Chapter 94
BOOM!
An ear-splitting sound erupted as power collided head-on with power. A fragment carried by the storm-like wind instantly left a long scratch on Song Ji-hyeok’s cheek.
“Fuck.”
Though he had struck with full force, the result was disappointing. Judging by the collision sound, the monster’s body should have burst like a watermelon or had a huge hole punched through it, but all that happened was a depression like it had been hit with a fist. He had momentarily forgotten that the monster before him was lizard-type.
No, his eyes clearly recognized it, but that information wasn’t reaching his brain. That’s how little mental capacity Song Ji-hyeok had right now. Unable to think, he was just blindly trying to overwhelm with pure power, so creatures he would normally have dispatched easily took several more attacks before they were finally eliminated.
The enraged monster’s tail lashed out in all directions in a frenzy. Just as he was about to deliver another blow to the dented body, someone else attacked first. Energy flickering dark red like hellfire shot in a straight line and pierced right through the monster’s eye.
Before he could identify who it was, a harsh voice called out:
“Attack its belly!”
With one eye burned away, the monster went berserk, exposing the uniquely white area of its belly. As if the command had been programmed into him, Song Ji-hyeok instinctively fired energy toward the monster’s stomach.
The same crimson energy from before entwined with it like a snake and flew terrifyingly forward. The lizard’s massive body, hit squarely, was instantly shredded, with flesh and intestines flying in all directions.
“——-!!!”
The monster’s terrible roar shook the earth, but it didn’t last long. With its stomach completely ruptured and body nearly split in two, the lizard collapsed as if all strength had left it, losing all movement.
Song Ji-hyeok, breathing heavily, turned his head to the side. The person who had added strength to the attack was Team Leader Yoon Hyun-tae. The man who usually steadfastly encouraged his juniors was now, rarely, reprimanding Song Ji-hyeok with a completely hardened face.
“Get your head straight. Did you forget you need to attack the belly of lizard-types?”
At that moment, another avalanche-like rumble came from somewhere. As he instinctively turned his gaze in that direction, Song Ji-hyeok finally spoke.
“…I’m sorry.”
“Just focus on the battle for now. That’s how we get out of here as soon as possible.”
There was no room to argue against such a valid point. Yet, while his mind understood, he couldn’t control his mixed emotions of irritation and anxiety.
His not-so-displaced anger soon found another outlet. He began indiscriminately sweeping away the monsters that were still thriving in all directions.
For everything gained, something must be lost. While Song Ji-hyeok ruthlessly slaughtered A-rank and higher monsters, contributing greatly to the fighting force, he had to endure unsettled energy accumulating beyond the safety threshold.
“The guiding is fini—urgh!”
Without even finishing her sentence, Choi Young-sun covered her mouth and ran outside. Suddenly left alone, Song Ji-hyeok fiercely scowled.
“Fuck.”
As he irritably wiped his wet lips, it felt as dirty as if he were wiping off filth.
He had heard that Guides definitely experience something like pleasure when providing guiding to an Esper. Yet that woman always turned pale, covered her mouth, and rushed out.
Honestly, the guiding itself wasn’t bad. Objectively speaking, when Choi Young-sun provided guiding, he could definitely feel the unsettled energy that had accumulated heavily in his body disperse, restoring his condition.
But mentally, it was a different story. The mental satisfaction filled by guiding fell far short compared to physical satisfaction. Sometimes the energy flowed excessively or was about to cut off weakly, and above all, her rushing out every time with a face struggling against nausea seemed like she was blaming him.
And now, the guiding efficiency was starting to decline. Having used his power extravagantly to the point of exceeding the safety level and approaching the danger level, Choi Young-sun couldn’t recover guiding energy fast enough to keep up with the amount consumed. Simply put, a vicious cycle was repeating.
He knew that the people here held subtle expectations for him as an S-rank. But frankly, it wasn’t his concern, and the fact that these supposedly capable individuals were thinking about relying on someone else’s help was rotten. Above all, with the boss mob not even showing its shadow yet, in the long run, it would be right to properly regulate energy consumption, for his own sake as well as Choi Young-sun’s.
Though he knew this well intellectually… when faced with monsters, his reason would evaporate.
Since Lee Su-hyeon left the dungeon first, Song Ji-hyeok had suffered from symptoms similar to nervous breakdown. The slaughter scenes he had witnessed hundreds of times over several days, all kinds of sounds sticking to his ears like auditory hallucinations causing headaches, the image of Lee Su-hyeon disappearing before his eyes leaving blood stains—all these mixed chaotically in his head, stirring up destructive emotions. Thinking it was all because of those damn monsters, he often unknowingly unleashed brutal attacks.
With this situation overlapping for more than three days, even Song Ji-hyeok couldn’t remain sane. A prime example: today, for the first time, he exhaled rough breaths when firing energy. When he saw with his own eyes that it didn’t inflict much damage, being offset by the steel-like body of the lizard, he momentarily thought he was screwed.
“Haaa… fuck…”
Cursing for who knows how many times today, he buried his face in his palms. Once again, the chaotic sounds—unclear whether hallucinations or reality—buzzed in his eardrums. At times like this, only one thing came to mind.
‘Give me your hand.’
A hand neither too small nor too large, just right for holding.
‘How is it?’
A gentle voice asking.
‘Guiding? I’ll give you as much as you want.’
A confident smile as if saying to trust only him.
And…
‘I don’t think I had any guiding side effects.’
…Liar.
Song Ji-hyeok gently bit his lower lip, showing his snow-white teeth. But the emotions arising when thinking of Lee Su-hyeon were more of worry and longing than resentment.
If anything, the resentment was directed at himself. He should have accompanied Lee Su-hyeon when teleporting him. If Su-hyeon had refused, he should have subdued him by force and gone together. At that time, he was so fixated on getting Su-hyeon out immediately that he didn’t even think about going along.
Since then, there had been no way to get news about him. All he heard was that “he was safely handed over to the Sunrise Guild,” relayed through the Esper who had teleported Lee Su-hyeon and returned alone.
The tent he came back to was empty. As he sat on the bed with a menacing aura as if ready to kill someone, after some time, this thought occurred:
I should have left him here and watched over him a bit longer, as the doctor said.
Then, feeling disgusted with himself for thinking that, he worried about Lee Su-hyeon, and that night he barely slept, eyes wide open. Since then, Song Ji-hyeok had never been able to sleep with peace of mind.
Meanwhile, with guiding efficiency now gradually declining, his condition couldn’t possibly be good. His violent tendencies became more prominent, and his nerves grew increasingly sensitive. Now, the biggest thought filling his mind was just one: he wanted to kill the boss mob in the most cruel way possible and go to where Lee Su-hyeon was as soon as possible.
But then, a flash of insight struck his mind.
What if Senior Su-hyeon can’t come here?
‘Then I’ll go.’
The only way to leave this place before the battle ends is through spatial movement. For that…
“Ji-hyeok.”
Almost simultaneously with this dangerous thought, a sudden presence was felt beyond the tent.
“Are you in there?”
Already on edge, Song Ji-hyeok reacted sharply like a beast whose territory had been invaded.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Team Leader Yoon.”
But upon learning the identity, his anger subsided a bit. Given the position of team leader, and how much Lee Su-hyeon trusted and followed Yoon Hyun-tae, Song Ji-hyeok also pretended to listen moderately well to the team leader’s words.
“Come in.”
But when the tent door opened, his eyebrows twitched again. Beyond the open door wasn’t just Team Leader Yoon.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
