Chapter 47

When a gunshot echoed, the monster screamed as its central eyeball burst. Goo dripped onto its fleshy body. KIEEEEEK! Suui Kim slashed and kicked away the monsters swarming Cho-i’s back with her sword. Grotesque hands entangled his feet, but he didn’t cut each hand off; he simply continued to slash at the monsters approaching from the side. Cho-i slashed at the monsters’ eyeballs aimed at her or knocked them away with her shield, creating distance between herself and the monsters. While she was tanking stably, Ganansu was observing everything from behind. She was transmitting what she saw outside using her stealth skill and camera skill. And even Ganansu didn’t know where this footage was being broadcast. It seemed the dungeon management team had been trying various trials, but she knew nothing about what happened afterward.

‘I need to keep an eye on everyone first.’

But even as she said that, her gaze inevitably turned to Cho-i Hyeon. She couldn’t take her eyes off the sight of her fighting at the very front, her long black hair flowing. Bang! Another gunshot erupted. Fragments of fleshy bodies splattered everywhere. Yeonwoo Han checked Cho-i’s condition and used skills appropriately whenever she was pierced by thorn-like spikes or scratched by the Black Hand saw. Gurgle- A sound like something submerged in water came, and when she looked, Cho-i Hyeon was deeply embedding a knife into a monster’s eyeball and twisting it out. Cho-i Hyeon, who stomped on the fleshy body to pull out her sword, kicked the monster far away and then briefly looked back.

“How was that?”

“Don’t look back.”

“Oh, come on. Not even a single compliment.”

Gurgle- That’s when it happened. The monsters suddenly made the same sound and began to tremble all at once. As soon as Cho-i heard that sound, a certain sensation surged within her. It must be the protective instinct that Suui Kim had mentioned.

“What is it?”

“Be careful!”

“Everyone, gather behind me!”

Saying that, Cho-i held her shield out to the side, widening the space so that the party members could hide as much as possible. That is, without covering any part of her own body.

[Casting skill Full Protection! You take 15% of the damage received by party members!]

And on top of that, full protection. Cho-i thought, “So I have to protect my party members, right?” That wasn’t difficult. Honestly speaking.

“Cho-i Hyeon! Aren’t you holding your shield straight?!”

“Ahahaha.”

Because it was what she always did when she was with Hyeonchan An. She was a foolish and cowardly tank, but that didn’t mean she was incompetent and couldn’t do her job properly. She wanted to believe that. Swoosh! Pow! Hundreds of spear-like thorns embedded in the flesh suddenly began to shoot out. Fortunately, they were scattered in various directions, so not all of them were aimed at the party members. Cho-i Hyeon blocked the thorns with her body and shield. She reached out to block the thorns that bypassed her and went behind her. One thorn, then two, pierced her palm.

“Gasp.”

Cho-i let out a groan that no one else heard. A thorn was lodged in the middle of her neck. She lowered her gaze. Her body couldn’t collapse. Fortunately, it wasn’t a fatal wound. Amidst the almost finished rain of thorns, she quietly pulled out the one lodged in her neck. She looked behind her. Everyone was staring at her with shocked eyes.

‘Did they see it?’

“Hey!”

Suui Kim couldn’t hold back and shouted. And at that moment, the thorn attack stopped. Cho-i had thorns embedded all over her, in her arms, legs, and chest. Fortunately, the shock seemed to be of a different kind. They probably didn’t see the one in her neck. She pulled out the thorns stuck in her hands and limbs one by one, throwing them to the ground, and replied,

“What?”

“You just…!”

“What’s wrong? I did as I was told!”

“Hey, when did I ever tell you to go this far…!”

“What are you talking about?”

She laughed heartily as if nothing had happened. As she laughed, blood welled up from her neck, which was still regenerating. Cho-i coughed a few times and spat the blood onto the floor. The floor was black, so the bloodstains weren’t clearly visible.

“If you have time for that, how about cleaning up?”

New thorns were growing from the monsters’ bodies. It was obvious that it would be annoying to deal with them again once they fully grew. Cho-i thought this was her chance and once again drew aggro. Clang! Clang! When she clashed her sword and shield, the monsters quickly swarmed Cho-i. Without the thorns, it was much easier to cut down the monsters. They were literally like lumps of flesh, and the sensation of cutting through them, like cutting human flesh, was chilling, but the Entity was no obstacle for Cho-i.

“…You, let’s talk later.”

“I have nothing to talk about.”

“…For now, continue the attack!”

“Got it!”

“Yeonwoo, focus healing on Cho-i!”

“Yes!”

The monsters, cut by their swords and shot by their guns, bled profusely and fell to the floor. They looked like chunks of meat hanging in a butcher shop, melted and spread out. Cho-i, covered in blood, smiled brightly and looked back at her teammates.

“I did well this time, didn’t I?”

The four, no, five people safely completed their first hunt. But Suui Kim approached her with a look of headache and began to examine Cho-i’s hands and limbs. Fortunately, all the wounds had healed.

“Did the healing skill work well? Why are you so fine?”

Cho-i showed him the bracelet on her wrist. The bracelet that Dongju Kim had bought for her was neatly on her wrist.

“An A+ Rank bracelet, it increases the tank’s recovery rate!”

“…I know such an item exists. But what you just did was reckless.”

“Ugh, what do you want me to do? I did as I was told. Instead of praising me.”

“Why are you always all or nothing, kid…?”

“Was I? I just protected because I was told to protect?”

“Normally, you don’t protect that way. It’s good if you have a full defense skill, but usually you don’t. You only block some, and the party members would have dealt with the ones that inevitably got through.”

“Oh, you should have told me that earlier.”

“I didn’t think you’d go that far.”

“I always did it this way?”

Cho-i recalled her previous party. Although she now believed she wouldn’t die, this tanking method was actually similar to what she used before. It was because of her party members and Hyeonchan An, who would get angry if even a little attack got past her.

“In my previous party, I always did it this way.”

“In your previous party… you always did it this way?”

Suui Kim’s expression hardened menacingly. Cho-i, not knowing why, tilted her head and then slapped his back.

“Hey, why the sudden scary face? So you’re saying I should block moderately? How moderate is that?”

“Only enough so you don’t get too badly hurt.”

Cho-i tilted her head as if she didn’t understand.

“No, but you said protecting my teammates was my priority.”

“I said to protect them, not to make unconditional self-sacrifices, Cho-i Hyeon.”

His face was quite serious. Cho-i blinked, looking at his face. Why was he so difficult?

“Wait, behind you!”

Just then, Namsu Kang shouted. Suui Kim quickly looked forward. A monster, still alive, was shooting its last spike towards him. And it was too late to dodge it. Thwack!

“Whoops!”

And Cho-i blocked it with her hand. Her recently healed hand was pierced once again.

“That was a close call, wasn’t it?”

She smiled and pulled out the thorn embedded in her hand. Suui Kim stared blankly at her.

“What’s wrong now?”

She shook her hand a few times. Yeonwoo Han rushed over, panting, to use her healing skill again.

“It’s fine. Save your magic.”

“Huh? Huh? But it will hurt to hold a sword or shield with that hand, won’t it?”

Cho-i shook her head.

“I have items that boost my recovery ability, and this much is tolerable. I’m used to it.”

Saying that, she picked up her sword again, which she had dropped momentarily while blocking the thorn.

“Alright, shall we go again? More importantly, where is that Ganansu hunter hiding and watching from?”

No sooner had she finished speaking than Ganansu appeared from somewhere. There was absolutely no presence felt. It was enough to make her think, ‘If this works well, it might even work in an S-Rank dungeon?’

“Tha-that was amazing….”

She was looking at Cho-i with somewhat mesmerized eyes, and Cho-i chuckled at her face. Then, she snapped her thumb and middle finger in front of Ganansu’s eyes, making a ‘snap’ sound.

“Snap out of it. Who gets distracted in a dungeon?”

She was still bright. If her hands weren’t covered in blood, others would have laughed. She kept quiet, not understanding the somber atmosphere.

“What’s the problem, anyway?”

Suui Kim parted her lips several times before finally sighing.

“No, never mind. Let me say it again: protect us, but don’t throw your entire body into it.”

“You’re teaching me something really difficult. Alright. I’ll try.”

Namsu Kang looked at Suui Kim. Their eyes met, and they both shook their heads at each other. Yeonwoo Han, caught between them, glanced around before looking at Cho-i.

‘Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen someone tank like that.’

He had been a healer for quite some time, but he had never seen anyone go to such lengths to protect their teammates. Cho-i clapped her hands to lighten the mood. Blood splattered nearby.

“Alright, let’s move.”

“Let’s.”

“Oh, alright.”

So the five of them began to walk again, searching for monsters. Cho-i was in the lead, followed by Suui Kim and Namsu Kang, with Yeonwoo Han at the very back and Ganansu in the middle. Cho-i was a few steps ahead, so the others exchanged glances and cautiously spoke up.

“It doesn’t seem like she was acting normally in the last party.”

Suui Kim agreed with Yeonwoo Han’s words.

“I think so too. She was told to block attacks no matter what, without thinking about her own body? That’s not a sensible method.”