Chapter 176

Nara Shim ran until she was out of breath. Taeyang Kang unleashed a blizzard at maximum output, trying to freeze the Entity even for a moment. But the boss monster, though covered in a white frost, didn’t freeze. It merely stomped its front legs on the ground, approaching them.

“Aim for its belly! Its belly!”

Nara Shim showered the dealers with buffs.

[Skill, attack power increase, is used!] [Skill, agility increase, is used!] [Skill, defense increase, is used!]

Her head was spinning. But Nara Shim stopped at a certain distance. And the dealers protected Nara Shim from the front.

“You said you could stop time, right?”

“Yes.”

“What are you planning to do with it?”

“I saw a human silhouette in its belly. I’m going to try to cut it open.”

“Alright. I’ll clear a path for you.”

The Entity bared its teeth and growled. All the dealers stood in front of Nara Shim, raising their weapons.

“Aim for its belly so I can cut it open.”

“Alright.”

Gihyeon Park’s Flames shot towards the Mantis’s lower body. Taeyang Kang’s Icicle Spear also flew towards the Entity’s belly. Following closely, Jihan Kim’s water surged in right after the Ice. Finally, Taehyeok Sa used Telekinesis to gather and compress the Entity, sharpening it like a blade.

“You cannot withstand the Calamity!”

The boss monster shrieked as if screaming.

“Because I am your Calamity!”

The Entity seemed filled with malice. It spread its wings wide, then tried to slam them down from above as if to crush them. And Nara Shim didn’t miss that opportunity.

“Over there!”

Dongju Kim grabbed Nara Shim’s forearm and threw her in that direction in one swift motion. Nara Shim’s body flew and hit the boss monster’s belly. She felt something wriggling inside the Entity’s belly. The moment the boss monster raised its front leg high to crush Nara Shim, who was in front of it, Nara Shim gripped her Watch and frantically used an item.

“Please!”

Nara Shim squeezed her eyes shut and yelled. Then, a sudden silence. All sounds stopped instantly. Nara Shim carefully opened her eyes and looked around. Everyone was frozen, and the boss monster’s front leg was right in front of her face.

Nara Shim carefully dug deeper inside and looked at its belly. Clearly, there was a person’s shadow. Nara Shim plunged the Broken Knife she was holding into its belly. No matter how weak the spot, it was too tough for Nara Shim to cut through in one go. But she didn’t give up and slowly, with a grinding sound, began to slice it open from top to bottom.

“Hair…”

After slicing about two hand-spans, black hair became visible inside. Nara Shim put all her strength into cutting open the belly. As she cut further down, the human figure she had been hoping for began to appear. Sticky mucus flowed out from inside the belly. Then, a revealed white face, pale skin.

“Cho-Cho-i…”

Nara Shim urgently dropped her sword and used both hands to pull open the belly. Cho-i, still with her eyes closed, was entangled in the Mantis’s internal organs. Nara reached out and pulled her shoulder.

“……”

Just then, a small groan was heard. Nara Shim cried out,

“Cho-i Hyeon! Are you awake?” “I… I’ve been awake for a while.”

She said, her eyes still closed. And then, slowly, she began to open her eyes. Her face, thoroughly wet with mucus, gleamed as it caught the light.

***

Cho-i Hyeon fully opened her eyes. She shook off the intestines binding her arms and emerged. Grabbing the belly shell, she gritted her teeth as she pulled out her tightly bound lower body.

“You… you son of a bitch.”

Slipping, the mass of intestines and mucus clung to her feet, but she quickly shook off the entity and came out. Nara Shim grabbed her arm to help her out.

“How long have you been conscious?” “Probably since Taehyeok Sa made a choice. But damn it, I couldn’t get out from the inside.” “First, let’s get away. There’s a limit to how long I can stop time.” “You go first.”

Cho-i Hyeon picked up the Broken Sword that Nara Shim had dropped.

“What are you doing?!” “What else? I’m going to kill this thing.” “Hey!”

It was then. Crash! Nara Shim’s Watch shattered with a sound like something breaking. As soon as she heard that sound, Cho-i Hyeon pushed Nara Shim far away. And then,

“You and I are going to finish this, you bastard.”

Cho-i Hyeon immediately leaped up and pierced the jaw of the entity, which looked exactly like her own face.

“Gah!”

The Entity let out a gasping sound. Its body staggered, and its intestines crawled out from its torn belly. As red blood, mucus, and sticky entrails poured onto the floor, The Entity screamed. But Cho-i Hyeon grabbed The Entity’s shoulder and plunged the knife, which she had placed under its jaw, even deeper.

“Die.”

Crunch, crack. A loud breaking sound was heard, and soon the massive body began to tilt. Cho-i Hyeon kicked off the boss monster’s body, spun around, and landed on the floor. Boom—! The Entity’s body fell. Cho-i Hyeon brushed off the mucus on her body as if annoyed and turned around. She saw the floor covered with corpses and her companions who had been waiting for her all along.

“……”

Everyone was looking at Cho-i. They were focusing on the fact that she had returned, rather than rejoicing that the boss monster had fallen.

“Cho-i Hyeon…!”

At that moment, Taeyang Kang immediately ran to her. He hugged her tightly, even though she was surely covered in mucus. Cho-i hugged him back and looked at her companions over his shoulder. She thought she didn’t know what to say.

“…I killed them all, didn’t I?” “That wasn’t you.” “Anyway, The Entity and I were one body.” “…Don’t think about it.” “How can I not think about it?”

Cho-i Hyeon frowned deeply and smiled. Taeyang Kang soon let go of her, and she slowly approached her companions. There had been a hundred Hunters. But among them, only Paehyeok’s Group, Jihan Kim, Zhixuan, and Gihyeon Park remained. She stood in front of them, her face crumpled, and sighed.

“…Well, I don’t really know what to say, but…”

And she opened her arms.

“I’m back.”

Everyone was silent. And breaking that silence, Nara Shim spoke.

“Welcome back.”

At those words, Cho-i Hyeon’s face crumpled even more. She looked right once, left once, and finally at the ceiling, then covered her face with one hand and whispered.

“…Thank you.” “It was an unavoidable accident.”

Yeonhan Kim comforted her.

“But they all wanted to live.” “It was something you couldn’t help.”

Gihyeon Park also added.

“…If Nara hadn’t existed, this wouldn’t have happened.” “No, this would have happened anyway, no matter who cleared that hidden dungeon.”

This time, Taehyeok Sa answered in a firm voice.

“……”

Cho-i Hyeon remained silent, covering her two faces and bowing her head. Her long hair fell beside her cheeks. Then Gihyeon Park shuffled over and hugged her. He didn’t care that sticky slime got on his body.

“Idiot, for now, just think about yourself.”

“…Will that work?”

“You’re usually simple-minded and ignorant.”

“I don’t treat other people’s lives so lightly.”

Then Taehyeok Sa slowly opened his mouth.

“…Live while atoning.”

“Atoning?”

“Yes. You live by doing what you can. You’re not thinking of dying here, are you?”

“…I don’t want to die.”

Taehyeok Sa slowly approached her. Gihyeon Park moved away from her with a displeased expression. Cho-i Hyeon faced Taehyeok Sa.

“……This matter will be kept a secret by Paehyeok Side.”

“Should I say thank you?”

“No. We’re just doing what’s natural. To protect you.”

“…I’ll do anything.”

“Yes, that’s enough.”

Taehyeok Sa slowly blinked. Cho-i Hyeon quietly looked at his face, then opened her arms. And she hugged him. Taehyeok Sa’s hands twitched in the air, then he hugged her back. As the two were doing so, Cho-i suddenly opened her eyes wide.

“Wait.”

“…Why?”

Her eyes were looking somewhere in the air. She gritted her teeth and immediately looked behind her.

“Everyone, battle stations!”

At her words, the remaining people looked shocked.

“It’s going to get up again!”

The notification window that appeared before her eyes was none other than.

[The trial to determine the Queen Mantis begins! Achieve victory and succeed the Queen!]

Creeaak, creak. There was a sound of something scraping the floor. And the body of the fallen boss monster slowly began to rise.

“We have to defeat it before it fully gets up!”

At Cho-i Hyeon’s shout, Taeyang Kang stepped forward and shot an ice icicle. However, the icicle stopped abruptly in mid-air before it could embed itself in the Entity’s body.

“What is it?”

Taeyang Kang snapped his head up. A bright blue window was floating in front of him.

[You cannot interfere with the Queen’s trial!] “You can’t interfere with the Queen’s trial?”

At his words, Cho-i Hyeon looked at him. And everyone looked at Taeyang Kang.

“…This fight.”

Taeyang Kang said with a look of despair.

“You have to do it alone?”

“……”

Cho-i Hyeon was silent. And then she soon said to Yeonhan Kim.

“Lend me your sword.”

“…Hunter Cho-i Hyeon.”

“Are you sure?”

Dongju Kim asked. Cho-i Hyeon nodded.

“Since I caused this, shouldn’t I take responsibility until the end?”

Yeonhan Kim handed his sword to Cho-i Hyeon. Cho-i Hyeon walked towards the boss monster with only one sword. The Entity was slowly getting up, crawling through its spilled intestines.

“……You thought you could defeat me, didn’t you?”

“I will defeat you.”

“…I’ll shatter your futile delusions.”

“Let’s get along, since we share a body.”

Cho-i Hyeon raised her sword.