By Zephyria 259
He saw it clearly. A pair of enormous wings unfolding in the blinding light. Emaciated limbs. It was the form of the Monster that Eui-jae had pierced and killed countless times in the West Sea Rift.
Thump, thump, thump, his heart beat rapidly. Cold sweat broke out on his hands and neck. His feet were rooted to the ground, unable to move. He was recognizing the truth he didn’t want to acknowledge faster than anyone else. He thought he knew the most about that Monster. But, perhaps he actually knew nothing at all.
Just as Eui-jae was about to take a step, a strong grip pulled him back. Sa-young shook his head with a hardened expression.
Beyond the Monster’s wings, hair with streaks of black and gold fluttered. Honeybee was staring blankly up at the Monster.
“You…”
A blank, pale face stared back at her. The awkward, unsure smile and familiar face were nowhere to be found. A small mouth slowly opened. And,
Aaaaaaaagh!
She screamed.
The air vibrated. Honeybee instinctively drew her Rapier and aimed it. But she couldn’t move her feet easily. Because it was a comrade she had been with until just before. A thought suddenly occurred in her chaotic mind.
‘Can’t we turn him back?’
‘Isn’t there a way?’
The wind created by the flapping wings was sharp enough to tear the skin. A gaunt torso, limp arms and legs, a blank face. It was no longer human. Just a Monster.
‘…No way.’
Honeybee gave a bitter smile. All she felt from the Monster before her was hostility. She couldn’t hesitate with unfounded hope. She gripped her Rapier tightly with trembling hands. She spread her legs and assumed a stance. A stance she had practiced thousands, tens of thousands of times. En Garde.
The Monster spread its arms wide. Sharp claws rained down on her.
Whoosh!
Honeybee, Yoo Chae-hyun, didn’t want to be a Hunter.
She scoffed even when others dreamed of Awakening and becoming Hunters. Because she had a dream.
‘Congratulations on making the national youth team!’
She wanted to be the best at fencing. She wanted to continue fencing. Fencing was her whole life. On the silent arena, she shone brighter than anyone else. She was also certain that she could reach the pinnacle.
But just one step away from becoming the world’s top-ranked youth fencer, she was chosen by the System and Awakened. Everyone was disappointed.
‘Awakened cannot be athletes.’
It was a matter of fairness. She knew it in her head. The difference in power between civilian athletes and Awakened was enormous. But her heart wouldn’t calm down easily. Everything she had lived for, everything she had built up, had turned to dust. Yoo Chae-hyun lost her life once like that.
It was he who reached out to her when she was wandering….
‘I’m Mok Taeo.’
‘I don’t want to join anywhere.’
‘I know. You’ve rejected all the other Guilds’ offers too.’
‘Then why did you come?’
‘I wanted to meet you. You.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you seem to hate being an Awakened.’
‘…….’
‘I do too…. So I wanted to talk to you.’
Mok Taeo was an oddball. He was quiet even though he was a non-Awakened famous for his terrible personality, and it was funny how he moved so carefully with his bear-like physique. Well, so was Yoo Chae-hyun. They hated being Awakened. That’s why they got along. She thought it wouldn’t be so bad to belong somewhere with him. Wouldn’t it be fun to build it up from the bottom?
That’s how she became Honeybee.
Honeybee slowly exhaled. Her mind calmed down. Ripples formed on the still surface.
And then.
Thwack—
Just before the claws tore her head apart, the Rapier deeply pierced the Monster’s heart. Drip, drip, white blood dripped down. Honeybee pulled out her sword and quickly stabbed the area around the heart again. Thwack, thwack, thwack, each time the sharp sword pierced the gaunt body, the Monster shrieked.
Before long, the Monster trembled in its limbs and then slumped down. Only then did she completely pull out the Rapier. White blood dripped from the tip of the Rapier. Honeybee, looking down at the Monster collapsed on the broken machine wreckage, muttered.
“What I… saw was right, wasn’t it?”
“…….”
“A person….”
Honeybee swallowed the rest of her words and knelt in front of the Monster. She reached out and touched the pale arm. It was a careful touch, as if touching something precious. Then she lowered her head.
Eui-jae watched her quietly. Then a thought suddenly occurred to him.
Were all the Monsters he had killed in the West Sea Rift human?
Then a large hand covered his mask. A low whisper was heard.
“Don’t think about it.”
“…….”
“I told you. Hyung thinks too much….”
Eui-jae tried to say something but closed his mouth. There are definitely times when you have to run away. But that wasn’t now.
“No…, it’s okay.”
He had to know. The things he had been ignorant of. Eui-jae carefully removed Sa-young’s hand covering his mask. And he approached Honeybee. Honeybee, sensing his presence, raised her head.
Her eyes were red, but there were no tears.
She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and said.
“The corpse isn’t disappearing.”
“…I see. It usually turns to ash and disappears. The ones I dealt with didn’t even bleed.”
White blood was spreading around the Monster with a pierced heart. Honeybee stood up and dusted off her knees.
“The Monsters I saw were like that too. I guess they were individuals that had been Mutated for a long time.”
“…….”
“This one…. Died right after being Mutated.”
The Monsters that filled the West Sea Rift turned into white ash the moment they were pierced by a spear. Were they humans from the Destroyed world? Did Eui-jae survive by killing humans from the Destroyed world?
Solitude. Pouring several poisonous insects into a jar and sealing it. The poisonous insects trapped inside attack and devour each other to survive. And the last one to survive is….
Cha Eui-jae.
Honeybee put the Rapier in her belt and slung the limp Monster over her shoulder. She smiled on her parched face.
“Still, I caught a Monster. Right? I achieved my goal.”
“…….”
“Let’s go. I want to go back and rest soon….”
Honeybee started walking ahead with large strides. It was a weak gait. Eui-jae stared blankly at her back and blurted out.
“You can cry.”
“…….”
Her staggering feet stopped. Honeybee didn’t look back. Instead, a brusque reply came back.
“Who says I’m crying?”
“…….”
Honeybee continued to move forward, carrying the weight of what she had killed. Eui-jae deliberately kept his distance and followed. Sa-young also stood next to Eui-jae and walked. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but hear the sobbing.
Crunch, crunch, the feet walking on the ash stopped. Honeybee frowned and looked around.
“It should be coming out around here….”
“Castle?”
“Yeah. That’s weird…. Why can’t I see it?”
Eui-jae also looked around. He said that the Invasion Dungeon of the HB Guild was connected to the castle by a road. Then, as she said, the castle should be visible, but all he saw was the wasteland he had seen so far, let alone the castle. There wasn’t even a structure that popped out. Sa-young crossed his arms.
“Didn’t you take the wrong path?”
“Who do you think I am, a directionless person who can’t even find the way? I remember everything and recorded the direction.”
“Then why can’t you see it?”
“That’s what’s weird!”
Eui-jae quietly looked around with the Eye of the Tracker. There were no living things other than them, and no other structures were visible. Just a wasteland covered in ash.
“…….”
Did they get lost? Or….
Eui-jae quietly asked.
“About the Invasion Dungeon. Can it expand in real time? That, the Invasion.”
“…….”
Honeybee and Lee Sa-young looked at each other. Honeybee opened her mouth first.
“We haven’t had any reports of that. What about you?”
“…We haven’t had any reports either…. But it’s worth suspecting. In the first place, it doesn’t make sense for Invasion Dungeons to be connected.”
“I guess…. Wait, then does that mean it’s expanding as much as we walk, right now? That’s why the castle isn’t even showing its face?”
Honeybee’s sharp voice echoed in the wasteland. They stared at each other. Honeybee screamed.
“Then we’re trapped in the Dungeon after all!”
“Hmm…. Maybe not. Maybe we can escape if we run faster than it expands….”
“Are you saying that now!”
Honeybee tried to kick Lee Sa-young in the shin, but Sa-young agilely stepped back to avoid it. Honeybee, who missed her kick, rushed in again. Eui-jae, watching the two people quickly chasing and running away, rubbed his forehead.
With this combination….
I have to stay sharp.
Unbeknownst to them, all three were thinking the same thing.