I Level Up With In-app Purchases

I Raise With In-app Purchases – 48

EP.48 The Frontlines with Grim Rumors (1)

Gruk— Gruruk— Gruruk—

Monsters.

“Damn it. Ugh—! Cough, cough! Why are they here…?”

Blood and flesh flew everywhere. The comrade who had been laughing and chatting with me just moments ago was now lifeless, crushed under the monster’s foot.

The metallic scent was so strong it numbed my senses, and the contamination spreading with the monsters turned the soil a sinister purple.

The contamination zone was encroaching again on the forward base we had barely managed to purify.

Gruk— Grarararak!

A monster resembling a frog, though many times larger and exuding toxic substances from its shell, was rapidly spreading the contamination.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Groooar!!!!

Boom—!!

Aaaah!! Save me!!

The monster’s rampage easily destroyed the base, showing overwhelming destructive power as if to say our struggles were futile.

Watching their actions, there was nothing I could do.

A sense of helplessness washed over me.

“St-stop… cough!”

Gush—

I wanted to scream in anger, but all that came out was blood. Between the blood, my organs, unable to withstand the toxins, were crushed and burst out.

‘We should have… prepared….’

For a long time, those guarding the frontlines of the contamination zone had been closely monitoring its changes. Or so they thought.

Reflecting on the past, it seemed they had overlooked strange signals that should have been scrutinized more carefully. Years of service had made them complacent without realizing it.

They desperately wanted to be discharged. They were sick of the contamination zone.

‘We should never have let our guard down….’

They should have prepared in advance. Regret now was useless.

The pain gradually faded. Strength left their bodies.

Thus, the man’s life ended in vain.

“Save… me…!”

“Gasp! Huff! Huff! No… no!! This can’t be happening!! Aaaah!!”

Monster wave.

Dozens, hundreds of monsters trampled the forward base. The people who had been enjoying a moment of peace there didn’t even have a chance to escape and were killed.

‘How far… how far do we have to run?’

The few survivors ran desperately to stay alive.

The problem was that they had no idea how far they needed to run.

‘If we keep running to the city?’

It was as if the reason the contaminated zone had been eerily quiet was to prepare for today’s surprise attack. Monsters were endlessly pouring out.

It wasn’t that they had neglected purifying the contaminated zone.

They had noticed that the number of monsters was strangely decreasing, but they thought it was a good sign.

Who could have known that the monsters would coordinate such a large-scale attack?

‘How do we stop this? How far are they planning to push in?!’

Fear made their legs tremble. They had no idea how far they needed to run to escape.

Then, suddenly,

“This way! Come this way! Don’t run, gather here!!”

“Wounded over here!!! Medics are here!! Come this way for treatment!!”

“Take these scrolls!! Use the scrolls to fight!! We have buff scrolls!”

Even in this desperate situation, a small spark of hope ignited.

“We’re saved!”

It was hard to understand how a frontline had been established so quickly, but there was now a space where the fleeing soldiers could rest and medics could focus on treatment.

And that wasn’t all.

Food, water, medical supplies, and combat support were all prepared. There was even an iron fence blocking the path to halt the monsters’ advance.

It looked as if someone had anticipated this and prepared in advance.

“Can we really take this? They look like merchants.”

“We’re all about to die, does money matter? Take it! Use as much as you need!”

The soldiers didn’t ignore the generosity of those who appeared to be merchants. They went to the medics for treatment and quickly joined the effort to stop the monsters.

Though they had been caught off guard, these were soldiers who had fought on the frontlines for a long time. Once they regained their composure and established order, they were more than capable of facing the monsters.

They had lost comrades in the unexpected ambush, but many soldiers still survived.

“Hold the line!! We must endure until reinforcements arrive!!!”

Monsters were swarming in endless numbers, but they knew that fighting was a better way to survive than fleeing in disarray.

So, the soldiers each drew their weapons and aimed at the approaching monsters.

Fighting the relentless contamination was something they had done since birth.

‘Could there be a more repulsive sight than this?’

The fact that such abominations, which could barely be called living beings, moved and lived was an affront to nature.

“Today, we might die here. No, I intend to fight with the thought of dying here. And before my breath stops, I will take as many of those abominations with me as I can! Soldiers, are you afraid of death?”

The soldier who had established the frontline, calmed the fleeing soldiers, directed the wounded to the medics, and managed the situation asked the terrified soldiers.

“No, sir!!!”

The soldiers, driven to desperation, shouted in response to their commander’s question.

Having lost their comrades so tragically, the soldiers replaced their fear with anger towards the monsters.

They needed to build up their killing intent to wield their swords against the monsters.

“If we lose here, those creatures will march unimpeded to where our precious families are.”

Gulp—

If those monsters reached the city?

There was no need for much imagination; wherever they went, hell would follow.

“We must stop them at all costs, even if it means laying down our lives!”

Gruruk— Grururuk!

Kyaaaah—!!!

Guk? Guruk guk!

The monsters, sensing the soldiers’ fierce resolve, hesitated. But their red eyes were still menacing, ready to pounce on us at any moment.

Monsters were abominations that spread contamination and harbored infinite hatred towards uncontaminated life forms.

“Advance, everyone!!!”

Waaaaah!!!!!!!

The battle between monsters and humanity.

The peace humanity had briefly enjoyed was shattered so easily.

The long-standing war against contamination had begun anew.

====

***

====

[Frontlines collapsed due to large-scale monster wave.]

[Casualties uncountable.]

[40% purification rate breached.]

[Property damage uncountable.]

[How many reinforcements can be dispatched?]

[Can the large-scale monster wave be stopped?]

[Why wasn’t the monster wave detected earlier?]

[Was there no way to predict the monster wave?]

What was bound to happen inevitably did.

The long-awaited incident had finally occurred.

‘Did many die despite the preparations?’

Given the scale of the attack, minimizing damage would have been impossible no matter how well-prepared they were.

Considering the gravity of the situation, things wouldn’t have gone perfectly according to plan.

It was an incident bound to result in a high number of casualties.

‘How many survived?’

What I could do was send consumables to the frontlines in advance for preparation.

I had also set up tents and stocked necessary supplies to establish a frontline.

I wasn’t sure how much my preparations had impacted the situation.

They wouldn’t have the luxury to update me.

‘Still, it seems my efforts weren’t entirely in vain.’

In the main scenario, so many people died in the monster wave that they had to conscript academy students due to the lack of manpower.

However, since they didn’t take the students this time, Shine casually visited our shop over the weekend.

“Is it okay for you to be here?”

“Oh, because of the frontlines?”

“Yeah. The academy must be pretty tense.”

“Of course, it’s tense. There’s a lot of talk among the students. But it’s not to the extent that we can’t go out.”

Shine’s words brought me a sense of relief. Although there was no news from the frontlines, this confirmed that my actions had some effect.

“Did a lot of people die?”

The information I could access was limited. It was mostly from eavesdropping on conversations in taverns or inns. The problem with such information was that it often got exaggerated or mixed with lies as it passed from person to person.

‘Would the academy tell me if I asked?’

But I hadn’t spent ten years sponsoring the academy to seek their help in such matters. Besides, I could directly ask the students for information, so I waited patiently.

Shine, being an academy student, would have much more accurate and truthful information than I did.

“Yeah, a lot of people died. They say it’s the highest number of casualties in recent years.”

“Hmm….”

Shine looked dejected, but to me, that was an incredibly good result. As you know, this incident was supposed to result in an unprecedented number of deaths. It wasn’t just a war with the highest casualties in recent years.

The situation was so dire that the military had to conscript students due to a lack of personnel.

“Has the monster wave stopped?”

“Not yet. They’re still fighting fiercely. But it’s a relief that they stopped them before they reached the city.”

“They stopped them from entering the city? That’s impressive.”

“You think that’s impressive? The base was destroyed. They’re getting heavily criticized right now.”

That’s because these people don’t understand the gravity of the situation. If more monsters come, the contamination won’t stop as it did before.

The 40% purified zone where humanity could live—breaking that 40% line would be a massive shock to those who had been enjoying peace.

People still vividly remember losing their hometowns to the contamination.