Under Creature – Chapter 2.4

Author: nicotine

“Oppa!”

“Hyung!”

Doa and Jewoo, who heard the news late after school, burst through the Latter office door, shouting. Dohyun quietly put his index finger to his lips from across the sofa.

Seo Doa glanced at Yigeom, who was fast asleep on the bed, then with a worried look, strode over to the sofa and scanned Dohyun’s face.

“I heard a creature appeared at the Association! Are you guys okay? Any injuries?”

“We’re fine.”

“Hyung, are you alright? Since when has Gyeom hyung been sleeping? No, is he unconscious? If we hadn’t been at school, we could have gone to the Association together, and fought together too!”

“Gyeom is sleeping, so let’s be quiet.”

Dohyun closed and put away the book he was reading due to the noisy atmosphere.

Just then, Yigeom, roused by the commotion, sat up, pulling the blanket over himself. He mumbled in a sleepy voice,

“Noisy….”

“Gyeom hyung! Are you okay? Any injuries? Are you alright?”

“I’ve been treated. Close the door properly when you come in.”

Because they had burst in, the glass door, which had been blocking the cool air, was wide open. Doa quickly closed the door as instructed by Yigeom, then sat on the edge of the bed and squeezed Yigeom’s cheeks.

“Euu…?”

His lips, pushed out by her grip, made a strange sound. Doa, unfazed, carefully examined Yigeom’s face from left, right, top, and bottom.

“Oh my. Our handsome oppa’s face has become all thin!”

“No… it’s not thaaat bad….”

Her reaction was completely different from when she checked on her own brother, Seo Dohyun. Flustered, Yigeom tried to explain, but her grip was so strong that his words were muffled.

“Look at this! What’s this scratch on your neck! Did the Association not treat you properly? Should I go and give them a piece of my mind?”

“Where? A scratch? I didn’t see it.”

At Doa’s words, Seo Dohyun jumped up and approached Yigeom. It wasn’t a major wound, the kind that would heal naturally if left alone, but his brow furrowed. When did that happen?

“No wonder it stung when I showered.”

Yigeom, finally freed from Doa’s strong grip, rubbed his scratched neck and averted his gaze. Then he spotted Jewoo, who was about to make himself some hot cocoa.

“Jewoo, make me some too.”

He said, then burrowed back under the covers, resting his head on the pillow.

“Oppa, that’s my pillow. And my blanket too.”

“…I’m sick.”

Yigeom nuzzled his face into the pillow and looked up at Doa with wide eyes. Her face was a mixture of surprise and amusement.

“Wow, you said you were fine earlier. A grown man acting cute.”

Doa’s hands unconsciously pulled the blanket higher, tucking Yigeom in more snugly. Another exclamation escaped her lips. Just as Yigeom narrowed his eyes and yawned shallowly to fight off the returning drowsiness, she said,

“Oh. You look like a newborn kitten. Oppa, your face is really something.”

…I appreciate the honorifics, but isn’t her wording a bit strange? She could just drop the formalities at this point. Yigeom pulled the blanket over his head to ignore Doa.

“Do you know how surprised we were when we heard the news at school?”

Along with Doa’s worried voice, Yigeom felt the cushion at the end of the bed dip, and Jewoo’s voice followed.

“Hyung, here you go. Seriously. We were so shocked. I should just drop out of this damn school.”

Why is the conversation going in that direction? In the end, Yigeom sat up after only a few minutes and flicked Jewoo lightly on the forehead as if scolding him. Then he leisurely accepted the hot cocoa and drank it.

Soon, Jewoo squeezed onto the bed, and Dohyun sat next to Doa. Four people were now huddled together on the small single bed.

“It’s cramped. Get off.”

“It’s my office, so why should I?”

“It’s my bed, so why should I?”

“I… I’ll just stay. I made you hot cocoa, you know.”

The siblings’ arguments were identical except for their choice of words, and Jewoo awkwardly asserted his right to stay.

“More importantly, hyung! Tell us what happened there! And I heard it was a Mutant creature!”

“Nothing much. Gyeom had his second awakening mid-battle and defeated the creature, that’s all.”

“Awakening? Oppa, you awakened? What’s your ability?”

Yigeom recounted his heroic tale to the children who were looking up at him with eyes shining with worry and curiosity.

“So, I grabbed the thorns with my bare hands….”

“Eek, you grabbed them?”

“Let me see.”

“It’s all healed after treatment.”

Jewoo and Doa checked Yigeom’s palms. Yigeom spread his hands wide for them to see, saying that Seo Dohyun’s hands were in worse condition than his.

“Can’t the Association healers even treat a wound properly?”

“There were other seriously injured people besides us. This kind of wound…”

At Doa’s reprimand, Dohyun made a fist with his bandaged hand.

“What are you doing? Do you want it to get infected?”

Yigeom freaked out and stopped him. Meanwhile, Jewoo quietly called out to Yigeom.

“Gyeom hyung, Gyeom hyung. So, what’s your second ability?”

“Yeah, I’m curious too, Gyeom-ah. What exactly is your ability?”

Yigeom pouted. He had heard from Kwon Sanghyuk that it was considered impolite among Hunters to pry into each other’s abilities. It was an unspoken rule in this field.

Because of that, he hesitated slightly, feeling the three pairs of eyes on him. Hunters didn’t usually reveal their abilities willingly, but even Seo Dohyun, who kept his abilities hidden from other Hunters, had openly revealed them to the Latter guild members… In the end, Yigeom decided to come clean, figuring there wasn’t much point in hiding it.

“Water.”

“Water? Like, you can control water and stuff?”

“It’s like I can see wherever there’s water. But my eyes sting a bit afterward.”

“Are you okay now?”

When Yigeom said he felt better after waking up, Doa immediately suggested testing it. She crouched in front of a pack of bottled water, holding up five fingers where Yigeom couldn’t see them.

“How many is this?”

Yigeom closed his eyes. He tried to visualize the location of the surrounding objects, the layout of the office, and then focused on Doa.

Since this wasn’t a life-or-death battle situation with his senses on high alert, but rather the relaxed comfort of the office, his ability didn’t activate as quickly as before. Or perhaps it was slower because he had overused it earlier.

“Oppa, my hand is cramping. Are you almost done?”

After more than five minutes, Yigeom finally answered correctly.

“5?”

“Oh! You got it right. You didn’t guess, did you? Then, how about this?”

“…Why are you making a finger heart?”

“Wow, amazing.”

Amazed that he kept guessing correctly every time she moved her hand, Doa played with her fingers in front of the water bottles. Then a sudden thought made her face crumple.

“I can’t shower here anymore.”

Yigeom frowned. He opened his eyes wide, looked at Doa sitting in front of the bottled water, and declared,

“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything perverted like that.”

“You never know. You might not be able to control your ability at first.”

“Gyeom-ah, I was thinking about it during the fight earlier, but your activation time is a bit slow.”

Dohyun quickly cut off Doa and checked his watch out of habit. Since his own ability was related to time, he tended to check his watch even when there was nothing particularly important happening.

“How long did it take?”

“5 minutes and 32 seconds.”

“But I activated it quickly before.”

“No. It was slow.”

Yigeom’s eyebrows twitched at his firm words. Back then, it took about a minute to activate his ability, right? That’s slow?

He opened his mouth to protest, but closed it again at Dohyun’s next words.

“In a 1:1 combat situation, you’d be dead before it activates.”

“…Then how fast should it be?”

“The instant you sense danger? Faster would be better.”

Is that even possible? How can you know danger is coming and activate your ability beforehand? Wouldn’t that be like predicting the future? Is that even humanly possible?

Yigeom stuck out his lips in silence, and Dohyun let out a deflated chuckle, as if wondering why he gave up so easily.

“Why? You have good instincts. You can do it.”

“No, but still…”

Suddenly, a moment flashed through Yigeom’s mind.

That’s right. Dohyun had sensed something strange beforehand. Like the preemptive signs animals display before natural disasters, like earthquakes or tsunamis, Dohyun’s senses were similar to an animal’s instinct, intuition, or something like that.

Yigeom put his hand on his chest. When it was pierced by the creature, Dohyun was already activating his ability. If it weren’t for that, he would have…

Remembering that moment made him realize how crucial it was to sense danger. A chill ran down his spine, and he quickly patted his chest. Dohyun glanced at him and then looked away, pretending not to notice.

Jewoo cheerfully started speaking.

“Gyeom hyung had his second awakening, and it’s a special day, so let’s have a company dinner! Meat! Let’s go eat beef!”

“What? I want to eat pasta. What about you, Gyeom oppa?”

“Anything’s fine.”

Yigeom handed his empty cocoa cup to Seo Dohyun, gestured with his eyes for him to put it on the nearby shelf, and then burrowed back under the covers. As Dohyun had said, being together in the office like this made him forget the fear he had felt earlier, and his body felt relaxed.

“This hyung really likes lying down. Get up—. We need to go eat. Master is buying!”

“Come to think of it, oppa was dozing on my bed on his first day too.”

“Should we just buy another bed?”

Dohyun muttered, nibbling at the skin around Yigeom’s injured neck. Yigeom, as if ticklish, slapped his hand away like a grumpy wildcat and pulled the blanket up to his nose.

“What bed? The office is already cramped as it is.”

He closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of Doa and Jewoo bickering over what to eat for their company dinner.

Seo Dohyun, Latter, the Hunter world—all of which had seemed so scary, unfamiliar, and difficult at first—were gradually becoming more familiar and comfortable.

Perhaps that’s why this dirty, cramped office now felt cozy and warm.

🦅࿐

It was a peaceful afternoon, a few days after the attack on the Association.

Lately, Yigeom had one concern.

He stared blankly at the water in a glass, then tilted his head.

His second awakening ability.

‘Is this even usable?’

It had been helpful during the fight at the Association because the sprinklers had coincidentally gone off, but there was no guarantee there would be sprinklers in future battles. It was a troublesome ability in many ways.

Perhaps it was even more useless than Jewoo’s ability.

Yigeom carefully planned his next steps. He had taken the Hunter test, registered, and joined Latter. Next was the Association’s rank test, divided into upper, middle, and lower, but that had been postponed indefinitely.

The Association’s damaged building hadn’t been fully repaired yet. The internet and news were buzzing with rumors that the damage was caused by a sinkhole.

Thwack!

“Ugh.”

Suddenly, a water bottle flew and hit the back of Yigeom’s head.

“Oops, was that a bit too strong?”

“Yeah, it hurts quite a bit.”

“Sorry. I guess my emotions got the better of me, seeing as you were relaxing while I was working.”

As he spoke, Jewoo threw another water bottle. Yigeom caught the water bottle flying straight towards his face.

“Wow! You caught it this time!”

“…It’s not fair when you throw it so obviously.”

“Heheh. Sorry.”

He apologized, but he was grinning, showing no sign of remorse. Yigeom silently placed the water bottle under the sofa.

Another water bottle flew towards him, and he quickly twisted his body to dodge it. Seeing that, Jewoo muttered as if recording something.

“One success out of three tries…”

Yigeom frowned, rubbing the back of his sore head. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, so he lined up the water bottles that had been thrown at him.

Despite appearances, this wasn’t violence but a form of training. This damned training had started the day after the Association attack.

‘If water is your vision, then you should be able to see it anytime, whether your eyes are open or closed.’

Seo Dohyun had declared, marking the beginning of the training.

The method was simple: anyone could throw a water bottle at Yigeom when he was off guard while in the office. And Yigeom had to dodge them. The aim was to sharpen his danger perception and reduce his ability activation time. It was a good idea in theory.

Yes, in theory.

‘Ouch!’

‘Sorry. I just saw you lying on my bed without permission.’

Everyone’s words had hidden barbs.

Sometimes, the water bottle cap wasn’t closed properly, and he’d end up drenched. Of course, he received apologies, but… Did they hate him? Surely they weren’t doing it on purpose? Such doubts crossed his mind.

At this point, he wondered if this was training disguised as violence. He should ask Seo Dohyun if there were any other training methods…

Whoosh— Thwack!

“Ooh! Hyung, you caught it! Two out of four. Your success rate has gone up from about 33% to 50%!”

The annoying thing was, after weeks of repeating this, his reflexes seemed to have improved. Meaning the training was working. It was a bit premature to say he wanted to stop.

Dohyun and Doa hadn’t arrived at the office yet, and Yigeom asked Jewoo, who was diligently typing away at the keyboard,

“Jewoo, what’s a vigilante?”

He had overheard people talking about it at the Association after the incident.

“Hunters who hunt Blood Hunters.”

“Blood Hunters?”

He had only encountered one once since entering the creature world. He’d been too busy with other things to think about it, but since the incident at the Association was caused by a Blood Hunter attack, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to learn more.

Was there any information available somewhere?

“It’s a different group from guilds. Master used to be a vigilante.”

“…Seo Dohyun was?”

“Yes.”

‘It’s been a while since I’ve washed my hands of that.’

So that’s what he meant.

More importantly, since when has he been a Hunter? Jewoo and Doa, who were 18 now, were Hunters, so did Seo Dohyun also start around 18? Did he hunt creatures and Blood Hunters from that age? Wasn’t he scared?

“I put you here to work, but you’re playing around?”

Dohyun, carrying a paper bag full of stuff, said as he opened the glass door and entered. Did they hear him talking from outside? Doa peeked in from behind him and threw a water bottle.

“Gyeom oppa! Catch!”

“Of course I’ll catch it if you tell me you’re throwing it.”

“This isn’t training, it’s a greeting.”

Since when did greetings become so violent? Yigeom collected his fifth water bottle for the day.

Dohyun put down his belongings. The paper bags rustled, their openings gaping due to the overflowing contents. Jewoo peeked inside, a bright smile spreading across his face.

“These are my favorite cup noodles! And this too!”

It was a resupply of instant food and snacks to keep in the office.

“There’s ice cream too.”

“Do you like ice cream?”

As Yigeom peeled open the ice cream wrapper, Dohyun suddenly asked, “Do you like ice cream?” Yigeom answered, “It’s alright,” and took a bite.

Dohyun rummaged through the paper bag and pulled out a water bottle from the bottom. Then he tapped it against Yigeom’s head.

“Didn’t notice?”

“…Were you hiding it?”

“Yeah.”

I would have reacted if there was a threat. Yigeom grumbled defensively, gnawing on the ice cream stick.

Then Dohyun reached out to Yigeom’s eye.

“Eyelash.”

“Ah.”

Since the incident, Dohyun and Yigeom had become a little more comfortable with each other.

Yigeom rubbed his eyes. Normally, he would have flipped out, asking why Dohyun had to touch him when he could have just told him, but now he just silently ate his ice cream.

Their relationship had progressed.

And Dohyun kept trying to confirm it.

It started with putting his arm around Yigeom’s shoulders. Then he’d casually brush the back of his neck, pat his head, and eventually move up to his face, massaging Yigeom’s ear.

Although Yigeom would brush his hand away, saying it was annoying, it wasn’t as vehement as before.

Dohyun, pleased with the change, kept pushing closer.

But if he crossed a certain line…

Slap.

“Stop it.”

Yigeom rubbed his ear where Seo Dohyun had touched it, as if disinfecting it. He was like a cat that, in its own way, bared its small fangs fiercely, allowing touches on its face, back, and waist, but never its belly or tail.

“You two seem close.”

Jewoo commented casually, munching on a snack.

“Do we look that way?”

“How can you even think…”

Contrary to Dohyun, who was smiling sweetly, Yigeom muttered, completely shocked. Only after Jewoo mentioned it did he reflect on his own behavior.

He had certainly softened up a lot towards Seo Dohyun, but was it to the point of looking close?

There are several ways to become close to someone.

Having compatible tastes and personalities.

Sharing secrets.

Opening up to each other.

He wasn’t sure about their tastes and personalities, but Yigeom and Dohyun shared the forgotten world, a memory only they could recall.

And while it wasn’t exactly opening up, Yigeom did freely curse Dohyun out internally whenever he did something annoying.

From that perspective, they could be considered close.

Yigeom was currently in an ambiguous state.

Someday, Yigeom would get tired. As long as Seo Dohyun was around, as long as he kept overusing his ability, he was bound to get tired.

Then Dohyun would become Yigeom’s only confidant.

Poison and medicine.

Because when Yigeom struggled later, when he became confused by the forgotten world, the only one who would remember everything would be Seo Dohyun, not his family, not Kang Taeha, not Cha Jewoo, not Seo Doa, no one else.

And the same was true for Dohyun regarding Yigeom.

They were each other’s confidants.

That was their current state.

With Seo Dohyun in front of him, Yigeom was in a state where he could neither approach nor retreat.

Realizing this only now, Yigeom turned to look at Dohyun beside him. Dohyun met his gaze and smiled faintly.

From that smile, Yigeom guessed. He was certain.

Seo Dohyun had been aware of this all along.

🦅࿐

Ding-dong— Ding-dong—.

The loud doorbell rang through Yigeom’s apartment. He opened the door to find Seo Dohyun standing there, his face freshly washed.

“Hi. Have you eaten?”

“I just ate.”

“That’s a shame. I wanted to eat with you.”

He stepped inside with a casual air, despite it being his first time visiting Yigeom’s apartment.

“What’s up? Why are you here?”

Yigeom scratched his head, slightly annoyed that his day off was being interrupted.

“I told you to keep today free because we have something to do.”

“…Did you? When?”

I wouldn’t forget something like that. Did I forget because of all the chaotic things happening lately? As Yigeom tried to recall his schedule for the month, Dohyun said confidently,

“Just now.”

‘This is so annoying.’

Yigeom’s inner thoughts were clearly reflected on his face. Undeterred, Dohyun exclaimed,

“Let’s go creature hunting.”

Yigeom frowned deeply at the unwelcome news. No matter how many times he did it, he couldn’t get used to it.

“This creature is a Chupez.”

“Chupez?”

“Ah… the Canker Sore creature. It’s a mid-rank, but the reward is close to upper-rank.”

To express his unwillingness to go, Yigeom slumped onto the bed, pulling the covers over his head.

“I’m tired. Go by yourself.”

Dohyun gently pulled the covers away, and Yigeom felt the rustling sensation of his hair being touched.

“Are you tired?”

“Yeah. I’m going to sleep now. Don’t wake me up.”

“Okay.”

Suspicious of Dohyun’s easy agreement, Yigeom peeked at him. Dohyun then pushed Yigeom towards the wall and lay down on the bed himself.

“The CA time is in the evening, so we can take a nap and go.”

“…Fuck.”

A quiet curse slipped out of Yigeom’s mouth. Hearing that, Dohyun chuckled softly.

“Then why did you come so early?”

“I wanted to hang out with you.”

“I don’t want to hang out. Go play with Seo Doa or Cha Jewoo.”

“Doa went to meet her friends, and Jewoo has other business.”

…Yigeom paused. He hadn’t really thought about it, but of course Cha Jewoo would have other things to do besides Latter. Since he only ever saw him at the Latter office, he hadn’t considered this obvious fact.

“Why does Jewoo live at the office when he has a home?”

“His parents live in another region, so he lives alone.”

He’s still in high school; it’s not time for him to be independent yet. It must be hard for him at such a young age. Yigeom, facing the wall with his back to Dohyun, felt drowsy as Dohyun gently stroked his hair. He drifted off to sleep, lulled by Dohyun’s murmuring voice.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but when he woke up, Dohyun was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed, scrolling through his phone.

“You’re awake?”

Dohyun put down his phone and turned to look at Yigeom, as if sensing his presence even though he hadn’t spoken.

“You haven’t left yet?”

He had thought Dohyun would sleep since they lay down together, but not only did he not sleep, he had waited quietly for Yigeom to wake up, seemingly without getting bored.

“No. We have to go creature hunting together.”

At this point, it was beyond persistence; it was obsession.

Finally giving in, Yigeom sat up groggily. With Seo Dohyun around, what could go wrong? After the Association attack, Yigeom had not only opened up to him but also started to rely on him, albeit slightly.

“What about dinner?”

“I don’t feel like it.”

“I haven’t even had lunch.”

“…Ah.”

Dohyun had intended to have lunch with Yigeom, but since he hadn’t made any plans, he had ended up eating first and then Yigeom had fallen asleep… leaving him without a proper meal.

He checked his watch and said they were short on time, suggesting they grab something at the nearby convenience store. Whatever. Yigeom quickly got dressed and headed out to the convenience store with Dohyun.

While waiting for their ramen to cook at the convenience store table, Yigeom realized it was the same convenience store where he had first met Kwon Sanghyuk.

Dohyun, who had neatly snapped his wooden chopsticks in half, spoke.

“Remember? I met you near here.”

Dohyun, with an unusually proud look, stirred his cup ramen with his chopsticks and muttered,

“Back then, I came here with Kwon Sanghyuk, the Association guy, right? Now I’m here with you.”

Is this fate? At his playful remark, Yigeom frowned and took a bite of his triangular rice ball.

Not at all. He might be spending time with Seo Dohyun, Cha Jewoo, and Seo Doa now, but just thinking about that time made him dizzy. How many times did he die? He hoped Seo Dohyun wouldn’t bring it up, even jokingly.

“Sorry.”

And the apology came immediately. Dohyun, remarkably perceptive, had sensed Yigeom’s mood.

“If you’re sorry, don’t ever mention it again.”

“Okay. Want some gummy bears?”

“Give it here.”

Yigeom popped the entire peace-offering jelly, offered by Dohyun, into his mouth. He couldn’t tell what it tasted like as it squished between his teeth, yet it was strangely addictive.

As he was chewing, Seo Dohyun asked, “If you eat all of that, what snack will I have?”

“Don’t eat it. It tastes bad.”

At Yigeom’s firm words, Dohyun silently slurped his ramen.

After their light meal, in a deserted alleyway, Yigeom nervously asked Dohyun, “…What does a Tongue-Needle creature look like?”

“It has a bunch of needles on its tongue.”

“Then how do you catch it?”

“You have to keep it from opening its mouth. It doesn’t have any other special attacks besides the needles on its tongue.”

How do you keep its mouth shut? Make it close. How do you make it close? Kick its jaw. How do you kick its jaw? Kick it with your foot when the jaw comes close. How do you get the jaw to come close? First…

Then what about this? What about that? How should I do that? …How do you do that?

Yigeom, completely intimidated, continued to ask trivial, nonsensical questions. This was understandable, considering Dohyun had told him to try catching this creature on his own since it wasn’t that dangerous.

Dohyun, not appearing bothered at all, patiently answered Yigeom’s incessant “Why? Why?” questions. Then, he quietly met Yigeom’s eyes.

“Gyeom-ah.”

“…….”

“Are you scared?”

“Yeah.”

Yigeom admitted it readily, without any attempt to preserve his pride. He glanced at Dohyun, hoping he might relent.

He wouldn’t have been so scared if it were a low-grade creature, but this was a mid-grade one. He had always hunted creatures together with Seo Dohyun. But he had also caught a mutant creature before, and now Dohyun was saying it was time for Yigeom to try hunting alone, which honestly scared him.

If he had joined a better guild, he would be on a team, like Team 1, 2, or 3, and would hunt creatures safely in a group. But Latter only had a handful of members. Hunting in a group would certainly be safer, but Latter couldn’t afford that.

Teams were a luxury. Individual operations were far more common, and Yigeom, having joined Latter, had to get used to it. At the very least, he needed to be able to handle a mid-grade creature solo, like Doa.

Dohyun was firm.

“You know my ability.”

“I do. If a creature appears, just try anything. I won’t let you die.”

I don’t want to get hurt either, it’s scary. Just as Yigeom was about to speak,

That’s when it happened.

A creature, in all its grotesque glory, appeared before them.

Yigeom instinctively took a step back. Wait, what? I just had to watch out for the tongue? The creature, resembling a giant centipede, had four eyes, and its countless legs wriggled and moved independently.

Why did the types of creatures he had to deal with always have to be so disgusting? Or were most creatures just disgusting in general?

As he blinked, a dagger appeared in Yigeom’s hand.

“Fight with this.”

“…Seo Dohyun.”

He called out, but there was no reply. The creature immediately curled its body and swung its legs at Yigeom. Ugh, gross. It looked like a bug you’d find in your apartment.

Fortunately, Yigeom dodged the attack by a hair’s breadth. Something felt off.

Was it the result of his training? When it tried to scratch him with its legs, he dodged. When it approached, he dodged. Even though there was no water around, he felt like he could clearly see the creature’s movements. Unlike the days when he would tremble in fear upon encountering a creature, he was calmer now. Expanding his field of vision, the creature’s charge seemed to play in slow motion.

It crouched down, then used the recoil to spring forward in a single bound.

What? For some reason, he felt like he could dodge it. Was it because it was weaker than that humanoid creature from before? After encountering the mutant creature, this one almost seemed easy, just like Seo Dohyun had said.

First, dodge to the right, and… he said the tongue was dangerous, right?

Yigeom opened his mouth wide, lightly changed direction to avoid the approaching creature, and, just as Dohyun had instructed, kicked its jaw.

Huuh. The glimpse he caught of the tongue showed it densely covered in needles of varying sizes. Even a graze would undoubtedly be fatal.

Screech—. The creature recoiled and curled up defensively. It was strange to see the centipede coil like a snake.

Just then, Dohyun quietly approached and pointed to the creature’s second segment.

“See that crack?”

“…Yeah.”

“That’s its weak spot.”

With those words, Dohyun stepped back and silently observed Yigeom’s fight once more. He checked his watch. Only two minutes had passed; there was still plenty of time.

This time, Yigeom took a brave step forward. The creature hesitated, then clicked its teeth and flicked its tongue out between them. Dodging it, he circled widely and climbed onto the second segment. Just as he reached it, the tongue lashed out like a whip.

The densely packed needles came right for Yigeom’s face…

“I told you to be careful.”

He was back at the time the creature had spawned.1)

“But… I didn’t know its tongue was that long…”

Yigeom grumbled defensively. Once again, the dagger was placed in his hand. Tell me about the creature’s characteristics if you know them.

Grumbling, he naturally stepped back. It had attacked like this before, so he predicted it would do the same now.

Right, left, left, one step back, kick the jaw here…

He dodged and attacked with fluid, seamless movements, watching for an opening to climb onto the creature’s body and jump to the second segment.

He ducked to avoid the whip-like tongue, and when he reached the second segment, the centipede-like creature’s segments wriggled, throwing Yigeom off balance and coiling around him.

“Ugh…!”

Being constricted was bad enough, but Yigeom inherently disliked bugs, so the disgust and revulsion of being caught by a centipede amplified his fear.

And then, respawn.

Exhausted, Yigeom grumbled at Dohyun, throwing his hands up in exasperation. It sounded like a child’s whining.

“I don’t want to do this anymore.”

Dohyun soothed him with a smile.

“Tired? Then who’s going to catch it?”

“You catch it.”

Yigeom sulked. It was strange from the start. This is cheating. The association said that hunting creatures in teams was safer because there was less risk of injury, but look at Seo Dohyun here. This was beyond Spartan training.

Even if the danger disappeared because the situation kept repeating, he still didn’t like it. He didn’t want to fight that disgusting centipede anymore. With the mutant creature, he had to keep repeating and repeating, getting injured in the process, but he managed to win because he had to. If he didn’t kill it, it would kill him.

Now, there was Seo Dohyun, who would kill the creature for him even if he didn’t hunt it himself.

“You said it didn’t have any special attacks besides the needles on its tongue. It coils too? And its tongue is long! What did you even tell me correctly?”

“You can just get through it…”

At Yigeom’s complaints, Dohyun muttered, as if a genius couldn’t understand an ordinary person, “Why can’t he do something so easy?”

“I can’t do it. You show me how, then.”

Yigeom buried his head and kicked at the cement floor with his heel.

It was about time for the creature to attack. Without even looking up, he took a step back, relying on instinct. It seemed close, but he was able to move out of the creature’s attack path with plenty of room to spare.

He could manage the first half somehow, but how was he supposed to target the weak point on the second segment?

“Alright.”

Then, Seo Dohyun gave an affirmative answer.

“What?”

“I’ll show you.”

Dohyun pulled out his dagger and rolled his feet as if stretching. He tilted his head from side to side and then lunged at the creature in a flash.

As if he had been carefully observing Yigeom’s attempts, he dodged the attack to the right, evaded the tongue needles flying from the left, jumped, and slammed his head down on the creature from above. With a force different from when Yigeom kicked its jaw from below, he shattered the bones around the creature’s mouth, immobilizing it.

He then moved down one segment and plunged the dagger deep into the cracked part of the second segment.

The legs on each segment twitched pathetically, as if enduring the pain, and then, moments later, the massive body collapsed to the ground.

Yigeom blinked as Seo Dohyun dusted his hands and climbed down.

“See? You do it like this.”

“This one’s too weak, you didn’t even need the simulations,” Dohyun said as he walked over.

Yigeom stared at him. He wasn’t even breathing hard. He had overwhelmed the creature with nothing but prediction and strength, without even using any special abilities.

Even though their experience in this world was different, the ability to predict was something they both possessed. If Seo Dohyun could do it, then that meant he could do it someday too.