Ding!
PAX brought up the list.
—-[Enhanceable Items]—-
[Cost: 5]
◈ Shipping Time [1 second]
◈ Shipping Range [50m]
◈ Shipping Speed [Maximum 100km/h] [+]
————————-
The shipping time and range had already reached their maximum at level 2.
However, the shipping speed had not yet been upgraded.
100 kilometers per hour.
It wasn't a slow speed, but it didn't feel sufficient.
"How much can I increase it to again?"
[At Subspace Level 2, it can be increased to a maximum of 150 km/h.]
[Shall I proceed?]
"Yeah, max it out. And also unlock
[5 Mana Stones will be consumed for every 5 km/h increase, and 50 Mana Stones will be used to unlock
[In total, 100 Mana Stones have been deducted.]
[You now have 517 Mana Stones remaining.]
150 kilometers per hour.
That's a speed where a pitcher could almost be called a fireballer.
Of course, I wasn't just a simple fireballer.
If I utilized Tracking Delivery, I'd become a monster pitcher with precision control as well.
Thanks to the continuous cleanup operations, we passed through the area around the Joint Chiefs of Staff without any significant threats.
But as soon as we passed near Namyeong Station, swarms of gray skeletons came into view.
In front of them, the military and police defense forces had fortified their defensive line with thick barricades reinforced with sandbags.
As I stopped the vehicle, a person in charge approached and saluted sharply.
I awkwardly returned the salute.
"I've been briefed via radio. We'll provide fire support while the gate is opening. Best of luck."
These were skeletons, impervious to gunfire.
The military wasn't wasting bullets unnecessarily on them either.
However, they were making an exception, offering cover fire while the gate was open, and I had no reason to refuse.
Creaaaaak…
Along with the sound of the gate opening,
Rat-tat-tat!
Thud!
Gunfire from the soldiers followed.
Thousands of bullets rained down on the skeletons, but…
Thud!
Whizz!
They merely passed through the empty bodies of the skeletons.
In the end, it wasn't even half, no, not even a quarter of a successful hit.
Still, bullets were bullets, and the skeletons flinched slightly, but…
The Mana Stones embedded in their ribs remained intact, and they slowly began to regenerate even as they were shattered and broken.
By the time the skeletons were dancing their bullet-dodging dance,
I too had finished all my preparations.
Actually, there wasn't much to prepare.
I just had to wait for the barricade to fully open.
Whirr-
Whirr-
While seated in the vehicle, I formed four shipping portals around me.
Upon reflection, it didn't seem like daggers or axes would be particularly effective against skeletons.
So, I prepared something special.
[STORM ULTIMATE PHAZE Bowling Ball, 16 pounds, priced at 239,000 won.]
It was a smooth bowling ball.
A black sphere with red marbling swirling across it like waves.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff's operations commander had suggested running over the skeletons with a 2.5-ton truck, but when it came to skeletons, it was hard to think of a weapon more suitable than this bowling ball.
The key was to efficiently and precisely target the right ribs.
The only issue was that I couldn't manually target each skeleton one by one as they were continuously killed.
But there was a solution for that too.
"Hit the right lower rib of the skeletons."
[Understood.]
[After the impact, the next target will automatically be set to the skeleton closest to the last hit.]
PAX understood immediately.
Targeting and setting the next one in line was a simple task for it.
On top of that, our next-generation AI was several thousand times faster at calculations than my stupid self.
With all the preparations complete, the game finally began.
"Okay, ship."
Shooong!
The four bowling balls flew toward the skeletons in an instant.
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, the skeletons…
Clatter-rattle-rattle!
…collapsed like bowling pins, scattering bones everywhere.
A 16-pound bowling ball flying at 150 kilometers per hour.
Its power was, as expected, considerable.
Clatter!
Clatter-rattle!
Not only did it crush the skeletons at the front, but it also shattered the ones standing behind them into mere handfuls of bones.
Bang!
Thud!
If a professional bowler had seen this, they might have complained to the judges.
-This is rigged!
Indeed.
It was nothing short of an automatically guided bombardment.
The combination of the
And that wasn't all.
Shuuu!
The fired bowling balls returned to my portal via
Even better, they didn't come back empty-handed.
Whack!
The skeletons grabbed their knocked heads and collapsed.
There was no better ability for striking from behind.
Now, the time it took to ship an item was only one second.
Although I adjusted the intervals to 3-4 seconds for more effective hits, even that created a magnificent spectacle.
The silver Korando crushed the pile of bones beneath it.
Feeling the strange ride quality with the rattling bones, Lee Yong-su marveled.
"…It feels like we're at an amusement park or something."
Bang!
Clatter!
Dozens of bowling balls continued to fly steadily toward the skeletons around us.
The bowling balls returned through the retrieval portal, along with the scattered Mana Stones from the battlefield, which were sucked up as well.
Behind us, three transport trucks followed, ready to pick up isolated Awakeners.
"Ah…"
Their reactions were no different from Lee Yong-su's.
And for good reason—what was supposed to be a mission where they faced death had turned into something less thrilling than a safari adventure.
The walkie-talkie in my hand crackled to life for the first time in a while.
– We've arrived at our destination.
It was the voice of the officer in charge of the transport operation.
***
Thus, we arrived at Seoul Station.
Bang!
Thud!
Clatter!
With a series of satisfying impact sounds, we swept away the skeletons that had been wandering around the plaza of Seoul Station.
The Awakeners were gathered at the old Seoul Station building, now called 'Culture Station Seoul 284', a cultural space.
It was an old, Gothic-style building, but it appeared to be relatively safer than the fully exposed Seoul Station.
Swish.
After collecting all the bowling balls and Mana Stones that had been flying through the air, I entered the old Seoul Station building.
Around me, soldiers armed with rifles and blunt weapons exchanged hand signals, providing cover as I moved.
Apparently, the people inside had received word, as the thick doors slid open.
The people inside who opened the door brightened up.
"…!"
"…We… we're saved!"
The haggard-looking group, who had huddled together anxiously, cheered as soon as they saw the rescue team.
Although they were all Awakeners, they didn't yet possess enough combat power to protect themselves.
However, with government support and the Mana Stones they would now receive, these people would soon grow into a solid military force.
Rumble!
Dozens of people hurriedly boarded the military transport trucks.
"Retreat!"
"Retreat—!"
The squad leaders yelled at each other, urging everyone along, and I returned to my vehicle as well.
Vroom.
Lee Yong-su drove the lead car again, with the transport trucks filled with rescued personnel following closely behind.
The rescue operation had been a success.
All that remained was to reach the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters.
But things didn't go so smoothly.
Screech-!
Lee Yong-su slammed on the brakes.
With a thud, the transport trucks following us came to an abrupt halt as well.
Standing in front of us was a lone skeleton.
But it wasn't an ordinary skeleton.
"…Armor?"
It wore full-body armor, the kind you'd only see in medieval movies.
The skeleton was even riding a skeletal horse made of bones and armor.
There was no doubt about it.
This was the 'Skeleton Knight' that the operations commander had warned us to retreat from immediately upon sighting.
Thanks to that, our operation hit a snag.
But something even more surprising followed.
The knight, gazing at the pile of bones scattered across the road, it…
"…Absurdum est, cur omnes?"
It spoke.
A talking monster? I had never heard of such a thing.
"Ship."
I immediately threw a bowling ball.
Shwoooosh!
The bowling ball shot toward the creature, but…
Slice!
It was cleanly sliced in two by the blade the knight swung.
Shockingly, the severed edge of the bowling ball glowed faintly with lingering embers.
Swish!
Even as a few more flew at him…
Slash!
The result was the same.
Ratatatat!
Soldiers disembarked from their vehicles and opened fire on the knight.
Ting! Ting! Tang!
Sparks flew off its armor as bullets ricocheted harmlessly.
But the knight, seemingly unfazed, simply raised its empty eye sockets… and stared at me.
"Dicemus salve…"
From its armor, the creature pulled out—shockingly—a Mana Stone.
It clenched the Mana Stone in its bony fist.
Crack!
The stone shattered…
"…Greetings, otherworlder. I am Gawain, a Skeleton Knight who serves the Knight King."
This crazy skeleton started speaking in Korean.
Between its clattering jaws, flickers of red flame occasionally peeked through.
No matter how I looked at it, this was no ordinary skeleton.
Ting! Tang! Tingting!
Even as bullets rained down on its body, the knight stubbornly continued speaking.
"I've lived a long time, but to think I'd encounter a conjuration-type wizard in this barren land."
Then it started muttering something incomprehensible.
'…What the hell is this bastard talking about?'
"But no matter how much you dabble in telekinesis… did you seriously think you could fight by throwing magic orbs at me? In all my years, I've never seen such an ignorant wizard."
'Magic orbs…? Ah.'
The knight was staring at the bowling ball rolling on the ground.
Its black surface with red marbling.
It seemed like there was some kind of misunderstanding.
The knight continued talking.
"The Knight King is very upset. I understand the impatience in the early stages of colonization, but… we should at least maintain business ethics. Do you know how much loss I'm suffering because of you right now?"
Bang!
The knight sliced through another incoming bowling ball.
Even as he rattled on, an eerie, murderous aura steadily emanated from him.
It felt like he could charge at me any moment.
Bang!
Bang!
I fired bowling ball after bowling ball, and the knight laughed as he swung his sword.
"It's useless, I told you."
Bang!
Bang, bang!
Boom!
"…What, useless…?"
The knight suddenly swung his sword in surprise.
The number of bowling balls had started to multiply.
From the four portals, dozens—no, over a hundred bowling balls were pouring out.
The knight, startled, shouted in shock as flames flared around him.
"What is this…"
Clang!
Slash!
Thunk!
No matter how skilled the knight was, he couldn't cut down all the bowling balls flying at him simultaneously.
The ones he failed to cut smashed into his armor and his skeletal horse…
Thunk!
"Ugh!"
At last, the knight was knocked off his horse.
He quickly scrambled to his feet, fuming in rage.
"…Do you have money to burn? Wasting magic orbs like this?"
But his rant didn't last long.
Thunk!
An incoming bowling ball hit him square in the face with a satisfying sound.
Thud!
Simultaneously, a bowling ball that had flown far off earlier returned via
The sound was even more crisp and clear than when I hit him from the front—a truly strange phenomenon.
And… I had no intention of stopping the performance.
Thunk!
Thud!
This guy was tough as hell.
Not only did it deflect bullets, but even after being hit by a 16-pound bowling ball at 150 kilometers per hour, it only sustained a small scratch.
My first priority was to keep the knight at a distance.
A monster that could slice a bowling ball in half with a flaming sword.
If a creature like that got close and started swinging its blade, I could only imagine the outcome. It became clear why the operations commander had advised retreat.
But at least, I was willing to give it a try.
I may not have unlimited money, but… I had no shortage of supplies.
Thunk!
Ting!
Thud!
With
I struck it evenly from the front, back, left, and right, locking it in place.
Even though it didn't seem to take damage, it couldn't completely negate the physical impact.
The knight was stuck in place, ringing like a bell as the bowling balls repeatedly hit it.
The creature, now reduced to an unwilling musical instrument, trembled as it spoke.
Thunk! Ting! Thud!
"…You… this… bastard… I'll…!"
Sorry, but I couldn't quite make out what it was saying.
But since this was only keeping it at bay, I occasionally threw in something new to spice things up.
It was a K413 grag grenade.
Ting! Thud!
Along with the clear sound of impacts…
Boom!
…the deep bass of the grenade's explosion kept rhythm with the assault.
The knight was horrified.
"Aren't… you… supposed to be a conjurer?"
"Why do you keep saying that…"
Honestly, I was the one who was more shocked.
How tough was this crazy skeleton, anyway?
I had already detonated dozens of grenades.
Enveloped by the bowling balls, the knight was absorbing the full brunt of every explosion.
At this point, I was starting to understand.
Why even soldiers armed with rifles had no choice but to fall against this thing.
Fortunately… its durability wasn't infinite.
Unlike my fulfillment center.
Crack.
Like a chick breaking out of its shell…
At last, cracks appeared in the knight's armor.
Then…
How many more grenades did I drop after that?
Crack!
Smash!
The armor shattered into pieces, and the knight collapsed to the ground.
Covered in the fiery marbling of the bowling balls, along with real flames from the grenades, the knight muttered something.
Under the dark night sky…
It looked like a Ghost Rider, wearing broken armor.
"Wizard… don't think this is the end."
That part, strangely enough, came through clearly.
The knight fell limp.
When the flames finally died down…
Among the charred bones, there were two unusually large Mana Stones and a single red Mana Stone left behind.
****
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