Chapter 160: The Misty Sea Tribe (1)
Memories of childhood—what an absurd question for such a dire situation. Seong Hyunjae let a faint current of electricity flow through the ground as he opened his mouth.
“Contact the PR team to schedule an interview. I think I’ll have some time around this time next year.”
“You’re rather cold-hearted.”
The thing that had taken on Han Yujin’s appearance responded, and Seong Hyunjae openly displayed a look of disappointment.
“Is the imitation limited to just appearance?”
The response was utterly uninteresting. Through the dispersed electricity, Seong Hyunjae sensed Evelyn and the other Association Hunters. Their positions had shifted compared to before the mist had enveloped them, but they were still nearby in terms of distance. Yet the fact that the surroundings were eerily silent suggested that all sound had been cut off.
“If it’s only the appearance, I would argue it’s a perfect resemblance. And you noticed it quite quickly, I must say.”
“Well, if it were my item, it would’ve immediately started blaming me the moment it saw me for being late. It wouldn’t have cared at all about secretly running away in the first place.”
He would’ve likely thrown out remarks like, “So even the great Guild Leader of Sesung can’t avoid traffic jams, huh?” or “Did you trade in your helicopter for candy money?” Then, as if it were the most natural thing, he would’ve demanded to be served left and right, fully aware of his worth, but always careful not to cross a certain line.
“If you’re going to keep playing around like this, find someone else with free time. I can’t afford to waste time on some mere S-Rank who even showed up late. If you’re curious about my profile, I recommend visiting Sesung’s guild website.”
Seong Hyunjae’s eyes curved coldly as he mentioned that the basics were already listed there. It was clear from his expression that he found it a waste of time to be held up any longer.
“Even though this is what you like the most, Seong Hyunjae, your hospitality is lacking.”
“What can you possibly do with just appearances? The reaction needs to match to pique any interest.”
With a sharp clink, golden chains appeared as if to signify his disinterest in continuing the conversation. The refined Seeker’s Chain. Seeing it, Ru Ga Pheya—wearing Han Yujin’s outer shell—narrowed his eyes.
“Do you not remember the original owner of that chain at all? It didn’t end up in your hands for no reason.”
“Are you talking about that crescent moon from back then? I see it two or three times a year.”
“Two or three times a year? Do they contact you?”
“…Must I spoon-feed you the answer by saying, ‘Look up at the sky’?”
“The sky?”
“Does your world not have a moon?”
The conversation was exasperatingly dull, and Seong Hyunjae lightly grumbled. Then, with a faint motion of his fingers—
Crack!
The end of the chain shot forward, piercing Han Yujin’s chest where a mana stone would’ve been if he were real. The chain emerged from his back and wrapped around his neck. Blood dripped from the gruesome sight, but Han Yujin’s face remained nearly expressionless.
That lack of reaction didn’t sit well with Seong Hyunjae. It grated on his nerves.
“It makes me sincerely miss the real one.”
“Do you have memories of your childhood? Did you even have a childhood?”
“I don’t know why you keep asking, but I was a cute and handsome kid. Very much so, in fact. Looking at me now, you can easily imagine it, can’t you?”
If it had been the real Han Yujin, he would’ve immediately scrunched up his face in annoyance at the answer, grumbling all the while. Yet, despite that, he would’ve begrudgingly nodded, acknowledging the truth. But the fake only stared at Seong Hyunjae as if observing him.
“Was it transplanted rather than transferred? Or maybe…”
Right after that soft murmur, Han Yujin’s form vanished, replaced by a blurry, jellyfish-like figure.
“I’d like to ask the crescent moon directly, but I suppose that’s impossible. It seems I’ll need to investigate further. This world has more fascinating things than I expected~.”
Before the laughter-tinged words could go on any longer, golden lightning pierced through the mist, striking without hesitation.
Boom, BOOM!
The dark blue giant, Choi Seokwon, struggled to steady his staggering body. With every unsteady step as he tried to regain his balance, the asphalt cracked, and nearby buildings crumbled like toy blocks underfoot.
“Stats are SS-rank! Be careful! Liette, don’t rush in recklessly either!”
Although his optimized skills were still at an S-rank level, there was no guarantee that he hadn’t developed a new SS-rank skill. The possibility couldn’t be ruled out.
‘The shared skill is still on cooldown.’
It had only been a week since it was used. I’d need to wait another half day before it could be used again. Judging by how he was being pushed back by Liette’s charge, he didn’t seem completely invincible. Still, it wouldn’t be an easy fight.
For now, I’d just poke and prod to test the waters. If it seemed impossible, the plan was to stall until the cooldown on the shared skill was over. It would’ve been nice if Yerim were here. And that damn Seong Hyunjae—he’s always so ridiculously slow. Depending on how things go, I might have to call Kim Seonghan. I wonder if Moon Hyunah and the Hanshin Guild Leader could be contacted too. With all the information cut off recently, I couldn’t tell if they’d entered a dungeon raid or not.
“For now, Liette and Soyeong—”
My words trailed off mid-sentence. Han Yuhyun had suddenly picked me up and slung me over his shoulder.
“Hey, what are you doing?!”
“That’s my line. For now, I’ll evacuate you to safety.”
Yuhyun directed his words toward Chief Song Taewon. Ah, right, this kid’s memory came back only halfway. At this moment, I probably looked like a freshly awakened F-rank to him. He wouldn’t know about my skills, let alone Grace, so my actions likely seemed bizarre in his eyes.
“Yuhyun, I have a damage nullification item. It works up to an L-rank.”
“…What?”
At my calm words, Yuhyun’s eyes widened in surprise.
“…That kind of item exists?”
“It’s a personal item. That means I’m the safest one here.”
Despite my assurance, Yuhyun looked skeptical. As if to back me up, Song Taewon chimed in.
“Mister Han Yujin is correct. Moreover, he’s intervened in A-rank dungeon raids and dungeon break responses before. This situation is nothing new for him.”
Wait, was it really necessary to bring that up right now?
“What…?”
Yuhyun bit down hard on his lip at Song Taewon’s words. His face showed just how shocked he was.
“You’re an F-rank. And yet I—me, of all people—just stood by and watched over you like that?”
“Yuhyun.”
“What the hell was I even doing?! What was I thinking?!”
“What were you doing? You were protecting me, of course.”
I spoke as calmly as I could. He must be extremely confused. A lot has changed, after all. Haeyeon now has two more S-rank Hunters, a monster breeding facility, and Gi Seungsoo, Myungwoo, Noah, not to mention our partnership with Sesung… Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t go into too much detail about Seong Hyunjae. I’m starting to regret calling that guy here.
“Just recently, you were even acting as my personal bodyguard. You used an item that changes your appearance and stayed by my side the whole time. Speaking of which, what happened to the glasses?”
Noah mentioned Yuhyun wore them when meeting Choi Seokwon, but they seem to be missing.
“I didn’t know what they were, so I put them in my inventory. You’re saying we were together the whole time?”
“Yeah. Anyway, put me down for now.”
Choi Seokwon didn’t seem to have fully adapted to his excessively enlarged body yet, as he wasn’t making any significant moves. Still, we couldn’t just stand by and watch until he made the first move.
Yuhyun hesitated for a moment before setting me down. I looked up at his face, which was clouded with confusion and frustration.
“Let me say this again: I’m not going to get seriously hurt. At most, I might end up with a few scratches. The damage nullification item has a minimum threshold, after all. Right now, you’re actually more at risk than I am. Do you still remember how to use the Blue Willow Leaves?”
“Huh?”
“You can use them as stepping stones. They’re an alternative to flight skills. Once you get the hang of it, there might even be advantages over a regular flight skill.”
“They can be used as a flight alternative? Really?”
For a moment, Yuhyun’s face lit up with excitement, but then he quickly stiffened again. He’d been just as thrilled when I told him about it last time, so it seems like he’s really craving a flight skill. I also took the time to explain about Iryn, the elemental flame, and the feeling of weaponizing it, using the Teacher skill to provide as much detail as possible.
Meanwhile, the giant finally started to move. One of his massive legs stretched forward, taking a step.
“We can’t let him break through the barricade.”
Song Taewon spoke as he pulled out his phone.
“For now, I’ll work on expanding the evacuation radius as much as possible.”
“Please contact Kim Seonghan and ask him to stand by outside the barricade. Can we also call Hanshin and Breaker?”
“The Hanshin Guild Leader is currently raiding a dungeon, and the Breaker Guild Leader has left the country to attend a monster auction.”
When did Moon Hyunah head overseas? While I was discussing this with Song Taewon, Yuhyun, overhearing us, interrupted with a puzzled expression.
“If it’s an SS-rank opponent, Kim Seonghan won’t be much help.”
“Seonghan has grown to S-rank.”
Yuhyun’s eyes widened in shock.
“Then Haeyeon has two S-rank Hunters?”
“Three.”
“…What?”
“Four if you include Peace.”
“…Who’s Peace?”
Honestly, how can the leader of the guild not even know his own forces? And as for that damn Choi Seokwon, he’s stolen my little brother’s memories and left him utterly confused.
Noah ascended into the sky, fully transformed, while Liette crouched low and darted swiftly toward the back of the giant. She leaped up like a black panther, baring her claws and fangs.
Scratch!
-Whoa, this is really tough.”
The black dragon’s fangs left only a faint line on the dark blue armor. Liette spun in the air and landed with all four legs, slamming the giant’s body down with tremendous force.
BOOM!
The giant’s knee hit the ground, creating a large crater. His colossal arm swung toward the dragon crushing him, but Liette nimbly dodged the attack, her movements surprisingly agile for her size.
-He’s still slow enough that we can manage, but if he gets faster, we’re screwed.
Liette’s tone was cold and analytical. It was clear we needed to stall until the shared skill’s cooldown was over—oh, wait.
“Liette, Soyeong! How much progress have you made in merging stats with the Dragon Rider skill?”
“About 60 percent!”
Kang Soyeong shouted in response. Sixty percent, huh. Even though they seemed to be working well together, they’d only managed to merge just over half.
“Soyeong, I’m about to use a skill on you, so don’t resist! Liette, you too!”
I activated the Teacher skill, linking their senses together. For a brief moment, both the dragon and her rider froze in place. Then, simultaneously, they shouted in surprise.
-Look at these stats! Darling, what the hell did you do?!
“Oh my God, it’s 100 percent! 100 percent! All of Liette’s stats have been completely combined! Mister Han Yujin, I love you so much!”
-Soyeong, you better hurry up and become S-rank!
“If both of us had S-rank stats, we’d be unstoppable! Just thinking about it is amazing, Liette!”
Hold on, Soyeong, you can take your time becoming S-rank!
It was a possibility I had considered, but I didn’t expect the Teacher skill to raise the stat integration rate for the Dragon Rider skill so effectively—let alone bring it to 100% in one go. The result exceeded expectations.
Creak, screeech.
At that moment, an irritating sound rang out as the giant stomped heavily.
BOOM!
The ground shook violently. I almost fell, but Yuhyun caught me just in time. Then another quake followed, BOOM, BOOM, and—
CRACK, CRASH!
The earth erupted like jagged spearheads, creating tall, sharp rock pillars that shot skyward in a terrifying formation. I jumped and dodged through them, weaving my way through with ease. Despite my calm movements, I noticed that my dodging direction was being subtly forced toward one side. The moment I realized it—
Liette’s path was blocked by a thick wall of rising earth. With her strength, it wasn’t impossible to break through it. She could easily smash or slice through such obstacles. But that was only if nothing else was getting in her way.
— You bastard!
Liette came to a sudden halt, and in that moment, the giant’s hand grabbed her tail. The spikes on her tail tore into his palm, and poison dripped from her barbs, but Choi Seokwon didn’t seem to care. He yanked hard, pulling the black dragon toward him.
“Hyung—”
Yuhyun instinctively started to step forward but then turned to look at me.
“Noah’s here, so don’t worry. He’s a support-class healer.”
I answered quickly, and though Yuhyun still seemed uneasy, he nodded. Blue Willow Leaves scattered as Han Yuhyun grabbed Song Taewon and leapt upward.
Using the fluttering leaves as stepping stones, they ran through the air and swiftly crossed over the stone wall. Below them, they could see the giant pulling Liette toward him as she dug her claws into the ground, desperately resisting. The floor cracked and groaned beneath them as Yuhyun spoke.
“Even if his stats are SS-rank, the fact that he’s taking no damage at all likely means that armor itself is a skill.”
Song Taewon nodded without needing further explanation. A dark shadow formed in his hand as Yuhyun released his grip on him.
As Song Taewon plummeted downward, Yuhyun’s eyes turned crimson. Iryn’s form expanded like a roaring flame, transforming into a massive spear of fire that Yuhyun grasped in his hand.
Moments later, Song Taewon landed on the giant’s arm. The black shadow spread in a circular pattern across the armor-clad limb. Though the area of effect was small, Yuhyun hurled the blazing spear precisely at the weakened target.
Song Taewon, who had held out until the last possible moment to maximize the effects of his plunder skill, withdrew just in time, suffering minor burns. Almost simultaneously, the fiery spear struck the weakened area.
CRACK!
A dazzling blaze of scarlet flames swirled violently, melting the armor and tearing into it.
BOOM!
The spear exploded with a devastating heat. The giant’s arm became mangled and limp. Liette, not missing the opportunity, swung an invisible blade. The weakened arm was severed completely, falling away. The surrounding stone pillars and walls were also cleanly sliced, crumbling in pieces.
The giant stumbled back, shaking the ground as he retreated, but then—
“It regenerated.”
Kang Soyeong spoke in frustration. Just as she said, the severed arm had regrown in an instant. Cutting off limbs was useless. We’d have to destroy the entire body in one blow.
Should we hold out until morning when the shared skill cooldown resets? Or… I turned to look at Song Taewon, who was being healed of his burns by Noah.
–TL Notes–
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