Chapter 40
But even after Kang Woohyuk carefully searched the entire area around the rabbit, nothing happened.
He turned toward us and shrugged.
“Nothing's...”
“Kang Woohyuk! Get awa...!”
Before the woman could finish shouting...
CRACK!
The rabbit's mouth suddenly opened impossibly wide.
Its jaws were far too large to belong to such a small body.
The rabbit lunged forward and bit down on the man in front of it.
At the same moment, the monster's name appeared above its head.
[Fire Rabbit]
“A-Aaaagh!”
“Kang Woohyuk!”
The woman shouted and raised her scythe.
But it was already too late.
CRUNCH. CRRRUNCH.
The sound of bones breaking filled the air.
The focus slowly disappeared from Kang Woohyuk's eyes.
“Damn it! Let him go!”
SLASH!
The woman's sharp scythe struck toward the Fire Rabbit.
But the Fire Rabbit lightly jumped aside and easily avoided her attack.
It didn't stop there.
The rabbit raised its sharp front paw and tried to slash downward at her.
[Skill 'Lag Lv.8' activated.]
The Fire Rabbit froze in place.
At the same moment, an arrow flew past and grazed its cheek.
FWOOSH.
The woman looked toward me with a strange expression.
Apparently, she had noticed something.
“Screeech!”
The Fire Rabbit angrily breathed flames through its nose.
The fire spread onto Kang Woohyuk's clothes.
The woman shouted desperately.
“Wait! Don't shoot! I think making it angry is a bad idea.”
Fortunately, the flames weren't large.
Kang Woohyuk was also wearing armor, so the fire wasn't spreading too quickly.
Still, it was only a matter of time before he was completely consumed by flames.
Yoo Aeri spoke anxiously.
“Th-Then what do we do?”
“For now, Aeri, use your magic to...”
“I don't think that's a good idea.”
The words came out of my mouth before I even realized it.
The atmosphere instantly turned cold.
The woman glared at me fiercely.
“How do you know without even trying?”
“If you carelessly use magic and make it even angrier, that man might never be able to use his shoulder again. Shouldn't you save him before worrying about killing the boss?”
Honestly, he was a stranger to me.
Whether he lost the use of his shoulder or not wasn't really my problem.
The woman couldn't simply dismiss what I said.
Her mocking attitude disappeared.
Only her glare remained.
“...Then what do you expect me to do?”
She sounded as if she genuinely wanted an answer.
Unfortunately, I had no reason to help her.
Especially after she had spent the entire raid looking down on our party.
So I was planning to stay out of it.
At least...
I would have.
“Have you ever heard of something called a healer?”
If Lee Junhyuk hadn't spoken with that dark little grin.
“H-Healer? Don't tell me what happened earlier was you?”
The woman's eyes widened.
Apparently, she had noticed when I used my skill earlier.
For a D-rank party leader, her instincts were pretty sharp.
“Well, maybe you wouldn't know. Our party leader has an extremely rare class.”
Lee Junhyuk winked at me with an expression that clearly said, I did well, right?
...This bastard.
Already imagining the trouble this would cause, I covered my forehead with one hand.
But surprisingly, the woman didn't immediately ask me for help.
Her lips moved several times.
Yet she still couldn't bring herself to say the words.
Apparently, she had at least some shame.
“P-Please help us...”
The one who finally spoke was Yoo Aeri.
She looked at me with tears in her voice.
Honestly, helping them wouldn't be difficult.
Healing was a skill I used all the time.
Using it one more time wouldn't really change anything.
But I didn't want to help for free.
I shifted my gaze from Yoo Aeri to the woman.
“Want my help?”
“...”
She bit her lip with a resentful expression.
Apparently, her last bit of pride still wouldn't let her ask.
“Ugh...!”
“Noona!”
Kang Woohyuk's occasional groans and his teammate's shout made her look toward him with a pale face.
She was probably watching his Health fall in real time through her Party Window.
Finally, she looked at me with the expression of someone making a huge decision.
“H-Help me.”
“Wow. Sounds like you're about to punch me. Is that really how someone asking for help should talk?”
My brother, apparently holding a grudge, immediately started mocking her from behind me.
The woman glanced at him once.
Then she lowered her head.
“I'm sorry... I went too far earlier.”
“Ahem. Only words?”
I raised my hand to stop my brother.
“Enough. That's good enough. Besides, I wasn't planning to complete a raid for free anyway.”
Relief appeared on the woman's face.
I stared at her for a moment.
Then I smiled deeply.
“I'll help you. But give us half the items you've collected so far.”
A crack practically appeared across her expression.
“...What?”
“If you don't like it, forget it.”
I had pride too.
I had only swallowed it earlier for convenience.
It hadn't disappeared.
Besides...
