— This…
— You ugly, filthy man! — Ronald hollered in frustration.
'No, what are you talking about?' Kang Yu had defeated them fair and square.
Even if he had cheated by shouting out a fake technique name, it was Ronald's own stupidity that led him to be fooled by such a childish trick.
'What's nasty and dirty about that?'
Ronald was the nasty one, for leading a whole group of five people to go against Kang Yu.
'I wonder if that manhwa character felt the same way when he had to defend against a party all on his own.'
If that was the case, then he must have felt injustice.
Kang Yu brushed off the thought, not wanting to lament about it anymore, and formed another spherical charge of Magi to launch at the sweet couple.
— Oh, by the way.
— Uh, what?
— Hmm…
Kang Yu waved his hand, and the balloon of Magi evaporated.
As soon as the balloon disappeared, hope reappeared in Ronald and Raina's eyes.
— I'm worried about your equipment.
It was clear that Ronald's equipment wasn't cheap.
Kang Yu would never wear it because of its flashy appearance, but if he sold it through Young-ju, he could make some good money.
'Especially that golden sword.' Seeing it in action, it was easy to tell it was a high-end item. 'I wonder how much money I'd get from selling it…'
Kang Yu eyed Ronald's equipment and licked his lips eagerly.
— What a terrible person! — Ronald exclaimed, realizing that Kang Yu was already planning to sell the equipment of someone he was about to kill.
Kang Yu could care less about the guy's remarks, and created weapons using the Dark Spear Power.
'It's enough to stab him in the throat with a spear.' Kang Yu approached Ronald with these thoughts in mind, when suddenly, a notification sounded.
[It's been confirmed that a non-called creature has passed through the Gate.]
[System will remove now the foreign creatures.]
— Huh…? — Along with the unexpected notification, the bodies of Ronald and his party members became semi-transparent.
Even though Kang Yu hurriedly threw a spear at the guy, it flew through the translucent body and stuck in the ground.
— Oh shit! — Kang Yu cursed.
Kang Yu wasn't happy to look at the notices that came in.
'Why now?'
How dare the system let the foreign creatures in and make them disappear so suddenly!? The system was at fault.
Kang Yu, angry, kicked at the innocent soil and just watched with a sour look as the whole party dissolved right before his eyes.
[Foreign creatures successfully removed by the system.]
— Ugh… — Kang Yu took a deep breath.
'Just a second.' Before he could exhale, Kang Yu hurriedly turned his head towards the place where Echidna was.
For a moment, Kang Yu thought the system would also bring Echidna back to her place of origin along with the 'foreign creatures.'
— Phew, — Kang Yu breathed quietly when he saw Echidna, still lying there and watching him.
Fortunately, Echidna hadn't disappeared.
'What kind of 'system' is this?' Kang Yu remembered that on his first day on Earth, he had also encountered the system. 'Some kind of protection from… the outside world?'
It could probably be roughly compared to Earth's atmosphere protecting the planet from meteor collisions.
It was the most likely explanation, considering the few known facts.
'There was a system error when the gate opened.'
Kang Yu definitely remembered that the gate opened to some place called RNO, which caused a system error that prevented closing the gate to the outside world.
'I wonder if this has anything to do with the recent appearance of Hell's creatures at the Gates.'
The appearance of unknown monsters began only recently.
Judging by the timing…
— Huh? — That's when Kang Yu had a theory.
'The moment Hell's creatures start appearing is about the same time I returned to Earth.' The probability that other monsters entered the gate because of the system malfunction he created was quite high.
— If that's true… — Kang Yu paused in perplexity. — Is it me who's causing the system malfunction? —
Based on the timing, that theory was possible.
— Oh… — Kang Yu, baffled by these thoughts, put a hand on his head.
It was making him feel a little uncomfortable.
'Isn't there any way to restore the system?' In the current situation, the best thing to do was correct the error.
But he didn't even know what the 'system' is or where it is, so it was impossible to come up with a plan.
'Right now, the only thing I can do is catch as many Hellcats as possible.'
Even if what he was doing was merely bailing water from a sinking ship, there was no other method at the moment.
Kang Yu concluded it would be a good idea to ask Young-ju what she knew about the system, and went to Echidna.
— Stay still a little longer, you need to be treated properly. — The healing power Kang Yu had used to stop her bleeding was nothing more than an emergency fix.
It'd take a while longer for her to recover to a state where she can move around on her own.
Kang Yu sliced open his wrist again and let the blood drip into Echidna's wound.
She could hardly lift her head to look at him.
— It's not me. I wasn't the one who caused the drought and the plague.
— Okay.
Tears flowed out from her large eyes.
— I said it wasn't me, that I had nothing to do with disasters, but nobody believed me. Will you believe me?
Her voice was shaking.
She had the look of an abandoned child wanting to find a loving person.
Kang Yu knew that look very well.
'It's the same as me.' His parents had left him early on in his childhood.
He'd spent his entire childhood in an orphanage. He never even considered meeting his parents and being in their arms again.
But he wanted to be loved by someone. He wanted to be taken care of and valued. He wanted his existence to feel needed.
Echidna heavily reminded him of himself as a child.
'We're in reality, not a TV show.' Kang Yu felt his chest tighten with pain and smiled bitterly.
The words he'd just said to Ronald sharply returned to Kang Yu like a boomerang.
Sad memories surfaced in his mind.
'I have to answer her.'
Echidna was a creature whom he had tamed, so she was destined to spend her life with him.
But he wasn't going to give the following answer just because of that.
— I believe you. Even if the whole world condemns you, at least I'll be on your side.
Now Kang Yu was fully responsible for her.
And he wasn't going to hide from this responsibility.
He was not going to throw his 'pet' out on the street and only use her for his benefit.
— You… — Echidna looked at Kang Yu in awe.
She lightly licked at her wound with Kang Yu's blood dribbled over it. There was a cure in his blood that could help Echidna.
Beads of sweat ran down his forehead.
'I think I'm a little overwhelmed today.'
A summon, a battle, and a cure.
No matter how strong he was, even with the 5th rank, today's events were very tiring for Kang Yu.
'I want to go back and get some rest.' For the first time, Kang Yu was eager to get rest.
'But…' The guy looked at the large, 20 meters tall Echidna. 'How do I get her out of here?'
Bringing Echidna out of here like this would cause chaos in the world.
In the worst case, Hwaran Squad will get involved and kill her.
'Even if I explain everything, I still don't think they'd let it pass.'
To present her as a 'pet' and get her out of the gate without any problems, she'd have to be at least as small as a human in height.
'I've heard about some Players who tamed monsters.'
But even then, Echidna was too big.
She couldn't exactly roam around unnoticed by the Hwaran people.
— Echidna, would you happen to know how to resize yourself?
— Resize?
— Yes, to the smallest possible size.
Kang Yu wondered if she, like many other dragons, could transform.
He looked at Echidna with anticipation.
— I know how to do that.
'Excellent!' When Kang Yu heard her answer, he nodded approvingly with a big smile.
— Change to the smallest size possible.
— Okay. — Echidna, with her wounds partially healed, nodded and started to whisper something in an incomprehensible language.
Glowing brightly, her size began to shrink more and more.
Kang Yu's eyes shone as he watched her transform to about 30 centimeters.
'Oh, what a cutie.'
A giant dragon in a small form gave off a very different impression.
Now she looked even more like a pet.
'I wonder if she can turn into a human?' While Kang Yu thought about it, he wrapped both arms around her small body to carry her.
— It's okay, I can fly on my own.
— Don't rush, your wounds haven't completely healed yet. — Kang Yu hugged Echidna closer to him and headed for the exit.
Echidna raised her head and stared up at him. She murmured softly:
— You…
— Mm-hmm?
— Tell me your name.
— Oh, right, I completely forgot to introduce myself.
With the intense events that took place one after the other, he never got around to introducing himself.
— Oh Kang Yu. My name is Oh Kang Yu.
— Oh, Kang Yu… — Echidna, snuggled comfortably in his arms, whispered his name several times. — I'll remember that. —
— Hm?
— Your name. I will remember it, — Echidna said confidently.
Kang Yu smiled a little and nodded his head.