The End of the Path We’ve Walked (9)
The raid team that had chased the tree-form dungeon boss could only swallow a hollow laugh. The dungeon boss, which had rooted itself in a wide field, was violently shaking its branches at the raid team. The team’s faces were grim as they stared in turn at the branches soaring high above, the leaves sharpened like blades, and the sap flowing down the trunk.
Whether the sap was acidic or not, each time it dripped to the ground, the lush grass made a sizzling sound as it melted away without a trace. It was obvious what would happen if those branches coated with such sap were swung around carelessly. Moreover, just facing the creature brought a feeling of pressure as if their bodies were being crushed. Was this what an S-class dungeon boss was like?
The Espers’ trembling legs were visible to the naked eye as they faced the monster. But the S-class Espers couldn’t hastily take action. They couldn’t ignore the strategy directed by Han Yoon-jung right in front of her. At any other time it might be different, but ignoring the instructions of Han Yoon-jung, the commander-in-chief in an S-class dungeon, would lead to unimaginable punishment.
This was also why Myeong Si-yeong, despite constantly grumbling about how frustrating it was, couldn’t step forward.
Just then, An Jong-hyeok, who had been quiet, opened his mouth.
“Deputy Minister, I think we need to take action regardless of rank. We need to eliminate that monster to prepare for what comes after, don’t we?”
When Han Yoon-jung, frowning, nodded with a resigned face, the S-class Espers, including Myeong Si-yeong, rushed forward as if they had been waiting for this moment. While others were distracted by the dungeon boss and the S-class Espers ruthlessly driving it back, An Jong-hyeok approached Han Yoon-jung.
And speaking lowly, conscious of others’ gazes, he said:
“It’s not among them.”
“So that means…”
As Han Yoon-jung muttered with wide eyes, An Jong-hyeok nodded.
“It seems to be at the accommodations.”
An Jong-hyeok briefly took out the wavelength detector from his pocket to check. As they had moved away from the accommodations, the wavelength had also weakened. It had been worthwhile to leave several suspicious individuals behind at the accommodations.
Han Yoon-jung, upon hearing An Jong-hyeok’s words, turned her head toward the direction of the accommodations. Her gaze cooled as she stared at where the accommodations would be hidden somewhere far away.
Meanwhile, Yoon Seon-hoo was humming a tune as he looked down at those collapsed at his feet. Among them was Chae Do-min, who had been wary of his presence all along—perhaps due to good intuition. He, or rather, it crouched down, pressing firmly on Chae Do-min’s cheek, and muttered.
“Did he smell something monstrous about me?”
Although it knew this wasn’t likely based on its observations while walking around wearing Yoon Seon-hoo’s shell, the thought still occurred to it.
It wasn’t surprising, considering that only this human and another who followed him around like a bundled set from the supermarket had been wary of it. Curious about what they were thinking, it had followed them, but they never let it get close, so it failed to find out. And as their suspicion intensified, naturally other humans began to view it differently as well.
Most unpleasantly.
A murderous impulse surged momentarily, but it decided to endure, as it was on the verge of successfully taking revenge on humans who had been attacking its home and those of its kind without permission. Besides, there was some basis for their suspicion.
Previously, in an A-class dungeon, a lizard monster had recognized it and put on a show. Unlike itself, the lizard was a stupid monster with lower intelligence, which it understood, but the degree and manner were so outlandish that it almost had its identity exposed. So it had to kill the lizard. How could it let all its efforts to parasitize a human body go to waste?
There were three types of humans who destroyed its home: those who attack or defend while destroying indiscriminately, those who heal the wounds of such individuals, and beings who regenerate the power of the first two types—the ones called “Guides.”
Unfortunately, although it had donned a human shell, it had never received Guiding because it didn’t use abilities like real Espers. The one fortunate thing was that, thanks to the original owner of this body being a mental-type Esper, it didn’t arouse suspicion even without using abilities.
This made it even more curious about Guiding. If it received Guiding, could it and its kind use their powers without getting tired? It wanted to test this once.
After pondering briefly, “it” tied up the ankles of the Guides, including Chae Do-min. Identifying Guides wasn’t difficult. Espers and Guides wore completely different colored combat suits. It just had to tie up the humans wearing pure white combat suits.
Some humans made small moaning sounds as they stirred, but they didn’t open their eyes. This was to be expected. Controlling or putting minds to sleep was something it excelled at more than anyone else.
But it hadn’t expected to be able to put Chae Do-min and other S-class Guides to sleep… It felt good. It looked down at the humans, who were smiling drowsily as they dreamed pleasant dreams, and then, humming a tune, it left the accommodations, dragging the Guides who were strung up like fish on a line. Without these beings, the humans who had been destroying the dungeon would suffer and either die on their own or flee.
The corners of its mouth twitched as it imagined the amusing sight of humans fleeing with their tails between their legs. It finally couldn’t hold back its laughter and let out a loud sound.
“…Pfft, pfft-haha, HAHAHAHAHA!”
If it didn’t laugh like this, it would feel too good and might unconsciously kill these Guides. That would be troublesome, so it had no choice but to laugh.
And when the Guides woke up, it planned to try receiving this thing called Guiding. Of course, the possibility of them waking up on their own was slim.
It stretched, turning its neck this way and that. The more it looked, the more it liked this body. Thanks to the mental-type Esper who used power similar to its own, it had been easy to hijack, and there were no particular constraints on using its abilities. If there was a flaw, it was that the body was slightly weaker than the one it originally used.
It leisurely headed toward its nest, hidden somewhere in this dungeon. With each step, the Guides tied with rope dragged along behind it.
As it moved along, it suddenly became curious. How would those who depend on these Guides react? Would they search every corner of the dungeon? It thought that watching their behavior wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
* * *
After confirming that the monster was in the accommodations, An Jong-hyeok and Han Yoon-jung decided that no more information should leak to the monster and informed the raid team of this fact. They couldn’t keep it hidden forever, especially since they needed to chase after that monster.
The raid team, having dealt with the tree monster, could hardly believe their ears when they heard this strange news in the middle of the dungeon.
“What… what are you saying? So there might be a monster among us? Wait, wait a minute. What kind of nonsense is that? We’re not idiots; how could we not recognize a monster right in front of us?”
“I think so too. If there was a monster, we would have recognized it long ago and reported it to superiors or dealt with it. And does it make sense for a monster to mix in with humans?”
“No, okay, let’s say that’s true. But if you suspected this, shouldn’t you have given us some indication beforehand? We’ve been laughing and chatting in the same space with something that might be a monster, without even knowing it!”
In response to the strong protests from the raid team members, Han Yoon-jung swallowed a sigh and explained.
“In the case of humanoid monsters that can control minds, it’s very rare, but there have been instances where they’ve taken over human bodies. And the reason we didn’t inform you of this beforehand was because we were concerned that the information we had would be exposed to the monster. It was an unavoidable decision.”
“Well, okay. If that’s the reason, I guess it can’t be helped… But still, I just can’t accept that a monster can come out of the dungeon. I wonder if that’s even possible.”
“Until now, that’s been the case. If the S-class dungeon’s wavelength was unstable because a monster came out of the dungeon, it makes sense. Although the circumstances of how it came out of the dungeon haven’t been determined, we can be certain that its intelligence is similar to that of us humans.”
“What about the possibility of a mistake? You could have mistaken a person for a monster.”
When one Esper asked with an incredulous face, An Jong-hyeok shook his head.
“I’m certain. A wavelength that couldn’t possibly come from a human was detected.”
“No… this doesn’t make any sense…”
“That’s why we need to return to the accommodations as quickly as possible.”
“This is seriously hopeless. What would you have done if people in the accommodations had died?”
“That won’t happen. The artifact is designed to immediately alert the team commander if the life forms inside are threatened, and to separate their space for a dozen minutes or so. Since I haven’t received any alert, everyone should be safe.”
Han Yoon-jung answered firmly. But none of this reached Sa Hae-geon’s ears, as he had already thought of “death.” Even in the chaos of raised voices, Sa Hae-geon stood still, only blinking.
Chae Do-min might be dead? But why… He had clearly come here to protect Chae Do-min. So what was the reason for his being here?
As Sa Hae-geon’s complexion rapidly paled, Lee Cheol-min, who was standing next to him, patted his back.
“Hey, Sa Hae-geon. Calm down, man. Didn’t you hear? She said no alert has come.”
Despite Lee Cheol-min’s comforting words, Sa Hae-geon’s expression remained rigid. Everyone would be safe because no alert had come? That was too irresponsible. They shouldn’t have created a situation where such a thing could happen in the first place. Chae Do-min was so timid.
All this time, Chae Do-min had considered these people his colleagues…
His head began to throb slightly. Sa Hae-geon forcibly blinked his stiff eyes and looked at An Jong-hyeok. His deep blue eyes were empty. An Jong-hyeok, who noticed Sa Hae-geon’s dry eyes, moved his lips as if to say something, but ultimately swallowed it.
“For now, let’s head to the accommodations. As quickly as possible.”
Instead, he just gave instructions in a low voice. Sa Hae-geon stared at him with a parched gaze before striding forward. His heart was pounding as if it would burst. Before he knew it, Sa Hae-geon was at the front of the formation, shoulder to shoulder with Han Yoon-jung.
Han Yoon-jung’s puzzled gaze touched his cheek briefly before falling away, but he had no time to care about such things.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
