Lee Sihyun Rescue Operation (3)
You have gained 126 experience for Mental Power.
The stat Mental Power has reached E-rank!
Time remaining: 30 minutes
※ If no selection is made, a random reward will be issued.
First 100 Experience
+10,000 Points
…Huh?
In that instant, every sound vanished.
The Wild Fang Wolf’s piercing howls. The wind that had been brushing past my ears. Everything stopped, as if time itself had frozen solid.
Narrow Escape
+9,410 Points
—Thud.
“Ha… haha…”
“…I’m alive.”
Even if it’s only a thirty-minute life extension…
Right then, a new blue window bloomed in front of my eyes.
Category: Sub
Description: The user’s physical condition has reached a critical level. When the effect of Iron Man (E) ends, extreme pain will follow, and in severe cases, death is possible.
{Objective}
- Use a Highest-Grade Healing Potion.
Reward: Emergency Recovery Kit (C)
On Failure: Death
I skimmed the sub-quest text at speed.
“Highest-Grade Healing Potion…?”
“Death…?!”
I’m going to die?
That was when it hit.
Iron Man (E) has ended.
Cooldown: 11 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds
“…….”
In that instant, pain crashed over me like the world itself was collapsing.
“AAAAAARGH!!!!!!!”
“It hurts!!!”
“It hurts!! It hurts!! It hurts!!”
Every agony I hadn’t felt until now flooded in all at once. The torn side. The deep gouges. A body that felt ready to shatter.
Hold on—wait a second!!
I’m actually going to die here?
Even as my mind went blank white, survival instinct spun my thoughts at a ridiculous speed. Two words flashed through my head.
Highest-Grade Healing Potion.
Shop.
“Shop!!!!”
I thrust a hand into the empty air.
“Search Highest-Grade Healing Potion!!”
Highest-Grade Healing Potion (A)
“Buy!!”
—Thud.
Something dropped in front of me. A round glass vial filled with crimson liquid.
“Hahk…….”
I snatched it up with shaking fingers. No time to think. I twisted the cap off and brought it straight to my mouth.
—Gulp.
—Gulp.
—Gulp.
The moment the red liquid slid down my throat, warm mana bloomed and spread through every inch of me.
“Haah…….”
“Haah…… haah…….”
I braced myself on the ground and sucked in ragged breaths. The pain that had been devouring me moments ago was vanishing as if it had never existed.
“Hah…….”
“Hoo…….”
I stayed slumped on the forest floor for a long while, just breathing hard. My heart still hammered like mad—probably because death had been breathing right down my neck only seconds earlier.
“…I’m alive.”
[Buying This, Huh] completed.
Acquired: Emergency Recovery Kit (C)
After a long stretch of just catching my breath, I slowly pushed myself up and looked down at my side. The wounds the Wild Fang Wolf had torn into me were gone without so much as a scar.
“…Is this even real?”
Just to be sure, I carefully lifted a hand and touched my side. Smooth skin. Nothing more, nothing less.
“…Heh.”
One bottle of medicine had completely restored a body that had been one breath from death. Suddenly I was curious.
…Just how much did this thing cost?
Category: Item
Description: A recovery potion condensed with top-tier healing magic. Instantly restores most physical damage, including fatal wounds, and returns the user’s life force to a stable state.
{Effects on Consumption}
- Immediately heals all external injuries.
- Stops excessive bleeding and removes ongoing damage effects.
- If life force is at a critical level, restores it to a stable state.
Price:22,500 Points
※ Purchase Limit: 2/3
“Twenty-two thousand five hundred points, huh…”
…….
Wait a second.
“Twenty-two thousand five hundred points??”
And right beside it, the window showing my remaining points…
Just ten. Exactly ten, not a single digit off.
…When am I ever going to scrape this much together again.
…….
“…Still.”
I picked up the empty glass vial that had fallen to the ground.
“If I think of it as the price of my life, it’s actually cheap.”
I muttered under my breath while staring at the empty bottle still in my hand.
“I hope I never have to drink another one of these.”
You could even call it lucky. Without the points from those achievements just now, there was no way I could have bought the thing.
“Haaah…… hoo…….”
I took a slow breath and forced my thoughts back into order. While time was still frozen, the first thing I needed to do was…
“…First, the Wild Fang Wolf is right in front of me.”
Assess the situation.
Next is Kim Jinhyuk.
I pulled up the red window and checked the map.
“To get here… it’ll take him at least another six minutes.”
“Damn… why so long.”
The second I confirmed Jinhyuk’s position, a question hit me.
Wait.
So I only managed to last four minutes?
It had felt like at least forty minutes of fighting. No—even if I was being generous, it felt like more than twenty.
“…And now I have to hold out another six minutes on top of that?”
I let out a hollow laugh.
“This is actually ridiculous.”
“…….”
“Ah… seriously!”
But I couldn’t just sit here and complain. Whining wouldn’t change a single thing.
“Fine. Six more minutes. I’ll hold out.”
“Wild Fang Wolf or whatever the hell it is—come at me. I’ll stop everything somehow.”
I still had this left. My final hidden card. My only real hope.
Without hesitation I looked at the blue window floating in front of me—the reward options that had opened when Mental Power hit E-rank.
“Select reward.”
Category: Skill
- For 10 minutes, minimizes emotional influence and maintains a cool-headed state.
Cooldown: 1 hour
Category: Trait
- Increases resistance to negative emotions such as fear and anxiety even under mental fatigue and pressure.
- Will does not break easily even in situations that make you want to give up.
Category: Equipment
{Wear Effects}
- Keeps the mind clear, mitigating drops in concentration.
- Slightly increases stability when using magic.
“…I’m screwed.”
All three options were completely useless for the current situation.
First, the skill. Calm? Calm? What was I supposed to do with calm right now? Even if emotions were minimized, getting hit still hurt the same.
Then the trait. Increased resistance to fear and anxiety, and a will that doesn’t break? Great—until the wolf snaps my spine first.
And finally the equipment. You were the worst of the lot. Mitigating concentration loss? Slightly better magic stability? What the hell was I supposed to do with that right now!!
“…This is absolute garbage.”
Of all the stats, the one that was hardest to raise had to spit out this kind of trash. Nothing pissed me off more.
“Hah…”
“What the hell am I supposed to do now…”
That was when it happened.
Insight has completed analysis of the target’s behavioral patterns.
…….
“…This is?”
Selection time remaining: 00 min 14 sec
※ If no selection is made, a random reward will be issued.
“Almost time, huh?”
There was almost nothing left on the clock.
“…….”
I looked at the three rewards one last time.
“Honestly they all look like trash, but…”
“The least useless one is still this.”
Ring of Clarity (E) has been selected.
“Let’s go.”
The frozen world began to move again. Wind that had stopped flowing brushed through the forest once more. Mist that had hung still in the air drifted slowly. Sounds that had vanished flooded back into my ears all at once.
And right in front of me—that rough breathing.
“Grrrr……”
The Wild Fang Wolf’s eyes locked onto me again.
“This time’s going to be different from before.”
Insight is displaying the target’s movement trajectory.
—Smirk.
I slowly curled one corner of my mouth.
I can see it. I can see it!
A blue line rose into one corner of my vision. A few seconds later, the Wild Fang Wolf moved along that exact trajectory.
—Swoosh.
By the time it lunged, I was already outside that path.
So That’s How It Looks
+1,200 Points
Attack all you want for the next hundred years—see if you can even graze me.
The Wild Fang Wolf lowered its stance again.
You might have treated me like trash a minute ago, but…
—Swoosh.
I bet your opinion’s changing a little now.
—Swoosh.
Of course I still couldn’t counterattack. Barely dodging was the best I could manage. Even that much felt like a gift.
Then the wolf’s atmosphere shifted.
“—Grrrrrr……”
…What?
The Wild Fang Wolf slowly dropped its body and shifted its gaze.
I checked the wolf’s path at once.
……!
That’s—!
I moved fast. The moment the Wild Fang Wolf charged that way—
—BOOM!!!
A massive impact kicked up a spray of dirt.
Is this bastard insane…!
If you’re an animal, act like one.
The place it had lunged for was where Lee Sihyun lay. The wolf that had been thrown back lowered its body again.
Another blue line appeared. Once more the trajectory was drawn straight toward where Lee Sihyun lay.
Tch… still going after her.
The instant I started moving that way—
What?
I had forgotten. Monsters B-rank and above were capable of thought. It had realized I knew its attack path. It knew that whenever it locked onto a route, I would move that way—so it had done it on purpose.
The Wild Fang Wolf avoided where I stood and launched itself toward Lee Sihyun again.
A flood of thoughts tore through my head. Had it been aiming for this from the start? What I saw was the attack trajectory, not its actual thoughts. Why had I assumed I could protect her no matter what? Had I… been too arrogant?
In that exact moment—
—BOOM!!!
“Sorry I’m late, Seol Dam.”
“Leave the rest to me.”
Kim Jinhyuk had arrived.
The Wild Fang Wolf, shoved back once more, let out a low growl.
“Grrrrr…”
“How dare you.”
The next instant, Kim Jinhyuk’s figure vanished. Or rather—by the time I thought he had vanished, the black blade was already swinging.
——Crack.
A sword stroke as fast as light sheared through the Wild Fang Wolf’s neck.
…….
For a brief moment, silence hung in the air. And then, finally—
—Thud.
The Wild Fang Wolf’s massive body collapsed where it stood.
Lee Sihyun Rescue Operation cleared.
+15,000 Points
Acquired: C-rank Random Trait Grant Ticket
Desperate Rescue
+7,000 Points
First B-rank Monster Hunt
+5,000 Points
A subtle change has been detected in the main story.
Acquired: Fate Point ×1
Special Shop has been unlocked.
I stared at the cascading windows in a daze.
“Ha… hahaha.”
“…Insane.”
“Kim Jinhyuk.”