F-Class Destiny Hunter

Chapter 17:

Chapter 17

That's what Cheon Gunam’s senses were telling him. He really wanted to know Seo Gangrim’s secret, but that bandage was a problem. His pupils glowed dangerously as he stared at Seo Gangrim., thinking, 'Should I just beat him half to death to confirm?'

At this moment, Seo Gangrim turned around quickly. When their eyes met, Cheon Gunam awkwardly smiled.

"Do you have something to say?" asked Seo Gangrim.

"Um, well... Why does Seo Gangrim-ssi try to do everything alone?"

As he was about to stumble over his words, the question he had always had in mind popped out unintentionally. Seo Gangrim looked at Cheon Gunam calmly and said, "I've been bullied quite a lot."

"You?"

"Yes. Someone accidentally found out my secret and spread it around, causing me a lot of trouble."

Cheon Gunam felt somehow guilty at his story. It was a strange feeling. Seo Gangrim was clearly talking about someone else, but strangely, Cheon Gunam felt a sense of guilt. To hide that strange feeling, he forced a big smile, and said, "Oh, I see. Even so, shouldn't you forget and forgive him? You're the only one who suffers by being alone."

"If I forget, I'll just fall into the same trap again."

Seo Gangrim threw the dead toad's body into the boiling lake nearby. The toad's body sank with a splash.

He then said to Cheon Gunam, "Shouldn't you repay for what you’ve owed or done?"

Hearing those words, Cheon Gunam stiffened slightly. He felt like he'd been caught out, like Seo Gangrim had been told that he was thinking of beating him to death to find out about his Destiny.

'Is he trying to threaten me now?'

After hearing the threatening words, Cheon Gunam felt more anger than fear. Seo Gangrim seemed strong, but not to an unbeatable extent. If that were the case, why would he have brought Cheon Gunam along in the first place? It's unlikely that he'd be able to clear this stage on his own, so he's included Cheon Gunam in the party.

'There will come a time when he'll get tired and let his guard down, and I'll take advantage of that. .......'

Even though Cheon Gunam couldn't check Seo Gangrim’s Destiny Window, he still wanted to show Seo Gangrim the error of his ways.

Seo Gangrim wiped the sweat from his cheeks with the back of his hand, and said, "It seems difficult to explore everything here in one go. Let's just check up to that hill over there and then go back."

When Seo Gangrim pointed a little distance away to a hill, Cheon Gunam nodded silently. He wanted to go back right away, but if he groaned in pain, he felt like he would lose.

They approached the hill where the heat was even more intense due to the hot spring about the size of a small lake near it.

"Is there something in there?"

Cheon Gunam pointed to the center of the hot spring.

In the center was a small rock-like object, sparkling and emitting light.

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"Could that be an ice crystal?"

Chen Gunam couldn't help but smile. He had found something that Seo Gangrim hadn't found after entering this place so many times The only problem now was how to get to the center.

"Let's go there first."

"What are you going to do? How are you going to get over there?"

Instead of answering, Seo Gangrim walked forward.

Cheon Gunam looked at him pitifully.

'Is he just going to cross over like that?'

As they approached the giant hot spring, the demons began to approach them. There were no fire toads, but there were still Fossil Demon.

Seo Gangrim stabbed his sword into the Fossil Demon attacking his leg.

‘Huh? Why is he attacking the Fossil Demon?’

Until just now, Seo Gangrim had been running away from them. He had fought against the Fossil Demon himself, but his attacks did not properly hit them. As Cheon Gunam watched, unwilling to fight, Seo Gangrim twisted the sword that he had stuck into the ground, flipping the Fossil Demon upside down.

-Grrrr......!

As the Fossil Demon struggled, Seo Gangrim stabbed the sword into its center. Its struggle ceased with that single blow. Seo Gangrim then continued to defeat the surrounding them one by one, and as the number of demons around them decreased, Cheon Gunam finally approached Seo Gangrim.

"These Fossil Demon... Weren't they impossible to kill?"

"They can be killed. It's just a bit troublesome."

When he flipped over the Fossil Demon, it looked like a crab and a turtle at the same time.

Unlike its tough exterior, it flipped-side looked soft.

'How did he notice that?'

Cheon Gunam was amazed by Seo Gangrim's insight, but he didn't say it out loud.

In the meantime, Seo Gangrim approached the hot spring and stuck his sword into it.

"Seo Gangrim-ssi, what are you doing?"

"I'm measuring the depth."

When he pulled out the sword, the blade was wet halfway. Seo Gangrim then dragged the corpse of the Fossil Demon and threw it towards the hot spring. The demon made a splash as it got stuck in the hot spring, but it didn't sink completely.

"The hot spring is shallower than I thought. Cheon Gunam-ssi, you should help me.""

After hearing those words, Cheon Gunam finally started to slay the Fossil Demons in a hurry. After a lot of work, a makeshift bridge was formed with the corpses. Seo Gangrim then sat down on a nearby rock, his face tired.

'He must have gotten quite tired from fighting alone earlier.'

The more exhausted Seo Gangrim was, the better it was for Cheon Gunam.

By now, the bridge was about halfway completed. Since the Fossil Demon was quite heavy, it seemed difficult to make a bridge any longer.

"Cheon Gunam-ssi."

At that moment, Seo Gangrim noticed something and stood up abruptly.

"It seems like the fire toads are coming," he said, looking over the hills.

Sure enough, the fire toads were gathering.

Cheon Gunam tightly held his sword and glanced at the bridge behind him.

- Grrrr!

The fire toads started rushing towards them, and Seo Gangrim charged to meet the demons. Meanwhile, Cheon Gunam started running in the opposite direction. Just as Seo Gangrim was about to say something, he was suddenly surrounded by fire toads and couldn't say a word.

'You idiot.'

Leaving Seo Gangrim as bait, Cheon Gunam ran towards the center of the hot spring. Stepping on the corpse of the Fossil Demon, he quickly approached the center.

"I have to get the ice crystal first!"

After Seo Gangrim successfully conquered the Sword Mountain, people looked at him with respectful eyes. As for Cheon Gunam, he coveted those gazes. If he could be the first to conquer the Fire Hell stage...

"If I can get it first...!"

The bridge was reaching its end, but there was no time to hesitate any longer. The center wasn't too far away. Cheon Gunam stepped into the hot spring.

"...!"

It felt like his legs were on fire, but it wasn't unbearable. He gritted his teeth and crossed the hot spring, reaching the rock in the center.

'Heuk, heuk...'

Most of his pants melted away, and his flesh felt like it was burning, but it didn't matter. With a pained smile, he picked up the shining object in the center of the rock. It had a soft, squishy texture.

"...What is this?"

The texture was strange for ice. Looking closely, it looked like a glowing pearl, but the texture was soft. It definitely wasn't ice or a crystal.

It was, in fact, a fire toad's egg.

-Krrrrrr!

Cheon Gunam disturbed the fire toad's nest, and as a result, the fire toads that were attacking Seo Gangrim all stopped at once. Then, they all turned their bodies towards the center of the hot spring. Their attack priority had changed because their eggs were in danger.

The fire toads started rushing towards the center, making Cheon Gunam panick, and he shouted, "Seo, Seo Gangrim, please help!"

It was not a time to consider pride or anything else. Unfortunately for him, Seo Gangrim ignored his plea and continued walking in the opposite direction.

"Seo Gangrim! Seo Gangrim! Hey, you bastard!"

No matter how much Cheon Gunam called, Seo Gangrim didn't seem to hear him and didn't stop walking. In an instant, the fire toads swarmed around Cheon Gunam.

* * *

In the distance, Cheon Gunam's screams could be heard.

"The first step is successful."

Seo Gangrim brushed off the mud from his body and moved his feet to a nearby safe area.

'I thought I would have to give Cheon Gunam a hard time, but he managed to crawl into the hot spring on his own.'

He recalled Cheon Gunam's wild behavior while plaing the fire toad's corpse on a rock.

'Now, on to the second step.'

After cutting off the fire toad's head, Seo Gangrim began to dismember it.

There were various ways to conquer the Fire Hell.

The fire toads were attracted to the ice crystals because of their extremely low temperature. Before reaching the entrance, the ice would melt or be taken away by the fire toads clinging to the ankles. However, that didn't mean there were no strategies to overcome this. For someone with high agility, after finding the ice crystals, they could take a detour through a safe zone to conquer the stage. If one had confidence in their offensive power, they could defeat all the fire toads first and then take the ice crystals.

‘And there are other methods as well.’

When Seo Gangrim opened the fire toad's belly, a repulsive smell emerged along with heat. He furrowed his brows and took out the intestines.

[Item] Blended Oil

[Rank] Insect Third-class

[Description] Oil obtained from fire toads. It is a versatile therapeutic agent. It can also be used like regular oil.

Seo Gangrim squeezed out the oil and applied it to the burn marks all over his body. It stung a little, but soon the red scars began to slowly fade away.

‘It has a strong smell, but it's effective for burns.’

He applied the oil all over his body and disemboweled the rest of the fire toads to obtain the required amount of oils. He then stored the remaining corpses after removing their shells separately. Fire toad leather had excellent heat insulation properties, so if ice was placed inside the leather, it would hardly melt. After putting the oil and fire toad leather in his bag, Seo Gangrim came out.

‘Now I just need to go to where the crystal ice is located.’

However, it would be difficult to get there while fighting numerous demons. Therefore, Seo Gangrim planned to avoid the fire toads.

[The ability 'Radiant Flame' is activated!]

In an instant, a small fireball formed in his hand. Within this place, fire-based abilities were not particularly useful for offense, but they could be used in ways other than for attacking.

-Whoosh!

Seo Gangrim ignited his body, and small flames spread throughout his body following the oil he had applied. His ability, 'Radiant Flame', only provided Seo Gangrim with a comfortable warmth and didn't cause any damage. After turning his whole body into a fireball, Seo Gangrim approached the hot spring where the fire toads revealed themselves.

-Ribbit?

Normally, the fire toads would rush towards him, but this time, they showed no reaction. It was as if they couldn't see Seo Gangrim at all.