Chapter 237

Strength drained out of my hand all at once. I got up and started walking again, trying to organize my thoughts.

The principle was simple.

‘I can’t do it alone.’

I have to kill Kwon Taehan and usurp his regression—only then can I go back while keeping my memories. The moment this goes off-track even once, it’s over for both Kwon Taehan and me. No—would he succeed, at least?

‘Then what the fuck am I supposed to bet on?’

How did I drag things this far, only for this fucking bastard to die first....

‘Ah.’

Far off in the distance, a light was brightening. Since this was a Dungeon, I couldn’t be sure it was the sun. Maybe it was the moon. Or maybe it was something else entirely.

But one thing was certain.

This was the last one.

***

“Jehyun.”

I felt a hand wrap around my shoulder. With my mind lagging by a beat, every sound reached me slow.

“Looks like you did see something after all. It’s fresh—this is the first time I’ve seen you like this....”

With that voice edged in laughter, my body swayed a little.

It felt like I’d fallen into a deep sleep full of a noisy dream and was only just waking up. My head started throbbing, and then the back of my neck pulled tight again.

I put strength into my eyes and slowly looked at Im Haekyung, who was patting my shoulder.

“What did you see?”

“.......”

What did I see? I saw Kwon Taehan dead. And that wasn’t all.

‘Fuck, seriously....’

A hollow laugh slipped out before I could stop it.

‘Was it real?’

My unconscious was afraid of it? But it wasn’t something I could just dismiss as “unconscious.” From the start, information I didn’t know came pouring out. No—was it not reality in the first place? It was too vivid...... something. It didn’t feel like just a nightmare.

‘Did I usurp Kwon Taehan’s regression trait?’

I’d been wondering myself why I kept going to kill Kwon Taehan over and over like I was some deranged bastard, and I never expected to learn it like this.

‘A usurper?’

But I’d never usurped the Skills of the people I’d killed. Or had I not? Had I never even tried?

“Still not fully with it?”

“.......”

Im Haekyung’s voice came again from the side. My head really had been empty, but I still had enough sense not to tell Im Haekyung this.

“Guild Master.”

“Mm.... You look like you’re back. I was considering punching you once.”

Instead of answering Im Haekyung’s pointless comment, I scanned the area and quickly assessed the situation.

I could’ve sworn I’d been facing a huge pillar just in front of me, but at some point it had vanished without a trace. Instead, a petal—several times bigger than the one I’d seen earlier—was open in front of us.

‘Why does it look like that?’

And judging by how strongly the magical power still felt, the fight had already started.

“Where are the other Hunters?”

“I brought them. The timing was tight.”

The timing was tight?

“Because I wasn’t sure how long you’d hold out? I knew you wouldn’t die, but.”

“.......”

“Can you support us?”

“No.”

I answered flatly. The magical power in my body was basically bottomed out. With what little was faintly left, I couldn’t join a fight.

Im Haekyung stared at me, then said briefly,

“Then fall back.”

“Yes.”

I nodded without hesitation and stepped back.

“You... listen well.”

Ignoring Im Haekyung’s comment, I turned and moved quickly away, scanning nearby. A few Hunters were still on the ground, dropped and sleeping.

‘They must’ve put them to sleep on purpose.’

So the only ones awake were the ones Im Haekyung could use comfortably?

The ones awake were two from Haeseong and one Hunter whose face I didn’t recognize. The last one looked like their mind was pretty far gone.

‘That one was a mental-type Hunter too, I think.’

Looks like they quickly picked only the useful ones.

In the middle of that, I made eye contact with Hunter Seok, who’d been watching this way.

‘So they’re alive?’

Well. At least I got my potion money’s worth. When I dipped my chin once, they pointed at me like they had something to say.

‘What. So what?’

Do they want to pretend we’re buddies here? I ignored them and moved on fast.

I backed off as far as I could, lowered my body, and watched the battlefield. As I steadied my breathing, I pulled a stealth item from my chest and bit it between my teeth.

‘Fuck, my head’s a mess.’

Even before I could sort out what I’d just seen, things kept crashing in, and it felt like my skull was going to split.

The fight in front of me went more smoothly than I expected.

That Hunter threw a massive rope and bound the Dungeon Boss tight. The moment they yanked it down and dragged the bastard’s body toward the floor, Hunter Seok unleashed a barrage of attacks.

Im Haekyung didn’t give verbal commands. They just stood in front like they were absorbed in thought. Not that it meant they were doing nothing.

Mental Domination (S) has been activated.

‘So that’s how they’re doing it.’

Im Haekyung was using Mental Domination strictly on the Hunters. Not making the same mistake twice?

‘Probably won’t work.’

No matter how strong A-rank Hunters were, the manpower Im Haekyung could actually use was limited. And the ones collapsed on the floor too...... they were probably sprawled out because of Im Haekyung’s magical power, and with only three A-rank Hunters, there was no way they could take down an S-rank beast.

Scattering Storm (A) has been activated.

As Hunter Seok’s Skill activated, a massive storm rose from the ground.

‘An A-rank Skill....’

After watching Song Hwayoung use her Skill, I’d learned well enough how strong A-rank Skills could be. I didn’t know how much it would work since the opponent was what it was, but on its own, the power was significant.

‘Good thing I kept them alive.’

A huge storm ripped through the strange whistling of wind and sliced the Dungeon Boss apart. The other Hunter didn’t miss the opening and bound it tightly again.

Thud!

With a booming impact, one side of the Dungeon Boss’s mouth dropped to the floor.

“Fall back!”

At Hunter Seok’s short shout, the other Hunter stepped back.

Even then, Im Haekyung stood planted in place, continuing to control the Hunters without stopping.

Then, with the sound of something massive falling, a tremor spread.

KWAANG—!

It was a huge vibration, like the entire floor was ringing.

‘Fuck....’

I sprang up and retreated. Just having my feet on the ground made the shock feel like it was traveling all the way into my skull.

And then something black writhed up from the floor and started to coil around the Hunters.

“W-wait....”

Hunter Seok’s foot slid one step back.

No matter how well-trained they were, they were people who’d been fighting their own fear until just now. Could they overcome that fear again in such a short time?

“No, wait....”

Im Haekyung’s gaze moved toward the conscious Hunters.

From earlier, status windows had been streaming over Im Haekyung’s head. Putting some to sleep, using others in the fight.

Mental Domination (S) has been activated.

‘Can they hold?’

Then a Hunter who’d been lying flat on the floor slowly got up.

Im Haekyung hadn’t intentionally woken them. It was more like... they just woke up.

‘Are they saying they’ll clear the Dungeon Boss instead?’

“Guild Master!”

At the same moment Im Haekyung turned at that Hunter’s call, the enormous wave that had swallowed me earlier shoved aside Hunter Seok’s storm and rose again.

‘No.’

The wave surged fast, like it was targeting one person. A violent current slammed down in an instant right in front of the Hunter who’d just regained consciousness.

Shaaah—

A sticky black current engulfed them, and a whole person got ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) dragged under.

“Aaagh!”

With a short scream, the Hunter vanished in an instant.

Hunter Seok rushed over too late, but jumping into that wave to save someone already swept away would’ve been suicide.

Then the Mental Domination status window that had been hovering over Im Haekyung vanished all at once.

‘What?’

At the same time the window disappeared, the bodies of the Hunters who’d been knocked out started to move little by little.

‘Did they do that on purpose?’

Then the wave that had swallowed the Hunter wrapped around, swirling slowly like it was digesting something, and formed into the shape of a massive creature.

“What the—”

At that Hunter’s words, Im Haekyung finally spoke again for the first time in a while.

“The boss rummaged through the unconscious of the Hunter it swallowed and pulled out their fear.”

“Is that... real?”

“Of course.... You can feel the magical power.”

“Then how—”

Instead of answering, Im Haekyung reached out and brought the monster to a dead stop.

Mental Domination (S) has been activated.

“Hold.”

At Im Haekyung’s calm voice, the creature that looked like it was about to resume attacking froze.

‘If it’s like this....’

Im Haekyung stayed calm the whole time, but I could tell that wasn’t a good sign.

From the moment they stopped everything they’d been doing—since they hadn’t been using Skills on the Dungeon Boss at all—and started dumping Skills into it, Im Haekyung’s Plan A was basically dead.

‘Was this a Dungeon Im Haekyung was never supposed to enter in the first place?’

Once Im Haekyung froze the creature, the Hunters attacked it like they were used to it. After a few hits, the creature collapsed and was quickly absorbed back into the floor.

But it didn’t matter.

Once it could form once, it could form again anytime.

“Get ready again!”

As expected, the creature that had flopped down immediately wriggled and regenerated.

“Ha.... This isn’t easy.”

Muttering to themself, that Hunter tightened their grip on the rope again.

They dodged the writhing creature’s huge body and bound it tight. The rope that cinched the body instantly turned like a blade and sliced through it.

Riiip—!

With a vicious tearing sound, half the creature’s body blew apart, spraying flesh as it flew.

“No...!”

It was unrealistic for either that Hunter or Hunter Seok to get here in time. And there was no way to control a corpse after the flesh had already torn off.

Just before the corpse could crash down and cover the other Hunter’s entire body, light flashed—and a shadow fell beneath the massive carcass.

‘Song Hwayoung.’

Before I could even fully register it, the corpse was cleanly severed and dropped to the floor.

Song Hwayoung roughly hauled the Hunter up and stood facing Im Haekyung.

I turned my gaze to the Hunters still standing. Aside from Im Haekyung: two awake Haeseong Hunters, one mental-type Hunter, Song Hwayoung who’d just arrived, and the Hunter collapsed beside her.

Watching the Hunters who’d regained consciousness, I thought flatly.

‘Our odds just got even worse.’