Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Sweeping the Evil Zone (7)
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It was a darkened night. Liu Xian and Shao Li had volunteered for watch duty, allowing the rest of the Hunters and Helpers to finally catch some sleep.
Won Tae-il, already lying next to Cha Su-ho, was snoring deeply. Su-ho himself couldn't fall asleep. Lying quietly, he called out to Jin Seong-hyeok in his mind.
'Jin Seong-hyeok.'
He called the name just in case Jin might be awake, but there was no response.
'Jin Seong-hyeok?'
When he called again, a tsking sound echoed in Su-ho's head.
'I was sleeping fine. Why'd you call?'
Su-ho quickly replied to Jin's drawling voice.
'Sorry. Go back to sleep.'
Feeling like he'd unnecessarily woken Jin, his mind grew even more alert. Realizing he was already too awake to sleep, Su-ho revisited the thought he hadn't resolved earlier.
Liu Xian had said Helpers weren't supposed to save anyone. Or they'd end up dying themselves.
Jin had said it too. A Helper's duty wasn't healing—it was Cleansing.
'Yeah. I did say that.'
Su-ho froze at Jin's responding voice.
'Weren't you asleep?'
'How could I sleep with all this noise?'
'What noise—oh.'
As if he'd forgotten that all his thoughts were shared with Jin, Su-ho continued.
'I couldn't help it. Too much on my mind.'
'What's got you so worked up? The answer's already obvious, isn't it?'
Jin knew exactly what was troubling Su-ho. Whether he wanted to or not, he'd heard every thought already—it was only natural.
'...I still don't get it. Even for a Helper, you're saying we can't save someone in an emergency? Do we have to stick with the Hunters?'
'Of course you can't.'
Su-ho bristled at Jin's cold, matter-of-fact tone.
'So in a situation like earlier, we just stand by and watch?'
He meant watching Buta get hurt while Centepede venom rained down.
'Even if saving another Helper isn't our job, Hunters are different, right? Without a Hunter on-site, a Helper might as well be dead anyway.'
'Then run away.'
Su-ho looked shocked at Jin's obvious reply.
'...What? You're saying leave a dying Hunter behind and run?'
'What else? Die with them?'
'We could save them!'
'How exactly would you save a Hunter in that situation?'
Jin scoffed mockingly at Su-ho.
'Don't you remember? If you'd stepped in like that, look at what would've happened to me right now.'
Su-ho faltered, shaken. It was because of what he'd done when they first met Jin.
'Even so...!'
'Don't you get that your actions could just be a nuisance?'
He'd boldly rushed in to Cleanse Jin, only to not even touch him before getting buried under a pile of monster corpses. And after saying he'd save Jin, he'd ended up with his chest pierced right alongside him. What could he even say?
'You say you know, but you still don't act like it, Cha Su-ho.'
He knew. He knew stepping in without the power to back it up could just cause trouble.
'Cha Su-ho.'
Reading Su-ho's thoughts, Jin spoke in a low voice.
'Without me, you'd have died a few more times by now.'
It wasn't wrong. Su-ho knew it plain as day. Still, he felt wronged and angry. He wanted to prove it—that even without power, he could help someone.
'I'll show you.'
'What?'
It stemmed from an inferiority complex, a petty sense of pride he knew was lame, but he couldn't hold back.
'That Helpers can protect someone too. I'll prove it with my own strength, without using yours, Jin Seong-hyeok.'
Jin let out a chuckle at Su-ho's defiant words.
'You'll regret it.'
This was the Evil Zone site. Declaring he didn't need Jin's power in a place where anything could happen was pure bravado.
'I'm a Helper anyway. It'd be weird for a Helper to use a Hunter's power.'
'But you didn't want to fight monsters as a Helper?'
Su-ho flinched at Jin hitting the nail on the head.
'Watching the Hunters fight, you thought you wanted to fight like that too, didn't you?'
The subtly mocking tone pierced Su-ho's heart dead-on.
'You want to be a Hunter, not a Helper.'
He couldn't argue. Watching the Hunters battle the Centepedes, he now understood why his palms tingled, why his chest felt tight.
Still, Su-ho instinctively denied it. He'd wanted to be a Helper so badly. A true Helper needed by Hunters, not some F-grade trash.
Having finally achieved that dream, abandoning it just because he'd gained Jin's power would be like turning all his desperate longing into scraps of trash.
'Don't decide that for me.'
Pure bravado, nonsense he knew was just stubborn pride, but Su-ho couldn't stop.
'Whatever. I won't rely on your help, Jin Seong-hyeok.'
Silence fell. After a long quiet, Jin finally spoke.
'You're the one who said you don't need my help.'
His tone dripped with ridicule.
'Let's see how long that bravado lasts.'
With that, Jin went silent. Su-ho did too.
As soon as the sun began to rise, the Hunters and Helpers woke and sprang into bustling action. Su-ho, who'd spent the night arguing with Jin, felt especially exhausted, but he couldn't show it. Liu Xian and Shao Li, who'd pulled an all-nighter on watch, were walking around as if nothing had happened.
Tension etched every face among the Hunters and Helpers heading toward the center. The closer they got, the stronger and more threatening the monsters became—there was no helping it.
Kieeeek-!
Suddenly leaping monsters would have startled anyone, but the Hunters casually unleashed their abilities, dispatching them without a fuss.
"Gahhh!!!"
Everyone's gazes snapped toward Won Tae-il's startled yell. He gave an awkward smile under their stares.
"Haha... Sorry. I mistook a tree branch for a monster..."
They were the ones jumping at his screams instead.
Whoosh-.
Eun-woo drew his sword with an expressionless face and sliced through the tentacles pouring from the trees in one stroke.
Splat, splat. The severed tentacles writhed on the ground, and Tae-il started shrieking again in disgust, hopping around.
"Eek! Cha Su-ho, this...! Get this away from me, eek!"
Tae-il's flailing foot slipped on the squishy tentacle. He ended up sprawled flat on the ground, and the Hunters and Helpers burst into laughter. Su-ho held back a grin and extended a hand to him.
"You okay?"
"...I hate fieldwork so much..."
As Tae-il grabbed Su-ho's hand and whined while standing, his eyes caught sight of a massive cave.
"Th-that... what kind of cave is that...!"
Everyone's gazes followed his pointing finger. At the edge of the dense forest loomed a gigantic cave that made their legs tremble just looking at it.
Su-ho stared at it, mouth agape. The entrance was big enough to fit two or three apartments through—overwhelming.
The Hunters' expressions grew grave as they fixed on the cave. Kai Qing, who'd been here before, had lost all trace of his smile.
[ "Ji-young." ]
Ji-young turned to Kai Qing calling her.
[ There's a chamber at the end of the cave with the inner core. Destroy that core, and the portal vanishes too—no monster respawns until it regenerates. ]
Ji-young asked at Kai Qing's words.
[ "Attack power?" ]
[ "The core itself has none. The problem's getting there—it's crawling with boss-grade monsters. ]
Even so, Kai Qing couldn't resist bragging.
[ "Don't worry, Ji-young. You've got me, right?" ]
Ignoring his words lightly, Ji-young turned to Takahiro.
"You've been a few times too, right, Takahiro?"
Takahiro nodded.
"Just like Kai Qing said, boss-grade monsters everywhere. But they change randomly each sweep, so... no idea what's inside now."
They didn't know exactly what lurked in the cave. Reach the inner core at the end, though, and the Evil Zone could take a break from sweeps until respawn.
Five SS-grade Hunters. Not easy, but doable. Ji-young stared at the cave, muttering with a sigh.
"Should've followed Jin when he swept instead of going shopping. Hindsight..."
As if he'd ever take her along on his solo runs.
Evil Zone was one thing, but Dead Zone and Last Zone ahead were the real issues. Unlike Evil Zone, they had final bosses, and the monsters were incomparably stronger.
That's why Jin always handled the final bosses. Even SS-grades had to go all-out against them, but Jin just flicked a finger and their heads flew off—only natural.
Without Jin now, they had to sweep not just Evil Zone but Dead and Last too. The path ahead looked bleak. No one but Jin had ever gone deep into Last Zone anyway—everyone else wiped at the entrance or teleported out fleeing.
[ "Things were getting boring. Now we can have a real fight." ]
Kai Qing rolled up his sleeves. Liu Xian twisted forward eagerly too.
[ "We're SS-grade. We ought to clean out an Evil Zone spotless. Plus, Center 1's honor is on the line." ]
The mention of Center 1's honor lit up the Hunters' eyes. They'd all been seething at other branches looking down on them.
[ "Right. What'd those guys call us? Something about Jin dragging us around his ankle?" ]
Ji-young tilted her head, asking Eun-woo.
"Eun-woo, what'd the other branch guys say about us?"
Eun-woo drew his sword silently.
"Not fit to follow in Jin Seong-hyeok's footsteps."
His eyes opened slowly, chillingly cold.
"Just ankle-biters clinging on."
Ji-young smiled at Eun-woo's answer. Murderous intent laced that smile.
"Yeah. Time to show 'em we're more than that."
Takahiro and Mei looked calm, but their gazes on the cave were sharp as blades.
[ "Shall we start the final cleanup?" ]
No sooner had Ji-young spoken than everyone headed for the cave. No one showed fear or hesitation. Except Tae-il.
Face frozen stiff, Tae-il clutched Su-ho's clothes and muttered.
"Cha Su-ho... you not scared?"
The cave's unfathomable size was terrifying, but Su-ho stayed calm.
"Not really? No monsters out yet."
"Hope none come at all. Kwon Oh hyung aside, why aren't Airin noona or the other Helpers scared?"
Tae-il scanned around with goosebumps, when something plopped onto his arm.
"Eek...! Wh-what is it."
At the same time, something dropped onto Shao Li's arm ahead. She wiped it quickly, smearing sticky fluid.
[ "Water from the cave ceiling?" ]
Shao Li looked up—and froze solid.
[ "What the...!" ]
Her trembling voice made the Hunters and Helpers look up one by one. Their view filled with pitch-black masses covering the cave ceiling.
Amid hardening faces, Liu Xian spoke.
[ "Bat nest." ]