Chapter 146

“Gasp!”

A choking sound came from Suui Kim’s throat. The Entity, still holding his neck, looked at Honggyeong Kang. Honggyeong Kang stood there dumbfounded, as if her entire body had stiffened from the aura emanating from Cho-i Hyeon’s body. Suui Kim grabbed The Entity’s wrist and shouted.

“Run away!”

“B-but!”

Honggyeong Kang hesitated at Suui Kim’s words. Even as an S-Rank, or rather, because she was an S-Rank, she knew. This was not an opponent they could possibly defeat. But she couldn’t abandon Suui Kim here and run away alone. If she lost him, it would be as good as being trapped in this dungeon anyway.

“Just run! We can’t win!”

“Even if we can’t win, I can’t leave you alone!”

Honggyeong Kang instantly created dozens of Wind Blades. Sharp, swirling objects formed in the air and instantly flew towards The Entity in the form of Cho-i Hyeon. The Entity threw Suui Kim, who was in its hand, to the side and lunged towards the blades flying at it. Boom! The blades and The Entity collided, and with a loud sound, a tremendous gust of wind instantly arose. Honggyeong Kang and Suui Kim squinted their eyes against the wind, which was too strong to keep their eyes open, and rolled their eyeballs, searching for The Entity.

‘Could it be that it countered all the blades?’

Honggyeong Kang, with his eyes barely open, struggled to sense the Entity’s presence. As he took one step forward, he tripped over a stone and fell backward. Whoosh! At the same instant, the Entity’s hand swept through the air above his head as if clawing at nothing. Honggyeong Kang slumped to the floor, his face pale, and then had to look up at the Entity. Her eyes were completely bloodshot; it was impossible to tell if the whites of her eyes had burst all their blood vessels and were stained red, or if blood had simply seeped into them. It was as if the word ‘terror’ had become human and was now standing before him.

“…Haaah, huh.”

Just then, Suui Kim, who had been thrown aside, drew his sword and lunged at the Entity. He didn’t hesitate to stab the Entity with his sword, but. Clack. The sword was stopped by just two fingers and couldn’t move an inch.

“Run away first!”

Suui Kim, as if he had expected it, calmly shouted for Honggyeong Kang to run, and Honggyeong Kang, realizing there was nothing more he could do, scrambled to his feet and began to flee. Suui Kim put all his strength into the sword, his arm trembling, but the Entity’s hand, holding the blade with just two fingers, remained perfectly calm. And while their confrontation continued, Cho-i Hyeon kept screaming inside the Entity’s head.

‘Hey! Hey!’

Cho-i Hyeon was worried that Suui Kim would die any moment. Once the Entity lost control, even she couldn’t stop it. What she had been worried about all along was losing control of her own body. And now that the Entity was actually acting, Cho-i Hyeon couldn’t rest easy.

‘Stop it right now! Why are you using someone else’s body however you want, you jerk! You idiot!’

It was a strange situation. Cho-i Hyeon hadn’t hesitated to entrust her body to the Entity. Annoyingly, what Taehyeok Sa had worried about had become a reality. And as she struggled, the Entity opened its mouth.

“Why do you think your world hasn’t been destroyed yet?”

“…I don’t know what you mean.”

“Because you’re special? Because you’re an unusually strong world? No.”

Sticky tears of blood began to stream from the Entity’s eyes. The tears flowed past her cheeks to her chin, then dripped onto the floor.

“You were just lucky.”

“…Why are you telling me this now?”

Suui Kim tried to pull out the sword, but it wouldn’t budge at all, so he stood firm, his arm tensed. The Entity continued to speak, tears still falling.

“We were destroyed because…”

“According to you, it must have been bad luck.”

“…That’s right.”

The Entity suddenly relaxed its grip on the sword and looked up at the sky. It was a clear sky, but all the Entity saw was blackness. The Entity, shedding tears of blood, spoke again.

“That’s right. It was bad luck.”

“……”

As the grip on the sword loosened, Suui Kim immediately retrieved it and took several large steps back. The Entity seemed unconcerned by Suui Kim’s retreat and continued to gaze at the sky.

“But it seems my kin received more than just destruction.”

The Entity slowly turned its head towards Suui Kim.

“We were cursed.”

“…Cursed?”

“A curse called Calamity.”

At the same time as those words, more blood tears began to flow from both eyes of the Entity. On a face already stained crimson, an unknown liquid, whether tears or something else, left streaks and splattered down. It was questionable if such an amount of liquid could come from a human body, even from the Entity, but Cho-i Hyeon’s current state was far from normal, so it wasn’t an incomprehensible problem.

“…So.”

“So I have to destroy this world.”

“‘This world’ means the dungeon, doesn’t it?”

Suui Kim replied to the Entity.

“…I have no intention of interfering. However, you must defeat the boss monster to destroy this world.”

“Why should I do that with you?”

“……”

“I’m jealous of you.”

The Entity slowly approached Suui Kim and spoke. Suui Kim stumbled backward, raising his sword.

“I’m jealous of you, who haven’t lost your world yet.”

And the Entity came right up to Suui Kim’s face. Suui Kim, unable to do anything, merely watched warily, looking straight into the Entity’s eyes. And soon. Clang! The Entity knocked Suui Kim’s blade aside and again grabbed his neck. Sharp claws dug into his neck.

“Ugh!”

Suui Kim struggled to break free from the Entity, but its grip did not easily loosen.

“I have no intention of becoming the Calamity. However, to prevent myself from becoming the Calamity, I must regain my full power.”

The Entity pulled Suui Kim close and opened its mouth. “Therefore, do not be too sad to become my prey now.” The Entity probably would have said that next. Crunch, gnash. The Entity bit below Suui Kim’s ear, under his jaw. Suui Kim screamed. And Cho-i Hyeon, inside the Entity’s head, also screamed, her stomach churning.

‘No! No! Absolutely not! Let go of that hand! Damn it!’

Cho-i Hyeon screamed like crazy. No, don’t. Stop it! As if her desperate voice was unheard, the Entity opened its mouth once more. And then, a blue window appeared. Right before Suui Kim’s eyes, of all people.

[Supporter Danger Occurred!] [Choose your □!] [Cho-i Hyeon] [□□□□□□□] “Ugh, ngh…”

Suui Kim stared at the window, his eyes bloodshot. He didn’t know what to choose or what the unreadable text below was, but there was only one thing he could choose right now.

‘Cho-i Hyeon.’

[Supporter has chosen □!] [The owner of the body is fixed for a certain period of time!]

“Gasp!”

At that moment, the Entity took a deep breath and slammed the struggling Suui Kim to the floor. Suui Kim rolled heavily on the floor, then immediately lifted his head. So much blood had flowed from his neck that his vision spun.

“It’s done. It’s done. It’s done!”

Cho-i Hyeon, who seemed to have regained consciousness, looked around and immediately ran to Suui Kim, grabbing his shoulder.

“Are you okay?! No, you’re not okay! What do we do!”

“C-calm down first. Calm down.”

“You’re bleeding! This is insane! I didn’t bring anything!”

“Just calm down!”

“Calm down!”

Cho-i Hyeon stopped abruptly. Suui Kim covered his neck with his hand. Immediately, a burning pain was felt in his neck. Thick blood was oozing from the torn skin, but fortunately, it seemed only the skin was torn, not the muscle.

“First, let’s find Honggyeong Kang and get out of here quickly.”

“Alright! You stay here for a moment! I’ll go find him!”

Cho-i Hyeon urgently ran in the direction Honggyeong Kang had disappeared. Suui Kim leaned against a tree for a moment, covering his wound with his hand. He felt weak as if all the blood had drained from his body, and his fingertips were trembling. It seemed to be not only due to the lack of blood but also the release of tension from facing the Entity head-on.

“……I couldn’t do anything.”

But Taehyeok Sa and Gihyeon Park had stayed in the dungeon at that time, saying they would confront the Entity. What kind of person is the Guild Master? As expected, an SS-Rank is not human. Suui Kim couldn’t overcome his gradually closing eyes and shut them. If he waited a little longer, Cho-i Hyeon would appear carrying Honggyeong Kang on her back. So, just until then…

***

When Cho-i Hyeon brought Honggyeong Kang, Suui Kim was already unconscious. Seeing him soaked in blood from his neck, she asked Honggyeong Kang to carry him on his back and then applied pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding.

“We’re getting out of here at full speed.”

“Understood.”

Having had a taste of the Entity, Honggyeong Kang no longer doubted Cho-i Hyeon. He had felt a power so overwhelming that even an S-Rank like himself was overpowered. Cho-i Hyeon confirmed that Honggyeong Kang was carrying Suui Kim and then began to run at full speed. Honggyeong Kang struggled just to keep up with her.

“Get out of the way!”

She drew her sword and shield and literally began to slaughter the monsters blocking her path. She tore off the Entity’s lower jaw and swiftly struck the monsters’ necks, causing streams of blood to spray. She split the beheaded bodies in half and then tore off their arms and legs one by one. Long, sinew-like structures emerged from their bodies, but fortunately, they did not move.

“Just hold on, just a little longer!”

Cho-i Hyeon shouted, looking at the pale Suui Kim.