Demon Hunter #3
"...."
Doyun was secretly surprised.
It wasn't because he had suddenly discovered a dying man, but because of his own attitude—he felt almost no change in emotion even after seeing him.
Should he call this getting used to it?
Realizing that he was slowly going insane, Doyun faced the fading breath.
-Drip. Drip.
Fresh blood was still flowing beneath the wooden cross.
"Gaa..."
"Looks like you're still alive."
Doyun walked toward him with heavy, rhythmic steps.
A Hunter? Or perhaps an NPC?
He still didn't know anything. That was why he had approached, to find out.
"...Ah."
The gaze that had lost its way turned toward Doyun.
The scent of death greeted Doyun first.
It was a stench that made you stop in your tracks the moment you smelled it, and the man was at the center of it.
"R-run... No, save me."
"What happened?"
"Th-those lunatics. They suddenly said we shouldn't become beasts..."
Demon Hunter.
Hearing just a few words, he immediately knew it was the work of the culprits he had met.
'They really weren't sane, after all.'
Then again, if they were sane, they wouldn't have tried to attack Doyun the moment they met him.
"Run. If you meet them, you must run. They don't speak the same language."
'Sorry about that. I already met them.'
He had even made an indulgence as a token of proof.
He felt unnecessarily conscious of the badge pinned to his chest.
-Swish.
He turned his body slightly to hide the badge, then asked the man hanging there again.
"Where did those guys go now?"
"...By now, they've probably left to find other victims. But, but I don't know when they might come back."
"Damn."
-Gaaaa...
He could feel the faint breath barely holding on.
He knew instinctively. This man didn't have much time left.
"I, I don't have much time left. At least you..."
"Do you think I'm any different?"
"Beyond this, there is a zone where bizarre magic flows. If you go to the other side of that place... you will be able to find the path leading to the capital."
'Oh.'
It seemed he wasn't a Hunter, but an existence arranged by the Tower.
"How do I identify that zone?"
"Trees... if there are traces of dark red magic flowing, you are already inside the zone, so run..."
-Thud.
The NPC's eyes, which had been speaking up to that point, grew dim, and his head dropped immediately.
It was a finality that seemed to signify his job was done.
Doyun stood before him and pondered for a moment.
"Why?"
"I felt like I should at least offer a silent prayer."
....
He bowed his head to wish for peace after death.
Even though this was a fate that would repeat itself countless times on this floor, he felt like doing it for some reason.
"Hmm."
Doyun, having taken his eyes off the deceased NPC, scanned for his next destination.
Across the half-collapsed village.
His target was the ominous forest exuding a dark aura.
He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to focus his mind.
'You are not yet at a level where you can sense magic.'
He recalled the existence of the one who had coldly made him realize his position under the cold moonlight.
Despite being veiled in a black film, an atmosphere that made him think of white hair and red eyes.
The possessor of beauty he had seen in the Gallery, the one he had been bewitched by without even realizing it.
Doyun had been taught directly by her, the one called the Tower Lord, or the True Ancestor.
'However, if I teach you, sensing a few strands of magic is something you can learn quickly.'
'Is that possible?'
'If you do it, it works.'
He really did it until it worked.
Under the guidance of the black existence, the True Ancestor, to a degree he had never exerted such concentration in his life.
Doyun had forcibly mastered how to sense magic.
-Swoosh...
Searching for magic.
Such results began to unfold before Doyun's eyes now.
Over the space where nothing had been felt, a different kind of sensation began to emerge.
Something particularly grating to Doyun's senses was caught.
'Found it.'
Ominous magic.
The information the NPC had relayed before his breath faded was certain.
Doyun's gaze immediately turned toward it.
A strand of magic, where a thick red light resided, was flowing beneath Doyun's feet like a signal.
"It was real."
"There's something there!"
Aira, who shared Doyun's senses, let out a fascinated remark.
"If we go straight this way, there will probably be a boss room."
The problem was, could they approach it without anything happening until then?
"Grrr..."
No sooner had he finished talking in the Gallery than a new presence was felt.
When he turned his head, pupils resembling those of a beast were glaring at Doyun.
The number was one, two... it easily exceeded five.
"Still, this is a bit of a mild flavor."
Compared to when the Demon Hunters were glaring at him as a group, this was much cuter.
Without paying attention to the comments, he drew his usual curved blade and aimed it.
The battle that followed proceeded too simply.
Their nature of rushing in without looking ahead was no longer a threat to Doyun.
No, before that, the difference in stats had started to show.
His physical strength, which had been on par with a ghoul, had grown one step further through level-ups.
-Kuguguk...!
"Grrr!"
He had grown enough to compete in strength with a Lycan whose build was a head larger than Doyun's, without being inferior.
"Play?!"
"No."
Doyun stopped Aira, who was filled with anticipation.
It was better to save magic as much as possible.
That was because there was no means to recover the consumed magic yet.
-Thwack!
As he lightly flicked the hilt of the curved blade that was clashing with force, the Lycan's arm soared into the air.
Not missing the split-second opening, Doyun immediately swung his blade toward the Lycan's vital point.
"Kkeurk..!"
"Next."
Leaving the entity with dimming eyes behind, he naturally moved his feet toward the next beast.
The aspect of the battle that had been formed to hunt one man had already been flipped.
Ending the battle lightly with the last Lycan that had been running away, Doyun stopped in his tracks for a moment.
.....
Level up, still not happening.
'So this much isn't enough.'
From a certain point on, he stopped expecting level-ups against small-fry mobs.
If you're addicted to dopamine, would it feel like this?
He had been forced into blindly aiming for larger chunks of experience.
"Then, first."
Since he was now in a situation where he could avoid the Demon Hunters' eyes and easily dispose of monsters.
There was nothing left to stop Doyun on this floor.
All that remained was the location of the boss room, presumed to be in the center of that contaminated zone.
"Shall we go right away?"
"Yes!"
His goal was, as always, a safe entry into the 15th floor.
The more time was shortened in that process, the better it was for Doyun.
'It's even better if I go first and secure a spot.'
Since last time his turn had been the lowest—
This time, he also had the desire to go first and take a spot leisurely.
With such expectations, Doyun headed toward the center where the ominous magic was flowing.
-Rustle.
The sensation of dead weeds brushing against his ankles.
As ominous red colors flowed into the zone where life had been extinguished into a dark hue, a bizarre atmosphere began to form as if a corpse had come back to life.
"Aira."
"Hmm?"
"If you hadn't met me back then, what do you think it would have been like?"
"...."
When he asked because the road was boring, Aira's presence disappeared for a moment.
As if imagining a scenario she didn't want to recall, Aira remained silent for a long time.
'Did I ask for no reason?'
Still, it wasn't malice born from pure dopamine.
Because the object dominating the 15th floor was none other than another version of Aira.
Several years past that point, a more twisted version of Aira would exist.
"I think I would have hated it a lot."
"Who?"
"Just, everything."
"Hmm..."
"And. I think I would have been very sad."
"That's true."
No one would have been able to understand, and no one would have been able to accept that existence.
Because after undergoing the cult's terrible experiments, she had gained power she didn't even want herself.
From the eyes of an ordinary person, there was no way such an existence of Aira could look pleasant.
After finishing her revenge on the cult, the hollowed-out Aira would have started wandering.
And that process would be the background of the stage Doyun was walking through now.
"I should go quickly and soothe her."
"Soothe me?"
"Yeah. That way I'll be able to clear the floor."
"But I can just kill her, right?"
"Excuse me?"
"But, that person isn't Aira, is she?"
A somewhat profound yet simple and clear answer had come out.
If he could kill her, could he really do that?
He briefly gauged the power of the object, but it wouldn't work, as expected.
"I'll try my best once."
Because even when he was on the 5th floor, borrowing the power of 'Resonance' and receiving Aira's help had played a huge role.
If he could strike up a conversation by luck this time too, he'd at least be halfway there.
While he was moving toward the center with such thoughts—
"Oh."
Doyun discovered bloodstains leading long across the floor.
Traces that looked as if they had been scattered intentionally, to show off to someone.
'Lycan?'
The probability was low.
They would be busy tearing into their prey right in front of them; they wouldn't have the intelligence to leave traces out in the open like this.
There was a clear sense of purpose.
'Hunter.'
It seemed they had finally decided to greet him belatedly.
Doyun reached the conclusion without much difficulty.