On a night when nothing could be seen, something changed.
“Huh? What is that?”
“Undead... Are those undead?”
“... Wait.”
The Hunter keeping watch over the surroundings widened his eyes.
“Why are there so many?”
It was a monster frenzy.
“Wake up! It’s a frenzy!!”
“A frenzy phenomenon has appeared! Everyone, grab your gear!!”
“They’re undead! They’ll be here soon too!!”
At the words of those on night watch, the Hunters who had been sleeping, the Hunters checking their equipment, and even the Hunters still treating people’s injuries all sprang to their feet. The Hunters carefully selected by the Sun Cult moved in perfect order despite the sudden situation.
Jio, who had not been asleep to begin with, muttered.
“A frenzy phenomenon?”
“It refers to exactly what it sounds like: a phenomenon where monsters go mad and run wild.”
“Ah, is this also Hunter terminology?”
“Yes, it is not an uncommon phenomenon.”
After explaining that, Garasani continued as he organized his firearms.
“That said, it is not an especially common phenomenon either.”
He asked Priest Kang Seodam, who was getting the Hunters on his team in order.
“What do you think the cause is?”
“I’m not sure.”
Kang Seodam looked as if he would close his mouth at that, but then his eyes met Seo Jio’s, who had followed after him, and his mouth opened and closed soundlessly. After letting out a pained groan, he immediately wrung out an answer.
“... For now, I do not believe our side provided the cause. No such phenomenon was reported in the Sun Cult’s records, and since there are many participants in this raid, another team likely triggered something artificially. Of course, I cannot say for certain.”
A frenzy phenomenon activated either as part of the dungeon’s own cycle, or when a strong trigger was pressed by a Hunter’s actions. And the former case was extremely rare. For now, they had to consider the latter.
“Since things have turned out this way, it would be best to hold this position until the frenzy ends.”
“It seems securing space in advance was worthwhile. I will inform our team as well.”
Garasani left, and Seo Jio asked Kang Seodam.
“Should I send Honey?”
“... Please do.”
“Do you need light?”
“It may provoke the monsters.”
“But it will be difficult to secure visibility in the dark.”
“If the light is too wide-ranging...”
“I can control it.”
“Then please do that as well.”
“No problem.”
When Jio reached toward his neck, Honey, who had been hiding inside his hood the entire time, climbed onto his hand. As he softly waved his hand, Honey flew into the air. With Honey’s small body, he soon disappeared from sight.
After sending Honey out to scout and rescue the Hunters, Jio grabbed the hem of his cloak and lifted it.
“Dana.”
From the pitch-black shadow of the cloak, a jewel cat the color of the night sky climbed out.
“Meow.”
“Go help your brother.”
“Meow.”
The fairly large cat immediately disappeared between the bushes. At that, a Hunter who was frantically getting herself ready flinched in surprise. Filled with worry, she asked Jio.
“Will you be all right? The monsters will swarm here soon, and it will be hard to endure without a tamed beast protecting you. We’ll defend you as much as possible, so if you could stay inside and heal us...!”
At that, Jio shook his head.
“It’s all right.”
“Pardon? But...!”
“That is prejudice.”
THWAP!!
Jio caught the sphere that flew at him.
“The idea that healers or trainers are weak.”
CRUNCH!!
Fragments flew.
In his smiling hand, something inside the sphere was crushed.
“...”
“It looks unusual.”
“Uh...”
“It is fairly small, brown, and has a pair of wings as large as its body.”
“Uh, uh.”
“It is a quiet flying-type monster.”
PATTER, THUD...!
When he swung his hand, the monster’s remains scattered.
“The monsters are here.”
“... Yes.”
“I will see you later.”
After the flustered Hunter left, Jio searched for Garasani, black blood dripping from his hand. He had something to ask him out of consideration.
Pulling up his hood, Jio asked.
“Mr. Garasani.”
“Yes, Hunter Seo Jio.”
“Would people be startled if I suddenly turned red?”
“They may be a little startled, but fortunately...”
Garasani, holding guns in both hands, continued.
“It is dark out.”
“Ah.”
As if blood were seeping in, Arjio’s hair was dyed red.
“Indeed.”
The wicked divinity laughed in excitement.
Jeong Youngwon was a typical healer.
“Protect me right now.”
“Yes, ma’am...!”
In other words, she was frail and precious manpower.
“Healer, you can stay here!”
“We’ll protect you!”
“But if you could put some heals on us...!”
Amid the noisy surroundings, Jeong Youngwon nodded solemnly.
“If you stay within five meters of me, I will make sure you do not die.”
The Hunters were moved.
“Thank you, healer...!!”
“Protect Hunter Jeong Youngwon! If the healer dies, we die too!!”
Basically, healers were few in number. Not so few that one would never encounter one in their life, but few enough that one might never have a healer in their team even once. That was why healers were treated as precious, high-class manpower.
And healers who could provide wide-area healing like Jeong Youngwon were rare.
“Three undead in front!!”
“There’s a healer behind us, shut up and block them with your bodies!!”
“We believe in you, healer...!!”
Jeong Youngwon cursed that aggressiveness while steadily holding the Hunters’ lifelines.
“You brain-dead Hunter bastards, if you don’t want to die, stop being so reckless!!”
The reason healers were few was because learning or using skills was extremely difficult. Skills were not something that popped out fully cooked like frozen food put in an oven just because one learned them.
There was a means to forcibly restore a person’s body, and one knew the method, but actual treatment required an extremely complex and delicate process. There were not many healers who could perform broad-range healing like Jeong Youngwon.
“Stop getting hurt so damn much!!”
“Wow, it really feels secure having a healer!!”
“Hey, you chicken-brained idiots—!!”
As Jeong Youngwon’s blood pressure shot up, something rapidly approached from above.
“Ah, fuck! Above! A flying-type mons...!!”
Just as one of the Hunters urgently raised their weapon.
CRACK!!
“... Huh?”
CRUUUNCH!!!
Something huge that had snatched the monster flew in and slammed into a tree.
“...”
“... Wh-who...?”
“Ah, dear.”
Someone drenched in black blood smiled with his claws dug into the tree like a beast.
“You should be careful.”
A voice like he was soothing something weak and young.
“Monsters fly down from the sky.”
“...”
“You had better take care of yourself.”
Bright golden eyes like a beast’s.
“Wouldn’t you say?”
Jeong Youngwon, who had been protected by the Hunters, recognized him.
“... Hunter Seo Jio.”
“See you later.”
CRUNCH, SCRAPE—!!
He climbed up the tree and soon disappeared from people’s sight.
“...”
Jeong Youngwon thought she might have heard the pleased rumble of a beast.
In truth, Arjio was in an extremely cheerful state. It had truly been a long time since he had hunted beasts that ran wild without reason. These things did not know their place, so they were adorable enough to make him want to burst them with both hands.
‘... This is nice.’
THUD—!!
When he drove his leg in, an entire head exploded.
‘Very nice.’
CRACK!!
When he stabbed his claws in, dead blood vessels burst like balloons, and flesh resembling the bark of an ancient tree fell away.
‘I especially like the ones above.’
There were truly many beasts up in these trees.
A figure with a body that was by no means small leaped and played between the dark, enormous trees without making a single sound. When his bare feet, freed from their stuffy shoes, stepped onto a branch, it remained silent without even the slightest recoil. The swift, large silhouette seemed as if it had wings.
The trees of this rainforest were no different from Arjio’s homeland. If there were trees this tall, monsters swimming through the sky were easy prey for Arjio. Riding from tree to tree, he slammed the airborne monsters down.
And Sanarae was watching him.
“...”
While crushing the approaching monsters into pulp, his gaze stayed on the man above in the sky.
‘He isn’t really flying, is he?’
The sight of him climbing through the trees with his bare hands and feet, leaping down and jumping up, made him seem as if he had wings. His body was by no means small, but the way he moved with such springy flexibility created the illusion that his weight was like a feather.
A monster entered his large grasp. When he squeezed lightly, it burst refreshingly like a water balloon. Even as that pitch-black blood splattered on his face, hair, and clothes, he was smiling as if he simply liked it.
The golden glow in his eyes, full of childish joy, was eerie.
“Hunter Sanarae, do not get distracted!!”
“Ah, sorry.”
CRACK, THUD—!!
While dealing with the monsters, Sanarae answered half-heartedly.
‘What is he, really?’
Aiming cleverly for blind spots where the Hunters could not easily check, he moved as flexibly as a cat stretching.
‘He’s covered in blood.’
He ran over the trees, sometimes descended to the ground to trample monsters, softly lured the monsters with his fingertips, then passed swiftly and lightly through the teeming monsters, bursting their heads, necks, hearts, and legs.
‘At that rate, he looks just like...’
Wasn’t it like he was dancing a joyful dance?
That smile full of pleasure stood out especially.
“Eek!!!”
After the frenzy ended, a Hunter screamed.
“H-H-H-Hunter Seo Jio!! No, a healer!! Healerrr!!”
“I am not hurt.”
“Heal...!! Ah, pardon? What? You’re n-not hurt...?”
“It is not my blood.”
Jio, covered in dark red blood, looked back at Garasani.
“My clothes are dirty.”
“Oh dear, we have no spare clothes.”
Garasani asked with a bright smile.
“Would you like to use this one’s?”
“What the hell, why am I getting dragged into this, floor chief?”
“Ms. Yu Jina should learn the joy of sharing too.”
“That’s not sharing, that’s robbery.”
Yu Jina, who had been passing by, looked at Jio.
“But if you truly need even my clothes, I will do that.”
“No, I do not think they would fit me, so it is all right.”
“I was only planning to give you my cloak too...?”
Yu Jina grabbed the Collector field staff beside her.
“I think we can give you this bastard’s clothes. Doesn’t his build suit you a bit better?”
“Why am I suddenly involved?”
“You can’t even give up that much for our Seo Jio?”
“I can give them, but isn’t this that thing? Abuse down the chain?”
“It’s only abuse if you actually feel abused.”
Jio was moved by the warmheartedness of the Collector employees.
“Thank you for your kind warmth, but it is truly all right.”
He did not particularly want to wear someone else’s clothes either.
“I was simply wondering if I could throw away the cloak since it is soaked through.”
“You may throw it away as much as you like. Even if it were not soaked in blood, please throw it away if you wish.”
“I am not a person with severe wasteful habits.”
“I was planning to pick it up and make it a family heirloom if you threw it away, so what a shame.”
“I do not like that. Please do not.”
“But you should wash once. You must feel unpleasant like this.”
“I am not sure if that will be possible.”
Around then, Honey, who had been flying in the sky for a long time, perched on Jio’s shoulder.
“Gurgle.”
“Honey, did you have a good look around?”
“Gurrrr...”
Honey blinked and looked at his dad.
“...”
“Honey?”
“Gung-gung-gung-gung-gung-gung!!!”
Jio’s son threw a huge tantrum at the sight of his dad soaked in liquid.
“Gung-gung-gung!!! Gung-gung-gung-gung-gung-gung!!!”
“Wh-what is wrong with Honey?”
“Gurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...!!”
SLORP—!
Honey grew enormous and swallowed Jio.
“Honeyyyyyy!!!”
“Aaaaaagh!!!”
“Mr. Jiooooo!!!”
Regardless of whether the Hunters were horrified or not, Honey, who had swallowed his dad, soon spat him out.
“Ah!”
“Gurrr.”
“Honey, you must not spit Dad out so roughly.”
“Gung.”
“I collapsed so pitifully...”
Jio, who had fallen in a modest pose like a princess drained of strength, stood up while brushing the dust from his clothes.
“Was everyone surprised?”
“H-H-Honey...!! Honey just...!!”
“It is all right. He was washing me.”
Thanks to that, the dark red blood that had stained his face and body alike was gone, and he had returned to his original clean state. Inside Honey’s enlarged body, the dark red blood he had absorbed from Jio was gathering together.
“Gurgle.”
CLINK.
The monster blood clumping together inside Honey’s body soon gathered into the form of jewels and sank beneath his body. Once it mixed in among the jewels Honey had been collecting day and night, there was no way to tell what had been blood.
Only then did the Hunters grasp the situation and look bewildered.
“Ah, he, uh, washed... washed you.”
“For a moment, I thought you were being eaten...”
“... Why did that become jewels?”
Giovanni smiled his characteristic bright smile.
“Because Honey likes jewels.”
“Does it usually turn into jewels inside his body just because he likes them...?”
It was not exactly an explanation, but after confirming that there was no problem anyway, the Hunter let out a sigh of relief. Once the overall atmosphere stabilized, those who had witnessed Jio during the frenzy came over to talk to him.
“Um, the person who was going wild... no, catching monsters up in the trees was you, Hunter Seo Jio, right?”
“I do not think there were many Hunters active in the trees, so I believe that was me.”
“Wow... Wow...”
One of the Hunters who had been protecting Jeong Youngwon continued with a pale face.
“I thought I was going to be eaten.”
“I do not eat people.”
“No, your eyes were, like... something... like... you know.”
“What does it mean that my eyes were like something like that?”
“You know, right? You know this feeling.”
“I do not?”
Playing dumb was Giovanni’s specialty.
“How are you so agile when you are a healer?”
“That is prejudice.”
“You are a trainer, but you sent all your tamed beasts away...”
“That is prejudice.”
Jio nodded.
“Trainers and healers can fight too.”
“Usually, when trainers and healers have to step forward themselves, the raid has already failed.”
If trainers and healers came to the front, it meant all the other Hunters besides them were dead. That was how strongly healers and trainers were associated with rear support. Learning training and studying treatment was already hard enough to kill them, so they had no time to develop combat ability on top of that.
At that point, Jio smiled and said.
“I am rather used to combat.”
“...”
The Hunters’ gazes turned toward Garasani, the veteran guild member of the Collector.
“... Just how did you educate him...?”
“I didn’t think the Collector was like that...”
“I thought the Collector cherished its guild members?”
Garasani simply smiled.
“Hoho.”
As if he cared.
“It seems Team 6 provided the cause.”
Holding a communication crystal developed exclusively for dungeon exploration, Kang Seodam continued.
“I have finished contacting them. They say this happened after they touched some small tree.”
“When you say a small tree, what kind do you mean?”
“They say it is a small tree less than one meter tall. Its leaves and branches glow pale purple...”
“That is foreign.”
“Because there are only such enormous trees here.”
This was a dungeon lined only with enormous trees, with trunks so thick that dozens of adult men would barely be able to wrap their arms around them together, and heights whose ends could not even be seen. It could not be helped if a small tree glowing pale purple looked like the key to the raid.
“So they attacked the tree for now, but they say the tree they attacked was only scratched and did not even break. The moment they tried to do anything more, the entire dungeon’s monsters were granted frenzy.”
Monsters they had never seen before had even appeared.
“As for those spherical monsters flying through the sky... I am not sure. They were not a species we saw during the cult’s previous raid, and it was too dark during the frenzy to check properly.”
“I know what they look like.”
“Thank you, Hunter Seo Jio. Those creatures are likely monsters that only appear when the pale purple tree is attacked. Thanks to our proper response, no one on our side was badly injured or killed, but...”
“Did that happen on the other teams?”
“Yes. At least, since there are many healers, the injured are being cared for, but they say the number of dead Hunters is not small either. Apparently, they are monsters that self-destruct when approached, confronting intruders with heat and poison.”
The heat and poison were so powerful that even though they had entered with so many healers and items, the number of deaths was fairly high. Right now, most of the teams were focusing on treating the injured.
“Therefore, I believe our side must grasp the situation with certainty.”
After saying that, Kang Seodam soon stopped.
“... It is here after all.”
“That is fortunate.”
Jio nodded.
“It seems we have found a definite clue.”
Branches that looked delicate, and leaves as rich as cotton bolls.
What they had found was the pale purple tree that had been the topic of conversation just earlier.
