Chapter 23

I sent the flames straight toward where the Cave Giant was.

-Flare-

Flames of a similar intensity to Park Doyun’s flared up and began melting the giant’s feet. Of course, the intensity was weak, but it melted faster than when Park Doyun used the skill alone.

Next to me, Im Haekyung let out a hollow laugh.

“An F-rank hunter who suspiciously handles emotions well....”

“.......”

“And at the same time, a flame ability user?”

Explaining was impossible when just properly activating mana for the first time was already difficult, so I let it go in one ear and out the other.

“Doesn’t look like you meant to hide it, though. Interesting.”

And then the status window flashed again.

Mimic(S) has been activated.

A penalty occurs due to the rank difference between you and the target of the skill.

Penalty? Wait. Hold on. When I copied Ryu Taeyoung’s Air Compression, this didn’t pop up. Is it ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) because we’re inside a dungeon?

Mimic(S) duration: 300 seconds

But despite my frustration, the numbers ticked down quickly. 300 seconds, 299 seconds, 298 seconds....

‘Are you kidding me?’

Fine. It might be cleaner just to die. I’ve had my awakening moment, so next life I’ll do better.

Next time, I’ll break the status window open from the start and extract every bit of information. Otherwise, screw plausibility, I’ll just blow Kwon Taehan’s head off 999 times and move on to the 1,000th life, no matter what this crazy status window babbles about.

But before my prayer continued, the text shifted again.

Would you like to use Mimic(S) to raise the skill rank of Blazing Flame(B)?

Note: Due to caster’s rank (F) penalty, duration will decrease.

Blazing Flame(A) duration: 60 seconds

Blazing Flame(S) duration: 2 seconds

‘Ha.’

So, it doesn’t mean I have to die.

Yeah, considering it shoved me here to destroy the world, it would’ve been insulting if it didn’t at least give me this much.

Just looking at the options made my brain feel like it was on fire. Even my impulsiveness was burning brighter.

Sixty seconds and two seconds.

‘What an extreme pair of choices.’

But there was no need to hesitate. I was already feeling what S-rank power was like, right now.

‘Raise it to Blazing Flame(S).’

Mimic(S) has been activated.

And....

Blazing Flame(S) has been activated.

Mimic(S) duration: 2 seconds

A massive blaze erupted from my hand.

Mimic(S) duration: 1 second

Even with only two seconds, I was certain. This was a fight I’d already won.

Mimic(S) duration: 0 seconds

Even though the cavern’s structure made it impossible, a deafening roar split my ears.

-Kwaang!-

And at last, the Cave Giant’s body was engulfed in flames.

-Flare-

I stared at the surging fire, thinking. It had only been two seconds of mimicry. With an F-rank body, crudely imitating a B-rank flame user’s skill.

‘Then what about Kwon Taehan?’

And what about Im Haekyung, standing right next to me?

The adrenaline filling my head shifted slightly, stoking my mind.

Meanwhile, the Cave Giant was consumed by S-rank fire, its form vanishing quickly.

And finally, it collapsed completely, melted away.

-Thud!-

...It’s done.

When I slowly turned my head, Im Haekyung was staring right at me, one corner of his lips raised in a crooked smile. Outside, the heavy snowfall had stopped completely.

(Dead) Cave Giant(A)

A creature dwelling in the snow mountain’s cave.

Its body is made of ice.

A-rank Gate – Snowy Mountain

Clear complete

I quietly stared at the glowing words before me.

***

“Really fascinating.”

“.......”

“You seem like the kind of person who hates inefficiency, to the point you told me to control an unconscious guy. And yet you didn’t use your own flame ability, instead told me to manipulate someone else. Strange. And the size of those flames clearly surpassed your claimed F-rank, but you’re not explaining that either. That’s strange too.”

I knew it was suspicious, but I was too drained to answer, so I ignored him.

The moment I confirmed the dungeon clear message, my legs gave out. Not from nerves, but from having forced out power that didn’t suit my body.

Like getting beaten to shit the night before and then doing twelve hours straight of high-intensity weights and cardio in that wrecked body.

While casting, adrenaline had kept me going. But once it was gone, I had no strength left to stand. I slid down with my back against the icy wall.

Haekyung ignored me and rummaged through the Cave Giant’s remains, finally pulling out a gleaming stone.

Magic Stone(S)

Can influence the mana within the body.

Mined from the Cave Giant’s body.

An S-rank from killing an A-rank. Figures. Fine, take it.

Even so, Im Haekyung really was a monster. Controlling not just one but multiple A-rank giants, and even puppeteering a hunter to cast skills—that took focus no normal person could dream of.

“Haa....”

As I exhaled, my breath frosted in the air. The ice at my back felt cold now too.

‘Shit, it’s freezing. Guess being wrapped in fire just now skewed my senses.’

I vaguely recalled the SH hunters muttering about the cold down below. Maybe it wasn’t mental at all—maybe they were chilled from mana drain. Or both.

Haekyung grabbed my limp hand and pulled me to my feet.

“You’ll freeze to death if you stay here.”

My teeth chattered from the cold, but I followed. Yeah, fuck. Stay here, and we’d all die. I hoisted the zombie-like Park Doyun onto my back again. Same weight as before, but now my exhausted body felt every kilo. And this time, Haekyung wasn’t even using his skill.

“If it’s too much, I’ll carry him.”

“Then the giants outsi—ah, fuck, we cleared it.”

In my daze, I’d forgotten the basic rule: kill the dungeon boss, the rest lose power.

Without hesitation, I handed Doyun over. Yeah. The one with energy should carry him. The Haeseong guild master was on a different level, after all.

We trudged downward in silence. Snow had piled thick, my feet sinking with each step, every movement a chore. Would the others down there still be alive? They’d better be—I needed SH Guild.

Or maybe I should just cling to Haekyung and beg for a spot in Haeseong? No, not happening. Maybe for me alone, but he’d never take both Do Yehyun and Joo Seowon too.

With my body screaming, I forced myself to stay sharp by thinking of anything else. Halfway down, I asked,

“Can’t you just control everyone and bring them together?”

“No. I don’t know their exact locations. If they stumble off a cliff while I’m splitting focus, then what?”

Well. Fuck. Too bad, then.

My shitty condition made me feel meaner than usual. Maybe hunters had bad personalities because they went through this shit too often.

In the end, I used the simplest method to find the nearly mana-drained hunters.

‘Status window.’

Good thing I had this. Step by step, I located their positions. Not just the three clustered together, but the other two nearby as well. The conscious ones helped the unconscious, the rest were carried. Luckily, none were dead.

“Hunters’ mana is drained so low they can’t even sense each other, but you tracked them down easily.”

Haekyung clearly had questions but didn’t push further. Maybe he’d ask when I recovered.

‘Not that I’d answer anyway.’

I could barely walk, so answering was out of the question.

Just before exiting the Gate, I forced my lips to move and said,

“If you do any interviews outside... could you not mention me?”

“Why?”

What could I say? That I was scared Taehan would notice I’d already killed him four times and come after me early? Or that if I got dragged in by Ryu Taeyoung for using an S-rank skill as an F-rank, I’d get slapped with three to five years in prison? Even if a retest said F again, who would believe it?

Honestly, the latter scared me more. At least in the first case, I could just restart. But the second—what then? Can’t die, no way out, just screwed. Becoming a criminal? No thanks.

And Haekyung had witnessed all my suspicious behavior firsthand. Whatever I said, he wouldn’t believe it anyway.

‘Fine. Don’t believe me.’

After a short pause, I gave him nonsense.

“Because if I miss curfew, my dad’ll scold me.”

“.......”

He stared at me blankly, then sighed. Think whatever you want.