Chapter 11. First Mission (4)
At last, I met the Yoo-seong twins.
“Haaah!”
They woke up.
Thud.
Then fainted again.
This happened several times.
There was one more strange thing.
“Haaah!”
The mercenary the Yoo-seong twins had probably hired...
Thud.
He also kept waking up and fainting.
Wasn't he supposed to be a Hunter?
Maybe it was because he was only C-Rank.
Because of that, we had to remain inside the cave for a while.
“...Who are you?”
Yoo So-ha finally managed to stay conscious after fainting and waking up around five times.
“Association Special Division.”
“...Really?”
“Yes.”
She stared at me with fear still lingering in her eyes.
Then she slowly nodded.
“If you weren't, we would've been dead already. You wouldn't have waited for us like this either.”
It was a reasonable conclusion.
Yoo So-ha gradually began calming down.
“Haaah!”
Of course, Yoo Seong-ha fainted once or twice more.
As for the mercenary, he kept fainting so often that I stopped trying to wake him.
“You're really from the Special Division?”
Yoo Seong-ha asked after finally regaining his senses.
“...Then why...”
“Yoo Seong-ha. He's the person who saved us. You're not planning on being rude, are you?”
“Noona, maybe lower your spear first... Ow!”
That was a relief.
Neither of them seemed seriously injured, and their panic had mostly faded.
“We need to move.”
I looked at the twins.
“We've stayed in an exposed location for too long.”
I had remained here because there was no way I could carry three people through dangerous territory by myself.
But the Dark Elves already knew about this cave.
“We need to leave quickly.”
“Understood.”
“I'll carry the mercenary.”
The twins were cooperative.
There were apparently two ways to leave a Gate.
Return through the entrance.
Or kill the boss monster.
“Kieeeee!”
The cries of Dark Elves were getting closer.
“...Is this boss monster strong?”
I looked at the twins.
“What? Of course. If it's the boss of an A-Rank or higher Gate...”
That was troublesome.
Dark Elves were definitely intelligent.
I could sense a large number of them gathering near the entrance, probably trying to block our escape.
“...But it should be fine.”
“...?”
“We both awakened as Hunters.”
“You awakened?”
I looked at them in surprise.
When?
“We'll need an official examination to know for sure, but I think we're around A-Rank. So...”
Yoo So-ha spoke carefully.
“We won't get in your way.”
Get in my way?
“You can fight the boss comfortably. If we'd only be a burden, we'll hide here in the cave.”
I see.
The boss must be really frightening.
Even after awakening as Hunters, they were willing to remain behind.
Despite recklessly entering a Gate to become Hunters, the Yoo-seong twins seemed surprisingly mature and intelligent.
They must have had their own reasons for doing something this dangerous.
They really were young people with a future ahead of them.
I was glad.
Glad I could protect them.
Then I should rescue them as safely as possible.
“Then wait here.”
I'll kill the boss.
Fighting through the Dark Elves blocking the entrance wouldn't be difficult.
But even if these twins had awakened at A-Rank or higher, this was still their first real battle.
I had learned painfully in my old world that one small mistake could decide whether someone lived or died.
So killing the boss and escaping that way should be safer.
The twins quickly agreed and nodded.
“Please come back safely, Hunter.”
“...Hunter?”
I paused for a moment and looked at Yoo So-ha.
Then I moved quickly.
I should hurry.
I need to awaken too, just like the twins.
Becoming a real Hunter.
That had been my original reason for entering the Gate.
The Dark Elves suddenly died, so I didn't get a chance to awaken.
But the boss monster should be strong enough to make me experience the fear of death.
“...Is he gone?”
Yoo Seong-ha carefully asked after laying the mercenary down.
Yoo So-ha, who had been watching the cave entrance, answered quietly.
“...Just now.”
“Haah... haah. I thought I was going to die.”
Yoo Seong-ha collapsed to the floor and breathed heavily.
“What the hell is that monster? Is he really from the Special Division? He looks more like some kind of criminal...”
“Yoo Seong-ha! Watch your mouth.”
“Huh?”
“He saved us. Don't casually suspect him.”
At Yoo So-ha's serious expression, Yoo Seong-ha wiped the sweat from his palms.
“I'm not saying anything bad. I mean, there aren't that many known Hunters above S-Rank in the Special Division.”
“...”
“But that person is at least... S-Rank.”
No.
That wasn't right.
Above that.
The twins had desperately wanted to become Hunters.
The Yoo-seong Group couldn't legally own a Guild, but through its money and influence, the twins had met S-Rank Hunters before.
And yet, none of them had possessed a presence like that.
No.
Killing intent like that.
“And that killing intent...”
Yoo Seong-ha spoke tensely.
“He wasn't even trying to kill us, and it was still that bad. How many people do you have to kill to become like that...?”
“Yoo Seong-ha!”
Yoo So-ha scolded him again.
“I know too. The killing intent coming from him wasn't normal. But he's Special Division. If someone that powerful isn't publicly known, then he must have handled countless dangerous missions. Calling someone like that a criminal without knowing anything is...”
“Why do you keep making me sound like a bad person? I'm grateful too. I'm just curious! More importantly...”
Yoo Seong-ha finally stood and stretched.
“He's genuinely our benefactor. He didn't just save our lives... he also made us awaken as Hunters.”
That was true.
Yoo So-ha and Yoo Seong-ha had tried desperately to awaken.
But the thing that finally triggered their awakening wasn't the abnormal Gate.
It wasn't the Dark Elves either.
It was Kim Si-hyeon.
The overwhelming killing intent he released made them experience a fear of death unlike anything they had ever known.
The instant they tried to resist it, they became aware of mana.
“We have to repay him.”
Yoo Seong-ha spoke.
“We do.”
Yoo So-ha answered.
