Chapter 119

As they endured for a long time like that, a sense of unease was felt. That suspicion quickly spread among the hunters whose five senses were sharply honed.

The black mountain was still spewing out lava. However, the speed at which the lava was surging in had slowed down.

―Low tide?

With the words someone muttered on the radio, all the hunters opened their mouths. Ah, low tide. Ebb tide...!

Although the tidal range in the South Sea is smaller compared to the West Sea, the waves that had become fierce due to the earthquake receded with all their might during the ebb tide, just as they had surged in vigorously during the high tide. As a result, the speed at which the lava was surging in began to falter.

There was also the effect of the lava solidifying faster as the temperature dropped with the arrival of dawn. Upon realizing it, the enemy's momentum had definitely subsided compared to during the day. Then, a question was asked to the person who had mentioned the low tide, asking how they knew, but the person who had answered never appeared again.

A gap that lasted for a very brief moment. Branch Director Shin Gi-hyeon had to make a decision.

"You there, you said you're Han Tae-un from the headquarters? Come here for a moment."

Tae-un pressed his creaking shoulder and headed towards the branch director. As soon as Tae-un returned, Soram asked,

"What did Branch Director-nim say?"

"He's going to demolish the high-rise hotels and apartments. He said to try building a wall with them to block the lava. So that the hunters can take turns resting behind it."

"Aha..."

It was a wise choice. There were already several people who had collapsed from exhaustion, and even though some had left the front line, they were able to endure because the direction of the waves had changed since late at night. However, the waves changed in a 6-hour cycle. If they surged in this direction again, everyone would have to grab their weapons like yesterday afternoon.

"I'll be back."

"Okay."

Thud― Boom―…

The hunters, squeezing out their last strength, toppled the apartment sideways. And the gaps in between were blocked by the branch director's ability to pull up the ground. Even though his face was also heavily strained from overload, he refused the suggestion to rest and watched the wall being built until the end.

"There's a pretty big gap here."

"...Ah, yeah. Move aside, I'll,"

Boom―

"Block it..." Before the branch director could approach, a large and... somewhat colorful round object fell from the sky. When he looked up, there were about twenty more similar objects floating in the air.

"I picked up those nice things."

What Soram had brought in large quantities were cable cars that had stopped operating. Since they were clearly 'vehicles' and required simple moving rather than delicate control, there was no difficulty in moving multiple ones. Since the power was cut off, they wouldn't explode even if the lava touched them.

The people of the Busan Branch, who had witnessed Soram's various antics for 2 weeks, were once again dumbfounded. Soram, not caring at all about the gazes of others, asked,

"Where else do we need to fill?"

"That crazy bastard..."

Branch Director Shin Gi-hyeon muttered weakly. Normally, it would have been a situation where he would have exploded, asking what to do after ripping them off, but after breaking everything with his own hands, from apartments to companies, he could only let out a hollow laugh.

During the 1st and 2nd Great Rifts, Branch Director Shin Gi-hyeon was also in his 20s and stood behind Director Park Jae-seon and other more experienced hunters. Standing in the same position as them back then and facing the disaster, he could understand how heavy their shoulders must have been. Moreover, the system and support were lacking compared to now.

The branch director reached out to Soram, who had lightly descended to the ground. His ash-covered head was stroked vigorously. Although there were many extraordinary actions, it was an undeniable fact that he had not retreated for a single moment today and had eliminated more mutants than anyone else.

"Good work. Rest for a bit. We'll make sure they don't cross that line overnight, no matter what it takes. Thank you."

Now he is only 26 years old. How admirable it was for this young fellow to bear the title of chief and stand on the battlefield at such a young age.

"Huh? Branch Director-nim, why are you planting a death flag on me? Even if you do that to me, I won't be moved to tears or anything. Go and do that to Min-ki."

"...Hmph."

3:00 a.m., 15 hours after the dungeon outbreak.

Soram rubbed his head, which had been hit with a thud, and headed towards the temporary tent. He plopped down next to Tae-un, who had been resting after toppling the apartment. As soon as he leaned his body against something, it felt like the senses that had been on edge had dropped to the floor.

"Are you okay?"

"Overall, I'm not okay."

"...I guess so."

Both of them were in a state where it wouldn't be surprising if they fainted on the spot right now. More than half of the words that came out of their sore throats were metallic sounds, their entire bodies were covered in wounds, and they were barely lifting their eyelids with the strength of wringing out a dry rag. Soram tilted his head back over the backrest and looked behind.

"During low tide, they can barely climb up that uphill road."

"That's a relief."

While the seawater had completely receded, there was at least a moment to catch their breath. No matter how supernatural the rift was, it couldn't defy gravity.

"Chief Jin-nim, Chief Han-nim. They said medical supplies and new clothes have arrived over there."

"You go and come back."

Soram, slumped in the chair, kicked Tae-un's shin repeatedly. Tae-un, who was pushed away, closed his eyes tightly and silently got up to get his and Soram's share.

In the meantime, Soram looked around the inside of the tent. Those who were sprawled on the chair were the better ones, while most were lying on the bare ground or leaning against broken debris to treat their wounds.

Among them, the back of a person sitting on the ground with only his head on a relief box looked somehow familiar. As Soram got up from his seat and approached, the person raised his unfocused eyes.

"Ah, Chief-nim."

It was Team Leader Lee Gyeong-in from the Busan Branch. Even the body of the 3-month-old newcomer was covered in wounds.

"Lie down. Do you want some water?"

"No. I'm... about to vomit... so I'm staying like this..."

"Ah. You're experiencing overload."

Although Lee Gyeong-in had many wounds on his body, his pale complexion and stiff lips and tongue looked more serious. It was a symptom of overload from using his ability excessively. In front of him were two small red gemstone beads.

Lee Gyeong-in showed a faint smile and opened his palm. There was one more gemstone of the same appearance inside.

"I couldn't calm my ability... so they took it out for me. In the end... I was able to touch it again like this... but back then, I was unnecessarily greedy."

"No. It's rather fortunate that we found out then that the magic stone helps with Team Leader-nim's overload state."

"Yes..."

The two small red stones reflected light in various directions within Soram's eyes. Soram stopped talking and stared at the stones. Magic stone. Magic stone…

"...Can I try it for a bit too?"

"Huh? Yes, of course."

"Thank you."

Soram picked up the magic stone placed on the ground. When he held the magic stone while his ability was on edge after hours of battle, he definitely felt something settling down.

However, that wasn't the purpose.

On the day when his physical condition was exceptionally good, the first thing that could be considered a notable event was that he got scratched by the magic stone. The magic stone, which originally had the function of suppressing the hunters' abilities, had a special effect on Lee Gyeong-in, who couldn't handle his own ability. If there was any peculiarity for him as well, like that…

In the first place, Jin Soram was a being for whom it wouldn't be strange to have peculiarities.

"..."

At first, when he just clenched it, there was no particular feeling. There was only the sensation of not being able to use his ability. Next, Soram pressed the sharp edge of the magic stone firmly against the burned wound on his forearm.

Zing.

"Ugh."

Rather than pain, the sensation of chills running through his body like cold water was greater. Soram stood there blankly, not even hearing Lee Gyeong-in asking, "Why are you doing that?"

"...Chief-nim?"

Lee Gyeong-in examined Soram, who had suddenly stopped moving. Soram just stood there with his focus blurred.

The next moment, an inexplicable smirk rose on his expressionless face. Rather than being puzzling, the smile that appeared despite there being nothing to be overjoyed about felt eerie.

"Chief Jin-nim...?"

"..."

After staying like that for a while, Soram closed his eyes as if the power had been turned off and collapsed sideways.

"Soram-ah!"

Before his shoulder touched the ground, a firm arm caught Soram. The magic stone Soram had been holding fell from his hand with a thud.

"Ah."

Fortunately, Soram didn't lose consciousness. He blinked his eyes a few times and then raised his hand to press his forehead firmly. And as if nothing had happened, he sprang up from Tae-un's arms.

"Yay!"

"...What, are you okay?"

"Yeah. I guess the tension loosened a bit. Ah, Team Leader-nim. I'll leave this here. Thank you. Get well soon."

Soram put the magic stone back where it originally was. And after waving his hands in greeting, as he usually did, he turned his body. The backs of Chief Jin Soram and Chief Han Tae-un disappeared like that.

Looking at the magic stone placed on the ground, Lee Gyeong-in tilted his head.

'Was he holding it for so long that it got worn out this much...?'