ReLife Player

Unlocked chapter (11/13)

[Brainwave and Silent]

There is a state of emergency in the city of Seoul.

A transparent cocoon deployed over the Gangbuk area shook violently enough to be visible to the public.

Cracks appeared in the cocoon 43 minutes after the impact.

The monsters were not afraid to let the mana that makes up their existence disperse and broke through the cocoon’s barrier.

[─ Transmission from the Mana Management Organization Information Bureau. At 9:51 am on the 16th day of the 7th month of the 7th preceding year, the presence of a group of monsters has been confirmed in the skies above Jongno-gu, Seoull.

As of this time, all players located in Jongno-gu are requested to follow the instructions and destroy the monster horde.

The average rank of the confirmed monster horde is 7th rank─].

Fortunately, the cocoon was enchanted to automatically repair small cracks.

In total, only about 20 monsters broke into the cocoon.

There was no second wave of monsters.

However, the leader of the horde could not be underestimated.

Creak

A monster with wings that curved like hooks at the boundary of the troposphere and stratosphere.

It had mane like a lion, and a tail reminiscent of a scorpion.

Lastly, its appearance was a blend of an old man and a beast, emitting crimson glows from its eyes.

Creak

Manticore, third rank.

A monster that possessed the power of disaster by its mere existence murmured an ultra-low frequency sound in its mouth.

Even if its rank had lowered due to the influence of the cocoon, sending a creature at least of the 4th rank into the urban area could cause unimaginable calamities.

It needed to be defeated before that happened.

«…So, how are we supposed to deal with that creature from inside the helicopter?»

The helicopter, carrying members of the Silla Clan, was flying just above the Manticore.

The creature, unbothered, flew amidst clouds where blue lightning struck.

«We can’t defeat the Manticore here. We need to lure it to an area where there won’t be civilian casualties even if it goes berserk.»

Yang Hee-jung, the navigator of the Silla clan was sitting beside the helicopter pilot, and reassured the anxious clan members.

In the confined space of the helicopter, there was no way to deal with the creature.

Additionally, the Manticore possessed the ability to freely manipulate lightning.

Airborne combat was disadvantaged against Manticore.

«─Player Yang Hee-jung, please inform us of a safe area nearby. We’ll lure the creature there.»

The members of the Silla Clan were anxiously looking down at the Manticore.

Unlike them, the man sitting in the back seat of the helicopter spoke in a calm tone.

With a gentle and gentlemanly demeanor, combined with a face that was half rough and half refined, he was holding a sword without showing any emotional fluctuations.

Twelfth Seat Lee Dojin.

He was one of the only three dealers within the Twelve Seats.

«I’ll check it out now! Currently…, the area that can minimize the damage is…, the Doan Elementary School playground!»

«Are we in the direction the Manticore is heading?»

«In a little while, the Manticore will be passing over Doan Elementary School!»

Lee Dojin unbuckled his seatbelt and stood up from his seat.

He walked out to the cockpit, holding his sword in one hand that reached from the floor to his waist.

«Player Yang Hee-jung, please contact Doan Elementary School. We’re going to drop the monster on the playground. Tell everyone to evacuate.»

«Yes! Okay, I’ll contact them right away…, wait, Mr. Lee…, you’re going to drop…?»

«No time to explain, pilot, I need you to fly the helicopter directly over the Manticore.»

«…Yes? That’s impossible! The current air currents are unstable, and there are blue jets forming around that creature…»

«I’ll handle the lightning. Lower the altitude as much as possible.»

The pilot swallowed hard.

He didn’t hesitate long.

Grabbing the controls, the pilot began to lower the altitude little by little.

Meanwhile, Yang Hee-jung, who had received the instructions, contacted her clanmates on the ground via telepath.

«Mr. Lee Dojin, we’ve received a message from Tempest Clan! Player Yoo Soo jin said she’ll secure a shooting range within 15 minutes!»

Yang Hee-jung shouted.

The faces of the clan members brightened.

Even if the Manticore had been demoted to the 4th rank, there was anxiety about dealing with it with the minimum number of people.

It was a relief to know that another Twelve Seat would assist them from afar.

There was one more piece of good news.

The pilot turned up the volume on the helicopter’s radio.

Amidst the dense mana caused by the Manticore, a woman’s voice came faintly through the constant disruptions.

[─…. I…say…again. This is Precis Memory. We’re heading to the school now. Estimated travel time is approximately 12 minutes. I…say again-……….]

A third Twelve Seat was heading to Doan Elementary School.

After listening to the radio, Lee Dojin instructed the pilot to descend a little further with his finger.

The determined pilot manipulated the control stick.

As the blue current disappeared into the cloud, the helicopter shook.

However, it didn’t suffer from the blue jet’s impact.

Because Lee Dojin, who possessed the Gift <Brainwave>, had directed all the current away from the helicopter.

«Player Yang Hee-jung, please calculate how much time we have left to reach Doan Elementary School.»

«Three minutes left!»

«Ok.»

Three minutes.

After calculating the time remaining, he drew his sword from its scabbard.

The blade glowed blue, engraved with a crest that could only be revealed by infusing it with mana.

A device commissioned from the finest maestros and cresters in the country.

Misteltein.

The sword, forged from materials acquired in Uijeongbu last year, glowed with a dazzling light as it accepted its owner’s mana.

«Open the door, please.»

The clan members looked at him with puzzled expressions when he threw his scabbard to the back seat.

Why would he ask to open the door suddenly?

Even though he knew how to manipulate lightning, it was impossible to defeat that monster in this situation.

Nevertheless, clutching the scabbard with determination, Lee Dojin repeated,

«Please open the door.»

Two minutes.

As if they had to listen.

The hunter, feeling the weight in Lee Dojin’s words, swallowed his saliva and opened the door.

It was a split second before a gust of wind rushed into the helicopter.

The people sitting in their seats screamed in surprise.

Lee Dojin, gripping the seat head with one hand and the scabbard with the other, stared down as if he was about to jump out at any moment.

The manticore roared in the lightning storm.

«…….»

One minute.

<Brainwave> raised his mana to the surface, eyes filled with determination.

He channeled the mana outside his body into currents that shimmered like lightning amidst the clouds.

«…Player Lee Dojin, what are you trying to do!»

Thirty seconds.

He injected mana into his sword, ignoring the cries of his classmates.

He calmly recited the incantation to materialize the magic.

«We can’t go down any further than this!»

20 seconds.

The pilot shouted anxiously as he hovered the helicopter in the unstable air currents.

It was already enough.

Lee Dojin had gathered enough energy.

The blade, glowing blue, sparked as it pointed at the monster below.

«I’ll go ahead and wait there.»

«What? What are you talking about!?»

10 seconds.

Without hesitation, Lee Dojun jumped out of the helicopter without a parachute.

He glared at the Manticore’s back and drew his sword.

«……!»

Five seconds.

Lee Dojin thrust his scabbard into the sword, releasing the mana stored in it.

Simultaneously, he released the mana he had been holding inside his body explosively.

Kru-ck!!

Three seconds.

Two seconds.

Landing on the manticore’s back, Lee Dojin stabbed through its flesh.

Brainwave Strike.

One second.

Lightning, devouring the world, descended as one.

☆

«Everyone, don’t be scared, stay calm and wait in the classroom. Don’t go outside.»

The 5th-grade Class 3 students were trembling with fear.

They couldn’t help it.

Just a moment ago, a broadcast had announced that a monster would fall from the sky, so they were told not to go out to the playground.

The kids, who were in the middle of class, panicked upon hearing the broadcast.

Teacher Im Dohon, who had stopped the class, comforted the students and looked outside the window.

«Captain, are we allowed to stay here? Shouldn’t we run away?»

«…I don’t think it’s necessary.»

The weather was unusually cloudy today.

Lightning occasionally flashed from the clouds in the distance.

Eunha, who had been staring out the window as he listened to class, shook his head.

There was no need to evacuate.

The Mana Management Organization had notified them, which meant they’d already made arrangements.

«The players will arrive soon, so don’t worry too much.»

Maybe this was a good thing.

Eunha looked back at his friends gathered around the table. None of them looked as frightened as their classmates.

His gaze fell on Minji and Eunhyuk.

«Minji and Eunhyuk, I want you to take this opportunity to see how the players fight.»

The two will take the entrance exam for the Player Secondary Academy next year.

If they decided to become players, it would be good for them to see how the players dealt with the monsters.

«Okay!»

«Now that you mention it…well, I’ll do it.»

The two nodded.

Seona followed them to the window, intrigued.

«Hayang, do you sense anything?»

«I feel a very… ominous presence.»

«From where?»

«From the sky.»

Hayang didn’t leave his side.

Her senses, which took in information through her mana, flinched at the aura she sensed in the dark clouds.

Eunha, too, stiffened as he recognized the growing disturbance.

This was no ordinary opponent.

It hadn’t even shown itself yet, but if this much energy could be detected, it was a monster of high rank.

Where are the players?

The Mana Management Organization must have done something.

But time passed with no sign of the players.

«Eunha….»

«Don’t stand there, sit here.»

«Okay.»

Hayang was uneasy about the approaching energy.

Eunha hid his own uneasy feelings.

There was no need to show it.

He could stall for time.

Feigning nonchalance, he knocked on the empty seat next to him.

A changed expression soon appeared on her face and she sat down next to him.

She didn’t ask him to hold her hand.

That was how anxious Hayang was.

Pretending not to notice, Eunha held Hayang’s hand.

«…It’s coming.»

A distance that could now be discerned with the naked eye.

A roar like that of a beast echoed through the air.

It was followed by dozens of bolts of lightning that turned the world white.

Children screamed, covering their ears.

«Let’s go.»

«Yeah.»

«Just in case, be prepared to deploy protective magic at any time.»

Without letting go of Hayang’s hand, Eunha stood up to check on the crashed figure on the playground as the white beam of light slowly diminished.

Eunha approached where his friends were, passing by them.

«Eunha…, isn’t it dangerous?»

Seona asked as she tried to get up, watching the monster about to stand.

Despite being struck by such powerful lightning, the monster exuded a menacing aura, indicating it was still alive.

«…No. It’s okay.»

It was a third-rank disaster monster, the Manticore.

But for some reason, the mana in its body was unstable.

It couldn’t control the mana leaking out of its body.

Furthermore, after being struck by dozens of lightning bolts, it was in no condition to move properly.

«Are you sure? Is it really okay? It seems quite injured right now, and the players haven’t arrived yet!»

«Why aren’t there any players?»

Eunha pointed his chin towards the Manticore in response to Minji’s words.

It wasn’t just the Manticore that had fallen from the sky.

The mana that made up the creature’s body was a haze around it, making it difficult to detect, but there was one person walking out of the lightning strike.

The man emerged from the rising smoke, swaying like a tornado, with electricity wrapped around his body.

Brainwave Strike.

The man slashed his sword down in a straight line.

The sound of the sky tearing apart struck the Manticore, which was rising from the ground.

I never thought I’d see it here….

Eunha was overwhelmed with emotion at the sight of a player reigning like an emperor over a monster with lightning at his disposal.

There was no need for him to step forward.

Thunderbolt.

<Brainwave> Lee Dojin.

He was one of the three players who later became the strongest in South Korea.