#10. vs Monster Wolf (2)
#10. vs Monster Wolf (2)
"...It matches. Definitely."
Her Mana Detection told her this was the exact presence she had vaguely sensed just before that bear cub collapsed. But how could a bear cub be a slime? With its mother standing right there beside it?
'Maybe my condition's worse than I thought...?'
She still wasn't fully recovered, that was true. A haze of tangled emotions, a desperate need to confirm what she'd felt at the end, to know what had really happened there—those were what had driven her back to Jirisan on impulse. ...Had her senior seen her text by now? The thought of the chewing-out waiting for her made the future look a little dark.
...Still, this bear cub was absurdly cute.
Unable to resist the way it cocked its head, Lee Eun-ha poked its cheek. The way it scowled, plainly offended, only made it cuter.
"Grrrr!"
It was trying its best to be threatening, but that just made it more endearing. Eun-ha let out a small laugh and pulled the cub close again, studying it.
'Strange.'
Her Mana Detection insisted this was the owner of that final presence she'd felt... but that presence had been green. Probably a slime. Unless, by some absurd chance, this cub really was...
"Groooowwwl!"
...No. Clearly not. The idea that such a coincidence could possibly happen had been wishful thinking. Her condition must be the problem.
If she couldn't use Mana Detection properly, tracking that presence would be hopeless. Lee Eun-ha let out a small sigh.
Had she come here for nothing? No—she definitely had.
Thinking of the people she'd worried about made her chest feel complicated.
'.......'
Nothing to be done about it. She sighed again and pulled out her phone to check whether her text had been read. As if on cue, a call came in.
She took a deep breath, bracing herself. ...Ah. I never did find it.
"Yes. Hello?"
[Lee Eun-ha. Where are you right now?]
"Senior. Look, I—"
[Please tell me you're not at Jirisan.]
Her silence told him everything. A long exhale came through the receiver.
[Lee Eun-ha. Do you think this is a joke? Right now, you—]
"......I'm sorry."
She knew. But she'd still had to come. She knew it was stupid, but she'd needed to see for herself. She'd made some preparations, at least. But would it have been better to just tell her senior outright?
[Fine. I've heard enough. Get down from there right now. No—where exactly are you?]
"...Near Baemsagol."
[I'll be there soon. Wait for me.]
She could hear her senior's deep sigh from the other end. He knew about the Warg, of course. She'd come with some precautions of her own—but she understood his concern. The call ended. Lee Eun-ha let out a heavy breath.
The belated regret hit her. Maybe she really shouldn't have come. But she was already here. And in the end, she hadn't even found what she was looking for.
"Sorry."
The mother bear was getting genuinely angry now. Eun-ha quickly set the cub down and looked toward the lower slopes. She'd said she was near Baemsagol... She should head a bit further down.
***
"So Eun-ha is here right now?"
Woo-taek nodded at the team leader's question.
"Yes. I told her to wait. She said she's near Baemsagol, so it shouldn't take long."
"What is she doing out here... What a headache."
The team leader shook his head. Woo-taek let out a weary laugh.
"Shall we start heading down—?"
Before he could finish, the radio crackled.
[—Team Leader! This is Team 1. We just lost the Warg! It's fleeing toward Cheonghak-dong—]
[Team 3. We lost it!]
The sudden string of reports hardened both their expressions.
"Woo-taek."
"Is it trying to leave Jirisan right now?"
"No. If it wanted out, it would've left long ago. It knows. It knows it won't last long outside the mountain."
The biggest reason they hadn't caught the Warg all this time was the terrain. Chasing it across these vast slopes was a fool's errand. If this were the city, they'd have cornered it ages ago.
"It's looking for something. And most likely..."
"You don't mean..."
"There's only one thing that comes to mind. Call her again."
Woo-taek nodded and dialed. One minute... two... The automated voicemail greeting confirmed the call wouldn't connect. Both men ground their teeth.
"We're too late."
"I'm running. Right now."
"Woo-taek. We're at Cheonwangbong Peak! Even at a dead sprint, it's thirty minutes! Woo-taek! Woo-taek!"
The team leader pressed a hand to his forehead as Woo-taek bolted without a backward glance.
"...I'm going to lose my mind."
Moments later, the tails of his coat were streaming behind him too.
***
"You're still following me?"
The bear cub she'd mistaken for a slime was trailing after her. Lee Eun-ha tilted her head. Every time their eyes met, it ducked behind a tree—ridiculously cute. A small laugh escaped her. She was hurrying her steps down below Baemsagol when an ominous energy washed over her.
'......!'
She activated Mana Detection and immediately felt something chilling rushing straight toward her.
"......?!"
And she knew this presence. It was the Warg—the one she'd failed to kill last time.
'I have to run—!'
The worst-case scenario. She materialized a mount as fast as she could and tried to flee, but she could feel the distance shrinking. Shaking it off was impossible. After a long, desperate chase, Lee Eun-ha realized she'd taken the wrong path.
She was supposed to be heading down. Instead, she was climbing higher. She glanced over a cliff edge—but throwing herself off would be insanity.
A little further, and there should be a road. An abandoned road. If she could reach it, maybe she could escape. Before the thought even finished, the Iljumun Gate came into view. She gauged the distance with Mana Detection, gave a small nod, and climbed the stone steps.
寺界法山異智.
Faded characters worn by time, carved deep into unyielding stone. She passed through Beopgyesa's Iljumun Gate, checked the Warg's position with Mana Detection, and fumbled with her phone with one hand—sent a text that just said 'Beopgyesa'—then opened her pack.
The scroll she'd prepared for the worst-case scenario. A halo of light flared—and then nothing. No teleportation. The scroll simply tore as if it had never held any power at all.
'A fake...?'
Lee Eun-ha's face went blank, then she bit down hard on her lip.
***
'How is she this fast?'
My larger body gave me decent running speed. But this was an uphill chase, not a downhill one, and closing the distance was hell. Without my Detection skill, I'd have lost her dozens of times already.
I went through absolute hell to keep her alive. If Lee Eun-ha dies here, I might just die too—of sheer injustice.
I hadn't been following her on a whim. I'd known the Monster Wolf was hunting her long before she did. My Detection skill could sweep five kilometers. At first, I'd meant to warn her, but there was no way to communicate. Eventually, I'd decided this might be better. If we fought together, taking it down wouldn't be that hard.
Lee Eun-ha had beaten it before. Sure, she'd burned through all her mana afterward, but if I could just hold it off from the front, she'd finish the Monster Wolf without much trouble. Except I'd managed to lose track of her.
I had to catch up. As fast as possible. From her perspective, she probably thought she'd be fighting alone—so running made perfect sense. But still—!
***
"Cover!"
Lee Eun-ha chanted immediately. A veil of mana rose into a barrier. Concealment Barrier. It hid her form, but not her scent. It hadn't worked last time either. She hadn't forgotten. She knew full well a barrier like this wouldn't let her escape the Warg.
'.......'
Relying on the scroll and skipping potions had been a mistake. She bit her lip and checked her phone again.
[10 minutes]
A reply had come. Ten minutes—if she could hold out just ten more minutes, people would reach Beopgyesa.
......This isn't impossible. I can do this. I took it down before, didn't I?
Stay calm and it's manageable. Lee Eun-ha pressed the heels of her palms against her eyelids and focused. Soon, the Concealment Barrier shook violently. Faster than expected—but she gave a small nod. The instant the barrier shattered, she released the spell she'd been holding.
"β-Sheet!"