“Hah… hah…”
I collapsed onto the ground, breathing hard.
Sweat poured off me like rain, and every muscle in my body screamed. I’d run so hard I felt like I was going to throw up.
Still, at least I was alive.
It didn’t seem like Kuhullen had followed me any farther.
“Hah… hah…”
Still sprawled on the dirt, I focused everything I had on breathing.
I needed to recover my stamina quickly so I could move again. Getting discovered by a monster in my current state was something I had to avoid.
Rustle.
“!”
Just as I was catching my breath, I heard footsteps.
What a shitty situation.
Right now, I didn’t even have the strength to turn my head.
“Are you okay?”
“Whew…”
I let out a soft breath.
Fortunately, it was the idiot hunter I’d saved earlier.
I thought he’d run off in another direction, but apparently he’d caught up with me at some point.
“You’re okay, right?”
He looked down at me with concern.
I was practically dying, while he looked perfectly comfortable. His face was only a little flushed, and he wasn’t even breathing hard.
Is this the difference in talent between hunters?
When a civilian becomes a hunter, they receive various Skills.
And the Skills they gain aren’t simply random.
They differ depending on the talents each person possesses.
For example, that hunter must have already possessed some natural aptitude related to stamina.
After some time passed, I was finally able to stand.
The hunter who had stayed beside me spoke first.
He looked to be in his early twenties. He had the face of someone who had never suffered much hardship.
“Um, who are you? Why are you in a place like this…?”
“Shouldn’t thanking me come first?”
When I spoke as though reprimanding him, he hurriedly bowed his head.
“Ah, thank you for saving me. You scared me half to death, suddenly jumping out like that.”
“You scared me too, suddenly running straight toward your own death.”
“W-What? You don’t have to put it like that.”
He was incredibly young.
He barely seemed to have any experience as a hunter, either.
His attributes were probably better than mine, but…
That meant nothing now that a named monster like Kuhullen had appeared.
The hunter looked dejected as he introduced himself.
“You’re really prickly, you know. I’m Kim Jongyeon.”
My name was Lee Jihan.
But I didn’t feel any need to introduce myself.
Instead of answering, I pointed at the emblem on Kim Jongyeon’s armor.
“You’re with the Vanguard Guild, right?”
“What? Yes, I am. But why are you here? Our guild definitely claimed this gate first.”
That was what I wanted to know.
Why the hell was I here?
I’d returned from twenty years in the future, only to end up in a place like this.
Somewhere I’d never even visited in my previous life.
When I didn’t answer, Kim Jongyeon cautiously asked, hope creeping into his voice.
“Wait… did the rescue team come?”
“I doubt I’d be lying around here like this if I were part of the rescue team.”
I wished I had enough ability to call myself one.
Someone who started gasping for breath after running a little could hardly be part of a rescue team.
“Ah…”
Kim Jongyeon’s expression visibly darkened.
Naturally.
Everyone from the Vanguard Guild, including him, had to be in trouble right now.
I’d realized it as soon as I confirmed the guild’s name.
The incident commonly known as the Vanguard Guild Incident.
An incident in which an entire beginner guild that entered an F-rank gate was wiped out.
I didn’t have much I could tell him about my identity.
So before he became even more curious about me, I decided to ask the questions first.
“What exactly happened here? And where are the other members of the Vanguard Guild?”
If the past I knew was correct—
No one would make it out of this gate alive.
***
“So you’re saying that as soon as you entered the gate, you encountered a sword-wielding goblin and the entire guild scattered.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
This was what had happened.
The Vanguard Guild was made up of beginners.
They’d gathered together in high spirits, planning to hunt inside an F-rank gate.
Then some goblin appeared, waving a sword around.
Thinking it was unusual, they approached it.
Their companions were killed in an instant.
Caught completely off guard, the guild members fled in every direction to save themselves, and as a result, no one knew where anyone else had gone.
At this point, even Kuhullen’s name wasn’t known yet. They couldn’t really have helped it.
Among all gates, F-rank gates were the easiest to clear.
So easy that it was practically normal for inexperienced beginner hunters to let their guard down.
Of course they never would have imagined that a monster like Kuhullen would suddenly appear.
“Some of our guild members are dead… I don’t even know who’s still alive. Why is there such an absurd goblin inside an F-rank gate?”
Overwhelmed with frustration, Kim Jongyeon grabbed my clothes and shook me.
“First, let go of me and calm down. We’re not close enough for this.”
“Ah. Right.”
When I raised my hand, Kim Jongyeon reflexively flinched.
I sounded calm enough, but I was just as anxious as he was.
The only thing I had over him was experience.
Is there any way to avoid Kuhullen and reach the exit?
If I could just get out, I could report what was happening inside the gate.
I could tell them that the people inside were in danger and explain exactly how dangerous the situation was.
“Which direction is the exit?”
I hoped he at least knew that much.
“Whatever else happens, I think getting out and requesting rescue should come first.”
“I want to do that too, but…”
“But?”
“The gate leading outside is past the goblin we saw earlier.”
“Ah.”
That fucking goblin.
It was unbelievably cunning.
Its intelligence on an entirely different level was one of the things that distinguished a named monster from ordinary monsters.
It understood both gates and the movements of hunters.
The fact that it deliberately lingered near the exit and waited for hunters to approach was proof enough.
“But if we wait, rescue will come eventually, right?”
Instead of answering Kim Jongyeon’s desperate hope, I scratched my head.
Would’ve been nice if that were true.
If a gate-clearing operation took far longer than scheduled, the Hunter Association dispatched a rescue team.
If we stayed here a little longer, one would be sent into this gate too.
But this time was different.
The rescue team wouldn’t be prepared for a monster like Kuhullen.
They didn’t even have the concept that a goblin could grow into something completely beyond normal standards.
After all, this was an F-rank gate.
Even though it was only twenty years ago, humanity still knew very little.
Gate anomalies weren’t well understood, either.
They were still at the stage where they couldn’t even properly respond to the appearance of a single anomalous monster.
They merely knew that gates like this occasionally appeared.
The rescue team will just fail to understand the situation, charge at Kuhullen, and die too.
The Hunter Association would suffer considerable losses, and afterward this gate would be sealed off as an exceptional case.
So I couldn’t rely on rescue.
And there’s also that Time Remaining thing bothering me.
『 Time Remaining: 4 minutes 23 seconds 』
The time continued to decrease.
I had to give up on the idea of escaping the gate before it ran out.
Whatever happened, if I wanted to survive, my only option was to keep moving.
“Do you have any spare weapons?”
“I have a few in my inventory, but they’re not in very good condition.”
“That’s fine. Give me one anyway.”
“Y-Yes.”
Kim Jongyeon moved to take something out of his inventory.
That was when it happened.
“Hm?”
For no apparent reason, goosebumps suddenly crawled across my skin.
Flash.
A blue streak of light tore through the surroundings.
“Huh?”
The hunter I had gone through all that trouble to save was split cleanly in half.
A torrent of red blood sprayed through the air.
It was a sight so unbelievable that even seeing it with my own eyes wasn’t enough to accept it.
My head slowly turned.
Gulp.
I swallowed.
“…!”
Unfortunately, the worst possible scenario had happened.
Kuhullen, which I had assumed was guarding the exit, had followed its prey all the way here.
“Krrk.”
Its cold blue eyes turned toward me this time.
***
…Get a grip.
There was an old saying that even if you were dragged into a tiger’s den, you could survive as long as you kept your wits about you.
I hated that saying.
If you were stronger than the tiger in the first place, you wouldn’t get dragged anywhere.
Only weak people like me got caught by tigers and had reason to be afraid.
Still, in this situation, I had no choice but to trust the old proverb.
I had to move before it did.
Once its attack had already begun, seeing it and then dodging would be impossible.
Thump!
I kicked off the ground and lunged away.
I had to escape its attack range before it swung.
At the same time, I needed a weapon.
Rolling across the ground, I grabbed the iron sword Kim Jongyeon had been holding.
Moving in advance had been the right choice.
A moment later, the aftermath of Kuhullen’s attack crashed over me.
BOOOOM!
“?!”
Dirt and plants erupted from the ground as the entire surface was ripped apart.
An unavoidable shockwave slammed into me.
“Urgh!”
I lost my balance.
I couldn’t tell up from down or left from right.
Crash! Thud!
I had no idea how many times I rolled.
The only thing I managed was keeping hold of the sword in my hand.
At least my mind was still clear.
If I want to survive, I have to run now.
The cloud of dirt limited visibility.
But that didn’t apply only to me.
Kuhullen’s vision had to be obstructed too.
BOOM! BOOM!
I ran low to the ground amid the barrage of slashes.
I couldn’t see its attacks in the first place.
Whether there was dust in the air or not made no difference.
Damn it. One hit and I’m finished.
Was I even going the right way?
I had no idea whether I was fleeing in the correct direction.
All I could do was hope I wasn’t running toward Kuhullen.
Just as I blindly felt my way out of the cloud of dirt—
A black shadow flashed across my vision.
“!”
CLANG!
Blocking its sword had been pure coincidence.
I avoided the fatal wound of being cut in half, but the force of the impact still crashed straight through me.
Vmmmm…!
A violent vibration tore through my grip at the same moment my body defied gravity.
I burst through the dust and flew into the air.
Up and down suddenly reversed—
Then the ground appeared out of nowhere and smashed into my body.
“Guhk!”
I bounced off the ground and slammed straight into a nearby tree root.
The difference in our abilities was simply overwhelming.
I didn’t even have the ability to understand what had just happened.
No.
There was one thing I understood.
Kuhullen was playing with me.
There was nothing I could do in a situation like this.
Damn it…
Unless getting beaten to a pulp counted.
“Ughhh…”
I forced my trembling legs underneath me.
I still had to stand.
I’d rather die than give up.
I raised the sword in my hand.
…If I lose the weapon, it’s over.
Even with my body completely battered, swaying on my feet, I forced myself all the way upright.
My body had already gone beyond its limits.
When I blocked that slash, it felt like several bones had broken.
Normally, collapsing would have been inevitable.
Even so, I stood.
“Krrk.”
The dust finally settled, revealing two glowing blue eyes.
The goblin Kuhullen stared at me with what looked like interest.
It definitely wasn’t interest in a good way.
It was the smile of something amused by watching a pathetic insect struggle.
Fucking bastard.
Whatever.
I couldn’t die here.
Whether I wanted it or not, I was carrying the fate of the world on my shoulders, in my own way.
No.
Maybe I didn’t need to put it that grandly.
I wanted to live.
I simply wanted to survive.
But regardless of what I wanted, my body seemed to have reached its end.
Drip.
Red blood ran from the corner of my mouth.
Something inside me must have been badly damaged.
I could stand.
That was all.
My vision blurred.
The thread of consciousness I had been desperately holding on to began to loosen.
And just before I lost consciousness—
Ding!
『 Time Remaining: 00 minutes 00 seconds 』
The System message I had forgotten about appeared.
『 Causality Adjustment Protocol: ‘Deus Ex Machina’ has been successfully executed. 』
『 The System will completely repair the affected individual’s defect. 』
Ah…
Red messages filled my vision one after another.
What the hell am I supposed to do with this now?
Kill me or save me. Do whatever you want.
At the final moment of despair—
『 The flow of causality has been perfectly adjusted. 』
『 You have acquired the EX-grade Trait ‘Talent Adjustment (EX).’ 』
“…?”
An unbelievable message appeared before me.
『 From this moment forward, all Experience you receive will be multiplied by 100,000x. 』