Chapter 168

Cho-i Hyeon’s condition continued to worsen. Cho-i Hyeon gritted her teeth and suppressed her screams from the increasingly severe pain.

“Shouldn’t we use a painkiller skill now…?”

But Cho-i Hyeon shook her head each time. She was stubborn. The group didn’t understand why she was so persistent. However, Cho-i Hyeon thought differently from them.

‘If I shed my skin, I won’t be able to move for a long time. I need to resolve this to some extent before that.’

Cho-i gritted her teeth and pushed forward. Her body was now so cracked that fragments of shed skin fell off with every movement. Each time, Cho-i Hyeon felt the pain of her skin being cut, but her skill transformed the pain into even greater strength.

“Taeyang Kang!”

“Got it!”

After Cho-i Hyeon dismembered the monsters, Taeyang Kang froze the entities to prevent further regeneration. Cho-i Hyeon confirmed the entities and then looked into the distance. Her vision was blurry.

‘I can’t lose consciousness.’

She bit her tongue, feeling as if her eyes would roll back at any moment. Warm blood flowed down the corner of her mouth. Cho-i Hyeon casually wiped the entities away with the back of her hand. This was because the pain of her skin being torn was greater than the pain of her tongue being cut. Just then, something appeared in the distance. Cho-i Hyeon looked closely at the entities. It was a large dome-shaped structure. It looked similar to where the large Mantis’s bones had been. Her heart pounded. A feeling akin to anxiety surged within her.

“Cho-i Hyeon!”

Crack!
As Cho-i Hyeon was distracted by that, a monster suddenly sprang out from beside her again. It was an SS-Rank Calamity Mantis with eight legs. She gritted her teeth and blocked its two forelegs with her sword.

“Aaah!”

Crack, snap! The impact of the collision shed the skin from her arm. She screamed, then endured the pain and struck the Entity. Pieces of shed skin began to fall. Her proper molting had begun.

“Gasp, gasp.”

She finally stumbled forward. Taehyeok Sa caught her with Telekinesis as she fell. Dongju Kim and Yeonhan Kim immediately stepped forward to block the Mantis’s forelegs. Then Taeyang Kang cut off the monster’s head with a spear. Splat! Blood gushed out like a fountain, drenching the group. They didn’t stop there, and with Nara Shim’s buff, they began to remove the monster’s legs one by one.

“Nara Shim, one more time!” “Yes!”

Nara Shim poured out another buff, and they were finally able to eliminate the Calamity Mantis while protecting Cho-i Hyeon. Cho-i was slumped in the air as if unconscious, and Taehyeok Sa caught her. Even in her unconscious state, Cho-i let out a short groan, seemingly feeling pain.

“We’re not in combat now, so I think it would be okay to use a painkill skill.” “No, it seems the pain-sensing skill needs to be on for her to shed her skin.” “…That’s cruel.”

Myeongok Shin frowned. Although great power comes with great pain, Cho-i Hyeon seemed to be paying an excessively high price.

“I see other Hunters over there.”

Turning her head at Dongju Kim’s words, she saw people on the right. A large fire erupted, and Hunters were attacking monsters engulfed in flames. Seeing the flames, Taehyeok Sa said,

“It must be Gihyeon Park’s group.” “Over there too…”

And not far from him, a huge, sharply honed Shadow was mutilating monsters. Red blood splattered, visible even from here. And a massive wave of water swept over it once. Yeonhan Kim said,

“It looks like Jihan Kim and Zhixuan.” “Only the expected ones have gathered.”

They moved the defeated monsters aside and decided to take a break. Cho-i Hyeon’s condition wasn’t good, and neither were the Hunters’ conditions after fighting S-Rank and higher monsters consecutively.

“I see a dome in the distance. Should we go there?”

Suui Kim asked, looking towards the dome.

“It seems so. After we rest, we’ll head straight there.” “Understood.”

The group began to clear a spot to stay, piling up the monster corpses to one side. Taehyeok Sa leaned Cho-i Hyeon against a tree trunk. Taeyang Kang paced nearby, looking at her with worried eyes. Her face was covered in cracks, and she didn’t look good at first glance.

“How long does that molting take?” “I don’t know. The last time was the first stage, and this is the second, so it might take longer.” “I see…”

Taeyang Kang sat near her, unable to touch her. It seemed he intended to protect Cho-i Hyeon. Taehyeok Sa watched him silently for a moment, then decided to leave this spot to Taeyang Kang and helped the group prepare their resting place.

“It seems they’re also taking a break over there.”

Yeonhan Kim, who had brought wood for a fire, said, looking at the opposite side. Indeed, this side had two SS-Ranks, but Jihan Kim and Gihyeon Park’s side did not. It was surprising that they had come this far at a similar pace.

“There’s a chance they came back to avoid the monster, so we should prepare for a surprise attack.”

“I’ll keep watch, so get some rest for now.”

At his words, everyone nodded silently. At this moment, only SS-Rank Taehyeok Sa and Taeyang Kang had energy left. So, Yeonhan Kim lit a fire in the center and sat down, and everyone else lay on the ground nearby. It would be good to get even a short nap. Taehyeok Sa confirmed that everyone was asleep and was on guard. Then he soon turned his gaze to Cho-i Hyeon. She was breathing with difficulty, and beside her, Taeyang Kang had his eyes closed quietly.

“……”

Taehyeok Sa approached Cho-i Hyeon. He knelt on one knee and reached out to touch her cheek, which was haphazardly cracked. No, he tried to touch it.

“You said not to touch her.”

Taeyang Kang, who had blocked Taehyeok Sa’s hand, slowly opened his eyes and spoke. Taehyeok Sa frowned and looked at Taeyang Kang. He couldn’t understand him, suddenly appearing and acting like Cho-i Hyeon’s dog.

“I was just trying to check her condition.”

“Then just look with your eyes.”

Taeyang Kang always had a stubborn side. It was the same now. Taehyeok Sa withdrew his hand and stood up.

“Watch over Cho-i Hyeon carefully.”

“I intend to, even if you don’t tell me to.”

Their gazes met for a moment. The gazes, as if to pierce each other, were soon withdrawn simultaneously. The two fell silent as if nothing had happened.

***

Cho-i Hyeon thought. This was a dream. Otherwise, this couldn’t be happening. She felt her body wasn’t moving as she wished. Something was blocking her path. She found the entity very unpleasant. Although she couldn’t move her body freely, that sensation was sharply conveyed. Crunch! She grabbed what was blocking her path with her six legs. And she tore it mercilessly. Cho-i Hyeon knew that what she had torn had two arms and two legs. But she didn’t think anything. Only the desire for destruction filled her stomach with a seething intensity. What she felt was anger and intense jealousy. But she didn’t know whose it was exactly.

‘Who is in front of me?’

She asked someone. But there was no answer.

‘Who am I?’

Then, finally, an answer came back.

‘You are me.’ ‘Why am I you?’

She thought the entity was wrong. Snap! Again, something was caught in her six legs. She tried to tear the entity apart. But the entity cried out something.

“Cho-i Hyeon!”

The entity was calling her name.

“Cho-i Hyeon, no! Please!”

She opened her eyes wide to get a closer look at the Entity. It was a familiar voice.

“Cho-i!”

The Entity was Nara Shim. She tried to let go of her hand. Nara Shim, whose limbs were caught, was struggling. Cho-i Hyeon screamed, but nothing came out of her mouth. And her arm. Crack, crunch. Rip! It tore Nara Shim in half. Her body split in two, and blood and guts spilled out. Cho-i felt momentarily disoriented. But unlike her fading mind, her hands diligently moved to tear her half-split corpse to shreds. Ah, what kind of dream is this? This couldn’t be real. She didn’t try to grasp her fading mind. And in an instant, she gasped as pain dominated her entire body.

“Gasp!”

She panted wildly. She turned her head to look for Nara Shim, trying to deny the scene she had seen in her dream.

“Hoo, hah!”

Cho-i clutched her chest, unable to breathe properly. A sharp pain shot through her chest.

“Cho-i Hyeon! What’s wrong, Cho-i Hyeon!”

Taeyang Kang’s voice came from beside her, but her gaze was fixed on finding Nara Shim. And only after finding Nara Shim sleeping to the left of where the fire was lit, could she finally relax.

“Hoo, hah, hah….”

Taeyang Kang kept calling her name, unable to even touch her. Cho-i put her hands on the floor and tried to catch her breath. What did I just see? Cho-i looked at her hands. She had two hands. Two. But why in the dream….

“A strange dream….” “A dream?” “Ugh. Ahhh….”

She could no longer endure the pain and let out a long groan. Taeyang Kang called Taehyeok Sa.

“Taehyeok Sa! What should I do!” “Damn it, Myeongok Shin!”

Taehyeok Sa urgently looked for Myeongok Shin. Cho-i Hyeon’s condition was unusual. Cho-i hugged herself. Even a slight touch of her fingertips caused excruciating pain.

‘Why are my shoulders and pelvis like this….’

She felt a twisting sensation in her bones. It was almost like a crumbling sensation. She gritted her teeth and sat up straight. It was strange. Something was going on.