***
『Help me.』
***
In Yoo-shin blinked his eyes.
Hyeon Gyu-ha’s smirk, which was not appropriate for an emergency, was surprising, but more than anything……
“What did you just say?”
“What?”
In Yoo-shin urged Gyu-ha to stop being pretentious, and he looked down at him with a naturally virtuous gaze.
“You called me by a strange name. The pronunciation is exactly……”
As if the pronunciation was distorted due to a glitch. It was as if there was an encoding error, and the letters were broken and did not appear properly.
An even more eerie chill ran down his spine than when he encountered the dungeon outbreak. This man knew something. Why did the system encourage taming him?
As if aware of the confusion reflected in In Yoo-shin’s eyes, Hyeon Gyu-ha bent down to meet his gaze and smiled.
“I told you this before we entered the dungeon, right? If you’re here, you can find it. That’s all I can tell you.”
“…… What you were looking for was a dungeon outbreak?”
“To be exact, it’s a consequence of a dungeon outbreak. For now, let’s just focus on blocking the monster wave.”
Hyeon Gyu-ha stretched out his arm before he could finish speaking. Did this man, who knew something, also know how to end this relationship?
An impulsive question tickles the back of Yoo-shin’s throat.
〈I’ll also find out how to cancel taming, so Yoo-shin-ssi, study your abilities well.〉
Suddenly, a conversation we had in the past came to mind. Even if you knew the meaning of this taming, did you not know how to cancel it?
In Yoo-shin let out a shallow sigh. I didn’t have time to think about it for long. The monster wave was about to arrive.
“Can you explain later?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“……”
“Come here.”
The man, who did not give a clear explanation in the end, motioned for Yoo-shin to come closer. He looked up at him and walked closer. I still didn’t know what kind of person Hyeon Gyu-ha was, and I didn’t know how much I knew about him, but one thing was certain.
He was a hunter who reigned at the top. He was a strong man.
So I wouldn’t die before he did.
Hyeon Gyu-ha wrapped his arms around In Yoo-shin’s waist and lifted their bodies into the air. The feeling of floating that Yoo-shin thought he became accustomed to felt particularly unfamiliar to him. As he inadvertently clung to his arm, Hyeon Gyu-ha lowered his gaze and wrinkled his eyes with a satisfied expression.
‘You’re still at ease even under these circumstances.’
Looking at Gyu-ha’s expression, which was no different from his usual one, it was true that his distraught and complex emotions were diluted in one way or another.
In Yoo-shin, who held Gyu-ha’s arm and looked down, swallowed his words. Countless monsters were rising from the ground, the sea, and the air from far away on the vast horizon.
The strange calls unique to the monsters rang out in a jumbled mess. The sound of wings flapping, the sound of heavy bodies moving, and the sound of wild leaping. The chaos of the disorderly swarm of monsters had only one goal.
The destruction of living beings. And there were only two living beings on Earth in this dungeon.
Like a colony controlled by a single command system, the eyes of the monsters moved and locked on in unison. In Yoo-shin, who caught the attention of the monsters, was shocked.
“Ugh……”
“It’s like a horror movie when people look at each other at the same time, as if some kind of command has been input, right?”
Contrary to Gyu-ha’s carefree voice, the monsters flocked to them, beating their wings, trotting heavily on the ground, and jumping high.
The ground was so dark that it could not be seen due to the swarm of monsters rushing in. In Yoo-shin’s eyes became dizzy. It was fortunate that I was floating in the air. If I had been on the ground, I might have fainted.
“What should we do about this? There are too many. How about requesting support now?”
“No. If I let those out of the dungeon, I’ll go bankrupt.”
“What?”
“The responsibility to manage private dungeons lies with the successful bidder or guild. If my dungeon overflows and causes damage, I’ll have to compensate for it in full. If I let those guys go, the city would be completely devastated. No matter how much money I have, if I do that, I’ll go bankrupt.”
Hyeon Gyu-ha then made a very pitiful expression.
“What if my Master abandons me because I fell into debt?”
In Yoo-shin was astonished. On the one hand, he was impressed.
“No, Gyu-ha-ssi, how can you say such bullshit even in this situation?”
“It’s sad that Master’s tone is becoming harsher.”
“That’s all because of Gyu-ha-ssi.”
“Well, anyway. I brought my Master here expecting a dungeon outbreak, but I’m not so irresponsible that I can’t do anything about it, right?”
Certainly, it was so.
Hyeon Gyu-ha released his arms that were wrapped around In Yoo-shin’s waist, clasped his hands together, and extended them upward as if stretching. Letting go of his hand didn’t cause him to fall to the ground, but In Yoo-shin was startled by it and hugged Gyu-ha’s waist. His shy voice came out.
“I don’t mind your holding my back, but can you put your arms up a little?”
“Ah, are you uncomfortable?”
“The placement is a little dangerous.”
“The placement is…… Aghhhhhh!”
In Yoo-shin freaked out and raised his arm vaguely around Gyu-ha’s long bones.
They only shared a few words, but in the meantime, the monsters were flooding beneath their feet. A flying monster flew towards them in the air. On the ground, the monsters leaped and climbed each other’s bodies, baring their fangs and claws.
The wet breath of a monster was close by. Rolling white eyes shot a sharp look. A strange cry, like grinding stones, follows. In Yoo-shin took a deep breath, burying memories from 14 years ago.
“It’s alright.”
Hyeon Gyu-ha whispered, patting the back of In Yoo-shin’s hand, which was in an ambiguous position between his chest and his waist.
Hyeon Gyu-ha didn’t know what happened to In Yoo-shin 14 years ago. It occurred to him that he might be afraid of female monsters.
Despite it being just a single phrase from him, it anchored In Yoo-shin’s confusion more securely than any elaborate rhetoric. Was it because I knew this person was strong? In Yoo-shin swallowed his sigh.
“Good. This would be good.”
Hyeon Gyu-ha muttered to himself, lifting their bodies higher into the air and taking in the entire horizon.
In Yoo-shin was also an awakened person, albeit a weak one. He could feel the flow of mana centered around Hyeon Gyu-ha fluctuating. Goosebumps rose on his skin. I realized that until now, I had never properly seen him fight with psychokinesis, a godly ability.
Blasting guns indefinitely was a means of attack that anyone could use as long as they have enough mana and weapons. Although Gyu-ha had amazingly accurate vision and motor skills, the only time he used psychokinesis was when he levitated the machine guns up in the air and fired them.
There were some awakeners in the world who had psychokinesis. However, no one would be able to demonstrate miraculous abilities like Hyeon Gyu-ha could.
“It’ll smell a little bloody.”
While speaking softly, Hyeon Gyu-ha slowly raised his arms upward. Yoo-shin’s vision turned upside down. No, tens of thousands of monsters, pitch black all the way to the horizon, rose into the air at once.
The monster that was trying to scratch them with claws that sprouted from the tips of its wings flipped over. The three legs of the demon, which had been heavily pushing and thumping forward, thrashed in the air. The harpoon-like snout of a monster, which was about to shoot up and pierce them with it, got bent.
Kirrk! Kkiaah! Kyahaaaa!
The monsters howled. The land that was covered with a swarm of black monsters was revealed, and the blue sky was now filled with monsters.
In Yoo-shin could not even utter an exclamation and just stared ahead with his mouth shut. His tongue was frozen. It didn’t even feel real—it felt more like a movie or CG than reality.
“Uwaah……”
Only when his eyes met those of the monsters, struggling and being dragged up into the air barely a meter in front of him, did he let out a yelp. In Yoo-shin hid behind Hyeon Gyu-ha, shaking his shoulders. Today was the first time I learned that even monsters could be embarrassed or startled.
The swarm of monsters ascended into the sky. Higher. And higher. And higher. And higher. And higher.
When In Yoo-shin’s head, following their trajectory, was tilted back, Hyeon Gyu-ha lowered both arms that he had been raising near-vertically.
Kkiaaaaa!
With drawn-out screams, the monsters soaring into the sky fell. The time to fall was long. Kwang! Bam! Puck! Craters on the ground were made in succession. Monsters fell again on the corpse of another monster, bodies having become so exhausted that their form was unrecognizable.
The ground shook with the roar of monsters falling one after another. The sound of flesh and bones breaking apart rang out dully even amidst the dying monsters’ screams.
It didn’t stop there—sailing ships lined up in the rolling sea were also levitated high into the sky and then dropped on top of the monsters. Kwang! Bam! The rocks and trees on the ground went through the same process as the ships. The breath of monsters that were barely holding on was lost as they fell to their deaths.
[The monsters of the dungeon have been wiped out.]
In Yoo-shin swallowed dryly. It was an easy and instant massacre—as if it were child’s play.
The thick bloody smell rose later.
The good news was that the aftermath of the fall raised so much dust on the ground that I was unable to see the spectacular view. If I had witnessed it clearly, I would not have been able to sleep at night for quite a long time.
“You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”
“That, uh…… yes……”
Though I felt a sense of emptiness even when he instantly defeated the dungeon boss, right now, my mind is completely blank. This man, smiling radiantly without a single drop of sweat, felt like an entirely different species.
“Ah, I think I’m feeling a little better now. I can’t do this outside the gate because I’ll go bankrupt from paying compensation, even if I defeat the entire monster wave by myself.”
“That’s…… definitely……”
Roads and buildings would all be destroyed, and sewer pipes and subways beneath the ground would also be destroyed.
As he listened to the same jokes as usual, the shock slowly began to wear off. In Yoo-shin tried not to look down and hugged Hyeon Gyu-ha tighter around the waist.
“Is it all over now?”
“No. As Yoo-shin knows, if you clear the outbreak in a dungeon, there’s a 100% chance that a hidden boss will appear. That’s what I’m looking for.”
“Could the hidden boss be a second Columbus?”
“That would be convenient, but I think it’s probably the hero of the Taino people’s legend, as opposed to Columbus. My guess is that it will be a hero named Deminan……”
[The hidden boss of the dungeon, ‘Supreme Deity (虛神) Atabeyra,’ appears.]
I don’t know what it was, but since it’s a deity, it must be very dangerous. But knowing Hyeon Gyu-ha, wouldn’t he have a solution somehow?
“Gyu-ha-ssi, what is that?”
In Yoo-shin, who talked to Hyeon Gyu-ha without much worry because he had watched his expression until now, became shocked. Gyu-ha’s face, which had never lost its composure even in the face of a monster wave, had become stiff.
“…… That’s the highest god in Taino mythology.”
“Really?? A g-god?”
“Yes. A god.”
Roughly rubbing his face, Hyeon Gyu-ha looked down at In Yoo-shin and smiled brightly.
“We’re screwed.”
HM: definitely not me, thinking about IDWTR when Hyeon Gyu-ha took off while grabbing In Yoo-shin by his waist.
PA: Their skinship is definitely evolving. Hehehe
Editor M: Oh, to show off your martial prowess to your little pathetic man who’s clinging onto you for dear life…
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Credits:
Translator: Hoshi Miya
Editor/Proofreader: Editor M
Omg omg thank you so much for continuing to translate this novel!