Past Life Returner

Chapter 67

[Yeonhee Woo has joined your party.]

“Remember this before we go in. The Leader-”

Yeonhee Woo did not stumble like she had before despite both shouldering a backpack and holding her bow. She spoke while maintaining her balance. Her voice did shake, though.

“The Leader’s orders must be followed.”

“If I die, you die. If you die, I die. Remember that all of my orders are for both of us.”

“I’m ready.”

“We’re going in.”

I stepped first into the blue barrier and heard Yeonhee Woo’s tense voice as I went into the darkness.

“I got it. An F class skill Night Eyes and three quests.”

“We’re going to the entrance room.”

I heard the door creak, and the entrance room had been safe as it had been the last time. Only darkness waited for us there, and I confirmed the number of doors first by looking at the walls. After the dungeon was reset, there was only one door. We had no choice but to open it. Yeonhee Woo was drawing the map, and her ballpoint was shaking. I spoke to her.

“It’s natural to feel fear and anxiety. You can cry or scream on seeing them, and it’s a normal response in your first battle. Just don’t move out of my sight, and I only need you to do that.”

“I understand.”

Yeonhee Woo spoke as she looked over my shoulder, and she was quiet.

“We will go into the first corridor.”

I spoke as I opened the wooden door and saw that there were no traps. The corridor was quiet, but it was only a moment later I heard footsteps running toward us. Their numbers were not much, and I estimated three or four at maximum. I held a dagger in one hand and a longsword in the other and waited calmly.

I saw sharp teeth and the monster’s head and stabbed my dagger between its eyes. The monster threw itself on me with the dagger stuck on its forehead, and I stepped back to avoid the tackle. I stomped on its head as it stared at me and heard her gasp at the loud crunch, behind me.

While the sounds were coming near, no one entered my sights, which gave me time to prepare. I yanked out the dagger by stepping on its face and looked around us.

[You have beaten the Declan Patrol Soldier.]

[You have gained 1 point.]

[Accumulated points: 163.]

[Declan Extermination: Exterminated Declan Soldier 33/60]

I was startled when two came at me at the same time. While I held two weapons, I had no intention of using them simultaneously. I had no qualms about letting a weapon go, as the situation dictated and I abandoned the long blade after piercing a monster with it.

It was when I was stepping sideways when the third came rushing at me. I realized that it was too late for me to avoid it, as it was too fast. The monster tried to rake my face with its claws, and I stabbed at its face at the same time.

While I was dazed for a second as my head took the hit, I felt my dagger hit and raked its face as I toppled backward from the body blow. I managed to overturn the situation at the last moment, with the mutt underneath me. While its hand was large enough to cover my face, I could see between its long claws. It was trying to bite me and push me back, but I used my dagger to rip the mutt’s throat open.

[Yeonhee Woo used Physical Healing.]

[Your wounds heal by a little.]

I managed to sit up, and my dagger went into its chest. I stabbed it for the final time, and after the kill message popped up, I stood up. I wiped the blood on my face and looked at Yeonhee Woo.

She was looking in my direction with her face frozen. She was not able to overcome her revulsion and fear. Yeonhee Woo had frozen, and only her wild eyes looked at me. I was surprised she had managed to use the skill, and while I had not needed it, the cooldown time was short anyway.

I pointed behind me with my thumb at the mutt that was barely breathing with my longsword stuck in its abdomen.

“Finish him.” (EN: ^_^)

I did not need to give her my dagger, as Yeonhee Woo had one on her thigh. She just needed to take it out and finish the monster off, as I had taught her how to use one. It would be easy to end the monster’s life, but it was difficult for her because it had a humanoid body.

Even if the monster was not human-shaped, killing something big was terrifying for civilians. However, Yeonhee Woo needed to do this, and she slowly took out the dagger on her thigh. She moved slowly to stand next to the writhing monster. While I could not see her face, I knew what her expression would be. I spoke as I stared at her.

“Just stab as hard as you can anywhere in the chest.”

I did not speak loudly, but my voice rang because everything was so quiet. Yeonhee Woo had frozen, and I thought maybe this had been too early. If she forgot that she was a healer, she could get used to this. The question was whether the dungeon would wait for her.

I was walking up to her when she spoke in a loud voice.

“Wait!”

I stopped moving.

“Wait a minute…”

Yeonhee Woo knelt and placed the dagger’s point on the monster’s chest like she had in the bathroom. She put her weight on the dagger.

[You have gotten 1 point.]

[Declan Extermination: Exterminated Declan Soldier 35/60]

Yeonhee Woo was quiet as she bent over the monster, but I thought she was sobbing.

“Brace yourself and follow me.”

I saw a dungeon box farther away, and it was the skill Iron Skin. This skill hardened a body part and would block the monsters’ teeth better. (EN: At this point, Dear Readers, you might be wondering why Sun took the chance to open this dungeon box, even though in chapter 46, he refused to risk it. Well, in chapter 69, we find the answer to why he no longer fears to open dungeon boxes. ^_^ )

***

Yeonhee Woo’s attention was on her sticky fingers, and she stared at the thick blood that covered them.

“Their blood is red like us…”

The reason that fantasy movies rendered their monsters’ blood green was to avoid being censored. However, this was reality. We had come back to the entrance room, and I was installing a more intricate trap than I had before.

“Hey.”

She looked at me instead of replying.

“You did well in the corridor and successfully used your skill.”

Yeonhee Woo looked surprised, but her performance had been acceptable. During the Trial Tests, when people saw monsters for the first time, there had been a lot of people who just lost it. Some shouted crazy things, cried for their mothers, and even clung to those who were trying to fight. Women would look at men and scream at them to do something.

I set up the trap and did not think I needed to warn her about stepping on it. She already knew, and her eyes seemed to be carefully analyzing the trap. We moved again to the door that led to the first room. In my previous attempt, I had gotten jumped here by about twenty mutts before, and perhaps since I had told her that, she was shaking like a child.

She was merely holding her bow, and I whispered in her ear before opening the door.

“What did I say to do when you find that you cannot control yourself?”

Concentrate. Yeonhee Woo mouthed the words.

“Don’t forget your mental skills.”

Hunters like Yeonhee Woo found their strength by sharing the emotions of others. By sharing my resolve and hatred of these mutts, and feeling my determination to end them.

“Concentrate on me.”

Yeonhee Woo’s body stopped shaking after those words.

Edited by Userunfriendly