Chapter 243: Chapter 243

He confronted the chain head-on.

At that, the Chain Warden's eyes widened.

“What are you so surprised about?”

Su-ho immediately began closing the distance.

[ Lightfoot Technique has been activated. ]

[ Movement speed increases by 20%. ]

His sprinting steps were as light as the wind itself.

The Chain Warden quickly regained composure and swung his chains wide.

[ Oppressive Chain Warden uses Wind Sweep. ]

The swung chains weren’t merely swinging.

Activated under the name Wind Sweep, the chains surged forward, kicking up a gust of wind and a cloud of dust.

Of course, the dust cloud was just a side effect — the real danger was the force of the swinging chains themselves.

Upon seeing this, Su-ho immediately reversed his grip on the Blood Sword and leapt upward.

If the skill was meant to obstruct his vision, he simply had to move out of its range.

Rising into the air, Su-ho used a secondary jump to propel himself forward again.

The flustered Chain Warden swung his other chain and used Wind Sweep once more.

But the method of evasion remained the same.

Ascend, double-jump, close the gap.

The only difference was that, despite his massive size, the Chain Warden’s arm movements were surprisingly fast.

Almost like a spinning windmill.

But it didn’t matter.

When it came to speed, Su-ho was confident in himself as well.

After repeating the process a few times, Su-ho managed to close the distance to right in front of the Chain Warden without taking a single hit.

As soon as he closed the distance, Su-ho swung his sword.

[ Steel Sever has been activated. ]

As the sword cut through the air, the monster’s body was split cleanly.

However, only a few spans along the collarbone were cut.

It had barely endured — typical of a boss monster.

[ Oppressive Chain Warden uses Boss-level Fear. ]

[ Dragon Blood has been activated. ]

[ Fear is nullified due to the Dragon Spirit effect of Dragon Blood. ]

The Chain Warden’s Fear skill.

Even though it was used right in front of him, it only created a gust of wind without inflicting any actual damage.

In response, Su-ho swung his sword once again.

[ Steel Sever has been activated. ]

He struck precisely at the same wounded spot.

This time, the sword cut extended down from the collarbone to the chest.

[ Oppressive Chain Warden uses Chain Storm. ]

To push Su-ho away, the Chain Warden began swinging his chains violently like a storm.

Even before the skill alert appeared, Su-ho recognized the movement and retreated immediately.

It was the correct judgment.

The swung chains began spinning around the Warden like a spinning top.

“Looks just like a 'Naryeo-tagon.'”

In martial arts novels, a desperate scramble to survive by sprawling on the ground is called Naryeo-tagon.

It looked exactly like that.

It’s similar to certain situations in MMA, where fighters immediately go to the ground to gain a favorable position.

“But that’s only acceptable in sports.”

If it were a real battle, ground tactics wouldn’t matter — you’d simply kick the opponent away.

Thus, dismantling the Chain Storm wasn’t difficult.

Su-ho immediately transformed the Blood Sword into a Blood Spear and launched it toward the Warden like a Yeouibong.

The two chains entangled with the Blood Spear.

Seeing the chains tangle, the Chain Warden looked flustered.

Su-ho then transformed the Blood Spear into a ring shape, binding the chains so they couldn't be unraveled.

The panicked Chain Warden tried to pull his chains back.

There was no point in wrestling in a strength contest against a monster that huge.

Instead, Su-ho created a new Blood Sword and swung it at the Warden’s neck.

[ Steel Sever has been activated. ]

He struck the same place he had already wounded.

At last, the monster’s body was sliced diagonally.

The heavy body of the Chain Warden crashed to the ground.

[ You have ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) defeated Oppressive Chain Warden. ]

[ The gate has been cleared. ]

[ The MVP of the gate clearance is ‘An Su-ho’. ]

[ Additional experience is awarded for MVP selection. ]

[ 1 bonus stat is awarded for MVP selection. ]

[ Your level has increased. ]

[ All stats have increased by 1. ]

[ You have gained 1 bonus stat. ]

System notifications poured down.

Simultaneously, a portal leading to the exit appeared.

However, Su-ho, uninterested, drove Guiyeong Spear into the monster’s shadow and shifted his gaze elsewhere.

His attention was now focused on the Sealed Iron Horse in the background.

Su-ho approached the Iron Horse.

Even from a distance, its colossal figure was imposing enough to evoke myths.

The Iron Horse was wrapped in thick iron chains befitting its name, but despite having defeated the Chain Warden, the seal had not been undone.

“Because the Iron Horse’s seal isn’t automatically released just by killing the boss monster.”

The seal of the Iron Horse could only be undone by the player who defeated the boss manually.

Thus, Su-ho stood in front of the Sealed Iron Horse.

The enormous chains binding it were as thick as those used on ancient ships.

All of them needed to be cut to release the seal.

There was no special method.

It had to be done physically.

“But there’s no way I can untie this massive thing by hand.”

It wouldn’t even fit into his grip.

Thus, there was only one option.

Just like Alexander the Great cutting the Gordian Knot — cut it directly.

He had never done it before.

But he had no intention of giving up before even trying.

Su-ho summoned his Blood Sword.

This time, the Blood Sword was much larger and heavier than usual.

Yet, despite the increased size and weight, Su-ho handled it like a one-handed sword without any difficulty.

The Iron Horse’s chains were anchored to iron rings scattered around the ground.

Su-ho stood before one of them and took a stance to cut.

[ Steel Sever has been activated. ]

The sword swung down.

The skill activated perfectly.

The blade carried weight, and the trajectory was straight.

A deep cut was engraved into the chain.

There was a slight delay, but the chain was definitely severed and whipped upward once released from tension.

“I’ll need to be careful.”

Su-ho instinctively dodged and managed to avoid injury, successfully cutting one chain.

He repeated the process afterward.

When he finally cut all the chains, the iron bindings wrapped around the Iron Horse fell away.

[ You have released the seal of the Iron Horse. ]

A system alert appeared.

At the same time, the previously lifeless eyes of the Iron Horse lit up.

Seeing the gleam in the Iron Horse’s eyes, Su-ho finally smiled in satisfaction.

Su-ho had learned about how to release the Iron Horse’s seal through a chance encounter.

During the North Korean campaign in his past life, they cleared every gate that had appeared at North Korean subway stations.

At the last subway gate, a player had investigated the Iron Horse’s seal, severed the chains, and found the correct way to unlock it.

“But by then, it was already too late.”

Even though they released the Iron Horse’s seal at the final gate, it was meaningless.

Players reported seeing a system message indicating the release had failed.

Meaning, to fully release the Iron Horse’s seal, every Iron Horse's chain across every subway gate had to be severed.

Thus, this time, Su-ho would not repeat the same mistake.

As Su-ho finished his thoughts, Guiyeong Spear finished feeding.

[ Guiyeong Spear has completely absorbed the shadow of Oppressive Chain Warden. ]

[ Guiyeong Spear has been strengthened. ]

No evolution, of course.

The fourth awakening had happened not long ago.

Thus, Su-ho wasn’t disappointed.

Once the shadow absorption ended, the Warden’s corpse dissolved away.

All that remained now was to retrieve the magic stone.

Aside from the magic stone, another item lay where the Warden had fallen.

It was a piece of chain.

Su-ho picked it up and checked the information.

[ Chain Fragment of the Chain Warden ]

A fragment of the chain once used by the Oppressive Chain Warden.

A simple description.

Su-ho smiled after reading it.

This was a crafting material for making chain-type items.

Su-ho tucked it into his inventory.

By the time he cleared all the subway gates in North Korea, he should have collected all the chain fragments.

After investing two bonus stat points each into Strength and Magic, Su-ho headed toward the exit portal.

Outside the portal, it was peaceful.

Not because of the gate clearing itself, but because Su-ho had already cleared out the Agu along the way.

Su-ho summoned Bulgasari and began moving toward his next destination.

“Finally, it's time for Kaesong Industrial Complex.”

There were several places Su-ho aimed for in North Korea.

The representative examples were Pyongyang and Mount Geumgang, but Kaesong was just as important.

Because there were things that could only be obtained there.

In Su-ho’s mind, Kaesong was divided into two areas.

Kaesong City and Kaesong Industrial Complex.

Since the Industrial Complex was closer, he decided to visit it first.

Following the road past the checkpoint, the outskirts of the industrial zone came into view.

Buildings barely two stories high at most.

Of course, there were some taller structures, but most of the Kaesong Industrial Complex consisted of two-story buildings.

Around that time, the Agu began noticing Su-ho.

After all, aside from Su-ho and Bulgasari, nothing else was moving in this otherwise deathly still place.

Upon detecting Su-ho’s presence, the Agu began charging toward him one after another.

Their numbers were not small.

Watching them reminded him of a scene from a zombie movie where hordes of zombies ran madly.

“If I didn’t have Bulgasari, this would have turned into a deadly game of tag.”

Su-ho dodged sideways atop Bulgasari and activated Mana Detection.

Soon, he located a gate within the industrial complex.

“That must be the Manufacturing Sector Gate.”

While there were many gates in Kaesong Industrial Complex, only four could be called major gates.

The Manufacturing Sector Gate.

The Chemical Sector Gate.

The Electronics Sector Gate.

The Residential Sector Gate.

The closest one was the Manufacturing Sector Gate.

The others didn’t matter.

Among the many gates, only these four offered real rewards.

Su-ho moved along the road, heading deeper into the complex toward the Manufacturing Sector Gate.

Detecting Su-ho’s presence, the Agu relentlessly chased after him.

They didn’t care if they tripped or got tangled up with each other.

They didn’t stop, running until their feet bled, desperate to catch Su-ho.

After sprinting for some time, Su-ho finally arrived near the Manufacturing Sector Gate.

It became clear that the gate was located inside a building.

It meant he would have to fight through those swarming monsters to reach it.

Right then, the Agu inside the building also sensed him and began pouring out.

There wasn’t much time.

In that brief window, Su-ho made his decision and activated a skill.

[ Blood Weapon has been activated. ]

He chose Blood Weapon.

As the skill activated, Blood Weapon wrapped around both Su-ho and Bulgasari.

Their form transformed into something resembling an ancient siege engine used to batter gates.

“Let’s go, Bulgasari!”

No, not a siege engine — an unstoppable battering ram!

Bulgasari, transformed, began smashing through the Agu, tearing them apart as he charged straight toward the gate.