CHAPTER 101: CHAPTER 101 – THE ADVANCE TEAM

Chapter 101 – The Advance Team

Chiiiik.

The electric door slid open with a hiss, and a line of figures stepped cautiously into the dark, abandoned station.

Captain Machael.

He turned to the young boy who had escorted them there and bowed politely.

"Thank you for the ride, Mr. Neon."

"Hmph. I’m just doing what I was paid for."

"Even so, we made it safely thanks to you."

"Yeah, yeah. Just don’t die."

Neon may have looked young, but no one—not even the elite ARK players—dared to look down on him. After all, he had taken over a D-rank mobile dungeon and turned it into a transportation method.

He lived in a completely different world than they did.

"Good luck."

"Yes, I’ll be sure to return alive."

Machael turned from Neon and looked back at the team waiting for him.

They were the ARK support team—a specially formed squad that had dropped everything to rush in and assist Captain Adonis’s team.

Lutz, walking ahead, gestured them forward.

"I’ll guide the way."

From the outside, it looked like just another long-abandoned subway station. But now that they knew what was really going on here, the atmosphere felt unnaturally oppressive.

"The place we’re about to enter isn’t meant for high-level players. That’s why no one in our team has ever played Exodia1. You know what that means, right?"

"It means... there’s no one with prior experience."

"Exactly. So stay sharp. Any mistake here is your own responsibility."

He paused for a beat and stared toward the pitch-black corridors of Northbey Station, thinking to himself.

’And that’s exactly why we’re needed here.’

Because the monsters here spawned from memories, those who were ignorant of Exodia1 might actually be at an advantage. Whatever appeared would be limited to the scope of what they’d already seen.

’We can handle this.’

Adonis had factored that in when assembling the support team, and Machael had carefully selected the best fit for their level.

Assuming nothing unexpected happened, this team shouldn’t face any particularly dangerous situations.

"The problem is... two people we believe to be Whitevalley already went inside."

Lutz asked cautiously, "Do you really think... Miss Millie is Clark?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean... I’ve never even heard of this ’Mr. Kyle’, so I didn’t really question that one. But Clark being Millie? That’s hard to believe."

Machael nodded. He understood why. To anyone who only knew her as an idol, the idea seemed absurd.

"But if they really are Whitevalley... this place would be classified as a Level 1 Disaster Zone."

"...Understood."

Level 1 Disaster Zone.

Ever since Exodia began manifesting in reality, there had been certain restricted areas where humans simply weren’t allowed to go. There were already three such zones in New Capital.

"...Hmph."

Machael led the support team forward, cautiously navigating through the station. One entrance into Bey World lay underground—not far ahead.

But then a problem emerged.

"The underground’s blocked?"

"There wasn’t anything in the way when we passed through earlier."

Now it was sealed off completely, thick and impassable. Frowning, Machael scanned the area.

The route above ground was still open.

"We’ll head up."

Ku-gu-gu-gung...

But the moment they turned toward the stairs, the ground began to shake violently.

An earthquake?

With strained faces, the team rushed out of Northbey Station, only to stop dead in their tracks at the sight of Bey World.

"...Captain Na. What the hell... is that?"

Crack! Cr-kwa-ka-ka-kak!

Across all of Bey World, something black and alive was rapidly spreading.

Twisting, thorn-covered vines burst through walls and buildings. A black mass of vegetation smashed through rides and pierced abandoned cars.

"...!"

And then—between those twisting vines—a massive shadow lifted into the air.

KUOOOHH!

A black dragon soared up into the sky, something caught in its jaws.

It dipped back down toward Bey World, and again the earth quaked with its landing.

The team stared in stunned silence.

"Did... did you see that?"

"That was a dragon, right?"

"How the hell is a dragon showing up already?"

"I thought dragons were only supposed to appear in S-rank dungeons!"

Even if they had never played Exodia1, the team still had basic intel.

Dragons were level 500+ apex monsters. Way too early for something like that to appear in New Capital.

Machael could only let out a hollow laugh.

"...What the hell is going on in there?"

At that moment, another black vine shot up from Bey World’s front gate.

Crack! Crack-ka-ka-kak!

It darted toward them at terrifying speed.

Machael and his team had let their guard down just long enough to react too late.

"AAAH!"

"Everyone, fall back!"

They scrambled away, but one vine managed to snare a soldier by the waist and yank him violently upward.

"...Is everyone okay?"

"Michael was taken!"

"We’re okay!"

Of the 20-person squad, three had already been taken.

The vines seemed to have a range limit—they weren’t advancing beyond a certain boundary.

But Machael still clenched his jaw.

From afar, he could now make out the full picture.

The vast, monstrous vines engulfing Bey World...

"...They’re parasites."

"Huh?"

"You’ve seen them before. During the tutorial—when dungeonization began."

Looking closely, they could even see cockroach-like creatures crawling rapidly along the pavement.

It was disgusting—and unmistakable.

Parasites.

Machael swallowed hard and looked up toward Bey Tower in the distance.

The towering spire stretched skyward, its silhouette now obscured by the dungeon’s growth.

And that meant... the tower was inside the dungeonization zone.

"Have you ever seen a dungeon this big?"

"No. Even the C-rank one with the Lizardmen wasn’t this bad."

That one had only taken over a single block near the illumination gate.

But this?

This dungeon had swallowed all of Bey World whole.

Including Bey Tower—every last floor of it.

If they had to rank it...

"Captain, what should we do?"

"...We wait."

"Huh?"

"We don’t go in yet. We hold position until the parasites calm down."

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