Chapter 140

Whoosh.

His body rotated greatly along with the sword. The firewall on the opposite side from where Tae-un and Ayoung had been was struck roughly.

Kaaang!!!

Hudduduk―...

The firewall was pierced through by the emotion-filled attack.

If Tae-un and Ayoung were together, at least they wouldn't get hurt. Soram concluded that rather than letting Ayoung into a place he judged dangerous, he would eliminate the rift alone and then rejoin them. In his past life, Tae-un had solved this dungeon alone. There was no reason he couldn't break it.

Step, step.

Soram walked forward, crossing over the firewall. In the distance, he could see the rift crackling and gaping open, and on the floor, mutants that had not yet mimicked anything were bubbling like black foam.

'This performance―...'

'The presentation topic suddenly changed―...'

Kwajik.

His shoe stepped on and passed over a mutant. Sounds poured from all directions to the point of dizziness, but he wasn't in the mood to listen with a smile like before.

'...Wasn't it too scary?'

'That's right. I cried all night watching the broadcast.'

'It also reminds me of the accident that happened in the computer room before.'

'Didn't they say the cause was dust accumulated in the cooling fan?'

'The population is denser here, but if it breaks out in Seoul...'

Pak!

As if he couldn't hear any sound, Soram kicked the floor. The rift drew closer before his eyes as he instantly flew forward. Just as he was ready to attack.

Hwararuk―

His vision was dyed red.

"Kup...!"

An intense heat rushed to his face.

Soram quickly retreated. The flame that had tried to attack Soram also flopped onto the floor. The black shadow that had pooled on the floor, its mimicry undone, wriggled and then rose again.

Guruk, gururuk―...

The color of the black mutant gradually turned red, becoming a vivid scarlet. The shape that stepped forward, chubuk, gradually took on the form of a person with a head and limbs.

"...Shit!"

Although a red reflection from the flame's spit lingered on his face, Soram's complexion turned pale. Before his eyes was a form that could terrify not only the office workers here but the entire Republic of Korea.

It was a form all too familiar to Soram. The mutant had mimicked the appearance of lava rising and approaching from the beach. A form that everyone here had collectively felt a vivid fear of four months ago.

The greatest fear of the members of this company, which had experienced a fire accident once, was the last 3rd Great Rift.

Hwak―!

"Kuk...!"

Soram retreated, shaking off the flames that had wrapped around his arm. If it had been the lava from the Great Rift, his flesh would have already turned black, but the 2nd-grade mimicry dungeon only burned his clothes a little.

The problem was that he had fled rather than blocking the attack without realizing it. The dungeon that had been optimized for Team 7 had now become the worst dungeon. Because there were two people here who couldn't help but fear the lava mutant.

Charrruk―

Tung! Tung! Tung!

The sound of firewalls falling in succession was heard from a direction he couldn't determine. It seemed all sides had been blocked off. The light emitted by the lava mutant was reflected on the firewalls. Everywhere visible was dyed red. As the heat couldn't escape outside, the internal air quickly became hot. Although the actual number of mutants was much fewer, it was enough to overlap with the coast of Busan.

His eyes, directed towards the rift swelling behind the lava mutant, were filled with a cold bloodshot.

"Hey, you made a mistake."

Gururuk―...

"If you wanted to go quietly, you shouldn't have separated my team members from me."

The more he faced the form mimicking the nightmare dungeon, the more his displeasure rose. How dare, how dare you imitate what we overcame and survived like this.

The lava mutant, feeding on fear, swelled its body even more. Like when it had swept away hunters with a great wave. In front of it, Soram raised his hand that still had a slight tremor.

"Let's end this before my lover comes. I won't show him this sight."

The sword was raised sharply. However, the tip of the sword was pointed at his own arm.

Pak.

Tuduk, tuk.

The sword cut a long gash along his arm, through his clothes. A quite deep wound remained on his arm. Then Soram took out something wrapped in a handkerchief from his inner pocket. As he unwrapped the handkerchief, the red surface of a magic stone appeared, glittering.

Puuk!

The magic stone was thrust into the wound on his arm without hesitation. Blood dripped from the torn wound. Soram's expression, which often showed exaggeration and complaints in front of his team members, now didn't even flinch.

Then, as the magic stone was pulled out of the wound, more blood flowed.

"Haa..."

A long breath was exhaled forward. The hand with dripping blood clinging to it opened his suit jacket. From inside, metal airplanes flew up. One, two, three... The endlessly appearing airplanes totaled ten. A number of airplanes that would have normally started an overload long ago floated in the narrow space.

Blue mist covered the airplanes. His eyes, with blurred focus, turned towards the rift.

"Get lost."

Ssaeeaek―

The airplanes rushed towards the fake lava and the rift. The lava mutant disappeared into smoke, and the airplanes crashed into the rift, narrowing the gap in an instant.

With that scene as the last, his vision blurred with the mist pouring out from inside his head.

***

A cabin? A pension?

The place with walls built of wood was roughly guessed to be something like that. It seemed somewhat familiar, yet not.

"Ugh."

A headache pounded his head as if it had been waiting. He wanted to clutch his aching head, but his hands wouldn't move as he thought. Hallucinations and the actual scene before his eyes alternated. As he moved his trembling knees, his shoulder touched something. Soram leaned against it and slumped to the floor.

He had expected side effects to appear, of course. He didn't regret breaking the dungeon quickly even if it meant overdoing it. It was just that this moment was very painful.

'I hope it passes before Han Tae-un and Ayoung come...'

"Ah...!"

As his headache intensified, his vision swirled and distorted, and the hallucination took on a concrete form. He saw a flickering shape in a small space. It was a blurry appearance like a black mutant that hadn't mimicked anything. The form of the arm he stretched out was also unclear, like a screen full of noise.

'I'll do it.'

Unlike the distorted form, the touch that reached him was careful and felt warm. That's why the words that came out were a question rather than wariness.

"What..."

What are you planning to do? But the hand just stroked from the crown of his head down to cup the back of his head.

And with the impact of his head being pulled painfully, Soram collapsed to the floor. It felt as if the hand cradling his head was digging into his brain. The actual hand touching him remained gentle, but it didn't offset the pain.

"Ah, it hurts. Stop. It hur... Heuk!"

"Soram-ah!"

Ah, is that you, Han Tae-un?

If so, it was okay even if it hurt a little. He must have some thought. Even if that thought was wrong, he could forgive it.

"Wake up!"

This time, the hand touched not his head but his shoulder. His body was shaken with a jolt. The shock intensified his headache, but his vision became slightly clearer. The shadow of the person right in front of him and another one behind...

"Jin Soram!"

"Soram oppa!"

"Ayoung-ah, let's move him outside for now."

Strong arms supported his back and under his knees. A hot body temperature approached next to his arm. As if they had just come from battle, the white light cluster that was his ability form flickered before Soram's eyes. At that moment.

Hup.

Soram's eyes flew open. He met the eyes of Tae-un and Ayoung, with a background of completely collapsed surroundings.

"Ah..."

The faces of his two team members looking down at him were set in serious expressions.

"The rift?"

"Didn't you eliminate it, oppa? There were lots of airplanes fallen over there."

"...Ah, yeah. I succeeded then."

"Are you okay?"

Soram blinked a couple of times and then smiled.

"Sorry. I didn't know it would be this much of an overexertion, I guess the overload hit hard."

"...What on earth did you do to reach the point of completely losing consciousness?"

"I moved ten airplanes at once."

The team members, who shared some knowledge of Soram's limits, made expressions that said 'What did you say?' Soram pressed his head firmly with one hand.

"I felt like I might get swept up in the fear the lava mutant was giving if I stayed any longer. You can put me down now."

Soram raised himself up, bracing against Tae-un's shoulder. There was still a bit of a dizzy feeling left, but his condition was gradually improving. His returned vision met Tae-un's worried eyes.

"Hey, Han Tae-un. This was a bit of an overexertion based on the chief's judgment that it needed to be resolved as quickly as possible, so don't nag. I'll rest well when we get back."

"...I understand that for now. But you again."

Tae-un narrowed his eyes. Again? He was about to ask, but the arm supporting Soram felt... wet somehow.

"Hm? Why is it so wet?"

Looking again, both Tae-un and Ayoung looked soaked as if they had been caught in a downpour somewhere. Only Aila, who had shaken her body with a shudder, was in a fluffy state.

"Lava mutants appeared on our side too, but Tae-un oppa broke the sprinklers to weaken the lava."

"Wow, as expected, when you're smart, your body doesn't have to suffer. That method."

"You're soaking wet too right now, oppa. Tae-un oppa broke all the sprinklers he could find to make them burst even where you were. Didn't you know?"

"Ah... No. I didn't know. Did it pour down after the overload hit?"

"Well, looking at this place, it's understandable you couldn't hear the sound of the ceiling being smashed."

Gradually, his vision returned. Looking around, the floor was completely wrecked. As Ayoung said, the ceiling was full of cracks, and the wall that had received Soram's blind attack... had a very refreshing new window. It was almost to the point of needing complete reconstruction.

"Haha. This... might get us in a bit of trouble."

"I know. I might get to see the guard floor like this too."

"What are you saying? I'll never let you go there, Ayoung. And you wouldn't go there for something like this anyway."

Soram answered firmly while tidying up his disheveled clothes. Then, realizing that just dusting off and smoothing wouldn't solve it, he gave up. At that moment, he noticed Tae-un still staring at him. However, his eyes were not on his face but on his injured arm.