Chapter 25
‘Grrrrrrrr!!’
-Whoosh!
“Hyaaah…! D-Dark Spear!!”
-Thrust!
‘Grr, grrrrrr!!’
After more than a dozen seconds of dodging the Owlbear’s attacks while holding Cha Eun-joo in my arms—
My body, already at its limit, was screaming from head to toe so loudly that even the adrenaline flooding my system couldn’t drown it out.
“Huff, huff, huff….”
I had never been this exhausted, even while training with Choi Mari.
Even though I had used 「Suggestion : Adrenaline Explosion」 to force my body not to feel fatigue, the fact that it was screaming this badly meant… it had probably reached its limit a long time ago.
…I could consider myself lucky if this ended with nothing worse than full-body muscle pain after the battle.
‘Hang in there. Hang in there. I’m doing all this for Han Sora and Kim Isabel.’
This was about the only way I could build even a little rapport with those two right now. It would definitely be awkward for me, a Support student, to go looking for an Archery student and a Recovery student.
If enduring this much pain was what it took to turn two women as beautiful and charming as them into my heroines, I could bear it willingly.
…I had never thought it would be easy from the start. How could stealing the protagonist’s awakening event with this physically useless body possibly be easy?
-Whoooosh!!
“B-Black Bomb!!”
-Boom!!
‘Grrrrrrrrrr…!!’
Cha Eun-joo had probably learned to use Black Bomb around the time of the first-semester final evaluation in the original, but it seemed a sense of crisis really did help people grow.
Or maybe she had awakened thanks to the power of love, because she wanted to protect me. Personally, I found that possibility more arousing.
-Vroooom!
“Hiiyaaah!!”
“Phew, phew, phew….”
…I think I’m really at my limit now.
The one thing I could be grateful for was that, judging by the halo of light rising around Kim Isabel’s body, her Holy Chains were just about complete.
Han Sora’s carefully aimed shot had also been trained on the Owlbear for some time now, waiting for it to be restrained, so just as I thought this ordeal would be over after enduring a few more seconds—
-Vroooom!!
“Hnnng……!!”
“……”
…The monster’s palm, impossible for the two of us to evade, came hurtling toward Cha Eun-joo and me.
⁎ ⁎ ⁎
How could someone go that far?
“D-Dark Spear!!”
“Huff, huff, huff….”
Lee Seonho had been running around since earlier, alternately carrying one of the girls in his arms, while Cha Eun-joo, held in his arms, drew the Owlbear’s attention with dark magic.
In particular, as she watched the man named Lee Seonho, Han Sora felt both bewilderment and awe rising within her.
‘He really is completely different from some people.’
Some bastard, despite having a body-enhancement ability, had run away with his tail between his legs without even saving the person beside him.
Meanwhile, someone from Support with a mental buff was running around desperately like that just to do what he could.
What was more, his tactical instructions for killing the Owlbear had been remarkably detailed in retrospect.
First, he had checked whether she, an archer, possessed a skill capable of killing an Owlbear. Then he had asked Kim Isabel, who could wield holy power, whether she could use a restraining spell that used holy power. And when she said it would take some time, he had even thrown himself into the fray to buy time directly with his own body.
His tactical instructions were so practiced, as though he had already fought this battle before, that there was no way his skill was merely that of an applicant.
With judgment that good, wasn’t he practically a professional Hunter—or, at the very least, on the level of an upperclassman at the academy?
‘No wonder Cha Eun-joo can rely on him. If I had a partner like that, I think I’d want to trust him too.’
…Honestly, if only Lee Seonho had been my partner instead of Seo Woojin.
If only that kid, practically the party’s leader, had been my partner instead of that guy who couldn’t even serve as a vanguard for one person.
Compared to that cowardly bastard who ran away when it mattered, he stood out far more, throwing everything he had into sacrificing his own body when he was needed most.
The issues of his intending to enter Combat Support or lacking combat ability felt so trivial that they barely seemed worth mentioning.
“…Please grant me that merciful power….”
-Vroooom!
“Hiiyaaah!!”
“Phew, phew, phew….”
…Will those two be all right?
Nearly a minute had passed, yet Kim Isabel was still chanting, while Lee Seonho’s movements looked as though he was almost at his limit.
Even so, he never once let go of Cha Eun-joo in his arms. Han Sora prayed inwardly that he would somehow hold out until the end, but—
-Vroooom!
‘Ah……!’
Seeing the monster’s hand fly toward them—something she could make out clearly even from a distance—Han Sora had no choice but to furrow her brows for a moment.
The Owlbear’s attack would surely leave both of them seriously injured if it hit. Han Sora prayed inwardly for them to be safe, but—
‘……Huh?’
Just before the monster’s attack engulfed the two of them, she couldn’t help but witness an unbelievable sight with her own eyes.
-Flop!
“Agh!!”
Cha Eun-joo, who had been held in Lee Seonho’s arms the entire time, was suddenly flung to the ground from his arms.
-Baaam!!
“Kgh….”
…And Lee Seonho fell after taking the monster’s attack alone in her place.
⁎ ⁎ ⁎
‘……Ah.’
My head is ringing.
The impact made it feel as though my entire body were breaking, and my mind went blank.
‘So, what happened again?’
At the end, the Owlbear’s palm came flying toward Cha Eun-joo and me.
Since I could not see any way for the two of us to escape, I finally let go of Cha Eun-joo, almost as though I were throwing her.
After somehow squeezing out my remaining strength and throwing Cha Eun-joo to safety, I….
I… was left in a position where I had no choice but to take the attack alone.
‘They say that with injuries this severe, it’s normal not to feel any pain at all.’
Not at all. I can feel the pain just fine, and my head absolutely refuses to work.
Normally, they say the brain releases adrenaline to prevent shock and counteract the pain, so perhaps forcing myself to use Adrenaline Explosion was the cause.
Since I had already been using it to the limit, maybe I had used up all the adrenaline my brain had left to secrete.
‘That’s right, Cha Eun-joo….’
…At least, she seemed safe.
She had fallen onto the dirt and was staring at me blankly, but fortunately, it seemed I was the only one who had been hit by the Owlbear’s attack.
Yeah, this was the right outcome. Even so, it was far more important that Cha Eun-joo not be hurt than that I was.
Honestly, I couldn’t bear to see my girl get hurt because of me, even if it killed me.
…Of course, I didn’t literally mean I wanted to die, but anyway.
-Thud!
“……”
My body, which felt as though it had been airborne for quite a while, fell to the ground. I felt bones that seemed already broken jolt around inside me with the impact. For some reason, no scream came out.
Could holy power heal this? I didn’t even know what level medicine had reached in this world.
It seemed I would need to be at least a Saint to provide even emergency treatment, but with Kim Isabel, a Saint Candidate, beside me, perhaps we could still manage somehow.
…Ah, but she had androphobia. If I passed out, the Suggestion would probably wear off, and if that happened, how would she treat me?
‘I can’t organize my thoughts.’
It felt like my thoughts were simply following the flow of my consciousness. Was this what it felt like when you took a hard blow to the head?
At least my eyes were still able to move, so it was fortunate that I could check the situation one last time.
-Flash!
With the sound of something surging up from underground, several whips of light wrapped around the Owlbear’s body.
-Thrust!
Immediately afterward, an arrow fired from where Han Sora had been standing pierced the Owlbear precisely between the eyes.
“……Hey! …Seonho, stay……!!”
Cha Eun-joo, who had belatedly gotten to her feet, was running toward me with tears in her eyes.
‘At least everyone seems safe, so I should rest for a while.’
…My mana was gradually running almost completely dry, too. I probably wouldn’t be able to maintain the Suggestion, so I might not be able to count on Isabel’s healing.
All I could do was pray that the rescue personnel dispatched by the academy would find us as quickly as possible.
⁎ ⁎ ⁎
-Thrust!
‘Grrrrrrr….’
-Crash!
An arrow was lodged between the eyes of the enormous monster, and the Owlbear toppled onto its side.
It was a feat too incredible to believe had been accomplished by four Hunter Academy applicants, but the girls could not simply celebrate their victory in battle.
“Seonho, wake up!! Seonho!!”
“H-how….”
“…Hey, Lee Seonho! Are you okay?! Hey!!”
That was because Lee Seonho had been knocked away by the monster’s final attack and was now lying limp on the ground.
It would be no exaggeration to say that Lee Seonho had pushed his body the hardest throughout the battle, so his condition was the first thing they needed to check, even before the Owlbear’s death or collecting its materials.
“No, Seonho!! No!!!”
“C-calm down, Eun-joo! Touching him suddenly could be dangerous!”
“Seonhooo!!”
“……”
Cha Eun-joo wailed as though her lover had been injured, while Han Sora stared at the fallen Lee Seonho with a worried look.
And Kim Isabel, despite her fear, cautiously approached the unconscious man, whose breath was barely clinging to life.
‘I need to treat him quickly…. I have to treat him….’
She was afraid.
She was afraid even to approach him, let alone treat him or look directly at him.
Although she knew she had to administer emergency treatment as quickly as possible, Kim Isabel’s androphobia—something that could be called fatal for a Recovery-type ability user—held her back.
‘Why, why are you tormenting me even in a situation like this….’
With every step she took toward him, memories from the past tormented her and told her to run away.
Fear wrapped around Kim Isabel’s entire body, making her want to escape this place immediately.
A horrible terror, as though dozens of tentacles and mud rising to her chin were wrapping around her entire body.
Yet even amid that fear, her feet continued to move one step at a time toward the fallen Lee Seonho.
‘…He’s saved my life three times just today.’
When she had been isolated alone and chased through the forest by a group of goblins.
When she had fallen and been left behind while fleeing the Owlbear’s attack.
…And when he had bought her enough time to use the holy spell to defeat the Owlbear just now.
‘I’m still afraid. It feels as though the pounding in my chest from earlier was an illusion, but….’
She was not selfish enough to leave without repaying him for saving her life three times.
And there was something Kim Isabel feared more than men themselves right now.
The thought that she might have to let the man who had saved her life three times leave without even properly thanking him was an even greater terror to her.
“P-please step away, you two…. I-I need to, to treat him….”
“Isabel…! S-save Seonho! Please, I-I can’t let Seonho die…!!”
“Move aside for now, Cha Eun-joo! You need to get out of the way so Isabel can treat him…!”
“Waaah, Seonhooo….”
With a heavy sense of responsibility, she carefully removed the man’s shirt and channeled holy power into his bare body.
His breathing was still barely continuing. Yet his physical condition was already beyond what could be called that of a living person.
Not only were his bones broken in several places, but the muscles in his arms and legs were nearly torn apart. It was almost strange that he was still breathing in this condition.
‘After all the suffering this man has endured, I’ve done nothing but hesitate because I’m afraid….’
She had also been carried while he ran after she had fallen, so she was undoubtedly partly responsible for his injuries.
Kim Isabel secretly shed guilt-filled tears behind her veil as she poured all the holy power she possessed into Lee Seonho’s body, while the other two women prayed that he would somehow recover safely.
…And.
“…I-I came to help, Han Sora!!”
“……”
“……”
“……”
…The only ones to greet the belated arrival of the ‘protagonist’ were the cold eyes of three women.