Chapter 141 - Chapter 141

After the hunter had moved far enough away, Soo Jaehee asked

"Hyungs, could Chris Kyle possibly be Galaxaia?"

Kwon Jihan shook his head.

"A greedy thief like that could never be Galaxaia. Last time, Yakov Rumow from the Yangpyeong item market tried to steal Riceball but lost an S-rank skill to my . Now, his organization has become the world's largest hunter group. He would never wish for the world's destruction."

"Oh, that's true. Then why did he come in here?"

"For the treasure chest."

The group turned around. The person who had answered was Jo Mani. Arms crossed and with an unusually sharp expression, he glared at Kwon Jihan.

"An S-rank Red-Black Dungeon treasure chest… how incredible must it be? Maybe another cute, little bird like that one will appear. Seokyoung hopes we'll share the location of the treasure before it falls into a thief's hands."

Soo Jaehee, recalling the previous incident, sighed.

"How many times do I have to tell you there's no such skill? Could it be that uncle entered here for the treasure chest yourself?"

"W-What? No, I have no interest in treasure chests."

Jo Mani glanced nervously at Seo Chaeyoon, who was wearing the white mask.

"We Rainbow guild members all entered, risking our lives for the sake of humanity. Treasure chest? I've never purposely looked for such a thing."

That brazen reply left the whole group speechless.

"And I have something to say to Hunter Seo Chaeyoon."

"Go ahead."

When Yoon Seo answered, Jo Mani suddenly shot a glare at Kwon Jihan.

"Kwon Jihan has a lover."

"…What!?"

Kwon Jihan jumped in surprise, and Soo Jaehee and Hong Euiyoon blinked as they stared at Yoon Seo.

"What nonsense! I don't have a girlfriend or a boyfriend. I swear!"

Kwon Jihan frantically tried to explain himself to Yoon Seo. Jo Mani snorted.

"Hmph, even if it's not a full-blown lover, I know there's someone close enough to you that the cute little bird follows them. Kwon Jihan, you've been flattering Hunter Seo Chaeyoon with your 'angel descending' and 'ideal type' talk, but the truth should be known too. Anyway, what matters is that I'm not interested in the treasure chest at all—I entered the Great Dungeon purely for the sake of humanity. And Kwon Jihan, you have someone close to you. Got it, Seo Chaeyoon?"

"…Yes, I understand."

Overwhelmed by his sheer force, Yoon Seo nodded. Jo Mani, satisfied, spun around and headed back to where his guild members were.

A brief awkward silence passed before Kwon Jihan suddenly became agitated.

"That guy's recklessly turning singles into couples. What if someone who's interested in me misunderstands because they think I'm their type and tries to approach me? What am I supposed to do? I'm single, you know that, right, Hyung? I'm single. I've never even dated anyone, you know that. Don't believe that nonsense. There can't be any misunderstandings."

As Kwon Jihan explained so desperately, Yoon Seo nodded absentmindedly. Hong Euiyoon just thought, "Ah, Kwon Jihan's never dated anyone," and moved on to another topic, but not Soo Jaehee.

'Why are they pretending they're not dating even after Rainbow Uncle left? Oh, they must be hiding it so others don't find out. The adult world is scary…'

Even in the Great Dungeon, Soo Jaehee was lost in his own world of imagination.

***

Soon, the supporters from Seokyoung called the group over, announcing that the meal was ready.

While they ate, more monsters gathered. Blocked by , they howled and surrounded the humans. As time passed, their numbers grew. They tried to break through by ramming the shield, shooting breath attacks, and throwing huge boulders, but they couldn't even reduce 's durability by 1%.

The swamp strategy was to gather and kill.

Until the boss monster was found, the monsters would keep coming, forcing constant battles. It was better to gather them and wipe them out with wide-range skills. That's why Yoon Seo activated , which had the longest cooldown among his skills.

After spending the night in the world's safest shield, they inspected outside early in the morning and found a grotesque number of monsters gathered.

The hadn't gone off yet, but they decided they should do one round of mass extermination. Yoon Seo called together the hunters with wide-range attack skills. They were all top-tier hunters of various kinds.

Peep!

"Aww, how cute. Our Riceball is so chubby."

Peep peep!

"Yeah, you drank a lot of blood, didn't you? You're full. So adorable."

Soo Jaehee, who loved animals, made Riceball even more arrogant, while Hong Euiyoon watched nearby, thinking, 'How is this an item?'

Next to him, Alec was conversing with the lovey-dovey couple.

"What name did you give the baby?"

"For now, we named her 'Lovely Baby Strawberry.'"

"So the nickname is 'Lovely Baby Strawberry'…."

"You can just call her 'Strawberry.' It's my darling's naming sense."

"You named her 'Honey' too, didn't you?"

"Darling…."

"Honey…."

The hunter, Chris Kyle, standing nearby, took a step back. Jo Mani was directing the members of the Rainbow Guild, likely regarding treasure chests.

Yelena Ivanov and Furka Futuru were engaged in a friendly conversation, suggesting they had some prior acquaintance.

When Yoon Seo glanced over, Furka Futuru met his gaze immediately. He nodded first to greet Yoon Seo, who returned the gesture.

Furka Futuru had met Yoon Seo just once, ten years ago. It was when an S-rank flood had occurred in the United States, and S-ranks from various countries had come to help. At that time, Yoon Seo had been the only one wearing a mask, but this time, Furka was also covering the area under his eyes with a mask.

While Yoon Seo had been busy handling wills for the past ten years, Furka had been constantly fighting fiercely. He had sustained facial injuries during a battle years ago, but due to missing the right timing, he hadn't been able to heal and was left with scars.

Most of the people who had worked with Yoon Seo in the past were now unable to fight properly due to injuries. Many had taken on roles as executives in organizations, while those still active were dealing with floods rather than participating in raids. Furka Futuru, however, was still actively engaged in combat. That's why he was called a hero of Africa.

'....'

Yoon Seo bit his lip behind the mask.

He felt too embarrassed to look at him. The difference between this mask and that mask was just too great…

"Hyung, what are you doing?"

"What?"

Yoon Seo turned his head towards Kwon Jihan, who was wearing a rather cold smile.

"Why are you staring at that person so intensely?"

"I just thought it was nice to see his skill after such a long time."

Was it the sleeping giant…? In any case, it had a powerful skill with such a name. Just seeing it made one feel exhilarated.

"So you're answering so confidently, huh?"

"What's there not to be confident about?"

"If you excite me like this, can you handle it?"

"What's there to not handle?"

Kwon Jihan uncrossed his arms and approached Yoon Seo, who was leaning against the armored vehicle. Kwon Jihan stretched his arm over Yoon Seo's head and touched the window of the vehicle, casting a long shadow. As he lowered his head, the distance was uncomfortably close, causing Yoon Seo to furrow his brow.

"Ah! Not here!"

Suddenly, Soo Jaehee barged in between them, flailing his arms.

"As an adult, you should be able to endure this! There are so many eyes watching us, and you're thinking about wall-pressing? Are you crazy?"

"Wall-pressing?"

"Look at all these people staring at us! Both of you, be quiet!"

"Hunter Soo Jaehee is the loudest here."

"What if they notice the two of you? I really can't live because of you guys!"

Soo Jaehee was shouting so loudly that Yoon Seo frowned.

What is the relationship between the two of us, anyway? No, more importantly, because of this guy's voice, it feels like even the new Revengers, who weren't focused on us before, are listening in now…

Because of the excited Soo Jaehee, Kwon Jihan stepped back, and Yoon Seo placed Riceball, which had flown toward him, on his shoulder.

At that moment, Do Deungsoo and Park Soobin, who were tending to the injured, approached the leader group.

"Everyone, please gather."

As Do Deungsoo spoke, the leaders stood there, staring blankly at him.

"Everyone, please gather."

When Park Soobin spoke, the leaders followed the healer's orders like docile sheep.

"People are feeling anxious. Even if they know the plan is to gather everyone and eliminate them, there are too many monsters… They're worried about what will happen if the shield breaks."

Yoon Seo looked out at the monsters.

"There's no chance the shield will break, but I understand their anxiety. Let's start the elimination quickly."

"Who will go first?"

Hong Euiyoon and Yelena both raised their hands eagerly but soon had to lower them with disappointment.

"I'll go first."

It was because Kwon Jihan stepped forward.

Yoon Seo blinked as he gazed at Kwon Jihan. Dark magic swirled in Kwon Jihan's ash-gray eyes.

"Chaeyoon Hyung, how much of the shield is up?"

"…Only 50% is deployed. What are you planning?"

"No, I'm really fired up right now."

Kwon Jihan rolled up his sleeves and turned around, striding confidently toward the boundary of without any hesitation.

"Hyung, I'll cover you."

"No need."

Soo Jaehee, rejected on the spot, pouted. Yoon Seo said.

"Just quietly receive the support from Hunter Soo Jaehee."

"I'll do my best."

To attack the monsters outside of , they had to go outside, so cover was essential. The cover would be provided by summoner Soo Jaehee, who could unleash attack skills from the inside, along with those who possessed ranged skills.

[Soo Jaehee uses the skill .]

Soo Jaehee sent out the summoned fairies to create space for Kwon Jihan to go out.