Radioactive Leak (4)
Radioactive Monster.
There was a monster that appeared to be the cause of the explosion at the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant and the subsequent abnormal radiation levels.
The worst part was that the creature was multiplying rapidly.
"It's using the power plant explosion as a power source and replicating into thousands."
According to Yoo Han-gil's clairvoyance, the fragments of the monster that had split apart each acted with their own consciousness and were spreading in all directions, gradually expanding their territory.
There was a slight difference in the rate of spread. The fragments moving on land were reportedly very slow.
However...
"The fragments that flowed into the sea are spreading extremely fast."
Since the fragments had a liquid nature, they were spreading rapidly through the ocean.
The village where Deputy Chief Baek Seung-min had been was devastated in an instant, largely because it was adjacent to the sea.
The rapid radiation exposure along the Gangdong coastline occurred because the radioactive monster's fragments that had traveled through the sea reached that area.
I asked Yoo Han-gil,
"Exactly how far has it spread?"
"I'll find out."
As he fell silent and pushed his abilities to their limits, Yoo Han-gil's
complexion grew increasingly pale with time.
As he pushed his powers to the extreme, drenched in cold sweat, he even began to suffer a nosebleed.
"Huff!"
Opening his eyes, Yoo Han-gil caught his breath and reported.
"Huff, huff. Currently, the ones moving on land haven't made it past the nearby mountain range, but those that went through the sea have already been spotted in the lower Taehwa River area in Ulsan. At this rate, they'll likely reach Busan within half a day."
Hearing the report alongside me, Kim Da-bin let out a short groan and spoke.
"Jaehyun-nim... If that's true, the entire country is in danger."
I could guess the reason too.
"In a few days, other nuclear power plants will be at risk."
"That's right."
All of South Korea's nuclear power plants are built along the coast.
This was to ensure a stable supply of massive amounts of cooling water-but now, that had become a critical vulnerability.
At this rate, it'll probably reach the Hanul Nuclear Power Plant in just a few days.
If the monster's fragments reached that location, the same tragedy as at Wolseong would repeat itself.
In about a month, the land of Korea could become a radioactive hell.
No-it definitely would become hell.
The entire country would be transformed into a land of death.
I have to stop this.
Taking down the radioactive monster as quickly as possible would be best-but realistically, that wasn't easy.
It's not like there are no options at all...
There was one sure method.
"If I use 'Descent,' I might be able to resolve the situation easily."
Using divine descent, erasing the radioactive monster wouldn't be that difficult.
But to use this skill, a person with both trust and loyalty levels maxed at 100 was required. Currently, only Moon Byung-ho, Kim Ga-young, Ha Dong-geon, and Kim Da-bin met those conditions.
What's more, to use Descent, one would have to get very close to the radioactive monster. Considering even its fragments were lethal enough to cause immediate death, approaching the main body was extremely dangerous.
Highly likely to die.
It would essentially be a trade of one life to resolve the crisis.
The only slight hope was that thanks to raising the retainers' levels to the limit and enhancing the power of the stars to its current max of 3-stars, their physical durability was far beyond that of an average person-but still, not invincible.
I need more intel.
Luckily, there was a way.
"Yejin."
"Yeah, oppa?"
Yoo Han-gil's clairvoyance was incredibly useful-but had one fatal flaw:
I couldn't see things myself.
All I could do was rely on his relayed information.
But Seo Ye-jin's ability was different.
"With her, I can scout through mice and activate the Eye of the Absolute at the same time."
No other person paired as perfectly with the Eye of the Absolute as her.
She had been right beside me, listening to the meeting and Yoo Han-gil's reports, so no detailed explanation was necessary.
"Can you go to the Wolseong base? I need to see that thing with my
""
own eyes."
"Okay. I'll try."
As Seo Ye-jin closed her eyes and linked with the mouse she was connected to, the view through the Eye of the Absolute changed dramatically.
I didn't know the exact location, but it looked like the middle of a forested mountain.
I asked Seo Ye-jin,
"Where are we right now?"
She could sense the rough position of her trained mice, which is why I asked.
"Looks like somewhere in the mountains about 10 km from here."
"Can you make it to the Wolseong base?"
"Um... honestly, I don't know. This is my first time going such a long distance... but I'll do my best."
One might wonder how a mere mouse could travel that far when even humans were dying in an instant, but I believed it was entirely possible.
First of all, the mice tamed by Seo Yejin were on a completely different level from ordinary mice.
Not only did they gain levels, but due to one of her skills, Evolution, they continued to grow stronger over time.
The ones that had evolved into giant mice were, on average, above level 7.
To put that in perspective, that was on par with the level of an average adult male citizen.
In other words, they were just mice, yet comparable in power to grown men.
As Seo Yejin's level increased and she grew stronger, the mice she tamed also became stronger.
On top of that, her Enhancement skill elevated the mice even further.
Since it was a higher-tier skill than Kim Geon's Rapid Growth, it might even allow them to temporarily withstand radiation.
And most importantly-
[Tamed Giant Zombie Mouse (Lv. 16)]
Among Seo Yejin's mice were some that had acquired the zombie trait.
Naturally, those with the zombie trait had far superior vitality compared to the others.
Just the fact that it was level 16 meant this mouse-only the size of a medium dog-was comparable in power to an average orc. It was absurdly strong.
Scurry scurry-
I watched the giant zombie mouse dash through the brush and activated a skill.
"Summon Retainer: Kim Geon."
I brought Kim Geon, who had been waiting in the administration headquarters conference room, and spoke to him.
"I have a favor to ask."
We couldn't just sit on our hands while the investigation into the radioactive monsters was ongoing.
"Please go to the Hanul Base in Uljin.'
""
Before the radioactive monster's main body fragments arrived, I planned to take control of every nuclear power plant in South Korea.
Bzzzt-
The giant zombie mouse had come face-to-face with a mysterious green liquid.
Through the Absolute One's Eye, the green liquid was defined as:
[Radioactive Slime (Lv. 26)]
The fact that the monster had a name and a level meant:
"It's something I can kill."
Currently, inside that mass of green liquid were various metal fragments.
Bullets and dumbbells were dissolving inside the slime.
It was evidence of experimentation.
Dozens of rounds had been fired from storage at the slime, but they had no effect.
Even using gravity to accelerate dumbbells for impact didn't work either.
The green liquid burst from its body and it shrank a little, but that was it.
Worse still, it crawled around, reabsorbed its scattered fragments, and returned to its original size.
"I'll have to assume it's completely immune to physical attacks."
If physical attacks had worked, the problem could've been solved more easily than expected.
Now that I was level 3, the storage limit of the Absolute One's Warehouse had increased to 500kg.
With that, a single Meteor attack using Seodaemun (used during the vampire fight) could've solved the problem.
But judging from its condition, physical power was useless.
"No choice then."
I wasn't too disappointed-it was something I had more or less expected.
"Summon Warehouse."
I opened the warehouse again and launched a weapon at the creature.
It was a standard-issue supply spear.
But the spearhead-
Fwoosh
-was burning with a black flame.
It was a spear Ha Donggeon had used a skill on before storing it.
Thud!
The moment it pierced the radioactive slime-
Boom!
It exploded in a brilliant blast, shattering the slime into pieces.
[You have slain the Radioactive Slime (Lv. 26).]
[You have gained experience.]
[20,112,754 won has been deposited into the Absolute One's Home Wallet.]
Consumed by the black energy, the slime perished completely.
"Is this the only way to kill them?"
For now, Ha Donggeon's power seemed to be the only viable solution.
It was a relief, but the problem was that the one just defeated was only a fragment.
"Will this method work against the main body at Wolsong Base?"
According to Yuhan-gil's description, the main body was hundreds of times larger than the fragment I just faced.
There was no telling how many of Ha Donggeon's spears would be needed to deal with that.
"Still, this method isn't too bad."
It might be slow, but it had a major advantage: zero casualties.
It was at that moment.
Squelch!
A radioactive slime dropped onto the head of the giant zombie rat that had been running through the dark forest.
Ssszzzzzt-
Each time the ominous green liquid, glowing in the darkness, pulsed and writhed, the rotten flesh of the giant zombie rat melted away.
There was no other choice.
"Summon warehouse. Ha Dong-geon's spear."
Crash! KABOOM-!
He summoned Ha Dong-geon's spear and took out both the radioactive slime and the zombie rat at once.
[You have hunted Radioactive Slime (Lv. 24).]
[You gained experience.]
[#18,003,127 has been deposited into the Wallet of the Absolute of the House.]
[You have hunted Tamed Giant Zombie Rat (Lv. 16).]
[You gained experience.]
[#1,502,111 has been deposited into the Wallet of the Absolute of the House.]
As the linked rat died, Seo Yejin opened her eyes with a calm expression.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Even if we're linked, I don't feel any pain from the zombie ones."
Thanks to the zombie-type creatures, Seo Yejin's biggest risk had been completely eliminated.
What's more, unlike before, the link could now be maintained until the moment the rat completely died rather than just when it was damaged, increasing its utility significantly.
Seo Yejin apologized.
"Sorry, oppa. I didn't think it'd fall right on your head.'
""
"No, you did great. We got more out of this than I expected. Can we try one more time?"
"Yeah."
After that, we attempted to infiltrate the Wolsong base a few more times, but we failed every time.
The closer we got to the base, the more frequently the slimes
appeared-almost exponentially so-and beyond a certain point, we simply couldn't get any closer.
Even with their zombified bodies, they couldn't last long in the severely contaminated radioactive air.
That's how hellish the environment near Wolsong base was.
"If only we had sturdier rats... I think we could pull it off."
Unfortunately, the rats we were currently using were the highest-level ones Seo Yejin had tamed.
"Isn't there any other way?"
With no clear solution, I decided to consult Kim Dabin about it.
And then-
[Jaehyun-nim. I have something to ask.]
[Go ahead.]
[Is it possible for Yejin-nim to tame all the rats?]
A solution had appeared.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]