* * *
Bright blue scales.
Sharp, narrowing, yellow eyes.
It was a monster shaped like a giant serpent, just like I’d seen in the illustration.
But compared to the boss monsters I’d faced before, its size was laughably small.
And that wasn’t all.
“A D-rank creature pretending to be a mystical beast… you enjoying yourself?”
Despite my concerns, the monster standing before me was no more than a D-rank.
For ordinary people, even a D-rank would be a disaster, but my case was different.
I’ve only ever dealt with A-rank or higher, so seeing this thing sniffing around like it was a big deal felt utterly ridiculous.
In fact, I was downright annoyed it had been acting like a mystical beast, devouring people.
If only I had the little bird with me, I’d seriously—
Shhhhhh—!
Almost as if it understood my words, the monster opened its mouth wide and charged at me with the clear intent to devour me whole.
“Good, keep following me.”
And with that, I turned and started running, the real chase finally beginning.
Boom! Boom!
The monster slammed its body recklessly into the cave walls as it pursued me, showing off an intimidating display of strength.
But despite the ruckus, it couldn’t close the distance.
The shoes truly lived up to their S-rank title, performing far better than expected.
It’s going smoother than I thought.
With that in mind, I confidently led the monster all the way to the cave entrance.
I thought I’d gotten there quickly, but strangely, there wasn’t a soul in sight.
“Where the hell did they go?”
The boss, the underlings—everyone had vanished without a trace.
I briefly wondered if they got impatient and left, but not leaving even one lookout when there’s a risk the sacrifice might escape?
That was suspicious.
If they went back to the survivors, this could get complicated…
In the end, I had no choice but to lead the monster out of the cave.
As I stepped outside, the brighter view revealed a scene I hadn’t noticed from inside.
Massacre.
That was the first word that came to mind.
The natives who were supposed to guard the entrance were all lying in pools of blood, collapsed on the ground.
And shockingly, among them was their leader.
Slash—!
His head was severed clean off and casually tossed into the bushes like some worthless object.
The one responsible for that indifferent gesture was none other than Woo Jaehyun.
His calm face contrasted eerily with the blood dripping from his sword.
Next to the cold, lifeless bodies of the natives, Woo Jaehyun looked completely serene, as if nothing had happened.
What the hell…
BOOM—!
As my mind spiraled with confusion, the monster burst out of the cave behind me, snapping me back to reality.
I turned hastily, only to find the monster had closed the distance and was practically breathing down my neck.
The monster let out a deafening roar, baring its sharp fangs as it lunged at me.
Instinctively, I pulled out my S-Rank dagger and reversed my grip.
If those fangs pierced me, I’d probably be ripped apart inside, but thanks to my reinforced jacket, I wouldn’t die.
But just as I braced myself, a shadowy figure dropped from above—no, fell from above was more accurate.
Crimson hair fluttered into my view.
“Cha Rui?”
It was almost like he’d been waiting for this moment.
Cha Rui, falling through the air, grabbed the monster’s head and began swinging his arm.
The long sword in his hand sliced repeatedly at the monster’s neck as if he were cutting through butter.
His abilities may be gone, so he couldn’t sever it in one blow, but there’s no way a mere D-rank monster could withstand an S-Rank weapon.
Cha Rui held on with pure upper body strength, ruthlessly swinging his sword despite the monster thrashing in agony.
His eyes were so fierce, they almost brimmed with madness.
After several relentless strikes, the monster’s head finally came off, and its purple blood splattered everywhere as it crashed to the ground.
It twitched for a moment longer before going completely still.
The shocking scene left me speechless, my mind going blank.
“Hyung, are you okay?”
Woo Jaehyun jogged over with a gentle expression, his gaze soft as he looked at me.
His hand brushing my shoulder was unexpectedly tender.
A stark contrast to the cold-blooded killer standing among the corpses just moments ago.
What the hell are these guys?
I thought the three of us would fight the monster together, but my prediction couldn’t have been more wrong.
For Cha Rui to jump in alone like that… it even made me wonder if they ever communicated their plan at all.
“There’s no gate.”
Cha Rui, covered in purple blood, approached nonchalantly.
His eyes, which had been filled with savage intensity, were now blank and distant.
“What?”
Looking around, I realized he was right.
There was no exit gate to be seen.
Which meant we hadn’t cleared the ending conditions yet.
There’s no way the key monster wasn’t connected to the ending…
“As expected… do we need to save the survivors too?”
But sneaking them out from the native village wouldn’t be easy.
Besides, if the sacrifice—that is, me—was seen alive, they’d be suspicious.
“I already took care of that.”
While I frowned, deep in thought, Woo Jaehyun casually pulled something out and shook it in front of me.
A small bottle of green liquid sloshed inside.
“Poison?”
It was thin and small, about the size of a finger segment.
It didn’t look top-tier, but for ordinary people, even a drop would be lethal.
“I threw it in the well. It’ll probably be over by tonight.”
Hearing that, an unsettling feeling crept over me.
Sure, they were savages who’d performed rituals and killed countless people, but still…
Was this really the right thing to do?
For them, this was their normal life—something passed down for hundreds, maybe thousands of years.
But I didn’t have the luxury to dwell on my emotions.
Regardless of how I felt, I knew what needed to be done in this situation.
“Let’s go.”
I returned to the native village with the other two.
The leader was dead, but plenty of villagers remained, so we moved cautiously toward the temple.
But when we arrived, not only were the survivors missing, the villagers were gone too.
An empty, desolate space spread before us.
“Let’s check the pit.”
Following Woo Jaehyun’s suggestion, we hurried into the forest, finding two collapsed natives by a deep pit.
They still held leather water pouches in their hands—it wasn’t hard to guess what had happened.
So it’s already started…
I stared at the wide-eyed, dead villagers for a moment, then kicked away the wooden board covering the pit.
As it opened, the hidden survivors inside spotted us, their expressions brightening.
About ten people huddled together in the cramped space, packed so tightly they could barely move.
“Ahjussi!”
The child riding on his father’s shoulders was the first to reach out to me, his dirty face already streaked with tears and snot.
Ignoring the crowd’s cries, I found a long vine nearby.
I didn’t know its name, but I’d been impressed by its toughness when building a shelter earlier.
I used the vine to pull the survivors out one by one.
Of course, the heavy lifting was left to the other two.
“Thank you! You saved us!”
“Ugh… Huh, huuuh…”
The woman who first guided us clung desperately to the hem of my pants, and the man beside her, whose face resembled a grasshopper, finally broke down in tears.
Not to be outdone, the child threw his arms around my thigh, and I gently patted the child’s back.
“It’s dangerous here, so please go back to the shelter before sunset.”
At my words, the people, their faces pale and drained, all widened their eyes.
“W-What? But…”
“We’ll handle things here.”
To be honest, their presence would only complicate matters.
Maybe it was the firmness in my voice, but the worried looks they were giving us slowly turned into reluctant acceptance, and they began to leave one by one.
The father of the child, the last one to remain, bowed repeatedly, tightly holding his child’s small hand.
Only after watching their backs disappear from sight did we quietly move toward the village.
The three of us gripped our weapons, prepared for any unexpected attack.
“……”
But there wasn’t even a need for such caution—the closer we got to the village, the more clearly the devastation came into view.
Most of the natives, children included, lay face down on the ground, already lifeless.
Their faces were twisted in agony, their eyes wide open, hands clutching at their throats.
A few survivors, probably those who had managed to hide, lost their minds and charged at us, but even they were swiftly taken down by Woo Jaehyun and Cha Rui.
My expression remained stiff the entire time we searched the village.
Then, I suddenly came to a halt, my eyes fixed in one direction. Inside a house with its door wide open, the boy who had once dressed me up lay sprawled lifeless over the table, his body cold and still.
Next to him, the gray hoodie was neatly folded.
“Hyung…”
As if possessed, I walked in and changed into the hoodie right there.
Then, I carefully folded the ceremonial clothes I had been wearing and placed them neatly on the table.
“Looks like it’s pretty much over. Let’s just grab some food and head back.”
There might still be a few natives in hiding, but judging by the silence so far, they likely weren’t much of a threat.
The other two seemed to agree, nodding without protest.
We only took a reasonable amount of fruit and grain and made our way back to the shelter.
There was no point in getting greedy now, especially since we’d be leaving soon anyway.
* * *
I want to know if this is a harem. Does he get all the boys ?
I’m a Cha Rui fan tbh he seems like the most pure hearted of the potential MLs