"I think I more or less know what you're expecting. But try to think about it rationally.
'We didn't come to this island to rescue hunters in the first place. And realistically, how am I supposed to save every hunter wandering around this island by myself?'
Things you can't do, you can't do. There are limits to what one person can handle. And besides—
'When it comes to something like this, it's impossible for no one to die.'
It's something you have to bear. Life has a habit of throwing unbearable situations at you without warning, like getting hit by a truck.
If you survive, you're lucky. If you don't, that's the end.
'Yoo Chanseok, this is a question. What if you were the one stuck in that situation?'
At Han Sang-ah's question, I answered simply.
'I'd feel bitter as hell. I'd resent it, wondering why something like this had to happen to me. I'd scream for someone to come save me, begging to live. I might even piss myself in fear.'
'But…'
Before Han Sang-ah could continue, I cut in.
'No matter what I think or feel, I die. I'm not talking about the emotions people have when they're trapped in that situation.'
I'm talking about the result.
If you fall into a situation where death is unavoidable, then regardless of what you think or what emotions you hold, you die in the end.
By the time we arrived at Hwagye Temple, it was already fairly dark.
'The building's intact. There's no sign that other hunters have been staying here.'
'That's a relief.'
After hearing Han Sang-ah's response, we unpacked and had a simple meal.
'It's too dark to see clearly right now.'
'Still, we've figured out where the other hunters are.'
Thanks to the lighting, you could see it very clearly from up here.
'That's extremely dangerous.'
I understand why they're using lights. The bat-headed dwarves we faced at the start were honestly nothing special. At that level, they probably think being exposed doesn't matter.
While considering what steps to take first, I sent two warning messages via messenger to the hunters carrying out missions on Gyodong Island.
[This is Yoo Chanseok of Team 8. Based on the level of monsters we've recently encountered, using lights carelessly could put you in serious danger. Please refrain from doing so.]
[According to fellow hunter Kim Min-je, there is a possibility that the Alpha Corruption Source has reached Grade 3.]
If they took my words seriously, at the very least it would prevent monsters from snapping hunters' necks at night like picking apples in an autumn orchard.
'Will they listen?'
The messages would have gone through. But no one turned off their lights. They say people want to do things even more when they're told not to.
'So much for minimizing casualties.'
I boiled some water, made two cups of tea, and went to find Kim Min-je.
'Ah, Hunter Yoo Chanseok.'
'It's gotten pretty chilly.'
I sat down beside him, handed him a cup of tea, and asked,
'You said you've handled this kind of request before, right? Then you must know something about Corruption Sources as well?'
Kim Min-je nodded at my words.
'Yes, but why…?'
I answered with a smile.
'If I keep doing this job, won't I eventually experience a Corruption Source myself, just like Hunter Han Sang-ah?'
It was more or less implied that it was better to face it knowing something than to face it completely blind.
'If there's anything I can learn in advance, could you tell me?'
At my request, Kim Min-je nodded and began sharing various pieces of information.
"Corruption Sources take the form of holes. Once you enter, an entirely different world unfolds inside."
A different world, huh. The phrase sparked a bit of interest in me.
"A different world, as in…?"
"Sometimes it suddenly turns into a desert-like environment… and once, I ended up in something like an underground prison."
Apparently, thirty minutes after hunters enter a Corruption Source, the entrance that leads inside closes.
This is getting more and more interesting. My mind began filling with possibilities.
"Once you're inside a Corruption Source, you can't get back out until the core is destroyed."
Calling it a core was misleading—according to Kim Min-je's added explanation, it was more accurate to think of it as a powerful monster residing within the Corruption Source.
"If the core is destroyed, does the Corruption Source reconnect to this world?"
Kim Min-je shook his head.
"When the core is removed, the hunters who entered are transported back to the original location of the Corruption Source."
So it worked like teleportation. And without the energy emitted by the Corruption Source, the Corrupted Zone couldn't be sustained. Without a Corrupted Zone, the monsters themselves couldn't maintain physical form.
By the time he finished explaining, I was grinning inwardly.
Decision made. I should head for Gyodong Island's Alpha Corruption Source.
"Thank you. By the way, I'm not sure whether the item you mentioned will actually be effective."
At my words, Kim Min-je glanced at the small device in his hand. If a monster entered a certain radius, it would immediately sound an alarm.
"The performance is reliable. You won't need someone standing watch."
After our conversation ended, I waited for the night to deepen. The moment I confirmed that Kim Min-je and Han Sang-ah had fallen asleep, I quietly made my way toward Insari, the northern end of Gyodong Island.
There were monsters roaming here and there, but I avoided fighting. I already knew the location of the Alpha Corruption Source from the initial briefing.
I was moving forward without hesitation when I suddenly stopped.
"Well, damn."
Before me was a scene where a tiger-sized cat had its jaws clamped around the nape of a woman's neck, while pinning down a badly wounded middle-aged man with its forepaw.
No—if it's a cat the size of a tiger, that's just a tiger.
"Do you like Churu treats too, by any chance?"
Should've brought one.
At my flippant remark, the massive tiger spat out the woman's corpse and casually licked its forepaw with its tongue.
As if I didn't interest it in the slightest. But felines are like that—when there's a toy right in front of them…
They pretend not to care, then suddenly pounce.
The beast twisted its body sharply, closing the distance in an instant, and swung its forepaw.
The so-called nyang-nyang punch.
Of course, it looked powerful enough to send a human head flying.
"Don't pull cheap tricks. Or is this a cat trick?"
Prepared for this, I thrust my spear toward its foreleg. The cat immediately withdrew, then moved its forepaw at terrifying speed to smash aside the spear shaft.
For a split second, the spear couldn't keep up, and the forepaw slammed it down hard.
I released the spear instantly, dove straight in, and swung my fist toward its head—
—and the cat vanished.
"A shadow?"
My accumulated experience and memories instantly pieced together the worst-case scenario and produced a countermeasure.
I forced my body to twist backward. From my shadow, a massive forepaw with razor-sharp claws burst out.
Targeting that paw, I poured mana into my leg and stomped down.
Crack.
With a heavy sound, the forepaw emerging from the shadow was crushed beneath my leg. At the same time, black flames clung to it as it twisted with a sickening crunch.
A piercing screech rang out—Weyaaaaaang!
"Like taking walks? Then follow me."
With one forepaw crushed, its speed would be reduced. It wouldn't catch me right away.
"Haa… huff…."
Breathing roughly, I ran toward Gyodong Island's Alpha Corruption Source, the injured tiger chasing after me.
Right ahead was a massive hole, large enough for three or four people to enter at once.
Confirming the cat charging toward me with black flames tangled around its body, I grinned and threw myself into the hole.
"…."
I arrived in a field. The sun was high in the sky, and across the plain where I stood was a cluster of huts—something primitive people might have built.
According to Han Sang-ah, up to Rank 3, the interior space of a Corruption Source isn't very large. She said a full reconnaissance could be completed in about four to five hours.
But starting from Rank 2, patrol alone takes at least one to two weeks—sometimes more than a month.
"Yeah. I figured you'd come too."
As if it were only natural, the cat followed me through the hole I had entered. When I remained still, it took a step back, its eyes gleaming as it licked its injured forepaw.
It looked angry.
"Come at me."
Now I'll really play with you.
The Paradox Monster Flame clinging to its body was burning away its stamina.
It kept burning. Normally, once the flames reached a level beyond my control, I would extinguish them and then reapply the Paradox Flame—but…
The fire now tangled around that cat's body, growing as it consumed its stamina, had already surpassed the level I could control.
But that was fine.
"This isn't Earth, is it?"
One of the biggest problems with the Paradox Monster Flame is that it doesn't distinguish between friend and foe—except for me.
That raging black fire burns the stamina of every living being that comes near, as long as it isn't me.
Once it goes beyond my control, it becomes a disaster like a wildfire.
"But here, it doesn't matter if everything burns."
This place is completely isolated, and after I destroy the core of the Corruption Source, the way out works much like teleportation.
"Khk… kehk."
As I watched the violent Paradox Flame engulf the cat's body, those sounds came from behind me.
"So many of them."
Five or six bat-headed giants over two meters tall—the same kind I had killed earlier—were giggling as they approached, gripping stone clubs.
Each one was roughly on par with the giant I'd already taken down.
And the cat I'd been fighting leapt over to them as if they were its comrades, landing at their side.
"Idiots."
Naturally, the inferno that had been burning away the cat's stamina spread to the nearby bat-headed giants as well.
The Paradox Monster Flame, completely outside my control, used its now-sufficient firepower to rapidly incinerate their stamina.
Six giants and one cat—seven sources of stamina burning at once. The mana radiated by the Paradox Flame rapidly increased the ambient mana density.
As my body absorbed that dense mana, cracking sounds echoed endlessly from within me.
"If this whole place burns down…"
Mana was filling this confined space. The thickened mana in the air would directly make me stronger.
"Then today, let's really play with fire!"
While slowly fighting the burning monsters, I deliberately lured them toward the huts scattered across the field.
Among the creatures that burst out of the huts in the sudden chaos were not only giant bat-heads, but also several bat-headed dwarves.
"Oh, perfect timing."
I wrapped my hand in Paradox Monster Flame, grabbed one dwarf by the head, and hurled it straight into the cluster of monsters.
Then, with Paradox Flame coiled around both legs, I leapt at another dwarf. I stomped down on its torso with both feet, and it couldn't withstand the speed of my body—toppling over as it burned.
Sliding along its body like I was surfing, I drove my spear into its belly and swung it hard, flinging it toward the other monsters pouring out of the huts.
"Hah."
The mana in the air continued to grow denser, and as I absorbed it, the grinding, cracking sounds inside my body only grew louder.
"Burn. All of it."
From every direction, Paradox Monster Flames clung to the monsters' bodies, turning the entire area into a sea of pitch-black fire.