Chapter 193
Translator: uly
Chapter: 193
Chapter Title: Part 2 - Episode 56
Dun and Seol Do-yun had been transported somewhere, rolling across the floor of an unfamiliar place several times.
Amid the tumbling, crystal shards flew toward him but shattered. Dun brushed off the crystal fragments and pushed himself up onto his torso.
“Where the hell is this...?”
A damp cave floor typical of gates stretched out before him.
Droplets formed from condensed moisture dangled from the ceiling, plopping onto Dun’s forehead one by one.
In the direction Dun faced, sharp crystal pillars jutted out. Light emanating from the crystals hit surrounding ones, making the gate’s interior sparkle.
‘Even in that chaotic teleport, it still attacked me.’
But with no sign of Hwang Gi-tae nearby, it seemed the attack had failed, and he’d fled somewhere.
Dun searched for Seol Do-yun, getting to his feet and walking through the gate’s interior.
Blood was trickling from the left corner of the floor.
Dun hurried over to follow the trail of blood. At its end lay Seol Do-yun.
His body was impaled on a crystal pillar that reached the ceiling, dangling limply toward the floor.
“......”
Dun had deflected the crystal attack unscathed, but Seol Do-yun apparently hadn’t been able to dodge it mid-teleport.
Dun blinked for a moment, then pressed his index and middle fingers to Seol Do-yun’s neck to check his pulse.
Thump, thump. Feeling the heartbeat, Dun pulled a sword from his inventory.
Slice!
Dun cleanly severed the upper part of the crystal pillar piercing Seol Do-yun, then carefully extracted him from it.
His heart and abdomen were precisely run through—whether he could still be alive was anyone’s guess.
Dun knew that pre-adult Bachinums died if their heart or brain was damaged enough to stop functioning.
No close inspection needed; the wound from the crystal pillar was brutally deep.
Dun retrieved a recovery potion from his inventory and poured it over Seol Do-yun’s injury.
The wound bubbled furiously as new flesh began to sprout. It swelled slightly but barely healed. Not nearly enough.
Dun trickled recovery potion into Seol Do-yun’s mouth.
Unconscious, he couldn’t swallow, so Dun put some in his own mouth, pressed his lips to Seol Do-yun’s, and helped him swallow.
Thanks to that, Seol Do-yun’s wounds visibly mended. Still severe, but the major internal tissues had regained form.
Crash!
Suddenly, a sharp sound rang out from the distance. Dun turned to see a childlike Seol Do-yun standing there blankly.
Ptoo!
Spotting him, Dun spat out the recovery potion he’d held in his mouth.
“What the hell did you do to me while I was out...”
Flustered, Dun wiped his mouth and widened his eyes.
The childlike Seol Do-yun dropped strange liquid onto a concave crystal shard. Dun glanced back and forth between the adult Seol Do-yun and the child version to grasp the situation.
The child Seol Do-yun approached his main body, which Dun held. Then the small figure crumbled into dirt.
“Pervert.”
At some point, the battered Seol Do-yun in Dun’s arms opened his eyes and smirked.
“Don’t read into it weirdly. Before I kill you again.”
Dun scowled and shoved the somewhat recovered Seol Do-yun to the floor.
“More importantly, what was that?”
Dun gargled with some liquid to rinse his mouth and asked.
“Hwang Gi-tae tried to kill me first during the teleport, figuring I was the easier target.”
Seol Do-yun staggered to his feet and picked up the concave crystal shard he’d dropped and shattered on the floor.
“Your doppelganger had dealt me a fatal wound that hadn’t healed yet, so I nearly died for real from Hwang Gi-tae’s attack. Right before death, I quickly made a clone to extend my life. Didn’t expect you to sloppy-kiss me back to recovery while I fetched something to heal my main body, though.”
“Disgusting bastard...”
Dun crossed his arms, impressed despite himself.
The guy knew how to make sure you never worried about him.
He remembered barely fretting over this guy even back when it was early morning or whatever.
Proud as hell, he never depended on anyone for his own problems, and selfish enough to dazzlingly own his life.
“So where’s Hwang Gi-tae now?”
Seol Do-yun pulled bandages from his inventory, wrapping his deeply torn wounds as he spoke.
“Ran off when his mana ran dry. That way.”
“Oh, really?”
Dun headed in the direction Seol Do-yun pointed.
A step behind, Seol Do-yun wobbled after him—then suddenly felt his consciousness fading again.
Taking fatal hits back-to-back before full recovery had left his body in ruins.
Warning windows kept popping up, but Seol Do-yun ignored them and pressed on.
Furrowing his brow to stay alert, he lost even the sensation of walking at some point.
Just as his awareness dimmed again and his body tilted forward.
Dun, who’d been walking fine, stopped abruptly.
Seol Do-yun’s forehead flopped onto Dun’s shoulder, using it as a brace to endure the spinning world for a moment.
Thanks to Dun halting, Seol Do-yun didn’t topple forward. He regained his senses and spoke.
“Why’d you stop all of a sudden?”
Dun, who’d stood silently for a bit, finally replied.
“Out of stamina. Short of breath.”
As Seol Do-yun’s forehead lifted from Dun’s back, Dun caught his breath and resumed walking.
“......”
Somewhat recovered, Seol Do-yun stared at Dun in stunned silence.
* * *
Hwang Gi-tae, who’d moved to the Busan Hysis Gate, created a new emission-type gate below the base-type gate.
Lacking mana to spawn regular monsters, he’d absorbed only the mana shared by the base-type gate after generating the boss area.
He’d tried killing the man first during the teleport to steal his mana, but ended up drained instead.
If the woman spotted him in this state, he’d be done for—so he’d fled.
After sealing the boss area entrance, a water mirror suddenly appeared above Hwang Gi-tae’s head as he drew mana from the upper base-type gate, reflecting another humanoid monster.
[Don’t make unscheduled gates! A-rank hunters are about to enter my area!]
Hwang Gi-tae drooped his eyebrows pitifully.
[That’s not the point. Everyone needs to cut off their mana and come here. You’ll love the ones I brought, too.]
[Whatever you brought, don’t screw up this plan. You know how much of his mana went into this setup. The outer shield blocks civilians’ mana, so we can’t raise the gate rank with them. Quit screwing around and help. I’ll give you mana after we kill them all.]
[Pooling our power to kill the two I gathered would net more...]
Hwang Gi-tae trailed off, eyeing his ally Oh Min-ji’s reflection in the mirror. Her eyes blazed with a murderous glare.
[O-okay, got it. Share the situation. But I’m really out of power...]
Soon, a massive water mirror unfurled above Hwang Gi-tae’s head. The one showing him shifted to display the interiors and situations of four gates.
‘They’re fighting well...’
He’d thought the gates were tough to set up, but the human hunters were stronger than expected.
Probably because ones smelling like kin were leading them.
Watching, Hwang Gi-tae spotted a hunter separated from the group.
With a finger snap, surrounding monsters powered up and tore the careless hunter apart.
Sweet power flowed in—decent mana reserves.
But still nowhere near enough.
Killing more kin-like ones might recharge him.
Hwang Gi-tae scanned the gates for the most vulnerable. A nimble one was solving the spherical maze where his clone slept.
Smart kid—steadily unraveling a maze even he didn’t know how to solve.
Staying so long it was like breathing underwater. Soon, he’d reach the clone and pierce its heart.
Couldn’t let that happen.
Hwang Gi-tae extended a hand, expending his new power to send freezing waves through the maze.
The swimmer panicked at the sudden attack type.
Hwang Gi-tae dangled a will-o’-the-wisp in the wrong direction; it swam that way.
‘Might gain another ally.’
Sure, it could vanish in monsterfication, but that’s the risk for joining us.
With that intense aura, though, it might become an Abyssal safely.
Safely Abyssified kin were rare; high hopes here.
Hwang Gi-tae summoned an ice spear toward the dead-end swimmer.
Could freeze it, but heart-pierce was cleaner if cold-resistant.
As he lowered his hand to impale—
Whoosh!
A rock fragment flew from afar, piercing his hand. Blue blood spurted from the hole.
[Kraaaagh!]
Hwang Gi-tae clutched his wounded hand and howled.
The ice spear missed Byeon Woo-jin’s heart, hitting his abdomen instead.
[Who...?]
Tears streaming, Hwang Gi-tae raised his head with rage-filled eyes.
The red-eyed beauty he’d felt so fondly for approached.
Dun had been watching from behind.
Arriving as the ice spear targeted Byeon Woo-jin, he’d attacked hastily.
Dun strode toward Hwang Gi-tae.
The red eyes blazed murderously at him with a wretched expression.
Boom!
No chance to flee—the being seized his throat, slamming him against the wall and pinning him.
“Ki-tae.”
The tender voice calling him sent chills of pathos.
“Let’s not do this, okay?”
Hwang Gi-tae’s heart broke further at the pleading tone. Knowing she’d turned her blade on him hurt too much.
Before, her gaze had felt affectionate, fueling his boiling urgency.
He desperately wanted to avoid those killing eyes.
‘It’s fine. Kill her, make her ours, and her gaze will warm. Our leader.’
Loneliness swelled with every look; he yearned to kill and keep her close.
‘Gotta pool power fast...’
Hwang Gi-tae glanced at the ceiling mirror. The attack missed the kill but inflicted fatal damage.
Gathering mana, he summoned another ice spear toward Byeon Woo-jin. Killing him would yield more power.
Tears falling, Hwang Gi-tae smiled.
[Don’t look at me like that... I’m not bad... Just so lonely...]
“......Can you not attack? Please.”
As Dun’s eyes welled up, Hwang Gi-tae hurriedly spoke.
[O-okay! Just let go of my throat, and I’ll behave...]
Dun glanced at the mirror. Slower than before, but ice spears formed above Byeon Woo-jin’s reflection.
Her sharp eyes caught the sluggish process easily.
‘First: In this situation, Hwang Gi-tae can’t undo his own ability.’
Dun bowed his head, deep in thought.
‘Second: Monster nature means he won’t abandon killing Byeon Woo-jin.’
Grinding his teeth, Dun cursed himself for not killing the imposter earlier.
‘Third: Leaving him alive risks other healthy ones’ lives.’
Dun raised his head.
Bloodshot eyes shed tears, but his gaze was ice-cold.
‘Gotta kill him.’
He’d practiced discarding precious memories countless times; switching mindsets was easy.
Swallowing vivid recollections, Dun clenched his fist decisively.
Boom!
A destruction echoed with dust rising. Before swinging, Hwang Gi-tae tumbled sideways.
Someone had struck him before Dun’s punch landed.
“??”
Dun retracted his raised fist, scowling sideways.
Seol Do-yun stood there, dusting off his knuckles with a bright expression.
“Nice block!”
Dun’s resolve crumbled from Seol Do-yun’s interference; he sank to the floor.
Seol Do-yun had jammed dozens of arrows into Hwang Gi-tae’s head to neuter him, then returned to Dun.
He’d wandered off earlier to scout, declaring he’d figure out where they were—and now ruined the final blow.
Nearly botched cleanly ending Ki-tae.
“What’re you doing? Kill him now while he’s easy.”
Monsters varied, but lacking regeneration, they grew insanely fast.
As Dun staggered up to finish Hwang Gi-tae, Seol Do-yun clapped his hands to Dun’s face and yanked.
“Dun! Dun! This isn’t the time! Snap out of it!”
Seol Do-yun pulled and released Dun’s face until focus returned to his eyes.
“While you slacked, I scouted: we’re near Busan. Punch through the ceiling and swim—you’ll find Woo-jin that way!”
Seol Do-yun hoisted the dazed Dun onto his shoulder.
Blood seeped from his wounds during the strain, but his face beamed.
“I’m actually a psycho who loves killing! I’ll joyfully off Ki-tae, so you save dying Byeon Woo-jin!”
Gathering mana in his arm, Seol Do-yun hurled Dun toward Byeon Woo-jin’s gate.
Boom!
Dun’s face smashed straight into the ceiling.
“......”
“......”
Couldn’t throw to the gate’s end, but midway at least—power fell short, sticking awkwardly.
Seol Do-yun grinned awkwardly, gauging Dun’s reaction. Dun, dangling briefly from the ceiling, spoke.
“......Painlessly.”
“Got it. Painless and clean.”
Seol Do-yun, with keen ears, smiled brightly and replied.
Hearing that, Dun wriggled, slipping through the ceiling gap his head had made.