Swordmaster of the Fallen World

Chapter 006. Nightmare Zone, New Jongno-gu (2)

Without pause, Park Jiyeon’s arm blazed silver-white.

As her fist struck the barrier wall, an unbelievable event unfolded.

The starlight aura expanded rapidly, transforming into the shape of a battering ram.

“Haahhhhhh!”

The battering ram followed the trajectory of her punch and struck the wall.

One second, two seconds—nothing seemed to happen.

Just as I thought so, a crack spread from the center of the wall, and with a thunderous roar, a small hole appeared.

“Huh? Why did…? No, I said it would work…?”

Park Jiyeon turned to me with an astonished expression.

Did she overestimate her ability to destroy the barrier completely? Or was she surprised at herself?

“This is incredible!”

The hole’s diameter was about 50 to 60 centimeters.

But it was big enough for an adult to squeeze through.

“Go through there! Quickly!”

The size also meant the monsters couldn’t follow us through.

It wasn’t just an escape route; it had bought us valuable time.

How she managed to carve such a neat passage into this thick wall was a mystery only those starry bastards might know…

Park Jiyeon crawled through the hole first, and I followed close behind.

It was a breathless moment.

The monsters still forced their way toward the hole.

Hisssss—tentacles writhed and darted toward us.

“Grab hold!”

Park Jiyeon, who had already exited, grabbed my arm and pulled me through the hole.

A tentacle brushed perilously close to my calf.

“Ah!”

But her pull had been too strong.

We tumbled to the ground, tangled together, and rolled over and over.

When we finally stopped, a brief silence fell.

Lying side by side, we gasped for air.

[Time until complete detection: (3) minutes.]

The tunnel interior was cold and damp, a stark contrast to the muggy outside.

Was it because of that?

A strange sense of relief washed over me, as though we’d escaped every danger.

“…Ha, haha, hahaha…”

Park Jiyeon let out a hollow laugh, almost like a sob.

It must have been that same relief.

“Really, this is absurd, isn’t it?”

I silently got to my feet.

The Dawnblade, which had fallen to the ground during our roll, was quickly retrieved.

I swept the blade’s faint light across the tunnel.

“I woke up to an ordinary morning, went to work like usual, greeted my boss, and happily went out for a report… Everything was the same. But now I’m punching through walls with my fists.”

The short tunnel was filled with abandoned vehicles.

It was to be expected.

When the central control AI malfunctioned, all vehicles’ autonomous driving systems in Seoul would have been disabled.

“My younger brother and mother… Do you think they’re safe? They’ll be fine, right? Jiwon is such a brave kid. He must have been chosen, right?”

I didn’t know what to say to comfort her.

Then a thunderous sound made my heart pound.

It was the sound of steel beams warping.

Boom! Boom!

Beyond the hole in the barrier.

The monsters howled horribly and began battering the barrier.

I quickly reached out a hand to Park Jiyeon.

“Let’s survive first. We can only look for them if we’re alive.”

“…You’re right. I need to be alive to find them, don’t I?”

Park Jiyeon nodded with a pained expression.

We ran straight to the opposite end of the tunnel.

There were no survivors, but thankfully, no monsters were lying in ambush either.

“Please!”

Park Jiyeon imbued her arm with her unique skill again.

Meanwhile, I glanced at the countdown on the [Warning Window].

[Time until complete detection: (1) minute.]

The sound of the barrier collapsing from behind confirmed it.

Boom… Boom…

That’s enough.

Once we exited the tunnel, the Independence Gate was right ahead.

It marked the end of Jongno-gu and the beginning of Paradise Zone.

“It’s done!”

The moment we scrambled out of the narrow tunnel exit, we took a deep breath.

Was it because we were near Paradise Zone?

The fog was thinner, and visibility improved.

A fork in the road came into view.

To the left was an elevated highway, and to the right was a steep downhill path.

“Now, all we have to do is go down the right—”

—And we could’ve arrived at Paradise Zone.

If only the worst hadn’t happened in quick succession.

“Huh…?”

Suddenly, Park Jiyeon’s face was drenched in cold sweat.

I didn’t even have time to help her.

Her knees gave way, and she collapsed on the spot.

“Jiyeon!”

“Something’s wrong… My head… feels heavy… My head…”

“Can you move?”

“Uh… Uh-huh… A warning window says I overused my unique skill…”

Fatigue from its usage?

It wasn’t surprising after using such a powerful skill twice.

There had to be limitations.

“Go… go on ahead… I’ll follow once I recover…”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

I immediately picked up Park Jiyeon in my arms.

“But…”

“Consider this your taxi fare. Hold the sword for me.”

That decision might’ve been the worst signal flare.

The moment I handed her the Dawnblade.

The sword emitted a fierce spark and exploded into a blinding flash of light.

I couldn’t see anything for a moment.

When my vision cleared, the Dawnblade was gone.

Golden and crimson light particles scattered endlessly around us.

[Unique Weapon De-equipped: Dawnblade.]

What the hell…?

There was no time to think.

The massive explosion had drawn every monster nearby.

Run. Run. Run. Run.

The next thing I knew, I was sprinting down the steep path.

“…Hehehehe… Heeheehee…”

Giant shadows emerged from between the vehicles.

At first glance, they looked like centipedes.

Except for the fact that their heads were human.

The sight of them writhing and screeching as they crawled along the ground made every hair on my body stand on end.

“Above us… They’re dropping from above too!”

Countless centipede monsters were falling from the elevated highway.

It was like a black waterfall.

At that moment.

[Time until complete detection: (0) minutes.]

A piercing alarm echoed in my head.

[Warning: The Exalted One, the Foolish Serpent Barfah’tika, has detected your presence.]

[Warning: The Exalted One, the Foolish Serpent Barfah’tika, has detected your presence.]

[Warning: The Exalted One, the Foolish Serpent Barfah’tika, has detected your presence.]

…Rumble…

The ground trembled violently.

The tremors grew… stronger… Sweat dripped down my back.

It was coming.

“Hold on tight!”

It was only about 50 meters to the Independence Gate intersection.

But what the hell was that?

The mist surrounded the starting point of the intersection like a wall.

It surged high into the distant sky.

But there was no time to wonder about it.

I had to focus even more on the 2% combat memory from 《Sacred Fire Succession》.

Thanks to it, I could maintain my balance on the shaking ground, dodge the charging centipede monsters, trample over them, and…

…Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa…

A deafening tremor drilled into my eardrums.

Park Jiyeon, in my arms, let out a scream.

“The tunnel… the tunnel has collapsed, the whole thing.”

Being chased by that thing felt like floating through a nightmare.

The elevated highway to the left began tilting toward us, while cracks in the ground raced ahead of me.

“…Heheheheheheee…”

The screams of centipede monsters being shredded into chunks followed closely behind.

“They’re right… right behind us!”

Please.

Just a bit farther.

Just a little bit more, and we’d make it.

The Independence Gate, the Paradise Zone, the veil of mist grew larger in front of us.

35 meters. 25 meters. 20 meters.

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa…

Just as that thought crossed my mind, the vibrations stopped abruptly.

Oh no.

I held my breath.

There was no time to react.

My mind went blank, devoid of any thoughts.

The spot where the tremors stopped was… directly beneath my feet.

Is it over? Does it end like this?

An unbelievable event occurred just as I sensed the end.

For the briefest moment, it felt like the world’s time had stopped.

When I blinked, we were floating high in the air.

We were even right in front of the mist’s veil.

Park Jiyeon’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly.

“What… what did you just do?”

It was a question I couldn’t answer.

Had the combat memory propelled me into the air at that moment? No, that wasn’t it…

Then I heard a cracking noise, and I reflexively looked down.

The spot we’d been standing on spread into a web of cracks.

The moment the ground within a 10-meter radius began to swell, a massive shadow surged skyward.

Its body was so long that its ascent seemed endless.

Was that… the exalted one?

I slowly turned my gaze.

I couldn’t bear to look.

I didn’t even want to recall what I had just glimpsed.

God…

What kind of world is this…?

A snake with countless centipede legs writhing—

That was all I could see.

As torrents of debris and structures surged like a tidal wave from the abyss the creature emerged from,

As the screams of a world being sucked into a nightmare filled the air,

We fell into the dome of mist.

[New Region Discovered: Seongnakwon (星樂園) – ‘New Seodaemun-gu’]

[Notification: You are currently in the ‘Paradise Zone.’]

The Paradise Zone.

This bizarre “city” astonished me in every way, even as I first stepped into it.

“…Hey… Mr. Baekjun.”

When I came to, I was lying face-down in the mist.

Park Jiyeon was gently shaking my shoulder.

“Thank goodness! Are you okay?!”

When did I lose consciousness?

Grotesque creatures flashed through my mind at that moment.

Clatter-clatter-hiss-hiss-bang-bang-cackle-rumble-cackle.

What the hell.

I sprang up and looked around frantically.

“The monsters… those monsters.”

“Don’t worry. It seems like there aren’t any monsters here. They say this is the Paradise Zone.”

It didn’t take long to feel reassured.

This place, draped in white mist, was surreal and peaceful.

There were no strange cries or footsteps to be heard.

So, that’s how it is.

That means…

“We made it out of that hell alive.”

I forced a bitter smile and swallowed the heavy guilt.

Out of all those people, only the two of us had survived.

“It’s all thanks to you, Mr. Baekjun.”

“No, if it weren’t for you, Ms. Park Jiyeon, I’d have died in the tunnel long ago.”

“I was thanking you just now.”

Park Jiyeon wiped her damp eyes after glancing at my disheveled state.

I scratched my head awkwardly.

“And I was also thanking you.”

At my response, Park Jiyeon stared blankly for a moment before letting out a soft laugh.

Eventually, I joined in, laughing along.

It was absurd.

I couldn’t even believe we were alive.

Just moments ago, this kind of casual banter had seemed like an impossible dream.

“When did I lose consciousness?”

“I don’t know. I lost consciousness as we entered the mist too… When I woke up, I was lying next to you.”

“I must have been out for quite a while. I don’t feel any fatigue.”

What the hell is going on?

I carefully checked my physical condition.

We had fallen from a significant height, yet I had no fractures or even bruises.

Most of my injuries were torn flesh from the centipede monsters’ attacks.

Even those were healing.

“This is… strange.”

It was around that time that an eerie sense crept up my spine.

“What is?”

“Barfa-what’s-it obliterated the entire area, yet look at this. There isn’t a single crack that extends into the mist.”

It felt as if…

“Oh, you’re right! How is that…?”

This place seemed to belong to a world entirely different from Seoul.

I started to ponder but then shook my head.

Everything was incomprehensible.

Dwelling on it wouldn’t yield any answers.

“Let’s move deeper in. Maybe we’ll learn something.”

As we passed through the veil of mist, I silently murmured, Dawnblade.

[Unique Weapon Equipped: Dawnblade.]

Light spread out from my grasp.

It quickly solidified into the form of a blade, its weight reassuring.

Hmm… At least that’s a relief.

I’d been tense, worried it might have disappeared entirely.

Does the blade disappear when someone else touches it?

“My goodness.”

Park Jiyeon gasped in shock at that moment.

When I lifted my gaze, I saw something strange.

“…A fortress gate?”

The Independence Gate had been transformed into a fortress gate.

That was the best way to describe it.

Walls extended grandly from either side of the gate.

“This… this is the Independence Gate, right?”

“I don’t like this. It feels deeply unsettling.”

The changes to the Independence Gate were only the beginning.