Chapter 323. Beyond the Line of Death
To Jeong Ha-seong and Seo Esther, the situation was as absurd as a sleek silhouette of an Awakened disappearing, only to be replaced by a gray bear suddenly leaping out.
Soon, the S-class hunters faced off.
At that moment, the alien sitting on the ground thought to himself.
*
Oh my God.
I didn’t expect them to come to help us first from the S-class side.
“Damn, I’m alive!”
I cheered silently.
In truth, before they arrived, the scene was a gruesome repeat.
Enzo couldn’t focus due to poison and severe injuries, while I was barely dodging attacks with pitiful writhing movements.
“I thought for sure I’d be turned into a roasted Homo sapiens.”
Sniffle.
At that very moment, it seemed the hunters who had noticed my leg’s condition…
“Mr. Kim Hunter!”
Ha-seong immediately continued to provide support for me, who could hardly move.
Two magic spells struck the hefty figure wearing a bone mask.
“–!!”
Kwahwa-kang!
In an instant, blue flames erupted.
Enzo, still dazed, couldn’t escape the explosion and was flung helplessly deep down the corridor.
“Mr. Gi-ryeo!”
“Are you okay?”
Now that I think about it, in my previous life, I often thought the bumbling sorcerers clustered together were pathetic.
But now that I find myself in the role of a weakling, I realize there’s no strategy as essential as sticking together.
“That genuine S-class was fighting against two so-called beasts in that room. How did they defeat all of them and make it here?”
With one of my legs charred, I hopped forward desperately to my friends.
They stepped outside the room to support me.
However, as I got closer to Jeong Ha-seong, I naturally noticed something.
“Ah-ha.”
The sword in the hero’s right hand, the [Sword of Sunset], was unmistakably empty.
“You must be the culprit!”
The man with black hair couldn’t hear or speak Alphauri due to his physical structure, meaning he couldn’t use the tool himself.
Therefore, if the cylinder’s magic had vanished, it would automatically trigger its functionality with a 100% probability.
“Ah, I had a tentacle in the development of the ego sword as a Mage Commander, so I know the structure. That model is the automatic counter-attack type… Was it Hardening?”
The issue was that this magic was merely a minimum insurance policy—like a seatbelt in a car.
Unlike the magic missile that returned Brooklyn Morgan to nothingness, it couldn’t affect the opponent’s life.
“Those two fake beasts are still alive.”
Still, my friends didn’t recklessly engage the enemies, confused by the automatic counterattack and came straight here…
It was really fortunate in many ways.
“At least you didn’t shatter what you had stubbornly set up.”
Thank goodness a similar trick exists on Earth too.
“Gah! Oh my God, Gi-ryeo! Your leg…! And your cheek!”
I reached them with a limping gait, quickly leaning my hand against the nearby cave wall.
Furthermore, I awkwardly held my weight in that position as I wrapped my head in a brief moment.
“Jeong Ha-seong Hunter.”
After thinking it over several times, this seemed to be the best solution for the current situation.
“And Seo Esther Hunter.”
“Yes, yes?”
I looked at the representative of the Magic Tower pulling out a recovery potion and immediately got to the point.
“First, let’s eliminate the monster over there that we can see!”
“Huh?”
“That, that flower?”
“It’s not a plant. It’s a tough chunk of meat. Anyway, I’ll try to handle the barrier nearby.”
If this space triggered a Dungeon Break, that life form would grow into special compensation beasts beyond a normal A-class status.
They were using unaware citizens from other countries as breeding materials for profit.
Realizing that truth, it was hard to just pass by the main culprit in front of me.
So.
“That boss might be the reason why beasts have illegally entered. I’ll explain the reason in detail later. But for now, just help me approach the barrier. I need just 3 minutes!”
Desperately explaining, the two veteran hunters quickly understood me.
“Understood.”
“So, to summarize, can you catch that beast the size of Namsan for me, right?”
With strikingly dyed yellow hair.
Three-hundred-eyes.
And a distinct lack of interest in self-maintenance, shown by her coarse apricot skin.
I now realized all those elements made it hard to earn trust in Korea.
“Let’s give it a shot!”
“But from what I see, it seems Mr. Kim Hunter has already handled everything…”
Why did Kim Gi-ryeo despise his outer appearance so much?
As it appeared, the hunters who had come to save me now felt reliability, or perhaps gratitude towards this blond appearance.
’What if I had indeed been a spy teamed up with that group?’
Otherwise, I couldn’t just uphold someone else’s words and recklessly raise my weapon.
Swish.
“Hm?”
“Uh…!”
At that moment.
The atmosphere, which had seemed to regain a bit of liveliness, suddenly fell silent.
“That thing.”
In the distance.
The man who had staggered into the musty, cave-smelling corridor rose to his feet.
Typically, anything would leave ashes in the wake of Jeong Ha-seong’s explosion magic.
That opponent had taken two direct hits from such attacks and yet showed no significant injuries except for his clothes. Moreover, the reason we all lost our voice in an instant wasn’t just that.
Hsss.
His neck.
Rib cage.
And slight skin burns, etc.
Enzo’s body, now revitalized, was starting to heal all its wounds.
“What? Did I miss a potion while not looking…?”
“No, Seo Hunter. I was watching the whole time; there wasn’t a chance.”
His flesh was returning.
The primitive sorcerers were momentarily puzzled by this phenomenon, but my utterance quickly broke the silence.
“You used a Patch!”
Ha-seong and Esther turned to this sound.
“I attached an item inside the clothing, which periodically repairs damage and replenishes magic.”
“Ah!”
“Huh.”
“It’s the perfect item for use while fighting, but it’s clearly going to be dozens of times more expensive than a potion…”
It only took a few seconds for their expressions to turn into shock.
“But didn’t the seller say anything about it? Just a bit of overuse will trigger a crisis!”
An item for high-intensity recovery that wasn’t in drink form existed, it was almost enviable, but considering the evolutionary state of Earthlings, it could be seen as our windfall.
’I might be able to endure slightly more than average due to my weight, but still, it feels like not much time is left now?’
Using such a method to borrow future powers would benefit a short-term battle.
But once you hit the critical point, all use of remedies would be prohibited.
……
Beside me, Esther was lamentingly saying this was why the beasts of other layers kept casting skills endlessly, and then it happened.
I’ve been confused for a while now…
The man with the now fully healed leather outfit said something.
“It seems the one who killed that woman is indeed 33Aw…”
From beginning to end, nothing in that sentence could be ignored.
“But what would it mean to investigate and confirm this? Since we’ve embraced the beast concept, we shouldn’t even mix with humans or talk.”
Yet fortunately or unfortunately, before Korea’s top two ranked hunters could concentrate on that suspicious number 33, the situation abruptly changed.
Ha ha ha.
Zzzzzt.
As he heavily stepped forward, a chilling static electricity filled the air, causing nearby dry plants to stand upright in an eerie manner.
“What? Did I just fall for this? Life’s a waste, not much fun.”
As the tick of the sound echoed like a warning…
“Ugh!”
“Mr. Kim Hunter!”
With reflexes that lagged behind, it was speed completely impossible to perceive.
Had Enzo neatly kept the spear he used before fainting? In the blink of an eye, he pulled it from his Item Box and set it up.
Of course, the first target was the alien, who was the weakest in the area.
“Get away!”
“What!”
“Wait, is it just me, or does the English pronunciation I heard from those noise-canceling earphones sound like…”
Enzo was nearly at full recovery.
As he began releasing electricity as if he really were a divine thunderbolt dropped from the sky, Seo Esther pulled back me, while Jeong Ha-seong attempted to shoot away the enemy with explosions.
We had the numerical advantage.
But the problem was that my precious Korean guardians weren’t in perfect condition.
‘Damn, of course. The recovery items discovered on Earth are still just cheap versions by Alphauri standards!’
Soon after, the worst disaster of all predictions occurred.
I thought if they immersed in potent poison, things would be better.
The Awakened Enzo Chiano single-handedly overwhelmed two S-class hunters.
While the accomplices’ equipment was not to be underestimated, Enzo seemed to have spent all his money to acquire powers surpassing theirs.
‘Now that I see him fighting properly…’
In a capitalist society, money is nothing less than power; the disparity in wealth presented itself as stark physical strength.
‘Even without artifacts, he was originally on par with Morgan as a sorcerer.’
Zzzzzt!
That was an especially tricky force to handle.
Jeong Ha-seong’s flames spread with a ridiculous amount of magical energy and were unexpectedly swayed by the wind; plus, it had a sensitive nature that made it cumbersome to concentrate power on a single point.
But Enzo handled it delicately as if it were an extension of his fingertips, incinerating the enemy in front—Jeong Ha-seong and Esther.
I tried to quickly widen the gap to avoid interference in battle, but in the blink of an eye, I found myself rooted in place, witnessing the flesh of the earthlings burning.
Even with the potion Seo Esther had poured on my injured leg.
‘This is terrible.’
Why didn’t I think of this from the start?
Surely even they must have understood that the continuously healing Patch would harm their bodies.
Still, there must have been a reason they didn’t shy away from an all-out confrontation with us.
‘How horrifying to have a body lacking magic…’
Damn it.
‘Now that I think about it, where are the beasts that Ha-seong has petrified? One of those two must have retrieved the [Tapestry of the Underworld]. And the last known location for that item was… outside…’
Even amidst the powerless despair that was about to cause panic, I desperately tried to gather my thoughts.
‘Should I somehow steal the tapestry from those petrified criminals? No, but if I’m running with my puny ability, those guys will surely…’
And no matter which direction I pondered it, I found no solution. I was about to suggest retreating to my temporary allies when suddenly,
Swish.
Just then.
I felt a sudden brightness in one corner of my vision.
‘Oh.’
The sun.
‘Oh?’
A sun created by magic was rising somewhere.
And as the dungeon’s ceiling gradually changed, that very phenomenon occurred simultaneously.
What.
…not the time for that.
…the thing that followed…
…is? …?
Straight ahead…!
The room portions of the pseudo-ant tunnels had been significantly altered once again.
The first floor’s room descended to the second, the second to the third, and the third back to the first.
In essence, it was as if a revolver’s cylinder had twisted each space one by one in a straightforward manner.
But think about it: this gate was only an A-class risk, and a plethora of renowned hunters were lining up out front, waiting in ambush!
“Ah!”
In the flow of time, ‘that side’ would be coming down through the first floor’s room.
“Catch him!”
“Just catch him!”
“Hey, it’s a beast!”
The emergence of South Korea’s top-ranking Awakened.
Of course, amongst their ranks was the [Seocher] holder, running along.
“Mr. Kim Gi-ryeo!”
“Seonwoo-yeon…!”
Thanks to leaving her outside, all hunters plowed through the complicated first-floor section with remarkable speed.
Moreover, I assumed they had been hunting relentlessly to rescue the captured S-class and must have now arrived at the cave’s room, slowly searching for the descent hole.
‘Before cleaning up the room, the dungeon’s time frame has already changed.’
Whoosh!
What followed was a scene that even Enzo, the beast himself, hadn’t predicted.
?!
The supportive official appeared on that floor and immediately threw something.
Once the orb she tossed shattered, the dungeon floor became so slippery that a person couldn’t stand, causing Enzo’s massive frame to tilt backward.
“Cover him!”
“Bind him, bind him!”
The ‘friction coefficient’ is equal for all grades!
‘A huge net that could only be used for catching whales. Oh, and it even has a curse that absorbs magic?’
Skills, consumable items, and the benefits of equipment, etc.
Korea’s hunters seized the chance when their opponent had staggered and unleashed all their control devices.
Thus, Enzo Chiano quickly became like a tightly wrapped cocoon.
Although I couldn’t tell who did it, seeing the white cords additionally binding his neck—the critical flaw of Earth sorcerers—was quite the meticulous handling.
“Mr. Kim Gi-ryeo! Are you safe?”
And when I turned my head around…
“This time, I’ve come to help you!”
A mammal with a face unreadable as either weeping or smiling welcomed the alien.
“…True to form, they are as impatient as a nation of people.”
This was an unidentified A-class dungeon.
Inside lurked world-renowned criminals called beasts.
To make matters worse, S-class hunters were being snatched left and right, making anyone reluctant to step in.
“What kind of clear speed on the first floor is this?”
All of them ultimately decided to choose to rescue us.
Seeing humanity’s incomprehensible actions, I almost burst out laughing.
But just after that, information transmitted through my instincts extinguished the rising relief.
“Wait, that bastard…!”
“Pardon?”
Crumble, crack!
Despite the numerous hunters present keeping an eye on him, Enzo managed to twist his bones from within his cocoon-like restraint, narrowly grazing his Item Box.
Puff.
The creature named after a beast opened its mouth with all its strength.
In his hand was a book that had popped out of a spatial artifact like a Matryoshka doll.
The book.
It was black, and its smooth red lining had many indentations for those ‘who are sightless’ to read.
“Issue-ri-a-neu!”
“Damn.”
Anyone with emotional skills could easily notice the truth of this item.
The item in question was a legendary-grade weapon, and judging by its overall shape, it had a predictable name.
That was…
The “Book of Extermination” from America.
Moreover, it seemed the opponent had a decent grasp of how to wield it…
