Chapter 58
As soon as Baek Rak entered the area where the protective aura was spread, he looked back. And he discovered creatures rushing like bulldozers at the Alpha’s command. Whether orders took priority over instinct, they set foot in a place they normally so despised.
At that moment, the creatures that had entered the safe zone began to collapse powerlessly.
Another creature’s body toppled over the creature that had crashed to the ground. They began to pile up layer upon layer on top of that.
By the time a small hill was formed, perhaps the Alpha had given up, as no more creatures rushed forward. Baek Rak, who had been slowly backing away, finally stopped in place.
His chest heaving slightly as he glared at the Alpha, the creature strode up to the hill where creatures were piled up.
The Alpha sighed with a deeply wrinkled face. The hundreds of creatures behind it were also writhing and swaying strangely.
“It’s unfair…”
“…”
“Instant death just from entering the space, isn’t that a bit too much? I think about it every time… it’s really a disgustingly unpleasant aura.”
The Alpha shook its head from side to side.
“Still, you ran away well up to here. It’s a shame, but I lost this round of tag.”
Baek Rak still held his sword while remaining wary of the creature. Even in a safe zone, he couldn’t let his guard down while facing it.
The Alpha, who had been scratching its bleached hair roughly, raised both hands and stared at Baek Rak.
“Normally I should keep my promise… but I guess I’ve lived as a human for too long. I’ll let this one slide just this once. But I can’t give up on Yoon Seo Won. You’d better look forward to it.”
“…”
“Well then, see you next time?”
The Alpha, raising both hands and waving them left and right in greeting, turned around without lingering regret. Then the center of the swarming creatures split open wide, creating a path. The Alpha trudged into it.
Baek Rak confirmed the departing creature swarm and looked down at the unconscious Seo Won. Seeing that blood was still flowing abundantly, he couldn’t delay any longer.
The people watching from the barrier rooftop seemed to have grasped the situation, as the massive iron door was already open. Baek Rak entered the shelter and ran straight to the office where Han Seong Hyeon and Yu Sol were.
People’s gazes lingered long on the blood spattered across the floor.
***
He had a dream.
He recognized it was a dream when he watched something he was holding in his hand turn to smoke and slip between his fingers.
That something was an illusion, something that couldn’t be hoped for.
Looking down at his empty palm where it had disappeared without a trace, he thought such things. That he was truly a pathetic and foolish person.
Of course trouble would come from trying so hard to grasp something that couldn’t be held. If he had known how to give up, no, if he hadn’t harbored hope, it would have been better. He had gotten excited for nothing and done something foolish without a single doubt.
Perhaps because he didn’t want to wake up, his body felt like it was floating arbitrarily in mid-air. It was as if his soul had left his body and was swaying limply.
Someone’s voice could be heard, but it was muffled so he couldn’t understand what they were saying.
Actually, he wasn’t curious, so he just wanted to let things flow as they were.
“…na!”
However, as if it had no intention of granting his wishes, intense reverberations could be felt sporadically. It seemed like his distant body was being shaken, or someone was calling him.
“Eyes, open! Wake… up! Right… now!”
His mind flickered at the voice that kept being heard. Then something that had felt hazy suddenly revealed a tremendous presence and pulled up his sunken consciousness in one breath.
“Yoon Seo Won! Wake up!”
“…Hk.”
His eyes snapped open at the voice that struck his eardrums directly. He panted frantically as if he had been holding his breath. His heartbeat was pounding rapidly in his ears – thump, thump, thump.
“Breathe slowly first.”
“Hk, hk, haah, hng…”
He didn’t know whose words they were, but following them, he breathed deeply and slowly. Fortunately, after some time passed, he was able to regain his senses.
Seo Won slowly rolled his eyes and made eye contact with Yu Sol, who was looking down at him. Frowning at the strange sense of discomfort, he belatedly discovered something odd.
‘Why is she standing and looking down at me?’
Yu Sol, who should have been resting after being injured, was standing, while he was lying down.
“…Sol?”
“Yeah, it’s me. If you’ve come to your senses, try getting up slowly.”
Blinking and interpreting the meaning of her words, Seo Won finally recalled the series of events and swallowed hard. Breathing out deeply and looking around, there was no one except Yu Sol.
As he slowly sat up, he felt a slight stiffness in his shoulder. When he turned his head, he could see faint marks on his shoulder.
The new flesh that had grown where the flesh had been torn was a bit more transparent than the existing skin.
Seo Won rubbed his shoulder while recalling the terrible pain. It had definitely been torn badly and bled profusely, but when had it healed so completely? Except for feeling a bit sore and dizzy, his condition wasn’t as bad as expected.
Then Yu Sol, sitting on the edge of the bed, asked with a serious expression,
“You met an Alpha while disposing of creature corpses.”
“…Yeah, did you hear?”
“Creatures swarmed all the way to the front of the shelter, it was so noisy.”
Come to think of it, it had been quite a precarious situation at the end. His body had swayed greatly from the tentacle that shot up from the ground, and he couldn’t hold onto consciousness anymore and passed out.
“…All the way to the front of the shelter?”
“I didn’t see it, but some people watching from the barrier rooftop are still having a hard time. They thought we were being attacked again like last time. So many swarmed that the ground turned completely black.”
It seemed that in the end, it had called out the creatures that were in the vicinity. Seo Won dragged his hand down his face and let out a long sigh.
He had thought it was someone who had crossed over from the same world, but he had been properly played by an Alpha. It was probably the creature he had encountered when they went to get water. It must have seen his face then and imitated someone with a similar style.
He could roughly understand how things had unfolded.
If he had been just a little more cautious, things wouldn’t have gone this far. Since he had given out all the information in advance, it would have been easy to take advantage of it.
‘Pathetic bastard.’
He had no face to show Baek Rak. To crawl into a pit by himself again and then be saved by Baek Rak. He was so embarrassed he couldn’t even complain to anyone.
“Anyway, as you can see, the wound has been treated well, and it’ll be a bit stiff for a while. You’ll also feel dizzy from losing a lot of blood.”
“…Thank you, Sol. You must have been in pain too.”
“This much is nothing, it’s fine.”
Yu Sol, who shrugged her shoulders, pushed Seo Won’s shoulder and made him lie back down on the bed. Now that she had confirmed he was moving well, he needed to rest. The bleeding had been worse than expected, so his face was still pale.
“But how much time has passed?”
“About a day. It’ll be night soon.”
The recovery speed was relatively good compared to when Yu Sol had been injured. It was probably because he had been treated with Yu Sol’s ability. Healing-type hunters were definitely impressive.
Seo Won nodded and scratched his cheek as if embarrassed. Then he looked at Yu Sol’s expression and carefully opened his mouth.
“But… where’s Baek Rak?”
“Baek Rak? Why Baek Rak?”
“I don’t see him. I was wondering if… he got hurt.”
“Ah, he had some minor injuries but they should be all healed by now. He stepped out briefly to clean up the creature corpses that were in front of the shelter.”
Fortunately, Baek Rak seemed to be safe.
Seo Won slumped down as if all his strength had drained out. Yu Sol, who had been quietly watching him, thought for a moment then tapped Seo Won’s shoulder.
To Seo Won, who asked with his eyes why she was doing that, Yu Sol said carefully,
“…I felt something strange while treating you.”
“Hm?”
“Usually civilians and hunters are clearly distinguished. There are differences in regenerative ability, and I guess you could say the basic skeleton and muscles are of different quality? When I treat someone, I clearly feel that… but you’re a bit strange.”
“…”
“How should I put it, you don’t feel like a civilian or a hunter? …No, it’s like you’re half civilian and half hunter mixed together?”
At Yu Sol’s sharp observation, Seo Won swallowed dry saliva. He couldn’t tell Yu Sol that he was in the process of awakening as a hunter.
Then how should he explain it?
He could probably cover it up with appropriate lies, but he was worried he might make mistakes since there was still a lot he didn’t know.
While he was deep in thought, footsteps of someone approaching could be heard. From the way they were deliberately making noise, it seemed they were announcing their presence. When he turned his head, someone appeared, opening the curtain.
“Baek Rak? You already finished cleaning up and came back? That was fast.”
The one who entered was Baek Rak. He asked Yu Sol while taking off his leather gloves,
“Yoon Seo Won is strange?”
“Ah, yeah. I don’t understand why he feels like a hunter when he’s a civilian.”
When Yu Sol tilted her head, Baek Rak quietly looked at Seo Won. When Seo Won flinched in surprise at their meeting gazes, Baek Rak narrowed his eyes and said,
“Should I tell you why that is?”
“Huh? What! Baek Rak, you know?”
“I can tell you if you promise to keep it secret.”
Seo Won was more surprised than Yu Sol at Baek Rak’s radical proposal. Was he really planning to explain everything to Yu Sol?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
