Chapter 77 - Don't lay a hand on my solos!
Guguguguung--!!
Massive rocks crashed down with a deafening roar, and thick dust billowed in all directions, clouding the view.
Screams followed in the chaos—shrieks of terror, cries for help, even desperate calls for "Mom!"
A sudden collapse?
Wasn't this way too forced?!
Even as Jin ran frantically, that thought crossed his mind.
But no.
Unbeknownst to him, this collapse had been thirty years in the making—an inevitable disaster waiting to happen.
It all started with Underheart settling in the tunnels.
What do you think they depleted first, living in an unfinished underground structure for decades?
That's right.
Exactly what you're thinking.
Water—specifically, groundwater.
In natural conditions, water and soil together provide substantial structural support to the ground above.
But as the deep underground water reserves dwindled, voids formed beneath.
If only that were the end of it.
Fueled by ambitions of building an underground kingdom, reckless expansion had continued unchecked for three decades.
Ground subsidence was inevitable.
Warnings had been plentiful—hundreds of ominous signs and dozens of minor incidents had already foretold the coming catastrophe.
Then came the discovery of ancient ruins and stone coffins—
And from within, a vampire from a thousand years ago emerged.
"No one escapes."
Still weakened, the vampire was unable to move freely.
To prevent its prey from fleeing, it used sacrificial blood to cast a barrier over the tunnels.
Ironically, that barrier had been the only thing holding the crumbling ground together.
And yet, it was shattered—by none other than the so-called king himself.
In the end, the very founder of Underheart had sealed its fate with his own hands.
And so, the collapse began.
The clueless survivors could only run for their lives.
"Waaaah!"
"Run!"
"Who the hell is pulling my clothes?!"
The ground trembled beneath their feet.
Cracks spread across the walls and ceiling like a spiderweb, deepening with each second as dust cascaded down like a waterfall.
As if things weren't bad enough, the corpses that had been lurking in the tunnels suddenly sprang to life.
Kieeeek!
The malice of the dead knew no bounds.
Desperate desires, once unattainable, festered into hatred.
That was the nature of the living dead—
An existence forged from paradox, an unholy fusion of life and death.
They feared nothing.
The collapsing tunnels meant nothing to them.
They had but one goal—to sink their teeth into the living.
"They're coming!"
And so, amid the tremors, the living and the dead clashed.
Blood splattered like fireworks, and amidst the violent struggle, a burst of electric-purple lightning erupted.
Pazzzzt!!!
In an instant, the blocked path was obliterated.
"Move—!!"
Jin roared.
It wasn't the battle cry of a heroic warrior cutting down his enemies.
No, it was much more urgent—like someone desperately needing to use the bathroom but being constantly blocked by others.
Actually, this was far worse.
If you fail to reach the toilet in time, you just ruin your pants.
But here, failing to escape meant death!
The rest of the group felt the same, even if they didn't say it out loud.
Despite being completely out of breath, they pushed forward with superhuman determination.
"Move! Fuck!!"
Even the most useless mercenary was firing his gun with reckless abandon.
Oddly enough, every shot he fired hit a corpse square in the forehead.
His aim was unnervingly precise—though, after spending over ten days in utter darkness, his sanity was slightly questionable.
Not that anyone had the time to comment on it.
Meanwhile, the tremors worsened.
Massive chunks of rock, like enormous arrowheads, rained down from the ceiling.
One of them was headed straight for Natasha.
"Watch out—!"
The mercenary screamed.
At the same time, someone lunged forward, shoving Natasha aside.
But they themselves had no time to escape—crushed instantly beneath the falling debris.
The one who made the sacrifice—was none other than another Natasha.
The real Natasha tumbled across the ground, barely surviving.
Jin immediately stretched out his hand.
"Natasha!"
She instinctively reached for him.
Their hands barely met—just at the edge.
Jin clenched her hand and yanked with all his strength, pulling her off the ground.
She twisted midair and landed on her feet.
"If we get out of here, will you drink with me?!"
"No clichés allowed!!!"
Jin shouted back.
Just then, he heard ragged breathing nearby.
As he swung his weapon to knock away another corpse, he glanced toward the source of the sound.
What he saw was a half-dazed figure with a round head—
Maximo, struggling under the weight of his absurdly oversized bag, which must have weighed well over 100 kilograms.
Jin wanted to scream at him to drop it.
But he had seen firsthand just how much Maximo treasured that bag.
"Damn it."
With a sigh, Jin grabbed the handle.
He hoisted it up—along with Maximo, who dangled limply from the strap.
"…Thanks. I'll cut your tab."
By this point, Jin didn't even have the energy to reply.
He just kept running.
Before they knew it, they were climbing a staircase—
The same staircase that had inexplicably disappeared before.
Now, their escape was truly within reach.
With every ounce of strength left in their bodies, they scrambled up the steps.
And there it was—the dungeon entrance.
No, the gate.
"Gasp—!"
Like reckless passengers vaulting over a ticket barrier, Jin leapt through the gate.
He turned, ushering Natasha and the mercenary through as well.
[Turn back!]
He raised his middle finger toward the blood-stained warning sign, crossing through the long underground passage, and then—
There it was!
Sunlight!
Finally seeing the escape route, Jin increased his speed.
Krrrrroooom—!!!
He dashed into the bright light, as the sound of successive explosions echoed behind him.
As the natural light he had longed for covered his face like a wave, he instinctively squeezed his eyelids shut.
Tears streamed down his face from the sudden exposure to the light, but a smile spread across his lips nonetheless.
"Damn... I made it."
The breeze brushing against his face felt so welcome.
If I go back into that dungeon, I'm not human anymore.
With that thought, Jin's tension completely loosened, and he sprawled out, lying on the ground.
After catching his breath for a while, he thought to himself, What was that?
A scene naturally flashed through his mind.
The seven great heads of families gathered in the past, and the king.
Then the mysterious man.
And the words about a new era coming.
As Jin remembered, it was the great seven families and the foresighted individual who discovered cyberspace that built the Lost City of today.
Could that person wearing a hood have been the foresighted one?
Was that the founding site?
"Today, we will change the nation's name to Lost City—"
"Alright, let's prepare for the ribbon cutting. Something like that?"
Wait, but then why was the king collapsed?
Could it have been usurpation?
What was the reason for showing me this?
A frown formed on Jin's forehead.
Though he recognized that the scene in the illusion was historically significant, it wasn't easy to deduce the truth behind it.
His mind was getting more complicated, so Jin thought, Screw it, and decided to get up first.
There were more pressing matters at hand.
"Is everyone alright?"
He turned to ask, but then froze.
"..."
Sensing an ominous presence around him, he slowly turned his head.
Jin, furrowing his brow like a cornered fighter, quickly scanned the area.
"What's this..."
Through his blurry vision, he saw raised gun barrels.
Rubbing his eyes with his finger as if wiping a lens, he then looked straight ahead.
"You guys, who are you?"
At that moment, someone stepped forward from the center of the men aiming guns.
"Well..."
The man, who had a mechanical eye implanted in his right socket, answered briefly, and his grin locked onto Jin's face.
"...Jin Evernight?"
The man muttered softly, then laughed.
"So it's you, the new star of the solo industry. What an honor. Nice to meet you."
Seeing the man recognize him immediately, Jin raised an eyebrow.
"If you're so glad, why don't you lower the gun first?"
The man smiled widely, pulling at the corners of his mouth.
"That's tricky... Hey! Lower the gun! If you don't want to die!"
The man suddenly shouted toward somewhere.
Jin glanced sideways and saw the low-tier mercenary cautiously placing his pistol on the ground.
Hmm, no.
Given that the guy was trying to resist even in this situation, I guess I can't just call him low-tier.
While Jin was thinking this, the man with the mechanical eye added a warning.
"Same goes for the rest of you. Don't even think about twitching a finger. I'll turn you into a beehive and shove your shit up your ass."
Although Natasha and Maximo had no strength to even twitch a finger, the vulgar threat made everyone's face wrinkle in disgust.
Jin felt the same.
His temper was ready to explode—he wanted to shoot a hole in the cocky guy's face with his Gravis, but if he did that, his team could end up unprotected.
Hmm, what should I do?
As Jin took a deep breath and thought, click.
The man with the mechanical eye pulled out a long gun from his palm and pointed it at Jin, opening his mouth.
"I won't say much. Hand over the artifact you found in the tunnel. I'll spare your life."
"Are you kidding me?"
Taken aback by the audacity, Jin muttered his thoughts aloud and scratched the back of his head.
"Ah, my bad."
The shot rang out immediately afterward, Bang!!
A bullet brushed past his ear, cracking the wall.
And then the voice came.
"...Hey, rising star. Looks like you're too good for level 4, huh? Don't you know what happens to assholes who lack humility in this business?"
"...?!"
Jin's eyes widened.
Level 4?
Did I level up again?
Seeing Jin's surprised expression, the man with the mechanical eye seemed pleased.
He gave a sly grin.
"Now, stop acting tough, drop everything you found below, and get out."
At that, Jin suddenly snapped back to reality.
He quickly deduced in his mind.
These guys must be treasure hunters.
They had heard rumors of the artifacts in the underground ruins and came to check them out, but instead of risking going down themselves, they were trying to ambush the survivors.
But why are they threatening without pulling the trigger?
Jin didn't understand, but of course, the reason was obvious—it was because of him.
Jin Evernight.
The awakened genius, the end of war, the supernova.
With all those titles attached to him, it wasn't easy for anyone to attack him recklessly.
So, instead of picking a fight, they were using his companions as leverage to play a game of intimidation.
And this tactic was working far better than expected, leaving Jin quite flustered.
This is getting frustrating.
I'm almost out of mana, too.
Telling those bastards who had already decided to extort from me about what happened in the underground wouldn't even make them believe it.
It looks like a bloody situation will break out no matter what.
Should I take all the bullets they shoot with my body to start?
Then I'll break everything before they even get a chance to reload.
Jin, who casually planned such a crazy thought, slowly cast his gaze around.
He quickly revised his strategy.
First, he imprinted the positions of the enemies in his mind, and then cautiously moved the remaining mana.
Crack!
The lightning in his heart rumbled low, as if saying it was ready.
Good.
From the deeper mental state, Jin pulled out what could be called a wide-area technique.
Though he had never used it before, naturally, as if breathing, he started to focus the mana at his feet.
Wait a minute, what is this? That familiar face.
By chance, his eyes met the dreadlocked head peeking from behind a scrap car, and Jin quickly managed his expression.
He then focused his mana and spoke.
"If it's the item, it's in that bag."
Jin pointed both at Maximmo and the bag, which were lying on the ground.
The mechanical-eyed man, responded.
"Then throw the bag over here. We'll check the contents ourselves."
"Sure."
"...Jin?"
Maximmo's face darkened significantly.
But it was brief.
As Jin, in a parade rest position, pointed to the direction with his finger, the round-headed man silently unstrapped the bag.
"...Shit."
With a look as if he had lost everything, he threw the bag forward.
However, because of its weight, it didn't fly far and crashed onto the ground.
"Peddler?"
The mechanical-eyed man, who had recognized Maximo, swallowed his saliva.
An artifact inside an artifact?
The most exciting one plus one in the world, he gave a slight chin gesture to the subordinate standing next to him.
"Be careful when you bring it."
Following the command, the subordinate took a cautious step forward, keeping his gun pointed directly ahead.
Thud, degururu--
A sound like a pebble rolling past his ears made the mechanical-eyed man lower his head.
At that moment, a round grenade stopped at his feet.
"...?!"
Just as he was about to open his mouth in surprise.
Boom!
A fierce explosion engulfed him.
From behind the scrap car, the black Linker appeared, shouting loudly as he threw grenades like a madman.
"Don't lay a hand on my solos!"
D'Andre, making his appearance.
At the same time, Jin kicked the ground hard in place.
"Technique name omitted!"
Immediately, with the mana expended completely, the lightning storm that soared into the sky descended, aiming at its prey on the ground.