant all of a sudden.”

“What was that giant?”

“I don’t know. By the way, how much did you make?”

“Me? I caught three goblins today, so I made about 10,000 won? I also gained plenty of experience points. I should go buy some cup noodles.”

“Sounds good. I only caught two.”

He could understand what they meant by gaining experience points by hunting goblins.

It perfectly matched the sensations Lee Joon-hyuk felt.

‘But what’s with the money?’

Catching three goblins and earning 10,000 won? What was that about?

What the hell did that mean?

He didn’t understand.

‘No, wait. Since they’re talking about gaining experience points, does that mean that they’re all Awakeners?’

In Lee Joon-hyuk’s group, that sensation was exclusive to him as an Awakener.

However, everyone in that group seemed to be knowledgeable about it.

‘What’s more, what is this strange feeling?’

There wasn’t a hint of tension from them.

No fear of monsters, no desperation for survival.

That was why he was sure there must be some connection between them and the Awakener who killed the giant.’

“Joon-hyuk, what’s wrong?”

“Hyung, hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s follow them.”

As they were about to follow them into the apartment complex.

Bang!

“What?”

An invisible barrier suddenly blocked their way.

[Entry not allowed.]

And then.

[Would you like to obtain citizenship?]

[Yes / No]

Strange characters appeared in front of them.

“What’s this now?”

“Joon-hyuk, what should we do? It seems we need to obtain citizenship to enter.”

Lee Joon-hyuk, staring at these characters in the air, spoke.

“Yes.”

Ding!

[You have obtained citizenship.]

After receiving it, the transparent barrier disappeared, allowing them to enter the apartment complex.

Soon after.

《Party Quest》

Quest Details: Come to 114-3002.

Time Limit: 1 hour 00 minutes 00 seconds

Reward: Small amount of experience points.

Failure Penalty: None.

Once again, a hologram window appeared in front of them.

“A quest?”

“What’s with the experience points again?”

Lee Joon-hyuk said to the group.

“Since they’re calling, let’s go.”

There was no need to worry too much about what was happening.

Lee Joon-hyuk himself possessed a superpower to create water from nothing, so it wasn’t strange for someone to have a game-like system ability.

Leading his group of 23 people, he headed towards the quest area.

“Welcome, Mr. Lee Joon-hyuk.”

The moment he faced him, he instinctively knew.

‘It’s him.’

The man who made the giant kneel before him.

The overwhelming presence of the man in front of him made him think that the term ‘giant’ suited this person even more than the physically large giant.

“I am Kim Jae-hyun.”

He had the illusion that something like an aura was emanating from his whole body.

The dignity embedded in his gestures and speech instinctively evoked a sense of respect.

Perhaps, the past social classes of aristocrats, nobles, and royalty were made for such people.

Lee Joon-hyuk shook hands with Kim Jae-hyun and bowed at a 90 degree angle.

“I’m Lee Joon-hyuk! Pleased to meet you!”