Chapter 171 (1/2)
Chapter 171 – Sungjin’s Dream (3)
“Roaar~”
An immense hairy yeti charged at the past Sungjin who swung his sword in retaliation. Sungjin watched over his new past self with his arms crossed. The way this Sungjin wielded his blade or reacted to enemy attacks was not particularly different from his past self or the current him.
However, the weapon was different. He was wielding a sword that gave off a silver aura instead of the scarlet Blood Vengeance, or the blue-tinged glow of Moon Specter.
‘Is it… made of silver?’
Seeing that a few swings of the sword had effortlessly cut the yeti’s arm into slices, which were as thick as logs, it was easy to guess that the sword was at minimum a legendary tier weapon. In the midst of battle, one of the team members shouted,
“Shit! There’s Ice Trolls behind us.”
Just as his past self turned around, a pack of trolls holding massive clubs appeared.
“There’s too many…”
The hunters were surrounded by the trolls. Sungjin’s past self looked around the area, then held up his sheath as he shouted,
“Divine Protection of the Tiger Chieftain.”
The pair of tigers engraved on the sheath came out as spirits and paced around Sungjin. Finally, the fight began. The past Sungjin was the focus of the troll pack’s attacks, but each time, the tiger spirits would swing their paws and protect him.
“Roar!”
The dreaming Sungjin thought,
‘That skill… I’ve never even seen anyone else use that before…’
Though it seemed as if Sungjin’s party had fallen into a critical situation, the fight was easier than expected.
“Ring of Fire”
This discrepancy between the expected outcome and reality was due to the efficiency of his past self and Edward’s magic. After the fight was over, his past self swung his sword downwards through the air to remove the blood before sheathing it, like he had always done. When the dreaming Sungjin saw this, he thought,
‘… Even the habits are the same… It’s definitely me, but… Just how did this happen?’
Sungjin thought to himself that he wanted to see his second meeting with Edward. The moment he finished the thought, the scene changed.
“Ohh, Sungjin, you’re still alive.”
“Edward, you too… It’s nice to see you again.”
The dreaming Sungjin looked around the area. The area seemed to be the Great Plains of Barrastan.
‘Again… It’s different.’
According to his memories, the place that he had met Edward was not here, but at a later chapter. Edward asked his past self,
“So, how have you been? From when we met until now?”
“Well… The monsters were more or less do-able… But I nearly died the last chapter to a troll.”
“Ahh… Trolls…”
His past self shook his head as he said,
“Just what’s up with these retarded rules? To make us have to divide contribution amongst the comrades that we had fought together with. It’s not just a few hunters that are dying because of these trolls.”
“Indeed… But we can’t do anything about it. Since it’s like this, we can only do our best.”
The past Sungjin was still wearing the sword engraved with tigers. It was here that Sungjin came to a conclusion.
‘This… It’s definitely a past that I don’t remember… Then this means…’
Sungjin then thought to himself that he wanted to see Edward’s death. Soon, the scene changed. Edward was standing in a dark and gloomy prison. The moment Sungjin saw this, he thought,
‘This is… Chapter 18… Ser’corist Prison…’
According to what Sungjin remembered, Edward did not die here. He then looked around the area. There were five people, but one of them had a bluish body. When Sungjin saw this, he muttered,
‘… Ghost.’
A ghost was a type of substitute that appeared when there was an empty spot when dividing the hunters into teams of five. For example, if there were 24 hunters remaining, four of the parties would be fine, but there would be one party that had only four people.
It was then that a ‘ghost’ with a human appearance would appear and fill up that empty spot. Sungjin did not know if it was because his own luck was good, but he had never been in a party with one. However, according to others who had partied with a ‘ghost’, it was impossible to communicate with one and its abilities were slightly below that of the hunters.
According to their words, the ‘ghost’ was a hunter from the past that the Operator had ‘summoned’, but even they did not know exactly what that meant.
In any case, for there to be a ‘ghost’ in this party meant that Edward’s death was completely different from the death that Sungjin remembered. The man at the very front turned his head as he said,
“Is everyone mentally prepared?”
However, he was someone familiar. The man was Illich from the final ten hunters.
‘Illich…’
In response to his words, a black man holding a spear hesitated before saying,
‘Hey, do we really have to do this? We’re the final four people. If we fail, then all of humanity will suffer. Let’s leave alone the Hidden Boss and finish the raid.”
It was the first time that Sungjin had ever seen this man’s face yet it was he who had identified himself as one of ‘the final 4’. Sungjin thought,
‘Then that means… As I thought… This raid… Is an event that occurred after my death.’
Edward said in response,
“Actually, that’s the reason why we have to kill the Hidden Boss. The reason that we could only make it this far is because we weren’t strong enough.”
Illich also spoke up.
“Yeah. What he said is right. In any case, if we can’t even clear this, then we can’t clear the next chapter. Let’s give it a try.”
The last remaining individual was an Asian man who was dual wielding two swords like himself. However, the man was bald and instead had a beard. This was also someone that Sungjin saw for the first time. The man stroked his beard as he said,
“Yeah, whether we die this way or the other… Let’s at least give it a try.”
The man holding the spear was still afraid, but the other three had made up their minds to give it a try. The ‘ghost’ had no say in this matter. Finally, Illich pulled down the lever.
‘ChiChiChiChiChiChiChi’
Soon, along with the clatter of chains, the iron door in front of them began to open.
‘ChiChing!’
After a while, the sound of the chains stopped, and a groan filled with both fury and agony could be heard from the inside.
“Grooooooooar”
The four hunters nervously searched their surroundings as they entered the prison. The moment they entered, the door shut noisily.