Chapter 59: 59

Swordmaster Healer – Episode 59

TL: Boko

Editor: Ren

Chapter 20 – Isolation (2)

A short while later, Sung Joon felt relieved as he realized that their eyes meeting had been a simple misunderstanding. He figured out the number of enemies and calmly retreated.

‘A Bitter Cold Magic Sovereign.’

It was an S-rank monster.

He had also seen several A-rank monsters in the vicinity and other S-rank monsters like the ‘Lava War Chief’ or the ‘Storm Monarch.’

‘It’d be better to just throw ourselves into the Boss Room,’ he thought.

There were three S-rank monsters and too many A-rank monsters blocking their path. It also seemed like there were at least twenty B-rank monsters as well.

This wasn’t a ‘group’, but an ‘army’.

‘We can’t win.’

He couldn’t win, even if he fought with Eun Joo. Sung Joon was absolutely sure. He was still stealthed, so he carefully retreated and met up with Eun Joo.

Eun Joo saw Sung Joon reveal himself from the darkness, and asked, “How was it?”

She wasn’t expecting any good news and Sung Joon couldn’t answer positively, so he just shook his head.

“We can’t win. It seems like we’ll have to find a different route,” Sung Joon said.

“Will there be another route?”

“We knew it was different from a normal dungeon when we saw the forked road. Also, the monsters definitely took a detour. There should be another route somewhere,” Sung Joon said positively, but it was just hot air.

“Yes, let’s work hard together,” Eun Joo said brightly, but Sung Joon could see the shadow of despair behind her soft, smiling eyes.

They were isolated in the dungeon. Although she was an S-rank Hunter, she had only cleared normal dungeons up until now, so even for her, this was a first.

It was a similar, but at the same time, different feeling to the fear of death that governed her body.

They bore despair in their hearts, but continued to walk on.

“It’s already midnight.”

Everything was dark, so they had lost their sense of time, but they could at least tracktime through their watches. Sung Joon informed her of the time, and Eun Joo stopped in her tracks.

“It’s already that late?” Eun Joo asked.

Sung Joon nodded and replied, “Yes.”

They had gotten a lot closer than when they had first entered the dungeon, since they had spent difficult times together.

“Let’s find a secure spot and sleep,” Sung Joon suggested.

“Sounds good,” Eun Joo agreed.

The two scouted out the nearby vicinity and at the end, they laid out tin foil-like blankets in a corner of the stone chamber. The blankets looked strange and fragile, but they had an outstanding warming feature built in.

“I’ll keep the first watch,” Eun Joo said.

Hunters often slept out in the open in a dungeon, so they would set a night watch just in case of a monster ambush.  

“No. I think you should rest first, Ms. Eun Joo. You’re really tired today, right?”

Eun Joo had really exhausted herself that day from Sung Joon’s point of view. Until then, she had encountered many horrifying experiences in the newly reported dungeon, so she would obviously be tired.

“Thank you.”

Eun Joo didn’t reject Sung Joon’s goodwill. She had undergone several experiences that day, so it was indeed true that she was really tired.  

She wanted to lay down and rest immediately. Thus, she really appreciated Sung Joon’s offer.

Eun Joo covered herself with her blanket and laid down. From a location slightly further away from her, Sung Joon laid out the Light Drone and activated it.

The two drones patrolled the surrounding area and illuminated the darkness.

“It’s safe,” Rishubalt reported.

The shroud of mana remained, but he could at the very least scout out the inside of the stone chamber alone.

“Good work,” praised Sung Joon.

“I simply performed my duty.” Rishubalt bowed his head.

Behind him, Eun Joo was twisting and turning, unable to easily fall asleep. She twisted and turned for some time until she gave up on sleeping, and stood up.

“Mr. Sung Joon… I can’t fall asleep.”

She approached Sung Joon.

As they had continued their dungeon run, Eun Joo had depleted her stamina and her mind had become unfocused. She was an S-rank Hunter, but this was a first for her, so she didn’t have any tolerance for it.

She was scared.

She was frightened.

She didn’t want to die.

She didn’t speak of her mixed feelings, but she displayed them with her entire body.

“Please don’t worry. Nothing will happen,” Sung Joon comforted the anxious Eun Joo.

If she had just been a normal woman, rather than an S-rank Hunter, she would’ve gone crazy a long time ago.

Even if she was a Hunter, it was remarkable that she had lasted that long.

She had faced unexpectedly strong enemies in the midst of an unending darkness, watched her comrades die, and had been isolated in the dungeon for a few days. These were enough to make even a trained Hunter go crazy.

“Mr. Sung Joon…”

She had been pushed to her limit, so her tenacious spirit had disappeared, replaced by a dependent mindset. Sung Joon grabbed Eun Joo’s hand, who had gotten close, and spoke to her with a calm expression.

“Please get a hold of yourself. As long as I’m here, nothing will happen.”

The calm voice, which conveyed the strength of his conviction, was enough to relax the anxious Eun Joo and she was able to forget about her uneasiness a little.

“I showed you something unsightly,” Eun Joo said.

Even amidst such a difficult time, she chuckled and turned the mood around. Sung Joon smiled at the sight.

“Doesn’t it feel great to laugh? Please keep laughing.”

“I’ll try.”

It might be too much to ask for her to keep laughing in such a difficult situation. Yet, Eun Joo was happy, because she felt Sung Joon’s thoughtfulness.

Despite that, Eun Joo was still shaking. Eun Joo wouldn’t be of any help if her mental state had collapsed.

‘At this rate, she won’t be of any help,’ Sung Joon thought.

Thus, even though it was troublesome, Sung Joon decided to give her some mental care.

“Ms. Eun Joo,” he began.

“Yes?”

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“What are your hobbies?”

It was really out of the blue, but the best way to take care of a distraught individual in the dungeon was to talk about something from the outside. At the very least, it would take their attention away from their current predicament for a small while.

“M-My hobbies?”

Sung Joon had suddenly mentioned hobbies, so were his intentions obvious? Instead of speaking, she laughed.   

Since she was the leader of her own assault team, she also knew about the methods to restore a Hunter’s sanity.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” Eun Joo apologized.

Sung Joon smiled awkwardly, and said, “If you’re sorry, could you at least answer me please? I’m trying really hard…”

The watching Rishubalt looked ecstatic. It was a sight he hadn’t been able to see in Sung Joon’s past self, so he was delighted.

Whenever a battle began or he was provoked, he would closely resemble his past self, but he wasn’t like that normally.

“I enjoy movies and shopping.”

It was a normal answer for a woman in her twenties. Female Hunters had a lot of financial freedom, so shopping was typically a common hobby for them.

Her eyes twinkled, and Eun Joo asked, “What are your hobbies, Mr. Sung Joon?’

“I don’t really have any hobbies.”

“Oh c’mon, you’re no fun,” she replied, cutely, looking askance at him.

Although it was a short conversation, she had regained her vigor. She felt sleepy after easing her tension, so she spread out the blanket beside Sung Joon and laid down.

“Mr. Sung Joon, when we get out of here, let’s watch a movie together.”

“Isn’t that a death flag?*” Sung Joon joked. (*A death flag is a term that means that she’s foreshadowing her own death.)

“I don’t believe in that sort of thing,” she began firmly. “Because we’ll definitely get out of here alive.”

“Of course we will.” Sung Joon smiled.

‘That’s a relief. She’s gotten her energy back,’ he realized.

It seemed that she wouldn’t slow him down in battle now. But she must’ve still felt anxious, as she didn’t fall asleep easily, and so the two Hunters continued to converse until morning.

It was eight o’clock in the morning.

The two pressed on to continue the dungeon assault. Sung Joon diligently led for around thirty minutes, but when he felt several presences in front of him, he stopped.

“Are they monsters?” Eun Joo asked.

Sung Joon nodded his head and spoke.

“It’ll be difficult to avoid them. We have to fight them.”

Sung Joon drew his sword. He didn’t use his aura since the monsters might notice him. He watched the front closely and assumed the optimum posture for his ‘Slash’.

“I’ll use my aura slash to break through their ranks. Then, you can immediately…”

“Rush in.”

“I’ll join you right after.”

They had formulated their plan. Sung Joon prepared his Slash, coating his sword in aura, and the monsters, which had sensed the flow of his mana, advanced.

However, Sung Joon’s aura slash was already ready.

“Slash!” he chanted, and swung his sword in a large arc. His aura slash shot out in a straight line towards the front lines. Eun Joo followed behind the Slash and dashed forward, raising her greatsword, which was clad in a white aura.

The Flame Berserkers that had been hit by Sung Joon’s Slash collapsed, disrupting the monster group’s formation. His aura slash cut through the Flame Berserkers and continued on, separating the rear Ice Snipers’ lower and upper bodies.

“Ha!” Eun Joo cried, and swung her greatsword.

The monsters that had attempted to reform their ranks helplessly fell before her greatsword. Sung Joon utilized his high-speed movement to quickly close the distance. When he grouped up with Eun Joo, they instantly annihilated the more than twenty monsters that remained.

“This seems like the Boss Room,” Eun Joo said.

They had slaughtered the group of monsters and had advanced, but a gigantic iron gate appeared before them. There was definitely a Boss beyond the gate.

“It seems that way.”

“Will it be possible with just us two?”

Sung Joon smiled and said, “Don’t worry. I’m here.”

If need be, he would raise his synchronization to its limits.

“How reassuring.” Eun Joo smiled.

The two forcibly opened the door and their two Light Drones flew inside. However, there was nothing inside.

Eun Joo carefully walked inside, and asked, “Could it be… that there’s no Boss?”

That might’ve been what she wanted. However, Sung Joon shook his head.

“You already know that that’s not possible, right? A-rank monsters poured out of this dungeon. The Bureau had ruled that this dungeon was at A-rank, but we should honestly look at it as an S-rank dungeon.”

Sung Joon controlled the drone via remote control and had it patrol the vicinity. However, he didn’t see anything.

“Is a Shadowless Assassin the Boss?”

“No. While the Shadowless Assassin is classified as a high-tier S-rank monster, its combat abilities are low-ranked. A monster wholly devoted to stealth wouldn’t appear as the Boss of an S-rank dungeon.”

Sung Joon scanned the ceiling. He felt like he had felt a faint presence somewhere, but it wasn’t clear, so he couldn’t trace it.

His anxiousness heavily pressed down on his shoulders.

Sung Joon opened his mouth with a stiff expression.

“If a Boss were to appear… a Spirit King sounds about right.”

Amongst the S-rank monsters, the Spirit King was classified as a common monster. However, it could use several attributes, so its combat ability was equivalent to a high-tier monster.

“A Spirit King would have a stealth ability as well, right?”

“Indeed. After all, it can use the darkness element.”

“Can you grasp its presence?” Eun Joo asked.

Sung Joon shook his head.

“It’s difficult.”

Indeed, it was difficult to sense its presence. He briefly pondered the matter, came to a conclusion, and opened his mouth.

“Ms. Eun Joo, please use your stealth ability. I’ll be the bait.”

“Mr. Sung Joon…”

“I can sense presences better than you, so I’ll be able to respond appropriately.”

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s alright. Please hurry,” Sung Joon urged, and Eun Joo used her item to meld with the darkness.

A short while later, Sung Joon was able to detect a presence.

“Shit!”

Simultaneously, he cursed.

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