#174
He had successfully gotten revenge on Choi Tae-hyuk. He had beaten that ill-fated, dog-like bastard. Lee Han-sol couldn’t help feeling elated. A feeling he had never experienced during countless loops where even using all his hands and feet wouldn’t be enough to count them. Something similar to a sense of achievement. Han-sol felt his long-forgotten confidence surging wildly.
“Baek-woo, you did well. Just keep doing the same inside the gate. Protect me well. Then I think we can succeed.”
I think everything will work out. Since I succeeded in making Tae-hyuk eat shit, I can make the system eat shit too. They’re both similarly ill-fated. Such thoughts came naturally, and Han-sol’s spirits soared. He briefly thought he might be too excited, but Han-sol, who had been marinated in a sense of defeat for so long, was extremely vulnerable to these emotions. Baek-woo gently embraced Han-sol, who couldn’t control himself and was intoxicated by unfamiliar feelings.
“Yes, I’ll do well inside too. No matter what happens, I’ll protect you, so don’t worry about anything, hyung.”
Once Baek-woo latched on, he showed no intention of letting go. Han-sol pushed him away and escaped from his embrace. He could still feel his blood flowing rapidly. Confidence that he could do it—such a feeling was unfamiliar after so long. His heart, racing from emotions he had no immunity to, wouldn’t easily settle, and he looked around the basecamp to collect himself.
Get a grip. Everyone’s preparing for the raid. We’re about to embark on something big.
Han-sol’s gaze, trying to appear solemn, turned toward the rippling gate entrance. Nearby, there was a group of hunters dressed in black. Everyone seemed to be stretching or checking their equipment, as if the raid was about to begin.
“Baek-woo, we should go too.”
Han-sol spoke while identifying familiar faces among the group of hunters.
“Everyone who’s coming is here. Looks like they’re about to start.”
Impressive appearances, tall heights, and similarly strong abilities that could be felt upon entering the gate. The S-rank hunters, excluding Baek-woo, were there. The protagonists of this world. Choi Tae-hyuk, Ji Woo-won, Im Geon-woo. And Jung Yi-dam.
Yi-dam and Han-sol’s eyes met. Yi-dam was smiling mysteriously, as if he had seen the entire situation, though it wasn’t clear when he had arrived. His unpleasantly sparkling eyes were visible even from a distance. His face clearly showed he was thinking something strange. Though it was questionable if there was ever a time when he wasn’t thinking something strange.
Seeing Yi-dam, Han-sol realized that the final moment was approaching. His heart, which had been anxiously pounding with unmanageable confidence, gradually found its rhythm. Among the hunters perfectly dressed in combat gear, Yi-dam’s disheveled appearance, simply wearing tactical pants and a shirt, gave Han-sol a sense of reality.
Yi-dam’s light attire was explicitly stating: that he would definitely die by Han-sol’s hands in that place, so protective gear to keep his body safe was completely unnecessary.
Han-sol held Baek-woo’s hand and walked toward the gate entrance. Yi-dam’s unwavering gaze persistently followed Han-sol from beginning to end. With a face that smiled sweetly like a doll.
Soon those unpleasant gazes will end too. Once we go in there, it will all be over.
Thinking this to himself, Han-sol ignored Yi-dam and lined up with the hunters gathered in front of the gate. Baek-woo naturally took his place beside him.
Unknown hunters standing in front of them whispered.
“They said this gate is above S-rank, but isn’t the atmosphere too savage from the entrance?”
“Why did I have to be at such a gate… No, surely I won’t die. Jung the healer is here too.”
“Yeah, rather than you… the C-rank is the problem. Is he really going in together? Is he crazy, wanting to die? Ki Hunter was also in bad shape for a while.”
“I don’t know, they say it’s a raid… they’ll handle it themselves. Surely they won’t die. Jung the healer is here too.”
Ugh, these idiots who don’t know shit. Mind your own business about the C-rank and just do well yourselves, tsk tsk. While Han-sol was internally mocking the audible whispers, a hot breath was felt on his ear. A low, soft voice was heard from very close by.
“While those idiots are talking over there, shall I tell them outright?”
It was Yi-dam who had suddenly appeared behind him. “What are you saying?” Han-sol shuddered in disgust, but Yi-dam, still smiling, drawled on.
“Don’t you feel sorry for them not knowing anything? Soon both the gate and their lives as hunters will end. I feel pity, so let’s tell them. That Jung the healer they believe in so much will actually die here. That he’ll be brutally murdered by the C-rank here, what do you think if I tell them in advance?”
Between his sweetly curved eyes, Yi-dam’s half-revealed pitch-black pupils. They were sparkling like the universe. His cheeks were full of life. It was a strange face that seemed either too excited or completely insane. As if wanting to somehow shake Han-sol, he continued talking on his own without waiting for a response.
“How about it? Can I guarantee that to them? Have you prepared enough to do so?”
Han-sol, you’re about to become worse than a beast—a murderer. After you tear me apart and kill me, you’ll be no different from an inferior animal committing fratricide. Are you ready for that? Ready to ruthlessly kill poor, pitiful me for your purpose alone. Is your cruel and selfish heart truly prepared to offer me as a sacrifice to gain your next day?
Yi-dam deliberately blew a hot breath onto Han-sol’s white earlobe.
“You’ve really made up your mind while I’m still alive like this? Because you want to live. Because you want to live loving Baek-woo alone… Ah, cruel, frightening, selfish Han-sol. Murderer.”
Crazy bastard. It was you who made me like this when I had nothing to do with it. After dragging me here at your will as if I were your suicide tool, why are you suddenly acting like this? Stop treating me like some murder-obsessed killer. It’s unpleasant. It’s irritating. I want to throw up…
As Han-sol’s expression gradually worsened, captivated by unwanted thoughts, Yi-dam’s mood became increasingly joyful. As if deriving pleasure from the fact that he could shake Han-sol. His eyes, staring intently at Han-sol, unpleasantly glistening. Blocking that inexplicable gaze, Baek-woo spoke.
“I think I clearly told you before. Don’t bother my hyung.”
“…”
“You don’t need to do such dirty things trying to somehow remain in his memory, you’re already disgusting enough, so stop talking nonsense. Shut your mouth and stay away from my hyung.”
Yi-dam’s face instantly turned cold. And the final raid began.
***
As they crossed the threshold of the gate, the world instantly twisted. The damp and fishy air characteristic of places where the sun doesn’t shine pierced their lungs.
Dungeons inside gates look similar everywhere. A dark cave that is huge and barren, thus causing people to panic. The walls were made of twisted rock formations, and from the ceiling, stalactites that looked ready to fall and pierce one’s crown at any moment protruded like teeth. From the narrow, pitch-black gaps between massive rocks, acrid, eerie, toxic smoke occasionally leaked out.
“They said it’s a rank that can’t even be measured by machines, isn’t the pressure no joke?”
The hunters, checking their formation once more, each left a comment to relieve tension.
“Yeah. I’ve been a hunter for 10 years, but this is the first time I’ve felt such an aura.”
“What, don’t tell me you’re scared?”
“Aren’t you scared too?”
Forced laughter briefly flowed from here and there. They were so stiff that they couldn’t genuinely laugh due to the unfamiliar energy of the gate. The only ones not tense were Baek-woo, Yi-dam, and Han-sol. For them, everything unfolding ahead was obvious. It was a scene that remained in their memories many times over.
‘If we go through that gap over there, one will jump out from above, two will crawl out from both sides. Then immediately after, a swarm will crowd in.’
Han-sol recalls what will happen next, as if reading something written. These were experiences gained through repeated deaths. It would be less unjust if he could utilize them somehow. Thinking this, he shook off Baek-woo, who was grabbing and kneading his hand without any tension.
“Stop fiddling. We’re just about to start.”
Baek-woo nodded, rubbing his fingers as if reluctant. And as Han-sol had expected, Ji Woo-won, the team leader for this raid, stepped forward. Han-sol glanced at Woo-won, one of the main characters. Their eyes met. A look that suggested he didn’t like Han-sol, the weakest one.
‘I don’t like you either, stupid bastard. Among the S-ranks full of psychopaths, you’re acting all dignified just because you’re relatively the calmest one wearing the leader’s hat. Pfft.’
Han-sol secretly muttered with a half-raised eyebrow and an indifferent expression. Woo-won speaks.
“Just don’t forget that the healer’s safety is the top priority. Everyone, move to the center.”
They advanced according to the predetermined order.
Grrrr, grrrrrr. The massive destruction began to appear in a sizzling form. Baek-woo, who also remembered everything, unhesitatingly extended his hand before they could even get close to Han-sol. Following his gestures, the destruction was finely torn, inflated, compressed, and then burst out. Krrrr. Grrrr. The sound of pitch-black destruction breaking into pieces and falling to the floor echoed with a sticky, splashing noise.
‘Whew, as expected of Baek-woo. He’s fucking strong. So cool.’
Han-sol hung around next to Baek-woo and gave him two thumbs up. Baek-woo silently smiled as he dealt with the endlessly appearing destruction. Yi-dam did nothing, standing still like a wooden doll, just staring intently at them. That’s when a sharp shout was heard.
“Hey, C-rank! What do you think you’re doing here!”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
