Chapter 121

Chapter 121

As I’d expected, the monster seemed startled by the fire suddenly spreading across its own head, and its storm-like assault paused for a moment. Jeong Seojin didn’t miss the opening. He set me and the woman down almost like he was throwing us, then immediately drew the sword hanging at his side and charged at the monster.

“Unbeliever’s Step.”

With Jeong Seojin’s quiet mutter, the sword in his grip drove precisely into what I guessed was the monster’s neck. *Crunch!* Jeong Seojin’s blade pierced through the monster’s stone-hard hide and stabbed deep into its interior.

“Damn it.”

But what showed on Jeong Seojin’s face wasn’t triumph — it was dismay. The monster’s muscles had contracted in surprise at the sudden attack, locking his sword in place.

The monster didn’t miss Jeong Seojin’s moment of frustration. *Grrrrrk.* With a roar that sounded like boiling blood, the monster’s eyes flashed red.

*BOOM!*

As expected, the monster’s strike came crashing down on the spot where Jeong Seojin had been standing. Luckily, he seemed to have dodged the creature’s attack, but it didn’t look like he’d escaped unscathed. As the monster’s blow grazed past him, the sleeve of his right arm was torn away, and a large gash was carved into the skin beneath.

“Aaaah?! Jeong Seojin, are you okay?!”

“I’m the one who got hurt, so why are you the one screaming?”

Jeong Seojin added that with an incredulous look and charged at the monster again. Of course, the monster wasn’t about to just take it. It swung its thorny tail at Jeong Seojin once more.

And our utterly reckless Jeong Seojin seemed intent on blocking it head-on. He planted his feet and took a stance to receive the monster’s blow.

“No, are you actually insane? You crazy bastard!”

From the looks of it, he was relying on that self-regeneration he’d mentioned to me before. From my perspective, it was absolutely maddening. Why does he throw his body around like that? Even if it regenerates, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, does it?

I jumped to my feet and was about to shout “Ruler’s Garden,” but I stopped short when I saw a familiar figure step between Jeong Seojin and the monster.

‘Oh…!’

*CRASH!*

Amid the deafening impact, the giant man who had wedged himself between Jeong Seojin and the monster swung a massive object in his hand. Following his movement, the monster’s enormous body staggered back a step.

Only after the dust kicked up by the collision of immense forces had settled did I realize who the owner of that familiar figure wedged between Jeong Seojin and the monster was.

‘Guild Master Kang Mujin?’

The man, whose impression was as solid as stone, as if he had manifested his own alias, Fortress, was definitely someone I’d seen before. Unlike the future version of him I’d seen, who wore a stiffly pressed black suit, this one was only wearing a leather vest over a frayed shirt. I stared at him with a bewildered expression.

“Seojin.”

The monster, which had been pushed back a step by his strike, took a stance as if to attack them again. Kang Mujin gripped a shield that had a dull, steely color — unlike the Shield of Aias that his future self would use — tightly.

“I told you not to move alone. You’re the strongest among us, that’s true, but there are always variables, so you can’t let your guard down.”

“I could have taken it down on my own just fine.”

Jeong Seojin muttered irritably and glanced in my direction. He probably wanted to say that if it weren’t for me and the woman beside me, he could have taken it down alone. From my perspective, it was infuriating. Because what that guy meant by “I could take it down alone” was one hundred percent based on trusting his own self-regeneration.

‘Winning after being beaten to a pulp and covered in blood — is that really a proper win?’

How the hell did this guy even survive before he met me? Don’t tell me he’s been living by recklessly charging in alone every day, getting his whole body torn to shreds, and just patching it up with his self-regeneration?

I ground my teeth again at that very plausible hypothesis. When I go back to the future, I swear I’ll smack the back of this guy’s head. Anyway, this Jeong Seojin bastard always wore that calm, composed expression, but when it came to reckless behavior, he did it all by himself.

*Grrrrroooar!!*

The monster named Desert Thorn Dragon — which looked like a giant hedgehog with huge front paws and a tail — charged at Jeong Seojin and Guild Master Kang Mujin again. Guild Master Kang Mujin held his shield firm with one hand while pulling out something long with the other and tossing it to Jeong Seojin.

“Seojin, rear guard.”

“Got it.”

With those words, the Desert Thorn Dragon’s massive body slammed into Guild Master Kang Mujin’s shield. *KWAANG!* A thunderous roar that seemed to shake the very earth rang out, and Jeong Seojin, who had been standing behind Guild Master Kang Mujin, vanished from sight. The next time I caught sight of Jeong Seojin, he was standing behind the Desert Thorn Dragon, swinging the sword he’d received from Guild Master Kang Mujin.

*—Grrrrroooar—!!*

The sword Jeong Seojin swung landed precisely where he had embedded his blade in the monster’s neck. *Kkadeuk, wadeuk.* A sound like scraping stone rang out repeatedly as Jeong Seojin drove his sword deeper, deeper still. Naturally, the monster twisted its body in resistance.

“As if I’d just leave him to it.”

Of course, Guild Master Kang Mujin wasn’t just standing by and watching. His massive shield slammed straight into the head of the monster writhing in place. *KWAANG!* The Desert Thorn Dragon, struck by the heavy blow of an S-Rank defense-specialist Hunter, froze for a moment. Jeong Seojin didn’t miss that opening.

“Die well.”

Mana, concentrated enough to be visible, gathered into his sword. *Kkadeuk, wadeuk.* Cracks began to form across the blade, unable to withstand the excessive mana. Of course, Jeong Seojin didn’t care. He gripped the sword’s hilt tightly once more, then swung it mercilessly toward the monster’s neck.

This time, there was no sound like scraping stone. What echoed through the air instead was a sharper, heavier slicing noise.

*Sgeok.*

With that short sound, the monster’s head tilted. For a while, there was the noise of stone-like thorns on the edges of the severed sections grinding against each other, and then—

*Kuuwoong!*

The monster’s enormous head crashed to the ground.

Once again, dust billowed thickly, and Jeong Seojin, who had leaped into the air and landed, turned around to meet my gaze.

“……”

“…….”

There was a brief silence. But this time, Jeong Seojin’s reaction was different from before. He let out a deep, heavy sigh, then strode toward where I was.

And he held out his hand.

“Get up.”

“…What’s this? Not going to press me about whether I’m Princeps or not?”

“There’s no way Princeps would use formal speech like you. And besides.”

I carefully placed my hand on his palm. Jeong Seojin grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet as he spoke.

“Someone who’d worry about me personally like you do? Even less likely.”

Guild Master Kang Mujin, after supporting the woman who was still staggering from her nausea, immediately guided her and me to a nearby shelter.

“Are you two personally acquainted?”

“Uh… I guess you could say yes, or you could say no…”

“I don’t know someone like this.”

And in the process, he looked at me with eyes that seemed to find something remarkable, asking about Jeong Seojin.

“I was quite surprised to see Seojin treating someone so softly. That kid’s not bad at heart, but his attitude toward people is so cold that I’ve been pretty worried about him.”

“I don’t think he’s been treating me all that softly, though.”

“I haven’t been soft at all.”

“Ugh, uuugh… My, my stomach…”

Considering how I’d been slung over his shoulder like a piece of luggage just moments ago, teetering on the verge of vomiting, I really didn’t feel like I’d been treated ‘softly.’ But Guild Master Kang Mujin seemed to think otherwise. He glanced at Jeong Seojin, who was making a strangely sullen expression, and said.

“No, it’s soft treatment. Even now, he’s staying by our side, isn’t he? If it were the usual Seojin, he’d have already left to hunt down another monster.”

“Huh.”

“That’s not it. I’m just watching this woman because she seems suspicious.”

I didn’t know whether he was actually treating me softly or not, but I did know one thing. This guy, when he was with me, was always slacking off, but in the past, he’d been so busy he was practically overworking himself. I stared at Jeong Seojin with eyes that were a chaotic mix of anger, bewilderment, worry, and disbelief.

I didn’t know how he could tell, since he couldn’t even see, but the moment he felt my gaze, his expressionless face once again twisted into a faint scowl.

“I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while now — who the hell are you, really?”

“My identity?”

“Yeah. I get that you’re not Princeps. But that’s all I know. I don’t even know your name yet.”

“Seojin, if you want to know someone’s name, you should ask politely.”

“Kang Mujin, please just stop acting like my parent.”

Jeong Seojin let out a deep, weary sigh as if his head was throbbing, then met my gaze again. I stared back at him, holding his eyes, while I debated whether I could tell him my name.

‘Is it… okay to tell him? No, it’s not like I can’t. But the situation is so strange that…’

Just moments ago, I’d been completely flustered by the sudden monster attack and Jeong Seojin, but now that I’d calmed down a bit and thought about it, there were more than a few oddities.

‘First of all. Why didn’t the future Jeong Seojin mention this situation at all when he saw me, let alone bring up Princeps?’