I Became an Illegal Cheat User

29 – The Hidden World (5)

Though the atmosphere had become a bit strange for a moment, everyone dispersed in their predetermined directions at my announcement to start the operation.

Since everyone wanted to leave this place as soon as possible, we decided to overlook minor mishaps.

Thus, Lee Seoyeon’s team headed west, Arthur’s team went south, and Noah’s team headed north.

Park Garam, Im Dahee, and I sprinted swiftly towards the east.

At this point, someone might have sensed that something was amiss.

Especially for Im Dahee, it might be unclear how I, with the lowest stamina, and Park Garam, a mage, could run so fast.

That was all thanks to Noah’s buff before everyone scattered at the start of the operation.

The buffs he applied were ‘increased energy recovery speed,’ ‘increased movement speed,’ ‘enhanced physical strength,’ and ‘increased mental power,’ four in total.

Noah believed that, as he primarily learned combat-oriented Sanctum techniques, the enhancement techniques he learned were just this much.

However, contrary to his words, the buffs he provided were perfectly suited for the current situation and were incredibly effective, akin to the effects of being called a ‘saint’ in the Divine War.

“Hey, hey, Supervisor. W-We definitely, definitely got the buff. B-But why does she seem s-slower than him?”

“…Im Dahee, he’s a physical powerhouse. Different from us.”

“Ah, I see.”

As Park Garam occasionally blurted out nonsense, Im Dahee was running slightly ahead of us.

Like Park Garam and me receiving buffs, Im Dahee had also received the same buffs.

With her ability to amplify speed using electric skills, even if I were a physical powerhouse, I couldn’t catch up with her speed.

At the moment, we needed to act together, so I was just keeping up with her pace; otherwise, I would have disappeared and been left behind.

“Clear out ahead—!”

– W-Woah?!

Bang, crash!

Monsters were sent flying to the sides as if hit by a dump truck.

Noah’s buff effects were indeed excellent, but now that Im Dahee could manifest electric skills instantly, she possessed significant destructive power.

But… even in her warrior mode, isn’t her personality changing too much?

Was this really the same Im Dahee who was so spirited when we first formed the squad?

Truly astounding.

As I was contemplating this, Im Dahee, who had been fervently clearing the path ahead, called out to me loudly.

“Eujin! We’re almost near the core! The magic is getting denser, just like you said!”

Certainly.

I could feel the magic growing denser, just as she described.

No, not just feel it, but the unpleasant and cumbersome aura characteristic of magic began to appear like a mist.

“Ugh… feel, feel sick…”

Park Garam grimaced, feeling nauseous.

As the magic grew denser, the magical power began to evoke repulsive reactions. Im Dahee and I, with lower magical power, could endure it, but perhaps due to Park Garam’s substantial magical abilities as a mage, she struggled quite a bit.

So, I advised Park Garam to envelop herself with magical energy.

“…Phew, phew.”

Wrapping herself in magic as if coating her body, Park Garam let out a sigh with a somewhat relieved expression.

Originally, this method is learned through theory after practical training.

‘But there’s nothing as certain as real combat.’

Theory is good, but the only way to rapidly improve one’s skills is through actual combat.

Even if the leading roles like Nana might not know, once Park Garam, Im Dahee, and the other ten whose names are unknown leave this place, they will likely have become strong enough to change the rankings.

Thinking like that, she looked around.

The surroundings were now blurry, almost pitch dark.

Evidence that they had deeply entered the fog of magic.

And at the same time,

“Everyone, stop.”

It was also close to the core.

“… Supervisor?”

“Lee Yujin, why all of a sudden?”

Park Garam and Im Dahee, who were running ahead at my command, stopped their steps.

Then, raising my hand, I prevented them from approaching with puzzled faces.

“Wait a moment.”

“What, why?”

“Why all of a sudden?”

At my sudden instruction not to approach, the two looked at me with bewildered faces.

But regardless of whether they were confused or not, I took out two shockwave grenades from my inventory and threw one to each of them.

“Why, why are you giving us this?”

“….”

Park Garam, who received the grenade, had a question mark above her head.

On the other hand, Im Dahee seemed to have noticed something from my actions and stared at me with a stern expression.

“Now, I’m going to give you a very easy problem.”

“A, a problem?”

“Suddenly?”

Yeah, it must be confusing.

Running hard to find the core and suddenly stopping to do something weird.

Even I would probably think, ‘Is this guy crazy?’

However, this insane behavior is my own confirmation process.

So, I hope you’ve been following along well.

I grinned and pulled out the “Holy Gun” and lantern from the holster of my tactical vest.

Then, extending my left hand holding the lantern forward, I spoke.

“This lantern doesn’t run on batteries; it uses magic power for illumination.”

“Wow, is that a good thing?”

“…Yeah.”

Unlike Park Garam, who asked with pure curiosity, Im Dahee looked at me bluntly as if questioning what I wanted to say.

Ignoring the sharp look from Im Dahee, I continued speaking while looking at her.

“However, there is one fatal flaw in items that use magic power for illumination.”

“….”

Dahee’s gaze, rather blunt than sharp, started to turn hostile.

But I paid no mind and continued steadfastly.

“Ordinary people usually know about this fatal flaw.”

If you can’t recharge the magic power, you can’t use it.

“Yeah, that’s true, but that’s not fatal. You can use it again once you recharge the magic power. How is that a fatal flaw?”

“…Do you understand anything strange right now, Lee Dahee?”

Im Dahee dropped a grenade to the ground and aimed a spear at me.

“Do you not even think about finding the core as soon as possible, Lee Youjin? Are you really Lee Youjin?”

“Y-Yeah. S-Senior. Y-You, you’re acting weird.”

Park Garam also sent a wary look towards me, seemingly agreeing with Dahee’s words.

In response to their reactions, I chuckled and took a step forward.

Then.

Tick, tick.

The lantern, which was fine just a moment ago, began to flicker.

“So, the fatal flaw I want to talk about is…”

Taking another step forward.

Tickity tick tick.

The flashing speed of the lantern suddenly increased.

Pointing to the flickering lantern, I said, “The fatal flaw I’m talking about is.”

“When a life form holds a magical aura nearby, it tends to deteriorate like this.”

“…….”

Im Dahee fell silent.

Simultaneously, her expression stiffened like a doll.

Gradually, her appearance began to change until, at a certain moment, the unseen demon took on the form of a ghoul.

“…H-hey!”

Suddenly transformed into a demon by her side, Im Dahee, or rather the variant demon ‘Follower Ghoul,’ stared intently at me.

“Caught you?”

I chuckled, responding to the ghoul speaking with parted lips.

“Ah, caught.”

Then I pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The bullet shot from the barrel surged toward my intended target.

Ping!

The pin from the grenade dropped by the Follower Ghoul clattered out.

Followed by the ensuing shockwave.

Kwaaang!

– Kieeek…!

The Follower Ghoul, ejected by the shockwave, vanished into the darkness.

As if anticipating, Park Garam tried to approach me.

I raised my hand again to stop her.

“…Why, why?”

Park Garam asked, her voice filled with doubt.

To her, I replied with the pull of the trigger.

Bang! Ping!

“No, no… I-I’m, I’m a mons…”

“Yeah, you’re a monster.”

Kwaaang!

– Kieeek!

The follower ghoul, which had transformed into Park Garam, was once again hit by a shockwave and disappeared into the darkness.

Tidy-dick…, tick.

“Now it’s finally functioning properly.”

The flicker of the lantern came to a halt.

I once again secured the lantern onto my tactical vest, pulled out a flashbang from the inventory, and threw it forcefully upward just before disappearing into the darkness.

“And let there be light.”

I pulled the trigger of the gun.

Bang!

…Beeep─!

The intense light dispelled the darkness.

– Kieeek!

– Kiiiaaargh!

– Krraaagh!

As the darkness vanished, the demons exposed to the light screamed sharply, clutching their eyes as if in agony.

And in the midst of it, just before being overwhelmed by the follower ghoul, I spotted Park Garam and Im Dahee.

“Wait, are those… Senior and Im Dahee?”

“Both of them were monsters?”

With bewildered expressions, Park Garam and Im Dahee looked at the follower ghoul.

Park Garam had never thought that the guys with him could be monsters.

Im Dahee seemed to have grasped it to some extent, but it appeared she hadn’t considered that both of them could be monsters.

Seeing their reactions, I chuckled and called out to them.

“Both of you, come here!”

“Wait, Senior!”

“Euijin!”

Responding to my call, Park Garam and Im Dahee approached me, breaking through the monsters still disoriented by the flashbang.

“Is it really you, Senior?”

“Both of you aren’t monsters, right?”

Perhaps because they had encountered the follower ghoul, they looked at each other with eyes filled with suspicion.

To dispel their doubts, I offered a simple solution.

That is showing the abilities you have.

Saying that, I took out a flash grenade from my inventory again, threw it up, and fired my gun.

Bang!

Beep beep beep beep!

As I demonstrated my skill of hitting the flash grenade with a gun shaking wildly due to my combat disorder, Park Garam and Im Dahui finally recognized me.

And as I had instructed, they showed their own abilities.

Park Garam used magic.

Im Dahui used electric skills.

“…S-Senior, Senior Ha, is that you, Im Dahui?”

“…You’re really Park Garam too.”

Once the gathered people confirmed that they were genuine, both of them breathed a sigh of relief.

“But, Yoo Eujin. How did you know? That the weird monster would imitate our appearance?”

In response to Im Dahui’s question, I made up a suitable story.

I had studied a lot in theory.

I saw the imitator golem in the monster dictionary; it was a variant monster that only existed near the core.

I saw in the Ruin’s Book that the core of the apocalypse-themed core spewed out mana and concealed its appearance.

I mixed truth and falsehood and told them.

‘The truth is that I knew because I’m a gaming addict who logged in for 30,000 hours, how do I put it.’

…It’s not that I’m embarrassed to say it.

Because it’s obvious that it’s unbelievable, that’s why I’m not saying it.

“S-Senior, you’re smart, really smart.”

“……Is that so?”

Park Garam looked at me in admiration at the story I made up, but Im Dahui… Either she was quick-witted, or she realized that there was a falsehood in my words.

But what are you going to do about it?

How would you know that I’m a gaming addict?

“…Anyway, I understand. So, that’s the core?”

Im Dahui pointed to something at the tip of her spear.

When I shifted my gaze along the edge of the spear, I saw something resembling a heart beating vigorously amidst the monsters who were in a trance because of the flash grenade, spewing out mana.

Yes, that’s right.

That is the core.

I nodded in agreement.

“Are all cores this disgustingly shaped?”

“No, only the Apocalypse theme looks like that. Cores in other dimensions look like beautiful gemstones.”

“Is that so?”

Im Dahee frowned.

It wasn’t a core as beautiful as a gemstone, nor was it a core she had seen before.

I felt extremely uncomfortable.

Crackle!

“Let’s get out of here quickly.”

Im Dahee said, imbuing electricity into the window.

“Yeah, right. Let’s, let’s get out of here quickly.”

Park Garam dramatically agreed, conjuring a fireball in her hand.

I holstered my pistol and held a rifle and grenade launcher.

And my response was to unleash bullets and grenades.

&

&

&

Pi Uwoong…

Starting with flares being shot from the south.

Sequentially, flares soared from the west, north, and finally from the east where I was.

Thunk!

Now, the core was torn to shreds.

“It feels refreshing.”

Looking at Im Dahee and Park Garam with satisfied expressions on their faces on the core, surrounded by the corpses of demons and no more magic spewing, I took out a flare from my inventory.

And I aimed the flare upwards.

Bang!

With a gunshot, a flash shot upward.

Thus, all sub-cores in the north, south, east, and west were destroyed.

Now, only one main core remains.

If we destroy that, we can return to the academy.

“…Whew, it’s tough.”

It’s only been the first day at the academy, is this really right?

My chest just swells with grandiosity.