Black Minotaur Flank Grilled on a Stone Plate, Part 2
"Pant, pant... Ugh...!"
Yeonhwa immediately bolted from her spot.
There was no telling how many monsters were lurking inside the dungeon. Staying still just because she was exhausted was practically begging for death.
It was bad enough that a Dungeon Overbreak had occurred, but the fact that an A-grade dungeon was upgrading to an S-grade threw Yeonhwa into a state of panic.
Though her growth rate had been terrifyingly fast, she was still just a newly promoted A-grade hunter.
The only reason she hadn't completely lost her mind was the distant, monstrous shriek of the dungeon boss.
The roar, thick with bloodlust, rage, and hatred for humanity, jolted Yeonhwa's senses. It forced her to drag her trembling, near-collapsing body forward.
"AI, send a distress signal, quickly...!"
Yeonhwa commanded her support AI as she ran.
She had never once requested rescue in her entire life.
Request received from Hunter. Approving request. Estimated rescue arrival time... 1 hour.
"What?!"
There is a shortage of available Association personnel in the vicinity. Dungeon Overbreaks have occurred in multiple dungeons simultaneously. It is highly recommended to find cover and conceal yourself.
"...Cancel the rescue request."
This is not recommended. The Hunter's vital signs are—
"I said cancel it!"
Yeonhwa grit her teeth and leaped up into the branches of a nearby tree.
The only saving grace was that this dungeon was a forest.
There were plenty of places to hide, and the trees were tall and dense. As long as she stayed high up, she wouldn't be easily spotted.
"...Pant, pant... If I run into another Minocentaur like the one earlier, I'm done for..."
She really couldn't guarantee her survival a second time.
It hadn't even been the dungeon boss or a mini-boss. It was just a common mob, yet she had barely managed to kill it at the cost of her right hand being crushed.
If she had to fight another one head-on, exhausted as she was in both body and mind, victory was far from guaranteed.
She had already gone over twenty-four hours without sleep, pushing herself to the absolute limit.
Of course, even if Yeonhwa had been in perfect condition, there was no guarantee she could survive a Dungeon Overbreak that had escalated to S-grade. But at the very least, she had brought this current crisis upon herself.
If only she had done this, if only she had done that... if only...
Get a grip.
No, playing the 'what if' game was pointless.
When her older sister died, how many times had she endlessly repeated the phrase, *'If only I had been stronger...'*?
She had pushed herself to forget those memories, yet the guilt of her own weakness and helplessness causing her sister's death had never stopped tormenting her.
First, I need to preserve my strength...
Yeonhwa pulled out an emergency bandage, wrapped it tightly around her right hand, and clenched her jaw.
Her right hand was effectively useless for combat now.
Her frost abilities were channeled primarily through her hands.
Her preferred combat style was using ice from one hand to freeze her enemies, and a sword in the other to slice them apart, or letting the cold seep into the wounds she carved to slowly wear them down.
If Yeonhwa's hunter rank rose further and she trained her abilities, she might eventually be able to manifest frost in midair without relying on her hands. But for now, channeling it through her palms was her limit.
Losing the use of her right hand was a massive blow. It cut her combat effectiveness in half.
"I definitely can't use my right hand. The bone isn't just cracked; it's completely broken..."
Yeonhwa forced herself not to look at her right hand, which was bent at an unnatural angle.
The pain was excruciating, but she applied a temporary fix by wrapping her hand in ice to numb the pain and prevent infection.
"Pant, pant... Whew..."
Yeonhwa took deep, ragged breaths to calm her racing heart.
While she was still undetected, she had to rest as much as possible to recover her mental and physical stamina.
If the dungeon boss's sharp senses picked up her presence, hiding in the trees would become utterly meaningless, and things would escalate rapidly.
She didn't even know if she could run away from an S-grade boss, let alone fight it...
Furthermore, according to the AI, it wasn't just the Naftare Great Forest. It seemed every dungeon in Korea was undergoing a Dungeon Overbreak.
The mana density inside the dungeons was spiking, causing all monsters—including the bosses—to undergo rapid mutations, driving the dungeon grades sky-high.
Countless hunters were likely in deep trouble right now.
Perhaps the mutated dungeons had expanded, swallowing civilians and trapping countless people.
"Compared to them, I'm alone..."
It wasn't hard for Yeonhwa to guess where the Association's rescue teams would be dispatched first.
They would prioritize areas where more lives were at stake.
In C and D-grade dungeons, low-ranking hunters usually raided in large parties. If those dungeons suddenly mutated to B-grade or higher, there would be far more lives in immediate danger than her own.
"It's just like when Sister died..."
Come to think of it, this situation felt eerily similar to when she had been trapped in a dungeon with her older sister during the Second Great Rift.
Giving up on rescue so that others could be saved... back then, she had helplessly lost her sister. But things were different now.
The wall of an S-grade dungeon was high, but Yeonhwa knew she was no longer a helpless child.
She had absolutely no intention of giving up on her life.
Yeonhwa whispered to her sister, who was no longer in this world.
Sister, I'm sorry.
I promised I wouldn't cry anymore.
I swore I wouldn't be helpless...
But I overstepped my bounds, and now I'm about to throw my life away in the most pathetic way...
[Mrooooooooaaaaaaaar!!!]
"...Ugh...!"
As another thunderous roar shook the forest, Yeonhwa leaned her trembling body against the tree trunk.
The sheer pressure of the sound wave was overwhelming.
Before she could even fight, the raw mana laced within the roar threatened to drain the strength right out of her.
Was this the power of an S-grade dungeon boss?
It was the first time in her life she had felt a defeat so absolute just from sensing a presence in the distance.
But she couldn't fall here.
She couldn't give up.
Her sister, Yeon A, had never given up on protecting her, even in her final moments when she was exhausted and covered in wounds.
I'm not going down without a fight.
She might not even compare to her sister, but for the sake of the sister who had sacrificed her life for her, Yeonhwa refused to die a dog's death here.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Footsteps echoed.
The footsteps were so incredibly heavy that the earth seemed to shake with every stride.
Yeonhwa forced her sword into her throbbing right hand and froze it in place.
This would undoubtedly shatter her right hand completely afterward, but if she didn't do this, she wouldn't be able to use both hands, and her combat power would plummet. If that happened, she would be instantly slaughtered by the boss.
[Mroooooooo!!!]
"It's coming...!"
Feeling the trees shake and the vibrations draw closer, Yeonhwa tensed her body, ready to leap down from the branch at any second.
And then...
"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!"
"Huh...?"
It was completely different from what Yeonhwa had expected.
A woman drenched in blood was laughing a terrifying, skin-crawling laugh as she tore a massive monster apart with her bare hands. Yeonhwa could hardly believe her eyes.
What was that? Who was she?
Ah, I'm fine.
No, I'm not fine.
I'm not fine.
Hungry.
It's high.
Falling.
It hurts. Hungry. Hungry again. Hungry once more.
Ah, ah. Ah. Meat.
I want to eat meat.
So hungry.
I want to drink blood.
It's painful.
I want to eat entrails.
It smells so good.
Where is this? I'm lonely.
Menelapie. Menelapie.
Theresa. Theresa.
Where are you, guys?
I'm not fine. Ah. I miss you.
Actually, I'm not fine at all. Guys, I miss you. I want to see you.
Hungry.
I want to eat. I want to see you again.
Where is this?
Hungry. Hungry! Hungry?!
I'm so hungry...!
[Mrooooooooaaaaaaaar!!!]
"Ah..."
Is that food?
Is it food?
It's food.
It is food!
Thank you for the food!!!
Crunch!
I tore off a thick arm.
It was in the way.
It tried to punch me.
Don't make me laugh, I'm stronger.
Why do you keep getting in my way when I'm trying to eat you, cow?
Don't scream. My ears hurt.
Do I need to tear out your vocal cords? Stay still.
Be eaten quietly. Okay?
Crunch. Squelch. Snap. Gulp.
Tentacles, help me.
Hold that cow head.
That pitch-black cow head looks delicious. Delicious!
Beef is delicious.
The smell of meat is good. The smell of blood and flesh is good.
Above all, the smell of Evil Nature is so good.
It's thick and good.
The hunger is fading.
I'm happy.
I want to eat more.
Then let's eat.
Shall we eat?
Let's eat. Let's eat. Let's eat. Let's eat. Let's eat. Let's eat. Let's eat. Let's eat.
Chomp, crunch!
Snap!
[Mroooooooo!]
Don't run away.
I've only eaten one arm.
Don't resist.
Don't resist.
If you resist, I'll hit you. I'll beat you to death. Now, a bit more. A bit more.
Eat. Let's eat. Let's eat.
Let's get rid of the hunger.
Let's eat this wonderful, delicious meat and fall into ecstasy.
Crunch! Gulp! Gulp! Chomp, chomp!
Ah, delicious. Delicious.
Beef is so delicious.
It melts in my mouth.
The flesh, the muscle, even the bones are delicious.
Me, my tongue, my mouth, my throat, my stomach, my tentacles, my soul—all are satisfied.
Delicious.
Don't move. Don't move. The more you move... the more it will hurt.
Cow, cow, black cow. Be eaten quietly. Be torn apart quietly.
Don't worry. I'll eat all of your Evil Nature.
Don't worry, your flesh, soul, Evil Nature, I'll eat it all.
Hehe, delicious... hehe. Hehe... hehehe... I'm full.
It's okay now.
My stomach doesn't hurt anymore.
I'm not starving anymore.
Hehe, my stomach is fine...
"H-Hieee... Eek..."
Huh... who is that?
"Grr... grr... ugh..."
Ah, oops.
Seeing the girl shivering in fear as she looked at me finally brought me back to my senses.
Right now, I probably look like a demon to anyone who sees me.
I'm completely drenched in blood, even my face is painted crimson.
On top of that... it seems I just ate a pitch-black cow-headed monster alive.
Ah, I'm really sorry about that.
I showed you something hideous.
What should I do now...?
I thought I was dead, but now I'm in some strange world.
Moreover, the girl's clothes didn't look unfamiliar for some reason.
It wasn't the medieval fantasy attire of the world where Menelapie and Theresa lived.
To be precise... it felt like the modern clothes of my original world, where the human Lee Sia used to live.
Could it be that I've returned...?
While I was lost in thought, the blue-haired girl shivering in front of me seemed to summon all her courage to speak.
"I-It's... r-raw..."
"Dummy?"
"...!?"
At the word 'dummy,' the blue-haired girl's face contorted in a bizarre way.
"W-Who are you calling a dummy?! Who?!"
"......"
Wait, she called herself a dummy? And the language she was using was Korean.
It had been decades since I last used it, but my body hadn't forgotten the language, so I could understand what she was saying.
No, did she just call herself a dummy?
"N-Not a dummy... I mean..."
The blue-haired girl took another brave step toward me.
"T-That... it's raw... it would taste much better if you grilled it."
".........Ah."
And so, the first meeting between Yeonhwa, Icicle Nine, and Sia, the deceased saintess, began in a rather awkward and bizarre fashion.