Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Film Shoot (6)
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From the mountaintop, the massive Great Tiger and the swarm of grotesque wild dogs following it descended with terrifying momentum—a sight that was truly spectacular.
No, spectacular didn't quite capture the complex emotions it stirred.
It felt exactly like being the prey in a hunt.
Just watching them was enough to crush us with suffocating pressure, and the encirclement filling the mountainside without a single gap left no visible escape route.
The number of wild dog monsters was far from ordinary, trapping us perfectly in Bora's front yard like rats in a cage.
In this desperate situation, the first to speak calmly was Park Sunja.
She scanned all of us once, then said in a steady voice,
"...We have to fight."
At her words, Bora shot back in disbelief.
"You... you mean fight that Great Tiger? Are you sane?"
Her voice was thick with panic, but realizing there was nowhere to run, she let out a sigh and slowly nodded.
"My talismans... won't work on that Great Tiger. You saw the barrier talisman burn up earlier, right? I'll... handle the wild dogs."
Bora pulled several talismans from her waistband, resolute.
"There are too many wild dogs. We'll help you, Bora."
Shun and Hanbit stood beside her, each readying themselves.
That left me and Park Sunja.
And our opponent was the massive tiger shaking the mountain as it came down—the Great Tiger.
Park Sunja looked at me and said,
"Kim Minjun, are you okay with this? It looks like we'll have to take on that tiger."
Bora spoke to me in a trembling voice.
I nodded silently.
To be honest, I preferred this matchup.
Compared to those wild dog monsters with multiple eyes or grotesquely twisted bodies, this tiger—familiar in its beastly form, even if far more dangerous—felt psychologically a bit less frightening.
...Or maybe not; the closer it got, the drier my mouth felt.
I adjusted my stance.
My heart pounded wildly, but I was the only one who could face that massive tiger.
"Grrr..."
As the Great Tiger let out a low growl like a conductor scraping its throat, the dozens of wild dog monsters trailing it surged toward us all at once.
Their red eyes gleamed like those of starving beasts, and a foul stench wafted from their twisted bodies.
"They're coming!"
Shun charged out first.
He moved like the wind, narrowly dodging the sharp teeth and claws of the lunging wild dogs, then struck back with precise, swift counters.
Each time his fists or feet connected, wild dogs screamed and flew back, but their numbers showed no sign of thinning.
Then Hanbit pulled something like a rope from his waistband, stretched it long on the ground, and whipped it around quickly.
The item wriggled like a living snake, perfectly tripping the legs of the charging wild dogs and toppling several at once in a satisfying heap.
The fallen ones tangled with the oncoming pack, hindering each other.
"Nice! You two, fall back now! Lightning Strike Talisman!"
Bora shouted approvingly at their efforts, then hurled one of the talismans in her hand high into the sky.
Suddenly, blue light gathered in the cloudless sky overhead.
"Hup!"
Shun swiftly grabbed Hanbit and pulled him away from the wild dogs.
Zzzap!
The moment they cleared, the blue light flashed and struck down, blasting the flailing wild dogs.
Boom!
The earth-shaking roar came with the smell of burning flesh.
There were still wild dogs left, but those three could handle them without issue.
While the trio battled the wild dog monsters with their respective abilities, the Great Tiger and I remained locked in a tense standoff, staring each other down.
The massive tiger didn't twitch, just fixed me with its piercing red eyes.
I met its gaze, gauging the distance.
Park Sunja fidgeted beside me, glancing anxiously between the script and us with trembling hands.
I said quietly to her,
"...Trust me and stay out of it, no matter what."
She looked at me with uneasy eyes but soon gave a small nod.
She must trust what I'd shown her so far.
I turned back to the Great Tiger.
When I first met Leo back at Dongto, that fierce, wary guy and I had bonded in just one day.
Of course, the being before me now was incomparable to Leo in size or threat, but strangely, I faintly sensed a vibe from the Great Tiger reminiscent of Leo somewhere.
"Easy now..."
"Minjun-ssi?"
The moment I took a cautious step toward the Great Tiger, as non-threateningly as possible.
Park Sunja tried to stop me in a fluster from behind, but I approached slowly.
As if mocking my intent, it bared its vicious fangs, growled low, and launched its massive body at me.
"Gah!"
Its speed was like a storm.
Even my dynamic vision struggled to track every movement.
I twisted reflexively, but its sharp claws grazed me, tearing my clothes and leaving a shallow scratch on my forearm.
Stinging pain bloomed as red blood seeped out.
It was the first injury I'd sustained since coming to this world—a tiny one.
But that small wound stirred not just pain, but a vivid fear I hadn't felt in ages: the fear of getting hurt.
That fear, in turn, ignited something inside me.
Right—this guy, I had to face directly.
I pulled out a small paper I'd been carrying and tore it.
It was a Stat Ticket.
I marked the Agility section with a drop of blood from the wound and tore it, bringing up a message before my eyes.
"Hoo..."
My body felt lighter.
I made a small "Tsk!" sound, like when Leo was being naughty, and advanced on the Great Tiger again.
Surprised that I approached again after the previous attack instead of retreating, the Great Tiger hesitated awkwardly, backing up a step.
"Grrrng...!"
I didn't miss that moment.
I darted in like lightning and clamped down hard on its massive scruff.
Chomp!
The Great Tiger's eyes widened.
Even I was shocked at my speed.
"Grraaarr!"
It thrashed wildly, unleashing its primal fury to escape my grip, but once I had it, I wasn't letting go.
My hand held its scruff like a rock.
But its resistance was fierce, so with my free palm, I smacked its snout with a sharp "Smack!"—a disciplinary tap.
I'd put some force into it, hoping it'd humble it a bit—
"Rawr!"
But it had tough hide for its size.
As if that was nothing, the Great Tiger resisted even more violently, growling threats.
Then it suddenly twisted its body harder than before, and an eye-searing white light erupted from it.
The light and wind blurred my vision momentarily, allowing the Great Tiger to slip from my grasp like a ghost and leap back.
"Huh? Just now...?"
Park Sunja, who'd watched it all from the side, muttered in a puzzled low voice.
"The tiger... looks a bit smaller?"
Looking closely at her words, she was right.
The house-sized intimidating bulk was gone; the moment it emitted light, its size had noticeably shrunk.
Still huge, but not with that initial overwhelming presence.
The very moment we witnessed the Great Tiger's body erupt in intense light and shrink—
"Wait—the script...!"
Park Sunja, flipping through the script anxiously beside me, suddenly saw the pages tremble, and the title on the cover morph smoothly.
The eerie original [Tiger Murder Incident] faded, replaced by new letters: [Tiger Commotion].
Compared to the previous title, it lacked tension—rather childish and corny—but to us, it felt like the most positive change imaginable.
A commotion was far more hopeful than a murder incident.
"Minjun-ssi!"
Park Sunja called me urgently, voice laced with certainty as if she'd caught on.
"Keep going! I don't know how, but keep shrinking the tiger! That might be the key to turning this situation around!"
I nodded at her words.
Clearly, when I'd grabbed its scruff and smacked its snout, it had lit up and shrunk right after.
Nothing to do but try the same.
I extended my palm slowly toward the Great Tiger again.
Smaller now, but still a threatening beast.
"...Grrrng!"
Was it my imagination?
As I approached, its massive body seemed to quiver ever so slightly.
I kicked off the ground once more, aiming for its scruff.
This time, it was time to end this Tiger Commotion.