NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 94: Tch, Is This a Barrier?
It’s already been two days since the mutation incident occurred.
“Hoho.”
In the meantime, I successfully sold the scarlet mana stone, and Neo Sisters even sent me a small token of appreciation.
That means, combined with the rewards from the [Dimension’s Treasure Vault], the total in my account is…….
【Account Balance: 318,230,054 won】
I proudly gazed at the numbers on my bank statement.
A whopping 310 million!
Considering the days when I was shivering over a bowl of soup, this is truly a massive improvement, right?
‘Winter hasn’t even come yet, and I’ve got over 300 million.’
Of course, there’s still a long way to go.
I have the grand goal of buying the Dragon’s Lung, and until I achieve that, I had to save every penny.
“Hmm….”
It seems I will be staying in this old studio for quite a while.
But honestly, it’s a livable place!
No boss pushing me for late-night work, I can eat whenever I want, and there are plenty of fascinating Earthly items around.
‘Speaking of which, should I watch some Y-Tube?’
I turned on my phone and launched the familiar app.
This video streaming platform has a ton of diverse content, but I mainly use it for the news.
‘It’s hard for an Earthling like me to discern truth from lies…’
News is a good cultural source.
Relatively trustworthy, and the video medium grabs the eyes in an entertaining way.
‘Which channel should I watch today?’
I scrolled down my phone screen to pick something interesting.
‘Huh?’
But something feels off.
Usually, the content varies by broadcasting company, but today, no matter which one I click, the same screen just pops up…….
[[●LIVE] 8 PM News – Hanshin Guild’s Situation Worsening, What’s Happening on Site?]
[“It feels like I had a nightmare”… Victim Interview]
[Shopping mall turned into ‘chaos.’ Just how serious is the damage?]
I clicked on the live broadcast and focused on the reports coming through.
[A reporter is currently at the incident scene. Kim ○○ Reporter?]
[Yes. This is a street in Seogyo-dong where the ‘Hanshin Incident’ occurred. As you can see, access for citizens is currently restricted…….]
The scene appeared to be cleaner than expected considering how extensively it was covered.
What was immediately visible on the screen were the neatly laid pavement blocks.
Grey buildings huddled together.
And nestled between them…. a gigantic barrier?
‘Hmm?’
I squinted, examining the screen, but the conclusion didn’t change no matter how many times I looked.
The street was filled with nothing but a vast barrier.
[In the distance is the culprit of this incident, the boss monster. ‘Baron Hwa-won.’]
The reporter then explained in a clear voice.
The ‘Baron Hwa-won’ originally lived in a gate owned by a certain guild, but one day that guild committed a grave management error.
[Meanwhile, there is strong criticism directed towards the Hanshin Guild for triggering this incident.]
The escape of the boss due to an error made by the auctioneer.
This was a rare human disaster.
‘What an absurd series of accidents…’
I thought briefly and stood up. I needed to grab some water from the fridge.
‘Huh?’
But right after, I froze in place while opening the fridge.
[△△Meat Restaurant]
That red sign shown on the news screen.
I definitely have a memory of seeing it somewhere!
‘That’s the restaurant right in front of the ATM where I withdraw cash every day!’
In other words, the incident being reported on the news was happening quite close to this place.
How did I not figure this out until now…….
I watched in fascination as the neighborhood images from the broadcast unfolded, only for the screen to switch to the next scene.
Thud-thud-thud-thud…
That scene was a helicopter view of the street below.
[What’s the current situation?]
[Emergency summoned hunters are striving to hunt ‘Baron Hwa-won,’ but there hasn’t been significant progress yet.]
The Baron Hwa-won looked like quite a troublesome monster at first glance.
It hid well within the sturdy barrier while constantly tormenting hunters outside from a distance.
The Baron’s weapon was a mental attack.
In other words, if someone approached the barrier, it would brainwash them to fight amongst themselves.
However, that brainwashing had a range and power so considerable……
[Mental attacks usually have little significance for awakened ones, right? So why is there such chaos this time?]
[According to officials from the Hunter Association, ‘Baron Hwa-won’ was a monster that grew stronger in proportion to the time it appeared.]
[A monster can grow?]
[Yes, that’s right. Thus, the monster’s brainwashing affected even mid-ranking awakened ones, and the barrier’s strength also seems to have increased.]
In the end, even the range of available hunters has been limited.
“Hmm.”
Yet, even after seeing the anchor’s serious face, I simply shrugged.
Why? Because I didn’t feel much sense of crisis.
‘No matter how close the incident is, it’s not happening in my home…’
Clink.
I quenched my thirst with the water I pulled out of the fridge and thought.
‘It’ll be resolved with time anyway.’
The anchor was making a fuss about how strong the brainwashing was, but in reality, weren’t some hunters still responding to the Baron’s barrier right now?
Whether they wrapped themselves in brainwashing resistance items or outright called in A-Class hunters.
The awakened ones in this area had plenty of choices.
“It’ll be fine.”
So, I thought the Earthlings would sort it out and went to prepare lunch.
Heating some ready-to-eat curry, steaming rice……
“Will it be alright?”
But strangely, even after finishing my meal, the news kept being noisy.
“…Is this okay?”
Then, about three hours later, the alarm finally reached my feet.
[(Breaking News) The area affected by ‘Baron Hwa-won’ has expanded, locals urged to evacuate.]
Damn!
I can’t believe Earthlings could be this incompetent!
‘They haven’t even managed to break through that one barrier yet?’
I abruptly stood up from where I was while watching the broadcast.
While hunters were struggling against the barrier, Baron Hwa-won had expanded its territory.
‘No way!’
If things went on like this, Kim Gi-ryeo’s house could get caught up in the incident too.
Thus, I made a decision.
I would head to the scene of the incident and hint to the hunters about how to deal with the barrier.
“Ugh, these primitive beings always cause trouble!”
What other choice did I have?
[●LIVE News: Real-time chat]
[What are these hunters doing?]
[Should we just fire missiles??]
[These guys have never dealt with dangerous things and just sit around doing nothing… tsk tsk. If it’s so frustrating, why don’t you handle it yourselves? Don’t blame the poor hunters for no reason.]
As it was said here, if they found it that frustrating, they should just jump in themselves.
*
I soon arrived at the scene.
It turned out to be easier to get in than I expected.
The status of an appraiser held significant influence in this world.
‘I didn’t expect a call to the association would grant me entrance so easily…’
I passed the police line and looked around.
Then I spotted a familiar face.
“Ms. Seonwoo-yeon!”
“Huh?”
That B-Class hunter was busy setting up a new control line and looked surprised to hear my voice.
“Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter?”
She had a look that clearly asked what on earth I was doing here.
“I came out because I was frustrated.”
“Excuse me?”
“I mean, how long do they plan to argue over a barrier like that?”
I approached Seonwoo-yeon and explained the situation to her.
Saying I came to assist with analyzing the barrier as an appraiser.
“I see!”
Seonwoo-yeon’s face brightened at this news.
How could she not be happy that a high-ranking appraiser, whose services were usually costly, came to assist on their own?
“I’ll guide you to the barrier.”
Seonwoo-yeon readily took the lead and briefly described the current situation.
“So, the barrier’s strength is such that it won’t break even for an A-Class?”
“Yes. I really don’t know where all that mana is coming from.”
“Hmm.”
“Moreover, the number of hunters gathered is also quite limited. We hastily gathered people using the association’s authority, but…”
“Is it really just two A-Class hunters?”
“We can’t just overuse our summons as well. Requests for more personnel are currently blocked from the upper management.”
I paused to ask a question.
“What about the Magic Tower Guild Master?”
Even if Jeong Ha-seong or Kang Chang-ho were out of the picture due to their own circumstances, that person should be able to summon help autonomously, right?
But Seonwoo-yeon quickly fixed her expression.
“Esther Hunter? Unfortunately, she’s currently inside a gate.”
“Oh no.”
“The Magic Tower folks say it’ll take at least half a day longer to conquer it.”
It seems there are quite a few sad stories behind not being able to catch Baron Hwa-won.
‘Ugh.’
If that’s the case, my only option now is to return to figuring things out, no matter how bothersome it may be.
I need to analyze the structure of the barrier and find its weaknesses.
“Alright, this is the outermost part of the barrier.”
Upon arriving, the scenery of the site was definitely livelier than what I saw on TV.
Inside the translucent spherical barrier.
With countless white, blue, and brightly colored flowers, the landscape was so dense that there was hardly any room to step.
‘T-this is larger than I expected…?’
But in the center of this flower garden stood a creature quite far from beautiful.
It looked rough, similar to a Silla figurine in some ways.
‘Is it even a living being?’
Revealing itself, the Baron Hwa-won had a shiny white body that looked like a glazed pottery, making the monster appear even more bizarre.
‘Hmm.’
Time for my thoughts on the boss to end here.
‘It’s scary, so I should stop looking.’
I turned my attention back to the Baron’s barrier.
The green light generated by clustered mana particles.
At first glance, it didn’t seem much different from other barriers…….
“Hmm?”
Thud!
Suddenly, an unidentified noise echoed from somewhere.
“What was that just now?”
“Ah, sorry. I should have let you know that there was another appraiser over there.”
Fortunately, the noise wasn’t something negative.
It was the sound of the summoned hunters attacking the barrier.
“Hunters! Please pay attention!”
Seonwoo-yeon rushed toward the source of the sound and delivered the message.
“Please stop the barrier attack!”
“Excuse me? Why?”
“We have a high-ranking appraiser here. So, please wait until the analysis is complete.”
“Ah~”
The hunters all turned their heads towards Seonwoo-yeon’s words.
Fire attributes, attack enhancement, electrical types.
Though they were using different skills, they were all strong enough, all over B-Class, so it felt a bit intimidating.
“I’ll take a quick look.”
I immediately got to work, trying to finish as fast as I could to avoid inconveniencing that elite team.
Hah, this barrier should be easy for the Great Mage to handle…!
But this damn creature barrier turned out to have a structure I had never seen before.
‘Huh?’
The layout was plainly complex, showing a clear distinction from the Magic Tower’s barrier.
I swallowed hard.
I had boasted that I would finish quickly, but if an F-Class was present here wasting time…….
“Wow, by the way, a high-ranking appraiser actually comes to places like this.”
“Right? Seems like they’re pretty highly ranked. They’re holding up well against the brainwashing.”
“Please, don’t talk about it. Our guild doesn’t have a single appraiser, so this is even my first time seeing one in person.”
I hurriedly focused my hands on the gossips of the high-ranking awakened ones.
I needed to directly contact the barrier and shave off even a second of analysis time.
But what on earth.
Right after, an unimaginable situation occurred.
Swish-.
I passed right through the barrier with my outstretched hand without any resistance whatsoever.
“Huh?”
“Hmm?”
“Umm?”
Seeing that scene, the people around me made dumbfounded sounds.
But I was just as shocked.
Wait, why did a barrier that even A-Class hunters had trouble with let me through so easily?!
‘What the?!’
Suddenly, the basic principle of the barrier flashed through my head.
A barrier.
The magic is designed to exclude harmful things to the caster.
However, as harmful as it may be to a body, could a barrier filter even a speck of dust floating in the air?
The more ‘dense’ the barrier becomes, the more absurd maintenance costs it incurs.
Thus, typically it is designed loosely to optimize efficiency.
‘Therefore, small insects or dust particles without mana don’t need to be filtered out.’
So, this situation simply meant this.
‘This barrier does not recognize an F-Class as an enemy.’
The Baron Hwa-won had deemed me no more than a speck of dust!
“……”
Wait, what just happened?