Chapter 259: Somehow, Hunting (1)
Chapter 259 - Somehow, Hunting (1)
Wow! With a boom, the last SS-rank monster collapsed onto the building’s rubble. Property damage was inevitable, but there were no deaths. While the Lancea Guards had drawn the monsters’ attention, Yoohyun and Moon Hyuna quickly took care of each one together.
When I used the Hatchling Cla.s.s Teacher ability to link them together, not even an SS-rank monster could last long. The moment Yoohyun and Irin immobilized the monster, Moon Hyuna’s giant spear struck as if waiting, and that was it.
“Hyung-nim’s abilities are great,” said Moon Hyuna, jumping off the monster’s corpse.
“Usually, fighters find it difficult to coordinate attacks. Normally, I would have to be prepared to get burned, and the young master would also have a hard time determining when to dodge.”
As she said, it couldn’t be said that Yoohyun or Moon Hyuna were good at cooperating with each other. The fire, in particular, caused an enormous variety of damage. And even if Moon Hyuna’s attack focused on a single point, it was easy to get caught in her sheer force.
“Instead of continuing to spend points on the Cookies, why not buy a Miniaturization ability? I think it would be easier.”
“I don’t have any related attributes, so that would require a ridiculous amount of points. It turns out the price of an ability varies depending on the buyer’s skills.”
We found this out by comparing Point Stores with Yoohyun. Equipment and consumables got the same points, but abilities differed. In the case of fire attribute abilities, the points required for Yoohyun and me differed by almost a factor of 100.
“Really? No wonder there were some super cheap abilities. Still, if we have time, you should try to convince Moon and acc.u.mulate points. You said you could take all the points if you hunted with him, right? And duplicated, besides. It’s one thing if you have Eunhye, but attacking with you at full size is difficult.”
“What if you get dragged by accident and get lost?” Moon Hyuna said, laughing. That wouldn’t happen, but it would be easier to share resistance abilities besides duplication abilities.
“But well, buying abilities is hard, and I can get a lot of cookies. They offer a 20% discount for 10 units and a 55% discount for 100.”
Although the 100 case was 5 million points, the S-rank Miniaturization ability with the same effect as the Cookies exceeded 100 million points… Unfortunately, abilities were excluded from the S-rank exchange ticket. And there was also a point limit. Moreover, it was better for the kids to use the ticket.
“We’re heading straight to Medsang, right?”
Yoohyun pulled me out of his pocket and said.
“That’s right. What will you do, Hyuna-ssi?”
At my words, she roughly scratched her red hair. For a moment, a worried expression took over her face, but she soon shook it off.
“Even if I’m sincere with them, I have to notice the difference. Hey!”
Moon Hyuna turned around and looked at the Lancea Guards.
“I’ll be away to investigate the Akates Mana Hall anomaly. So, in my absence, I leave the city to you. Stay on high alert and, hopefully, you can resist as best as possible without suffering damage. It would be nice to see you all again, but don’t expect too much, and if you see a good SS-rank Awakened, grab them immediately even if you break something with your grip. Understand?”
At her last words, some of the guards snorted and smiled. Although their leader said she would be away for a long time, the atmosphere wasn’t particularly somber. It wasn’t that there were no worried expressions, but their faith in Lambda (Moon Hyuna) seemed stronger.
“Don’t worry and come back soon!”
“We’ll keep waiting, but if we see an SS-rank Awakened, we’ll grab them.”
“Yes, it would be good to have one more, right? Lambda-nim would also be more at ease.”
“If we had to leave an SS-rank guard behind, we could leave the city every day.”
As light-hearted jokes went back and forth, some guards rushed off saying they’d carry her luggage.
There were also those who said ‘you’re not going alone, right?’ and playfully fought to choose an escort.
To start with, Lambda must have been a fairly popular leader, but Moon Hyuna, who maintained that faith, was also truly incredible, I thought. There must have been an effect of the system that considered her Lambda, but that alone wouldn’t be enough to result in this scene.
“The Medsang s.h.i.+p has responded. They said they’re approaching the Lancea-Pharus Path.”
Said a guard receiving transmissions from the Lancea Defense Agency’s communications office. With the SSS-rank monster following them, we decided to join more than 20 kilometers from the city.
Soon, a military vehicle, Moon Hyuna’s motorcycle, and a truck loaded with luggage were prepared. To preserve their power, the Lancea Guards had decided that only A-B ranks would accompany us as drivers.
In the midst of the crowd’s farewell, the vehicles departed. Moon Hyuna looked at them and the dark city with regret.
“I wish we had taken a day off and left. Lancea is also an incredible city. I couldn’t even eat bolunyas, a traditional dish from the southern region. Apparently, it’s in season and incredibly delicious.”
She had become a local, huh.
“However, this is not the time to relax; Even though we left only two people alone, I want to return to the s.h.i.+p quickly. Something must be happening.”
“Right. Moon and Noah-ssi are not compatible with each other, are they? Our Moon can’t even use attack abilities, who knows if they’re bullying him.”
Would Noah-ssi really go that far?…
But I was going to push it. Soon a defensive barrier appeared; We pa.s.sed through a huge gate and went up a rugged path. Meanwhile, the effect of the cookie ended, and I sat next to Yoohyun. The falling moonlight was particularly strong.
“Noah-ssi confirmed that the installation area of the fifth disk is a square in Medsang, but he said the first disk, the last one, doesn’t match Drosia city.”
The location of the first disk was written as the central lake in Renoir Forest. But Renoir Forest wasn’t in Drosia. We were told that as ice and water elementals acc.u.mulated in the northern lands that were already cold to begin with, the land froze even more and all areas that were once forests turned into snowfields. So they told us they’d check their records because it might be one of the lost forests outside the city.
“They are here.”
Yoohyun spoke first, and Moon Hyuna also looked into the air. Even I felt the confusing movement of Mana.
I couldn’t adapt to the sudden change in sensation after making the engraving, so I wore an item that reduced my mana sensitivity. If I had left it as it was, not only my mind but also my body would have been exhausted. At this moment, I had a Mana sensitivity around a D-rank level.
With a hum, the air trembled, and a huge s.h.i.+p appeared in the sky. Wrapped in a variety of support abilities, it approached us almost as fast as if it were using instantaneous movement. Fierce winds, akin to storms, hit us in the face.
A part of the bottom of the s.h.i.+p opened, and an elevator large enough to transport three or four cars was lowered. When we boarded, Noah came to meet us.
“We will head directly to Medsang City. The SSS-rank monster is still following us without acting unpredictably. Most monsters are hostile to humans and attack cities, but they’ve never been this persistent. After all, they’re targeting that man.”
Apparently, under normal circ.u.mstances, they wouldn’t actively follow you if you were at a certain distance. Additionally, the Akates Mana Hall had also calmed down. As I thought, Sigma was the problem behind the Mana Hall anomalies.
“Also, SS-ranks and lower have joined and formed a group of about a hundred.”
“A group?”
“Yes. Sometimes they take advantage and eat each other, so the number decreases, but it has increased faster than that.”
“…S-ranks are one thing, but how many SS-ranks are there?”
“We have identified five so far.”
Noah’s answer left me speechless for a moment.
Our plan was simple. After installing the disk in Medsang, we would lure the SSS-rank monster directly to Drosia. As Sung Hyunjae said, I was thinking we would join Yerim, the strongest Guard in this world, to deal with the monster, but would it be okay? Probably no more SSS-rank monsters would appear, right?
“And Moon-ssi?”
For Sigma, who was treated as if he were dead, we decided to temporarily use a different name in front of the people of this world. Although the man himself didn’t seem willing to do so.
Yoohyun and Noah called him that guy, that person, that jerk, etc., while only Hyuna-ssi and I called him ‘little moon.’
I think it suits him in a way.
“He’s sleeping. After all, it’s nighttime.”
Noah said with a smile. No, although the guards in this world are usually active at night. So he forced him to sleep, huh? But that’s better than them fighting. Yoohyun looked at Noah with a gaze that said, “good job.” I felt sorry for Sigma, but thanks to him, it seems like Yoohyun and Noah are getting closer.
While they’re at it, everyone should get along… that was an excessive wish.
“It will take us about a day to reach Medsang City. In the meantime, rest well.”
But I think Noah-ssi needs to rest.
In addition to continuously supplying mana to the guards on board, he was also using support abilities. Noah smiled when I expressed my concerns and said he was fine. Apparently, he was incredibly resilient thanks to his SS-rank stats and the healing ability he had retained.
While giving orders to his guards in preparation for the move, he seemed especially mature and reliable. Riette should have seen that.
As we headed to our rooms, I removed the mana suppression item. At the same moment, a slight dizziness overtook me.
“Don’t overexert yourself, hyung.”
“I’m fine if no one uses my abilities around me. Yoohyun, you must have been sensitive to mana from the beginning, wasn’t it difficult?”
“I had been feeling it slightly since before the Awakened appeared. And even before that, mana wasn’t completely absent. Immediately after I awakened, I really couldn’t control it. But S-ranks can adapt quickly.”
“Mana has always been there?”
I had never heard of this before.
“It had no effect on ordinary people. I could feel it and was a bit physically stronger. It didn’t make a big difference.”
Yoohyun had been fitter since he was young. And he got good grades in physical education.
“You competed for first and second place on sports day, right? You caught up in the relay race even though the gap was huge and lost by a hair.”
“That was on purpose. If I did too well, it would be problematic. I didn’t even think about doing sports.”
“You would have been in your third year of high school when you said you would go to medical school, yes.”
“I thought it would be advantageous in many ways.”
“Being a doctor is a good job, but… Yoohyun, wasn’t there something you really wanted to do?”
“In terms of employment, there was nothing.”
My brother said, opening the door to the room.
“Back then, I just wanted to do it so you could live comfortably. Move to a better house, and you wouldn’t have to work hard. That was all; is that strange?”
“No, not at all. That’s normal. Doing something incredible that goes down in history is fantastic, but most people just want to live comfortably. Without worrying about money, with a happy family and friends you get along with. If you add being healthy to that, what more could you ask for?”
Having big dreams was also good. But living an easy and happy life, wasn’t that also good? And it wasn’t easy either.
“Besides, we have to save the world to live in peace. It’s not a small dream. If you think about it, people who live for the world are trying to create an environment where others can live comfortably and happily. When every single ordinary person is finally happy, that will be world peace. So, taking care of oneself would be the foundation of world peace?”
I didn’t know if that made sense, but anyway, simply put. I hoped Yoohyun and everyone who cared about me would be happy. And who cares about the people who didn’t like that?
“We don’t have much to do until we reach Medsang, so, can you help me get used to my Mana sense?”
“Of course, I can help, but using my abilities on you would be dangerous. Wouldn’t it be better to ask Hunter Noah if you could experience it through him? With his healing or support.”
“Testing the ability would be good, but using it myself is faster. And among them, if I’m adjusting the Mana, it will be the resistance abilities, after all. I’ll practice with Fear Resistance.”
Poison or Curse would be too dangerous, and since it had dropped to S-rank, it was perfect.
“Now, threaten me.”
Sitting in a chair, I looked at Yoohyun.
Hesitating for a moment, Yoohyun drew a sword. He aimed the blade at my throat. The cold edge grazed my skin, almost touching my Adam"s apple.
"...Maybe because it was planned, I don"t feel much."
— Even an A-rank awakened person would have run away in fear!
Irin interrupted. But I really didn"t know about that. I hadn"t felt much pressure from Yoohyun from the beginning, but now it was much better.
"Then, how about this?"
My brother turned his sword in the other direction. Seeing the semicircle of the metal"s trajectory, I jumped out of my seat.
"Han Yoohyun!"
The blade nicked his neck. It only slightly damaged the skin, with small drops of blood emerging, but my agitation erupted.
Fear resistance activated, and I could clearly feel the mana moving in a way I hadn"t been able to feel correctly before, spreading throughout my body. Since it was an S-rank skill, much higher than my stats, it felt like my whole body was getting gooseb.u.mps. I suddenly felt exhausted, but I set it aside and approached Yoohyun.
"Hey! No matter what, how can you hurt yourself? Even if it isn"t serious... Anyway!”
I slapped my idiot brother on the back, and Rin-ie muttered, "It"ll hurt more if hyung hits us!" With my current stats at C-rank, I guess he could feel that.
"I know a wound like this is nothing to you, but still, you can"t do this!"
"Okay."
"Don"t smile!"
"Okay."
I felt bad asking Noah-ssi directly when he was already busy, so even if their skill rank was a bit low, I"d just ask a free support guard.
Sigma, who only woke up in the morning when there was bright light, led me to Noah instead of going directly to him and boldly told me to fulfill my duty as his guardian.
"Complain to Mu, C-rank. Aren"t you my protector?"
At his words, coming from where he was hiding behind me, or not even hiding but pretending to hide, the expressions of Yoohyun and Noah twisted, and Moon Hyuna was ridiculously entertained.
"You"re doing so well, our Moon-nim! Keep it up! It"s even funnier because you have that idiot Sung Hyunjae"s face! When can the Seseong guild leader come here?"
"I"ll turn a blind eye if you"re not sincere with the contract, but are you going to turn your back on me?"
"Hey, no. He said you started the fight first."
"...Yoojin-ssi, leave it to me, and I can put him to sleep peacefully until we finish our work."
"Yes, hyung. Just hand him over to Hunter Noah."
"Now you"re even trying to starve me all day. You won"t just stand by and watch, will you, C-rank?"
Our Moon-nim, you"ve become even more brazen, I see. Forget a hundred years, he"d become similar to Sung Hyunjae in 30 or 40 years. Still, I should feed him.
Amid trivial disputes, the s.h.i.+p approached Medsang City. Meanwhile, the number of monsters had increased to over 300.