A Legion Grows From My Smartphone

Chapter 31

“Are you sure we can attack?!”

“Idiot! The detector is going off!”

“B-but they just look like ordinary students…”

It was their first real combat.

Despite their nervousness and panic, they had to move.

“Didn’t you hear?! The target doesn’t care about age or gender. If you’re scared, back off, rookie.”

“N-no, that’s not it!”

A slightly frail-looking middle-aged man stepped out of the car, visibly irritated.

The young man next to him frantically followed.

‘I don’t care. I just do as I’m told, get the drug, and that’s it. Just focus on that.’

The man furrowed his rough face, gritted his teeth, and spat out the cigarette he was smoking before activating something on his wrist.

“Ugh…”

As a sharp pain coursed through his wrist, a blue wave began to envelop his body.

It was the bestowed item he had received.

Soon, his entire body, including his face, was covered in a nano suit, and a blue cross-shaped light gleamed from his face.

“What the heck…”

“What is that?”

Ignoring the murmurs of the onlookers, he walked straight toward the target.

His breathing grew heavier, but he forced himself to ignore it.

From the suit’s split thigh compartment, he pulled out a weapon.

It was an advanced high-tech weapon capable of firing bullets far more powerful than a standard handgun.

‘I can do this.’

He aimed it at the target.

The detector indicated the target was a mother and daughter heading home from the parking lot.

He had no personal grudge against them, not even knowing their names.

But for what he wanted, he had to kill them.

“Mom!!”

Just as he pulled the trigger, the high school girl instinctively turned her head and shouted, her golden eyes flashing.

“Ugh, what is this?!”

Startled, he pulled the trigger repeatedly.

The translucent golden barrier emanating from the high school girl sparked as it deflected the bullets.

Screams erupted from the surroundings.

They couldn’t afford to drag this out.

“Idiot! Shoot them already!”

He yelled at his companion behind him.

Fortunately, his partner snapped out of his stupor and quickly prepared.

“I don’t care anymore!”

As he approached, the young man, also clad in a suit, gritted his teeth and pulled out a high-caliber weapon, aiming it at the high school girl and firing.

The large-caliber armor-piercing bullet tore through the air, shattering the golden barrier upon impact.

The barrier could not withstand it this time.

With the sound of shattering glass, the barrier broke, and blood sprayed everywhere.

Squinting, he checked the fallen bodies.

“Damn it.”

“M-mom…”

But the shot had failed.

In that fleeting moment, the mother had thrown herself to save her child.

The daughter, drenched in her mother’s blood, sat dazed under the horrific sight of her mother’s corpse, whose head had been brutally destroyed.

“I’m sorry, kid. You have to die for my child to live.”

He raised his handgun, aiming it at her.

But he never pulled the trigger.

“Guh…”

“Run now!”

A large brick, thrown with great force, struck him directly on the head.

Thanks to the suit, the impact was minimal, but he was still a rookie.

While he was momentarily flustered, another high school girl, pale with fear, grabbed her panicked friend and dragged her away.

“You idiot!!”

“Eek…”

Finally coming to his senses, he hurled a torrent of curses at his companion, who had failed to intervene.

Time was running out.

They had to deal with the target quickly before the police arrived.

“Just get ready to escape! I’ll finish this and catch up!”

Giving up on his partner, he pushed off the ground with tremendous force.

Thanks to the suit, he could exert superhuman leg strength.

The built-in artificial intelligence tracked the target heading toward a nearby building, assisted by her friend.

‘Annoying pests!’

Grinding his teeth, he pulled out a new weapon and pursued them.

He had already killed once.

Would a second time be any harder? Kill. That was his only thought.

*

“Mom… Mom…”

“I know. I saw it too. But please, get a hold of yourself, Yoon Ah!”

Kang Do-Yeon barely kept her composure.

Dragging the nearly catatonic Oh Yoon-Ah, she desperately ran for her life.

“Somebody help us! Please help! There’s a murderer!”

“W-what… Aah!”

She ran up the stairs of the mixed-use apartment building, screaming for help.

A few startled people, seeing the blood-soaked Oh Yoon-Ah, recoiled in shock and hurried to call an ambulance and the police.

‘At least there are people here.’

For a moment, Kang Do-Yeon felt a brief sense of relief.

But that thought was devastatingly naive.

“Ahhh!”

“W-what the… Aaaah!”

Her vision shook violently.

The blue-suited figure smashed through a third-floor glass window in a single leap, sending nearby people flying with a kick.

“I told you, I have no grudge against you. But you have to die here.”

A chilling blade extended from his wrist, glowing blue as energy coursed through it.

‘No.’

Kang Do-Yeon’s limits finally broke.

She wanted to resist, but her body wouldn’t respond.

Paralyzed by panic, her teeth chattered, and her breath grew ragged.

Her decision to intervene earlier, to pull Oh Yoon-Ah out of danger, wasn’t just a simple, emotional act.

If they had targeted Oh Yoon-Ah, a Player, it meant her brother, Kang Shin-Woo, could also be in danger.

She had calculated that saving Oh Yoon-Ah might allow her to reach out to Cha Jiyeon and report the discovery of a unit from a different faction.

“Ah…”

But dying here would render it all meaningless.

Slumping to the ground, Kang Do-Yeon let out a faint sigh as the blue flash hurtled toward her.

“Guh…”

“Y-Yoon Ah…”

The blade was about to slash her.

The assailant was hit by a powerful shockwave and flew backward.

Next to her stood Oh Yoon-Ah, holding a strange staff with a pale face.

“Run… let’s run.”

Their eyes met.

Then, they nodded simultaneously.

They could no longer afford to be complacent.

‘This is war.’

Gritting her teeth, Kang Do-Yeon used her superior physical abilities to drag Oh Yoon-Ah higher up.

There were multiple exits anyway.

They just needed to stay hidden and wait quietly before escaping this place.

“I won’t let you get away.”

“Kyaaa!”

But the opponent was too strong.

Even though they locked the Emergency Exit, the Plasma Blade sliced the thick steel door in half with ease.

“Ugh… Aaaah!”

In that fleeting moment, Kang Do-Yeon, cornered in a dead-end, threw a desperate punch.

Her small fist struck the unsuspecting opponent right in the face.

“Urgh.”

With a grunt, the Suit absorbed the impact of the blow.

Ignoring the reinforcement of her body through the Curse came at the cost of the opponent losing their sight.

“Just hold on a little longer! I’ll figure something out!”

Oh Yoon-Ah activated another engraved Curse using the Sacrificial Staff.

Meanwhile, Kang Do-Yeon fiercely kicked the opponent in the groin as they staggered.

The sight of the enemy grabbing their vital spot and screaming gave a glimmer of hope.

[Automatic Counterattack Execution]

Until now.

“Huh?”

As she gained confidence and threw another punch, she blinked.

Something flew, spraying blood.

She gasped as the blood splattered on her face.

It was undoubtedly her arm, still clad in her school uniform sleeve.

“Ah…”

But before she could even register that her arm had been severed, her body crumbled.

The joint of one knee, which had been kicked earlier, couldn’t withstand the shock and was torn apart, spraying blood.

The Cross-Shaped Eyes of the Suit glowed red as its movements shifted.

“I’m sorry, Do-Yeon…”

Seeing Kang Do-Yeon collapse, Oh Yoon-Ah muttered blankly and canceled the Curse.

The cost of canceling the Curse was overload.

Oh Yoon-Ah chose self-destruction, releasing the concentrated Energy in an uncontrollable explosion toward the enemy.

*

[The Swarm chose to retreat strategically. Those creatures don’t die even when killed. Moreover, their combat capabilities are exceptional.]

“But if we keep pressing, it feels like we can win?”

[You’re right. After all, this battle was merely a Reconnaissance Battle to gauge each other’s strength. What comes next…]

The voice was cut off.

Suddenly, a phone rang.

I thought it might be spam and considered hanging up, but I decided to answer it anyway.

If it was strange, I could just hang up immediately.

“Yes, who is this…”

And as I casually answered the phone, I froze in place.

Even as the person on the other end urgently spoke, I couldn’t believe my ears.

[…What are you hesitating for? Run to the hospital now!]

Until the guy shouted at me, I remained rooted in place.

By the time I regained my senses, I was already in a taxi heading to the hospital without realizing it.

“How… how could this…”

[Pull yourself together. It’s a dangerous situation.]

I was in such a panic that I couldn’t think straight.

Dangerous situation? Of course, it was dangerous.

The thing I feared might happen had actually occurred!

“But what’s the point? This is my second time. My father died like this too. If I lose her too… I won’t be able to endure it.”

Had I lost my mind? A bitter laugh escaped me.

Lying unconscious in front of me, my younger sibling was nothing more than a lifeless body.

Arms, legs, even the face—everything was gone.

Compared to Oh Yoon-Ah, who was also unconscious, the condition was far worse.

The horrifying sight made my eyes tremble uncontrollably.

[No, you can do it.]

“What…?”

[Look at the screen. Believe in it. Believe in the Swarm, the masterpiece you created.]

The screen shifted.

The Lowest Level of the Labyrinth.

The origin of everything, and where the Swarm’s Brain resided.

[The Swarm intends to repay its debt to you.]

There, the Swarm Soldiers had gathered in formation.

Their Red Glow seemed to pierce through the screen, as if they were looking directly at me.