I roughly knew what they were expecting from me. But please, think about it logically.
“We didn’t come to this island to rescue Hunters, and how could I possibly save all the Hunters wandering here alone in the first place?”
If you can’t do something, you just can’t. There’s a limit to what one person can do. Moreover,
“In this kind of situation, no one can go without dying.”
It’s something you have to accept. Life often unfolds suddenly with unbearable situations, like getting hit by a truck.
If you survive, you’re lucky, and if you don’t, that’s the end.
“Yoo Chan-seok, this is a question, but what would you do if you were caught in that kind of situation?”
Han Sang-ah asked, and I gave a simple answer.
“I’d probably resent the world for the unfair treatment. I’d blame why this only happens to me. I’d cry out for help, hoping someone would come save me. I might even piss my pants out of fear.”
“But then…”
Before Han Sang-ah could say more, I cut in.
“No matter what I think, I die. I’m not talking about the feelings of people in that situation.”
I was talking about the result. If you’re caught in a situation where death is unavoidable, no matter what you think or feel, you will die.
By the time we arrived at Hwagaesa, it was quite dark.
“The building is intact. There’s no sign of other Hunters staying here.”
“That’s a relief.”
After hearing Han Sang-ah’s reply, we unpacked and ate a simple meal.
“It’s dark, so it’s hard to see well right now.”
“Still, we’ve figured out where the other Hunters are.”
Thanks to the lighting, the view from above is very clear.
“It’s really dangerous.”
I understood why they used lights. Those bat-headed dwarves we faced first honestly weren’t much of a threat. So they probably thought it’s fine if their location was exposed.
While thinking about what urgent measures to take, I sent two warning messages via smartphone messenger to Hunters carrying out contracts on Gyodong-do.
[This is Yoo Chan-seok from group 8. Considering the level of monsters we recently faced, please refrain from using lights carelessly as it could put you in dangerous situations.]
[According to Hunter Kim Minjae, who is accompanying me, there’s a possibility the alpha Erosion Core has become grade 3.]
If they took my words seriously, at least the monsters wouldn’t be cutting Hunters’ throats in the middle of the night like apples in an orchard during harvest.
“I wonder if they’ll listen to my advice.”
The messages were most likely delivered. But no one turned off their lights. After all, it’s human nature to always do what they’re told not to do.
“No hope for minimizing damage huh.”
I boiled water, made two cups of tea, and then went to Kim Minjae.
“Ah, Hunter Yoo Chan-seok.”
“The weather is quite chilly.”
Sitting beside him, I handed him a cup and asked,
“Hunter Kim Minjae, you said you’ve handled contracts like this before, right? So you must know about Erosion Cores?”
Kim Minjae nodded at my question.
“Yes, but why do you…?”
I smiled and replied,
“If I keep doing this work, I guess there’ll come a time when I experience Erosion Cores like Hunter Han Sang-ah.”
Better to know something than to be hit without warning.
That was the general meaning behind my words.
“If there’s anything I can know in advance, could you tell me?”
Kim Minjae nodded and began to share various stories.
“Erosion Cores are shaped like holes. Once you enter, a completely different world unfolds.”
A completely different world huh. The description caught my interest.
“A different world you say?”
“Sometimes it suddenly turns into a desert-like environment… last time, it was like falling into an underground prison.”
Apparently, 30 minutes after Hunters enter an Erosion Core, the entrance closes.
The story was getting more interesting, and many thoughts filled my mind.
“Once inside an Erosion Core, you can’t leave until you destroy the core.”
Kim Minjae added that it was only called a core, and it was actually a powerful monster instead.
“If you destroy the core, does the Erosion Core reconnect to this world?”
Kim Minjae shook his head at my question.
“If you destroy the core, Hunters who entered inside get transported back to the original location of the Erosion Core.”
It’s like teleportation. Without the energy emitted from the Erosion Core, the erosion zone cannot be maintained, and monsters cannot maintain their form.
I smiled inside hearing that.
The decision was made. I must head to the alpha Erosion Core on Gyodong-do.
“Thanks. By the way, I’m not sure if this device you mentioned will be effective.”
Kim Minjae looked at the small device in his hand and spoke.
“It’s reliable. It alerts you immediately if a monster approaches within a certain radius. No need for separate lookouts.”
After finishing the talk, I waited until night deepened. Once I confirmed Kim Minjae and Han Sang-ah were asleep, I carefully moved to Insari, northern Gyodong-do.
Along the way, I avoided fights with wandering monsters. I already knew the location of Gyodong-do’s alpha Erosion Core from the initial briefing.
Moving boldly, I suddenly stopped.
“Uh oh.”
I saw a tiger-sized cat biting a woman’s neck and pinning down a heavily wounded middle-aged man with its front paws.
Wait, a tiger-sized cat is basically a tiger.
“Do you like treats like Churu too?”
I should’ve brought some.
At my bland remark, the giant tiger spat out the woman’s corpse it was holding and licked its front paw.
It acted like it had no interest in me. But cats usually…
Pretend not to care but suddenly pounce.
The creature twisted its body swiftly, closing the distance between us, and swung its paw. It was a classic cat punch.
Of course, the force seemed enough to blow off a person’s head.
“Don’t pull that bullshit. Oh wait, should I say catshit?”
Prepared for such a situation, I aimed my spear at its arm. The cat immediately retracted its paw and moved it fast to strike my spear shaft.
My spear couldn’t keep up with its speed and got caught tightly by the cat’s paw.
I dropped the spear and quickly closed in, throwing a punch at its head, but the cat suddenly disappeared.
“Shadow?”
My accumulated experience and memory quickly deduced the worst case scenario and a countermeasure.
I forced my body to turn backward and saw a large front paw with sharp claws springing from my shadow.
I aimed at the paw, poured mana into my leg, and stepped firmly.
With a crack, the shadow paw was crushed under my leg with a groan, and black flames clung to it at the same time.
A sharp scream of a cat followed.
“Do you like walks? Follow me.”
With one paw crushed, its speed must’ve dropped. It couldn’t catch up immediately.
“Phew, huff…”
Breathing heavily, I ran towards Gyodong-do’s alpha Erosion Core with the cat chasing.
Ahead was a large hole big enough for three or four people to enter at once.
Seeing the cat running at me with black flames clinging to its body, I smirked and threw myself into the hole.
“…”
I arrived in a field. The sun was up in the sky, and across the field, there were primitive huts that seemed like they were built by cavemen.
According to Han Sang-ah, spaces inside Erosion Cores up to grade 3 aren’t very large. It takes about 4-5 hours to complete the scout.
But from grade 2 and up, patrols can take at least 1-2 weeks, sometimes more than a month.
“Yeah, I knew you’d come.”
As if it was natural, the cat followed me into the hole I entered. As I stood still, it stepped back slightly and licked its injured paw, eyes glowing.
It looked angry.
“Bring it on.”
Now, I’ll properly play with you. The Paradoxical Flame that clung to the cat’s body, was burning its stamina.
It kept burning. Normally, when the flame reaches an uncontrollable level, I’d have to turn it off and reapply it, but…
The flames currently burning the cat’s stamina and already grew beyond my control.
But it didn’t matter.
“This place isn’t Earth, right?”
One big problem with Paradoxical Flame is it doesn’t distinguish friend from foe except me.
The burning black flame burns the stamina of all nearby beings except me.
If it exceeds my control range, it becomes a wildfire disaster.
“But here, it’s okay even if everything burns.”
It was a completely isolated place, and after removing the core of the Erosion Core, exiting here is similar to spatial teleportation.
“Kek… kekek.”
Watching the fiercely burning Paradoxical Flame on the cat’s body, I heard that sound from behind.
“There are quite a lot of you.”
The five or six bat-headed giants over 2 meters tall I had killed before, were standing there holding stone clubs, staggering toward me.
Each one seemed about the same level as the giant I killed.
And the cat that was fighting me suddenly jumped beside them like they were its comrades.
“Idiots.”
Of course, the flame burning the cat’s stamina also spread to the nearby bat-headed giants.
The Paradoxical Flame I wasn’t controlling was rapidly burning their stamina with its sufficient power.
Six giants and one cat, a total of seven, had their stamina burned while the mana emitted by the flame rapidly increased the ambient mana density.
Absorbing the dense mana, I heard cracking sounds continuously from my body.
“When this whole place burns down…”
The limited space was being filled with mana. The thickened ambient mana would surely make me stronger.
“Today, let’s have a proper fire party!”
While fighting the burning creatures, I deliberately lured them toward the huts in the field.
Among those who rushed out due to the sudden incident, there were several dwarf bat-heads, not giant ones.
“Oh, good timing for you to come out.”
I wrapped the Paradoxical Flame around my hand, grabbed one’s head, and threw it into the cluster of monsters.
Then, wrapping the flame around both legs, I jumped on another dwarf, stepping on its torso. It fell and burned, unable to withstand my speed.
As if I was surfing on its body, I slid and stabbed my spear into its belly, swinging hard toward the other monsters running out of the hut.
“Hah.”
The ambient mana thickened nonstop, and the cracking sounds echoed from my body as I absorbed the mana.
“Burn to ashes.”
The Paradoxical Flame burning the monsters’ bodies in all directions turned this area into a sea of black fire.