Chapter 9
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Mason was in a fierce battle with the Giant Spider.
Seo Yeonhee, with her stealth field activated, carefully stepped forward.
She checked the large cocoons, her toes touching the ground where the spiderwebs hadn’t reached.
Inside the sticky, nauseating mucus were old suits of armor.
‘This is no good.’
Seo Yeonhee calmly checked the next cocoon.
The ones on the outside were the oldest.
That means the ones inside must be newer.
Thud.
For the first time, she felt something solid inside a cocoon.
Peeking inside, Seo Yeonhee saw a man in heavy armor, his neck broken.
He must be the owner of the mace and shield.
‘He’s dead.’
She coldly moved on to the next cocoon.
It was in the last cocoon that she found a survivor.
Inside was a person who, although unconscious, was still breathing.
‘Should I take him out?’
To be honest, she didn’t want to risk it.
The moment she tore off the cocoon, the Giant Spider would notice something was wrong, and every moment she carried this burden out would be dangerous.
She could just pretend she didn’t see him and report that everyone was dead.
However…
‘…He’s fighting.’
Mason was fighting. Believing that someone might be alive, trusting that someone was still alive, he was fighting, bleeding.
Believing that someone behind him would do their part.
‘…’
It was a familiar sight. A sight she could never forget.
Seo Yeonhee drew two daggers and cut the cocoon open.
“I found a survivor! I’m going up!”
“Okay!”
Seo Yeonhee started running with the cocoon slung over her shoulder.
At that moment, the Giant Spider also realized there was more than one intruder. And that intruder was stealing its food!
“Shreeeeeek!”
As the Giant Spider turned around in a rage…
“Uwaaaaaaaa!”
Mason swung his two-handed hammer.
Crack!
The Giant Spider’s massive body slammed into the ground.
“Do you have time to look elsewhere, bug?!”
Mason jumped on top of the Giant Spider’s body.
“Woooooorrrk!”
Bang!
One leg broke off.
Crack!
Half of its head was crushed.
In that instant, the stolen prey was forgotten by the Giant Spider.
Now… it was in a fight for its life!
“Shreeeeeek!”
The Giant Spider twisted and turned its body.
Mason’s feet were on the Giant Spider’s fine hairs. It felt like he could slip at any moment.
“Then…!”
Mason gritted his teeth and put strength into his legs.
Crack! Crack!
Crushing the Giant Spider’s carapace, Mason’s two feet dug into its body.
Bang!
Mason’s two-handed hammer struck the Giant Spider once again.
The Giant Spider felt fear.
This tiny monster was trying to beat it to death.
And from its blind spot!
“Shreeeeeek!”
The Giant Spider moved desperately.
Thud! Bang!
It crashed into the wall and rolled on the floor.
But Mason gritted his teeth and held on, continuing to swing his two-handed hammer.
Thud!
At that moment, he realized the sensation on his back was strange.
‘What is this?!’
Sticky feeling. Pulling pressure.
Mason clenched his jaw.
‘Spiderweb!’
Because of the Giant Spider’s frantic struggle, Mason’s back had gotten stuck to the spiderweb.
“Tch…!”
Mason put strength into his legs.
And the Giant Spider desperately put strength into its legs as well.
Snap, snap…
He heard the sound of his carapace being torn off.
It was a bad sign.
“Oh, dear.”
Crack!
The carapace tore off, and Mason’s feet came loose from the Giant Spider’s back.
As if to express all the anger it had endured, the Giant Spider unleashed a fierce attack on Mason, who was stuck to the wall.
Clang! Clang! Crack!
Even blocking with armor and a hammer had its limits.
Stab!
“Ugh!”
A sharp leg like a blade pierced Mason, penetrating his abdomen.
“You… tiny creature!”
Crack!
Mason broke that leg, but a burning pain spread from the wound.
‘Poison. I’m poisoned.’
Mason felt the poison spreading throughout his body.
The strength gradually drained from his hand gripping the hammer.
‘The spiderweb, if I could just get rid of the spiderweb…’
“Hey! Just get rid of the spiderweb?!”
Was it a voice inside his head? Or someone’s shout?
In a daze, Mason unconsciously yelled.
“Get rid of the spiderweb!”
At that moment…
Fwoosh!
A huge wave of fire began to fill the subway station.
“Shreeeeeek!”
Spiderwebs are flammable. Naturally, they started to burn.
The spiderweb that held Mason also burned in the flames.
At that moment, Mason swung his hammer and struck the Giant Spider’s jaw.
Flames engulfed the giant.
Blood and guts were flowing.
Like the wrath of humanity, like the hatred of those slaughtered.
That giant stood before the monster.
“Come on, you tiny creature…”
Both the Giant Spider and Mason knew.
The monster that lost its webs, the superhuman with severe injuries.
It had to end with a single exchange.
“Shreeeeeeeeeek!”
The Giant Spider was the first to charge.
The Giant Spider lunged, extending its sharp, spear-like legs.
It had enough power to pierce and k*ll a human in an instant.
But at that moment…
“Woooooooorrrk!”
Along with Mason’s roar, a strike filled with all the Barbarian’s power was swung. Future technology and primal rage. The two-handed hammer, imbued with all that power, bent like a twig.
Crack!
The Giant Spider’s leg shattered like a straw.
But that strike, its remaining force was still ridiculously strong.
Crack!
The Giant Spider’s head smashed against the wall and was crushed.
Along with the hammer head of the broken two-handed hammer…
Thud…
The Giant Spider’s brain matter and bodily fluids seeped into the cracks of the broken wall.
“…Phew.”
Covered in his own and his enemy’s red and blue blood, Mason let out a long sigh.
The humid and stale air, a mixture of the monster’s stench and the smell of rotting corpses.
It was the most delicious air he had ever breathed.
Stepping on the Giant Spider’s trembling body, Mason roared.
“Uwaaaaaaaa!”
It was a cry of victory.
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“…Ah, my ears hurt.”
It was Deroa who complained.
“Why are you yelling like that?”
The fire was still flickering on her staff.
It was Deroa’s fire magic that had burned the spiderwebs.
Mason grinned.
“Thanks. I won because of you.”
“Hmph, you know how to be grateful.”
Deroa said, puffing out her chest.
“Should you call me ‘noona’ from now on?”
“I don’t want to.”
“…!”
Mason closed his eyes tightly.
As he clenched his fist, the poison in his body gathered in one place.
Drip… Drip…
A thick, green liquid dripped from Mason’s fingertips.
“Detoxification is complete…”
At the same time, Mason’s regenerative abilities began to repair his body at an incredible speed. The wound on his abdomen, where his intestines were spilling out, disappeared without a trace, as did the minor bruises all over his body.
Except for his broken armor, he looked fine.
“…Hmm.”
Mason looked down at his arms with a dissatisfied expression.
Deroa grumbled.
“What’s wrong?”
“My body has shrunk. Because the Barbarianigen reserves have decreased.”
Deroa looked at Mason.
‘Now that I think about it, his height and build seem a bit smaller…’
Although he was still a giant, making it hard to tell, his body size had slightly decreased.
“So what do I need to do?”
“I need to eat.”
Mason walked with heavy steps.
“Will everything be fine if you eat?”
“Yeah.”
“What if you can’t eat?”
“I can photosynthesize… but it’ll take two months to recharge.”
“Photosynthesize?”
Deroa made a puzzled expression.
“I didn’t study much in school, but isn’t that only for plants?”
“You can become a plant person.”
Deroa pondered.
‘Was that what plant person meant?’
Mason walked on with heavy steps.
The atmosphere aboveground was chaotic.
“What’s going on?”
Deroa made a curious expression. She grabbed a random person and asked.
“Hey, where’s Seo Yeonhee?”
“O-Over there.”
Seo Yeonhee was standing on the radio tower where Deroa had been.
“Mason, Deroa.”
She spotted Mason and Deroa and nimbly jumped down to the ground.
“What’s going on?”
“Something’s not right.”
She pointed north and handed Deroa the binoculars. Mason also looked in that direction.
“Steel Snakes…!”
Their height alone was taller than a human, and their long bodies easily exceeded a dozen meters. Two giant snakes covered in metallic scales were approaching.
Mason gritted his teeth, making a grinding sound.
“They noticed the situation has changed.”
Instead of offering members of their tribe as tribute to the Giant Spider, the Goblins had been under its protection.
However, even with humans arriving in large numbers and slaughtering the Goblins, the Giant Spider didn’t appear.
That meant one of two things.
Either the Giant Spider was dead, or the Goblins were no longer under its protection.
Then there was no need to hold back, right?
“But we killed almost all the Goblins for it to eat.”
When Deroa spoke in a flustered tone, Mason calmly replied.
“Other prey has arrived…Over a hundred of them.”
They weren’t coming to eat the Goblins now.
They were coming to eat the Players!
“What do we do?”
Deroa looked at Seo Yeonhee in a panic.
There was Deroa and Seo Yeonhee, and even though they were newbies, there were over a hundred Players. With that much firepower, they could easily k*ll the Steel Snakes. Easily k*ll them, but…
“If we engage them without a plan, half of these newbies will be slaughtered!”
The problem was that, despite their firepower, their defense was severely lacking.
The moment the Steel Snakes entered their formation, at least dozens would d*e.
Seo Yeonhee looked at the two steel snakes with calm eyes.
“Mason, please take on one of them.”
She drew a rough tactical map on the ground.
“It would be great if you could k*ll it, but if not, please buy as much time as possible.”
“I’m not a problem, but can you guys handle it?”
“It’ll be a bit risky, but we’ll manage somehow.”
She looked at Deroa and said.
“Deroa, are you confident in ‘dribbling’?”
“Ugh, come on. It’s been over a year since I last did that.”
She grumbled but gripped her staff firmly.
“Don’t blame me if the aggro shifts!”
As Deroa jumped onto the radio tower, Seo Yeonhee arranged the Players into formation.
It was a typical crane wing formation, with tankers at the front and dealers on both flanks.
Mason took a deep breath.
“Phew…”
His armor was broken, and his only weapon was a broken iron bar.
However, Mason had everything he needed.
The enemy in front of him.
And… the people he had to protect behind him!
“Uwaaaaaaaa!”
Mason roared and charged.
His massive body dashed like a gale. It was a speed that exceeded even the Steel Snake’s expectations.
“Woooooorrrk!”
Bang!
Mason’s fist struck the Steel Snake’s jaw.
Superhuman speed and transcendent strength. The combination of the two made his strike a true iron fist.
A dull thud could be heard from the Steel Snake’s jawbone.
“Hisssss!”
Even the Steel Snake’s tongue was metallic. Realizing that Mason was no ordinary opponent, the Steel Snake stopped in its tracks.
“Come on, you tiny creature!”
Mason began to fight, entangled with the Steel Snake.
However, the other snake ignored Mason and charged towards the humans.
