SWNOVELXO Chapter 155
Chapter 155. Rescue
While Min Yu-ri went to call the healer for the expeditionary force.
Yoo Ji-han brought the injured people outside the nest.
About half were unconscious and merely breathing.
‘It seems they’ve only been injured enough to avoid dying.’
Their bodies bore gashes from sharp objects on their limbs and necks.
They couldn’t move their whole body, and with injuries to their necks, they couldn’t even make a sound.
Yoo Ji-han recognized that these were wounds from a bird’s claws and beak.
They probably did this to keep humans fresh without killing them.
Tsu Tsu Tsu—
Kim Si-hu used magic to focus on staunching the severe wounds.
Although full recovery was impossible, simple first aid like closing gaping wounds was feasible.
After watching this for a moment, Yoo Ji-han approached the eggs stored in the nest.
‘I never thought I would see a monster’s nest in such good shape.’
Monsters known for multiplying rapidly enough to be called prolific.
Most of them leave no trace of breeding.
Birds frequently lay eggs in inconspicuous places underground and disappear without making nests.
This is possible because they grow into adults at an extremely rapid rate from the moment they are born.
“I have to break all the eggs.”
Yoo Ji-han drew his sword and cut down an egg the size of a human torso vertically.
As the shell shattered, red blood flowed from within.
It seemed to be an egg just before hatching.
The other eggs filling the space were similarly sliced one by one.
“Chirp chirp…….”
Chilla quietly watched this scene.
Even though they were the same kind of monster, did he feel pity for the birds meeting a different fate?
Just as Yoo Ji-han was curious about this.
“Chirp!”
Bang!
Chilla used the edge of the shield to poke down an entire egg.
‘Was he pondering how to attack?’
Yoo Ji-han, feeling amused, couldn’t help but chuckle.
Just then, while he was continuously destroying the remaining eggs in the nest.
“Hmm?”
Among the eggs illuminated by Kim Si-hu’s [Light] magic.
He noticed one egg whose inner shell had no visible veins.
‘Fertilized egg?!’
Among the eggs laid by the birds, there were unfertilized ones mixed in.
Unfertilized eggs from monsters were not commonly seen.
Most of the time, the hatchlings consume the nutrients from these eggs.
‘This could be quite valuable.’
If he could take it to auction, he could earn a considerable amount.
“Chilla! Hold on a moment.”
“Chirp?”
Stopping Chilla, who was joyfully smashing eggs, Yoo Ji-han checked the number of unfertilized eggs.
As a result, he found 4 unfertilized eggs.
“Here they are.”
“I’ll heal them right away!”
Just then, Min Yu-ri returned with Park Jae-kyung and the healer.
Park Jae-kyung spoke to Yoo Ji-han, who was examining the eggs.
“What are you doing?”
“These are unfertilized eggs.”
“……!”
Park Jae-kyung’s eyes widened.
Even she, who had hunted countless monsters, had never seen unfertilized eggs before.
“The rule was that incidental gains from the expedition would be taken by the first party to discover them, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“I have a suggestion for you, Jae-kyung.”
“What kind……?”
“I’ll give one egg to the Dice, so please keep the remaining three.”
The large guild, including the Dice, had small outposts even in the countryside.
They likely had a large warehouse for storing monsters, so keeping the eggs wouldn’t be too difficult.
“That’s not a bad proposal.”
Park Jae-kyung agreed immediately.
It was one of the items Yoon Do-ha had wanted for a long time.
‘At least I can net several hundred million.’
Yoo Ji-han smiled contentedly, thinking of the egg’s price.
Since there were three, it wouldn’t be a problem to eat one himself.
“Ouch!”
“Are you regaining consciousness?”
The people who had collapsed in the nest began to come to one by one as they received treatment.
Of the 8 humans who survived, 5 were staff from the zoo, and the other 3 were those who were kidnapped near the zoo.
Park Jae-kyung said to the thankful survivors.
“Everyone, have you seen anyone else?”
“Th-there were 15 of us in the nest at first!”
It seemed 7 of the 15 humans had already been eaten by monsters.
In fact, numerous crushed human bones were found inside the bodies of the birds hunted at the aquarium.
“No survivors have been found in the other enclosures.”
“Not even one?”
“Yes.”
The male hero who had run in from afar conveyed the reported information to Park Jae-kyung.
She displayed a worried expression in response.
“There aren’t many survivors…”
Most of the survivors and victims found at the zoo were zoo personnel.
There weren’t many outsiders.
“Ah!”
Among the people receiving treatment, a woman suddenly gasped in surprise.
With her hand still not fully healed, she pulled out her cracked mobile phone.
“Please, pick up……!”
She was making a call to someone.
But the call didn’t connect.
“What’s wrong?”
“I received a call from my younger sister before I fainted! She said monsters showed up there!”
“Where was your sister?”
“In Hanok Village! Please save my sister……!”
The woman said her sister was working part-time at a convenience store in the Hanok Village in Jeonju.
The last call she had made was about 2 hours ago.
She tried calling her sister again, but this time her phone wasn’t getting any signal at all.
Yoo Ji-han thought, looking at his own phone, which was also experiencing communication malfunctions.
‘Is someone jamming the signal?’
It was understandable that signals wouldn’t reach in a distorted space.
However, it was strange that this phenomenon occurred in a place where cellular towers were present.
*
“We will divide the personnel for movement.”
After the tamers possessing flying pets sent their pets to survey the surroundings.
Park Jae-kyung split the parties into several teams for the purpose of search and support.
Yoo Ji-han’s party moved to Hanok Village following Park Jae-kyung.
“I’ve never been here before.”
After about a 20-30 minute run past rectangular buildings, he finally saw houses with traditional tiles.
Kim Si-hu looked around once he arrived in Hanok Village.
“I didn’t think I’d come to a tourist spot like this…”
“Let’s save the sightseeing for later.”
“Chirp!”
While everyone scattered to find survivors and monsters.
Chilla jumped onto the roof of one of the tiled houses.
Yoo Ji-han also jumped to the highest tiled house in the area.
Standing at a high point, he could see the relatively lower buildings all at once.
“Silph! Do you have anything to report from here?”
Drrr!
Yoo Ji-han expected Silph might provide new information, but.
Silph trembled as if unsure.
Tap! Tap!
Yoo Ji-han dashed between the roofs, quickly surveying the surroundings.
The tiled houses built in accordance with the village concept filled his sight.
And after about 10 minutes of jumping around.
He discovered a building that had collapsed on one side of the street.
It was undoubtedly the work of monsters.
‘An arm?’
However, there was a human arm protruding from the rubble of the building.
Yoo Ji-han rushed forward and shouted.
“Are you okay?”
“Ugh…”
Fortunately, the person, whose lower body was pinned but whose face was spared, was still conscious.
“How long have you been like this?”
“More than 2, 2 hours.”
“……!”
Yoo Ji-han recalled the training he underwent at Hero Academy.
Crush syndrome.
This phenomenon can occur when a person’s body is trapped under a heavy object for too long, and the pressure is released.
If not treated, it could lead to death, and this phenomenon was part of the life-saving course that prospective heroes were required to take.
“Please hold on a moment.”
Yoo Ji-han quickly brought over a healing hero, a so-called healer, who was nearby toward the fallen building.
The healer, dragged there as if kidnapped, looked at the patient’s severely discolored skin and said.
“You didn’t touch the debris, did you?!”
“No.”
If someone clueless had touched it, it could have led to immediate death.
The healer hurriedly began emergency treatment.
Using magic to draw out the toxins gathered in the man’s legs.
“You can remove it now.”
As soon as they received permission, Chilla and Yoo Ji-han cleared away the objects pinning the man’s body.
As the man suddenly felt blood circulating through his whole body, he grimaced but soon recovered enough to limply walk.
The healer, checking his condition, let out a sigh of relief and said.
“Phew! There was someone I couldn’t save in a similar situation before… Luckily, we could save him today. You did really well, Yoo Ji-han.”
“I didn’t really do much.”
“Thank you! Thank you!”
Yoo Ji-han smiled as he watched the man express his gratitude loudly.
Meanwhile, Kim Si-hu, who had been on alert in the back, noticed something.
“Yu-ri unnie. Doesn’t something seem odd over there?”
“……?”
“Something blurry is over there.”
Min Yu-ri, who was also on alert next to him, blinked her eyes.
That was because the place Kim Si-hu was pointing at was a stone wall with nothing on it.
[Eagle Eye]
Feeling like he had missed something, he activated his skill, and at that moment, Min Yu-ri’s eyes widened in surprise.
She could see a gigantic bird clinging to the stone wall.
Remarkably, the bird’s body blended almost perfectly with the color of the stone wall.
Convinced it was a monster stuck to the wall, Min Yu-ri created a magic arrow in her palm.
But then….
“Chirp!”
Realizing the situation wasn’t good, the nameless bird lifted off into the air.
Yoo Ji-han, who had been alerted by the sudden sound, recognized the identity of the barely visible creature.
‘Invisible Bird!’
A rare monster that is born from swallows that have gained magic, appearing at a low probability.
It had a transparency skill that could render its entire body see-through.
After dropping from the wall, it soared into the sky, becoming invisible to the naked eye.
The only ones who didn’t lose track of the quietly flapping Invisible Bird were Min Yu-ri and Chilla.
“Yu-ri, hold on for a moment.”
“Yes?”
“Put away the arrow and pretend you can’t see the bird.”
Following Yoo Ji-han’s request, Min Yu-ri erased the magic arrow she had created.
Then, like everyone else, she acted as if she couldn’t see anything.
As a result, the Invisible Bird, hovering above them, began to move somewhere.
“It’s flying off somewhere?”
“Let’s follow it slowly.”
“Chirp!”
Yoo Ji-han’s party pursued the Invisible Bird while keeping their distance from it.
They occasionally feigned distraction so as not to be spotted by it.
Thus, they passed by heroes searching the village and reached a broad hill.
“Chirp chirp!”
“Is it that way?”
After it became difficult to track the bird with their eyes, Chilla guided the way.
Yoo Ji-han followed Chilla, who moved nimbly like a wild animal, weaving through the trees.
And while everyone was hiding their presence behind the trees.
The Invisible Bird suddenly deactivated its transparency skill and waddled down to the ground.
“What is it doing?”
“Shh.”
The Invisible Bird lowered its head and began to peck the ground a few times with its beak.
What followed was quite surprising.
A hole about 1 meter in diameter was left in the ordinary stone ground.
Pat!
At the moment the creature tried to enter that hole.
Min Yu-ri’s arrow embedded itself into its wing.
“Chirp?!”
Yoo Ji-han rushed forward to catch the fallen Invisible Bird’s leg.
“Thanks for the guidance.”
“Chirp! Chirp! Chirp chirp—!”
Not only did it guide them to a hidden secret base!
It was a monster that would provide feathers used as high-quality materials for artifacts!
Yoo Ji-han shook the captured Invisible Bird up and down, praising it.
It was a creature with a warm heart, as lovable as an angel descended from the sky.