A Legion Grows From My Smartphone

Chapter 34

Chapter 3

After conquering the 35th Stratum, I took another step forward. This was where the real story began. It was Chapter 3.

[Look at the screen. I’ll show you the features that have been added.]

I checked the app.

The once-empty screen was now packed with various interfaces.

“What is this?”

[Tap on it. That’s the shop. A system shop available to all players.]

I touched the newly added icon.

As stated, it was a shop selling various items.

My eyes caught sight of [Assassination Authority: 500G (2-time limit)].

The tutorial reward of 1,000 gold could have been used to acquire two of these if I had chosen it and endured until now.

Of course, there was a high chance I wouldn’t have survived to this point.

“Thanks to that, I now have zero gold. How do I earn gold?”

[There is only one way to earn gold. Kill enemy units or players.]

“…What?”

At the same time, the gold that had been at zero started to increase rapidly.

The rising gold stopped precisely at 100G.

[Those rats we defeated last time. The app assessed their value to be just 100G.]

One-fifth the value of an Assassination Authority.

My eyes grew cold.

The system was incredibly ruthless and precise.

An entire species that once thrived with dreams and hopes had been completely exterminated, leaving nothing behind.

[This is reality. Even without the app, the result would have been the same.]

“That’s true.”

I chuckled faintly.

[Although it’s just 100G, you can still find something useful.]

I browsed the shop’s items.

It seemed the items mentioned as being useful in Chapter 3 were indeed from the shop.

“There are items for both players and units.”

[All of them can create variables in the game.]

I carefully considered the items.

I had to choose wisely.

With the amount of money I had, I could only afford one item.

To prove my ability to Cha Jiyeon and work together, I needed something that would help me now.

“How about this?”

For exactly 100G, I selected an item that seemed to meet the criteria.

It was a transparent liquid shimmering inside a bottle.

Although its consumable nature bothered me, it was a product that could give me everything I wanted.

[The choice is yours. The item has been selected. You have used gold to obtain ‘Moonlight Fury.’]

Moonlight Fury.

According to its description, it granted the power of the Moonlit Wolf, a being with extraordinary physical abilities under the moonlight, for a short period.

“This can’t be what I’m thinking, can it?”

[It probably is. The Moonlight Fury you just purchased is undoubtedly the racial trait of a species that exists somewhere, sometime.]

I inhaled sharply.

This shop truly sold all sorts of things.

“Oppa, are you there?”

“Tell her I am.”

“Whew.”

Kang Do-Yeon sighed after hearing my message.

The preparations weren’t anything special.

We had to climb the massive hole in the ceiling above the 35th Stratum.

[As expected, the Swarm sent scouts first.]

The scouts, capable of flight and high mobility, began ascending through mid-air.

The small size of the scouts didn’t provoke a reaction.

If there were any enemies up there, it would still be fine this time.

“Switch the screen. What do you see?”

[This is an interesting result.]

With those meaningful words, the screen changed.

I could now see what the Swarm was focusing on.

[A simple cave. But vast.]

“…A village? No, it looks like a city.”

To me, the elongated structures resembled residential facilities of some kind.

There was an area that looked like a plaza, and another that seemed like a fortress.

Its scale was overwhelming.

[Kang Do-Yeon reached a similar conclusion, and the Swarm accepted her opinion. This place was the nest of a specific species. The architectural style, the marks engraved throughout, and the writings matched the structures of the 35th Stratum, serving as evidence.]

“They might have lived underground here. Then what’s the purpose of the structures on the 35th Stratum, the mummies guarding that place, and this pit leading here?”

I scratched my head.

There wasn’t enough information to understand what this place was or its purpose.

[This is the 36th Layer… and a passage to the 37th Layer has been discovered.]

Around that time, the scouts found a passage leading to the next stratum.

[However, it is sealed by an unknown force.]

“Nothing ever goes smoothly.”

The scouts couldn’t pass through it.

It was reminiscent of the spiderwebs that had blocked our way when we first transitioned from a small branch to a grand stratum.

“So, in the end, we’ll just have to break everything down.”

“Still, we need to figure out what it is to deal with it.”

“There’s no way to do that right now.”

Kang Do-Yeon nodded coolly.

I found myself at a loss for words and closed my mouth.

[The Swarm shares the same sentiment.]

The Swarm soldiers began to move.

Flying species were the first to cross mid-air and pass through the hole.

[And once again, the resentful specters block our path. The Swarm has no intention of wasting time. An order for an all-out advance has been issued.]

When the flying species first reached the 36th Layer.

This underground city, which had been eerily silent, erupted with shrieks.

The maddened corpses we had seen on the 35th Stratum.

They began to emit light from the marks engraved all over their bodies as they burst out of houses and buildings.

[They are truly irritating. Eating them provides no knowledge, minimal nutrients, and above all, the unknown force animating them remains a mystery.]

“There’s definitely… something.”

Watching the corpses collide with the Swarm’s flying species made me furrow my brow.

The ones we encountered on the lower stratum had been armed and physically robust warriors.

But this time was different.

Although there were some armed warriors among them, the majority weren’t warriors.

Some held tools that seemed to be farming tools, while others were completely unarmed.

There were elderly figures with bent backs and even small children.

‘What on earth happened here?’

As Kang Do-Yeon, who had climbed up through the hole, struck the ground alongside the other Swarm soldiers, wielding her sword and fists, my thoughts grew even more tangled.

“Their numbers are greater, but they’re nothing special.”

And the sight of one of them slicing an enemy’s body in half with a single stroke and smiling brightly unsettled me even further.

“Flow. There’s definitely a flow.”

Chapter 3

In the midst of a fierce battlefield.

Kang Do-Yeon kicked away an opponent incapacitated by her sword and murmured.

The wraiths desperately fought against the seemingly endless Black Wave crawling out of the Pit.

There was no hesitation in their actions.

They were like programmed machines.

“Then who did the programming?”

Kang Do-Yeon’s eyes glowed with a Red Glow.

The Swarm had already experienced an invisible and mysterious force once before.

Through the wraiths and the Guardian Spirit’s leader, the Moth, they had come to realize the existence of souls and even managed to understand a fraction of it.

So, it wasn’t impossible for Kang Do-Yeon to sense something similar.

“There. Over there. The Edge of the City.”

Kang Do-Yeon pointed across to the opposite side, where a large Structure marked the end of the cavern.

Towards that destination, Assault Soldiers as large as horses or Cave Boars bared their teeth and charged forward.

With their sheer mass and muscle power, they literally trampled over the resisting wraiths.

Leading the charge was a Swarm Soldier based on an Earth Dragon and a Cave Boar, equipped with sturdy Head Armor and Strong Jaw Strength.

The creature swung its massive, solid head and struck down a wraith.

[A new enemy has appeared.]

But at that very moment.

The large Swarm Soldier’s neck was literally sliced in half.

What made this possible was a single man wielding a sword.

Unlike the other wraiths, he bore Marks covering his entire body and held a Softly Glowing Blue Sword, standing guard in front of a building.

Behind him, dozens of other warriors, each emanating an Unusual Aura, emerged to defend the building.

[We were correct. There’s a clue in the place those individuals are protecting.]

The Swarm’s attention shifted to that location.

Kang Do-Yeon, her lips pressed firmly together, stepped forward.

The massive amount of Energy invested in her by the Swarm was for moments like this.

[The assault soldier, the sturdiest unit created by the Swarm, had its armor cut in an instant. This means the Versatile Soldier’s defense won’t withstand it either. At the same time, it implies that even the Carapace-Forged Sword we’ve honed will be sliced upon collision.]

“Then how should we fight?”

Kang Do-Yeon faintly smiled as she maximized her senses by utilizing every Cell in her body.

Not only her Five Senses, such as sight, hearing, and touch, but also internal senses like balance and reflexes, were autonomously controlled.

“Krrhh…”

In addition, new Sensory Organs unique to Cave creatures appeared in her body.

Organs that detected Subtle Vibrations and those that sensed Subtle Electromagnetic Waves, among others.

Her expanded senses caused her eyes to lose focus, and her body began to tremble.

The overwhelming influx of information from her suddenly heightened senses overloaded her brain.

However, at that moment, the Collective Consciousness of the Swarm, which shared a single mind with her, intervened.