It was several times larger than Sanghyun's transformed body. Larger than anything Seungho had seen in the first test. It had the shape of an ape—but wrong. Its fur was the color of static. The color of the fog that used to live in his head. Its eyes were human, screaming and begging you to stop.
The crowd above cheered. A series of painted images inciting cruelty. They were hungry.
Seungho began to worry.
Sanghyun attacked first.
Seungho could feel Sanghyun's power growth. Unlike Seungho, Sanghyun was completely confident in his own abilities.
He moved like nothing Seungho had ever seen. Faster than the dark figure. More precise than the Duke. His body shaped into poses that spoke of decades of martial arts. He had the skills hunters don't have. His attacks landed everywhere at once, a blur of strikes that should have torn any enemy apart.
The beast screamed. Its eye burst from the socket, hanging by a thread. Guts spilled from its belly, steaming on the floor. Mana bled from every wound, shining as it escaped into the air.
The crowd above booed, cruelly punishing the beast for its poor performance.
The beast started growling with a weird set of sounds, like gulping into aggression, in a similar fashion to... monkeys?
The beast kept moving forward. Each of its steps weighted on the floor shaking it like the start of an earthquake.
Sanghyun landed beside Seungho, breathing hard. "We need to stop it, it cannot cross the gate."
He glanced at Seungho. "I really need your help." No mockery.
Seungho nodded.
I didn't warn him I don't know how to use my powers.... What is the point now in telling him?
The beast kept moving.
It swiped at Sanghyun. He dodged, but barely.
Despite that, Sanghyun didn't look at Seungho, not once, like he trusted Seungho would intervene.
Sweat dripped onto his eyes from the forehead. He wiped it.
The Apelox's claw caught Sanghyun shoulder. Blood sprayed. Sanghyun roared. Attacked again.
More blows followed more damage. The beast's arm came off.
It kept moving.
Its other arm caught Sanghyun across the chest. He flew into the wall. Crashed. Didn't get up.
No no no.
Seungho stood alone. The beast turned toward him. Its one remaining eye—human, screaming—locked onto his face.
It extended its neck to push forward despite half of its face fell off to the ground.
Sanghyun was bleeding out. Seungho had nothing.
This is how I die.
He wanted to hide. Wanted someone to save him.
No one was coming.
The crowd of painted figures above was silent. Staring.
Then it erupted.
Yelling indecipherable words, they started to throw objects down at the Apelox. Altars, chalices, benches, torches, a crucifix, and a series of hymnals, among other objects.
Is it to make it angry and attack us?
An object, a marble altar hit the Apelox, It screamed, pain. The altar bounced over in the direction of Seungho.
Seungho barely rolled out of the way. The altar smashed to the floor into tiny pieces.
A torch lay on the floor still burning. He lunged in its direction not knowing what to do with it.
The beast raised its remaining arm.
The crash of the hammer in the first test flashed in his mind.
"No! I am not going down like this."
Seungho slapped his head with both hands to make himself angry.
Took the torch and swore:
"I am going to make it"
He grunted, and ran towards the Apelox before its arm slapped down.
He jumped on its side grabbing its fur, then propelled himself into a swing to reach the neck, burning the fur with the torch along the way. Seungho stuck the torch right into the eyes socket of the Apelox.
It screamed in aggressive gulps, shaking its head.
Seungho jumped back down, near Sanghyun. He landed wrong on his foot. A sharp pain shot up from his heel to the knee, his kneecap popped.
He bent over, he couldn't move his foot. Like it was glued to the ground.
The Apelox was screaming louder and louder. The smell of burning fur drowned Seungho's senses.
It kept advancing regardless.
Seungho's heart started pumping. He grabbed his chest like he wanted to grab his heart.
Sweat dripped all over, he tried to pull his hoodie away but couldn't.
"Sanghyun-ssi, I am sorry…"
Then something inside him shifted.
[ HUNTER SYSTEM: ACTIVATED ]
[ COMBAT SYSTEM: SELF-DEFENSE | ACTIVATED ]
[ PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE ]
[SELF-DEFENSE POWER: 295]
[ DIFFICULTY: 10 | REGRET: -- ]
Scales erupted across his body. Different from before, jagged, wild, wrong. They kept growing. Kept spreading. Wrapped around him like a second skin that didn't know when to stop.
Pressure compressing him underneath.
Inside him a power ball began to shine.
Mana boiling.
[ SELF-DEFENSE POWER: 305 ]
[ SELF-EXPLOSION: ACTIVATED ]
[ PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: REPEL ATTACK ]
[ DIFFICULTY: -- | REGRET: -- ]
Ehh?
It went all blank.
Seungho opened his eyes facing the ceiling. The figures gone.
Only torches orderly attached to the columns illuminating the place. The same medieval architecture.
Like this it wasn't so bad.
There was no energy, no mana. Only silence like in an anechoic chamber.
He suddenly pivoted on his back to look if the Apelox was still there, but that was gone too. The place clean. Not even marks on the floor.
Actually, the whole building, it is like there had never been a battle here...
Seungho whipped his head to look for Sanghyun, who too was laying on the floor. His chest moving up and down.
He coughed awake as if aware of Seungho's stare.
They both got up. Seungho patted his clothing straight.
Sanghyun stood up slowly, looking away. He didn't touch his clothing. His shoulders sagged with a serious expression. He was still bleeding from his shoulder.
"You're hurt."
"It'll heal." Sanghyun shrugged. He turned around and winced. "Eventually."
Right then his wounds began rebuilding and his blood evaporated.
Sanghyun's expression changed. He stared at Seungho like he'd never seen him before.
Seungho looked at his hands. He hadn't noticed, but the scales were still retreating. Something was wrong. Finally the light from his skin was gone.
He had no idea what he'd done.
"Why did you fight like that? You barely know me."
Sanghyun was quiet for a moment. When he spoke, the performance was gone.
"Because that's what hunters do. We protect each other. Or we're supposed to." He looked at Seungho. "You're fresh. You don't know what you're doing. Someone had to keep you alive until you figured it out."
Someone had to. Not I wanted to. Not it was my job. Just... someone had to.
Seungho didn't know what to say.
I should, but I am not feeling grateful for that…
What is he after?
The doors opened. The test was officially over.
Sanghyun then laughed loudly. Actually laughed.
"That was insane. You're insane."
woo-oh, the performance is back on.
Seungho went along with it. He shook his head. "I didn't control it... I don't know what happened."
"Doesn't matter. You saved us."
But it did matter. Seungho looked at Sanghyun—at the way he moved, the way he knew what his body could do. Years of training. Years of control.
I want that.
I want to stop needing someone else to save me.
He looked at the screen.
[ OPPONENT: DEFEATED ]
[ SELF-DEFENSE POWER: 310]
[ HEALING RATE: DROPPING ]
[ SELF-EXPLOSION | TIME TO RECHARGE: 2 HOUR ]
[ DIFFICULTY: -- | REGRET: -- ]
[ REWARD: 50 Points ]
[ Do you want to check your stats now? ]
"Defeated"! Oh yeah! Now we are talking!
Still don't understand what "difficulty" means...
He looked at his hands.
wait? What does it mean the healing rate is dropping? I mean I am completely healed.
Seungho took one step. Then another.
[ WARNING: IMMINENT SHUTDOWN ]
[ ENERGY LEVEL: 2% ]
His vision blurred.
"What—"
His knees hit the floor. He didn't feel it.
Sanghyun's voice, distant: "Hey—hey!"
Then nothing.
His body burned. Deeply into a core he has never explored.
His cells screamed. His blood rewrote itself.
He tried to calm them. But they wouldn't stop. They screamed louder and louder.
He put his hands over his ears, squeezing as hard and he could.
The pain was everywhere.
His body was shaking, he tried to walk but couldn't.
His body was burning with a live flame all over.
He started howling, a jarring screech.
The flames disappeared.
Then the dream came. The nightmare.
The vein in his arm pulsated faster and faster. Like a whip punishing him.
The Apelox's putrid guts melted his arm. Acid burned through bone like paper.
The skin of his arm, then the muscles, and the veins, and the bones...all melted away until it was all gone. Completely dissolved.
His arm was gone!
He stared at the stump. Tried to move fingers that weren't there.
No! Please no!
He woke up screaming.
White ceiling. Fluorescent lights. A machine beeping.
He looked down. His arm was there, all in one piece. He twisted it and pumped his hand.
He kissed it. "I missed you!"
Then he started crying.
What a relief.