Chapter 48. Do you think that's easy?
Chapter 48. Do you think that's easy?
Generally, the gates hunters like most are forest terrains or plains. While the chance of being spotted by monsters is high, it's equally easy to spot the monsters. Since it's not a game where you can respawn after dying, it's only natural for hunters to want to operate in the safest gates possible.
Among those, if you ask which terrain they avoid the most, one hundred out of a hundred would pick cave terrain. Even if it's a cave large enough for people to pass through, it doesn't get proper light, and dangerous monsters live there, so using light is a huge burden.
In the early days, there were countless hunters who died because they turned on torches or lights for no reason and couldn't properly react to arrows flying from inside the cave. Though, now that everyone knows how dangerous it is, most don't even think about entering caves.
However, in the end, that wasn't really a problem for the Lee Si-woo Crew, which had Jeong Mi-na, a detection ability user.
"Gwooooo!"
An Ogre encountered at the cave entrance let out a roar. At the booming sound, Seong Ha-na, who was waiting at the very back with Lee Si-woo, frowned. The roars of high-ranking monsters like trolls and ogres were enough to cause tinnitus just from hearing them.
"Ugh..."
It was when Seong Ha-na let out a groan. Lee Si-woo moved his finger. With just that, a rock that looked to be about 50cm in diameter, which had been embedded nearby, flew toward the Ogre like an arrow. It wouldn't kill the Ogre immediately, but since it was a rock controlled by telekinesis, dodging it was meaningless.
Because if it dodged, he would just control it again.
The Ogre was the same. The Ogre, annoyed by the following rock, threw a fist at it. Kwang! The rock shattered with a sound. You might think that was the end, but no. That's because the telekinesis was still being maintained.
The rock fragments that had shattered into powder didn't scatter. They just became an even more annoying means of attack. The fragments, gathered like a cloud, covered the Ogre's face.
"Kyaaaa!"
The Ogre screamed as the fragments rushed into every hole in its face. This kind of attack could cause pain that had absolutely nothing to do with the monster's strength. The Ogre was the same. Thanks to the sand swirling into its eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, the Ogre thrashed about as if it were having a seizure.
"Haa!"
Han Hye-mi was the one who popped out, seizing that moment. Like most physical enhancement ability users in high-ranking crews, Han Hye-mi used a sword and shield. In fact, unless it's a small monster like an orc, she ends up using the shield rather than the sword. This time was the same. Han Hye-mi, who had dashed out in an instant, got right up to the feet of the Ogre, which looked to be about 4m tall, and swung her shield with all her might.
Tteong!
The shield hit the Ogre's knee. It wasn't enough power to blow it away or lift it into the air, but the leg that had been firmly fixed to the ground wobbled, and the Ogre's form tilted backward. It was because the leg had lost strength against its will after being struck in the knee.
Lee Si-woo didn't miss it. The rock fragments that had been wrapping around and tormenting the Ogre's head like a swarm of bees all stuck to the Ogre's head at once when Lee Si-woo clenched his fist. It looked as if its head were embedded in a rock. When Lee Si-woo lowered his clenched fist, the Ogre, which was already wobbling, fell backward.
"Kyaaaak!"
The Ogre, whose head suddenly felt stifled, started to thrash about. Han Hye-mi was unluckily caught in the arms and legs flailing wildly. She barely managed to block it with her shield, but a typical physical enhancement ability user isn't enough to overcome an Ogre's strength. With a tung! sound, Han Hye-mi was sent flying and crashed into a tree before falling.
Seong Ha-na ran.
"Ugh..."
"Are you okay?"
"Of course it hurts~"
The arm holding the shield was bright red. It looked like it might be cracked or broken. Han Hye-mi was smiling good-naturedly, but her forehead was covered in cold sweat. Seong Ha-na reached out and touched the arm. No light appeared, but it could be seen returning to its normal color quickly, as if time were being reversed.
Meanwhile, the Ogre realized there were no enemies nearby and stopped struggling. It hadn't given up on resisting. It realized there was an enemy in a place its arms and legs couldn't reach, but it just couldn't see because the fragments were stuck to its face.
The Ogre started throwing rocks from the surroundings in all directions.
"Danger~"
Han Hye-mi, whose arm had returned to normal in an instant, jumped up and blocked in front of Seong Ha-na. She started knocking away the rocks that occasionally flew at them one by one with her shield. Approaching an Ogre that has entered a state of thrashing is impossible even for a physical enhancement ability user. They had to endure like this and wait until the Ogre got tired.
In the midst of that, a large rock was shot straight at Lee Si-woo. Lee Si-woo was in a state of blocking the Ogre's breath with telekinesis. If he couldn't take away the vision of the already thrashing Ogre, the crew itself would be in danger. It could be seen as a desperate moment.
But Lee Si-woo didn't move at all. That was because there was a crew member who was unrivaled in the defense department. The rock, which was growing in size as it approached in an instant, suddenly slipped into a strange hole created in front of Lee Si-woo.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it!"
Kang Ji-hye smiled brightly and protected Lee Si-woo. Subspace. There is a certain limit to the size, but within the line that doesn't exceed that size, it was no different from an invincible defensive skill. Moreover, the size of the subspace Kang Ji-hye could open was larger than the height of an average man. It was an ability that boasted invincible defense as far as attacks she could perceive were concerned.
Meanwhile, the Ogre started to get tired. Thrashing naturally drains stamina quickly. Furthermore, the Ogre was in a state where its breath was blocked by Lee Si-woo's telekinesis. Even though it wasn't drowning, the Ogre was dying of suffocation.
Han Hye-mi stepped up again. Now it was time to use her sword. Slitting the throat was impossible. It was in a lying position, and the thickness of its neck bones was beyond imagination, so no matter how sharp the sword was, it was impossible to blow the neck off in one go.
What Han Hye-mi could do was hack at it.
The blade flashed. The Ogre, which had already lost stamina and was on the verge of suffocation, couldn't rampage like before. Every time Han Hye-mi's blade grazed its leather, it would just thrash its arms and legs like it was chasing a mosquito and then go quiet.
Green blood flowed out in torrents.
Unless it had been attacking Han Hye-mi persistently from the start, the last resistance of something whose stamina had reached its limit with its vision blocked couldn't be dangerous. Hitting and retreating here and there, Han Hye-mi's blade turned the Ogre's leather into rags. The amount of blood flowing out was also unusual.
The fight was over.
"Han Hye-mi-ssi! Pull back!"
"Yes~"
At Lee Si-woo's shout, Han Hye-mi replied softly and trotted backward. The Ogre was practically having convulsions. Realizing that further resistance was impossible, it tried to lift its hands to remove the sand that was tightly clumped and blocking its face, but it was impossible. The sand, which looked as if it were alive, was definitely blocking the Ogre's eyes, nose, and mouth, but it wasn't hard like stone. It just stuck to it, changing shape here and there like flowing water.
Soon, the Ogre's movements, which had been trying to clear the sand somehow, stopped.
"Is it dead?"
"Hey, didn't eonni tell you not to say things like that?"
At Kang Ji-hye's mutter, Han Hye-mi, who had stepped back to Lee Si-woo's side, laughed and scolded her. With an 'oops' expression, Kang Ji-hye giggled and scratched the back of her head.
Lee Si-woo also smiled calmly. It was a slightly dangerous monster, but not enough to worry about. It wasn't a crew that would be put in jeopardy by a single Ogre.
"Is your arm okay?"
"Ha-na-ssi healed me earlier, so it's perfectly fine now?"
At Lee Si-woo's words, Han Hye-mi replied while lifting her shield. The arm holding the shield looked fine. Lee Si-woo nodded in satisfaction. He hadn't released his ability yet. It was certain that it was in a moribund state due to massive blood loss, but there was a lingering anxiety about thinking it was dead. Only after Seong Ha-na, who had been a little further away, arrived did Lee Si-woo release his ability. The sand that had been blocking the Ogre's respiratory tract finally flowed down.
The Ogre didn't move.
"Good work, everyone. Ji-hye-ya?"
"Yes!"
Kang Ji-hye answered Lee Si-woo's call and reached out to the Ogre. A large hole appeared and swallowed the Ogre's corpse. It was the Subspace she had used for defense.
Only after the Ogre was completely dead and inside the Subspace did Seong Ha-na sigh, as if she were tired.
"We really should have brought Lim Seo-yoon."
"What can we do, we haven't even met her yet. For now, we should be able to find the Iron Lizard on our own."
"That may be so, but if Lim Seo-yoon had been here, we would have caught the Ogre quickly."
"Let's not be too disappointed. It's not even certain that Lim Seo-yoon will really join our crew. Right?"
Lee Si-woo stroked Seong Ha-na's hair and soothed her gently. If Lim Seo-yoon had been there, it would have been comfortable, of course. The Ogre is a living creature. As long as it's a living creature, it can't be free from Lim Seo-yoon's ability.
Meanwhile, Jeong Mi-na approached.
"You've all worked hard. Everyone. I'll take the lead inside the cave."
"Please do."
"Leave it to me."
Jeong Mi-na nodded. Iron Lizard. It would be great if we found it here. With Jeong Mi-na, who had activated her detection ability, in the lead, the Lee Si-woo Crew entered the cave.
ㅡ
"Huu..."
Lim Seo-yoon took a deep breath in front of Choi Yeon-ju's mansion with a pounding heart. It felt like training wouldn't be training starting today. And she was looking forward to it. Lately, she hadn't even been entering gates well. She spent all day in a state of masturbation, thinking about the training at the mansion.
Due to Byeong-jin's feigned ignorance last time, the sexual desire she had been trying so hard to control was already uncontrollable.
She pressed the doorbell. From the moment she pressed it, Lim Seo-yoon's heart pounded kung-kwang kung-kwang. Until now, she could have run away if she wanted to, but since she pressed the doorbell, she couldn't run away anymore. She could feel someone inside the mansion.
Beolkeok.
And the front door of the mansion opened.
"Welcome, teacher."
"Hello...."
As soon as she heard the word 'teacher', her expression went hazy. It was because her heart started pounding, wondering what would happen inside from now on. She also saw Byeong-jin looking down at her after opening the front door. Why was that? He wasn't that handsome, and he wasn't her type, but now she was glad to see him.
Normally, she should have been polite. Because Byeong-jin was that kind of person. But not now. Lim Seo-yoon was also prepared for the fact that something would change after the last training.
To think it would be to this extent.
"Ah."
Without a fuss, Byeong-jin's arm wrapped around Lim Seo-yoon's waist. Lim Seo-yoon was startled, but she didn't get angry or resist. It was because they both knew well that the timing to refuse had disappeared a few days ago.
"Come on in."
"Yes..."
Strength went into Byeong-jin's arm. Lim Seo-yoon was dragged along, pretending she couldn't help it. Soon, she was tucked into Byeong-jin's arms.
To a third party's eyes, Byeong-jin and Lim Seo-yoon disappeared into the mansion in a picture that looked quite affectionate.