🔊 TTS Settings
chapter 61
After clearing the dungeon and returning to Sydney, we went back to the same hotel we had stayed at when we first arrived.
After freshening up at the hotel and shaking off some of our fatigue, we decided to do a bit of sightseeing in Sydney.
We could watch a performance at the Opera House, the most iconic spot in Sydney.
Or we could take a ferry and enjoy the scenery.
Literally, we were enjoying Sydney like any ordinary tourist.
While exploring Sydney and seeing various sights, one thing became clear…
“Gunwoo, look over there. There’s a kangaroo too.”
“… Yeah.”
There were the boxing kangaroos at the airport when we first arrived in Australia.
The traffic-controlling kangaroo we saw on the way to the hotel.
And just like those two, kangaroos were everywhere in Sydney.
To us, it was a strange or amusing sight, but for the locals, it was probably completely normal.
“The kangaroo you just saw is called the Thinking Kangaroo. It’s named that because it poses like a person deep in thought.”
“……”
“It’s not very famous, but those who know know this is a good photo spot. Would you like to take a picture?”
Listening to Laura’s explanation, I felt absurd, but since everyone else was taking pictures in front of the Thinking Kangaroo, we decided to take one as well.
But I still couldn’t understand why some druid-type ability user had released kangaroos all over Sydney.
‘Was their goal to create a surveillance system using the kangaroo’s eyes? Or was it to station combat-ready kangaroos across the city? Or maybe… were they really just meant as a tourist attraction?’
Since I had never met this druid-type, I couldn’t really judge.
Either way, it was none of my business.
“Did it come out well?”
“Yes, here it is.”
While I was lost in those thoughts, Ihaeun got her smartphone back from Laura, who had taken our picture.
Just as she was about to send the photo to her parents…
Bzzzz…
Her phone started vibrating.
No, it wasn’t just Ihaeun’s phone.
Bzzzz…
Bzzzz…
Bzzzz…
Every smartphone in the vicinity started vibrating.
Naturally, everyone took out their phones to see why, and what they read was shocking.
It was a message instructing everyone in Sydney to evacuate to safe locations due to a terrorist attack.
And right after that…
Boom…!
A distant explosion sounded.
“(Was that just now…?)”
“(Damn, let’s get to the nearest shelter quickly…!)”
People who had read the message and heard the explosion were thrown into chaos.
A terrorist attack in broad daylight, right in the heart of the city.
And there were many Awakened like us in Sydney, who had come to challenge dungeons.
Yet the terrorists dared to strike right in the middle of the city…
‘So confident in their strength?’
Even if there were powerful beings, they must not really expect the attack to succeed, right?
“(Y-Yes, understood.)”
Laura, having received a detailed briefing over the phone, immediately spoke to Yeon Mirae after hanging up.
“Unknown masked individuals are causing chaos across the city. We ask for your cooperation in organizing the situation, Yeon Mirae.”
“Yes, I will.”
Awakened individuals are not obligated to help prevent terrorist acts.
Unless an Awakened has signed a contract to respond in emergencies, like Arthur does in Korea, there’s no need.
But Yeon Mirae, being inherently righteous, seemed willing to cooperate in stopping this attack.
“I’ll help too.”
“Me as well.”
Not only Yeon Mirae, but Rachel also volunteered to help, and Arthur decided to follow her to prevent the attack.
“Understood. Then I’ll take the children to the shelter.”
Laura was a civilian, not an Awakened.
Naturally, she wouldn’t head to the terrorist site.
And Ihaeun and I, despite our abilities, were still elementary school-aged, so it was correct for us to head to the shelter instead of the scene.
‘Tch… I was planning to sneak out to help the three of them while saying I was going to the shelter with Ihaeun.’
But that wouldn’t work if Laura was accompanying us.
I clicked my tongue in frustration and looked at Yeon Mirae.
She sent me a mental message.
‘Don’t worry. Do you really think there’s anything strong enough to take me down?’
‘Don’t tempt fate. “What if” always bites you in the end.’
I mentally replied but agreed with her assessment.
She was stronger than most Aura Masters.
Her strength would make even the top-tier Aura Masters nervous.
There would be almost no one strong enough to defeat her.
‘Go.’
‘Yes.’
She nodded and then spoke to Rachel and Arthur.
“Let’s go. I’ll rely on your support.”
“Yes… my doll won’t be much help, so I’ll assist with magic.”
“You’ll handle the rear, right? Got it.”
Yeon Mirae took off running, followed immediately by Arthur carrying Rachel.
The three of them disappeared from our view almost instantly.
“Alright, let’s head to the shelter. This way.”
“Yes.”
Ihaeun and I followed Laura’s guidance to the shelter.
At the same time, I decided to expand my Aura to assess the situation across Sydney…
‘… Hm?’
A sense of déjà vu hit me.
I realized something that should never be in Sydney was there.
“Gunwoo, what’s wrong?”
“… Nothing. It’s nothing.”
I said that to avoid worrying Ihaeun, but inwardly, my teeth were clenched.
‘A doppelgänger… here…’
A doppelgänger. The humanoid monster that killed me before I regressed, a chimera created years ago by the “Doctor” I had killed.
And now, it was in Sydney.
‘In large numbers, too.’
The doppelgängers I sensed were weaker than the masterpieces made by the Doctor, who was a monster of talent.
Those doppelgängers seemed specialized in only one thing, but that alone made them extremely dangerous.
Regular Awakened wouldn’t stand a chance.
‘Why…?’
Why were these monsters appearing in Sydney?
I recalled the information I had gathered about the being connected to the Doctor’s mind.
[Even the Doctor did not know exactly what this device detected or how it worked.]
[It’s understandable, as the device was given to him by some other abnormal being.]
[Someone supported the Doctor by giving him this device…]
A sensor capable of detecting intangible things like souls, thoughts, and concepts, given to the Doctor.
I had once assessed that existence as:
[Someone more versed than I am in things like souls, thoughts, or concepts.]
[Most likely, an occult-type ability user, like a sorcerer…]
As for their purpose, I had no clear guess.
[Perhaps an organization they belong to coveted the Doctor’s abilities.]
If that organization obtained data on the Doctor’s chimeras, especially the doppelgängers…
And succeeded in mass-producing doppelgängers…
‘Could it be that this terrorist attack…’
…was to test the abilities of the mass-produced doppelgängers?
After all, many Awakened from different countries had gathered in Sydney.
“……”
It was only a hypothesis, a gut feeling, but I couldn’t shake the unease.
Yeon Mirae, Rachel, and Arthur arrived at the site of the explosion.
The scene that greeted them was… devastating.
The explosion had been powerful enough to completely burn the surrounding area, and many had likely died.
“Tch…”
“……”
Yeon Mirae clicked her tongue in disapproval, while Rachel surveyed the area with a firm expression.
Arthur, meanwhile…
‘… There was a battle before the explosion.’
Based on the remnants left behind, he concluded that a fight had occurred.
‘One side overwhelmingly dominated. Skilled combat.’
Arthur inferred the pre-explosion battle from the traces.
‘Ah, I see. The side that lost was not an Aura user, but a magician.’
The magician, thinking of taking everyone down together, had unleashed a surge of magical power.
That caused the explosion at this location.
In other words, it was a terrorist facing an Awakened and choosing a suicidal magical explosion.
Arthur’s conclusion.
‘I assumed the explosion was caused by the terrorists, but it wasn’t.’
He looked around.
Other Awakened were beginning to gather here as well.
Of course, given the magnitude of the explosion, others would come to assess the situation.
‘… Strange.’
Arthur felt something off and checked the Awakened around him, then pulled out his phone.
‘If such a large-scale attack had occurred, wouldn’t there be some instructions for Awakened on where to move and what to monitor…?’
The surrounding Awakened didn’t seem to have received any instructions.
So, like him, they had come to the site of the disturbance first.
“(… Has anyone received instructions from an Australian government operator?)”
Arthur wasn’t the only one thinking this; a few veterans voiced the same concern.
As expected, no one there had received orders.
“……”
“……”
“……”
Most likely, everyone there reached the same conclusion:
The Australian government was probably unable to operate.
The government operators had likely already been dealt with by the terrorists.
‘Tch… nothing we can do.’
Without operators, we had no choice but to handle this ourselves.
“So… we have to catch all the masked individuals causing chaos.”
They would have to track the culprits on foot.
The veterans nodded, and everyone began to scatter.
“Let’s go too.”
Yeon Mirae’s words prompted Rachel and Arthur to nod and start searching for masked individuals in Sydney.
However, everyone overlooked one thing: the magician who had self-destructed.
A magician capable of causing a massive explosion visible from anywhere in Sydney.
Even if it was a suicide act, such a magician was undeniably powerful.
And choosing self-destruction meant they had determined that defeating the opponent or escaping was impossible.
