1. F-Class Porter Touches the S-Class Queen's Body
1. F-Class Porter Touches the S-Class Queen's Body
"Hey, Lee Sian! Stop spacing out and load more Mana Stones! We need to empty our backpacks if we're going into the boss fight later!"
"Ah, yes, yes. I'm coming."
Inside a pitch-black A-rank Rift.
Crouching down on the damp floor to pick up Mana Stones, I shrug my shoulders and readjust the bag of Mana Stones.
The bag alone weighs at least 50kg. An unpleasant bead of sweat starts dripping down my spine.
From long ago, rank has always been absolute.
If hunters who fly through the sky and cast magic are nobles, then an F-rank porter like me, without even a single simple skill, is a lowly commoner scraping by at the very bottom.
"Ah, shit... They could at least boss me around in moderation..."
Muttering a complaint unheard by anyone, I turn my gaze forward to see Kang Chaea—the youngest hunter to reach S-rank and leader of the nation's top Hwaryeon Guild—busily issuing orders to her guild members.
Shining silver hair, sharp and sculpted features. Along with her beautiful appearance came a confident and commanding personality.
The way she neatly severed the neck of an ice troll over 5 meters tall with a single gesture was truly the embodiment of the 'Ice Snow Queen' and 'Ice Witch' herself.
As expected, S-ranks live in a completely different world...
A bitter smile naturally slips out. The world is always unfair.
Just by the difference in innate talent, others receive the spotlight with flashy performances, so why do I have to be covered in dust and risk my life for a daily wage of a few bucks?
Becoming needlessly conscious of reality, the thought creeps in: if I had even a single C-rank skill, would I not have to do this porter work? It makes me feel gloomy.
"Hey, F-rank. Don't block the movement paths of the Hwaryeon Guild members and hurry up and follow."
"Yes, right away."
At the team leader's call, I shake off my bitterness along with the dust on my clothes, get up, and firmly readjust my bag once more.
Thinking about it won't change anything anyway.
I focus on transferring the Mana Stones and by-products from the bodies of the ice trolls that Kang Chaea slaughtered into my bag.
"Alright, let's all get ready to pack up and leave!"
"Great work, everyone!"
I thought it would be an ordinary trip back home like any other day.
Kuuuuuuung-!
"W-What?!"
"Why is it suddenly like this?!"
In the center of the boss room, the massive stone floor vibrated ominously as space twisted, opening a new crimson dimensional gate.
[Warning! Rift Gimmick Activated!]
[Hidden Boss: 'Emperor of the Abyss Kraken' is intruding!]
An unplanned appearance of a hidden boss.
The news from a few months ago flashes through my mind—that a hidden boss from an S-rank Rift annihilated a party consisting of nine A-rank hunters.
I feel like the boss that appeared back then was definitely called Kraken as well.
Caught off guard by the sudden situation, nobody could move, only staring blankly at the gate emitting an ominous light.
Then, in an instant, dozens of tentacles spewing mana from inside the gate began to storm forth.
"Everyone, step back!"
While everyone hesitated, Kang Chaea stepped forward.
To protect her guild members, she began squeezing out S-rank supreme magic that surpassed her own limits.
[Territorial Magic: Geukbingse]
Kuuuuuuu!
A storm of blue mana began sweeping through the entire boss room, and the hidden boss trying to emerge from the gate froze in an instant and shattered into pieces.
Numerical difference was just a single rank, but the difference between A-rank and S-rank witnessed with one's own eyes was truly terrifying.
The overwhelming S-rank combat prowess that dispatched at once the hidden boss said to have wiped out nine A-ranks.
However, the cost was far too harsh.
"Keu-heok...!"
Immediately after defeating the boss, Kang Chaea collapsed to her knees, dark red blood spurting from her mouth.
"G-Guild Leader?!"
"It's Mana Pollution!"
Mana Pollution. A symptom where, upon excessive use of mana, the uncontrolled mana instantly corrupts and goes wild.
Kang Chaea's mana, which was targeting the hidden boss just a moment ago, began bursting out in all directions toward her surroundings this time.
Sharp ice thorns began erupting everywhere from all over Kang Chaea's body as the Mana Pollution gradually grew more violent.
"Euaaaak! D-Dodge! If you get caught in it, you die!"
"Guild Leader, we're sorry! We'll go outside for support...!"
The elite guild members and the vice guild leader who praised her just moments ago fled toward the Rift entrance without looking back, terrified for their own lives.
In an instant, all that remained in the boss room was Kang Chaea lying on the cold rock floor spitting blood.
And me, whose feet were tied up because I was slow to grasp the situation.
Ah, crazy. I need to run away too.
Very slowly, I step backward toward the Rift exit, moving away from Kang Chaea who continues to spew mana.
"S... Save...... me......"
Our eyes met.
On top of the freezing stone floor, Kang Chaea, who had only ever seemed distant and cold, was pitifully reaching out a trembling hand.
What filled her blurred pupils was not the confidence of an S-rank hunter from moments ago, but only the fear of abandonment and death.
If I run away like this, Kang Chaea will definitely die. Painfully spewing out all her mana until death.
It was clear that if I hesitated any further here, Kang Chaea's mana would even block off the Rift exit.
Right, thinking rationally, getting out fast is the right move.
There's no choice but to hope someone brings a mana suppressant or that the pollution miraculously stops...
"Ha, fuck... My daily pay didn't include this kind of hazard pay..."
Scratching my head violently, I throw my bag aside and start sprinting toward Kang Chaea, dodging flying thorns.
The mana storm rips through my flesh, freezing me in an instant as severe pain wells up, but I force myself to endure it.
And just as I recklessly grab her icy frozen hand with a clack and try to drag her toward the Rift exit—
A clear system notification chime rings in my ears.
[Warning: Contact made with a massive amount of contaminated mana!]
[Special condition fulfilled]
[Dormant unique trait: 'Mana Purification (Ex)' awakens!]
...Huh?
[Absorbs the target's contaminated mana and converts it into your own pure mana and stats]
[Stage 1: Skin Contact Triggered. Purification Efficiency 20%]
Paaaa-!
The freezing mana raging like blades inside Kang Chaea's body began absorbing rapidly into my body through her hand.
I thought it would hurt. I thought my body would freeze solid.
But...
What the hell. Why is it so refreshing?
As soon as the contaminated mana entered my body, it was purified into clean, pure mana, wrapping around me with pleasant energy filling my insides.
The fatigue crushing my whole body completely vanished, a sensation of my wounds rapidly healing.
However, Kang Chaea's rampage speed was too fast. The purification speed started failing to keep up with the pace of her mana depleting.
"In the end... it's just slowing down the speed of death."
Right then, as if understanding my words, the system notification chime rang in my ears once more.
[Notice: To increase purification efficiency, deeper close physical contact is required]
Close physical contact? How much closer can I even get here?
[Notice: Stage 2 Physical Contact (Embrace & Body Heat Sharing)]
...No way she'd sue me when I saved her life, right?
Pulling the waist of Kang Chaea collapsed on the floor, I hastily pull her into my embrace and hold her tight.
[Purification efficiency surges by 50%!]
As an unknown warmth intensely wrapped around Kang Chaea's entire body, her eyes widened automatically.
"Haeuk...?!"
The pain of death.
The hellish pains that felt like her organs were tearing and bones freezing until moments ago vanished, replaced by a cozy warmth filling her entire body.
A sense of perfect relief she had never felt once since birth, along with a languid pleasure spreading throughout her entire body.
"Eu, eut... Haeut......!"
A soft moan that even she couldn't believe began leaking from Kang Chaea's mouth.
She hastily covered her mouth with her hand, trying to swallow down all the moans attempting to escape.
Color instantly returned to her frozen skin, and the wild ice thorns melted away smoothly.
Instinctively, Kang Chaea tightly grabbed the hem of the unknown man's clothes.
Feeling that if she let go of this warmth, she would plunge back into that hellish pain again, she buried her face in his chest, taking heavy breaths.
"You... You, what is... this......"
I looked down at Kang Chaea, whose face turned red like a ripe apple in my arms.
As if she hadn't been dying moments ago, vitality began circulating through her entire body, and the mana swirling around gradually began settling down.
"Stay still, Kang Chaea-ssi."
"Eu, euk...!"
Kang Chaea bit her lip in shame, but like magic, she put more strength into her arms and hugged me even tighter.
[Hunter Kang Chaea's contaminated mana 30% purified]
[Passive 'Purification Addiction' is applied to the target]
[Hunter Kang Chaea begins to feel a strong psychological dependency on your body temperature!]
The cold chill that covered the Rift gradually began to subside.
Kang Chaea looked up at me with trembling eyes.
Within her eyes, confusion, shock, and a desire for salvation were intricately intertwined.
"You... just what on earth are you...?"
"Well. I was just about to check for myself as well."
Wearing a sly smirk, I hug Kang Chaea even tighter.
The youngest S-rank hunter was trembling in the arms of an F-rank porter like me.