Those with innate talent, when desperately yearning for something and putting in the effort, are bound to achieve something.
Lee Yeon-hee had been desperately practicing to visualize magic at her fingertips, recalling how Il-wol manipulated magic power.
This was already her third day trying.
And finally, magic began to rise from her fingertips like thread, successfully maintaining a small sphere.
“Phew… this is exhausting.”
Using magic in the form of skills is typically impossible for an average hunter, but she managed to do it in just three days!
Of course, the talent that Il-wol had discovered on his own was on a whole different level, but she certainly had enough talent to be called a gift from the heavens.
What mattered was whether she could do it or not; now that she has done it, her pace of development would surely accelerate.
She immediately applied the idea she had in mind to Wang-wang.
Wang-wang?!
Tsk tsk tsk—
The faint magic sphere she created settled on Wang-wang’s body. She shook it, but it was stuck as if glued on.
Wang-wang??
“Hehe, it works.”
She was already beginning to realize the new possibilities of being a summoner.
* * *
In an office with no one else present.
Swoosh—
A neatly dressed man with slicked-back hair rose from the office floor.
However, seeing him appear suddenly, Jo Gi-man showed no sign of surprise.
“Here is the latest data related to Hunter Lee Yeon-hee.”
“………”
Jo Gi-man merely stared blankly at the documents Jung Joo-in had placed, giving no reply.
Jung Joo-in, sensing something was off with her boss, silently waited for instructions.
After a long while, the words that came from Jo Gi-man’s mouth were very dry and cold.
“Get lost.”
“…… then—”
Jo Gi-man, the leader of the White Knight Guild and her direct superior, was extremely angry right now.
‘Why? He usually reacts to news about Yeon-hee in some way…’
Jung Joo-in knew that Jo Gi-man thought highly of Lee Yeon-hee. The frequency of reports on Yeon-hee was even shorter than those on the Blue-eyed Organization, which concerned him the most.
‘He’s been exceptionally sensitive since the report posted yesterday. Could there be someone that important among them?’
Jo Gi-man handed over a list of names periodically to Jung Joo-in, instructing her to gather everything about them, and yesterday she had also submitted similar reports.
Jung Joo-in pondered as she looked at the office floor.
‘I need to review the data once again.’
She wanted to find out immediately, who dared to disturb the mood of the one she served.
Swoosh—
Jung Joo-in vanished.
Tap— Tap—
As Jo Gi-man blankly stared into the void, his focus slowly returned, and the mumbling of his voice began to grow louder.
“Why… why did Yoon Han-gyeol die… why!!”
Jo Gi-man had learned from yesterday’s report that an unprecedented variable had emerged in the six lives he had lived.
It was absurd that Yoon Han-gyeol, who always awakened to live as a hunter every spring of 2021, had already died in 2020? And that he had suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed a month ago? How could that be?
Jo Gi-man couldn’t comprehend the current situation, as he had never done anything to create such a variable.
“Damn it, what do I do without Yoon Han-gyeol? I need to reevaluate all the plans…”
Crumble—
Unwittingly, Jo Gi-man crushed the report on Yeon-hee’s movements in frustration, and he angrily tossed the papers to the floor.
“Damn it… damn it!”
Now was not the time to worry about someone like Yeon-hee. He needed to find a person to replace Yoon Han-gyeol… No, even if he couldn’t find a replacement, he needed to find a hunter with at least somewhat comparable sense stats. And he’d have to wait until they matured within the guild.
“Jung Joo-in, come back up.”
Jo Gi-man muttered, and Jung Joo-in reappeared from the floor.
“Did you call me, Master?”
“Let’s find someone. Just one person with these conditions.”
Receiving the hastily written memo from Jo Gi-man, Jung Joo-in respectfully bowed and then vanished.
“Phew— what on earth happened to Yoon Han-gyeol? You were supposed to die by my hands…”
* * *
‘Done. Preparation is complete.’
Stored: 56/56
Among these 56 bombs, two were mid-level bombs made from the bones of a monster called ‘Tooth.’
‘This could be called my trump card, heh heh—’
I still hadn’t accurately gauged the destructive power of the bombs, but I just hoped there wouldn’t be a need to use them anytime soon. If there was ever a situation to use these bombs, it would mean an unexpected disaster had occurred.
At least I hoped that no adversary stronger than a monster named ‘Tooth’ would show up.
In the empty living room, Yeon-hee woke up and stepped out with a sluggish pace.
“Oh, hello?”
“Clap, Clap, Clap!!”
‘Why does she look so tired?’
Aside from noticing that Yeon-hee looked a bit tired, it was just another ordinary morning.
Hearing the sound of her shower, watching her eat, and even changing her clothes…
Boom—
She was still changing in her room.
“Shall I go?”
With her starting signal, she briefly entered the Dark Space before being summoned back to the dungeon.
The familiar scenery of Lizard Swamp came into view, and in front of me stood Helen and Song Jin-kyeong, who looked like they had aged five more years, sighing heavily. It seemed that the matters involving a man named Hyeon-seok had shocked them deeply.
‘Could it be that Song Jin-kyeong…’
With a face that looked like she had lost everything, Jin-kyeong was still ranting.
“Ah! Thinking about it again makes me so mad, sis, that bastard Jang Hyeon-seok. He should either pay back the money or retire!!”
‘……..’
“That guy Hyeon-seok, how could someone so dim-witted think he could gamble in stocks and lose everything? But he’s not the type to skip on paying back, so don’t worry too much, Jin-kyeong.”
“Sis, my heart hurts so much. My ten million won, boo hoo… I called this morning, but he had not a penny to his name and said ‘tough luck!’ I almost went to the hospital to cut my stomach open.”
“Geez… he doesn’t even care, but always talks like he does. Don’t worry too much.”
‘What on earth made you lend such a large sum to that guy? Song Jin-kyeong, you really can’t judge people’s character.’
Without realizing it, I shook my head.
“200 meters from the entrance, towards C route. Noh Ha-yoon asked to meet there, right?”
“Yeah… let’s go. We might have come first, though.”
We headed straight to the meeting place. Usually, meeting at the entrance is standard, so it was unusual to meet on a hunting route. Everyone in the party found it puzzling but quickly brushed it off.
At the same time.
Noh Ha-yoon was already at the meeting point, waiting.
Originally, her plan was to proceed with dungeon hunting while observing the summoner, but her thoughts had changed.
‘How have I endured this long? I’m dying to know.’
Noh Ha-yoon became interested in Lee Yeon-hee, or more precisely, in the summoned creature Il-wol after the dungeon break that occurred in Gu Chang-ro.
In the extreme early stages of the dungeon break, where low-level monsters like goblins were the main forces. Noh Ha-yoon was leisurely defeating the monsters while yawning.
But then, she got surprised by an attack from the ‘Speaker’ in the center and had to retreat.
For the first time in her life, she had to shift into reverse, and as the ace of a prestigious guild, she felt a sense of duty to protect the weak while also needing to restore her crumpled pride, so she dove back into the center.
However, re-entering the poison fog from the Spore Snail, she was faced once again with despair.
‘What the hell is that… such a monster… that’s cheating!’
A monster that seemed unbeatable even if a hundred hunters with the same stats as her gathered was slaughtering them.
With elongated, sharp claws, it sliced through hunters as if they were being butchered. Its elongated mouth devoured the heads of hunters, who had lost focus in terror, in one bite.
Kshahhhaaaah—
The monster looked skyward and let out a shrill roar. The moment she heard that sound, her body froze, and even knowing she should run, she couldn’t move a single step.
Creak— creak—
It came closer. The monster was undoubtedly approaching Noh Ha-yoon.
Shiver shiver—
Plop—
When the monster came within 20 meters and their eyes met, Noh Ha-yoon naturally crumpled to the floor. Yet her strong willpower forced magic to surge up within her.
However.
Drip drip drip—
Her strong will was betrayed by her honest body, which had already lost control.
Yet there was no sense of shame or embarrassment. Instead, she conjured up a farcical image in her mind where the monster would see her in this weak state and pass her by, clicking its tongue.
‘Oh, please, Ice Spear…’
But she overcame her fears and eventually conjured a massive ice spear atop her palm.
It wasn’t just big. The faint blue light that enveloped the surface boasted that she had reached the second stage of ice magic.
Creak?
At that moment, the monster seemed to sense something ominous and tilted its head.
Thinking that the monster had noticed her attack, Noh Ha-yoon immediately cast her skill.
Kwahkwahkwahkwa—
The powerful long-range attack born from overcoming her fear, its speed and direction were flawless.
But the monster merely swatted it away, as if it were a pesky mosquito buzzing in its ear, easily breaking the two-stage Ice Spear.
Kwahbangbangbang—!!
“Ha… ha? My attack… it’s so futile?!”
Noh Ha-yoon let out a hysterical laugh, but her eyes were locked firmly on the monster. So frightening, yet she resolved that she would at least curse it with her eyes until her last moment.
But the monster didn’t even glance her way. Did it not think her, a bug, was worth its time? Only then did Ha-yoon shiver in powerlessness as tears poured down her face.
But at that moment, from her opposite side, fist-sized stones began to rain down and explode around the monster.
‘… What is this? Reinforcements?’
Could it be that an advanced hunter has arrived? A hunter capable of unleashing such firepower dozens of times must be at least a C rank or higher.
And as the explosions subsided a bit, someone emerged from the poison fog and rammed into the monster’s torso.
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