Chapter 42

The processing ghoul was quickly finished. Originally, the number wasn't that many and there was no reason for it to take long as four or five ghouls died every time Woo Seo-hyuk swung his arm.

I came down from the air and stood in front of Woo Seo-hyuk.

"Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi. That arm... is that your ability?"

"Yes."

When it was confirmed that the ghouls were all dealt with, Woo Seo-hyuk's arm returned to normal.

The exposed muscles of the upper body were no joke. Thick shoulders, chest, and clear abs. I looked at the perfect inverted triangle body with envious eyes.

That's the kind of bones he was born with. It was not a body that could never be built with a little bit of exercise. I was sure it must be because of S-rank. Come to think about it, the people around me were all in good shape.

"Then Woo Seo-hyuk's will be pierced, Han Yi-gyeol."

Startled hearing Cheon Sa-yeon's words from behind, I came to my senses. As soon as I took my gaze away from Woo Seo-hyuk's body, he opened his mouth, who was standing still.

"Can I get dressed now?"

"Ah, ahem. I'm sorry. You're in good shape, so I don't know."

I politely apologized and backed away in case I was seen as a pervert. Fortunately, Woo Seo-hyuk started wearing the shirt with a face that he didn't care too much about it.

"I didn't expect that a man's body would be your cup of tea."

Cheon Sa-yeon said in a teasing tone, shaking off the blood that stained his sword.

"Eu, are you crazy? I didn't see it that way."

"Then what?"

I answered with sincerity.

"Yeah, of course, it's great that he managed to get to that level."

It wasn't as good as Han Yi-gyeol, but I wasn't the type to get muscles well. I tried twice as hard as others to build my muscles, but in the end, I failed to achieve the desired level of the body.

I was pretty depressed back then. Thinking about it now, it wasn't as bad as Woo Seo-hyuk, but I think I set my ideal too high.

"A-rank and above are usually more developed than ordinary people. Everyone is in good shape even if they don't take care of their bodies."

"...I am also an A-rank."

"That. Let me cheer you on."

You punk.

"No need."

"I think you need to gain some weight before building muscle."

"Still, I eat well these days."

It was thanks to Kim Woo-jin who took care of three meals a day. Even the menu changed every day, so the satisfaction was very high.

Anyway, let's stop chatting here.

"Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi, what is your ability? It seems I'm the only one who doesn't know."

"I tell you (그럴 거야). It's an ability that is hard to forget once you see it."

Woo Seo-hyuk, wearing a shirt, pulled out of his pocket something similar to a cell phone. When he tapped the screen, the suit jacket and tie he was holding disappeared. I think it's an inventory item.

Woo Seo-hyuk looked at me and calmly explained.

"I can transform my body into a certain shape. In my case, it is a wolf."

Aha. I nodded my head. Somehow, when he changed, I thought it looked like an animal's foot, but it turned out to be a wolf.

"Can you change completely?"

"The whole thing is quite large, so it's difficult in a place like this."

"I see."

He certainly had to take off his clothes. If his body grew big that much, he wouldn't be left with anything he wore. That would be inconvenient too.

"Master."

A person with a measuring ability who looked around the room approached Cheon Sa-yeon.

"There are no major problems, but the grades have changed a bit."

"To what extent?"

"When I first came, the grade was 12.89% of grade A and now it is more than 57%."

When the rank value exceeded 100%, the monster's grade would go up. The person with a measuring ability lowered his voice and asked.

"Shall we continue to find out?"

"We have to. We'll measure the next room."

Cheon Sa-yeon, who sent off a person with a measuring ability, looked at me. I said, making eye contact with him.

"That's not particularly good news."

"We'll have to find out more, but I'm pretty sure it's never happened before."

Since Woo Seo-hyuk was listening next to me, I couldn't go into more detail. Cheon Sa-yeon found a device to open the iron bars at once again.

Chwareureuk, thud!

The next room appeared in front of me. Not a single candle was seen in this room. A white body swayed through the pitch-black darkness that could not even see an inch ahead.

"Spectre (스펙터)."

Spectre from ORV (just let you know)

I remembered the name I saw in the data. A bizarre cry echoed through the room as if in response to my whisper.

Kkiiiii—

Gigik, gik—

Whoops, a creepy energy came rushing into the entrance. Something felt strange.

"...wait, this is."

"Master!"

Black smoke crawled slowly towards us like snakes. A person with a measuring ability who noticed the strangeness similar to me shouted to Cheon Sa-yeon.

"The, the grade!"

Haa, the air surrounding him froze cold and white breath scattered. Due to the sudden drop in temperature, the guild members instinctively took a step back. A feeling of fear rising from the toes.

"It's strange."

Cheon Sa-yeon, who passed me forward and raised a sword with a cold expression.

"It's not enough that the Spectre, which should have been an A-grade, became an S-grade, but the number has increased."

Chwareureureuk! Kuung!

At the same time as Cheon Sa-yeon cut off his palm with his sword, the door that was open behind his back closed tightly.

Syaaaa—

Kkiii—kkii—

As the blood flowing through the sword turned into fire, the Spectre who had been hiding in the darkness was revealed. The black cloth that was constantly swaying flew like smoke, the hands beneath it were too long and sharp, and there was nothing visible on the face except the long torn mouth.

"Damn it, it's only the third room, what kind of S-grade is coming out?"

"Isn't the Spectre Grade A? It's driving me crazy."

The guild members raised their weapons with tense faces. Twenty spectres, which were over 5m tall, flew in quickly with their mouths open.

Kkiaaaa—!

Kkiiiik! Kkiii!

A bright red fire flew through the darkness, cutting the Spectre at the forefront. In the meantime, the guild members in line also began to attack the Spectre who was rushing to them intensively.

Kwadeudeuk!

Woo Seo-hyuk, whose arms had changed, jumped up aiming at Spectre's head. I raised my ability to support Woo Seo-hyuk's body, and at the same time, wrapped around Cheon Sa-yeon's body who wielded a sword. As the energy escaped on both sides, the bracelet I was wearing vibrated slightly, and the jewels sparkled.

"Not bad."

Since it was not just one-time support, Cheon Sa-yeon immediately noticed my ability and began to utilize it. He swung the sword flexibly between the spectres as if dancing.

On the other hand, Woo Seo-hyuk struggled a few times as if the body floating in the air was unfamiliar, but after killing a spectre, he expanded the range of movement a little more to get used to it. Woo Seo-hyuk leapt up the wall with agile movements, grabbed Spectre's arm, and shoved his fingernail into its mouth. Spectre howled, pouring out black blood.

"Phew."

Cheon Sa-yeon and Woo Seo-hyuk, who had no movement restrictions thanks to my abilities, ran wildly. A bright red light burned in the spot where Cheon Sa-yeon passed and clear claw marks were left near Woo Seo-hyuk. I was worried about 20 S-grade Spectres for a while, but this was a pretty good situation.

Kkiiiiik, kkiiik—

Seuaaak—

'One, two, three... fourteen. Fifteen.'

I frowned as I counted the number of Spectre corpses that fell to the floor.

"We're done dealing with one spectre!"

One more that the guild members just dealt with it. Cheon Sa-yeon and Woo Seo-hyuk were facing three. So there were nineteen in total.

The other one...

The moment I thought about it, I got goosebumps all over my body. I instinctively threw myself back and spread the wind like a shield.

Kkiiiiik—!

Along with the bizarre Spectre's cries, a burning pain flashed through my mind. Spectre's long, spider-like hands pierced the windshield and brushed my shoulders and arms. Black smoke spread like poison over the deep wound.

"Keueuk!"

If I hadn't avoided it while delaying the attack with my ability, my shoulder would have been torn off. I used my ability to escape, but the energy was unstable and did not activate. My body, which had been hurriedly raised, staggered without being able to focus as if paralyzed.

Syaaaak—

Spectre opened its mouth and ran towards me at high speed. As I was preparing to dodge sideways in time, someone stepped in front of me.

Kwajik!

It was Woo Seo-hyuk who grabbed Spectre's arm and broke it. The screaming Spectre looked blurry. The body that had barely endured could not focus and lean to the side.

"Oh, my."

Cheon Sa-yeon caught me as I collapsed helplessly. I forced my eyes to open and told him.

"Th, this... seems like poison..."

"Originally, it doesn't have the poison. Since it went from A-grade to S-grade, I wouldn't be surprised if it had at least one of those abilities."

Cheon Sa-yeon, who was holding me gently, said in a voice full of laughter.

"I'm so careless. From now on, I will always fight with you in my arms."

"That's nonsense..."

How could an A-rank deal with S-grade monsters? If I had known this would happen, I would have been hiding among the guild members. Spectre was dealing with Cheon Sa-yeon and Woo Seo-hyuk, so I thought it wouldn't be able to come to me.

The healers who ran after hearing Cheon Sa-yeon's call looked at my condition and put on a perplexed face.

"It's an S-grade monster's attack and there's poison on it, so I think it's going to take some time to heal completely."

The healers who participated in this clearing gate were both B-rank. Min Ah-rin was away on vacation, and there was also a sudden gate in Area C that she suddenly took over, so two B-ranks were the best. In other words, there is a shortage of manpower.

"He will rest in this room. Treated him as much as you can."

Cheon Sa-yeon gently laid me down. Two healers quickly removed my clothes and checked the wounds.

"Han Yi-gyeol-ssi? Calm down."

"From now on, I will push the poison away, but it's going to be a little painful. Can you stand it?"

"...huu, yes."

I responded by holding back a groan as the hand touched the wound. Soon after, a pure white light erupted from the healer's hand that covered the wound and terrible pain poured in.

"......!"

My body swelled up. It was like a fire burning a wound. Something shoved into my mouth, which was tightly closed to avoid screaming. Huh, ugh, exhaling a rough breath, looking up, there was Cheon Sa-yeon.

"It's okay to bite it."

Before I could answer, a white light flashed again, and an unbearable sensation struck in. Ugh, my head tilted back and bit Cheon Sa-yeon's finger strongly that had entered my mouth. My face was wet with cold sweat and tears mixed together. My body trembled uncontrollably.

"I will do it one last time. You can't lose your mind."

Healer, who had exhausted a lot of energy to push out the poison, said in a tired voice.

I wanted to refuse treatment right away, but I forcibly closed my eyes and nodded my head.

I could feel the faint taste of blood in my mouth.