World-Saving is a Skill

Chapter 92

Chapter 92

Once the Hunters who could no longer fight and the Hunters who had given up were all filtered out, exactly three hundred remained.

It felt like we would be fighting in our briefs with only a spear and a shield.

Anyway, the day we would head for the Erosion Core of Jaun Valley was already set. It was tomorrow. And tonight’s dinner was beef.

It was not Hanwoo. Anyway, among the best cuts produced at ranches on Earth, all of them passed through Korea first.

Cuts you could not get in other countries were handled even at the neighborhood butcher’s in Korea.

Most people who had raised cattle in Korea no longer raised them in Korea. They raised them abroad. Anyway, we lit charcoal and started grilling meat.

“I cannot understand the Hunters who said they will quit. Honestly, it is not as if they did not know it would be like this.”

Han Sang-ah wore a look that said she could not understand. It seemed hard for her to accept people who came all the way here, got beaten up by ghosts to their heart’s content, and now said they would turn back.

“Expectations and reality are different.”

You can tell just by those insanely spicy pork cutlets or those challenge dishes that are free if you finish them.

There were so many cases where someone charged in thinking they could do it, then backed off with the thought, this is not it, that it was hard to list them one by one.

“Did anyone leave without paying?”

At Jung Oh-hoon’s question, I made an awkward face.

“There were some who could not pay and left saying they would settle it later.”

By rough ratio, about sixty percent paid the entire penalty and about forty percent could not pay and said they would pay in installments.

Jung Oh-hoon tossed a cooked piece of meat into his mouth and spoke.

“If they try to dodge the penalty later, tell me. I have friends who are phenomenal at collecting.”

“You mean some kind of debt collector?”

At my words, Jung Oh-hoon nodded, crossed his legs, and kept eating.

“They slip cleverly between illegal and legal. Their skill is good, so you can trust them. As long as they are not a corpse, we can recover the penalty no matter what.”

Good to hear. Again, with the sound of charcoal burning, we ate in silence.

“Anyway, one hundred fifty are the ones who clear the road and watch the perimeter in case of emergencies, right?”

I nodded at Han Sang-ah’s words. The ones who would actually enter the Erosion Core were the three of us plus one hundred including Adakawa Nanami. The remaining fifty would guard Harbin.

“I feel like a few more could go in.”

I answered Jung Oh-hoon’s comment while working my chopsticks.

“The lack of a headcount limit could mean that no matter how many go in, it will not make much difference.”

After a few Erosion Core clearances, I had a rough feel for it. The Refrigerator of Bratsk limited the number allowed to enter the Erosion Core for a reason.

The converse of a proposition was true.

If the Erosion Core of Jaun Valley did not limit the number of entrants, that meant there was no reason to. Which meant we could infer that the gimmick of Jaun Valley’s Erosion Core would not be affected by how many Hunters went in.

Besides, one hundred Hunters was not actually a small number.

“I am already worried.”

“It’s normal to worry until you go through it.”

Once we faced it, there would be no time for worrying or fretting anyway.

“Before you face it, don't indulge in pointless imaginings. That kind of imagination never helps.”

If you did not know, it was better to leave it unknown until you figured it out properly. Once it was confirmed, then you moved.

“Anyway, we have to move early tomorrow, so get some rest early.”

The next day, a total of two hundred fifty Hunters including us headed for the ski resort in question that I had already pinpointed.

— The ski resort in question backs onto a lake. It’s probably…

That place would also be smothered in a thick concentration of fog. With a mask made of sulphur willows or with normal levels of resistance, it would be hard to endure.

“With around one hundred, it is doable somehow.”

It was beyond me to craft gas masks with the Paradoxical Flame for all two hundred fifty heading to the Erosion Core right now. But I could cloak around one hundred, the ones accompanying us up to the Erosion Core.

The other one hundred fifty would open the way so that the fifty who went into the Erosion Core could preserve as much strength as possible, then immediately flee back to Harbin. If they lingered, they could suffer those same hallucinations as before.

The one bit of luck was that the magic circle that produced those hallucinations needed quite a lot of time to activate.

“Will you be all right? If you stick that black flame on one hundred heads, you cannot use it for offense, can’t you?”

I nodded with a casual smile at Adakawa Nanami’s words.

“Keep in mind that in-ear comms will not work inside.”

Everyone knew that anyway. Inside an Erosion Core, you could not receive help from Operators.

“At least we have radios.”

Communication between Hunters would not be impossible. We had set call signs for each other, and we had made many efforts to prevent cross-talk during transmissions.

“Besides, everyone has experience.”

This was not a gathering of rookies. Most of the Hunters had experience maintaining comms inside an Erosion Core. Using radios, nobody would pull something stupid.

The Hunters entering the Erosion Core did not enter Changchun city and waited on the outskirts. After about three hours, a call came through the in-ear comms.

— At this time the route to the target ski resort has been cleared.

It was time to move. We had to move as fast as possible.

— However, the fog is thick and the Hunters who cleared the road cannot approach the vicinity of the ski resort, so they have not confirmed whether there actually is an Erosion Core at the ski resort.

“There is no need to worry about that.”

It was there no matter what. It had to be. I could understand the other Hunters doubting me, but I had clear and definite certainty.

Jung Oh-hoon and Han Sang-ah glanced at me.

“Hey, trust me a little. You have never gotten burned by trusting me.”

“That is true.”

As Han Sang-ah agreed, Jung Oh-hoon whistled.

“I don't know. This is basically my first time working with you.”

“You aren’t wrong. Then confirm it this time.”

I finished speaking and gestured.

“Everyone, run.”

At last it was time to enter the thick fog. My goodness, I had not known it would take this much labor to deal with a single class one Erosion Core.

Harbin, the Undying Legion, hallucinations, and the purple fog. Come to think of it, the Refrigerator of Bratsk had also demanded this much time and effort.

To break through the Great Eight, who knew how much effort and time we would have to grind in. For now, I could not even guess.

We had to sprint as fast as possible and plunge into the Erosion Core. That way the Hunters who had opened the route could bolt straight back to Harbin.

One hundred Hunters, with me at the head, launched into a hard run. A roaring like a hundred horses in full gallop rolled over the earth.

“Ignore them and run!”

A few ghosts rushed at our sprinting line. The Hunters who had cleared the road were handling most of the ghosts, but a few remained.

“So fast the sweat on your soles dries in an instant!”

The mad dash did not stop. We ran straight for the ski resort and reached the destination in nearly thirty minutes. When Hunters ran with magic, they could easily outpace a car.

“I told you it was here, you bastards!”

Through the thick fog that lay over the lake, I could faintly see the silhouette of the Erosion Core. At my shout, Jung Oh-hoon let out a laugh.

“Grant me strength!”

At once, Adakawa Nanami raised pink magic. A massive pink sphere floating in the air exhaled a white, frosty aura over the lake.

The lake froze solid in a straight line in an instant, and a path appeared to the Erosion Core set in the middle of the lake.

It was a relief we did not have to go into that water. Since the fog spewed from that lake, the water would obviously be highly toxic.

“Whew.”

Having created the path, Adakawa Nanami took a brief breath. People let out soft exclamations at the scene before them.

I stepped onto the frozen lake, slid straight toward the Erosion Core, and shouted.

“What are you all doing, run!”

Would sightseeing make the Erosion Core disappear? At my words, the Hunters snapped out of it, ran across the ice, and charged the Erosion Core.

I looked at the huge hole right in front of me and spoke into the in-ear.

“Yoo Chan-seok entering!”

— We wish you good luck.

We had already confirmed while sprinting over the lake that the radio worked properly. I threw myself into the black hole as I was.

My vision went dark, then flared bright again.

“…”

Leaves made of emerald, petals made of ruby and tourmaline and topaz and citrine.

A rich scent flowed in through my nose and the waterfall in the distance poured water that was a riot of color.

Rainbows hung everywhere and the sky was divided into countless square regions like a mosaic, each square changing color several times in the span of a moment until your eyes swam.

The ground beneath my feet was covered with fine sand that glittered in thousands of colors. Each time I moved my feet, a faint tone like a clear chime rang out.

On the backs of the hummingbirds flitting nearby, clockwork made of amber turned.

“How vicious.”

Inside the enchanting sight like paradise lurked malice so sticky it was vicious. I took a leftover piece of last night’s beef from my bag and flicked it into the jeweled flowers.

The meat that touched a leaf blackened in an instant, then turned to mush and ran down.

“Everything contains deadly poison…”

The countless rainbows and the mosaic sky muddled your sight.

The birds that flew chattering and the clear sound of sand brushing actually tired the ear in a sly way.

The rich, heavy scent that stabbed the nose had the same nature as the purple fog that enwrapped Jaun Valley, and it exhausted the sense of smell in an instant.

And every so often, between the glittering leaves of the ornate exotic plants carved from jewels and precious metals, I saw the eyes of ghosts full of resentment.

This Erosion Core looked like a boundless, massive model garden carved from jewels. And this garden was not friendly to us.

I immediately pulled out my radio and shared what I had figured out. Then a bird that landed in front of me pecked the sand here and there to write letters.

[Let us play hide and seek first! One hundred real, two hundred fake. If you find all the fakes, then you get to play with me.]

[Using appearances to tell each other apart is forbidden!]

[All the fakes are imitating you. Of course, they are a little awkward.]

[All fakes and reals will look standardized when you look at each other. Height, voice…  everything!]

[Oh, and I gave that fun-looking communicator to all the fakes too! Will you show it to me later too?]

[Wait… let us make one exception. Just for you.]

I scowled when I read that far.

“Damn it. If I had known, we would have brought only three in.”

So it was a masquerade ball huh. If I had brought only three, including me, it would have been much easier.

We had to tell the fakes from the reals. With looks or voice or the like, it was impossible.

Right on cue, voices burst noisily over the radios.