Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The boss monster, toppled by the hurled summon.

Euno put a hand to his forehead and gazed at the thick cloud of sand dust.

"Whoa~ two birds with one stone! Efficiency's insane!"

"...The cheetah, though... I kind of feel bad for it......"

When Jaeyun scratched his cheek and said this, Gyeol twisted his lips and shrugged.

"Who cares. It's a summon and we don't even know what it's after."

The sand dust gradually cleared.

A small figure squirmed, then staggered shakily to its feet.

The summon's eyes were spinning in circles.

Soon the lizard boss came to its senses.

Its slit pupils turned toward the summon.

HISSSSS—!

The lizard flicked its tongue threateningly.

The summon smacked its tail against the ground, as if indignant.

"Ha ha, are those two about to fight each other?"

Euno wore an enthralled expression, as if he might pull out popcorn.

Sahyeon shook his head and spoke.

"Quit chattering and stay hidden."

Then he gave Haeseong a quiet glance.

Haeseong, who had been blankly assessing the situation, answered belatedly.

"Y-Yes!"

He snapped to attention at Sahyeon's look and gathered the students together.

"Let's pull back."

Jaeyun nodded rapidly.

"Y-Yes!"

"Aw! But I want to do it too!"

"There he goes with the nonsense again."

Only after Gyeol finally dragged the reluctant Euno away from the scene did Sahyeon let out a sigh and turn back to his target.

HISSSSS—!

CRACKLE— CRACKLE-CRACKLE!

The lizard and the summon, locked in a standoff.

The size difference was at least four or five times over, yet neither showed any sign of backing down.

'Perfect timing.'

Sahyeon raised the corner of his mouth and kicked off the ground without hesitation.

The distance to the two monsters closed in an instant.

Just then the lizard's pupils stretched into long slits, locking onto the approaching Sahyeon.

The spikes covering the lizard's entire body bristled even sharper.

And in that moment.

SHHHHHHH—!

Spikes shot out like a downpour.

The summon nimbly dodged.

But it was hemmed in by the meter-long scorpion-type monsters guarding the boss's flanks.

Sahyeon, on the other hand, charged in serene.

He slid between the air-splitting spikes, deflecting the attacks as he wove through.

A scorpion-type monster blocked his path as well.

Sahyeon pivoted on his foot and yanked a spike lodged in the ground.

SLASH—!

One swing, one tick up on the count.

[E-rank or above monsters: 277/300]

....

[E-rank or above monsters: 289/300]

Between the summon and Sahyeon, the numbers were filling fast.

[E-rank or above monsters: 300/300]

[Monster hunting quest completed.]

[Boss: 0/1]

The first quest, finally cleared.

Now all that remained was the boss.

The target loomed close.

Then, a massive form lunged as if to pounce.

Like a bus crawling toward him.

"Ugly as sin."

Just as Sahyeon's brow creased—

The boss's mouth gaped open.

A red dot swelling in the back of its throat.

WHOOOOSH—!

A fierce blaze erupted.

Sahyeon pressed forward without hesitation and swung the spike wide.

WHOOSH!

The flames split into two streams.

Cutting between them, Sahyeon leapt in and stretched out his hand.

The boss's thin pupils dilated.

It tried to twist its body and leap away too late, but it was already over.

CRAAAASH—!

A fist driven into its hard skull.

The sand floor caved in instantly.

In the swirling dust, the boss lay flattened, dazed.

"Now it's settled down."

Sahyeon hummed in satisfaction.

He pulled the glove off his right hand and laid his palm on the boss's head.

Soon his irises bled red.

A familiar memory surfaced as he dug through the boss's mind.

Fragmentary scenes raced through Sahyeon's head.

The oasis, the red light, cold water, a hard stone, and......

"......!"

That was when it happened.

A wave of revulsion surged up from deep in his chest.

It burned, as if he might melt at any second.

His whole body tingled, his vision dimming.

A sensation he knew all too well.

'...It's fused with the Core.'

It seemed the troublesome red Mana Crystal had been absorbed into the Core.

'I was bracing to search its stomach inch by inch, so maybe this is a stroke of luck.'

Gate bosses, even of the same type, had Cores in different locations every time.

But this one's Core location was obvious.

"Wrecked it all over evenly, didn't they."

Heart, head, neck, and so on.

Every spot where a lizard-type monster's Core might be had already been destroyed by the mystery sniper.

Only one location remained.

The base of the tail.

'No need to drag this out.'

Sahyeon's red eyes returned to grey.

Sweat trickling down his jaw.

The instant he lifted his hand from its head—

BANG—

A bullet grazed past his ear.

The boss's body convulsed once, sharp and large.

Then its movement stopped.

"That little bastard......"

A bullet had struck the lizard squarely in the small of its back.

A shadow dove straight in above it.

The summon.

Just as it bared its fangs, seemingly about to extract the Core and clamp down on it—

WHOOSH—!

Sahyeon hurled a spike at the summon like a javelin.

The summon flinched and backpedaled to dodge.

Sahyeon slipped through the opening.

He gripped the embedded violet Core and tore it straight out.

SLASH! Red blood sprayed.

DING—

[Boss hunting quest completed.]

[Gate clear complete.]

[Tallying scores....]

The success messages popped up simultaneously.

Sahyeon idly dismissed the windows and studied the Core he'd grabbed.

A hard lump filling his entire fist.

'Abnormally hot, but......'

Doesn't seem to cause anomalies when a human touches it.

GRRRRR—

Just then, the summon, ears flattened, growled in resentment.

Sahyeon scoffed as if it were ridiculous.

"Bite this and you're a goner."

If it was dangerous to monsters, it'd be the same for a summon.

That lizard seemed to be in plenty of pain too.

'No gratitude for being rescued.'

Sahyeon clicked his tongue and turned his attention back to the Core.

Who should I hand this off to......

The Association people weren't trustworthy. Someone who'd know about a bizarre phenomenon like this......

While Sahyeon was deliberating—

"Aw~ if only it hadn't grade-changed, I could've taken it down!!"

Euno came running over, smacking his lips in regret.

His companions approached one by one.

"Insane, is that venom on the spike tips?"

"Wo-Woow...... it's even bigger up close......"

Behind Gyeol's repulsed face, Jaeyun hesitantly followed.

"...Mr. Sahyeon! Are you all right?"

At Haeseong's call, Sahyeon let out a small exclamation.

Right, this guy was here.

Sahyeon landed lightly on the sand.

"Can you use your appraisal skill right now?"

When he held out the Core in his hand, Haeseong nodded vigorously.

"Oh, yes! Of course!"

Light-brown eyes studied the violet stone closely.

Soon Haeseong's skill was shared with Sahyeon.

[Item Information]

Mana Crystal extracted from an Ignis Molloch Core.

Name: B-rank Mana Crystal

Attribute: Fire

Absorption Efficiency: 41%

Durability: 42%

Purity: 53%

"Hmm, these are pretty ordinary B-rank numbers, though......"

As Haeseong slowly read down the window, he tilted his head.

"Uh...?"

His gaze halted at the final line.

(! Infection Rate: 12%)

"Infection Rate?"

Haeseong's face filled with confusion.

Gyeol, who had crept closer to listen, let out a puzzled breath.

"Is 'Infection' even a Mana Crystal attribute?"

"It isn't."

Sahyeon answered flatly.

His gaze turned to one spot.

The summon, still glaring fiercely as if eyeing the Core in Sahyeon's hand.

It seemed highly likely these two had snuck into this Gate precisely because they'd caught wind of this kind of anomaly.

Of course, a monster's Core was a precious material worth upward of a hundred million won.

But going so far as to illegally infiltrate a Gate and force their way through the clear meant their objective was clear-cut.

"...Looks like that summoner knows about this phenomenon too, doesn't it?"

Haeseong offered a similar guess.

There were cases of a non-Awakened Awakening, or an Awakened's grade rising, after consuming a Mana Crystal.

But it was only by about one grade, and the success rate was a slim 0.1 percent.

On top of that, the side effects of failure were severe.

Anything from blindness to death.

Because of that danger, consuming Mana Crystals was currently banned by law.

But monsters were different.

The early days, when Gates first appeared.

As the Hunter Association was founded, all sorts of research had been conducted.

As far as Haeseong knew, there'd never been a case of a monster undergoing a grade change after eating a Mana Crystal.

Jaeyun, standing beside him, wet his lips anxiously.

"So... you're saying they knew this would happen in advance?"

"Don't know that yet."

Sahyeon shrugged.

It eyed the Core obsessively as if it knew something, but the way it tried to clamp the Core in its mouth without a second thought suggested it didn't know the details.

That kind of thing you only find out by shaking them down directly, no?

"In any case, the summoner seems to be a fairly seasoned expert."

Haeseong said, his face rigid.

"But where the hell did that summoner—"

As Gyeol scrunched his brow and looked around, his eyes went wide.

Jaeyun, following his gaze, cried out urgently.

"Th-There! The cheetah's running away!"

The summon, which had been edging backward, vanished swiftly.

Euno jolted and shouted.

"Shouldn't we catch it?! You said it was suspicious!!"

Sahyeon tossed the Core into his inventory and answered indifferently.

"No need to rush."

DING—

A chime sounded.

[Score tallying complete.]

"We'll see it again anyway."

"Huh? How?"

Euno blinked.

Right then.

White light spread beneath Sahyeon's group.

"...Hm? What's this now?"

Just as Euno, looking down, let out a question—

A new window appeared.

[Moving to Reward Zone.]