Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 54
After the dust cloud that had covered the view with the explosion finally settled, Sungyoon discovered the black shadow standing before him.
"Wh-who..."
As he opened his mouth, gasping, the owner of the black shadow, Eunha, quickly turned her head.
Her golden eyes, clearly visible even in the hazy dust, slowly settled.
"Can you fight?"
Returning to her usual black eyes as if nothing happened, Eunha suddenly asked.
Seeing the man holding a weapon, she must have judged him to be a hunter.
"You... are not from Immortal."
Sungyoon didn't answer Eunha's question, muttering that instead.
His remaining comrades were surely guarding the gate outside; how could she have entered the Unknown Gate?
Perhaps.
"Are you reinforcements?"
Sungyoon lifted his head to look at Eunha.
Just as her lips were about to part slightly,
[Warning! Lv.80 'Broken Clockwork Doll' winds its spring.]
Clackclackclackclackclackclack...
The doll began to move its jaw rapidly.
Its black teeth clashed, making a bizarre sound.
"Stay far back."
"I need to finish this in one blow."
Eunha said, neatly folding the parasol she had been holding open.
Huh...?
The three Immortal guild members, including Sungyoon, stared blankly at Eunha.
Is this woman really planning to take on an Lv.80 monster by herself?
It was unbelievable.
Something even more unbelievable happened next.
[Lv.80 'Broken Clockwork Doll' charges!]
[Beware of abnormal status 'Curse'.]
Shwoooook!
Eunha didn't dodge the monster charging at incredible speed.
No, rather.
Fwoosh!
She kicked off the ground and leaped towards the doll.
[The divine beast 'Cat Wandering in Darkness' warns that touching that thing even once will inflict a curse, and advises you to avoid contact at all costs.]
It was a one-shot fight.
Meaning, the one who broke the neck first wins—a fight Eunha had experienced countless times in the previous Unknown Gate.
'Not difficult.'
Drawing a smooth parabola in the air, she swiftly repositioned the parasol.
Unlike usual when she held it like an umbrella, it was now poised like a sword.
Aiming the needle-sharp tip of the parasol at the doll, she descended rapidly.
Pooook—!
The doll, impaled right between the eyes by the parasol, momentarily stopped moving.
Creeak, creeak...
Was the force insufficient?
The doll, with a hole pierced between its eyes by the parasol, slowly moved its head.
The moment the doll's chubby hand moved slightly—
"Dangerous!"
Sungyoon shouted urgently.
But.
Fwoooosh!
It was instantaneous.
Using the parasol embedded between the doll's eyes as a wick, black flames flared up violently.
Kiyaaaaaaaaah!
A scream loud enough to rupture eardrums echoed.
Eunha, keeping the parasol impaled in the doll, lifted it high into the air, and then slammed it down onto the ground.
Craaaaack!!!
"No way...!"
Sungyoon's eyes widened as if they would tear.
[Power of the divine beast 'Cat Wandering in Darkness' ▶ 'Cat's Claws' activated.]
[The cat hidden in the shadows mimics your every move.]
[The power of all attacks, including skills, is doubled, and the number of hits increases by 1.]
Craaaaack!!!
Though she clearly struck only once, the same tremendous roar as before echoed again.
Slammed flat onto the ground, the doll disintegrated like puzzle pieces.
Seeing the doll shattered so completely that it could never recover, Sungyoon couldn't close his mouth.
If his eyes weren't deceiving him, that woman just now...
[Congratulations! You have defeated the last named monster!]
[Initiating update.]
[Loading]
The hand Sungyoon held his bow with dropped limply downwards.
Just now... did she defeat an Lv.80 monster by herself?
Was such a thing even possible? How?
Amidst the pouring gazes of inquiry, Eunha stared at the system window with calm eyes.
'The last named monster,' it said.
It seemed these hunters here had already defeated the previous named monsters.
That meant the boss would soon reveal itself.
Click, clack—
Eunha approached the motionless monster and swiftly pulled out the parasol embedded in it with a single motion.
Three pairs of eyes stared blankly as she wiped the blood off the parasol's surface with her bare hand.
"Did you happen to see a man wearing a suit?"
Finally finished with her preparations, Eunha turned around to face them.
Seeing her completely unscathed form, Sungyoon blinked, finding it unbelievable even as he saw it with his own eyes.
"Ah, no... We haven't seen him."
"I see."
Eunha answered curtly and averted her gaze from them.
And without a second glance back, she vanished somewhere.
"...What in the."
There was no time to ask her name, no chance to offer thanks.
They could only stare blankly at her retreating back.
Until that moment, they hadn't dared to imagine.
That the woman who had just defeated the Lv.80 monster was the F-Class hunter, the 'Princess of Dark Flare'.
Ding.
[The divine beast 'Cat Wandering in Darkness' asks why you saved those guys just now.]
While hurrying her steps, following the occasionally heard singing voice, the cat expressed its question.
Eunha, without stopping, parted her lips.
"Just because."
For Eunha, it was a natural thing to do.
If someone needed help, and she had the ability to help, she simply gave it.
No special reason was needed for that act.
However, that seemed incomprehensible to the cat.
[Aren't those guys from the same guild as the ones who looked down on sister at the gate entrance? It flicks its whiskers, looking displeased.]
"Correct."
Nodding briefly, Eunha continued.
"But the ones I had trouble with were the ones outside, not the people just now."
Whether the cat understood Eunha's words or not, it didn't say anything more.
Splash—
With each step, the clear sound of water echoed through the quiet gate interior.
Near the gate entrance, the water on the ground was only about 3cm deep, but at some point, it had risen to ankle level.
Anyway.
'Where on earth is Manager Park?'
It felt like quite some time had passed since she woke from the hallucination and wandered the gate, but Park Jehwi and his sister were nowhere to be seen.
"It would be nice if I had a location tracker."
The moment she muttered lowly.
Flash—
A small light flashed near her neck.
A dog tag? No.
The golden dog tag was a symbol of a first-generation hunter, so she didn't usually wear it conspicuously around her neck.
In that case.
'Pendant...?'
The source of the small light was the 'Black Rose Pendant', one of the 'Princess of Dark Flare' set items.
Ding!
[Cast Spell 'Location Tracking' detected]
[You have requested 'Location Tracking'. Activate the relic 'Black Rose Pendant'?]
Requested location tracking?
She did mutter it, but...
Eunha gently clasped the 'Black Rose Pendant', which was emitting a faint glow.
She didn't know this item had such a use.
Well, she'd find out by trying.
'Activate.'
The moment she mentally consented to activation, the pendant chain extended lengthily, then began to swing back and forth erratically like a broken compass needle.
[Identifying tracking target. This process may take some time.]
[Loading]
[...]
[Tracking target found. Coordinates 911, 366. Request immediate guidance?]
Could the pendant really find Park Jehwi?
Though still skeptical, Eunha first pressed the 'Request' button.
At that, the wildly swinging pendant stopped abruptly, pointing precisely in one direction.
Eunha slowly started walking.
[Remaining distance 451m]
[Remaining distance 336m]
[Remaining distance 199m]
Her grip on the parasol tightened slightly.
As the distance decreased, the unpleasant chill clinging to her skin and the fishy stench gradually intensified.
Moreover, the pale pink corals, which had been sparsely scattered, now grew densely enough to obstruct her view.
'Coral...'
Thud.
Eunha stopped walking and stared blankly at the corals densely covering the wall.
Seeing them reminded her of the Immortal guild members she encountered earlier.
She remembered some of them being covered in coral.
'So these corals really are...'
The moment Eunha unconsciously reached out towards the coral—
Kugugugu—
The entire cave began to vibrate lowly.
[An unusual energy is detected from within the cave.]
[It is a dark and damp space. You must rely solely on the faint light emitted by the coral reefs.]
[▶ Accuracy 20% decrease / Critical Hit Chance 15% decrease]
[Temporarily adjusting variable values.]
[Loading]
As Eunha, barely maintaining balance on the shaking ground, system windows popped up overlappingly again.
[Unexpected error occurred.]
[You are soul-bound with the 'Cat Wandering in Darkness'.]
[Passive ▶ 'Night Reader' activated. Your night vision brightens.]
[Accuracy significantly increases when fighting in dark spaces.]
[This gate's penalty does not apply.]
[Converting adjusted variable values back to initial state.]
Soon, the cave's inner wall, which seemed solid, opened sideways like automatic doors.
Whooooosh...
A strange wind blew from the opened gap.
The damp wind, brushing unpleasantly against her skin, seemed to beckon Eunha inside.
[Remaining distance 30m]
"..."
Splash—
Eunha slowly moved forward.
The place was a small island, about 200m in radius.
The ceiling was covered with transparent stalactites like crystal.
Other notable features were the coral reefs densely occupying various spots on the island, and—
Swaaaaah—
—a waterfall so high its end couldn't be seen.
The waterfall, encircling this small island, sprayed a white mist.
Eunha was momentarily captivated by the beautiful and mystical scenery.
Just moments ago, she felt like she was walking inside a cave, but the landscape here truly resembled paradise.
...♪
Hearing the singing voice from somewhere, Eunha snapped back to reality and turned her head.
'That's—'
Floating serenely in the exact center of the island, as if it had been there all along, was a large sphere.
Narrowing her eyes slightly, Eunha spotted a faint silhouette inside the sphere.
It was a beautiful woman.
However, her two arms shaped like bird wings and legs with fins attached were clearly not human.
Facing it, Eunha finally realized instinctively.
The source of the hallucination was that thing right there.
...
In that instant, it felt like their eyes met.
Inside the sphere, seemingly filled with water, 'it' grinned hideously.
Its parted lips revealed sharp, dense teeth like a shark's, looking menacing.
[Lv.??? 'Alluring Deceiver of Benevolence' observes you with interest.]
Tap!
Eunha instinctively kicked off the ground, putting distance between herself and 'it'.
Its level wasn't displaying properly.
But that fact only strengthened her certainty.
"It's you."
That thing was the boss monster.
Assuming a combat stance, Eunha slowly lowered her upper body.
But then.
Thump.
"...?"
Something caught under her foot.
The moment she glanced down casually, Eunha's eyes widened greatly.
Eunha quickly bent down, examining it closely.
A face covered by a pile of pink coral. He was definitely,
[Remaining distance less than 1m]
[Guidance terminated.]
Park Jehwi.
The face Eunha had been looking for.
