The Way of Life for a Terminal S-Class Hunter - C77
$77
The vision was so vivid that Seo-heon felt as if his body was actually melting.
‘Of all times, in this position!’
While floating in the air, it was difficult to avoid that breath no matter how hard he tried. Creating an ice path would take longer, and even with a shield, it would be hard to defend against the dragon’s attack power. It was such a dire situation that others would have given up thinking at this point.
[Seo-heon.]
As Seo-heon was thinking of alternatives, the memory of Woo-hyun blocking his way to protect him flashed through his mind. Woo-hyun’s phantom once again took the dragon’s breath in his place.
‘If I actually die here, it’s over for Woo-hyun too.’
This thought, almost like a delusion, stimulated Seo-heon’s entire body.
‘I can’t let Woo-hyun die without experiencing even a piece of happiness.’
[Activating all universally applicable skills.]
[Warning! Excessive use of mana puts a burden on the caster.]
He pushed his body to the limit. One second felt like it passed as slowly as one minute. Seo-heon connected an ice-made rope to a spear and threw it far. By the time the dragon spewed its breath, Seo-heon’s body had already narrowly escaped the attack range by riding the rope.
[Warning! Excessive use of mana puts a burden on the caster.]
Despite the warning and blood trickling from his mouth, he didn’t stop casting skills. Compared to death, internal injuries were nothing.
[A-rank skill, Blue Light Sword Aura and A-rank skill, Ice Sword are resonating. Explosive mana surrounds the Goddess’s Sword.]
Dragons take a long rest of about thirty seconds after a big attack. He had to seize this moment.
Thud, splat, splatter, splat!
The Goddess’s Sword pierced the dragon’s skin. The softer skin around the eyes gradually tore as scales peeled off. As the sword sank deeper into the dragon’s body, water splashed instead of blood. This fluid dissolved various parts of Seo-heon’s body, but he focused on the sword without hesitation.
Clang, clang!
The sword that entered the body slowly froze the dragon’s interior. Finally, the spurting water stopped, and something hard touched the sword’s tip. It was the core.
“It’s hard.”
The dragon’s core was incomparably harder than its skin. Even pouring all his mana into it, not a single crack appeared on the core. It seemed doubtful whether it could be broken at all.
Instead of collapsing, Seo-heon recalled the memory of holding Woo-hyun’s hand when dealing with the Red Dragon. Although it was impossible, he felt Woo-hyun’s warmth in his hand. Remembering those rough hands, slightly warmer than others’, brought vitality to his body that had been on the verge of collapse.
‘Just one more step.’
The end of the journey to save Woo-hyun was right in front of him.
A tear dropped from Seo-heon’s eye.
Unaware that he was crying, Seo-heon couldn’t tell if the meaning behind the tear was joy or sorrow.
[You have defeated the SSS-rank monster, Blue Dragon. A special skill is granted to the final attacker.]
Seo-heon hurriedly opened the skill window.
[New special skills: [Life Force], [Water Festival] have been created.]
After confirming he had obtained what he wanted, Seo-heon lost consciousness on the spot. It was the first proper rest he was having since Woo-hyun collapsed. Even that lasted less than an hour. It was a bit long to be called fainting, but too short to be called sleep.
“You faint often.”
When Seo-heon opened his eyes, Halo asked mockingly. Yet he too was lying on the ground, exhausted from the grueling battle.
“Let’s get out quickly.”
Seo-heon got up, dusting himself off without much response. Checking the time on the guild-exclusive device, a full day had passed since entering the dragon’s room.
“Did you get the skill you wanted?”
Halo, who had also gotten up, asked.
“Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to.”
Seo-heon muttered while rubbing his stiff eyes. Having shown many unsightly scenes, he felt no need to be formal in front of Halo anymore.
“I was just asking as a courtesy.”
“Are we on terms to exchange pleasantries? Move your legs instead of your mouth.”
Outside the dungeon, even more reporters than when they first entered had gathered, having heard the news of the dungeon being cleared. Reporters were preparing to piece together articles with titles like ‘S-rank Dungeon, Solved by Just Two?’ and ‘Large Guilds Failing to Clear S-rank Dungeons That Two Can Solve, What’s the Problem?’
Even seeing the two utterly exhausted, the cameras didn’t back down. Reporters swarmed the two like spiders with a hundred eyes.
“Kang Seo-heon! How did you finish the conquest?”
“Why did you come all the way to Georgia?”
Seo-heon pushed forward, fending off the tiresome reporters. Although humans formed a wall preventing movement, Seo-heon pushed through and advanced.
“Are you using force on civilians!”
Some even picked unreasonable fights, but again, there was no response. Fortunately, as expected, the Georgian side had prepared a car in front. Seo-heon and Halo got into the car with their mouths tightly shut. Those who thought they would say at least something had to return to their places, unable to hide their disappointment.
The photos of Seo-heon and Halo in the articles were just a few blurry front views and images of them getting into the car. As if to make up for this, bizarre speculations and ridiculous gossip spread in print. Moreover, cyber wreckers also exaggerated the Ihwa Guild’s unusual activities and spread rumors.
Even anticipating this, Seo-heon didn’t open his mouth until the moment he boarded the plane.
***
“Do you know what will happen next?”
Seo-heon asked Halo after boarding the plane. It was the first thing he had said since leaving the dungeon. Although he had followed Halo’s instructions, now that things were wrapping up, doubts began to flicker about whether Woo-hyun would really wake up.
“You want to know? From someone who said he hated prophecies.”
Halo subtly mocked without resolving Seo-heon’s curiosity. This wasn’t Halo’s preferred way of speaking. However, he tended to feel spiteful when seeing someone like Kang Seo-heon, and it came out in his words.
To Halo, Woo-hyun was a somewhat special person, and Seo-heon was someone who hurt him, so it was inevitable.
‘It’s lamentable that Kang Seo-heon is the only one who can save Woo-hyun.’
Halo thought this was the most annoying thing about that man.
“Indeed. I never thought I’d be begging for prophecies.”
Realizing the other had no intention of answering, Seo-heon shifted his gaze to the documents.
Halo’s point unexpectedly caught Seo-heon off guard. He had just realized that his entire way of thinking had been overturned.
Not wanting a resurrection stone, not needing prophecies – all of that had become old news. Woo-hyun alone acted as his exception.
“A prophet shouldn’t reveal all the facts.”
About an hour after takeoff, Halo responded.
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying that I’m in a position where I can’t tell the whole truth either. Regardless of whether you like it or not.”
For the first time, the word ‘dislike’ came out of Halo’s mouth.
‘The chances of making Woo-hyun open his eyes with the skill I just obtained are higher.’
With those words, Seo-heon was convinced. The casual demeanor implied that the job was done. Thanks to this, Seo-heon arrived at the airport having regained more composure than when they took off.
Although they had to travel by plane because it was a country without an agreement, things moved quickly once they arrived in Korea. There was a transportation specialist hunter that Seo-heon had prepared in advance inside the airport.
“Aren’t you coming?”
Seo-heon asked Halo, who was standing back.
“I have someone to meet. Besides, I don’t think I need to go there today.”
“Do as you wish.”
Seo-heon didn’t ask twice. Although reporters were swarming inside and outside the airport, Seo-heon again conveyed that he wouldn’t make any response.
***
Seo-heon, who had come out of the airport, roughly pushed through the clinging crowd and urgently arrived at the hospital’s first floor by teleport. Although the medical staff had already been informed that Seo-heon would arrive, they couldn’t hide their surprise when they actually saw him. His appearance was in worse shape than they had imagined.
“Can I go to the patient’s room?”
“Please wait a moment!”
The nurse who came to her senses first stopped the hurrying Seo-heon.
“Before going up, please wash, change clothes, and disinfect yourself. You absolutely can’t go near the patient’s room in your current state.”
Only then did Seo-heon realize he was still wearing clothes stained with blood. It was absurd. It was admirable that the Georgian side hadn’t stopped Seo-heon from leaving in this state. He had pretended to be rational by checking documents, but he didn’t have the presence of mind to take care of himself.
“I understand. Please step out for a moment.”
‘I guess they were also desperate to get rid of me quickly, blinded by immediate benefits.’
Seo-heon could only go to Woo-hyun’s room after washing and changing clothes as instructed by the hospital. The room he entered after nodding to those keeping strict watch was dark with only a soft light on.
Memes From Aida