NOVEL WEB Chapter 43
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The chance of escaping from Kang Tae-ho was approaching zero.
Even with all those advantages, I barely managed to take Hong Yu-ri from Gu Jin-ha after dealing with the boss monster. Kang Tae-ho was stronger than that. Not to mention, there was an unknown sniper lurking behind him.
‘It’s over.’
Running away was practically impossible. Even trying to use my C-rank Stealth in vain, the outcome wouldn’t change.
“Huh, seriously? You even have a stealth-type skill.”
His gaze was still fixed on me. I held my breath and swallowed hard because it was clear he could see me.
‘As expected…’
Even if I spent all my remaining skill points to level up Stealth, hiding was off the table. And even if I acquired speed-related skills, the outcome wouldn’t change.
“Uh. Team Leader. You got here quickly?”
Without lowering his bowstring, the archer stood behind me. A wave of anxiety crashed over me at the thought of being shot if I moved just a little. As Kang Tae-ho lowered his dual blades, death approached rapidly.
“Oh. Looks like Yu-ri and Jin-ha are in for it.”
“…But you came already?”
“If I hit, they all die anyway.”
That was absurd. Isn’t that why we were in this predicament? Of course, that might be his reality.
“Are you really going to kill it? Isn’t it a waste? Can’t we tame it first?”
“That’s nonsense. You think you can tame that thing after seeing what it has done? Are you confident?”
The archer’s expression flickered. It wasn’t uncommon to tame monsters, but this one had been toying with Search Team 3 for a month. How it even escaped Jirisan is still a mystery, and if it hadn’t been spotted in the Gyeongsan dungeon, we wouldn’t have even chased it. Eventually, the archer had to lick his lips, looking disappointed.
‘…Damn.’
The heavy footsteps approaching signaled that death was a foregone conclusion. There was no escaping, and no hiding. Then, I had to try another method.
‘Transformation.’
I activated [Transformation] to create my vocal cords. I didn’t know the structure, but I had used it once before to kill Koo Sang-seop, so it wasn’t difficult.
“Stop. Dance.”
The moment those words left my lips, the giant’s face, which seemed unflinching earlier, stiffened, and the archer, in a daze, released his bowstring. The fierce arrow narrowly missed as the archer regained his senses and reloaded.
“T-Team Leader. Did I just mishear? Did you hear it too?”
“…Cancel the kill order. We’re capturing it alive. No exceptions.”
‘Crap. What do I do now?’
The good news was that the giant had put his dual blades away. As the weapons disappeared into the void, the giant relaxed his hands.
“Hitting feels good, doesn’t it?”
Crazy guy. Even Gu Jin-ha’s off-target punch cracked a skull. Being hit by Kang Tae-ho wouldn’t mean anything less than instant death. If I got caught like this, no matter how I looked at it, I’d end up trapped in a cage as a test subject. I had to somehow keep the conversation going.
“Muldoons. Threat. Tail.”
“…What are you saying?”
“I don’t know.”
‘Damn.’
By this point, there was no way they’d know about the Muldoons. They might know about them, but they probably weren’t familiar with the term “Muldoons.” I needed something else… something different to grab their attention.
‘What can I say to stop Kang Tae-ho?’
What had Kang Tae-ho done in the story? What had he created?
“Kang Hoon. Survival.”
That urgent phrase made Kang Tae-ho halt his steps. But instead of the expected response, his twisted expression radiated a chilling intent.
“…Seong-hoon. I will definitely catch that thing.”
“Wasn’t that already your intention?”
‘Crap.’
The arrow left the bowstring at the same moment Kang Tae-ho moved closer. His colossal fist blocked my entire field of vision—just when I thought I was ‘done,’ I heard a “k kwee” sound.
***
“…Gone?”
The giant, dazed, rummaged through the air. If it was just hiding, that would make sense. But if that was the case, he wouldn’t have missed it. No matter how much he spread his magic, Alpha was no longer here. As if the film had cut out—obviously, Alpha had vanished.
“How the hell?”
Faced with this incomprehensible phenomenon, the giant clenched his fist in frustration. With vision that pierced through dozens of kilometers, he tried to track the wolf, but the creature’s figure was nowhere to be found.
“Team Leader… what’s going on?”
“I don’t know either. What is clear is… it’s no longer here.”
The first thought that sprang to mind was the existence of a scroll. Tools like the Short-distance Teleportation Scroll. Could it be that it had one and used it?
‘But…’
There were no signs beforehand. There was no surge of magic, no torn scroll fragments, and not even a burst of light.
“Huh. Was this why Yu-ri couldn’t catch it?”
Had it escaped because of this ability? I had no inkling of what exactly it was. Invisibility? Spatial leap? Or perhaps it was magic rather than a skill? If it had the intelligence to speak, then there’s a possibility it learned magic…
‘No way.’
The giant shook his head, dismissing that possibility. To have learned magic would mean some connection to the Square. But would the Square really…? Would they need to ever turn themselves into enemies? The giant was skeptical.
“Team Leader, what on earth is this?”
“……?”
The archer held up what looked like emerald scales, resembling a snake’s.
“This can’t be…?”
Seeing the scale, the giant’s expression stiffened.
***
‘Another phenomenon.’
The sensation I felt when I ran past the Awakening Evil. I had thought it was magic used by Hong Yu-ri to save herself in a state of near death. But now, Hong Yu-ri wasn’t here. It meant that some other existence was interfering. And moreover, where exactly was this?
‘It’s like another world.’
No, it likely was another world. Upon closer inspection, it looked just like the space where I had been surrounded by Kang Tae-ho and the archer. Except for the striking blue hues and an emerald sea flowing upside down where the sky should be.
‘Ah.’
Then I realized what that blue hue was. Magic. A dense concentration of magic filled the world.
‘Insane.’
The overwhelming density of magic was suffocating. Just breathing would increase my magic level. Where was this place, and who brought me here? Most importantly…
‘What on earth is this creature?’
A snake-like being loitering around… More easily described as a long snake with beautiful wings attached. Wings that looked more like… butterfly wings than bird wings? Looking closely, they were made of fine membranes.
“Kweeu~ kweeu!”
The odd creature fluttered about, scattering sparkles as if seeking praise. Caught up in the spectacle, I suddenly snapped back to reality and used [Insight].
[Fairy Dragon]
[Body Length 16.2cm] [Height 2.6cm] [Weight 126g]
[Strength 16] [Agility 14] [Stamina 23] [Magic 76]
[Skills Held]
[Blink(D)] [Magic Regeneration(D)]
‘……?’
Excluding magic, it didn’t seem particularly special. But…
‘Dragon?’
Dragon. Differences between cultures across East and West still referred to it as dragonkind.
Sure, the wings made it appear dragon-like. But…
‘It’s way too weak to be a dragon.’
Even swamp dragons without wings were stronger than this thing, yet it was classified as dragonkind?
‘…Fairy Dragon?’
Suddenly, I recalled something.
The egg of the Dragon Worm I saved after ending the sewer disaster in a fable. Wasn’t the Dragon Worm the larval form of the Fairy Dragon?
‘No way?’
I felt a glimmer of hope, yet I suspected the opposite was true. There was no way a Fairy Dragon would save me for no reason. It had to be that Dragon Worm that had saved me back then.
‘Not a black-billed magpie returning a favor.’
I couldn’t help but chuckle. The Fairy Dragon was flying gracefully, scattering sparkles. Occasionally looking back as if inviting me to follow.
‘Well, it’s useless to stay here.’
In this overlapping world, I had no choice but to follow the Fairy Dragon.
“Kweeuuru~ kweeu!”
The Fairy Dragon seemed to be in unusually high spirits. At least it didn’t seem like I would be threatened by it. It led me for a long while.
“Kweeu? Kweeu~?”
It tilted its head. Where was this place again? I sighed deeply, feeling forgetful.
‘…At least I saved my life.’
Seeing Kang Tae-ho and the archer no longer following, it was a separate world… almost like being in a mirror reflection. On closer inspection, this was indeed the dungeon at Ihyeon Park.
‘Could it be…?’
This might not be completely disconnected from reality. Finally reaching the boundary, the Fairy Dragon nodded. It stepped beyond the forest’s edge, and I followed, emerging outside the dungeon, exactly as expected, into a world connected to it.
‘This is…’
I had no idea what the principle was. And within it, I could see numerous life forms leisurely wandering between the urban surroundings.
‘Ah.’
My mouth gaped open. Not people, but creatures beyond comprehension, all living upside down, based on the sea flowing above while I was the only one on solid ground.
‘……’
No matter how I thought about it, I don’t recall a world like this ever appearing in a novel. Meaning, even the protagonist had never been to this place. A world they didn’t even know existed… and there…
“અહીં રાક્ષસો કેમ છે?”
“વરુ, વરુ! મોન્સ્ટર વરુ~!”
Cheerful laughter mixed with words I could not comprehend. It was a language I had never heard even once before. Like fairies similar to Tinkerbell mingling with young Dragon Worms, they laughed joyfully.
[Child of the Third Winter (Fairy)]
[Height 26.2cm] [Weight 240g]
[Strength 11] [Agility 25] [Stamina 16] [Magic 57]
‘…An actual fairy, huh?’
***
“Are you serious?”
“Do I look like I’m joking? Alpha said so!”
The team leader, wrapped in bandages, frowned. With his expression suggesting he wasn’t making a joke, the giant sighed. Of course, he would have reacted that way.
“…If you’re going to lie, couldn’t you at least make it a more believable one?”
“That’s often how it goes, right? When did you become such a good liar?”
“Seong-hoon saw it too, right?”
The very person in question, though dazed, mumbled, “The monster said… the monster said…” It seemed he was taken aback, having been so chatty earlier but now lost in thought.
“…It seems all too real.”
Surely, they couldn’t both have dreamt the same dream. Gu Jin-ha felt Alpha was strong, but it was not a level that would translate to the giant’s experience. Even conceding a hundred times, it was impossible for such mental attacks to work on someone like him.
“More importantly, what’s wrong with your appearance?”
“Someone slacked off, I guess.”
The giant winced, having jabbed only to be bitten back. He could hurl insults at such a weakling, but the flesh monster he had faced was genuinely powerful, so he held his tongue.
“Alpha said so… have you ever heard of a talking monster?”
“It’s not like I’ve never heard it. But it was mostly them mimicking human speech. Like a parrot.”
“…I’ve only heard of it in that context.”
“Who knows? Perhaps there are those hiding talking monsters.”
“Isn’t that just covering the sky with a palm?”
It’s been almost fifty years since monsters appeared in this world. Fifty years… in half a century, could they keep the existence of talking monsters hidden? I shook my head in skepticism.
“If you missed it, then chasing Alpha is truly a distant dream. Given Yu-ri’s condition… we might have to give up.”
“Ah. Speaking of which.”
The giant held up a single scale. The team leader’s previously casual expression turned serious as he examined the scale.
“…This can’t be?”
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