Chapter 50

The night was dark, and the fire cast shadows everywhere. Contrary to the expectation that it would be difficult to find the rift, the three of them simultaneously looked at one spot. A slash that looked like it had been scribbled with a black ballpoint pen was repeating the process of growing and shrinking on its own like an equalizer in the midst of the fire. Each time it grew and shrank, its maximum size increased slightly.

Soram placed his hand on his ear.

"Director. We found the rift right away. The location isn't very good."

―Are there signs of it bursting?

"I can't tell that far since the size keeps fluctuating. I think it would be better to attack as soon as possible before it becomes a dungeon."

―Chief Seo said it would be difficult to dispatch him. Min-ki has already traveled from Seoul to Busan today, so it's too much for him to come back and join the battle.

Even if that wasn't the excuse, the Busan branch would have probably refused to help.

All the branches must feel that the strong 1st-grade hunters are concentrated in the Seoul headquarters. Excluding Ayoung, 10 out of the 18 active 1st-grades belong to the headquarters. The next largest Busan branch has 4, and the other Gangwon, Gyeongsang, and Jeju branches only have 1-2 each.

Moreover, the Seoul headquarters has Director Park Jae-seon, who represents the 1st generation of hunters, and two out of the three representing the 2nd generation, so it was inevitable for them to feel a sense of resistance.

So it's not that he doesn't understand their refusal to help. The headquarters also thinks they should go and help unless it's unavoidable, not that they are in a position to receive help.

However, for this incident, the choice of the Busan branch brought about aftereffects.

The damage to the hunters at the headquarters was greater than expected, and some hunters at the headquarters hold a grudge against the branches that refused to help. That was the reason why the hunters couldn't properly gather when the 3rd Great Rift appeared in Busan.

But if it's a Great Rift, Soram has already experienced this 1st-grade rift three times. Although the scale of damage varied, in the end, they were all suppressed by the power of the hunters at the headquarters.

So this can somehow be resolved in a more amicable way.

"For now, don't inform the other hunters about that. We should be able to get rid of it ourselves."

The director was silent for a moment and then said something short. Soram blinked.

"Are you serious? ...Ah."

He scratched the back of his head.

"Yes. If we get sued, the deputy director will defend us, right? What was it, there's no age limit for a lawyer's license, right? Is grandfather's license still valid?"

A voice as loud as Ga-eul's explosion rang in his ears. Soram headed back to the ground and stood on the roof of a silver car that was illegally parked.

"I'm just trusting the deputy director and recklessly doing this."

The car stepped on by Soram flew into the sky. Ayoung grinned at the car that flew next to her.

"You probably didn't borrow it just to ride and fly."

It was because she easily guessed what Soram was about to do.

"The deputy director measured the angle for me. This much is child's play."

"Got it."

Soram placed both hands on the car body. Blue mist enveloped Soram's arms and the car. When he tapped the car body with both hands, the car flew forward on its own.

The car that cut through the wind accelerated and charged toward the rift.

Kwang!!!!!

With a roar, the rift and the car collided. Black smoke rose from the spot. Aila was pushed back by the shock wave that spread through the air, but she stood her ground and growled through her white fur.

―Wow, player Jin Soram. That's a strike. That's a fastball that's harder to hit than a breaking ball. Commentator Kim, what do you think?

―It's completely pierced through. Player Jin Soram acts like a proper hunter twice a day, like a broken clock, and I guess this was one of those times. It was a good response.

―Stop messing around on the radio.

―Yes.

―Yessir.

While the excited voices of the chiefs of Teams 1 and 2 were heard through the in-ear headset, Soram was thrown back by the impact of the secondary explosion.

"Huh? Where is Soram oppa going?"

"Save Soram."

"What?"

As he flew backward, he raised his legs and looked at his black shoes. Since he couldn't lift his own body, he had to lift his shoes instead of his body to fly. However, he was a little late in using his ability on his shoes because he was paying attention to the direction the car was flying until the end. It was an ability that had many uses but was inconvenient in many ways.

That's when something collided with his back as he was falling. And his shoulders and... below his knees were wrapped in something.

His falling body stopped in midair.

"Uh...?"

Soram was being held in a very comfortable and stable position in someone's firm arms. He also... belatedly realized that this was quite a romantic pose. To the extent that the sound of explosions that followed, "Pung! Pung!" sounded like fireworks at the moment.

Seeing the two teammates, Ayoung raised both hands and waved them left and right.

"Starlight is falling... Sha-la-la-la-la-la..."

"Woof!"

"Sha-la-la-la-la-la..."

"Woof! Woof!"

A romantic BGM flew in live. It was a fantastic harmony with Aila adding in the ad-libs.

As he turned his head slightly, Soram made eye contact with Tae-un, who was holding him, at a very close distance. The flames of the still-burning mountain drew rippling waves of crimson on their faces.

"That... Han Tae-un ssi."

"Yes."

"Isn't our position quite ambiguous?"

"Yes."

"...You know this is all being filmed, right?"

"Yes."

"These days, camera equipment can sufficiently zoom in on us and see."

Tae-un was still holding Soram in his arms and making eye contact.

"...Put me down."

Blue mist gathered at Soram's feet. Seeing that, Tae-un put Soram down on the spot. It seemed that Soram was the only one flustered by the situation just now. Tae-un glanced at his palms that had been holding Soram and then casually lowered his arms as if nothing had happened.

Soram let out a deep sigh. Objectively, it was an embarrassing situation, but more than that, he didn't want to receive help in a situation he could have handled on his own.

"Han Tae-un ssi, I'm grateful that you caught me, but there's no need for this...!"

Swish! A black tendril that stretched out from the mountain instantly wrapped around Soram's ankle.

"Gasp...!"

"Jin Soram ssi!"

Before he could react, the tendril wrapped around his body and invaded up to Soram's waist. The tendril had stretched out from the middle of the mountain where the rift had been a moment ago. The tendril dragged the captured Soram toward the mountain.

A second tendril shot out from the middle of the mountain. Its target was the white puppy floating in the sky and its owner riding on top.

"No!"

Soram's hand urgently reached out toward Ayoung, and blue mist rushed toward her.

"Eek!"

"Kyaa!"

The blue mist, which arrived faster than the tendril, pushed Aila back hard. The tendril aiming for Ayoung scratched the air. The tendril that failed to capture was sucked back into the forest.

"Ugh, this is so..."

Ayoung was saved, but Soram was getting more and more wrapped up in the tendril that had coiled around his body. The tendril that had started at his ankle had already invaded up to his shoulders. As if not wanting to let go of Soram, its force gradually intensified.

The tendril bound and pulled Soram's arms and legs like a straitjacket in the guard floor. Soram tried to resist forcefully, but his body was gradually being dragged down. The tendril spewed an unknown liquid at the struggling Soram. Even through the clothes it touched, a stinging sensation could be felt.

"Jin Soram ssi, are you okay? Ugh...!"

Tae-un wrapped one arm around Soram's waist to hold him and tightly grasped the tendril pulling him with the other hand. When Tae-un held onto Soram, the speed at which he was being dragged slowed down noticeably. However, as a result, they were slowly moving inward together.

"Han Tae-un ssi, just cut it with your sword!"

"If I let go of either hand now, I'll lose you, Jin Soram ssi."

As he said, the only thing keeping them in the air right now was Tae-un's strength. Tae-un pushed Soram into his arms and tried to tear the tendril with both hands. The thick fibrous mass didn't tear at once and kept resisting, and Tae-un used so much force that his bones protruded in his hands, tearing it off strand by strand with a crunching sound. His arms, which were exerting force, trembled so much that even Soram could feel it.

Soram's sword and airplanes were all tied up with the tendril along with his body and couldn't move an inch. Meanwhile, their bodies passed the tops of the tall trees and got closer and closer to the burning mountain.

"Soram oppa! Tae-un oppa!"

―Hey, Chief Jin, what's going on?

The voices of surprised people also poured in as they watched the two disappearing.

"Han Tae-un ssi, let go. Leave me and go outside..."

At a precarious moment, the tendril that had been tightening around his waist loosened and tore.

"It's fine...!"

And flames from the forest fire engulfed the two of them.

"...!!!!!"

"Get down!"

* * *

'Soram-ah.'

As the impact hit his head, his consciousness became hazy for a moment. At times like this, as if telling him to remember the number of lives he had lived again, memories from the past came to mind.

There were a few people who called Soram like that. So he couldn't tell which memory from which time it was just by that call. However, somehow the voice and that way of speaking didn't seem to match well. It felt like that voice used to call him more sternly...

'Soram-ah.'

...Huh?

Isn't this Tae-un's voice?

He realized that this wasn't a memory from the past but an auditory hallucination. It was because Tae-un had never called him like that even once. Therefore, Soram asked without hesitation.

'Since when did you start speaking informally with me?'

'...'

Tae-un's voice was silent for a moment.

'As I thought.'

What do you mean, as you thought?

'You have to live.'

"...!"

Those words touched Soram's sensitive spot. Even in his dream, he could feel the blood rushing to his head.

'Now you're even talking nonsense informally. Don't make me laugh!'

If he saw the way Soram was living in this life, he wouldn't say those words. Soram shouted at the invisible voice. However, because he put so much strength into his body, he had to wake up from the dream instead.

"Gasp...!"

Soram's eyes snapped open. Everywhere around him was filled with red flames.