....Pzzzzt!
A crackle of lightning.
A hundred-volt fried chicken.
That was the name of the electric roasted chicken place in my neighborhood.
5,000 won for two chickens.
Everyone else called it cheap.
But for my family, that price was suffocating.
Still, I should probably be thankful we could afford it for Grandma's 70th birthday. But why, of all times, am I thinking about that chicken right now?
Is it because I'm the one being grilled this time?
"...."
So thought Kim Jangcheol, as he raised his head. He quickly assessed the situation.
'Got it!'
The hand he had just placed against the wall.
He had already wounded that palm beforehand. With the blood seeping out, he activated Bloody Lightning. Intense sparks spread along the wall, following the bloodstains he had smeared in advance.
...…Pzzzzz!
Along the wall,
riding up the ceiling,
toward the three-faced ghosts that had seeped into various corners.
The mighty power of lightning surged forth.
'.....!'
The three-faced ghosts couldn't even scream. They finally realized what mistake they had made, what misunderstanding they'd been under—but by then, it was far too late.
'Th-this bastard...!'
'We thought he had no idea who we were...!'
'It was the opposite!'
'The Demon King bastard knew us too well....'
'...Khaaaargh!'
Thinking they could make a fool out of the Demon King, the three-faced ghosts had slithered into the walls and ceiling, only to now thrash in agony all at once. They wanted to escape. But it was impossible. The overwhelming impact exceeded their limit, stripping them of all freedom of movement.
A shock so fierce it felt like it burned their very souls.
An impact that allowed no resistance.
"....!"
The gravely wounded three-faced ghosts fell from the ceiling and walls. Like mosquitoes caught in an ambush of bug spray, they dropped to the floor, writhing helplessly.
Thanks to that, Kim Jangcheol...
"Huh?"
...flinched.
And felt a serious doubt.
'Why aren't they dead?'
He swallowed dryly and looked down at the three-faced ghosts. They responded by twitching violently on the floor.
They looked like they were about to die, but they weren't dead yet.
In game terms, they were in a "sliver of HP" state.
Seeing that, Kim Jangcheol unconsciously muttered,
'...I'm screwed?'
He thought he'd taken them all out in one go.
But he hadn't.
Why?
There were two possible reasons.
'Maybe it's because I can only use 20 percent of Credos' magic power... so the true power didn't come out. And also…'
The lightning had spread along the walls and ceiling, which likely diluted its power.
That's why the three-faced ghosts hadn't died instantly.
So should he use Lightning again?
No.
'The blood I spread across the walls and ceiling got burned up in that last attack.'
It was single-use.
No recycling.
And then...
"...Kaaaarrgh!"
The three-faced ghosts, twitching on the floor in their sliver-of-HP state, let out distorted howls. Their entire bodies jolted and flailed, thrashing like an anaconda stabbed with a knife. Their color deepened into crimson.
Kim Jangcheol was no stranger to this phenomenon.
'Soul Eaters.'
Crack!
Kim Jangcheol clenched his teeth.
As soon as the word Soul Eater came to mind, he kicked off the ground. He charged at the three-faced ghost undergoing mutation into a Soul Eater nearest to him. He struck all three of its heads in rapid succession.
Thwack! Thump! Crunch!
"...Gehk!"
The three-faced ghost undergoing the Soul Eater mutation took a finishing blow. It scattered like smoke and vanished.
But the others?
"Kyaaaaargh!"
"Krrrrk! Kark!"
The rest of the three-faced ghosts were no longer twitching helplessly. Now, the place was swarming with 107 rampaging Soul Eaters in sliver-of-HP state!
".....!"
This was bad.
Really bad.
The moment he saw it, Kim Jangcheol understood.
'Of all things, why did the Lightning strike with just the right amount of damage to turn them into Soul Eaters...'
It should've killed them outright.
Or hit a bit softer.
If that had happened, they wouldn't have turned into Soul Eaters.
But it was too late for regrets. The only thing left was to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
Crash!
Kim Jangcheol smashed through the storage room door and came out.
He shouted toward the Farming Corps, the surrounding demon soldiers, and Baal.
"Soul Eaters! Everyone, battle formation!"
Soul Eaters, the unique trait of 1st star legion troops.
If you don't know what they are, you'll be taken down.
That's what Soul Eaters are.
Once they mutate, they lose all rationality.
Only primal instinct remains, detecting nearby lifeforms. They possess the target's body, stealing it. They parasitize their host, steal their life force.
And then?
The victim undergoes rapid aging.
Meanwhile, the Soul Eater fully restores its stamina. It even steals one of the victim's traits. Only after that does it discard the host's body like an empty shell and escape.
All while fully recovering its health.
"......."
That was one of the reasons why the difficulty of conquering the 1st-star legion area, the cliff of the dead, was so damned hard.
And right now, the full extent of that trait was on display.
"Khaaaaagh!"
"...Kaaaagh!"
The 107 Soul Eaters, now fully transformed, began rampaging in all directions. They detected delicious life nearby— the fresh vitality of the young demon members of the Farming Corps— and pounced like a school of piranhas desperate for a bite.
Kim Jangcheol was no exception.
"Kyaaaargh!"
"You crazy—! Thunder!"
Crack!
Kim Jangcheol instantly took down seven Soul Eaters rushing toward him. He already knew all their attack patterns by heart. Thanks to that, he neutralized seven without taking a single hit.
But what about the others?
'Will they be okay?'
A worried thought.
He turned his gaze.
And then, he saw it.
"Baal! Get in there!"
Fwoooosh—!
Baal's ridiculously large twin-headed axe swept through space itself. In one wide, brutish, and destructive swing, four Soul Eaters were sent straight to the afterlife— hand in hand.
And that wasn't all.
"What are we?!"
"Farming Corps! Youth Association!"
"What are we like?!"
"Cutie and Sexy!"
KABOOM!
Members of the Farming Corps Youth Association were running wild across the field. Facing the Soul Eaters head-on as they charged in like they were going to devour them whole, they counterattacked with faces more vicious than the monsters.
Thanks to that, the bloodthirsty Soul Eaters...
"Kyaaaaargh… Geh?"
...Fwoosh!
Melted helplessly in flames spewed from a young demon's mouth. Another Soul Eater was torn apart by a Youth Association member's claws. Some were even bitten in retaliation.
In other words, the Farming Corps members were by no means losing to the Soul Eaters. No, in a sense, they were overwhelming them!
Watching that, Kim Jangcheol realized something anew.
"Ah."
Come to think of it, our Farming Corps members—
They were insanely high-level mobs in the game too.
After all, this place, Chavín de Huantar, was a direct territory under Demon King Credos. In the game, it was the final stage, even higher in difficulty than the Dead's Precipice of the 1-star province.
Soul Eaters or whatever—
It was only natural that Farming Corps members wouldn't go down so easily.
'Then… what about Zephyros?'
Suddenly, the nagging adjutant came to mind. Along with the fact that his level was only 15.
'Where is he?'
Worried, Kim Jangcheol looked around. But Zephyros was nowhere to be seen. Just a little while ago, he had been right next to Baal. He had been ordered to stay there. So where the hell did he go in the middle of all this?
"Hey! Where's Zephyros?!"
He ran up and asked Baal.
Baal, busy stomping three Soul Eaters to death, tilted his head.
"Hmm? Baal doesn't know!"
"What?! What do you mean you don't know?!"
"But Baal! Was fighting hard and didn't notice!"
"Before the fight? Was he next to you then?"
"That's right!"
"Then right after the fight started?"
"Don't know! Baal! These guys rushed me, so I swung my axe! It's been a while since I fought, so it's fun!"
"......"
Kim Jangcheol's expression hardened.
Zephyros had been stuck right to Baal's side before the fight. And the moment the fighting began, Baal just swung his axe blindly in all directions.
Then…
'No way.'
Did that idiot Zephyros get caught up in Baal's attack?
'That can't happen.'
He might be annoying, but Zephyros was one of the few reliable brains among the Demon King's army. And compared to the Four Heavenly Kings, who constantly looked for a chance to kill him, Zephyros was at least someone he could talk to without getting killed.
'Damn it.'
He grew anxious.
He quickly scanned the area.
Luckily (?), there weren't any pieces of Zephyros's body lying around, cleaved apart by Baal's axe. But something else strange caught his eye.
'...Hmm?'
A short distance away.
About thirty steps.
Something on the ground glinted faintly. A silhouette he was quite familiar with. A pair of glasses. One lens shattered.
Tap!
The moment he saw them, he ran toward them.
No doubt about it.
Those were the glasses Zephyros wore.
'Then where is he?'
The spot where Baal had fought.
The place where the glasses were found.
Draw a line connecting the two—
He sprinted straight along that path. Looking all around. With a bit of hope. With desperate longing. Thanks to that, he spotted it.
Zephyros, just about to be eaten by a Soul Eater.
"...!"
Zephyros, bleeding from the forehead.
Most likely, he had been caught in Baal's attack. He must've barely avoided being split in half, or fatally wounded, and instead got blasted away, crashing into the ground here.
And now, he had ended up caught in a Soul Eater's sights.
"Zephyros!"
Kim Jangcheol shouted as he ran.
Zephyros turned toward him. His pale face. The Soul Eater's massive jaws were about to swallow him whole.
'Shit!'
Too late.
He was just about to be eaten.
But he was too far.
Kim Jangcheol wanted to save him.
He had to save him.
'Bloody Lightning? No. Too far. Out of range. And they're too close together. If I use it now, Zephyros might get hit too. Then… what should I…?'
He ran harder.
His mind raced.
Desperately thinking.
But still too far.
Zephyros, on the verge of being devoured.
Was there no way to save him?
He wanted to save him.
But no matter how he thought—
'Damn it!'
He was desperate.
He had to do something.
He had to land some kind of hit.
The Soul Eater was fierce, but in a sliver-of-HP state.
One solid hit would be enough.
So...
In a panic, he stretched out his hand.
Grabbed whatever was on the ground.
And hurled it with all his might.
"Please—!"
Kwahak!
The object Kim Jangcheol picked up in a rush— He thought it was a rock, but it was something else.
A potato that had rolled out near the storage area soared through the air. Tracing a fastball trajectory filled with desperation, it struck the back of the Soul Eater's head right before it could swallow Zephyros whole, landing beautifully in the strike zone.
It even bounced off all three heads like a three-cushion shot.
Pop-pop-pop!
"....Kahhk?"
At the moment of that unexpected finishing blow—
The Soul Eater, recognizing the potato lump as a legitimate lifeform, was forcibly possessed by it and sucked in with a slurp.
Churup!