Level 1 Player

Chapter 35 Invasion of the Joins

After purchasing the item, Hyunseong headed straight to Seoul.

He first met her older sister and handed over the ring, bracelet, and long-distance scroll that Hyunseong was targeted for.

Large-capacity camping batteries and electronic products were also filled.

“Aren’t you doing something dangerous?”

She asked her sister with a suspicious look.

“no. I’m giving it to you in case you don’t know.”

Hyunseong laughed lightly.

And he designated his sister as the moving target on the scroll for long-distance movement that he had.

It was for Hyunseong to use when an abnormality was detected through the AC bracelet.

Then it was her mother.

Her mother also asked the same questions as her sister.

She also smiled lightly.

The last was her father.

He put rings and bracelets on his father’s body.

The response came right away.

The bracelet on Hyunseong’s arm has turned red.

“Don’t worry, Dad. Eat comfortably. I will surely cure your father.”

At Hyunseong’s words, the color of the bracelet changed to purple.

Hyunseong continued to talk. My mother, sister, and myself are all living without any problems, so my father’s illness will surely get better.

How loud would he have been?

The color of the bracelet has changed to blue.

‘thank God.’

A smile formed on Hyunseong’s lips.

His father’s heart was at ease.

‘It’s only making you feel uncomfortable.’

The color of the bracelet has changed.

This meant that he couldn’t move his body, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t feel or think.

He also confirmed that he could understand what he was saying.

If this is the case, it is enough to understand the level of the surrounding situation through the sound.

‘Are you frustrated? I’ll make sure you get better.’

Hyunseong smiled and walked out of his father’s room.

After that, Hyunseong moved to North Korea again.

Normal daily life began again.

Hyunseong toured the dungeon and continued to focus on hunting.

He also did not forget to save points in case of further attacks by the Japanese dimensional gate management department.

* * *

“It has already been a week since the report stopped. How did this happen?”

Japanese Dimensional Gate Management Minister Tanaka asked with a frown on his face.

“The operation seems to have failed.”

“Do you think that makes sense?”

At Tanaka’s question, the aide kept her mouth shut.

He didn’t even make sense when he thought to himself.

However, he was right to think that it was a failure, as he lost contact after reporting that the operation was being carried out.

“Is there any chance they betrayed you?”

“It’s quite low, but not without it.”

The loyalty of the secret agents is not very high. That’s why traitors often came out.“Are there any additional secret agents you can mobilize?”

“Not at the moment.”

“My head hurts.”

Minister Tanaka frowned. I have a treasure I need to get my hands on right now, but there was no way to bring it.

rumble!

At that moment, the door of Minister Tanaka’s office swung open and his aide rushed in.

“what’s the matter?”

“It’s a big deal! The initial response to the dimension gate in Fukuoka City failed!”

Minister Tanaka’s expression hardened.

Even after the Second Cataclysm is over, the dimensional gates are still open.

However, most of them successfully defended and did not cause much damage.

The Japanese Dimensional Gate Management Department is currently operating an initial response team with the goal of zero casualties.

It was the result of the mobilization of large guilds and skilled high-level players.

“Fukuoka City is an area defended by the Yamato Guild, but it failed?”

The Yamato Guild is one of the largest guilds in Japan.

“Yes that’s right! The guild leader Yamato died and the guild members who were mobilized for the operation were annihilated.”

“Is that really true? What was the level of the monsters that appeared?”

“Confirmed as Heroic. This is the first monster that appeared this time, and the exact level has not been confirmed yet. It is a humanoid monster called the Join-Type, with wings on its back, so it has good mobility and can fly freely in the sky.”

“Mobilize all the players in the area right now!”

“Yes!”

* * *

Japanese players began to flock to Fukuoka City, which had been turned into ruins.

Fukuoka City was completely occupied by the Join tribes.

Dead human corpses were everywhere.

The members of the Joining tribe, which looked like a mixture of a human and a bird, were enjoying a supper with human corpses.

“Those who kill me!”

The Japanese Self-Defense Forces and players vomited out their anger as they watched the people-eating peoples.

“Power attack!”

As soon as the order was issued, the Self-Defense Forces attacked.

The artillery fires all at once, and a large number of shells fell from the sky.

Hood!

When the bombardment started, the members of the joiners who were eating the corpses spread their wings all at once and soared into the sky.

“attack!”

The players used the skill at once.

The power of the skill was strong enough to cover the sky because it predicted that the Joiners would fly to the sky and raised their magical power to the maximum in advance.

Whik!

However, the mobility of the Joiners was beyond imagination.

It traversed the sky at great speed, dodging the players’ skills.

In the middle, the individuals hit by the skill were oxidized and scattered on the floor, but the results were quite negligible compared to the effort put in.

Kyaaaah!

The joiners roared and rushed towards the player and the Self-Defense Forces.

The war between the human and the JOIN has begun.

The Self-Defense Forces and Japanese players adhered to traditional formations against flying monsters.

It was a strategy for high-level players to protect the main base of the army.

The skill of the long-distance dealers and the shooting of the army were made at the same time.

The joins who had narrowed the distance to the skill and bullet baptism that seemed to cover the sky fell to the ground.

The Join people scattered all over the place flocked to hear the sound of the shells.But the results were no different.

As soon as the Joiners came within range of the Self-Defense Forces and Japanese players, they became beehives and fell to the ground.

Whether they had a strong sense of kinship, the Join tribes who witnessed the death of their comrades rushed more ferociously.

The Self-Defense Forces and the Japanese players were sure of victory.

If this trend continues, it would be possible to organize the joins within today.

Kyaaaaaaah!

At that moment, a great roar erupted from the sky.

With him, the JOIN, who were blindly running towards the Self-Defense Forces and Japanese players, retreated all at once.

“what?”

The Japanese players were perplexed.

Monsters are creatures with a stronger instinct than reason.

When he sees blood, he gets excited easily and doesn’t back down until he dies.

It certainly was until recently.

But with a roar, he retreated.

No, it’s not about backing down.

“Are you running away?”

The joiners flapped their wings and ran away.

The problem was the direction in which the Join tribes were fleeing.

The place where the dimension gate was opened was the easternmost part of Fukuoka City.

However, the joiners flapped their wings and flew in the sky, heading to the town of Hisayama, right next door.

“Stop it!”

The Japanese players and the Self-Defense Forces were in an uproar.

The skill was fired towards the sky and the shells were fired.

However, there was no way to hit the joiners who flew high in the sky.

Combat helicopters and fighter jets intercepted, but were rather defeated.

The number of joins was too large for combat helicopters and fighters to handle.

The number of Joining tribes scattered throughout Fukuoka City exceeded 1,000.

“let’s go!”

The Japanese players left the formation first and followed the joiners.

After that, the Self-Defense Forces also changed direction.

Hisayama-cho couldn’t afford that number of joiners.

Naturally, the Japanese players and the Self-Defense Forces were separated.

The mobility of the player and the self-defense force cannot be the same.

The mobility of a player with physical abilities enough to be called a superman and the SDF, which had to move heavy military equipment, was the difference between heaven and earth.

The distance between the Japanese players and the Self-Defense Forces began to widen in an instant.

It wasn’t just that.

Japanese players also began to naturally separate according to their level.

Of course, it was the rankers who took the lead.

After that, high-level players ran in a row.

* * *

A high-rise building that Japanese players cannot see.

The joiners were staring at the Japanese players who were lined up in a long line as if they were playing a train.

But it didn’t jump.

There were no joiners flapping their wings or roaring.

He didn’t even make a sound of breathing, as if he was in an ambush.

How much time has passed?

Kyaaaaaah!A great roar erupted from the front.

Whik!

Together with him, the members of the Joining tribe, who were quietly hiding while killing their breath, descended to the ground all at once.

Kwajik!

The sharp claws and beaks of the Joiners pierced the players’ bodies.

“Aww!”

“help me!”

Screams erupted from all sides.

The Japanese players did not respond properly to the sudden surprise.

“what?”

The rankers at the forefront stopped their steps as if bewildered.

And I started going back the way I had come.

Toward such rankers, the joiners, who had only run away until recently, changed their direction and rushed in all at once.

The Japanese players, who were moving in a long line, were surrounded by the joiners rushing from all directions in an instant.

Fragile!

The joiners who completed the siege threw blue lightning bolts all at once.

“Aaaaah!”

The Japanese players in the rear, who were relatively low-level, quickly began to collapse.

“These cubs… … !”

It was only then that the Japanese rankers realized that they had fallen into the trap of the Joining tribe.

“Sweep it away!”

Okamoto exclaimed with an angry expression.

The number of rankers gathered here alone is over 200.

The number of high-level players is a whopping 6,000.

Although they were attacked, the number of joiners was only about 1,000.

If we rearranged our power, we could win enough.

Whoops!

Okamoto’s body began to burn with crimson flames.

Other players also activated their job skills and started to clash with the joiners.

Whoops!

The shield in Okamoto’s left hand smashed the head of the joiners who were trying to snatch his comrades.

The body of the Joining clan that had been hit in the head became stiff in an instant.

Meanwhile, the dealers attacked.

They could not hold on for just three minutes and the members of the Joining tribe stopped breathing.

That was the beginning.

As the Japanese players formed their lines and entered battle, the situation slowly began to change.

At the center of it were the rankers including Okamoto.

The rankers showed tremendous firepower and wiped out the joiners.

“Hahaha, I’ll make you regret doing something like this!”

Okamoto exclaimed curiously.

Although the sudden surprise caused a lot of damage to the players, it was rather welcome if they approached themselves like this.

Whik!

A JOIN with golden wings rushed towards the Okamoto Party.

Okamoto grabbed the sword and shield.

His role as a tanker.

It’s his job to protect the dealers and healers behind him.

It was a situation where they were already holding on to one of the joiners, but if they were to survive, not two, but three were possible.

Okamoto used a provocation skill and swung his shield engulfed in flames towards the joiners.

Whik!

Shield misses.

Whoops!

The joiner’s spear pierced the healer’s neck.

It was not affected by the provocation skill.

“This child!”

Okamoto swung his sword again, casting a provocation skill.

Break!

The spear of the Join clan and the sword of Okamoto collided.

“ね!”

Okamoto’s posture was disturbed with the strong anti-elasticity of his wrists.

Kwajik!

At that moment, the spear held in the hand of the join clan that he was dealing with for the first time pierced Okamoto’s shoulder.

“This child… … !”

Aww!

Okamoto’s shield smashed into the head of the joiners who attacked him.

However, it was difficult to inflict great damage on the join group with the attack power of the tank.

Kwajik!

While Okamoto was arguing with the join group, the join group with golden wings leisurely swam in the sky, killing healers and long-distance dealers with weak defense.

The size of the Okamoto party shrunk in an instant.

The Okamoto Party, who lost the healer and the ranged dealer, began to be pushed by the Joining clan.

Fragile!

A golden lightning bolt erupted at Okamoto and his melee dealers, who lost their healers and ranged dealers.

Okamoto barely survived.

“Aaaah!”

However, the melee dealers with weak defense were wiped out in an instant.

That was the beginning.

The joins with golden wings began to decrease the number of rankers one by one in the same way.

* * *

“what? annihilation?”

Minister Tanaka’s face turned earthy.

“How could that be? How many rankers and high-level players were mobilized for this operation!”

200 rankers and 6,000 high-level players.

Nearly half of Japanese rankers and high-level players were mobilized for this operation.

But annihilation?

“The joiners used a trick. Pretending to retreat… … .”

The aide reported the information that had just come in.

“Even so, how can it be annihilated? Are you saying that the players in Japan were that weak?”

“The individual, presumed to be the leader of the Joining clan, moved so cleverly… … .”

“Even so, isn’t it just a hero-grade monster?”

“that is… … . I brought a video recording the situation at the time. See for yourself.”

The assistant played the video.

The battle scenes recorded on CCTV were of poor quality.

But it was enough to look at the overall situation.

“her!”

A sigh of relief escaped from Minister Tanaka’s mouth as he was checking the CCTV footage.The leader of the Join tribe with golden wings thoroughly targeted the ranks of the rankers.

Healers and long-distance dealers were dealt with first, aiming for gaps in the ranks who were playing with the hero-grade joins.

After that, after removing even the nearest dealer with a powerful golden thunderbolt, he leisurely left.

One tank survived, but the damage was so great that it eventually stopped breathing due to the attack of the Joining tribe, which was originally fighting.

Such a scene was repeated over and over again.

The leader of the join clan deliberately destroyed the player’s union.

No matter how talented a ranker is, he cannot hunt hero level monsters alone.

Players with broken party combinations began to be helpless.

The leader of the join group thoroughly targeted only healers and dealers.

Even if it was a tank, healers and dealers could not withstand the attacks of hero-grade monsters.

In the end, the players were wiped out.

After that, it was the turn of the Self-Defense Forces.

Minister Tanaka closed her eyes tightly.

It was like a nightmare.

Although humanoid, monsters are monsters.

However, the monster used strategy and tactics.

And the result was the great defeat of humans.

* * *

“A new kind of monster appeared in Japan?”

Hyunseong, who came out of the dungeon after hunting, asked with a surprised expression.

“Yes, there have been hero-grade monsters called the Join-Type, and it’s not even a riot. The Japanese rankers and high-level players who started subjugation were wiped out.”

Hyunseong’s mouth widened at the words of the military transport helicopter pilot.

“Is that possible?”

“It looks like they are quite intelligent. In the end, the Japanese government openly asked the international community for help.”

He gave up his pride and chose the truth.

If there’s one problem… … .

“Is there any country that can afford to help others now?”

The Second Cataclysm plunged the world into chaos.

He was too busy to cover himself, but he couldn’t afford to help others.

“No.”

Even the United States, Japan’s best ally, could not afford it.

America was too big.

For that reason, even the dimensional gates created during the 2nd Cataclysm had not yet been dungeoned.

The same was true of neighboring countries.

“Did you ask for help from Korea?”

“Yes, I know that. But it won’t be easy if you can’t afford it.”

Korea overcame the Second Cataclysm with relatively little damage.

But there was no time to help others.

This is because of the vastly increased territory and dungeons due to the Second Cataclysm.

In the worst case, would you mobilize high-level players belonging to a huge guild and players of the association to clean the dungeon?

‘I can’t afford to be fussy.’

Since the fire has gone out in his instep, he probably won’t be able to afford to even pay attention to Hyunseong.

“Let’s go.”

At the words of the military transport helicopter pilot, Hyunseong boarded the helicopter.

* * *

After arriving in the new dungeon, Hyunseong immediately summoned Lucia.

“Lucia, I have a question for you before the battle.”“Ask me.”

“Do you know of a monster called the Join-Type?”

At Hyunseong’s question, Lucia’s expression hardened.

“Have the Joiners ever appeared in this world?”

“that’s right.”

“It will do a lot of damage. They are very intelligent and very mobile. They live in groups there and flock to groups. If you think of it as a normal monster and respond to it, you will take a lot of damage.”

“I’ve already worn it, although it’s a foreign story.”

“How much damage have you suffered?”

Hyunseong told a story he had heard from a military transport helicopter pilot.

“If the boss is that smart, it won’t be easy. In the world where I was, there was a case where a kingdom was destroyed by a group of joiners. If possible, it would be good for countries around the world to work together to deal with it. If left unchecked, a country could disappear.”

“I can’t afford it even in other countries.”

“Still, it is difficult to leave it alone for too long. The Join-clan is a monster that can grow to Legendary level.”

“Really?”

Even though the join group was a hero grade monster, it was extremely difficult. But is it possible to grow to a legend level?

“Although there are limits for each race, monsters grow through hunting just like players. If you had such a big win, you would probably have leveled up quite a bit. He must have absorbed a lot of mana stones and skill books.”

“Even if the skill book is like that, does it absorb mana stones?”

At Hyunseong’s question, Lucia nodded.

“Monsters hunt other monsters or players in order to gain experience and manastones. Especially in the case of Manastone, it allows us to go beyond the limits of species.”

“Can players also absorb Mana Stones and grow?”

“As far as I know, it’s impossible. Many empires and kingdoms have invested huge amounts of money in the experiment, but I know they all failed.”

“Actually, even in our world, the experiment to grow players with manastones was not successful.”

Research on Manastone was still in progress.

Hearthstone has achieved remarkable results in the fuel and pharmaceutical fields.

However, there was no case where the stats increased after being absorbed by players or ordinary people.

“Oh, and I think it’s okay if you don’t have to worry about being attacked for a while.”

At Hyunseong’s words, Lucia tilted her head.

“Why?”

“It’s probably because of the Joiners by now. You won’t even be able to afford to worry about me.”

“You have been punished for your useless greed.”

At Lucia’s words, Hyunseong also burst into laughter.

* * *

Six months have passed.

The Japanese government still has not been able to deal with the Joining tribes.

The Joiners, who settled near the Dimension Gate, gradually expanded their territory and spread throughout Fukuoka.

Territory was lost to monsters.

A series of monster waves occurred in Fukuoka, which was occupied by the Joining tribes.

Since players could not hunt in the dungeon, the monsters ran out of the dungeon.

Fortunately, the monsters that escaped from the dungeon have been reduced to a meal for the joiners.

The Japanese government only focused on preventing the Joining tribes from leaving Fukuoka and expanding their territory to other regions.

Taking Fukuoka alone was giving up.

Around the time Japan was anxiously awaiting the support of the international community.

Korea has completed restoration of damage caused by the Second Cataclysm.

Restoration work in North Korea was also urgently resolved.

There was more work to be done, but the urgent fire was extinguished.

The South Korean government was the first to open North Korea to players.

This is because the prevention of the dungeon wave could no longer be left to the association’s direct players and the high-level players of the giant guild.

Although Hyunseong had a hard time frolicking around, he couldn’t clear all the dungeons in North Korea alone.Naturally, the number of dungeons with a high probability of a monster wave increased rapidly.

The best solution to preventing a wave of monsters is to free the players.

In the meantime, the level of the dungeon and the types of monsters were not well understood, so even if they wanted to open up the North Korean region, they could not do it.

This is because they were concerned about a situation in which players were allowed to hunt without a proper investigation, but they entered a dungeon that did not fit their level or met a group of monsters with unique habits, causing a large amount of human damage.

However, the dungeons in North Korea still lacked much.

There were no lodging facilities, and water and sewage facilities and roads were not properly maintained.

In addition, infrastructure such as restaurants, equipment rental shops, and repair shops near the dungeon was not well equipped.

The government was aware of that, but it was an inevitable choice to prevent a dungeon wave right away.

The players cheered.

And they flocked to North Korea in large numbers.

Some people were trying to solve their curiosity about dungeons in North Korea, while others went to hunt comfortably with less competition.

The point at which everyone headed north.

Hyunseong returned to South Korea.

Hyunseong was the first to find his family.

He called saying hello every day, but he had only seen him in person in a month.

He ate the home-cooked food his mother made for a long time and slept comfortably at home.

Actually, Hyunseong had a hard time too.

Modern people, who enjoyed the advantages of civilization, lived for a long time in an area that had become a wasteland due to the monster wave, so it was hard not to.

After spending a few days relaxing with his family, Hyunseong headed to the Players Association branch.

Hyunseong, who arrived near the branch of the Players Association, summoned Lucia in an alley where there was no CCTV.

Wrath!

Lucia was summoned with a bright halo.

The appearance of her Lucia had changed so much that it was difficult to compare it with her past.

Her skin, which had been full of her age spots, turned as white as her baby’s skin.

Her face was so firm that not a single wrinkle could be seen in her face.

Her gray hair, which had been brittle, had also changed to shiny platinum feet.

Lucia’s current appearance was a young Western woman in her early 20s.

Her outfit was also changed from a typical player to an ordinary person easily seen in modern society.

“This is the world Hyunseong lives in.”

She said as if Lucia was surprised as she looked around her.

She heard it as a story, but it was different from what she actually saw.

Her horseless wagon was driving down the well-maintained road.

On both sides of the road were rows of buildings taller than the Imperial Palace.

Glass used only by noble families was scattered everywhere, and the attire of people passing by on the street was very neat.

“Once you get an ID. As long as you do what I said, you won’t have any major problems.”

At Hyunseong’s words, Lucia nodded her head and entered the Players’ Association branch.

‘You’ll be fine.’

Hyunseong waited for her Lucia, trying to catch her heart.

Without a trace of her existence in this world, the only way for Lucia to obtain her official ID was through the Players Association.

In Korea and other countries around the world, there were various benefits to attract players.

One of them was the granting of nationality.

In a world where the number of players has become the national power.

As such, countries around the world tried to attract players as their own citizens unconditionally, unless there were any special flaws.

Even if you are an illegal resident or a smuggler, you can confidently be granted citizenship from the moment you wake up.

Of course, some conditions did exist.

You cannot join a foreign guild for 5 years.

Departure to other countries is also prohibited for five years.