# Chapter 74
## Stranded
Whoosh!
As a moderate amount of flame spewed out in front of Taesung, the flying bats fell one by one, spreading a smell like burning hair.
Boom! Bang!
Lee Hwan rapidly fired his Dolpeung, altering the trajectory of the bullets or lowering gravity to completely blow up the bats that were flying in to avoid the flames. Unlike the corpses that had been roasted by Taesung’s flames, the bats hit by the bombs fell to the ground with their flesh split open and bleeding.
“Ugh…”
When he inadvertently let out a groan, the man fighting in front of him turned his head with ghostly awareness. Damn, he shouldn’t let that guy worry about him.
Lee Hwan shook his head vigorously to regain his composure and fired another round. The angle at which it flew was almost artistic. Taesung only turned his gaze away after four bats burst at once.
Screech! Squeak! Squeak!
Boom!
The battle ended in less than 10 minutes. It was thanks to most of the monsters being scorched by fire. If he had fought alone, it wouldn’t have been difficult, but it certainly would have been quite annoying. Lee Hwan suddenly realized how peaceful and sweet dungeon trips with him had been during those peaceful times before his regression.
But then was then, and now is now.
‘Sorry, bus driver. This passenger is leaving now.’
While Taesung was checking the monsters by setting fire to moving ash piles, Lee Hwan had already been backing away and suddenly turned around, putting strength into his calves. And then…
Whoosh!
Time to run! With a sudden leap and using Spatial Control to greatly reduce the resistance at his starting point, his body shot forward almost like a rocket. Lee Hwan felt his heart pounding wildly as he ran with full strength in his legs to avoid crashing into walls.
He hadn’t even asked Taesung to go around the gate with him, yet he felt somehow guilty about running off without him. Was that why? Through the hissing sound of the wind, he thought he faintly heard Taesung’s voice.
‘Don’t listen. Don’t worry about it, Joo Lee Hwan.’
Urging himself inwardly, Lee Hwan hurriedly escaped through a fork in the path he had memorized in advance.
After entering, they had passed numerous forks. If he had to search through each one, the possibilities weren’t small, so as long as he didn’t make loud noises, Taesung wouldn’t easily find him.
Lee Hwan opened the bag he had brought and took out a device about the size of a mobile phone. The water vein detector turned on with a beep, and soon a simple zigzag graph appeared on the small screen.
‘That spot where the graph shows a large watercourse even though there isn’t even the sound of water… I need to find it within 10 minutes at the latest.’
It was uncertain whether this would work here. No matter how high the possibility, a guess was still a guess. However, it was also true that he hadn’t found a better method.
Lee Hwan frantically scanned the walls and wandered around dead ends, searching for suspicious spaces. But no matter where he went, the graph remained quiet, and if the readings suddenly spiked, his sensitive hearing could pick up the faint sound of water, suggesting it was near a cave lake.
He needed to hurry. Having fled silently during the battle, Taesung would surely stop advancing and search for him. He had always taken all combat situations seriously and greatly disliked impulsive actions in gates. By now, he’d be flashing east and west trying to catch and punish him.
‘This way leads to the lake, so I can’t tell. I need to go another way…’
If he went back the way he came, he’d be discovered immediately. Though he instinctively sensed that Taesung might already be on that path, Lee Hwan had few options left.
Finally, he turned around, muffling his footsteps and narrowing his stride. He moved while pressed against the wall, listening carefully and examining his surroundings. Maintaining his guard, he crept forward step by step, all the while keeping his eyes on the detector.
After walking for some time, he finally reached another dead end where the detector showed an ominous reaction.
‘It’s really showing up.’
A space in the cave with completely dry walls and no sound of water. A fluctuating water vein graph. This was the place.
He was lucky. There had been two suspicious gates, and fortunately, it was precisely this one. Where to search and how to find the mechanism, and then how to activate it—that was the only remaining concern.
If it could be easily found with the naked eye, the numerous people who had passed through here wouldn’t have failed to discover it. This meant he needed a more unique approach, but he couldn’t just randomly mess around near the mechanism and risk ruining everything…
While turning the water vein detector around in all directions and examining the screen, Lee Hwan suddenly noticed that the graph’s fluctuations reached their peak in one corner. So it’s this way? Just as he was tempted—
“Stop.”
A low, chilling voice brushed his ears, and Lee Hwan was startled, his shoulders going stiff.
“Put that down and turn around.”
As he tried to put down the detector, he felt hot heat from behind. As if warning him that any rash movement would result in a flame shower.
He was screwed. Lee Hwan dropped his head.
Couldn’t he have shown up a little later? Why did he have to find him now? Lee Hwan raised his hands roughly while still holding the device and slowly turned around.
Taesung stood with his arms crossed, looking so relaxed that he seemed like someone who had been waiting there all along. Perhaps he had been watching to see what he was up to.
“…I’ll explain.”
“No need. Walk over here.”
So there was no room for excuses. Having been caught in the act while trying to pull a fast one, he would likely have his arm twisted behind his back and be dragged straight out of the gate the moment he was caught.
After that, he would never be allowed back into this gate. Even if he had to open up some of his plans in front of this guy, he needed to prevent that situation at all costs.
“No, you need to hear my explanation first.”
“Does it need to get worse before you come to your senses?”
“It won’t get worse. Do you think I’d talk about the negligence of several people that got me in here?”
The fireball floating beside him flickered largely, emitting heat. Lee Hwan flinched but didn’t back down, staring him down firmly.
“For the past few months, I’ve been uncovering the profitability of unopened gates and numerous hidden rooms in each gate. As you know, I’ve prevented gate accidents, never caused them.”
“You’re twisting your words slyly. As if you’re rummaging through gates purely to prevent accidents.”
Sharply catching the nuance, Taesung jerked his chin toward himself as if there was nothing more to hear. Simultaneously, the fireball moved closer, signaling that this was the final warning.
“It’s already been approved by your superior, so it’s problematic if you keep making an issue of it.”
“He wouldn’t have approved of this kind of unpredictable situation.”
“If the outcome is good, isn’t the process irrelevant? Just like how you’re squeezing into and sitting in that ridiculous gathering.”
Boom!
As Lee Hwan quickly dodged, the wall where he had been standing burned black and crumbled. Looking ahead in shock, he saw Taesung walking with flames encircling him, his eyes blazing. As if what he had just said had greatly upset him.
“Con… conflicts between hunters within a gate are strictly prohibited.”
“Hunters? Where is there a hunter here besides me?”
There’s one unregistered criminal though. Lee Hwan could easily catch that implication at the end of his words.
‘Crazy, why is he suddenly losing his mind and making a fuss?’
As Lee Hwan quickly backed away, blue flames again erupted from where he had been standing. Hot! Unknowingly muttering, he nullified the space in front of Taesung’s feet, causing him to stumble briefly before he ignited an even larger flame in response.
Simultaneously, boom! With an even louder sound, an explosion skill hit the cave wall. Having barely rolled to avoid the attack, Lee Hwan hurriedly drew out his Dolpeung, shouldered it, and launched three or four small bombs.
Bang! Boom!
The bombs exploded before they could even reach Taesung, engulfed by flames. As the nimble and solid body approached like it was about to take flight, Lee Hwan quickly twisted his legs to dodge and suddenly pressed down on his head with gravity.
An explosion of a different scale missed Lee Hwan and burst far away. Though his body shook and the attack went astray, it was as if it had never been aimed directly at him in the first place. As Lee Hwan stumbled from the aftershock, a fireball rose right in front of him.
‘This…!’
Damn. The space was too narrow. If it had been just a bit wider, he could have bounced around with his ability and delivered a punch to that solid jaw. Strangely, whenever he confronted Taesung, he always found himself at a disadvantage, which greatly annoyed him.
It was then.
Rumble—crack!
Something unexpected happened. The floor began to crack around the area where the attack had directly hit.
“Kuk!”
Before he could assess the situation, Lee Hwan tried to jump up immediately. But at the same time, the part he was standing on collapsed, and before he could do anything, his body fell sharply downward.
‘What is this…!’
In that split second, he flailed his arms but couldn’t grab onto anything. He tried to step on anything and hold on, but it only slowed his falling speed a little. Unfortunately, his ability couldn’t create footholds in midair.
And… the fall.
His heart sank. As his view changed rapidly, stretching out like slow motion, Lee Hwan could see a large figure leaping in front of him. It was Taesung, falling with him as the floor collapsed even more while trying to catch him.
Thump!
Just as Taesung’s hand was about to grab Lee Hwan, a large rock hit him on the head. His eyes, glimpsed fleetingly, rolled back white.
‘No…!’
Unlike Lee Hwan, who had decelerated with Spatial Control, the unconscious Taesung’s body fell rapidly. Even in the midst of the fall, Lee Hwan urgently expanded his designated space to the maximum using his ability.
“Cough…!”
His insides twisted in an instant, filling his mouth with the metallic taste of blood. Blood he couldn’t swallow spilled from the corners of his mouth. His solar plexus tightened painfully.
‘No, please!’
Lee Hwan strained with all his might and released his ability to its fullest. His vision blurred dizzily several times, and when his space finally reached Taesung, Lee Hwan increased the gravity around him to fall rapidly and approach him. Then, extending his arm like he was swimming, he grabbed the limp body.
Lee Hwan twisted his body as much as possible to hold Taesung tightly and struggled several more times to position himself under him. It was an instinctive judgment that it would be better for him to be crushed than the unconscious Taesung.
Just a few seconds after the floor collapsed. The embraced body fell toward the water’s edge, and time, which had been flowing slowly, instantly returned to its normal pace.
As the loud sound of wind brushed his ears and the ground drew terrifyingly close… suddenly, Taesung’s limp body tensed, and hot arms wrapped around Lee Hwan.
Splash!
His body bounced once as it slammed into the ground. Despite this, the pain was dull and muted. When he opened his eyes, he found Taesung somehow wrapped around him, lying beneath him.
He had lost consciousness again and was shallowly submerged in the lapping water.
