A Legion Grows From My Smartphone

Chapter 21

“Ugh… Ah…”

“Run quickly.”

Kang Do-Yeon grabbed her frozen friend’s wrist and pulled her along.

She still held the fire extinguisher in her hand.

“Die!”

The first time is hard, but the second time is easier.

Already in a state of excitement, she hurled the fire extinguisher at another goblin that appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

The fire extinguisher flew with fierce momentum, smashing the goblin’s face, and she stomped on the fallen creature like a madwoman.

“Damn…”

She wiped the blood splattered on her clothes.

But there was no time to dwell on the aftermath.

Grabbing the fire extinguisher again, she pulled Oh Yoon-Ah’s hand and hurriedly ran.

Goblins were everywhere, here and there.

The two barely escaped the building amidst the chaos.

Though the sound of screams behind them made it clear that running away was the wisest choice.

“Ah…”

“What do we do! What do we do!”

Oh Yoon-Ah screamed and clung to her in terror.

They were surrounded.

More than a dozen goblins that had gathered were baring their teeth and closing in.

There was no one nearby to help.

‘…Ha.’

Kang Do-Yeon panted heavily and gripped the fire extinguisher.

Among the goblins, a few of them boldly held out rough ropes they’d prepared in advance.

“Hey!”

But at that very moment—

With an ear-splitting car horn, a passenger car dashed across the playground like a lunatic.

“This is insane.”

Stepping on the brakes, I gritted my teeth at the terrible sound.

Throwing out the corpse of the person shot dead with an arrow from the driver’s seat, desecrating the dead, stealing someone else’s car, and using it for speeding and roadkill?

Of course, that wasn’t the important thing right now.

“Get in quickly!”

After running over and killing a few goblins, I shouted at the ones standing there blankly.

Finally coming to her senses, Kang Do-Yeon smashed the head of a staggering goblin with the fire extinguisher, shoved her short friend under her arm, and dashed toward the car.

That girl must be Oh Yoon-Ah. I should’ve just left her behind.

“How, how did you get here? And whose car is this?!”

“Is that what matters right now?”

I hit the accelerator again.

Getting out of here was the priority.

But my complacent thinking was entirely wrong.

The moment I tried to reverse—something flew toward us.

“No way.”

“Is this…”

I let out a sigh of disbelief.

The thing that just flew over and burst the tire—could it be a bullet?

“Kyaaah!”

More bullets followed.

Standing ahead was a goblin, leading other goblins with its beard fluttering.

The one aiming a handgun, stolen from the police, at us was clearly the commander of these goblins and someone’s unit.

“Oppa…”

“You, stay here.”

The goblin tossed aside the handgun and aimed a large staff it was holding.

Instantly, flames coalesced into a fireball projectile.

It was clear the goblin intended to launch it at us.

I glanced down at my gloved hand.

Even if I used the assassination authority to kill that goblin, what about the others?

It was stated in the rules that “units and players” couldn’t be dealt with using the app’s basic functions.

Taking a picture was impossible, as per the rules.

“That thing.”

But hope always existed.

With a flash of lightning strike illuminating the area, someone appeared behind the goblins.

“Cha Jiyeon!”

“The Step-Up Hunter?”

Oh Yoon-Ah and Kang Do-Yeon recognized her.

A woman in a black suit, her light sky-blue hair fluttering as she wielded a sword enveloped in blue lightning.

Thunderous sounds erupted consecutively, accompanied by flashes of light.

I silently watched as she slaughtered the goblins.

Hearing the sounds in the distance, it seemed hunters or police were already handling things back there.

“She’s strong…”

The kids muttered in awe.

Indeed, she was strong.

With each successive strike of electrokinesis, dozens of goblins were instantly killed.

Although the goblins had become absurdly powerful, her strength was overwhelming.

The goblin that seemed to be the commander hurled a massive fireball at her—

But Cha Jiyeon split the enormous fireball with her hand, crackling with blue lightning, and extended her hand to release a powerful electrokinesis that turned the goblin into a charred corpse.

Walking steadily toward us through the charred corpses, she approached.

“Excuse me…”

“Is anyone injured?”

Her eyes met mine.

At that moment, I had a gut feeling.

Her eyes—something inside them.

Could she, assumed to be a unit, have figured out my identity?

“Behind, there are still people back there!”

“…Behind?”

At that moment, Oh Yoon-Ah shouted, pointing toward the school building.

But Cha Jiyeon simply stared at her blankly, not moving.

At that moment, I made eye contact with Kang Do-Yeon.

There were only two players in this place from the start.

“Don’t worry. Armed police and hunters have been urgently deployed, so you did well escaping. If you had stayed in the shelter, it would have been breached.”

“…Do you have business with me, by any chance?”

The atmosphere was tense.

Oh Yoon-Ah and Cha Jiyeon—two individuals with secrets—locked eyes in midair.

“Kasamandis.”

“…?”

“Say it once. Kasamandis.”

The first to speak was Oh Yoon-Ah.

I realized she was conducting her own verification process.

“Kasamandis.”

“You seem fine? If you borrowed power from someone of this world, they said it would be a cursed incantation.”

Cha Jiyeon seemed to have noticed something as well, responding without hesitation.

At the same time, she pulled something out.

It was a small, pebble-like stone that shone brightly.

“Unit.”

“Player.”

Oh Yoon-Ah and Cha Jiyeon both spoke simultaneously.

As expected, Cha Jiyeon was someone’s Unit.

And it was from a world different from Oh Yoon-Ah’s.

Kasamandis… I made sure to remember that incantation.

“So, what is your Player’s stance?”

“You said the purpose was to find a Player from a different faction and form an alliance, right?”

“Ah, I see.”

Where she found this confidence, I couldn’t tell—just moments ago, she was on the verge of tears, but now she stood with her shoulders squared and her chin raised high.

Well, even if she seemed a bit naive, deep down, she was cunning enough to brand her own friend, so she must have some kind of plan.

“Actually, it’s the same for me. I can provide plenty of help.”

“In that case, there’s no reason to hesitate.”

Cha Jiyeon smirked faintly, effectively confirming the formation of the alliance.

My younger sister and I could only play the role of bystanders.

In any case, for now, that might actually be the better option.

“For now, let’s move to a safe place—wait.”

At that moment, Cha Jiyeon, who was about to guide us, suddenly stopped.

Her face turned pale.

“W-What’s wrong? Could it be that your Player…”

Oh Yoon-Ah, who had been brimming with confidence, instantly shrank back and hid behind Kang Do-Yeon.

Cha Jiyeon clenched her eyes shut, trembling.

Then she staggered.

It was as if she was enduring some kind of immense pain.

“This can’t be. These people are innocent…!”

“No way.”

She staggered again, and then lightning flared around her.

The problem was that the crimson lightning didn’t seem to be under her control.

“Uphold… the Secret of the Game… Ugh…”

“W-Wait!”

While we were frozen, Oh Yoon-Ah unexpectedly stepped forward.

“These people are my people. They already know everything. There’s no need to silence them!”

“…Thank goodness.”

Hearing Oh Yoon-Ah’s explanation, the lightning around Cha Jiyeon gradually dissipated.

Dripping with cold sweat, Cha Jiyeon looked genuinely relieved.

“Let’s head to a safe place now.”

We followed her as we ran.

After that, there wasn’t much else to worry about.

The approaching Hunters and Armed Police drove away all the Goblins.

The surviving ones fled back through the Gate.

This marked the Beginning of the Calamity, a disaster that would go down in the history of the Republic of Korea, returning after ten years.

*

“So, what did she say?”

“She told me to explain things well to you and smooth it over.”

“That’s it?”

Amidst the confusion and turmoil, I sat absentmindedly on an Indian Border Stone with Kang Do-Yeon.

“She’s kind of scatterbrained.”

“She may be good at studying, but she’s a bit sloppy.”

That guy let out a chuckle.

As he said, Oh Yoon-Ah did have an awkward side.

You could see it just by the way she treated me.

According to Kang Do-Yeon, she spared me because she couldn’t brand me anymore.

And then she entrusted her younger sibling with a plea instead of silencing me herself.

Of course, from her perspective, having her younger sibling taken hostage served as a threat, so it wasn’t entirely ineffective.

In any case, we’d each saved each other’s lives once.

I was saved from the Goblins, and she was saved from Cha Jiyeon.

“Still, neither Yoon-Ah nor Cha Jiyeon knows about you. That’s a relief.”

“Yeah, somehow it worked out.”

“Do you know where the world with your Units is?”

“No.”

I let out a sigh.

I couldn’t even escape this underground world, let alone figure out where that place was.

“Let’s just go home. I can’t stay here anymore.”

“Yeah.”

I didn’t want to hear any more crying or shouting either.

Oh Yoon-Ah had disappeared with Cha Jiyeon, so there was no reason to linger.

We headed straight home.

“You’re really not hurt anywhere… Sob.”

“Ah, Mom, stop… Ugh.”

As soon as we arrived home, my mother, who I had called in advance, rushed over and hugged us tightly, sobbing.

After barely calming her down, I quickly went to my room.

It was only after experiencing it firsthand today that I realized.

Time wasn’t as abundant as I thought, and the danger was real.

“Has it been confirmed?”

[Yes. The Swarm is currently analyzing the new specimen in its entirety. This will go down in history. This specimen might bring significant progress to our evolution.]

On the screen of my mobile phone.

There were corpses of Goblins being consumed by the Nest.

Before leaving the area, I had captured photos of some of the Goblin corpses that had been run over by the car.

Surprisingly, even though they were Units, their corpses could still be transmitted.