I Became an Illegal Cheat User

28 – The Other Side of the World (4)

Luckily, Im Dahee, who I was trying to find, joined first.

Following her, sequentially, Lee Seoyeon, Park Garam, Noah, Arthur, and 10 other colleagues whose names I still didn’t know joined.

So, a total of 15 people gathered.

The siege was not only smooth but the zombies and ghouls couldn’t even climb up.

To be precise, from the moment Noah and Arthur joined, my rifle’s muzzle stopped spewing fire.

Thud, thud!

A massive blue shield appeared in the middle of the rising path.

Arthur’s defensive skill ‘Heavenly Citadel’ thoroughly blocked the way so that monsters couldn’t come up.

Despite the monsters fiercely pounding, wanting to chew, tear, and taste us from above, just like crazy, not a scratch appeared on the ‘Heavenly Citadel.’

As befitting its name, not a single blemish.

Hwarrururuk!

Noah’s skill ‘Sanctuary of Holy Fire,’ spread beneath the shield, blazed fiercely.

– Kuaaah!

– Kkiyek! Kkieek!

– Kkigig, Kkigig!

Monsters, having magical energy, screamed desperately as they were engulfed in the sacred flames.

Actually, they might not want to eat us, but rather desperately trying to extinguish the flames clinging to their bodies.

Anyway, thanks to Noah and Arthur, we were resting very comfortably.

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Main Quest Chapter 2

【Escape】

Escape from the hidden world.

– Reward: 20,000 points (additional rewards based on performance), 2 promotion tickets (up to C-grade), choice of B-grade talents and skills, 3 random cheat usage rights.

– Failure: Death.

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During a break, I checked the main quest.

As expected, the quest’s content is no different from a game.

The only difference is the inclusion of ‘random cheat usage rights’ in the rewards.

“If I clear this quest and obtain the random cheat usage rights….”

It would bring the total to six, including what I already have.

In other words, an opportunity to draw one more cheat.

“Sigh…, do I really have to save them up.”

When I obtained the first cheat, ‘Super Accuracy,’ I had a plan.

Even if I have the chance to use random cheat usage rights, I decided to collect choice cheat usage rights first.

That way, it would be more efficient…, but now that the opportunity to draw a cheat is approaching, I feel an overwhelming desire to use them, rendering my initial plan meaningless.

…whispered desire eagerly, but I closed the quest window, mocking my desires within.

“It’s too early for a victory celebration.”

If I were to collect usage rights after clearing the quest, I might think, “Hmm, should I?” even if I wanted to resist.

Now, when I’m just checking the quest, I can’t yield to desire.

“Let’s put in a little more effort, desire.”

Mocking the desire that quickly disappeared as if embarrassed, I checked the time set on the smartwatch.

[Remaining Time: 1 minute 20 seconds]

Confirming that time was almost up, I stood up from the ammo box I was sitting on.

Then, I prepared to move by opening the ammo box and grenade box, filling the tactical vest and grenade belt, among other things.

The smartwatch’s timer was generously set to 30 minutes, waiting for a possible motivation elsewhere.

However, even though the remaining time was almost up and it didn’t show any sign of coming, judging by what Lee Seo-yeon said about being the last to enter, it seemed that everyone here was all there was.

Tick, tock.

[The set timer has ended.]

The wait is over.

Now is the time to move.

“Hey, gather around, everyone.”

In response to my call, all the kids stopped what they were doing, hanging their hooks above their heads, and approached.

“I’m going to explain how we’re going to escape from this place, so listen carefully.”

As I spoke, the expressions of all the kids became serious.

Confirming that everyone was in listening mode, I began to lay out the strategy in my mind for conquering this place.

“You all probably know how the parallel worlds emerge.”

Whether giants or ordinary people, everyone nodded in agreement, acknowledging the common knowledge.

“But before we get into the details, let me give you a brief explanation.”

The way parallel worlds emerge.

It’s not a sudden change like the rupture of glass in empty space, but rather, anomalies occur gradually, like cracks forming.

Starting with precursors, dimensions slowly unfold, and whirlpool-like rifts appear, expanding in size.

The range of expansion ranges from at least one village to a maximum of one city.

Once the rift reaches a certain size, it continues to linger in the area until the core inside is destroyed.

Then, when the banished creatures from the otherworld accumulate to the point of saturation, the parallel world corrodes reality and begins to expel them.

Similarly, the place that suddenly moves from the simulated parallel world is not a normal parallel world.

“Not a normal parallel world… What does that mean?”

Noah, who roughly grasped what I was trying to say, cast a chilling gaze as if facing the abominations.

“Fallen ones, those heretics are responsible for this.”

More precisely, it was the fallen worshipers who meddled with the rifts of the simulated parallel world.

Since fallen worshipers are essentially no different from potential fallen ones, I nodded my head.

“Yeah, I don’t know how they did it, but it seems like they overlaid a real rift onto the simulated rift we entered.”

“There are fallen worshipers within the academy.”

Even though it was a secret, perhaps due to holding the position of a heretic judge, Noah immediately caught the meaning of my words.

“Just as Noah thought, that’s what I believe too. Those who can do such things are either fallen ones or fallen worshipers.”

The game doesn’t reveal how they manipulate the rifts.

From what I and other seasoned players speculate, it seems possible due to receiving strength and abilities from extraterrestrial entities.

And whenever there’s an issue with the rifts, it’s always them.

“As soon as we find out which heretics they are, we’ll interrogate them right away…”

I apologize to Noah, who is spewing rage, but I will be the one to capture that heretic.

I know who the culprit is behind the current situation, but I can’t reveal it because he will bring me a substantial amount of money.

Of course, after I’ve drained him dry, I’ll let Noah and Gang Cheol-su know.

“Anyway, since this is an abnormal rift touched by a corruptor, there’s not just one core here.”

In this area alone, there are a total of five cores in the world.

There are four sub-cores, one in each cardinal direction, and one main core somewhere in the center.

While explaining this, someone with an unknown name raised their hand and asked.

“Then, shouldn’t we start by destroying the main core? It’s closer from here, right?”

I shook my head at those words.

“Unfortunately, that’s impossible. The main core is surrounded by magic until all the sub-cores are broken, so we can’t inflict any damage.”

“…But, Senior, what about your abilities? Your attacks penetrate magic, so they should be able to penetrate the magic surrounding the core.”

Yeah, that’s right.

As he said, I can pierce through magic and directly cause damage.

But the reason I said it’s impossible is not because I can’t do it.

“It’s possible.”

“Then…”

“Then we’ll be trapped here forever.”

“…What?”

Corruptors are malicious.

If they break the main core without following the procedure of breaking the sub-cores first, the rift connected to reality will be destroyed.

So when anomalies occur, superhumans check to see if there are sub-cores first.

This manual is ironically learned after completing this simulated training.

But the ones here are learning through real combat, not theory.

“Do you understand why we shouldn’t destroy it?”

“…Yes.”

Nod.

The one who asked the question nodded firmly with a stern expression.

“Anyway, to destroy the main core, we have to break the sub-cores first. So, from now on, we’ll form teams.”

In my opinion, the appropriate team formation was as follows:

East – Myself, Park Garam, Im Dahee.

West – Lee Seoyeon and three others.

South – Arthur and three others.

North – Noah and four others.

… It’s not like I wanted to be placed with people whose names I absolutely don’t know.

The squads arranged by the instructor, Kang Cheolsu, had a good balance. Lee Seoyeon, Arthur, and Noah were all formidable in combat, so there shouldn’t be any issues with leadership.

“Everyone, take these.”

I took out three flashbangs from my inventory and handed one to Lee Seoyeon, one to Arthur, and one to Noah.

“…So, if we break the sub-core, we’re supposed to launch these.”

Arthur immediately grasped the purpose of the provided flashbangs and looked at me as he spoke.

However, the moment our eyes met,

“…Ugh.”

…I suddenly made a strange noise and quickly averted my gaze.

Judging by the fact that my cheeks felt warm, it seemed like I recalled something from yesterday….

‘No, why am I thinking about yesterday now…?’

Since you suddenly reacted like that, the serious atmosphere became awkward….

‘What’s going on with this atmosphere…’

The ten unknown peers exchanged strange glances with expressions like, ‘What’s up with these guys?’

Lee Seoyeon stared at Arthur with an indescribable intensity.

And finally, Noah, seemingly fascinated by using flashbangs for the first time, fiddled around with it in a curious manner.

“Ha….”

I let out a deep sigh at the sudden mess that the atmosphere had become.