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“Hiiik!”“Danger!”
The Association employee grabbed the two of them and threw himself backward.The giant’s foot slammed down where Ro-un and Joo Hee-jun had been standing just a moment before.
Kwaaang!
“Huaaah…!”“Be quiet.”“It’s coming again.”
Having narrowly avoided it, Ro-un turned his head at the employee’s words and saw the giant gathering strength into its fist.If that fist landed, they would be pulverized.Ro-un and Joo Hee-jun’s expressions darkened.
“Aaaah!”“Please keep quiet.”
Boom! Boom! Kooong!
Seeing the employee, who contrary to his appearance nimbly avoided the attacks while carrying Ro-un and Joo Hee-jun over his shoulders, the statue twitched its cheek as if displeased.
[The way you scurry about is exactly like a rat!]
At the giant’s words, the employee reacted for the first time.
“A rat, of all things. That is unpleasant to hear.”“That’s what you’re worried about right noooow?!”“…Be quiet.”
Ro-un glanced at Joo Hee-jun and frowned.The world spinning around like this felt strangely familiar.
‘Ah. This is what it felt like when I was swallowed up in the Big Wave. Urk.’
Even the feeling of almost throwing up was exactly the same.Ro-un raised a hand with difficulty and covered his mouth.
“Youuuuu! Are you all riiiight—ugh!”“Lee Ro-un, please endure it just a little longer.”“Yeees.”
His life was on the line. He had to endure a little motion sickness.Through his upside-down view, Ro-un searched for Cheon Su-ho.Where the flames forming the ring had vanished, Cheon Su-ho reset his dislocated shoulder.
Crack!
The sound alone was enough to make anyone grimace, but Cheon Su-ho paid it no mind and kept his eyes on the examiner, now returned to its giant form.
‘That look in his eyes. He still plans to keep going.’
After gauging Cheon Su-ho’s condition, Ro-un tapped the employee on the shoulder.
“Take me to Cheon Su-ho.”“It seems you have something in mind.”“Hey! Are you actually insaneaaagh!”
Joo Hee-jun, already horrified by what he heard, flapped like a paper doll as the employee changed direction sharply once again.Ro-un gripped the employee’s shoulder tightly and said,
“I’ll restore Cheon Su-ho.”“Understood. Hold on tight.”“Hkyaaaah!”
When the employee planted his foot against the wall and changed direction, the giant gave chase in fury.How could something that huge be that fast?Ro-un shot the marble giant an irritated look, then called out to Joo Hee-jun.
“Hey!”“Huaaah!”“Hey! Joo Hee-jun! Get it together and hit that thing with something!”“N-no way. How am I supposed to cast anything while shaking around like this!”“You don’t need to stabilize it! That thing’s huge! Just fire it off!”
At Ro-un’s words, Joo Hee-jun suddenly snapped awake and looked up at the statue.As Ro-un said, it was large enough that if he only focused on firing the skill without worrying about stabilizing it, he could still hit it.Joo Hee-jun shut the mouth that had been screaming a moment ago and started rotating his mana.
“[Fireball]!”
Fwoooosh!
A fireball far larger than what someone of his rank should have been able to produce floated before him.But perhaps because of the influence of his “unstable” trait, the fireball spat sparks and wavered as though it might explode at any second.Joo Hee-jun swallowed hard and stared at the fireball.
“Throw it!”
Joo Hee-jun, who had been about to stabilize the spell out of habit, heard Ro-un’s shout and fired the fireball as it was.The instant he fired it, the employee sharply changed direction and put distance between them.
Booooom!
A wave of hot wind squeezed the breath from their lungs.Their cheeks flushed from the heat spreading as the fireball exploded.At the same time, just as Ro-un had instructed, the Association employee ran to Cheon Su-ho.
“Cheon Su-ho!”“Lee Ro-un.”“Stay still!”
Sliding down from the employee’s shoulder, Ro-un immediately used [Healing].Looking at Ro-un, who still bore the traces of blood at the corner of his mouth, Cheon Su-ho spoke with a subdued face.
“I’m sorry, Lee Ro-un. You trusted me and let me go, but I failed to accomplish anything.”“Raids fail sometimes. But this one isn’t over yet.”
Before that Calamity that came in winter, even if you failed, you were still given another chance to try again.So there was no need to collapse just because of one failure.And it was still too early to call this a failure in the first place.Ro-un stated the facts calmly.
“According to the old tome I have, there’s nothing in this passage except that giant. Which means this place can’t be cleared without you, Cheon Su-ho. So get up again.”“…Understood!”
Cheon Su-ho, who had been feeling guilty toward Lee Ro-un for getting him dragged into this by force, quickly regained his resolve at Ro-un’s words.Thanks to Ro-un’s healing, the wounds on Cheon Su-ho’s body vanished as though washed away.
“So this is your power.”
As Cheon Su-ho looked up at Ro-un in admiration, having now experienced for himself the power everyone praised as that of the next Saint, his eyes suddenly widened.
“Danger!”“Student Lee Ro-un!”“Lee Ro-un!”
At the sound of them calling his name, Ro-un turned his head.
‘Ah.’
His black eyes filled with the shadow falling over him.The white giant’s fist dropped down above Ro-un’s head.
Kuuuuung!
An immense shockwave engulfed Ro-un.Ro-un crouched and staggered under the shockwave, but soon realized that something was strange and lifted his head.
‘It doesn’t hurt?’
And when he looked up, he saw the reason.Someone’s back stood before him.Someone in a school uniform turned gray with dust was blocking the giant’s fist with both hands.At the sight, like Atlas of myth carrying the sky itself, Ro-un called out someone’s name with his mouth hanging open.
“Cheon Su-ho…?”
How are you doing that?As Ro-un’s eyes widened at the incomprehensible sight, he saw Cheon Su-ho’s face flushed red to the point of bursting, and the veins bulging across his muscles.
“He’s insane! He’s taking that on barehanded!”“Indeed. That is absurd.”
The employee’s eyes, buried under thick flesh, opened wide.When he deliberately gave the giant an opening while intercepting it, the giant had immediately gone after Lee Ro-un.And Cheon Su-ho had stepped in to stop the giant targeting Ro-un.…With a body that did not possess even a single spark of mana.
‘How is that possible? Is this why His Majesty told me to wait and watch?’
Recalling the king’s voice he had heard before the giant struck, the tiger disguised as an employee clenched and unclenched his fist.Meanwhile, the giant looked at Cheon Su-ho, who was enduring its fist with such a pitiful body, as though he were ridiculous.
[I will crush you as you are!]
Drrrrrk!
As the giant seemed to put more force into its fist, Cheon Su-ho’s body was gradually pushed lower and lower.His body had sunk halfway down, to nearly the same height as Lee Ro-un, who was sitting on the ground.
“Cheon Su-ho!”“Aaaahhh!”
Ro-un used [Protection] and [Healing] at the same time.Using two skills at once like he had with Princess In-woo made his head spin for a moment, but Ro-un endured it with the mental strength of a regressor.
“Eat this and back off!”
Puh-uh-ung!
The [Fireball] cast by Joo Hee-jun slammed into the giant’s back.In the moment the giant flinched, the Association employee’s straight punch drove into the forearm pressing down on Cheon Su-ho.
Paaang!
[You rat-like vermin!]“I believe I said that term was unpleasant to hear.”
Hup!Drawing in a deep breath, the employee drove another straight punch forward.At the second blow striking the exact same spot, cracks spread across the giant’s forearm.
“That was awesome, old timer!”“I am not an old timer.”
While Joo Hee-jun and the employee held the giant back, Ro-un hurried to heal Cheon Su-ho.He wanted to drag Cheon Su-ho away, but with Ro-un’s strength, moving this idiot was impossible.
‘No. If this keeps up, Cheon Su-ho will be eroded by the otherworld’s energy.’
Watching [Protection] shatter and vanish again and again under the giant’s fist, Ro-un shouted.
“Cheon Su-ho! You need to move!”“Aaaahhh!”
At Ro-un’s shout that he had to move, Cheon Su-ho strained harder.That idiot…! Is he seriously trying to lift the fist?Is he trying to contest strength with an S-rank boss?Ro-un looked at Cheon Su-ho’s actions as though they were sheer stupidity.
“Cheon Su-ho! You need to run away. Now!”“I may run once.”
Sweat dripping down in thick drops, Cheon Su-ho spoke one word at a time.
“But not… twice.”“What are you talking about? Are you saying you’d die here?”“Because I am a Hero!”“!!”
Ro-un faltered at Cheon Su-ho’s shout.
“A Hero does not retreat while leaving someone behind him!”
Ro-un remembered the Cheon Su-ho from before the regression, the one who had saved people from the otherworld residents that poured out after a passage collapse.
“No matter what happens! Even if this body breaks apart!”
It was as though he could clearly see before his eyes the body of Cheon Su-ho, who had stood in the way of the A-rank boss that emerged from the collapse and held it off until rescue arrived, only to die there.
“As long as someone stands behind me, I will never! Never! run away!”
The image of the civilians Cheon Su-ho had saved weeping through interviews spread before him like a vision.The title the news anchor had used for him, as he died saving civilians to the very end before the overflowing Calamity, rang in his ears.
At the title he had only been granted after death before the regression, Ro-un slowly closed his eyes.
“…Idiot.”
Lee Ro-un closed his eyes, then opened them again.He saw the sweat-soaked back struggling to hold up against the giant’s fist.…It was a back he would not be able to see three years later.
‘If you had lived until the Big Wave came, would you have stood beside me then?’
It was an answer he could never hear even if he asked.There was no way someone with no mana, someone who could not even properly use skills, would have been able to stop the Big Wave.Even so,
“If it were an idiot like you, maybe you would’ve come anyway.”
Ro-un placed a hand on Cheon Su-ho’s back.Lee Ro-un used his fourth skill.Ro-un’s fourth skill after [Healing], [Purification], and [Protection].
【Blessing Lv.4】
The healer support skill that raised the target’s stats, recovery, mana recovery, and all other abilities for a set period of time was cast upon Cheon Su-ho.It was a top-grade buff cast by Lee Ro-un,
“Show me, Cheon Su-ho.”
That you truly are someone worthy of being a Hero.As though cheering him on, Ro-un gave Cheon Su-ho’s back a light push, and Cheon Su-ho, empowered by Blessing, shouted as vigor overflowed through him.
“Aaaahhh!”
Cheon Su-ho pushed the giant’s fist upward as though holding up a collapsing sky.
“That’s it!”
Forgetting even that he was supposed to be hiding, Baek Ho-yeon shouted out before quickly covering his mouth.His face was filled with unmistakable satisfaction.
‘Lee Ro-un! I knew you’d do it!’
Baek Ho-yeon watched Cheon Su-ho lift the white giant’s fist, his eyes shining with delight.It looked exactly like the heroic feats of the old ages being reenacted before him.The zero-mana oddity bearing the trait
‘Show me, Lee Ro-un. Show me the fate you mean to change!’
Show me clearly what you mean to change through that human!If you can change fate, then this Baek Ho-yeon too will stand at your side!Keeping himself hidden in the darkness, Baek Ho-yeon could not hide the smile rising at his lips as he watched the two of them.
“He’s insane. Actually insane! He’s really lifting that thing!”
Joo Hee-jun shouted as he jumped in place.His face, which had been full of anxiety, brightened faintly at Cheon Su-ho’s display.But Ro-un did not leave Joo Hee-jun alone.
“Joo Hee-jun! Hit it!”
At Ro-un’s urging, Joo Hee-jun realized this was no time to stand around in amazement and made use of his expensive items.
[Increased Mana Recovery][Reduced Cast Time][Increased Mana][Increased Attack Power]
His equipment, stacked with every imaginable option, supported Joo Hee-jun.
“Here it comes! [Fireball]!”
Pouring in more mana did not automatically make a skill stronger.But even at the same skill level, it could still unleash greater power.Joo Hee-jun’s fireball struck the giant’s back.
Puh-buh-bung!
At the barrage of attacks raining down without pause, the giant’s attention was briefly drawn to Joo Hee-jun.In that moment, the Association employee moved like the wind and targeted the giant’s forearm.
“Hup!”
Another straight punch struck the cracked spot.
Tuuung-!
The heavy impact rang out with a resonant tone.The cracks in the arm spread like a spiderweb.Because of those cracks, the giant’s fist lost strength and slid aside.And Cheon Su-ho did not waste that opening.
“Aaaahhh!”
While the giant’s fist struck empty ground, Cheon Su-ho ran up along the cracked forearm and lunged straight for its face.
[You rat-like vermin!]
Enraged, the giant slapped at its own forearm as though swatting a fly.The milky sphere seemed to stop the palm striking down at Cheon Su-ho for a brief moment, then burst apart.
“Cough.”
Ro-un, a thin line of blood running from the corner of his mouth, curled his lips upward.All the while, Joo Hee-jun kept summoning fireballs through the power of his items and targeting the giant’s back, while the Association employee kicked away the palm aimed at Cheon Su-ho.Cheon Su-ho, having climbed all the way to the giant’s shoulder, leaped high.
“Huaaaap!”
Cheon Su-ho, fist clenched, flew like a butterfly and shot like a bee toward the giant’s face.The eyes of the stiff-faced, enraged giant met Cheon Su-ho’s in midair.
Baaak!
Cheon Su-ho’s fist struck the giant’s cheek.
Baaak!
Joo Hee-jun, who had been firing [Fireball] after [Fireball] at the giant’s back without pause, only stopped casting when he saw Cheon Su-ho reach the giant’s face.Even knowing his attacks were not doing major damage to the giant, Joo Hee-jun had kept firing mindlessly so that the employee’s blows could land and Cheon Su-ho could endure the giant’s attacks. Only then did he seem to snap awake, as though from a dream.
“He… he hit it.”
He hit it. He really hit it. Cheon Su-ho actually hit it!Joo Hee-jun waved his arms around in delight.The Association employee, landing beside him without a sound, warned him in a low voice.
“Not yet.”“Huh?”“The giant has not fallen yet.”
At those words, Joo Hee-jun quickly created another [Fireball].Just as everyone braced themselves and prepared for the next strike, the giant’s body shrank like a balloon losing air.
“Did we get it?”
Ro-un glared at Joo Hee-jun.Why was that idiot saying something like that and jinxing it?Wiping his chin once again with his sleeve, after having done so who knew how many times today, Ro-un prepared to use [Protection] immediately and kept his eyes on the giant.
Step. Step.
The white statue, now reduced to roughly human size again like when it had driven Cheon Su-ho back inside the ring of fire, looked at him and then spoke.
[You have good companions.]
Unexpectedly, what came out of the statue’s mouth was praise.Cheon Su-ho looked into the white statue’s eyes, then relaxed his guard and answered respectfully.
“I have been fortunate. They are all good people.”[That too is a Hero’s quality. Talented and good people gather at a Hero’s side. I pay tribute to the will with which you refused to give up until the end.]
For the first time, the statue smiled.
[Excellent. You have proven the qualifications of a Hero.]
White light burst out from the statue’s body.The giant, now as if made of light itself, moved toward Cheon Su-ho.
“Uh, uh? Shouldn’t we stop that?”“Shut up and stay still.”“Okay.”
Joo Hee-jun anxiously panicked, but at Ro-un’s single remark, he hid behind the employee.In the meantime, Cheon Su-ho felt the light seep into him.The light settled directly into Cheon Su-ho’s heart.As if he could feel warmth there, Cheon Su-ho placed a hand on his chest, then clenched his fist tightly.Mana shining like gold wrapped around Cheon Su-ho’s sturdy fist.
“Wh-what! That!”
Unable to hold back, Joo Hee-jun pointed at Cheon Su-ho.Seeing the mana wrapped around Cheon Su-ho’s fist, Ro-un became certain.
Cheon Su-ho had overcome
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