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‘Got it!’
The oncoming train was sucked cleanly into the Infinite Corridor. She’d worried for a second, but thankfully it didn’t look like any monsters were riding it.
She ignored the Constellations’ reactions and immediately opened the Infinite Corridor’s stored item list.
The train had been stored in exactly the form Hyeonseong wanted.
“W-what was that just now?”
While she checked the info, the engineer asked in a startled voice.
“I’ve got something I want to test.”
“A test?”
The programmer asked, sounding confused.
“Yeah. If it works the way I think it will, we get one more useful weapon.”
Hyeonseong replied, looking out the window. When one fighter crashed, another immediately filled the gap.
‘They really don’t stop coming.’
The way they were swarming the train so precisely made it clear the central system was issuing commands.
‘So that’s why they blocked us from shutting it down.’
Tatadak
KWAANG!
Kudangtang!
In the brief moment she checked outside, it sounded like a clash had erupted on the roof. A racket rose overhead, and two smashed robots tumbled off to the left at an angle.
‘Not easy to run the test yet.’
Hyeonseong frowned as she assessed the situation.
The total number of monsters had dropped a lot, but the problem was they were scattered everywhere.
For the test, she needed them clustered tightly in one spot.
‘I need a taunt-type skill.’
Not a simple taunt—one that could bind enemies into a tight area.
‘Someone with that kind of special taunt…’
She reviewed the team’s key skills.
Unfortunately, no one had anything like that.
‘Usually you herd them while moving, or you have a dedicated herder. I’ve never seen someone with a taunt that also pins them in place.’
But herding like that on a moving train was difficult.
‘That means at least two people have to peel off to taunt. …Wait.’
Hyeonseong’s gaze drifted toward the passenger cars.
If her hunch was right, she only needed to send one person to the roof.
‘No—someone’s already up there.’
Her eyes shifted to the ceiling.
Kwon Seojin had been fighting on the roof for a while now. He was already exactly where she needed him to be.
‘And the way he’s been moving… it feels like he’s got something that can pin those things in one place.’
Hyeonseong stared upward. If Seojin were just a Ten Thousand Swords Guild member, the odds he had an unlisted skill that fit perfectly were low—one trait only gave you so many options.
So the only person worth betting on here was Seojin, whose true trait wasn’t publicly known.
‘Even if he doesn’t have the skill, he might have an item with a similar effect. Either way, I need to check.’
Decision made, Hyeonseong looked at the programmer.
“You’ve got a taunt skill that works on machine monsters, right?”
“Ah—yeah, I do.”
“Good. Stay on standby—might need it.”
With that, Hyeonseong reached for the ladder fixed to the wall.
“Huh? You’re going out?”
The programmer asked, alarmed.
“I’m checking the situation.”
The fight above sounded intense. If it wasn’t a good time to intervene, it’d be better to just contact him via terminal.
Hyeonseong opened the roof hatch and poked her head outside.
‘Let’s see where Kwon Seojin—’
KWAJIK!
Kudangtang
Pueong!
The instant she looked out, a chaotic battlefield filled her vision. Seojin was in the middle of it, swinging a glaive.
KWADEUK!
The glaive blade turned another robot into scrap.
‘In that state… it’s hard to approach from here.’
Just hanging at the hatch made balancing difficult.
If she climbed up, she’d definitely have an awkward moment.
‘And I don’t even know if I can dodge all that while keeping my footing.’
KWA-AANG!
Kwajangchang!
Even then, Seojin kept crushing robots steadily. From the moment the hatch opened until now, nearly half the robots had already fallen off the train.
‘At this point, even messaging him should work fine.’
Satisfied, Hyeonseong started to pull back down.
KKAAANG—!
A robot turned into scrap and fell—right then, Seojin’s eyes met Hyeonseong’s.
The moment they locked eyes, Seojin turned away. The glaive traced a huge horizontal arc.
KWAJIK!
Kwajangchang!
White, neutral aura flashed, blasting several more robots away.
Once the roof monsters thinned out, Seojin sprinted toward Hyeonseong.
“What is it?”
Seojin asked, lowering his posture.
“I’ve got something to ask you.”
“Me?”
Seojin looked genuinely puzzled.
“Yeah. I need a taunt skill with a herding effect—something that can pull them into one spot. And you feel like the kind of guy who might have it.”
Hyeonseong answered and watched Seojin’s reaction. Seojin’s eyes widened.
“I’ve got an item with a similar effect.”
Right on cue, the answer Hyeonseong had expected.
“Perfect. We’re going to need it soon.”
“If you need it now, that means…”
“Yeah. I need those things gathered as tightly as possible in one place.”
Hyeonseong looked up at the sky. Beyond the defensive barriers the mage teammates had set, machine monsters were still targeting the train.
“If you want as many as possible… I’ll need some help.”
Seojin said, still staring upward.
“If you need taunt support, I can help.”
Hyeonseong replied immediately. Seojin’s eyes flicked down through the open hatch—toward the programmer. He’d understood.
“Then I’ll try. The monsters up here are mostly cleared, too.”
Seojin said, looking back. Hyeonseong followed his gaze.
Sure enough, the roof had been cleaned up significantly, and she could see roof-running teammates more clearly now.
“I’ll tell you when the timing’s right.”
After that, Hyeonseong dropped back into the engine compartment.
The moment she landed, she reached for the microphone.
“Quick announcement.”
As soon as she spoke, the supports maintaining protective buffs reacted—meaning the broadcast was coming through clearly.
“We’re about to try a tactic. If it works, we can shake off a large number of monsters. If it doesn’t… even then, we’ll at least have a way to bundle them and wipe them out in one go.”
On the cabin monitor, teammates looked confused.
“Starting now, Lee Seona and Kwon Seojin will funnel the monsters surrounding the train into one point. When you attack, keep that in mind. That’s all!”
Broadcast finished, Hyeonseong turned to the programmer.
“I’m asking you for what I mentioned earlier.”
Hyeonseong said to the programmer and Lee Seona. Seona nodded and began preparing her skill.
‘And I need to contact the other side, too.’
She pulled out the hunter terminal and sent Seojin a message.
The reply came instantly. She tossed the terminal back into the Infinite Corridor and stared forward.
Monsters were still attacking from all directions, targeting both train and track.
She was protecting the engine compartment and rails as best as she could, but she didn’t know how long they could hold.
‘Plenty of attacks have already grazed the passenger cars.’
They still needed to endure a while longer to reach the command center.
So this was the moment to try a strategy that could flip the board.
‘…Did it start?’
Soon, Hyeonseong noticed a change in monster movement.
The ones firing wildly began drifting toward the front of the train.
‘Not all of them, as expected. Looks like more A-rank and above didn’t get hooked.’
Given Seona’s Awakener rank and how wide-area taunt skills worked, that was unavoidable. If anything, pulling most of the lower ranks while excluding many high-ranks was impressive.
And it didn’t matter if Seona couldn’t taunt everything.
The monsters she couldn’t pull were being taunted by the Awakeners running on the roof.
‘I didn’t even ask them because they were already fighting up there… looks like they found a bit of breathing room.’
The monsters drawn by the team’s taunts gathered into the open air to the right of the train’s nose.
When the cluster was decent—something was thrown at the swarm.
It detonated, and yellow lightning streaks spread like a net through the packed group.
‘That’s… the taunt skill that gets a bonus effect against machine monsters, isn’t it?’
Hyeonseong recognized the shape.
‘And of all things, it’s a perfect hard-counter item…’
Maybe it was coincidence, but it still felt unsettling.
They kept getting exactly the item they needed at exactly the right time—how could it not?
‘…Still, this isn’t the time to interrogate that.’
She’d worry about what was suspicious after they shut this cursed dungeon down.
Hyeonseong focused on the monsters bound by Seojin’s item.
‘A little more. Just a little more…’
They were clustering well, but the spacing was still too wide. They needed to tighten.
‘Just a bit more, and—there. Got it!’
And not long after, the perfect timing arrived.
The moment the monsters were packed as tightly as she wanted, Hyeonseong opened the Infinite Corridor outside the train.
Kiiing—
The stored train shot out of the corridor mouth on its own.
With a deafening roar, it launched straight toward the monster swarm.
KWAAAAAAANG—!
The accelerating train smashed into the pack without mercy.
[‘The Nameless Technician’ is horrified.][‘Minerva of Wisdom’ doubts its own eyes.]system-end
KWA-AANG!
KWAANG!
Some machine monsters detonated on impact.
That explosion triggered chain detonations among portions of the lower-rank machines.
Even those that weren’t caught in the blast weren’t safe—many suffered heavy damage.
Every time Hyeonseong checked a surviving unit’s status, it was afflicted with some kind of debuff.
Kuuwoong—
The thrown train crashed far off into the city blocks.
Several monsters that had been shoved along with it were pinned under the wreckage where it fell.
Constellation messages, sparse until now, surged in all at once the moment the train crashed.
Some liked the result. Some didn’t.
“Yes—‘Truth That Made the Plague God Kneel’! Thank you so much for the sponsorship!”
People were right beside her, but she couldn’t ignore a big sponsorship amount after so long. Hyeonseong thanked the Constellation loudly.
“……”
While Hyeonseong checked the messages, Seona and the engineer stared out the window with blank expressions.
When she looked at them, their stunned faces made it clear they hadn’t imagined something like this.
‘Either way, it worked exactly like I hoped.’
Hyeonseong looked toward the city area where the train had crashed. It had performed even better than expected.
‘How long until we arrive—twenty, thirty minutes? If things go well, we might get to do that one more time.’
If it worked, you used it until it stopped working. Naturally. Hyeonseong swallowed another oncoming train from the opposite track into the Infinite Corridor.
“Focus on what’s ahead.”
She told the engineer, who was still dazed. The engineer jolted and returned to driving.
After sweeping away a large chunk of monsters in one blow, the rest became much easier. The ambush continued, but the density of attacks dropped.
‘They’re wary of that kind of hit now.’
Hyeonseong clicked her tongue as she checked the sharply reduced monster count. It didn’t look like she’d get another chance to repeat the same trick before reaching the command center.
‘Still—getting breathing room is a win.’
With the lower density, the cabin teams handled the scattered attacks like before. Their defenses clearly had more slack now.
By any reasonable standard, this was far better than being forced to throw trains again. There was no need to be greedy.
‘Then… is this the time to check that again?’
Hyeonseong opened the Infinite Corridor and pulled out an item.
The captain’s diary she’d found back in the battleship.
‘Not sure there’ll still be anything useful at this point… but I should at least finish what I started.’
She opened the diary at once.
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