The Otherworldly Magic Swordsman Who Disciplines the Hunter World Chapter 46

It was a strange thing. No matter how thick the mist was, it couldn’t possibly be identical at all times, could it?

As one moves, it might thin out, or perhaps changes would occur as it drifts in the wind. However, since Julian had come to his senses, the mist had always been wrapping around them in exactly the same way.

Could a natural phenomenon occur in such a fashion?

“I mentioned that I passed through a field in the first subjugation battle I participated in, right? But you see, that wasn’t a field. I could see it only after passing through. Where we actually were.”

Gong Siyoung summoned an ice spear without a word. Julian also drew the sword from his waist.

He squeezed the hand he was holding and then let go. As Gong Siyoung’s mana that had been flowing over his skin vanished, pain rushed in as if it had been waiting. He shook out his arms, trying not to give in to the burning sensation.

“I thought it was somehow strange. Didn’t the bugs really cross the line?”

“Is it possible there is a separate main body?”

The gaze guarding the surroundings was sharp. In a space filled only with mist, the traces of a monster could not be felt anywhere.

Julian drove his sword into the ground with a thud. The stone floor stretched like pudding, and the sword sank into it with a squelch.

“Well, something like that. If my hunch is right… it’s because we are currently inside the monster’s head.”

That day, one-third of those who participated in the subjugation battle died there. The place they thought was a field was not a field. For four whole days, they had never once set foot in a field.

No one knew since when it had started. They simply realized it only after coming to their senses. Everyone had been trapped in the same dream. All of it was not reality, and it was a place that did not exist.

It was a world created by the hallucinations of Minos, the Gatekeeper who guards the entrance to the canyon.

“Inside the head?”

“Would it make more sense if I called it a dream world? Precisely, it’s inside a hallucination created by Minos… That’s why it was different from a monster. The bugs, the statue. This is assuming my hunch is correct, of course.”

If asked if the situation then and now were the same, it was not easy to answer. This was inside a dungeon, and that was an actually existing location. Despite that, they were chillingly identical.

Furthermore, Minos had never appeared again after that. How on earth could a monster that hadn’t been seen even in the original world appear here again?

Things that couldn’t be felt until a moment ago began to enter his sight little by little.

Julian rubbed the floor with his foot. The hard dirt floor swayed like jelly. It meant that either the sense of touch or sight—one of the two—was perfectly distorted.

“We can’t use mental-type skills right now without Hunter Gu Jayoung…”

“You won’t be able to find her right now anyway. Unless one of us escapes from here… Our real bodies are probably right nearby. We might be in the exact same spots we were when the reset started. Again, that’s if my guess is right.”

Though they couldn’t perceive it, they would be gathered in a place reachable if they just stretched out their hands. Until one wakes up, the world Minos shows is the true reality.

Even being right in front of each other and failing to recognize one another forever, or wandering aimlessly through the mist without an exit.

As if he both understood and didn’t, Gong Siyoung’s face contorted into a frown. He grabbed the collar of Julian, who was trying to move away, and pulled hard.

Mana flowed in through his arm once again. The burning pain gradually decreased due to the energy wrapping around his wrist.

“So what must we do to get out of here? Is there a way to eliminate the monster called Minos or whatever it is?”

“I know that… no, actually, I’m not sure. Is my guess really right? It might not be. Meeting a monster here that I’ve only seen once? Even for a coincidence, it’s too strange.”

He was perhaps more anxious now than when he first noticed the abnormality. Eyes full of unease looked around the surroundings.

Julian was not certain. It might not be that his senses were distorted, but that his judgment had momentarily clouded. The evidence he held was far too insufficient to make a decision.

What if it was simply an environment where the mist was thick? What if he was leading them down the wrong path by mistakenly thinking a non-existent Minos existed? Numerous hypotheses created question marks.

From the moment one points in the wrong direction at a fork in the road, nothing can be undone. If that path is a dead end, one can at least turn back, but what if it’s a cliff?

“I might not be the right answer.”

A dejected voice, unlike his usual self, flowed out. Once doubt was cast, his thoughts continued to flow negatively.

Could it not be the case? Rather than doing something useless like trying to escape, it was better to stay still.

While navigating through the mist, they might miraculously meet the party, and rather than making too hasty a judgment…

“It’s okay even if you aren’t the right answer.”

“Huh?”

Julian questioned him blankly. There was no tenderness or kindness, but because of that, it was a tone of voice that felt even more solid.

Gong Siyoung pulled his collar once more. As if drawn by gravity, Julian’s hand was caught again.

“I’m saying it doesn’t have to be the right answer. You don’t have to carry the burden because I’m not telling you to shoulder it all alone. I told you, if you can’t even trust someone with your back, don’t even call them a comrade.”

Julian didn’t need to slay the monster all by himself. He wasn’t trying to place the responsibility on him, but rather suggesting they respond together.

“Even if we end up wasting our efforts because of wrong information, it’s better than staying still here. That’s what we do in dungeons anyway. Wasting effort without knowing what’s what.”

So don’t feel burdened. The words he repeated somehow felt like a comfort.

Could it be that Gong Siyoung was being considerate in his own way right now?

It was similar to the pain that had vanished without him realizing it. Gong Siyoung acted kindly in a way that was hard to notice.

Even if someone pretends not to be a good person, it’s bound to show. Just like him right now.

“…Yeah, well. You’re right. Wasting effort without even knowing what’s what.”

A chuckle escaped, making him forget the situation. Because of the calm tone, the previous anxiety was gradually washed away.

Because the surroundings were blurred by the mist, only Gong Siyoung, who was right beside him, could be seen clearly. Facing his face as he boldly said he knew nothing, Julian reached a conclusion.

He implemented magic without hesitation. Mana gathered in the hand he was holding. Perhaps the wounds had burst, as the pain intensified.

Without batting an eye, he drew his sword with his other hand. A nosebleed poured out along with a dizzying vertigo. Trying to do two things at once made his head ache as if it were breaking.

He felt Gong Siyoung flinch, perhaps because of the blood. Before he could react, Julian raised a hand to stop him. He gathered mana as much as he possibly could to prepare the magic.

“I’ll apologize in advance. If I’m wrong… I’ll take responsibility and fix it somehow.”

“What does that…”

An answer was not needed. Unless it was a moment when the other was off-guard, things would only become difficult for both of them afterward.

Julian’s sword headed for Gong Siyoung’s abdomen. He drove it straight in without giving him a chance to block. Blood flowed down the sword that pierced through the abdomen.

“What…”

Gong Siyoung’s pupils shook violently. Having stepped backward, he instinctively used a skill.

An ice spear appeared, and the ground beneath his feet began to freeze. Julian tightly held onto Gong Siyoung, who was trying to move away with staggering steps.

Julian prepared a healing magic with the hand that wasn’t holding the sword. It was ridiculous, attacking while he was off-guard and then waiting to fix him immediately. It wasn’t like giving the disease and then the medicine, but Julian felt like a madman himself due to the contradictory actions.

Still, this was the only answer Julian knew. Chewing over the past he had experienced, his lips flickered.

“If this is inside Minos’s hallucination, there is only one way to escape.”

He saw a face distorted in confusion. Just before the ice spear could reach, Gong Siyoung’s body blurred. His staggering footsteps melted into the mist and scattered like smoke.

One step, two steps, and then nothing remained. Neither Gong Siyoung nor the blood he had spilled.

His legs trembled. Julian sat down in a heap while holding onto his sword. A sigh of relief burst out belatedly.

“Thank goodness…”

He had been so tense that even his fingertips were tingling. He deactivated the healing magic he had been preparing. Since it wasn’t a magic he was good at, the fatigue from just preparing it was considerable.

Still, it was a relief. Because he didn’t have to use it on Gong Siyoung.

He wiped the nosebleed with the back of his hand. Along with the throbbing pain of the burns, he now felt nauseated. Julian, who lay completely flat on the floor, slowly caught his breath.

It was a relief that it really was inside Minos’s hallucination. If it hadn’t been… the mere thought was horrific.

Even if he said he would restore him with magic, there was no way Gong Siyoung would have understood that.

Wouldn’t anyone be the same? If someone comes at you to kill you, saying this is the only way to live, you’d be called a crazy person whether it was the truth or not.

“Or not? Still, since he said what he said, would he have reluctantly said it was okay?”

He clearly said it was okay even if it wasn’t the right answer. Julian was curious what kind of face he would make if he asked, “Didn’t you say that?”

He must be incredibly flustered right now too, right? The corners of his mouth drifted upward slightly. I want to see just once what kind of expression he’s making…

Since Gong Siyoung had woken up, finding and killing Minos’s main body was only a matter of time.

Minos itself was not difficult to deal with. Killing the monster wouldn’t make the hallucination disappear, but a flaw would surely appear. Julian’s work started from there.

“First, I have to send everyone back.”

This wasn’t the time to be doing this here. Tap-tap, he brushed the dirt off his clothes and stood up. He moved his steps into the consistently grey-white mist.

Back when he first participated in the subjugation battle. The reality he realized only after wandering for four days and after one-third of his comrades had died was harsh and cold. There is only one way to get out of here.

Only those who reach death by the hand of another can escape from Minos’s dream.

So, in the end, one person was destined to remain here. Perhaps forever, wandering through this mist.