#87
Choi Do-jun’s complexion looked bad. Not just bad—his lips had lost their color, and his face was as white as paper, looking like he might collapse at any moment. That’s when Seo Yi-young realized. So this was what Choi Do-jun meant by “leave it to me.” He seemed to have used far more power than he could handle. Seo Yi-young’s heart sank instantly, and he immediately healed Choi Do-jun.
“…”
But Choi Do-jun’s strength didn’t recover all at once. Seo Yi-young furrowed his brow at the strange sensation. His mana was draining rapidly, as if being sucked away. It felt less like Seo Yi-young using his ability and more like Choi Do-jun extracting power from him. It was a sensation he had never felt before.
Just when he started to worry that he might be putting himself in danger, Choi Do-jun’s complexion returned to normal. Now it was Seo Yi-young’s turn to look pale.
“Why are you staggering?”
“You shameless bastard.”
Look at him talking after draining so much energy. Seo Yi-young weakly criticized as he cast self-healing.
Now he understood why this ability wasn’t used often. Indeed, using such power and remaining unaffected would make one inhuman.
Seo Yi-young looked around at the glass floor Choi Do-jun had created. A vast expanse of land had been vitrified, so extensive that the end wasn’t visible. He was freshly awed by Choi Do-jun’s existence.
“I’ve never used it this satisfyingly before. Not bad.”
Choi Do-jun’s muttered words troubled him.
“…What are you planning to do now?”
“The dungeon raid is the top priority. If I can do it, why wouldn’t I?”
“You crazy bastard.”
Seo Yi-young’s expression hardened as he cursed. Like a dungeon-conquering machine. Just as he was about to continue, not satisfied with his insult, other hunters approached the two.
“Hunter Choi. What is this? Why haven’t you used this before?”
“Yeah, really.”
Some hunters seemed wary of Choi Do-jun’s ability. They couldn’t simply be happy about the visible difference in power. It was certainly an overwhelming ability. But Choi Do-jun wasn’t the type to use it against other hunters, so wasn’t their reaction a bit too obvious?
Choi Do-jun couldn’t possibly have missed the blatant wariness that Seo Yi-young had noticed. However, he maintained an attitude of indifference. It was a bit different from being unaware. He seemed to know but not care, which inwardly relieved Seo Yi-young. The secret to maintaining a top position among S-Class hunters wasn’t something that came naturally.
“Move forward!”
One of the hunters shouted. While some hunters immediately followed the command, others seemed to barely listen. Surprisingly, there were even foreign hunters among those who hesitated.
A subtle battle of nerves was occurring among the S-Class hunters. It seemed pathetic that grown adults would engage in such mind games. It was as if they had nowhere else to display their pride. It was debatable whether this could even be called pride. It seemed unbelievable that they would behave this way in a Disaster-class dungeon where lives were at stake.
Although Seo Yi-young was also an S-Class hunter, he found the mindset of other S-Class hunters difficult to understand. He was worried about how to mediate the situation, as a quarrel with foreign hunters could potentially escalate into diplomatic or international issues, when Choi Do-jun casually spoke up.
“No time to waste. Let’s get on with the raid.”
He was right. What they had defeated wasn’t the boss mob. They had merely taken down the first wave of mobs.
When Choi Do-jun spoke, something magical happened. Several hunters who had been visibly dawdling began to move. It seemed to be due to the ability Choi Do-jun had just demonstrated. Hunters who could exert this level of influence were probably countable on one hand globally, including Choi Do-jun. One of the hunters who had been dawdling, Wei Tang from China, subtly approached Choi Do-jun and spoke to him.
Though Seo Yi-young wondered what business Wei Tang had with Choi Do-jun, he was just relieved they could continue the dungeon raid without further trouble.
After walking for a while, Seo Yi-young overheard a conversation among nearby hunters.
“Huh? Jung Hunter isn’t coughing anymore?”
“Oh, you’re right! What’s going on?”
“Hmm? Could it be because he got healed by Hunter Seo Yi-young?”
When his name was mentioned, Seo Yi-young unconsciously turned his head in that direction. He made eye contact with Hunter Jung Seong-yeon, who had been coughing due to a cold even before entering the dungeon.
As other hunters’ gazes gathered on him, Seo Yi-young just blinked. They seemed to think it was because he had received healing from Seo Yi-young, but from Seo Yi-young’s perspective, it was an extremely far-fetched assumption.
“Hunter Seo, do your heals include cure effects?”
“What? No. That’s not possible.”
Healing and curing are similar but different concepts.
Healing mends injuries but doesn’t treat diseases. Curing, on the other hand, treats illnesses in the body. Thinking of it as treating conditions like cancer or leukemia makes the distinction clearer. Cure ability is exceptionally classified among abilities that can be used both inside and outside dungeons.
“Maybe it just healed naturally?”
When Seo Yi-young asked this, the hunter tilted his head but couldn’t easily dismiss his suspicion. He seemed to suspect that Seo Yi-young was hiding other abilities beyond what he had publicly announced.
“If I had other abilities, I would have disclosed them. It would only increase my value.”
Seo Yi-young said with a shrug. Hearing this, the hunter awkwardly rubbed his cheek and muttered, “That’s true, I suppose.”
It wasn’t wrong. What reason would he have to hide something that could increase his value, especially since he wasn’t a combat hunter? There were rumors of dangerous markets where hunters themselves were traded, but there was no reason to withhold information because of such baseless rumors.
With that, the discussion about Seo Yi-young’s abilities faded away.
After walking for about half a day, the terrain gradually changed from sand to moist soil. It seemed the environment was changing. As predicted, after advancing a bit further, a large lake appeared. The emerald glitter of the water’s surface looked truly beautiful.
The hunters approached cautiously, keeping a vigilant eye on their surroundings and the lake before them, wondering if something might be lurking there. Being in a Disaster-class dungeon, they couldn’t let their guard down.
Just as they were approaching the lake, they felt like they were passing through something.
Though nothing was visible, the sensation on their bodies was unmistakable, leaving no room for doubt. It wasn’t just Seo Yi-young who felt it; the other hunters seemed to feel it too. Everyone stopped in place and exchanged glances.
Anxiety appeared on the faces of the hunters, who were already tense about what mobs might appear. However, even after waiting, no mobs emerged. Though anxious, they couldn’t just stay in one place. After reorganizing to ensure they could counterattack immediately if attacked, they moved forward.
It happened just as the raid team reached the riverbank. There might have been a splashing sound.
“What the… shit!”
“Urgh!”
Screams and shouts mixed together. The hunters’ attention turned toward the source of the sound. With a hissing noise, water flowed up Daniel’s arm, and where it passed, the American hunter’s hand was melting. First, his skin flowed down like candle wax, then the muscles beneath turned liquid, and the exposed bone darkened. The hunters watching were struck with horror.
They were all experienced hunters. They wouldn’t have been careless. It seemed unlikely that, in the middle of a Disaster-class dungeon, they would have casually stuck their hands into a lake without proper verification just because they saw it.
“Out of the way!”
But that was a concern for later.
Just as Seo Yi-young was pushing through the hunters in front of him to quickly approach and heal Daniel, someone grabbed him and swiftly moved him away from the lake. It was Choi Do-jun. Seo Yi-young was about to ask what he was doing when—
“The water is the mob! Get away!”
Daniel shouted while clutching his injured arm.
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone rapidly moved away from the lakeside. Daniel, too, could be seen moving away from the lake despite clutching his arm in pain.
“Don’t forget that you’re this team’s only healer.”
Choi Do-jun’s voice sounded like a reprimand. Seo Yi-young couldn’t say anything.
Thinking about it, Seo Yi-young had indeed been the most careless in the recent situation. It was fortunate the lake remained still; if it had attacked, Seo Yi-young might not have escaped unharmed. But it was hard to control when his body moved before his thoughts. Despite being able to heal from a distance, his body had reacted first. The formula “heal the injured” was so ingrained in his mind that it would take time to modify this behavior.
Biting his lower lip, Seo Yi-young sent healing to Daniel. Daniel’s hand returned to its original state.
The vast lake before them wasn’t water but strong acid. Even slight contact melted everything.
The hunters braced for the lake to surge up and attack them, but nothing happened for several dozen minutes. If the lake truly was a mob, it would have attacked them right when they arrived, or at least when Daniel’s hand was melting. But if not, it seemed to require certain conditions to move, though they couldn’t determine what those conditions were.
“It’s quiet now?”
“Daniel, what were you doing earlier?”
The hunters waited for Daniel’s answer. He seemed to be searching his memory, then his eyes blinked rapidly as if something had come to mind.
“I was talking with Tony earlier and used my ability… Wait, could it be responding to abilities?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
