Chapter 17: Black Dragon

Yohan looked at his children with a proud expression.

There were dozens of rocks—so-called monster stones—scattered across the ground.

All these Orcs had been defeated by his kids.

“Dad, did Sejeong do well?”

Since he had just listened to the kids’ stories, Yohan nodded and gently patted Sejeong’s head.

“Still, it’s too dangerous, so don’t just go rushing in. Next time, you need to be more careful, okay?”

“Okay!”

After softly pinching Sejeong’s cheek as she nodded, Yohan dusted himself off and stood up, handing something to Jeonghu.

“What’s this?”

“Picked it up on the way.”

“You said it was a Loot War… Whose stuff did you take?”

Even as he said that, Jeonghu accepted what Yohan handed over.

It was none other than the Black Dragon Talisman he’d taken after eliminating the Josenjok Boss.

“Check the stats. You’ll be shocked.”

“Ooh!”

[Black Dragon Talisman (Rare)]

—Beloved treasure of the Black Dragon Lord, head of the Black Dragon Stronghold, one of the Eighteen Strongholds of the Green Forest.

Strength: +53

Stamina: +35

—You can use the Black Dragon Ascension skill possessed by this item.

As his father said, Jeonghu checked the stats and, after making the item his own, leapt to his feet.

Just a moment ago, he’d been exhausted from a hard fight, but now his whole body was brimming with energy.

Curious, he picked up one of the rocks lying on the ground and clenched his fist. With a crunch, the rock shattered.

He wasn’t quite on his father’s level, but thanks to the Black Dragon Talisman, Jeonghu could feel that his strength had become tremendous.

To use an old saying, he was now a strongman of the realm.

“Dad! Dad, what about me?”

Seeing Jeonghu’s transformation, Junga’s eyes widened as she pestered her father.

“There was so much going on, I could only grab that one.”

“Tch… Then give it to me!”

“Your brother’s better at fighting up front than you are.”

“Tch…”

Junga was athletic too, but after going through a stormy adolescence and learning judo, Jeonghu was more reliable in close combat.

Just like you need experience to pull off a heist, fighting is better left to those who’ve been in real battles.

“Ah, isn’t there anything good for me?”

Seeing the envious, grumbling Junga, Yohan straightened up and said,

“That’s why I’m bringing this up—everyone’s heard what this game is about, right?”

“Uh… It’s the Loot War, right? Dad, are you saying we should go take items or powers from others?”

Seoyoung’s face, as she said this, didn’t look happy. She clearly felt negatively about stealing from others.

“That’s right.”

“But…”

“No buts. If you want to survive, there’s no choice. How long do you think I can protect you all by myself?”

At Yohan’s words, Jeonghu nodded.

“That’s true. We’ve managed so far, but with just Fireball, a single gun, and some Blocks, it’s getting hard to keep up. We couldn’t even beat an Orc Captain with the three of us.”

“Why three? Four! Four!”

“Right, including Sejeong, that’s four. Come to think of it, Sejeong should be able to protect herself, too.”

“But Sejeong’s still a kid.”

At Seoyoung’s words, Jeonghu replied firmly.

“You think monsters go easy on kids?”

“But still…”

Yohan patted Seoyoung’s shoulder as she looked at Sejeong with sad eyes.

“We can’t do anything about the way the world is now.

If you want to survive, you have to get stronger. Isn’t it even more unfair and frustrating to just die pointlessly because of those spaceships’ schemes?”

Only then did Seoyoung nod.

She knew her father wasn’t wrong. It was just hard to accept.

The authorities said they’d only protect a limited number of people, and in reality, they weren’t doing much.

Monsters appeared at any time, and even worse people than monsters were on the rise.

In such a world, the only thing they could rely on was the powers they gained from the game, so they had to get stronger by any means.

“Even so, I don’t want to take from the weak, Dad.

Actually, on the way here, I ran into some Josenjok Thugs.

There are loads of bad guys like that around here.”

“So you mean we should suck the marrow from the bad guys’ bones, huh?”

“Exactly.”

“Hm, that won’t be easy. There aren’t any weak ones among the bad guys.”

That much was true.

Bad guys knew how to use their abilities to the fullest.

The problem was, they used them against their fellow humans.

“I still haven’t seen anyone stronger than me.”

Yohan said confidently.

Now that he’d reached the Second Stage, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art no longer required him to circulate his energy consciously; it spun like mad, absorbing energy from his surroundings on its own.

Even now, it was drawing in the subtle energy from the air, steadily accumulating inner power in his Dantian.

And that wasn’t all.

He could also destroy an opponent’s item and absorb its energy.

‘Wait a minute…’

Suddenly struck by an idea, Yohan jumped to his feet.

“Dad, what’s up?”

“I want to try something.”

With that, Yohan leapt outside the shelter.

The outside was still a mess, and there were monster stones left behind by the Orcs everywhere.

No sooner did he grab one than,

—Absorbing the mana from the Orc Mana Stone.

He began absorbing the mana from the monster stone.

“Ah, so this is what they call a Mana Stone.”

Feeling the foreign energy entering his body, Yohan grinned in satisfaction.

It was different from the energy he drew from the atmosphere, but it didn’t matter.

The Heavenly Demon Divine Art, built on the foundation of the Energy Absorption Grand Technique, could absorb any type of energy and make it his own.

“It’s weak, but even the Orc Mana Stones help me build inner power.”

Yohan’s gaze shifted to a spot.

Where the Orc Captain had disappeared after he killed it.

There, a Mana Stone about three times bigger than a regular Orc Mana Stone was lying around.

He quickly picked it up and absorbed its mana.

—Absorbing the Orc Captain’s Mana Stone.

Fsshh.

As the mana-depleted Mana Stone crumbled to sand and scattered in the wind, Yohan could feel a significant amount of energy flowing into his Dantian.

“At this rate, I’ll hit 2 generation in no time.”

Yohan’s current inner power was about 1 generation.

It was an enormous amount, considering he’d only been cultivating whenever he could amidst the chaos, but honestly, it was about the same as he’d had before quitting the game.

If, in the game Battle Survival, he’d made full use of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art’s traits and circulated his energy constantly, he’d have built up even more mana than 1 generation.

Of course, there was always some fear that misusing the Heavenly Demon Divine Art’s power could turn him into a demon, but lately, running the art, he’d come to think it was all up to his own control.

Above all, he needed to get stronger.

Who knew when another Gray Orc or something like it would show up?

After picking up and absorbing all the Mana Stones scattered outside, Yohan hurried back into the shelter and tapped Jeonghu, who was finishing his meal.

“Finish eating and get ready to head out.”

“Huh? Why?”

“We need to go fight.”

Yohan said this and gripped Jeonghu’s shoulder firmly.

“You and me.”

“Just you and me, Dad?”

“The others still aren’t ready to help.”

At that, Jeonghu grinned.

Was he happy to finally be considered useful?

“Sounds good. But is it okay to leave the kids in the shelter alone? If another Orc Army shows up, it’ll be tough for the three of them to defend it.”

“I thought of that, so I picked something up on the way here.”

With that, Yohan walked over to where he’d set down the generator.

“Oh, that?”

“It’s a walkie-talkie.”

“Wow… Where’d you find something like that?”

“A golf supply store. I guess they use these at golf courses these days.”

Yohan pulled out several walkie-talkies.

They had a range of up to 10 kilometers.

It might not seem like much, but with a 10 km range, they could communicate anywhere in Bucheon from the shelter.

“Wow. While we’re out, we should do some looting for other useful stuff, too.”

“What’s looting?”

“It’s a thing—picking up items in Battle Survival is called looting.”

“Anyway, finish eating and get ready.”

“Yes, understood.”

While Jeonghu finished off the remaining food, Yohan started absorbing the Mana Stones they’d stored in the warehouse.

After absorbing the Mana Stones from the Giant Hunter, Gray Orc, and Orcs, he was amazed to find he’d gained the equivalent of thirty years’ worth of cultivation.

Most of it came from the Giant Hunter and Gray Orc, but if he kept building up like this, reaching 2 generation, then 3 generation, and advancing the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to the third or even fourth stage didn’t seem like a dream.

“Phew.”

As soon as he finished absorbing the remaining Mana Stones and relished his deepened inner power, he left the warehouse and got into the car with Jeonghu, who was waiting in the shelter yard with his gun and the Black Dragon Talisman.

Woof! Woof woof!

Janggooni and Meonggooni, now recovered, barked to see them off as the car departed, and Jeonghu asked,

“Dad, where should we go?”

“If we’re going to do this looting or whatever, we should head somewhere that has everything we need.”

“Where’s that?”

“Come on, think for yourself. Wouldn’t E-Mart be the best?”

“Oh, Bucheon Station, right. That makes sense. While we’re at it, let’s stop by the Daiso at the intersection, too? There should be all sorts of stuff there.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

With their destination set, the car started down the alleyways to reach the main road quickly.

Just as they were coming down the eerily deserted hillside alleys and about to enter the main road—

“Hey, you! Stop right there!”

“If you get caught, you’re dead!”

At the booming voices, father and son exchanged glances.

“Dad, I think…”

“Yeah.”

Looking at the now resolute Jeonghu, Yohan grinned.

“We’ve found our first targets.”

He forced a smile, but he didn’t feel good about it.

Who would have thought he’d end up robbing others in his life?

Still…

“They’re clearly people who’ve given up on being human, so don’t feel guilty. Got it?”

“Yes, Dad.”

As if talking to Jeonghu, Yohan steeled his own resolve.

Following the sounds of people ahead, they moved forward.

“Damn! Even with a kid, she’s quick as hell.”

“If I’d known, I’d have brought the kids with guns.”

“You should’ve exercised more, you punks. Hurry up and run!”

The voices were getting closer.

Jeonghu, fiddling with his gun and the Black Dragon Talisman, checked the distance and shouldered his weapon, advancing slowly.

Yohan, too, drew his Heavenly Demon Spear.

Once they turned the corner at the end of the alley, they’d be right on the main road, and the sound of running footsteps approaching from that direction could be heard.

“As soon as you turn the corner, close your eyes and fire!”

Yohan shouted into Jeonghu’s ear.

For a moment, Jeonghu felt his knees tremble.

His heart felt like it would burst.

It was a completely different feeling from fighting monsters.

An enemy was still an enemy.

But now, he was about to kill a human, not a monster.

All those years living within the law and moral boundaries shook Jeonghu to his core.

“Hoo…”

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

Like a scene from a movie, Jeonghu spun around the alley corner, aiming his gun at the enemies ahead.

At that moment,

Jeonghu’s eyes went wide.