Chapter 145

She then drew her Sword and Shield, mercilessly striking the Mantises with her shield, and then swung her sword to cut down the Entities. Honggyeong Kang slumped to the floor, tensed from the moment the Mantis’s foreleg had suddenly lunged at him. He then muttered, watching Cho-i Hyeon single-handedly, very simply, slaughtering the Entities.

“No, it’s not the same S-Rank….”

“It is S-Rank.”

At that moment, Suui Kim corrected him, as if to say he shouldn’t be mistaken.

“Then how does she fly around like that?”

“Well, because the proficiency is different.”

Actually, it’s not that.

“Proficiency alone makes it that easy?”

“Proficiency is not something to be ignored.”

Proficiency is not to be ignored. But the gap with Cho-i Hyeon is not due to proficiency.

“So even as an invited instructor, please follow the teacher’s words. This is not an S-Rank, but an S+ Rank. It’s a place where even we can get hurt if we’re not careful.”

At Suui Kim’s words, Honggyeong Kang bowed his head deeply and replied.

“……Understood.”

Honggyeong Kang fortunately decided to put aside his impudence for a while. He probably hadn’t experienced monsters rushing at him. Especially as a long-range dealer, that would be even more so.

“Let’s support from outside.”

“Yes…!”

Honggyeong Kang watched Cho-i Hyeon, who was rampaging alone among the monsters, then calmly began to create Wind Blades and slice up the ones outside one by one. Kiiieek- As the monsters’ cries echoed, Cho-i Hyeon in the center gradually turned crimson. And it was clearly visible that she was smiling, her white teeth showing. Honggyeong Kang shivered slightly, a little creeped out. How many people could be smiling among monsters of that scale? And before his thoughts could finish, another group of monsters was completely annihilated. Cho-i Hyeon walked out from among them and said to the two.

“It’s more cumbersome than I thought.”

“I guess so.”

“More importantly, I’m curious why the Mantis came out again. And I don’t know why its appearance and characteristics have changed.”

“Came out again?”

“Why, when our hunter exam’s rank went up, it changed to a Mantis Dungeon, remember?”

Suui Kim nodded, as if just remembering now.

“Right, you think that dungeon and this dungeon are related?”

“Or maybe it just turned into a Mantis Dungeon because I was nearby.”

“Because you were nearby?”

“I have a deep connection with them, don’t I?”

“……”

While Suui Kim was lost in thought, Honggyeong Kang, who hadn’t understood anything, looked at Cho-i Hyeon. But Cho-i Hyeon had no intention of explaining to him, so she just haphazardly messed up Honggyeong Kang’s hair with her blood-stained hands.

“Ah!”

“Who are you to resist!”

Cho-i Hyeon laughed heartily. She soon took her hand off Honggyeong Kang’s head and looked into the distance. The path to the boss monster would probably be quite arduous. That is, for others, not her.

“Hmm, should I take breaks for your sakes?”

“Yeah, you’re not tired, are you?”

“Not really, I guess?”

Cho-i Hyeon was using the power of ‘the Entity,’ whose rank she didn’t even know, so she wasn’t sweating or getting tired. Moreover, although she didn’t like it, she was sharing a body with ‘the Entity,’ so there was no time limit on her skills. In other words, the current Cho-i Hyeon was close to being the strongest.

“Or do you just want to follow?”

Honggyeong Kang asked, still looking puzzled.

“So it’s a proficiency difference?”

“……”

Suui Kim slowly turned his head. Honggyeong Kang stared at him intently, but he never met her gaze. Cho-i Hyeon watched the two of them and gestured for them to sit down for now.

“Then you guys rest a bit. I’ll go look around.”

“Why look around?”

“To see if there are any readable characters.”

“Oh, then I’ll go with you…”

“No, it’s not something you can read.”

“Alright then, I understand.”

“Keep an eye on the kid.”

“I’m not a kid.”

“You are a kid. Sit still.”

Cho-i Hyeon neatly ignored Honggyeong Kang’s protest and left them for a moment. Cho-i Hyeon began to examine nearby rocks and trees, checking for any characters. There were no characters around where they were, so Cho-i Hyeon climbed a tree and jumped between trees, looking for anything noticeable. Then, a tall cliff appeared in the distance.

“I wonder what’s over there.”

Cho-i Hyeon leaped between trees again, approaching the cliff. On her way, she encountered a group of monsters, but fortunately, they didn’t notice her in the tree.

“It’s quite large.”

She climbed onto the cliff and began to look around. There must be characters in a place like this, because it’s flat and good for leaving something consistent. And not long after, she discovered something at the bottom of the cliff.

“I knew it would be here.”

She looked around. Fortunately, there seemed to be no monsters in the vicinity. She descended to the ground and began to carefully read the faintly written characters. However, the content was unusual.

“You, you shall be resurrected again….”

This sentence itself was no different from what she had seen in the large dome where the Former King Mantis was. But the wording was a bit strange.

“It says ‘you,’ not ‘we.'”

Doesn’t it sound like it’s addressing someone else? Cho-i began to read the text carefully once more.

“You, the chosen ones. You shall rise again.”

Cho-i Hyeon’s eyes began to move quickly.

“As the Chosen Calamity…”

As she read that far, a scream echoed in her head. It was a scream that felt like her head was tearing apart.

Ugh!

She curled up and clutched her head.

That can’t be, that can’t be!

The Entity was screaming in her head. Cho-i Hyeon was groaning, clutching her head, not knowing why. She couldn’t understand why it was screaming like that. Her head hurt too much to think.

Just calm down! ‘I can’t accept it!’ “Aaaah!”

Her head throbbed as if it would shatter. Cho-i Hyeon eventually lost consciousness from the pain, which felt like something was rummaging through her mind. Her collapsing body soon hit the floor with a thud. Her overturned eyes soon revealed glowing black pupils, flashing. Those black pupils glowed with rage.

Chosen Calamity?

The Entity was filled with rage.

Are you saying that we, who were destroyed by the Calamity, will become the Calamity?

At the same time, the Entity was sobbing.

Are you saying that the reason for our changed kin is the Entity?

The Entity finally shed tears. However, the Entity soon roared with rage. A colossal sound shook the forest. The scream, filled with such deep emotion that the entire forest vibrated, soon reached Suui Kim and Honggyeong Kang.

This sound…? “Damn it, something must have happened.”

Suui Kim sprang to her feet. Honggyeong Kang, who had also gotten up in surprise, immediately chased after Suui Kim as she dashed off. To avoid the monsters, they moved through the trees, leaping from branch to branch. And when they reached the source of the sound.

It seems to have moved somewhere else…

Cho-i Hyeon was nowhere to be seen. Suui Kim began to examine the footprints on the ground. It seemed she had leaped from here to there in one go, as the footprints were broken. Suui Kim looked around and soon found a broken branch on a tree.

That way! “Yes!”

They hurried to follow the trail to find Cho-i Hyeon. And what they saw as they followed the trail were the torn and scattered corpses of monsters. The bodies, as if ripped apart by hands rather than a sword, lay on the ground, splattered with blood.

…… “So. Teacher Cho-i Hyeon isn’t an S-Rank, right?”

“Well, for now…”

“‘For now,’ meaning?”

“She has a rank-boosting skill.”

“She has a skill like that?”

“It’s a rare case. That’s why it’s usually kept secret.”

“Is it okay to tell me such a fact?”

“What are you going to do if you tell someone? Who would even believe you?”

“That’s true…”

And as they followed the monster remains, they soon found Cho-i Hyeon. Crunch, crack! The sight of her tearing apart a Dark Red Mantis with both hands was more like a monster than a human. Suui Kim held her breath for a moment and hid with Honggyeong Kang in the grass forest.

“What’s wrong?”

Honggyeong Kang, quick to notice, lowered her voice and asked. Suui Kim, with a pale face, crouched low and whispered.

“That’s not Cho-i Hyeon.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t explain in detail… but it’s certain that we shouldn’t be caught now.”

The Entity, in the form of Cho-i Hyeon, was wandering around, constantly muttering something.

“It can’t be. It can’t be. It can’t be.”

The Entity, muttering as if possessed, soon disappeared behind the bushes. Suui Kim held her breath, waiting for The Entity to finally vanish. Only when The Entity’s figure disappeared far away did she let out a sigh.

“It looks like it’s going to the boss monster room, so let’s follow it.”

“Understood. But is there a reason we need to hide so much?”

“Because if we make a mistake, we’ll be attacked.”

“Yes…?”

“Cho-i Hyeon in that state can’t distinguish between friend and foe. No, it’s more accurate to say she won’t.”

He started to walk again in the direction Cho-i Hyeon had disappeared. Honggyeong Kang cautiously followed behind him.

“So…”

And just as he was about to speak, a hand suddenly shot out from behind a tree and grabbed Suui Kim’s neck. Her hands were bloody, and the whites of her eyes were tinged red, making her look like the embodiment of rage.

“Found you.”

She said in a joyful voice, as if she had found what was bothering her. Soon, The Entity’s lips twisted savagely.