#73
“Since Hunter Seo healed everyone, all our injuries are gone.”
“It was noisy, but dealing with it wasn’t a big problem. It was small, which made it a bit hard to find. But Hunter Oh has excellent eyesight and accuracy.”
Lee Hyun-tae spoke casually while tapping the protective barrier. Then his eyes widened in surprise, as if the thickness was greater than he’d imagined.
Meanwhile, they had defeated the boss mob, but there was still no signal of successful conquest. They needed to collect the NEO-CORE, but there was no sign of it yet. The NEO-CORE was not only the dungeon’s reward but also proof that the dungeon conquest had been successfully completed.
“Since the boss mob was small, could the NEO-CORE be small too?”
“That’s possible, but…”
Oh Seong-yeon frowned.
“Let’s search for the NEO-CORE around here first. Just in case.”
At someone’s suggestion, everyone scattered to begin searching for the NEO-CORE. Seo Yi-young also took a few steps forward to look for it. That’s when Joo-in called out to him.
“Hunter Seo.”
His voice was so calm it felt strangely unnerving. Joo-in’s eyes glowed white as he turned toward Seo Yi-young, then returned to normal. Had he used his ability? Strangely, Seo Yi-young felt an ominous sensation, as if something was pulling at the back of his head.
Just as he was about to approach Joo-in, the man spoke.
“Please tell my mother I love her.”
It sounded like a last testament. A chill ran down Seo Yi-young’s spine.
“Wait—”
Before Seo Yi-young could finish, Joo-in pushed him with all his might. The push was so powerful that Seo Yi-young’s body didn’t just move backward but actually floated slightly in the air.
Before Seo Yi-young could get up from where he’d fallen, the ground shook violently, then split apart like torn paper. A giant fish emerged from the gap, with Joo-in’s leg caught between its razor-sharp teeth.
Crunch. Crunch. Crack.
The sound of bones being chewed was followed by a gulping sound as it swallowed.
Drip.
Joo-in’s blood splattered from the boss mob’s mouth onto the ground. Seo Yi-young stared blankly at the situation before shouting.
“Joo-in! No!”
“It’s the boss mob! Everyone, battle formation!”
The boss mob with its slippery body deflected attacks. However, among the support hunters who had entered the dungeon with them was one with the ability to harden surfaces. For him to use this ability, he needed to make contact with the boss mob’s body, but that opportunity was hard to come by. The sharp teeth seemed capable of chewing and swallowing anything, and the water cannon it spewed from its mouth had enough power to create deep craters in the ground.
But there’s always a breakthrough opportunity.
When all the combat hunters’ joint attack diverted the mob’s attention, Oh Seong-yeon’s rapid-fire attack split the boss mob in two, and it collapsed to the ground with a squelching sound. There was also the clinking sound of the NEO-CORE dropping. Finally, the dungeon conquest was over.
But Seo Yi-young stood frozen. He couldn’t move, as if his body was bound.
It would be more accurate to say his brain had stopped thinking. Slowly, Seo Yi-young’s eyelids moved. The bloodstains scattered on the ground came into view. The last image of Joo-in’s face that remained on his retina overlapped with the scene.
…Is it over?
He couldn’t accept it. Seo Yi-young frantically ran toward the boss mob’s corpse. He couldn’t think rationally. His only thought was that he had to somehow revive Joo-in. For that, he needed to find him. The boss mob had devoured him, but he might not have been digested yet. He had to find him.
But before Seo Yi-young’s hand could reach it, the boss mob’s corpse instantly turned into a jelly-like substance, then flowed down as a viscous liquid. A fishy, nauseating smell assaulted his senses. The liquid touching his palm was lukewarm, as if retaining the mob’s body temperature.
“Hunter Seo!”
“Hunter Seo Yi-young!”
A person had died right before his eyes.
Seo Yi-young stirred through the liquid like a madman. He had to find Joo-in’s body. Somehow.
He couldn’t just return empty-handed and tell them Joo-in was dead.
He couldn’t send him off with those words. Those words. He couldn’t deliver those words to Joo-in’s parents.
[Yi-young, what do we do, Yi-young…! Our baby!]
When his parents were still alive. The moment of that accident came back vividly as if it had just happened. The voice was so clear, as if someone was speaking directly into his ear.
He couldn’t remember his parents’ faces. But that voice. That voice was crystal clear in his mind.
The screeching sound of tires about to tear, the impact shaking his body. That voice calling his name at the moment the car crashed. That scene. That feeling. Even the smell he inhaled then. He couldn’t forget it even if he wanted to. It had followed Seo Yi-young throughout his life.
“…”
Seo Yi-young tightly closed his eyes, feeling dizzy as if a flash had exploded before him.
A scene he had forgotten until now came to mind.
His parents’ corpses, so crumpled and broken they could hardly be recognized as humans who had been breathing alongside him just moments before. Looking at their bodies, mashed like pieces of meat, his first thought was that it was disgusting. And immediately after, guilt for having such a thought washed over him.
It was such an intense memory that he wondered how he could have forgotten it. Had his subconscious instinctively erased it because it was too traumatic to handle?
Everything from the accident became increasingly vivid. His hands began to slow down.
Why am I remembering this now?
Seo Yi-young clenched his teeth, closing his eyes tightly once more before opening them.
Other hunters called his name, but he didn’t stop. At some point, his fingertips touched something firm yet soft. No one had to tell him; he knew instinctively.
“…Huk…”
Seo Yi-young let out a held breath.
It was Joo-in. It had been Joo-in.
Someone made a retching sound, but in that moment, there was no room for feelings of disgust or aversion. He was just desperate. Seo Yi-young gathered pieces of Joo-in’s body from nearby.
“Hunter Seo, stop!”
“What are you doing? Someone grab Hunter Seo…!”
Hunters who noticed something was wrong with Seo Yi-young rushed toward him.
He had to save him. Somehow.
He couldn’t let anyone die. He had to return him to his family. Seo Yi-young knew what that feeling was like. He couldn’t let others experience the moment of losing family.
Seo Yi-young was a healer. An S-Class one at that.
In a dungeon where he, a healer, was present, not a single death was acceptable. Until now, he had prevented deaths one way or another. Even when he wasn’t familiar with his ability. But now, when he could properly use his powers, how could there be a death?
Slap.
A loud sound tore through his eardrums first, followed by a burning pain that struck his cheek.
“Get a grip, Hunter Seo Yi-young!”
Oh Seong-yeon’s loud shout brought him back to his senses. Other hunters, covered in the viscous liquid, were holding his arms and shoulders.
“Hunter Joo-in is dead. We need to return.”
Oh Seong-yeon’s voice resonated like that of a judge delivering a verdict. Everyone else closed their mouths and remained silent.
“Has the NEO-CORE been collected? Prepare for return.”
“…”
“…”
“PREPARE FOR RETURN!”
“Yes, sir!”
At her loud shout, the hunters began to move in unison as if pushed by her spirit. Among them, only one—Seo Yi-young—stood rooted to the spot.
“Hunter Seo Yi-young! Can’t you hear the order to prepare for return?!”
Seo Yi-young’s fingers trembled slightly.
“I can’t leave like this.”
After saying that, Seo Yi-young placed his hand on Joo-in’s corpse, biting his lip hard. He could heal him. Hadn’t he just restored the protective barrier? So Joo-in should be possible too.
A certainty, reckless as it might seem, arose within Seo Yi-young.
[These are recent ones.]
The words Choi Do-jun had muttered when removing scars.
And the change in Seo Yi-young’s skill name from ‘Return Everything to Original’ to ‘Turn Back Time.’
Perhaps.
If Seo Yi-young’s guess was right, it was possible.
He couldn’t leave someone behind like this.
“Seo Yi-young!”
Light began to swirl from Seo Yi-young’s hand. Other hunters, sensing the situation turning critical, ran toward Seo Yi-young. His hand trembled, unable to withstand the gathering power. He felt his muscles and bones twisting. He held one wrist with his other hand to endure.
“…Urgh, aaaahh!”
Seo Yi-young couldn’t bear the pain and unknowingly screamed.
The light before his eyes exploded outward.
For a moment, he couldn’t see or hear anything. But this state of only having tactile sense didn’t last long. Seo Yi-young realized his head had been buried in the ground as he lifted it. It seemed he had fainted briefly.
“…unter! Hunter Seo Yi-young!”
Someone called his name.
His gradually returning vision was severely blurred, requiring him to blink several times.
Slowly, his vision returned to normal. Seo Yi-young identified the person calling his name in front of him.
“Hunter Seo Yi-young, are you okay? Get a grip!”
It was Joo-in. He was helping Seo Yi-young to his feet. Seo Yi-young felt Joo-in’s arm supporting his body. The warmth was definite. It wasn’t an illusion. It wasn’t a dream. He had really come back to life. He should say how relieved he was, but no voice came out. His wobbling legs wouldn’t support him properly.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
