Under Creature – Chapter 1.6

Author: nicotine

Every morning, I go out for a walk and exercise. Unlike before, I don’t get tired easily even after a long run, and I wake up feeling refreshed.

I haven’t tried lifting dumbbells yet, but I’m sure I can lift them with ease.

Dohyun got into his car, and Yigeom got into the back seat, not the passenger seat.

“Why aren’t you sitting next to me?”

“Why would I want to sit next to you? I’ll say it again, I’m more concerned about your ability usage than the creatures….”

“Put on your seatbelt. I’m leaving.”

“…….”

Yigeom had no idea what Dohyun was up to. However, in return for Yigeom coming to Latter, Dohyun refrained from using his ability indiscriminately and always gave him a heads-up before using it. That alone improved his quality of life.

Yigeom lowered his eyes and looked out the window.

“…Where are we?”

It was a secluded place with few houses. Dohyun naturally reached out and placed a dagger in Yigeom’s hand.

“We’re going to hunt creatures now.”

“……?”

“You and me. Together.”

Dohyun smiled prettily at him.

“You can do it, right?”

Filled with bewilderment, Yigeom asked,

“…Me? Do what?”

“You, me, creature, hunt.”

Dohyun spoke as if he was explaining to a child, omitting all unnecessary grammar to make it easier to understand, leaving Yigeom blinking in confusion.

“No… why me?”

“You’re curious, aren’t you? About being in this world that only I remember. Let’s try working together.”

Something black began to accumulate behind Dohyun as he curled his lips into a smile, and a creature materialized.

“…Behind, behind you!”

“I know.”

If you know, then turn around!

The creature, which resembled a deer, wasn’t made of flesh and skin, but solely of tightly formed bones.

Yigeom examined the dagger in his hand. Am I supposed to kill that with this? Will this even pierce bone?

“Did you read the creature encyclopedia?”

Dohyun asked.

“…I did.”

Yigeom had carefully read the encyclopedia that Sanghyuk had given him when he got home. However, no matter how hard he looked, the fish-like creature he had killed wasn’t in the encyclopedia. The deer-like creature in front of him was also absent from the book.

“The encyclopedia you saw is the beginner’s version, so it only lists creatures with a ‘Low’ rating.”

“…Then what is this one?”

“The fish-like creature, ‘Pire,’ that you caught last time is ‘Medium’ ranked, and this one is ‘Gamma,’ which is a ‘High’ rank.”

Yigeom’s face hardened.

So, he wants me, a newbie with a beginner’s encyclopedia, to hunt a High-ranked creature with him?

“Are you crazy?”

Yigeom quickly backed away.

“Don’t worry. Of course, you’ll get hurt a lot, but you’ll be healed after 5 minutes, and even if you die, you’ll come back to life.”

Yigeom’s pupils trembled at Dohyun’s nonchalant words.

“You’re saying it’ll still hurt.”

Dohyun tilted his head, finding Yigeom’s attitude strange.

“That’s odd. Why are you so scared? You’ve died several times already.”

“…Fuck.”

A quiet curse finally slipped out.

“You’ll get used to it. Maybe you need to die a few more times to get used to it.”

Yigeom tightened his grip on the dagger. Should I kill it, or not?

Just then, the antlers on the deer’s head were swung at them like an angry whip. Witnessing it from across the way, Yigeom’s eyes widened.

Thwack—.

Without even looking, Dohyun ducked to avoid the antlers flying towards the back of his head and looked at Yigeom, who had been thrown against the wall.

“You okay?”

Dust billowed everywhere, and Yigeom sat up, coughing. His fingertips trembled, and his heart pounded. Judging by the blood dripping onto the floor, he’d definitely injured his head.

A blow that would have killed an ordinary person.

“You won’t die from that. Get up. Do you want to get hit again?”

Dohyun urged him sharply, his eyes filled with disdain.

“…….”

Yigeom stood up shakily. Blood ran down his cheek. Sparks flew from his eyes as he glared at Dohyun.

Ignoring Yigeom’s glare, Dohyun dodged the creature’s attacks one after another and said,

“Come here quickly. I’ll teach you how to kill it.”

“…Why should I?”

“What?”

With that, Yigeom ran without looking back. What? Teach me how to kill creatures? Ridiculous. He can kill it himself. Wiping the flowing blood, he distanced himself from the scene.

A moment later.

“This is quite entertaining.”

A voice laced with laughter reached him. It felt like mockery.

“Did you think you could run away?”

Yigeom squeezed his eyes shut at the sight of the person before him. As long as Seo Dohyun had his ability, it was an undeniable fact that no matter how far he ran, he couldn’t escape a certain range.

Time reversed, and the injuries he sustained from the creature were completely healed.

He’d really messed up this time.

“If you keep your eyes closed like that, you’ll get hurt again.”

At the voice that pierced his ears, Yigeom instinctively crouched down. The creature’s antlers grazed past his head.

Dohyun’s eyes were narrowed in a smile.

“You dodged it this time.”

“…….”

The dagger he’d lost during the creature’s attack was back in Yigeom’s hand due to the time reversal.

He couldn’t run away. Even if he did, it would be undone.

He can only use his ability 10 times a day? Then what if he runs away 10 times? The next day would be the problem. That annoying Seo Dohyun would surely use his ability to torment Yigeom just like he had been doing.

The conclusion was that he had to fight back.

“…How do I do it?”

Seo Dohyun pointed at the creature, which had its antlers stuck in the wall and was struggling.

“See its heart there?”

Since the creature was made of bone, its insides were clearly visible. Yigeom easily spotted the red heart beating within the ribcage.

“It’s simple. Just stab it there. I’ll distract it, so you attack from behind.”

Yigeom bit his lip and nodded. At least it was a relief that Seo Dohyun would distract it.

Dohyun quickly ran forward and kicked the deer in the face. It was incredibly hard, being made of bone. His leg hurt more than the creature’s face.

Enraged, the deer pawed the ground, preparing to charge at Dohyun. Meanwhile, Yigeom, who had come from behind, reached his arm between the deer’s ribs.

“Ugh…!”

He was just about to reach the heart, but the bones shifted, trapping and squeezing his wrist. Crack, something broke.

“What are you doing?”

“My hand…!”

The deer lunged forward, dragging Yigeom along with it, his wrist still trapped. Dohyun easily dodged the charging deer and looked at Yigeom with an exasperated expression, as if asking why he couldn’t even manage that.

But Yigeom had no time to notice his gaze. His wrist throbbed with pain. The deer then used its momentum to fling Yigeom away. A dull pain shot through him.

And then, again.

“Why are we so out of sync? You can’t even stab a heart that’s right in front of you?”

Dohyun pushed down on Yigeom’s head to help him avoid the deer’s whip-like antlers and scolded him.

“Did you walk on two legs as a newborn?”

What!? A High rank for someone who just entered this world!? This was no different from showing someone the piano keys and then throwing Beethoven’s sheet music at them and telling them to play.

“Just keeping up is hard enough. What? Stab the heart? Fuck…. Were you good at everything from the beginning?”

This guy was worse than Kwon Sanghyuk.

They were both trash, but Seo Dohyun was a bit worse.

The deer lowered its head, fully exposing its antlers, and charged at Yigeom. Consumed by rage, Yigeom endured the pain and yelled at Dohyun.

“What the hell are you? What makes you so great? If you find me so annoying, then hunt alone. Do you think I’m hanging out with you because I want to? You psychopath. Do you like that the world revolves around your dick?”

Cough. Blood spurted from his mouth with every word. Trapped between the wall and the antlers, his organs were crushed.

Despite this, Yigeom didn’t stop his tirade against Dohyun. The pain would disappear anyway when time reversed.

Dohyun simply stared at him, listening to the harsh words.

‘He’s got some guts.’

That was his only assessment.

In a forgotten world, he wondered if having two people who remembered could work together and increase their fighting power. It seemed he needed to observe a bit longer, but in terms of guts, Yigeom passed.

He seems to hate pain, but when he gets angry, he loses all reason.

Anger could be detrimental to maintaining the cold and composed Yiseong, but conversely, it could also be the key to overcoming seemingly impossible odds or conquering fear.

A double-edged sword.

For now, it seemed to be working in a positive direction.

He reversed time once more.

Yigeom, his eyes haggard, lowered his body. It was almost automatic now. As the antlers passed over his head, he straightened up.

“Got the hang of it now?”

“Got the hang of what?”

Yigeom glared at Dohyun as if he wanted to kill him in response to the question.

“Let’s go again with the same strategy.”

“…….”

Dohyun once again drew the creature’s attention, and Yigeom headed behind it. He resolved to give Dohyun a piece of his mind after they caught the creature.

Seeing an opportunity, Yigeom threw the dagger like a dart between the deer’s ribs. The dagger, which would have been a perfect 10, was blocked by the contracting bones. The deer could freely contract and expand its bones. It was a fact he realized too late.

Dohyun was still distracting the creature, and Yigeom ran towards the deer to end this tedious repetition.

If it can move its bones freely, then he just had to stop it from doing so.

He grabbed between the bones with his hands and forcefully pulled them apart. The deer stumbled, its legs wobbling. A smile formed on Dohyun’s lips as he watched Yigeom.

Dohyun picked up the dagger that had fallen on the floor and threw it towards the gap Yigeom had created. The pulsating heart was right before their eyes. However, the deer staggered, and the dagger narrowly missed.

“…Can’t you even do that properly?”

Yigeom scoffed and rebuked Dohyun, as if seeking revenge for earlier. Then, he quickly reached his hand into the opened gap. He managed to reach the heart before the deer’s bones tightened and his arm broke.

Throb. He could feel the hot, beating heart in his hand. His fingertips trembled. He hesitated for a moment, then tightened his grip.

Squish. The heart burst, and blood splattered everywhere.

The deer, the creature, collapsed limply.

His momentarily held breath burst out raggedly.

“Well done.”

Dohyun’s calm praise reached him. Yigeom wiped his blood-soaked hand, red from the creature’s blood, on Dohyun’s clothes.

“Dirty.”

Both Seo Dohyun and the creature were dirty. Dreadful and disgusting.

🦅࿐

“Brother Kyeom! I heard you caught a Gamma!”

Yigeom roughly rummaged through the Latter office, ignoring Jewoo, who was following him, congratulating him.

“Brother, brother. You’re so cool. A newbie catching a ‘High’ rank.”

“…….”

“You said you were scared of creatures, but wow…! I’ll spread the word that you caught a Gamma. Ah, this is a congratulatory gift.”

Jewoo used his ability to make a beautiful flower bloom and handed it to Yigeom. The colorful bloom was an eyesore. Yigeom, who had been relentlessly searching the office, stared blankly at the flower. Then, he moved it out of his sight.

“Forget that, where’s the creature encyclopedia?”

“Huh? The creature encyclopedia?”

“The one I received from the Association staff was ‘Low’ ranked. You said there are ‘Medium’ and ‘High’ ones too. Let me read them.”

Jewoo blinked and informed him of the encyclopedia’s whereabouts.

“Master threw them away a while ago.”

“…What?”

Yigeom’s eyebrows slanted.

“Why?”

“…He said if he left it in the office, Brother Kyeom would read it.”

A vein throbbed in his forehead. Seriously. He felt like his personality was getting worse being around Dohyun.

“He said it’s better to learn by directly facing them than by reading.”

“Then why do we study history?”

We learn from past events so we don’t make the same mistakes. Humanity’s notebook of wrong answers.

Seo Dohyun meant, forget the notebook of wrong answers, make your own by making mistakes directly. Since mistakes and wrong answers are erased when time rewinds, is it better to experience them firsthand?

Since Dohyun and Doa hadn’t arrived at work yet, Yigeom suppressed a curse and decided to call Dohyun directly.

However, the call didn’t connect.

“Why did you call?”

Dohyun asked as he opened the office door and entered. As expected, Doa followed behind him.

“Hello, Brother Kyeom. Did you have lunch? I bought sandwiches, do you want some?”

“Is there one for me too!?”

Jewoo’s eyes sparkled as he approached Doa.

“Pick whatever you want.”

Leaving the children rummaging through the various sandwiches behind, Yigeom asked Dohyun,

“You threw away all the encyclopedias?”

“Ah, that?”

Frowning, he mimicked Dohyun sarcastically.

“What good is reading about it? Seeing is believing.”

Dohyun checked the time.

“There’s a CA incident tonight, so get some rest before then.”

He spoke as if it was a given that Yigeom would be going.

“I’m not going. Take Jewoo and Doa with you.”

“Again. You’re doing it again. Brother, you need to get used to hunting creatures now.”

Doa urged him like she was scolding a disobedient child.

“I’m not interested in this kind of thing in the first place, and I just…”

“Here.”

“……?”

Dohyun held out a white piece of paper. It was a check.

“It’s the earnings from the Gamma you caught last time.”

Back then, a transport truck had come to collect the creature’s body. They said they made weapons from the byproducts, so this must be the value assigned to those byproducts.

“The higher the creature’s rank, the higher the profit.”

Yigeom’s lips parted, and he silently took the check from Dohyun and put it in his wallet.

“Tell me your account number, and I’ll deposit it directly next time.”

“…….”

Dohyun’s approach was wise. He said that humans can only see what’s right in front of them. With the money in his hand, Yigeom’s mouth shut tight. He obediently took out a pen and paper and wrote down his account number.

“Brother Kyeom, then do you want to go with me today?”

Yigeom’s gaze shifted to Jewoo.

“If Brother Dohyun is too much for you, go hunting with me!”

“With you?”

“Yes!”

Yigeom weighed his options between Jewoo and Dohyun. Jewoo’s ability was to make flowers bloom, Dohyun’s was simulation. Even if he got hurt, it could be reversed.

It was obvious that Dohyun was better than Jewoo.

“…No, I think I’ll be fine.”

“Wow. Brother, you’re looking down on my ability, right? Right!?”

Jewoo, taking a large bite of his sandwich, yelled indignantly, spraying crumbs everywhere.

“…It’s not exactly like that.”

“It’s not exactly like that? Yes, it is! You’re looking down on me because my ability is just making pretty flowers bloom! Only pleasing to the eye! A peaceful flower arranging ability that’s completely useless in battle! You’re saying my ability is only good for flower viewing! That’s exactly what you’re saying!”

Jewoo rolled his eyes back. He looked like he was about to start foaming at the mouth. So, that’s how you usually think.

“I didn’t say it like that.”

Yigeom recoiled slightly from Jewoo, who seemed to have a hint of madness in his eyes.

“You should improve your skills before next month’s test. It wouldn’t be bad to get used to hunting creatures with my brother.”

Doa easily ignored Jewoo’s outburst.

“Can’t I just take the test half-heartedly?”

Couldn’t he just run away in the middle like the other applicants he’d seen before?

“What are you talking about! Brother has to ace the test and wipe the smiles off the faces of the other guilds! Especially Yeho! I won’t tolerate losing to the Yeho Guild.”

“Yeho?”

“Yes.”

Recalling Dohyun coming home riddled with holes a few days ago, Doa shuddered with anger. It was fortunate that they were able to hire a visiting healer and pay a hefty sum for treatment.

“That guild master almost killed my brother!”

Yigeom’s gaze shifted to Dohyun. You? That’s what his eyes seemed to ask. Dohyun just smiled, shrugging his shoulders.

“What kind of person is the Yeho Guild Master?”

“What kind of person? He’s just a son of a bitch. I heard Yeho’s newbies are also taking the Hunter test next month. Brother should crush them!”

“Wow… So I can see the Yeho Guild Master next month?”

“Hmm. He’ll be in the VIP room, so you won’t be able to see him… but if you’re lucky, maybe you’ll run into him? Why? Are you angry that Latter was attacked too? Good. Let’s show them what we’re made of then.”

Doa clenched her fists with determination. In contrast, Yigeom muttered cheerfully,

“No, that’s not it. I should prepare a gift.”

He only half-killed that guy? What a waste. Couldn’t he have killed him completely? Why only half… Tsk.

The sound of his tongue clicking echoed through the office. The corners of Dohyun’s eyes crinkled slightly.

“Shall we go roll around again today?”

🦅࿐

Evening, as the sun began to set.

“Why are there two incidents today?”

Yigeom, too exhausted to even stand, slumped to the floor, burying his face between his knees.

Perhaps angered by the earlier incident, Dohyun pushed Yigeom much harder than when they hunted the Gamma. It was bad then, too, but this time, he was practically thrown in alone. It was fortunate that they were only ‘Medium’ ranked; if they had been ‘High’ ranked, he would have died several times over.

Six times. That was the number of times the simulation had run while catching the creature just now.

During those six times, Yigeom learned firsthand that a person could be injured this much and still not die.

And now, in this state, he wanted to catch another one? His mind was frayed, and he felt like collapsing from exhaustion.

“The creature appearing this time is ‘Low’ ranked.”

Seo Dohyun said it as if it were welcome news, but Yigeom felt no excitement.

A few minutes passed.

A creature appeared in front of Yigeom, and

“Kyoo?”

“…….”

Unlike any creature Yigeom had encountered so far, this one was incredibly cute. Much cuter than the dogs, cats, and other animals often seen on YouTube.

It had large, doe-like, sparkling eyes, fluffy yellow fur like chick down, and even cute little green leaves sprouting from its head.

There wasn’t a single thing about it that wasn’t cute. Yigeom unconsciously relaxed the tension he’d been holding in his heart. Among the grotesque and ferocious creatures he’d been facing, this one looked up at him with moist eyes, as if on the verge of tears, and made a “Kyoo?” sound.

Seeing this creature, he could almost understand why Blood Hunters worshipped them. No, maybe it was more about cuteness than worship.

Just then, the creature flapped its small arms like wings and, with its big eyes squeezed shut, tried its best to soar into the sky. The sight was so touching and pitiful that Yigeom involuntarily extended his arm like a branch, offering the creature a place to rest. The creature immediately landed on his forearm, letting out a sigh of relief, “Phew—,” as if proud of itself for finally flying.

“Be careful. It’s still a creature, even if it looks like that.”

“It’s so cute…. Huh?”

Unable to take his eyes off the creature despite Dohyun’s warning, Yigeom suddenly felt a burning pain, like a burn, on his arm.

“Its entire body is made of poison.”

“…Ouch!”

Yigeom let out a short scream and frantically flailed his arm in the air. His actions were a stark contrast to when he had willingly offered his arm to the creature as a resting place. He swatted the creature away as if it were a fly.

And then, another wave of pain erupted. The now-irritated creature shot something from its mouth.

“Ugh!”

Yigeom, hit directly, clutched his burning face.

It felt like he had suffered a severe burn. It stung, it itched, and he felt like he was about to sneeze. His eyes, nose, mouth, skin—everywhere the poison entered his body made it difficult to breathe.

Yigeom desperately cried out, calling for Dohyun.

“Reset! Reset it!”

“Well. Don’t you think you should get used to that level of pain?”

Dohyun said with a smug smile, as if it wasn’t his problem. He might have been waiting for this.

“You won’t die, so just try to bear it.”

“I can’t bear it!”

The pain intensified, and Dohyun showed no intention of resetting. In desperation, Yigeom reached out and smeared the poison all over Dohyun. Despite this, Dohyun simply laughed it off without even a groan.

“This much pain is nothing.”

So he can endure it if someone else is in pain, even if he’s suffering himself?

But Yigeom couldn’t. He kicked Dohyun and writhed in agony, screaming for a reset. It felt like his skin was rotting.

Finally, the 5-minute alarm rang…

Time reversed, and the pain that had tormented Yigeom disappeared.

“Kyoo?”

“…….”

“…Kwek!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Yigeom kicked the creature as it tried to fly towards him. It was a truly ruthless kick.

🦅࿐

“Aren’t you being too hard on Brother Kyeom? He’s still a newbie who’s just starting out.”

Doa cautiously asked as they drove home with Dohyun. Dohyun responded in a calm, ambiguous tone.

“Well.”

Yigeom, who had started hunting creatures right away without knowing the proper process, would never know. Normally, when a newbie joins a guild, they start by collecting creature parts, not hunting.

This allows them to become familiar with creatures, learn their abilities and weaknesses firsthand, and train so that they can handle future battles without much difficulty. This process usually takes well over a year. During this time, they naturally undergo their second awakening, so attention is paid to their training.

On the other hand, Dohyun ignored all of these steps and was busy pushing Yigeom almost every day. In short, unlike other newbies, Yigeom was adapting to the world of creatures through a rather harsh route.

After stepping into the creature world, he was killed repeatedly by Dohyun, then met Kwon Sanghyuk and was suddenly tested without explanation, and after refusing that, he joined Latter. It was a unique path, in many ways.

Naturally, Doa was worried about Yigeom. Although she didn’t show it openly to avoid causing confusion, Yigeom was still a complete newbie who hadn’t even undergone his second awakening. This meant he had to fight using only his physical strength, without any special abilities. Of course, he had enhanced physical abilities due to his first awakening, but so did other Hunters. It was impossible not to worry.

However, Dohyun’s thoughts were a little different from Doa’s.

Simulation, a rather unique ability.

There were various and flashy abilities like fire, ice, darkness, telekinesis, reflection, and healing, but Dohyun had none of those.

He had to experience everything himself and find solutions.

And the same was true for Yigeom, who was within Dohyun’s ability range. Dohyun believed Yigeom was no different from himself.

Second awakening? That wasn’t necessary.

If he experienced the same world as Dohyun and didn’t forget it, Yigeom had the potential to grow as much as Dohyun. And if he gained abilities later? He couldn’t ask for more.

Therefore, Dohyun became curious and wanted to nurture Yigeom, who shared his world. So far, he had been following along smoothly.

Moreover, there was another reason besides pushing Yigeom for taking him on creature hunts.

When there’s an external enemy, internal bonds tend to strengthen. He tried to soften Yigeom’s attitude of disgust towards him by hunting creatures together, but it wasn’t as easy as he thought.

I hate you, you’re annoying, go away, you’re creepy, you murderer, I’m getting hives, go die, don’t touch me. He heard these harsh words every day, like a roll call. It seemed the animosity was more deeply rooted than he thought. Of course, Seo Dohyun wasn’t the type to be hurt by such things, but if Yigeom was going to stay at Latter, it would be good for him to change his attitude.

Dohyun hadn’t apologized for that day’s incident and hadn’t reflected on his own behavior towards Yigeom.

“Hmm, is it because of the test coming up soon? I think Brother Kyeom could easily handle it with his current skills.”

Yigeom hadn’t officially joined Latter yet. To become a Hunter and join a guild, one had to register with the Association, but Yigeom hadn’t completed his registration because he’d run away from the previous test.

In about a week.

The test would begin.

🦅࿐

“…Bro, Brother Kyeom!”

The next morning, Yigeom woke up to a voice calling him in his sleep and cleared his blurry vision. He had arrived at the office the earliest, and since no one else was there, he lay down on the bed for a moment, only to fall asleep.

“You’re here?”

“Yes.”

Yigeom looked around, noticing the absence of someone who would definitely be with Doa if she was here.

“My brother said he had something to do with Cha Jewoo, so he dropped me off here and went somewhere.”

“Oh, really?”

A glimmer of hope appeared on Yigeom’s face.

Does this mean he doesn’t have to catch creatures today? Under the guise of training Yoon Yigeom, it had become routine for Seo Dohyun to take him to other CA zones designated by the Association, not just Latter’s managed zones, to hunt creatures.

Thanks to this, he had been incredibly busy, and on top of that, with unwavering determination, he continued to attend school, resulting in a severe lack of sleep lately, to the point where his eyes were constantly tired.

So, could today pass by peacefully?

“So, let’s go catch creatures today, with me.”

“…….”

Peacefully, my ass.

“Why? Seo Dohyun isn’t here today, let’s rest.”

He pulled the blanket over his head, expressing his unwillingness to go out with his entire being.

“Today’s CA is in Latter’s managed zone, so we have to go, even if we don’t want to.”

If it were the Association’s CA zone, other guilds or Hunters affiliated with the Association would handle it, even if Latter didn’t. However, since it was Latter’s designated management zone, Latter had to deal with it unconditionally.

Other guilds would divide the CA zones amongst themselves and build camaraderie, but that was impossible for Latter.

“So, why is it impossible?”

Yigeom asked in an annoyed tone after hearing Doa’s explanation.

“Latter doesn’t have any guilds to socialize with.”

“Then make some.”

“If we could, we would have done it already!”

Doa sighed and pulled Yigeom’s arms, lifting his upper body.

“Why can’t you? Is socializing that hard? Exchange a few compliments, offer some bribes, isn’t that socializing?”

“…What kind of socializing is that? Anyway, get out of my bed! It’ll be tight even if we take a taxi now.”

Doa threw Yigeom the outerwear he had taken off when he arrived at the office, urging him to put it on. Yigeom grumbled as he put his arms through the sleeves.

“What’s the creature’s rank?”

“‘Medium.’”

The Association’s CA Management Headquarters sends a list of CAs for each zone to the guilds. Doa had checked it and told him the approximate rank.

“Checking this is Brother Kyeom’s job now.”

“My job?”

“Yes. Originally, the Vice Master does this. Since you haven’t had your second awakening yet, Jewoo and I are in charge for now.”

“…Do you want to be the Vice Master?”

It was a useless title now; he wanted to throw it away if he could. And it seemed others felt the same way.

“I’m busy with my studies. Wasn’t there someone somewhere who said students should focus on their studies?”

Doa muttered, looking at Yigeom with a smug face.

…Hoist by my own petard.

Yigeom, having buttoned his coat, stood up and asked,

“Are you strong?”

He had always gone hunting with Seo Dohyun; he had never hunted with Jewoo or Doa. Jewoo had the visually pleasing ability to make flowers bloom, and Doa? He had no information.

“I can handle a ‘Medium’ rank by myself.”

“Good. Then I can stay back, right?”

“…Huh?”

“You said you can handle it alone. I’ll cheer you on from behind.”

Doa spoke urgently,

“Wait… Wait a minute. You’re going to leave the creature to a young student and play around? Just watch from behind?”

“That’s a harsh way to put it. I said I’ll cheer you on. I’ll do my best.”

“It’s the same thing!”

Yigeom tilted his head, not understanding why Doa was angry.

“What’s the problem? You can handle a Medium rank alone, and I’ll cheer you on from behind.”

“That’s exactly the problem! If we go together, we should work together to hunt!”

Yigeom frowned.

“Isn’t that a waste of manpower?”

He hunted creatures with Seo Dohyun for training or educational purposes. Moreover, when time reversed, any injuries sustained from the creatures disappeared.

But Doa was different. He didn’t know what her ability was, but if she got hurt, that was it. There was no going back.

The difference made Yigeom uncomfortable. He had gotten used to fighting alongside Seo Dohyun without even realizing it.

“A waste of manpower? You joined Latter, are you only going to hunt with my brother for the rest of your life? You have to go with me and Jewoo too!”

“…I don’t want to go with Jewoo.”

Isn’t he going to make flowers bloom in front of the creature? The creature would be so surprised it would blink in confusion. Yigeom grumbled as he got into the waiting taxi. A smile spread across Doa’s face.

“Well, his ability is a bit ridiculous. But sometimes it’s helpful.”

What does “sometimes” mean?

He couldn’t bring himself to ask before they reached their destination.

“What kind of creature is it this time?”

“Well, we’ll have to see when we get there.”

The Association’s CA detector could tell them the rank, but not the exact species. They had to constantly study the creature encyclopedia, divided into High, Medium, and Low ranks, to learn their weaknesses and habits. Yigeom only had the ‘Low’ rank encyclopedia that Kwon Sanghyuk gave him, and since Dohyun had thrown away the Medium and High ones, even that was impossible.

Yigeom stealthily moved behind Doa, using her as a shield.

“You’re older than me, aren’t you being cowardly hiding behind me?”

“What does age have to do with it?”

In front of experience and skill, age didn’t matter. The stronger person was the older brother, older sister, or senior.

Finally, the creature revealed itself.

Yigeom’s brows furrowed involuntarily.

A mantis.

It was a creature that looked exactly like a praying mantis. Or rather… wasn’t it just a giant praying mantis?

Yigeom, who had a near-phobic dislike of insects, reptiles, and bugs, wasn’t pleased with the sight in front of him.

Doa stood before the creature and sliced her forearm with a knife.

“What are you doing!?”

Startled by her sudden self-harm, Yigeom quickly pressed on her bleeding forearm to stop the flow. Doa said calmly,