The Live

Elvin hasn't heard from him in days.

At the end of ten days, when Elvin had been quiet for a while, he called Yoon Jae and Jeong together underground.

“Greet him. He's our architect. ”

Elvin said that and introduced one of them.

According to someone to introduce, Yoon Jae and the normal person bowed their heads with a trembling face.

“Greetings, I'm Yoon Jae Kim from the first year. ”

“It's called regular. ”

“This is Cheon Pyeong-taek, the tenth year. ”

It was a bland answer. The face of Cheontaeng, about forty years old, looked up and down without a word.

The two who introduced themselves soon turned to Elvin and Lois.

I looked at what was going on.

Elvin shrugs and replies.

“Building a team around you has become difficult. Instead, I can offer you comfort. ”

“If it's convenient.... ”

“In the middle, we follow along. ”

In Elvin's reply, Yoon Jae's eyes widen.

When I first introduced the architect, I said "we."

“You mean Elvin and Royce? ”

“Well, there it is. Why, is there a problem? ”

Elvin recalls a conversation with Arhan.

- So if you want to see how convenient they are, why don't you do it yourself? If you're in the center, I'll allow you to build a small team, including an existing architect.

- Focused on me?

- Yeah, you pick your team. I'll let you choose which agents to take with you. What do you think?

One of the reasons why Arhan couldn't make a team for the first time was simple.

Yoon Jae and the regular team needed too much manpower to build a team.

But if the center of the team becomes Elvin, that justification is fulfilled. There is no problem of shortages. Elvin was a hotshot architect who couldn't even show his business cards.

- It's not a bad offer…….

- But I have one condition.

- Condition?

- You said there was a place where a team of architects were killed. Undeveloped territory, most likely the path of a demon or an angel.

- Are you asking us to go there?

- Good to know you're quick. That's right, we must search the area anyway. It's a little risky, but it's not that hard for you, is it?

In the middle of nowhere, it's hard to tell a team of architects to go to the slaughtered area.

Ridiculous. The middle ground is not a place you can be sure you can come back from, no matter how good you are.

But…….

- Of course you do.

Elvin gladly accepted the offer.

- Instead, let's exclude these two from the compensation issue. We're not just here to support them, we're here to do our job for the clan.

- You're taking both of them, obviously. Suit yourself.

- Is there anything else you want to say?

- There's a maximum of five, including you and the two. I'm sorry, but I can't allow more than that.

Five.

It was usually the minimum number of known agents. Arhan nails more than he can carry.

As soon as he heard the number five, he immediately remembered who he was taking.

- I will.

Elvin replies quietly.

Knowing it was a trap.

No, it wasn't a trap.

The meaning was simple, too obvious.

A danger zone that was wiped out by an already active team of architects in the middle. Condition for exploring and returning.

‘Go and die. ’

Elvin accepted the offer, knowing Arhan's intentions. You have to know if you're going to die or come back to life.

So Elvin finished speaking with Arhan.

“…… In short, you must travel to the danger zone? ”

“Dangerous zone. Don't you know? There's no place in the middle that isn't dangerous. ”

Elvin replies, "What makes you so sure?"

Yoon Jae sighed a little, thinking things had gotten complicated. Survival has increased at this point, but it has also increased with him.

“I hear you're the ones in the middle of nowhere with business. ”

He said that he had heard the story from Elvin beforehand, as if he knew everything about Cheonpyeong Taek.

“To put it bluntly, we are here to help. Well, actually, I'm more interested in helping Elvin here than you are. ”

“But?”

“I guess I'm just a little curious. Apart from that Elvin guy, I need to make sure that they're worth your help. ”

I wasn't wrong. It was Yun Jae and regular who needed help in this situation.

If Chon Pyeong-taek said that he would withdraw because he didn't like Yoon Jae and the regular, it was a shame.

Apart from your skills, there will be a big difference between what you attach and what you don't attach when you're in the middle zone.

“You're right. ”

“So, I have a proposition for you. ”

“Proposal?”

“It's actually the easiest way to find out what you're good at. Don't you think it's a common challenge? We're done fighting here. ”

At that question, Yoon Jae nodded as if it were natural.

Other than that, there was no way to check each other's skills.

“Once we're in the middle of nowhere, we're dealing with a monster, not the same person. You know that, right? ”

In that question, Yoon Jae asked, assuming something.

“Are you suggesting we check your skills against monsters? ”

“Yes, that's most accurate. Turns out I've been an architect for years. It's very different from dealing with monsters. ”

“Then the place is……. ”

“Do you have somewhere to go? ”

Elvin, who was listening to the story, intervened as if it were a good time.

“Midtown. Let's go right now. ”

* * *

The boundary into the middle was in a familiar place. It was Meln, the town where the cliffs came in, where the new people first came in.

Yoon Jae and the group head to Melon.

Yoon Jae and the regular, who arrived using the portal, looked around the village in a strange way.

“Something seems to have changed a lot. ”

The regular man who opened his eyes wide and looked around opened his mouth.

Meln had a lot of buildings collapsed in the Abram incident as well. Of course, there were small and large changes, including rebuilding the building afterwards.

However, the plaza in the center of Mellon was entering a fairly large building, as if it were not just the construction of a rebuilding of a collapsed building.

“The academy will be set up in Meln shortly. ”

It was Lois who answered the normal question.

“What's an Academy? ”

“What's so special about the Academy? It's an institution that teaches children. ”

“Are you teaching me how to fight? ”

“Do you know what one of the problems is in this world? ”

In response to Yun Jae's question, Elvin answered the question.

“Survival is too low. ”

Elvin speaks with an annoying young face.

“Survival rate in the tutorial is inevitable. That's not something we can be involved in. But there are a lot of people who get killed because they can't adapt even to the other side of the world. ”

In Elvin's words, Royse looks bitter.

Thousands of people died without dying. The number was unbearable.

“If there are fewer people who are properly trained and killed by dogs, it will be a big power in a few years. And then there may be others like you. ”

“Academy……. ”

Yoon Jae looked up at the tall, large building that was being erected in the square.

‘It wasn't in the diary. ’

Academy for new candidates.

There was no record of it anywhere in the diary. It was unclear whether it was simply not mentioned or decided because the future had changed.

‘But it's a good change. ’

As Elvin said, it was not a bad choice to increase the survival rate of the new recruit.

In fact, it should have been established long ago. It took a lot of manpower, a lot of time, and a lot of money, so we've been putting it off for a long time.

However, once the plan is embodied, the survival rate of new individuals will be increased in the future.

“Well, aren't we the ones who have less than their survival right now? It's not like anyone has anything to worry about. ”

No matter how new people stepped foot in the strange and dangerous land of the afterlife, their destination was even more dangerous.

“We're on our way to the middle zone. ”

It was Cheonpyeongtaek who said that.

In his coffers, Yoon Jae and the regular, all did not react very well. None of the people in this room didn't know that.

“Before you freak out, tell me what you know about the middle ground. Isn't that what an architect does? ”

Yoon Jae asked, cutting off the words of Cheonpyeong Taek which he saw intent. In response, Pyeongtaek Chun snorted and replied.

“It's useless to say it on a white day. It's important to experience it. In fact, the entrance won't be as dangerous as the presence of these guys. ”

Pyeongtaek said so, pointing fingers at Elvin and Lois in turn.

Pyeongtaek Chun was a ranker of 10 years.

Despite his obvious name as a ranker, he's been in the Skyscraper Clan for a long time before Elvin became a ranker.

His age and career were higher than that of Elvin or Royce, so he naturally lowered his words.

“So? You want me to bump into you? ”

“That would be most convenient. Well, I'll give you a few simple precautions before I go in. ”

Pyeongtaek said, the regular expression was suspicious, and I was troubled by Yoon Jae's ears.

“How much do you know? ”

“What?”

When Cheonpyeong Taek heard the word clearly, he immediately pressed his voice down while trying to increase his speech.

Surprisingly, he nods softly, sticking his hand in his pocket.

“Phew - yeah, that's actually not wrong. Actually, I don't know what I was doing there for three years. ”

Pyeongtaek's voice was full of emptiness.

Ever since he first went to the intermediate region as an architect, he has only traveled within a safe area.

Occasionally, I heard rumors of encounters with demons or angels while developing new areas in the middle.

However, Cheonpyeong has never been lucky.

Above all, the Skyscraper Clan was not that important to the development and map design of the intermediate region.

“It's funny, actually, to be in this mess now. We've been warned for a long time that we'll be faced with demons and angels. ”

“The demons and angels that appeared in the middle? ”

“Yeah, they've been showing up more and more frequently lately. It's not that surprising. ”

Pyeongtaek Chun has been thinking about things like this for a long time. It could be expected if only to see demons emerging from the middle lands close to human soil.

And it was something not only for itself, but for the clans of the five, as well as for the executives of the various clans.

Nevertheless, they have always turned their eyes away from these things. It was just an evasion.

“That's why I like this guy. ”

Chuck...

Pyeongtaek said so, placing his hand on Elvin's shoulder.

“But this is the only one who listened to me and fought the Argan. ”

“Though that comment came to light. ”

Elvin answered roughly, and went to borrow a large wagon in the corner of the square.

The road to the middle area was long enough. Even if I took a quick walk, it took me more than half a day.

It's not a short walk away, but it wasn't bad to have a mode of transportation to get around a little comfortably. It wasn't that urgent anyway.

Polygon, Polygon-

The carriage on which the six horses rode was not so cramped after five entered.

The giant wagon looks big enough to drive six horses, but its lightweight skill makes it easy to move around.

“Let's figure out a way to get there while we're moving. ”

That's what Elvin says. He takes a piece of paper from his chest and spreads it out.

“This is the map of the intermediate known to date. ”

A big map appeared as the sheet of paper had been folded in layers.

The map is about half drawn. On the contrary, about half of it was empty.

The problem was half empty.

“This is the area we're in charge of exploring. ”

Elvin says so, drawing a circle with his hand on one side of the empty area.

It was deep enough even within the unexplored range. Yoon Jae confirmed the place with her eyes and sparkled.

‘This is……. ’

“Why, is there a problem? ”

Elvin asked about unusual changes in Yoon Jae's expression.

“This is where we were going. ”

“What?"

“Here?”

“Is that true? ”

Everyone except Yoon Jae was surprised.

The reason Yoon Jae first tried to go to the intermediate region was because of the quests related to the area.

But the quest area overlaps with the area where the team of architects was exterminated.

“I'm sure there's something. ”

“What a coincidence. What kind of quest is this? ”

“I don't know anything about that except looking around. I didn't know regions overlapped like this. ”

Surprise was the same for Yoon Jae.

But one thing was certain.

‘It's not a bad thing after all. ’

For the first time, Yoon Jae was going to go out with him regularly.

Unexpectedly, Elvin, Royce and one more person were added.

They were all outstanding. Elvin or Lois had nothing to say.

The nuisance is that the scope to explore has become wider with Arhan's proposal, which is now meaningless.

The area that Arhan proposed to explore was where Yoon Jae tried to go in the first place.

Unexpected deployment. However, the results were not too bad.

“Let me make one thing clear. ”

Yoon Jae looked around everyone and said.

“Let's not all die here today. because, like you said, it's made up of one of my stubbornness. ”

“That's presumptuous. ”

Even though I said that, Pyeongtaek didn't dislike the look on his face.

Thump, thump, thump.

The wagon ran relentlessly toward the midtown area.

Soon.

About halfway through the day, the wagon enters the middle area and arrives in front of the massive mountain range.