Chapter 59

The calm, peaceful interior of the tent…

An inexplicable, uncomfortable feeling was slowly waking EunAh up from her slumber. She was still quite out of it, however.

‘…Hm?’

She tried to move her body but found that she couldn’t—someone had locked her into an embrace from behind.

‘Wh-what’s going on here?’

EunAh’s face had grown pale.

‘Don’t tell me… Sh-Shin YuSung! I-I knew it! I knew you’d do this!’

EunAh stiffened. Her brain, however, was going through some serious inner turmoil after coming to this conclusion.

‘Wh-what should I do?! Actually, is he even doing this deliberately? Maybe it’s involuntary?! Don’t some people have a habit of hugging others when they fall asleep?!’

Right at that moment, the person who had hugged her from behind bit her ear with their mouth.

Chill.

—A sensation that raised all of the hairs on EunAh’s body.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Her face grew red—there was no chance in hell that it was done by accident. EunAh’s fist was shaking from anger.

‘I’ll kill you… I’ll really kill you…’

She couldn’t accept behavior like that, even from the man who had saved her brother's life.

And right when she was about to lash out with her arm…

She heard a faint mumbling from the vicinity of her bitten ear.

“Huuu… sob! Munch munch… My karaage is tastierrr…”

The identity of the one mumbling was Sumire.

She was even chewing on EunAh’s ear as if it was a food she was eating.

“What the hell, is she crazy…?”

EunAh stood up from her spot on the ground, face red.

“Hey! Sleep more calmly, won’t you?!” she yelled furiously, kicking Sumire with her foot.

“…Hueeee.”

A sound like a deflating balloon escaped from the girl's mouth as she began to roll away from the force of the kick. Sumire only stopped rolling when she hit the corner of the tent.

EunAh took out a handkerchief from her Pocket and wiped the spit on her ear.

“Ugh! Gross…”

She glared at the other girl for some time until finally letting out a sigh, bothered by Sumire’s prone body. She picked up the discarded blanket and draped it over the girl before crawling over to the entrance of the tent and lowering the zipper.

Zip.

EunAh walked outside. The early morning dew gave the forest breeze a unique scent—her lungs cleared as she breathed in the fresh air.

She straightened her back and looked into the distance.

‘…The sun will rise soon.’

If she had to guess, it would take around one to two hours. She grimaced as she thought of something else.

‘…Shin YuSung will catch the lake dragon, I bet.’

EunAh may call herself strong and say that Electricity was one of the best Traits in Korea, but in a situation like theirs, it was nothing but talk.

It wasn’t like it was her fault since the opponent was immune to electricity, but EunAh felt like she was only making excuses and running away.

‘What can I do, though? Electricity doesn’t work on it…’

She began thinking deeply about the matter; her face stiffened into a grimace.

Right when she was doing so, the zipper opened.

Zip.

YuSung crawled out of the tent. He seemed already prepared to start the day.

“EunAh. Looks like you woke up early.”

“Same goes for you.”

“I need to prepare the trap.”

“A trap?”

That was the first time that EunAh had heard that a trap was in the equation. She was curious. YuSung flashed her a smile as he took out the plant he had gathered the day before from his Pocket.

“I can make one if I slowly grind these herbs with a rock.”

The herbs that YuSung had taken out were the viscous herb and the steerus.

Squirt! Squirt!

Thick and sticky sap seeped out of the viscous herb as he ground it down with a rock. As he ground the steerus on the same rock, the viscous herb’s sap slowly turned grey.

“What is this?”

“The lake dragon leaves the lake and lays down on the largest boulder it can see when it’s morning time.”

EunAh recalled what YuSung had said in the portal room.

“Yeah, I was kinda listening to what you were saying before…”

“What do you think would happen if we spread this liquid all over that boulder?”

The grey-ed sap blended fairly well with the of the boulder the lake dragon usually laid itself on. It was also quite sticky.

“Hmm.”

EunAh drew her head closer to the sap to inspect it.

“…Will this work? That dragon is really big.”

“The viscous herb’s sap gets even sticker when it makes contact with water, which the lake dragon has plenty of dripping off its scales. And the larger something is, the more surface area it has for the sap to stick onto.”

YuSung’s explanation was thorough and detailed. EunAh’s face darkened as she heard it. She adjusted her stance so that she could properly face him, eye to eye.

“…You’re incredible.”

—Sincere words of admiration, without a trace of sarcasm.

YuSung was born with an F-rank Trait, but he had devoted himself to training on the Martial Spirits’ Mountain for 12 years. Even though he had been abandoned by his family, he didn’t give up on himself. Similarly, even when he had become strong, he never grew arrogant.

The fact that he had prepared a trap to catch the lake dragon was proof that he gave it his all, no matter what the ordeal or opponent.

EunAh tasted something bitter on the tip of her tongue.

‘…Everything other people have said about me is right.’

All of the gossip that had grazed her ears over the years…

‘I’m just lucky.’

—Her beauty.

—Her incredibly fortunate household.

—A Trait with an incredibly high potential for growth.

None of those were things that EunAh had were things she had to earn with her own two hands.

‘…And when I fought those monsters, I thought I couldn’t do anything because they were bad match-ups…I feel like an idiot.’

Grrk.

EunAh bit her lip.

‘I really am…’

EunAh looked at YuSung, who was grinding out the sap from the herbs. While she was busy blaming everything else but herself in a dire situation, even when everything had been handed to her on a silver platter, YuSung tried his hardest to the end.

Perhaps that was why she couldn’t rescue her brother. EunAh fell into deep thought about the matter.

“…Hey.”

Eventually, she raised her voice. YuSung faced the girl, who had a serious expression on her face.

“This is, uh… a bit of a weird request, but…”

“Mmm… I-I’m also awake…”

Sumire took that moment to announce that she had woken up. EunAh, seeing the girl approach them, immediately shut her mouth.

“EunAh?”

YuSung peered up at her curiously.

“I’ll tell you later.”

It seemed like she wanted to talk to him one-on-one. YuSung pocketed the small container that stored the grey-ed sap and stood up, walking towards the large boulder, he then opened the lid and poured its contents on a leaf.

Drip.

He then used the leaf to spread the sap all over the boulder.

“Okay, everyone. Let’s hide before the sun rises.

YuSung wasn’t just satisfied with setting the trap. He pulled up bits of grass and foliage as he made his way back to the other two. EunAh was bemused.

“Hide? And what’s that for?”

“We have to disguise ourselves if we want to hide,” he answered as if it were obvious. “First, let’s rub mud all over our hair.”

“H-huh? Mud?!” Sumire gulped and eyed the girl next to her.

“Y-you’re kidding, right?”

But YuSung was serious.

Employ every advantage you have and do your utmost to prepare against your opponent, even when you’re fighting a monster weaker than you. That was YuSung’s philosophy.

* * *

* * *

The rising sun in the sky…

Shin YuSung, Kim EunAh, and Sumire—the three were crouched down and hiding in the foliage as if they were predators waiting for their prey.

EunAh was upset. Why? Blades of grass were tangled into her hair.

‘Do we really have to do all of this?’

Her persistent arguing had, at least, spared her hair from getting dirt all over it. In any case, the three had become one with nature.

Time passed. Just when EunAh’s body was about to relax due to the warming weather, she heard a sound in the distance.

Boom! Boom!

The lake dragon emerged from the water, signaled by the sound of its giant footsteps.

“Grr… Kaaa!”

It raised its head into the sky and bellowed out a large cry into the air.

Flap flap!

The birds in the area, surprised by the noise, flew away from the nearby treetops.

The emperor of Mount Everline…

The lord of the lake…

The dragon stalked towards the boulder with confident strides befitting its many titles.

Womp!

“…Krr?”

And it lay down on the rock—that was its mistake. The dragon began struggling to free itself from the boulder that had been slathered with the sap of the viscous herb.

Boom!

The lake dragon managed to tear itself away from the boulder but lost its balance and fell. Sumire, seeing her chance, yelled towards the woods.

“Death Knight-ssi!”

“Master’s or… ders… everyone, att… ack!”

Roooar!

Various types of skeleton knights rushed towards the lake dragon, the death knight riding its trusty steed included.

Toss!

The knights threw a net over the dragon in order to stop it from moving any further. Enraged, the lake dragon swiped at the skeletons with its front leg.

Bash!!

The skeleton knights hit by the attacks crumbled instantly and despawned. It wasn’t a big deal, however—in the first place, they were nothing but bait to stall for time.

EunAh and YuSung looked at each other.

As their eyes met, EunAh gave the boy a nod and smiled.

“Thanks.”

Then she began running towards the lake dragon. YuSung, on the other hand, stayed in place. That was all due to the promise they had made earlier.

[…Hey, YuSung. Can you let the two of us defeat the lake dragon?]

[H-huhhh?! D-do you mean, just you and me… without Shin YuSung-ssi?]

EunAh herself knew that her request was unreasonable. It wasn’t a training session; it was real life, with all of the dangers associated with it. Normally, one would use YuSung’s strength to conclude the hunt as quickly as possible.

However, EunAh’s gaze was more sincere than it ever had been up to that moment.

What she was trying to attempt right then was important. If she kept making excuses for herself by blaming element compatibility—if she kept giving up whenever a situation wasn’t in her favor—then nothing would change, and EunAh had already avoided many situations of that nature.

She was scared of being used.

She was scared of being betrayed.

She was scared of losing someone like her brother again, someone she had opened up to. Thus, EunAh avoided getting close to others.

She would never have to say farewell to anyone as long as she never got to know another person.

She would never have to get hurt as long as she never felt happiness.

She had put up walls all around her heart, built using various justifications she had concocted by herself.

Watching YuSung, however, made EunAh understand.

‘If I…’

If she never tried something, nothing would happen; nothing would change. All she could do was stay in one place and wait to rot like a stagnant pool of water.

EunAh didn’t want that.

She already knew what would happen if someone broke under the weight of all of the expectations and tried to run away from it all. She had seen it happen with her own eyes, after all.

‘…No matter how much I try to avoid them, my problems will not solve themselves.’

What EunAh needed at that moment was courage—the courage to try and change herself.

YuSung smiled as he saw her determination.

“EunAh, you really are strong, aren’t you?”

He had known it since the first time the two had locked eyes with each other, and as expected, his instincts hadn’t failed him. EunAh was one of those ‘hunters with incredible potential’ that his master had taught him about.

Ring!

“Kuohhhh–!”

The lake dragon continued to roar into the sky, head tilted upwards.

Clap! Bzzt!

EunAh clapped and surrounded her entire body with electricity. She answered the boy with a confident grin.

“‘Course. Who do you think I am?”

Tup!

With those words, she ran towards the dragon.

There was no guarantee of one’s safety if they faced off against a monster with a bad match-up. Despite that fact, YuSung stayed firmly in place and watched.

He believed in his party member,

And EunAh wanted to change herself more than she had ever before. To them, how efficiently the hunt went wasn’t important.