The Way of Life for a Terminal S-Class Hunter - C14
$14
“The dungeon recovery is quite sloppy.”
Seo-heon said, pulling me even closer while still gripping my shoulder. I tried hard not to be conscious of it, but having already started to notice, it wasn’t easy to pretend I didn’t.
“Even so, isn’t this too much of a losing business?”
We might have to subjugate a restored dungeon after coming for an inspection visit. Plus, we’d have to write a long, detailed report on top of that. If we had sent other guild members, it would have been quite a troublesome situation.
“Well, if we talk about this outside, researchers would welcome us with open arms.”
Although it wasn’t the first time, dungeon restoration had never been discovered in our country before. Restored dungeons dramatically increase in difficulty, but the rewards also increase proportionally, making it something that even top-tier guilds who like high risk, high return would eagerly pursue.
In that sense, it was good news that we had a chance to secure it first. Of course, this is only if this shoddily restored dungeon is judged to be valuable, so for now, we can only say that our workload has increased.
“Let’s go in and assess the situation. It’s bigger than expected, so let’s each explore separately and meet in the middle.”
Time was getting tight, so I quickened my pace. Soon, I would receive the notification about my dawn along with all my skills being deactivated. I couldn’t show that to Seo-heon.
I was worried about how to create time to separate, but the unexpectedly large dungeon provided a good excuse.
“We have enough time to look around together.”
Unlike me, the leisurely Seo-heon smiled annoyingly.
“Given the special situation, I think it’s better to finish the exploration quickly and report. I’ll take the left side, you take the right.”
The hand that had been pressing down on me finally lifted. The warmth left where he had touched remained, not easily disappearing like footprints on a snowy winter day.
“Be careful not to get hurt.”
Seo-heon said in a very kind voice.
“What is there to be careful about?”
You were my greatest fear, and thus the only thing I needed to be careful of.
Knowing Seo-heon was watching, I turned my back first. I lacked the ability to discern whether Seo-heon’s kindness was an act to keep me from leaving the guild or genuine. As I walked steadily, his affection held my ankles. I had to keep moving forward, pretending not to notice.
If all his actions weren’t genuine, I would be the only one getting hurt. I didn’t want to experience such pain again before dying.
As we went deeper, the recovery of the dungeon became visibly apparent. Unlike the cave-like entrance, the interior had neatly arranged pillars that seemed artificially created. Purple raw stones were sparsely embedded between them, making it hard to believe this was the interior of an exploded dungeon.
“Where is this cold air coming from?”
Not only that, but the temperature also changed drastically. It wasn’t just a drop of 1 or 2 degrees, but enough to see my breath.
There must be a monster nearby emitting cold air.
“Is it the dungeon boss?”
Streams of fire extended from my hand, crawling along the ground in winding patterns. These fire streams allowed me to assess the status of any living being they touched. This was the method I used to substitute for exploration skills.
I sent the fire streams quite deep, but there was no particular response.
That can’t be right.
Normally, monsters should be detected within a 1km radius. In such cases, it was reasonable to assume they were flying monsters avoiding the fire streams. If so, there was no other way but to go in and check directly.
I paused for a moment. It was three minutes before the seizure would hit. If Seo-heon’s side was the same as here, the exploration would take at least forty minutes. If so, it would be possible to hide my suffering as planned.
I sat down, waiting for the wave of pain that would engulf me. I had spread fire streams around me just in case.
“Oh my, a lovely child has come.”
At that moment, a seductive voice flowed in through the fire.
[You have 392 days of life force remaining. All skills will be deactivated for one minute.]
It was a situation that could only be described as “of all times.” Although it was a restored dungeon, I didn’t expect there to be a monster with high enough intelligence to locate and come to eliminate me just by sensing my skills. The voice I heard just before my skills completely shut off was ominously alluring.
A pain like my heart being wrung out settled in. Even though I knew I should run away from the approaching enemy, it was impossible to get up. I tried to wriggle away, even by crawling, but it wasn’t feasible.
“Trying to run away? I’ll make you happy.”
A singing-like voice was heard nearby. The monster that appeared from the darkness was beautiful enough to sufficiently seduce humans. Its androgynous appearance, making it hard to tell if it was male or female, was charming enough to bewitch people, and it was even emitting a sweet scent.
Was the succubus reported to be appearing a being subordinate to this monster? It seems to be a high-ranking noble or something similar.
Succubi were rare monsters with appearances and intelligence similar to humans, and they determined their status based on their strength. The succubus before my eyes was clearly not a being that should be in a contaminated area.
With all my skills shut off, I can’t assess it perfectly.
Ignorance breeds fear. I tried to stay calm, but the pressure emitted by this monster was tremendous. The pain had subsided, but my skills showed no signs of returning, which might be why I felt this way.
Before I knew it, a hazy gas began to spread amidst the sweet scent. I hurriedly covered my nose and mouth, but I sensed it was already too late.
“My poison seeps into the skin too, child.”
I lay sprawled on the floor, glaring at the succubus who might be a noble. My consciousness flowed away rapidly, like water escaping from a broken dam.
“How pitiful and cute.”
“Seo… Seo-heon.”
***
“Woo-hyun.”
“Huh?”
I thought I was just in a cave-like place. Where is this?
The bright sunlight dazzled my eyes. When I squinted, for some reason, the surroundings felt out of place. It felt like I had come out after passing through a long tunnel.
“What were you thinking about that you couldn’t even hear me calling?”
Seo-heon, unusually with all the buttons of his school uniform undone, asked.
Ah, school. Right, where else would I be at this time if not at school?
Seo-heon watched me looking around busily, then placed a grape juice on the desk. A few days ago, I had mentioned that the chewy texture was delicious, and since then, he had been getting this drink from the vending machine every day.
Actually, on the second day, I was planning to say there was no need to buy more. However, the sweet smile Seo-heon showed while handing this over was so sweet that I couldn’t bring myself to refuse.
“Thanks, Seo-heon.”
I subtly rubbed my head against Seo-heon’s chest. Seo-heon also naturally accepted the skinship, stroking the back of my head.
“There they go again.”
“Discriminating between friends, aren’t you?”
Displeased, our friends who were stuffing bread into their mouths nearby each voiced a complaint.
It was something we heard several times a day. I favored Seo-heon because I had a crush on him, and Seo-heon favored me because I was his childhood friend. We were exceptions only to each other, and I didn’t mind that happiness. In fact, I was closer to eagerly enjoying it.
“Baek Woo-hyun, you bastard. You tell me not to touch you, but you let Kang Seo-heon touch you? How are those of us without childhood friends supposed to live with this sadness?”
“Why are you touching Woo-hyun?”
I was about to retort that your hands are sweaty and you’re not Seo-heon, but Seo-heon beat me to it. Seo-heon’s questioning tone was slightly fierce, causing a momentary silence around us.
“Huh? Hey, friends can pat and grab each other, you know.”
“Woo-hyun must have said not to do it because he doesn’t like it.”
Seo-heon answered firmly.
“Seriously, if you’re going to be like that, just date already. These days, even guys date and marry each other.”
“What are you saying?”
Although I didn’t mind it, no, I liked it too much, I brushed it off, not wanting to reveal my feelings to my friends. Ji-ho, who had been silently watching without adding to the conversation, seemed to already know due to his quick wit, but the others were different. To divert attention, I tried to open the drink can. However, perhaps because I had trimmed my nails short yesterday, my clumsy hands kept slipping despite my efforts.
Seo-heon didn’t seem to mind the friends’ mocking jokes much and chuckled. Then he took the grape drink from my hand, easily opened it, and handed it back to me.
“Why? Woo-hyun, don’t you want to date me?”
“No, that’s not what I meant… I meant don’t tease friends like that.”
I hoped my face wasn’t completely red.
“You’re all just teasing us because you’re jealous of how close we are.”
“What jealousy are you talking about? We’re saying this because you two are being excessive!”
When I playfully retorted to the friends laughing at me, they all jumped up and denied it. Watching this, I pretended to be relaxed and gulped down the drink.
“But is that drink really tasty?”
As intended, the conversation quickly moved to a different topic.
“I usually get tired of drinks or snacks after about two days. But this bastard Baek Woo-hyun only sticks to one thing. When you go to the convenience store, do you only buy the same thing every time?”
“Yeah. Once I like something, I keep liking it.”
Without realizing it, my gaze landed on Seo-heon. Seo-heon looked back at me and smiled gently.