STM 86

I hurried toward Tairok, grabbed his shoulders, and laid him down.

“Shit, if you die like this what’s Earth supposed to do… ah, you’re alive.”

He looked like a corpse that anyone would’ve thought had died from massive blood loss, but he was still alive. Thank god… I was immediately relieved, but the danger wasn’t over.

‘Kkirithik!’

The monster’s roar echoed. My body hair stood up because I’d forgotten the enemy. Where on earth was that monster brat…

I staggered up and looked around, but I couldn’t see the monster. But I could hear it.

‘Mo, did you find the monster?’

[No. I don’t see the monster. But I see strange movement on the lake bed at the four o’clock direction.]

The lake bed? I turned my head and soon understood what Mo meant.

The ground that had been covered in dried blood cracked and lifted. It looked like something under it would break through any moment.

A shiver ran down my spine. My instincts told me.

There’s a monster under there.

I remembered Dorgo’s words.

‘The Borhumi land will become the beginning of glory where the divine monster will descend.’

“Glory my ass.”

I cursed and stepped forward on trembling legs. “I can’t let the monster come out now.”

With Tairok, the useless hope, and the chatty Haas both down, it was no different from serving them as a packed lunch for the monster.

I grabbed Tairok’s arm and pulled with all my strength.

Ha, ha, I need to move him no matter what.

Sweat started to form on my forehead. It was pointless if the monster came out, but I still wanted to hide him even a little.

After barely moving Tairok, when I tried to move Haas next, Mo sent me a warning.

[Fatigue is accumulating and your stamina is depleted, so your physical activity may stop.]

I ignored that and dragged Haas behind the rock while panting. My arms and legs shook, and I almost dropped him several times.

Maybe that’s why Haas opened his eyes for a moment.

“Uuugh… what’re you… doing…”

“Haa, haa, I’m hiding you.”

“Wha…?”

“Sleep. The rescue team will come. You just need to hold on until then.”

The words I’d told my teammates hundreds of times flowed out of my mouth automatically. In my world, they always seemed like lies, but it must be different here.

No, it doesn’t matter if it’s different. I can handle it. Atter hiding him, I was so exhausted I couldn’t even stand up straight, but I forced myself to take a step forward.

But circumstances weren’t entirely in my favor. The trembling ground shook violently, emitting the roar of a monster.

Crack.

With a cracking sound, something pierced the ground and shot up like an awl. It was th e leg ot a monster.

“Haha.”

It was such a desperate and horrible situation, but I just laughed.

[Due to a decline in bodily functions, it is difficult to move any longer.]

It’s difficult, but not impossible. My pride wouldn’t allow me to just stand by and watch the monster emerge. Despite Mo’s warning, I grabbed my club and gave an order.

‘Mo, combat mode.’

My head heated up as Mo started scanning the surrounding terrain to use it.

“Where is this little monster crawling out of?”

I dragged my feet as I talked. The gap wasn’t wide yet, so I figured I could hold off the monster for a while if I just dealt with its legs. But I couldn’t even get to where the monster’s legs were.

Grrr…

The ground rumbled again.

[Danger! The source of the sound has been confirmed to be on the nearby ground surface.]

Right when Mo gave the alert, my legs moved back on their own. Because of combat mode, Mo took control of my body in the emergency.

Thanks to that, I didn’t get pierced by the monster’s leg emerging from of the ground.

But that didn’t mean I was fine. My side got ripped open instead.

“Uugh…”

I staggered back and adjusted my grip on the club.

Ha, ha, I need to stop it. I need to stop it here.

Maybe my body had reached its limit. I felt like this wasn’t Tubain but my own world. The resolution I’d repeated thousands of times in battles flashed through my mind.

I’m the team leader, I’m the last defense.

And when I tried to go toward the monster’s writhing leg, someone grabbed my arm and stopped me. She was a woman in her late fifties whom I’d never seen before.

“It’s dangerous, Adeye Lu.”

“Ha, ha, who’re you?”

Where did she even come from? And this place… ah, Tubain. I blinked as I realized where I was. Then I heard two words.

“Black bear.”

There’s a bear?!

“No, no! Ugh, the monster is about to come out… the bear is in danger.”

I panicked and looked around again, but I couldn’t focus. I strained my eyes and looked again, trying to find the bear.

Maybe because of that effort, I thought I vaguely saw something like a bear. It was probably a hallucination, but my mind wasn’t working right.

“The, the bear, we need to move it quickly…”

I turned toward her in confusion, and she lowered her guard a little when she saw me.

“You’re worrying about animals in this situation.”

Of course I am.

“They’re precious.”

Right after I said that, a sudden surge of pain struck me. Because of that, I wasn’t sure what I answered next. My attention got pulled to her eyes. Her gaze felt unbelievably warm.

“But, ugh, who’re you…”

“Black bear.”

…Was she a spirit? I started to suspect that because she made no sense, then I staggered. My head spun. She pushed my shoulder and made me sit on the ground as she gave me an order.

“I’ll handle it so rest.”

“What? The monster? No, you need to run. The monster is about to come out…”

My head rang again and I started feeling dizzy. I didn’t even realize she laid me on the ground and I just mumbled that it was dangerous, then I barely opened my eyes again.

She look down at me once and turn away. I saw her small back as she walked toward where the monster was breaking out before losing consciousness.

But she didn’t look weak at all. She held a long sword in her hand.

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How many times have I fainted? That was the first stupid thought that came to me when I woke up. But at least in Tubain, when I passed out, there were people who took care of things behind me.

How undeserved was that? In my world, no matter how many times I passed out and woke up, most things stayed the same.

Whether it was that narrow underground corner where I hid, or the soil I dug into to survive, or the dusty pit in the ruins of an abandoned building.

When I got hurt I woke up hurt. When I starved I woke up starved. It felt like I had a pleasant dream and then returned to the world of nightmares.

Here, when I opened my eyes there were no nightmares. But I didn’t feel happy or relieved. I only felt like I needed to go back to the nightmare.

Because I had to fight there until the end. The guilt of not being able to do so suffocated me.

“Oh? You’re awake!”

I blinked as I heard someone shouting. A moment later, my eyes met with the one loo king down at me. Gray eyes filled with worry and concern.

A moment later, I heard a clear voice. It was Doctor Kim whom I knew well.

“You look sad that you’re not home.”

For a moment it felt like she saw right through me, so I turned my eyes away for a second.

“This is home.”

It really was Lu’s room. When did I even get here? I tried to sit up, but a small pale hand stroked my head. Doctor Kim’s touch was so gentle that my whole body tensed.

I wanted to avoid it, but I barely held back. Fortunately her hand left quickly. Part of that was because I started coughing.

“Cough, cough.”

Now that I thought about it, my throat hurt and my body felt hot like I had a fever. Ah, my side ripped open. The fever seemed to be from infection, and since I was weakened maybe I had other problems too.

“Matriarch, the illness might spread to you. Please step back.”

A healer far away spoke in a flustered voice. But Doctor Kim didn’t move away from me. So after I barely stopped coughing, I spoke instead.

“I’ll get better even if I get sick, but if you get sick you’ll be on the express train to the afterlife.”

“I’m already on the train. It’s slow so it just takes more time.”

Why would you answer a joke like that, it hurts my feelings.

“That train went on strike. So get off.”

I grumbled weakly and asked.

“What happened?”

“It all worked out.”

Then she pulled my blanket up to my neck and called the healer standing behind her.

“Make him sleep more.”

“No, wait. What do you mean it worked out? Cough, cough, the monster was about to come out from the lake bed. If a monster rift formed it’s a problem. Now there’s less justification to close the Eye of Hell… wait, what’re you feeding me… mmph!”

She poured a liquid with a bitter herbal smell into my mouth. They held me from both sides like they were feeding poison, and the moment I swallowed the medicine my whole body went weak.

My eyes stayed on Doctor Kim until the end, but I was quickly overcome by drowsiness and couldn’t argue with her anymore.

“It’s alright. I’ll take care of everything.”