I Became a Raid Boss

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Well, I cleared the path, so they should manage on their own.

Sure, I got a lead, but it wasn’t exactly helpful in getting them to the mountain base or the shelter.

You could criticize me for weighing the “usefulness of information” in a life-or-death situation, but—

“What do I care?”

Unfortunately, I’m a person who’s pretty detached from the value of life.

Not that I let them die either; I think I’ve helped enough, right?

There’s no eyewitness, so I could just skip the details and not worry about rumors spreading, but I chose to help anyway.

I mean, I figured no one would believe me if I told them anyways.

Anyways, those two were stuck because the path was blocked; aside from that, I didn’t see any other issues.

If I had to nitpick, it’s that they seemed to be turning blue from being drenched in rain.

According to the man, there should be a shelter not too far ahead, so if they hurry, they might make it before it’s too late.

There could be other problems, but that’s really none of my concern.

They wouldn’t be so clueless as to go trekking in danger, right?

We’re not close, and I barely just met them, so I have no reason to take responsibility for their actions.

Blame!

I lightly pushed off the ground, and my body shot skyward as if it were bounced into the high heavens.

Whoosh!

The pouring rain kept pummeling my back, trying to slam me into the ground, but it couldn’t stop me.

If ice spears meant to freeze my soul and that giant body couldn’t hold me back, there’s no way rain would.

Out of the corner of my eye, a structure briefly flickered past below.

With the presence of so many people, that building must be the shelter the man mentioned.

“Hmm.”

I just passed it by without a thought.

Not like I had anything to do there, and I wasn’t tired, so there was no need to fold my wings and land.

“This is really not impressive.”

That was the extent of my thoughts.

In other words, the couple I saw seemed to have boldly come outside but almost bit the dust before long.

If I hadn’t passed by, it’s almost certain they would have.

Putting those unimpressive thoughts aside, I pushed off my feet again.

So, up into the空.

The ground was down there, and there was nothing in my way, so naturally, there was nothing to step on.

Whoosh—

As my body fell towards the ground, I naturally kicked off the air and soared into the sky.

Not only had I leaped this high in one jump, but I also rebounded off the air to jump again.

If people on Earth saw this scene, it would surely create quite the stir, but it’s not as hard as it looks.

Even people here get the principle.

You raise one foot before it touches the ground, then lift the other foot before the first touches, and keep repeating this—

Tada!

Levitation, easy enough for a kid to mimic.

To put it in terms Da-eun would love, you could call it “空中踏步” (Air Step).

…Just kidding.

That kind of flying is impossible.

I was merely bored as I drifted, and thought of something Da-eun would say.

But that’s over now.

Thump.

My body, which had soared high into the sky, finally came down to the ground.

With a light sound no different from stepping down.

With how soaked the ground was, it felt pretty unpleasant as my foot sunk in slightly.

Shaking off the mud sticking to my shoes, I looked up.

“I didn’t expect to hit the nail on the head right away.”

Talk about being lucky.

As the man said, at the peak of Hallasan, ominous green light swirled.

As I followed the origin of the green glow that faded into the sky, I naturally found the full Baengnokdam.

Da-eun said it was incredibly lucky to see water in Baengnokdam.

“Should I really call this luck?”

The answer came immediately.

There was water, and it was visible, but if that water’s green and overflowing outside the pit, there’s no way I should consider that lucky.

It seems the true culprit behind this incident lies beneath that water.

“Is this underwater combat now?”

…Absolutely not, really.

I didn’t want to realize the phrase “veteran of mountains and waters” in this way.

Between blasting all that water away and diving in, which would be more efficient?

The scale with a weight on each arm wobbled and eventually tilted towards the water entry side.

…So this is why wearing a raincoat feels pointless.

Before jumping in, I crouched down and dipped my fingertips in the water.

It looked like it would instantly dissolve whatever touched it just by color, but in reality, it felt like nothing but cold water.

The green color of the water seems purely due to the light.

Having done the minimum check, I shook off my fingers and stood up.

And then—

Whoosh!

I leaped right in.

No running start.

I didn’t need one anyway; I was more than capable of reaching that glowing spot in the middle of Baengnokdam.

This time, I let gravity pull me down, and the green surface rushed up to meet me.

Splash!

The full Baengnokdam embraced me.

Bloop, bloop…

I instinctively opened my mouth, only to find small bubbles escaping instead of sounds.

Under the surface, it was much brighter than the world above, but that didn’t equate to clear visibility.

It was so bright that my eyes were filled with light, making things hard to see.

But it didn’t matter.

Lacking vision? Just fill it with mana.

Swimming along the waterway, even without sight, I pursued downward, deeper.

Eventually reaching the bottom, I tilted my head in confusion.

“…What is this?”

Bloop?

I knew there was no dimensional being as I had checked before coming in.

But who knows?

There could be something that can fool my vitality.

They say you can fight underwater without much difference if you’re skilled, but that means there’s still a slight difference.

So I braced myself, but fortunately, there were no dimensional beings blocking my path.

Instead, there was only a cube-shaped object emitting that green glow.

Standing firmly as I did when above ground, I examined it.

First, the shape.

Just as I saw earlier, it appeared to be a cube with all sides equal.

Of course, I didn’t measure it; just estimating with my eyes.

Next was the size.

It seemed too heavy to lift with one arm, but I could probably hug it comfortably with two.

It was a size that was big enough to notice but not so big that it was unwieldy.

The material… well, I couldn’t tell.

Since it was intact in the water, I doubted it was paper.

…

Bloop…

Even I found it quite foolish to think, but there was probably no one watching, so I looked around anyway.

…Skipping everything else, the most important thing was this.

The light emanating from the top of the cube.

It was almost certain that this light was the culprit of the incident, but even holding it close, I felt nothing special.

Is it because it’s made by those dimensional beings sharpening their weapons?

Or maybe my level just isn’t high enough to sense it?

If it’s the latter, yikes for my pride…

But even if it’s the former, I wouldn’t be thrilled about it.

“I don’t know.”

In any case, no point in worrying about it.

So, I grabbed the cube floating steadily in the water—

Let’s just call it “the cube” because saying “cube” over and over feels tedious.

Anyway, I swam vigorously towards the surface.

Unlike its stationary position, the cube offered no resistance as I lifted it out of the water.

Once out of the water and grounded, I ignored the droplets falling off and inspected the cube.

It was hard to see it while underwater, but now I noticed its entire body was a dark purple.

Who knew it would let me know this way so no one would think it’s associated with dimensional beings?

Pretty considerate, don’t you think?

“Wow.”

Tilting the cube slightly, the stream of green light shifted directions.

Of course, it’s natural, but it felt really interesting.

Trying it out, I tilted it in different ways, and with every adjustment, the light pillar moved along with it.

I feel like I’ve seen something similar in a video before.

What was it called? A laser show, maybe?

Painting the sky in green, I suddenly released the cube from my hand.

“Wow.”

Just like before underwater, the cube floated without a ripple in midair.

By now, it was a curiosity how it was made.

If I took this to Edel, maybe something would come of it.

“Is it really possible?”

Assuming this cube is the medium that separates planes, moving it might cause changes in the plane.

But since I have no clue what that change would be, it wouldn’t be good to just take it to Seoul.

So, inevitably, I have to break or damage this cube.

“I hope at least debris remains.”

Every time those dimensional beings die, they only leave behind a core.

This cube is likely linked to them, so who knows if it won’t do the same.

But as I said earlier, I can’t just avoid breaking it.

So, sigh.

As I exhaled deeply and looked up, a slender pink sword was now in my hand.

Crafted solely from mana, sure it’s a bit costly, but I’m in perfect condition to spare some mana.

Raising the sword high,

it was time to take down the heinous environmental destructors.

With my resolve infused in the sword, I swung it.

Swish!

The pink blade dove straight into the cube.

There was no resistance, just a gentle cut.

Momentarily thrown off by the soft texture, I barely exclaimed,

“What the—”

Whoosh!

A flood of blinding light erupted from the cube.

As the green light threatened to engulf everything, I stepped back and squinted.

With my eyes unable to open fully due to the brightness, I had to keep them open to see what might happen.

Just as I elevated my mana to shield my eyes, I waited for either the light to stop or something to pop out.

“…!”

Beyond the shattering green light.

A massive eye, moving with a heavy presence, met my gaze.

 

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