Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 133
#133. The Fading Life
2022.12.11.
South Coast Unknown Gate, near the Root.
"Junhwan hyung, can you hold on a little longer?"
Minju asked while reloading his ammunition.
Junhwan, from a short distance away, answered while fluttering his green cape.
"I'm still fine, but..."
Trailing off, Junhwan glanced around.
After the S-Class group, including Eunha, entered the 'Scales of Choice', the five units were moving systematically under the command of Corps and Wolf.
Thanks to Phantom Thief defeating the guardian, the Sucker Parasites' level-ups had also stopped.
Meaning, the battle itself was not that difficult.
However, the problem lay elsewhere.
The number of members falling into a combat-incapable state was increasing significantly.
Many members were temporarily leaving the battlefield due to minor or major injuries or exhaustion from the continuous battle.
Thus, the number of hunters, which had exceeded 500, had already been reduced by more than half.
The number of combatants currently remaining to face the Sucker Parasites seemed to be less than 200 at a glance.
Among them, a considerable number were falling like dominoes in real time.
That wasn't all.
Some hunters, who had sensed that the situation was not good, were subtly avoiding battle to preserve their stamina and mana.
They were just pretending to fight moderately, while planning to dash out the moment the gate exit opened.
Everyone's own life is the most precious thing.
It wasn't incomprehensible, but from the perspective of those fighting hard, it was also natural to be angry.
'Irresponsible bastards.'
Minju clicked his tongue, unbefitting of his age.
This is why I can't bring myself to like hunters other than those from Corps.
Ah, except for Noona.
It was while they were continuing the battle with no other choice.
"Ugh..."
Thump.
Suhyeon, who had been handling the aerial combat using her blue wings, fell powerlessly nearby.
"Ham Suhyeon!"
Junhwan quickly approached her.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?"
"D-damn it... My body, has no strength..."
Suhyeon, letting out a low curse, tried to raise her upper body.
But she ultimately collapsed again with a thud.
Fshhh...
The blue wings connected to her shoulders disappeared.
Probably mana exhaustion or physical depletion.
"Hey, there! Look over here!"
Junhwan urgently gestured towards a nearby healing unit member.
However, Suhyeon powerlessly snatched his wrist.
"No, I can still fight more—"
"Are you kidding me? You're going to fight more in this state?"
"Then what? Are you telling me to just lie here while this is happening?"
"Yes. That's what I'm saying."
Junhwan answered firmly, as if there was no need to even think about it.
Suhyeon was a skilled A-Class hunter, even among A-Class hunters.
No, not just Suhyeon, but all the members of the Corps family were like that.
For her to show signs of exhaustion while dealing with Level 20 or lower monsters.
Junhwan's eyes narrowed as he gazed at Suhyeon.
...Either way, what they could do on the 'outside' now was to hold on until the remaining S-Classes who had entered the 'Scales of Choice' returned, and to hope that they would return with the key to conquering the gate.
That was all.
"Ham Suhyeon, stop being stubborn. Do you think you can protect Master's back in that state? You know well that would only be a hindrance."
Junhwan turned his head to call a healing unit member again.
Suhyeon was a main combatant who did more than her share.
So, her absence alone was more painful for the entire battle than ten ordinary unit members leaving the battlefield.
He had to pour healing power into her and restore her quickly.
Especially now, when they didn't know when the other S-Classes would return, and when unit members were falling one by one.
However.
"Hyung."
This time, Minju stopped Junhwan.
"Don't send her to the healing unit."
"What?"
Junhwan looked at Minju with an uncomprehending face.
Don't send her to the healing unit?
Her, who is so exhausted she can't even use her unique ability, just leave her here like this?
"Noona should rest here, nearby, where we can see her."
Leaving only those words, Minju holstered his rifle at his waist and then grabbed the bazooka he had been carrying on his back with both hands.
Clank!
Loading a shell, he squeezed one eye shut and focused on the scope.
The moment he placed his finger on the trigger,
'Minju, please take good care of the support unit. Since their combat power is not as high as the other units, someone will need to lead them while I'm gone.'
'Yeah, don't worry.'
'And...'
He recalled his conversation with Eunha just before entering the 'Scales of Choice'.
Eunha had whispered to Minju in a voice so low that no one else could hear.
'Don't trust anyone except your family.'
'Huh? What do you mean, Noona?'
At that time, he hadn't fully understood the meaning of Eunha's words.
But now... he thought so.
'Noona... noticed something.'
Clank, Fwoooosh—!
A brilliant orange smoke bloomed.
A petite sneaker steps through it, thud.
Minju, who had been staring blankly at the horde of Sucker Parasites being blasted like popcorn, suddenly lowered his gaze and looked at his own hand.
The hand holding the bazooka was trembling slightly.
It wasn't tension, anxiety, or fear... or anything like that.
Though he was pretending not to be, Minju too was gradually running out of stamina.
For an S-Class hunter Trickster to consume this much stamina and mana against Level 20 monsters was a ridiculous story in itself.
Squeeze.
Minju, tightening his grip on the bazooka again, looked around.
The drastically reduced number of personnel.
In contrast, the number of enemies that wasn't decreasing.
At a glance, the situation was not very good.
Those who had been moved to Roje's 3rd unit for treatment had not returned yet.
Even if C-Class and lower hunters were one thing, B-Class and higher hunters should have been fine with just a little healing power...
It was the same for the Corps' 'Striker' Seok Gyeongho, who had been moved to the healing unit about 30 minutes ago.
Had the guy, who should have returned a long time ago, still been lying on a stretcher groaning?
Or... had something happened?
"..."
Minju lifted his head and stared blankly in the direction of the healing unit.
His acorn-like brown eyes, above a small beauty mark, narrowed slightly.
This place was vast.
From where he was standing now, he couldn't check the situation over there.
There were still too many uncertainties.
However, Eunha's warning, and his own animalistic instincts, were telling him.
—Perhaps the enemy was not just these bug creatures before him.
'If only my memory would come back.'
Minju frowned.
That experience of barely surviving in the Unknown Gate might be a clue.
Unfortunately, it was as if a fog had settled in his mind, and he couldn't remember anything at all.
What had happened there, who had attacked him—he couldn't recall even a small fragment of memory.
'It's frustrating.'
Bringing his eye close to the scope again, Minju aimed the muzzle precisely at the endlessly regenerating larvae.
Just before he pulled the trigger,
"Master, I don't think this will do. To say it's simple stamina depletion, Ham Suhyeon's condition is unusual."
Junhwan, who had approached, said in a voice full of worry.
Clank, lowering his bazooka, Minju glanced over.
Over Junhwan's shoulder, he could see the pale complexion of Suhyeon.
It seemed she had already lost consciousness.
After thinking about something for a moment, Minju soon spoke.
"Alright. Then I'll take her myself."
"To the healing unit, Master, you mean yourself?"
"Yeah."
Nodding shortly, Minju began to knead the bazooka he was holding like clay.
At that...
Pop!
What had been in the form of a bazooka just moments ago now transformed into a toy military truck, the size of a shopping cart.
Minju, placing Suhyeon in it, said to Junhwan.
"There's something I want to check."
Click, clack.
As he fiddled with the remote control in his hand, the mini truck carrying Suhyeon began to move with a whirring sound.
Like a mini-car that children play with.
And so, Minju, along with Suhyeon on the mini truck, headed for the base of the healing unit.
Even as he walked, his suspicions, far from subsiding, grew larger and larger.
Was the treatment being delayed simply because the healing unit was short-staffed, or was something really wrong?
Minju intended to check with his own two eyes.
And—.
"...!"
Finally arriving at the central area where the healing unit was, Minju doubted his own eyes.
'This is all... there is?'
At a glance, the number of people lying on stretchers seemed to be less than 50.
Also, the number of people who had entered the 'Scales of Choice' was a total of 5, including Eunha.
Then where did the rest of the personnel go?
'...That's right. What about Gyeongho hyung?'
Minju quickly looked around to find a familiar face first.
However, the figure of Gyeongho, who had been transported to the healing unit 30 minutes ago, was nowhere to be found.
Where on earth did he go?
Did he really just sink into the ground?
It was when he was even having such ridiculous thoughts.
Tap.
Someone touched his shoulder.
"Oh my, are you looking for someone?"
It was Doctor Plant, Keum Roje.
Fwoosh—
White flames enveloped Eunha's entire body.
Perhaps thanks to Eunha's fire resistance, it wasn't hot at all.
No, rather, it was cozy.
A sensation like lying in a soft, clean blanket.
'Sun... bae...'
'That girl... a monster like you...'
'Unnie... no... don't!'
Voices, rushing in like a vortex.
She slowly sank into a warm, dazzling abyss.
Am I dead?
It was around the time she vaguely had such a thought.
Ding!
A familiar notification sound came from somewhere.
Eunha slowly opened her eyes.
Her eyes were still dazzled, and she couldn't see her surroundings clearly.
The only thing clear in her vision was a single blue system window.
[Successfully entered the 'Stem of Circulation'.]
Stem of, Circulation...?
Feeling as if she were floating on a cloud, Eunha stared at the system window before her.
Focus gradually returned to her pitch-black eyes, which had been staring blankly into the air.
At that moment, she suddenly remembered the system window that had popped up before.
[The Guardian of the Boundary has been defeated by the 'Phantom Thief'!]
[The passage connected to the Root of Incubation is activated.]
The Root of Incubation, which Ayeon had entered after Junhwan.
And the Stem of Circulation, where Eunha had now arrived.
'Root and stem.'
Eunha was lost in thought.
Could the 'great tree' that GIA had prophesied perhaps be...
'Referring to this entire gate?'
If so...
'The root and stem won't be the end.'
When Ayeon entered the Root of Incubation and defeated the guardian, a 'door' leading to the next field appeared.
Meaning, Ayeon had opened the entrance to the next field.
If so.
'Here too, perhaps.'
There might be something.
Like the guardian Ayeon had defeated, some kind of 'key' that leads to the next field.
Eunha lifted her head and checked her surroundings.
This place, which the system window called the 'Stem of Circulation', was a dark space enveloped on all sides by what could be either tree stems or roots.
The smell of damp earth, the sound of crickets mixed in the silence.
It felt as if she were trapped in an underground space where not a single ray of light could enter.
A situation with no wall to feel her way, not even a candle to rely on for vision.
However, to Eunha, such darkness was not much of an obstacle.
Flash!
[Passive ▶ 'Reader of the Night' Activated. Night vision is enhanced. Accuracy in dark spaces increases significantly during combat.]
Her pitch-black irises turned golden.
Only then did she see clearly.
Through the darkness, the silver-armored monsters she had defeated with the S-Classes in the temple-like field before were scattered all over the floor.
Everything her feet touched were monster corpses.
Among them, there were not only silver armor, but also the corpses of Sucker Parasites and larvae.
Only Eunha was human.
No, she was in human form.
"..."
Eunha, who had been staring blankly at the motionless silver armor, slowly began to walk.
Forward, and forward again.
Thump, thump...
Every time her foot hit an armor, a hollow sound echoed in the black, quiet space.
Finally, Eunha stopped her steps.
[Hidden Quest! You have met the conditions to perform 'All things shall become nourishment and bear fruit (果實)'!]
[Reward: Abundant Fruit of Life]
With the appearance of the system window, she discovered a golden fruit, shining brilliantly like the sun, in the center of the field.
It was the only object that emitted light in this dark space.
Eunha, as if drawn, slowly began to walk towards it again.
In the middle of that, thud, something touched the tip of her foot.
Silver armor?
No.
'This person is...'
One of the family members of the Corps led by Minju.
Striker, Seok Gyeongho.
It was one thing for Eunha, who had entered this place through the giant scale 'Altar of Eternal Rest', to be here, but why was he here?
Slowly lifting her gaze, she scanned her surroundings.
A space where darkness had descended.
The surroundings, which would normally have been invisible, were clearly illuminated thanks to the brilliantly shining fruit.
"...!"
Eunha, who had confirmed the surrounding scenery, froze stiffly in place.
What was scattered around, with the 'Abundant Fruit of Life' as its sun, was not just the silver-armored monsters.
Hunters.
Those who had fought Sucker Parasites together near the root just an hour ago—.
"What on earth..."
The unit members.
