Chapter 70

The monster’s blood-red mouth looked like the entrance to hell. And then.

“Huh?”

“…?”

The Entity blinked. And a familiar voice was heard.

“What the hell, you scared me.”

Her dark eyes returned. Cho-i Hyeon, as if by reflex, slapped Taehyeok Sa’s face, which was so close their noses were almost touching. Whack! Taehyeok Sa, dumbfounded, lay on the floor, clutching his slapped cheek.

“What? What happened?”

She blinked several times. Cho-i Hyeon, unable to understand the current situation, merely tilted her head.

“What the hell…”

Gihyeon Park, who had opened his eyes after a brief unconsciousness, let out a hollow laugh in disbelief. Cho-i scratched her head, then decided it didn’t matter since it was Taehyeok Sa, so she just laughed.

“But where did all the other party members go?”

At her innocent question, the two of them momentarily wanted to hit her.

***

“Ah, so that’s how it happened?”

Cho-i Hyeon sat the two of them down and listened to the situation so far. She shrugged and said,

“Nothing we can do about it.”

“Nothing we can do about it?”

“Well, you weren’t hurt that badly.”

“The Shire Guild Master was badly hurt. Gihyeon Park too. Me too. Most of my bones are probably broken.”

“I killed the boss monster for you. So, should I have died there instead?”

The words “You don’t even die” were on the tip of Taehyeok Sa’s tongue, but he kept his mouth shut. He didn’t know what would happen if Cho-i Hyeon used her skill again to kill everyone.

“Considering what you did to me, you should be grateful.”

Cho-i Hyeon was more shameless than anyone. Actually, she wasn’t wrong. Of course, she felt a little sorry for the Shire Guild Master. Just a little. A tear drop’s worth.

“More importantly, what is that thing, anyway?”

Gihyeon Park asked.

“I don’t know either.”

Cho-i scratched her head. Her hair, matted with blood, was tangled.

“Taehyeok Sa’s Telekinesis and my Flame didn’t work on it.”

Cho-i Hyeon thought,

‘How strong is an EX-Rank exactly?’

It was an EX-Rank even though it hadn’t hatched yet. So what would it become when it was born?

“More importantly, did I say the egg needed energy to hatch?”

Taehyeok Sa said, rubbing his reddened cheek.

“Yes.”

“So it tried to eat you?”

“…Yes.”

“Why?”

“Why, you ask…”

“How hungry must it have been…”

…to try and eat something like you that would give it an upset stomach. Cho-i’s face instantly became pitiful. Taehyeok Sa was strangely irritated by that expression. Gihyeon Park openly wrinkled his nose and said,

“Hey, it didn’t even look at me, so that means I’m worse than him!”

So that’s what it was. Taehyeok Sa felt relieved, thinking they were both crazy.

“Who would eat a poisonous mushroom like you!”

“Did you just call me a poisonous mushroom!”

“Yes, you’re an inanimate object, you jerk!”

“Both of you, shut up.”

When Taehyeok Sa stood up, Gihyeon Park also creaked and tried to stand up somehow. Taehyeok Sa sighed and supported him with Telekinesis. Cho-i Hyeon walked briskly towards the stairs first. Her light footsteps were utterly annoying.

“Oh? They left without even taking their items?”

Cho-i said, looking at the boss monster dead on the stairs.

“Oh, just a moment.”

Cho-i blinked for a moment while gathering the items.

[Red Magic Stone (S-grade)] X 8

“Could it be eight because it had eight eyes?”

She blinked, then happily began collecting the magic stones. As she did, she found one more unusual item.

[Butterfly Tribe’s Sharp Sword (SS Rank)]

“Why did a butterfly sword come out when I caught a spider…?”

Cho-i Hyeon looked at Taehyeok Sa. Taehyeok Sa frowned and shook his head.

“I don’t know either.”

“What do you know?”

“…”

“Haha, you’re not even good enough to be prey.”

Cho-i chuckled, gathered all the items, and started climbing the stairs, which were smeared with spider guts. Both sides were sticky, and blood dripped from above, making the floor slippery. Then, something at her feet was nudged and flew off. It glittered like a blade, was it a broken tooth? Cho-i blinked.

“I don’t see where all the other monsters went.”

“You said they all ran away.”

“The question is where they ran away to.”

“Hmm, outside the mansion?”

Now that she thought about it, what did the outside of the mansion look like? Dungeons usually weren’t buildings like this, so Cho-i Hyeon suddenly became curious. But the windows were blocked with wooden planks. They headed to the top floor. They couldn’t see where all those spiders had gone. It really looked like they had all scraped together and fled. And when they reached the final fourth floor, they heard signs of people.

“Guild Master!”

“Are you alright?”

Cho-i Hyeon’s eyes widened.

“Oh! You all stayed?”

Dongju Kim, Yeonhan Kim, and Suui Kim came out of the boss monster room, opening the door one after another.

“The Shire Guild side left beforehand. It seemed they were in a hurry because the Guild Master was injured, so I told them to go.”

Then Taehyeok Sa shook his head and said,

“Why did you stay here when I told you to leave?”

“Well…”

Everyone looked at Choi Hyeon.

“What? Why are you looking at me?”

Choi Hyeon said, squeezing the monster’s blood from her hair. Drops of blood splattered on the floor. Then Yeonhan Kim spoke.

“I’m worried.”

“Worried about me…?”

“No.”

Yeonhan Kim said firmly.

“I’m worried ‘that thing’ might come out.”

At those words, everyone’s expressions turned serious. Not once had they thought about Beondo Island. Everyone looked at Choi Hyeon. Choi Hyeon tilted her head, then her eyes widened as if she understood.

“Ah, right. Because I’m not a monster.”

She held up a finger, showing no sense of urgency at all. Taehyeok Sa openly sighed and nodded to Yeonhan Kim.

“If that’s your judgment… I understand.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go before the gate closes.”

“Okay.”

Then Suui Kim raised her hand.

“I have a question.”

Taehyeok Sa answered.

“Go ahead.”

“What exactly is the condition of Hunter Choi Hyeon?”

“…Now that you mention it, you wouldn’t know at all.”

Taehyeok Sa pondered for a moment, then looked at Choi Hyeon. Choi Hyeon shrugged her shoulders, indicating he should do as he pleased. With her permission, Taehyeok Sa began to explain everything to Suui Kim: that she couldn’t die, that there was something inside her body, that the Entity was stronger than even Taehyeok Sa, and that her condition wouldn’t last long. Suui Kim pressed her temples, looking dizzy from the sudden influx of information. Then, with an expression that was either worried or fed up, she asked Choi Hyeon,

“Are you really okay?”

“What am I going to do if I’m not? There’s no solution.”

She laughed,

“Well then, let’s go.”

So, Paehyeok’s Group finished the SS-Rank dungeon raid and exited. Though whether they could call it ‘conquering’ it was another matter.

***

When they came out, the surroundings were noisy. It was unavoidable, given that the Shire Guild Master had been injured and brought out like that. Since it was an SS-Rank dungeon, they couldn’t send in a regular dungeon byproduct management team, so all the Paehyeok Guild members got were things torn off the boss monster. Well, things like spider fangs, spider webs, and torn spider legs. I wondered what these were used for, and it turns out they’re materials for making weapons and equipment. Cho-i Hyeon didn’t care and handed over all the entities, but there was one problem.

“Ah! Give me a magic stone!”

“It’s not something you get by whining like that…”

Taehyeok Sa said with an incredibly tired expression. But Cho-i Hyeon didn’t give up and held out both hands.

“Please give it to me!”

“Even if you ask politely, no!”

“I want that!”

“We have to share fairly with the Shire side. Our share is only 30%.”

“Bring it all back as magic stones.”

“Aren’t you tempted by the sword?”

“I already have a sword, what would I use that for?”

“It’s SS-Rank?”

“A+ Rank or SS-Rank, it’s all the same.”

“It’s different.”

Cho-i Hyeon took her sword out of her inventory…

“What is this? Why is it like this?”

[Broken Sword (A-rank)]

The sword was broken in half. Taehyeok Sa sighed as he looked at the broken sword. It seemed to have broken when he cut the spider in half, but no one had checked because they were so busy.

“My sword!”

“…First, let’s try to get one before we go into Korea.”

“Give me the butterfly sword!”

“That will go to the Shire side.”

“Then what do we get?!”

“Probably a few S-Rank magic stones and a few byproducts.”

“What do we use those for?!”

“I told you, they’re used to make equipment…”

Taehyeok Sa lay in the hunter-exclusive hospital, heavily bandaged. And Cho-i Hyeon was whining next to him, acting as if she didn’t care whether he was in pain or not. Of course. Taehyeok Sa thought all the entities were his doing. S-Rank Healer Jane said she was still treating the Shire Guild Master. This was quite tricky; if the Shire Guild Master had been injured fighting the boss monster, he would have subtly asked for treatment together, but the problem was that he was injured by a Paehyeok Guild member. Taehyeok Sa looked at Cho-i with eyes that said, “Don’t you know it’s all your fault?”

“What are you staring at?”

Of course, the person in question seemed to have no idea what the problem was.

“Anyway, I’m tired, so go see Gihyeon Park.”

“What would I do there?”

“I’m telling you to go play somewhere else.”

Creak- Just then, the hospital room door opened, and Dongju Kim and Yeonhan Kim entered.

“Guild Master, the Shire Guild Master has safely woken up, and all treatment has been completed.”

“That’s a relief.”

“And S-Rank Healer Jane has offered to help.”

“Really?”

“Of course, since it happened while helping them.”

At that remark, everyone briefly looked at Cho-i Hyeon. Cho-i, who was the center of attention for some reason, tilted her chin up. It wasn’t a compliment. Dongju Kim said, grabbing her by the nape of her neck and pulling her out of the hospital room. Taehyeok Sa subtly said to the back of Dongju Kim’s head as she left,

“Take Cho-i Hyeon to the Bilton Auction House.”