Chapter 10
Jeongeun strained to keep his facial muscles from moving as he watched Heero manipulate water with ease. Every time he waved his hand, water sprays erupted from the air, and columns of water shot up from the ground.
Splash, crash.
When Heero gestured again, the corpses of the monsters tumbled down.
“Is the boss monster the only one left now?” Heero asked, cleaning the blood-soaked ice floor with a simple friction of his fingers.
“Yes, but the raid team that came in first still hasn’t shown up,” Yejin said, sharply scanning the surroundings.
“They might be dead in the boss room.”
“Ugh, Rina! Don’t say such ominous things!”
“I’m sorry,” Rina replied.
Soohyuk pretended to give Rina a playful slap on the head.
“Let’s go in right away.”
Heero said with a smile, mediating between Soohyuk and Rina. They stepped over the monster corpses and entered the boss monster’s room.
Snow Queen (A)
A woman, pure white from head to toe, sat on a throne made of ice. At her feet lay unconscious people sprawled out.
“Oh no… it looks like three are seriously injured, and the rest are dead,” Yejin said in a dark voice.
“I’ll try to heal them first,” Dasol said.
Heero raised a hand slightly. “Use your area skill, Dasol. Don’t get too close to the boss.”
“Yes.”
Dasol quietly chanted “[Salpo].” [1] The name of the area healing skill, ‘Salpo,’ struck Jeongeun as amusing, and he glanced at the status window that appeared before him.
Magic damage rate reduced to 55.7%.
As expected, Jeongeun’s magic damage rate was decreasing every time Dasol used his skill.
While allowing Dasol to heal, Heero walked forward.
“Humans seem to be visiting more often today,” the Snow Queen said.
As if they were the ones who had opened the gate to Earth first, she feigned annoyance. Jeongeun secretly glared at the Snow Queen.
“I was punishing those humans for killing my precious child. But…”
The Snow Queen fixed her white eyes sharply on Heero.
“I can smell the blood of my children on you.”
Upon closer inspection, Jeongeun noticed a white fox lying dead next to the Snow Queen. It seemed that the fox had been the boss of the D-rank dungeon. In other words, the previous raid team had killed the boss and encountered the hidden boss just before escaping the dungeon.
“It’s unfortunate that my precious children are dead, but if we don’t kill, we will die ourselves, so we don’t have many choices.”
Heero spoke politely and reached out one hand. Suddenly, ice melted all around, turning into streams of water that transformed into a long spear shape above Heero's hand.
The Snow Queen shouted in a voice like a cold blade. “How dare you reveal your intent to kill before me!”
As she shouted, the ground shook violently. The ice on the floor cracked with an ominous sound.
“Excuse me,” Jeongeun said as he wrapped his arm around Dasol’s shoulder. The range of the shield activated by his bracelet was sufficient to protect both of them, but if they were to be physically separated, Dasol could get hurt.
“...Huff.”
Dasol held his breath for a moment before exhaling heavily. Jeongeun looked down at Dasol, who was nestled against him. He seemed to shrink back, looking quite uncomfortable.
“Are you perhaps uncomfortable with my body touching yours?”
That was understandable. Everyone had been wary of being near Jeongeun.
It was actually Dasol who flinched at Jeongeun’s casual question.
“No, not at all.”
He answered succinctly. However, Jeongeun could see the tiny goosebumps rising on the back of Dasol’s neck.
“I’m sorry. Once we deal with the boss monster, I’ll let go right away.”
“No… it’s fine, really.”
“I have a duty to keep Hunter Seo Dasol safe.”
“...I understand.”
Jeongeun held Dasol with only one arm to avoid unnecessary contact. Dasol’s posture had become more relaxed than before.
While they were talking, the battle outside the shield was growing increasingly intense. The Snow Queen suddenly conjured a blizzard inside the room, and Heero transformed it all into water to attack the Snow Queen. Soohyuk was smashing the ice pillars around the Queen to topple them toward her, while Yejin unleashed various attack spells, and Rina continuously fired arrows.
With one S-rank and three A-rank hunters tackling an A-rank boss monster, the fight didn’t last long. Eventually, the Snow Queen let out a scream that sounded like it would tear her apart before shattering into pieces. As ice crystals rained down like a storm, her magic stone fell with a thud.
“It’s over.”
Dasol lowered Jeongeun’s arm and stepped back quickly, as if he had been waiting to drop down.
However, just as Jeongeun was about to call out to Dasol, thinking it would be better to stay close until they exited the dungeon, he noticed something white moving among the scattered ice shards and the remains of the boss monster. Above the mass, words floated.
White Fox (D)
It was the fox monster he had thought was dead.
The team members were catching their breath. Heero was collecting the magic stone, while Soohyuk and Yejin were checking on the injured hunters. It seemed that neither Rina nor Dasol was aware that the white fox was still alive.
Without thinking too deeply, Jeongeun opened his mouth.
“[The monster remaining here is—]”
However, before he could finish the incantation, bang! The ice floor collapsed. With a squeak of a dying gasp, the white fox plunged into the water. Although the fox struggled, the surface froze over instantly. That was the end of it.
Jeongeun turned his head in a daze. There stood Heero, smiling at him.
‘Don’t overdo it.’
Heero mouthed the words and walked toward the injured. The other team members casually conversed with Heero, seemingly unfazed, as if he had taken care of the remaining monsters.
But Jeongeun stood there, frozen in place, staring at Heero.
Heero had attacked the monsters on Jeongeun’s behalf.
The realization shook Jeongeun’s heart. For Jeongeun, who had been avoiding using his spells and hiding, Heero had taken action to ensure he wouldn’t have to use them.
What a kind and thoughtful gesture. Jeongeun barely suppressed the impulse to cross himself or shout “Hee-men!” [2] in gratitude.
‘Once I get a phone, I’ll post about how kind and warm Heero is on Twitter. I’ll write a five-thousand-character essay about it.’
Jeongeun swallowed his tears and made a vow. After not being able to indulge for a year, he would put in even more effort from now on. He would let the whole world know of Heero’s greatness.
As he solidified that ambition, Heero clapped his hands and said brightly, “Alright, shall we head out now?”
**
04. Storms and Drizzles
In front of the dungeon, reporters were bustling about. There were also people from the Hunter Association and Kyungjin, the vice guild leader of the Sooryun Guild.
Kyungjin sent the personal raid team hunters, who had been supported by their teammates, off in ambulances while organizing the media and clearing a path to the vehicles. Thanks to his smooth and efficient guidance, the first team members were able to board the cars without any difficulty.
“I’m so tired.”
Rina complained, resting her head against the car window.
“We’ll drop you off in order of proximity from here.”
Kyungjin said from the passenger seat. Before they exited the dungeon, thanks to Heero using his skills, all the team members avoided being drenched in blood, but they all carried a terrible smell. It was a mix of sweat and the stench of monsters.
Jeongeun discreetly pressed his nose to his wrist and sniffed, letting out a small “Ah.”
“What’s wrong, Kim Yibak?” Yejin, sitting next to him, asked. All eyes in the car turned to Jeongeun.
“Ah… I lost an item. I’m sorry.”
One of the two bracelets that Heero had personally given him was missing. The other one had also lost its effectiveness and had turned into an ordinary stone bracelet.
“If it was a shield bracelet, it probably broke after reaching its limit. That’s how those items work, so don’t worry about it.”
He understood that. But since it was given by Heero, he had wanted to keep it forever. Jeongeun nodded slightly, feeling a bit down.
“Are you saying you gave an S-rank item to a bodyguard hunter?”
Kyungjin asked sharply from the front. Jeongeun was familiar with that kind of malice.
“Isn’t the bodyguard hunter hired to protect Hunter Seo Dasol without wasting items? Why would you hire a hunter who doesn’t even have the ability?”
Kyungjin turned his body to face Heero as he shot back. Heero just laughed as if he found it amusing.
“Are you saying Kim Yibak isn’t capable? How capable he is, our Yibak.”
‘Our’ Yibak.
Jeongeun slightly lowered his head, his cheeks flushing. He couldn’t hear what Kyungjin was rambling about.
“If it’s about protecting with items, then Dasol can just wear more items. Why hire a suspicious Word Sorcerer—”
“Hunter Ahn Kyungjin.”
Someone interrupted Kyungjin’s words.
“Let’s be quiet since it’s noisy, okay?”
The one coldly reprimanding Kyungjin was Dasol, who had been sitting in the back seat. A moment of shocked silence fell over the car.
Notes:
[1] 살포 (Salpo) - generally means "to scatter," "to spread," or "to sprinkle." [2] 희멘 (Hee-men) - a play on "Amen" but Jeongeun is worshipping no god but Heero.
