chapter 183

Chapter 183

“Meow.”

“...”

“Meow.”

“...Hunter-nim.”

Sanarae, having folded his long body up tightly and squatted down, asked Seo Gio.

“Can’t you do something about this companion cat?”

“Dana really likes Hunter Sanarae. How amazing.”

“I’m amazed too, but more than that I feel fear...”

“You’re really joking around.”

“When I talk, everything sounds like a lie, huh?”

“Ahaha!”

Gio burst out laughing and pulled Dana in close.

“No way. I’m sorry—were you very scared?”

“It’s not that I was that scared, but I feel kind of uncomfortable around this kid...”

“I’ll take Dana with me.”

“Mmmng...”

Even while making a dissatisfied crying sound, Dana was dragged along by Gio. At that huge body and thick bundle of fur, the hunters exclaimed in admiration.

“You said it was an Anti-Cat that grew up, right?”

“Yes, I first met her at a jewel vein.”

“A monster that can grow this much—amazing is one thing, but unexpectedly, it’s cute.”

“I’m not saying this because she’s my daughter, but she’s a very cute and well-mannered child.”

“You take care of it like it’s really your kid. That’s incredible.”

In a world where even taking care of an ordinary pet is difficult without a fair amount of affection, raising a monster that could bite off a person’s head at any time with love was close to impossible.

“Does it have to be at least this much to tame an Anti-Cat?”

“This really feels like the first in the world.”

“This national pride is insane. Hunter-nim, can I brag that I know you?”

“Kid, get a grip. Why are you being so clingy.”

One of the hunters, who had been joking around and relaxing his tension, asked awkwardly.

“Um, but... you’re saying you can drive out the heat with this kid?”

“To be precise, it will call the people who will drive out the heat.”

“Oh...”

The hunters fell strangely quiet. One of them muttered.

“...Sunlight summoning hunter...”

“Shut your mouth.”

“Okay.”

They all knew well how Hunter Seo Gio had become famous. Hadn’t there been a whole uproar over him summoning little kids’ ghosts into reality?

Skills related to souls were not common to begin with. The most representative position among them was a necromancer, but no matter how you analyzed the situation back then, it wasn’t that.

‘...Even if it’s “summoning,” what does it feel like?’

‘I’ve heard skills that deal with souls are a pretty heavy burden.’

‘If it’s the ability of the monster he raises, the tamer’s own burden is relatively small?’

‘No one’s ever tamed an Anti-Cat before, so...’

Ignoring the hunters’ gazes, Gio dragged Dana along and asked Kang Seodam.

“May I begin?”

“...”

He slowly nodded.

“...Please.”

At that, the cat cried.

“Meow.”

“...”

“Meow.”

The cry spreads.

* * *

Sanarae was still crushed up against a tree trunk, far away.

“Team leader, what are you doing here.”

“That cat’s too scary.”

“You’re making a huge fuss, seriously.”

“This is so unfair.”

It really wasn’t pleasant.

“No one believes what I say...”

That cat calls the dead.

‘But that isn’t its ability.’

The Anti-Cat merely acted like a bell that rang according to its master’s command. And the one who made that bell was “Hunter Seo Gio.” Sanarae watched the situation with a nauseated feeling.

The cat’s cry wasn’t very loud. It was neat, as if a person were imitating a cat’s meow, and a modest voice. But it spread clearly, like a jade bead rolling in a silent room.

“Meow.”

It was then.

“...”

“...”

“...”

Between the shadows cast by the rainforest trees, several figures appeared.

“...Th-there...”

“...Excuse us.”

They, in white priest robes, hesitantly spoke to Seo Gio.

“May we join you for a moment?”

Their eyes were red around the rims.

“...Ah.”

Kang Seodam’s face twisted.

As the situation unfolded, the hunters’ expressions gradually stiffened as well.

“...What...”

“...Those people, could they be...”

“They’re priests.”

“I’ve seen those faces.”

“Definitely in some report...”

“...It’s the previous subjugation force.”

The dead speaking in the intact forms they had in life.

Hunters who had lost their cool due to the harsh environment began to realize the seriousness one by one. What they were seeing now were priests from the previous subjugation force, already dead.

One hunter muttered.

“They have shadows too.”

It meant they had a physical form.

“So, this is...”

“...”

“...Ha...”

It meant the dead had returned under the law of the living.

‘This easily?’

With just a few cries?

There was no grand ritual. No long prayer. Without even the slightest pain to draw forth a miracle, Seo Gio summoned the priests’ souls as if calling over a passerby nearby.

At that unbothered calmness, a chill ran down their spines.

“...”

“...”

The hunters broke out in cold sweat.

They didn’t even dare turn their heads, acutely aware of the presence of Hunter Seo Gio standing among them. With awe close to fear, the hunters’ bodies tensed up.

Around then, Seo Gio opened his mouth.

“Welcome.”

Then he continued.

“I need your help. Priests of the sun are skilled at handling heat, yes?”

“...That is correct.”

“We wish to remove the heat here and make the dungeon’s environment much more peaceful.”

“Please speak.”

The priests bowed their heads.

“Even if our souls melt away... we will join you.”

“If we can follow the sun’s will even in this way, we are only grateful.”

“Please tell us what must be done, what time we must move.”

“W-we will try somehow.”

“Please, if you would grant us a chance...”

At that, Gio smiled.

“You do not need to melt.”

Their role was only to gather heat.

“My son will handle containing the gathered heat.”

“...Then we...”

“I will send you where you wished to go, so you need not worry.”

“...”

The priests in the shadows lowered their heads deeply.

“...Thank you.”

Soon, the priests’ forms vanished.

“...”

“...W-where did they...”

“Crazy.”

Only then did the priests—whose mouths had been firmly shut—open them.

“J-just now, really...?”

Everyone was babbling, but it was only the sincerity rising from confusion at its peak. They couldn’t believe what they had seen, yet they also couldn’t bring themselves to chatter about it to others.

As they didn’t even dare look back toward Seo Gio, Garasani approached with a smile.

“Then shall we begin?”

“Yes, first, let’s start with the heat.”

“And what will you do after that?”

“I think we’ll need to open up water.”

“It would be best to gather as many priests and mages as possible.”

“As the heat subsides, there will be monsters that will thrash about, so we should prepare to suppress them.”

“In that process, we can eliminate quite a number of threatening monsters.”

At the sight of them exchanging words, Yoo Jina of the Collection Merchant looked around at the raiders.

“What are you all doing?”

“Uh, th-that is... just now...”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“But...!”

“Hey.”

She grinned and said,

“You have work to do.”

That was pressure.

“...”

“...R-right.”

Pressure not to dig into Hunter Seo Gio.

At that, suspicion began to sprout in the hunters’ heads. Even after seeing a miracle this nonsensical, the Collection Merchant only stayed wary of the surroundings. They couldn’t help but think there was a secret.

‘This isn’t simply a monster’s ability...’

They thought.

‘...Is he really a saint, no joke...?’

‘Isn’t this similar to the miracles the Moon Church’s saintess sometimes shows?’

‘Did that pervert collector seriously mate with some monster and have a kid?’

‘He could be an S-rank disguised as an A-rank...!’

Most hunters guessed that Hunter Seo Gio was either the highest-ranking saint or a hidden S-rank. A few hunters even thought he was a child created by Visabel in some insane way. The Collection Merchant’s ghost stories and bad reputation made that possible.

And none of them thought Seo Gio might not be human.

“...Ha ha.”

Except Sanarae.

“Too scary.”

“I would be grateful if you would refrain from such remarks.”

“I said I’m scared.”

“That is blasphemous, Hunter Sanarae.”

“...”

Except the Collection Merchant and the gardener, too.

“...This is driving me crazy.”

In the end, Sanarae decided once again to shut up.

* * *

“—Kieeeeeeaaaagh!!!”

Whether the Tree of Life, sensing the dungeon’s misfortune, had bestowed frenzy once again, or whether the night monsters simply gained the will to act as the heat was being removed, the night monsters began to run rampant.

“Kkaaak!! KkaaAAaak!!”

“Grrrrrrrr...!!”

“Khe, khaaaah!! Aaah!!”

They made bizarre sounds as they attacked all the humans.

“Protect the frail mages, you muscleheads!”

“Fuck, it feels disgusting being called a tank by these mages who actually listen!”

The hunters, who had prepared in advance, responded skillfully.

If they were clumsy hunters, it wouldn’t have been strange if they’d died long ago, but the hunters gathered here were all veterans. With recovery items in abundance and healers in abundance, there was no hunter afraid to throw themselves in.

“Healer-nim, please show mercy!”

“Here’s your mercy!”

“I love you...!”

“The healer’s grace shall never end!!”

“Those who hurt, scream!!”

“Aaah...!!”

“Aaah, here, aaah!!”

“Scream louder, I can’t tell you apart from the monsters!!”

“KraaaaaaaaAAAAAAH!!!”

A hunter, by nature, is a job where you throw away your body and live with your life on the line. There were no hunters here who feared pain, and on top of that, there were plenty of healers—precious high-grade personnel called nobles.

Moreover, the roles of dealer and tank here were clear. While the mages and priests handled the heat, they just had to protect them from the monsters rampaging.

With the healers behind them.

“Before you kill me, you won’t touch a single downy feather of the healers!”

“Hey, we! The mages are!”

“Mages, survive on your own!!”

“You bastards! Do you think we just mooch food!!”

Amid the chaos, the priests and mages were a little dumbfounded.

“H-how is this working right now?”

“It’s even more dumbfounding that it’s actually going smoothly...”

“Hey, this really works, right?”

They were in the middle of gathering this enormous dungeon’s heat into one place.

“Guruk.”

“Isn’t it so pretty how you eat well.”

“Gureung-gureung-gureung.”

“Aww, good job, so pretty.”

“Gurrrrrrrrrrung!!”

“Our Honey is doing great.”

The gathered heat was being received and gulped down by Honey. For some reason, Honey seemed to be getting bigger and bigger, but the hunters ignored it.

If it were containing heat, the burden would have been great, but if it was merely moving it to a single point, it was quite manageable.

“Uaaagh, I’m dying of heat...!”

“I knew it from the moment I started feeling suffocated!”

“I’m never coming to a rainforest-type dungeon again!”

It wasn’t an easy task at all, and the mages vented their resentment. There were mages who gathered heat with skills or techniques alone, and mages who gathered heat by drawing in wind and moisture in the air.

And the priests of the sun, without a word, silently focused on gathering heat.

“...”

“...Hup...”

Some even shed tears. It was because they felt an intangible force pulling in even the heat they couldn’t draw out.

The priests who had heard what Hunter Seo Gio’s Anti-Cat had done forced back their tears. Thinking that this was their last collaboration with their brothers, they couldn’t help but feel sorrowful.

“...Huh, doesn’t it feel a bit cooler?”

“Hey, fuck, this really has an effect.”

“This feels completely insane...”

After doing this for about three hours, the hunters could also feel a meaningful change.

“It’s definitely easier to breathe.”

As if it wasn’t only the hunters, the dungeon’s fake moon rose more often and stayed longer. According to the records, it was the Tree of Life supporting the dungeon that raised this moon.

And finally, when a long evening came—one whose end was unknown—

“...”

“...I-is there no more now?”

“...I’m dying.”

There were no more monsters attacking them.

The sweat cooled, and somewhat chilly air settled down.

(To be continued in the next episode)