By Zephyria 
“But your inner self is so hot, Hyung… mmpf.”
The flirting was once again coldly sealed off by a minor’s backside.
✽ ✽ ✽
After finishing the search of the basement level, they escorted the survivors up to the ground floor.
[Find survivors at the magic stone exchange (11/29)]
[Find survivors at the magic stone exchange (13/29)]
[Find survivors at the magic stone exchange (17/29)]
The number of survivors had reached seventeen. Seo Gae-un, who had finished wireless communication with Gwak Yun-sang outside, reported.
“The Management Center says survivors are continuing to emerge there as well.”
“Is the situation the same as ours?”
“They say the injuries are minor, and the testimonies that the attacks were very slow during the initial raid are identical.”
As if the magical beasts were giving them a chance to escape. Seo Gae-un didn’t explicitly say it, but the thought that crossed everyone’s mind was the same.
“…Could it be that they were stockpiling prey to eat all at once?”
A hunter from the 7777 Guild muttered with a pale face.
“Like a magical beast that’s about to give birth?”
“But giant vines reproduce via fruit…”
“Maybe it’s a strange mutation?”
“You idiot, why would a magical beast mutate?”
Unlike the hunters who hesitated, unable to fathom the magical beast’s intentions, Tae-un gave a nonchalant jerk of his chin.
“Think about it later and move forward. We’re only on the first floor.”
“Yes, you’re right. Saving people comes first.”
Seo Gae-un took a deep breath as if to clear her thoughts and led the raid team to the second floor. On the second floor, the raid team, including the survivors, split into two groups again. The goal was the east conference room, the furthest point from the emergency stairs. It was the place where survivors who had maintained contact with the outside had evacuated.
Even the hunters, whose nerves were frayed from fighting while protecting more survivors than expected, were beginning to show signs of exhaustion.
“We’ll take a ten-minute break.”
After driving away the swarm of tentacles that had clung to the storage room, perhaps sensing magic stones, Lee Sarang suggested a rest. Having transformed her lower body into metal, she plopped down like a chair atop the tentacles that one must never touch with bare skin. Her whole body felt stiff, perhaps due to the tension. Lee Sarang gulped water from her canteen and glanced sideways.
Unlike the other hunters who were drinking mana recovery potions or treating their wounds, Kim Si-baek, who was conversing with the baby crow, looked perfectly fine. Lee Sarang was inwardly impressed.
‘How is it possible that he’s not exhausted at all, even while covering the rear alone and protecting his pet bird? Is it because he’s S-class? Then again, Uncle Tae-un is probably similar.’
Not only her, but other hunters were also stealing glances at Kim Si-baek while pretending not to. In their minds, they pictured the smooth sword strikes he had displayed while ascending from the basement to the first floor.
At a glance, it wasn’t flashy swordsmanship. He simply slashed, cut, and cleaved with the sabre in his hand. Yet, there was a fluid beauty to the swordsmanship that flowed naturally and without obstruction, dominating the surroundings like a quiet breeze. Once one realized that beauty, they couldn’t help but keep watching.
And that wasn’t all.
Lee Sarang recalled a battle from about thirty minutes ago. For convenience, the flowers of the giant vine were called flowers because of their shape, but fruit did not grow from that part. Instead, when the flowers bloomed fully, they sprayed a toxin more potent than that of the tentacles rather than pollen.
A hunter from the Gabyeolcho Guild discovered a flower beginning to bloom secretly on the ceiling, but it was too late. The flower bloomed rapidly, and a thick toxin poured downward. However, before the hunters could even scream upon realizing the situation, it was already over. By the hand of Kim Si-baek, who had reached the middle rank from the rear in the blink of an eye.
As the thick toxin touched the cluster of light gathered in his hand, it turned white as if it had been bleached and flowed down. The whitened toxin possessed no toxicity.
Kim Si-baek then lightly slashed his sword. Despite only inflicting a small wound, the giant vine’s flower crumbled into ash and scattered. The light that had briefly lingered on the blade disappeared, but Lee Sarang felt she would not forget that flickering light for a long time.
The hunters’ mouths hung open, but Kim Si-baek merely checked if the Gabyeolcho Guild hunter was unhurt and calmly returned to the rear.
Suddenly looking around, Kim Si-baek met Lee Sarang’s eyes and gave a light nod. When he was expressionless, he had a stern impression, but when dealing with people, a gentle expression dwelled on his face.
Lee Sarang also gave him a small bow and continued her thoughts.
‘He was as cool as Dad and Uncle Tae-un… I wonder what trait he awakened to be able to utilize it in so many ways like Uncle Tae-un? Was it the swordplay that Uncle Tae-un fell for? Or the warm heart that cherishes a pet bird? But it feels like he’s actually having a conversation rather than just talking to a bird, so I’m a bit worried if he’s mentally unwell…’
Her thoughts were gradually drifting in an irreverent direction.
A hunter from the Jeongmyeong Guild, capable of deploying tracking abilities by maximizing their sense of smell, approached cautiously.
“Hunter Lee Sarang, I smell human blood from the other end of the hallway.”
The isolated Management Center employees grew exhausted one by one amidst the endless waiting. The only thing sustaining them was the hope that they would be rescued someday.
How much time had passed?
It was when the water bottle they had found in someone’s drawer and been sharing bit by bit finally ran dry.
“Over here! I’ve found an unidentified survivor!”
A small figure entering the room by completely ripping off the door wore a guild uniform with the conch shell embroidery, the logo of the Gabyeolcho Guild. It was immediately after that they recognized her as Lee Sarang, the successor of the guild. Sobbing cries of released tension and sighs of relief poured out among the survivors.
The hunters were busy injecting reagents that blocked the giant vine’s toxin into the survivors and checking their conditions.
“W-will they be able to survive?”
“…We will try our best.”
Treating the wound of a critically injured person whose bleeding had barely stopped with temporary measures, the hunter spoke gravely. They had expected this, but a guarantee that the person would definitely survive never came.
Sorrow and pain, preceding the joy of being rescued, cast a shadow over the survivors. It was then that a soft voice was heard.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
A tall, handsome young man among the hunters approached.
‘…Uh, Mr. Kim Si-baek?’
Absurdly, that was the name that popped into the head of the employee with the injured leg. It seemed it had been imprinted because it was the thought they had right before being caught by the giant vine.
The young man, entering amidst the questioning gazes, lightly scanned the condition of the unconscious, critically injured person. A long, firm hand, clearly meant for examination, was placed over the bandaged wound.
It was light. Not a piercing ray of light that blinded the eyes like the phone flashes they had relied on until now, but a gentle, softly lingering light. The heavily closed eyelids of the critically injured person flickered slowly, embracing that light.
It was truly a miracle.
Theoretically, if all magical beasts were eradicated, the world would become peaceful, but that was impossible. Even assuming the total annihilation of magical beasts was possible, magic stones were needed to purify the magical energy pervasive in the atmosphere. Even if magical beasts were wiped out, if the atmosphere could not be purified, magical beasts would emerge again.
Therefore, unlike Earth, which managed the habitats of magical beasts by separating them with barriers, Mak Slecht protected human settlements with domes. Because the proportion of magical beasts was much higher than on Earth, Kim Si-baek had hunted to defeat magical beasts in Mak Slecht.
To his eyes, the wound of the critically injured person he first encountered at the magic stone exchange was questionable from start to finish. Unwrapping the bandage, Kim Si-baek examined the wound, indifferent to the sound of people around him sharply inhaling at the sight of it being completely healed.
‘Is this really a wound caused by a Get? This is strange.’
The employee had a long tear on their thigh. Kim Si-baek slowly felt the wound that had narrowly missed the artery. With the sensitive sensation of his fingertips, he felt the texture of very fine, gritty glass shards.
As the wound recovered due to the priest’s healing power, the glass shards had been pushed out from the dermis. There were likely also microscopic glass powders that could not be detected by touch. In other words, the employee’s injury was due to broken glass.
‘Gets have a habit of secreting toxin from the epidermis covering the organism to melt and eat it. Because of that, a reaction occurs immediately just by contacting the skin…’
It was also suspicious to think that the beast considered them a target and threw nearby glass to inflict injury. On the employee’s waist, there was a clear eczema-like reaction indicating they had been entwined by a tentacle.
Judging by the situation alone, it meant the giant vine had wrapped around the employee’s waist and intentionally inflicted a wound using broken glass.
‘…But why on earth?’
Giant vines did not have a habit of playing with their prey before killing them. Since the giant vine’s origin was predation, it extended its roots infinitely as far as its power reached and devoured everything in its path. It was the kind of creature that would look for other prey rather than spend time toyed with its target.
“Hunter Kim Si-baek…”
At Lee Sarang’s cautious call, Kim Si-baek looked up. Realizing he had remained in contact with the injured person even after treating the wound, he quickly pulled his hand away.
“Ah, excuse me.”
However, it seemed her purpose was not to point that out. Except for the critically injured person who had barely regained consciousness and did not yet grasp the situation, the other employees and hunters were staring at him in utter astonishment.
Lee Sarang asked in a voice more trembling than when she had stood before a magical beast.
“B-by any chance… is your awakened trait healing power?”