“Congratulations!”
“Thank you! Actually, I had a bit of a tough time with a weirdo examiner. Look at this! My clothes are all torn. It’s so perverted.”
“…… Is that examiner’s name Maeng Seong-yong?”
“Oh?! You also had a test from that guy, Yeon-hee?”
“Yeah… he can be a bit rough, that one.”
“Ah, so it wasn’t just me. I thought he was treating me like this because of my beastman traits. I almost died during the test.”
Yeon-hee burst out laughing at Ah-rin’s serious comment about almost dying, and Ah-rin smiled back.
She perked up her bunny ears and wiped them several times before continuing.
“Ugh, seriously. Dust got all in my ears. Anyway, it looks like Joo-ah and Eun-young unnie will finish today too.”
“Really? If we pass the test safely, we can all be together the day after tomorrow?”
“Yes! But… I’m a little worried about Eun-young unnie… You know how she is. Her mental state isn’t… But they say the test method is a bit different for support roles, so it should be okay, right?”
“…… Ah, right. I overlooked Ham Eun-young. I wonder if she’ll be okay. Her mind seems a bit hazy.”
Suddenly, anxiety surged up.
She was someone who roamed with an unidentified demon; I’d have to keep an eye on her.
“Il-wol is currently in stealth mode?”
“Yes, yes. Can you feel him?”
Yeon-hee asked as she saw Ah-rin’s gaze accurately directed at where I was seated, and Ah-rin vaguely replied that she felt something was there.
“The intensity is rising, and the phrase ‘more animalistic’ was attached. It has some effect.”
“Oh— Beastman traits, right?”
“Yes! Of course, I think that’s why I can sense it. We’ll have to see how useful it is in practice.”
“…… It seems like there was significant growth. If my [Stealth] can be vaguely sensed like this.”
It was indeed surprising, even considering that the ‘sixth sense’ ability commonly referred to among beastman types was passive.
Although Ah-rin had mentioned it, the café was bustling with customers, so I kept maintaining my [Stealth] just in case.
“More importantly, how was the Frog Folk? I heard that guy is a pain.”
“Oh, those guys? Honestly, as long as you’re careful about the terrain—”
“─ Oh, it’s unexpected that the slime cloak is still useful—”
Yeon-hee and Ah-rin enjoyed a peaceful afternoon, chatting away after a while.
I watched them enjoy their beautiful two-shot while keeping an eye on the people passing over the sensation I had spread.
After more than an hour, while Ah-rin was thinking about what to order for her third drink and dessert to chat some more, I felt a massive flow of magic from somewhere far below us, rushing rapidly towards one point.
Then, within the reach of my senses, a menacing magic I had never detected in this life began to surface.
‘Wh-what?! What is this?! A magic circle?’
Clang-!
Feeling overwhelming presence from the direction the flow was heading, I jolted up, and Yeon-hee and Ah-rin looked at me, confused as to what was happening since my [Stealth] had been disrupted.
The people in the café briefly stirred at the sudden appearance of an Armored Existence but quickly regained their composure.
‘The magic… feels incredibly alien. Calm yet violent.’
It began to coalesce, thickening in concentration, and then started to spread more rapidly.
Drrrrrrr—
The energy was so strong that vibrations reached my senses, starting to react.
Now, the magic had penetrated within a kilometer, and gradually the will of living beings began to flow through it.
‘This feeling? A top-tier monster…? No, it’s a great beast… it’s definitely a great beast!’
I informed this fact through Ran, who was sitting on my head, and Yeon-hee and Ah-rin jumped up, hearing my words.
“Re-report! We need to report this immediately!”
Ah-rin hurriedly grabbed her phone to contact the management office, but for some reason, the call didn’t go through.
“The call won’t connect! Is it because of the great beast Il-wol mentioned?”
‘At this level… is it equivalent to a great beast?’
Powerful vibrations began to surge from deep below the road, and gauging that energy, I tentatively concluded that the monster was a mentally deranged creature comparable to a great beast.
Kwah-zhhhh──
Kuguguguguung──!!
“Ahhh— Wh-what’s coming?!”
In that moment, a powerful earthquake, unlike anything we had ever experienced, struck.
The café floor we were on heaved like taffy, and the windows shattered all at once.
Kwah-zhang-chang──!!
– Kyaaaahhh──!!
Simultaneously, people were hiding under tables while Yeon-hee swiftly spread her ‘Mysterious Membrane’ over them.
“F-first, let’s get out!!”
I, along with Ah-rin tucked under one arm, dashed outside, soaring into the sky with Yeon-hee’s shout.
“Kuahhh-kaang!!”
Suddenly airborne, Ah-rin clung to me tightly, and Yeon-hee settled comfortably in my arms, glancing at Ah-rin before focusing on the situation below.
Fortunately, no buildings had collapsed, but the people who had rushed into the streets looked panicked.
Awakened Ones nearby tried to guide the people to nearby shelters, maintaining their composure, but it didn’t seem easy to handle the ongoing aftershocks.
Yeon-hee looked down and asked worriedly, “Shouldn’t we go down and help?”
I assessed the situation through the spread wave of magic and realized there were no humans in critical danger.
‘Hmm… it seems like bringing in one more hand might not make much difference.’
“Let’s head to the epicenter! There will be people where the monster is, and that’s more urgent!”
I hesitated for a moment, but since Yeon-hee seemed to agree, I quickly moved with both of them toward the monster.
While moving, my mind was busy devising plans to deal with unexpected situations.
‘…Ran, if you’re waiting for a signal, be ready to [Accelerate] the inventory if necessary.’
(Understood!)
Depending on the situation, I might be able to store Ah-rin in the inventory and have Yeon-hee use her earring.
We soon approached a point where the great beast was within sight.
A plaza where outdoor concerts are sometimes held, a massive something crouching there was still growing in size.
It took on a droplet shape overall, but its surface constantly wobbled, changing shape, and the pitch-black hue without a hint of light reminded me of landscapes of the demon realm I had heard about once.
‘It looks just like a slime… but it hasn’t killed anyone to grow this big? That’s a miracle.’
Fortunately, it appeared in the area where the people were absent, as it manifested in the center of the busiest district.
However, judging by the countless buildings that had collapsed around it and the cracked pavements like drought-ridden fields, it was undoubtedly a scene of chaos compared to where we had been.
– ……!!
Below us were gathered Awakened Ones, tightly packed and in a state of extreme tension.
– What is that monster? It looks like a King Slime! Why is something like that here…
– You’ve arrived? It was already in a massive state the moment I recognized it. It must have been hard to stop it before it grew.
– Luckily, it doesn’t seem to be awakened yet, but shouldn’t we take it down now?
– It’s too big now to handle recklessly.
– Did you contact the ‘Ilseom’ Guild?
– About that… I just received a response that the ‘Sword Master’ has been in ‘space’ since yesterday.
– Of all times! I’m going crazy.
Its overwhelming presence was so colossal that even three S-rank hunters and hundreds of high-rank hunters were halted in their tracks, and from what I heard, Hyeon Joong-gil seemed to be restricted in movement by some constraints.
‘Who will handle that… It’s a monster on par with a great beast. We probably need at least three hunters of Kang Yeon-su or Jo Gi-man’s caliber…’
From what I heard while Yeon-hee was texting Kang Yeon-su, it seemed Jo Gi-man had been too busy lately, barely seen in the guild office.
‘Will he not show up this time either? If he doesn’t show up here, that’s a problem. What in the world is he doing?’
I stroked my chin, continuing to ponder while watching the massive slime, which was gradually growing slower.
‘If I approach in stealth and use the Flame Mark…’
Such desires surged, but as I revealed my intention to attack, the great wave of magic surging from its body urged my instincts to retreat faster.
“Wahhh! Th-this won’t do! We need to create some distance!”
Ah-rin, with her heightened senses compared to other hunters, determined that the size of this was not something we could handle.
She frantically gestured toward Yeon-hee, who was tucked under my other arm, practically asking us to retreat.
“Ahhh… it definitely looks like it would be hard to even scratch it no matter what we do. But let’s focus on supporting the citizens rather than running away!”
“Y-yeah! That sounds good!”
Ah-rin’s ears drooped in a ‘K’ shape, and Yeon-hee looked up at me and said we should land.
– To all hunters present! I’m not sure when that thing will take action, but it doesn’t seem like it’ll be right now! Until I send a special signal, please focus on civilian activities!
‘Park Yong-hwan’, an S-rank hunter and ranked around 300 in the country, began directing the hunters from the rubble of collapsed buildings.
He was also the guild master of a guild named ‘Unyielding’, so he seemed to act with a sense of responsibility.
‘Good, it’s a relief to have such a focal point.’
Upon seeing Park Yong-hwan, disparate knowledge popped into my head, but I couldn’t recall any other abilities related to him. I must have had no connection to him in my past life.
“Preset.”
Yeon-hee summoned her creatures en masse and focused on rescuing people trapped underneath the buildings.
I concentrated on finding those in danger with my senses and sharing information.
Although Ah-rin was trembling with fear while helping, she wanted to leave this place so badly but couldn’t because of us.
‘…… But that monster… it’s surely their doing, right?’
Before it awakened, I had sensed a massive magic circle activating from outside the city, bringing to mind the blue-eyed organization members spreading ‘Evil-Infused Crystals’ across the city.
‘They were gathering power for this nonsense… and not to open a gate?’
I felt a fundamental unease that something I didn’t fully understand was happening behind the scenes.
‘I don’t need to know the ins and outs, but what exactly do they gain from this?’
The great beast’s summoning had significantly devastated the city, with the recovery costs expected to be astronomical.
But thankfully, the loss of life hadn’t been substantial.
No, it should be regarded as almost nonexistent.
‘They must be spending a hefty opportunity cost to pull this off. They must be aiming for something through this…’
The hunters’ attention was certainly drawn, but was that their intent?
I pondered these questions while continuing to support recovery efforts with Yeon-hee.
Meanwhile, the power brokers of guilds in the metropolitan area began to reveal themselves one by one.
And when the civilians we rescued surpassed three digits, key figures from the White Knight Guild, including Kang Yeon-su, began to arrive at the scene.
The first to arrive alongside Kang Yeon-su was S-rank healer Gu Sang-min.
‘Long time no see. That guy.’
Seeing someone I had some acquaintance with was heartwarming yet also a bittersweet reminder of how we could no longer be close.
But anyway, since he was known as the king of trauma recovery, even serious injuries wouldn’t worsen with his presence.
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