Chapter 52
“—Leader! Faction Leader!”
Huh!
I opened my eyes with a start at the loud cry coming from nearby.
The first thing I saw was a cave-like ceiling, and then…
“Are you coming to your senses?!”
Jin So-yul’s face, looking at me with concern.
Belatedly regaining consciousness, I held my head, got up, and looked around.
“Where is this…?”
“I don’t know. When I came to my senses with my back against the wall, I was here.”
At Jin So-yul’s words, I carefully retraced my memories.
I clearly remember finding Jin So-yul, then three system windows appearing in succession, and then I hesitated unconsciously at the hallucination charging towards me and hit my back against the wall. And then…
“…I also opened my eyes and found myself here after my back touched something.”
Coming to my senses, I realized we were trapped in some cave.
First, I got up awkwardly and dusted off the dirt on my arms and legs.
“Shall we look around a bit?”
“What? Right now?”
“Why? Are you scared?”
I didn’t want to leave Jin So-yul alone here.
‘But if we stay still, we won’t be able to assess the situation.’
I was pondering what to do.
“It’s not that…”
Jin So-yul rolled her eyes around and carefully asked.
“Aren’t you scared…?”
Oh, come on.
“I am scared.”
But you know…
“If we’re going to die either way, I’d rather help you escape as much as possible.”
If we end up dying together, so be it, but shouldn’t we try until we can’t anymore? Hearing that, Jin So-yul had a blank expression.
Why is she like that? I was about to ask if she was uncomfortable when…
“Aaaaargh!!”
A scream was heard from the distance.
I looked toward the source of the sound and then back at Jin So-yul. She too was looking at where the sound came from before turning to me.
“…I’m scared, but I want to go.”
Jin So-yul answered like that. With those words, we both silently ran at the same time. At the end of the cave, mysteriously covered in blue light like a gem cave, we arrived at a very wide space.
And then…
“He-help…!”
Gulp, there was a monster that swallowed whole a person reaching out to us.
As the hazy smoke dispersed, a huge monster with a blank face stared at us. The moment I saw it, I instinctively knew.
“That’s the boss, right…?”
That this was not a hallucination. Hearing movement from the other side, I turned my head to see about two people huddled and trembling. Seeing this together, Jin So-yul murmured blankly.
“Don’t tell me it lures with hallucinations and keeps eating…”
“Seems like it.”
Despite being only 17, she was quite sharp. I glanced at Jin So-yul’s pale face and turned away. More importantly, the problem now is…
[Found…. my… my prey.]
That we are the next target.
[SYSTEM] ‘The Master of Illusions’ has targeted you!
💎
“You stay and protect those people for now.”
Judging that she couldn’t let Jin So-yul fight in a state where she couldn’t properly use weapons or skills, Yoo Yi-joo sent Jin So-yul to the side of the people.
‘It seems the two people originally here also fell here by the same principle as us.’
Looking at their terrified appearance, it seemed they couldn’t fight. Which means…
[Skill, ‘What’s Yours is Mine (-)’ is used.]
A situation where she had to protect three people alone. There was no choice.
‘It’s better to kill that thing quickly even if I have to overdo it.’
[Target, ‘Lim Yuchan (S)’s skill, ‘Burning Faith of Fire (S)’ is used.]
As the system message appeared, Yoo Yi-joo raised her sword. Starting from the blade closest to her hand, flames slowly began to burn.
She had to end this as quickly as possible. She swung her sword towards the creature, who reached out to her.
The sword imbued with fire blazed uniquely in the dark cave.
[My…. my pre-prey.]
Seeing the creature emitting a dark aura, Yoo Yi-joo smiled lightly.
“Try to eat me if you can.”
Because I have no intention of being eaten.
[Kieeeek!]
The creature let out a loud scream and charged towards Yoo Yi-joo.
‘There’s one thing I’ve learned…’
Yoo Yi-joo’s foot stumbled back and hit a rock.
“Creatures like you have weak main bodies.”
Saying that, she used the cave rock attached to the wall as a foothold to leap and slice off the creature’s arm with her sword.
And just like that, the creature’s left arm cleanly fell off and flew through the air.
[Kee, kieeeek!!]
A loud scream filled the cave. The severed left arm fell to the ground with a thud.
Seeing this, the monster seemed to sense the threat belatedly and stumbled backward, cradling its cut arm with its remaining hand. And then.
[Using skill, ‘Awaken!(SS)’!]
It activated its skill.
‘…Yeah, I knew it would come to this.’
Yoo Yi-joo clicked her tongue.
What’s advantageous for it is not a direct one-on-one battle, but a battle using hallucinations.
Perhaps inevitably, the hallucination appeared with its arm cut off like the original. She could immediately tell it was a hallucination created to defend itself by making it unrecognizable.
‘Damn it.’
Yoo Yi-joo’s eyes wavered weakly, unable to discern.
‘I can’t tell them apart.’
That’s right. They both look exactly the same.
Two monsters with identical appearances approached Yoo Yi-joo with the same stride.
‘One of them must be the real one…’
As the hands of the two creatures approached Yoo Yi-joo.
“The right one! The one on the right is real!”
A shout was heard.
Turning her head, Jin So-yul was at the end of that voice.
[Skill, ‘Penetrating Sight (C)’ is automatically activated!]
Her eyes sparkled as she looked at the monster on the right with a confident gaze.
‘Right, Jin So-yul had clairvoyance ability…!’
Belatedly realizing this, Yoo Yi-joo inwardly thanked Jin So-yul. And with that, she charged towards the monster on the right.
The creature whose identity was exposed seemed noticeably flustered.
‘If you come close, it’s actually advantageous for me.’
Bang! She struck down the babbling monster without a moment’s hesitation.
[Kieeeeek!]
The creature screamed. As she turned around to check what happened to the hallucination, Yoo Yi-joo’s pupils slowly dilated.
The hallucination was heading towards Jin So-yul.
She could see the startled Jin So-yul flinching her shoulders and fidgeting anxiously. Yoo Yi-joo, who was about to reflexively rush out, hesitated.
‘Why? Jin So-yul knows it’s a hallucination, so it shouldn’t be able to harm her. Why is it approaching?’
Then, the question was immediately answered.
“Tell those people it’s a hallucination!”
What the hallucination was aiming for wasn’t Jin So-yul, but the two people she was protecting.
Along with Yoo Yi-joo’s shout, Jin So-yul was seen urgently speaking to the two people. However, the two people, terrified, were too frightened to listen to Jin So-yul.
Then, as the monster rushed in, Jin So-yul hurriedly raised her sword.
With an unnatural posture like someone using a sword for the first time, Jin So-yul somehow blocked the creature’s attack. As Yoo Yi-joo also rushed towards Jin So-yul to catch the hallucination first, something strange happened.
‘What…?’
The hesitating hallucination disappeared as if melting the moment it touched the sword. It didn’t bounce off, it literally vanished.
“What was that just—”
“Huh!”
Before she could express her doubt, a gasping sound erupted from the wall. It was Jin So-yul.
💎
“What’s wrong with you!”
Without time to mind her knees, she rushed and knelt in front of Jin So-yul, whose body was tilting.
“My, my arm hurts.”
Did she overexert herself using the sword? Jin So-yul clutched one arm and complained of pain. Seeing her suddenly break out in a cold sweat, Yoo Yi-joo urgently looked at Jin So-yul’s arm.
‘It’s fine.’
There was no swelling or wound. Even when touching the arm, Jin So-yul didn’t scream or show more pain.
“My, my arm feels like it’s going to shatter…”
With a groan, her tears dropped to the floor.
[Grrrr…]
And from the other side, the boss, who had lost its hallucination, was seen getting up. Damn it.
[Skill, ‘Boundary Line (C)’ is activated!]
She quickly activated the skill before the boss could attack, but at the same time, she felt her mana rapidly depleting.
‘This isn’t good.’
I’m the only one who can kill the boss. The two people who were here first were already terrified, and Jin So-yul’s ability doesn’t include attack skills. At best, just one sword…
‘Sword?’
“It might not look like much, but I think it’s a high-level sword. I’ll give you this sword, so please, won’t you accept me?”
Come to think of it, Jin So-yul had said before. That this sword seemed to be of a high level. I swallowed hard and looked at Jin So-yul’s arm. I could see mana flowing unstably. After realizing this, my gaze shifted to the sword lying on the ground. If…
[SYSTEM] Checking the information of item ‘First Sword (-)’.
▸First Sword (-)
There’s no information on when it came into existence, what abilities it has, or who can use it. However, it is very powerful.
‘If my thoughts are correct.’
After slowly taking in the explanation, I spoke to Jin So-yul with a confident voice.
“Jin So-yul, use the weapon.”
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
