A Legion Grows From My Smartphone

Chapter 60

"Ugh..."

A massive explosion. The shock caused me to stagger backward.

The Gnoll, who seemed to be an elite, was consumed by the explosion and died on the spot.

I clearly saw it—the bluish energy that it had used as a shield.

Among the others armed with crude melee weapons, there were some who stood out.

I didn't know what kind of items they were, but they were clearly special individuals who had received bestowed items from a Player.

"...For now, I'll take this."

I quickly collected the ores that appeared along with the vibration of the mobile phone hidden in my pocket.

The Legion was watching over me right now. And they were helping me.

Even if it was like this, I had to fight to convey my intent.

The limit for delivering Legion Stones at once was three.

Moreover, I knew roughly how much bio-energy it took to create just one of these.

Each strike was by no means a light blow.

"?!"

I hurled one of them with all my might at a kobold causing mischief right above the encampment’s barricade.

I had been observing it for a while, and that kobold had been casting something resembling enhancement spells on the gnolls.

Of course, machine guns, grenades, and rifles had all been fired at it, but the kobold protected itself with a shield barrier.

The reason they were able to withstand the bombardment of the self-propelled artillery even while charging so brazenly was likely thanks to such spells.

"Argh!"

"Another explosion...!"

The series of explosions caused our allies to hesitate.

In the end, the energy contained within it exploded all at once, succeeding in killing both the annoying shield barrier and the kobold.

However, this was a war—a massive war where tens of thousands of legions clashed against each other.

I hesitated for a moment as I saw the endless swarm of enemies.

They quickly scaled the hastily built, crude barricades.

"The front line has been breached... Right now, we need..."

"What? Breached?"

Adding to the despair, the voice from the radio of the communications officer nearby delivered even more devastating news to us.

'We must brace ourselves.'

I steeled my resolve. If things went wrong, we might face complete defeat here.

Currently, the enemies were in a state of alliance between two factions.

What we called gnolls and kobolds were lower demonic creatures of goblin rank.

However, as the goblins we encountered last time had shown, they were units and benefited from their species traits and the help of Players.

We still didn’t know the limits of their power.

One thing was certain—they seemed to have a strong command system.

Even now, they were advancing relentlessly, stepping over the corpses of their kin while withstanding a barrage of machine guns and bombs.

It was a very simple yet effective strategy.

Our Hunter forces were far too insufficient to block the special forces armed with bestowed items and incantations.

Those special forces pierced through the firepower, contorting their way forward, and massacred the soldiers.

"You bastard..."

I kicked a gnoll that was trying to kill the machine gun operator and engaged in a struggle of strength.

The gnoll had tampered with its own body. Despite its small stature, barely reaching my chest, its strength was on par with mine, who had undergone enhancement.

Barely breaking free of its grasp, I used my longer legs to kick it away.

Then, with the sword I had taken from them, I struck it down repeatedly until it was dead.

While I managed to deal with one, honestly, the situation seemed hopeless.

"Everyone, we need to retreat! There are too many of them!"

"But..."

I urged the soldiers to fall back. I had no idea what the commander on site was doing, as there was still no order to retreat.

"But, Hunter, we need to hold our position and protect the artillery. We must continue firing."

Someone stepped forward in response to my words.

The Field Artillery Fire Controller, wearing a combat uniform stained with blood, the ownership of which was unknown.

"That is our mission. We are soldiers."

Though his voice trembled, his eyes did not waver.

I realized it too—it was a moment of decision.

Should I fight alongside them until we killed all those demonic creatures, or should I flee now?

Though I was technically a reservist, I was ultimately a civilian here, not a soldier. In fact, I wasn’t even a mercenary. Just a month ago, I was nothing but a college student taking exams.

"...Target the ones I point out first."

After a brief moment of silence, I grimaced.

[This is the moment when an ordinary college student becomes a true warrior.]

"Shut up! This is..."

[Have you ever considered that this might be your true essence?]

As I sprinted, I suddenly felt a lump in my throat.

A warrior? What a ridiculous notion.

If I hadn’t been forced to become a Player and dragged into this game...

[Haven’t you dreamed of it all along since that day? That if you had power, you’d want to fight.]

"Hah. What do you know?"

I split the head of a gnoll charging at me with my sword.

My face burned as though my hidden secret had been exposed, and I felt filthy.

What it said wasn’t wrong. Still, I thought I had come to terms with reality.

"Look at that. How am I supposed to win against those guys? It’d be a pointless death."

I let out a bitter laugh. Even though I was the one who had leapt in first.

I saw the swarm of enemies writhing before me.

"Get out of the way!"

Then they appeared.

People who were far more suited to the title of hero than someone like me.

A blazing, massive flame surged forth.

The veil of fire swept over the enemies in an instant.

The crude enhancement spells were burned away with a single blow by the power of the flames.

Republic of Korea S-Rank Hunter Ji Changhyeon, a figure I had only ever seen on TV, passed right by me.

*

"Why did they suddenly retreat? Even with an S-Rank involved, there were only twelve Hunters in total who came as reinforcements."

"I found out the reason."

In the middle of the encampment, where injured soldiers were being treated, Robert returned with a weary face after going somewhere.

"You know our superiors, right? Chris Baker and Cha Jiyeon, those two. Right after the reinforcements arrived, those two led their team and attacked the enemy's main base."

"Just the two of them... No, with only a single squad?!"

Everyone was appalled. They clicked their tongues at the recklessness but praised their courage.

However, I understood Cha Jiyeon—or rather, the Player controlling her—well.

'The enemies don’t have anyone comparable to an S-Rank Hunter yet.'

This game was completely unbalanced. No Player or unit could change their initially assigned partner.

Gnolls and kobolds were fundamentally lower demonic creatures.

No matter how much equipment they were given or spells they learned, their individual strength was not significant unless they acted as a group.

'They probably waited for Ji Changhyeon’s team to arrive just to confuse the targeting for assassination authority.'

At this point, they would likely have two or three assassination authorities at most—or perhaps none at all.

That’s why they waited until Ji Changhyeon’s arrival before making their move.

If successful, they could plunder an empty base for easy rewards. Even if they failed and lost to assassination authority with a gang-up, it would only cost them two pawns.

Whatever kind of aliens they might be, they were impressive.

"Where are you going?!"

"...To get some rest."

"Alright, make sure to rest well today."

Robert didn’t try to stop me, perhaps noticing how bad my expression was.

However, the place I headed to wasn’t the encampment.

The place where the corpses of the deceased were collected. Those covered with white cloth seemed to number at least several hundred.

Among them, I found one person.

The sword broken in half that she had used in life was placed beside her as a keepsake.

[Wasn't she just a passing acquaintance?]

"I understand now that you're not human."

I didn’t feel sad. Yoon Sua was, quite literally, just a passing acquaintance.

But that didn’t mean I felt nothing. I was simply angry. She had saved my life once, but I couldn’t save hers.

"What does the Legion say? They should know how I feel right now."

[It is equally enraged. The reason is simple. You're angry.]

"...Is that so?"

A bitter taste filled my mouth. It made even more sense now that I had fought directly.

The Legion was strong. Not just at the level of a legion, but even the Destruction Fungus the Legion had faced could devour beings like Gnolls and Kobolds in this Demon Realm without hesitation.

"Were you acquainted with Sua?"

At that moment, someone spoke to me from behind.

It wasn’t an unfamiliar voice. I was certain I had heard this voice before on TV or somewhere similar.

"Ji Changhyeon?"

"I’ve heard... stories. Kang Shin-Woo."

I never dreamed I would meet a Republic of Korea S-Rank Hunter face to face.

"You’ve heard stories?"

"About what you’ve accomplished. Of course, every Hunter fought desperately. But they are soldiers. They were doing their duty. However, Kang Shin-Woo, you are someone who had no obligation to fight, aren’t you?"

His expression was somehow peculiar, making it difficult to guess his intentions in approaching me now.

"I am..."

"Sua was my cousin."

"Ah."

"And Kang Shin-Woo, don’t you want to become stronger? The current situation calls for people like you—righteous and determined individuals—to step forward."

"What?"

Caught off guard by his sudden barrage of words, I dumbly asked again.

I subtly reached into my pocket and touched the ore.

This wasn’t a bomb but an ore that detects Players and units.

"The secret of Evolution, and the secrets of this world—I will reveal them all to you. I trust my judgment. As did my master."

Ji Changhyeon’s eyes sparkled. The detector in my hand also began to heat up.

The Republic of Korea S-Rank Hunter Ji Changhyeon was undoubtedly someone connected to this game.