Chapter 244 - Lancea Lambda (1)

"Hyung, is that Sung Hyunjae?"

Yoohyun asked abruptly, still in my arms.

“Hmm?”

"He's unnecessarily interested in you, so I thought it was him."

...You recognize him not by his face but by that? To Yoohyun, was Sung Hyunjae simply the Person Who Annoys Hyung, nothing more, nothing less?

"Not at the moment."

Even when I said no, I couldn't hide my discomfort. It's different, but it was like him. Could this be considered a mere coincidence? Honestly, no, right? Appearances were one thing, but even their skills and weapons were exactly the same. Though their personalities were a bit different, they weren't entirely dissimilar either.

“Sung Hyunjae again,” Sigma murmured upon hearing Yoohyun's words.

“He's someone who resembles you... no, someone you resemble. He is my partner.”

As I spoke, I seized the opportunity to complete the mission.

“This is not my personal opinion, but speaking extremely objectively, he is handsome and disgustingly accomplished in many aspects, but now he is a bright pink ball of yarn locked in a room watching monitors.”

That should have completed the mission, why didn't it appear? Did I have to say more? How much did they want me to say?

“Lately, he's taken an interest in knitting and has made a nice scarf. He can also make good cocktails. He's good at cooking, doesn't eat bread crusts but surprisingly eats shrimp tails, and Soyoung-ssi says he's also good at origami. There's a large fish tank in his house. It broke and emptied, but he refilled it with water. He said he caught the fish himself and knew a good place to fish, so he asked if I could go fishing with him.”

"Fishing?"

“Yes, do you want to come too? You've never been fishing, right?”

I hadn't either until this moment. As for before I turned back time, I sometimes did it in dungeons. Dungeon fish without any particular abilities, depending on their type, could be caught alive and sold at considerably high prices for ornamental purposes. In an F-rank dungeon, fishing made more money than hunting monsters.

It wasn't until after a flow of several more useless personal details that the mission finally completed. Sung Hyunjae was really...

“…Anyway, that's who he is. As I see it, the situation is completely reversed from before; you'll quietly run away, right?”

Yoohyun's mana was full, but Sigma would have used more than half of his. With him coming after us, the outcome was obvious. Honestly, I was surprised that guy had pursued Yoohyun this far. I hadn't thought he was the type to attack even knowing he had no chance of winning.

“I admit I'm at a disadvantage.”

With a light step—tak—Sigma stepped back. Jumping over the debris of a collapsed wall, he looked at us.

“Alpha—No, Han Yoohyun, you said? First... Should I apologize?”

For some reason, Sigma bowed his head obediently. He wasn't that kind of person, so I wondered what was going on.

“I thought the C-rank was an awakened wanderer not affiliated with anyone and was engraved.”

He really kept saying useless things. Yoohyun immediately frowned, as if he knew about engraving.

“Hyung?”

“No, when they were trying to…”

Without listening to my explanation, Yoohyun pulled down my scarf and examined the back of my neck. Then he lightly clenched his teeth.

“Did they try to engrave you and had to stop? ...And left marks?”

"...Some."

I didn't know because I couldn't feel anything, but that bastard! This is my real body, you know? Despite my curiosity, I couldn't look at the back of my neck. Ah, the Master's skill. I quickly used it on Yoohyun and saw the confusing pattern left on the back of my neck. It looked like a stamp that had run out of ink.

The flames that had died down roared once more. The corners of Sigma's mouth lifted, and this time, he pulled out the contract.

“Since you revived, the contract still stands. Now it's my turn to receive my payment, C-rank.”

He continued, tracing a long line along the contract with a finger.

“If Alpha’s freedom is achieved, within 24 hours, the target of this contract will receive information that satisfies them. That's what it says.”

"I'll tell you, so come down here right now!"

“What happens if more than 24 hours pass without hearing this information?”

"...What?"

"I too can wait, C-rank."

That-That bastard! To think Sigma would refuse to receive the trade price. I should have set the conditions more precisely!

“Even if you wait, if the contract breaks due to breaching its terms, do you think I'll tell you anything?! You'll never hear what I have to say!”

“Then I’ll have both you and Alpha. That's not so bad either.”

...Damn, leave my brother out of the price. No, before that, if I bought an item that causes SS-rank damage in the Store, it would be enough. Something single-use shouldn't be that expensive.

Wow!

At that moment, the lower half of the debris Sigma had climbed on melted. The pile of stone collapsed, and Sigma jumped even further back with ease. Yoohyun stared at him with cold eyes.

“I see you're angry. Still, I'll stay in Akates City one more day.”

With those words, Sigma completely disappeared. Yoohyun climbed down from my arms.

"Will you be in danger here? I mean, here too?"

“How can you follow him?! That’s what that guy wants. We'll be at a disadvantage if we move away from the Mana Hall. That guy has a lot of his own mana cells and also S-rank guards. On top of that, your stamina has decreased a lot, right?”

They had kept him captive. Even someone with SS-rank stats couldn’t be said to be in good physical condition. If he had been a normal person, he would have been so weak that it would be difficult to stand up properly.

“We can buy and use some items that cause damage from the Point Store. So.”

“Do I really have to not go after him?”

- Rin is here too, hyung!

Both of them looked at me intently at the same time. Ah, well.

“…Well, okay. He plans to catch you alive, so you probably won’t be in too much danger. That reminds me, did you see the Newcomer message?”

Yoohyun shook his head. He didn’t even have time to read the message. The one Yoohyun got must have been the same as Sung Hyunjae’s.

“Then, even if I die, can I come back to life like you did before?”

"Uh, that’s not..."

I worried about whether I should tell him, but I opened my mouth honestly. Because we decided not to keep secrets from each other as much as possible.

“I entered this world with my real body.”

“What? T-then you—!”

“But I got five lives in return. I used one, so I have four left.”

I also told him about the discs. And the fact that Sung Hyunjae was somehow in the system. Yoohyun nodded, furrowing his brows.

“…You should stay here, hyung. Even if you have four lives, who knows what could happen. I can’t leave without you. And it’s more dangerous for you to come when you don’t have Eunhye.”

“Don’t worry about that. This only lasts for 30 minutes, but…”

I bought a Mini-Mini Cookie from the Item Shop and ate it. Soon, my body became smaller. Yoohyun, surprised, carefully lifted me up. Irin climbed onto Yoohyun’s arm and came towards me, circling around.

- Hyung! Hyung! Cute! You’re like Rin!

“If I’m this big, it’ll be easy to keep me safe even if you don’t pay attention. And his flame resistance will apply perfectly. Right now, I’m a C-rank and my equipment is S-rank, so I won’t get fatally injured if something grazes me like I would if I were an F-rank.”

- Rin will hug you! Let me hug you!

Saying “I can protect him well,” Irin clung to me with her front paws. If you do that, you won’t be able to help Yoohyun, you know? It turned out that Yoohyun, Alpha, had clothes with a pocket on the chest in his inventory, so he put that on, and I went into the pocket. Irin lingered beside me, reluctant to give up.

“Let’s chase him and catch him quickly!”

I bought the ‘Dog that Bites its Tail (C)’ from the Point Store. When I placed the single-use tracking item with a radius of 3 km on top of the contract and activated it, a firefly-like thing appeared and shook as if telling us to follow it. Teong, lifting off from the ground, Yoohyun’s body soared into the air.

The blue willow leaves spread briefly, and stepping on them, he leaped in several steps and climbed to the top of the building where darkness had fallen. As soon as his toes connected with the building’s roof, huk, he accelerated forward again. In the blink of an eye, several buildings had passed beneath his feet.

"My Point Shop and yours look different."

“Eh?”

“My shop only has skills and equipment.”

Yoohyun said, looking at the status windows and mission windows while running. He said there was a diverse range available, but nothing like Master Keys, Mini Cookies, or tracking items. Even the types of skills and equipment he had were much fewer than in my Shop.

“…The Newcomer was taking special care of me?”

Or it could be that Sung Hyunjae had meddled with it. Thanks to that, I used it well.

- Krrrr

I heard the growl of a monster in the distance. Had that damned Sigma headed towards the SS-rank monsters? If he involved the Akates Guards in this, he would have an even greater advantage. How detestable!

“Yoohyun, don’t worry about mana.”

“But this world…”

“I have plenty of mana potions. I can also buy them from the Point Store. So use your skills as much as you want.”

I’ll give you all the mana potions I have. It would have been nice if I could have shared the duplicated attack skill; I shouldn’t have used it on that damned guy.

He jumped over another structure. As he climbed to the top of a precarious half-destroyed building, my gaze landed on the enormous and strange shapes of the monsters in an instant.

A monster wrapped in scales like a robust armor of SS-rank. Not far away, monsters that looked like a colossal snake and bear were surrounded by Akates guards. All three were almost unscathed. It seemed that the S-rank and lower Guards could do nothing more than slow them down.

And there, in a building near the snake, was that bastard Sigma. He smiled as if he had wanted us to come see him. It was even more annoying because he looked like a certain person.

“Hyung, be careful.”

“Wait a second, Yoohyun.”

When I stopped Yoohyun, who was about to lunge at Sigma, I took out an item. It's here (SS).

"Let's start with a bang."

The Akates and Sollemnis guards were conveniently arranged around the area. I aimed the gun, which was twice the size of my body, at Sigma's location. The weapon glowed briefly. Nothing discharged from it. I designated the target and position, and a brief moment later,

Gugung—

Something appeared in the sky above Sigma and the giant serpent monster. The round sphere fell in an instant.

Claang!!

And detonated. A blinding light exploded as if the sun had risen early, followed by a tremendous roaring shockwave. Everything around us disappeared in an instant. The wind and heat passed by us, despite how far away we were.

A three-use item that dropped an SS-rank bomb at a specific location.

- Ssss!

- Kuwohhh!

The monsters howled. The serpent, hit directly by the bomb, twisted its enormous body, now covered in burns. With each twist, toxic venom spilled in all directions. Even before the flames from the explosion subsided, Yoohyun leaped. That attribute wouldn't be able to touch a single hair on my brother's head anyway.

"My poison resistance rank went down, but it's still S rank! I can also buy antidotes!"

Fortunately, the pocket was located right next to his heart. If the venom spread, my Resistance would counteract it. Since he had SS-rank stats, he would also be able to resist the venom better, and even having only S-rank Poison Resistance was enough to handle the venom of an SS-rank serpent.

But that might not be true for Sigma.

Stepping on the blue willow leaves, Yoohyun moved swiftly and reached Sigma. Hwarrk, dark blue flames shot out. Absorbing the heat from the bomb, they burned fiercely even with minimal mana.

Sigma didn't stay still either. In the meantime, he must have replenished his mana because golden electricity wrapped around him brightly. Long chains also surrounded him.

"Just a bit!"

At the same instant as Yoohyun's command, an enormous red form appeared behind Sigma. Irin, in her imugi form and wrapped in blue flames, pounced on Sigma with fangs and claws.

Kagagak, the chains blocked the serpent's attack, and Yoohyun didn't miss the opportunity, launching himself at Sigma's back.

The sword in Yoohyun's hand swung. Lightning and flames mixed, devouring each other. A long tear opened in his clothing, and Sigma slipped out through the only space left between Irin and Yoohyun. But there was the serpent. The SS-rank monster, with its partially melted body full of venom.

- Sssk!

The serpent flicked its red tongue and opened its mouth wide. Surrounded by venom, Sigma frowned slightly, and the other end of the chain blocking Irin extended.

Amazing!

And pierced the serpent's head. Sigma climbed up the chain smoothly and reached the serpent's head. Then, waiting for Yoohyun, who was chasing him, he pulled the chain, inducing the serpent to spit venom.

- Swing!

In unbearable pain, the serpent spewed particularly thick venom. Before it could touch Yoohyun's body, Irin also opened her mouth and exhaled fire.

Kwagwagwagwa, the blue flame breath instantly burned the venom and engulfed the serpent's head. The serpent died in the unbearably hot fire without a chance to scream. Burned beyond recognition, the serpent's head fell to the ground, and the tips floated upward.

"Yoohyun, get the points!"

The points I saw were much lower than those of the previous SS-rank monsters. Thanks for recognizing my contribution by detonating the bomb.

Sigma had already retreated without the flames touching his neck. How fast. That guy definitely had Combat Foresight. Even so, his face had turned slightly pale as if he had been poisoned.

Irin must have consumed a lot of strength because she returned to her red lizard form and came to my side. Just as Sigma was about to attack again,

Tadada—

The sound of a helicopter was heard.

Was it one of the Sollemnis helicopters? How cheap it was to bring out helicopters!

"Yoohyun, be careful! There are large firearms that can produce S-rank or higher attack power if they've consumed a lot of mana!"

Yoohyun nodded and, with the hand that wasn't holding the sword, took out a sniper rifle from his inventory. The idea of using a rifle to face a military helicopter was absurd, but when it came to an item in the hands of an SS-rank guard, it was different. He aimed the rifle at the helicopter.

Rattle!

The side of the large helicopter opened. I wondered if they would take out weapons, but what emerged from there was...

Vrrrrm—

Huge motorcycles making a tremendous noise. Three bikes shot out from the helicopter. From the front of the bike leading the charge rose a lance. Red hair fluttered under the moonlight.

"Those bastards! The Lambda of Lancea is here!"

At the loud shout, the bike hit the ground, accelerating in the blink of an eye. No doubt, after using a skill, the incredibly fast bike collided with the bear-like monster.

The moment the tip of the lance touched it, its skin, hard as an iron plate, was caught and torn like paper.

And moments later, with the sound of a water bag bursting, the bear's body was literally shredded.

Screech, the motorcycle skidded across the ground and stopped, and Lambda, who had handled the SS-rank monster in an instant, lifted her lance. With a smile, she waved at us.

"Hello, young master!"

I didn't have to worry for long. It was Moon Hyuna.