A Village Appeared on My Desktop

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Chapter 95 – Devouring and Evolution (5)

An invasion from shapeshifting beings, something one would only see in cinematic creations. And murder and devouring. In fact, this was not just happening in Korea.

The testimonies and information about bugs that had been spreading worldwide to the level of urban legends began to burst forth following this incident.

Just like a tiny hole in a dam can eventually become a massive crack that brings the dam down, people’s suspicions and interests have now reached a point where governments can’t hide or control them any longer.

“An official announcement will probably come soon. It’s impossible to completely conceal things in this day and age. I only know what I’ve heard, but it seems a few countries, including ours, have started picking up on clues.”

“It was expected. Now that something has happened, not all users are like me.”

Lee So-Yeon, who could now make phone calls instead of just chatting, urgently relayed some secret news to me. Listening to that call, I had an instinct that the time had come.

It felt like users like me would finally step into the spotlight of this world. There was plenty of evidence and necessity, so there was no reason not to take action.

I, who naturally dislikes attention, thought there must be others who actually revel in it.

“Let’s watch what they say and then move accordingly. You never know if they might try to do something forcefully, right? Perhaps spouting nonsense about justice or morality.”

Sitting in front of my computer, I suggested to Lee So-Yeon that we shouldn’t take the initiative first.

After all, we had taken care of the bugs that crawled out and sealed the cracks, so we had fulfilled our duties. I figured we could slowly observe how the world perceives us and decide accordingly, with no risk of loss.

After moving out into action yesterday, I was convinced it wasn’t entirely impossible to act in secret while wearing the Cloak of the Hermit.

‘Ultimately, what’s important is managing the residents.’

After ending my call with her, I grabbed the mouse and checked on the status of all the residents who were now active.

Everything was fine from the night I was away from home. Of course, the current residents had enough strength to hold out for at least a night if anything happened. That was precisely why I had raised them until now.

‘Will their numbers increase in the future?’

Now that I had quit my job, I was almost glued to my computer all day with them. However, if things like last night kept happening, I couldn’t guarantee that.

The time that I had to be away from them could inevitably increase, so I needed to focus more on raising the residents.

“—!”

For now, the village was fine. The resources were being gathered, and monsters were being hunted, just like in any looting game.

Turning the screen to the Fortress of the Northern Region, where many residents had gathered, soldiers stationed there were also active.

Just as I had confirmed last time while reading Rasen’s dilemma, it appeared Rakum was personally leading the scouts to breach another screen.

‘I need to deal with their nests before they multiply further.’

I understood why they were fixated on scouting the surroundings.

Knowing how large the enemy’s hive was would allow me to mobilize an army and systematically eliminate those pests one by one.

Currently, based on what I could see on the screens, there were four hives confirmed.

Moreover, with one hive already exterminated, it seemed like there was always at least one nest-like structure every time I flipped the screen.

“In the end, they’re everywhere.”

Watching Rakum and the scouts ride across the land, I pondered which hive to attack first.

From a vantage point like this, any target seemed similarly viable to attack.

Still, it would probably be best to hit the one closest to the existing fortress, like stepping stones towards tackling the surrounding hives.

“–, —!”

In the meantime, Rakum and the scouts engaged in combat with the enemy sentinels, who were desperately blocking our side in a bid to protect their nests.

However, glitches like the sentinels could not withstand Rakum, who was among the more formidable warriors.

Every time he swung his spear, glowing with a bluish aura, the enemy’s bodies exploded and were cut down.

With Rakum confidently holding the front, other residents could easily take their shots and take down enemies.

‘At this rate, we’ll win. If it continues like this.’

Having seen that scene, I predicted our victory. This was a judgment derived from witnessing past battles.

We had been pulling out all the stops to grow stronger and evolve.

Even the dwarves, who had joined us by chance, received strength through the game, and the residents who hadn’t awakened their mana were transformed into warriors with awakened mana.

This might take some time, but eventually, that swarm of bugs acting like ants would collapse and be annihilated by our hands.

However, what kept me on edge was that the enemies had also been showing signs of growth all this time.

Of course, given their various forms and abilities, it could just be me overthinking.

[lv 4 Bug]

“—!”

Just as I was observing, it wouldn’t be surprising if stronger variants appeared at any moment. Biting my lip, I activated my desktop smashing tool and hastily grabbed my chainsaw to help if needed.

*

“Commander! Look over there!”

“That’s it!”

As Rakum caught his breath after dispatching the enemy sentinels, the soldiers urgently pointed to somewhere.

Seeing that, Rakum’s eyes widened. A bug of a different form than those ‘ants’ they had encountered before was emerging.

‘A blade?’

The moment he first laid eyes on that ant, he thought it was holding two gigantic blades. The ant, about the size of a two-ton truck, indeed had a massively developed jaw like a soldier ant.

If those sharply edged jaws crossed each other, anything caught between them could be sliced apart.

“What is this! They’re charging in formation!”

However, what truly shocked them wasn’t the emergence of a new type of bug.

As they resisted by shooting arrows in unison to exploit the distance advantage, the soldiers were horrified to see the ants huddling together, using their sturdy armored heads as shields, forming ranks and approaching.

This was the first time those creatures that had been recklessly charging ahead had employed what could be called strategy.

Learning and evolving was not a privilege solely held by the residents.

“Retreat everyone!”

Judging that facing those things with what they had at the moment was impossible, Rakum began to sweat profusely and quickly issued the retreat order.

“They’re coming after us!”

The enemies weren’t fools; there was no reason not to chase down those who were fleeing.

While fleeing, they were unable to resist, which made the situation precarious as casualties could easily occur.

“Wow! The Guardian Deity!”

“He’s watching over us!”

At that moment, a massive chainsaw fell from the sky and ground down the enemies pursuing them.

The bugs raised their crossed jaws toward the sky in a futile attempt to resist the chainsaw, but in no time, those jaws shattered and their bodies were torn apart.

Thus, the glitches couldn’t muster the courage to resist and fell one after another.

Receiving that assistance, Rakum and the scouts hurriedly returned to the fortress where their forces were stationed.

“We didn’t get to scout as thoroughly as we wanted, but I also confirmed that the enemy is gathering in the northwest. This is just my instinct, but we shouldn’t give them more time.”

“You mean they’re learning to form a line? How could…”

Rakum urged the warriors and soldiers to attack the enemy’s nests and drain their power quickly.

Their reasoning was that giving them more time could lead to unpredictable mutations.

Others didn’t oppose his opinion but were shocked and stirred.

They had subconsciously regarded the bugs as mere beasts.

Especially having claimed victory in recent battles only added to that sentiment.

“Uh-oh! This is bad! We’ve just confirmed that from the three enemy nests we have identified, an enormous number of enemies are simultaneously emerging and heading this way!”

But the real problem was different. It was as if the bugs had decided they would dictate the battle timing, as the bugs they had intended to attack were leading their packs and exiting the hives, approaching their stationed fortress.

“Alert the village. Quickly!”

A chill ran down Rakum’s spine as he commanded that aid be requested from the village. Eliminating the enemy’s nests would only be possible after winning this war.

‘As expected, they’re not stupid.’

He watched all of that unfold. Biting his lip, he toggled between screens, confirming the enemies approaching from three directions toward the residents.

This was not something that could be easily dealt with by merely clicking a chainsaw a few times.

‘It seems we’re lacking in defense towers still.’

He checked the defense towers he had set up. The residents were using those defense towers as a reference point, mobilizing miners and transporters to create walls and trenches, preparing their own defenses.

However, to upgrade the defense towers or install more, they ultimately needed to fight and defeat the bugs categorized as mobs to earn resources.

Thus, avoiding fights was not an option if they wanted to become safer.

“Quickly gather the weapons! If we can’t halt them there, then this place will be next!”

The news in the village was also frantic. The dwarves hurriedly urged the villagers to arm themselves and move north.

In any case, they had no choice. If they decided to stay holed up in the village for the sake of safer fighting and gave up the northern fortress, they would eventually meet the same end as the Dwarf Kingdom, destroyed by the increasing and strengthening bug’s onslaught.

“The enemies were like a black tide. No matter how much you kill them, the calamity keeps coming endlessly. Even elite dwarf soldiers couldn’t keep fighting forever.”

“Don’t worry too much. We’re different. Isn’t that why we’re working like this? Through the power given by the God.”

Amidst watching all of this, Herson exhaled heavily, trembling.

It was the trauma of fleeing desperately with his family while witnessing the destruction of his hometown and village.

Morin comforted him with a sympathetic expression.

Though the reasons were different, they could share the predicament of having to abandon their homes.

“For now, let’s finish the remaining walls. Everyone has their roles. And those roles are what He has recognized and divided based on everyone’s talents.”

Morin surveyed the walls that were almost completed.

As many had come together to stack blocks, the wall they had been working on for days was nearly encircling the village.

To those who had spent their lives in the vast grasslands, it could feel a bit constricting, but at the same time, it provided a sense of security.