Heukwol Auction House (21)

‘Then they’ll become even more obsessed with overtaking us and surrounding us now.’

As she ran while pulling the group along, Hyeonseong thought. If their destination was the entrance, then from the pursuers’ position, they naturally had to respond that way.

‘If possible, it’d be nice if they blocked us right when we’re about to reach the hole.’

Of course, even if they blocked them earlier than that, there were plenty of ways to solve it. Hyeonseong continued running toward the temporary wall with the group.

“Shoot!”

“Kill them!”

The enemies chasing Hyeonseong shouted and fired attacks at random. Every time an attack flew in, Hyeonseong defended using Infinite Corridor and various skill cards.

“Th-that’s my skill!”

“Damn it, that cursed skill-stealing…….”

Each time she used some of the skill cards, resentful shouts could be heard from behind her.

She had only used the cards as they came to hand and as the situation required, but it seemed those were skills she had just swallowed with Infinite Corridor.

‘I unintentionally pulled off one hell of a taunt.’

Hyeonseong felt reluctant, but at the same time, she thought it was a good thing. The more people were provoked by the skill cards Hyeonseong used, the more the enemy’s average judgment would fall.

‘When blood rushes to your head, it gets hard to form a proper strategy.’

Hyeonseong identified the skill cards that made the enemies especially angry and used them for defense whenever she had a chance. As she provoked the enemies and ran here and there like that, they soon drew close to the hole opened in the temporary wall.

When Hyeonseong’s group got closer to the temporary wall, even the enemies who had fallen for the taunt and had been foolishly chasing them seemed to come to their senses. The enemies who had been chasing almost as one lump attempted to split up again.

One group changed direction and tried to overtake Hyeonseong’s group. The remaining group chased from behind while continuing to attempt attacks. It seemed they were trying to surround and pressure them from the front and back.

‘That’s right, come just a little farther forward.’

Hyeonseong did not panic. At this point, it did not matter much even if some of the enemies blocked the front.

‘Because I can just push them away.’

It was when the enemies who had attempted to overtake them were exactly blocking the hole opened in the temporary wall.

Hyeonseong opened Infinite Corridor.

Then, from within it, the battering ram that had been waiting with its inertia preserved burst out.

“Run!”

As soon as she released the battering ram, Hyeonseong ran after it. Haesu and the Awakened also reflexively ran after Hyeonseong.

“Uh, uh……?”

The enemies who faced the heavy battering ram that suddenly popped out were flustered. And that became their fatal mistake.

Thud—

“Urgh!”

The battering ram pushed away the enemies in front as they were. The enemies it hit did not die, but they were knocked away with considerable injuries and status abnormalities.

After shoving aside the enemies, the battering ram flew through the hole opened in the temporary wall. The enemy who had been holding his ground in front of the hole was also struck by the battering ram and collapsed.

‘As expected of something that broke an S-rank wall, its effect is certain.’

Hyeonseong followed the path opened by the battering ram and left the wall area.

“Ughhh…….”

“No! Catch them!”

The enemies who had been hit by the battering ram and fallen, along with the enemies waiting in front of the door, hurriedly tried to catch Hyeonseong’s group.

‘Not a chance, you bastards.’

Hyeonseong searched among the skill cards she had taken out for a large-army, wide-area attack skill. It was a degraded version with a narrower range than the original, but in a limited space like this, it could be used plenty well.

Rumble……

Kwa-gwang—!

The skill card Hyeonseong activated summoned lightning. The enemies gathered around the door and some of the enemies chasing them were swept away by a mass of falling lightning.

Bang bang bang.

Thwack.

The Awakened following behind Hyeonseong also did not stay still. The Awakened dealt with the enemies who came close.

The combat-type Awakened used their weapons and skills to take down enemies. The non-combat-type Awakened picked up pipes or enemy weapons they had grabbed while fleeing and swung them.

Shaking off the enemies like that, Hyeonseong’s group ran toward the warehouse entrance.

‘I should take that back for now too.’

As they fled, she did not forget to retrieve the battering ram abandoned far away.

Seeing that its form remained intact, it was an item that could be used at least one more time. Throwing something like that away was impossible for Hyeonseong.

“Catch them somehow!”

“Damn it, that damned Infinite Corridor……!”

“Don’t waste skills for no reason!”

“Block their path first!”

The enemies chasing behind shouted noisily. Since their ranged attacks kept being blocked by Hyeonseong’s Infinite Corridor, the atmosphere was filled with venom.

‘If they’re angry, I’m even more grateful.’

No matter what they cursed from behind, Hyeonseong did not answer. She merely opened Infinite Corridor above their heads.

Pung——

“Hey, you crazy! That’s the bomb we threw earlier!”

“That’s why I told you not to throw bombs carelessly……!”

A roaring response of support came back to Hyeonseong’s answer.

“Wow…….”

“Why, do you have something to say?”

“No.”

At Hyeonseong’s reluctant question, Haesu answered with a serious face.

“Anyway, Ye Hyeonyeong really is all right, isn’t she?”

Haesu asked, as though changing the subject.

“She is all right. I haven’t gotten any separate contact either.”

“What if it’s such a big problem that she can’t…….”

“Then there’s a being who would contact me instead, and there’s been no contact from that side either. So don’t worry about that side.”

Hyeonseong answered Haesu firmly. She did not particularly think that a problem would happen to Hyeonyeong either. But if, by one chance in ten thousand, a problem did occur, “Master of Ten Thousand Swords” would have sent a message.

‘If that side is as quiet as usual, then it means the situation isn’t much different from usual.’

It was an attitude others might think of as cold.

However, from Hyeonseong’s position, it was a reaction she could show precisely because she truly trusted Hyeonyeong.

It was when Hyeonseong’s group turned between shelves and fled. A Constellation message that seemed to warn of something flew in once again.

‘Is it talking about this side this time? Trying to smash everything means…….’

Hyeonseong’s gaze immediately turned toward the shelves standing to the left and right.

‘If they want to block the road, knocking these over would be effective.’

Though they were shelves without back panels, if objects this large fell, they would definitely get in the way of running.

‘I didn’t eat them earlier because I didn’t really need to……. What should I do?’

The tactic of knocking over shelves was not threatening to Hyeonseong at all. Rather, she could even choose from several ways to evade it.

‘As expected, taking them altogether is better than just blocking them.’

Her hesitation did not last long. Hyeonseong immediately swallowed the shelves standing to the left and right of their path with Infinite Corridor.

‘I’ll sell them used, or if they don’t sell, I’ll sell them to a scrapyard.’

She pretended not to see the messages calling her a thief and passed them over.

Rumble……

Thooom……

The sound of heavy objects falling could be heard in the distance. She could tell what had happened without looking.

‘At least they only knocked down one side.’

It seemed they lacked the leeway to touch the shelves on the opposite side too.

‘Well, after using skill cards like that, their fighting power should have fallen below half.’

Every time a card containing a plausible skill was consumed, it felt like such a waste she could die. Therefore, they needed to pay enough for that value.

“Uh, uh, that……!”

Haesu screamed at the shelf that was about to fall over Hyeonseong’s group. With a calm face, Hyeonseong opened Infinite Corridor and swallowed the falling shelf.

“Damn it!”

“This won’t work, just attack!”

When their attempt to block the road also failed, the enemies tried direct attacks again. It seemed they thought that if they split the directions of their attacks, this side would not be able to block them all either.

But that was a clear miscalculation. Hyeonseong opened Infinite Corridor at a point where it could block both attacks at the same time.

‘If you wanted to split up and attack, you should have attacked from completely opposite directions.’

Even if they split their directions halfway, the attacks would ultimately converge at one point. If so, she could defend easily just by spreading Infinite Corridor widely.

“Aaagh! Seriously!”

“That damned skill……!”

This time as well, when every attack was blocked without exception, curses erupted among the enemies again. Hyeonseong ignored all the curses with an indifferent face.

‘It feels about time for Hyeonyeong to have come down.’

It was when Hyeonseong was about to take out her mobile phone while ignoring the enemies’ shouts.

Kwaaaang……

From the direction of the warehouse entrance, the sound of something exploding and breaking could faintly be heard.

Hyeonseong instinctively realized that Hyeonyeong had arrived.

“Looks like she arrived. Let’s hang in there just a little longer.”

Hyeonseong said to the group. The Awakened, whose faces were full of exhaustion, nodded silently.

Pung.

“Aaagh!”

Crash.

“Urgh……!”

The closer they ran toward the entrance, the clearer the sounds became. Now Hyeonseong could also see the scene of the commotion happening in front.

‘She’s full of energy, as expected.’

When Hyeonyeong’s figure could be seen faintly, Hyeonseong raised her hand in greeting.

Perhaps recognizing that sight, Hyeonyeong ran toward Hyeonseong’s group. It was after swinging her sword once more at an enemy trying to block her path.

“Are you okay?”

As soon as they reunited with the group, Hyeonyeong asked.

“For now, roughly……. The antidote?”

“Here.”

At Hyeonseong’s question, Hyeonyeong took ampoules out of her pocket. Even though she had swung her sword like that, the ampoules had not broken and were safe.

“It matches the poison as a set. Come here.”

As soon as she received the ampoules, Hyeonseong called the Awakened.

While Hyeonyeong kept the enemies chasing them in check, she administered the antidote to the Awakened together with Haesu.

“Everyone, check your status abnormalities.”

“Uh, they’re gone!”

At Hyeonseong’s words, the Awakened checked their status windows and answered in bright voices. Now the Awakened could also safely leave the auction house.

“Then now we just have to get out of this place, and it’s over…….”

As they left the warehouse, Hyeonseong thought it over.

‘The return scroll we received together with the entry ticket can only be used by up to five people.’

However, Hyeonseong’s current group numbered eight people, including the rescued Awakened. They could not all move with just one scroll.

‘……Come to think of it.’

Hyeonseong’s gaze turned toward the A-rank Awakened. That guy had clearly been a guest who had received an entry ticket and come here.

“Hey.”

Hyeonseong immediately asked the A-rank Awakened if he had a return scroll.

“Sc-scroll? I’d have to check to know…….”

He hurriedly searched his bag. And soon, he shook his head with a despairing face. It seemed the auction house had separately removed and retrieved the return scroll when confiscating his belongings.

‘It doesn’t seem like the others have one either……. This is troublesome.’

While running through the corridor outside the warehouse, Hyeonseong quickly looked around. In the corridor, there were also several guests who had been chasing them earlier to kill Hyeonseong’s group.

‘If we search these people’s pockets, maybe one will come out.’

Then Hyeonseong glanced behind her. The enemies who had stubbornly survived were doggedly chasing Hyeonseong’s group.

‘Are those the only enemies chasing us?’

If so, buying time was easy. Hyeonseong opened Infinite Corridor to block the corridor.

“Search these people’s pockets. A spatial movement scroll might come out.”

“What?”

At Hyeonseong’s words, Haesu looked down at the dead guests with a horrified face.

“S-so you’re telling us to l-l-loot corpses right now……?”

“Th-that’s a bit…….”

Haesu and several Awakened expressed reluctance.

“We just have to check the guests’ pockets, right?”

Meanwhile, Hyeonyeong asked in a calm voice. Before an answer even returned, Hyeonyeong had already begun turning over pockets one by one.

“For now.”

Hyeonseong answered briefly. At that answer, Hyeonyeong nodded and focused on searching the pockets.

Among the Awakened watching Hyeonyeong do that, two or three glanced around, then quietly joined in searching the pockets. They were the young Awakened that Hyeonseong’s group had rescued first, and the Awakened who used twin pistols.

“Umm…….”

Seeing that, Haesu groaned in distress. It seemed her heart was not at ease after seeing a child search a corpse.

“……Ah, I don’t know anymore.”

In the end, Haesu tightly shut her eyes. Then she joined in searching the pockets.

Not long after the four of them searched the pockets like that—

“Uh, I-I found one.”

The Awakened who used twin pistols found one return scroll. It was a scroll identical to the one Hyeonseong had, allowing five people to return to Sinuiju Free Market at the same time.

“Then now, from this damned place…….”

It was before Hyeonseong could even finish saying escape.

At a glance, an ominous message flew before Hyeonseong’s eyes.