12. Standing on the Earth
Usually, it was common for a team to be named after the leader.
In the case of Cha Ha-neul’s team, since he was the leader, it would become ‘Cha Ha-neul Team’.
Cha Ha-neul Team and the trainees, including Han Seol, filled out an exploration application at the branch and finished preparing to go to the surface through the surface elevators located at each branch.
“There are mainly two types of surface elevators. One is for passengers and the other is for cargo, but the only difference is the price, and you can use either one if you pay the money.”
Even if you took the elevator, you couldn’t go directly to the surface.
“There will be inspections. Please cooperate.”
The elevator stopped at each section heading to the surface and had to have their identities and applications verified at checkpoints, and there were a total of five such checkpoints until reaching the surface.
“It’s a bothersome but necessary procedure, so make sure to take a good look. If you cause a commotion here, you’ll be arrested unconditionally regardless of the reason, so keep that in mind.”
“Yes!”
The members of Cha Ha-neul Team generously shared ‘pro tips’ that would be good for the trainees who were new to the field to know.
Usually, when they had a long experience as a guide, they often skipped these tips because it was bothersome, but it seemed to be thanks to their kind nature.
“Inspection complete. Pass!”
After passing through the five checkpoints like that, the trainees were finally able to set foot on the surface for the first time since birth.
“This is…”
“Look, look, it’s really the sky!”
“Is this what natural wind is like?”
The children, excited by the first experience of the surface scenery, couldn’t control themselves and were overjoyed.
“Shh! Everyone, quiet. From here on, it’s a danger zone. If you make such a loud noise, monsters with keen ears will swarm in an instant.”
When Cha Ha-neul warned the children, they finally became aware of their reality and began to get tense rapidly.
That’s right.
They hadn’t come here to play.
Although the scenery of the surface was simply beautiful, unimaginable threats were lurking in it.
Unlike them, Han Seol was looking at the surface from a slightly different perspective.
‘Is this the true appearance of this world?’
The buildings, structures, and roads that could be called the remnants of ancient civilization had completely turned into ruins or half-collapsed, losing their functions.
And it had been so long that the buildings and roads were covered with vines, and the clean air that was unimaginable in the past metropolis penetrated deep into the lungs.
It was a cleanliness on a different level from the air in the underground.
Especially for students attending Cheongsol Academy like Han Seol, they were all children from poor families, so many of them had grown up in environments with poor ventilation.
For such children, the clean air on the surface could be considered a tonic in itself, but…
‘This mana is truly absurd!’
For Han Seol, it couldn’t be said that it wasn’t a truly tonic-like air in a different sense.
Unlike the rat dropping-sized mana remaining underground, the mana on the surface was overflowing and compressed to the point of being sticky.
‘Well, in a world where anyone can purchase mana with skills, there’s no need to choose a dangerous and difficult method. They probably don’t even know the method.’
If there was someone who knew the mana breathing technique, the surface would be a treasure trove and bonanza of mana.
And the fact that he was the first protagonist of that someone, Han Seol expressed joy with his whole body for the first time since birth.
“Seol-ah, what’s wrong? Are you sick?”
“He wasn’t like that before, but he’s suddenly laughing like crazy, it’s unpleasant…”
At Seong Yu-ra and Yoo Jun-sang’s words, Han Seol, realizing his mistake, fixed his expression and waited for Cha Ha-neul’s next instruction.
“Has everyone sorted out their sentiments? Then let’s move quickly. Fortunately, the area near the elevator is relatively safe thanks to frequent extermination, but it’s still better not to let your guard down.”
“Yes! Team Leader.”
Cha Ha-neul began moving using a paper map and GPS coordinate receiver.
If it were the days when Korea’s satellites still remained, he could have used a GPS radar map instead of a coordinate receiver, but unfortunately, that was impossible now.
The reason was simple.
They lacked money and resources.
Just building underground cities the size of the Seoul metropolitan area and provincial large cities made New Korea’s finances hit rock bottom, and they even had to take on massive debt from several countries.
It wasn’t just a problem for Korea.
Almost all countries in the world had similar situations.
In such a situation, launching satellites, which were money-eating monsters, was something they couldn’t even dream of.
At least the United States was the country where such a miracle was possible, so Korean hunters purchased and used GPS coordinate receivers by paying a fixed fee like this.
“The place we will explore today is a Goblin Lair. Goblins are cunning and relatively intelligent monsters, but their physical strength is not that strong. At most, they’re like a 10-year-old boy? Their physique is even smaller than that age group, but they know how to handle tools well and above all, they use poison, so you should never let your guard down. Well, this level of information is basic stuff taught at the academy, so you guys probably know it well too.”
Although they had learned it once, the trainees took Cha Ha-neul’s words to heart as if they had heard it for the first time.
“So today, you’ll experience firsthand how different the field is from what you learned in books.”
Cha Ha-neul carefully moved while checking the GPS coordinates and map, as well as the traces and remnants on the ground.
Meanwhile, watching the front and being vigilant of the surroundings was solely the job of the tanker and dealer.
At that moment, Cha Ha-neul raised his hand to about head height and clenched his fist.
It was a signal to stop.
Cha Ha-neul silently pointed down, and the trainees’ gazes also turned downward.
Where he pointed, there were small footprints like a child’s along with dry droppings.
“It’s goblin droppings. The fact that their droppings are here means there’s a high possibility that their lair is nearby. From now on, we move even more carefully.”
At Cha Ha-neul’s whispered instruction, the tension rose even higher, and the trainees heavily nodded their heads.
After that, Cha Ha-neul skillfully followed the traces of the goblins and easily found their hidden nest.
Of course, since they were waiting at a distance, the probability of the goblins discovering the group was very low.
“This place is far from their lair and located in a blind spot, so it’s difficult to be discovered. And thanks to this wall, even if there’s a headwind, there’s little worry about being detected by scent. Therefore, we’ll temporarily designate this as Point A and execute the next strategy.”
Then, Cha Ha-neul’s gaze turned to Seong Yu-ra.
“Here’s a surprise question. What should we do next?”
“Scouting… right?”
“Correct. We need to check how large their scale is, how big their nest is, what their range of activity is, if there are escape routes… We have to check all of that. That’s why we need this.”
What Cha Ha-neul took out of his bag was none other than a drone and a controller.
“If the budget is ample, I recommend this, but if not, it’s better to buy bandages and medicine instead. The information you can get from this is quite limited. Still, it’s better than nothing.”
Cha Ha-neul immediately flew the drone high into the sky and sent it over the goblins’ lair.
Squeak! Squeak!
Naturally, the goblins who discovered it tried to shoot it down with slings or slingshots.
They thought it was a bird, not a drone, so they tried to catch and eat it.
“So we can’t fly it below this height. It would be shot down immediately. But with just this, we can roughly grasp the escape routes around their lair and the size of the lair.”
“If they run away, they might escape this way.”
When Park Seong pointed out a part on the controller screen where the drone’s footage was projected, Cha Ha-neul nodded with a smile.
“Bingo! You have great eyes. That’s right. If we have enough personnel, we can hide near these escape routes and easily hunt down the fleeing goblins. But for a 3-person team like us, that method is impossible. Then what should we do?”
“Do we block the escape routes in advance?”
At Seong Yu-ra’s question, Cha Ha-neul shook his head.
“The escape routes are places where the goblins’ surveillance is strict. If we have a lot of personnel, we might be able to ambush the lair and the escape routes simultaneously, but for a 3-person team like us, the moment we ambush the escape routes, the main force will be alerted and it will backfire instead. So…”
“Goblins usually prefer humid and dark environments. The fact that the air is humid is proof that ventilation is poor. Also, for nocturnal creatures, the time when the morning sun rises is when their vigilance is the most relaxed. At that time, if we eliminate only the sentries guarding the entrance and fill the inside of the lair with poisonous gas, then wait at the escape routes, the creatures will flee out on their own. Cutting the necks of the creatures who have lost their minds after being struck by lightning while sleeping is easier than snapping a reed.”
At Han Seol’s explanation, not only the trainees but even Cha Ha-neul and his teammates couldn’t hide their surprise.
It was because the hunting method Han Seol had just described was not something taught at school.
“That’s impressive. Where did you…”
“It’s something I overheard somewhere. More importantly…”
Han Seol pointed to the drone that had returned.
After putting the drone back in the bag, Cha Ha-neul looked over the children and searched for volunteers.
“Now that we’ve roughly checked the size of the lair, escape routes, and the monsters’ state of vigilance, we need to directly infiltrate the inside of their lair and scout the internal situation… Although it’s something everyone has to do in turns anyway, is there anyone who wants to try it first?”
Cha Ha-neul hoped that Han Seol would raise his hand if possible, but instead, everyone except Han Seol and Yoo Jun-sang raised their hands.
Yoo Jun-sang still lacked determination, and Han Seol wanted to calmly perform the mana breathing technique here if possible.
‘In a place like this, concentrating on the mana breathing technique for even 1 minute is more effective than an hour underground.’
“Then you would be good. You said you were an attacker, right?”
“Yes! I’ll do my best.”
The person Cha Ha-neul chose was none other than Park Seong.
It was because an attacker who had a relatively wide field of view and required multitasking was the most convenient to work with.
And if the vanguard completed the job well and returned safely, the remaining children would also gain confidence, so the role of the vanguard could be said to be the most important.
“Seong-hee, please take good care of the remaining children.”
“Don’t worry and come back safely. You know what will happen if our handsome Seong gets a scratch on his face, right?”
“Seriously, stop acting so flirty. Someone might think you’re not an ajumma.”
“What?”
“Ah, sorry. You’re not an ajumma, but a gold miss.”
“This guy, really…!”
The reason they joked around like this before taking action was to relieve each other’s tension and move more smoothly.
Also, the reason Cha Ha-neul left Oh Seong-hee here was because, although her multitasking was inferior to an attacker, a dealer who had the widest field of view was in the most advantageous position for defending the base.
He had faith that if anything happened, she would be able to evacuate the children well.
