Chapter 147

After defeating all the monsters, Cho-i Hyeon finally stood before the boss monster room. A huge, eight-legged, crimson Mantis stared at her with malevolent glowing eyes. Cho-i Hyeon raised her head and identified the Entity.

[Queen Candidate Mantis (S-grade+)]

“I think I’ve seen that somewhere before.”

Cho-i Hyeon furrowed her brows and raised her sword. Regardless of where she’d seen it, Suui Kim was her immediate concern. Cho-i Hyeon stomped hard on the ground and immediately flew towards the boss monster. Jumping to the height of the Mantis’s head, Cho-i struck its head with her shield in one swift motion. Clang! A sound like hitting hard metal echoed. Cho-i frowned and hooked her ankle around the Mantis’s neck. Then she slammed it straight to the ground. Crash! With a loud sound, the huge body collapsed. Screech! The Mantis thrashed with an ear-splitting shriek, and Cho-i stomped on its head and immediately struck its neck. Crunch. Thwack! With a sound like cutting metal, the Mantis’s neck was severed. However, the Mantis’s body, with its neck cut off, stood up again.

“I knew it!”

I’m in such a hurry, and it’s just making more work! Cho-i Hyeon immediately jumped up, but the Mantis’s two forelegs were already slashing at her. She collided with the forelegs in mid-air, blocking the Entity with her sword held vertically, but she couldn’t stop herself from being flung far away. Crash! She hit a rock right next to her, and at the same time as the impact, she pushed off the rock and sprang forward. Then she swung her sword horizontally, severing one of the Mantis’s forelegs. Snap! As one foreleg flew off, the remaining seven forelegs sharply folded and unfolded once. She landed on the ground and again swung her sword from bottom to top, splitting the torso in half.

“Look out!”

Just then, Honggyeong Kang shouted. At that sound, Cho-i looked up and saw that despite being split in half, one foreleg was still rushing towards her. Cho-i Hyeon didn’t block the Entity; she just thrust her sword forward. Crunch! She heard the sound of her shoulder breaking. But Cho-i didn’t care; she wedged her sword into the gap of the split Mantis’s upper body and twisted it. With a grinding sound, the upper body split further, and cracks spread all the way to the lower body.

“Get lost! I’m in a hurry!”

And then she immediately gripped the sword with both hands and stabbed it in with a crunch. Like a giant Stone Statue, the Mantis’s body was completely split in half and fell to the ground with a loud crash. Nevertheless, the Mantis’s body was still twitching, and the exit had not opened.

“Until the very end! So annoying! Stop it!”

She chopped the Mantis’s torso into pieces. The internal organs spilled out with red blood. But still, the exit didn’t open. Cho-i Hyeon, with a feeling of disbelief, lifted her head and looked into the air. And just then, a notification popped up with a ding.

[The boss monster has been replaced due to the death of Queen Candidate Mantis! Defeat the new boss monster!]

That phrase she had seen once before. Cho-i Hyeon gritted her teeth. And without hesitation, she cut her own throat with her sword. Crunch, thud. Blood poured out, and with the feeling of something severing, her body collapsed.

“Teacher! Why suddenly!”

She heard Honggyeong Kang’s panicked voice rushing over, but Cho-i’s body lay motionless, collapsed forward. And her breath, for a moment, stopped. Honggyeong Kang, carrying Suui Kim, stopped in her tracks, bewildered. Blood flowed from Cho-i Hyeon’s body, mixing with the monster’s blood. And just then, the exit to the outside opened.

‘What the hell is going on?’

Honggyeong Kang felt like tearing her hair out if she weren’t carrying Suui Kim. What was she going to say outside? ‘Teacher Cho-i Hyeon beat the boss monster to a pulp and then suddenly committed suicide?’ Yeah, right, like anyone would believe that! As Honggyeong Kang was deep in thought, she heard a sudden gasp from somewhere.

“Gasp!”

And Cho-i Hyeon suddenly shot up from the ground. Honggyeong Kang was so surprised she almost dropped Suui Kim.

“Hey, be careful!”

The person who had just committed suicide suddenly got up and told her to be careful not to drop the patient. Honggyeong Kang was briefly confused, unsure how to process this. Cho-i Hyeon rotated her neck this way and that, as if it was stiff, then wiped the area where she had cut herself with the sword.

“Ah, it’s covered in blood anyway.”

Realizing that soon, she pointed to the open exit.

“Get out now.”

“Yes, yes!”

Honggyeong Kang scurried towards the exit. Cho-i Hyeon also moved towards the exit with him. Seeing this, Honggyeong Kang left, relieved, but Cho-i Hyeon stopped abruptly at the exit. This was because of ‘the Entity’ that had been screaming in her head since earlier.

“Alright, I get it. I get it.” ‘Destroy this world! It must be eliminated! I cannot watch my kin become Calamities!’ “If this dungeon disappears, is it certain that they won’t become Calamities?” ‘Ah! What a tragedy! What a tragedy!’

However, ‘the Entity’ was not in a state to communicate right now. Cho-i Hyeon clicked her tongue and sighed. To destroy the dungeon, she had to destroy its core. This meant waiting for the dungeon entrance to close and the dungeon to reconfigure itself.

‘But I can’t see the core, what should I do?’

With Suui Kim and Honggyeong Kang sent out, she tried to entrust her body to ‘the Entity’ again, but for some reason, it didn’t work. She didn’t know why. Cho-i Hyeon pondered for a moment, then spoke to the Entity again.

“If you want to destroy this world, cooperate with me.” ‘Cooperate?’

The Entity, finally having the leisure to converse, responded to Cho-i’s words. Cho-i Hyeon nodded into the air.

“Can I see the core with my eyes?” ‘…It’s not impossible.’ “That’s all I need.”

Cho-i Hyeon’s eyes gleamed.

“I’ll destroy this dungeon for you.”

And so, time passed, and the dungeon’s exit closed. Outside, there must have been chaos. Because Cho-i Hyeon hadn’t come out.

“Ah, what should I even say to explain this when I get out?”

Cho-i scratched her head and looked at the slowly crumbling world. Unlike the previous dungeon, the world scattering in dark red wasn’t particularly pleasant to look at, but thinking of it as the final view, it was somewhat tolerable. Cho-i Hyeon slowly closed her eyes.

“Let me shatter the core.” ‘……’

There was no answer from the Entity, but Cho-i Hyeon felt something. A sensation she couldn’t quite explain. A feeling of something merging with something else within her. She slowly opened her eyes and soon discovered a white glowing crystal in the dark red crumbling world.

“Is that the dungeon core?”

Cho-i Hyeon sprang up and ran. Becoming dust herself in the distance where things were turning into red powder and disappearing. She immediately drew her sword and swung it towards the crystal in the air. Clang! With a clear shattering sound, the dark red crumbling things stopped and then began to break into pieces. Thud, thud. It felt like those sounds would occur. Cho-i Hyeon stood there, gazing blankly at the scene. Through the fragmenting dungeons, the outside was visible. It must be night outside now. A black night sky was visible.

“Ah, it looks so beautiful when seen like this.”

The end of the world was beautiful. As black and red fragments sparkled and glowed under the black night sky before disappearing, the Entity seemed like a crimson river. Cho-i Hyeon slowly exhaled, feeling the world fading away.

“Are you satisfied with this?”

Still, there was no answer.

* * *

Fortunately, Suui Kim was able to be treated by a B-Rank healer, a school teacher, as soon as she came out, and was safe. In addition, the students even helped, so there would be no after-effects. The most serious thing for Cho-i Hyeon was Suui Kim getting injured, but in fact, the biggest issue for outsiders was Cho-i Hyeon, who broke through the dungeon after the exit was closed. It would be nice if they could silence it like in Japan, but too many people saw it. Other teachers who had finished the dungeon raid, each Guild Master, and the students. Cho-i Hyeon smiled warmly and waved her hand.

“Ahahaha, I’m in trouble, so I’m running away!”

“Where are you going!”

Before Cho-i Hyeon could run away, Gihyeon Park grabbed her waist. As she was caught by him, Cho-i Hyeon glared at him with an ‘ugh’ expression. Jihan Kim, who already knew that Cho-i Hyeon could destroy the dungeon core, kept his mouth shut and said nothing.

“How did you do this? And Jihan Kim, why aren’t you stepping up? You didn’t know, did you?”

“Damn, your intuition is like a ghost…”

“Honey, are you keeping a secret from me?”

“I’m not your honey, and I have a ton of secrets I haven’t told you!”

Cho-i Hyeon struggled to be released, but Gihyeon Park held her waist tightly and didn’t let go.

“Does Taehyeok Sa know about this?”

“He doesn’t know either!”

“Ah, then it’s fine.”

Gihyeon Park calmed down instantly.

“But Taeyang Kang knows.”

“Ah, that’s annoying.”

And her eyes narrowed, as if rekindled by what Cho-i said.

“Hunter Cho-i Hyeon, don’t tease Gihyeon Park.”

“Ah, was it obvious?”

“Very much so.”

Jihan Kim sighed. Then he approached Gihyeon Park, who was holding Cho-i Hyeon, and whispered.

“What, that’s creepy.”

“That’s not it, I think we need to get Hunter Cho-i Hyeon out of here right now. Otherwise, those teachers are going to grill Hunter Cho-i Hyeon right now.”

“Ah.”

Gihyeon Park looked back and saw the teachers staring blankly at the spot where the dungeon had been. Gihyeon Park watched the scene for a moment, then released Cho-i Hyeon’s waist.

“First, run to Paehyeok.”

“Run where?”

“Dump it on Taehyeok Sa.”

“Okay.”