“Kanghyun. Honestly, just get down now and swing your sword at least. Okay?”
Kang Yujun pleaded. But Lee Kanghyun shook his head firmly.
“I’m a healer. How can a healer fight?”
“What kind of healer are you? Stop lying already.”
“I’m healing you right now. I’m taking care of you mentally. Mental healing.”
“Don’t spout nonsense! Ah, seriously!”
It was when Kang Yujun clutched his chest in frustration. The mud on the ground wriggled, and suddenly a snake as large as a giant anaconda shot up.
It opened its mouth wide and immediately aimed for Kang Yujun’s leg. Due to the weight on his back, Kang Yujun couldn’t react in time.
Lee Kanghyun’s brow furrowed slightly. That’s gonna hurt if it bites him. I should repay him for this much at least.
He lifted the Epic-grade longsword he was holding. The end of the scabbard struck the snake’s forehead just as it was springing up.
Thwack!
With a dull sound, the giant snake staggered. Not missing the opening, Kang Yujun sent a blade made of water flying to slash the snake’s neck. The snake’s head fell off with a thud and disappeared into the mud.
“What was that just now? Did you do that?”
Lee Kanghyun feigned innocence and buried his face back into Kang Yujun’s back.
“What? I didn’t do anything.”
Kang Yujun let out a hollow laugh as if absurd, but he didn’t nag him to get down anymore. He just gave up. Lee Kanghyun smiled victoriously and rested his chin on Kang Yujun’s shoulder. He earnestly hoped the rest of the journey could continue this comfortably.
Time passed, and even as the snake corpses piled into mountains with purple blood flowing over them like a river, Lee Kanghyun remained in pristine condition.
“Hey, Lee Kanghyun. You’re really heavy. Lose some weight.”
“Why does an S-rank Hunter have such terrible stamina? You need to work out more.”
“Just wait till you get down. I’m gonna work you to death.”
Kang Yujun ground his teeth as he spoke. But his threat sounded hollow. Because both he knew and Lee Kanghyun knew that he couldn’t shake him off right now. The snakes were still swarming endlessly, and he had to swing his water whip without rest.
At a sharp presence, Kang Yujun turned his head to the left. A cobra-type monster with an inflated neck pouch was about to spit venom. Kang Yujun quickly created a water shield to block the venom. Hisss— a white steam rose with the sound.
Kang Yujun gathered mana into his sword hand and struck the ground hard.
KWAANG—!
The ground twisted. The water that burst forth immediately swept all around. The swarm of snakes that had densely filled the view were swept away by the current without even a chance to scream.
Area cleared. Now only the boss remained.
Huu. Catching his breath, Kang Yujun tapped the arms wrapped around his neck.
“You gonna keep doing that?”
Nod nod. Lee Kanghyun buried his face into Kang Yujun’s shoulder as if telling him not to talk to him anymore.
“Fine. Got it.”
Kang Yujun said gently. Then he grabbed Lee Kanghyun’s waist firmly.
I should just throw him off.
Just as he had made up his mind and was about to forcibly peel off the limpet on his back—
A heavy vibration was felt from deep within the cave. It was an aura on a completely different level from the small fry. Sensing it, Kang Yujun stopped moving and stared straight ahead. Two giant red glows gleamed in the darkness.
It was the appearance of the boss monster.
Lee Kanghyun also slowly raised his head.
“Grrrrr….”
A body the size of a small building gradually revealed itself. Vertically slit amber eyes stared at the two of them.
It was a giant cobra covered entirely in pitch-black scales. Rather than a snake, it was closer to a dragon in form.
As it lowered its body as if coiling for a strike, Kang Yujun layered water membranes to create a shield. At the same time, the boss swung its tail once and struck down the water shield.
KWAANG!
Kang Yujun’s body was pushed back by the shockwave.
“Kuk!”
Even in the moment he lost his balance and staggered, Kang Yujun curled his body to protect Lee Kanghyun on his back. But in that instant, the weight disappeared from his back.
Before the startled Kang Yujun could even turn his head—
Thud.
Lee Kanghyun, who had lightly landed on the ground, stood as if blocking Kang Yujun’s front. His always hunched back was now perfectly straight.
His unfocused, dazed eyes remained the same.
This is so annoying.
Ah, so annoying… I want to go home.
Just as the boss monster was about to spew venom, Lee Kanghyun adjusted his grip on the longsword in his hand. The sword was still undrawn from its scabbard.
Soon Lee Kanghyun’s body disappeared. He dove into the monster’s space at a speed too fast to follow with the eyes.
If it were Kang Yujun, he would easily handle a boss like this. Lee Kanghyun knew this fact too. There was no need for him to step up.
However, according to his fighting style, he would slash the boss monster’s body with his sword, and then various bodily fluids would spray like a fountain…. Lee Kanghyun stopped thinking. He felt like he was going to vomit.
Better if I handle this cleanly myself.
Lee Kanghyun instantly flew up above the apartment-sized boss’s head and struck down with the scabbard directly onto its head.
KWANG!
With a tremendous roar, the entire cave shook.
The boss monster’s giant head was smashed into the ground, cracking the surface. Both its hard scales and skull shattered together.
A cloud of dust billowed up thickly all around.
Kang Yujun stared at the scene blankly. He wondered if this was really the same lazy Lee Kanghyun who had been clinging to his back whining and backseat driving just moments ago.
As the dust slowly settled, Lee Kanghyun’s figure was revealed, squatting lightly on top of the monster’s head.
He still had an expression thoroughly covered in annoyance, with the scabbard casually resting on his shoulder.
The boss monster convulsed with its eyes rolled back, its head buried in the ground. It seemed to have a concussion. When Lee Kanghyun struck down once more with a thwack, it trembled and then died.
“Ah, dust.”
Lee Kanghyun waved his hand in front of his face with a frown. At that nonchalant voice, Kang Yujun snapped back to his senses.
“You… what was that just now?”
“What?”
“You said you’re a healer. But jumping up to that height like it’s nothing and smashing the boss’s head with a scabbard—is that something a healer does?”
“Whether I’m a healer or not, so what? It’s none of your business.”
Lee Kanghyun genuinely seemed not to care.
He came down from atop the boss’s head. He jumped down lightly from a height of at least 5 meters and landed easily.
Lee Kanghyun’s body melted limply as he came down. Staggering toward Kang Yujun, he buried his head into his shoulder.
The flustered Kang Yujun firmly supported Lee Kanghyun and examined him.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?”
“Mm….”
Lee Kanghyun replied weakly and leaned even deeper into him.
Kang Yujun asked Lee Kanghyun urgently.
“Where? Where does it hurt?”
“I want to go home….”
“…Ha.”
Instantly at a loss for words, Kang Yujun burst into a hollow laugh. He said it hurt, so his heart had sunk thinking something was really wrong, but it was just whining about wanting to go home.
He looked down at the back of Lee Kanghyun’s head as he drooped against his shoulder.
He wondered if this was really the same owner of that monstrous strength who had just shattered a building-sized boss monster’s head with a single scabbard. Lee Kanghyun was truly an unpredictable person.
Maybe he’s not human but an alien… Even such absurd thoughts crossed his mind.
“Lee Kanghyun. What the hell are you really? And what’s with that strength?”
“I don’t know. I’m just sturdy. I’m a healer, so when you keep healing, your body gets sturdy and stuff.”
It was absurd sophistry. The logic that healing makes you stronger had never been reported anywhere in hunter academia. But asking Lee Kanghyun for a logical explanation now would obviously only return nonsense mixed with annoyance.
Kang Yujun let out a deep sigh and patted Lee Kanghyun’s back.
“Yeah, must be nice being sturdy. Really ridiculously sturdy. We caught the boss, so now collect the loot.”
“You collect it….”
“I’m drained from killing hundreds of snakes earlier. So you go extract the Magic Stone.”
At those words, Lee Kanghyun straightened up and raised an eyebrow. This bastard?
It made no sense that he was completely drained from just that. What a scam.
“I caught the boss.”
“You finished it in an instant. I fought for a long time.”
A tense standoff continued. Neither seemed to have any intention of backing down.
At the glare directed at him, the corner of Kang Yujun’s mouth twitched slightly. He was actually tired, but not to the point where he couldn’t move. He didn’t have much aversion to slicing open the boss’s body and extracting the Magic Stone. Right now, he just wanted to tease Lee Kanghyun a bit more.
And Lee Kanghyun fell perfectly for Kang Yujun’s provocation. He was seriously considering whether to hit Kang Yujun. Telling me to touch and cut open that disgusting thing… He shook his head in disgust.
“Ah, no way. I have a weak stomach. You wanna see me puke while cutting that thing open?”
Lee Kanghyun pointed at the boss monster’s corpse and frowned deeply. Indeed, the boss’s appearance with its head blown apart was grotesque beyond words. Kang Yujun deliberately put on a stern expression and said,
“How can someone with a weak stomach be a hunter? And I saw you earlier—you beat it down just fine. Stop pretending and go extract the Magic Stone.”
“You can just control water and pull it out. I have to cut it open with my own hands.”
Hmm. He couldn’t refute that. Kang Yujun’s eyes narrowed.
But it seemed boring to just give in so easily. He crossed his arms and grinned mischievously.
“I’m not doing it.”
“What?”
“You do it. You caught it. Don’t you know the hunter rule? The person who catches it gets the Magic Stone.”
“What kind of rule is that!”
“There is one. I just made it up.”
Lee Kanghyun’s frown deepened. He seriously considered two options.
- Beat up Kang Yujun to make him listen.
- Give up on the Magic Stone and go home.
Option 1 seemed annoying because even moving to beat him up felt like too much effort.
Option 2 was attractive, but if he didn’t collect the Magic Stone, he’d have gone through all this trouble and not earned a single penny. That was unfair.
“Hey.”
Lee Kanghyun called out quietly.
“What.”
“You made a promise with me earlier.”
“What? What promise?”
“You said if my hands shake, you’d feed me for the rest of my life.”
“Why are you bringing that up now?”
“Because my hands are shaking right now?”
Lee Kanghyun raised the hand not holding the sword. And very intentionally, very exaggeratedly, he shook it. It was the same hand that hadn’t moved a muscle when shattering the boss monster’s head.
“Oh no, my hand. I think my muscles are shocked. I can’t move a single finger. Ah, this is serious. How am I supposed to extract the Magic Stone?”
At the acting tone like reading a textbook, Kang Yujun’s lips twitched.
“Hey, you… where the hell did you sell your conscience?”
Finally, laughter burst from Kang Yujun.
“Ha… Fine. I lost, I lost.”
He shook his head and extended his hand toward the boss monster’s corpse.
“But you’re buying dinner. Korean beef.”
“You’re grilling it.”
“I really wanna hit you just once.”
Who’s he to say that? If anyone, it’s me. Lee Kanghyun grumbled inwardly.
Blue mana rose from Kang Yujun’s fingertips. A stream of water stretched out sharply and cleanly sliced open the boss’s chest. The Magic Stone, extracted cleanly without a single drop of blood spilled, floated up and flew into Kang Yujun’s grasp.
“Here you go, young master.”
He tossed the Magic Stone. Lee Kanghyun reflexively reached out and caught it. The exaggeration about his hands shaking from earlier had completely disappeared—they were perfectly fine.
