Chapter 69

“You’re telling me to keep using my skills until I can’t breathe anymore...?”

Considering how smoothly she managed to say such a long sentence, she did not appear to be suffering from any shortage of oxygen.

‘Oh?’

Fortunately, there did not seem to be much cause for concern.

After that, Seonwoo Yeon finally did as she had been told.

Whoosh.

She activated her skill.

The currents of wind gathering in the air steadily intensified until they formed an enormous vortex. The tornado then shot forward horizontally and smashed through one side of the honeycomb.

Boom!

—Kyaaaaaaa!

The deafening crash was followed by the queen bee’s final scream.

I quickly moved aside as I watched the queen’s exoskeleton tear apart like a biscuit wrapper.

“Hunter Seonwoo Yeon.”

Now that the dungeon boss had been defeated, it was time for the minor side effect I had mentioned earlier.

“Lower your head!”

Wiiiiiing.

Having lost the leader of their swarm, the killer bees stopped attacking and began flying wildly in every direction.

They collided with one another, tumbled to the ground, failed to distinguish friend from foe, and even accidentally stung each other.

It was utter chaos.

“That’s simply the nature of these monsters. They’re completely different from the bees that live on Earth.”

I began explaining before Seonwoo Yeon could even ask.

“The boss is the only true organism here. The rest are merely avatars created by the queen bee. So once they lose the queen, who serves as their brain...”

But I was unable to finish.

“Huh?”

Thud.

Seonwoo Yeon suddenly collapsed to the ground, and I rushed toward her in alarm.

“Hunter Seonwoo Yeon?”

I had originally intended to help her to her feet immediately and guide her out of the gate.

“...!”

But the moment I approached, our eyes met.

The B-Class Awakener glared at me with bloodshot eyes.

‘P-Please spare me.’

A chill ran down my spine, and I hurriedly spoke.

“Hunter Seonwoo Yeon, did you know?”

“...”

“When you push your mana to its limit in actual combat, the sensation remains with you for quite some time. In other words, exhausting your magical power can help train your ability activation.”

Ta-da.

I tried to deliver the news cheerfully, as though she ought to be delighted.

“That’s wonderful. After what happened today, you’ve probably mastered your awakened ability completely.”

“...”

“You were always worried that you might forget how to use your skills again, weren’t you?”

From now on, she would never forget how to use magic again.

So let us look on the bright side.

I desperately searched for something positive in the current situation, but my efforts were in vain.

‘Oh dear. The alien is going to die.’

The Association employee’s expression only grew darker after hearing my words.

***

Ten minutes earlier.

Seonwoo Yeon felt as though the sky had come crashing down.

At first, the moment she saw Kiryeo’s face, she thought she had been saved.

Reality, however, was entirely different from what she had expected.

—Why would you ask someone else to interfere with something you can do yourself?

Seonwoo Yeon could not help resenting Kiryeo for drawing such a merciless line between them.

Hoping to ask for his help once more, she closed the distance between them.

Naturally, the swarm of killer bees attacking her followed close behind.

For a moment, she was startled by the realization that she had unintentionally lured the bees toward Kiryeo.

But after thinking about it more carefully, perhaps that was not such a bad development.

‘Even if he finds it bothersome, he’ll have to kill at least a few if the whole swarm rushes at him.’

However, Seonwoo Yeon could only stare in astonishment at the strange phenomenon that followed.

The bees did not attack Kiryeo.

No, they did not even approach him.

The sight of countless killer bees parting around a single person was truly extraordinary.

They behaved as though Kiryeo himself were a dangerous object that must never be touched, carefully avoiding every place where he stood.

‘The monsters can’t even get close to him.’

How terrifying!

The bees must have sensed the vast difference in strength between themselves and that hunter and recoiled in fear.

That would explain why they did not dare attack him recklessly.

Yet despite producing such an astonishing sight, Kiryeo remained completely silent, as though this were the most natural thing in the world.

Calmness.

Composure.

Along with overwhelming skill, he possessed an extraordinary sense of ease.

Perhaps this was what an ideal hunter was supposed to look like.

Seeing him, Seonwoo Yeon finally came to her senses.

What in the world was she doing?

‘How embarrassing. I can’t even clear a C-Class gate by myself in front of someone like him.’

But reality was not so forgiving.

Because she had failed to control her strength earlier, her mana was already running low.

“Ugh!”

A magician who had lost their fuel had very few options.

Seonwoo Yeon was helplessly driven backward by the swarm’s assault.

Was that why?

“Seonwoo Yeon-ssi!”

Kim Kiryeo, apparently unable to continue watching, finally stepped forward and offered her advice.

He revealed the location of the hidden boss concealed somewhere within the dungeon.

“Pierce through it with your skill. Tear through the nest and kill the boss inside.”

However, when Seonwoo Yeon heard the strategy that followed, her eyes widened.

“The entire nest?”

Even at a glance, the hive he had indicated was enormously thick.

It was difficult enough to tell whether she could destroy it at all, much less strike the boss hidden inside with a single attack.

“I already used up all my mana!”

Seonwoo Yeon shouted.

She was out of breath.

Her head occasionally spun.

The symptoms of mana depletion had appeared some time ago, so what more could she possibly do?

But at that moment, the blond man who had been carefully observing her reactions slowly opened his mouth.

“You still have plenty of mana left.”

The instant his cold voice reached her ears, Seonwoo Yeon felt a chill run down her spine.

“You’re still speaking and breathing, aren’t you? Keep going until you can’t breathe anymore.”

Under normal circumstances, telling someone to use their skills until they could no longer breathe would have sounded insane.

But Kim Kiryeo did not appear to be joking in the slightest.

“Awakened people like us don’t die from something like that...”

Did he mean that people did not die as easily as she believed, so she should stop complaining and squeeze out the last of her mana?

Kiryeo quietly looked down at her with his pitch-black sanpaku eyes.

Terrifying.

Even though he had been the one to teach her so kindly just yesterday.

‘Ugh...’

With a faint sense of fear, Seonwoo Yeon obeyed his command.

Boom!

—Kyaaaaaaak!

And immediately after the queen bee died—

“Heuk, heuk...”

Thud.

As the boss perished and the exit gate appeared, the exhausted Seonwoo Yeon collapsed weakly to the ground.

Then Kim Kiryeo approached and made a strange remark.

“Hunter Seonwoo Yeon, did you know?”

“...”

“When you push your mana to its limit in actual combat, the sensation remains with you for quite some time. In other words, exhausting your magical power can help train your ability activation.”

Listening to him, Seonwoo Yeon suddenly had a thought.

Could it be that this man had deliberately allowed the entire situation to unfold?

“That’s wonderful. After what happened today, you’ve probably mastered your awakened ability completely.”

Come to think of it, Kiryeo had been the one to insist on using the Killer Bee’s Nest as a training ground.

A skilled hunter capable of dealing with an A-Class golem barehanded would surely never have neglected something as basic as gate reconnaissance.

In that case, there was a strong possibility that Kiryeo had known the gate’s saturation level from the beginning.

Perhaps he had deliberately turned every unexpected variable to his advantage.

‘No way. Did he intentionally push me all the way to my limit?’

Seonwoo Yeon was so shocked that her face went pale.

To think someone would throw another person into a monster’s den merely to ensure that they never again experienced the frustration of being unable to activate their abilities.

‘Isn’t he a psychopath?’

Seonwoo Yeon withdrew her earlier judgment that Kim Kiryeo was a good person.

How could anyone corner another person so ruthlessly without even changing their expression?

Then again, he had behaved similarly when trapped inside the B-Class dungeon.

Kim Kiryeo seemed willing to use any means necessary when it came to developing someone else’s abilities.

‘This is far too Spartan...’

For a moment, Seonwoo Yeon nearly burst into tears.

However, when she considered the matter calmly, it was only because of such harsh treatment that she had finally achieved the result she wanted.

When Kiryeo told her she would never again forget how to manifest her awakened ability, Seonwoo Yeon eventually managed to let go of her anger.

It was at that moment—

“Would you like me to help you up?”

When she raised her head, she saw Kim Kiryeo extending his right hand toward her.

Haa.

First giving her the disease, then offering the cure.

“Haa...”

Seonwoo Yeon hesitated briefly before finally accepting his help.

It seemed as though the matter would end with him pulling her safely to her feet.

“Huh?”

“Argh.”

Thud.

The instant Seonwoo Yeon pulled on his outstretched hand, the F-Class hunter’s body abruptly collapsed.

She stared in surprise at Kiryeo, who had fallen helplessly to the ground.

What was that?

Those weak movements had contained no strength whatsoever.

“Ah.”

A moment later, Seonwoo Yeon realized something and quietly began to laugh.

“...Goodness. Just how fragile does a B-Class hunter look in your eyes, Kiryeo-ssi? You went so far as to remove every last bit of strength.”

Honestly.

It was as though an elephant were being cautious around a chick standing at its feet.

“Do you think I’ll explode if you use even a little strength?”

Seonwoo Yeon laughed in disbelief.

There were many cases in which high-ranking Awakeners failed to control their strength and accidentally injured ordinary people.

Naturally, Hunter Kim Kiryeo must have been worried about hurting her and had therefore relaxed his grip completely.

‘Kindness truly is ingrained in him.’

His consideration had been sincere after all.

Seonwoo Yeon’s heart soon softened at Kiryeo’s delicate gesture.

“Kiryeo-ssi, may I leave the gate now?”

“Ah, yes. Please go ahead. I’ll follow in a few minutes.”

In truth, the entire incident had simply been caused by the difference in physical strength between an F-Class and a B-Class hunter.

But never mind that.

The important thing was that the training had ended safely.

Thanks to Kiryeo, she was able to leave with a very favorable impression of him.