STC chapter 39

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Ye Ilhu took a deep breath. After a long sigh, he gestured for us to move back.

Hmm, what’s he planning? Surely not…

“I’ll just burn it all.”

“What?”

“So make sure to hide well.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a fierce flame erupted from him.

He hadn’t even fully understood the transparent wall, yet he charged recklessly.

What if only people can’t pass through it! Before I had time to react, flames were pouring down on us. I reflexively crossed my arms to shield my face.

But before that, Hunter Ryu Min quickly grabbed me and pressed us against the cave wall.

Fortunately, like people, the flames couldn’t pass through the wall. The flames, blocked by the transparent wall, split and moved along the sides of the barrier.

Ye Ilhu clicked his tongue in disappointment.

“Tsk.”

“Don’t ‘tsk’ me! Hey, you idiot! Aren’t you supposed to give us a chance to breathe? How could you just fire away like that?”

If the flames had passed through the wall, Hunter Ryu Min and I would have become grilled skewers.

Ugh, I didn’t even want to imagine it.

“Ye Ilhu, be careful.”

Hunter Ryu Min belatedly cautioned Ye Ilhu gently. But he didn’t seem to hear it.

“Then dodge well this time. I’m going to try again.”

While Ye Ilhu was busy heating the transparent wall, Hunter Ryu Min and I were pressed against the cave wall.

With nothing achieved, he continued to manipulate the flames, and soon, sweat began to bead on his handsome forehead, as well as on us inside the cave.

It seemed like quite a bit of time had passed, and I was starting to worry.

No matter how well Chunshik and Seoksam were tracking it, we couldn’t just leave the golem unattended.

We had barely destroyed one of its eyes; if it suddenly appeared fully recovered, it would be so frustrating.

“Hey, Ye Ilhu.”

“…Why are you calling?”

“You should chase the golem first. You need to finish it off.”

“…….”

The gaze that had been fixated on the flames finally lifted slightly, first landing on Hunter Ryu Min and then seeming to settle on me before shifting back to Hunter Ryu Min.

What was this? Why was he looking back and forth?

Then he murmured, pouting his lower lip,

“I don’t want to leave just the two of you.”

“Huh?”

Ah, I see. It would indeed be challenging for them with two of our team missing, especially since the four of us struggled together.

It wasn’t intentional, but getting trapped like this made me feel guilty.

“But you can’t let it get away.”

I looked at Chae Goya with pleading eyes, hoping he would agree with me.

My doe-eyed, desperate look seemed to reach him as Chae Goya slowly began to speak.

However, Chae Goya immediately dashed my hopes.

“I, I also don’t want to leave just the Vice Guild Master and Baram-hyung alone…!”

What?

What’s with them?

Sure, it might be difficult, but you have to deal with the golem first. What if it recovers and returns?

My heart felt heavy, and I wanted to pound my chest. As I moved closer to the entrance, the flames subsided.

I touched the transparent wall lightly, feeling it ripple gently.

It absorbed all the heat, but the wall was still lukewarm, just like before.

I pressed my forehead against the transparent wall and pleaded,

“I’m sorry. We’ll catch up soon, so please take care of the golem first, okay?”

“…”

Despite my pleas, the two remained silent. But for some reason, they looked past me this time, seemingly at Hunter Ryu Min.

I get it, guys. I know how valuable an A-rank hunter is.

Then Hunter Ryu Min chuckled.

“Aha.”

With a knowing smile, he approached me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“I’ll take good care of Baram here. You all go and deal with the golem quickly.”

“What? Why are you doing this?”

Startled by the unexpected contact, I tried to push him away, but there was no way I could physically push Hunter Ryu Min away without using my powers.

Instead, he clung to me even tighter, rubbing his cheek against the top of my head.

The intense skinship made goosebumps rise on my arms.

“What shall we do for fun while they’re gone?”

Oh, this guy! No matter how much you want to tease the kids, that’s going too far. I pushed him away and retorted.

“Fun? What fun? We need to think about how to get out of here. There’s no time for that.”

“…Hmm.”

“You heard me, right? So hurry up and get it done, please.”

I urged them on as if I were waking up my sons, who didn’t want to go to school, by patting their butts. Ye Ilhu finally began to move, as if he had no choice.

Chae Goya hurriedly chased after him as he turned away without a word, saying to Hunter Ryu Min and me, “We’ll be back soon…! Please don’t play around together, okay?”

I felt a bit guilty about sending them off to work, but it was too blatant to tell us not to rest.

I nodded, thinking that to myself, and Chae Goya’s expression brightened a little.

Soon, the two of them disappeared completely into the bushes.

I finally managed to push Hunter Ryu Min away, who was still sticking to me like a leech.

It seemed he really was just trying to tease the kids, as he let himself be pushed away this time. I had thought he was mature, but he might be more playful than I expected.

Since the time limit was long over, I thought I should start trying again.

As I clenched my fist, the leather made a creaking sound in my hand.

The back of my hand, where I had struck the golem’s eye earlier, throbbed.

Hunter Ryu Min tilted his head.

“Hmm? What are you doing?”

“We promised the kids earlier, remember? We said we’d find a way out.”

“Ah, right.”

The transparent wall wasn’t solid.

It was rather soft, but it had a strong tendency to bounce back any object that touched it.

If I recklessly used force, I could end up hurt by bouncing off the cave wall.

In other words, no matter how much of an SS-level ability I had, it wouldn’t be of much help at the moment.

If I didn’t control my power properly, I might end up breaking myself rather than the wall.

“Are you going to use your power?”

“Yes. Could you stand over there for a moment? I might bounce back and hit you.”

At times like this, I would subtly blame my sister for giving me fire fists but not a strong body like the invincible diamond.

‘Well, I should be grateful for what I did receive.’

I decided to stop complaining. Grumbling wouldn’t change anything.

I struck the wall with my tightly clenched fist.

The part of the wall where my fist hit shimmered in rainbow colors and gently bounced me back.

Hunter Ryu Min quickly ran over to support my back.

“Ah, thank you.”

“How does it look?”

Our gazes turned to the wall simultaneously.

As expected, there wasn’t a scratch on it.

“It seems physical force doesn’t work at all.”

At my response, Hunter Ryu Min groaned as if deep in thought.

“Hmm, maybe… Just a moment.”

He made me step back and extended his arm.

From his hand, tiny particles glittered like grains of sand and soon formed into a sleek longsword.

“I thought since it was created inside the gate, it might be more affected by this place.”

His words jolted me back to awareness.

In “Love War,” hundreds of years ago, huge gates appeared worldwide.

Monsters poured out from these gates and began attacking humans, leading to the rise of a new entity called ‘hunters’ among the humans who were being mercilessly slaughtered.

After long research, it was discovered that the abilities used by hunters originated from the gates.

‘Right, that’s how it was set.’

As clichéd as it may be, clichés can be quite entertaining.

Anyway, my ability is ignited by me, an entity outside the gate, but Hunter Ryu Min’s sword itself is derived from the gate, meaning it is inherently closer to the gate than my ability.

Setting aside the rank, it meant that Hunter Ryu Min’s sword could have a much greater impact on breaking through the wall.

I stepped back with a grin.

“You saw me getting bounced back, right? Be careful with your strength.”

“Of course. Thanks for the advice.”

Even though I, a mere D-rank, was giving advice, Hunter Ryu Min didn’t seem displeased at all. Instead, he smiled back at me.

He focused his mind and swung his sword in a large arc, tracing a semicircle in the air. The line drawn by the sword’s tip was as graceful as its owner.

“Hmm.”

But to cut to the chase, it was a failure.

After several attempts of struggling against the transparent wall, we ended up collapsing to the ground, exhausted and worn out.

“What’s with this rain?!”

The sound of raindrops gradually grew louder, and soon it began pouring down hard enough to drench the dry ground.

Fortunately, the wall kept the rain from splashing into the cave, but it felt a bit chilly, so I curled up and crouched down.

“Hey, Hunter Ryu Min.”

“Call me Hunter Ryu Min hyung.”

“…Alright, Hunter Ryu Min.”

What about Ye Ilhu and Chae Goya? Quite a bit of time had passed; I wondered what happened with the golem. I hoped they were avoiding the rain.

“Do you think we can get out of here alive?”

I muttered weakly, and Hunter Ryu Min looked at me silently. He moved closer and said,