Chapter 5
“Hyung-nim?”
Baek Doha’s puzzled voice spread through the forest.
“Is there a problem?”
“…I have a bad feeling.”
Walking behind Lim Yuchan, Baek Doha summarized the situation neatly.
“Sounds like something good is about to happen.”
“Not good, bad.”
“That’s what I mean. Every time you say you have a bad feeling, only good things happen.”
Three years ago, Lim Yuchan suddenly canceled a dungeon schedule, saying he had a bad feeling.
Due to his unexpected stubbornness, another S-rank hunter ended up entering that dungeon.
And lo and behold, they found a rare SS-rank sword in that dungeon.
‘It was held by the final boss, if I remember correctly.’
Its rarity was beyond words.
Lim Yuchan’s guild, Cheongrang, had been kicking themselves for a while after learning about it.
Every time Lim Yuchan said he had a bad feeling, good things tended to happen like that.
“I really have a bad feeling. Like something’s been taken from me…”
“It’s probably just your imagination. How many people would dare to steal from the Cheongrang Guild Master?”
S-ranks in the world’s Top 10 are usually left alone out of fear.
Even Cha Si-hyeon, who might dare to mess with him, is nearby, so this is just a false alarm.
Baek Doha stomped on a sand boa monster rising from the ground.
Squeak!
After writhing in pain briefly, the snake died. Baek Doha looked at it impassively and raised his head.
“The dungeon rank should be between E-rank at minimum and B-rank at maximum.”
“Probably. I’m expecting E-rank.”
Then it’s probably not E-rank, Baek Doha thought lightly.
“Let’s split up here.”
Lim Yuchan stopped after looking around.
“Found it.”
Baek Doha also raised his head.
In front of them, a huge rock face was blocking their path.
Lim Yuchan raised his fist. Baek Doha stepped back without further thought. And simultaneously,
[Skill ‘Fist of Flame (S)’ is being used.]
Boom!!
Lim Yuchan drove his fist, surrounded by bright red flames, into the rock.
The rock face was pierced in a straight line.
As if a cave had been formed.
Lim Yuchan, who had just done something that would make others gape in awe, walked out of the smoke-filled surroundings with an indifferent expression.
As he was turning away as if his job was done, Lim Yuchan suddenly furrowed his brow. Just now…
‘A gunshot?’
It was a sound that an ordinary person wouldn’t have heard, but Lim Yuchan was S-rank.
With his exceptionally keen senses, he couldn’t have been mistaken.
However, Baek Doha uses a bow, and Cha Si-hyeon uses a sword.
The only one who uses a gun is…
“……”
He, who was about to turn away, changed direction and started walking elsewhere.
💎
Bang!
The bullet cut through the air once again.
As the tip of the mana-made bullet gleamed sharply,
[Unique skill ‘Pillar of Fire (A)’ is being used!]
The bullet that grazed a small pillar carried the fire as it flew.
Then, it pierced the tough shoulder of a hyena.
Squeal!!
The creature screamed, but soon both its voice and body were consumed by bright red flames.
Crackle, crackle.
Smoke spread to the sky as the skin burned.
By the time the creature’s form had completely disappeared in the fire.
Ding!
An alert sounded.
[SYSTEM] Progress to rank up (2/100)
It died.
I looked at the hyena that had been burned black by the A-rank skill.
Next to the hyena was another corpse, also burned black.
‘Only one left.’
I aimed the gun once more at the remaining hyena, which was now hesitant to approach.
Almost simultaneously with the gunshot, the creature’s cry spread.
[SYSTEM] Progress to rank up (3/100)
Stepping back to avoid the creature’s spurting blood, I gripped the gun tighter.
Perhaps because I’m getting used to it, it’s possible to kill completely with just one shot.
No, from the beginning…
[SYSTEM] Target ‘Lim Yuchan (S)’s skill ‘Pillar of Fire (A)’ is active
[SYSTEM] Current skill duration: 3 minutes
If I hadn’t stolen Lim Yuchan’s skill with ‘What’s Yours is Mine (-)’, this would have been impossible.
Their bodies were so tough that I doubted whether bullets would even penetrate, but they couldn’t withstand the A-rank skill.
Honestly, I used this skill on a whim, but even I’m surprised by this situation.
A skill that can steal even an S-rank’s skill.
I stared blankly at the gun in my hand and muttered.
“It’s over.”
As soon as I realized it, the tension drained from my body and I collapsed onto the grass.
The strength in my legs that I had been desperately maintaining gave out along with the tension.
[SYSTEM] The usage time of the unique skill ‘What’s Yours is Mine (-)’ has expired
[SYSTEM] Target ‘Lim Yuchan (S)’s skill ‘Pillar of Fire (A)’ has been deactivated.
Ah, the time’s up too.
It feels like something is leaving my body.
More precisely, it feels like returning to its original ‘mine’.
The dark dawn was now welcoming the sun.
‘Why…’
I sensed a presence behind me.
For a moment, I got goosebumps.
‘No way?’
When I turned around, the first thing I saw was the leg of a giant octopus.
That size is almost like…
‘A Kraken?’
Yes, it was very similar to the Kraken that often appears in movies.
…But this is bigger than what appeared in the movies!
The moment I thought I should run away, my leg was caught.
“Gasp!”
My leg was caught and my body was suddenly dragged downwards.
‘Ah, damn it. Wait a minute!’
Shouldn’t something this big move more slowly?
I cursed at this ridiculous imbalance, but I was already being dragged away.
‘Skill! Skill!’
[SYSTEM] Insufficient mana to activate skill.
[Unique skill ‘What’s Yours is Mine (-)’ activation canceled.]
“…Damn it!”
The cost of using an A-rank skill multiple times was greater than I thought.
‘This thing is also unbalanced, would it hurt to activate the A-rank skill one more time…!’
I gritted my teeth and flailed about, but it didn’t work as I wanted.
I couldn’t even stand up since my feet were tied from the start.
I desperately tried to grab the ground with my hands, but soon slipped.
‘Ouch!’
As if refusing to allow any struggle, it only gripped my ankle tighter.
When water finally touched my feet, my mind went blank.
‘Am I going to die? Like this?’
Damn it. That can’t happen.
I gritted my teeth and reached out once more to grab the grass. Water came out of the tightly gripped grass, dirtying my hand. Trying to hold on with weak grass was no different from being a rat in a trap.
As the strength in my hand gripping the grass gradually weakened, just when I thought it was over, a shadow fell across my vision.
‘A human shadow…?’
As I looked up, I saw a familiar face.
Black coat, wrist-wearing a watch, still with that stoic expression.
It was Lim Yuchan.
He was looking at my leg bound by the Kraken.
In this situation, seeing a person, especially an S-rank, was incredibly welcome.
I tried to reach out to him for help, but couldn’t reach him.
Lim Yuchan just kept looking at my leg bound by the Kraken.
He didn’t do anything.
Even as I was dragged further, even as the water reached my body.
‘Ah.’
Just as I was about to be completely submerged, our eyes met.
Seeing his utterly emotionless gaze, I instinctively knew.
‘This man, he’s not going to help me.’
Damn it all.
💎
“……”
Lim Yuchan watched the white hand slowly sinking.
The white hand helplessly submerged into the water.
She gives up so easily.
Despite our eyes meeting, she didn’t cry for help or beg to be saved.
Surprisingly easily.
‘I don’t particularly intend to protect her, but…’
Watching the Kraken slowly disappear after achieving its purpose, Lim Yuchan recalled Baek Doha’s words.
‘We still need to keep her around. If she played a part in us falling into this dungeon, she might know about the exit.’
He reached out his hand towards the Kraken’s head, entering the water.
[Skill ‘Pillar of Fire (A)’ is being used.]
Simultaneously, whoosh!
A large fire caught on the Kraken’s head.
But was it just his imagination?
‘Something feels a bit…’
There was a strange sense of discomfort when using the skill.
It felt as if someone had worn clothes from the closet and put them back, leaving subtle wrinkles.
Lim Yuchan clenched and unclenched his hand, but the feeling of discomfort didn’t disappear.
The Kraken’s not-so-small tentacle tried to attack Lim Yuchan, but it was engulfed in flames before it could.
Whoosh!
An enormous fire rose from his fingertips.
With just that one attack, the Kraken’s tentacle that had been stubbornly holding onto Yoo Yi-joo fell off.
He first pulled Yoo Yi-joo out of the water.
Seeing her motionless, Lim Yuchan caught the Kraken trying to escape.
[Skill ‘Pillar of Fire (A)’ is being used.]
Pillars of fire began to rise around the Kraken.
If it had been an ordinary hunter, using a fire skill on a water monster would have been ineffective, but Lim Yuchan’s skill incinerated the Kraken in an instant.
It was the firepower created by an S-rank’s mana.
“……”
The ashes that were once the Kraken settled on the lake, which had decreased in volume due to evaporation from the fire.
“Cough!”
Just then, Yoo Yi-joo, regaining consciousness, burst into a cough.
Water dripped from her soaked black hair.
As Lim Yuchan was staring at this, Yoo Yi-joo raised her head.
As their eyes met, she slowly opened her mouth.
“Asshole.”
That was all she managed to say.
For a moment, the corners of Lim Yuchan’s mouth rarely turned upwards.
He smiled.
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
