New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 970: Briefing Start

Everyone quickly walked up the ramp, where they headed to the front of the cargo hold, all standing around the table there, and David began tapping away at it.

In seconds, he had already pulled up a file, and the image of Jeju island, which they were on, appeared across the table.

"Jeju-Do, also once known as the Island of the Gods, our current location," David started, before zooming the map on the eastern tip of the island.

"More specifically, the Seongsan Ilchulbong region," he continued, pulling up touristic pamphlet images of the lovely cliffs and rocky overhangs.

Jin-Sil looked at the map and images with a proud smile, nodding at David's accurate pronunciations.

"Regardless of the breath-taking view, and the picturesque images you see here, we are not here on a picnic trip.

"The locals have started spreading rumours of the cliff side being cursed, with many tourists suddenly going missing, and even some locals failing to return from it. And the reason for this is these," David said, pulling a fuzzy photograph of a bird in the sky.

But the image was strange; the bird seemed to be way too elongated from beak to tail. Pulling out satellite imagery, David showed the cliffs, where some large nests were now present, where once there had been almost nothing but small fishing bird nests.

And in those nests, a strange sight for those who were less versed in monsters of mythology. "What are those?" Jonathan asked, too young to be knowledgeable about the creatures. David looked at him and smiled.

"Excellent question. For those of you who are asking themselves the same thing, these are harpies. Although humanoid in height and shape, we should not misjudge them as sentient creatures. They are beasts, through and through."

Zooming the satellite image, he showed the inside of one nest, where a gruesome image appeared.

Instantly, two people suddenly became sick, throwing up in the garbage cans near them in the cargo hold.

Looking at them, Alex was surprised by who they were, having expected them to be tougher than this, given their gaming experience.

Liu Yan and Killian averted their gaze from the table as they stood back up.

Alex was about to ask them if they were alright, but David was quicker to the punch than him, bellowing out in laughter.

"And here I was, expecting both the great Stormbringer and Killi to be toughened veterans. Even the children didn't react as strongly as you two weaklings did. Shameful, really," he mocked.

Killi shot a death glare at him, while Liu Yan kept his gaze averted.

"Can you change the image, please?" the latter asked, keeping his eyes away.

On the table, the bottom of the nest, which had been clearly displayed until now, changed.

And from the rotting cadaver-filled bird's nest, the image changed back to the coast.

David chuckled low to himself, calling them weak under his breath again, before resuming his briefing.

"As I was saying, these are beasts. They may appear semi-human in appearance, but make no mistake. The only thoughts within their minds are to eat and reproduce. They care not to entertain a conversation, and will kill you if given the chance," he said, showing the sea under the cliff side, littered with abandoned single and two-passenger boats.

The dozens of kayaks, paddleboards, and other water-bound touristic transport methods smashing against the cliff side from the waves below painted a gloomy image.

"Now," David said, getting their attention off the picture.

"We won't be coming at them from the water, since it would be suicide. We will have to scale the cliff side from above, walking toward the nests from the caldera above," he said, changing

the image.

Showing the raised volcano's caldera, which had lost all semblance of a mountain from erosion, from the millennia of waves crashing into it, everyone present could see the harsh reality of the difficulty of their mission.

Although the nest was on the smallest outcropping of the volcano's south-eastern point, they had no cover on the way there. A small forest covered the foot of the volcano on the northwest side for their approach, but once in the caldera, it was an open grass field.

This would be as dangerous as approaching from the sea, if only in a land-bound fashion.

"Now, I know this seems like a dangerous approach since we'll be leaving ourselves open to aerial assault with nowhere to hide. But I think this is still our safest bet. With nowhere to hide for us, it also means the harpies will have no cover on approach, giving us time to take them down," he pointed out, looking at all their ranged attackers.

"I also don't think we would lose in aerial warfare," Kary chimed in.

"I would rather not resort to that, since we would be exposing ourselves to the eyes of the locals," David pointed out.

"But if push comes to shove, you, Alex, Jonathan, and myself can give them a run for their money. But that would be a last-case scenario, ideally."

Kary agreed it was risky to start flying when there was a civilization center so close by. But they all were ready for the option if the need arose.

Up to now, everyone seemed to follow the gist of his plan. But Jin-Sil raised her hand, gathering attention on herself.

"Yes, Athena," David said, having already forgotten her name.

"It's Jin-Sil," she replied, glaring a bit at him.

David raised his hands apologetically.

"How have you convinced the local authorities to let us up there? It's a national protected area and is only open to public heavy watch. I doubt that would be good for us if we suddenly need to fight in the caldera," she pointed out.

David frowned a bit.

"I... Hadn't thought of that. I assumed we would sneak up there unnoticed," he admitted.

Jin-Sil exhaled loudly.

"Aish... And here I thought you were being so reliable. Fine, I'll arrange an escort as light as I can because there is no way up the mountain without getting spotted by the authorities. Why do you think they keep that first part of the way clear of trees?" she said, pointing at the small piece of grassland before the forest.

"We can figure that out once we reach the area," David said, shrugging his shoulders.

They were still an hour away from there, at the airport, anyway.

Kary looked at Jin-Sil and smiled.

'Good thing we asked her to come. I doubt any of us would have been able to deal with that

issue.'

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