The Gamer - Restart (Arc 1) Chapter 10, a manhwa/korean comics/만화 fanfic

A/N: A quick update after a long hiatus! I know you guys have been hoping for a come back and I'm proud to say I've gotten my schedule on track again. I'm glad that you guys are still reading this story and I hope you'll continue to support me in my endeavor to update it.

QuantumZero: A mini spinning spiral javelin? What an amusing idea haha. I never thought about a miniature version of the move so thanks for the suggestion, it might actually make an appearance.

kabir0399: As always, thanks for the review Kabiri! I definitely agree that "I want to be a normal person" stories are cliche and overdone which is exactly what I'm trying to avoid in this story. Jee-Han's character development will center about going from that mentality to wanting to change the Abyss.

LordXeenTheGreat: I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Guest #2: Pardon me for not specifying it but Jee-Han actually did level up, twice in fact. His current level at the moment is 16, two levels higher than the previous chapter's 14. I added it just in case for future readers who might miss it.

Let's dispense with words and get onto the chapter before the finale!

Disclaimer: TheBlackDuelist does not claim any ownership of "The Gamer" Manhwa written by Sung San-Young and Sang-Ah. I am not using this fan fiction to make profit off of this story.

The Gamer – Restart

Chapter 10

【9:45 AM, Yeogang High School】

"How fascinating..."

Sitting down elegantly, legs crossed and holding a book; Shi-Yun licked her lips and flipped a page. The current period was free activity so all of the students were allowed to do whatever they pleased until the next bell. Shi-Yun had no intentions of studying or reviewing whatever she took down in class and focused her attention onto something far more important.

It was an intriguing piece of literature that centered on a timid high school boy that learned martial arts for self defense.

Shi-Yun had taken the book from her older brother's room one day as more of a joke. Since it was a book and she had nothing better to do with it until her brother came to take it back, she thought she'd try reading it. In her opinion, it was one of the best decisions she had made in her entire life. The book was simply fascinating and a lot of the themes and symbols in the series were eerily similar to those she had been taught within her own clan. It was as if she was reading the story of a person who was exactly in her shoes, except with a different background.

"Shi Woon-Yi...how will he defeat these formidable enemies?" Shi-Yun's heart stirred as she flipped to the next page, eagerly awaiting the outcome of the cliffhanger. Her eyes narrowed in annoyance however as her hopes were crushed when it was to be continued in the next volume.

So much for that.

"Darn, I need to know what happens next! Does Oppa have the next volume?" She contemplated as she placed the book back into her bag and sighed. She moved a few strands of her hair out of her eye and leaned back, observing the chattering class full of students.

Initially, she had no interest in why Sung-Gong had not appeared for chemistry class today but was intrigued when one of the staff reported he had gone missing. That was definitely strange, even for someone as mysterious as him.

"Does this have anything to do with why he's been creating illusion barriers?" It was possible; no it had to be that. He was a very punctual man, always arriving to class on time and leaving right at the bell. Sung-Gong not reporting on why he wasn't coming in was definitely abnormal.

She glanced at the door and watched as the Chunbumoon's heir, Sun-Il and the wimpy looking guy Jee-Han returned with lunch. Shi-Yun didn't think much of it but she had noted that the two of them didn't converse with any of the other students. They did everything together, whether it be trading notes in class, eating lunch together, or even walking home.

"So…that boy is close to the Chunbumoon…" Even though she didn't feel as if they were lying to her when they denied any information regarding Sung-Gong, Shi-Yun still held her suspicions. Getting close to the two of them could be beneficial towards discovering more about him but she wasn't thrilled at the idea. Getting too close to a rival clan would cause all sorts of issues in the future.

It was better to observe them for now and see where it could lead her.

"I swear…I will make that bastard pay..." Her right hand was balled into a fist as her teeth began to seethe in anger. The thought of the person who crippled her clan still roaming out there without being able to do anything about it infuriated her to no end. It was even worse when the matter regarding Sung-Gong's dismissal was announced.

"What could grandfather be thinking?!" She mentally shouted. It was blasphemous to assume that he, the leader of the Yunhonmoon and a man revered as the "Dawn Tiger" was afraid of Sung-Gong.

She closed her eyes and tried to calm down, inhaling and breathing out to rest her nerves. Getting worked up over every little thing wouldn't accomplish anything. What she had to do was think of some way to-

"Wow! I didn't know you liked that manhwa too, Shi-Yun!"

The girl's heart nearly jumped out of her bosom at the sudden voice calling out to her. Her eyes were met with a broad smiling Jee-Han standing in front of her with a glint of excitement in his eyes. Sun-Il was leaning on a desk next to him with an innocent grin on his face.

"Wha…"

She was at a loss of words and looked completely stunned. When had they gotten there?

"Who would have thought, the prodigy of Yunhonmoon would be interested in Korean manhwa's"

The startled red head narrowed her eyes at the Chunbumoon's heir and was annoyed by the foxy smile he had on. She may have respected the fact that he was the heir to the rival clan and must have been a talented martial artist but she loathed his attitude. He reminded her of fox spirits tales, people who found nothing more enjoyable than teasing and being mischevious. Not only that, but even the way his eyes were always closed were too fox like and she absently wondered if he was even human.

Tossing that thought aside, she huffed as she turned her head away from the duo.

"I don't have an interest in them, I was just killing time".

The excitement in Jee-Han's eyes went down as he heard that.

"Well that's too bad; I'm also a real big fan of the series" Jee-Han admitted.

It was true that he spent most if not all his time gaming but every now and then, he'd read up on Korean and Japanese comics online. In this generation, it was a very common in most households.

"Do you two need something from me?" Shi-Yun didn't even bother to hide her open annoyance at having been disturbed and sent ice cold stares at the two.

Jee-Han looked a little startled by her bluntness as he backed up slowly while Sun-Il shrugged at the rather direct comment.

"Not particularly, we just saw the book on your desk and wanted to come over. Right, Jee-Han?"

Jee-Han slowly nodded as he gave a forced smile.

Shi-Yun looked in between the two, gauging their facial expressions. She might have been over analyzing them but it wouldn't hurt to confirm her suspicions again.

"Let me ask you two something. Our chemistry teacher Sung-Gong; are you aware of why he is absent today?"

Jee-Han looked confused by the question while Sun-Il merely raised an eyebrow. Sun-Il sighed as he watched Shi-Yun observe him with more interest than necessary. She was suspecting them again, how annoying.

"Not this again. Look, we already told you we don't know anything about what Sung-Gong does or what his goals are. What proof do you have to even suspect us?"

Shi-Yun felt a bit pressured from the question and drew her eyes to Jee-Han who tensed up from the piercing gaze.

"I have no proof. I'm just asking everyone I believe is hiding something from me, does that not make sense?"

"Uh… not really" Jee-Han deadpanned.

Sun-Il chuckled at the logic.

"So you're basically suspecting us on the grounds of your own intuition? Is that right?"

Shi-Yun merely nodded with a blank face. Jee-Han couldn't help but think the act was cute of sorts and blushed a little.

"You're quite the detective"

Though it sounded as a compliment, Jee-Han knew it wasn't anything but sarcasm.

"I don't consider myself as such but I thank you for the kind words"

Both Sun-Il and Jee-Han traded perplexed looks as they bore witness first hand to Shi-Yun's naivety. Did she seriously believe he was complimenting her?

Jee-Han awkwardly laughed at Shi-Yun's misunderstanding, turning his head outside the window to distract him from the conversation. However, what he saw outside was something that he would later regret that he hadn't seen at all.

"What... how..." His voice was beginning to crack and words could only barely escape his mouth.

Sun-Il noticed his friend's odd behavior and put a hand on his shoulder.

"What's up? Did you fall for Shi-Yun or something" Sun-Il teased as he glanced over to the girl in question who just raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"S-Sun-Il… look outside"

Jee-Han raised his arm slowly and pointed it towards the open window, making Sun-Il and Shi-Yun both follow his arm. Both their eyes widened in disbelief and Sun-Il's usually closed eyes were visibly open this time. Shi-Yun immediately stood up from her seat and slammed her hands onto the desk.

"That can't be…!"

Floating in the sky miles away from the school was a large crack, like the ones that appeared in Illusion Barriers. It was wide and had a zigzag ripple that tore through the air, as if someone had punched a wall of glass.

The three of them were stunned into silence, trying to figure out exactly what was the root of this dilemma. Jee-Han looked around the class and noticed that nobody else except for them were noticing it. This didn't make any sense, how could no one notice? It wasn't as if none of them weren't looking outside, the crack was in plain sight!

Suddenly, Jee-Han felt as if time had stopped and looked around to see that everyone else in the classroom was frozen. The idea of it being an Illusion Barrier was on his mind but if that was the case, why were they frozen?

He looked in between Shi-Yun and Sun-Il and saw that they were fine.

"W-Why are we in an Illusion Barrier?"

"That was my doing."

Jee-Han turned to Shi-Yun who had already was set to leave by having one leg on the window.

"Smart move." Sun-Il had cut in. "Letting the other students see what you're up to would be bad."

The woman in question just nodded her head and then turned back to the crack.

"I'll investigate what caused that disturbance, there's no need for you two to get involved"

"What do you mean? Why do you have to investigate that thing?" Jee-Han asked.

Shi-Yun looked at Jee-Han as if he was an idiot. "Because the Yunhonmoon are designated representatives of this region. Any and all disturbances that destroy the balance of Seoul is our responsibility"

"Don't you mean our responsibility." Sun-Il snorted. "You can't expect my clan to not interfere with this problem"

Shi-Yun shot back a fierce glare at the stubborn Sun-Il who's determined facial expression conveyed his conviction. No matter what she said to him, he wouldn't back down.

Relenting, she bowed her head in respect and turned to face the shred in the dimension once again.

"I understand. We will cooperate on this investigation"

Jee-Han breathed an air of relief at the fact that the two had come to a mutual understanding. He was worried for a minute there that there might have been a fight.

Sun-Il nodded and then grabbed Jee-Han by his neck, pulling him into a headlock and shooting a soft smile at Shi-Yun.

"Then it's settled. Me and gamer boy over here will head back to the Chunbumoon and figure out what's going on"

"H-Huh?" Jee-Han was at a loss of words now; he was tagging along?

"Understood, I shall be taking my leave then"

With that, the figure of the dazzling red beauty vanished as she jumped from the window, leaving a flabbergasted Jee-Han and an amused Sun-Il rubbing his chin.

"You know, she really shouldn't jump like that when she's wearing a skirt. I don't think she'd appreciate the view she's letting us have"

"Hey!" Jee-Han ignored that last comment and pushed Sun-Il away from him, grabbing him by the collar in the process.

"What's this whole business about me coming along!?"

Sun-Il tilted his head in confusion at the sudden question.

"You don't want to come?"

"W-Well..." Jee-Han let go of Sun-Il's collar as he looked towards the ground while his body was slightly trembling. Sun-Il narrowed his eyes as he quickly took notice his friend's current state.

"Are you afraid?"

That was the golden question.

Jee-Han couldn't answer Sun-Il's inquiry as he recalled the several events that had transpired during the past few days. He had gotten stronger sure but it didn't mean he was ready to jump straight into every new problem that surfaced. Jee-Han felt like kicking himself for how easy it was to shatter his resolve and cursed his own weakness. The truth of the matter was that he was actually afraid. During their last battle with the Legion Zombie, if Sun-Il hadn't been there to cover for him Jee-Han didn't want to imagine how that would have turned out. He wanted to help Sun-Il by standing as his equal and didn't want to have to be protected by him all the time. It was so frustrating!

But what should he do? Courage isn't just born out of nowhere, it's an ability that is born out of the desire to face any unknown obstacle without giving into your fear. That wasn't something Jee-Han could say he had but he knew that if he was ever going to become Sun-Il's partner, he was going to have summon his courage no matter how deep it was hidden in him. Jee-Han needed something to motivate himself to help Sun-Il; more specifically he needed something that would override his sense of fear. In games, players would be more obligated to undertake dangerous quests if there was a great reward for doing so.

Reward.

That word resounded in Jee-Han's head as his eyes blinked several times and he felt like an idiot for not thinking of this sooner.

Sun-Il sighed as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Look, you're not a member of the Chunbumoon so you don't have an obligation to help in this investigation. I know you've been really looking forward to helping me out but perhaps its better you sit this one-

"Compensate me"

"..."

Sun-Il blinked at the sudden declaration as he shifted his gaze towards the straight faced Jee-Han.

"Hah?"

"I want you to compensate me for helping in this investigation"

Time just seemed to stop around the two of them as Sun-Il stared at his best friend with his mouth wide open. It wasn't that Sun-Il hadn't heard what he had said; it was more like he couldn't actually believe what came out of his mouth. He wanted... compensation?

"Are... are you for real?"

Expecting this sort of reaction, a wide smile formed on Jee-Han's lips as he crossed his arms.

"Of course! You honestly expect me to start risking my life for absolutely nothing in return? It's only natural that if you're asking for help from someone, a reasonable reward should be offered"

In Jee-Han's mind, this made complete sense to him. The situation would be different if Sun-Il's life was in danger without any prior notice but here, Sun-Il and his clan were actively going to put themselves in harm's way to resolve the issue. Since Jee-Han wasn't a member of their clan, he didn't have that same duty so technically, he was a free agent. If they wanted his help to solve their problems, they were going to have to pay up.

"It's not that what your saying doesn't make sense... it's just, how highly do you think of yourself now?"

To Sun-Il, Jee-Han's declaration came off as a bit an over inflation of his ego. I mean, did he really think his clan needed his help in this situation that they'd pay for his "services"? The thought actually kind of annoyed him as he shot a displeased look at Jee-Han.

Beginning to sense some hidden hostility, Jee-han was quick to deny what Sun-Il was thinking and shook his head.

"You're looking at it completely wrong Sun-Il. I'm not saying you guys need my help, what I'm saying is that I'd like to be given a reason for me to leap into danger with you guys. I don't think any of you would believe me if I said I was doing it out of the goodness of my heart. Hell, even I don't believe that crap"

Sun-Il had to agree with him on that statement. Anyone who would risk their lives for no other reason other than "it's because I'm a good person" was more of a fool than anything. It was easier to trust and rely on a person that at least wanted something out of them getting involved as opposed to those self righteous white knights that only existed in fairy tales.

"So you're saying that you want us to pay you so that the fear of danger will be suppressed and you'll have more of a reason to participate?" Sun-Il was starting to make sense of what he was getting at.

"Exactly! It's a good idea, right?"

Sun-Il brought a hand to his chin. "Well I wouldn't say it's the best idea you've come up with but... it does sound intriguing"

"So, what do you say? Will the Chunbumoon employ The Gamer?" Jee-Han raised his hand out for Sun-Il to grasp to complete the business transaction.

Sun-Il hesitated for a second before he sighed while lamenting that debating it any further would be pointless. He firmly grabbed Jee-Han's hand and shook it, smiling at his now present "partner".

"The Chunbumoon will gladly compensate you for your efforts in this investigation. We have a deal"

The two of them nodded and then looked back at the crack still floating in the middle of the city, growing ever so large with each passing minute. Their objective was set and it was now time to head over to the Chunbumoon to discuss with gramps about how they would deal with it.

Jee-Han smirked.

It was time to get down to business.

【10:00 AM, Yunhonmoon Center】

As Jee-Han and Sun-Il had departed towards the Chunbumoon, Shi-Yun had swiftly arrived at her own clan residence and hurriedly made her way to the top floor. The clan organized their headquarters by order of importance and only those with an executive rank or higher were allowed past the fifth floor. Seeing as how this was an emergency, Shi-Yun thought it would be acceptable for the rules to be broken just this once. Though, she couldn't really say this was her first time considering all the trouble she used to get into when she was younger and tried to sneak up here. Just remembering her brother having to issue spankings was enough for her to flush in embarrassment and sped up her movement.

Arriving at a large metal door that had two guards placed on opposite sides, Shi-Yun marched towards them with a determined expression on her face. The two were dressed in formal black tuxedo's and wore matching black shades and hats, giving off a sort of mafia feel.

"State your name, rank, and purpose" one of the guards spoke in a monotone filled voice.

"I am Kwon Shi-Yun, a Ren ranked member of the main household. I wish to speak with the elders about an unexpected development" she bowed formally towards them.

"We have been instructed to deny access to anyone who hasn't been given authorization by the elders" the other one replied with the same dull voice as his counterpart.

Shi-Yun frowned. "I understand that, but this is an emergency! Just let me speak with my grandfather and I'm sure-

"No exceptions." She was cut off before she could even finish. "You have not been given authorization and cannot be allowed to pass here. Go back"

The two of them said that at the exact same time with perfect unison. It made one wonder if they had practiced saying that particular phrase but such thoughts were far from what Shi-Yun was thinking.

"Tsk"

Shi-Yun spat in annoyance at how bad these two were in regards to reacting to these kinds of situations. While they're loyalty was worthy of praise, it could also be said that they were loyal to a fault. A proper bodyguard would have at least conveyed her message to the higher ups but these two made no attempt to hide their disregard of Shi-Yun's warnings.

A heavy sigh escaped Shi-Yun's lips as she contemplated what her next move would be. To be honest, she had somewhat expected this kind of outcome before she had even arrived. This wasn't the first time that these two blockheads denied her access to speak with the elders. She knew this and yet at least wanted to try and get through to them without having to resort to the alternative method.

Well, it was too late to go back now.

Instantly, Shi-Yun gathered a staggering amount of ki from the surrounding air and quickly purified it within her body, causing sparks of flames to appear from her body. This was known as the『Yunhon Spirit Technique』that allowed anyone from the Yunhonmoon to ignite the ki gathered into their bodies and set it ablaze. It was similar to the Chunbumoon's own spirit technique but while theirs was more attributed to refining and sharpening the ki gathered, the Yunhonmoon ignited it to allow the user the power of Pyrokinesis, or simply flame control.

Finally acknowledging her presence, the two guards were visibly shaken by the amount of pressure Shi-Yun was exhibiting and adopted fighting stances to brace themselves. However, they may as well have been children sent to fight a tiger with nothing but their bare hands.

A suicide mission.

"Forgive me but I have business in that room"

Faster than they could see, Shi-Yun became completely untraceable to the two guards and before they knew what just happened, they felt a burning sensation in their abdomens as Shi-Yun had landed both of her fists into their stomachs.

It was over before it even began as they simultaneously collapsed on the floor... at the exact same time... with the exact same motion. Shi-Yun narrowed her eyes at the spectacle as she deactivated the『Yunhon Spirit Technique』. Truthfully, she didn't need to activate the technique to deal with them but her pent up aggression had surfaced and taken over her reason.

She sighed as she realized she still needed more discipline before moving towards the door and gripping the handle. She hesitated for a second as she came to realize she was about to intrude on what could be an important meeting but steeled her nerves. There was no more time, she had to do this!

She let herself in and stopped abruptly when she noticed eight sets of eyes now gazing at her.

Sitting around a large round table were three adult men and one woman who all expressed suspicious looks at the now stiffen Shi-Yun. One of three gentlemen she faintly recalled but knew that he was a high ranking member of the Yunhonmoon that decided its policies and delegations.

Next to him was a man she was very familiar with and was the best instructor the clan had to offer. She had personally trained under him so her opinion of him was very high and always expressed due respect towards him.

Across from the two gentlemen was a woman who Shi-Yun had come to rely on during her childhood and was her mother figure that she loved dearly. It was her grandmother, Kwon Shi-Yan who was an executive member and married to the current head of the family and one of the only Shinin classed members of the clan, her grandfather Kwon Shi-Sen.

Shi-Yun swallowed her spit when her grandfather who was sitting at the front of the table cast a serious glare in her direction. Built like a man who never skipped a day at the gym, Shi-Sen was a physically dominating existence that had to be over six feet tall. He was wearing a tight white shirt and matching black jeans that did a poor job at hiding his overwhelming muscles. A lightning bolt shaped scar ran down from the left side of his face to the bottom of his jaw and a well groomed goatee was under his chin. His beautiful short silver hair was combed back into a well groomed brushed up style.

Looking over to the woman beside him, Shi-Yun observed her youthful grandmother who despite being alive for almost a century now, still retained the appearance of a gorgeous woman who was in her thirties. Wearing an unbuttoned white blouse that barely contained her ample cleavage; she sat cross legged with her black mini skirt showing off her smooth and sleek legs. She elegantly moved a strand of her beautiful crimson hair that was covering her face and directed a curious look towards the startled Shi-Yun.

The first to speak was none other than the head of the Yunhonmoon, Kwon Shi-Sen.

"Shi-Yun... what is the meaning of this interruption?"

His voice was powerful and commanding, like a seasoned veteran.

"Grandfather... that is... I have something very important to discuss with you that couldn't wait... please forgive me for interrupting!"

She deeply bowed her head as she finished her proclamation. Even though she couldn't see his face anymore, she knew that he was still casting his judgmental gaze towards her. How many times had she felt this man's powerful glare over her lifetime?

"Hou... important you say? It was so important that you felt the need to knock out the guards we posted outside? Is that what you are saying?"

Shi-Yun gulped internally. As she expected, her grandfather's perception was always one of his most noteworthy abilities.

"Y...Yes..."

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Oi, brat. Since when does a child who's still in training have the authority to interrupt a meeting between us executives?"

That voice came from one of the two gentlemen sitting beside her grandfather. Shi-Yun's knowledge of this man was scarce at best as she knew that he was one of the few people in the Yunhonmoon that her grandfather and she herself respected and was well known for his tactfulness.

"Don't be like that now Sun-Lai, she's obviously come here for a good reason so why not hear her out?"

Sitting next to Sun-Lai who clicked his teeth when the man next to him spoke, was a man Shi-Yun was well acquainted with. His name was Kwon Shi-Mai and he was an old friend of her father's who had trained both her brother and herself in the art of the『Soul Blaze Fist』. In her father's absence, Shi-Yun saw Shi-Mai as not only a respectable older figure but also a goal she aimed to surpass in the near future.

Sun-Lai shot Shi-Mai a dirty look. "Her reasons are irrelevant; we were having an important discussion and this cheeky brat thinks she can waltz in here without even arranging a meeting beforehand? There's a limit to how impudent she can be!"

Sun-Lai raised his voice as he finished speaking and now directed a cold and spiteful glance towards the still bowing Shi-Yun.

Shi-Yun had to agree with him completely; what she was doing was unprecedented. Under normal circumstances, Shi-Yun would have made sure to have gotten authorization before appearing before the elders. However, the danger of the situation they could be facing now needed to disregard those rules.

"Just calm down and think about it for a minute. Shi-Yun is one of the most diligent members of our clan. Do you really think she would interrupt one of our meetings if she didn't have a very good reason for doing so?"

Sun-Lai eyebrows twitched as he stopped to consider Shi-Mai's words, recalling his several encounters with the red head. Though they were faint, he did remember her being extremely courteous whenever they greeted one another and showed impressive manners. He narrowed his eyes before the girl in question who had a few drips of sweat falling from her forehead and sighed.

"I suppose you do bring up a good point. Alright, let's hear what you have to say. Speak girl"

"T-Thank you very much!"

Shi-Yun's heart felt as if it was going to burst as she sighed in relief and rose to meet the elder's gaze.

"You don't have to be so tense, ya know? Loosen up Yun Yun"

Those sweet words came from Shi-Yun's youthful grandmother who now had a warm smile on her face.

"Y-Yes of course, grandmot-". She immediately paused as she noticed the twitch in her grandmother's face. "I-I mean Yan-nim".

If there was one thing that Shi-Yun knew about her grandmother, it was that calling her as such was a very dangerous move and if you valued your life, would take note to never call her that. There wasn't a single person in the Yunhonmoon who didn't know of this woman's wrath.

Meanwhile, the head Shi-Sen glanced over at Shi-Yan who only shrugged her shoulders in response. In Shi-Yan's opinion, her grandaughter was too uptight for her own good and needed to stop being such a robot.

With the previously intense pressure slowly leaving the room, Shi-Yun explained to the elders what she had saw with her classmates not too long ago. As they listened to her report, doubtful gazes surfaced on their faces that Shi-Yun had been expecting. Of course, if she had heard of this herself she never would have believed it but she had seen it with her own eyes.

Sun-Lai snorted. "What foolishness are you spouting? It's inconceivable to think that there could be a crack in an Illusion Barrier"

Those harsh words came from Sun-Lai who was easily the most skeptical about Shi-Yun's story. No, that was inaccurate. You could easily say he thought she was speaking complete gibberish.

Shi-Yun bit her lip in frustration but continued to push. "Your doubts are understandable but I witnessed the disturbance first hand with my fellow students and I assure you that what I saw was no mistake!"

"If that was truly the case, not only us but also the Chunbumoon would have noticed such an event occurring" Shi-Mai who had been observing mostly folded his arms. "The fact that we have yet to hear from them makes your report hard to accept, Shi-Yun".

Though he would never believe Shi-Yun would try to deceive them, a crack appearing in the middle of the sky was a hard pill to swallow.

Shi-Yun's grandparents both kept a straight face as they traded looks between each other and then faced her again. Shi-Yun felt herself tense up at their passionate stares and felt the saliva in her mouth run dry. If she couldn't get them to believe her now then she feared something terrible was going to happen. Call it a premonition or a ominous feeling, Shi-Yun felt uneasy about it and prayed she could get through to them.

Without warning, Shi-Sen stood up and opened the large glass windows that were closed. He jumped outside, completely surprising all of the people inside the room except for Shi-Yan. In fact, a smile was plastered on her face as she shrugged her shoulders, watching her husband leave without any warning.

"That man is always so straightforward..."

Shi-Yan expressed before she got up herself and walked up towards Shi-Yun who was still taken back by the sudden development. She raised her hand and placed it on top of Shi-Yun's fiery red hair and pulled her face next to her's.

"We believe you"

That was all that escaped the woman's lips before she walked to the same window and jumped out herself.

"Wha... W-What the hell are those two thinking!"

Sun-Lai couldn't hide his anger anymore as he stood up and marched to the window and observed the two of them vanish before his eyes. He was about to go after the deserters before his attention was taken by the unforeseen irregularity that floated in the air. True to what Shi-Yun had reported, a crack that stretched for miles was clearly visible in the sky as Sun-Lai choked on his words.

"Wha...Wha... How..."

Calling it unbelievable was a grave understatement in Sun-Lai's mind as his head went into a frenzy at the view in front of him. He had brushed aside Shi-Yun's report as some childish rambling that held no truth or merit. Now that what she had been saying was proven to have actually happened, a heavy shame was placed upon Sun-Lai's shoulders as he, an elder of the Yunhonmoon had refused to listen to someone of his own blood. Though he'd never admit it, he was somewhat fond of Shi-Yun and was noticeably stricter on her if only because he wanted her to be disciplined and not turn out like her barbaric brother. Perhaps somewhere along the line he had lost sight why he was strict with her in the first place and mistook that as unreasonable contempt.

"My my, it looks like Shi-Yun was right"

That relaxed way of speaking came from Shi-Mai as he also now directed his gaze towards the crack in the sky. Of course, he wasn't as surprised as Sun-Lai since he believed in Shi-Yun from the beginning but held his suspicions until her report was confirmed.

"Lai-nim, how shall the clan proceed?"

Shi-Yun's voice caused Shi-Mai to turn his attention towards her along with Sun-Lai who wasn't completely over over his shock but had noticeably calmed down.

"Hmm..."

The calm Shi-Mai brought a hand to his chin and began to devise the best way to approach the situation. Since the head and his lady had already began the investigation, the most sensible thing to do would be to inform the rest of the clan and gather any capable combatants to assist. There was no guarantee there was an enemy to be fought but it never hurt to have a contingency plan ready just in case. He relayed these thoughts to Shi-Yun who nodded affirmatively, quickly bowing before the two remaining elders and left the room to join her grandparents.

Shi-Mai directed his gaze to Sun-Lai who kept his head down and breathed out a heavy sigh as moved a strand of his glossy crimson hair out of his face.

"Even though you've treated her like that, she still holds alot of respect for you. I hope you don't forsake that"

Sun-Lai felt a needle was jabbed into his stomach at those words while he looked at the door where Shi-Yun had left. The one thing in the world that Sun-Lai never wanted to lose was the respect of that young girl. He acted and behaved in a way that would make sure she always saw him as a respectable authority figure. He couldn't believe he was stupid enough not to realize that by acting the way he did now, he was precisely doing what he feared most, if only bit by bit.

He had to fix this.

Suddenly, he stood up without a moment's notice and made his way towards a speaker phone that was installed in a corner of the room.

He grabbed it and spoke. "All able members of the Yunhonmoon who are not undergoing treatment, report to the central board room for an important announcement. Those who are even late by even a second shall feel the wrath of my iron claw, is that understood!?"

Shi-Mai who had been observing his long time friend could only smile with a sympathetic face before he took a glance at the open window where the crack was visible. He narrowed his eyes as he sported a frown and hoped that the ominous feeling he was getting was nothing to be concerned about.

Of course, Shi-Mai or anyone else would have no idea at the time that the events that would transpire today would greatly affect the course of all the clans of Seoul.

【Inside the Illusion Barrier】

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

An ear shattering roar erupted from inside the Illusion Barrier as the troll zombie repeatedly kept punching the invisible border of the transparent dimension. With every solid punch it landed, more and more cracks began to form around the perimeter that surrounded most of the city block.

"I won't let you!"

Sung-Gong who had been charging at the relentless beast exclaimed as his body moved with lightning speed. The troll immediately noticed the incoming presence and turned its body now to face him, an action that surprised Sung-Gong at the beast's surprising swiftness.

A dark smile appeared on its disgusting face as it breathed in a heavy amount of ai arnd released it as a tunnel of black fog towards the incoming Sung-Gong. He barely had enough time to dodge the blast as he twisted his body to the side, narrowly avoiding the toxins.

Sung-Gong landed on the ground and skid across the floor as he watched the black fog reach a building nearby and completely cover it within its volume. It only took a few seconds before the entire structure was dissolved and a puddle of acid was left of it.

"It wouldn't be funny if that stuff even grazed me..." Not just because the suit he was wearing was one of his favorites but because he wanted to keep himself from becoming swamp juice.

Sung-Gong gazed back at the troll who had began chuckling at seeing its handy work and narrowed his eyes. So the beast not only had enough intelligence to perceive him as a threat but also had an ego on its head.

"What a troublesome fellow" Sung-Gong thought as he sighed and then stood up. He rummaged through his pockets before pulling out a cell phone. As he dialed some buttons and brought it to his ear, his attention immediately refocused on an incoming sludge of mud that was headed his way.

"Son of a...!"

Sung-Gong cursed inwardly as he jumped up but wasn't careful and dropped his phone within the contents of the acid, now annoyed that his very expensive phone had been reduced to sludge. He had been hoping to call for some reinforcements but that plan was quickly tossed thanks to the troublesome troll who as expected, was giggling at Sung-Gong's misfortune. The act was made even more disturbing by the fact that every time it laughed, specs of dirt would fly out of its mouth and a toxic smell covered its entire body. If it wasn't for Sung-Gong learning how to control his sense of what his nose could smell, he would have passed out a long time ago.

Realizing that the troll zombie wasn't an enemy that he could afford to play around with, Sung-Gong's adjusted his black shades as his body began to levitate off the ground. He rose with a stable speed and hovered himself quite a few feet over the troll zombie who titled its head in utter confusion, wondering what its prey was doing.

"You've really done it now you disgusting vile of filth. I'll make sure there's not a speck of your putrid body left when I'm done with you"

The air around Sung-Gong shifted and a cold shiver ran down the troll zombie's back as he saw a dark aura envelop Sung-Gong. It covered his entire body and looked as if it was trying to swallow him as a frightening smirk appeared on his face.

The troll zombie panicked and went back to trying to destroy the Illusion Barrier before Sung-Gong had a chance to unleash whatever it was he was hiding.

Noticing this, Sung-Gong clicked his teeth and had come to admire the zombie's tactfulness when it came to quick decision making. Of course, he wasn't planning on showing the beast any mercy and planned to completely annihilate it. He raised one of his arms forward and concentrated a great deal of magic within it.

"『Shadow Prison』"

At his command, a sea of dark shadows exploded from his palm and made its way over towards the panicking troll zombie. It must have realized that whatever Sung-Gong had released was something that endangered its life and it began to howl in a frustrated tone.

Sung-Gong watched with pleasure until he noticed the zombie do something quite out of the ordinary. Like before, it inhaled a large amount of air but this time it spit out noticeably larger balls of sludge in random directions, as if it had gone mad. Sung-Gong brushed aside its futile attempts as nothing more than a childish tantrum and focused his shadows on the large body of the zombie.

"『Restrict』"

The shadows heaved his orders and then surrounded the troll on all sides. It began to morph and formed what appeared to be a black cage that was barely big enough to contain the beast as it was squished inside.

This was an advanced skill that Sung-Gong had mastered years ago for the exact purpose of capturing powerful monsters to use for his extractions.『Dark Arts: Shadow Prison』was a technique that allowed the user to manipulate shadows to their will and could create a cage made out of darkness. The cage was impervious to damage since shadows had no physical form so it couldn't be touched. One of the reasons why Sung-Gong favored the skill so much was because it allowed him to trap any vermin he wanted and watch as they squirmed helplessly, unable to escape his clutches.

The troll zombie roared even louder and desperately tried to escape but it was no use, the cage couldn't be broken.

"Squeeze"

At that command, the cage began to shrink slowly as the zombie had no ways of stopping its impending doom. It's body began to contract and pieces of dirt started breaking from its swamp like body. It didn't take a minute before its entire body that was well over ten meters in height to shrink down to the size of an average person and looked like someone had a little too much fun playing with a bunch of play-doh.

Satisfied with his work, Sung-Gong descended to the ground right in front of the zombie and wore a prideful smirk. He had to admit that the zombie had given him a cause for alarm when it had begun to destroy his illusion barrier but of course, he knew it never actually stood a chance when he got a bit serious. His power at the moment was at best 30 % of what it was originally due to the seal chain that was absorbing his power. In other words, he couldn't use any more than the 30 % unless he wanted to disrupt the chain's powers.

"I should be able to gather a staggering amount of souls by extracting this beast. How convenient, it did most of the work for me" he mused as he raised his left arm to proceed with the extraction.

Before he could do so however, his senses swiftly perceived an incoming attack and he immediately distanced himself from the captured beast. Unfortunately, Sung-Gong was a second too late as his right arm was covered in acidic and he winced heavily at the stinging pain. It was almost unbearable as the toxic sludge had begun to dissolve the skin of his arm, a sight that Sung-Gong wasn't too fond of.

"Shit! I was too careless! Who the hell could have done such a...what!?"

Redirecting his attention towards the source of the attack, Sung-Gong could only stare dumbfounded at the unbelievable seen before him. Another troll zombie whose size was about 1/4th of the original was standing in the middle of a street, cackling at its successful hit. As Sung-Gong couldn't understand the reason why another troll zombie had been born, he looked over the entire city block and shuddered when he saw three more similar zombies that were scattered around. They were the same size as the one that hit him and were slowly moving towards each other.

"But how... where did they come fro...!? Wait... it must have been at that time!"

A daunting realization hit Sung-Gong as felt his mouth run dry and sweat fell from his face. He unfortunately recalled the original troll zombie firing off several balls of sludge before it was captured by his『Shadow Prison』. He had brushed those off as nothing more than as a desperate last ditch effort but he now came to understand that the troll zombie had noticed its soon to be demise and split itself into four separate beings. Sung-Gong was speechless regarding the zombie's instincts towards survival and how intuitive it was when forced into a corner.

"I really screwed up..."

Sung-Gong wanted to like slap himself for how careless he had been during this battle. He completely failed to notice that the troll was far more intelligent than he gave it credit for and as such, he paid the price. His right hand was still slowly being corroded away and it felt as if a thousand needles were piercing his skin simultaneously. Thankfully, he had built a protective wall around his body using his mana so the corrosion was heavily suppressed but it was only a matter of time before his right hand would fall victim to the toxins.

Deciding to put an end to it before it would spread to his entire arm, he gathered mana in his free arm and made a blade of shadows that was sharpened at the top. In one quick motion, he cut his hand off right above the wrist and quickly reached into his pocket to pull out a『Medium Grade - Recovery Potion』to tend to his wound. Thanks to the restorative properties of the potion, the bleeding had completely stopped and his arm was beginning to heal itself, though he would have to work on recreating it at a later time.

He had much more important things to worry about at the moment. As he looked over his current condition and then back at the now four separate troll zombies, only one word ran through his mind.

Pathetic.

That single word echoed throughout Sung-Gong's head as he reviewed the current situation for himself. Though he defeated the original troll zombie, four more had taken its place who had all assembled together and were standing side by side, mocking Sung-Gong who could only produce a pained expression at the spectacle. How did a man as powerful as he allow himself to be put on the ropes by a bunch of walking pieces of garbage?

"If only I could use my full strength..."

It was almost instantaneous but he absently wondered how satisfying it would have been to use his full strength against the troll and watch it crumble before him but quickly shook his head and cast aside the foolish act. The person he was using that stored energy for was far more important than his own well being and he would rather die than use that precious energy he's saved for them.

He had to think of another solution. Looking at one of the rings on his finger, an annoyed frown appeared on his face.

"So its come to this..." Since『Shadow Prison』failed to have any effect, this next skill should be able to take care of the quadruplets.

Unfortunately, the troll zombies weren't going to allow him such an opportunity for him as they all began assaulting the still recovering Sung-Gong. Swamps of acid were rapidly fired out of their mouths and aimed directly at him who clicked his teeth and held his free arm up.

"Tch...『Shadow Guard!』"

Sung-Gong activated the skill and a wall of shadows appeared in front of him, absorbing the sludge into its depths. The zombies took note of their attacks being ineffective and ceased their fire, grumbling a bunch of nonsense that Sung-Gong couldn't understand. Whatever they were talking about, Sung-Gong wasn't interested in as he needed to quickly prepare his next move.

"I don't have much mana left... this'll probably be my last attack"

One of Sung-Gong's biggest weaknesses was simply his lack of mana reserves. To make up for his scarcity of mana, he purchased familiars and low cost skills that wouldn't require him to use an excessive amount of his mana. Of course, they weren't cheap and cost quite a pretty penny but such trivial matters were irrelevant to him as he was very resourceful when it came to making money.

As Sung-Gong had decided what to do next, he noticed that the troll zombies had come to a consensus to ignore him and went back to trying to destroy the Illusion Barrier. Sung-Gong's eyebrows twitched at the unexpected decision and several veins appeared on his forehead. It was bad enough that he was struggling against such inferior creatures but to think that they had the nerve to dare ignore the Black Summoner?

This was the last straw.

"I'm going to shred you bastards to dust!"

His voice was notably louder than usual and he held out his free arm, letting mana flow into the ring on his index finger. This was going to take a few seconds to activate and when it did, he would settle this.

As he looked back at the troll zombies still attacking the illusion barriers, what he saw snapped Sung-Gong out of his rage and his face paled. It only now became apparent to him that number of troll zombies was reduced to three and the fourth one had disappeared.

Immediately sensing an ominous presence behind him, he swiftly turned his neck to see the nightmare he was hoping to avoid stare at him with its unhealthy rotting eyes, a dark distorted grin on its face.

He had been outsmarted.

Sung-Gong understood now that when they were talking earlier, it wasn't just some random mumbling. They were discussing their next strategy and settled on a pincer attack where three of them would act as distractions while one of them would sneak up behind Sung-Gong while he was focusing on the others. It was a flawless battle plan that Sung-Gong never even considered as a possibility and inwardly cursed himself for his unforgivable mistake. This was the third time he had been fooled by the zombies.

The nearby zombie pulled its arm back and sent it forward to collide with Sung-Gong's face, its intention to completely crush Sung-Gong under its mighty fist. Normally, Sung-Gong would never be worried of an attack of that caliber but in his weakened state where his concentration was out of sorts and his mana had been mostly depleted, he feared he would suffer heavy damage from that attack, probably enough to take him out of the fight.

If that was the case, he had no doubt that the troll zombies would finish him off and make their way towards the real world by shattering his Illusion Barrier. The dreadful thought made Sung-Gong worry about the chaos that would transpire if that were to come to fruition.

"I can't afford to die here... not until I save Sung-Ah!"

That single thought enveloped his mind as the face of his beautiful but sickly daughter appeared in his head. She was the one who gave him the strength to live on even after his wife had passed away. She was the one who smiled and wished him well to work every morning and welcomed him home every night. She was the one who took care of him and got him to stop smoking in order to preserve his lungs.

She was his entire world and he had done everything he could to help her get better. Taking on several highly difficult missions to afford surgery for her, contracting with several shady organizations to receive recovery potions, and now risking his life to extract the souls of zombies to save his weakened sunshine. It was all for her, he would try any method no matter how hopeless to save her. However, it seemed as if all of his efforts were about to be destroyed by his own carelessness at handling the situation.

If he had only been more cautious, if he had only called for reinforcements earlier, if he had only listened to the clan elders about the repercussions. Sung-Gong had come to regret alot of the decisions he had made in the past few months but the one he regretted the most was that he was unable to give Sung-Ah the thing she deserved the most.

Her happiness.

"I'm sorry Sung-Ah... your father is pathetic and he's let you down... please forgive me"

Those were the last thoughts that entered his mind as the troll zombie's punch was only a split second away from colliding with his face until...

Shatter!

The air only a few feet away from Sung-Gong and the zombie cracked wide open like a wall of glass and from it, three individuals appeared inside and rushed towards Sung-Gong.

"Hah!"

"Yah!"

"Hiya!"

Simultaneously, the three individuals moved at untraceable speeds and delivered a triple executed attack which consisted of a roundhouse kick, a straight jab, and a left hook towards the troll zombie that almost hit Sung-Gong.

"Graaaaaaaa!?"

The impact of their attacks clearly left their mark as the zombie was sent flying backwards, crashing into several buildings. A dead silence followed the aftermath of their conjoined attacks as the three remaining troll zombies were flabbergasted at what just occurred to one of their brethren.

Landing in front of Sung-Gong who was as puzzled as the zombies was a man with green hair, a woman with navy blue hair, and another woman with crimson red hair. The woman with red hair took a quick glance at the now sitting Sung-Gong and scowled as she shot him a piercing glare before she turned around to ignore him. Ignoring that, Sung-Gong instantly recognized the three of them as Sun-Il, Sae-Young, and Shi-Yun; members of both the Chunbumoon and the Yunhonmoon. Though he wasn't complaining about their assistance, the question of how in the world did they even get here raced in his mind.

"Yo, teach!"

Finally noticing the last individual, Sung-Gong turned his attention towards a student he knew well from his own class and a man with a very mysterious power, Han Jee-Han.

"Why... how did you all get here?" His curious words were lacking any form of the calm and cool attitude he usually presented.

Jee-Han sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he pointed towards the open crack in Sung-Gong's Illusion Barrier. There, several individuals were gathered that Sung-Gong was acquainted with. The head's of both the Chunbumoon and the Yunhonmoon along with several high ranking members of said clan were now standing outside of the corners of the Illusion Barrier. It was quite the spectacle to see two clans who had been considered rivals join forces in such a way.

"Your Illusion Barrier was falling apart and so we decided to see what the commotion was all about. Still, to see someone of your caliber in such a pathetic state..." Shi-Sen frowned. "My opinion of you has fallen, Black Summoner"

Those harsh words came out from the head of the Yunhonmoon, Kwon Shi-Sen.

"I was surprised as well. Surely the adversary he had been facing must have been quite something"

This time, the head of the Chunbumoon Shin Sun-Oh had spoken as he stroked his front beard.

The two of them were standing next to each other and quickly stole glances at one another, glaring the other down as the people around them felt a bit underwhelmed by their obvious contempt for the other. Whereas Sun-Oh respected Sung-Gong, Shi-Sen had never liked the man but did acknowledge his strength.

Both Sun-Il and Shi-Yun sighed as they watched their grandfathers have a stare down with the other but quickly turned their attention towards the enemies before them. Having gotten over their early shock, the troll zombies had already begun planning their next move.

"Grandfather!"

The two of them exclaimed at the same time towards the bickering heads.

"We'll settle this another time, you old fart"

"Heh, I wouldn't have it any other way"

At that, the two instructed those behind them to begin repairing the Illusion Barrier.

As Sung-Gong was a bit confused to what kind of development this battle had taken, he decided it was best to inform Jee-Han and his companions of how dangerous the troll zombies were. Before he could get the chance however...

"Alright, you just sit back and get some rest teach. We'll handle those guys, right?"

Jee-Han exclaimed as he looked towards the three participants who had adopted fighting positions in front of him.

"Hmm... since when was our little gamer boy Jee-Han important enough to give us commands?"

The teasing came from Sae-Young who spotted a foxy smile towards the now stiffen Jee-Han.

"Well... I uhh... thought we already decided that you guys would lead the charge while I supported from the rear... right?"

His previous confidence was nowhere to be found.

Shi-Yun nodded at that. "That's correct. We all decided that since you were not strong enough to help us in the front, you'd assist us from the back at a safe distance."

Though they held no malice or contempt, those words from Shi-Yun who spoke in such a roundabout way hurt Jee-Han the most as he dropped his shoulders. She didn't have to make it sound as if he was almost completely worthless...

Sun-Il chuckled. "You heard it from the princess herself, we'll take the frontal assault Jee-Han. You do what you do best and help us with those spells you got, alright?"

Jee-Han sighed as he accepted his best friend's words. I suppose he should be grateful that he was allowed to participate at all considering the circumstances. The compensation he was going to receive from today's battle was enough to spark a fire in Jee-Han's body as he narrowed his determined eyes towards the remaining three enemies before him and adopted a confident smile.

"Let's raise some hell!"

A/N: At chapter 10's conclusion, only the finale remains! This was the longest chapter to date that I've written for this story so I hope that you guys enjoyed its length. So as we found out, Sung-Gong's motivation for creating Illusion Barriers with zombies for his daughter, Sung-Ah (anyone who read the webcomic would already know this). Now that Jee-Han is here, we'll finally get to see his gamer powers showcase in front of the elders and maybe even someone else.

Look forward to the next one!

Name: Han Jee-Han
Class: The Gamer
Title:《Zombie Slayer》
Level: 16

HP: 890/890
MP: 1230/1230

STR: 26
VIT: 26
DEX: 21
INT: 60
WIS: 15
LUK: 9

Points: 0
Money: ₩503,000

《Skills》

Offensive:
• Energy Bolt (Active) | Lv: 3
• Mana Arrow (Active) | Lv: 2
• Spiral Javelin (Active) | Lv: 2
• Life Drain (Active) | Lv: 1

Defensive:
• Mana Shield (Active) | Lv: 1

Resistances and Masteries:
• Physical Endurance (Passive) | Lvl: 3
• Blunt Weapon Mastery (Passive) | Lvl: 5
• Unarmed Combat Mastery (Passive) | Lvl: 1
• Sword Mastery (Passive) | Lvl: 2

Miscellaneous:
• ID Create (Active) | Lv: 2
• ID Escape (Active) | Lv: 1