< Irin (1) >

'Is there something like a side effect?'

Or was it simply that I had put myself forward too much, so my brother's illness(?) relapsed? If it was the latter, then it was a relief… was it a relief? A side effect might be easier to resolve.

Anyways.

"Don't be like that, and let's just sightsee or something and then go home. There's still a lot to look at around here."

It was a chance to go all out, hanging out while using someone else's card.

"Yeah. After dealing with Sung Hyunjae."

"…Hey, if I become a missing person, I wouldn't be able to do things like sightsee."

"Don't worry. There's the item that Hunter Yoo Myeongwoo made."

Yoohyun took off the glasses and put it on me as he laughed. Uh… that was true. Even though the sacrifice of someone who would become my cover would be necessary. And, it might be okay to go missing here, and then live a little more relaxedly and comfortably.

I grabbed ahold my heart being captivated in an instant. Still, with how many things that have already been started, I couldn't act ignorant. I couldn't until I fully resolved the dungeons at least. And found the method to recover him.

"But you – your eyes I mean-"

-Has it all been cleared up?

Noah said, flying down toward here. At the same time, I felt Yoohyun trying to move. Hey, this asshole!

"Noah-ssi!"

I urgently put the Teacher skill on Noah and sent Yoohyun's sensations unilaterally.

Along with hurried flapping, a flame cut through the air like an arrow. Taken aback, Noah turned his body and shot up to the sky.

"What are you doing!"

"I was just going to intimidate him."

"No, you shouldn't intimidate people either!"

First, I tried to stop sharing the attack skill doubling. When I did, a message window popped up.

[The other person has refused.]

…Damn. Maybe Yoohyun had also seen the message, because he quirked his lips up and smiled.

"Usually, it's impossible to cancel this type of skill without the other person's consent. Since you can hang something like a flight skill on someone and then cancel it in the air."

The explaining voice was pointlessly gentle. I also knew that, but I didn't know that it would be relevant to sharing a skill instead of directly putting it on someone.

With Noah, it was lifted when I just let go of the hand I was holding, and with Sung Hyunjae… I fainted each time, huh. Wait, then did that mean that the skill sharing continued even after I lost consciousness during that time with the Babar?

…Wow crap, it might have been really dangerous. Seeing how he quietly came out of the dungeon even so, more than I had thought, that person might be a better… a better… no, as expected, this wasn't it.

-Yoojin-ssi, are you alright?!

-Chirp!

The dragon who had gone one large circle in the air, turned toward here again.

"Please do not come over!"

My brother seems to be slightly not normal. Yoohyun spoke in a grouchy voice to me, who was looking at Noah worriedly.

"Lately I feel like you're being stolen away, so I'm lonely."

"What do you mean 'being stolen away'. I only have one younger sibling."

"There's a lot of other people around who you're close to. Even though I only have you."

This sounded like a bit of a big problem.

"Hey, don't be like that, and be friendly with Noah-ssi. Or there's Kang Soyoung-ssi. Make friends, and also date someone. Even if you say there's no helping it for Unawakened People or people with low ranks since there's a barrier, there's a lot of people with similar rank to you."

Emulate Yerim.

"You doesn't know, hyung, so you're speaking like that."

Grumbling, he took out a thin sword from his inventory. It wasn't what he usually used, but an A-Rank weapon. He threw it a bit away, toward the ground.

Kwak.

The sword pierced the ground, and again, various weapons like a great sword, dagger, scimitar, etc. pierced the ground while keeping a distance from each other.

"…What are you trying to do?"

The Teacher skill didn't read the inside of someone's mind. It was merely reading the movements of the body and mana ahead of time. With someone just taking out a fishing rod, you couldn't tell if they were going to fish or hit somebody with it.

"The efficiency is bad, so it's a skill that I don't really use. Since it's a little burdensome to use high rank weapons as 1 time use."

It wouldn't be a little.

"I don't know what skill it is, but don't use it. It's a waste. And it's better to resolve things with words."

"Are you going to keep on using the Teacher skill? It's irritating."

"Do you have any intention of resolving things with words?"

"No, not at all. Is it really painful if your skill is rejected?"

"Yeah, a lot."

"Sorry, hyung."

Hahaha. Smiling as I faced the red eyes, I withdrew the Teacher skill from Yoohyun. That little brother guy put on a satisfied expression.

"I'll end it soon."

Sung Hyunjae-ssi, please run away. It looks like stopping my brother is out of the question. Your life isn't a loss, but your skill would be a waste.

Just then, the fire lizard passed the back of Yoohyun's neck and moved to the other shoulder. The two eyes that were black, unlike usual, stared at me. The feeling that something really was wrong pierced me again, like a needle.

"Irin."

At my call, the elemental blinked its eyes. Without much thought, half by habit, I used the Seed-Leaf skill.

[The First Fire Elemental ? Irin

Current Stat Rank C

Possible Awakening Stat Rank F

Optimized Initial Skills

Elemental's Contract(L) Acquired

Contractor ? Han Yoohyun]

The status window that had seemed like an item window when I had first seen it, had changed into something similar to an Awakened Person's or monster's. Besides that, to think it was an L-Rank initial skill.

An elemental's contract with contractor Han Yoohyun. There was no doubt that the skill was affecting Yoohyun. Something that was as much as L-Rank shouldn't be a simple contract skill, and exactly what kind of effect did the skill have?

"Lizard bastard, you come here."

"Hyung?"

Anyways, the lizard was the problem. I stretched out my hand and gripped Irin. The elemental that was grabbed, surprisingly obediently tilted its head. It couldn't speak so I couldn't interrogate it either.

After wondering what to do about it, I used the Teacher skill. In an instant, I felt the illusion of my insides getting burning hot.

The outward appearance was a small lizard that had climbed to the top of my palm, but the the sensations being conveyed over was a flame that didn't have an end. It was a feeling like I had fallen inside a desert where bright red flames flickered instead of grains of sand.

"You..."

It really was no joke compared to what I had thought. Even while being a little taken aback, I focused the skill. Like when I had dug into the dragon human type at the lake dungeon.

And like that time.

"Huh?"

My vision briefly became dark, and then brightened. The place where I was standing was an unfamiliar… no, a familiar living room. The house that I had lived in before the dungeons had appeared, before Yoohyun had Awakened.

[Hi!]

In that place's living room, a round lizard whose size had gotten as big as a cat's gave a greeting to me.

"…Irin?"

[Yeah, that's right. Hyung, it is Irin!]

The fire elemental who replied perkily opened its mouth wide and laughed.

***

Bak Yerim lifted her head. The skill that had been applied to her disappeared. Terrifying Hatchling Class Teacher – vision sharing, like that skill's owner could do, was impossible, but she could tell that Han Yoohyun had attacked to intimidate someone right before the skill disappeared.

"Did some other monster appear?"

"Then he wouldn't have tried to intimidate them."

Sung Hyunjae said, moving his gaze past the building's wreckage. Like he said, if it was a monster, there was no need to intimidate or whatever and he would've just directly incinerated it. Then exactly who did he try to intimidate?

Bak Yerim quickly launched her body into the air.

"Ahjussi!"

She saw the devastated ground whose original form were hard to find after sweeping it away with water and then nicely mincing up the Kraken. And she saw Han Yoohyun as well, who was holding his hyung, who had lost consciousness.

"What happened?!"

A golden dragon quickly flew over and blocked Bak Yerim, who was taken aback and trying to go over to the two.

-Please wait!

-Chirp chirp!

"Noah oppa? Chirpie?"

-The Haeyeon Guild Leader seems a little strange. …He also seems fine, but seeing how he is not listening well to Han Yoojin-ssi, he seems strange.

-Chirp!

"He is not listening to ahjussi? Then it is right that he is being strange!"

-And he said he would deal with the Seseong Guild Leader.

"That seems like he's fine."

-He also tried to intimidate me, but that is also not different from usual, so it is confusing.

"Ack, so he had attacked Noah oppa, huh. It is right that he is being strange! There is Chirpie and above all, it is right in front of ahjussi watching!"

Bak Yerim kept a good distance from Han Yoohyun as she went down. The two red eyes stared at her. It was a slightly irritated gaze without murderous intent, but Bak Yerim instinctively judged that she shouldn't approach further.

Instead, she asked Noah why Han Yoojin had fainted.

-I do not know the reason. The Haeyeon Guild Leader also seemed taken aback.

"That's a relief. It seems like he did not go weird enough to lay a hand on ahjussi."

-He tried to reject the Teacher ski...

"Wow, he really went weird."

-He was thinking of shutting us up, but Yoojin-ssi could not even stop him, so I do not know when he will attack. Please be careful.

"Shut us up? Does he think that's easy?"

Bak Yerim adjusted her grip on the ice wood spear. Sung Hyunjae, who had come over at some point and was listening to the two's conversation, slightly raised his brows.

"It'll be difficult."

"Still, this side has three people. I will bind him down, so please smash the back of his head or something."

At Bak Yerim's confident words, Sung Hyunjae replied cool-headedly.

"The situation is not simple, little mistress. To deal with the Kraken, Han Yoohyun is in a state of having received the attack skill doubling. That'll be maintained until Han Yoojin is separated from him. At the same time, it's the same as him having an item that gives damage nullification and poison resistance."

"…That's a scam."

Bak Yerim thought of the Kraken that had burned up and disappeared in an instant. If she, who didn't even have a decent flame resistance, was just grazed, wouldn't she receive a serious injury?

But she didn't have even a fingernail's worth of an intention to stand down. Rather, her will burned more as she stared toward the sea.

"Noah oppa, lend me your mana stat a bit!"

Then Shadowless Day spread out toward Han Yoohyun. At nearly the same time as that,

Hwareureuk-

Flames appeared around Han Yoohyun like a round barrier. At the heat drying up even the moisture in the air, Bak Yerim clicked her tongue.

"Far from Shadow touching him, it can't even get near him, so it'll evaporate! I have confidence I can sweep away my guild leader, but could you help?"

"If you ask me to stay out, I'd be sad instead."

The red-black coat, the Sillekia's Wings, landed down over the tailcoat. The long chains shook, and gold feathers were held between Sung Hyunjae's fingers. Gold Gryphon's Feathers. It was an item you could get when you hunted the S-Rank Gold Gryphon.

"It's too bad about the Teacher skill. Try to catch the timing well on your own. For reference, gravel doesn't burn well."

"Yes!"

Maybe she had understood, because her eyes sparkled. Sung Hyunjae ran unhesitatingly toward the domain wrapped in flames. Right before the heat that couldn't be completely nullified even if he had an S-Rank flame resistance drew close, feathers shot out from the tips of his hands.

The gryphon's feathers attracted wind. Hwiooong, along with the sound of the air roiling, the flames were strongly pushed to both sides as if curtains were yanked open. At the same time,

Kwareureung!

A lightning bolt shot down. But the electric attack couldn't touch its target and was carried away by the dagger stuck to the ground and ravaged only the surroundings. Dirt and rocks flew up, and right afterwards, the dagger exploded. The debris that should normally scatter in all directions, shot toward Sung Hyunjae like arrows.

Kagagak-

The wrapped chains blocked the debris, but even if you knew the direction they were shooting, it was impossible to handle all of them. Red lines were drawn on the back of Sung Hyunjae's hand and the tip of his ear. There was one piece that was halfway pierced into his shoulder. A doubling skill effect had been added as well, to the attack that sacrificed A-Rank weapons. Normally, you would've become a hedgehog even if you were an S-Rank Hunter.

Han Yoohyun took out a long sword in order to continue the attack. But.

"…When?"

His feet were heavy. They were caught in Shadowless Day.

He had known that Bak Yerim had used Pale Rain as soon as Sung Hyunjae pushed away the flames with the gryphon feathers. But even without it directly touching the fire, he had melted all of it down while it was far from reaching his shadow .

"Putting one or two pebbles inside ice arrows isn't hard to do."

Sung Hyunjae, who had drawn back and plucked out the fragments, explained kindly. Even if the ice melted, the gravel inside it didn't lose its motility and went forward. It wasn't a skill that designated a destination and it was simply throwing rocks, but one or two among those rocks could touch Han Yoohyun's shadow.

While his eyes were fooled, as other rocks scattered when the lightning bolt bore through and dug into the ground.

Even if it tied down the target's movements down according to how high the target's rank was, it was merely just slowing down the target's speed. But even if it was just at that level, it was a big penalty for going against another S-Rank.

"I didn't intend to move a lot anyways."

Han Yoohyun said, looking down at his unconscious hyung. The flames that had been briefly pushed aside swallowed the gryphon's feathers, and wavered bright red.

The weapons that were stuck in all directions let out faint vibrating sounds. The eyes that were flushing red met the eyes that were faintly gold tinted.

"Since the preparation to rip apart the most irritating insect is done."

"Oh dear, the young master's jealousy is stronger than I'd thought."

"Why would I be jealous of a thief?"

He was just furious and was going to dispose of him. Just then.

Geugeugeugeung-

The ground shook. Then, along with the sound of the ground collapsing.

Kwagwagwagwa-!

Water started to shoot up here and there. The seawater that was piercing up through the surface of the earth squirmed like several dragons. Both Han Yoohyun and Sung Hyunjae unconsciously directed their gazes toward the water dragons that raised their heads toward the night sky.

At the same time, Bak Yerim shouted.

"Han Yoohyun, cool your head!"

The giant column of water struck down toward the comparatively insignificant flames.