Chapter 187
Chapter 187
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 187
Chapter Title: Part 2 Episode 50
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To enter Tronlop, Seol Do-yoon stepped into the massive igloo alongside Dun.
The moment they transferred into the unknown space inside the igloo, an endless cliff came into view.
“If you fall down that cliff, you can enter Tronlop.”
“Got a rope?”
“You can’t go down with a rope. You have to leap off decisively to enter.”
“Hmm, Dun. You’re not trying to kill me, are you?”
Seol Do-yoon’s face paled as he peered down the dizzying cliff and forced a smile.
“Why would I kill you?”
“Then why don’t you jump first?”
“…….”
Dun crossed her arms and stared at Seol Do-yoon without a word.
It was a staring contest that lasted about ten minutes.
“Fine, I’ll trust our friendship and jump.”
Unable to endure the silence, Seol Do-yoon spread his arms wide and boldly leaped off the cliff. Gravity enveloped his body, pulling him down at terrifying speed.
“Dun!”
A puzzled shout from Seol Do-yoon echoed up from below the cliff.
“Is this right?”
Yaa—
Yaa—
Kwachik!
As the sound of impact followed, Dun flashed a satisfied smile and lightly jumped down after him.
At the bottom of the cliff, Dun looked around for the unconscious Seol Do-yoon. He wasn’t where she’d expected—smashed flat on the ground.
“So this is Tronlop?”
“!!!”
Without any warning presence, Seol Do-yoon popped up behind her and spoke.
“You’re fine?”
Dun’s expression twisted sharply.
“What? Were you hoping I’d die?”
“……How did you land?”
Seol Do-yoon grinned and repeatedly folded and unfolded the foldable transparent parachute attached to his shoulder.
“Brought a homemade parachute for emergencies. Thorough, right?”
“…….”
Dun fixed him with a cold glare, silently staring him down. Seol Do-yoon, thrilled to have made it to Tronlop, just beamed brightly.
“Anyway, saying you wanted to kill me kinda hurts, Dun. Don’t wanna ruin our friendship, so I’ll chalk it up to a mean prank.”
Seol Do-yoon patted Dun’s shoulder and stepped over the thorns littering the ground.
He concentrated mana in his soles to boost durability, so the thorns didn’t pierce his feet.
“What if it wasn’t a prank?”
Dun spoke from behind in a soft tone.
“Why so serious? It’s scary.”
Seol Do-yoon, who’d been scanning the area, glanced back at her.
Hwaaaak!
His vision turned entirely red.
A massive blaze had erupted right behind him, engulfing Seol Do-yoon.
The flames filled the space completely, consuming the nearby floor, ceiling, and walls without gaps.
The numerous thorns jutting from the ground began to burn in the inferno.
Wherever the flames touched, everything turned to ash. Dun walked toward the pile of cinders where the fire had licked.
She reached out, sifting through the ashes as if searching for Bachinum soil.
But a voice came from the wall side, untouched by the flames.
“A mage with excellent mana control. Guess you’re not Dun after all.”
Perched nimbly atop a thick, dark blue arrow embedded in the wall, Seol Do-yoon had barely escaped the blaze. He leaped down to the scorched, pristine floor.
Now that it was clear the Dun before him wasn’t the real one, Seol Do-yoon pulled out his phone from his inner pocket and searched for the real Dun’s contact.
As he sent a rescue request to Dun, she conjured a spear in her hand and aimed it at him.
Muscles bulged in Dun’s arm, and she hurled the spear at high speed.
Kwachik!
The hand holding the phone was pierced by the long spear and pinned to the wall.
Dding.
Meanwhile, the phone that had fallen to the floor lit up, a message appearing at the top.
[Just die lol]
Seol Do-yoon, grimacing in pain, had veins bulging on his forehead. His lips twitched before curving into a smile.
‘So cute I wanna kill her.’
He’d expected a lukewarm response since it was a casual text, but facing the reality soured his mood. She’d even cried in text—too much.
“Abandoned by Dun, huh?”
Ice spears flew toward Seol Do-yoon’s abdomen as he’d briefly lost focus.
Puwook!!
With his hand pinned and now his gut fixed to the wall, Seol Do-yoon coughed up blood.
“……Haa.”
He exhaled, steadying his racing heart and minimizing the pain with controlled breaths.
“Why aren’t you fighting back?”
Dun walked toward him step by step, arms crossed in an arrogant stance, her gait elegant.
“Your greeting’s pretty aggressive.”
Seol Do-yoon spat blood and flashed a bright smile, baring bloodied teeth.
“How about a handshake? To say let’s talk it out instead of violence?”
He extended his unpinned hand toward the Dun-like creature.
Puk!
Even the arm he’d offered for the handshake was now pinned to the wall.
‘Fuck.’
Seol Do-yoon bowed his head and gritted his teeth to endure the agony.
It had been years since childhood since he’d suffered a piercing wound like this; the long-forgotten pain was excruciating.
Getting done in by a monster disguised as Dun made it all the more humiliating.
He ground his teeth once, then lifted his head with a calm smile restored.
“Talk it out. It hurts.”
“Why aren’t you attacking?”
“I pick my fights. If I think I’ll lose, my will to fight vanishes.”
He’d checked with ‘Honan’ earlier: the figure before him wasn’t Bachinum Dun and had no soulstone visible.
That could mean it was another Bachinum. Or something higher.
Everyone exuded an aura tied to their mana capacity, and this Dun impostor gave off an unusual one.
Unclear what it was yet, fighting the same species without gauging its abilities was risky.
Mana drained, half-assed attacks and dodges would just lead to getting pummeled in various ways.
Seol Do-yoon wasn’t one for foolishly prolonging a fight he couldn’t win.
‘Not killing me outright means it’s probing for info?’
Staying meekly pinned, accepting his plight humbly and talking would hurt the least before worse attacks.
“I hate pain. Leave me like this without more attacks, and I’ll give you good info.”
“Info? What could you possibly tell me.”
Seol Do-yoon beckoned her closer with his chin. As she brought her face near, he leaned to whisper in “Dun’s” ear.
“Anything you’re curious about.”
He pulled back, flashing a charming smile.
“By the way, I’m the sleazy weak type who’d sell out family under torture.”
The creature listened quietly, then its lips twitched before bursting into loud laughter.
“Haha! Even stripped of power, still a Settler? Forgot the perks of your strength. The dregs of a long-sustained world—weakened yet so annoyingly resilient. Hahaha!”
After laughing heartily and wiping tears, it snapped its fingers.
The spears pinning Seol Do-yoon to the wall crumbled to dust and vanished.
He collapsed to the floor, breathing raggedly and vomiting more blood. The blades had poison; HP drain was severe.
“Heard from my minions. You and Dun are close, right?”
The creature crouched near the sprawled Seol Do-yoon.
Viscous obsession and creepy longing gleamed in its eyes.
“That kid doesn’t die in water or fire. Send lightning to kill her, and she grills fish with it. Try gutting her with a Dergoff blade immune to Montjhell’s flames, and the sword shatters instead. Truly complete and perfect. As a Bachinum, that is.”
The being crossed its arms, hugging itself.
“Completeness is beautiful. It devours frail anxieties.”
Between fear and admiration.
Lost in rapture for a while, it suddenly grabbed Seol Do-yoon’s hair and yanked him up.
“Then tell me. How to kill Dun. How to claim that kid’s soulstone.”
“…….”
Seol Do-yoon hesitated, eyes darting. Blood poured from the wounds the creature had inflicted. He checked his status window.
[HP: 942,000 / 3,500,000]
HP halved like this was rare lately.
Just a few piercings causing this damage. He could actually die here.
‘Sell out Dun!’
She’s smart and strong; she’ll survive. His own neck was on the line now. Resolved, Seol Do-yoon opened his mouth.
“Dun—”
Kwaaaaaang!
As he uttered the first word, the remaining thorns shattered from the shockwave, dust filling the air.
Through it, red eyes blazing with murderous intent gleamed. But like a mirage, they vanished quickly.
Then, above the Dun impostor’s head, the real Dun appeared as if teleporting.
Dun twisted her waist sharply, bending her legs. Like a yo-yo string unwinding, she released, spinning her leg down in a devastating strike.
Shuuuk, Kwang!!
It happened in an instant.
Dirt and stone fragments scattered in the shockwave’s fierce wind.
A deep crater formed in the floor, the creature mercilessly slammed into it.
Dun seized the impostor’s hair and glared down coldly. Its face was crumbling from her attack.
“Mo, more, Dun…….”
Dun’s face lit with eerie excitement as she gripped its throat and squeezed hard.
Wooduk!
She snapped its neck once, then clenched her fist and punched through its abdomen.
Puk-puk-puk!
Crossing punches, she relentlessly battered the foe.
Her red eyes, bloodshot and unfocused, brimmed with ecstatic pleasure.
Drawing a sword from her inventory, Dun slashed at the dissolving form. Once wasn’t enough.
As if determined to erase it completely, she swung repeatedly.
“Keok!”
Overloaded from mana control and violent motions, Dun spat blood and held her breath.
Panting, she couldn’t focus.
Summoning a blunt weapon from her inventory, she smashed away like grinding it down.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
The surrounding floor turned to mush like wet clay. Even desperately controlling her power to focus strikes, limits loomed.
As control neared breaking, Dun exhaled sharply and headbutted where the creature had been.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
“Die!!!! Die!!!! Die already!!!!!”
She screamed at what was now just sand. Rage-filled tears poured from Dun’s eyes.
[ Rare+ ] Sand
Description: Sand imbued with the power of a god.
Confirming the info window, Dun screamed, throat veins bulging.
“Aaagh, fuck, you coward bitch!!!!”
Her furious roar echoed through the dungeon. Exhausted from overexertion, Dun collapsed, body trembling.
Several arrows protruded from Dun’s small back. In surging pain, she yanked her hair.
Puk-puk-puk!
Dozens more arrows suddenly riddled her body. Turning, she saw the wounded Seol Do-yoon holding a bow.
Keeeing!
As he drew the string, the massive wooden bow emitted a eerie sound. Releasing, dozens more soul arrows embedded in Dun.
“What the hell are you doing!!”
An arrow in her forehead, Dun yelled at Seol Do-yoon watching from afar.
“You were beating your doppelganger so hard, I got bored and shot you!!”
Seol Do-yoon shouted from atop the crater.
“You sleazy weak bitch, you were gonna spill my weakness!!!”
Dun, porcupine-like from the arrows, yelled up from the pit.
“Of course!!”
“Should’ve tied you up and beat you too!!!”
Dun glared at Seol Do-yoon, then lay back, exhaling thinly.
Thanks to the dozens of soul arrows Seol Do-yoon had helpfully embedded, she endured the overload a bit better.
Her body had moved surprisingly well mid-fight because he’d kept shooting from behind.
‘Annoyingly likable guy…….’
Dun’s blurring vision fixed on Seol Do-yoon stowing his bow.
After the message from him at base, a call came from “probably the guy you’re looking for.”
Answering revealed all sorts of chatter. Listening while dragging her weary body led her to the igloo dungeon.
She hadn’t even grasped that guy’s tail-end during the rebellion; now she’d attacked his illusion again.
The huge expectations from rushing in, mistaking it for him, doubled the disappointment, darkening her mood.
Lethargy hit with crashing drowsiness; Dun curled up in the crater and fell asleep.