Second Life Ranker Vol 2 Chapter 14

(Volume 2, Chapter 14)

Chapter 39 . Akasha’s Snake (7)

The whole forest was thrown into utter chaos in no time . Flames were devouring the woods and monsters were pouring out like a swarm of zombies .

Kieeek! Kiek!

"Fuck! What the hell is this?"

"I’ve never even heard of anything like this… Wasn’t Arangdan  supposed to keep things like this from happening?”

Most of the players still in Section E had been wiped out within minutes in their search for Tokens and Hidden Pieces . Whether it was attacking with a sword or defending with a shield, none seemed to work in front of this monster outbreak .

At times, the monsters appeared in groups, the next moment they had already split up . The players had to deal with attacks coming from all sides at the same time . Even those who organized themselves in battle formations with other players found themselves adrift when facing the swarm of monsters and were soon swept away .

No matter where one looked at, scenes such as Goblins chopping off players’ heads, or Trolls biting player into pieces could be seen .

This must be what hell looked like .

A few players managed to run away with their lives intact . But even so, it seemed they wouldn’t be able to outrun the monsters that were everywhere they looked .

It was unbelievable how so many monsters had remained hidden in Section E .

The flames made matters even worse . No matter where they went, they were quickly met with a sea of fire engulfing the forest and caught in between the fire and the monsters .

“Somebody tell me what’s going on!"

"Fuuuck!"

Players who had thought of it as a simple event of the tutorial were now screaming at their desperate situation . They belatedly realized the crisis that had struck Section E .

‘Collect 99 Tokens to ascertain your qualifications . ’

To ascertain one's qualifications . It was a task that required them to risk their lives, just like in any other section .

Cleaving through the waves of monsters, players began to rack their brains in order to find a way to survive . Those who had a team banded themselves together, and solo players united with other solo players .

In the meantime,

*Pat*

There was a shadowy figure darting between the trees with muffled footsteps .

*Swish*

It was Yeon-woo .

[You have acquired 12 Tokens . ]

[You have acquired 4 Tokens . ]

[You have . . . . ]

···

While remaining stealthy thanks to Shunpo, he read the movements of the monsters with his strengthened senses and killed the monsters that were already in their last breath . As a result, he was able to accumulate Tokens at a rapid pace .

‘Is this what they call,’

Yeon-woo laughed coldly .

'Reaping what others have sown?’

Recalling the phrase his troops used back in the military, Yeon-woo quickly headed back to where the Orcs were .

Their destination was the snake’s den . It was time to take out Akasha's Snake .

*    *    *

The Orc village was turned upside down .

"Chwik! The Lizardmen started a war! The Lizardmen crossed the north barrier!"

The 32nd tribe’s Orc Chief that was in charge of guarding the north brought a report to the Orc King .

The Orc King gave an angry frown .

"Why would they start a war all of a sudden!"

"I don't know! They said we killed their king! King! Help us!"

"Chwiiik! Those crazy reptiles!"

The Orc King was furious .

Out of all times, they had to come right in the middle of the revival ceremony .

He was already angry for having missed the humans who killed their god . And now this was happening .

Still, the Orc King tried to remain calm . He couldn’t let this ruin the ceremony . Rather, he could think of it as having more food to feed their god .

"Chwik! You, go tell the Shaman! We’re going to have a lot of food ready for our god! And we'll be coming back with it soon!"

"Roger, chwik!"

After giving orders to one of his minions, the Orc King pulled out a sword that was hanging on the wall and headed outside . It was the sword that made him the greatest warrior of their race . As long as he had this in his hands, victory would always be his .

However, when he stepped on the battlefield, his excitement was quickly replaced with shock . It was not only the Lizardmen, the battlefield was also filled with other monsters .

Far up in the broad horizon, he could see all the monsters rushing towards them . Only then did the Orc King notice that something was wrong .

It was a trap .

A heinous trap that had plunged all the monsters in the forest into chaos .

But the Orc King wasn’t intelligent enough to think that far ahead . After all he had ended up having to face the monster outbreak head on .

"Build a wall, chwik!"

"Chwiiik! Bring the handcarts, anything! We have to stop them, chwik!"

The Orcs made their best efforts trying to stop the monsters, but things turned out contrary to their hopes . When the monsters broke through their improvised walls, they could only helplessly see their village being destroyed .

But still, the Orcs fought relentlessly against the monster outbreak .

Corpses of monsters piled up on the desert . Blood flowed along the ground dying it red .

And on the bloody field,

"Farak!"

"Kranum!"

The Goblin King and the Orc King, they clashed against each other as they called their opponents' names .

*Kung*

The ground caved in as their auras swept across the area .

*    *    *

'Those two must be fighting right now . ’

On his way to Akasha’s Snake Tunnel, Yeon-woo turned towards the sound of the collision that rang from afar . He didn’t have to check to know what the source of the sound was .

The Goblin King, Kranum, and the Orc King, Farak . Those two boss monsters were in fact both as strong as Hargan .

Kranum, the ruler of the west and Farak, the ruler of the east . They hated and looked down on each other as if they were mortal enemies .

It is said that Kranum disliked Farak for his ignorance, while Farak despised him and thought of Goblins as an inferior race . Both thought that being compared with one another was humiliating for themselves .

And both monsters were strong enough to easily crush players . For this reason, there were quite a few players who died trying to kill them to gather Karma .

It was a fight between two monsters of such caliber, it wasn’t going to end so quickly . And without the death of either of the leaders, the war would only be prolonged . The damage would grow, and madness would continue .

And that’s exactly what Yeon-woo wanted .

Therefore, he needed to bring Akasha's Snake as soon as possible .

To this place full of food .

[You have entered 'Akasha's Snake Tunnel’] .

Greeted by a familiar message, Yeon-woo once again traveled into the tunnel .

There he found,

Kaah!

"Chwik! Oh God! Please . . . Kuk!"

"Chwiiik! God is angry! God is mad!"

"God is punishing us, chwik!"

"Ru, run away, chwik!"

Just like the outside, the tunnel was in confusion . It seemed like Akasha's Snake had gone out of control .

Now five meters in size, the snake had gone berserk and kept devouring the Orcs . The altar was completely destroyed . The Orc Shaman who was supposed to be leading the ceremony was nowhere to be seen .

The Orcs, as faithful believers, tried to calm down Akasha's Snake, but it didn’t work . Some tried to run away, but Akasha's Snake never missed its prey . Whenever they tried to run away, the snake would spit out its venom and melt them, and if they stayed close, they still got eaten up . There was no way to run away from Akasha’s Snake .

‘I knew it . ’

Yeon-woo looked at the eyes of Akasha’s Snake, now red with madness .

'It’s intoxicated with blood . ’

Akasha’s Snake was not some sort of a great being to be served as a god . It was nothing but a big and strong snake driven by hunger and thirst . And currently, the snake was very hungry from its resurrection .

If so, what would happen it smelled the bloodshed outside the tunnel?

'There’s no way it would stay calm . '

This was his goal in the first place . If it wasn’t drunk, he was planning on making it drunk .

But it seemed to have worked a lot better than he had expected . Thankfully, there was nothing else he needed to do for his plan . So he silently watched the situation .

Kaaah!

When Akasha's Snake devoured the last remaining Orc, it let out a big shriek towards the ceiling .

The snake swelled up to about 10 meters, and had blood and pieces of flesh all over its mouth .

But as if that wasn’t enough, the cry continued for a long time .

It rammed its head into the wall a couple of times, and suddenly made a hole in the ground, digging downwards with incredible speed .

'It’s moving . '

Yeon-woo kept focused concealing his presence in case Akasha's Snake noticed him . At the same time, he tried to track down the snake using his senses .

It was swimming across the ground, heading towards the outside . The direction was southwest . It was the very place where the monsters were tangled with each other .

Yeon-woo then sprang up to his feet .

The snake's den without Akasha’s Snake . The moment he was waiting for had finally arrived .

'It will take quite a while for Akasha's Snake to eat up all the monsters on the battlefield . But still, I can't waste my time . ’

A hidden piece wasn’t called a ‘hidden’ piece for nothing

Considering it was the place where Akasha's Snake lived, there surely must be something important hidden deep inside the tunnel . Even his brother mentioned something like this in his diary .

There was always a reason for a hidden piece to be where it was .

Akasha’s Snake has a difficulty unfittingly hard for players in the tutorial . But there should be a reason as to why it was there . But not only was I, nor did Galliard, who has been chasing the snake for a long time, able to find the reason .

However, if there are things I can tell for sure,

Is that the reason isn’t going to be something small,

And that in the whole history of The Tower, no one has ever found said reason .

A place that no one had ever found in the long history of The Tower . What if he could be the first one to find it?

Yeon-woo landed in the middle of the cavity as he calmed down his pounding heart, and he cast Draconic Eyes . He scanned the whole tunnel looking for the nest that Akasha's Snake used to rest .

‘Considering the habits of a snake, there must be a place where it can relax from outside threat . ’

At that moment his Draconic Eyes detected something .  

There was a narrow passageway along a wall . Of course, ‘narrow’ only meant small compared to the size of Akasha’s Snake, but it was still wide enough in Yeon-woo’s perspective .

Yeon-woo quickly used Shunpo and passed through the passageway, going further down into the deepest part of the snake's den .

Just then,

*Whoosh*

Suddenly, a chilly wind came blowing from the inside .

Thinking he was nearing the secret, he immediately set his foot towards the source of the wind .

And there, Yeon-woo had found it .

'So, this is it . '

A scene quite different from the barren wilderness outside .

A piercing wind was whirling along the wall, and the floor was covered with soft snow and slippery ice . And instead of stalactites, there were icicles hanging from the ceiling .

It was truly a scene that would draw admiration from anyone who saw it .

And in the center, there sat a little boy that looked of about five years old .

'I think I found ‘the reason’ . '

Chapter end