Chapter 80
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Night Has Fallen. Dead Hunters, Raise Your Heads.
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Ideal and reality are different.
That much was clear from Hong Si-jun and Ri Heiyan's childish spat.
Given what you'd expect from an SSS-rank hunter standoff—even in novels, you'd imagine grave, solemn exchanges that'd send chills down everyone's spines—seeing it play out in real life was nothing more than a neighborhood losers' bickering match. Nothing more, nothing less.
The only difference was the hundreds of monsters lined up behind them. Nearly twenty S-rank ones at that.
And since these were SSS-rank hunters commanding hundreds of their own, everyone managed to keep straight faces.
So, Im Hyeji's words might've landed as a massive plot twist or game-changing play in a novel, but things wouldn't go down that easily in reality.
Ri Heiyan and her monsters wouldn't just stand there gawking at Im Hyeji left alone like some idiot.
There wasn't even a guarantee Im Hyeji would survive to the end.
"Kyaaack!"
"Gaaah!"
Right now, wide-area attacks were sweeping past us from the innermost lines, mercilessly mowing down hunters.
Healers dropping faster than high-stamina tanks wouldn't be surprising at all.
But Im Hyeji's expression remained resolute.
There really weren't any other options.
Hong Si-jun had thrown out his own backup plan, but it wasn't foolproof either.
Even if the guy up front squeezed out his last reserves to carve a path through the rear, would that actually open one up?
That was problem one. And even if he did, would the monsters politely wave us off as we fled?
With the retreat proposal on the table, opening a door and bailing was feasible enough—but it wasn't a real fix.
Hong Si-jun would die regardless.
The dead didn't come back.
Unless the hunters outside Hwaseong stormed in within two hours, took out Ri Heiyan, and hit us with resurrection.
But could outsiders even handle these buffed-up monsters? That was another question.
Like this, reality piled on problems novels never accounted for.
Which made Im Hyeji's call all the more reasonable.
These buffed monsters had to be put down right here, no two ways about it.
Otherwise, they'd have to abandon Hwaseong until the buffs wore off. And if they didn't?
The moment those reversed monsters crawled out still powered up...
"Believe in me."
There was no time for lengthy explanations of all that nuance.
The survivors' heads were probably spinning already.
The silver lining? They didn't have to agonize over life or death like she'd asked—just whether to fight on.
They were dropping like flies even holding the line desperately. It was only a matter of when, not if everyone died.
Hong Si-jun stayed silent.
After a moment's thought, he threw his arms wide.
It was the signal.
The final desperate stand.
In a battle where victory seemed zero percent possible, it was the signal to cut loose that last thread of hope.
At the same time, one of the SS-rank monsters watching from the rear took to the skies with a flap of wings.
The mana gathering in its jaws looked seriously bad news.
"Oppa. Mini breath. We gotta dodge."
Kang Hana's voice rang out.
For something too fake-dragon to rightly call a dragon—a cheap knockoff—it still packed dangerous mana at the mouth.
Looked like it was gonna sweep the whole area.
With the end of the fight in sight, it was channeling that "screw mopping up one by one, just run the robot vac" vibe.
I opened the 'door.'
Crossed straight through with Im Hyeji.
Told Gye Yeon-su, who saw it all:
"Don't come. You have to die. I'll bring you back."
We crossed. Blue flames roared through on the other side.
Not a quick torch-and-scatter, but a slow, intense blaze meant to cook everything—hot mana flames clinging thick to the ground.
Chills.
Just one step.
A space where the stench of death had vanished clean away.
Beyond it, everyone was dying.
The flames faded. Silence fell.
"Now."
With Kang Hana's signal, Im Hyeji and I crossed back.
Im Hyeji's hands were already aglow with pure white light.
"Resurrection!"
"Oh ho, survivors..."
Before Ri Heiyan—savoring the scene she'd wrought at her leisure—could finish her surprised remark, Im Hyeji's urgent chant triggered the skill.
"...?"
It was so rushed I almost felt bad for Ri Heiyan, whose words got cut off first—even I thought it was a bit hasty.
Normally, you'd wait till Ri Heiyan had wiped the survivors, mocked them leisurely, stacked up her advantages, then bam—resurrect the hunters right in her face for maximum drama.
Of course, realistically, she'd probably just snipe the survivors with an SS-rank monster on sight. So it was a pragmatic call.
And so what if it looked rushed?
Vwoooooom
The brilliant white light from Im Hyeji's hands was neither hasty nor sloppy.
The small glow ballooned in an instant, shining brighter than the rising sun, engulfing everything.
"Wha—what...!"
Ri Heiyan panicked, scrambling for an attack.
Fwaaaash!
But Resurrection had no cast time to exploit.
The light that swallowed the area shot skyward, raining down like a biblical downpour.
Holy light.
The undead's worst nightmare.
It didn't have the raw killing power to finish monsters steeped in the necromancer's dark mana—but it wasn't meant for killing anyway.
All allies within range are revived.
The fallen.
The dismembered.
The ones burned to ash.
Even the 150 near the gate who'd been beheaded.
Light seeped in, reforming bodies. They rose where they lay.
"Th-this...! Impossible...!"
Ri Heiyan shot to her feet in horror.
The shock hit us head-on from the man standing in the miracle's epicenter.
And the revived felt it too.
"This is..."
"I'm... alive..."
HP is fully restored.
For 300 seconds, HP and MP rise to SS-rank. (SS-rank becomes SSS-rank)
Not just alive—everything restored.
Not only HP, but fatigue and wounds too.
Back to pre-battle state.
Stats boosted to boot.
C-ranks, B-ranks.
All gripping weapons with SS-rank power.
Hong Si-jun especially—the frontliner who'd shone brightest before getting torn apart—his eyes burned fierce.
Nearby ally revival effect: HP is fully restored.
For 300 seconds, HP and MP rise by one rank.
Holy power surged through me and Im Hyeji too, filling us up.
My HP hadn't even dipped, and the stat bump was minor anyway.
But the waves of holy power...
Feeling this insane Resurrection might firsthand? Chest swelling, awe-inspiring.
For this moment, a month of hellish grinding—sex marathons with Im Hyeji, rolling around, scheming for one more round.
She'd emptied her mana stone contract payout.
Worth every bit. Perfect payoff.
Of course, the fight wasn't won.
Buffed SS-rank monsters were still beasts.
We'd powered up to match, but only battle would tell.
"Kh... keh keh..."
Ri Heiyan chuckled weakly, voice trembling.
"D-doesn't matter. Revival changes nothing. Go all out!!"
Last fight, not all SS-ranks had joined in.
Like that final breath—no full barrages of ace skills.
So confidence overflowed.
Rematch? Buffed survivors? Still winnable, she'd think.
But Resurrection had one ace left.
'Special effect' activates.
Fueled by mana stone mana, it unlocked—and triggered—the hidden 'special effect.'
We'd puzzled over Resurrection lacking one, despite her unique skill Heavenly Light.
Now it clicked.
"Had to use mana stone mana, huh."
Not super relevant mid-fight, though.
For 300 seconds, all held abilities and skills rise to SS-rank. (SS-rank becomes SSS-rank)
That effect? Far from meaningless.
"Insane..."
Blue flames poured down again, blanketing the revived hunters in seconds.
I was there too—threw myself through the door to escape.
But no need.
Kaboooom!!
A transparent mana shield devoured the apocalyptic blaze from above.
Ever imagine a world where everyone's got SS-rank skills amplified by SS-rank power, zipping around with SS-rank stats, spamming skills?
I saw it.
That horrifying world.
Horrifying—for the monsters only.
Scariest of all: Hong Si-jun hitting SSS-rank stamina, unleashing SSS-rank skills with his massive greatsword.
And Gye Yeon-su.
Commanding colossal summons that mowed down dozens solo.