I Entered a Gacha Game That Had Been Abandoned for 10 Years

38 – Monstrous Catastrophe (2)

Elena, who had lowered her head with a serious expression while saying, “Let’s talk about it later,” to Kim Hyun-woo, walked away.

Wooong-!

As Elena heard the resonating sound of the Mana Stone within the Noble Castle, she gritted her teeth.

No wonder, Elena was familiar with the phenomenon of the Mana Stone resonating.

‘Why is the Catastrophe occurring suddenly…!’

Catastrophe.

This disaster, which randomly occurs when the ‘Interdimensional Gate’ related to the Labyrinth opens, was a truly dreadful phenomenon that could be described as a ‘catastrophe’ in every sense.

The colossal monster that emerged through the Catastrophe resonated with all nearby Mana Stones, then charged towards the closest territory, annihilating everything in its path.

Moreover, Elena, who had lived as a mercenary for a considerable time, had witnessed such a catastrophe firsthand.

“…”

Elena’s hands trembled slightly.

The memory of that time flashed through her mind.

A neutral territory, once thriving as a commercial district, being engulfed by a monstrous being with a physique larger than the territory’s walls.

The soldiers’ weapons couldn’t leave a single scratch on the monster’s body.

The attacks of the heroes only inflicted wounds on the monster’s flesh, unable to stop it.

… Instead, the heroes were swept away with a single movement of the monster, meeting their deaths, and the monster that destroyed the territory’s walls with a single attack instantly wiped out everything within the territory.

Buildings crumbled under the monster’s body.

Flames erupted continuously.

The cries of soldiers and residents echoed like a panorama.

Among them, the last images that came to Elena’s mind were of a child crying in front of the monster and the child’s mother crushed beneath the monster’s flesh.

“…”

– Elena interrupted her reminiscence for a moment.

A feeling of nausea surged up.

But the resonating sound from the Mana Stone within the Noble Castle continued, sustaining her recollection, and soon Elena recalled the vanished territory as her final reminiscence.

A commercial city that had completely evaporated, leaving only the Mana Stone enveloped in the Lord’s Castle.

Just a trace of the territory’s existence, completely gone, a disaster that humanity could not prevent.

Elena turned her gaze to the territory residents on the Noble Castle.

The expressions of the residents seemed universally grim, as if everyone understood the meaning of this resonance and it boded ill.

Some wore expressions of despair.

Again, some had expressions full of resignation.

Observing the expressions of those residents, Elena, too, furrowed her brow.

As much as the residents knew, Elena was well aware herself.

As the current lord of the Larthania territory, there was absolutely no way to prevent this disaster.

…She, too, was painfully aware that she couldn’t avert the catastrophe.

‘I must evacuate the lord.’

Elena decided to evacuate the lord.

For her, the lord was a presence that must not disappear.

And when Elena made that decision,

Creak!

The door opened, and Kim Hyunwoo emerged.

As Elena turned around, about to speak,

“Elena, gather the people in the square.”

Kim Hyunwoo spoke.

####

Hans, a family that had moved from the Harencia territory to the Larthania territory with their young daughter, Rosie, wore a desperate expression.

“Dear, what do we do now?”

“Sigh…”

Hans’ other half, his wife, spoke with a worried tone, but he had no words to offer.

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In fact, from the moment the resonance occurred at the lord’s seat, the fate of the residents was practically predetermined.

Death.

A strange yet terrifying word clouded Hans’ mind.

Of course, someone might not understand the source of Hans’ despair.

For the residents, simply leaving the territory could save their lives.

However, that was the thought of ignorant people who knew only one thing and were unaware of the other.

The disaster attacking a territory doesn’t disappear.

The disaster that consumed one territory moved to the nearest one, destroying it, then moved to another nearby territory, and so on until it destroyed every territory until the moment of death.

In other words, even if they left the Larthania territory and survived, it was clear that, unless the disaster was stopped, the territories they settled in would all be wiped out by the disaster.

Originally, near the Larthania territory, there were no strategically important territories that kingdoms valued, nor were there outstanding heroes.

Just thinking about that already led to the conclusion that, for Hans to find another territory and leave, he would have to wander for a very long time.

Taking his still young daughter with him.

… And even if Hans’s family reached another territory at the end of their arduous journey, it wasn’t the end there.

In order to establish himself in this territory and invest all the money earned from Hallencia and here into acquiring market shops, he had no money left.

In other words, even if he risked his life here, it meant that there was no foundation for him and his family to live on in another territory.

Other territories, unlike the Laratania territory, not only collected less tax but also required tolls to enter in the first place.

“Darn it…”

In a word, the moment Laratania territory disappeared, the chain of hardships that began for Hans and his family was practically tantamount to sealing their fate with death. So, Hans closed his eyes tightly.

“Dad, are we in big trouble?”

Hearing his daughter, who knew nothing, ask that with an anxious expression upon hearing the wailing sounds around them, Hans shed a bitter tear.

“The lord will hold a gathering in the square! Everyone, gather in the square!”

Hans recalled the Lord of Laratania from the voices of the soldiers shouting outside his house.

Known among the people as the ‘Log King’ or the ‘Lion of God.’

‘If it’s the lord, maybe—?’

Thinking of him, Hans momentarily entertained the thought of finding hope, but soon he let out a deep sigh.

Most residents of Laratania knew that their lord was special.

The miraculous things he had shown were more than enough to be called the Lion of God.

But no matter how talented the Lion of God was, it seemed he couldn’t prevent disaster.

In the first place, ‘disaster’ was not something that could be stopped with just such talent.

“Wait, I’ll be back.”

Despite being well aware of this fact, Hans stood up and headed towards the square.

Firstly, he was curious about what the lord would say.

And when Hans arrived at the square after a walk, already there were many residents gathered there.

Like Hans, each one of them had expressions full of gloom and despair.

On the makeshift platform in front of the square, the lord stood.

“Now, let me say just one thing properly.”

The lord’s words continued.

“If you help, we can prevent the disaster sufficiently.”

The gazes of the residents.

“Before the disaster comes to this territory.”

They all turned to the lord in unison.

After Kim Hyun-woo’s brief speech ended.

“… My Lord, are you serious?”

“What do you mean?”

“You said you could handle the disaster.”

Elena immediately followed Kim Hyun-woo to his office and posed such a question.

At least she had no idea what Kim Hyun-woo was up to, and she didn’t know why he had assigned such a task to the territorial lords.

But she knew one thing.

No matter what, it was impossible to prevent the disaster.

So Elena had followed Kim Hyun-woo with the determination to persuade him.

“Of course.”

Kim Hyun-woo thought so, answering Elena’s question neatly.

‘It might even be a stroke of luck.’

In fact, the special event ‘Disaster’ couldn’t be explained.

Simply put, the term ‘disaster’ best described the event.

According to the setting of Arteil, these colossal monsters, related to the Labyrinth in the world beyond, would appear as soon as the event ‘Disaster’ occurred. They would charge towards the nearest territory stone, destroying the territory they reached on impact.

Moreover, as these monsters approached, the resonance with the territory stone would instantly degrade the functions of the territory. Simultaneously, it would increase the anxiety of the territorial lords and drive them to flee.

In other words, from the Lord’s perspective, this special event was a downright terrible one.

‘Of course, it’s a different story if you have a guild.’

Naturally, in the game, this special event wasn’t just a one-sided affair where players took hits. Its essence was a raid event that recommended 8-player play.

In other words, if there was a guild capable of running an 8-player raid, they could defeat the monsters and gain handsome rewards.

Of course, even without an 8-player raid, a player who had spent some time in Arteil, like a hermit, could clear it alone.

However, what was quite regrettable here was that Kim Hyun-woo currently had no players to raid with, and at the same time, he had no strong heroes to defeat the monsters.

In essence, he had nothing.

Yet, despite cursing vehemently when he first saw the announcement that the disaster had occurred, Kim Hyun-woo confidently answered Elena’s question, thinking that this situation might even be fortunate. There were two reasons for this.

One was that, upon checking the detailed information, the disaster occurring this time was the ‘Magdaora,’ a demon-class monster he had defeated more than a thousand times.

And the other one was.

‘200 perfectly equipped soldiers, 300 mana stones, and- Elena. This should be enough.’

In Kim Hyun-woo’s mind, with this level of resources and Elena alone, there was a way to easily defeat Magdaora.

No matter what anyone said, Kim Hyun-woo was an Arteil veteran who had played the game for more than a thousand hours.

During those countless hours, whether they were crafted out of boredom or designed to provoke, for the sake of an achievement that seemed utterly absurd, Kim Hyun-woo had undertaken unimaginable feats, each one more nonsensical than the last.

And so.

“Well then, since there’s no need to delay, let’s just head straight into action.”

A mischievous smile played on Kim Hyun-woo’s lips.