153. Butterfly Effect (4)
153. Butterfly Effect (4)
Gulp─
The rescue team stood behind the torn-off door, staring intently at what lay inside.
Supposedly, there were a hundred Demonized Humans in there.
'Hoobae....... Will he really be okay......?'
Im Ga-eul had conquered all sorts of dungeons alongside Jin Yu-ha up to now.
But she had never properly witnessed his true skill.
That was because Utopia always operated as a full party.
Her role was to support the entire party, and the Tank, Lee Yu-ri, would draw the monsters' aggro. Then the main Damage Dealer, Kang Do-hee, would step up. After that, Jin Yu-ha would clean up whoever she missed. That was the pattern.
On top of that, Jin Yu-ha was the one giving orders that encompassed the whole party, so she'd rarely had the chance to see him fight alone.
So naturally, watching him be thrown alone into that bloodthirsty mob of Demonized Humans made worry surge ahead of everything else.
But as a mere cadet, she couldn't recklessly object to a plan personally drawn up by an academy instructor.
Jin Yu-ha had nodded as if that was only to be expected, too.
And, rendering her worries utterly meaningless.
Jin Yu-ha began to single-handedly tear through the demonized horde.
"Guaaagh!"
"Guk!?"
"Aaagh!!"
Red blood splattered messily, and the Demonized Humans screamed as if they were boiling alive.
Gulp.
Im Ga-eul swallowed hard, her throat tight.
'So this is what hoobae is like when he gets serious.......'
It was overwhelming.
It was brutal and merciless.
There wasn't a shred of mercy to be found in the sword he brandished.
Of course, this wasn't the first time she'd witnessed Jin Yu-ha kill.
She hadn't participated in the first-year Midterm Evaluation, but she'd experienced another incident.
What came to Im Ga-eul's mind was the time they'd run the Thorn Grasslands Dungeon a while ago.
Back when a party from the Darkness Guild had led monsters to attack Utopia.
The Utopia Party had left them abandoned among the monsters and run away.
That was also a form of indirect killing.
But back then, there had been a justification, and she hadn't done it with her own hands, so it had been fine.
However, what Jin Yu-ha was showing now was on a completely different level of pressure from that time.
'I-I'm fine....... I always knew this was what being a hunter meant.'
She might have spent a year in last place, but Im Ga-eul was still a second-year.
That meant she'd learned enough to roughly grasp what it meant to become a hunter.
Of course, this was the first time she'd experienced it so starkly, so she couldn't help the way her hands trembled uncontrollably.
As Im Ga-eul watched the battle unfolding inside with trembling eyes, she slowly turned her head to the side.
There was the instructor, her lips curled up in a faint, barely perceptible smile.
That woman was a hardened academy instructor who had been through everything, so that was understandable.
But her real concern was Sofia.
For Sofia, who hadn't been in this world long, this had to be a shocking sight.
Yet, Sofia was lowering the camera she'd been holding up, her expression utterly nonchalant.
"......Aww, I can't use any of that footage. He looks so unbelievably cool right now......!!"
On the contrary, Sofia was clicking her tongue, as if she were disappointed she couldn't make this scene public.
How was that even possible?
'I-Isn't she scared? This kid?'
Im Ga-eul felt flabbergasted.
"Sofia, hoobae....... You're okay with this?"
"Huh? With what?"
"I-I mean, seeing Yu-ha, hoobae, like that doesn't bother you? O-of course, I'm fine with it!! I just thought, it might be a little cruel for you to watch, hoobae......."
"Why wouldn't I be okay with it?"
Sofia tilted her head as if she still didn't understand the question.
"Jin Yu-ha took down Demonized Humans during the Midterm Evaluation too. It's no different now than it was then."
"......W-Weren't you surprised?"
"Hmm, I was surprised the first time I saw it during the Midterm Evaluation, but even then, if it weren't for Jin Yu-ha, all the cadets would have died."
Sofia's clear golden eyes stared straight at Im Ga-eul, as if piercing right through her.
"In the end, doing this kind of work is the job of a hunter. I've accepted all of that."
There wasn't a single trace of hesitation in Sofia's voice as she spoke.
"Even now, those Demonized Humans locked civilians up in an underground prison and are treating their lives like trash. And that could've been my mother or father. So, if I, who decided to fight alongside someone like that, were to turn away or close my eyes, wouldn't that be truly wrong?"
"......."
"Also, I've always liked watching hardcore gore stuff."
Sofia added with a soft smile.
Im Ga-eul started to open her mouth to say something else, then closed it firmly.
And she let out a deep sigh.
'She's better than me.......'
Maybe the person with the weakest heart in Utopia was herself.
Baek Seol-hee, who had been glancing at their exchange, fixed her gaze forward again.
'The new one is decent. But this one still has a ways to go. Her heart is too fragile compared to the ability she possesses.'
But this wasn't something that could be fixed just by talking about it.
After all, breaking out of one's shell was something one had to do on one's own.
Ordinary people tended to think of hunters as having a splendid, dazzling job where they slay monsters and save people.
That statement itself was understandable.
Because in reality, top-tier hunters earned money beyond an ordinary person's imagination and received treatment and admiration befitting that.
But from the standpoint of Baek Seol-hee, who operated as the commander of the Demonized Human Extermination Squad, those words only drew a scoff.
They could only say that because they didn't know just how many hunters were devoured by monsters, killed by Demonized Humans, or sacrificed by fellow hunters every year.
And the number of hunters who suffered psychological trauma in battle and ultimately retired without ever recovering was far greater than that.
However, her disciple, Jin Yu-ha, was flawless in that regard.
Just look at him now.
A wide field of vision encompassing everything ahead. Efficient movements devoted to fulfilling his objective. And a sword that didn't waver even with countless enemies before his eyes.
Of course, those were all elements that contributed to her high evaluation of Jin Yu-ha,
but there was something else Baek Seol-hee valued even more.
His mental fortitude.
When Baek Seol-hee first taught Jin Yu-ha, she had started with killing intent.
After that, when the Utopia Party was founded and Jin Yu-ha began making a name for himself globally with his outstanding achievements,
other instructors would seek out Baek Seol-hee and ask how she had taught him.
And she had proudly demonstrated her educational methods to them without holding anything back.
What had the instructors' expressions been like then?
As if they were looking at a madwoman.
They raised their voices, telling her not to joke around, saying, 'We know you're the Slaughter-Crazed Woman, but that's too far. There isn't a single newly enrolled cadet who can endure insane training like that.'
They even advised her to think about what would have happened if she herself had undergone such training at that age.
At that moment, the shock Baek Seol-hee had felt was considerable.
'......Right, I wouldn't have been able to endure it.'
Right, even for her, that method had only been possible because she'd built up a certain amount of experience first.
But since Jin Yu-ha was the first cadet she'd taken as a personal disciple, she had ended up teaching him in the way that was currently familiar to her.
In other words, her baseline had been wrong from the very start!
So she reset her mindset and lowered the intensity of the training.
─ What's wrong with you today, Master?!
Jin Yu-ha had reacted fiercely, as if wondering where his usual harsh master had gone.
─ It was training that was too premature for you.
─ Did I do something wrong?
─ No. I just came to think that this training is still too early for you.
─ I need to become stronger. Master! Please, just like before!
─ If it goes wrong, you might break.
─ No. I won't break. Please trust me just this once. You can even test me!!
Faced with him speaking with those clear black eyes, Baek Seol-hee had no choice but to issue a test.
And Jin Yu-ha passed all those tests with flying colors.
A hellish trial that even experienced Demonized Human Extermination Squad members would only have a fifty percent chance of passing.
'I got sucker-punched by that.'
Baek Seol-hee let out a soft, amused laugh.
Honestly, she still couldn't believe how it was possible at such a young age.
Usually, when you do this kind of work, some part of you inevitably breaks down, little by little. But Jin Yu-ha's mind was as solid as an iron fortress.
'The time he surrendered to rage before was also anger over the harm done to a comrade. That just means he can separate his mindset toward allies from his mindset toward enemies. If anything, that's an advantage.'
And since she'd made him realize it then, he probably wouldn't make that same mistake a second time.
Really, whoever had raised him, he was flawless, without a single point to criticize.
'Hmm, now that I think of it, didn't he say last time that he'd treat me to a meal he cooked himself? I'm looking forward to that.'
BOOOOM—!
As Jin Yu-ha fought the Demonized Humans, he suddenly smashed the floor, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
Having noticed that was the signal to charge in, Baek Seol-hee opened her mouth.
"Then, let's go."
"......Yes."
"Yes!"
Baek Seol-hee led Im Ga-eul and Sofia and advanced into the building.
With Jin Yu-ha drawing their attention at the front and even kicking up a smokescreen, it was far easier to slip inside unnoticed.
"Y-You, a w─!"
Slice—
Still, because Im Ga-eul and Sofia were not yet used to stealth, there were a few times they got caught by Demonized Humans.
Baek Seol-hee silenced them with a single strike.
'The path to the basement is....... Over there.'
Tap-tap-ta-tap─
She sprinted quickly toward the basement.
During the rush, Demonized Humans from below who'd heard the commotion upstairs came climbing up.
But Baek Seol-hee swung her sword without a single change in her expression.
Slice—
Slice—
Slice—
Sword paths so short and concise it sent chills down one's spine.
Her running speed never dropped, and the enemies simply clutched their throats and collapsed on the spot.
After descending the stairs and turning dozens of Demonized Humans into corpses like that,
the basement level was right before their eyes.
An open door.
At the sight inside, both Im Ga-eul and Sofia sucked in a sharp breath at the same time.
A stench that stabbed at the nose.
A filthy scene reminiscent of a pigsty swarming with flies.
Countless people, reduced to skin and bones, huddled together along both sides.
And in the very center, a single massive, black Magic Stone floated in midair.
"So....... It really was here. You were kidnapping humans and sending them all to this place."
Having taken in the entire situation, Baek Seol-hee spoke in an icy voice.
Step, step─
From behind the Magic Stone, a man wearing a doctor's gown walked out.
"Aha!? It really is you, isn't it? Slaughter-Crazed Woman. No wonder I had an annoying premonition the moment the ruckus started upstairs......."
The owner of the voice was a beautiful young man with pure white hair and a face covered in stitched-up scars.
He pulled his lips upward as if they were about to tear.
"But what to do now? Even for you, it's already too late, I'm afraid? The Demon Summoning Ritual has already begun."