MDR-C17

Chapter 17 

Once his reason had returned to some extent, Eunseong finally began to grasp the situation.

His heart felt as though it were about to leap out of his chest, and he hurriedly tried to loosen his grip. But his stiffened fingers refused to come away easily.

Just then, Mujin’s short breath brushed the crown of his head.

Eunseong flinched and slowly opened his mouth.

“I’m… fine now.”

The cracked words forced their way through his clenched teeth. Gritting his teeth, he pried his hands loose and carefully pushed against Mujin’s chest with both palms.

Cool air seeped into the space between them.

Eunseong tried to stand properly on his own two feet.

“Ah!”

The instant his feet touched the ground, all strength abruptly drained from his legs.

As his knees buckled, Mujin’s rough hand clamped even more firmly around his waist. Eunseong’s light body swung sharply with the momentum and was pulled straight back into Mujin’s arms.

“Don’t push yourself.”

His voice was strangely calm for the situation.

Ah… this is the worst.

Feeling the hand firmly bracing his waist, Eunseong bit hard into his lower lip.

He could not even support his own body right now.

Eunseong slowly let out a steadying breath.

A hunter who had been watching Mujin saw Eunseong move and approached with a first-aid kit.

“Guild Leader. Are you all right? First, you should take a calming potion—”

Once again, before the hunter’s hand could even reach him, Mujin subtly shifted his position.

Eunseong blinked in confusion, but Mujin did not budge.

“Leave it. I’ll do it.”

“No. What have you been doing since earlier? We need to check the Guild Leader’s condition. You look injured too…”

“I’m fine.”

Intimidated by the ominous pressure radiating from Mujin, the hunter eventually backed away.

Since Eunseong himself said nothing, the hunter returned to his position with an uneasy expression.

Eunseong tried to lower the arm that had been left awkwardly against Mujin’s chest after his failed attempt to push away.

Feeling the movement, Mujin kept his gaze fixed ahead while catching Eunseong’s slender wrist and pulling it back down.

He gave Eunseong no opening to escape at all.

Then Cha Taekyung approached, dragging his greatsword behind him, drenched in monster fluid. He slung the weapon onto his back, stretched both arms toward Mujin, and crooked his fingers.

He did not say anything, but everyone watching understood what the gesture meant.

Hand Eunseong over.

“……”

“What are you doing? Give me the Guild Leader.”

But Mujin did not loosen the arm restraining Eunseong.

Taekyung tilted his head and crooked his fingers again, but Mujin merely stared back.

Looking down at Mujin with an irritated expression, Taekyung said,

“We’re taking the Guild Leader out of the colony.”

“It’s more dangerous to separate right now.”

“No. It’s more dangerous here. A monster’s target lock breaks once the target leaves its territory. Once we get outside, it should release naturally. We can kill the boss while we escort the Guild Leader out.”

Taekyung raised his eyebrows as though asking whether Mujin understood.

When Mujin still did not react and Taekyung moved to take Eunseong by force if necessary, Mujin subtly turned his body and deliberately blocked his approach.

“Hey. We don’t have time.”

“It’ll catch us before we make it out of the colony. Think back to what this place looked like on the way here. It’s a maze. There’s no guarantee you’ll get the Guild Leader out safely.”

“You think I don’t know that? It doesn’t matter if we can’t. We’ll kill it before it catches up.”

The possibility that they might struggle and still fail to kill it did not seem to exist in Taekyung’s mind.

“…I’ll escort him.”

Taekyung’s face twisted at Mujin’s adamant refusal to hand Eunseong over.

A C-Rank hunter who had appeared out of nowhere was suddenly so obsessed with the Guild Leader?

It looked like nothing more than naked ambition.

His gaze paused briefly at the point where the two men’s waists were pressed together.

Taekyung let out an incredulous laugh, but Mujin’s black eyes did not waver in the slightest.

Deciding they were wasting precious time in an urgent situation, Taekyung shifted his gaze.

“What do you think, Guild Leader?”

“……”

“Guild Leader?”

“…I’ll go with him.”

Without Mujin’s solid arm supporting him, Eunseong looked ready to collapse onto the floor immediately.

Crushed beneath his own helplessness, he forced the words out.

He did not need to specify whom he meant.

The fact that his body was already completely entrusted to Mujin answered the question for him.

“……Understood. Protecting you will be our highest priority. I’ll inform the joint force as well.”

Taekyung had just begun to turn away when—

Screeeeeech—!

A shrill metallic scraping rang out from beyond the barrier.

“Damn it. Too late.”

Taekyung drew his greatsword from his back again.

“What the hell is that sound?”

“What’s wrong with those things?!”

The hunters erupted in horrified shouts.

Hundreds of mutated spiders all changed direction at once and surged madly toward Eunseong.

Their violent impacts made the barrier tremble as though it might shatter at any moment.

The blatant killing intent pouring from hundreds of eyes stabbed into Eunseong’s skin like needles.

Then a red system window appeared before him.

[The ‘Huntsman Spider Queen’ is pursuing its target.]

[The distance is closing.]

The Huntsman Spider Queen would reach them soon.

Eunseong clenched his trembling jaw.

Forgetting even the thought that he had to survive, swept away by suffocating terror, he tightened his grip around Mujin’s solid arm.

The system window had not even vanished yet.

BOOOOM!

The Huntsman Spider Queen’s enormous body slammed into the translucent blue barrier directly in front of them.

Cracks spread across it like a spiderweb.

It had taken only a single step closer, yet Eunseong’s narrow field of vision was already filled entirely with blazing red eyes.

With only one barrier between them, those crimson eyes at point-blank range were fixated obsessively on Eunseong alone.

“Ah……”

Eunseong’s brow twisted violently.

Crushed beneath the killing intent pouring down over him, the nausea he had been suppressing surged into his throat.

He hurriedly covered his mouth with a clenched fist.

The moment dizziness washed over him so strongly that he thought he might lose consciousness, something seized his wrist.

“……!”

Pain throbbed through the bone as the force of it yanked his body sharply backward.

His back struck Mujin’s body hard enough to produce a dull thud.

Before Eunseong could even let out a groan of pain, Mujin’s arm wrapped around his waist and locked his body tightly in place.

There was not even enough space between them for a breath of air to pass.

Mujin’s hot breath touched the back of his neck.

“Do not leave my side.”

Mujin’s low, rough voice struck against Eunseong’s ear.

At that moment, the system window floating in the air distorted and spat out new text.

[A powerful protective mechanism directed toward the target (Baek Eunseong) has been detected.]

[The associated entity has been designated as a hostile threat, expanding the target designation.]

[Current Targets: Baek Eunseong, Kang Mujin]

[The ‘Huntsman Spider Queen’ is reacquiring the targets’ location.]

Eunseong’s pupils shook uncontrollably.

The Huntsman Spider Queen had appeared in the original novel.

He already knew it could designate targets.

But he had never seen it assign multiple targets at once.

…Did he know? Is that why he told me not to leave his side?

If so, it made sense.

It gave a reason for Mujin’s repeated refusal to let him go.

That did not mean Eunseong understood what was happening.

There had to be plenty of minor settings that had never appeared in the original novel, but he had never expected something completely new to emerge out of nowhere like this.

But… why?

Eunseong’s hand tightened.

To Mujin, he was someone who deserved revenge.

A few days of decent treatment could not possibly have changed that.

But his confusion did not last long.

Outside the barrier, every one of the Huntsman Spider Queen’s crimson eyes shifted direction at once.

The killing intent that had been focused solely on Eunseong was now divided, with half of it aimed at Mujin.

Mujin’s black eyes met the Huntsman Spider Queen’s red glare through the blue barrier.

Eunseong, completely unprepared for a situation like this, was about to reread the system window in confusion when the Huntsman Spider Queen shrieked and slammed one of its razor-sharp forelegs down—

This time, directly toward where Mujin stood.

No. This isn’t right!

Eunseong went deathly pale and struggled to pry Mujin’s arm away from his waist.

Mujin did not budge.

Having witnessed the abnormal change in targeting from the closest position, Taekyung narrowed his eyes.

Normally, a monster changed targets because its current target had moved too far away or because someone else had dealt greater damage.

But this time, the target had changed out of nowhere because of a “protective mechanism.”

Taekyung’s gaze returned to Mujin.

So it hadn’t been an attempt to curry favor.

He had genuinely been trying to protect Eunseong.

That was unexpected.

…But the urgent problem is that thing.

Having sorted through his thoughts, Taekyung spoke to the two men still pressed together.

“Kang Mujin. Run while we pin that thing down. The assault team will follow shortly, so if you run into monsters, avoid them. Think only about getting outside. Understood?”

“Yes.”

After the brief reply, Mujin tightened the arm around Eunseong’s waist even further.

The pressure was so strong that Eunseong let out a faint groan.

Eunseong bit his bloodless lips.

Even through his daze, he had heard every word of Taekyung and Mujin’s conversation.

The plan was to take him out of the colony.

He had no idea whether it would work.

But he did not want to remain obediently in Mujin’s arms.

He did not want to put Mujin, who had become part of the threat group because of him, in even greater danger.

He did not understand why Mujin had made this choice in the first place.

Maybe it would be better to leave with Taekyung after all.

“Let go… ngh!”

Mujin’s hot breath brushed so close to Eunseong’s ear that it almost touched him.

“If I let go, we both die.”

“……What?”

“Stay still. If we both want to live, this is our best option.”