Chapter 71

Episode 71. Was this something we could use? (2)

"Ugh...."

"Are you okay? Do you want some more?"

"No, thanks. If I drink any more water, my stomach will burst."

I emptied the bottled water bottle that Yoo Ji-yeon brought for me in one gulp. After pouring in six bottles of cold water in under five minutes, I felt somewhat better. My pounding heart had calmed down quite a bit. Whew, I thought I was going to die.

[Looks like you won't be able to use it frequently.]

The Traveler murmured as he saw me coughing. As he said, it wasn't a simple skill I could use with a smile.

'Didn't it say that the Great Heart transformed parts of my body?'

It felt like my throat was burning. As if the drinking water I thought would be cold turned out to be boiling hot. The painful feeling still hadn't completely gone away. Which part of me was transformed? A hole almost burned open in my throat, and I could have ended up breathing more easily thanks to it.

[Name: Dragon Breath]

[*Borrows the breath of a dragon to blast fire.]

[*The symbolic power of a fantastic creature that can burn anything to ash.]

[*Due to the effect of the 'Great Heart', a part of your inner organ has been transformed.]

[*Your physical endurance is still significantly weaker than the Dragon species]

[*Damage may occur if used multiple times in a short period.]

Still, the skill itself was appealing. It's not like it consumed mana, and it was powerful enough to overwhelm most other kinds of magic.

But the problem was that the enormous power damaged my throat as well. Damn it.

[It seems like the exact opposite of your battle style, but it suits you.]

"You think it suits me?"

[Yes. The fact that it damages you as well doesn't fit you, but it's just the technique for you since you focus on creating unpredictable could imagine that a dragon's breath will pour out from a human's throat?]

"Are you kidding me, or are you serious?"

[Both. Hahahaha!]

I felt blood rush to my head as I listened to the Traveler. Oh, he was good at irritating people.

"...If I control the output and focus my mana on strengthening my body beforehand, I think I can use it."

[Yes, I'm sure you can use it easily then.]

Touching my throat, I thought of ways to use Dragon Breath. It definitely wasn't an impractical skill.

After all, the floor of the training room that remained intact after multiple sword blows had melted down with one breath. Even Han Yeon-soo, who heard Yoo Ji-yeon panic and came over, looked surprised at the sight and asked how I did it.

"Whew, whew...."

I rested my hand on my chest and slowly breathed deeply. At first, I seriously considered calling Zhang Wei, but the burn quickly healed after I drank several bottles of cold water. I didn't even need any medicine.

I laughed in disbelief. My body was no longer like an ordinary human being's. Moments like these made me realize I was no longer an Analyst but a superhuman who was strong even among hunters. In the past, I would have been rolling on the floor, making a fuss.

"Are you alright now? You won't be spitting fire again, will you?"

"Yeah, I won't. Oh, I don't know. Maybe if I cough again......."

"What?"

"Haha, I'm kidding. Why are you so surprised?"

I teased Yoo Ji-yeon, who looked very worried about me. She hit me, and I slowly stood up. I felt like eating some ice cream and resting, but.......

"Ajusshi, there's an incident occurring nearby."

Unfortunately, hunting wasn't a laid-back occupation with fixed breaks.

"Grab your gear."

At my order, everyone promptly jumped into action.

* * *

"Bad luck. The Rift occurred near the main street, causing a lot of casualties."

"Were the outpouring monsters high-grade ones? Doesn't this area have a lot of hunters standing?"

"The casualties weren't caused by monsters. A lot of people were swallowed up by the Rift."

As soon as I arrived, an employee of the Association handed me the data. According to his short briefing, not many people were attacked by monsters. However, because the Rift was so huge, many people were directly sucked in.

"Since you arrived so fast, you might be able to rescue them if you go in now. And the hunter team that was stationed over here is also working hard."

"Okay. We'll enter the Rift at once."

It was an urgent situation. The Association's staff members were flustered, trying to evacuate people. But the agitated people ignoring the guidelines and trying to get their way were slowing them down.

This always happened when a Rift appeared near a main street. Although people of this generation were used to disasters, they couldn't help but panic in the face of death.

"Excuse me. We have a team entering the Rift!"

The Association staff shouted, but the confused, huddling crowd showed no signs of moving. Looking at them, I snapped my finger.

"Hyun-woo, open the way."

At the same time, the crowd of people floated into the air. Some cried or screamed like children due to the rather violent method.

But we ignored them and headed toward the Rift, passing by the wide-open road in the center. Hyun-woo's telekinesis set down the floundering people in a safe area. And I walked silently, dismissing the screams as background music.

"If you keep doing this, people will hate you. We could just slowly pass through."

"Getting hated is better than losing one or two more people."

He replied firmly to Han Yeon-soo's murmuring words. I hated the cries of bereaved families more than people smearing my name. I was used to being cursed at, but I could never get used to parents and children weeping from losing their families.

['Access to Information' is activated.]

I felt a sticky sensation as my body was sucked into the huge Rift. The chaotic city before me turned into a rough and rocky mountain range.

[Name: 'Home of Walking Rocks']

It wasn't a highly dangerous Rift. Instead, it was a troublesome one because of its vast interior and because the monsters inside were golems, which took a lot of time to wipe out.

"What about Mr. Zhang Wei?"

"He's on his way. He said it'd take about 10 minutes."

"Okay."

There was no time to have Hyun-woo bring Zhang Wei here. It took about three minutes just to pinpoint the coordinates and get him. Since there weren't any major injuries, it was better if Hyun-woo hunted here for three more minutes.

"Help!"

Desperate voices rang out everywhere. Yoo Ji-yeon frowned. It was her first official hunt, and she probably wasn't used to the chaotic atmosphere.

"I'll start the briefing."

Of course, there was no time to take care of her. No one could teach someone how to adjust. You had to move about and experience it yourself.

"We can easily get rid of Golems individually. Unless they are large ones, I think it will take about two to three minutes per golem. Han Yeon-soo, concentrate on rescuing people by deploying as many troops as you can. And Sung Hyun-woo and Yoo Ji-yeon, focus on the monsters that try to interrupt the rescue. Your purpose is not to wipe out the monsters but to save as many people as possible."

"Okay. What about you, Mr. Si-woo?"

"Me?"

Whirrrr.

Mirages rose from my wrist and began to hover around me, shining brilliantly.

"I'm going to smash those things to pieces."

I wasn't specialized in rescue in the first place.

"Every single one of them."

I was optimized for killing monsters.

After seeing the team getting in formation, I rushed towards the raging golems. Simultaneously, one of the shining Mirages transformed into a large hammer and came to my hand.

"Krrrraaaa."

A stone giant was walking up a rocky mountain as if it was taking a stroll in its front yard. I kept my eyes on it as I kicked the wall to jump higher.

I flew up to its head in an instant.

The giant's empty eyes recognized me. It slowly lifted its head as if it had seen a tasty prey. And then.

['Outstanding Weapons Mastery' has been activated.]

['Weapon: blunt']

['Trace of History' has been activated.]

[→ Abilities specialized in 'blunt weapons' awaken.]

『There was nothing I could not crush. A single swing of the hammer split the sea and moved the clouds in the sky.』

The power I accumulated over two years filled the hammer as it struck the golem's head.

"Krrraaa, krrrgh."

Large stone fragments scattered all over the place. Instead of blood spatter, black smoke hissed out, and the golem's body started to crumble.

Unless it was a giant one, golems were no match for me.

"Nuna, over here!"

I glanced back.

Yoo Ji-yeon moved awkwardly at first, but now she was assisting Sung Hyun-woo smoothly. She looked more effortless than she did during our training.

The people who were limping and running away were floated into the air by Hyun-woo's telekinesis and rescued from the Rift. The monsters that tried to attack in the process were wiped out by Han Yeon-soo's army and Yoo Ji-yeon's magic.

Those three were optimized for rescue missions. As someone said in the past, Sung Hyun-woo was more efficient when he saved people than when he harmed them.

"Here, here, help us!"

The other hunter teams that had been standing by were struggling against the golems. Considering how strong the average hunter was, golems were powerful monsters.

They had held on well for hunters staying in the city.

The Mirages flew around the battlefield and disturbed the golems, creating weak spots. The Mirages also smashed the monsters' cores when they were defenseless during their attacks on other hunters.

"Aaaargh, no!"

However, things couldn't go perfectly during a raid. While I was helping another hunter, I could hear a desperate scream. I looked up in a hurry and saw a cornered hunter shouting with his arms up. I could see a group of children huddled down behind him.

My goddam Outstanding Insight instantly brought up the inevitable result in my head.

They would scream until they were trampled by the golem's giant feet. The hunter and the children wouldn't be able to bear the golem's weight, and they would meet a tragic end. The bodies would be unrecognizable, and other hunters would sigh bitterly and continue hunting.

My thoughts swirled rapidly. My Outstanding Insight, which had reached the highest level, was competent enough to accelerate my thinking and make me feel that time was moving slowly.

As the tragedy unfolded in slow motion, numerous options came to my mind.

Should I transform the Mirage and shoot an arrow? No, I can't blow off that leg with a single arrow.

Then should I rush over right now? No, even if the Martial God in my past life came here, he wouldn't be able to make this distance in seconds. Then, then.......

"Ahhhhhhh!"

I heard a scream. And with that sound, my heart started to boil. A single thought flashed into my mind. Yes, this is it.

['Great Heart' has been activated]

.

.

Sound faded away as if it was echoing from a distance. I opened my mouth to expel the heat boiling from my heart and shouted at the top of my lungs. An inhuman sound, harsh like that of a roaring beast, rang out.

And a mighty blaze of fire swept through the area.

The powerful fire caught the other hunters' attention. Copper-colored rock melted down, and stones turned to ash. The flames burned up oxygen and soon reached the pillar-like golem's leg and exploded.

"What the...."

Someone muttered. The road from me to the golem was burnt black, and part of the rocky mountain had melted down.

The flames engulfed the rock as it burned, ignoring the laws of nature. And the golem, with its leg destroyed, struggled in the fire before it collapsed. I could feel a sharp pain in my throat.

The raspy sound of someone heavily breathing filled my ears, and when I came to my senses, I could tell that the sound was coming from my mouth.

"Thank, thank you."

The dazed hunters bowed their heads as they thanked me. After the short thanks, they carried the children sitting on the ground on their backs to rush out of the Rift. But before they left, the hunters turned towards me again.

Were they trying to thank me again? I didn't have time for that.

"I know we're being shameless, but can we ask you a favor?"

They weren't trying to thank me.

"There's one more hunter of ours deep inside. He's not very talented, but he's good at defending.... And he's guarding 20 children all by himself. If you could......."

"Yes, okay."

I replied, stifling the burning sensation in my mouth. I turned and ran without hesitating, and soon after, I could find the other hunter they were talking about.

[Hmm.]

Five golems were surrounding the place. The sound of rock hitting steel resonated loudly. Although his physical strength was weak, his skilled shield technique was effectively deflecting the attacks and protecting the civilians.

I could hear children crying and painful groans. The shield was cracked and broken. Half of the shield was gone.

[Was there no need for you to learn? If it is fate, you are bound to meet either way. I suppose the last two years' efforts were in vain.]

Although the situation was urgent, the Traveler kept saying things I couldn't understand.

Seeing the hunter protecting people with all his might in the rising cloud of dust, I grabbed a Mirage and ran to rescue them.

"Stop. Run... away. You can escape alone."

"Don't be stupid! Go, go hide over there."

"Sniff... Waahhh..."

I could hear a small conversation through the intense noise. But one of the voices sounded familiar. It felt like I was hearing the voice of an old friend after a long time.

Swooosh!

A golem swung its arm, and the dust clouds slowly scattered. As I neared them, I could clearly see the struggling lone hunter.

My fingers trembled. My body was responding to the hunter's actions and shield movements. To be exact, something within my body was responding.

[Or maybe you were guided by Ki because of your two years of training. I don't know much about fate, hahaha.]

The shield lifts and then slides down. Along with the dance-like movement, I could see the man's face.

I unconsciously stopped in my tracks.

My legs almost buckled beneath me.

"I said, hide......!"

His face was covered in dust, but it was familiar. The muscular body that he must have trained every single day. The shield that was way equipment hanging on him.

Although he was much younger than what I remembered, I was sure of it.

-He wasn't a hunter that went on scheduled raids. I don't know if you'll understand from my explanation. He stayed in the city and rescued people from Rifts, and dealt with the aftermath.

An upright man. The hero that humankind loved the most; who never looked back and never backed away from danger. And the hunter I trusted and relied on the most.

-I still dream of the children that died because I was too weak. If I had met you earlier, I could have saved everyone.

The Martial God.

Kim Seung-hyun was standing there.

[One thing is for sure. Your meeting with him was destined to happen.]