Chapter 165

Tae-un finally reached across the table with both arms and snatched the book away. It was an utterly outrageous title with equally outrageous content.

"Ah, okay. I won't do it anymore, so give it back. I need to see the next scene."

"..."

Instead of returning the book, Tae-un slipped it under the laptop and turned the screen to the center.

"Today's 1st-grade rifts are one each in Sangsu and Guro-gu. Two in Busan as well."

"That's a lot of outbreaks."

His voice lost its liveliness compared to when he was teasing while reading the book with a bored tone. Perhaps he had been distracting attention by playing around, knowing this kind of conversation would come up.

Soram, who was wriggling his fingers under the laptop, answered.

"About two or three months, I think."

"..."

"Why won't this come out?"

Time had already come this far. Perhaps they had endured longer than expected, considering Soram had said it might not even take two years.

Tae-un didn't let Soram prepare for the Great Rift alone, and did many things together.

"We're going to win."

He spoke calmly, but with a certain conviction. Soram didn't respond.

"You said that even though the Great Rifts are getting stronger, there's not much difference from the one right before. If it's only slightly stronger than the previous life you told me about, we definitely have a chance."

"..."

"Let's try to create a new round this time."

Soram silently looked at Tae-un's face before turning back to the book that hadn't been rescued.

"I hope it turns out that way."

"It will."

"Okay, if you're done checking, give me back the book. And go get some sleep. You won't have a chance to close your eyes at dawn."

The number of 1st-grade rifts that used to appear about twice a week across the entire country had surged to four in just one day. The number of lower-grade rifts had also increased similarly. Accordingly, the schedules of Field Operations Bureau hunters had already changed to something like three shifts. Soram, who had gotten his book back, deliberately yawned widely and gestured for Tae-un to go back.

Before taking a few steps, Tae-un grabbed Soram's wrist. A red tinge appeared on the serious face that had just been discussing the 3rd Great Rift.

"Can I kiss you before I go?"

Soram's lips parted slightly. Instead of answering, his head moved up and down slightly. Tae-un approached closely and pushed Soram's shoulder down onto the sofa before their lips could touch.

One of Tae-un's knees came up onto the sofa. Even though he wasn't leaning his weight on Soram, it felt like his body was being heavily pressed down.

Soon, lips were pressed warmly and softly against his.

Soram's lips were caught between the other's lips and his own teeth. Soon, the parted lips rubbed against each other. Their gazes were directed at each other. And when their lips opened a little more and completely overlapped, they both closed their eyes.

The breath exhaled through their noses carried early excitement. Soram's shoulders were pressed a little deeper into the sofa.

The moment their tongues touched, both of their bodies flinched simultaneously. Tae-un's tongue tasted like clean water that hadn't been burned by anything. Though he wasn't sure if this expression was correct since he had nothing to compare it to...

"Huu, uh."

"Haah..."

After keeping their lips together for a long time, they were out of breath. However, no sooner had they taken a short breath than they pressed their mouths together fervently again.

Is kissing originally supposed to be this breathless, and done so competitively?

If one only heard the sound, it might seem like the two were having a running race. Except for the wet sounds coming from between their lips.

"Mmph, mm...!"

The hand that had been resting on Soram's shoulder moved down. His chest was gently pressed with the palm. And Tae-un also lowered his body, making the contours of their bodies interlock like their lips.

He had no intention of just being touched one-sidedly. Soram also firmly pressed Tae-un's body over his shirt. Sometimes he pulled the clothes wrong, causing one or two shirt buttons to fly off. Like now.

Ting, tiding.

It seemed the fallen buttons had rolled on the floor. Even next to that sound, the kissing didn't stop. The two bodies, heated by the spreading warmth, rubbed against each other following their rapid breaths.

Their bodies heated up in an instant. Sweat formed. Tae-un, with a higher body temperature than Soram, was even more so. Beads of sweat were already visible on his nape.

Their first kiss at twenty, shared in a daze. Then another one somehow, and yet another. Their experiences with kissing gradually increased.

Sometimes it felt like they had become reckless children playing with fire. Not thinking about the consequences at all, just lighting more fire because the flame that bloomed before their eyes was pretty and fascinating, watching the fire as if entranced, not even realizing they were sweating profusely from the heat.

Every time they moved between the hard body and the sofa, their bodies rubbed against each other. Tae-un's arms, propped on either side of Soram's head, bent even more.

"!"

"Ugh."

Finally, their heated groins pressed against each other. Along with both bodies flinching, the long kiss ended. Tae-un raised his body, gripping the back of the sofa. Soram also sat up from the heated sofa.

In the awkward atmosphere, their postures also became uncomfortable.

"...We can, go further, you know."

"No..."

The lingering effects were still present in their exhaled breaths. After catching his breath a little, Soram stood up. Tae-un stepped aside a couple of paces.

"You touch excitedly over clothes, but why can't you take them off and go to the next step?"

"I'm not, mentally prepared."

Soram was about to say something but just closed his mouth.

"...Okay. I'll go. Take care of it well. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

As Soram went to his room, the bathroom door in Tae-un's room also closed. The two who had started playing with fire but didn't know how to put it out headed to their respective rooms as if escaping at the moment when the heat peaked.

Soram, who had come to the bathroom, splashed cold water on his face. Among the features reflected in the mirror, his plumped lips were the reddest.

"...This is really strange..."

It was a strange life, strange emotions, strange events. And a strange Han Tae-un.

The strangest thing was himself, superimposing the two of them onto those impossible romance novels. Was he envying the happy ending that would never come? Even though he knew better than anyone how futile it was.

"..."

Still, he wanted to go to a peaceful blue seaside with him at least once.

***

Soram didn't rate their chances of survival very high, though of course Tae-un seemed to have some hope.

He thought about saying it was a useless act but just let it be. Soram just nodded moderately each time.

I hope it turns out that way.

The peaceful time before the approaching end came to a close, and finally, a black mountain rose from the sea in front of Busan.

The sound of alarms ringing throughout the headquarters was heard. All hunters belonging to the headquarters were summoned. The news of the 3rd Great Rift that had broken out in Busan was delivered to the gathered hunters.

"They ignored us during our Bukhansan Great Rift, do we really have to help them?"

"Let's send the same reply. 'We don't have the capacity to help with an incident occurring right in front of a branch where a significant number of 1st-grade hunters are stationed.'"

Those who had lost team members or friends in the Bukhansan 1st-grade dungeon couldn't hide their feelings of schadenfreude and sneered. Most of them were new hunters. On the other hand, those who had experienced the 2nd Great Rift stood with hardened faces, unable to say anything.

Soon, a large screen came down on the platform, and the current situation in Busan appeared. Even those who had been making snide remarks lost their words. There was no place on the screen that wasn't reddish-black. The place where the blue sea should have stretched out was occupied by lava.

While the video was playing, someone appeared at the back of the auditorium.

"Kup..."

The face of the staggering person was pale white.

"Please help!"

Blood dripped from the nose and ears of Seo Min-ki, who had moved from Busan to Seoul.

"Please help, I beg you...!!!"

It was a desperate voice rarely heard from the introverted person. Then someone rushed in, and shocking news was delivered.

"Director Shin Gi-hyeon of the Busan Branch... died during combat with mutants."

Seo Min-ki, who had run desperately from that scene, bit his lip. It was the real beginning of the Great Rift.

"Let's go."

Amidst the murmuring, the director who had come forward in front of the hunters firmly grasped Min-ki's hand.

Within 10 hours after the dungeon's occurrence, half of the Field Operations Bureau hunters from the Busan Branch had died.

Lava erupted like a pillar of fire from the black mountain that had risen on the coast. The heat created dark clouds in the sky, and acid rain fell like a downpour. The destabilized atmosphere brought storms to the sea.

The waves rose like a red wall. Every time it covered the land, lava rushed up to the waist of high-rise apartments. Most of the land within a 10km radius of the coast lost its original color and turned black.

The heat spread in the air quickly scraped even the skin of 1st-grade hunters red.

"This is impossible..."

Even veteran hunters who had experienced both the 1st and 2nd Great Rifts, including Park Jae-seon, all wore astonished expressions. If the two Great Rifts they had experienced were disasters, this was a catastrophe and a living hell. Something that seemed impossible for human power to face.

Nowhere in the world, not even in regions with extreme climates, had such a phenomenon been seen before.

The only person with a calm expression while watching the mutants rising from the reddish-black lava flowing on the ground and swarming towards them was Soram.

"..."

Soram looked at the devastated land and then turned his gaze to the person who had come with him. Tae-un was pale and speechless. The actual Great Rift was incomparable to what he had anticipated and prepared for.

Sigh.

I didn't expect anything, but still.

I'll give him a chance to try what he prepared.

The firearms they had gradually brought from military facilities and placed nearby were already buried in lava. The plan to calculate the direction to block lava by toppling apartments was rendered meaningless as the entire complex was devastated by a single wave.

An uncountable number of pitch-black lava mutants walked towards the inland. The outlines of bodies that hadn't managed to evacuate were visible here and there on the blackened earth, the land they had trampled and passed over.

Black despair fell over Han Tae-un's face, which had been filled with hope for two years.

Soram looked at the black mountain towering in the distance.

"Hmm, this is really too much."

He sensed the end.