Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Cultist Hunt #2
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"Let's go."
Standing up while grabbing the Goblin Warlord's curved sword, Do-yoon spotted the object next to him, flashing a cheeky grin.
"...."
Do-yoon had somehow taken command of the group, but no fool had stepped up to question or defy it.
'Hidden Piece reward.'
Everyone knew it now.
He held all the leverage and keys to conquering this trial.
'Youngest, oh youngest. Can't afford to lag behind, right? Can't even take a hit. Useless unless you're the best, got it?'
A tribe that served and worshipped the Black Dragon.
A hunter from a group that revered strength gazed silently at his back.
'I...'
Can't stand being weak.
Being weak meant being a burden to the tribe, trash unworthy of breeding.
Weakness meant death.
Rakiya Bells mulled over her solitude alone.
The position drawing all eyes, the one everyone trusted and followed.
Leader.
That was where she belonged.
The one who pierced the forbidden zone's monsters, saved the team from crisis, and possessed the wisdom to pass the trial.
'Kim Do-yoon.'
Was that really the frail hunter her sisters had described?
According to their intel, something utterly impossible was unfolding.
"What're you doing? Let's move."
A hunter from behind nudged Rakiya Bells, urging her on.
"Time to claim the reward. A Hidden Piece? That's gotta be huge."
Rakiya Bells read the greed in the hunter's eyes.
He didn't care who was leading, as long as rewards were on the table.
Yes, this was the tower's true face—and its truth.
Finally, after standing frozen for a while, she trudged after Do-yoon, who led the way.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ As Do-yoon strolled through the forbidden zone, a thought crossed his mind.
Everyone has a name.
So this object surely had one from her origins—not just a role like "Young True Ancestor."
"What's your name?"
"Huh...?"
She'd been swinging his arm like they were at an amusement park. Now, she looked up at him.
His face reflected in her ruby-red eyes.
"Irum..."
After groaning in place for a bit, she drooped her small shoulders and sighed.
"Phew... I can't remember."
"...."
"Hehe, wanna give me one, oppa-ya?"
A sudden naming game.
'Is that okay?'
Do-yoon briefly pictured the object's future self.
The Tower Lord, whose name was even now clashing solo in real-time galleries.
Come to think of it, he'd never wondered about the Tower Lord's name or such details.
What hunter would care about a terrifying boss monster's name?
They'd sooner hunt for exploitable weaknesses.
'A name...'
Do-yoon racked his stubborn brain.
If naming a sentient being, avoid cutesy pet names like Snowball or Whitey at all costs.
"Hehehe."
Her expectant gaze confirmed it—she was hoping.
'Eira.'
He recalled a word from a fairy tale he'd read in the orphanage.
The story was fuzzy, but the character—a snow fairy, pure and white—stood out vividly.
"Eira. What do you think?"
A name for a fairy as white and innocent as the object before him.
As soon as he said it, the Young True Ancestor's eyes sparkled.
"Eira...! So pretty!"
"You like it?"
"Yeah! From now on, I'm Eira!"
'Dodged a bullet.'
He'd have had to brainstorm more if she hated it.
Her joy lifted his spirits too.
"Oppa-ya! Unni-yas! I'm Eira now!"
She spun around and shouted to the trailing hunters.
They flinched, shooting Do-yoon bewildered looks.
*Nod.*
Nothing to say, so Do-yoon awkwardly nodded.
"Eira."
"Yeah?!"
"Can you point out the cultists?"
"Sure! They smell like me...!"
Smell.
Probably sensing mana.
"I smell the ones who tormented me tons too!"
'Cultist leaders, huh.'
Likely, capturing them would clear the trial and unlock the boss room.
"Let's go."
Eira grabbed his hand and led the way.
He'd told the others to tag along at their pace.
They'd handle forbidden zone monsters or fan out to scout more cultists.
*Rustle. Rustle.*
As ankle-high grass brushed his legs during the guide, Eira's steps slowed.
Turning to her, Do-yoon saw her grin ear-to-ear.
"Found 'em."
Unlike her initial ambush on him and the others, she eyed him cautiously now.
"Oppa-ya."
"Yeah?"
"Is it... okay?"
Ah.
Do-yoon belatedly grasped her meaning.
Back when the contract formed, between subconscious and reality, he'd promised.
Revenge was his to handle—no more pain for her.
*Grip.*
He seized the curved sword's hilt and drew it.
*Shing.*
The sleek, curved blade gleamed coldly.
Understanding, she beamed.
No more dreaming of lonely revenge.
She had a sturdy ally at her side.
Someone who listened, shared her rage and sorrow.
'Do-yoon.'
He was dearer than anything to object Eira.
*Tap.*
After a brief glance exchange.
Do-yoon bolted the way she pointed.
He slashed through obscuring bushes into a brightly lit clearing.
A cultist stared back, startled.
White heresy robes, face-masked.
Obvious bad-guy vibes—
Before swinging, Do-yoon kicked his unguarded gut.
*Thud!*
"Gahk...!"
"Eek!"
He glared at another whimpering in terror.
"Move and you die."
"...!"
Besides the writhing floor ones, three more stood frozen.
"Eira."
Do-yoon called the story's star, eyeing their defeated postures.
*Rustle. Rustle.*
From the shadows Do-yoon crossed, a girl stepped lightly through the grass, utterly out of place.
"T-The True Ancestor...!"
"How is the True Ancestor—"
"Why? You lot summoned me."
Eira was born from them.
Forced a powerful magic circle onto her fragile skin.
Experiments till pain erased her memories.
She'd etched their faces in her mind throughout—
And wandered the forbidden zone, awaiting this day.
'Originally...'
Originally, hunters teamed up to subdue the object.
But everything changed.
Because of one man.
"Th-This isn't right..!"
One cultist yelled at Do-yoon.
Other hunters met his eyes but slyly looked away, deepening his despair.
"Do you even know what you're keeping by your side?!"
"Object. Young True Ancestor. Good kid."
"See?! You don't kn—"
The cultist faltered mid-retort.
Do-yoon already knew everything.
"That monster, do you even..."
*Crunch!*
The monster-caller's head pulped.
Blood sprayed! The rest stared blankly at the meat lump.
"Eeeek...!"
"Bad words get you smacked."
Reckless talk meant death.
Now the cultists grasped who Do-yoon brought.
The monster was barely restraining her bloodlust.
For the man beside her.
"Do you have any idea what you're doing right now?!"
"Hide-and-seek."
"....?"
"Hehe, hide-and-seek is fun."
*Crunch!*
"Guhk..."
One more cultist perished.
"...Urk."
A watching hunter turned away, swallowing vomit.
"Leftovers are the chatty good cultists?"
Do-yoon couldn't care less.
They'd tormented this little one first; he just aided her gleeful payback.
*Step.*
He approached a terror-pissing cultist and spoke.
"Spill every other location."
"D-Don't kn—!"
Ignoring him, Do-yoon eyed another.
"The rest patrol the outskirts. Only the High Priest remains in the center, preparing to suppre... handle the object."
This one was sharp—valued his neck.
"Suppress?"
"Yes. The remnants are nobodies, but the High Priest is dangerous. He commands beasts; kobolds could threaten you..."
So the kobold swarm was his doing.
Grasping part of the tale, Do-yoon seized the trembling cultist's shoulder.
"You know where?"
"Spare me, and I'll guide you myself."
Eyes blank on his comrades, he pledged to Do-yoon.
More precisely, to the object beside him.
"Good. Deal."
"Wh-What the..."
Onlooker hunters gaped.
Cultists were formidable fighters.
One-on-one, maybe winnable—but groups amplified danger exponentially.
Yet this scene...
"Don't bother understanding. Just think 'sturdy ally'."
A lanky nearby hunter offered prime advice.
Sturdy ally.
The object—once their greatest trial in hunts—
Was now a hunter's ironclad backup, clearing the trial herself.