Paradise Where S-Ranks Stagger

Ku-gu-gu-gu—! The helicopter's fuselage screams like it's being shredded in a massive blender. The purple vortex filling the window instantly turns into a deep green abyss. Gravity flips, and all sense of up and down vanishes in the ensuing chaos.

"We're crashing! Brace for impact!" Baek Seol's shout echoes through the cabin. Instinctively, she unleashes her mana, coating the helicopter floor in a thick layer of ice. At the same time, Shin Seoyun activates the emergency shield embedded in Siu's suit, while Hong Yeonhwa wraps the overheating engine in flames to suppress a secondary explosion.

Bang—!! The craft slams into the rough dirt, rolling several times before grinding to a halt. Thick dust and acrid smoke obscure the view. Amid the ear-splitting ringing in his ears, Siu forces his eyes open.

"Ugh…."

Thanks to the cutting-edge tactical suit Seoyun fitted him with, nothing's broken. Siu staggers to his feet.

"Everyone okay… huh?"

His expression hardens as he looks around. Something's wrong with Korea's three strongest S-rank hunters.

"Urk… ngh, my head…."

Baek Seol clutches her chest, her face deathly pale as she dry-heaves. Hong Yeonhwa crawls on the ground, drenched in cold sweat, and even Shin Seoyun's legs give out—she can't stand properly. They look like they've inhaled poison gas; even breathing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seems agonizing.

Only the F-rank Siu stands firm on his own two feet.

"Baek Seol? What's wrong with everyone?"

"You… you're fine? Can't… breathe?"

Baek Seol stares up at him with bloodshot eyes, her face a mask of disbelief. Siu taps his goggles to check the data.

Chijik.

"Ah…."

Siu lets out a sigh. This is a Mana Oversaturation Zone. Mana particles here are dozens of times denser than in normal air. For S-rank hunters with finely tuned mana circuits, it's like being thrown naked into a pure oxygen chamber—a total shock. Burning lungs and bursting blood vessels crush them under the pressure.

For Siu, the "defective" F-rank with clogged mana circuits? It's just slightly humid air.

"This place is a clean zone for me. Ironic, huh."

Siu gives a wry smile and surveys their surroundings. The crash site is a bizarrely beautiful primeval jungle. Giant ferns glowing with fluorescence, flowers gaping wide enough to swallow a person whole, and purple vines blanketing the sky. Stunning, yet radiating a horrific murderous intent.

"This is inside the Infinite Corridor? It's not a labyrinth—it's a jungle."

Yeonhwa bites her lip in disgust, trying to spark a flame at her fingertips. But where a massive blaze should erupt, only a lighter-sized flicker appears—and dies with a pfft.

"What the hell? Why's my mana acting up?"

"It's because the atmospheric mana density is too high," Siu explains coolly. "Like trying to light a match underwater. Your mana can't release properly—it just disperses."

The situation is dire. The S-ranks are out of commission, their skills sealed. Then, a chilling presence stirs from the forest's deep shadows.

Shh-shh-shh—.

"…What the hell is that?"

Parting the underbrush comes an unexpected monster: vines and plants. No—predators shaped like plants. Thorny stems lined with saw-like teeth, sharp spines instead of leaves. Mana Eater Vines.

"Grr…."

The razor-sharp tendrils stretch toward the staggering S-ranks. The thick "mana scent" they emit drives the creatures mad.

"Get back!"

Baek Seol grits her teeth and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hurls an ice spear. But it crumbles to dust under the mana pressure before even touching the vines—just harmless ice shards plinking off.

"Kee-eek!"

Provoked, the vines surge from all sides. Dozens, hundreds of tentacles swarm the party.

"Damn it, magic's useless!"

"Rip 'em with raw strength!"

Yeonhwa draws a dagger from her waist and slashes a vine.

Slash— "Kyaaak—!"

Sticky venom sprays from the cut, melting her suit. The severed vine regenerates instantly and lunges again. The regrowth is unnaturally fast. Seoyun deploys a defensive artifact, but it overloads, flashing red warnings.

"Ngh…."

'At this rate, we're wiped.'

Cold sweat trickles down Siu's back. With the S-ranks neutralized, he's the only one who can turn this around. He digs into his pocket and pulls out a piece of transparent cellophane film. Flipping open his notebook, he places the film on the paper.

'Can't just look. Gotta dissect their structure.'

Siu grabs his pen and etches a minute ritual onto the film. Then, in the chaos, he swipes sweat from Baek Seol and Yeonhwa, smearing it on the film. A lens-processing technique that visualizes not just mana, but the essential code of objects.

Scratch, scratch.

The finished film piece glows blue. With trembling hands, Siu slots it into the right lens of his goggles.

Chijik—

The world shifts through the lens. Over the lush jungle overlays a grid of red and blue data. The attacking vines' forms vanish, replaced by flowing energy streams and molecular structures rendered in numbers.

'Got it.'

A smile creeps across Siu's lips. These plants don't eat mana—they oxidize it for energy. So they're vulnerable to pure chemical reactions, not mana.

His gaze falls to fruits and moss scattered on the ground. Through the lens, the ordinary red fruit shows C6H8O7 (high-concentration citric acid), the blue moss C3H5N3O9 (nitroglycerin derivative).

'Perfect.'

Dodging vine strikes, Siu rolls and snatches the materials.

"Hey! Han Siu! What are you doing? Run!"

Baek Seol yells, her leg snared by a vine. Siu doesn't flee. He ducks behind the helicopter wreckage, placing the scavenged fruit and moss on his notebook.

"Hang on just a bit! Recipe's almost ready!"

His hands blur as he inscribes an algorithm to amplify the materials' properties.

As Siu dots the final period, the fruit and moss melt into the paper, staining it blood-red script. A chemical weapon concentrating nature's toxicity—no mana required.

"Everyone, heads down!!"

Siu rips the completed scroll page free and hurls it at the clustered vines.

"Blow up!"

Kwajik— Boom!!

Red poison gas and viscous acid erupt on impact. No magical explosion—just the gruesome sizzle of melting and burning flesh.

"Kee-ee-eek!!"

The vines, confident in their mana resistance, shriek. The potent acid dissolves their cell walls instantly. Regeneration? Impossible. The melted tissue chars black and crumbles.

"…Huh."

Yeonhwa, freed from her bindings, stares blankly. Monsters immune to S-rank flames, wiped out by an F-rank's scavenged fruit peels.

"Baby… what was that? Not even magic?"

"Just acid rain, basically. Tailored to the local rules."

Siu adjusts his glasses smugly. The plants retreat, granting a brief lull. Seoyun, panting, gives him a thumbs-up.

"Knew it… my eye for value never fails. Best ROI ever."

But relief is short-lived. From where the plants withdrew, a massive rumble builds at the forest's heart.

Gu-gu-gu-gu-gung—!

"Earthquake?"

"No… this is…."

Baek Seol pales. The atmospheric mana she's sensing is being sucked away madly somewhere.

Crack! The ground splits wide, and a house-sized red flower bud erupts. A variant of the legendary man-eating flower, Rafflesia. Its massive petals slowly unfurl, black stamens extending like tentacles.

And then.

Bwoooong—!

As the bloom fully opens, a Absorption Field deploys, vacuuming all nearby mana like a Hoover.

"Gahk!"

"Ugh…!"

The barely holding S-ranks scream and collapse. Even their internal mana is forcibly drained. Mana circuits backflow, blood spurting from Baek Seol and Yeonhwa's mouths. Seoyun's on the verge of passing out.

Total party kill imminent. But one man—with no mana to drain—stands unscathed.

"Ha…."

Siu steps in front of the fallen beauties on shaking legs. His lens floods with red warnings.

"I'd love to run…."

Siu glances back. The mighty Baek Seol trembles, looking up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at him.

"Run… away. At least you…."

"Can't. Gotta get that overtime pay."

Siu pulls his last pen from his pocket. The colossal flower monster gapes toward him. A putrid rot stench accompanies a shadow dark enough to black out the world.

"Too damn big…."

Siu flips open his notebook and murmurs softly.

"No clocking out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tonight."