VSP 154

When Cha Dogyeong arrived with a face colder than usual, they thought he’d naturally stand by Sejun’s side. Recently, the two of them’d stuck together like people who couldn’t wait to show off how close they’d become.

However, that didn’t happen, which was surprising. Cha Dogyeong took a spot as far from Sejun as possible without hesitation. It was as if he wanted to stand at Seo Sejun’s opposite pole.

The atmosphere felt strange, but every S-rank hunter except Jeong Siwoo was already here. Perhaps it was because the egg was nearby, but they looked a bit uncomfortable from a strange ache, almost like electricity was flowing over their skin. They naturally looked toward Ryu Sehyun. Cha Dogyeong usually stepped forward first, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of doing so today. The temporary leader’s role naturally passed to Ryu Sehyun.

“Sehyun-oppa, where’s Siwoo?”

Someone asked for the only person missing, and Ryu Sehyun spoke up.

“Siwoo’s currently unleashing his abilities upon the entire city with other mental-type hunters. He can’t come here.”

Jeong Siwoo was a hunter who was stronger against ‘swarms’ than single bosses. He excelled at fighting monsters, but he was also great at controlling people to evacuate them to safety. He could control and move confused people who couldn’t use nearby shelters because of the dangerous egg or overflowing dungeons. In many ways, Jeong Siwoo belonged at the control tower rather than here.

Sejun, who had been looking around, saw Cha Dogyeong. The man had isolated himself and stubbornly refused to look toward Sejun or speak a word to anyone else. He kept his eyes closed and remained silent. It looked as if he didn’t want to see anything.

Had he lost weight? It’d only been about fifteen days since they last met, but Cha Dogyeong’s flesh seemed to have lost some weight.

His broad shoulders still looked reliable, but his jawline was sharper than usual, which made him look more sensitive.

Sejun almost let his mind wander, but he forced himself to calm down. Now was not the time to worry about trivial matters.

Because it will all be over soon.

Although it was blackened, as if it had been poisoned or rotted, the egg was beating as if it were alive.

He had an ominous feeling that something’d be born at any moment.

“Let’s break the egg first,” Sejun suggested while he stared at it. Everyone’s eyes turned to him. Sejun smiled brightly and acted casual. “Once the egg breaks, I think everyone should handle one arm each. If Choi Hangyeol supports Choi Yerin, I think we can each destroy one.”

Asura was a monster with six arms and three heads. Each of the six arms attacked as if they had their own consciousness, so the main strategy was to reduce the number of arms first. At least, that’s how it was in the past’s Final Dungeon. They’d safely use multiple people to cut off one arm if the opponent was someone they could handle slowly, but the location wasn’t great for such leisure, and they weren’t inside a dungeon.

Furthermore, Asura’s lower body was stuck in the ground at first. The monster will spend all its remaining strength to pull its lower body out if the opponent doesn’t attack. He’ll become free from the ground if they don’t keep up the attacks. It’d be a disaster upon disasters if that thing became completely free.

“Will the same thing as last time come out when the egg breaks?” Lee Dohun asked.

Sejun responded with a smile because he was sure of this one thing.

“No.” Sejun shook his head. “It’s gotten stronger.”

He sounded so certain. The way he spoke about breaking the egg or knowing exactly who the enemy was felt a bit strange, but nobody questioned Sejun.

“Sehyun-hyung, is that right?” They only asked Ryu Sehyun for confirmation.

Ryu Sehyun nodded.

“It’s similar to the Final Dungeon we cleared, just as I said before. It’s unique that it appeared outside the dungeon, but there’s a high probability the boss is the same.”

The analysis team wasn’t certain, but… he sighed as he added those words.

Memories of the Final Dungeon, where he’d nearly died several times, came flooding back. According to Sejun, it was even more difficult.

“It’d be better if Cha Dogyeong or I stay in the front since we can respond flexibly in any way, while the rest aim for different arms from the sides.”

Cha Dogyeong turned around, his eyes twitching as Sejun mentioned him in a calm voice.

“Cha Dogyeong and I are the only ones here who are completely long-range.”

He turned his head away again, perhaps because he had no rebuttal or maybe because he didn’t care. Even Ryu Sehyun and Choi Yerin were closer to mid-range fighters who could perform long-range attacks. Their damage dropped as they got further away.

“We’ll cut the arms first, then aim for the face.”

Sejun looked around at the people as he spoke. He looked like he’d listen if there were any opposing opinions. There was no need to ignore a strategy they already knew from experience. Everyone nodded. They just were confused because it was surprising that Sejun, and nobody else, had suggested the strategy first. Seo Sejun usually stayed quiet and didn’t share his opinion during dungeon raids.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry that I won’t do my part.”

Hadn’t he worked hard recently for this? He’d wanted to increase his right to speak.

Although the image of Seo Sejun as incompetent had been entrenched, his recent strong performance has overshadowed that image, so no one could ignore his words now.

He’d worried there’d be strong resistance, but they seemed fine with Sejun’s briefing on the situation, even if they felt it was unfamiliar.

“Cha Dogyeong will take care of the rest.”

Sejun stepped back then. It wasn’t Sejun’s job to lead the situation. It was the role of people like Cha Dogyeong or Ryu Sehyun. However, it seemed the last comment wasn’t really necessary. They just shrugged and accepted it.

“Are you really Sejun? You look strange today.”

Na Yookyung said first. She tapped Sejun’s shoulder and then flew off. She probably didn’t think much of it since she wasn’t that close to Sejun, but her words hit the core of the current situation.

Lee Dohun also flew off after Na Yookyung, and then the twins moved.

“Contact me immediately if anyone gets injured!”

Choi Yerin disappeared while she tapped the artifact hanging by her ear. Choi Hangyeol didn’t look back at Sejun until the end. Only Ryu Sehyun remained.

“Sehyun-hyung.”

Sejun caught Ryu Sehyun before he could move. Black eyes, which Sejun always thought were hard to read, looked at him. When Sejun saw that face, he couldn’t bring himself to say the words he’d wanted to say to Ryu Sehyun many times.

Don’t go to the front, stay out as much as possible… he’d thought of many things, but what finally came out of Sejun’s mouth was different.

“Be careful.”

It was sudden, but it wasn’t a strange thing to say. Ryu Sehyun smiled and stroked Sejun’s head.

“Yeah. You too, be careful.”

With those words, he too flew away. Only Sejun and Cha Dogyeong, who had decided to stand in front, remained.

Sejun went and stood by Cha Dogyeong’s side. The latter didn’t say anything even though he was alone with Sejun. Sejun was honestly a bit impressed.

Wow, he’s not saying a word. If it were me, I’d shout at him, ask what I’m curious about, or push him since we’re alone.

As he stared at him with those thoughts in mind, Sejun realized that what he felt earlier wasn’t an illusion.

It didn’t feel like much time had passed, but Cha Dogyeong’d become a bit haggard.

It wasn’t the kind of feeling where grandmothers look at their chubby grandsons and say they’ve grown thin; he’d actually lost weight in just a few days.

His broad shoulders, which always felt dependable, were the same, but his jawline’s sharper than usual, so his impression looked more sensitive.

It was a shame.

Sejun also kept his mouth shut since he was the culprit and had no intention of talking to Cha Dogyeong. He looked around the quiet surroundings. He’d been to Seongnam a few times. The city’s always crowded, but it’s silent now as if those many people had never traveled through here. The area around the two of them’s especially quiet.

-Ah, can you all hear me?

After so much quiet time, the long-awaited call finally arrived.

Everyone in the vicinity of the egg has been evacuated, and all monsters around the egg have been subdued.

Then, Cha Dogyeong opened his eyes as if someone’d flipped a switch.

“Let’s start.”