Chapter 46

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Translator: 8uhl

Chapter: 46

Chapter Title: 【Festival of Emergency】

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So this is what it means for the status window to speak.

Jet-black letters floated before my eyes, repeating their cycle of appearance and disappearance.

It even spells out the clear condition. This boundary is kinder than I thought.

"This'll turn into a defense battle."

Kim Min-sook Hunter muttered.

I looked around. Everyone had taken up positions centered on Han Jin-woo Hunter.

I tightened my grip on Ego and quietly stared at the sinking sun.

BOOM!!

Suddenly, a hand made of plaster burst from the sun, which had been mindlessly spewing liquid. A mechanical foot followed, then a fish fin, and then rabbit ears. Each disparate body part gradually revealed itself before plummeting toward the ground at terrifying speed.

"Let's each handle one. Once yours is down, help the nearby hunters."

"Call for me if Han Jin-woo Hunter's in danger."

"Don't worry! Even if I duck into the bunker, I'll count five seconds and pop right back out."

Se-bin-i drew 'Spirit' and assumed her stance. The others followed suit, one by one, readying for battle in their own ways.

KABOOM!!

The body fragments crashed into the ground. The moment their forms emerged through gaps in the white smoke, Choi Min Hunter charged straight into the monsters' midst.

Fortunately, no monster had targeted Han Jin-woo Hunter. I confirmed he had drawn his Lucky Rabbit's Foot, then lowered my head. A cloyingly sweet smell assaulted my nose.

What was that smell?

I retreated, my mind reeling from the dizzyingly sweet scent.

THUD!!

A massive shadow loomed over my head, and a single leg clad in a high heel dropped right down.

It was a real human leg, its severed cross-section gruesomely exposed.

The leg sprinkled glittering powder as it stomped in place, each step accompanied by the lingering echo of a harp in my ears.

I'd never seen an HP gauge in a dungeon before. Like in a typical RPG, numbers floated above the leg.

'Feels like I've seen this somewhere before...'

Thump.

"Ugh!"

Again. My chest burned as if memories were trying to flood in. I clamped a hand over my mouth and steadied my breathing.

A flying hammer, a pile of corpses, a paper crane. Images of bizarre monsters replayed in my mind.

'Damn, it's really familiar.'

The One Who Steps on Karma mission had reacted. That meant I'd already been through this situation once before.

'That monster's new, though.'

'What?'

'Huh?'

Ego muttered, and I reacted too strongly. It shot back a question.

Swoosh.

Before I could hear Ego's response, a sharply honed heel flew straight at me.

Clang!!

I formed a shield and braced it with one hand. Friction screeched as the shield chipped away bit by bit.

'You saying you've never seen that monster?'

'Yeah. Have you?'

'Feels familiar for some reason. And the mission progress went up.'

'What?!'

Shatter.

The shield finally broke, and 'Fairy Queen Titania's Shoe' targeted my neck once more.

"Hup!"

Crunch.

I smashed the slender ankle aiming for my throat with my fist, shattering the bone. Fairy Queen Titania's Shoe staggered back a step, its ankle mangled.

As I scrutinized it, fragments of memories from the past timeline began to seep in.

Fairy Queen Titania's Shoe: Low defense, but fast movement and hallucinogenic powder. Inhaling the powder doesn't just cause hallucinations—it shreds your entire throat. Ha Mi-jun Hunter fought it up close last time...

Beeeep.

"Ugh?!"

My vision spun. An intense ringing split my head like a hammer, throwing off my balance. I dropped to one knee and thrust Ego forward.

Bang bang bang!

Fairy Queen Titania's Shoe nimbly danced aside from the white projectiles.

'Desperately trying to wipe my memories somehow.'

Whoosh—

"Guh!"

Before I could pull Ego's trigger, cloying powder flooded my lungs in an instant.

"Cough! Kek!"

I forcibly expelled the air to cough out the powder. A metallic tang of blood filled my mouth. My throat felt like it was burning away, so I pulled water straight from my inventory and chugged it.

Fairy Queen Titania's Shoe muttered. By the time I raised my head, dozens of its forms already swarmed my vision.

'Fell for it after all.'

I covered my mouth with my sleeve, allowing only the barest breaths. There was only one real body. Even if they looked identical, close inspection revealed differences.

Pababang!!

'Problem is, no time for close inspection.'

Its leg shot toward me like a spear, impaling the spot where I'd stood. I backpedaled and pulled the trigger on the leg pile. White bullets blew them all apart.

"What? Ugh!"

BOOM!!

One leg finally slammed into my abdomen. My vision went black for a moment, but I immediately formed a shield to deflect the rest of the attacks.

'This monster remembers me too.'

Click.

I pulled the trigger on the incoming leg, my eyes rapidly scanning the waves of Fairy Queen Titania's Shoes crashing toward me.

Just destroy the real one. The real one only.

While it was preoccupied with talking, sparing me any attacks, I spotted the leg in the farthest corner.

"Bruise... on the ankle?"

Bang!

It was the one I'd shattered first. I pulled the trigger, and the bullet pierced straight through that slender leg, blowing it to pieces.

The leg shattered into dozens of fragments, dissolving into sweet powder and scattering like smoke.

'...You really encountered those monsters before?'

Ego, which had only hummed in my hand, finally spoke up.

'Seems like it. The mission progress confirms it.'

'Even I don't remember...'

Ego trailed off.

It was probably holding back 'How do you remember?'

Saving Choi Jae-yoon Hunter, rescuing Yeon-woo—those were deeds from timelines Ego couldn't recall.

'Events only I remember are unfolding here.'

This space, brimming with absurdity, was drawing me toward the truth I'd so desperately sought.

Thump, thump.

If I could reclaim my memories here...

'Then I'll rampage with glee.'

Time to help the others first. Especially Ha Mi-jun Hunter—his matchup with the Dream Eating Imoogi was the absolute worst.

Crackle.

I closed in swiftly with Word Without Feet and approached Ha Mi-jun Hunter.

"Oh, Ji-ui. Wrapped it up quick?"

KABOOM!!

His hands moved frantically despite his calm tone. Each time Ha Mi-jun Hunter clenched the air, thick roots erupted from the ground, but they always failed to close ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the distance on the imoogi.

'Yeah, because that thing's ridiculously slippery.'

The roots fiercely chased the silver imoogi gliding lazily through the sky.

"Tsk."

Ha Mi-jun Hunter clicked his tongue. The roots were too heavy to strike the imoogi's paper-light body—it flew off the moment they neared. But binding its body directly was impossible too; the surface was so slick that the roots slid right off on contact.

"How much HP does it have left?"

"Barely scratched. Can't land a hit. Damn."

'Normal skills won't cut it.'

Rumble.

The Dream Eating Imoogi gaped its maw, and basketball-sized meteors rained down on Ha Mi-jun Hunter. He threw up a shield and dodged sideways. More glittering meteors followed.

'Dream fragments.'

These were what it spat when its HP dropped below a threshold. They were also the one attack that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ignored the thing's absurdly low mass.

Roll.

I nudged a dream fragment toward Ha Mi-jun Hunter. He arched one eyebrow and turned to me.

"I'll pin its movement. Throw this rock at it in the opening."

"You serious?"

"Just believe me once. Call it a sucker bet."

"...Ji-ui, you sometimes talk like you know everything."

Sharp as ever.

Ha ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Mi-jun Hunter's pointed words stabbed right through me alone. I averted my eyes from his gaze and turned back to the Dream Eating Imoogi.

"Just a hunch. It spat them out, so maybe they'll backfire."

"Hmm."

"No harm in trying, right?"

Best to play it brazen in moments like this. My confident response drew a smirk from Ha Mi-jun Hunter—he'd observe for now.

Crunch.

"Fine. Let's try it your way, Ji-ui."

"...Right away."

Feeling his skeptical stare all over me, I leveled Ego at the imoogi.

Woooong.

No matter how light it was, it couldn't evade the vibration of the air itself. The moment the white soundwave struck the Dream Eating Imoogi, it froze in place, its form glitching like poor-quality video.

"Ha Mi-jun Hunter!"

"Got it."

KABOOM!!

A root seized the dream fragment and hurled it. It struck the imoogi dead-on, and the creature plummeted toward the ground at ferocious speed.

"Ha, it's squealing for mercy big time."

Ha Mi-jun Hunter flashed a relieved grin. The imoogi thrashed desperately under the dream fragment, but its wafer-thin body couldn't budge the rock.

Ha Mi-jun Hunter strode forward and raised his Lumberjack high.

Splat!!

The Lumberjack cleaved the imoogi's body clean in half, and the clear status popped up.

"Thanks, Ji-ui. You saved the day."

"No problem."

"Still kinda curious how you knew, though."

"......"

'No brushing it off, huh.'

I didn't remember exactly how he'd been in the past timeline, but this Ha Mi-jun Hunter was quick on the uptake and razor-sharp. Those dark eyes felt like they were peering straight through me, sending chills down my spine for no reason.

Tok.

Ha Mi-jun Hunter's finger lightly tapped my nose and pulled away.

"Kidding. That stiff face is pretty cute, though?"

He grinned brightly, stepping back from me. He tossed and caught his Lumberjack, loosening up.

The other hunters had finished off their monsters right on cue.

As expected from the first-phase summons, they'd taken them down without much trouble.

Thud!

At that moment, the sun split in half once more, and pitch-black objects began crawling out from within.

Thump, thump.

The mission reacted the instant the monster summons appeared, and their names felt familiar.

By the time the monsters began crawling worm-like toward their targets, I'd finished assessing the situation.

'The real fight starts with the second phase.'