#125
“It worked!”
This time, the black energy lingering on Won Dong-hyun’s corpse finally dissipated. Yoon Pa-ran didn’t understand why the skill only worked when attacking this guy, but there was no time for long deliberations now.
Yoon Pa-ran quickly searched Won Dong-hyun’s belongings. True to his self-centered nature, he had two top-grade potions.
“Hmm.”
He opened one and quickly sprinkled it on Lee Ha-min’s abdomen. Then, while the potion took effect, he quickly pulled out the dagger.
[Dirty Traitor’s Dagger B]
Attack power increases when attacking the enemy’s abdomen.
*The item has been exposed to death energy for a long period.
*It is cursed.
―You bleed as much as you injure your opponent.
―The more blood you feed the dagger, the stronger its attack power becomes, but your bleeding also increases.
“Damn it.”
The equipment with such ominous curses was incredibly foreboding.
Yoon Pa-ran threw the dagger far away, infusing it with [Sacred Energy] as if wanting to shake off the curse. Then he poured the remaining potion into his mouth.
“Whew…”
The pain rising from his broken ribs gradually subsided. It seemed that after waiting a little longer, he would be able to fight again without much difficulty.
He had torn cloth and applied pressure to Lee Ha-min’s stomach to stop the bleeding. Relying solely on the potion wasn’t enough given his poor condition.
Won Dong-hyun’s subordinates were still unconscious. He didn’t take any other measures with them. Even if they woke up, they wouldn’t be in a state to attack anyway.
After doing everything he could, a somewhat overwhelming feeling came over Yoon Pa-ran.
Is it okay to just stay like this?
“……”
The deliberation was brief. Once again, he chose to simply stand up on his two legs.
Let’s move for now.
He had to take Lee Ha-min with him. Considering his injury, the situation was too precarious to leave him behind. If the gate shook again like before, Lee Ha-min’s life truly couldn’t be guaranteed.
He wasn’t sure if there would be a safe zone, but he had to at least look for one.
“Hmm…”
With that thought, Yoon Pa-ran hesitated as he unconsciously reached out to grab Lee Ha-min. Although he had stopped his movement earlier with [Sacred Energy], a strange uneasiness remained.
It would be troublesome if he got stabbed in the back while carrying him. With this judgment, Yoon Pa-ran grasped Lee Ha-min’s arm with [Sacred Energy] enveloping his hand.
“Phew.”
Fortunately, this time the faint black energy remaining in Lee Ha-min’s body disappeared all at once. He had been worried about having to attack an injured person, but it was a relief.
Come to think of it, Dan Joo-hyuk had said he stabbed the convulsing hunter in the Russian gate while enveloped in [Sacred Energy] too. What’s the difference between when you need to attack and when just contact like now is enough?
Whatever it is, Dan Joo-hyuk would find it very interesting if he heard about it.
“Ugh…”
He hoisted the unconscious and limp Lee Ha-min onto his back.
A groan involuntarily escaped through his teeth at the heavy weight. It was fortunate that the pain in his chest was subsiding thanks to the potion, otherwise it would have been difficult.
With Lee Ha-min on his back, Yoon Pa-ran walked forward.
It wasn’t difficult to find his way since he had marked things before encountering Won Dong-hyun’s group.
Fortunately, no battles occurred as he walked for a long time. For some reason, no monsters were approaching.
He thought he might encounter other hunters, but there was no sign of anyone.
Not even the gate’s chaotic mixing happened again.
Instead, a very strange landscape greeted Yoon Pa-ran.
“…What’s this now.”
As he made his way through the jungle full of trees, he saw something like bricks in the distance. Thinking it might be a statue from a safe zone, Yoon Pa-ran hurriedly headed in that direction.
However, as he got closer, Yoon Pa-ran’s expression became more serious. What he discovered wasn’t just a simple statue.
It looked as if someone had forcibly connected two gates together.
“……”
The place where he stood was the jungle terrain gate he had been traversing so far. The fresh scent characteristic of the wood attribute stung his nose.
However, just two steps further, it became an indoor terrain with smooth stone slabs. Although it now revealed a cross-section as if carved out, following the path seemed to lead back to an enclosed indoor terrain.
The boundary between the two gates was bumpy, as if an earthquake had occurred. Unlike the jungle side, the sky on the indoor terrain side was covered in darkness as deep as an abyss.
It was indeed a sight he had never seen before. As far as Yoon Pa-ran knew, this phenomenon had never been reported. Was this what the status window had warned about?
Doesn’t it look like a giant threw one gate here, causing them to crumple together?
“Hah…”
Faced with these two violent paths, Yoon Pa-ran pondered for a moment.
Judging by the strengthening metallic smell, that place seemed to be the very gate they had first entered. With this judgment, Yoon Pa-ran slowly stepped towards the indoor terrain gate.
If he had been thrown out this way, Dan Joo-hyuk should be over there.
The tension intensified with each step on the flat stone slabs. He was worried the gate might shake wildly again when someone stepped on it.
“Whew.”
Contrary to his worries, the ground didn’t shake again. The connected ground didn’t split either.
Thus, Yoon Pa-ran gradually entered a corridor where the jungle terrain was no longer visible.
After completely crossing over to this gate, he was certain. This was that A-rank gate the attack team had first entered.
The patterns and colors of the corridor were exactly the same as the one he had moved through earlier by kicking off the walls. The gate’s attribute felt the same too.
Extremely tense, Yoon Pa-ran drew his sword and gripped it. This was an A-rank gate, so the level of monsters appearing would obviously be higher.
However, strangely, there were no monsters to encounter here either. Just as he was finding this odd, Yoon Pa-ran discovered an unexpected sight.
“…?”
As he turned a corner, countless monsters were rushing like a wave towards somewhere.
The appearance of monsters coming from gates was always varied. However, monsters from the same gate usually had a unified feeling in their respective attributes.
But this wave of monsters was different. As if monsters from several gates were moving together, the attributes of the energy they emitted were all different.
“Damn it…!”
Yoon Pa-ran quickly hid and set Lee Ha-min down. Then, concealing his presence, he observed the wave of monsters again.
They were rushing relentlessly towards a single point somewhere. Following that flow with his gaze, at the end he saw someone standing firmly, striking down the monsters.
It was none other than Dan Joo-hyuk.
“Crazy!”
For some reason, Dan Joo-hyuk was struggling alone, surrounded by countless monsters. Yoon Pa-ran, who had let out a muffled exclamation of shock, hurriedly picked up Lee Ha-min again.
Even for Dan Joo-hyuk, that was too much. He had to go help somehow.
Feeling urgent, Yoon Pa-ran increased his speed. Pain surged with each breath from his not fully healed ribs, but there was no choice.
Usually, indoor terrains have straight corridors, but this gate’s structure seemed to widen with branching paths as one went deeper. The corner Yoon Pa-ran had come from was one of countless passages belonging to a maze.
Originally, the view should have been completely blocked, but due to the mass migration of monsters, several main roads cutting through the maze had formed. Each of these monster flows seemed to lead towards the wide open space where Dan Joo-hyuk was.
The walls, which had been closed up to the ceiling, were partially collapsed here and there. Thanks to this, the central open area, which looked like a Colosseum battlefield, could be observed from afar.
Structurally, the innermost open area seemed to be where the boss monster should be. For some reason, Dan Joo-hyuk was standing there instead of a boss monster.
“Whew…”
Anyway, the numerous small passages were good for hiding, but it was difficult to find a safe zone. Even if the area expanded, the number of safe zones didn’t necessarily increase with it.
Still, Yoon Pa-ran hurriedly moved his legs. Finally discovering the two statues of a safe zone, he entered with an anxious heart.
Fortunately, the safe zone seemed to be functioning properly.
“No…”
However, just as he was about to rejoice at this fact, Yoon Pa-ran frowned deeply.
The location of the safe zone wasn’t far from the center where Dan Joo-hyuk was. Then Dan Joo-hyuk must have known about the existence of this safe zone.
Why is that idiot not taking shelter in the safe zone and doing that instead?
His heart raced even more. Yoon Pa-ran, who had hurriedly hidden Lee Ha-min well in the center of the safe zone, quickly moved his legs.
He couldn’t recklessly dive into the wave of monsters. With no choice, he looked for a way to approach Dan Joo-hyuk by going around.
The collapsed corridor walls made excellent footholds. As he moved to the upper part of the maze while hiding, the situation where Dan Joo-hyuk was became clearer.
Monsters were swarming towards Dan Joo-hyuk from four different directions. Yoon Pa-ran was anxious as he couldn’t see a route to extract Dan Joo-hyuk and head to the safe zone. This was because the open area where he was holding out was at the very edge of the gate, befitting a boss room.
At that moment, something strange entered Yoon Pa-ran’s view as he carefully observed the open area.
The entire maze, including the open area, was covered by a high ceiling like a dome. This dome came down vertically at the innermost open area, forming a wall.
For some reason, something that looked like a shield was firmly embedded in that place, which formed the back part of the open area like a cliff.
While oozing an ominous energy like blood.
“……”
Even from quite far away, Yoon Pa-ran could realize it the moment he saw it.
To end this, we need to get rid of that.
❖ ❖ ❖
A few hours before Yoon Pa-ran discovered the strange shield.
Dan Joo-hyuk immediately realized that the gate he had entered was not ordinary.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
