User Protection Mode

I should have just run, no looking back, exactly as Lee Daeman had said.

But the suspicious noise behind me made me turn my head without thinking.

Why hadn't I listened to an Awoken the way the manual demanded?

And a veteran Awoken, at that.

Regret came far too late.

It was a catastrophic mistake.

The instant I turned, something hit me before I could even register the enemy closing in. Whatever it was struck with such force that my whole body felt like it had been run over. A savage, piercing agony tore through me from head to toe. I was launched several meters into the air and slammed back down into the ground.

"Ugh…"

The world spun.

Ah. So this is how I die.

I'd been having this kind of experience a lot lately. Was this the fate of anyone who kept walking into dungeons without ever awakening?

"Junghyeok!"

My senior's voice called my name. So he was still alive, at least. Unlike me, he'd followed the manual properly.

Aigoo, as expected of you, Senior. Sorry, but this idiot junior is going on ahead.

"Kang Junghyeok, you bastard! What the hell are you doing?! Get up and run!"

"Huh?"

I'd been sure I was dead, but somehow I wasn't badly hurt. I checked myself over. Right—I was wearing the A-rank mana-coated suit. That had to be why a full aerial flip had left me with nothing worse than bruises. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠My bones seemed intact. No sign of bleeding either.

The suit hadn't erased the pain, though. My entire body was trembling on its own. When I tried to stand, my lower half refused to take any weight. I managed to get as far as my knees before collapsing again like a newborn calf.

"Hah… hah…"

It was coming for me. That terrifying monster.

KAGAGAGANG!

A deafening crash split the air.

"What the hell are you doing, you stupid bastard?! Run back already!"

Lee Daeman. He had closed dozens of meters in an instant and blocked the monster's second strike meant for me. Maybe this guy wasn't such a bad person after all.

I thrashed, trying to stand the way he'd ordered. Beyond his silhouette I caught a glimpse of the grotesque monster, and for a moment it barely felt real. Panic sharpened. Fuck. I want to live, but my body still won't move.

"Get up! You're actually going to die like this. And this thing might not be the last one!"

He was right. There was no telling how many more monsters were out there. But my body simply would not obey.

As I flailed uselessly, Lee Daeman seemed to give up on waiting and started attacking the monster himself. Until now he'd been defending only—because of me.

"Damn it. Speak of the devil… You bastard, if you keep lying there you're dead. Looks like there's more than one of these things hiding nearby!"

Shiiik—

The moment he said it, an attack came from another direction and slammed into me.

"Aaaagh—!"

This one wasn't a blunt strike. Vines coiled around my entire body and began to crush. The terror was overwhelming. The pain was worse. The vines dragged me dozens of meters and hung me upside down. The world inverted. Blood rushed to my head.

Even an A-rank suit did nothing against this kind of constriction. Every bone in my body felt ready to shatter. Or maybe the suit was the only reason I was still holding on at all.

"Urgh…"

Blood pooled in my skull until it felt like it would burst. Breathing became as hard as drowning. Both nostrils had already started gushing blood.

"Hah… hah…"

I wanted to call for help, but no words came out. I could barely pull air through my mouth. Lee Daeman was already fighting multiple monsters; even if I managed to shout, he wouldn't be able to help. He was busy enough just staying alive himself.

So this is it… Is this how I die?

"Hah… hah…"

My eyes closed. I forced them open again, but the world grew darker by the second. The noise around me faded. All that remained was the ragged sound of my own breathing and the frantic hammering of my heart.

Beep—

And then that ringing in my ears returned.

"Someone… please…"

—Beep.

??

The ringing that had felt eternal cut off without warning. A message appeared in my vision.

"What the…"

Along with the strange message, the pain gradually eased. My vision brightened. The ambient noise I had lost came flooding back.

What was this?

I was still hanging upside down. The monster hadn't eaten me yet, so not much time could have passed.

This time it was a YES or NO prompt. I selected YES at once.

Papapapat!

Something seemed to drain out of a body that supposedly had no mana at all. It lasted only a fraction of a second. Then the steel-hard vines crushing me shredded apart and scattered like confetti. With nothing left to hold me, I plummeted toward the ground. Hanging upside down, I nearly cracked my skull open on the way down—but either the shield or the plant debris carpeting the floor cushioned the fall. I took no damage at all. A miracle.

I stared at the incomprehensible messages and tried to make sense of what had just happened. A powerful plant-type monster. Me, bound head to toe and dangling in midair. And then, the moment the messages appeared, every trace of pain vanished. Those iron-hard vines had been shredded like they'd gone through a blender.

Was this my ability?

"Insane."

A thrilling current ran through my whole body. It wasn't just about growing other people or shutting off their mana.

"I can live…"

With this shield, even an attack from a monster like that wouldn't matter. Unfortunately, it only lasted one minute. That seemed to be the limit. I still didn't fully understand what "low authority" meant, but right now survival came first. If the shield wouldn't last even a full minute, I had to escape this place within that window no matter what. Fail, and my life ended here.

I scanned the area in a hurry. Nothing. The things I was looking for were nowhere in sight—probably because the vines had dragged me dozens of meters. The radar and the A-rank weapon. At the very least, I had to recover what I'd brought in and get out with them. They weren't cheap. But I'd been hauled too far to go back to where I'd dropped them.

Cough. Cough.

Dry coughs kept tearing out of me—probably the pollen from the flowers all around. I blew hard through both nostrils, still raw from the struggle to breathe, and something bright red shot out. Clots of blood. The silver lining was that the nosebleed had already stopped.

"Senior! Senior, where are you?!"

No answer came back from the man who'd been shouting so loudly earlier. He hadn't been eaten by a monster… right? Anxiety clawed at me, but what I had to do now was protect myself.

The monster that had bound me with its vines still hadn't recovered. Having its thickest stem ground to pulp had to hurt. Whether it felt pain the way a human did, I couldn't say—but it clearly wasn't in good shape.

"Haaah!"

Lee Daeman's voice carried from a short distance away. Still muttering to himself while he fought. Somehow I felt like a guy like him would survive even this.

I looked around, disoriented. I needed the direction of the exit Gate before I could run or do anything ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠else. What if I failed to get out while the shield was still active? Just thinking about it made my skin crawl.

I decided to leave before the monster in front of me came to its senses. I still didn't know where the Gate was, but if I headed toward Lee Daeman, I might be able to reconstruct the path we'd walked. I just didn't want to get dragged into the fight. Time was already too tight for an escape. The second I knew where the Gate was, I wanted to start sprinting.

"You piece of weed, getting cocky!"

He didn't need to yell like that—the crash of monster vines against his shield was loud enough on its own. I had no idea why he kept shouting. But if he kept drawing the monsters' attention, I was grateful. I planned to run like a coward on my own, but that didn't mean I wanted Lee Daeman dead. Come back alive like a proper hero, Awoken!

Luck was on my side. The expensive weapon and radar I'd dropped were right in front of me. Lose those and I'd spend the rest of my life running from debt collectors, hiding in some basement. Recovering them was nothing short ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of a blessing.

"A spear, huh…"

A spear was a pain to carry around. Still—when else was someone like me going to hold a weapon like this?

With my sense of direction restored, I cut through the giant plants blocking my path with the spear and pushed forward. A ten-billion-won spear, reduced to a glorified weed-whacker.

One dilemma remained. Call for my senior one more time, or just bolt? Calling out might alert the monsters… Either way, my own life came first.

Decision made, I ran for the Gate without looking back, terrified something might be chasing me. All I had to do now was get outside.

"Senior~ Senior, are you alive?"

With my own safety somewhat secured, I tried calling again. Still no answer.

Was he dead? The thought that my senior might be gone left a strange guilt in my chest. Then I caught myself already inventing excuses for the company, and realized exactly what kind of bastard I was.

"Hah… Please be alive, Senior."

Crap. I needed to get out of here now. Being right in front of the Gate didn't guarantee safety. It had been less than two hours since I'd heard about an Awoken coming through with an arm severed. If those plant vines hit me again, I was dead on the spot.

I glanced toward where Lee Daeman was still fighting for his life, then turned away. I was about to push through the Gate when—

"Huh?"

Someone came in from the other side. A complete stranger, but from the look of him, Diamond Guild rescue.

"Who are you? A survivor?"

"Ah, no. I'm… here for the rescue…"

"Right. I heard outside. Cool Support, yeah? Lucky you made it."

"Yes. Cool Support. Got lucky, I guess."

"Move. More people are coming through. Ah—that's enough of you. Anyway, Lee Daeman… where is our guy?"

"Lee Daeman is fighting monsters over that way. Uh, if I may—please hurry and help him. The monsters are extremely strong, and there are a lot of them."

"Got it. That way? Tell the ones coming in after me that I've gone to join the fight. They'll be through soon."

I nodded and said I understood. Once he saw that, he took off in the direction I'd pointed—running light as wind, every bit as fast as Lee Daeman.

"That guy's a powerhouse too… Well, you'd have to be, for rescue work…"

While I was muttering to myself, more people started coming through the Gate. I wanted to pass the message along and get the hell out of there. The magic-like shield that had been protecting me was already gone.

A moment later, more Awoken came through. I explained the situation to the one in front. Then all of them sprinted the same way the first man had gone. They were a rescue team, so of course they did—but that left me stuck waiting on people again. If they were going to do that, they could at least tell me how many rescuers were coming total before they left.

Awoken always treated ordinary people differently the second they decided you were just support staff. And always in the ugliest direction.

Four rescuers had already run off to help Lee Daeman when three more came through the Gate. I was about to ask whether that was the last of them before I briefed them again.

I never got the chance.

I couldn't ask a single thing.

Because one of the men who walked in was someone I knew.

Oh, for fuck's sake…

"Huh? Well, look who it is. If it isn't our ex-boyfriend."

The bastard who'd slept with my ex-girlfriend.

Of all people, Min Hyeokju was standing right there.