Life Is Sometimes Hazy

Life was sometimes hazy. Lee Mina couldn't collect her thoughts in the sudden chaos. It was shocking that the man she had been certain was dead was standing right in front of her, but the rope cinched around her waist and dragging her along was squeezing her stomach so tightly she could barely breathe.

"Thank you for saving me, but my stomach hurts!"

They were still fleeing for their lives, so she tried her best to endure it. Eventually she reached her limit and cried out. The man stopped at the sound of her voice, but because she was still being pulled by the rope, she landed hard on her backside.

"Kyaa?!"

That wasn't the end of it. Momentum sent her skidding across the cave's rough floor, scraping her bottom. She'd taken worse injuries fighting monsters, yet somehow this trivial discomfort hurt far more. At least the outfit that looked like an ordinary suit was actually hunter-grade equipment, so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she hadn't been injured.

"Ughhh."

"Are you all right?"

Lee Mina had been rubbing her stomach and sore backside to ease the pain. At the man's voice she flinched and quickly pulled her hands away.

"I-I'm fine. More importantly, thank you for rescuing me."

She took his offered hand and stood. The cave looked similar to before, but the walls no longer bore the scorch marks left by Gu Gang-woo's mana.

"Well, it was just something I handled while passing through. No need to concern yourself."

The man said she needn't worry, but Lee Mina couldn't simply brush his words aside.

"Ahaha. For something you did 'while passing through,' it looks like you doubled back from the direction you originally came."

After all, this area lay in the exact opposite direction of the exit.

"That bastard was blocking the way out, so I had no choice."

"Ugh, that's true."

Now that she thought about it, even while fighting her, Gu Gang-woo had subtly blocked the path that would have let her rejoin her guildmates.

"He's more meticulous than he appears. Just how did someone like you end up acquainted with a bastard like him?"

"W-well... he's my superior at work."

"I see."

"Could you please not look at me with such pity..."

The sympathetic gaze made Lee Mina nearly forget their dire situation and burst into tears. She had endured the sorrow of knowing no one would care if she vented about her workplace troubles. Now that sorrow threatened to spill over, but she barely held it back. Crying right now wouldn't help anyone.

"What do you intend to do now? Even if we keep running, we'll have to take a long detour."

She knew the general layout of this place from raiding the gate with her guildmates. The path Gu Gang-woo had lured her down would require a significant detour before she could regroup with them.

"What we must do now is not run away."

"Pardon?"

Lee Mina stared at the man in blank confusion.

"W-wait a moment! If we're not running, then what exactly are you planning to—"

"Obviously, we have to stand and fight, don't we?"

Was this truly the thinking of a B-rank hunter?

"Forgive me, but didn't you say you were B-rank? Perhaps you lied about your grade?"

"I am unmistakably a B-rank hunter."

"There's no chance of victory!"

No matter how she considered it, she couldn't understand his reasoning. Why did hunters have ranks in the first place? There were many factors, but the primary reason was the vast difference in innate mana. Even within the same fire-attribute, the range stretched from mana barely strong enough to scorch a single chopstick all the way to Gu Gang-woo's level that could melt solid ground.

"If you'd like, I can show you my hunter license."

"That's not necessary!!"

Being B-rank already made the situation hopeless! While it was possible to raise one's rank, there were limits. People even said the difference between A-rank and B-rank was like an adult fighting a child.

"I struggled against Gu Gang-woo myself—how do you expect to manage?!"

After all, Gu Gang-woo had overpowered even her, an A-rank hunter. How exactly did he plan to fight?

"Still, I can't figure out why a mere B-rank is so confident."

At the voice coming from behind them, Lee Mina whirled around. Sure enough, Gu Gang-woo stood there. Even though they had stopped briefly, he had caught up far too quickly. He must have used his own mana as a booster to pursue them.

"This is exactly why I hate insects that don't know their place and try to climb higher."

"Get out of the way!"

Seeing Gu Gang-woo stomp his foot as though taking a casual step, she shoved the man aside.

A fountain of flames erupted from the spot where they had been standing. She had known, at least roughly, how he utilized his mana since they belonged to the same guild.

"If ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you realized how strong I am, you should have been groveling without being told."

"Ugh."

Lee Mina glanced at Gu Gang-woo, then whispered to the man.

"...Please run. This all happened because of my own carelessness in the first place. You don't need to die for my sake."

If she hadn't blindly trusted Gu Gang-woo, they wouldn't have been driven into this corner.

"What will you do?"

"I'll buy as much time as I can. If it comes down to it, the guild members should come to help."

She deliberately spoke with confidence in response to the man's question. In truth, she had no idea whether her colleagues would actually come to her aid, or whether they would take her side even if they did. Still, it was far better than letting someone die.

"If I come to you, promise you'll let this person go."

"Oh?"

Gu Gang-woo laughed as though her words amused him.

"If you obediently come into my embrace, there's no reason I couldn't."

"Now's your chance. Hurry and go."

The man stared at her for a long moment, then closed his eyes tightly. He began ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠walking forward with heavy steps. The moment he passed by Gu Gang-woo and she felt a flicker of relief—

"What?!"

The instant Gu Gang-woo stomped again, flames surged from below and swallowed the man.

"Didn't you promise to let him go if I came to you?!"

When she cried out in horror, he sneered.

"I said there was no reason I couldn't if you came into my arms. You haven't done that, yet you expect me to simply release him? Who knows what that bastard will say once he gets out. Why should I let him go?"

As Gu Gang-woo strode toward her with leisurely confidence, Lee Mina gritted her teeth and tried to form a sword from her mana to attack him.

"This is truly something. Every single trivial thing about you is so rigid I don't even know what to say."

"Huh?"

"He's not dead again?!"

At the man's voice, both Lee Mina and Gu Gang-woo turned. Sure enough, the man stood there completely unharmed.

"Impossible. How can a mere B-rank hunter's resistance endure my attacks so many times?"

"What's impossible is your learning ability. Once might be excused, but after the second time you should have realized my mana doesn't work on you."

The man shook his head, gazing at Gu Gang-woo as if he were pathetic. Gu Gang-woo's face flushed crimson then paled.

"Who in their right mind walks toward the enemy while supposedly running away?"

"I will definitely kill you!"

Gu Gang-woo seemed to conclude that mana alone wouldn't suffice. He clenched his fist and charged at the man. Although his mana was fire-type, the propulsion he generated was like a small rocket. Even close-combat specialists couldn't afford to underestimate that power.

The man simply stood there watching him. Lee Mina tried to shout for him to dodge, but she noticed something strange first.

"Fishing line?"

She saw transparent threads dangling along the path Gu Gang-woo had taken. When she picked one up, she realized it was a fishing line that had partially melted and snapped from the heat. She wondered why such a thing would be inside a gate.

"Doesn't your throat get uncomfortable from screeching like that all the time?"

"All talk and no substance! If you're B-rank, then act like a B-rank and stay dow—kgh?!"

But Gu Gang-woo could say no more. Something had caught around his neck, stopping him in his tracks.

"Kgh?! A r-rope? When did you—?!"

Gu Gang-woo couldn't have known, but Lee Mina had seen it. After the fishing line snapped as he passed, a rope had slowly lowered to the ground. The moment Gu Gang-woo charged the man, the man made a pulling motion. The knotted noose dropped perfectly onto Gu Gang-woo's shoulder and tightened.

Gu Gang-woo's charge, boosted by his mana, had been fast. This time, that very speed worked against him, choking his neck. At that intensity, even a hunter with superior physical abilities risked a broken neck bone.

"I can just burn a rope like this...!"

A mere rope shouldn't have been able to restrain Gu Gang-woo's movements. If it had been an ordinary rope.

"Kugh?! What the hell?! Why won't it burn?!"

No matter how desperately Gu Gang-woo tried to burn the rope tightening around his neck, it refused to catch fire or snap.

"How does it feel to be a dog wearing a collar? That rope is a special item I created with my power, Rule Zero."

The man laughed, as if to say there was no way he would have brought an ordinary rope into a place like this.

"Rotten or not, you're still a hunter? You think something like this can actually defeat me?!"

Gu Gang-woo thrashed wildly. Indeed, even in this state there seemed no obvious way to defeat him. His mana still blazed fiercely, radiating intense heat, and Lee Mina's own mana was so depleted she could only form a small dagger.

Yet the man simply gave a light shrug.

"Why would I?"

"What?"

"If you want to fight so badly, do it by yourself. Now then, let's go!"

"Eh? W-wait a minuteee?!"

As he began to run, Lee Mina felt herself being dragged once more. Only then did she remember the rope was still tied around her waist. Knowing they were escaping, she forced herself to her feet and tried to run after him. But having already fought so much, she couldn't keep up and was nearly being pulled along the ground.

"Huff, huff. Is it really okay to just leave that person behind like that?"

"There's not much else we can do, is there?"

"That's true, but..."

Even if the rope was made of mana, Gu Gang-woo might free himself soon and come after them.

"Still, you don't need to worry too much."

"Why is that?"

"Where do you think I anchored that rope?"

"Huh?"

Lee Mina realized something strange when she considered it. This gate might look ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like an ordinary cave, but it was a dungeon known as a wasp nest—the nesting ground of monsters called Cursed Hornets. There were no ordinary rocks or stones here. The cave itself was a structure the monsters had painstakingly constructed.

"The most distinctive feature of Cursed Hornets is that they have two or more named monsters that take turns standing guard and commanding the worker bees."

"...You're not saying what I think you're saying, are you?"

Standing guard implied that while one worked, the other slept. She and her guildmates had already defeated one named monster—a Cursed Hornet Warrior—during their raid.

"I set it up so that if anyone pulled on it while it was sleeping, it would tighten around the waist."

She didn't need to be told that the rope currently choking Gu Gang-woo's neck was connected to that very creature. Incidentally, the waist was a common vital point for Cursed Hornet monsters, but everyone knew that carelessly stimulating it would lead to disaster.

-Kiiiiiiiiiiiiik!!!

Sure enough, an enraged roar unmistakably belonging to the Cursed Hornet Warrior thundered from behind them.