“Damn it!!”

If the monster broke through our formation, we would die. If we got entangled with them, we would die. If we allowed them to invade, we would die. The only reason why this party was able to endure for so long was because of our formation.

Jung Jin-Ho’s party were definitely experienced hunters, so I was sure that they understood the certain death ramifications if these monsters broke through our formation. It must be because of that that they were trying to endure for as much as they could.

“Damn it!”

The scene where Jung Jin-Ho’s party fought against the monsters that were on fire instead of retreating was beautiful enough to bring tears to my eyes.

“I-I’m sorry,” I said.

Only a trash would plan out something like this.

With the number of monsters decreasing, the burden was bound to decrease as well. Their struggle against the monsters that were on fire was heartbreaking. They were trying their best to shove away the monsters that were on fire, but there was another issue that they had to handle. How were they going to put out the fire if it latched on them?

I was certain that the physical burden on them was immense thanks to the heat that constantly gnawed at their energy.

I could even feel the heat on our side, but I could not compare ours to Jung Jin-Ho’s party since I had no idea how hot the heat they were enduring.

“Ahhhhh!”

[Checking Monster Burning Mouth’s Status Window.]

[Name - None]

[Title - None. Please work harder.]

[Age - 5]

[Nature - Burning Instinct]

[Job - Unemployed.]

[Stats]

[Strength - 12]

[Agility - 15]

[Stamina - 05]

[Endurance - 15]

[Luck - 10]

[Magic - 01]

I didn’t know what was going on, but there was a change in the monsters’ status window. It seemed like their vitality was decreasing fast, but seeing how they possessed magic, I was certain they were carrying the fire that I had just cast.

“Put the fire out, you bastards!”

Even Buddha would be furious if he was in this situation.

“I’m sorry! A bit more! Please hold out a bit more!”

It felt like I was watching holy warriors fighting against an army of hell.

In order to get rid of the monsters that were continuously rushing in, they needed to sacrifice something. Whether it was their stamina or the hidden card that Jung Jin-Ho was hiding. But seeing as how I didn’t hear him recite a spell, he probably chose the former.

‘So, you’re going to keep hiding it.’

It was a good decision to hide whatever it was he was hiding until the end, as long as his opponent wasn’t me or Kim Hyun-Sung, who had information about him.

‘What an adorable guy!’

He was so stupid that I wanted to laugh out loud.

Both Kim Hyun-Sung and I knew that Jung Jin-Ho was capable of using magic and even though I didn’t know what kind of job he would advance to in the future, I was certain that he was a magic swordsman.

His status window showed me his magic swordsman job, the things that were going to happen in the future, and the cards that Jung Jin-Ho thought were still hidden from us. Unfortunately for him, we already knew about these things. It was no different from playing poker with his hands wide open. It was hilarious watching him try his best to hide his cards when I already knew that he was holding two pairs. Not only that, but we had Kim Hyun-Sung, who could be considered as a diamond flush.

As if the world was mocking Jung Jin-Ho, the situation became worse.

“Ackkkkkk!”

“Damn it! Ki-Chul!”

“Please hold on!”

One of Jung Jin-Ho’s lackeys was named Lee Ki-Chul. For some reason, I found him likable after hearing his name.

A Burning Mouth was biting his arm and even though he was screaming, there was nothing we could do for him. In the end, it only took a moment for Lee Ki-Chul to be completely pulled into the arms of the monster. I couldn’t help but frown after seeing him getting devoured by the group of monsters that were gathered within the small space.

“Ahhhhhh! Save me! Save me!” Lee Ki-Chul yelled.

“Mr. Ki-Young! Miss Ha-Yan!”

I could only use my precious mana once more and I didn’t want to use it to protect Jung Jin-Ho’s lackeys, although I felt a bit worried…

“A little bit! More!”

‘The monsters won’t break through.’

As long as Jung Jin-Ho was there, they would not be able to break through.

“Ahhhhhhhhh! Stop it! Stop! You bastards! Stop!”

There was no way for us to know whether the monsters were eating his organs or ripping his arms and legs, but one thing we were certain of was that his screams indicated the extreme pain he was undergoing. It was understandable for him to have that kind of reaction because he was being eaten alive while being scorched by fire at the same time.

‘That takes care of one.’

Even with all this happening, it crossed my mind that we managed to kill one person in Jung Jin-Ho’s party, but because of the thrill of the battle and the severity of the situation, I didn’t feel guilty. Actually, I started smiling because this was what I wanted to happen in the first place.

“You can do it!”

‘We have the advantage.’

We just made our advantageous situation even more advantageous.

“Ahhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhh!”

“Damn it! Damn it! Ki-Chul!” Jung Jin-Ho yelled.

“Hyung-nim, isn’t this really dangerous?” Park Deok-Gu asked.

“Don’t worry. They won’t break through,” I answered.

I could see the end, so if we continued to endure, we would all see the end.

Unlike Jung Jin-Ho, Kim Hyun-Sung didn’t look anxious because he thought that we could overcome it.

“Heup!”

It was a repetition of simple tasks because all we had to do was block and stab them. Although our bodies felt as if we had been in a marathon for a long time.

The hand that held my spear was trembling. My breathing had turned rough, and my body was covered in sweat. I found it incredibly hard to breathe that I wanted to just throw everything aside and lie down on the ground. Unfortunately, the monsters that were charging at us gave us no respite.

‘Is this okay?’

Both Park Deok-Gu and Kim Hyun-Sung’s condition didn’t seem bad. Jung Jin-Ho didn’t look bad either despite the fact that they had an empty spot in their formation. Yoo Seok-Woo and the archer looked like they were tired, but not as much as me.

As the corpses of the monsters were being stacked up like a wall, the other monsters jumped over towards us and Park Deok-Gu blocked them while I stabbed them.

“Can they endure it?’

I pretended like nothing was wrong, but I couldn’t help but feel anxious because I couldn’t even see how many of them were left anymore. One thing I was certain of was that the number of roars decreased, but my loud voice started ringing.

I would say useless things like, ‘Hang on’ or ‘Just a bit longer.’

“Heuuuup!”

I attacked with my spear as if I was using the last bit of my strength. Park Deok-Gu pushed them back using his shield with a loud scream.

“Gyahhhhh!”

When Kim Hyun-Sung quietly put his arm down, I realized that the hellish situation was over.

“It’s over,” I said.

“I-It’s over…”

I felt like I was about to collapse at any moment now.

Kim Hyun-Sung spoke while catching his breath. “Let’s start moving.”

‘Da…’

“We haven’t completed the quest that we received a moment ago, so it’s best to start moving right away,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“Ugh…hyung-nim. I can carry you if you’re unable to walk,” Park Deok-Gu offered.

“I’m fine, Deok-Gu. I can walk. Ha-Yan…” I called out.

“M-Me too oppa,” she answered.

Our party was done with the preparations, but the issue was the party on the left.

I guess they couldn’t find Ki-Chul’s body after he was dragged and killed by the monsters because I saw Jung Jin-Ho looking through the corpses that were in the front. He must have seen his comrade’s corpse, who died a horrible death because even though he dropped his head, he didn’t forget that he was hostile towards us. Jung Jin-Ho had a serious face and Yoo Seok-Woo looked at us with hostility.

“You bastard!”

The majority of Jung Jin-Ho’s hair had been burned off, and there were wounds all over his body. After one of his lackeys named Ki-Chul got dragged off, I was certain that he retrieved the latter’s sword to make up for the loss. Looking at his outer appearance, I guess he suffered a lot.

“I-I’m sorry,” I said.

“Do you think apologizing is going to cut it? You bastard!” Kim Jae-Jun yelled.

“B-But…t-there was nothing I could do,” I said.

“What?”

“There was nothing we could do in that situation. Besides fire magic, I’m not experienced in other spells and if I didn’t use my magic, we probably would have suffered even more. We didn’t have enough time for Ha-Yan to use her magic and I didn’t think the monsters would stick to each other to make the fire spread. It was the best I could do. A-Also…the number of monsters has definitely decreased after I used it,” I explained.

There were mistakes, but we tried and if it wasn’t for me, then we wouldn’t have managed to endure up to this point. Of course, Jung Ha-Yan and I could have used all of our mana to get out of this situation, but using our mana to save him did more harm than good.

Of course from Jung Jin-Ho’s point of view, he probably didn’t think that Ki-Chul would retire this fast. It was his fault.

The fire was a bit overpowering and because it spread, it did kill Ki-Chul, however, if it wasn’t for me, then we wouldn’t have gotten this far. Although, I did spread the fire intentionally…

‘Right.’

There was no need for Jung Jin-Ho to know that.

“How could you say that…” he said.

“I had no choice. I do feel bad that Mr. Ki-Chul died, but…right now…” I stopped.

He was getting angry at others for his own mistakes and it was understandable for him to think that this was ridiculous.

I was certain that he wanted to point an arrow or a spear towards me, but…

Seeing him approach us with a frown did scare me a bit, so I looked at Park Deok-Gu and shook my head. When I signaled him not to interfere, he nodded.

“I’m really, really sorry. But…there was nothing I could do,” I said.

“Y-You…you…”

No matter how you looked at him, he looked like a neighborhood bully and I knew exactly what kind of people they were.

‘Intermittent Explosive Disorder.’

They only show this disorder to people they believe were weaker than them.

“I’m really sorry, but we’re alive, aren’t we?” I asked.

When I showed a satisfied smile so small that only the people close to me could see it, Kim Jae-Jun couldn't suppress his anger and punched me. Obviously, I didn’t dodge because there needed to be some kind of conflict.

When he punched, my body fell to the side, and not only did I feel zoned out for a moment, but I could taste blood in my mouth. I didn’t need to act because my extremely weak body naturally fell on the ground.

“Hyung-nim! You bastard!” Park Deok-Gu yelled.

He sounded like he was surprised.

“I’m fine, Deok-Gu. I’m the one that made the mistake,” I told him.

I didn’t forget to act like the victim that wanted to stop Park Deok-Gu.

“Mr. Jae-Jun, please stop,” Jung Jin-Ho said.

“B-But…”

“I understand how you’re feeling, but we should stop here since having more conflict won’t do us any good,” he explained.

‘Right, conflict isn’t good.’

I was sure that Jung Jin-Ho didn’t want to create conflict in a situation like this.

When I spat out what was in my mouth, I saw a tooth with blood on it falling out.

‘Ugh…’

“Are you okay, Mr. Ki-Young?” Kim Hyun-Sung asked.

“Yes, I’m fine, Mr. Hyun-Sung. It was my mistake. There was nothing I could do. I’m sorry,” I said.

No wonder my mouth was hurting so badly.

Kim Hyun-Sung didn’t say much but seeing him putting his guard up while looking at them probably helped him realize that I wasn’t the one that made the mistake. Even the way he displayed his worry for me looked so warm.

The comrade of Kim Hyun-Sung, the regressor, had such a warm ring to it.

With this, I was able to confirm that I was in the safest spot, but an unexpected problem came from a completely different side.

‘Oh…’

Jung Ha-Yan was staring at Kim Jae-Jun, one of Jung Jin-Ho’s lackeys, with a serious look.

‘...We’ve got a problem.’