Chapter 97 – Fast-legged Grima

“…”

Kim Ji-hoon fell into contemplation again shortly after Min Do-jun disappeared.

“What should I do? Should I follow or not?”

After letting them go to the bathroom, he had another ominous feeling.

A bad feeling that what happened 2 hours ago might repeat itself.

*thud*

“Huh? Where are you going?”

“I need to go check if something’s wrong.”

“Come on, surely not again…”

“Two people already died helplessly last time.”

“…”

“Better than staying here anxiously.”

As Kim Ji-hoon walked, party member Jeon Jin-sik reluctantly moved too.

Hoping nothing had happened to the two who went to relieve themselves.

* * *

*whoosh*

After his mage companion died and becoming the only mage in the team, Jo Tae-woong shivered while relieving himself.

“Ah, that’s better.”

As he was zipping up his pants, he suddenly looked around with sharp eyes.

*whoosh*

Besides the fireball he had floating as a precaution, there was no sound.

Nothing was visible in the brightened surroundings.

“Nothing here.”

He had worried the monster they saw 2 hours ago might appear, but it seemed groundless.

“Well, it’s not like something would happen in the short time it takes to pee.”

Although a horrible incident had occurred with party members dying, he didn’t think it would happen to him.

“Come at me if you dare. I’ll feed you a fireball right away.”

Though still scared, he kept a fireball floating above while relieving himself, but it seemed like needless worry.

Jo Tae-woong smirked and cancelled his skill.

If he returned with the fireball still active, his companions would mock him for trying to act tough.

“We’ve moved for 2 hours, that bug couldn’t just randomly appear… unless it followed us secretly…”

Suddenly Jo Tae-woong’s expression hardened.

He felt an eerie sensation.

That’s when the wind started blowing unexpectedly.

*whoosh*

‘Huh…?’

His vision suddenly blurred and his head started spinning.

*thud*

He collapsed, unable to control his body. Though he barely maintained consciousness and tried to stand…

‘My-my body won’t move.’

For some reason, he couldn’t move at all.

His body wouldn’t respond to his commands.

The only fortunate thing was that he was conscious and could see.

But Jo Tae-woong realized that was actually unfortunate.

Because the Grima-like monster appeared before his eyes.

“Ah… aah…”

His mind went blank seeing the monster appear in this situation – it might have been better if he had just fainted.

He tried to scream but couldn’t make a sound, let alone move.

‘Fireball! Fire Explosion!’

He mentally chanted skills several times but only got impossible messages.

[You are paralyzed.]

[Skill use is blocked.]

The Grima had now approached right in front of him.

It was horrifying up close, even more repulsive than from afar.

‘G-get away! P-please… spare me…!’

Despite his desperate wishes, the Grima just waved its antennae as if savoring its meal.

That sight reminded him of his mage companion who died with limbs torn off.

‘Hic… hic…’

Tears flowed even in his paralyzed state.

He knew what was about to happen without being told.

*slash!*

A chilling sound was heard.

The Grima disappeared from his sight.

Was it starting to eat from the legs?

He couldn’t feel any pain.

‘I definitely heard something being cut…’

Rolling just his eyes around, he forcefully lifted his immobile head out of frustration.

‘Huh…?’

The first thing Jo Tae-woong saw was the Grima’s body cut in half.

The next thing he saw was the magic swordsman in a post-slash stance.

‘M-magic swordsman?’

Just seeing those two things made the situation easy to guess.

‘Did… did he save me…?’

He had hoped anyone would help, and the magic swordsman appeared.

Though he didn’t know his name, he had never been so glad to see someone.

Tears of gratitude blurred his vision.

‘Thank you… thank you so much.’

He felt sorry for complaining earlier about him being late at the fork.

Though Jo Tae-woong repeatedly expressed gratitude internally, Min Do-jun didn’t even look at him.

Having fulfilled his role as bait, he was no longer of interest.

His gaze was fixed solely on the Grima.

‘With its body cut, it shouldn’t be able to escape anymore.’

Currently, the Grima was writhing in pain, precisely split in half.

His plan to approach invisibly and ambush while it was distracted by its prey had succeeded.

‘I was originally aiming for the head but…’

It had reflexively dodged, preventing an instant kill.

Anyway, having lost half its body, it couldn’t escape like before.

‘Still quite tenacious for a bug though.’

Min Do-jun clicked his tongue and approached leisurely as the Grima still moved without dying.

There was only one action the fatally wounded Grima could take.

‘It’ll charge desperately.’

Though usually cowardly, when cornered, the Grima would attack recklessly without thinking.

Sure enough.

The Grima charged at Min Do-jun using its remaining legs.

It planned to paralyze him with the poison on its legs and then escape.

But Min Do-jun, who knew this, protected himself by summoning Fire Blast.

When the startled Grima withdrew its legs and twisted its body…

*slash!*

Min Do-jun’s sword, predicting its path, precisely split the Grima vertically in two.

[You have killed the Fast-legged Grima!]

[Experience +240,000] (100% contribution)

[S-grade Magic Stone obtained.]

[S-grade Magic Stone obtained.]

[High-grade Random Box obtained.]

[Rolling roulette automatically according to party rules.]

[Winner is Min Do-jun.]

The Grima was easy to kill since it only had speed but unremarkable health.

‘Two S-grade Magic Stones… No wonder it’s called a money bug.’

S-grade Magic Stones were worth 1.5 billion each at current market prices.

He had earned 3 billion without much effort.

‘Plus another High-grade Random Box.’

He already had three, so this made four.

‘The experience points aren’t bad either.’

Though he was satisfied, there was another problem.

“M-Min Do-jun?”

Turning around, he saw Kim Ji-hoon and Jeon Jin-sik staring at him.

From their surprised looks, they must have seen the battle.

“The magic swordsman… killed it?”

“H-how did he move like that…”

Kim Ji-hoon couldn’t help but be surprised.

Though it was just once, Min Do-jun’s slash had been perfect.

Even he, a one-handed sword warrior, had never seen such a clean, efficient cut.

‘Plus he predicted where it would dodge and split it exactly in half.’

Though brief, Min Do-jun had shown movement that seemed impossible for level 1,600.

He displayed speed and power that seemed to surpass even himself at over level 2,000.

It was completely different from his previous struggling against giant centipedes.

“Ugh…”

“Jo Tae-woong! Are you okay?”

Belatedly, Jeon Jin-sik ran over to check Jo Tae-woong’s condition.

Initially completely immobile, he had recovered enough to stand with support.

‘As expected of a mage, he recovers quickly.’

Higher magic power meant higher resistance to the Grima’s paralysis poison, so Jo Tae-woong’s recovery was expected.

“Min Do-jun, won’t you explain what happened?”

To Kim Ji-hoon’s questioning, Min Do-jun played innocent.

“What do you mean?”

“That movement just now. It was different from what you’ve shown before. Were you hiding your strength…”

“I just got lucky. I reacted without thinking.”

“Even so, to deal enough damage to halve that monster means you must have hidden…”

“It was softer than it looked. I was surprised myself how easily it cut.”

Kim Ji-hoon glared at this shameless response.

If the Grima’s corpse was still there they could check if it was really soft, but it had vanished into smoke.

“Just because we can’t check now…”

“Why does it matter anyway?”

“…”

“Even if I really was hiding my strength, I don’t have any reason to prove it to you, do I?”

He had a point.

That’s why Kim Ji-hoon had to stay silent.

He couldn’t exactly say that proving his strength would mean free money for himself.

Soon after, Jo Tae-woong, who had recovered enough to walk alone, approached while wiping his tears.

He passed by Kim Ji-hoon, whom he had previously revered, and stood before Min Do-jun.

Then he bowed deeply.

“Thank you… thank you so much. I owe you my life. And I’m sorry for my rude behavior before. I’ll reflect on it.”

“It’s fine.”

Since his tearful voice seemed sincere, Min Do-jun accepted the apology.

Though he had used Jo Tae-woong as bait to catch the Grima, he deserved the thanks.

Regardless of the reason, he had saved him after all.

‘I could have let him die if I wanted to.’

Actually, once the Grima took the bait, the timing of the ambush didn’t matter.

He could have attacked even after limbs were eaten.

‘When it’s eating is actually the best chance to kill the Grima in one strike.’

Yet he acted early because he didn’t want to see Jo Tae-woong being eaten.

Even if he had badmouthed him, he wasn’t cold-blooded enough to gamble with human life.

Of course, he showed no mercy to evil people.

‘Is this settled now?’

Though he had aroused Kim Ji-hoon’s suspicion that he had just managed to shake off, this much should be fine.

‘Well, if I keep up the act, they’ll eventually drop it.’

After giving Jo Tae-woong time to calm down, the hunting resumed.

“Jo Tae-woong, just follow from behind. We three will handle it.”

“No, I’ll hunt too.”

“Are you sure you’re okay after what happened? You can sit out if it’s hard.”

Though Kim Ji-hoon insisted again, Jo Tae-woong firmly shook his head.

“I’m fine. I can’t let Do-jun get a penalty because of me.”

He specifically named his savior, seemingly unconcerned about other party members.

“…Then let’s go.”

The hunting proceeded smoothly.

Min Do-jun continued showing clumsy swordsmanship while Kim Ji-hoon kept giving suspicious looks.

In the midst of hunting, good news was heard.