The Wood Hydra's Ambush
Beep. Whirring. An Rok-san manipulated a small square radar device that Cindy and Su-a had never seen before. A wave-like signal spread out, and several dots appeared on the screen. Watching them, An Rok-san identified the locations of the monsters.
Moving in this manner, the group fought several monsters along the way. Time passed quickly, and soon the sun began to set.
"Fortunately, one is nearby. But catching both will take a few more days."
"Understood. Let's take down the first one, camp at the base, then move to the next location."
Having settled on a plan, the party continued forward. As the sun set and they searched for the Wood Hydra, An Rok-san warned them to keep their voices down before they resumed moving. Su-a leaned close to Cindy and whispered.
Su-a and Cindy continued their whispered conversation so An Rok-san wouldn't overhear. Because they needed to stay quiet, they spoke in hushed tones while following behind him.
In the middle of their conversation, Cindy suddenly stopped talking to Su-a. She glanced at An Rok-san, then quietly sent a message to Su-a through her device.
Su-a summoned her Mechanic Suit and energy sword. Cindy equipped the Gauntlets of the Martial God, then drew her gun and armed herself. An Rok-san was already wearing his gauntlets and greaves like Cindy, so the group advanced cautiously until they reached the indicated location of the Wood Hydra.
"....?"
But the radar showed nothing. The entire party wore confused expressions as they scanned their surroundings, yet nothing appeared.
Su-a, still flustered, remembered they couldn't make noise. She manipulated her device and sent a message.
At that exact moment...
Boom!!
The tree behind the party suddenly moved, attacking Su-a and Cindy.
Fortunately, Su-a used her suit's boosters while Cindy employed light footwork to dodge. But the fallen tree immediately shifted toward its next target—Su-a.
Whoosh!!Thud!
"Kyaaak!"
A thick branch attached to the tree whipped forward like a tail, striking Su-a and sending her flying. The massive tree then rose upright, revealing the Wood Hydra's true form. Like an X-Transformer robot shifting into a car, the tree-like shape transformed—sprouting a tail, long necks, and three enormous Hydra heads. Now fully in its monstrous form, the Wood Hydra let out a roar and began spewing something from its mouths.
"Kiiiieeeeeeek!!!"
"Kyaaaaaaaak!!!"
"Kiyoooooo!!"
Corrosive beam!!
"Dodge! Cindy, Lady Jeong!"
At An Rok-san's command, they scattered. Seeing the clump the Wood Hydra spat dissolve the ground where Cindy and An Rok-san had stood, he shouted.
"It's an acid mass! Don't get hit! Lady Jeong, are you alright?!"
"I'm fine!"
Su-a immediately used her suit's high-speed movement to close in, activating her energy sword. She charged the Wood Hydra and began her assault. Cindy infused her bullets with inner energy, aiming for the creature's eyes as she opened fire. The battle had begun.
An Rok-san stood at the front, using his protective qi to block the Wood Hydra's acid before slamming his fist into its body.
"Kiiiieek!!"
One of its arms was severed by Su-a's laser sword. Another head lost an eye to Cindy's attack. The Wood Hydra screamed and thrashed wildly.
But the most devastating blows came from An Rok-san. With a simple punch, the massive beast was knocked backward, its flesh caving in deeply.
Thinking the attacks were working, Su-a and Cindy prepared to press their advantage—only to freeze in shock at the Wood Hydra's sudden transformation.
Shluk!
The severed arm of the Wood Hydra sprayed mucus as it regenerated. At the same time, the head injured by Cindy locked onto her and began spewing another acid mass.
"Huh???"
"Cindy!"
Shocked that even its eyes had recovered, Cindy hesitated for a split second. Unable to dodge the acid, Su-a maxed out her suit's boosters, scooped Cindy into her arms, and barely evaded the spray.
"Aaaah!!"
"Su-a!"
But she wasn't fast enough. Su-a's leg was completely covered in the acidic liquid.
Sssssss!!
Her suit's leg began corroding, emitting smoke before crumbling apart in places. Cindy hoisted Su-a onto her back, retreated to safety, and immediately poured the Elixir An Rok-san had given her onto Su-a's injured leg.
"Ughhh... Cindy, what is this...?"
"It's a potion called Elixir! Just hold on a moment!"
The high-grade recovery potion instantly restored Su-a's physical stamina and mental energy. The acid burns on her leg vanished without a trace.
The Elixir worked rapidly, healing Su-a's leg completely. While she sat there stunned, Cindy rejoined An Rok-san without delay.
Though startled by the Wood Hydra's surprise attack, Cindy and An Rok-san quickly regained their composure and resumed their assault. An Rok-san shouted to Cindy.
"Cindy! I'm going to destroy its outer shell now. The moment its core is exposed, shoot it! That will stop the regeneration!"
"Understood, Master!"
After issuing the swift command, An Rok-san gathered inner energy into his fist. Dodging the Wood Hydra's attacks, he struck its belly and injected his qi, causing the creature's hide and outer shell to explode.
Booom!!
"Kiiiieeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!"
When the Wood Hydra's core—previously shielded by its tough exterior—was finally revealed, Cindy followed An Rok-san's order. She poured maximum inner energy into her gun and fired. The bullet pierced straight through the core.
"Kiiiieek!!!"
Splurt!!
But the core wasn't completely destroyed. The Wood Hydra's heads thrashed wildly in desperation, spraying acid indiscriminately while shaking its body. An Rok-san and Cindy had no choice but to retreat.
Right then, a spray of the Wood Hydra's acid flew toward Su-a. Startled, she tried to activate her suit's shield, but the earlier attack had damaged the system. The shield failed to engage. The acid hurtled toward her in an instant.
"Su-a, dodge!!"
"Kyaaak!!"
Clang!!
".....Huh?"
Su-a had closed her eyes, bracing for pain, but when none came she cautiously opened them. A massive figure stood protectively in front of her. An Rok-san had blocked the incoming attack with his protective qi.
With the tension suddenly released, Su-a collapsed to the ground. As she looked up at An Rok-san, his protective stance overlapped in her mind with memories of Yoo Kang-hyun saving her in the past. Without realizing it, she thought:
'S-so reliable... And his body is so big... That feeling is even stronger.'
"....Ah... Th-thank you..."
She thanked him in a trembling voice, but An Rok-san had no time to respond.
"Lady Jeong. Mind if I borrow that laser sword for a moment!"
Without waiting for an answer, An Rok-san snatched the laser sword, charged the Wood Hydra, and drove the energy blade deep into its exposed core. The monster screamed as it collapsed.
Rumble!
"Kiiiieeeeee...."
The Wood Hydra, which had been wildly spraying acid in every direction, could no longer withstand An Rok-san's final strike. It finally met its end. Its enormous body crashed down, sending tremendous tremors through the ground. At last, the Wood Hydra fell.
Fortunately, its core had been destroyed. After the massive corpse collapsed, it vanished, leaving behind the items the Wood Hydra had dropped.
Su-a and Cindy slumped to the ground in exhaustion. An Rok-san collected the items, then handed them both Wall-Breaking Pills to restore their stamina.
"You both did well. Let's rest here, recover our strength, then head back to base camp. Moving right now would be too difficult."
"Haa... Yes. You worked hard too, Master."
"Thank you, Elder."
Having successfully completed their first raid in Endless Universe, Su-a and Cindy decided to rest before returning to base camp.
During that time, Cindy and An Rok-san performed energy circulation breathing. Su-a used a repair kit on her Mechanic Suit to inspect and fix her equipment. An Rok-san, seemingly with energy to spare, even helped guide Cindy's breathing exercise.
While repairing her Mechanic Suit, Su-a cautiously stole glances at An Rok-san, the man who had saved her. His broad back, filled with reliable muscle as he regulated his breathing and organized his inner energy, reminded her of the days she had spent with Yoo Kang-hyun in Changcheon Murim. Her face flushed red.
'This is strange... I'm grateful he saved me, but... the more time I spend with Elder An Rok-san, the more my body feels strangely hot... Haa...'
She couldn't tell if the heat came from the excitement of battle or from attraction to the man who had protected her. Shaking her head to clear the distracting thoughts, Su-a snapped out of her reverie and returned to inspecting her equipment.