"Run!"
The three of us began to sprint towards the entrance we had come from.
"Roooar!"
The monster wolf, seemingly not content to let us go easily, leapt high into the air.
Was it trying to pounce on us from above? I tightened my grip on the sword in anticipation of the impact.
"?! "
However, its target wasn't us, but the passageway we were running through, which it blocked with its massive body.
Given its intelligence to hide in the ceiling, it must have quickly realized our intent to escape. The only exit was now blocked by the wolf. In an instant, we were trapped.
"What do we do?!"
Just as Kyungjoon began to panic,
"Just keep running!"
Dok Suhee, in a split-second decision, pulled out two daggers from her inventory.
"Ha!"
She threw one of the daggers straight at the wolf.
"Rrrrr!"
The monster wolf, perhaps wary of the strike, sidestepped to avoid the dagger.
*Ting!*
Her dagger weakly hit the wall and fell to the ground.
"Now's our chance!"
Despite the lackluster power of the dagger, the wolf's exaggerated evasion created an opening, a brief window to dash through the passageway.
The three of us continued to sprint, with the
"Rrrrrrr!"
massive wolf realizing it had been duped and launching into a furious chase.
"Haah!"
Dok Suhee shouted again, throwing another dagger imbued with her power.
*Crack!*
However, this time the wolf chose not to dodge with agility but to catch the dagger with its sharp teeth. Having witnessed the first dagger's negligible threat, it opted to continue its charge without evasion.
And that was exactly what Dok Suhee was counting on: making the wolf overconfident with the first dagger and delivering a fatal blow with the second.
*Boom!*
The dagger exploded inside the wolf's mouth.
"Raaaaaa!"
No matter how massive, a wolf is still a wolf. It writhed in pain, spewing blood from its mouth, allowing us a chance to slip past.
"How was that? Pretty useful, right?"
Dok Suhee boasted with a grin while running.
She had revealed her ability to be 'Enchant'.
Typically, 'Enchant' focuses on enhancing equipment. This was true for Dok Suhee as well.
"I enchanted the dagger with an 'Explosion'. The inside of its mouth must be burning right now."
She could imbue her weapons with various attributes, and among them, 'Explosion' was the most destructive.
Given the dagger exploded inside its mouth, the wolf would surely be in pain. Moreover, her versatility seemed unparalleled, making Dok Suhee a genuine powerhouse compared to the seemingly less competent Kyungjoon.
"… But wouldn't something other than a dagger be better for explosive enchantments?"
"I lack the physical strength to wield something like a spear."
Regardless, we breathed a sigh of relief. The wolf was too big to fit through the narrow cave entrance without breaking through the walls, which would take considerable time.
"Rooooar!"
"Did it shrink?!"
No, our assumption was a mistake.
Whether it had an ability to adjust its size to fit consumer needs, the wolf shrank to fit the cave and chased after us with blood dripping from its mouth.
"Damn it!"
Dok Suhee threw another 'Explosion' enchanted dagger.
Instead of catching the dagger with its teeth, the wolf nimbly dodged.
*Boom!*
"Ugh..."
The dagger exploded near the wolf's flank but failed to pierce its thick fur.
After a brief exchange of glances, the three of us shouted,
"Run!!!"
And we ran as if our lives depended on it.
Back to the present.
"*Pant, pant*... 'Iron Wall'!"
While running, Dok Suhee enchanted my sword with a defensive attribute.
"Rrrrr!"
*Clang!*
As the wolf lunged at us, I managed to block its onslaught.
"Damn, damn..."
Thanks to Dok Suhee's enchantment, I was able to fend off the attacks. However, if this turned into a battle of attrition, we were clearly at a disadvantage. "To begin with, this cave doesn't go on endlessly. It's understandable to be anxious.
The hero attribute has been activated for a while now. It's not much help with so few people around. What should I do? Should I enchant my sword with an explosion and thrust it crazily into the wolf? Should I gamble?
"Hey, look at the wolf!"
But it seemed I wasn't the only one getting anxious.
"Rrrrr..."
The once faintly glowing blue fur of the monstrous wolf was now fully aflame in a bright blue hue.
Steam billowed out from its snout, and its eyes were wild with fury.
I could feel its savage intent, as if it's ready to snap my neck at any moment.
It's clear. The wolf is also making its move.
Was the city's ruler, and even the tower's awakened beings, naturally equipped with such tactics? It's absurd.
"*sigh*"
Can we win? It seems tough. Even without the ability to regress, I couldn't be sure of a direct confrontation.
In the midst of my internal calculations while running,
"Kyungjoon! Have you lost your mind?"
Kyungjoon, who had been running all along, stood still, staring blankly.
He slowly took off his glasses with a dazed expression.
*Snap!*
He crushed them in his hands, and the shattered fragments fell to the ground.
With a stern face, he threw the twisted frame of the glasses at the glowing blue monstrous wolf.
The weakly thrown glasses bounced off the wolf's forehead.
A moment of eerie silence.
Unable to comprehend the situation, Dok Suhee and I remained silent.
"Rrrr..."
The monster wolf seemed wary, crouching slightly.
"... I am the first son of the great Mother, a great warrior, and an eternal outsider."
Kyungjoon muttered quietly, stretching out his right hand, which now held a rudimentary wooden spear.
Its streamlined body, the sharp tip of the spear...
Just by its shape, I was certain. This was the 'javelin' Kyungjoon mentioned.
He silently offered the wooden spear to Dok Suhee.
"Ah! Wait a moment! 'Explosion'!"
Realizing his intentions, Dok Suhee grabbed the spear, and it glowed faintly.
"Roar!"
The monstrous wolf, sensing the imminent threat, lunged at us at incredible speed.
"Many things have changed, but my profession remains the same."
It was too late.
The monster wolf's full-on charge. Kyungjoon's swinging arm.
"Hunt."
*Boom!*
The javelin shot like a laser, piercing the wolf's shoulder. At the very last moment, the wolf twisted its body to avoid a fatal blow.
However, the sheer physical force of the old wooden spear, combined with the explosion, was too much for the wolf, and it exploded deep within its body.
*Bang!*
With a final cry, the monstrous wolf collapsed, eyes rolling back.
"*pant, pant*"
"*sigh*"
Dok Suhee and I caught our breath.
"W-what just happened?"
Kyungjoon, seemingly out of his trance, seemed confused.
In the midst of the chaos...
We had won.
"... What now? Do you think that door we saw earlier has opened?"
"Maybe?"
"Ah, wait a moment. I'll check the wolf's corpse. There might be some items."
As Kyungjoon sat down to rest and Dok Suhee searched the wolf's body for potential items,
*Step, step*.
From the other end of the cave, a familiar yet unfamiliar footstep echoed.
"... A single step."
From the entrance, Gangchan walked in, a streak of blood on his forehead.
His well-conditioned body still emanated a faint aura of vitality.
"What! Where have you been all this time? Do you know we almost died?"
Dok Suhee confronted him about his prolonged absence, her face contorted in anger.
"... There was another giant wolf. I took care of it." With a stoic face, he pulled out a bright red bead from his pocket.
"... They gave this as a reward."
Blood Bead
[B+]
- A bead that grows as more enemies are defeated. Once it's fully grown, it can be consumed.
Saying this, Gangchan uncomfortably wiped away the blood dripping from his forehead.
"Ah, um..."
When Gangchan mentioned he had been in a fight as well, Dok Suhee seemed at a loss for words and remained silent.
And as I observed the entire scene,
"... Hmm."
I seriously began to wonder if perhaps Gangchan wasn't as useless as I thought.